Energy Management Following the trend of several large cities, Boston mayor Thomas Menino announced the filing of the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance with the Boston City Council.
Constellation Rate Response allows Constellation power customers who are participating in traditional load response programs to receive a reduced rate on their electricity supply throughout the year or a direct bill credit.
The Department of Defense selected Asetek’s ISAC (Inside Server Air Conditioning) liquid-cooling product to participate in its Transformative Reductions in Operational Energy Consumption (TROPEC) program.
An online poll conducted during an Energy Manager Today webinar found that the majority of webinar participants only looked at their energy procurement strategy once a year.
Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel launched round three of the Chicago Green Office Challenge. The Green Office Challenge is a competition among local businesses to reduce energy, water, and waste while saving money. The goals of the Challenge are to cut energy, water and materials use by 10 percent.
New energy efficiency projects at the University at Albany – SUNY, undertaken in collaboration with the New York Power Authority and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, will save the university about $704,000 in energy costs annually.
Compliance & Standards The Window & Door Manufacturers Association, which represents manufacturers of residential and commercial window, door and skylight products, is calling on the EPA to address additional concerns the
industry has about the skylight criteria, the proposed window and door criteria and the overall direction of the ENERGY STAR program.
Intertek expanded services to help companies comply with recently proposed California Proposition 65 legislative changes. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) recently announced a notice of intent to list BPA to the California Proposition 65 list of chemicals with a maximum allowable dose level of 290 micrograms per day.
Swiss shipping and logistics provider Panalpina Welttransport Holding met criteria for OHSAS 18001: Health and Safety certification and has recertified to the standards ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. SGS conducted the audit. Panalpina said it is now the only multinational provider of supply chain services to achieve global certification to the standards.
The Brewery, a redevelopment project at the former Pabst Brewing Co. in Milwaukee, earned LEED Platinum certification for neighborhoods. The 20-acre development includes businesses, senior housing, schools, and a public park. It is one of only three neighborhoods in the US and five in the world to earn that designation.
The first building constructed on Whirlpool Corp.’s new Riverview Campus in Benton Harbor, Mich., received LEED Platinum certification. The Riverview Campus is designed to achieve high performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
The “Sustainable Building” in Al Quoz, Dubai, is the new 340,000-square-foot headquarters for a branch of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and the first in the United Arab Emirates to achieve a LEED Platinum rating. With the new facility, Dewa cut water use by 36 percent through the use of grey water recycling and low-flow toilets and urinals, the Green Prophet said.
The Student Life Center at North Lake College in Irving, Texas earned LEED Silver certification to become the school’s third LEED-designated project. Other LEED buildings are the Science and Medical Professions Buildings and the Workforce Development Center.
The Furniture Industry Sustainability Program recertified four businesses as full members after conducting its annual review of sustainability practices. The companies are Bene, Coexistence, Herman Miller and Woodstock Leabank. FISP said it is the furniture industry’s environmental benchmark for companies across the furniture supply chain.
The Bhamragarh Forest Division in Maharashtra, India, became the country’s first natural forest management program to earn Forest Stewardship Council certification. SCS Global Services conducted the audit of the 378,000-hectare area and issued the certification.
The captive power plant of Navratna PSU National Aluminum Company Limited (NALCO) has been certified to the ISO 50001 standard in an audit conducted by DNV. The 1,200 MW thermal power plant adjacent to the company’s aluminum smelter in Odisha, India, is the first CPSE Unit to be certified to the standard.
Controlled Products, a manufacturer of synthetic turf, received ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications for its corporate initiatives to improve quality, environmental stewardship and safety. In the past year, the company said that it recycled 155,221 pounds of material and reduced waste by 75 percent over 2011, and said all its finished goods and products are recyclable.
Real estate developer Foram Group received LEED Platinum certification in the core and shell category for 600 Brickell at Brickell World Plaza, making it the only building in Florida to achieve this certification at this level. Features of $300 million building include central monitoring and control of air quality, temperature and lighting, and fully redundant electrical backup systems, writes the South Florida Business Journal.
Arizona State University’s newest research center, Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV, earned LEED Gold certification for new constructions.
The Loyola University New Orleans College of Law’s Broadway Building achieved LEED Silver certification. Originally built in 1959, the building underwent a $7.5 million renovation, with DonahueFavret Contractors as the general contractor on the project.
Western Michigan University’s renovated Chemistry Building earned LEED Silver certification for existing buildings, the seventh building on the campus to do so. The university currently has six more buildings undergoing the certification process, including two new residential buildings and a community center, M Live writes.
A new standard in development, ASTM WK39632, Specification for 3–24 Inch Corrugated Polyethylene Pipe and Fittings with Recycled Resins, will provide assurance regarding quality of HDPE corrugated pipe using recycled resins. The proposed standard includes requirements and test methods for materials, workmanship, dimensions, perforations, and pipe stiffness.
Skechers USA’s 1.82 million-square-foot distribution center in California, designed and built by developer Highland Fairview, became the largest LEED Gold building in the US. Features of the building include 280,000 square feet of rooftop solar power generation systems, and water efficient and drought tolerant landscaping that reduces irrigation by 50 percent, the company said.
