The Dirt on Diesels

Cleaning up dirty diesels isn’t easy, but there are technologies available and new ones in the works which will reduce ozone-forming air pollution emitted from diesel engines in the form of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Because diesel cars and trucks are actually 30% more fuel efficient than vehicles fueled by gasoline, thereby burning less fuel, they can actually be better for the environment if their emissions are cleaned up using diesel particulate filters (to reduce particulate matter) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR).

In an effort to bring more innovative, fuel efficient clean diesel vehicles to the American marketplace, the EPA has issued a set of guidelines on emission certification procedures for on-road diesels that use SCR technology.

SCR reduces NOx in emissions by using a specially coated catalyst with a “reducing agent” such as ammonia or urea to turn NOx into harmless nitrogen and water.

According to the EPA, manufacturers of SCR technology will need to gain approval according to the guidelines in order to receive verification from the EPA. The technologies must take into account driver warning systems and inducement, system durability and reliability, and reducing agent quality and availability.

See the Source:
EPA – March 27, 2007

Find out:
More about low-temp selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology from CleanAIR Systems

Cut Air Pollution … Or Else!

The EPA has finalized rules instructing 39 areas in 20 states to drastically reduce air pollution levels of fine particulate matter by 2010. The source of most particulate pollution is power plants, cars, trucks and heavy equipment. The EPA requirements include the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, the introduction of clean diesel trucks and buses, the Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule to reduce emissions produced by off-road diesel vehicles, and the Clean Air Interstate Rule to reduce particulate matter (PM) from power plant emissions.

Under the Clean Air Act, states must have a plan in place by April of 2008, and designated areas must reduce fine particles to 1997 air quality levels by 2010. Approximately 88 million people in urban areas live with high levels air pollution containing fine particles, which have been linked to heart and lung disease, as well as premature death.

But Clean air advocate, Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch believes that the finalized rules are a “flagrant gift to the electric power industry” because power plants can comply to regulations by purchasing credits through the “cap-and-trade” program and not physically reduce their emissions.

It is estimated that power plants already need to invest $50 billion to install new technology to bring emissions into compliance with the air quality standards for reduction of sulfur dioxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Another contingency is that counties with the highest levels of fine particulate matter could receive a five year extension, delaying their attainment until 2015.

See the Source:
EPA

Find out:
How diesel particulate matter impacts health and the environment

Blowin’ In the Wind

General Electric Wind has purchased 276 MW wind turbines from EDF Energies Nouvelles. Due to the recent renewal of the production tax credit in effect until the end of 2008, a demand has been created for turbines in order to continue U.S. expansion into this market.

“The availability of turbines is of major importance for wind power operators to expand in the United States. Extension of the renewable energy production tax credit until the end of 2008 will not fail to stimulate the wind power market and demand for turbines. We are pleased to have a long-established collaboration with GE Wind. Signing this new contract forms part of our ambitious expansion plan in the fast-growing US market,” says David Corchia, Chief Executive Officer of EDF Energies Nouvelles.

About EDF Energies Nouvelles
Founded in 1990, EDF Energies Nouvelles is a world-class player in the green electricity generation market, with gross installed capacity of 1,037 MW worldwide at 31 December 2006, plus 615 MW in gross capacity under construction. With a presence in 9 European countries and in the United States, EDF Energies Nouvelles operates in four renewable energy segments: wind, hydro, biomass and solar.

See the Source:
EDF Energies Nouvelles

EU’s Environmental Endeavors

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance heard the testimony of Ambassador John Bruton this week, outlining the European Union’s energy policy objectives.

With the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting energy dependency, the Ambassador stated several EU policies such as energy taxation, the EU emission trading system, and a plan for sustainable coal technologies.

"Although EU energy policy is far from being created from scratch - a number of energy efficiency and renewables promotion measures date back more than 10 years - it is just recently that the EU has opted for a comprehensive, integrated and ambitious policy set in the field of energy and fight against climate change," said Ambassador Bruton, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to the United States, during testimony.

He continued "the EU’s increasing dependency on imports threatens not only its security of supply but it also implies higher prices, if, for example, the price of oil rises to $100 per barrel in today’s money, the EU's energy import bill will be around 50 percent higher by 2030. While Europeans would have to pay a lot more for their energy, few additional jobs in the EU would be created this way. In contrast, boosting investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy and new technologies has wide-reaching benefits and would contribute to the EU’s strategy for growth and jobs."

Addressing the common situation of the EU and United States’ energy situation, Ambassador Bruton concluded "…that in order to ensure a sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply, a common response is needed."

See the Source:
Ambassador Bruton’s testimony

Find out:
About new emissions control technologies offered by CleanAIR Systems

Lots of SOx and NOx

On March 26, 2007 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Maritime Pollution Prevention Act of 2007, giving authority to the US Coast Guard and the EPA to establish and enforce emission limits on domestic and foreign ships entering U.S. waters. Passing 359 to 48, the bill would bring the US into compliance with regulations already used by other countries and adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 1997 to limit emissions of sulfur dioxide (a main component of SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx).

Pollutants such as SOx and NOx deplete the environment’s ozone layer, contribute to global warming, effect climate change and have a serious impact on health.

According to a report issued by The International Council on Clean Transportation entitled, “Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ocean-going Ships: Impacts, Mitigation Options and Opportunities for Managing Growth,” marine fuel contains a much higher sulfur content than highway diesel fuel. (Recent regulations have forced a substantial decrease in sulfur content for diesel fuel available throughout the United States, resulting in the use of Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel for on- and off-highway vehicles, thereby lowing SOx emissions.) The report states that ocean-going ships produce more sulfur dioxide than all of the cars, trucks and buses in the world combine.

The latest major action on the bill was on March 28th as it was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

See the Source:
Library of Congress
The International Council on Clean Transportation
Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ocean-going Ships

Find out:
More about the health and environmental impact of NOx.

Science Politicization: Report by GAP Analyzes Government Interference and Distortion of Environmental Information

After a year-long investigation, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) has released a detailed report on the political interference of information presented by scientist about environmental issues. The report, entitled “Redacting the Science of Climate Change,” demonstrates how current governmental policies and practices have restricted the flow of scientific information generated from publicly-funded climate change research.

Findings illustrate objectionable and possible illegal restrictions on the communication of scientific information to the media, including delaying, monitoring, screening and denying interviews. Other questionable actions include the delay, denial and inappropriate editing of press releases issued by media-scientists.

The report also offers examples of government interference with scientists’ communications to Congress and the public.

GAP Staff Attorney, Tarek Maassarani states “The government has failed to provide any justifications for these increasingly restrictive policies and practices, which seem to kick in whenever there is politically-inconvenient science.”

Massarani will be testifying on March 28 to the Investigation and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee concerning the findings of the report. The hearing is entitled “Shaping the Message, Distorting the Science: Media Strategies to Influence Public Policy.”

The report draws the conclusion that due to restrictive practices in the dissemination of scientific information, the media has been negatively affected in their ability to report objectively on environmental issues, as well as public officials hindered in their capacity to respond with appropriate policies, and the public to fully understand environmental concerns.

See the Source:
GAP Report Details Climate Science Politicization
Redacting the Science of Climate Change

Fresno: Clean and Green

The City of Fresno, CA has earned national recognition from the DOE and EPA for instituting progressive measures in making the city “clean and green”.

City Mayor, Alan Autry says, “There are external standards in place to ensure compliance. We have an internal set of goals that more beyond compliance toward commitment – commitment to clean air initiatives and a commitment to being environmental stewards.”

The City of Fresno now boasts one of the largest clean fleets in California’s Central Valley, containing a total of 362 clean-air vehicles including:
- 54 Compress Natural Gas Transit Buses
- 72 Liquid Natural Gas Refuse Trucks
- 46 Hybrid Cars and Pickups
- 131 Diesel Vehicles retrofitted with emissions control technology
- 1 Class 7 Liquid Natural Gas “Plug-in” Electric Hybrid Truck (first of its kind)

The Municipal Service Center, where much of the fleet is parked, utilizes solar power from the 4,557 solar panels installed on the roof. The solar system is expected to have a 30-year life span and substantially reduce pollutants that would have otherwise been emitted by traditional power sources. The solar panels also help out during peak power hours by producing an increase in energy and lessening the load on local power grids.

Fresno City Council President Henry T. Perea emphasized, "More and more cities across the nation are recognizing their role in protecting the environment. Fresno has demonstrated its leadership in this regard and is pushing a progressive agenda to utilize more and greener technologies. Our efforts over the last several years have placed Fresno on the map of environmental innovation, and we have just begun."

See the Source:
City of Fresno

Find out:
About emissions control technology to retrofit diesel engines

EPA Seeks Data Review to Assess Remaining Air Toxics Risks from 22 Industry Sectors

Washington, D.C. - March 26, 2007 -- EPA is soliciting public comment on data the agency intends to use in analyzing risks from air toxics emitted from 22 industrial sectors. EPA will use the data to conduct risk analyses to determine if additional standards are needed to address remaining risks from the 22 sectors. In addition, EPA will perform a technology review for each sector.

The agency seeks comment on toxic air pollutant emissions estimates and other information. The data will help EPA scientists estimate airborne pollutant concentrations. Following review of comments received, EPA plans to update the data, as appropriate, and estimate remaining risks.

These analyses are required by the Clean Air Act as part of the process to assess the risks remaining after these industrial sectors have complied with earlier technology based emission standards.

Today’s action announces EPA’s approach and requests public comments. EPA will accept comments for 60 days following publication of the notice in the Federal Register.

See the Source:
EPA

EPA and Earth Day

April 22 is Earth Day and the EPA wants Americans to demonstrate environmental responsibility by making wise choices to help protect the environment. Learn how to reduce your carbon footprint using the EPA personal carbon calculator by visiting the Interactive Climate Change Web page at
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html

See the Source:
EPA Earthday

Virgin Blue Flying Green

Virgin Blue announced on March 21st that it is the first airline to offer a carbon offset program certified by the Australian Government under the Greenhouse Friendly initiative. The program allows the airline and Virgin Blue’s customers the opportunity to neutralize their emissions, thereby decreasing their carbon footprint.

Money collected through the optional offset program will go towards purchasing abatement from projects in Australia and New Zealand.

Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey said, “As an airline company, we are well aware of the challenge to balance the demand and growth of air travel while at the same time actively working to reduce aircraft emissions. The introduction of this program is a significant step in the right direction and one we hope other airlines will follow.”

“We see our Carbon Offset Program as a step towards creating a sustainable aviation environment. This is a global issue requiring a global response,” continued Godfrey, “and we believe all airlines around the world, not just in Australia, need to view it as a shared responsibility and act swiftly and today’s announcement shows that we are very keen to play our role in this.”

The Virgin Blue Carbon Offset Program:
- Guests will have the option to voluntarily offset their carbon emissions generated during flight by contributing towards approved projects such as forestry activities, energy efficiency measures, waste diversion and recycling/generation of renewable energy.

- Virgin Blue has made a financial commitment to offset emissions generated by their crew and staff while travelling on company business. The annual commitment will go towards abatement projects that are aimed at long term and permanent reduction of GHG emissions.

The airline has also joined 800 other companies in participating in the Australian Greenhouse Challenge Plus Program, to measure, monitor and report on overall emissions with the goal of reducing them every year.

See the Source:
Virgin Blue

Edwards Calls For Cleaner Use Of Coal As Part Of Fight Against Global Warming

Calls for Ban on New Coal Plants Lacking Technology To Capture Carbon Dioxide Emissions

San Francisco, California – Following last week's announcement of his plan to halt global warming and create a new energy economy, Senator John Edwards today released the details of his plan to burn coal cleanly and store its carbon dioxide emissions safely. Edwards called for an end to the construction of any new coal-burning power plants that lack the technology needed to capture their carbon dioxide emissions.

"Global warming is not an issue for the future," said Edwards. "It is a crisis that demands action from us today. We have the chance to create an energy revolution in our country, but if we're going to have that happen, we have to be willing to take action now. We need to be smart and responsible about how we use coal, so we can leave our children and grandchildren a safer and cleaner planet."

While Edwards' energy plan calls for investing in renewable energy and efficiency, he understands that the U.S. is likely to rely on coal for its energy needs for decades or even centuries. Coal-fired power plants generate more than half of our electricity, but cause a third of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Utility companies are planning to build more than 150 coal-fired power plants in the next 25 years.

Edwards believes we need to find a way to use coal without heating the planet. As president, Edwards will require that all new coal-fired plants be built with the required technology to capture their carbon dioxide emissions, so plants built today will be able to permanently and safely store their carbon emissions tomorrow. He also committed to investing $1 billion a year in research and testing to jumpstart the means to store large amounts of carbon dioxide safely underground.

In order to halt global warming, Edwards last week called for a dramatic reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Edwards' plan would cap greenhouse gas pollution starting in 2010, and reduce it by 15 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050, as the latest science says is needed to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. Edwards also proposed major investments in renewable energy and laid out ways to help Americans conserve energy.

See the Source:
A New Strategy For Coal: Achieving Energy Independence & Stopping Global Warming

Find out:
About low-temp selective catalytic reduction to reduce NOx emissions at coal-fired power plants.

Global Warming Forecasts Creation, Loss of Climate Zones

by Jill Sakai

A new global warming study predicts that many current climate zones will vanish entirely by the year 2100, replaced by climates unknown in today's world.

Global climate models for the next century forecast the complete disappearance of several existing climates currently found in tropical highlands and regions near the poles, while large swaths of the tropics and subtropics may develop new climates unlike anything seen today. Driven by worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, the climate modeling study uses average summer and winter temperatures and precipitation levels to map the differences between climate zones today and in the year 2100 and anticipates large climate changes worldwide.

The work, by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wyoming, appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of March 26.

As world leaders and scientists push to develop sound strategies to understand and cope with global changes, predictive studies like this one reveal both the importance and difficulty of such a task. Primary author and UW-Madison geographer Jack Williams likens today's environmental analysts to 15th-century European mapmakers confronted with the New World, struggling to chart unknown territory.

"We want to identify the regions of the world where climate change will result in climates unlike any today," Williams says. "These are the areas beyond our map."

The most severely affected parts of the world span both heavily populated regions, including the southeastern United States, southeastern Asia and parts of Africa, and known hotspots of biodiversity, such as the Amazonian rainforest and African and South American mountain ranges. The changes predicted by the new study anticipate dramatic ecological shifts, with unknown but probably extensive effects on large segments of the Earth's population.

"All policy and management strategies are based on current conditions," Williams says, adding that regions with the largest changes are where these strategies and models are most likely to fail. "How do you make predictions for these areas of the unknown?"

Using models that translate carbon dioxide emission levels into climate change, Williams and his colleagues foresee the appearance of novel climate zones on up to 39 percent of the world's land surface area by 2100, if current rates of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions continue. Under the same conditions, the models predict the global disappearance of up to 48 percent of current land climates. Even if emission rates slow due to mitigation strategies, the models predict both climate loss and formation, each on up to 20 percent of world land area.

The underlying effect is clear, Williams says, noting, "More carbon dioxide in the air means more risk of entirely new climates or climates disappearing."

In general, the models show that existing climate zones will shift toward higher latitudes and higher elevations, squeezing out the climates at the extremes — tropical mountaintops and the poles — and leaving room for unfamiliar climes around the equator.

"This work helps highlight the significance of changes in the tropics," complementing the extensive attention already focused on the Arctic, says co-author John Kutzbach, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW-Madison. "There has been so much emphasis on high latitudes because the absolute temperature changes are larger."

However, Kutzbach explains, normal seasonal fluctuations in temperature and rainfall are smaller in the tropics, and even "small absolute changes may be large relative to normal variability."

The patterns of change foreshadow significant impacts on ecosystems and conservation. "There is a close correspondence between disappearing climates and areas of biodiversity," says Williams, which could increase risk of extinction in the affected areas.

Physical restrictions on species may also amplify the effects of local climate changes. The more relevant question, Williams says, becomes not just whether a given climate still exists, but "will a species be able to keep up with its climatic zone? Most species can't migrate around the world."

For the researchers, one of the most poignant aspects of the work is in what it doesn't tell them — the uncertainty. At this point, Williams says, "we don't know which bad things will happen or which good things will happen — we just don't know. We are in for some ecological surprises."

The work was conducted in collaboration with Stephen Jackson at the University of Wyoming and was funded by the National Science Foundation.

See the Source:
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Clean Air Advocates Demand that EPA Withdraw Bogus Clean Air Finding in San Joaquin Valley

Determination based on illegally ignored data

San Francisco – March 22, 2007 -- Clean air advocates in the San Joaquin Valley of California are taking action to reverse a finding that the region cleared the air of dangerous particulate matter pollution. Advocates say the Environmental Protection Agency reached its finding by sweeping key data under the rug.

On October 30, 2006, EPA declared that the San Joaquin Valley had attained the national air quality standards for particulate matter pollution (PM-10), i.e., tiny particles of dust, soot, and chemicals that can obscure visibility and be inhaled deep in the lungs. PM-10 is a known killer that can cause lung and heart ailments. In a region where this type of pollution kills more that 1800 residents a year (http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/aaqs/std-rs/std-rs.htm) clean air advocates question EPA's decision to end requirements that the local air district keep working to eliminate this threat.

The groups have now presented EPA with data that contradicts the regional air district's and EPA's claims of victory over particulate pollution.

"It's astounding the lengths to which our public health agencies are going to protect this bad decision," says Kevin Hamilton of Medical Advocates for Healthy Air. "EPA said they'd withdraw it if there were more violations -- we're just asking them to keep their word. They need to stand up and protect the public health in our Valley."

To be declared in attainment with the public health standards, the Valley is required to go three years without violating the pollution limit more than once a year. Last fall, southern portions of the Valley violated the limit more than two dozen times -- more than twice as many as in any other year for the past 14 years.

Clean air advocates assert that EPA ignored dirty data from numerous days at numerous air monitors last fall when it made its attainment finding in October. EPA is trying to blame the area's bad air quality on winds in the Sacramento Valley but has provided no reliable evidence to support that claim. In fact, former National Weather Service forecaster and expert forensic meteorologist Jan Null says that the days in question were "complete non-events" and "were not windy by any stretch of the imagination."

Advocates believe the premature clean air declaration was intended to avoid a court-ordered deadline in which EPA was required to impose a federal clean air plan on the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District by October 18, 2006. By determining that the air was clean, EPA avoided this work burden. Advocates say EPA's finding sends the wrong message to regulated industries and Valley citizens whose health remains imperiled by unacceptable levels of PM-10.

