Breakthrough Made in Gulf Leak Disaster

I just saw this article online and thought it was very relevant to what we were recently discussing in class about BP.

Here is a brief summary:

BP says a mile-long tube, which they refer to as a "riser insertion tube tool" is sucking oil from the gushing well up and away. Their success in containing "some of the oil and gas" leaking from a pipe at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is the first progress they have made in over three weeks. Although this tube is not collecting all of the leaking oil, it is an important step in reducing the amount of oil being released into the water. It is estimated that 4.8 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since April 22nd. Furthermore, scientists have found vast plumes of oil in deep water, one of them 10 miles long.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/bp-starts-capturing-crude-from-broken-oil-well-amid-ominous-signs/19479228

The Carbon Hunters on PBS Frontline

Investigative journalist Mark Schapiro (Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power) finds himself deep in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest in search of one of the hottest commodities in this era of climate change: carbon.

Upcoming Green Drinks!

Anyone and everyone is welcome! If you're available come over to meet friends and network...

What: Green Drinks

When: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 from 6 - 8pm

Where: Kooma (Justinson Landing on the Wilmington waterfront)
400 Justison Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
302.543.6732
GoKoomaRestaurant.com

Why: Because you are green, because you want to go green, because you want to meet other environmentally minded people.

Free CFLs!

Energy Efficient Now is an independent project to distribute CFLs. By signing up on their website, they will ship two free CFL bulbs to you. Visit the website for more info:

http://energyefficientnow.com/learn.asp

And request your bulbs: http://energyefficientnow.com/tfli_signup.asp

Spread the word!

Delaware House OKs Curbside Recycling Bill

A new bill in the state legislature requiring trash haulers to provide curbside recycling just needs Gov. Markell's signature to be put into Delaware state law. In order to get started, the bill includes a temporary 4 cent fee on small carbonated beverages to help cover initial costs. The fee will end after 4 years and will be offset by savings in diverting waste from landfills to recycling centers. Charges for regular waste disposal at Delaware Solid Waste Authority landfills are slated to increase by 50 percent on July 1 of this year.

via DelawareOnline

Want to be a part of the University of Delaware Sustainability Task Force?

To better promote sustainability at UD, the Task Force is moving to a new structure forming an Executive Council and a series of Working Groups. At this time we are seeking volunteers/nominations for persons willing to serve on the Executive Council or to serve as a facilitator for one of the five Working Groups.

• For the Executive Council, we need a representative from: 1) faculty, 2) undergraduate students, 3) graduate students, 4) staff or administrative personnel, and 5) facilities. We ask the student representatives to serve a 1-year term and others to serve 1-2 year terms, so that we can stagger turn-over of the council membership.

• In addition to Executive Council members, we need strong leaders willing to serve as facilitators or co-facilitators for the following Working Groups: 1) UD Sustainability Fund, 2) Green Liaisons, 3) Marketing and Communication, 4) Campus Sustainability Day, 5) Earth Week, and 6) RecycleMania. We would ask the facilitators to serve at least a 1-year term.

• Please e-mail either Kathleen (kkerr@udel.edu) or John Madsen (jmadsen@udel.edu) with your name (or the name of someone that you’d like to nominate); what role you are interested in; and why; by May 17th! If you have any questions, feel free to contact either one of us

Newark Coop

Please see the attached flyer for information from Newark Co-op about a series of workshop seminars entitled "From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience" that they will be holding Saturdays in May. Please contact Newark Co-Op for more information.

links for the final paper

Hi everyone,

Here are the links you can see on the final paper:

Question 1:

Presentation - http://www.poptech.org/popcasts/ransler__sinha_husk_power

Question 2:

Environmental Leader - http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/06/24/sainsburys-ditches-cereal-box/

Question 4 (for the graduate students):

New York Times article - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/science/earth/18offset.html?_r=1&ref=earth

Raz

Green Business School Ranking Put Babson, William & Mary on Top

A new list from Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine is ranking colleges and universities on their green business programs. Babson College, ranked number one, offers students the option to live in a residence hall called the Green Tower, which is dedicated to sustainable business and living. I found this extremely interesting because the importance of sustainability is being realized on the academic level, and those who are making efforts are recognized.

