BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

In Business, September-October, 2006, Vol. 28, No. 5, p. 8

TRAVEL COMPANY WORKS WITH
CONSERVATION FUND TO “ZERO OUT”
CARBON EMISSIONS
A travel company is allowing customers to purchase “carbon offsets” when they buy a vacation package. The program called Go Zero allows clients to effectively “zero out” or offset the carbon emissions generated by their flight, car usage, etc. through a donation to The Conservation Fund, which

then plants trees that absorb carbon dioxide. “We are very pleased to see a major travel company like Travelocity leading the charge to regenerate forests and wetlands, and also helps address climate change,” says Larry Selzer, president of The Conservation Fund. A contribution of $10 offsets an average trip including air travel, one-night hotel stay, and rental car. $25 negates air travel, four-night hotel stay, and rental car. All proceeds go to The Conservation Fund. Details can be found at www.travelocity.com/gozero.The travel firm is based in Southlake, Texas.

A BETTER WORLD GETS ASSIST
FROM COMPOSTABLE BOTTLE
In the Sept.-Oct. 2005 issue of In Business, an article titled “In Business For a Better World” mentioned a company in London, England that had gotten a loan from the Untours Foundation. Based in Media, Pennsylvania, the Foundation - whose Associate Director is Elizabeth Killough - loans out over $4 million annually, funding projects to groups that create jobs, build low income housing, support Fair Trade Products, etc. One company mentioned in the article as a loan recipient is Belu Spring Water. Belu is giving 100 percent of its profits to fund clean water products. In late July, Belu unveiled its biodegradable and compostable water bottle made from corn starch.
As explained by Killough, Belu is launching the bottle which can dramatically reduce the amount of rubbish going into landfills. In addition, working with WaterAid, every bottle of water purchased in the UK provides someone in India or Africa with clean water for one month. The award-winning bottle is currently available in more than 150 locations, including trend-setting London sites such as Nobu, Sketch and the Groucho Club as well as many major UK supermarkets.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS FROM NANOPARTICLES
Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, Ecology Coatings was founded in 1990 to develop 100 percent solid industrial coatings. Consisting entirely of nanoparticles and other solid materials that form a durable barrier when exposed to ultra-violet light, the feedstocks used by Ecology Coatings require 99 percent less time to dry, cut energy expenditures by 75 percent, and contain no polluting solvents. In 2003, Rich Stromback became CEO and has been directing its strategic commercialization projects.
Last year, Chief Chemist Sally Ramsey discovered and submitted patents for a process that creates waterproof, mildew resistant, wood-pulp paper that is approximately 500 percent less expensive to produce than synthetic papers currently on the market. Imparting those characteristics to materials from recycled paper to knit fabrics, is an innovation currently being explored for commercial applications. More details on the company, its methods and use of nanotechnology will appear in a future issue of In Business.

TRUCK IDLING COMPANY CONTINUES
TO SAVE FUEL AND GROW PROFITABLY
The July-August, 2002 issue of In Business profiled IdleAire Technologies of Knoxville, Tennessee and how its system to connect trucks to power sources would save fuel, cut pollution, and eliminate tons of carbon dioxide from idling engines. Since that time, more stations have been added at truck stop parking lots, and drivers and truck companies are benefiting greatly.
“Reducing truck idling helps to improve air quality and conserve fuel, saving money for long-haulers already faced with rising diesel prices,” says Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection head Kathleen McGinty in an interview this month. She made the remarks when a new center was opened near the state's Turnpike at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
IdleAire sees enough of a market to expand to 230 locations nationwide by next spring. About 68 are open now, with another 28 slated to open in the next two months. Drivers pay $10 for a window adapter to connect a tube to their truck, plus an hourly fee. Title of the 2002 In Business article about IdleAire was: “New Firm Prevents Pollution When Sleeping.” For more information, visit www.idleaire.com.

