3p Contributor: Bill DiBenedetto
Recent Articles
PNW Takes Fast Route to Dirty Truck Cleanup
The struggle to take “dirty” trucks operating in West Coast port areas off the road has been a major rallying cry for ports and environmentalists for at least five years, but the effort is beginning to pay off.
The Port of Seattle reports that its voluntary, buy-back incentive clean air program recently saw the 100th dirty truck removed from service, in just a matter of a few months.
Called the Scrappage and Retrofits for Air in Puget Sound (ScRAPS) program, it began in November with the goal of taking cargo container haulers, or port drayage trucks with pre-1994 engines, off the road.
“So far, the program has exceeded expectations, scrapping 100 trucks in just a few months,” the port said in a press release. Through the program, truckers receive $5,000 or the blue book value of their truck – whichever is greater – in return for scrapping their old truck.
Socially Responsible Financing For-Profit: An Emerging Opportunity
This is what the triple bottom line should be all about but maybe a Harvard Business Review article will put a firmer imprimatur on an emerging business opportunity for CEOs in the for-profit finance sector: Linking entrepreneurs and their companies with the necessary resources needed to create lasting social change.
Writing in HBR’s blog this week, Bill Drayton, the founder, chairman and CEO of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public Since 1980, says that since the late 1980s the financial industry has not kept up with the rapid change and growth occurring in the “citizen sector.” As a result, the “change makers of the citizen sector lack the financing options they need to make their projects successful and scalable.”
Without new sources of private capital “the citizen sector has to continue to rely on funding by governments and foundations,” Drayton continues. And “that’s far from ideal.”
EPA’s GHG Reduction Scenarios for Transport Sector
Environmental Protection Agency says various reduction scenarios could result in vehicle emission reductions of up 27 percent through 2030, which explains their recent actions on greenhouse gas regulations in the transport sector and general GHG reporting requirements for all companies.
EPA also says that implementation of those scenarios could reduce the transportation sector’s cumulative oil consumption by as much 28 percent by that date.
The agency released a 56-page report, EPA Analysis of the Transportation Sector: Greenhouse Gas and Oil Reduction Scenarios, which looks at some possible pathways to achieve GHG reductions and oil savings in the context of current regulatory and pending legislative initiatives.The report was done at the request of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA), a principle author of Senate climate change legislation. In September, he asked the EPA to follow up its previous work and look deeper into the “greenhouse gas emission reductions and oil savings that could be achieved from a variety of transportation policies, including more aggressive fuel economy standards and policies to address vehicle miles traveled.”
The Wind Beneath a Greener Ferry’s Wings
A small San Francisco startup, Wind+Wing Technologies, wants to take us back to the future with its concept for ferries equipped with carbon composite wings as sails, an idea that is also taking hold in a different form for ocean cargo vessels.Beyond Olympic Glory: Athletes Blast Canada’s Tar Sands Industry
The Winter Olympics this year in Vancouver, BC, is a little more than the usual venue for endless corporate advertising and big money sponsorship of “amateur” athletes, thanks to the Sierra Club and its campaign against Canada’s tar oil sands extraction industry.
A few prominent winter athletes are joining with various international environmental groups in calling on Canada to “save the Winter Olympics” and end oil sands destruction.
It’s a combination of athletic self-interest and environmental activism, with the world watching.
Commerce Secretary Organizes Climate Change Office
A little-known agency within the Commerce Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will become the Obama Administration’s focal point for climate change information and services.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says NOAA is launching a separate unit, NOAA Climate Service, to address the nation’s “fast-accelerating climate information needs.” The agency is also creating a web portal for climate science and services. It will serve as a single entry point for the agency’s data on climate information, products and services.
The agency noted that individuals and decision-makers increasingly are asking for information about climate change so that they can make the best decisions for their businesses, communities and families.
Bikes Go on the Juice: The Electric Bicycle Boom
Bicycles are great for the environment, for one’s health and for efficient urban travel. Many cities are bicycle-friendly, some more than others. But if you live in one with major hills, such as San Francisco or Seattle, and you happen to be a little older, perhaps, or simply not quite in Tour de France shape, then an electric-bike is the way to go.
Business is booming for several reasons: They are way more affordable than EV cars and spiffy new and lighter designs are multiplying worldwide.
A recent New York Times article notes that David Chiu, president of the San Francisco board of supervisors uses one to get to meetings without having to change clothes upon arrival.
