IN BUSINESS WORLD

In Business, September-October, Vol. 29, No. 5, p. 4

NEEDED: POLICIES THAT FULFILL A PROSPEROUS ENERGY FUTURE
The latest issue of Resource (October 2007) has a report that analyzes what we need to achieve a “Prosperous Energy Future,” stressing the speed at which energy efficiency and renewable energy

technologies will develop. “Policies can range from those aimed at commercialization, subsidizing production of renewable energy through mechanisms like the production tax credit for wind and biomass, to those targeting development for nascent technologies.” One example is the Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program, which requires all federal agencies to preferentially purchase biobased products. Some states have passed measures to improve transportation infrastructure by investing in cleaner state government fleets, better public transit systems, and innovative new technologies like plug-in hybrids. A number of states have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) that ensure that a minimum amount of renewable energy is included in electricity resources.
Bringing a new technology to fruition is enhanced through public-private partnerships. Government can serve as a catalyst, fostering creative work between the public and private sectors and among industries, universities and nonprofits.
A private sector partnership - British Petroleum DuPont - was recently developed to market a next generation of biofuels to help meet increasing global demand for renewable transport fuels. Another federal partnership involves the 2002 Farm Bill which funds grants and loans. The National Energy Renewable Laboratories has been collaborating with the USDA to bring technical expertise to applications. These are consistent with goals of Building America, Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and FreedomCAR. The goal is to create a climate to build prosperous energy future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable and affordable.

REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS … LOGICALLY AND SAFELY
In the pages of New American Dream come these suggestions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by “helping individuals quantify the carbon they save by making small but habit-forming changes in their daily routines.” 1. Buy 1 pound of local food each week and save 1.12 pounds of carbon per month; 2. Carve out one car-free day a week and save 141.3 pounds of carbon per month; and 3. Use online forms to reduce unwanted ad mail and save 108 pounds of carbon per year. In its Fall 2007 issue, New American Dream members had collectively saved a total of 2,129,404 pounds of carbon emissions. Address of New American Dream is 6930 Carroll Ave., Ste 900, Takoma Park, Maryland 20912. Phone number, l-877-68-DREAM. This report appears in the latest issue of Treehugger.com.

SOLARCITY PROGRAM LISTS SIGNUPS FROM CALIFORNIA COMMUNITIES
SolarCity - provider of solar energy systems in California - reports its customers adopted two megawatts in the past 10 months. Purchases have come from more than 500 families in 19 communities.
SolarCity's program is a revolutionary approach to creating financial incentives for neighborhoods that go solar as a group. The company has proven it can offer discounts of 20 percent below market price of solar systems and complete installations quickly.

CREATING AND MANAGING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS STRATEGY
Socially responsible investing is a growing force across global markets, with $4 trillion estimated in such investments. More companies are finding that adapting sustainable practices not only reduces business risk, but also increases their chances for success. According to the MIT Sloan School of Management, key issues are how those companies are doing it in an ecofriendly, socially responsible business climate.
These key issues will be discussed at the December 5-6, 2007 meeting on Innovation, Technology and Strategy at the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Specific issues that will be addressed are:
Alternative Energy: MIT is re-thinking the process and means by which we use energy and create energy generation and distribution systems. What are the implications for transforming markets, decreasing energy usage, and cutting total energy costs?
Building A Sustainable Supply Chain: How are companies using sustainable supply chain practices and strategies to increase supply chain effectiveness, lower costs, produce higher quality products, and enhance social equity, economic development and environmental restoration? What are the implications for how you do things, and what you make?
Infrastructure And The Built Environment: What are some of the sustainability strategies and technologies for infrastructure and the built environment, including dramatic changes in dematerialization, transportation and the supporting infrastructure, recycling, the waste stream and water treatment? What changes can organizations make immediately to significantly affect their profitability?

ECONOMIC GROWTH IN CHINA THREATENED BY POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT
An 18-month review by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that China's severely polluted environment has caused “significant damage to human health,” as well as the nation's prospects for continued economic expansion. The Chinese government said last year that pollution cost $64 billion in economic losses in 2004. The OECD report stated that by 2020, China will have 600,000 premature deaths annually and 20 million cases of respiratory illness a year because of pollution. Overall cost of health damage will equal 13 percent of gross domestic product. Some 190 million people are estimated to be suffering from illnesses related to dirty drinking water. More than 30,000 children die every year due to polluted water. Farmers across the country have protested tainted water supplies and ruined farmland.