"EPA is contorting its own policies to avoid doing its job," said Sarah Jackson, air specialist with Earthjustice. "There are no more 'get out of jail free' cards for an agency with more than three decades of missed deadlines and botched plans. The residents of the San Joaquin Valley deserve real progress, not agency politics."

In a formal "petition for withdrawal" submitted today, air advocates claimed:
In spite of EPA's regulatory acrobatics, the fact is that the Valley was not in attainment as of the date of the Finding, and it is not in attainment today. Since EPA published its proposed Attainment Finding, Valley monitoring sites using methodology subject to all quality assurance and quality control requirements, have recorded 26 PM-10 exceedance days.

Earthjustice represents Latino Issues Forum, Medical Advocates for Health Air, and three valley Sierra Club chapters in this action. In addition to a full withdrawal of the attainment finding, they are asking EPA to reinstate the contingency measures and other Clean Air Act requirements it suspended when it made that erroneous finding.

See the Source:
Earthjustice – Petition for Withdrawal

Find out:
The health impact of exposure to diesel particulate matter

EPA Lauds Corporate Partners for Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Climate Leaders Program Continues to Attract New Members

Washington, D.C. - March 22, 2007 -- EPA today commended American Electric Power, St. Lawrence Cement and United Technologies Corp. for achieving significant greenhouse gas reductions (GHG) under EPA's Climate Leaders program. The companies also extended their commitment by pledging a second goal on measurable reductions. In addition, the agency recognized 12 corporations for announcing new reduction goals, and another 16 companies that are joining the program.

"Our Climate Leaders partners are demonstrating corporate climate change leadership by embracing energy efficiency, green power, and technological innovation as sound business investments," said EPA Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock. "Many of the nation's leading companies are working aggressively with EPA to lower their greenhouse gas emissions in ways that advance President Bush's climate change strategy."

--American Electric Power, Columbus, Ohio, met its 2006 goal by reducing total U.S. GHG emissions by four percent from 2001 to 2006. AEP pledges to reduce total U.S. GHG emissions by six percent from 2001 to 2010.

--St. Lawrence Cement, Mont-Royal, Quebec, met its goal by reducing global GHG emissions by 16 percent per ton of cement-type product from 2000 to 2006. St. Lawrence Cement pledges to reduce global GHG emissions by 20 percent per ton of cement-type product from 2000 to 2012.

--United Technologies Corp., Hartford, Conn., met its goal of reducing global GHG emissions by 46 percent per dollar of revenue from 2001 to 2006. UTC pledges to reduce total global GHG emissions by 12 percent from 2006 to 2010.

The twelve partners announcing aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals:
--Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., St. Louis, Mo., pledges to reduce total U.S. GHG emissions by five percent from 2005 to 2010.

--Boise Cascade, Boise, Idaho, pledges to reduce total U.S. GHG emissions by 10 percent from 2004 to 2014.

--Codding Enterprises, Rohnert Park, Calif., pledges to reduce U.S. GHG emissions by 50 percent per square foot from 2005 to 2010.

--Fairchild Semiconductor, South Portland, Maine, pledges to reduce U.S. GHG emissions by 30 percent per manufacturing index (production measure) from 2003 to 2010.

--General Motors Corp., Detroit, Mich., pledges to reduce total North American GHG emissions by 40 percent from 2000 to 2010. GM achieved its initial goal by reducing total North American GHG emissions by 23 percent from 2000 to 2005.

--IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., pledges to reduce total global GHG emissions by seven percent from 2005 to 2012. IBM achieved its initial goal by reducing total global energy-related GHG emissions by an average of six percent per year and PFC emissions by 58 percent from 2000 to 2005.

--Sandy Alexander, Clifton, N.J., pledges to reduce U.S. GHG emissions by 11 percent per dollar of revenue from 2006 to 2012.

--SC Johnson, Racine, Wis., pledges to reduce total U.S. GHG emissions by 8 percent from 2005 to 2010. SC Johnson achieved its initial goal by reducing total U.S. GHG emissions by 17 percent from 2000 to 2005. --Steelcase Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., pledges to reduce U.S. GHG emissions by 40 percent per dollar sales from 2004 to 2009.

--The Tower Cos., North Bethesda, Md., pledge to achieve a net effect of zero GHG emissions using EPA approved methods by 2008 and maintain that level through 2012.

--The World Bank, Washington, D.C., pledges to reduce total U.S. GHG emissions by seven percent from 2006 to 2011.

--Thomas Rutherfoord Inc., Roanoke, Va., pledges to reduce U.S. GHG emissions by seven percent per employee from 2006 to 2012.

The 16 companies that have recently joined Climate Leaders as partners: Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., St. Louis, Mo; Cherokee Investment Partners, Raleigh, N.C.; CSX Transportation Inc., Jacksonville, Fla.; Deere & Company, Moline, Ill; Duke Energy, Charlotte, N.C.; Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich.; Merck & Co. Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J.; Mohawk Fine Papers Inc., Cohoes, N.Y.; National Geographic Society, Washington D.C.; NVIDIA Corp., Santa Clara, Calif.; Office Depot, Delray Beach, Fla.; PPG Industries Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.; Stora Enso North America Corp., Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.; Turner Construction Co., New York, N.Y.; WhiteWave Foods Co., Broomfield, Colo.; 3 Phases Energy, San Francisco, Calif.

Since 2002, the Climate Leaders program has provided valuable guidance and recognition to leading companies across many industries to help them develop and implement long-term comprehensive climate change strategies. EPA estimates that the goals announced to date through Climate Leaders will prevent more than 11 million metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions per year – equal to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from more than seven million cars. Climate Leaders partners come from a wide range of industries and constitute over nine percent of U.S. gross domestic product. Over the past five years, the program has expanded to include 113 organizations. Of these, 67 have announced aggressive long-term greenhouse gas reduction goals, while the remaining companies are working with EPA to set and announce a goal.

See the Source:
EPA - Climate Leaders

Rep. Waxman Introduces the Science-Based “Safe Climate Act”

Washington, DC – March 20, 2007 -- Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman, together with over 125 House colleagues, introduced the “Safe Climate Act of 2007.” The legislation is based on what scientists have concluded the United States must do to avoid dangerous, irreversible warming of the planet and would significantly reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases.

“We must act now to protect our children and grandchildren from disastrous global warming,” said Rep. Waxman. “My legislation reflects what the science says we need to do to prevent dire changes to the climate system, and there is a growing consensus in the states and among American workers, industry leaders, small businesses, religious groups, and others that these levels are what we need to achieve.”

Scientists have concluded that the planet faces a grave risk of irreversible and devastating global warming if global temperatures increase by more than 3.6°F. To protect against these catastrophic impacts, the Safe Climate Act sets greenhouse gas emissions targets that aim to keep temperatures below the danger point. The level of emissions is frozen in 2010, gradually reduced by 2% each year through 2020, and then reduced by 5% each year through 2050.

The Safe Climate Act achieves these targets through a flexible economy-wide cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions, along with measures to advance technology and reduce emissions through renewable energy, energy efficiency, and cleaner cars.

According to Rep. Waxman, “In effect, the Safe Climate Act sets the targets and then unleashes market forces and American ingenuity to solve the climate problem.”

Rep. Waxman is the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The legislation and supporting materials are available online at: http://www.henrywaxman.house.gov/.

See the Source:
Representative Henry Waxman – Safe Climate Act of 2007

Cummins Announces Approval of B20 Biodiesel Blends

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--March 21, 2007--Cummins Inc. today announced the approval of biodiesel B20 blends for use in its 2002 and later emissions-compliant ISX, ISM, ISL, ISC and ISB engines. This includes the recently released 2007 products.

Cummins is able to upgrade its previous position on the use of biodiesel fuel, which limited the use to B5 blends only, up to B20 for three key reasons. First, the American Society of Testing Materials specification ASTM D6751 now includes an important stability specification for B100 biodiesel. Second, the availability of quality fuels from BQ-9000 Certified Marketers and Accredited Producers is growing rapidly; and third, Cummins has completed the necessary testing and evaluations to ensure that customers can reliably operate their equipment with confidence using B20 fuel.

“We have completed exhaustive analysis and test evaluations which enable Cummins to provide the necessary guidance and information to our customers for the proper and successful use of this fuel in our engine,” said Edward Lyford-Pike, Chief Engineer – Advanced Alternative Fuel Programs. “This will enable our customers to have a choice that includes renewable fuel.”

The popularity and use of biodiesel fuel continues to climb. Recent studies predict that, by 2008, 1.2 billion gallons of B100 biodiesel will be produced in the United States. Cummins will continue its efforts to ensure that future products will be compatible with biodiesel fuels, and will continue to participate in industry efforts aimed at the development of consistent quality throughout the biodiesel industry.

Further information about the use of biodiesel for both on-highway and off-highway Cummins products can be found on the Web at everytime.cummins.com.

Cummins Inc., a global power leader, is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems. Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana (USA), Cummins serves customers in more than 160 countries through its network of 550 company-owned and independent distributor facilities and more than 5,000 dealer locations. Cummins reported net income of $715 million on sales of $11.4 billion in 2006.

See the Source:
Cummins, Inc.

Find out:
About diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems that reduce biodiesel emissions

Environmental, Community Groups Announce Important Energy Agreement with Major Utility

Sierra Club, Kansas City Power & Light and Concerned Citizens of Platte County Put Forward Agreement to Reduce Emissions, Spur Clean Energy Development

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- March 20, 2007--In a groundbreaking agreement that can serve as a model for environmental groups and utilities working together, the Sierra Club, Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L), and the Concerned Citizens of Platte County (CCPC) have agreed on a set of initiatives to offset carbon dioxide (CO2) and reduce other emissions for the Kansas City-based utility. Under the agreement announced today, KCP&L agrees to pursue offsets for all of the global warming emissions associated with its new plant through significant investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and cut pollution from its existing plants in order to improve air quality in the Greater Kansas City metro area. The agreement proposes other investments in clean energy, significant decreases in emissions and resolves four appeals pending between the Sierra Club, CCPC, and KCP&L. Full implementation of the terms of the agreement will necessitate approval from the appropriate authorities, as some of the initiatives in this agreement require either enabling legislative policy or regulatory approval.

“We believe there is significant potential through new energy technology and innovative approaches to improve the environment and offer additional value to our customers across the Kansas City region. This is especially true with energy efficiency and wind generation, which we have been implementing already through our Comprehensive Energy Plan developed in 2005,” said Mike Chesser, Chairman and CEO of Great Plains Energy. “We look forward to collaborating with the Sierra Club and other stakeholders as we pursue these exciting new opportunities.”

“This agreement is a win for our climate, for the environment, and for the residents of the Kansas City area,” said Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director. “It is the latest sign that smart energy solutions like wind power and energy efficiency are gathering steam. We look forward to working with KCP&L to help the Midwest realize its full potential as a leader in the clean energy technologies that will fuel the economy of tomorrow.”

The most significant element of the agreement is the unprecedented commitment by KCP&L to pursue the offset of carbon emissions from its proposed Iatan 2 generating station, located near Weston, Missouri. The estimated 6,000,000 tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions are targeted to be offset by adding 400 megawatts (MW) of wind power; 300 MW of energy efficiency; and a yet to be determined combination of wind, efficiency, or the closing, altering, re-powering or efficiency improvements at any of its generating units. These proposed offsets will be partially implemented by 2010 and fully implemented by 2012. The parties are also agreeing to work together on a series of regulatory and legislative initiatives to achieve an overall reduction in KCP&L’s carbon dioxide emissions of 20 percent by 2020.

“This agreement shows that we can work together to curb air pollution, combat global warming, and protect our local communities,” said Susan Brown, chairperson for Concerned Citizens of Platte County. “The renewable energy investments in this agreement can revitalize the region’s manufacturing economy and offer rural landowners a new source of steady income from wind turbines located on their property. The large investment in energy efficiency will also help everyone use less energy — reducing emissions and saving consumers and businesses money each month.”

In addition to offsetting its global warming emissions, residents of the Kansas City area will benefit from reduced emissions of criteria pollutants at KCP&L’s existing Iatan 1 and La Cygne plants. The agreement calls for annual reductions in nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter estimated to total some 9,100 tons. Within the next year, KCP&L will also work with the Sierra Club to study options, including retiring, re-powering or upgrading its Montrose power plant. Finally, KCP&L will fund several community projects including: recommendations of the Kansas City Climate Protection Committee targeting global warming reduction measures; additional monitoring of soot and smog pollution in the metro area; and an upgrade to the drinking water infrastructure in Weston, a community near the Iatan station.

In another important step for clean energy, KCP&L will also file for approval of a net metering program within six months. Net metering allows a utility’s customers to generate small amounts of renewable energy on-site, such as from rooftop solar panels or a small wind turbine, and sell any excess energy back to the utility.

KCP&L’s Comprehensive Energy Plan was collaboratively constructed with a broad group of stakeholders and includes investments in new generation (including renewable wind energy); innovative efficiency, affordability and demand response programs; infrastructure improvements; and proactive environmental investments. This balanced approach will enable KCP&L to satisfy growing energy demands across the region for years to come while improving environmental stewardship.

“KCP&L’s current Comprehensive Energy Plan addresses the energy needs and emissions reductions for the Kansas City region with actions into the year 2010. This Agreement is the start of the next set of discussions with stakeholders as we develop our plans for the 2010-2015 timeframe,” said Bill Downey, President and CEO of KCP&L. “It reflects the ongoing atmosphere of collaboration we established in developing the CEP, and proactively resolves differences. We look forward to working with all stakeholders to secure a long-term energy supply for Kansas City while improving air quality.”

This agreement builds on the success of a 2006 agreement that Sierra Club brokered with City Water Light and Power of Springfield, IL. That agreement stipulated that the municipal utility retire one of the dirtiest coal plants in the nation, purchase 120 MW of wind, invest four million dollars in energy efficiency, and significantly decrease emissions of soot, smog and mercury pollution. In addition, all of the government buildings owned by the state of Illinois are to be powered with green electricity. Last week, CWLP announced that it stands to at least break even and may reap significant profits from its purchase and resale the wind power investments required in their agreement.

“We were and continue to be very pleased with the agreement we reached in Springfield,” commented Pope. “Our exciting new agreement with KCP&L raises the bar even further and demonstrates just how much we can achieve when utilities and groups like the Sierra Club work together.”

See the Source:
Kansas City Power & Light

Find out:
How selective catalytic reduction can eliminate NOx emissons from power plants

TV Truck Designers Partner With EPA to Help Truckers Save Money, Reduce Emissions

Keep on Truckin' While Cutting Fuel Costs, Protecting Environment

Washington, D.C. -- March 20, 2007 -- EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership and the "Chrome Shop Mafia" have teamed up to help truck drivers save on fuel costs and cut air pollution. The Mafia, a nationally recognized crew of truck designers and custom fabricators, restore and upgrade older big rigs on Country Music Television's "Trick My Truck" show.

"Partnering with this well-known group helps EPA reach out to truckers, assisting them with understanding the financial and environmental advantages of our SmartWay program," said Bill Wehrum, EPA's acting assistant administrator for Air and Radiation.

SmartWay's kits are combinations of EPA-endorsed fuel- and emissions-savings technologies that can improve truck fuel efficiency up to 15 percent, saving more than $8,000 in fuel costs annually. The environment also benefits: These products significantly decrease harmful diesel emissions and reduce exposure to contaminants that might adversely affect the health of drivers and the general public.

Both EPA's SmartWay program and 4 State Trucks, an equipment retail outlet and service center in Joplin, Mo., that serves as headquarters for the Mafia, will begin marketing SmartWay Upgrade Kits this Thursday through Saturday at the Mid-America Trucking Show at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. Next month, 4 State Trucks will begin selling and installing SmartWay Upgrade Kits will also showcase the products on its Web site. The kits cost between $8,500 and $25,000, depending on the technologies selected for installation. Individual components can be purchased and installed for as little as $800. Truckers may obtain financing from the U.S. Small Business Administration to pay for the upgrades.

The kit typically ends up saving truckers more money than it costs, even during a loan-repayment period. For example, an upgrade kit consisting of an auxiliary power unit, single-wide tires, and trailer aerodynamics could be purchased for about $16,500. With a five-year loan at 12 percent annual interest, the cost would be about $367 per month while producing an estimated $636 in monthly fuel savings. That represents a gain of $269 per month, or $16,140 over the five-year period.

The SmartWay Transport Partnership is an innovative program developed by EPA and freight-industry representatives to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution, and to promote cleaner, more efficient ground freight transportation.

See the Source:
EPA Smartway upgrade kits and financing

Uncovering Diesel Pollution: Five Places Where Dangerous Diesel Particulates Hide

Santa Fe – March 22, 2007 – Are you being exposed to dangerous diesel particulate air pollution in your neighborhood without knowing it? When most people think of diesels, images of giant construction equipment or super semis belching clouds of black smoke come to mind. But did you know diesels can also be stationary engines and that they are a part of everyone’s life, residing right around the corner from you? With Earth Day 2007 soon approaching, CleanAIR Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of air pollution control systems, is informing the public on five places where dirty diesel particulates may be hiding in your community.

Recent reports by the Clean Air Task Force, Environmental Health Perspectives and The Coalition for Clean Air all detail the dangers of fine particulate matter (PM) pollution. The health impact of particulate air pollution ranges from asthma attacks and lung cancer to cardiac problems and decreased life expectancy. The World Health Organization estimates that thousands of deaths each year may be caused by exposure to PM. And the American Lung Association believes fine air-borne particulate represents our most serious health threat. Not only is particulate matter a global environmental hazard, but also a dangerous health problem.

“A substantial percentage of PM can be attributed to diesel engines, especially older ones that have not been retrofitted with the latest emissions control technology,” explains Michael Roach, CEO of CleanAIR Systems. “A very common type of diesel engine is the emergency generator used in backup situations to keep the power on. Due to their reliability, large facilities in every city of the United States depend on generators for standby power when the lights go off. Although they pollute, they are definitely a necessity.”

Do you know where diesel generators are installed in your community? In the United States alone, there are estimated to be over 100,000 industrial standby generators. Most are used on a limited basis by commercial and public facilities in case of an emergency. These generators are run periodically for routine testing and maintenance. But some facilities also use their generators as prime power to minimize peak power loads on the electrical grid. During operation diesel generators emit a variety of pollutants such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons – all of which can cause serious health issues, especially for children and older adults.