Recycling company 4th Bin earned e-Stewards certification to become the first e-waste recycler in New York City to meet the standard. 4th Bin policies prohibit exports to developing countries, the use of landfills and incinerators, and the use of prison labor for hazardous materials derived from e-waste. Earning e-Stewards certification also includes the R2 and ISO 14001 certifications, 4th Bin said.
The Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa in Chiang Rai, Thailand earned its re-certification to the Green Globe travel and tourism standard. The resort has initiated programs to reduce all waste, consumable and non-consumable; eliminate all possible packaging; and contract with preference to local suppliers offering recyclable products, Green Globe said.
Duke University’s new Chiller Plant, which cools water for distribution in cooling systems across its West Campus, received LEED Gold certification for sustainable construction practices. It is the second building on Duke’s main campus to achieve gold-level certification, after the East Campus Steam Plant. Altogether, Duke has 25 LEED-certified buildings, including the Smart Home, which earned LEED Platinum certification in 2008, the Duke Chronicle said.
The University of Wyoming’s Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center earned LEED Gold certification. The 44,000-square-foot building houses several groups including the Biodiversity Institute, Stable Isotope Facility, Wyoming Natural Diversity Database and the UW Vertebrate Museum, and it features a living roof, locally sourced building materials, natural air ventilation, native or adapted landscape vegetation and building exhaust energy recovery, the university said.
Building 10,000, a residence hall at Penn State Harrisburg, earned LEED Silver certification. The four-story, $10 million construction designed by SMP Architects features rain gardens, energy-efficient lighting fixtures, agri-fiber paneling and low-flow water fixtures, the university said.
KMP Packaging will open its new $20.1 million food and beverage packaging production facility in Theparak Industrial Park in Thailand late this year. The factory was certified as ISO 14000 compliant as well as ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 compliant. The facility also was awarded a certificate in environmental management by the Thai Industry Ministry’s Department of Industrial Works, Thailand’s The Nation said.
The International Civil Aviation Organization’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection reached the second milestone in the development of a carbon dioxide standard for new aircraft, by agreeing recommendations on certification procedures. These recommendations will be forwarded to the Council of ICAO for review and action during its sessions this spring.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reviewing recent revisions to the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals for possible inclusion in the US standard for hazard communication. A UN subcommittee updated its chemical labeling manual, known as the “Purple Book,” at its biennium meeting in December 2012, and OSHA will determine if the UN amendment represents a significant change to the standard last updated March 2012, Bloomberg reports.
ANSI is currently developing a standard datasheet for white LEDs used for general illumination, which is expected to help the solid-state lighting industry overcome obstacles to broader deployment. The proposed ANSI LED datasheet standard seeks to create a uniform paradigm for the information communicated between LED manufacturers and the rest of the industry to ensure that fair and consistent comparisons can be made by LED users, LEDs Magazine said.
Matthews Coach Hire based in Ireland became the first passenger transport company in Britain and Ireland, and the second in the world, to achieve ISO 50001 energy management systems certification. Authentic Solutions consulted with the transportation company over its five-year energy saving campaign, which has resulted in a CO2 reduction of 20 percent, Irish Trucker writes.
The Clipper Group received ISO 50001 certification for its vessels, making it among the first shipping companies in the world to meet the standard. The certification covers both Clipper Fleet Management as a company and those vessels which are in technical management by Clipper Fleet Management – currently around 30 multi-purpose and bulk vessels. Lloyd’s Register conducted the audit, Clipper Group said.
The Cleveland Clinic’s Marymount Hospital Surgery Expansion earned LEED Gold certification for new construction. The three-story, 45,000-square-foot addition was designed for water efficiency, energy savings, and improved air quality, and it is the 13th LEED-certified building or project within the Cleveland Clinic’s health system, the hospital said.
1901 South Charles apartments in Baltimore, managed by the WPM Real Estate Group, haa earned the LEED Silver certification for design. Features of the 193-unit building include a high efficiency heating and cooling system, Energy Star-rated appliances and lighting, and high-efficiency water heating, the company said.
The University of Connecticut, Temple University, Johns Hopkins University and financial management company National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance will install Quality Attributes Software’s (QAS) sustainable resource and energy management system in their facilities, according to the software company.
Corporate Reports Automaker Jaguar Land Rover cut its normalized energy use from manufacturing by 23 percent year-on-year, according to the company’s latest sustainability report. Philips’ carbon footprint declined almost 9 percent year-on-year, according to the company’s latest combined annual and sustainability report. Maersk Group reduced its emissions per container by 11 percent in 2012, according to the shipping company’s 2012 sustainability report. The company also reports an 8 percent relative CO2 reduction from a 2010 baseline.
From 2010 to 2011, SC Johnson reduced its waste output by 2 percentage points, as the company aimed to reduce its solid waste by 70 percent of 2000 levels by 2016. Since the baseline year, the maker of Glade, Pledge, Windex and Off! Products decreased its global manufacturing waste by 57 percent, according to its latest sustainability report.
Caesars Entertainment Corporation reduced its normalized greenhouse gas by 5 percent year-on-year in 2011, according to the company’s latest sustainability report.
