Earth Hour: 8.30 pm local time, 28th March, 2009
Mar 28, 2009 Information of the Day, Natural Resource Conservation
EarthHour
This is to remind one and all that today, the whole world will be commemorating the Earth Hour by switching off all lights for one hour from 8.30 pm local time.
Wherever you are on this planet of ours, this symbolism will let our leaders know that we are very serious about tackling the environmental crises facing our terra firma. More than the symbolism, it will save big bucks in electricity costs and carbon emissions, though insignificant compared to the scle of actual action needed to tackle the impending challenges: climate change, vanishing habitats and species, poluution and so on.
Find out more at the EarthHour website.
Tags: Climate Change, EarthHour, Pollution
Coca Cola steps up efforts to conserve water in Africa
Mar 16, 2009 Natural Resource Conservation
Coca Cola
Coca-Cola has announced that it will spend $30 million over the next six years to provide access to safe drinking water to communities throughout Africa through its Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN). Implemented by The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, RAIN will provide at least 2 million Africans with clean water and sanitation by 2015.
Coca Cola has been accused of exacerbating local drinking water problems in many countries, even outside Africa, like India in the past. The bottling plants use lots of water which can lead to depletion of water table. The effluents can wreak havoc as well. Criticism has forced Coca Cola to launch conservation efforts, constituting recycling, rainwater harvesting, et al.
The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation currently has water projects in 19 African countries – Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Cote d’ Ivoire, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia – reaching over 300,000 people. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Coca Cola, water conservation
X PRIZE What’s Your Crazy Green Idea has winners
Feb 7, 2009 Green Technologies, Natural Resource Conservation, Ratings and awards
X-Prize
The X PRIZE Foundation has announced UC Irvine students Kyle Good and Bryan Le as the winners of “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea?” competition.
It was a $25000 competition to design the theme for a potential competition! The Foundation invited the public to develop and post a two-minute video describing a concept for a potential X PRIZE in Energy and Environment. More than 130 videos were received and more than 4,200 people voted for the winner.
The winners threw the gauntlet at potential entrepreneurs and engineers to build an capacitor which has energy density higher than average lead acid batteries, be fully rechargable under 1 minute and withstand half a million recharge cycles and at the same time use only non-toxic materials and cost less than 2 times an average lead acid battery.
The winning video is below:
Tags: Energy Efficiency, XPRIZE
Malta’s ambitious smart grid plans
Feb 5, 2009 Green Architecture, Green Technologies, Natural Resource Conservation
The tiny island nation of Malta is on its way to getting a Smart Grid by 2012. Its electric utility companies have signed a 70 million euro agreement with IBM to design and deliver a nationwide Smart Grid implementation.
Under the agreement, IBM will replace all 250,000 analog electricity meters with new smart electronic devices which will enable remote monitoring, management, meter readings and meter suspensions. Customers will also benefit from ability to better manage consumption, improved customer relationship management and the introduction of flexible tariffs and a customer oriented portal.
Smart Grid has been creating increased buzz recently, with GE even airing an ad in the Superbowl spot. Read the rest of this entry »
Garbage truck powered by rubbish
Feb 3, 2009 Green Technologies, Natural Resource Conservation
A garbage truck will be used by a British town is now being powered by electricity produced from the garbage that it collects. The vehicle in Kirklees Council will take the waste collected to a Energy from Waste power station and recycling center nearby where the garbage is burnt to generate electricity, and the truck recharges at a charging post to be ready for the next day’s route.
The truck is a modified Ford Transit has a top speed of 50 mph, a 100-mile range, and takes about six to eight hours to charge. If one of these babies were in your town, maybe you would have felt less guilty about the trash that you throw out each day! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: electric vehicle, waste management
Walmart gets new hybrid trucks
Feb 3, 2009 Green Technologies, Natural Resource Conservation
Walmart green trucks
With an aim of doubling fleet efficiency compared to 2005, Wal-Mart Stores announced that it will test two new types of heavy-duty commercial hybrid trucks and two different alternatively fueled heavy duty trucks.
These include a full-propulsion Arvin Meritor dual-mode diesel-electric hybrid as well as fifteen trucks converted to run on Reclaimed Grease Fuel, made with the waste brown cooking grease from Walmart stores. There will be other trucks operating on an 80/20 blend of biodiesel made of reclaimed yellow waste grease. The list of vehices in the green fleet will also include heavy-duty hybrid trucks with diesel-electric hybrid power systems as well as trucks converted to run on natural gas.
UPS, a package delivery company and Coca Cola have been experimenting with hybrid trucks as well, though they are using hydraulic hybrids. Read the rest of this entry »
Wind turbine maker Suzlon plans to raise money through ADRs
Feb 2, 2009 Natural Resource Conservation, Stars, Policy and Finance
Suzlon Energy, one of the largest windturbine manufacturers, is planning to raise an undisclosed sum through American Depository Receipts (ADRs). It has recently sought permission from indian government to raise its foereign direct investment (FDI) percentage to just over 25%, a 5% increase, reports the Economic Times.
It will be interesting to see the public response to a ADR issue, in midst of two opposing forces in US: the promises of Obama’s green initiatives and the ongoing financial market crisis.
Suzlon had a rough 2008, when some of its turbines developed cracks and then the tanking of Indian equity markets led it to suspend plans to raise Rs 1,800 crore (~$400 million) by way of a rights issue. Suzlon Energy is now planning to raise money through an ADR issue and/or a preferential allotment. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Suzlon, Suzlon Energy
Green Investing report from Davos
Jan 31, 2009 Natural Resource Conservation, Stars, Policy and Finance
A report christened “Green Investing: Towards a Clean Energy Infrastructure” was released in the ongoing World Economic Forum at Davos.
It talks about the future of the new energy sources as well as issues like Energy Efficiency, Smart Grid, Power Storage and Carbon Capture and Storage, amongst others. It also estimates that global investment in clean energy must reach $515 billion per year by 2030, almost triple that of 2008 investment, in order to avoid adverse climate change. Read the report here.
Tags: Davos, Energy, Environment, WEF
NDTV India organising “Greenathon”
Jan 30, 2009 Natural Resource Conservation, Philanthropy and Corporate Initiatives, Social Initiatives
Greenathon
NDTV, one of India’s largest news channels is going to organise a “Greenathon” on 7 and 8th February. This will consist of extensive clean up drives across the country, movie screenings, music concerts and other activities organized across the country.
Toyota seems to be the main sponsor (though it was Honda which gave India its first hybrid last year, the Civic Hybrid) and celebrities and experts like Preity Zinta, popular actress and Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have come on board.
Check out more details at the website. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Greenathon, India, NDTV
Walmart promises smarter packaging and greener detergents
Jan 28, 2009 Natural Resource Conservation, Social Initiatives
Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s biggest retailer, has committed to reduce phosphates in laundry and dish detergents sold in North American region by 70 percent by 2011. It has also announced plans to accelerate its drive toward more sustainable packaging, by reducing packaging by 5 percent by the end of 2013.
Phosphate compounds are a common water pollutant and can damage aquatic ecosystems by stimulating the growth of algae and thus, cutting off oxygen supply in the water for fish and plants (they are the P in the NPK fertilizers you studied in school). Phosphates from detergents are a significant contributor to phosphate-based water pollution
The announcements were made during the Walmart’s quarterly sustainability milestone meeting. Link to the webcast follows. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Amazon, CSR, Packaging, Phosphates, Walmart