LOS ANGELES PARKS DEPARTMENT SETS UP YOUNG CAMPERS SUSTAINABLE PROGRAM
A program set up by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks called CAMPpostables - uses plant-based compostable plates and utensils, diverts biodegradable food waste, and raises ecological awareness of both staff and youth participating. The Los Angeles campers are using hot cups that have inner linings made from corn instead of petroleum, and containers made of renewable plants instead of polyfoam.
Waste in the food service areas is organized into three containers - a green bin for food waste and biodegradable products; a blue bin for plastic bottles and aluminum; and a black bin for the remainder of the trash. Waste generated from a typical food service establishment is over 76 percent organics and compostable. These feedstocks are composted through the City's food recycling program with assistance of an outside contractor. The two camps serve about 1,000 meals per day in the summertime. Cost of collecting and processing is $1,100 and $250 per month, and is paid by the Department of Public Works within Los Angeles.

LANDFILL CAPTURES METHANE GAS TO POWER 2,500 HOMES IN PENNSYLVANIA
A new plant constructed by Pennsylvania Power & Light (PPL) Utilities is generating methane gas to power 2,500 homes in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Methane is 21 times more potent than the carbon dioxide in automobile exhaust. “This renewable energy plant will generate electricity in an environmentally friendly way,” says PPL Renewable Energy President Mike Kroboth. Methane - which used to rise to the surface and escape into the air - is now captured in 60 underground wells and channeled through pipes to an on-site generation plant. Two massive yellow Caterpillar engines convert the fuel into electricity. It's the environmental equivalent of removing 27,000 cars from the road or planting 38,000 acres of new forest. The company controls more than 11,000 megawatts of generation in the United States.

BIOTECH FIRM PUSHES USING LESS FERTILIZER
A Wall Street Journal article explains how agriculture contributes more to total global greenhouse-gas emissions than the entire world transportation sector - which leads a biotech company headed by Eric Rey to action. As president of Arcadia Biosciences of Davis, California, Rey hopes to win big by selling farmers in China seeds that cut nitrogen fertilizer. China is the biggest user of fertilizer and the world's largest rice producer. Agriculture is the biggest generator - 14 percent - according to the United Nations. The goal of Arcadia is to have its technology ready for use by the time that China is ready to use biotechnology to benefit the environment. Farmers would pay for the price of regular seed, plus get about half of the carbon credits generated by their reduced fertilizer use.

VINEYARD SERVICE CREATES WATER-SAVINGS SOLUTION
Faced with water shortages after several drier than normal winters, Nord Vineyard Services of Yountville, California has successfully implemented a program to reclaim water used on landscaping that saves one million gallons at the Carneros Vineyards of Artesia. Famous for its architecture, the Carneros Vineyards is one of the first wineries to minimize visual impact of the environment with its sides covered with grasses. To reclaim the water used for irrigation, the Nord team developed a way to collect water and replumb the drainage systems. Water mixes with collected winter rains, reclaimed winery wastewater, and on-site wells to keep the vineyards healthy.
The Nord family has been making a positive impact on Napa Valley vineyard management for more than 40 years. Long sought after by Napa Valley winemakers because of its high quality fruit, Nord also continues to receive state and local recognition for its sustainable farming practices.

COMPOST TOILETS IN MALAWI
Water For People was awarded a Development Marketplace grant of $200,000 for an innovative sanitation project in Malawi designed to reduce the incidence of diarrhea through hygiene education, the use of children's latrines, and the production of compost for sale. The grant program is financed by The World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The overall goal of the Water For People proposal is to reduce diarrhea by 40 percent in two rural Malawian traditional authorities, including 31 schools and more than 100 villages, by improving sanitation practices and facilities. The multifaceted approach targets toddlers and young children by promoting the use of ecological latrines while eliminating open defecation common in the region. The program includes the distribution of child-size “arbor-loos” that allow children to defecate safely and then, when the pit latrine is full, they can plant a tree and move the toilet to another location. The program also includes a component targeted at adults, where latrines are constructed that can transform fecal waste from a health threat to valuable compost that is then sold. The program uses children as agents of change at school and in the household, a model that has proven effective for promoting long-term changes in health and hygiene practices. “With this award, the program will become a reality,” says Ned Breslin of Water For People. “Our selection suggests that our work really stood out, as it offered a unique way to tackle diarrhea which is the second largest killer of children worldwide. It also suggests that the centrality of water and sanitation to improved health is understood.”
Water For People is a Denver-based private, nonprofit international development organization that supports safe drinking water and sanitation projects in developing countries. It partners with communities and other nongovernmental organizations to help people improve their quality of life by supporting sustainable drinking water, sanitation and health and hygiene projects. Visit www.waterforpeople.org.