EU lawmakers backed a Commission plan to suspend for a year a law that would make all airlines using EU airports pay for their carbon emissions. The committee said the suspension could be prolonged beyond a year, but only if clear and sufficient progress were made at the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The Virginia General Assembly passed a major transportation deal, a policy victory for Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R). The new plan would replace the 17.5 cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline with a new 3.5 percent wholesale tax on motor fuels that will keep pace with economic growth and inflation. The average motorist could pay about $15 more a month, The Washington Post said.
Exxon Mobil won the reversal by Maryland’s highest court of a $1 billion punitive damages award stemming from an underground leak of about 26,000 gallons of gasoline at a gas station, and also won the reversal of portions of nearly $650 million of compensatory damages awards. The Maryland Court of Appeals said Exxon’s shortcomings in remediation efforts did not constitute fraud, removing the basis for the punitive damages award, Reuters said.
BP’s top executive for North American operations at the time of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill acknowledged on the opening day of testimony that a well explosion had been identified as a risk before it happened. Lamar McKay said that a blowout was identified as a big risk, but BP was responsible for designing the well, while the rig, cement and other contractors shared responsibility for safety on the drilling operations, the New York Times reports.
Under a settlement, American Electric Power will stop using coal to generate power at three plants. As part of a modification of its 2007 agreement with eight states, EPA and environmental groups, AEP is switching the control technology at its Rockport plant in southern Indiana, and will develop more wind and solar power in Indiana and Michigan.
Representatives from Shell, Marathon Petroleum and the American Petroleum Institute met with White House Office of Management and Budget aides to discuss the EPA’s planned Tier 3 low-sulfur gasoline rules. The industry groups contend the rules will create billions of dollars in compliance costs but provide few benefits. They say existing standards have already required steep cuts in the sulfur content of gasoline, The Hill reports.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who recently formed a congressional climate change task force, are seeking to meet with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, or Heather Zichal, a senior energy and climate adviser to President Obama. The purpose of the meeting is to coordinate effectively between the bicameral effort and the White House effort, The Hill said.
Rodney R. Hailey, of Perry Hall, Md., was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for selling $9 million in renewable fuel credits which he falsely claimed were produced by his company, Clean Green Fuel, LLC.
Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition members Sean Parnell (Alaska), Pat McCrory (N.C.) and Phil Bryant (Miss.) hope to secure a bill that would award coastal states more federal revenues for energy developed off their coasts, as well as speed up the offshore energy permitting process.
The US Department of Agriculture projected a rebound in 2013 for US corn and soybean yields and high planted acreage. The yield predictions include the potential for record-large crops and for prices to decrease from 2012-13 levels. A larger US corn crop in 2013 will help push corn-for-ethanol usage to 4.675 billion bushels in 2013-14, up 175 million on the year but below 2011-12 levels. One-fourth of US soy oil will be used in making biodiesel this year, Reuters said.
Monsanto will file an immediate appeal to a recent ruling by a single judge of the Superior Court of Justice, relating to the company’s request for term correction of a patent covering its Roundup Ready soybean product. Monsanto has previously obtained patent protection in Brazil for its first-generation Roundup Ready soybean products.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with representatives of Southern California Edison this week to discuss the utility’s proposal to restart the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 2. Two San Onofre reactors have been shut down since January 2012 when a leak in a Unit 3 steam generator led to the discovery of unexpected wear in both reactors’ steam generators.
FERC released a final environmental impact statement for the Middle Fork American River Hydroelectric Project, for the relicensing of Placer County Water Agency’s (PCWA) existing 224 MW project. The project occupies 3,268 acres of federal lands located in Placer and El Dorado counties in California, the FERC said.
BP won approval of an agreement for the US government to disregard 810,000 barrels of oil BP captured in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, reducing the potential maximum fine under the Clean Water Act by $3.4 billion. The act says polluters face a penalty ranging from $1,100 to $4,300 for each barrel spilled, depending on a
variety of factors, including whether the polluter acted in a grossly negligent or reckless manner in causing the spill, Bloomberg said.
Brazil dropped criminal charges against Chevron, Transocean, and 17 employees related to a November 2011 offshore oil spill. The criminal suit carried potential penalties of up to 31 years. The $20.4 billion civil case, which is still open, is Brazil’s largest environmental lawsuit, Reuters said.
Twenty-three US senators called for the EPA to increase the number of flame-retardant chemicals it is assessing for health risks. EPA is currently reviewing a class of structurally related flame retardants – polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) – and four other flame-retardant compounds. The senators say that dozens of other widely used flame retardants should receive detailed scrutiny from the agency, writes Chemical & Engineering News.
The Alaskan Senate passed a bill that relaxes regulations on cruise ship wastewater. The bill, which already passed the House and was introduced by governor Sean Parnell, would strike the more stringent requirement that discharges meet state water quality standards at the point of discharge. The measure also would allow mixing zones where wastewater can be diluted into the water, if ships meet certain standards for treatment of discharge, the Associated Press said.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2013, which aims to rebuild US water and wastewater infrastructure. The American Water Works Association, a water organization with more than 50,000 members, praised the bill, and said that the act should complement and not replace existing State Revolving Funds, by specifically addressing projects that are too big for most SRFs to fund, EPA Online said.