TURNING GOAT MILK INTO A CASH COW
After embarking on a year-long diet that allowed only goat's milk dairy, Laura Howard longed for the smooth creamy goodness of premium ice cream. She began making her own home-made goat's milk ice cream which led to Laloo's Goat's Milk Ice Cream Company. Now it's over a year ago that 30-something Howard launched Laloo's in the rolling hills of Petaluma, California. A former film and advertising executive, she began studying yoga to relax and began making goat's milk ice cream with a recipe from an old Southern Living cookbook and her grandmother's ice cream maker. Then she researched ways to satisfy the demand and still be profitable.
Howard began purchasing goat milk from a small family farm. In December, 2004, she sold 132 cases of Laloos to 50 markets in the San Francisco Bay Area. One year later, more than 600 cases were sold to more than 300 markets including Whole Foods Stores from Seattle to San Diego. Then retail accounts opened in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, Utah and Colorado, with plans to reach the East Coast this year.

ETHANOL VIEWED AS “MODERN GOLD RUSH”
TURNING CORN INTO FUEL
Once the green dream for solving the enigma of imported oil, ethanol also “has become the province of agricultural giants that see 100 percent profits from government subsidies, farm-state politics and a gasoline supplement. At least 39 new ethanol plants are expected to be completed in the next 12 months, reports a front-page analysis in The New York Times (6/25/06). By 2008, analysts predict that ethanol production could reach 8 billion gallons/year - up from the current 4.6 billion gallons. But many energy experts are questioning its long-term value.
The chief executive of Cargill warns of “unintended consequences” of expanding ethanol production at the pace now discussed. Cargill has a need for corn prices to be low enough for its processed foods and livestock purchase. Others question the large amounts of oil or natural gas that are used to make ethanol from corn, while others want to see more cellulosic ethanol made from straw, switchgrass or agricultural waste including manure. “We have to struggle through the challenges of growing and producing biofuels in the right way,” says Nathaniel Greene of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Meanwhile, notes the Times' report, Archer Daniels Midland - “the politically connected agricultural processing company” - has enjoyed a doubling in its stock price and profits in the last year and the atmosphere has drawn in investors including small farm cooperatives, hedge funds and even Bill Gates.

PLANS MADE TO LAUNCH 100 TONS PER-DAY
TIRE TO ETHANOL FACILITY
Startech Environmental Corporation of Wilton, Connecticut and Future Fuels, Inc. (FFI) have formed an agreement to produce ethanol fuel from tires, reports Scrap Tire News. Future Fuels is implementing its proprietary technology to convert low-end carbonaceous waste such as used tires, wood wastes, raw sewage, discarded corn stalks, residential and industrial waste into ethanol. Scheduled to go on-line in late 2007, Startech has received a letter of intent from FFI for purchase of a 100 tpd Plasma Converter System. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority said that the resolution for preliminary approval of $84 million tax-exempt bond financing for FFI has been fully executed and adopted by New Jersey. The bond will be used for design, construction and start-up of the Toms River, New Jersey facility.

UNIVERSITY PROBES WAYS TO CONVERT BIOMASS INTO BIOPRODUCTS
The Sixth Annual BioCycle Conference on Renewable Energy From Organics Recycling in Minneapolis, October 30 - Nov. 1, 2006 (see page 1) will discuss processes that convert biomass into bioenergy and bioproducts. Many of these studies are underway at the University of Minnesota. As described by Todd Reubold of the University's Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE), the processes when commercialized will: Develop technologies for utilizing underused biomass; Provide a scientific assessment of energy production; Increase use of agricultural and forest residues; and provide opportunities for biomass producers. IREE has funded more than 100 renewable energy-related projects.
Specific programs have included enzymatic degradation for generating cellulosic ethanol as substitutes for coal and gasoline; Improving hybrid poplars for use as an alternate energy source; Devising new methods for evaluating microbial power sources; Creating biosynthetic polymers for use in synthetic metals.

Copyright 2007, The JG Press, Inc.