AWARD FOR ITS WOOD BURNING FURNACES
Capping off 18 months of phenomenal growth, Greenwood Technologies of Bellevue, Washington is being praised for its wood-fired hydronic furnaces. “We're thrilled to receive this recognition from the environmental community,” says VP of Marketing Michael Kuehner.
Greenwood's wood-fired furnaces burn wood to heat water for use in forced air or hydronic heating systems. The clean-burning system leaves few particles to create smoke or ash and are up to 85 percent efficient. The furnace also uses 50 percent less wood than other furnaces due to operating at such high efficiency.
Greenwood manufactures the next generation of wood and biomass based central heating appliances. For details, call 1-800-959-9184.

CURBSIDE SOURCE SEPARATED ORGANICS COLLECTION NEARS 90 PERCENT IN NOVA SCOTIA
Nova Scotians dispose of 45 percent less waste than the Canadian average. As a result, the Nova Scotia diversion rate is the highest in the country. About 46,000 metric tons of recyclables and 58,000 metric tons of organic matter were collected at curbside in 2005-06 and diverted from landfills. 90 percent of Nova Scotians now have access to curbside collection of organics. Other diversion programs keep large amounts of material out of landfills such as: Beverage containers - 16,000 metric tons, tires - 10,000 metric tons; organic residuals from restaurants and food related companies - 25,000 metric tons, paper and cardboard - 65,000 metric tons; wood, metal from C&D - more than 80,000 metric tons.
Since 1996, about 1,200 jobs have been created in the province's waste and recycling sector. Residents can return leftover paint to their local Enviro-Depot, batteries to major retailers, and used oil to local sellers. Electronic devices - computers, printers and TVs - are diverted from landfills. By 2015, average materials sent to landfills will drop from 427 kg per person per year to 300 kg.

TRIBAL COMPOSTING NOURISHES LAND AND TRADITION
A future article in these pages will describe how programs on Indian reservations are being developed to reduce waste, nurture the community and stimulate food production. Harnessing the creativity and energy of community members - including school children and elders - have helped tribes get composting programs off the ground.
Waste stream analyses have indicated how food wastes can be utilized. “Because of our harsh weather - long, cold winters beginning in October and lasting through late-April - composting is good because it can be done indoors under the kitchen sink,” said Gerald Wagner, director of the Tribal Environmental Office in Montana. “Vermicomposting is a great way to get tribal members into a recycling mindset and into the habit of separating wastes. “With vermicomposting, they are already separating out food scraps, so then separating aluminum, glass, plastics and cardboard would be a logical next step. We are in the process of closing our current dump site and opening a new transfer station, where we are planning an outdoor composting operation.”
Keys to maintaining a strong backyard composting program are: Conducting upfront education; Providing ongoing support; and Maintaining publicity and awareness about the project.
After providing tribal members with initial lessons, offering help is critical for pinpointing problems. For one instructor, this continuity was achieved by providing her phone number for people to call for questions. Publicity can occur formally, through outreach efforts, and informally, through word-of-mouth. People tell others about their gardens, and many more families expressed an interest in participating. You can also consider maintaining a demonstration organic garden, providing books, or creating “creative” T-shirts. And then there is always the “social element.”

CALIFORNIA WINERIES ADOPT SOLAR POWER SYSTEMS
Cuvalson Estate Wines in Calistoga, California is adopting solar power to supply all of its energy needs. Napa County wineries have been utilizing solar power 42 times faster than the state's business community overall. According to Sunlight Electric - the San Francisco solar developer that designed Cuvalson's system - the company has installed over 1,000,000 watts of capacity to date. It saves the emission of nearly 66 million pounds of global warming carbon dioxide.

Copyright 2007, The JG Press, Inc.