In a petition to the US Supreme Court, the American Petroleum Institute and groups representing the food industry are seeking to overturn a January appeals court ruling permitting the sale of E15 for cars made after 2001. The oil and gas industry says the fuel could damage millions of vehicles. Food industry groups say that the ruling in support of the fuel put increased pressure on the price of corn, in short supply due to the severe drought, The Hill said.
John Kerry addressed climate change as an opportunity in his first major speech as secretary of state, at the University of Virginia. Kerry said that the failure to confront climate change could cause the US to miss big economic opportunities in green energy technologies. The State Department represents the US at international talks on global climate agreements, and will decide on the Keystone pipeline proposal, The Hill said.
China will require heavily polluting industries to participate in a compulsory insurance program to ensure they can adequately provide compensation for damage, the Environment Ministry and China Insurance Regulatory Commission said. Companies that must participate in the scheme include mining and smelting industries, lead battery manufacturers, leather goods firms and chemical factories, while petrochemical, hazardous chemicals and hazardous waste companies will be encouraged to participate, Reuters said.
The EPA fined six Arizona school districts a combined total of $94,575 for alleged Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act violations at 25 schools. Violations include failing to inspect facilities for asbestos-containing materials, failing to re-inspect campuses with known asbestos containing materials, and failing to have an asbestos management plan, the agency said.
The UNEP Year Book 2013 warns that the rush for Arctic mineral resources prompted by an apparent acceleration in sea ice melt calls for caution and effective governance to avoid damage to the fragile environment. Arctic summer ice cover in 2012 was 18 percent below the previous recorded minimum in 2007 and 50 percent below the average in the 1980s and 1990s.
European lawmakers backed an emergency backloading plan for the ailing EU ETS that would temporarily remove some of the surplus allowances, but put off drafting the necessary legislation. The Commission is expected to decide next week whether to take the discussion straight to a plenary session of the European Parliament in April, or to speed up the process by initiating legal haggling between the parliament, Commission and member states ahead of the session, Reuters said.
Proposals from the German government to protect its output of big, luxury cars threaten EU plans to limit carbon emissions by 2020. The German car industry seeks increased allocation of supercredits, which allow manufacturers to produce cars that exceed the EU target if they also make very low emission electric or hybrid vehicles. However, the easement would lead to emissions in a range of 99 g/km to 123 g/km – compared with the EU goal of 95 g/km on average across all new EU vehicles by 2020, Reuters said.
Judge Melvyn Green of the Ontario Court of Justice ruled that the Environmental Protection Act and the federal Species at Risk Act are properly interpreted to prohibit the emission, intentional or unintentional, of reflected light where that reflection causes the death or injury of birds.
The Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy, a coalition of companies that import, install and service solar panels, said imposing tariffs on inexpensive panels from China would lead to hundreds of thousands of job losses in the EU. The comments came at a European Commission hearing on the EU’s antidumping case
examining exports from China worth €21 billion ($28 billion) in 2011. The EU is the biggest export market for the Chinese equipment, the New York Times said.
The Institute for Policy Integrity, a group affiliated with New York University’s law school, is petitioning the EPA to act under Section 115 of the Clean Air Act, which enables the agency to demand action to curb pollution endangering public health or welfare in foreign countries. The attorneys argue that Section 115 should be employed to have EPA require states to control emissions and provides for the use of flexible regulatory tools such as cap-and-trade, The Hill said.
PNM Resources’ New Mexico utility, the New Mexico Environment Department and the EPA agreed to pursue a revised plan that could provide a new path forward for San Juan Generating Station to comply with federal visibility rules on regional haze. The terms would result in the retirement of SJGS Units 2 and 3 by the end of 2017, and the installation of selective non-catalytic reduction technology on the remaining two units in early 2016. The terms of the non-binding agreement would require several additional actions before becoming final, PNM Resources said.
Thousands of protesters gathered on the National Mall calling on President Barack Obama to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline plan and take action on climate change. The Forward on Climate rally brought an estimated 35,000 people from 30 states, protesting the Keystone project for facilitating carbon-emitting oil sands extraction.
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ordered Apache Corporation to prepare to drill a relief well to control its natural gas well in the Gulf of Mexico, where gas has flowed underground. Apache shut the well on February 5 after experiencing a temporary loss of control due to high pressure, but said that no gas or oil has leaked into the Gulf, Reuters reports.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will seek to change the city building code so that up to 20 percent of all new parking spaces in private developments will be wired for electric vehicle charging. This will create up to 10,000 EV charging spots over the next seven years, Bloomberg said.
The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, issued a $1 billion green bond that will be used to support IFC climate-friendly projects in developing countries. It is the largest green bond issue to date and was principally allocated to socially responsible investment portfolios.
The UNFCCC signed an agreement with the East African Development Bank to increase participation in clean development projects in the region. The agreement will establish a regional collaboration center in
Kampala, Uganda, that will support the identification of projects qualified to earn certified emission reductions (CERs) under the Clean Development Mechanism. Uganda has 12 emission-reduction projects currently registered to earn CERs, the UN said.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee requested a security update from the Department of Energy related to the agency’s nuclear operations. The request follows up on a July 2012 trespassing incident at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The committee is requesting a security review for DOE facilities with Category I and II special nuclear materials, The Hill said.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced a measure to develop geothermal energy through the federal land leasing program. This legislation extends the authority for noncompetitive leasing in cases where a geothermal developer wants to gain access to federal land immediately adjacent to land with proven geothermal resources, The Hill said.