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/05/10green-business-school-rankings-put-babson-william-mary-top

Solar Maps of New York City

Below is a link to the New York Times article that talks about the solar images taken of the city to determine which buildings are suited for solar power. Some really great pictures...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/nyregion/10mapping.html?src=me

IBM Computers Heat Buildings

Interesting use of energy generated by computers

The computer is liquid cooled and uses a heat exchange to pull the heat from the water

http://news.cnet.com/greentech/

Europe's First LEED Program Established in Italy

The U.S. Green Building Council and Green Building Council Italia have teamed up to advance green building and also to promote carbon emission reduction. Italy will be the first in the EU to implement the LEED certification, which is pretty big for Italy. They have also signed an agreement to share all tools, research, and information around green building. The green building industry is projected to contribute $554 billion in the US gross domestic product from 2009 - 2013; which is great for the United States economy. Currently there are around 100 LEED Professional Credential holders in Italy.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/20274

Beyond the Blue Bin: The Next Generation

This article discusses the concept of reverse vending machines (RVMs). They essentially provide an easy, clean, and convienient way for people to recycle. RVMs are a way that businesses can take recycling to the next level and show consumers they are serious about their committment to recycling and helping the environment. Sacred Heart University has made the initiative by installing RVMs around their campus. After recycling they receive coupons from sponsors of the machine. A similiar thing is going on at Fairfield University they get an automatic receipt deposit on their university card. Many venues like Dunkin Donuts are joining the trend of RVMs as well. To further read about the reverse vending machines and who is making use of them you can visit the article which can be found at this address:
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/04/30/beyond-blue-bin-next-generation-recycling?page=0%2C1

Fast Food Restaurant Puts Carbon Footprint on the Menu

From ClimateBiz: Otarian, the first in a planned chain of vegetarian restaurants opened in New York this week, with two more locations planned for London later in the year.

Carbon reduction company Sustain measured the carbon footprints of each menu item for the company, which will appear alongside the footprint of a comparable meat dish.

Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/04/27/restaurant-puts-carbon-footprint-menu#ixzz0n9uXnl7y

Raz

Food for thought for next class: BP Tops Greenpeace In Green Brands Survey

This is the results of a survey of 1,000 UK marketing pros. It's from 2008 - but still very interesting and of course relevant to our next class on green marketing, which will include a talk of a guest speaker on green brands.

Here's the list of the top green brands according to the UK survey:

Top ten green brands:
1. M&S

2. The Body Shop

3. Innocent

4. Co-OP

5. ECover

6. Honda

7. Waitrose

8. Tesco

9. BP

10. Greenpeace

You can read more about it at http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/03/26/bp-tops-greenpeace-in-green-brands-survey/

Raz

B Corporation's job site

I came across B Corporation's job board website which could be pretty helpful if you are looking to work for this type of company. Give it a look.

For Tire Recyclers, a Holy Grail

Carbon Green, a company based in Slovakia, claims to have developed an economically viable method for processing scrap tires using pyrolysis. The company's crucial breakthrough was a nano-scale refinement process that upgrades carbon char to a cost competitive replacement for carbon black, a common reinforcement material used in car and truck tires. Carbon Green's ambitious goal is to open 17 tire processing plants in the next five years, each with the capacity of processing about five million tires per year.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/for-tire-recyclers-a-holy-grail/?ref=science

Highway wind turbines to capture energy from passing vehicles

"An Arizona State University student has proposed a very novel way of re-capturing some of the energy expended by vehicles moving at high speeds on our nations highways. The proposal would involve mounting horizontal wind turbines above the roadway that would be driven by the moving air generated by the passing traffic. The electricity generated by spinning these turbines could be fed back into the grid. Joe's analysis indicates that based on vehicle speeds of 70 mph each turbine could produce 9,600 kWh per year."



Looks a little crazy...Do you think we could actually be driving under these on I-95 pretty soon?

USGBC Launches First LEED Standard for Neighborhood Development

US Green Building Council recently launched their first LEED standard for neighborhood development that is rated on three major environmental areas: Smart Location & Linkage, Neighborhood Pattern & Design, and Green Infrastructure & Buildings. This project encourages development within or near already existing public transportation, communities, schools, retail and service, etc. We've been talking about LEED certified commerical buildings, but now neighborhoods is a great opportunity for the future.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/20232

Update on the reading list for the class on Monday

I saw there was a confusion with the link of the video of Shai Agassi on Green Transportation on the reading materials list for Monday, so here's the right link:
http://de.sevenload.com/videos/J9sEsBB-DLD08-Day-3-Green-transportation

Here are also the links to the other readings and videos on the list:

1. Tripsas, Mary (2009), “Everybody in the Pool of Green Innovation”, New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/business/01proto.html?_r=2

2. Burlingham, Bo (2006), “The Coolest Little Start-Up in America”, Inc.com -
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060701/coolest-startup.html

3. (Video) Janine Benyus: 12 sustainable design ideas from nature, TED Talks, February 2005 - http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/janine_benyus_shares_nature_s_designs.html

4. (Video) Streetfilms - BRT Transmilenio (Bogotá, Colombia), February 2008 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRGoketbIZE

Latest Green DE Newsletter

Here is the latest Green Delaware newsletter...Check it out for what's going on in our community.