Here are five places in your town where standby generators are commonly used:
Hospitals
According to the American Hospital Association, there are 5,756 registered hospitals in the United States. Considered “critical facilities”, hospitals must have standby power in order to provide essential, and in many cases life-saving medical care. The necessity of backup generators at hospitals was sadly illustrated during Hurricane Katrina, when many hospitals in the area lost all power and could not tend to those too ill to be evacuated because they had ignored previous warnings over the years to install generators and electrical switching equipment.

School and College Campuses
Most college campuses and many schools rely on generators in case the power goes out during a blackout, such as the one that disrupted large areas of the Midwest and Northeast United States during the summer of 2003. According to the report “Experience with Combined Heat and Power during the August 14, 2003 Northeast Blackout,” there were 19 schools and 26 college/universities located primarily in New York and New Jersey who switched over to their own backup generators for all or part of their power needs during this period.

Sporting Events and Concerts
Large arenas and event facilities can’t afford to loose power in the middle of a NASCAR race or rock concert. What would happen if 100,000 football fans were suddenly plunged into darkness! During Super Bowl XXXIX, 35 ultra-quiet generators were used as temporary power for the half-time show and to provide power for pre-and post-game festivities – the equivalent of enough electricity to power 20,000 homes.

Water Treatment Plants
Another “critical facility”, water treatment plants are at the very core of our infrastructure. Without backup power, water treatment plants are unable to pump clean water to residents in the event of a major catastrophe. The American Water Works Association policy statement is as follows:

Uninterrupted utility service is an operating goal of public water and wastewater utilities.

…when there is an electric power interruption, standby electric service facilities or capabilities should be provided. In general, two separate and independent sources of electric power should be provided to the works from either two separate substations or from a single substation and a works-based generator.

Data Storage Centers
What would we do without our telecommunication structure? With no internet, credit card and banking services, or electronic communication our modern culture comes to a screeching halt. All data storage centers consider emergency generators to be a crucial part of doing business. The president of Hypertect Inc., a data center builder, recommends data centers have two backup generators, or in other words – a backup for their backup.

The good news is that these giant generators of technology we have come to rely on for everyday convenience and essential backup power, can be cleaned up with readily available emissions controls technology. Diesel particulate matter is virtually eliminated when an emergency generator is retrofitted with diesel particulate filters, such as those designed and manufactured by CleanAIR Systems, thereby substantially reducing the impact on health and environment.

On this Earth Day 2007, make sure your community relies on emergency generators that use emissions controls for a cleaner, healthier environment.

Established in 1993, CleanAIR Systems, Inc. located in Santa Fe, NM, is a technology-based corporation manufacturing emissions control systems with worldwide distribution. Their products are designed to control air pollution for on- and off-road vehicles, as well as stationary machinery and power generation. CleanAIR – Committed to a Cleaner Environment. For more information, visit www.cleanairsys.com.

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Diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems

International Conference on Asthma - Impacts of Air Pollution

The South Coast Air Quality Management District will be co-sponsoring “Asthma Is a Small World, International Conference on the Asthma Impacts of Air Pollution”, to be held Thursday - Friday, April 26 - 27, 2007, in Anaheim, California, USA.

Internationally recognized scientists, physicians, public health professionals, political and policy individuals from countries around the world will address accelerating policy and technology solutions to improve the conditions of the air that we breathe, and reduce the alarming increase in the incidence of asthma

Featured sessions include: Health Effects of Air Pollution; Heath Tracking and Management Guidelines; Legislative and Policy Approaches; and Current Concepts in Asthma and Respiratory Diseases. Other highlights include esteemed researchers, scientists, community-organization leaders and policy makers exploring the health effects of traffic emissions, pollution exposure and the development of asthma, impacts of goods movement to respiratory illness, socioeconomic influences on respiratory disease, a global initiative for asthma, and the global warming connection.

See the Source:
SCAQMD

Find out:
How to decrease fine particulate matter pollution that contributes to asthma by using diesel particulate filters

SCAQMD Awards Contract to Supply the State of California with Plug-In Hybrid Electric Fleet Vehicles

Contract will Provide First Nanophosphate Lithium-Ion Batteries to Power +150MPG PHEVs for the State of California

Watertown, Mass--March 19, 2007--Hymotion and A123Systems today announced that the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) has awarded the companies a contract to provide 10 converted plug-in hybrid electric passenger vehicles (PHEVs). The South Coast AQMD PHEV program will evaluate and help identify a recommended PHEV-conversion method for the state of California.

The AQMD has identified the use of alternative clean fuels as a key air quality attainment strategy, and has sponsored plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) demonstrations for over six years because of the potential for this technology to enable zero-tailpipe emissions for portions of a typical driving cycle. Similar to commercially available hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs), PHEVs utilize a battery pack and an electric motor in concert with an internal combustion engine. PHEVs, however, employ a larger battery pack which can be designed to extend the electric portion of the driving cycle, providing improved fuel economy, lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduced petroleum dependence.

The Hymotion solution incorporates A123Systems’ batteries into a highly advanced PHEV module that is lightweight, compact and requires minimal modification to the stock vehicle. All necessary components and safety features are integrated and contained within the module, including: batteries, power electronics, crash sensors, power electronics, charger, battery management system, safety sensors and manual-electric interlock. Due to its plug and play installation, the system does not require removal of the OEM battery pack and can be installed in less than 2 hours.

"This exciting program will not only demonstrate the power of today’s technology, but pave the way for larger-scale demonstrations of Plug-In Hybrid technology in Southern California," said Ricardo Bazzarella, Founder and President of Hymotion.

The awarded solution uses A123Systems' nanophosphate technology that provides unprecedented specific power, safety and life - all critical to the optimization and commercialization of PHEVs. A123Systems' automotive class lithium ion technology renders the solution durable and more safe than other chemistries. The system is expected to get up to 220 miles per gallon in city driving and cut carbon dioxide emissions in half. The solution also includes power processing and rapid chargers provided by AeroVironment, Inc.

"California has traditionally served as a leader to the rest of the country in matters of air quality and renewable energy," said David Vieau, President and CEO of A123Systems. "This award is further validation of our efforts to date as we continue on our path to providing smarter, more fuel-efficient and market-ready options for organizations, agencies and individuals that are concerned about fuel consumption and the environment."

“As a leading developer and supplier of commercial fast charge systems for electric vehicles and power processing equipment, we are pleased to support the South Coast AQMD’s plans for demonstrating the potential of PHEV technology,” said Tim Conver, CEO of AeroVironment.

A123Systems and Hymotion are also working with NYSERDA on a program that could put as many as 600 Plug-In Hybrids on the roads of New York State. Additionally, A123Systems recently announced that it is working with General Motors and Cobasys on the Saturn Green Line Vue Plug-In Hybrid program, and that the company is working with GE to develop systems for the hybrid bus market. A123Systems recently received a $15 million development contract for next generation HEV batteries from the U.S. Department of Energy and the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), an organization composed of DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation.

About A123Systems
A123Systems has quickly become one of the world’s leading suppliers of high-power lithium-ion batteries. Based on the company’s patented nanophosphate technology, the batteries deliver previously unattainable levels of power, safety and life. Applicable to a wide range of industries, A123Systems’ products allow OEMs expanded flexibility in system design, removing many traditional technology constraints. Founded in 2001, A123Systems’ proprietary nanoscale electrode technology is built on initial developments from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For additional information please visit http://www.a123systems.com/.

About Hymotion
Hymotion Inc. is a provider of complete integration for hybrid and fuel cell systems. Hymotion brings over ten years of experience in the alternative fuel industry. It can offer mechanical, electrical, control system and power electronics design for OEM customers. As a green technology company, their mission is to provide new generation hybrid and alternative fuel solutions to customers that value green and innovative technologies. For additional information please visit http://www.hymotion.com/.

About AeroVironment
Building on a history of technological innovation, AV designs, develops, produces, and supports an advanced portfolio of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and efficient electric energy systems. The company's small UAS are used extensively by agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and increasingly by allied military forces to deliver real-time reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition to tactical operating units. AV’s PosiCharge® fast charge systems eliminate battery changing for electric industrial vehicles in factories, airports, and distribution centers. For more information about AV, please visit http://www.avinc.com/.

About AQMD
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The South Coast AQMD is committed to undertaking all necessary steps to protect public health from air pollution, with sensitivity to the impacts of its actions on the community and businesses. This is accomplished through a comprehensive program of planning, regulation, compliance assistance, enforcement, monitoring, technology advancement, and public education.

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A123Systems
Hymotion
AeroVironment
SCAQMD

Peterbilt, Eaton and Wal-Mart Partner on Hybrid Electric Aerodynamic Model 386 Development

Denton, Texas -- March 15, 2007 -- Advanced hybrid technologies developed jointly by Peterbilt Motors Company and Eaton Corporation have been integrated into an aerodynamically styled heavy-duty vehicle for superior fuel efficiency and greater environmental stewardship.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., which operates the nation’s second largest private fleet, is supporting development of new hybrid technologies by helping to validate the concept and refine the final design. Wal-Mart recently announced its “Sustainability 360” program that will aggressively promote environmental stewardship among customers, suppliers and associates through a number of global innovation projects.

Peterbilt and Eaton have previously partnered to develop hybrid electric Class 6-7 vehicle platforms and Class 8 hybrid hydraulic vehicles. With a successful test and evaluation program, the heavy-duty hybrid electric power system will be available in 2009.

“We are pleased to partner with Peterbilt to produce a heavy-duty hybrid truck that we believe delivers a strong value proposition,” says Jim Sweetnam, Eaton Senior Vice President and President - Truck Group. “During the past five years, we’ve clearly demonstrated our leadership in the hybrid marketplace with the success of our patented hybrid power system in the medium-duty marketplace. We’re excited that Wal-Mart’s fleet is now seeing the value of our hybrid technology.”

“Peterbilt and PACCAR Inc are leaders in developing solutions that help customers improve fuel economy through superior aerodynamic designs and advanced technologies. We continue to design products, improve processes and develop technologies that are environmentally responsible,” says Bill Jackson, Peterbilt General Manager and PACCAR Vice President. “As we refine our heavy-duty hybrid platform for future production, we are fortunate to have Eaton and Wal-Mart as partners to help develop the best possible vehicle system for both customers and the environment.”

“Wal-Mart is careful to consider the civic and environmental impact its operations have in the communities it serves around the world,” says Tim Yatsko, Senior Vice President of Transportation. “We are continually looking for new, innovative ways to improve the fuel economy and reduce the emissions of our fleet. We currently operate the Peterbilt Model 386, and we anticipate that the hybrid version will help us move toward our goal to increase our fleet efficiency by 25 percent over the next few years.”

During third-party testing, the Eaton Hybrid Power System has routinely achieved a 5-7 percent fuel savings versus comparable, non-hybrid models. It may result in a savings of one gallon of fuel per hour when idling.

At the current average diesel price of almost $2.50 per gallon, those savings equate to about $9,000 to $10,000 a truck per year in operation.

Advanced Hybrid TechnologiesThe heavy-duty hybrid electric power system features an automated manual transmission with a parallel-type “direct” hybrid system, incorporating an electric motor/generator located between the output of an automated clutch and the input to Eaton’s Fuller® UltraShift® transmission. The system captures energy generated by the diesel engine and recovers energy normally lost during braking and stores the energy in batteries. That electric torque is then sent through the motor/generator and blended with engine torque to improve vehicle performance, operate the engine in a more fuel-efficient range for a given speed and/or operate only with electric power in certain situations.

In this heavy-duty application of Eaton’s hybrid power technology, fuel efficiency and emissions reductions are best achieved both while the truck is rolling or standing still. The system’s batteries power the heating, air conditioning and vehicle electrical systems while the engine is off. When the idle reduction mode is active, engine operation is limited to battery charging, an automatically controlled process that takes approximately five minutes per hour to fully charge the system. In the proposed system design, a proprietary feature minimizes engine vibration during start-up and shutdown during the recharge periods, allowing the driver to rest without interruption.

See the Source:
Peterbilt

B & W and AEP to Demonstrate New Clean Coal Technology for Capture of CO2 Emissions

HOUSTON—March 16, 2007--McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) announced today that its subsidiary, The Babcock & Wilcox Company (“B&W”), and American Electric Power (“AEP”) plan to pursue the commercial viability of a new combustion technology to reduce carbon dioxide (“CO2”) and other emissions from coal-fired power plants. Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) agreement, the companies will assess the application of oxy-coal combustion as a retrofit to an existing AEP plant, and work toward the development of the first oxy-coal commercial validation project in the United States.

Oxy-coal combustion uses pure oxygen for the combustion of coal in electricity generating plants. In this system, nitrogen that comes in with the air for the combustion process is eliminated. As a result, the exhaust gas is a relatively pure stream of CO2 that is ready for capture and sequestration or alternative uses such as enhanced oil recovery. Use of this technology is expected to result in near-zero emissions from coal-fired electric-generating facilities. B&W has established a collaboration agreement with American Air Liquide, Inc. for the continued development of the technology.

During the summer of 2007, B&W will complete a pilot demonstration of the oxy-coal combustion technology at its Clean Environment Development Facility (“CEDF”) in Alliance, Ohio. The CEDF is a 30MWth combustion testing facility that simulates key operating characteristics of a modern, commercial fossil fuel-fired power plant and includes a pulverized coal feed system, furnace and convection pass, an air heater, dry and wet scrubbers, baghouses and an electrostatic precipitator.

AEP will be among the utility participants in B&W’s Oxy-Coal Combustion Advisory Group in an effort to help bring the potential users of the technology into the development process.

In addition, as part of the MOU, B&W and AEP will evaluate and select the most suitable existing AEP plant location for the commercial application of the oxy-coal combustion technology. B&W will also provide unit performance and design approximations for potential carbon capture uses, perform preliminary site equipment layouts, prepare a detailed scope of work, and develop schedule- and budget-price estimates.

“B&W and AEP have a long history of working together to advance the technology of electric power generation,” said Brandon C. Bethards, President, B&W Fossil Power Group. “We expect that this study will bring us even closer to identifying a viable carbon-reduction solution for coal-firing power plants – one that is both economical and environmentally sound.”

The feasibility study is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2008.
In addition to the work under the MOU with AEP, B&W is working with a major Canadian utility to develop a supercritical pressure, pulverized coal-fired boiler and to assess the feasibility of proceeding to the construction phase on a new, near-zero-emissions, 300MW power station utilizing the oxy-coal combustion technology. In that unit, recovered CO2 would be sold for enhanced oil recovery operations and eventually sequestrated underground in stable geologic formations.

See the Source:
Air Liquide
McDermott International, Inc.

Find out:
About selective catalytic reduction to reduce NOx from coal-fired power plants

Canadian Scientific Study Reinforces ThermoEnergy’s Carbon Capture Technology

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—March 16, 2007--ThermoEnergy Corporation today announced the release of the scientific study by the CANMET Energy Research Centre (part of the Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources) on ThermoEnergy’s advanced new pressurized oxy-fuel power plant design called the ThermoEnergy Integrated Power System, or TIPS process. The report, entitled “Technical and Economic Feasibility Study of a Pressurized Oxy-fuel Approach to Carbon Capture” identifies TIPS as potentially the most competitive new power plant design for the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2). The Company is currently working with the Alaska Energy Authority, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and CANMET to design, build and operate an engineering prototype of a TIPS power system which will be housed at CANMET’s laboratory in Ottawa.

“The CANMET report represents an extremely important milestone for the Company since it not only substantiates, but actually exceeds many of our own performance predictions for TIPS,” said Dennis C. Cossey, ThermoEnergy’s CEO. “The data generated by the current project underway in Ottawa will provide the data we need to take the TIPS technology to the next step – a large-scale stand-alone pilot plant,” said Alex Fassbender, EVP and Chief Technology Officer at ThermoEnergy as well as Project Manager of the Ottawa development program. Mr. Fassbender is also the inventor of the TIPS process.

TIPS is a patented pressurized oxy-fuel combustion system designed to achieve high thermal efficiency, near zero air emissions of pollutants, as well as CO2 capture. TIPS’ ability to utilize a wide range of fuel resources, including high moisture fuels such as Powder River Basin coal and lignite, and biomass with relatively few process steps provides significant economic advantages over competing new power plant designs such as Integrated Gasification and Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants. TIPS also eliminates the need for expensive pre-processing of coal since coals with low thermal value can be fed directly into TIPS boilers with no loss of efficiency.

The use of elevated pressures in the TIPS process significantly increases heat transfer which results in a corresponding reduction of size in key power plant components, such as boilers and heat exchangers, when compared with air-fired or atmospheric pressure oxy-fuel systems. TIPS’ excellent thermal efficiencies over a wide range of sizes, from ten-megawatt industrial combined heat & power plants to large utility power plants, provides a wide range of market opportunities both in the US and abroad.

One of the key conclusions of the CANMET report is that no major technical barriers were found in the TIPS process. “The current collaboration with the Canadian government, along with previous work done with US Department of Energy (DOE), the EPA, Reaction Systems Engineering (a British firm), and the University of Nevada/Reno has greatly accelerated the development of the TIPS process,” said Cossey. “We are on a very aggressive schedule that projects a large-scale, carbon capture commercial power plant underway within the next two years.” The 200-page CANMET report will soon be available for download on the ThermoEnergy’s website.

See the Source:

ThermoEnergy

Edwards Increases Efforts To Fight Global Warming; Announces Campaign Will Be Carbon Neutral

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – March 13, 2007 -- As part of his efforts to combat global warming, Senator John Edwards announced today that he will make his campaign "carbon neutral."

Edwards believes global warming is one of the great challenges facing America and the world and that we can all take immediate action to decrease the amount of carbon we produce. By conserving energy and purchasing carbon offsets, the Edwards campaign will offset the carbon emitted by Edwards and his staff's campaign travel, and the energy used in his campaign headquarters and field offices.

"Global warming is an emergency and we can't wait until the next president is elected to take action," said Edwards. "Each of us can take responsibility in small ways to make a big difference. I encourage all Americans to conserve energy in their own homes and workplaces and help fight global warming."