Ocean Carriers Propose Emissions Reduction System
Rather than dealing with a potpourri of environmental emissions regulations and fees, a group comprising the world’s largest international liner shipping companies is proposing a new global vessel efficiency system (VES) intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The 29-member World Shipping Council’s proposal asks the UN’s International Maritime Organization to take the lead in applying vessel efficiency design standards for new and existing vessels in the world fleet that will improve their carbon and fuel efficiency.
Under the VES proposal, newly built vessels would be subject to mandatory efficiency standards requiring them to be built with features and technologies that further improve their energy efficiency to reach defined levels, according to a WSC statement. “These standards would be similar in nature to the fuel efficiency standards required of cars and trucks in many countries around the world today. The standards would also be tiered with higher standards required over time as technology developments allow further improvements.”
Meltdown Over Himalayan Glacier Melt
A funny thing happened on the way to the great Himalayan glacier meltdown. It turns out that that yes, the glaciers are receding at an alarming clip as a result of global warming, but reports of their demise by 2035 apparently were greatly exaggerated.
In an interview earlier this week with Agence France-Presse, a glaciologist who contributed to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) four-volume Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, described the mistake in the report as huge and said he had notified his colleagues of it in late 2006, months before its publication.
The controversy focuses on a brief reference in the second volume of the massive report that said the probability of glaciers in the Himalayas “disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high.”
The loss of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 would take two or three times the highest expected rate of global warming, explained Georg Kaser of the Geography Institute at Austria’s University of Innsbruck.
Ford Ups the Ante on EVs
Ford is investing another $450 million in electric vehicle development and facility retooling, bringing its total investment in this area to a cool $1 billion.
The latest monetary infusion, a part of its “Electrification Strategy,” paves the way for the Dearborn, Mich. carmaker to engineer, produce and launch new electrified vehicles, battery systems and hybrid transaxles, while creating up to 1,000 new jobs in the state.
Ford will build what it calls a next-generation hybrid vehicle and a plug-in hybrid vehicle at the Michigan Assembly Plant beginning in 2012, in addition to producing the new Ford Focus and Focus Electric at the same plant in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
In addition, the company announced it will design advanced lithium-ion battery systems for the next generation hybrid in Michigan and move production of battery packs from Mexico to Michigan.
EPA Backtracks on Mountaintop Coal Mining
Just when you thought it might be safe to go hiking in West Virginia’s mountains or along its streams, the EPA apparently has caved to the interests of Big Coal by signing off on one Clean Water Act permit for a mountaintop coal mining project in that state and preparing the way for the eventual approval of a second permit.
The agency this week told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it supports issuing a Clean Water Act permit for Patriot Coal’s Hobet 45 mine in Lincoln County. EPA’s press release said it made this decision “after extensive discussions between EPA and the company resulted in additional significant protections against environmental impacts.”
Toyota to Unveil “Baby Prius” Concept This Month
There’s a big reason that Toyota Motor Company is the world’s largest carmaker: It responds nimbly to the demands of the marketplace.
The latest evidence of this is the company’s plan to launch a subcompact version of its hugely popular hybrid auto, the Prius.
A Detroit News report this month revealed that TMC is developing an all-new gas-electric car that will be smaller and more affordable than the Prius. It will also surpass the Prius’ 50 MPG average. The plan is to unveil a concept version of the new car at the Detroit auto show, which starts next week.
EPA’s Gift to Maritime Industry: Stringent Emission Regs
Just in time for holiday gift-giving season the Environmental Protection Agency wrapped-up final regulations that slap stringent emission control standards on ocean vessels and marine diesel engines.
And this is one gift the maritime industry can’t return or exchange.
The EPA this week finalized a rule it proposed in July that sets stringent engine and fuel standards for large U.S. freighters, tankers, container vessels and passenger ships.
The rule also harmonizes the U.S. with international standards for all ships.
Bioplastech Startup Making Plastic Biodegradable
A University College Dublin research team recently patented a process to produce biodegradable plastic from plastic bottles, and that patent has led to the formation of a company, Bioplastech Ltd., to develop, process and market the technology.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, founder and CEO of Bioplastech, led the team and the biodegradable plastic they produce is called polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA).
The Ireland-based Bioplastech converts waste, agricultural byproducts and petrochemical products into PHA, a linear polyester produced by bacterial fermentation of sugar or lipids that can store carbon and energy.
Recent Comments