The EPA reached a $1.62 million settlement with 47 parties for contamination at the 190-acre Operating Industries, Inc. Superfund Site in Monterey Park, Calif. Each of the parties was responsible for sending a relatively small volume, between 4,200 and 110,000 gallons, of liquid hazardous waste to the OII landfill during decades of operation, the EPA says.
Senators Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced their fee-and-dividend climate bill. The idea puts a price on carbon at its source and rebates most of the money back to US residents. The concept is modeled on Alaska’s permanent fund that rebates oil royalties to state residents.
The GAO added financial risks from climate change and gaps in weather satellite data to its High Risk List, in its biennial assessment of federal programs and operations. A total of 30 programs and operations are included on the listing. GAO added climate change because the federal government is not well positioned to address the fiscal exposure presented by global warming and needs a government-wide strategic approach with strong leadership to manage related risks, the agency said.
The Spanish Parliament approved a law that cuts subsidies for alternative energy technologies, backtracking on its push for green power. Foreign investors in renewable energy projects in Spain have hired lawyers to prepare potential legal action. International funds have more than $17 billion of renewable energy assets in Spain and say that the government has reneged on the terms of their investment, Reuters said.
A series of new bills in the Senate seek to limit the EPA’s regulatory reach and would subject the agency to penalties for missing reporting deadlines. Offered by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), the legislation reflects the
discontent with the agency’s use of regulations and official memoranda to further the administration’s environmental agenda without congressional approval, The Hill said.
Investors and a group of large businesses urged the EU to revive its emissions trading scheme, ahead of a vote in the European parliament on whether to hold back some carbon permits from sale. Shell, General Electric, Kingfisher, Unilever and EDF were among companies calling for reforms that would raise carbon prices and restore confidence in the scheme.
Koch Nitrogen Company agreed to pay a $380,000 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of the risk management program required by the Clean Air Act at facilities in Iowa and Kansas. The inspected facilities are in Fort Dodge and Marshalltown, Iowa, and Dodge City, Kan. The Fort Dodge and Dodge City facilities manufacture ammonia and urea-ammonium nitrate solution. The Marshalltown facility is a pipeline terminal that processes anhydrous ammonia, the EPA said.
Studies & Reports
Machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies could help reduce global GHG emissions by 9.1 billion metric tons by 2020, equivalent to 18.6 percent of global GHG emissions in 2011, according to a report by AT&T and the Carbon War Room.
Refinery maintenance is partially to blame for the rise in gasoline prices since the start of the year, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The EIA’s latest This Week in Petroleum report says the average gas price at the pump has risen 45 cents per gallon since the start of the year, reaching $3.75 per gallon on Feb. 18.
Synthetic chemicals, untested for their disruptive effects on the hormone system, are likely at least partly to blame for a global increase in birth deformities, cancers and psychiatric diseases, but manufacturers’ lack of transparency means the problem could be even more serious, according to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization.
Reusable water pouch maker Vapur and stainless steel sink company Elkay partnered to install water-bottle refilling stations on campuses across the US. The companies say billions of bottles of water are consumed every year, and less than 20 percent are recycled. The refill stations encourage students and faculty to use reusable bottles, according to Vapur, which makes reusable “Anti-Bottles” that are BPA-free. Pittsburgh-based MSA, the largest producer of industrial hard hats in North America, has launched the V-Gard GRN hard hat, which it says is the first industrial safety product produced from nearly 100 percent renewable resources. International Paper has become a voluntary partner of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Better Plants program, joining more than 100 other companies working with DOE to implement cost-effective energy efficiency improvements.
Fleets & Transportation
Ford Motor Co. unveiled a five-year global strategy to reduce waste sent to landfill between 2011 and 2016 by 40 percent per vehicle. The initiative will reduce waste to just 13.4 pounds per vehicle worldwide, Ford said. Michelin and Siemens staff will use electric vehicles for trips from Germany and France as part of a demonstration project that aims to prove that EVs are cheaper overall than conventional fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Estonia became the first country to launch a nationwide fast-charging network for electric vehicles, using technology provided by ABB. The 165 web-connected direct current fast chargers are installed in urban areas with more than 5,000 inhabitants, and on major roads throughout the country, creating the highest concentration of DC chargers in Europe. The UK’s largest home improvement retailer, B&Q, introduced 50 dual-fuel tractor units to its fleet following a successful trial last year. The 25 Mercedes and 25 Volvo units have been introduced to a new distribution centre in Swindon, England, and are powered by biomethane, produced by the retailer’s partners Gasrec.