In February, Governor Tom Vilsack announced he would be the first presidential candidate to plan a carbon neutral campaign. Edwards shares his commitment to protecting our environment and reducing our carbon footprint. The campaign and its landlord have taken the following steps to conserve energy:

- Organizing a One Corps National Day of Energy Action in January to get supporters involved in the fight against global warming by working on community service activities including weatherizing homes and distributing energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
- Using timers and motion detectors to control lights and shut down office equipment when not in use and turning off computers, televisions, and lights when not in use.
- Online monitoring and management of heating and air conditioning to conserve energy.
- Buying 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper and other recycled paper products.
- Recycling paper, plastic, glass, cardboard, and other products.
- Encouraging staff to adopt energy efficient practices in their office and homes. About a quarter of John Edwards for President headquarters employees walk to work.

After conserving energy, the campaign will purchase carbon offsets to make it carbon neutral. Carbon offsets allow one party to pay another to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. Edwards will also financially support renewable energy projects to make them commercially viable and reduce the need for carbon-based energy.

See the Source:
John Edwards for President

First Batch of EPA Testing Shows Nonroad Diesel Equipment Meets Tough New Pollution Limits

EPA has finished the initial batch of emissions testing for construction, agricultural and industrial diesel-powered engines to confirm that results supplied by engine manufacturers are accurate. This milestone marks the start of a series of "confirmatory" emissions testing to ensure that these nonroad diesel engines meet the requirements of EPA's Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Fuel as early as 2008. EPA has conducted confirmatory testing on cars for decades.

All nonroad diesel engines tested at EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory during the initial round met their expected emissions limits. The second round of emissions testing is scheduled to begin this spring.

Nonroad diesel engine testing is a part of EPA's commitment to ensuring that the tremendous public health benefits of the Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule are achieved. Finalized in 2004, this landmark rule will lead to an estimated 12,000 fewer premature deaths annually and hundreds of thousands fewer incidences of respiratory problems at full implementation.

See the Source:
General information about nonroad diesel equipment

Find out:
How non-road diesel engines can meet EPA requirements by using diesel particulate filters

Refiner to Pay $2.2 Million for Environmental Violations

Washington, D.C. -- March 14, 2007-- Williams Refining Co., the former owner and operator of a Memphis, Tenn., petroleum refinery, has agreed to pay $2.2 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that the company violated the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency announced.

EPA is committed to ensuring that all people breathe healthier, cleaner air," said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "This case shows that when a company violates the law by failing to control leaks of hazardous pollutants, EPA vigorously enforces the law."

The settlement agreement resolves several allegations including failure to comply with regulations intended to prevent benzene emissions, a chemical that Congress has labeled a hazardous air pollutant under the CAA.

Williams Refining has also agreed to resolve all allegations that it failed to comply with CAA standards regarding leak detection and repair regulations on equipment in its refinery. The agreement also resolves assertions that it failed to properly store hazardous waste as required under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and one violation under the Clean Water Act for an oil pipeline rupture.

Refineries are not exempt from environmental rules and regulations," said Matt McKeown, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environmental and Natural Resources Division. "The Justice Department is pleased to settle these allegations and will continue to investigate and prosecute those who fail to comply with environmental laws."

EPA initiated an investigation into the refinery after the company reported less than 10 megagrams of benzene emissions, an assertion that drew suspicion based on the size of the refinery. The CAA requires refineries that discharge more than 10 megagrams per year to manage their wastewater in compliance with the Benzene National Emissions Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants.

In addition, the CAA requires refineries to monitor valves and pumps for leaks, and to repair any leaks discovered. Further violations were discovered during an inspection on Nov. 5 and 6, 2002 and as the result of a pipeline rupture which occurred on Feb. 3, 2002.

The complaint and the settlement were filed in the Middle District of Tennessee.

A portion of the penalty will be paid to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for violations of the Clean Water Act.

Williams owned and operated the petroleum refinery located in Memphis, Tenn., from the mid-1980s until March 2003. The refinery was purchased by Premcor Refining Group Inc. in 2003 and merged with Valero Energy Company in 2005.

See the Source:
Williams Refining Clean Air Act settlement
EPA – Environmental Violations

ENDESA Starts up Its First Wind Farm in France

New York -- March 14, 2007--Today, Jesús Olmos, General Manager for Endesa Europe (subsidiary of ENDESA, NYSE:ELE) officially opened the Lehaucourt wind farm in France. This is the first of five wind power facilities that Endesa is starting up in the country. Among those representing national and regional authorities at the event were Evelyne Ratte, Prefect of the l’Aisne region, Pascale Gruny, local Member of Parliament, and Raymond Froment, Mayor of Lehaucourt.

The Lehaucourt wind farm is located in the Picardy region, in the department of l’Aisne and has entailed an investment of approximately Euro 10 million.

This wind farm is an example of Endesa France’s commitment to renewable energies and underscores the Group’s decision to choose the French market as one of its priority geographical areas in terms of European expansion.

Endesa France chose cutting-edge technology for this first wind power project: Nordex N90 turbines. Standing 125 metres high (the mast measures 80 metres and the blades span 45 metres) and with net capacity of 2.5MW, this model combines maximum power with minimum impact on the surrounding landscape. The facility comprises four turbines, with total installed capacity of 10MW, which will generate energy equivalent to the electricity consumption of 22,000 inhabitants.

This facility's launch follows the recent award of the tender for the Cernon I and Cernon II wind farms, which will have a total installed capacity of 17.5MW and that of the Ambon wind farm at the end of last year which has 10MW in installed capacity.

These facilities form part of Endesa France’s Industrial Plan, whose goals include constructing 200 MW of wind power capacity.

These initiatives demonstrate Endesa France’s determination to meet peaks in demand by giving priority to technologies with low CO2 emissions and to contribute to the French government’s goal of generating 21% of electricity from renewable energies by 2010.
Endesa France

Since becoming its majority shareholder in 2004, Endesa has transformed this company significantly. The initiatives undertaken to improve efficiency, availability and safety at its four coal plants, along with the investments made to reduce the environmental impact will serve to guarantee these plants’ competitiveness beyond 2020.

As well as progress at the coal plants and in wind power development, the Endesa France Industrial Plan envisages installing two CCGTs in France, each with installed capacity of 400MW. The two plants, in which Euro 400 million will be invested, will be built in the north-east of France, on land at the Emile Huchet plant (Lorraine). Work will commence in mid-May 2007.

Furthermore, Endesa France sold a total of 19TWh in 2006, 4.5TWh of which were for 153 "eligible customers".

See the Source:
Endesa

Green Energy Resources ('GRGR') to Sponsor Bioenergy North America Conference in April

New York, NY -- March 15, 2007 -- Green Energy Resources (PINKSHEETS: GRGR) will sponsor the Bioenergy North America 2007 Conference. The conference will be held in Chicago on April 16 and 17 in conjunction with Environmental Finance Magazine of the UK. Green Energy Resources CEO Joseph Murray will speak at the event. The two-day forum will host a variety of speakers on various topics regarding bioenergy and biomass including ethanol, co-firing and direct burn . Green Energy Resources will utilize the opportunity to unveil its new UTCS trade board and sell carbon offset credits. Info is available at www.environmental-finance.com

See the Source:
Environmental Finance

MIT Panel Provides Policy Blueprint for Future of Use of Coal as Policymakers Work to Reverse Global Warming

Washington, DC – March 14, 2007 -- Leading academics from an interdisciplinary Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) panel issued a report today that examines how the world can continue to use coal, an abundant and inexpensive fuel, in a way that mitigates, instead of worsens, the global warming crisis. The study, "The Future of Coal – Options for a Carbon Constrained World," advocates the U.S. assume global leadership on this issue through adoption of significant policy actions.

Led by co-chairs Professor John Deutch, Institute Professor, Department of Chemistry, and Ernest J. Moniz, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, the report states that carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is the critical enabling technology to help reduce CO2 emissions significantly while also allowing coal to meet the world's pressing energy needs.

According to Dr. Deutch, "As the world's leading energy user and greenhouse gas emitter, the U.S. must take the lead in showing the world CCS can work. Demonstration of technical, economic, and institutional features of CCS at commercial scale coal combustion and conversion plants will give policymakers and the public confidence that a practical carbon mitigation control option exists, will reduce cost of CCS should carbon emission controls be adopted, and will maintain the low-cost coal option in an environmentally acceptable manner."

Dr. Moniz added, "There are many opportunities for enhancing the performance of coal plants in a carbon-constrained world – higher efficiency generation, perhaps through new materials; novel approaches to gasification, CO2 capture, and oxygen separation; and advanced system concepts, perhaps guided by a new generation of simulation tools. An aggressive R&D effort in the near term will yield significant dividends down the road, and should be undertaken immediately to help meet this urgent scientific challenge."
Key findings in this study:

Coal is a low-cost, per BTU, mainstay of both the developed and developing world, and its use is projected to increase. Because of coal's high carbon content, increasing use will exacerbate the problem of climate change unless coal plants are deployed with very high efficiency and large scale CCS is implemented.

CCS is the critical enabling technology because it allows significant reduction in CO2 emissions while allowing coal to meet future energy needs.

A significant charge on carbon emissions is needed in the relatively near term to increase the economic attractiveness of new technologies that avoid carbon emissions and specifically to lead to large-scale CCS in the coming decades. We need large-scale demonstration projects of the technical, economic and environmental performance of an integrated CCS system.

We should proceed with carbon sequestration projects as soon as possible. Several integrated large-scale demonstrations with appropriate measurement, monitoring and verification are needed in the United States over the next decade with government support. This is important for establishing public confidence for the very large-scale sequestration program anticipated in the future. The regulatory regime for large-scale commercial sequestration should be developed with a greater sense of urgency, with the Executive Office of the President leading an interagency process.

The U.S. government should provide assistance only to coal projects with CO2 capture in order to demonstrate technical, economic and environmental performance.

Today, IGCC appears to be the economic choice for new coal plants with CCS. However, this could change with further RD&D, so it is not appropriate to pick a single technology winner at this time, especially in light of the variability in coal type, access to sequestration sites, and other factors. The government should provide assistance to several "first of a kind" coal utilization demonstration plants, but only with carbon capture.

Congress should remove any expectation that construction of new coal plants without CO2 capture will be "grandfathered" and granted emission allowances in the event of future regulation. This is a perverse incentive to build coal plants without CO2 capture today.

Emissions will be stabilized only through global adherence to CO2 emission constraints. China and India are unlikely to adopt carbon constraints unless the U.S. does so and leads the way in the development of CCS technology.

Key changes must be made to the current Department of Energy RD&D program to successfully promote CCS technologies. The program must provide for demonstration of CCS at scale; a wider range of technologies should be explored; and modeling and simulation of the comparative performance of integrated technology systems should be greatly enhanced.

About The MIT study: A group of MIT faculty has undertaken a series of interdisciplinary studies about how the U.S. and the world would meet future energy demand without increasing emissions of greenhouse gases. The first study, "The Future of Nuclear Power," appeared in 2003.

Generous financial support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Energy Foundation, the Better World Fund, Norwegian Research Council, and the MIT Office of the Provost is gratefully acknowledged. Shell provided additional support for part of MIT's studies in China.

See the Source:
The Future of Coal – Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Find out:
About selective catalytic reduction for coal-fired power plants

Transported Black Carbon a Significant Player in Pacific Ocean Climate

March 14, 2007 -- Soot and other particulate pollution from Asian sources make up more than 75 percent of black carbon transported at high altitudes, according to a Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego-led study.

More than three-quarters of the particulate pollution known as black carbon transported at high altitudes over the West Coast during spring is from Asian sources, according to a research team led by Professor V. Ramanathan at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

Though the transported black carbon, most of which is soot, is an extremely small component of air pollution at land surface levels, the phenomenon has a significant heating effect on the atmosphere at altitudes above two kilometers (6,562 feet).

As the soot heats the atmosphere, however, it also dims the surface of the ocean by absorbing solar radiation, said Ramanathan, a climate scientist at Scripps, and Odelle Hadley, a graduate student at the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at Scripps. The two are lead authors of a research paper appearing in the March 14 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research.

The dual effect carries consequences for the Pacific Ocean region that drives much of Earth’s climate.

"That’s the primary concern we have with these aerosols," said Hadley. "They can really affect global climate."

"The soot heating of the atmosphere exceeds the surface dimming and as a result the long range transported soot amplifies the global warming due to increase in carbon dioxide," said Ramanathan. "We have to find out if this amplification is just restricted to spring time or is happening throughout the year."

The researchers found that transported black carbon from Asian sources is equal to 77 percent of North American black carbon emissions in the troposphere during the spring. In a follow-on study funded by the California Energy Commission (CEC), Hadley, Ramanathan and fellow Scripps climate scientist Craig Corrigan are now studying how much carbon might be incorporated into precipitation and what the effects on melt rates of Sierra Nevada snow pack could be.

The measure of high black carbon concentration from Asian sources "is a startling finding by itself, but its potential importance is magnified by the fact that black carbon is believed to have a disproportional impact on regional climate," said Guido Franco, technical lead for climate change research at the CEC’s Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program. "Fortunately, we have already started to address this issue with Scripps and more studies are being planned."

The researchers compared rarely available in-flight data collected during the spring 2004 Cloud Indirect Effects Experiment (CIFEX), a component of which was a series of atmospheric meteorological measurements made during flights originating in Eureka, Calif. The team combined that information with data from 30 West Coast meteorological stations and compared it with computer predictions made by the Chemical Weather Forecast System (CFORS).

Transport of Asian black carbon, particulate pollution generated by automobile exhaust, agricultural burning and other sources, is heaviest in spring when cold Arctic fronts dip to lower latitudes and loft warmer air to higher levels in the atmosphere. It is part of a worldwide transport of aerosols that sees them remain aloft at high altitudes for up to two weeks.

Black carbon concentrations diminish as they move farther away from their sources in cities and farmlands in countries such as China and India. However, over the Pacific Ocean, the particles are in sufficient concentration to have a heating effect on the upper atmosphere, a prediction based on output from other computer models besides CFORS. At the same time, the radiation-absorbing particles dim skies at the surface.

On a regional level, that amount of heating, or positive radiative forcing, the black carbon causes in the skies over the Pacific is about 40 percent of the forcing that has been attributed to the carbon dioxide increase of the last century, said Ramanathan. It likely has measurable effects on a variety of other physical and biological conditions in the areas of the Pacific over which the particulate pollution passes.

"It was a major surprise," said Ramanathan, Hadley’s adviser at Scripps. "When we came up with the preliminary results, we had to check it and recheck it."

Results from Hadley’s study of black carbon’s snow pack effects are expected by the end of this year.

Authors of the Journal of Geophysical Research article besides Hadley and Ramanathan include Corrigan, Greg Roberts and Guillaume Mauger at Scripps Oceanography and Gregory Carmichael and Youhua Tang of the University of Iowa.

The National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the California Energy Commission funded the study.

See the Source:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography

UC Berkeley Energy Symposium Showcases Cutting-Edge Research on Sustainable Energy

The first annual University of California, Berkeley, Energy Symposium – "Challenges, Opportunities, and the Role of UC Berkeley in Creating a Sustainable Energy Future." The event will bring together 150 of UC Berkeley’s leading researchers in energy technology, economics, and policy with the nation’s top “cleantech” investors, industry experts, business leaders, and entrepreneurs.

Keynote speakers will include UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and Nobel Prize winner Steven Chu, director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, among others.

The symposium will highlight clean energy innovations emerging from several segments of the UC Berkeley community and include discussions about energy-efficiency, transportation fuels, solar technologies, carbon regulation and innovation, energy storage, and energy economics. A student poster session will display more than 50 research projects of UC Berkeley’s top graduate students.

WHEN:
8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday, March 21

WHERE:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union, on Bancroft Way at Telegraph Avenue. A campus map is online at http://berc.berkeley.edu/symposium-directions.html.

WHO:
Additional keynote speakers will include:William Banholzer, chief technology officer of Dow Chemical CompanyDavid Crane, special jobs and economic growth advisor to Gov. SchwarzeneggerIra Ehrenpreis, general partner of Technology PartnersChris Somerville, director of plant biology with the Carnegie InstitutionArt Rosenfeld, a commissioner with the California Energy Commission

DETAILS:
The Energy Symposium is being organized by the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative. BERC, an interdisciplinary, student-run organization, was founded in 2005 to enhance interdepartmental collaboration on energy issues and to serve as a bridge between the university and the private sector.

Innovations will be highlighted at the symposium from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Haas School of Business, Energy and Resources Group, UC Energy Institute; School of Law (Boalt Hall), College of Engineering, College of Chemistry, Goldman School of Public Policy, Institute of Transportation Studies, College of Natural Resources, and Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS).

See the Source:
University of Berkeley

Possible Health Risk In Canadian Hockey Arenas Due to Particulate

According to CBC News, a recent investigation of Canadian hockey arenas shows a high level of ultra-fine particulate pollution which could contribute to asthma and some cardiovascular illnesses. Several recent studies show that exposure to ultra-fine particles can easily be lodged in the lunges leading to lung cancer and heart disease.

The CBC tested 42 arenas throughout Canada. 24% were at levels that could decrease lung capacity. 14% tested at high levels similar to standing next to the busiest highway in the Canada.

The high levels of particle pollution are being attributed to emissions from ice resurfacing machines routinely used to smooth the ice surface.

Kenneth Rundell who runs the human performance lab at Marywood University in Scranton, PA says, “We found ice-rink athletes, all the skating athletes, the figure skaters, the short track speed skaters and the hockey players had a higher prevalence of exercise induced asthma…and their lung function was chronically low.”

Proposed solutions for decreasing the level of ultra-fine particulate in arena air include better ventilation and changing ice resurfacing machines to electric rather than running on fossil-fuels.

See the Source:
CBC News – March 11, 2007
CBC News – March 13, 2007

Find out:
How fine particulate pollution can be decreased by using filters and catalysts

Pollution Shown as Cutting Rainfall in Hilly Areas

Jerusalem, March 7, 2007 -- Manmade climate change due to pollution seriously inhibits precipitation over hills in semi-arid regions, a phenomenon with dire consequences for water resources in the Middle east and many other parts of the world, a study by a Chinese-Israeli research team, led by Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has shown.

The Chinese and Israeli researchers showed that the average precipitation on Mount Hua near Xian in central China has decreased by 20 percent along with increasing levels of manmade air pollution during the last 50 years. The precipitation loss was doubled on days that had the poorest visibility due to pollution particles in the air. This explains the widely observed trends of decrease in mountain precipitation relative to the rainfall in nearby densely populated lowlands, which until now had not been directly ascribed to air pollution.

The research study, published in the current issue of the journal Science, is titled “Inverse Relations between Amounts of Air Pollution and Orographic Precipitation” and was written by Prof. Rosenfeld of the Hebrew University’s Ring Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Jin Dai and others from the Meteorological Institute of Shaanxi Province, China, and Zhanyu Yao of the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Science.