Speaking of BP - The company sheds $26B in market value after rig explosion

Lately the news are in synchronization with our reading materials - now it's BP of course and the terrible rig explosion.

AP reported today that BP shares tumbled more than 8 percent today, and the company has lost roughly $25 billion in market value since an offshore rig it hired in the Gulf of Mexico exploded last week and started spewing huge amounts of oil.

Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead following the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon, and a huge oil slick is creeping closer to land. Estimates of the amount of oil gushing from the seabed have risen to 5,000 barrels per day — five times what was originally thought.

BP shares fell today as the situation seemed to be getting worse. Experts said the oil may reach shore by Friday, and President Barack Obama said BP will be responsible to pay for the cleanup.

Transocean Ltd., the oil services company that owned the Horizon, has lost about $4.35 billion in market value since the explosion.

In Thursday trading, BP shares gave up $4.78 to close at $52.56. Transocean lost $6.32, or 7.5 percent, to end at $78.51.

Regulators Approve Wind Farm off Cape Cod Coast

This decision gives the green light to the 130-turbine wind farm that will be built by Cape Wind Associates. It's good news to the wind industry, which is anticipating many other offshore projects that have been proposed in other states (including Delaware) will be granted approval.

It does have significant opposition, however, so it will be tested in the courts and it could be years until construction begins.

Read more about it in this NYTimes article.

Tying Compensation to CSR Performance

Mindy S. Lubber, the president of Ceres (a coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change) brings three examples of a new compensation model that ties compensation for executive officers and employees to GHG reductions and other "green" measurements.

Read more at http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/04/26/tying-compensation-csr-performance#ixzz0mPiuVQKD

Raz

Upcoming Green Drinks!

What: When: Where: Why:

Green Drinks Tuesday, May 4, 2010 6 - 8pm AquaSol Restaurant & Bar (at Summit North Marina) 3006 Summit Harbour Place Bear, DE 19701 302.365.6490 AquaSolRestaurant.com/ Because you are green, because you want to go green, because you want to meet other environmentally minded people.

State Decision Blocks Drilling for Gas in Catskills

New York State environmental officials announced this past Friday that they would impose far stricter regulations on an extremely controversial type of natural gas drilling in the upstate area that supplies most of New York City's drinking water. These new regulations make it highly unlikely that any drilling will be done there. The EPA told state officials prior to the implementing of the regulations that it had "serious reservations about whether gas drilling in the NY State watershed is consistent with the vision of long-term maintenance of a high-quality unfiltered water supply."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/science/earth/24drill.html

Exisitential Crisis of a Plastic Bag

Just found this really interesting video on the New York Times website which chronicles the life of a plastic bag. Apparently, it has become really popular online. The video was "commissioned by the Independent Television Service through a project in which 11 filmmakers were asked to examine issues in the United States and dramatize the potential consequences." There is also another video linked int he article called "Seed" which is also worth taking a look at.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/existential-crisis-of-a-plastic-bag/?ref=earth

Siemens Smart Grid Tour

Read about the Smart Grid Tour that will be going around the country this summer. Check it out in NYC in September or in DC in October.

http://www.smartgridtour.com/

At the Smart Grid Tour, you will have the opportunity to:

• See the latest in Smart Grid developments, standards, and industry trends
• Take part in a wide range of education sessions
• Speak and consult with industry experts
• Network with other leaders in your industry
• Attend panel discussion presented by The Economist with leading experts to discuss and debate the future of Smart Grid

Single Serve Coffee not Sustainable?

Just the other day I was knocking a single serve coffee machine at the workplace for the amount of waste produced and how you can't use your own mug. Surprisingly some of these machines may be looking into sustainable options. One of the single serve companies, Flavia, has a sustainable component to their website to detail their steps to energy reduction and partnerships with Certified Rainforest Alliance coffee and TerraCycle to help with recycling. Maybe they aren't as bad as we initially thought?

Climate Bill Stalled

It looks like the major climate bill we were talking about last class has hit a snag with Lindsey Graham, the Republican Senator from South Carolina, pulling his support. The Senator's reason does not have to do with the actual bill, however, he is disappointed that the Democrats are trying to move forward on immigration reform before focusing on the climate and energy bill.

From the NYTimes

Eart Day Round Up

In case your interested in the events that went on for Earth day check out this article. Just to list a few...

*Environmental groups around the world lined up outside of Capital Hill demanding immedaite action from the government on climate change issues.
*The US Navy demostrated the "green hornet" by flying 50/50 biofuel blend
*NY's mayor Bloomberg released PlaNYC Progress Report 2010 of all the sustainable efforts that NY has made to date.
*California mayor Newsom introduced a new online tool for mapping out trees in the area to help better manage trees in the area.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/20182