ROUSH CleanTech unveiled propane autogas fuel systems for the Ford F-59, F-53 and E-450 stripped chassis. The systems can help companies save $35,000 or more on fuel and operating expenses over the course of a vehicle’s lifetime, ROUSH says. ChargePoint announced its entry into the Atlanta market with the installation of networked EV charging stations. Lanier Parking Solutions, headquartered in Atlanta, facilitated the placement of six ChargePoint EV charging stations at locations in Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead, with the location of a seventh charger to be determined. Pennsylvania American Water launched a compressed natural gas pilot for its vehicle fleet. Initially, the company will be using four new CNG-powered Ford F-250 trucks. PAW is also applying for a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to add more CNG-powered vehicles to its fleet. Green Automotive Company, having recently acquired Liberty Electric Cars Ltd. in Europe, signed a binding agreement to buy UK-based electric vehicle distributor Going Green Limited. The latter company, doing business under the brand name “GoinGreen,” has sold over 1,400 G-Wiz electric vehicles, making it Europe’s largest single retailer of electric vehicles. Fuji Electric Corporation of America is releasing a new generation of UL-Certified 25kW DC Quick Charging Stations for electric vehicles, offering a slimmer, sleeker version aimed at a wider variety of applications and site locations. Greyhound Lines will deploy driver risk and fleet management program DriveCam across its entire fleet of more than 1,700 buses, in an effort to reduce fuel consumption and improve safety. DriveCam will install its program for Greyhound under a five-year contract. Honda Motor Co. has developed a technology to join steel and aluminum, which the automaker says will reduce vehicle weight to improve fuel economy. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation developed technology that reduces total railway energy consumption by up to five percent through efficient use of regenerative power from trains and optimized voltage control at multiple railway substations.
Volvo Buses’ North American subsidiary, Nova Bus, received an order for 475 hybrid buses from Quebec, Canada, with an option for a further 1,200 vehicles. The customer, ATUQ, is a consortium consisting of the province’s nine transit authorities. Delivery of the 475 LFS hybrid electric vehicle buses will start in 2014.
Classification society Det Norske Veritas and process modeling firm Process Systems Enterprise developed a concept design for on-board chemical capture, liquefaction and temporary carbon dioxide storage for ships in transit. Ships using the technique would carry the unwanted materials with them until they could discharge them into transmission and storage infrastructures at the next suitable port.
UPS announced environmental upgrades to the trackside pick-up and delivery options it provides to NASCAR, including the use of a new exhaust system and solar power. UPS became an official NASCAR partner in 2000 and has provided behind-the-scenes pick-up and delivery services for race teams, sponsors, racing officials, vendors and news media at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events across the country.
Green Building
Marks & Spencer unveiled a “green” property lease policy intended to better manage new buildings’ environmental performance, and retrospectively add green clauses to 70 existing leases, the retailer says. Sprint, Macy’s and Johnson Controls are joining the Better Buildings Challenge. The companies will upgrade more than 200 million square feet of building space to cut energy use by at least 20 percent by 2020.
The US Department of Defense should continue to require that its new buildings or major renovations to facilities be designed to achieve a LEED-Silver or equivalent rating, according to a report from the National Research Council.
Amyris Inc. named Zanna McFerson as its new chief business officer. McFerson will be responsible for Amyris’s commercial and product line activities, effective March.
Sustainable Forestry Initiative announced that Andrew de Vries joined the eco-label organization as vice president, conservation, indigenous and government relations. Most recently de Vries was the chief biologist for the Forest Products Association of Canada, Canada’s national forest industry trade association.
Sims Metal Management Ltd’s CEO, Daniel Dienst, will retire, effective June 30. Dienst will resign from the company’s board of directors at the same time.
ReCommunity appointed James E. Devlin as its chief executive officer, effective March 4. He was previously president of Heckmann Environmental Services, the environmental and waste recycling solutions division of Heckmann Corporation.
Terra Tech Corp appointed GroRite’s Ken Vande Vrede as COO and to the company’s board of directors. GroRite is currently merging into Terra Tech.
Xyntéo announced that Nelly Segisova will be the low-carbon collaboration firm’s first senior advisor on the ground in Russia. Segisova is to develop the Russia New Growth Partnership ahead of an inaugural roundtable event in Moscow. She joins Xyntéo from the Russian Energy Agency.
Resource Recycling Systems announced the addition of Susan Graff as a new principal and vice president of global corporate sustainability. Graff previously founded ERS Global, and had a 13-year career with the EPA including both policy and technical leadership positions.
WesTech appointed Les Uhlmeyer as head of its new municipal water treatment business unit overseeing the Microfloc and General Filter product lines. Uhlmeyer has more than 30 years’ experience, spending more than two decades in leadership positions with Microfloc and General Filter prior to those product lines being acquired by WesTech.
Newmont Mining Corp. appointed Elaine Dorward-King as executive vice president of sustainability and external relations, beginning March 18. She will assume responsibility for the company’s environmental, social responsibility, community and government relations functions. She previously worked at Rio Tinto.
Barnes Group aerospace and industrial manufacturer appointed Susan Rodrigue McFarland director of health, safety and environmental affairs. McFarland has worked in environmental compliance and occupational safety for 22 years and previously worked at Pratt and Whitney, Sikorsky Aircraft and Carrier Corporation.
EBI Consulting appointed Dan Tollman as chief financial officer and executive vice president of finance and administration. Tollman comes to EBI Consulting from Sebesta Blomberg, where he was CFO, chief operational officer and later president.
Environmental Science Associates appointed Robert Battalio chief engineer and vice president. As chief engineer, Battalio will oversee the firm’s engineering services in flood management, restoration design and coastal engineering.
GreenBlue announced the appointment of Katherine O’Dea as senior director of advisory services and innovation. O’Dea worked for the past six years as a senior fellow and director of advisory services at GreenBlue.