These findings highlight the threat to vital water resources in polluted regions of the world where hilly-area precipitation makes a significant contribution to the regional water supply, as in the southwestern U.S. central and northern China, and the Middle East. The importance of that is underlined by the realization that it is not high temperatures due to global warming but rather the lack of water that makes a region into an unlivable desert.

The authors studied observations of precipitation and visibility starting in 1954 at the top of Mount Hua. They linked the decreasing visibility at its over two-kilometer-high summit with increasing air pollution particles that reach to the clouds. They were able to show that the trend of higher concentrations of these fine, airborne, pollutants (aerosols) is responsible for the observed decreasing trend of mountain precipitation. This is the first time that this link has been demonstrated so conclusively.

The precipitation inhibition process occurs as water vapor condenses on the pollution particles and creates a cloud with a large number of drops that are so small that they float with the air and are slow to coalesce into raindrops or to freeze into sleet and snowflakes. This slowing translates into a net loss of precipitation when the cloud “lifetime” is shorter than the time necessary to release its water. This is the case for clouds that form when they ascend across a ridge and then descend and evaporate on the downwind side.

By making use of precipitation and visibility records that show a direct causal link between the airborne particle pollution and the mountain precipitation losses, the unique China study can serve as a template to bear out hypotheses about the effects of pollution on rainfall that were undertaken previously by Prof. Rosenfeld in hilly regions with similar pollutive conditions. These include California and much of the western United States. Similar trends were already published also for Israel, and observed in South Africa, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Morocco, Canada, Greece and Spain.

Atmospheric aerosols have been described in earlier studies as playing a role in cooling the atmosphere by reflecting some of the incoming solar radiation back into space -- thus serving as a counterbalance to global warming resulting from the release of greenhouse gases. The latest study by Prof. Rosenfeld and his Chinese associates shows, however, that this “beneficial” effect is offset by the proven direct link between air pollution and decreased mountain precipitation, and that climate change means much more than “just” global warming.

See the Source:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Find out:
How to decrease particulate pollution by using diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems

Statistical Analysis Debunks Climate Change Naysayers

Despite the fact that the hundreds of scientists and reviewers on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced February 2nd in Paris that global warming is "very likely" caused by human activity, governments and other policy-makers may still justify inaction because of naysayers like Danish weather scientist Henrik Svensmark, who maintains that global climate change can be attributed to the proportion of cosmic rays in our atmosphere, and atmospheric physicist S. Fred Singer, who asserts that “The whole question of anthropogenic, or human-caused, global warming is central to setting any policy of climate mitigation and therefore warrants closer examination.”

“These arguments are moot,” says Peter Tsigaris, an economist at Thompson Rivers University, in Kamloops, BC, Canada. He continues: “The important question is the cost of these opinions being wrong relative to the cost of the IPCC report being wrong in its assessment.”

In a thought-provoking statistical analysis, Tsigaris has concluded that whether or not climate change can be wholly attributed to human factors, it makes strong economic and environmental sense to take action as though it is human-caused, and mitigate the effects of global warming beyond taking measures to adopt.

He arrived at this conclusion as a result of creating the solution for a question he posed to his statistics students.

Tsigaris asked, “A claim is made that global warming is caused by humans. Set up the null and alternative hypothesis for this claim. As a scientist, you want to test that the above claim is true beyond a reasonable doubt. Discuss in terms of the type I and type II errors that are associated with the claim, and discuss the implications of the errors in terms of their associated costs.”

The null hypothesis, considered true unless the evidence brought forward throws serious doubt on it, is that global warming is not caused by human activities; the alternative hypothesis is the claim that it is. In the analogy of our justice system, a person on trial is assumed to be innocent, the null, until the evidence indicates that (s)he is guilty, the alternative, beyond a reasonable doubt.

Now for the interesting part. “As a scientist, in order to reject the null and thus accept the alternative, there has to be evidence that goes beyond a reasonable doubt. In statistical terms, the observed test statistics from the evidence pass beyond a reasonable doubt,” explains Tsigaris.

If the scientist rejects the null, based on strong evidence in favour of the rejection, there is still a small chance of making a type I error. In the same way, acceptance of the null might be the wrong decision. The latter decision would be associated with a type II error.

“A Type I error implies that you have accepted that global warming is caused by humans when in fact it is not, while a Type II error implies the opposite,” he says.

“As one of my statistics students, Robert Guercio, wrote in his exam booklet, ‘The cost of a type I error would mean spending a great amount of money and time focusing on how we can stop humans from causing global warming when humans are not the problem, but the cost of a type II error would mean spending a great deal of money and time on finding what is causing global warming and then continue to work on some factor of global warming, but not focusing on the real factor, humans.”

It’s not just a lesson in numbers, explains Tsigaris, who cautions that the cost of a type II error, stating that global climate change is not human-caused when in fact it is, could be as high as humankind destroying itself. "As Lovelock points out in his Gaia theory, earth is self regulating and will look after itself," he adds.“It is obvious that a type II error, being unaware that global warming is caused by humans and maintaining our current living styles, is much more serious than a type I error which argues that humans are the cause when they are not, in terms of the costs,” he says.

“Rising sea levels, temperature and precipitation caused by human lifestyles will have an impact on our health, agriculture, forestry, water, coastal areas, as well as on other species and natural areas,” he says, adding that “this analysis also confirms the Stern Review on The Economics of Climate Change which suggests that the cost of taking action today is way less than the cost of continuing the current path we have chosen.”

“The cost of changing behaviour and taking action now is estimated at one percent of global GDP and this can be seen as an investment from a long-term perspective: investing in cleaner technologies and also putting a price tag on the use of our atmosphere. If we delay as we would do if we accepted that climate change is not human-caused when this conclusion was false, we would be faced with a huge cost,” warns Tsigaris.

The recent 2007 IPCC report concluded that global warming was very likely (90%) to have been caused by humans. The Stern Review states that “the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting” and estimates that “if we don’t act, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year, now and forever. If a wider range of risks and impacts is taken into account, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more. In contrast, the costs of action – reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change – can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year."

See the Source:
Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change

Greenhouse Gas Partnership Wants Clean Energy Projects for Beijing Expo

Washington, D.C. -- March 12, 2007 -- The Methane to Markets Partnership, a multilateral initiative that promotes greenhouse gas reduction, today issued a call for projects to feature at its first Beijing Partnership Expo Oct. 30 - Nov.1.

Twenty times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, methane is both a potent greenhouse gas and a valuable energy resource. The top three sources of methane are livestock emissions, landfills, and oil and gas production. The Methane to Markets Partnership focuses on promoting projects that reduce methane emissions and utilize the methane as a clean energy source.

“This Expo is a perfect example of how public-private partnerships can advance environmental goals such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and delivering clean energy to markets around the world,” said Bill Wehrum, EPA’s acting assistant administrator for Air and Radiation and chairman of the Methane to Markets Steering Committee. “I hope the private sector, site managers, and others will take advantage of this opportunity to showcase potential projects to financiers.”

The Expo will highlight potential projects in four sectors: agriculture, coal mining, landfills, and oil and gas systems.

The Expo will provide attendees with the opportunity to:
o Showcase project opportunities for potential investors
o Meet with potential project partners and financiers
o Learn about the latest technologies and services
o Explore key technical, policy and financial issues
Any entity, private or public, can enter a project proposal for consideration at www.methanetomarkets.org/expo. The submission deadline is July 2, 2007.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will co-host the Expo with the Methane to Markets Partnership.

The is a public-private partnership that brings together the technical and market expertise, financing, and technology necessary to advance near-term, cost-effective methane recovery and use projects in the four industrial sectors mentioned above. Nineteen partner countries and a growing project network of over 500 public and private sector organizations work to reduce emissions of methane while delivering clean energy to markets around the world.

See the Source:
Methane to Markets Partnership

DOE Selects 13 Solar Energy Projects for up to $168 Million in Funding

First funding awards for Solar America Initiative to make solar technology cost-competitive by 2015

LOWELL, MA - U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced the selection of 13 industry-led solar technology development projects for negotiation for up to $168 million (FY’07-’09) in funding, subject to appropriation from Congress. These projects will help significantly reduce the cost of producing and distributing solar energy. As part of the cost-shared agreements, the industry-led teams will contribute more than 50 percent of the funding for these projects for a total value of up to $357 million over three years. These cooperative agreements, to be negotiated, will be the first made available as part of President Bush’s Solar America Initiative (SAI), a component of his Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), announced in his 2006 State of the Union Address. Secretary Bodman made today’s announcement while visiting Konarka Global Headquarters in Lowell, Massachusetts, one of the selected solar energy project sponsors.

“Solar technology can play a crucial role in moving toward affordable net zero energy homes and businesses – which combine energy efficiency and renewable energy produced on-site. Efficient buildings with solar power generation can help reduce peak demand and ease the need for expensive new generating capacity, transmission, and distributions lines as our economy grows,” Secretary Bodman said.

President Bush’s AEI challenges Americans to change the way we power our nation. As an integral part of the AEI, the Solar America Initiative aims to bring down the cost of solar energy to make it competitive with conventional electricity sources in the U.S. by 2015. The SAI is also part of the President’s commitment to diversify our energy resources through grants, incentives and tax credits and; aims to spur widespread commercialization and deployment of clean solar energy technologies across America, which would provide long-term economic, environmental, and security benefits to our nation.

The teams selected for negotiation have formed Technology Pathway Partnerships (TPP), which include companies, laboratories, universities, and non-profit organizations to accelerate the drive towards commercialization of U.S.-produced solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. These partnerships are comprised of more than 50 companies, 14 universities, 3 non-profit organizations, and 2 national laboratories. DOE funding is expected to begin in FY’07, with $51.6 million going to the TPPs.

In addition, the projects announced today will enable the projected expansion of the annual U.S. manufacturing capacity of PV systems from 240 MW in 2005 to as much as 2,850 MW by 2010, representing more than a ten-fold increase. Such capacity would also put the U.S. industry on track to reduce the cost of electricity produced by PV from current levels of $0.18-$0.23 per kWh to $0.05 - $0.10 per kWh by 2015 – a price that is competitive in markets nationwide.

As part of a broader effort to highlight the Bush Administration’s bold energy initiatives, today, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Andy Karsner traveled to United Solar Ovonic in Auburn Hills, Michigan to highlight these selections and the Solar America Initiative. Tomorrow, Under Secretary for Science Dr. Raymond L. Orbach will travel to Boeing in Sylmar, California to discuss today’s selections and meet with representatives from the solar industry.

Solar energy is a clean, abundant, widespread, and renewable energy source that can be used to increase electricity generating capacity while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions as compared to other energy conversion pathways. Photovoltaic-based solar cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. They are made of semiconductor materials similar to those used in computer chips. When sunlight is absorbed by these materials, the solar energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms, allowing the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity. The process of converting light to electricity is called the photovoltaic effect.

Teams Selected For Negotiations under the Solar America Initiative:
Amonix, Boeing, BP Solar, Dow Chemical, General Electric, Greenray, Konarka, Miasole, Nanosolar, Powerlight, Practical Instruments, SunPower, United Solar Ovonic

For more information on the solicitation and facts about the Solar America Initiative, visit: http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), signed by the President in August of 2005, provides incentives for purchasing and using solar equipment. Now extended through 2008, these incentives could provide a credit equal to 30 percent of qualifying expenditures for purchase of commercial solar installations, with no cap on the total credit allowed. EPAct also provides a 30 percent tax credit for qualified PV property and solar water heating property used exclusively for purposes other than heating swimming pools and hot tubs. Private property owners of qualified property could be eligible for a credit up to $2,000 for either property, with a maximum of $4,000 allowed, if both photovoltaic and solar hot water qualified properties are installed. More information on available incentives for solar installations is available at:http://energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits.

See the Source:
DOE

US and Japan Consider Co-Benefits of Domestic and Global Environmental Programs

Washington, D.C. -- March 8, 2007 -- EPA and the Japanese Ministry of Environment (MOEJ) held a Washington workshop this week to expand their efforts on climate change and sustainable development in developing countries.

"Climate change knows no borders. The U.S. and Japan play vital roles in global economic progress as well as global environmental protection'' said Bill Wehrum, EPA acting assistant administrator for Air and Radiation. "In line with the Bush Administration's commitment to engage in extensive international efforts on climate change, America is working with Japan and other international partners to exchange innovative strategies for simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution."

This week's workshop is the third EPA-Japan meeting in the past twelve months focused on co-benefits in the transportation, agriculture, energy, and waste sectors in developing countries. Co-benefits are the additional results of policies that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants; such additional benefits include energy efficiency and security, improved public health, and enhanced quality of life. EPA is working with Japan to explore how a co-benefits approach can be used to support climate-friendly policymaking in developing countries.

Co-benefits are a very important concept which can realize both sustainable development and greenhouse gas mitigation in developing countries," said Deputy-Director General of the Global Environment Bureau of MOEJ, Mr. Ryutaro Yatsu. "Through the US-Japan collaborative plan, we would like to pursue co-benefits with developing countries."

EPA and MOEJ held the two-day workshop on March 5-6 at the World Resources Institute (WRI), a globally-recognized organization on the issues of climate change and sustainable development. Attending were representatives of EPA's Integrated Environmental Strategies (IES) Program, a recognized leader in co-benefits analysis, with current programs in China, India, South Korea, and Mexico. By sharing its approach and methodological tools, IES helps developing countries develop sound environmental policy- making.

At the workshop, participants explored outcomes of capacity-building programs, lessons learned from climate-related programs and efforts, new directions for research and analysis, opportunities to promote new co-benefits, and priorities for future action on co-benefits. EPA and MOEJ intend to formalize a plan for future collaboration through a Statement of Intent

The U.S.-Japan partnership supports the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, which promotes projects and programs to protect the environment, improve public health, and enhance economic growth. EPA also plays a critical role in the success of the international Methane to Markets Partnership, of which Japan and the US are charter members.

See the Source:
IES Program
Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate
Methane to Markets Partnership

Small Businesses: Big Payoffs in New Technologies for America

Washington, D.C. -- March 8, 2007 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced $2.52 million in contracts to 36 small businesses to develop new technologies that will protect human health and the environment. Recipients of these awards will research issues that range from protecting the Great Lakes to homeland security to nanotechnology and more.

President Bush understands the health and prosperity of our nation is due to the strength and ingenuity of our small businesses," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "These grants will help spur innovation from America's small businesses so they can continue driving our economy and powering our environmental successes."

The awards were given to businesses in 22 states under EPA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. SBIR was established to ensure that new technologies are developed to solve priority environmental problems. EPA is one of 12 federal agencies that participate in the SBIR program, enacted in 1982 to strengthen the role of small businesses in federal research and development, create jobs, and promote U.S. technical innovation in the United States.

These awards will focus on 14 key environmental areas: protecting the Great Lakes; improving air quality; monitoring metals from incinerators; developing sensors to determine whether waters are safe for swimming; finding new techniques for "green" buildings; managing mining wastes; reducing pollution from animal feeding operations; treating drinking water; managing wastewater; finding innovations in manufacturing for environmental protection; protecting the environment using nanotechnology; reducing engine and vehicle emissions; improving homeland security; and developing new methods to produce biodiesel, butanol and ethanol.

There are approximately 25 million small businesses in the United States that employ more than 50 percent of workers and develop most of the country's new technologies. To participate in SBIR, a small business must have fewer than 500 employees, and at least 51 percent of the business must be owned by U.S. citizens.

From March 15 to May 23, 2007, EPA will again be requesting applications for the development of new environmental technologies.

See the Source:
EPA's SBIR web site

Find out:
How to reduce stationary diesel engine emissions with diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems

Port of Los Angeles Will Contribute $850,000 Toward New "Hybrid" Tug

A new hybrid tug boat proposed by Seattle-based Foss Maritime Company, and funded in part by the Port of Los Angeles will be substantially less polluting, more fuel efficient and even quieter than today's modern tug boats.

Through a Technology Advancement Program (TAP) utilized as part of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, the Port of Los Angeles will co-fund the "green" tug initiative, contributing $850,000. Technology Advancement Program funding from the Port of Los Angeles was made possible through a Memorandum of Understanding forged five years ago between the Port and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). The Port matched a $1,000,000 California Air Resources Board (CARB) grant to create a $2,000,000 program to help develop less polluting technology for harbor craft operating within the L.A./Long Beach port complex through prototype projects like the Foss hybrid tug.

With an anticipated delivery in 2008, the hybrid tug will reduce all emissions (nitrogen oxide, particulate emissions, sulphur dioxide and carbon emissions) and exceed the EPA's Tier 2 emissions requirement for marine engines. Initial estimates are that particulate matter and nitrogen oxides are reduced by 44% for the same duty cycle as the current Dolphin tugs operating in San Pedro harbor.

Hybrid tug technology is ideally suited for harbor tugs that need high amounts of power for short periods of time. The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex is an ideal environment for a hybrid tug, as tugs in the harbor operate close to where they dock. While performing ship assist jobs in this harbor, tug boats spend very little time at peak power (peak RPM), and a tug's full horsepower is not being used most of the day. According to Foss, tugs in the San Pedro Bay port complex can spend up to 50 percent of their time idling. When the proposed hybrid tug idles, it will emit virtually zero emissions.

"Tugs are the backbone of ports worldwide, and the 'hybrid' tug Foss will produce is a first in the industry," said Geraldine Knatz Ph.D. executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. "Because the air emissions reductions are absolutely extraordinary, this is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that our port encourages and welcomes in line with the San Pedro Bay Clean Air Action Plan."

"Foss is proud to be working with the San Pedro Bay Ports on such an important project as the hybrid tug," said Gary C. Faber, president and COO of Foss. "This is just the latest example of how Foss sits at the leading edge of maritime technology, engineering and shipbuilding. As a company, we're committed to maintaining our natural environment. Foss anticipates there will be a growing market for our 'green' tugs in the years to come."

See the Source:
Government Technology

Green Mountain Power Generating Sources Among Lowest in Emissions

COLCHESTER, Vt.-- Green Mountain Power Corporation (NYSE:GMP) announced today that only two percent of its fuel mix for 2006 was from carbon dioxide emitting sources, compared to a national average of nearly 70 percent from emitting sources, according to the Energy Information Administration. More than half of Green Mountain Power’s sources came from water, wood or wind.

