To produce $1 of sugar, manufacturers use 270 gallons of water. A dollar of pet food takes 200 gallons of water. These figures include the sourcing of raw materials, processing, packaging, and shipping, according to Carnegie Mellon University scientists. A 2010 study published in Environmental Science and Technology, leveraged computer models to estimate water usage by 400 industrial sectors. No surprise, it was discovered that the food and beverage industries account for about 30 percent of what’s being called the “water footprint” or consumption of water during the entire product life cycle. While water doesn’t get the high-profile attention in conservation that fossil-fuel energy sources enjoy, it is as critical a resource for survival of planet earth and the people on it. Warnings come from diverse sources such as the Second UN World Water Development Report that there will ...

  Ceres, director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), “a network of 100 institutional investors with collective assets totaling about $10 trillion,” informed us of the above, yesterday, as 450 global investors controlling tens of trillions of dollars from four continents gathered at the United Nations offices in New York City for the Investor Summit on Climate Risk & Energy Solutions. “Climate change is certain to be a major factor in investments for the foreseeable future—perhaps the biggest investment factor of our lifetimes,” said Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Asset Management. Some key news and points made at the NYC summit include: 45 new, carbon-reducing policies were adopted around the world in 2011 reportedly, only 4 negative policy actions were taken (not sure how they qualified such actions) $260 billion was invested in clean energy in 2011, according ...

The Australian government will begin imposing a tax on carbon emissions in mid-2012. But large giveaways to industry mean Australia’s scheme doesn’t go nearly far enough in reducing the nation’s CO2 emissions or providing economic stimulus. Another global climate conference has come and gone with little action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which makes efforts to combat climate change at the national or local level all the more important. After years of bitter debate and haggling, we in Australia last month finally decided to follow Europe in putting a price on carbon. Unfortunately, Australia’s plan, like Europe’s, gave away far too much to major emitters of CO2 and does far too little to reduce emissions, aiming for a 5 percent cut in carbon by 2020, with uncertainty as to how deep the cuts may be beyond then. Countries that ...

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Fuel cells offer a highly efficient, reliable and increasingly durable means of generating clean electrical energy independent of the grid or integrated with grid power. Installations are growing across a wide range of applications, from combined heat and power (CHP) generation at commercial, industrial, government and educational facilities to hybrid electric vehicles and consumer electronics.

They’re also being evaluated as a means of storing intermittent electricity production from wind power farms and wastewater-to-energy treatment plants, as well as capturing CO2 and NOX emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Fuel cells’ “green” credentials continue to be questioned, however, especially when the fuel used to produce the hydrogen used by alkaline fuel cells is methane in the form of natural or biogas. According to the infographic above, ...

January 10, 2012
11:30 am	to	1:00 pm

Sustainable Industrial Development for the 21st Century is pleased to announce our topic and luncheon speaker for Tuesday, Jan. 10,  2012.

Carolyn Bowen, M.Sc., Manager of the Office of Sustainability for the City of Calgary

Carolyn Bowen, MSc., is the Manager of the Office of Sustainability at The City of Calgary. Carolyn has managed the Office of Sustainability since its inception in mid-2009. She brings 17 years of combined private consulting, educational and public service experience to her role. She has been with The City for 11 years and has had leading roles in many projects including The City of Calgary’s Climate Change Action Plan Target -50 and The City’s ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (first municipality in North America to be fully registered to ISO14001). Within the Office of Sustainability, Carolyn and her team have …

Time for another round-up. This one’s on some of the top cleantech policy stories I’ve seen around in the past week or so.

1. Spain Now Allowing Net Metering for Small Power Plants!

“Spain’s government passed a decree [last] Friday designed to make it easier for small power plants to connect to the grid and pave the way for their operators to become self-sufficient,” Reuters reports. “Government spokesman Jose Blanco told a weekly news conference the measure was aimed at renewable energy sources, particularly photovoltaic (PV) panels, which convert sunlight into electricity.”

2. U.S. Could Save Over $80 Billion in Lower Energy Costs by Switching to Clean, Safe, Renewable Energy

“Titled ‘Toward a Sustainable Future for the U.S. Power Sector: Beyond Business as Usual 2011′ and available online at  http://www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org/synapsereport, the new Synapse/CSI report outlines a realistic ...

The financial papers this week are reeling, simply reeling, at the plummet in the EU carbon markets. The idea is that the European Trading Scheme is a failure, because the price of carbon in the European cap and trade market has bottomed at a very low price: just 7.68 euros.

But, aside from the European financial turmoil – reducing power needs – the fact that the price has dropped so low in Europe is a mark of success. It reflects the fact that it was surprisingly inexpensive to switch to clean energy to meet targets, add energy efficiency projects, and invest in clean energy projects in the developing world with the Clean Development Mechanism.

(Related: EU Met 2012 Goals, on Track for 2020, Can Cut Emissions 80% by 2050)

The 2009 progress report to the UN noted that the EU was ...

At the heart of the adoption curve for clean energy, electric transportation, and sustainability more generally is consumer behavior. If consumers don’t vote in favor of green products with their wallets, the world will remain mired in dirty and abusive practices until the pain associated with that reaches a point that we literally cannot maintain the status quo. By that point, of course, inestimable damage will have been done to our ecosystem, not to mention our very humanity. But who knows what motivates people? I’m not sure, but I can point you in the right direction. Check out BECC, Stanford University’s Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference. It’s focused on “understanding the nature of individual and organizational behavior and decision making, and using that knowledge to accelerate our transition to an energy-efficient and low carbon economy.” Sounds ...

U.S. fossil fuel use rose in 2010. This is the U.S. energy split in 2010.

Climate scientists have warned us (for decades). Some politicians have warned us. Military reports have warned us. And citizens of the world have certainly warned now. Now, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is warning us: if we don’t make a massive switch to clean energy in the next few years (5 years according to the IEA), climate change is going to wreck us.

Now, an important thing to remember is that avoiding the catastrophes of climate change is not like meeting a legislative or business deadline. It’s not like stopping the car before driving into the wall. It’s more like this: we’ve driven the car into the biggest hurricane the world has ever seen, ...

The world’s largest coal exporter and per capita emitter of greenhouse gases has just joined the EU, New Zealand, California and the the RGGI states in passing into law legislation that puts a price on carbon emissions. Australian prime ministers have been toppled for a decade in attempting the feat that current Prime Minister Gillard has just barely managed, overcoming the sort of fossil industry stonewalling that has choked sensible climate policy in the US since Al Gore first attempted a BTU tax in 1993.

With the narrow vote in the Senate, Australia will now join in ETS trading with the EU and its neighbor New Zealand which gets 78% of its electricity from renewables already. New Zealand, which includes hydro as a renewable, has a history of tapping renewable power going back to the nineteenth century with a wealth of geothermal and ...