Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
The chaps that make fizzy drink Pepsi remain the number one buyer of renewable energy in the US for the second quarter in a row, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Well done lads.
PepsiCo, which has committed to purchase 100 percent renewable electricity, was No. 1 on the EPA’s list with plans to purchase more than 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours per year of renewable power over 12 months.
Pepsi was followed in the top five by Wells Fargo & Co, Whole Foods Market Inc. the Pepsi Bottling Group Inc., which distributes Pepsi drinks and the U.S. Air Force.
Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
Well, some of them anyway. This article on BBC News says 3,000 of London’s finest black cabs can now fill up on biodiesel, helping to cut carbon emissions and pollution.
According to the firm, it is the first biofuel to be specifically created for use in taxis and cuts CO2 by 7%.
Taxis running on the fuel will be branded with a special green sticker on the windscreen.
Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
The car remains the vehicle of choice for more than four out of every five Europeans, despite professed concerns about environmental impact. And even when they do change their travel habits, 57% still turn their noses up at public transport, according to a new EU survey.
But just over half (54%) say they would be prepared to pay more for less environmentally harmful transport, whether public or private. Being prepared to spend money on a problem is a good index of how seriously it is taken. But the longer, harder option of mass behavioural change is clearly still some way away.
Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
The UK government’s Climate Change bill shows some progress but not enough, says a parliamentary environmental committee in a new report.
The 2010 and 2050 emissions targets needs toughening up, international aviation and shipping should be included and use of carbon credits must be strictly limited and clearly reported.
…
Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
Not long after noticing Blackle (a black-themed search engine based on Google), others have joined the party. Welcome jabago.
It’s all the same concept (with an added tweak of ‘reduced eye strain’), as the site says:
Jabago.com provides you with a black Google search portal to reduce eye strain and save energy while conducting Google searches. All searches from this portal will take you directly to google.com with a black background and light text.
Of course, a bit of digging around on the WSJ recently showed that the energy benefits are limited to CRT screens, rather than LCDs. But there’s still got to be millions of those around, we’d guess?
Posted by Greenbang on July 31st, 2007
Interesting to see the UK is weeks behind China on its vehicle eco-labelling policy…
Scroll down for more info.
Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
Yes, it’s all part of Popular Science’s “5 duct tape methods to save the Earth” and it makes for compelling reading, rather than a late April Fools’ joke.
On the list are schemes to mass-produce genetically modified forests to undercut the market for rainforest timber, or tame super-storms with cold water. Even better, rather than being the product of a late-night boozing brainstorm, all of these schemes are either being trialled or actively researched.
Greenbang’s favourite idea is one that will not only save the glaciers by wrapping them in football-field-sized blankets, and also keep our beers cold…
After a small pilot project in 2005 on the shrinking Gurschen glacier proved hugely successful—the blanketed area had 80 percent less melt than surrounding ice and snow two years in a row—Landolt has been tackling bigger and bigger ice packs, including an area the size of six football fields (more than 300,000 square feet) on the Vorab glacier, home to one of Switzerland’s largest ski resorts.
Next Steps
Don’t count on the blankets saving the snows of Kilimanjaro. With the ski resorts footing the bill, their use is limited to critical areas where melt directly interferes with skiing and snowboarding. But there’s always the burgeoning beer market. “We had a guy throwing an outdoor party last summer,” says Landolt product manager Marcel Stahle. “We sold him 100 square feet. His beer stayed cold all day.”
Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
It’s one week on since the Aussies launched their first emission trading platform, the Australian Climate Exchange. Prices launched at A$8.50 (about £3.60) on the first day, with a modest 1,600 tons of Voluntary Emission Reductions changing hands.
This compares with about €19.50 (£13.18) on European markets–and Cleantech blog reckons the price has already inched up to A$8.55 after week one, so get in there while it’s cheap…
Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
There’s a great interview on Earth2Tech with Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen, in which he gives his views on the current solar industry. When asked about whether he’d get into the solar business in 2007, he thinks not, as it’s moved into being a high-volume, low-cost industry.
Q). You were one of the first Valley entrepreneurs to focus seriously on green tech - If you had to start a clean tech company in 2007, and not 2002, what would you do differently?
A). I know very little about anything in greentech other than solar. If I had to start a solar company in 2007, I would take a pass. This industry is in a very different stage now. This is going to be like the DRAM business much more quickly than many may realize. I have a hard time seeing how anyone can be successful in solar who isn’t truly in volume in 2008 with a very mature, very cost-efficient technology.
…
Posted by Yan Yan on July 31st, 2007
The UK government has just launched an index ranking cars according to their fuel efficiency.
It is designed to help people decide what new vehicle to buy, allowing them to search according to categories such as supermini, family, estate, and so on, alongside specifics such as transmission and fuel type.
To give an extreme example, shoppers can see that a VW Polo Blue Motion emits 99 grams of CO2 per kilometre, while a 3-litre Nissan Patrol 4×4 spews out 288.
The initiative is the latest addition to the government’s Act on CO2 campaign, which started earlier this month. The main plan so far seems to be an advertising onslaught designed to ‘introduce the concept of a personal carbon footprint’. But, there is also an online personal CO2 calculator and tailored advice on how to reduce environmental impact.
According to a new report on the UK Climate Change Programme launched last week, government policy to reduce emissions is based on a three-pronged approach of carbon pricing, technology policy and ‘removing the barriers to behavioural change’. The car index is clearly part of the third.
Of course, while all efforts to improve the tools available to people to cut their environmental impact, the government must be sure to put its own house in order. The single biggest contributor to UK greenhouse gas emissions is still the power sector. And until thorny issues around power generation are resolved it will continue to be so.