“We have consistently worked to reduce emissions at Green Mountain Power, both in our operations and in the fuels we use to supply our customers with electricity,” said Christopher L. Dutton, president and chief executive officer of Green Mountain Power. “In 2006, we achieved the lowest proportion of emission-producing fuels that we’ve had in decades. We were able to take advantage of additional hydro power resources from Hydro Quebec and we experienced near record-breaking production at our own hydro facilities, which helped reduce the use of fossil fuels,” he added. Green Mountain Power uses no coal and in 2006 sold more power into the New England market than it purchased.

Green Mountain Power owns and operates eight hydroelectric plants in Vermont. Hydro generation in 2006 was 30 percent greater than the 20-year average, with several plants recording the highest annual generation in 31 years of record. Overall production was the third highest total in 31 years of record, producing 161,937 megawatt hours. At a 2006 cost of 3.6 cents per kilowatt hour, Green Mountain Power’s own hydro generation is its second lowest cost source. Power generated at Green Mountain Power’s wind generating station is its lowest cost source, at 3.1 cents per kilowatt hour.

“With the world focused on how to combat global climate change, we are proud that this year our carbon footprint is so small,” said Mr. Dutton. “Our challenge in the future will be how to keep our emissions low as we replace the contracts for power from Vermont Yankee and Hydro Quebec, which expire in 2012 and 2015, respectively.”

The complete breakdown of Green Mountain Power’s fuel mix in 2006 is: hydro 50.4%, nuclear 43%, wood 4.3%, oil/natural gas 2.2%, and wind 0.1%. Water, wood and wind together produced 55 percent of the total. (Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs, were sold for a portion of the energy generated at Green Mountain Power’s wind facility in Searsburg. Energy associated with the RECs sold is not claimed as wind and is 0.5% of the total energy in 2006.)

Green Mountain Power Corporation is a Vermont-based energy services company serving 90,000 electric customers.

See the Source:
Green Mountain Power Corporation

Global Clean Energy Markets Expand to $55 Billion in 2006 and Projected to Exceed $220 Billion by 2016, Reports Clean Edge

U.S. Energy-Tech Investments Grow to $2.4 Billion in 2006, Representing 9.4 Percent of Total VC Activity

PORTLAND, Ore. & OAKLAND, Calif--Global clean-energy markets are poised to quadruple in the next decade, growing from $55.4 billion in revenues in 2006 to more than $226.5 billion by 2016 for four benchmark technologies, according to the sixth annual Clean Energy Trends report. The report was released today by clean-tech research and publishing firm Clean Edge, Inc.

As highlighted in the report, “Clean Energy Trends 2007,” a number of factors are contributing to this extensive growth, including an influx of venture capital (VC); a new level of commitment by politicians at regional, state, and federal levels; and significant corporate investments in clean-energy acquisitions and expansion initiatives. The free report can be downloaded at http://www.cleanedge.com/.

For the second year in a row, the global biofuels market was slightly larger than both solar and wind, reaching $20.5 billion in 2006 and projected to grow to more than $80 billion by 2016. Clean Edge projects solar photovoltaics (modules, system components, and installations) will grow from a $15.6 billion market in 2006 to $69.3 billion by 2016; wind power installations will expand from $17.9 billion in 2006 to $60.8 billion in 2016; and the markets for fuel cells and distributed hydrogen will grow from $1.4 billion in 2006 to $15.6 billion over the next decade.

“At $55 billion, the global market for biofuels, solar, wind, and fuel cells are now considerably larger than the global recorded music industry,” explains Clean Edge co-founder and principal Ron Pernick. “Within a decade we predict these clean-energy markets will exceed $220 billion and that the global annual production of biofuels will increase from around 13 billion gallons last year to 50 billion gallons, solar will jump from 2 GW of production to nearly 20 GW, and wind power will increase from 15 GW to 67 GW.”

Clean Edge, in collaboration with Nth Power, a leading energy-tech VC firm, also released the firms’ annual energy-tech venture data. This year’s findings show that VC investments in energy-tech start-ups rose 262 percent to $2.4 billion in 2006. These investments, primarily in transportation and fuels, distributed energy, energy intelligence, and power reliability, eclipsed the previous high-water mark set in 2000 for energy-tech investing by more than $1 billion. The figures represent 9.4 percent of total US venture capital investments in 2006.

“Energy tech investing in the U.S. now represents nearly ten percent of the total venture activity,” explains Rodrigo Prudencio, partner, Nth Power. “With a growing number of investors actively seeking energy-tech deals, the capital to fund biofuel and solar expansion was readily available. 2007 will clearly be an indicator of whether the aggressive growth in energy-tech investment can be sustained.”

“Clean Energy Trends 2007” also names five key trends that are shaping the clean-energy landscape this year. They include:
- Carbon Finally Has a Price … and a Market
- Biorefineries Begin to Close the Loop
- Advanced Battery Makers Take Charge
- Wal-Mart Becomes a Clean-Energy Market Maker
- Utilities Get Enlightened

About Clean Edge, Inc.
Clean Edge, Inc. is a leading research and publishing firm that helps companies, investors, and policymakers understand and profit from clean-energy technologies. Since 2001, the company has been providing market research and reports, conferences and events, and strategic consulting services to the clean-tech industry. Among its many activities, the company publishes the annual Clean Energy Trends report, produces the annual Clean-Tech Investor Summit (along with IBF), and maintains the NASDAQ® Clean Edge® U.S. Index which tracks U.S.-listed clean-energy companies. Founded by environmental and high-tech business pioneers Ron Pernick and Joel Makower, Clean Edge and its network of partners and affiliates offer unparalleled insight and intelligence for a range of clean-tech stakeholders.

See the Source:
Clean Edge’s “Clean Energy Trends 2007”

Find out:
About diesel particulate filters that also work with biodiesel fuels to further reduce emissions of particulate matter, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons

Solar Energy Conversion Offers a Solution to Help Mitigate Global Warming

Solar energy has the power to reduce greenhouse gases and provide increased energy efficiency, says a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, in a report (view it online) published in the March issue of Physics Today.

Last month, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations released a report confirming global warming is upon us and attributing the growing threat to the man-made burning of fossil fuels.

Opportunities to increase solar energy conversion as an alternative to fossil fuels are addressed in the Physics Today article, co-authored by George Crabtree, senior scientist and director of Argonne's Materials Science Division, and Nathan Lewis, professor of Chemistry at Caltech and director of its Molecular Materials Research Center.

Currently, between 80 percent and 85 percent of our energy comes from fossil fuels. However, fossil fuel resources are of finite extent and are distributed unevenly beneath Earth's surface. When fossil fuel is turned into useful energy through combustion, it often produces environmental pollutants that are harmful to human health and greenhouse gases that threaten the global climate. In contrast, solar resources are widely available and have a benign effect on the environment and climate, making it an appealing alternative energy source.

“Sunlight is not only the most plentiful energy resource on earth, it is also one of the most versatile, converting readily to electricity, fuel and heat,” said Crabtree. “The challenge is to raise its conversion efficiency by factors of five or ten. That requires understanding the fundamental conversion phenomena at the nanoscale. We are just scratching the surface of this rich research field.”

Argonne carries out forefront basic research on all three solar conversion routes. The laboratory is creating next-generation nanostructured solar cells using sophisticated atomic layer deposition techniques that replace expensive silicon with inexpensive titanium dioxide and chemical dyes. Its artificial photosynthesis program imitates nature using simple chemical components to convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide directly into fuels like hydrogen, methane and ethanol. Its program on thermoelectric materials takes heat from the sun and converts it directly to electricity.

The Physics Today article is based on the conclusions contained in the report of the Basic Energy Sciences Workshop on Solar Energy Utilization sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Crabtree and Lewis served as co-chairs of the workshop and principal editors of the report. The key conclusions of the report identified opportunities for higher solar energy efficiencies in the areas of:

• Electricity – important research developments lie in the development of new, less expensive materials for solar cells, including organics, thin films, dyes and shuttle ions, and in understanding the dynamics of charge transfer across nanostructured interfaces.

• Fuel – solar photons can be converted into chemical fuel more resourcefully by breeding or genetically engineering designer plants, connecting natural photosynthetic pathways in novel configurations and using artificial bio-inspired nanoscale systems.

• Heat – controlling the size, density and distribution of nanodot inclusions during bulk synthesis could enhance thermoelectric performance and achieve more reliable and inexpensive electricity production from the sun's heat.

The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations to help advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

See the Source:
Argonne National Laboratory

The Babcock & Wilcox Company to Demonstrate Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology

Barberton, Ohio -- March 5, 2007 -- The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W), in collaboration with American Air Liquide Inc., will begin testing a promising new technology to help coal-fired power plants capture emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas.

The evaluation will occur at B&W’s 30 MWth Clean Environment Development Facility (CEDF) in Alliance, Ohio. The CEDF, originally placed in service in 1994 by B&W, the U.S. Department of Energy and others, is a large-scale demonstration facility that has been used to develop emissions-control technology.

The CEDF will be used to validate a technology called “oxy-coal combustion” that utilizes pure oxygen for the combustion of coal in electricity generating plants. In this system, nitrogen that comes in with the air for the combustion process is eliminated. As a result, the exhaust gas is a relatively pure stream of CO2 that is ready for long-term storage operations.

“Finding ways to capture and store CO2 emissions from power plants is paramount if the United States is going to address greenhouse gas concerns and use our national energy resources,” Don Langley, B&W vice president and chief technology officer said. “We see this major technology demonstration project as another step in B&W’s plan to deliver CO2-capture technology to the electricity generating industry and make a significant impact on this global issue.”

B&W’s development efforts are being done well in advance of similar projects around the globe. “This is truly changing-the-world technology and we are pleased to be leading this research,” Langley added. Because the oxy-coal technology builds on pulverized coal combustion technology, it would be complementary to most of the world’s coal-fired power plants.

B&W will work with American Air Liquide to modify the existing CEDF facility for the oxy-coal process and will begin proving the technology in June 2007. American Air Liquide will provide engineering and chemistry know-how related to combustion, as well as proprietary equipment and sensors for the safe and efficient handling of liquefied oxygen.

In addition to American Air Liquide, several utilities will participate in an “advisory group” process that will help bring the potential users of the technology into the development process.

B&W will evaluate several types of coal, including coal imported from Saskatchewan, Canada, the site of a proposed near-zero emissions power plant that will use this technology at commercial scale.

Present in 72 countries, Air Liquide provides industrial and medical gases and related services and offers innovative solutions based on constantly enhanced technologies. These solutions, which are consistent with Air Liquide’s commitment to sustainable development, help to protect life and enable customers to manufacture many indispensable everyday products. Air Liquide is listed on the Paris stock exchange and is a component of the CAC 40 and Eurostoxx 50 indices (ISIN code FR 0000120073). American Air Liquide Inc. is Air Liquide’s U.S.-based research and development company. For more information, visit http://www.airliquide.com/.

The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc., a leading worldwide energy services company. McDermott subsidiaries manufacture steam-generating equipment, environmental equipment, and products for the U.S. government. They also provide engineering and construction services for the offshore oil and natural gas industry.

See the Source:
Babcock and Wilcox

Find out:
How nitrogen oxides can be virtually eliminated from power plant emissions using selective catalytic reduction

Florida School District to Receive Nation's First Plug-In Hybrid School Buses

On Friday, March 9th the Nation’s first plug-in hybrid school buses will be delivered to the Braden River High School in Bradenton Florida. The buses were developed by IC Corporation, the nation’s largest school bus manufacturer.

With up to 40% more fuel efficiency, the nation's first hybrid school bus launch is the first step in helping schools manage high fuel prices and transportation costs. The hybrid school bus also reduces diesel engine emissions by up to 90% for cleaner air. Manatee School District is taking delivery of the first units. Ten other states will receive hybrid school buses later this year.

See the Source:
IC Corporation

Governor Bill Richardson Enacts Landmark Clean Energy Bills to Create Jobs, Keep Air Clean

SB 418, HB188 will Increase Generation and Promote Export of Clean Electricity

SANTA FE – March 5, 2007 -- Governor Bill Richardson today signed two major cornerstones of his clean energy agenda. Senate Bill 418 will dramatically increase New Mexico’s Renewable Portfolio Standard and our use of clean electricity. House Bill 188 creates a Renewable Energy Transmission Authority to promote clean energy jobs and help New Mexico both develop our clean energy resources and market them to other states.

“I am proud today to sign a bill that will quadruple New Mexico’s use of clean electricity by 2020,” said Governor Bill Richardson. “Promoting renewable electricity keeps our air clean and it will help New Mexico meet my aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals. It will also help continue to create new jobs, like those at Advent Solar in Albuquerque, and aid ranchers who want to diversify into the lucrative wind energy market.”

In 2004 Governor Richardson signed New Mexico’s first Renewable Portfolio Standard into law. This mandated that 5% of New Mexico’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2006, increasing to 10% by 2011. Senator Michael Sanchez’s Senate Bill 418 requires that at least 15 percent of an electric utility's power supply come from renewable sources by 2015 and 20 percent by 2020.

House Bill 188 – sponsored by Representative Jose Campos -- establishes a Renewable Energy Transmission Authority that will help New Mexico export solar, wind and other renewable energy and further build our high-wage, and high-tech economy.

“The Transmission Authority and the Renewable Portfolio Standard work in combination to dramatically position New Mexico to develop our vast renewable energy resources,” said Joanna Prukop Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources. “We've just positioned our state to become extremely competitive in all aspects of clean energy development and the benefits that come with it.”

Under Governor Richardson’s leadership, New Mexico has become the nation’s Clean Energy State. In the past few weeks alone Governor Richardson has signed a major, five state climate change agreement, announced a new Tesla electric car plant for Albuquerque and a biodiesel plant in Clovis, NM.

“I am proud that both these bills passed with bipartisan support,” said Governor Richardson. “That is because New Mexico is hungry for clean energy and the good jobs that come with this new industry.”

See the Source:
New Mexico – Governor’s Office

Find out:
How another New Mexico business is making a difference in clean energy through the development of emissions control technology

Climate Change is Top Priority of London Plan Review

London – March 5, 2007 -- Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announced that his London Plan Review will set radical new objectives for planners and developers that will require new developments to connect to “decentralized” local energy supplies and achieve the highest standards of sustainable building design. The Review also doubles the carbon emission reductions that developments must achieve through onsite renewable energy from 10% to 20%.

The London Plan Review also proposes to set carbon dioxide reduction targets – a 20 per cent reduction by 2015 and a long-term target of a 60 per cent reduction by 2050. This is the first time that statutory carbon reduction targets have been set for London.

The Mayor is proposing a series of new development, transport and energy policies all with the aim of making London an exemplary and sustainable world city, adapting to inevitable climate change and reducing future carbon emissions.

These new policies are published in a document entitled Draft Further Alterations to the London Plan which the Mayor is publishing today for consultation with the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority functional bodies, before a formal public consultation stage this autumn.

The Mayor said:'London should lead the way in showing the world how one of its greatest cities is planning to meet the challenges of climate change. We have already succeeded through the London Plan in introducing a target of 10% carbon reductions through on-site renewable energy generation and I would like to congratulate those developers and planners who have responded positively to this challenge. In more and more cases we are meeting – and sometimes exceeding - the existing policy requirements but we still need to do much more.'

'The new policies I am publishing today set tough but deliverable targets for reducing our carbon emissions. We must move our cities away from relying on inefficient centralized heat and power generation, and stop constructing buildings that waste heat and electricity. In London we want to see the widespread use of decentralized energy, the highest standards of green building design and renewable energy incorporated wherever we can.'

'In London I am proposing a challenging new target for our developers and planners.’

The Draft Further Alterations to the London Plan also sets out a series of complementary policies to achieve carbon dioxide reductions and the Mayor will be working with boroughs and other agencies to:
- ensure that development is located, designed and built for the climate that it will experience over its intended lifetime and is capable of adapting to new uses.
- increase the cost effectiveness, and provide incentives to use the technologies which will help address climate change.
- procure and use building materials more responsibly.
- manage flood risk through policies on the location, design and construction of development, and management of surface run-off including rainwater harvesting.
- minimize overheating and the ‘heat island’ effect, for example by encouraging green roofs and walls and designs which reduce solar gain.
- minimize the movement of waste including the introduction of new targets for composting and recycling the different waste streams and giving preference to technologies which produce renewable hydrogen over incineration.

Last week the Mayor published Supplementary Planning Guidance on Sustainable Design and Construction to guide developers and planners on how to use the existing policies to best effect in addressing the consequences of climate change.

Other key proposed alterations to the London Plan, also published today, include:
- Support for the already published proposals to increase housing provision across London.
- Measures to make more effective use of existing and already planned transport capacity.
- Provision for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and associated regeneration of large parts of East London.

A clearer geographic framework for coordinating the strategic policies of a range of pan London agencies and integrating these with local action at the sub regional level.

Action to make London a more livable and socially inclusive city such as the East London Green Grid, improvements to safety and security, and increased play provision.

Refinement of some of the economic policies to support London’s global business area, the Central Activities Zone, and help rejuvenate the economies elsewhere in the city.

A more focused approach to town centers and retailing including the particular need to develop the capacity of the West End as a global shopping and leisure destination.

“Decentralized energy” involves using combined heat, power and cooling systems and renewable energy, as the most efficient way to supply heat and power to domestic and commercial buildings. Typical decentralized energy systems are over 85% efficient, compared with average centralized power generation which wastes two thirds of energy input and is the single biggest source of carbon emissions.

In working towards a long term reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of 60 per cent by 2050 he has set the following minimum targets for London (against a 1990 base):
- 15 per cent by 2010
- 20 per cent by 2015
- 25 per cent by 2020
- 30 per cent by 2025

These targets are practicable providing all stakeholders, including government, work together.

Existing commercial and domestic buildings contribute approximately 73 per cent of carbon emissions in London. The Mayor recognizes the cost implications of these new technologies and will support measures to drive down costs such as stimulating their supply chains.

Most changes to the London Plan are minor amendments to clarify points or to take account of new information. Most of the proposed significant policy changes reflect issues raised in the Mayor’s Statement of Intent published in December 2005. In substantive terms it is the group of new policies associated with climate change in Chapter 4A which represent the most significant Further Alterations.

The Further Alterations to the London Plan are the result of a focused review based on the Mayor’s Statement of Intent to review the plan. Factors which this took into account included:
- a duty to keep the London Plan under review
- responding to new evidence
- taking into account the results of the Sub Regional Development Framework Process
- extending the plan period from 2016 to 2025 and
- taking account of national legislation and policy in the recent planning system reforms.