Forum for the Future hired Mark Driscoll as its head of food. Forum for the Future’s current food partners include Pepsico, M&S, Pret a Manger, Certis, Target, Unilever and Tata Global Beverages. Prior to joining Forum for the Future, Driscoll led WWF-UK’s One Planet Food Programme.
McGuireWoods named Bernadette Rappold partner at its Washington, D.C. office, where she will focus her practice on representing and counseling clients in compliance, enforcement and other strategic matters relating to environmental regulations under EPA and state-based authorities. Rappold was previously the director of the special litigation and projects division in the Office of Civil Enforcement at the EPA.
Proterro, the bioenergy firm which developed a photobioreactor to make sucrose, named Edi Eliezer as its engineering vice president. In his position, Eliezer will develop a pilot project demonstrating affordable biofuels and bio-based chemical production. Eliezer has three decades of industrial bioengineering experience and previously worked at Fluor Corp., DuPont Tate & Lyle BioProducts, Aker Kvaerner and Raytheon Engineers & Constructors.
Seven Seas Water, a water treatment services company, announced Ian Fox has joined the firm as senior vice president of international business development. Fox comes to Seven Seas Water from AES Corporation, where he was managing director of business development.
Water Management
Most of the southwest, parts of California and the southern and central Great Plains will be the most vulnerable areas in the US to water shortages during the next 60 years, according to a US Forest Service Report.
The soy milk and almond milk brand Silk expanded its water conservation efforts through a partnership with Bonneville Environmental Foundation and a pledge to offset all of its water use.
Supermarket Asda and brewer Molson Coors partnered to launch a water management guide for farmers. Simply Sustainable Water, developed by sustainable farming organization Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF), includes six steps for managing water quality, and encourages farmers to set a baseline by assessing and mapping water use and sources.
Coca-Cola Enterprises, Sainsbury’s, Sunlight and Branston are the first four organizations to achieve the Carbon Trust’s water reduction standard, intended to spur companies into measuring, managing and reducing their water use.
Industrial water and wastewater technology company Aquatech was granted a permit to operate a Pennsylvania facility targeting regional shale gas producers. The facility will feature Aquatech’s MoTreat and MoVap process units, a pretreatment and distillation evaporator system designed to treat drill fluids, frac flowback, production brine and other wastewater from exploration and production of conventional and unconventional oil and gas.
The Cadmus Group won its third consecutive five-year contract to work with the EPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds (OWOW). Under this contract, the consultancy will work with OWOW to monitor water quality, manage and display water quality information, and report on water quality conditions to the public and to Congress.
Investing in water efficiency and re-use projects will address growing problems associated with drought, flooding and contamination, and create thousands of jobs in a wide range of professions by 2020, according to the Pacific Institute.
Waste & Recycling
Raven Industries Engineered Films Division installed a new reclaim production line designed to capture and recycle excess polymer material from internal manufacturing processes. The new reclaim line can produce up to 15 million pounds of reprocessed resin pellets annually. Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ laser welding process, which eliminates up to 73 percent of the engineered waste produced during traditional stamping operations, has won a Manufacturing Leadership 100 Sustainability Award from Frost & Sullivan’s Manufacturing Leadership Council. California lawmakers are calling for an investigation following two reports that say the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control refuses to revoke the permits of companies that repeatedly violate environmental laws, and lets hazardous waste polluters operate on expired permits for years at a time. Environmental Land Management, an Austin, Minn.,-based company, wants to spread up to 19,000 tons a year of byproduct from a John Morrell hog processing plant onto farm fields in South Dakota. The firm has applied for a conditional use permit to put the dried, treated wastewater byproduct, which currently goes to the landfill, onto farm fields. The county planning commission is recommending the permit be denied.
H&M kicked off its garment recycling program. The initiative allows customers to donate used clothing of any brand at all of the fashion retailer’s stores in its 48 markets worldwide.
The North Face has launched a pilot clothing take-back/recycling program called Clothes the Loop, aimed at keeping billions of pounds of apparel and footwear out of landfills.
Farm groups worried about stricter federal regulations are considering using floating islands built from recycled bottles and seeded with native plants to combat pollution in the Mississippi River.
Nestle installed its first wind energy project at its Nestle Waters North America (NWNA) bottling plant in Cabazon, Calif. The two wind turbines will provide power for 30 percent of the facility where the company produces its Arrowhead and Nestle Pure Life brand bottled waters. Washington, DC, mayor Vincent Gray announced a plan to halve the district’s GHG emissions and build 1,000 new renewable-energy systems by 2032, among other environmental goals. UPS invested in two solar power projects at its distribution facilities in Parsippany and Secaucus, NJ. The 1.2 MW Parsippany project was completed in the fall of 2012 and the 1.2 MW Secaucus project is planned for completion in the spring of 2013. These will expand UPS’s solar power generating capacity from 360 kW to 2,760 kW, and will produce in excess of 3 million kWh of renewable energy per year, UPS says.
The net energy, or “energy returned on energy invested,” of unconventional sources such as tar sands and shale gas is generally much lower than for conventional resources, according to research by the Post Carbon Institute.
Cellulosic biofuels will likely remain well below targets set by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The current record-low natural gas prices “will be a game changer” for North American companies that rely on feedstock or direct energy usage to compete on a global level, according to analysis by RBC Capital Markets and Economist Intelligence Unit.
The latest version of the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines — G4 — will require companies only to provide disclosures and indicators relevant to their business, a GRI spokesperson said, denying claims that G4 will impose a greater burden on companies. Starbucks agreed to purchase 100 percent of its palm oil from certified sustainable suppliers by 2015, according to Green Century Capital Management. AkzoNobel set new sustainability targets that include reducing carbon emissions by 25 to 30 percent per ton of product by 2020, compared to 2012 levels. EconoLodge is rolling out an environmental initiative that it says could save 6 million gallons of water and 12 million kWh of energy. All US Econo Lodge hotels, which are franchised by Choice Hotels International, are to implement the Choice Hotels’ Room to be Green program in 2013. The program is designed to reduce environmental impact and waste, appeal to environmentally conscious guests and potentially lower operational expenses. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is helping to fund nonprofit Radio Lifeline’s Black Earth Project, an initiative that uses biochar to help Rwandan farmers mitigate the effects of climate change. Biochar is charcoal produced through the burning of dried biomass in a low- or zero-oxygen environment, a process called pyrolysis which prevents combustion and the usual release of carbon dioxide, black carbon and other greenhouse gases.
The ISO outlined how its standards help manufacturers and consumer representatives ensure that environmental claims can be trusted. The organization’s free brochure, Environmental labels and declarations – How ISO standards can help, gives an introduction to the ISO 14020 series of standards for environmental labels and declarations.
Rig operator Transocean pleaded guilty to a violation of the Clean Water Act and agreed to pay $400 million in criminal penalties for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 workers and caused the worse offshore oil spill in US history. A federal judge approved Transocean’s agreement with the Justice Department to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
Brookshire Grocery Co. joined the EPA’s GreenChill partnership, an initiative that works with supermarkets to reduce refrigerant emissions. By joining GreenChill, Brookshire pledges to go beyond regulatory requirements to protect the ozone layer and combat climate change. The US Army Environmental Command awarded a contract to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to provide environmental remediation support services at Army installations nationwide. The multiple-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract has a five-year base period of performance and a total contract value of $240 million for all awardees. Sheffield Resources awarded a contract to Resource Development Group subsidiary Ecologia Environment to complete all biological assessments for the Thunderbird site of Sheffield Resources Mineral Sands Project on the Dampier Peninsula in western Australia. The biological assessments will include flora and fauna surveys to support Sheffield in the environmental approvals process. Enzyme-enabled carbon capture technology company CO2 Solutions was awarded a contract by the CO2 Capture Project (CCP) to provide certain project data and reports to CCP related to the pre-pilot phase of CO2 Solutions’ Alberta oil sands project. The value for this contract was not disclosed and will be included in CO2 Solutions’ calendar 2013 revenue. A shareholder resolution proposing that PNC Financial assess the greenhouse gas emissions in its lending portfolio as well as its exposure to climate change risk must remain on the proxy ballot, according to a ruling by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
California raised about $176 million selling GHG emissions permits in its second carbon auction, with businesses paying $13.62 per metric ton of carbon, exceeding analysts’ expectations and selling at $2.91 above the reserve price. The state sold all of its 12,924,822 carbon permits for use this year. Chevron, BP, Exxon and Shell were among the companies qualified to buy permits.
Rankings
Levi Strauss, financial company BBVA, Ebay, Danone and General Electric top the SMI-Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index 2012, an annual review analyzing how major companies use social media to communicate sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
Bam Group, a property, design, construction and facilities management firm, has ranked no. 1 in the UK’s Carbon Reduction Commitment Performance League Table (PTL), with data appearing to show that it cut emissions 65 percent in one year. Motorola, Skanska, Manchester City Council and bank Bradford & Bingley round out the top five on the list.
The world’s 10 largest food companies received low overall ratings on their social and environmental policies with Associated British Foods, Kellogg’s and General Mills receiving the lowest scores, in a report released by Oxfam.
Nine US-based companies including Molson Coors, Alcoa, Sonoco Products, Herman Miller and UnitedHealth Group have been awarded gold medals for sustainability practices in RobecoSAM and KPMG’s Sustainability Yearbook 2013. This places the US higher than any other country in the rankings.
Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort tops this year’s Ski Area Environmental Scorecard, receiving 93 percent of possible points and getting an A grade, while Arizona Snowbowl’s comes in last place, scoring 42.2 percent and earning a D.
Non-profit ChemSec added 249 chemicals to its Substitute It Now list, which names substances of very high concern. The additions expand the number of listed chemicals by 66 percent. With the additions, the Substitute It Now or SIN List consists of 626 chemicals identified as Substances of Very High Concern based on criteria established by the EU chemical regulation agency REACH.
Alternative fuel developers face a make-or-break year as leading companies, such as Amyris, Poet, Solazyme, Gevo, Novozymes and Mendel, race to show substantial revenue, according to a report by Lux Research. The report, “Leading Alternative Fuel Developers Race to Real Revenue in 2013,” said companies that lag behind will suffer as government support becomes more unpredictable and private investment dollars dry up.