See the Source:
London Government

Find out:
How energy emissions can be made cleaner using low-temp selective catalytic reduction

Pollution from China and India Affecting World’s Weather

Severe pollution from the Far East is almost certainly affecting the weather near you, says a Texas A&M University researcher who has studied the problem and has published a landmark paper on the topic in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Renyi Zhang, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M and lead author of the paper, says the study is the first of its kind that provides indisputable evidence that man-made pollution is adversely affecting the storm track over the Pacific Ocean, a major weather event in the northern hemisphere during winter. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

Zhang says the culprit is easy to detect: pollution from industrial and power plants in China and India. Both countries have seen huge increases in their economies, which mean more large factories and power plants to sustain such growth. All of these emit immense quantities of pollution – much of it soot and sulfate aerosols – into the atmosphere, which is carried by the prevailing winds over the Pacific Ocean and eventually worldwide.

Using satellite imagery and computer models, Zhang says that in roughly the last 20 years or so, the amount of deep convective clouds in this area increased from 20 to 50 percent, suggesting an intensified storm track in the Pacific.

This pollution directly affects our weather,” he explains.

During the past few decades, there has been a dramatic increase in atmospheric aerosols – mostly sulfate and soot from coal burning – especially in China and India,” he explains.

“We compared these deep convective clouds from the 10-year period of 1984-1994 to the period from 1994-2005 and discovered these storms have risen anywhere from 20 to as high as 50 percent.”

“It is a direct link from large-scale storm systems to anthropogenic (human-made) pollution.”

Zhang says the problem is especially worse during the winter months.

Because of various climate conditions, the northern Pacific Ocean is more susceptible to the aerosol effect in winter. Aerosols can affect the droplets in clouds and can actually change the dynamics of the clouds themselves, Zhang adds.

The Pacific storm track carries these polluted particles to the west coasts of Canada and the United States, across America and eventually, most of the world, Zhang notes.

“The Pacific storm track can impact weather all over the globe,” he says.

“The general air flow is from west to east, but there is also some serious concern that the Polar Regions could be affected by this pollution. That could have potentially catastrophic results.”

Soot, in the form of black carbon, can collect on ice packs and attract more heat from the sun, meaning a potential acceleration of melting of the polar ice caps, he believes.

“It possibly means the polar ice caps could melt quicker than we had believed, which of course, results in rising sea level rates,” he adds.

The pollution from the storm tracks could also signify wild weather changes, he believes.

“You might have more storms, and these storms might be more severe than usual,” he says.

“Or it could lead to the opposite – severe droughts in other areas. The Pacific storm track plays a crucial role in our weather, and there is no doubt at all that human activity is changing the world’s weather.”

See the Source:
Texas A&M University

Environmental Defense Supports EPA Proposal to Cut Dangerous Diesel Exhaust from Trains and Ships

Group Urges EPA to Finalize Protective Standards by the End of 2007

New York -- March 2, 2007 -- Today, Environmental Defense President Fred Krupp will join EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson at EPA’s announcement of proposed new emission standards for diesel trains and ships. The emission standards would apply to the nation’s fleet of diesel locomotive engines, tugs, barges, ferries and recreational marine engines. Diesel exhaust contains toxic chemicals that together with diesel particulate matter pose a cancer risk greater than that of any other air pollutant. The proposed standards, when adopted and fully phased in, would reduce particulate pollution and smog-forming oxides of nitrogen from each engine by 90 percent. Today’s announcement is scheduled for 11am ET at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey (Berth 23, Elizabeth Marine Terminal).

“EPA is clearly on the right track in proposing to address the dangerous diesel exhaust from trains and ships,” said Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense President. “We look forward to working with EPA and the states to carry this important work across the finish line by securing final clean air standards for high-polluting trains and ships.”

The proposed rule provides for clean air standards comparable to those that EPA has adopted for large diesel trucks and buses, and for construction, mining and agricultural equipment. The proposed standards will be achieved through the combination of low sulfur diesel fuel and advanced engine systems.

The use of trains for freight transport has doubled in the last 35 years. Last year, locomotives released over 900,000 tons of smog-forming oxides of nitrogen and 32,000 tons of particulate pollution. Nationally, commercial shipping is responsible for about 1 million tons of smog-forming oxides of nitrogen each year. And each year commercial marine vessels release some 40,000 tons of particulate pollution and 160,000 tons of sulfur dioxide across the United States. When finalized, EPA’s proposal to clean up the nation’s fleet of commercial ships and locomotives could help clear the way for extensive human health and environmental benefits by substantially lowering particulate pollution and smog-forming contaminants.

Another important feature of EPA’s proposal would apply clean up standards to rebuilt or remanufactured locomotive engines. Environmental Defense recommends EPA apply the same sensible policy approach to ensure rebuilt marine engines also meet updated emission standards.

Environmental Defense has documented the extensive air pollution from both ships and locomotives. Learn how commercial marine shipping is polluting our air here and learn more about locomotive pollution here.

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

See the Source:
Environmental Defense

Find out:
More about diesel particulate filters and how they substantially reduce diesel particulate matter

Light at the End of the Tunnel is Cleaner Air; EPA Cuts Diesel Locomotive and Vessel Pollution

EPA is proposing a new rule to ensure that Americans continue to breathe cleaner air by significantly reducing air pollution from locomotive and marine diesel engines. The Clean Air Locomotive and Marine Diesel Rule would set stringent emission standards and require the use of advanced technology to reduce emissions.

“By tackling the greatest remaining source of diesel emissions, we’re keeping our nation’s clean air progress moving full steam ahead,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “Over the last century, diesels have been America’s economic workhorse, and through this rule, an economic workhorse is also becoming an environmental workhorse.”

When fully implemented, this landmark initiative would cut particulate matter emissions from these engines by 90 percent and nitrogen oxides emissions by 80 percent. This would result in annual health benefits of $12 billion in 2030 and reduce premature deaths, hospitalizations and respiratory illnesses across the United States. These benefits would continue to grow as older locomotive and marine engines are replaced. Overall benefits are estimated to outweigh costs by more than 20 to 1.

The Clean Air Locomotive and Marine Diesel Rule would tighten emission standards for existing locomotives when they are remanufactured. Additionally, the rule sets stringent emission standards for new locomotive and marine diesel engines and sets long-term regulations that require the use of advanced technology to reduce emissions.

Consistent with its other clean diesel successes, EPA worked collaboratively with diverse stakeholders, including engine and equipment manufacturers, technology companies, environmental groups and states. The proposal dramatically cuts emissions from all types of diesel locomotives, including line-haul, switch, and passenger rail, as well as from a wide range of marine sources, including ferries, tugboats, yachts and marine auxiliary engines. This includes small generator sets to large generators on ocean-going ships.

The locomotive remanufacturing proposal would take effect as soon as certified systems are available, as early as 2008, but no later than 2010. Standards for new locomotive and marine diesel engines would phase-in starting in 2009. Long-term standards would phase-in beginning in 2014 for marine diesel engines and 2015 for locomotives. The rule also explores a remanufacturing program for existing large marine diesel engines similar to the existing program for locomotives. Other provisions seek to reduce unnecessary locomotive idling.

The Clean Diesel Locomotive and Marine program is another major achievement in EPA's decade-long campaign to revolutionize diesel engines and the fuels they use – making diesel as much an environmental workhorse as an economic one. The proposal builds on both the Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule (announced May 11, 2004) and the Clean Diesel Truck and Bus Rule, (announced December 21, 2000).

See the Source:
Clean Diesel Locomotive
Clean Diesel Marine

Find out:
How diesel emissions can be reduced and particulate matter cleaned up using diesel particulate filters

The Urban Tree Certification System (UTCS) and Green Energy Resources' "Carbon Offsets" Can Combat Climate Change by Planting Millions of Trees a Year

NEW YORK, NY – March 5, 2007 -- Green Energy Resources launches "Carbon Offset" credits sales. The company's goal is to remove a million tons of carbon annually from the atmosphere. Green Energy Resources plans to sell the carbon offset credits in Blocks of 100 tons known as carbon financial instruments (CFIs). The price will most resemble the European Trading Scheme at around $30 per ton. Carbon offsets are open to the public, businesses and the investment community.

Green Energy Resources Urban Tree Certification System (UTCS) reduces carbon and methane from the atmosphere by planting trees and taking wood waste from landfills. UTCS renewable energy platform includes cellulostic ethanol, brownfield redevelopment and other sustainability programs. UTCS is designed to create a self-sustaining and revenue generating mechanism to plant millions of trees a year to create carbon sequestration in U.S. cities and suburbs. UTCS potential, if readily adopted throughout the U.S., could remove millions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually. UTCS is designed to replace all other existing urban forest management schemes and the need for environmental organizations support because the plan does not require monetary donations or federal grants. UTCS is a web-based software system offered to local, city and state governments to help combat climate change at no charge. Details about UTCS are available at http://www.utcs.com/

Green Energy Resources cited a newly released internal Bush Administration report indicating the United States will increase its share of Global warming emissions by nearly 20% by 2020. The United States already contributes 25% of the world's total green houses gases and is the single largest emitter. The United States according to the report, will increase emissions from 7.7 billion tons per year to 9.2 billion tons per year.

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the companies' actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market conditions, competitive factors, the ability to successfully complete additional financings and other risks.

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Green Energy Resources

Launch of "Principles on Climate Leadership" in San Francisco

San Francisco – March 1, 2007 -- The United Nations Global Compact, the City of San Francisco, the Bay Area Council and a wide array of Bay Area businesses today launched a unique partnership designed to provide meaningful actions that businesses and cities around the world can take to combat global warming.

The initiative - the Principles on Climate Leadership - will give Bay Area businesses a strategic framework to address climate change as well as a forum to share best practices to reduce greenhouse gasses in both large and small companies. In addition, the initiative will create a model for climate action in the commercial and public sectors that the UN Global Compact will seek to place in companies and cities around the world.

More the 20 companies from a variety of sectors, including Gap Inc., Gensler, Google, PG&E and Shaklee, officially endorsed the Principles and, in relation, announced the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3) at a special event in San Francisco - the city that gave birth to the United Nations with the signing of the UN Charter in 1945. More than 100 leaders from business, government and civil society attended the event, which was presided over by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

"Voluntary initiatives such as the BC3 and the Principles on Climate Leadership will be crucial in bringing about progressive and robust action on the global climate crisis", said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. "At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that voluntary action cannot be a substitute for effective regulation - rather, it informs and complements regulation".

"Local actions can have a positive effect on the entire planet," observed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "The Bay Area is fortunate to have a visionary business community that is willing to get out in front of a daunting issue like global warming, and we are honored that the United Nations Global Compact will be working to bring this message to other communities and companies around the world."

BC3 member companies pledge to address greenhouse emissions throughout their operations and corporate cultures, and agree to follow the five Principles on Climate Leadership: Internal Implementation, Community Leadership, Advocacy and Dialogue, Collective Action, Transparency and Disclosure.

"The Bay Area Council has been an environmental leader for decades, but this may be one of our most ambitious projects ever," said Jim Wunderman, President of the Bay Area Council, the area's largest business association. "We, and our business community members, are proud to help focus the region's entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity on an issue so critical to our economic future."

The United Nations Global Compact will showcase the BC3 initiative and the core Principles on Climate Leadership at its Leaders Summit on 5-6 July 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland - an event that is expected to draw nearly 1000 business and government leaders as well as representatives of civil society from around the world. Addressing climate change will be a priority topic at the Leaders Summit.

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United Nations Global Compact

Carnegie Mellon Researchers Urge Regulators to Rethink Strategies for Soot Emission

Pittsburgh -- March 1, 2007 -- Carnegie Mellon University researchers say government officials need to adopt new ways of measuring and regulating the fine particles of smoke and soot so endemic to serious health problems and the global warming crisis.

In a March 2 article published in the journal Science, professors Allen L. Robinson and Neil M. Donahue report a new conceptual model for how microscopic particles behave in the atmosphere that raises new questions about current regulations.

The research found new chemical processes that occur after soot and gaseous pollutants are emitted from cars and trucks, changing the chemical and physical properties of the soot particles and creating new particulate matter. These new particles are potentially more toxic and may have a stronger influence on cloud formation that can alter the global climate.

"One of our key findings is that this chemical processing leads to more particulate matter in the air, meaning that regulators are likely underestimating how sources such as cars and trucks contribute to pollution," said Robinson, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and engineering and public policy. "We need to take a holistic approach to regulating these sources that account for all emissions." Accounting for these new processes improves the predictions of the models federal and state governments use to develop regulations.

"A second important finding is that the properties of this new particulate matter are different than we previously thought and potentially more toxic," added Donahue, an associate professor of chemical engineering and chemistry.

Particulate matter poses a serious health problem. Fifty thousand Americans are thought to die prematurely each year due to particle exposure, and almost 70 million Americans live in areas that violate the federal standard. That standard was strengthened in September after scientists, armed with years of studies showing that these particles can damage lungs and the heart, advised the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the previous standard of 65 micrograms per cubic meter of air was too loose.

A third key implication has to do with how the chemical process leads to a spreading of pollution over a larger geographic region. "We’re seeing that urban pollution doesn’t stay contained in the cities, but impacts rural and other downwind areas, creating even more complicated issues for regulators," Robinson said.

Fine particles such as smoke or dust form droplets in clouds and affect how much sun is able to pass through the cloud to earth, as well as the amount of moisture that is returned to earth. Both clouds and sunlight play key roles in climate change. The effects of particulate matter were identified as key to uncertainty in a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) summarizing the state scientific knowledge on the impacts of human activities on global climate.

"For the longest time, particulate matter has been the least understood component of the climate system. The more we understand particulate matter, the more we realize that complexity has been masking our ability to calculate how big a role greenhouse gases have played in inducing global warming," said Donahue. "Moreover, the new mechanism we found changes the chemical properties of particles, making them more likely to participate in cloud formation. Therefore, particulate matter may be having a stronger influence on global climate than previously thought."

About Carnegie Mellon:
Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities. More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its 144-acre campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive among leading research universities for the world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts.

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Carnegie Mellon

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More about diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems

Science Panel Outlines Roadmap for Reducing Risks from Climate Change

NEW YORK, NY--February 27, 2007--The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, released today “Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable, ” the final report of the Scientific Expert Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The report, prepared as input for the upcoming meeting of the UN’s Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), outlines a roadmap for preventing unmanageable climate changes and adapting to the degree of change that can no longer be avoided.

Two years in the making, the report was written by a panel of eminent scientists from around the world. The panel was co-chaired by Dr. Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment. The expert team was invited by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Secretariat to the CSD, to make recommendations on key mitigation and adaptation needs. This year’s 15th Session of the CSD is reviewing national and international efforts on energy and climate change.

“Two starkly different futures diverge from this time forward,” the report cautions. “Society’s current path leads to increasingly serious climate-change impacts… The other path … will reduce dangerous emissions, create economic opportunity, help to reduce global poverty, reduce degradation and carbon emissions from ecosystems, and contribute to sustainability. Humanity must act collectively and urgently to change course through leadership at all levels of society. There is no more time for delay.”

“This report defines the seriousness and urgency that must characterize global efforts to respond to the unfolding and far-reaching challenge of climate change. Confronting Climate Change makes clear that we must start immediately to stabilize and then substantially reverse the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Timothy E. Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation. “The international community should be grateful that this remarkable panel of scientific all-stars from around the world has provided a roadmap for mitigating and adapting to climate change. And they have told us that there is tremendous economic opportunity in doing so.”

“Our report makes clear that the challenge before us is to reduce the risk of climate change resulting in intolerable global impacts,” said Peter H. Raven, Past President of Sigma Xi, Presidential Medal of Science recipient and preeminent biodiversity expert. “Our recommendations are designed to help the international community get on a path to stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and managing the impacts of climate change. Unlike many reports from scientists, this report gives very clear recommendations for what the international community and nations themselves must do to mitigate and adapt to climate change. These steps will contribute to achievement of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals; failing to do so will make those goals much harder, if not impossible to reach.”

“It is still possible to avoid an unmanageable degree of climate change, but the time for action is now,” said John Holdren, the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy, Harvard University, Director of the Woods Hole Research Center, and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “The global-average surface temperature has already risen about 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels and is projected to rise another 2-4°C by 2100 if CO2 emissions and concentrations grow according to mid-range projections. Prudence dictates limiting the average temperature increase to no more than 2-2.5°C above the pre-industrial level, and our report offers clear recommendations for achieving that goal.”

“The world is experiencing climate disruption now and the increases in droughts, floods, and sea level rise that will occur in the coming decades will cause enormous human suffering and economic losses. The poorest are likely the most vulnerable. We imperil our children’s and grandchildren’s future if we fail to improve society’s capacity to adapt to a changing climate,” said Rosina Bierbaum, former Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “We can manage water better, bolster disaster preparedness, increase surveillance for emerging diseases, make cities more resilient, move vulnerable populations and prepare for environmental refugees, design more drought-tolerant crops, use natural resources more sustainably, and enhance local capacity to cope with a suite of expected changes.”

The report covers an overview of the science of climate change; the importance of avoiding the risk of major impacts of climate change; options for mitigation; and steps that can be taken to prepare to adapt to anticipated climate change.Among the report’s key findings are:

• Exceeding global average temperature increases above 2-2.5°C above the 1750 pre-industrial level would entail “sharply increasing risk of intolerable impacts.”

To avoid exceeding the 2-2.5° C limit will require stabilizing atmospheric concentrations at the equivalent of no more than 450-500 ppm of CO2 (compared to about 380 ppm CO2-equivalent today). That in turn requires that global CO2 emissions peak no later than 2015 to 2020 at not much above their current level and decline by 2100 to about a third of that value.

A two-pronged strategy is needed: avoid the unmanageable (mitigation) and manage the unavoidable (adaptation).

• The technology exists to seize significant opportunities around the globe to reduce emissions and provide other economic, environmental and social benefits, including meeting the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. To do so, policy makers must immediately act by:
• Improving efficiency in the transportation sector through measures such as vehicle efficiency standards, fuel taxes, and registration fees/rebates that favor purchase of efficient and alternative fuel vehicles.
• Improving design and efficiency of commercial and residential buildings through building codes, standards for equipment and appliances, incentives for property developers and landlords to build and manage properties efficiently, and financing for energy-efficiency investments.
• Expanding the use of biofuels through energy portfolio standards and incentives to growers and consumers.
• Beginning immediately, designing and deploying only coal power-plant types that can be affordably retrofitted to capture and sequester CO2.
• Climate change and impacts from it are already being experienced, and there will be more even if mitigation efforts are successful. Societies must do more to adapt to ongoing and unavoidable changes in the Earth’s climate system by:
• Improving preparedness/response strategies and management of natural resources to cope with future climatic conditions that will be fundamentally different than those experienced for the last 100 years.
• Addressing the adaptation needs of the poorest and most vulnerable nations, which will bear the brunt of climate change impacts.
• Planning and building climate resilient cities.
• Strengthening international, national, and regional institutions to cope with weather-related disasters and an increasing number of climate change refugees.
• The international community, through the UN and related multilateral institutions, can play a crucial role in advancing action to manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable by:
• Helping developing countries and countries with economies in transition to finance and deploy energy efficient and new energy technologies.
• Accelerating negotiations to develop a new international framework for addressing climate change and sustainable development.
• Educating all about the opportunities to adopt mitigation and adaptation measures.

About Sigma XiSigma Xi
The Scientific Research Society is an international honor society for research scientists and engineers, with more than 500 chapters and 60,000 members in North America and around the world. The society sponsors a number of programs that promote science and engineering and also publishes American Scientist magazine. Sigma Xi’s administrative offices are in Research Triangle Park, N.C. http://www.sigmaxi.org/

About the UN Foundation
The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems and also works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. The UN Foundation is a public charity. http://www.unfoundation.org/

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Confronting Climate Change:
Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable

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How CleanAIR Systems is making a difference in reducing harmful emissions of fine particulate matter and NOx

EPA Announces New Human Health Research Web Site

EPA's Human Health Research Program launched a new Web site on the latest information on its research to protect public health. The program's science looks at such questions as why some people are more sensitive to pollution and how exposure to chemicals affects people's health. The site is designed for the general public as well as for the scientific community.

"The best decisions are informed decisions," said George Gray, assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development. "The site provides easy access to research and results on methods, tools, and data needed to improve risk assessments to protect the public."

Visitors to the site will find an overview of the research, information on how research has contributed to decision making, resource materials available in journal publications and reports, and a listing of meetings and conferences.

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EPA – Human Health Research Program

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The health impact of pollution caused by diesel emissions

EPA Actions Will Assure Air Permitting Programs Run Consistently and Smoothly

EPA is revising parts of its permitting process for certain new or modified industrial facilities in areas that do not meet EPA's health-based national air quality standards for ground-level ozone and fine particle pollution. The agency is taking two actions to ensure nationwide consistency as states implement the New Source Review (NSR) air permitting program.

In the first action, EPA is updating a section of its NSR regulations known as "Appendix S". Appendix S contains requirements states must rely upon to implement NSR in areas where the agency has not yet approved a state plan to implement the program. Appendix S will remain in place until EPA approves a state's implementation plan. This action will ensure national consistency with 2002 NSR reform rules for permitting new or modified industrial facilities in areas working to attain and maintain national air quality standards.

In the second action, EPA is seeking comment on two options for improving recordkeeping and reporting requirements for sources which make modifications that do not trigger NSR. EPA seeks input on whether a source should use its projected actual emissions increases or potential emissions increases as the basis for determining whether recordkeeping and reporting are required. EPA will accept comment on this rule for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

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EPA – New Source Review

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How power plants can reduce NOx emissions using selective catalytic reduction

Citizen Scientists Rise to Climate Change Challenge

Earthwatch offers worldwide response to IPCC report on global warming threat

Earthwatch Institute, Maynard, MA, 5 February 2007—On February 2, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its latest report, leaving little doubt that human activities are driving climate change. While the report offers no solutions yet, Earthwatch Institute provides many alternatives for people who want to help understand and mitigate the impact of global warming on ecosystems and communities around the world.

"If people are indeed part of the problem, they can also be part of the solution," said Ed Wilson, President and CEO of Earthwatch. The international environmental volunteer organization supports scientific field research on the world's most pressing issues including global warming. "Climate change is one of Earthwatch's key research priorities, providing volunteers with many opportunities to take action and make a difference through their participation."

The IPCC report stated that there is 90 percent certainty that the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are responsible for observed changes in climate. The report specified that rises in global temperatures could be as high as 6.4 degrees Centigrade by 2100, with the most likely range being between between 1.8 degrees and 4.0 degrees. The warming will result in rising sea levels, as much as 59 centimeters, and an increase in the intensity of hurricanes.

Parts 2 and 3 of the IPCC report, due to be released in March and April, will deal more directly with the impacts of climate change and how humans might mitigate these impacts. In the mean time, many global citizens are actively volunteering with Earthwatch scientists to understand glacial melt in Iceland and Alaska or the impact temperature increase has on rainforests.

In the next five years, Earthwatch will support $40 million in climate change research, education, and engagement programs involving 100,000 volunteers. These programs promote practical and integrated solutions to climate change impacts, from restoring ecosystems to supporting regional economic development.

"Earthwatch provides a vital opportunity for scientists from many disciplines to work towards an understanding of how global climate change impacts upon our environment and its delicate ecosystems," said Dr. James Crabbe of the University of Bedfordshire. Crabbe, principal investigator of Earthwatch-supported research on coral reefs in Jamaica and Belize, was awarded the Aviva/Earthwatch Award for Climate Change Research last October.

Already, Earthwatch volunteers are assisting in research on climate change impacts in the Canadian Arctic, Australian rainforest, the western Atlantic Ocean, and the forests of Ecuador, Costa Rica, and the United States. Teams in Samburu, Kenya are mapping water resources subject to variability from global warming, and teams in Madagascar are identifying how rare lemurs are vulnerable to changing climates.

"It is through the hard work of Earthwatch volunteers that we are beginning to fit together the pieces of this ecological jigsaw puzzle," said Dr. Rob Thomas (Cardiff University), principal investigator of Earthwatch's Storm Petrels over Portugal project. "By providing hard facts and thorough case studies that illustrate the biological effects of climate change, our hope is that environmental policy makers will be better able to develop appropriate responses to promote the survival of marine biodiversity in the face of climate change."

See Earthwatch's Climate Change Statement.
Learn about the impacts of climate change in our local lecture series.
Read what four Earthwatch-supported scientists say about how humans can mitigate the impact of global warming on ecosystems: Feeling the Heat.

Find out what Dr. Suzanne Jenkins, Earthwatch North Queensland field director, is doing about climate change after participating in a training with Al Gore: Earthwatch Australia Meets Al Gore.

Earthwatch Institute is a global volunteer organization that supports scientific field research by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. Earthwatch's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.

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Earthwatch Institute

Diesel Fumes Pose Major Health Risk to Commuters

Washington, D.C. -- February 28, 2007 -- Diesel fumes pose a major health risk to commuters, according to a new report by the non-profit Clean Air Task Force.

The Boston-based environmental research group reported today that even though we spend only a tiny portion of our day commuting, it’s during the commute that we receive more than half our overall exposure to deadly fine particle pollution.

“Exposure to diesel exhaust during commutes poses a serious public health risk that needs to be addressed,” said George Thurston, Professor of Environmental Medicine at New York University’s School of Medicine, who wrote the foreword to the report.

Fine particle pollution, including diesel exhaust, can cause lung cancer, stroke, heart attack and infant death. It also triggers asthma attacks and makes people more likely to become allergic.

Some health researchers have estimated that such fine particles are responsible for shortening the lives of at least 70,000 Americans each year.

The Task Force specifically investigated diesel exhaust levels during commutes in New York NY, Boston MA, Austin TX and Columbus OH. The Task Force documented diesel particle levels four to eight times higher inside commuter cars, buses, and trains than in the ambient outdoor air in those cities. These are examples of likely results during a commute anywhere in the country where there is significant diesel traffic.

“Our investigation demonstrated that you may be exposed to high levels of diesel particles – four to eight times the levels in the outdoor air -- whether you commute by car, bus, ferry, train, or on foot,” said Bruce Hill, Senior Scientist with CATF.

By contrast, Hill noted, pollution levels were negligible for commuters in and near vehicles equipped with modern pollution controls or those that run on lower-polluting fuels such as natural gas.

“The problem is that there are 13 million diesel engines in service today, and virtually all are exempt from modern pollution controls,” said Conrad Schneider, Advocacy Director for the Task Force. “However, our study showed that simply replacing the muffler of trucks or buses with a diesel particle filter can reduce commuter exposure substantially,” he said. By EPA regulation, the Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel that is necessary to keep these diesel particle filters operating optimally became available nationwide late last year.

The Task Force called on federal and state agencies to increase funding to clean up highly polluting buses and other existing diesel engines. It urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require that long-haul trucks clean up when their engines are rebuilt. It also urged the EPA to move ahead with plans to set new pollution standards for diesel trains and diesel-powered boats, including commuter ferries.

The new report can be found online at www.catf.us/goto/noescape
For information about diesel risk in specific communities, go to: www.catf.us/projects/diesel/dieselhealth

Founded in 1996, the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) (www.catf.us) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring clean air and healthy environments through scientific research, public education, and legal advocacy. CATF’s staff includes scientists, engineers, economists, MBAs and lawyers. The organization works closely with more than 40 state, local, regional and national groups to educate the public, media, industry and public decision makers on the science and economics of clean air policies through fact-based and locally appropriate advocacy.

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Clean Air Task Force

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About diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems and how they can virtually eliminate particulate matter from exhaust when retrofitted on diesel engines.

NERAM Launches Plan to Fight Air Pollution

WATERLOO, Ont. -- February 7, 2007 -- A University of Waterloo-based research network says scientific evidence of the effects of air pollution on human health and the environment is clear enough to support global efforts to continue reducing outdoor levels.

The Network for Risk Assessment and Management (NERAM) has developed with international experts a 12-point plan -- parts of which have been adopted in Europe -- to fight air pollution and improve public health. The plan, a policy guidance document on air quality management for local, regional and national policy-makers, is the result of a five-year NERAM colloquium series.

"It is now universally recognized that poor air quality has adverse impacts on human health and research confirms that residents in Southern Ontario and other parts of Canada are exposed to levels of air pollutants associated with morbidity and mortality," says UW professor emeritus John Shortreed, executive director of both NERAM and UW's Institute for Risk Research.

"The University of Waterloo has done five years of work in translating research from around the world for use in policies to improve health. We are ready to battle the No. 1 environmental killer -- air pollution."

The plan reflects the latest thinking of policy-makers and health researchers from around the world. The fifth and final colloquium was held in October in Vancouver.

Research shows that both short-term and long-term exposures to particulate matter and other air pollutants are statistically associated with serious human health effects, including premature death, heart-and breathing-related hospital admissions and emergency room visits, together with a worsening of asthma conditions.

"Scientific evidence of the effects of air pollutant exposure on human health and on the environment is strong enough to justify global efforts to continue to reduce outdoor concentrations, even in locations that meet air pollutant standards," Shortreed says.

He adds that Europe and Britain are already implementing the interim policies proposed by the NERAM colloquium series held in Rome in 2003 and in Mexico in 2005 to deal with hot spots, such as high traffic areas in cities like Toronto.

"They are using an innovative approach to regulations that actually allow some locations to exceed air quality standards, while imposing area-wide reductions that have many more health benefits -- the result is more health outcomes for existing regulatory resources."

Shortreed says that air pollution typically causes a white, yellow or brown haze that reduces visual range, affecting people's ability to enjoy their surroundings. In places like Hong Kong, for instance, the impaired visibility caused by haze or smog is used as a means to show the public the link between high air pollution concentrations and increased health costs.

Topics covered in the NERAM document include air quality and human health, emission inventories, air quality management approaches and evidence of effectiveness, as well as challenges and opportunities in air quality management.

The plan includes the following strategic policy directions for air quality management:
1. Communication of health effects is key to increasing public awareness and demand for air quality management policies.
2. Increase awareness of linkages between air quality and climate change.
3. Cross-sectoral policies in energy, environment, climate, transport, agriculture and health.
4. Exposure reduction and continuous improvement policies are important extensions to ambient air quality standards.
5. Reducing exposure to combustion-generated particles should be a priority, such fossil fuels and biomass.
6. Evidence is sufficient to justify policies to reduce traffic exposures.
7. Prioritize pollutants and sources based on the potential for exposure.
8. Policies focused on improving visibility may gain greater support than those focused solely on health.
9. International harmonization of measurements and metrics, emission inventories, modelling tools, assessment of health effects literature and health-related guidelines.
10. More research on toxicity-determining characteristics of particulate matter and more evaluation of local, regional and global policies.

Shortreed says there are many epidemiological (human population) studies carried out in North America and Europe that have demonstrated statistically significant ties between ambient levels of particulate matter and other air pollutants and a variety of human health problems, including death and hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

NERAM has already started a regional initiative in the Greater Toronto Area along with Pollution Probe to apply some of the research results in order to tackle the thousands of premature deaths every year in Ontario.

The main goal of NERAM is to integrate the scientific knowledge and expertise that exists across many diverse disciplines in Canada, thereby providing a comprehensive approach to environmental risk assessment and risk management. As a result, there will be more effective and efficient environmental protection practices.

See the Source:
Network for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management

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How to reduce toxic particulate matter from diesel emissions by retrofitting engines with the CleanAIR PERMIT Filter

New Evidence That Global Warming Fuels Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes

Atmospheric scientists have uncovered fresh evidence to support the hotly debated theory that global warming has contributed to the emergence of stronger hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.

The unsettling trend is confined to the Atlantic, however, and does not hold up in any of the world's other oceans, researchers have also found.

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported the finding in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The work should help resolve some of the controversy that has swirled around two prominent studies that drew connections last year between global warming and the onset of increasingly intense hurricanes.

"The debate is not about scientific methods, but instead centers around the quality of hurricane data," says lead author James Kossin, a research scientist at UW-Madison's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies. "So we thought, 'Lets take the first step toward resolving this debate.'"

The inconsistent nature of hurricane data has been a sore spot within the hurricane research community for decades. Before the advent of weather satellites, scientists were forced to rely on scattered ship reports and sailor logs to stay abreast of storm conditions. The advent of weather satellites during the 1960s dramatically improved the situation, but the technology has changed so rapidly that newer satellite records are barely consistent with older ones.

Kossin and his colleagues realized they needed to smooth out the data before exploring any interplay between warmer temperatures and hurricane activity. Working with an existing NCDC archive that holds global satellite information for the years 1983 through 2005, the researchers evened out the numbers by essentially simplifying newer satellite information to align it with older records.

"This new dataset is unlike anything that's been done before," says Kossin. "It's going to serve a purpose as being the only globally consistent dataset around. The caveat of course, is that it only goes back to 1983."

Even so, it's a good start. Once the NCDC researchers recalibrated the hurricane figures, Kossin took a fresh look at how the new numbers on hurricane strength correlate with records on warming ocean temperatures, a side effect of global warming.

What he found both supported and contradicted previous findings. "The data says that the Atlantic has been trending upwards in hurricane intensity quite a bit," says Kossin. "But the trends appear to be inflated or spurious everywhere else, meaning that we still can't make any global statements."

Sea-surface temperatures may be one reason why greenhouse gases are exacting a unique toll on the Atlantic Ocean, says Kossin. Hurricanes need temperatures of around 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) to gather steam. On average, the Atlantic's surface is slightly colder than that but other oceans, such as the Western Pacific, are naturally much warmer.

"The average conditions in the Atlantic at any given time are just on the cusp of what it takes for a hurricane to form," says Kossin. “So it might be that imposing only a small (man-made) change in conditions, creates a much better chance of having a hurricane."

The Atlantic is also unique in that all the physical variables that converge to form hurricanes - including wind speeds, wind directions and temperatures - mysteriously feed off each other in ways that only make conditions more ripe for a storm. But scientists don't really understand why, Kossin adds.

"While we can see a correlation between global warming and hurricane strength, we still need to understand exactly why the Atlantic is reacting to warmer temperatures in this way, and that is much more difficult to do," says Kossin. "We need to be creating models and simulations to understand what is really happening here. From here on, that is what we should be thinking about."

The work was funded by the National Science Foundation. Co-authors Daniel Vimont, a UW-Madison atmospheric scientist, Ken Knapp, a scientist at the NCDC, and Richard Murnane, a scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, also contributed to the study.

See the Source:
University of Wisconsin-Madison

New Fundraising Program Sets National Sales Goal of Two Million Fluorescent Light Bulbs

LightbulbsAmerica Enables Schools and Other Groups to Easily Raise Money While Saving More Than One Billion Pounds of CO2 Emissions

ORINDA, CA -- February 28, 2007 -- A new national fund-raising campaign, which LightbulbsAmerica announced today, enables schools, churches and other groups to raise money by selling environmentally friendly fluorescent light bulbs. In the "win-win" fundraiser, organizations can raise money; purchasers can save money; energy use can be lessened and the environment helped.

The fundraiser's national sales goal of two million fluorescent light bulbs would reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by about 1.3 billion pounds, save approximately 500 million pounds of coal, and save consumers about $124 million.

"Many people don't realize how much they can save -- both financially and environmentally -- by switching to fluorescents," said Robert Etheredge, founder of LightbulbsAmerica. "We expect a positive response to this program because it provides a high-quality, environmentally friendly product that people need, and that can reduce the country's energy use."

The program features a family of products, including popular mini-spiral bulbs that replace 60 to 100 watt bulbs, reflector lights for ceiling cans and even a dimmable reflector bulb. The ENERGY STAR® products are made by Greenlite Lighting Corporation, one of the leading manufacturers of energy-efficient light bulbs. These "new-generation" light bulbs come on almost instantly and are small enough to fit the majority of light fixtures.

Easy Fundraising Program
A LightbulbsAmerica fundraiser can be both profitable and easy. Participants will make about 40 percent on the bulbs (based on the suggested selling price). All information and materials are available online. A school or organization can get started right away and can track their progress online.

As an added incentive, LightbulbsAmerica is offering a grand prize and individual state prizes for the organizations selling the most light bulbs this calendar year.
Advantages of Fluorescent Bulbs

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) use only 24 percent of the energy of traditional bulbs, saving an estimated $20 to $50 over the life of the bulb. CFLs last six to ten times as long as regular light bulbs, reducing the need to buy more light bulbs. The decreased electrical use results in less carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants. And an individual fluorescent light bulb can save up to 500 pounds of coal.

To help people get a better idea of how much they can save, LightbulbsAmerica has an Energy Savings calculator at http://www.lightbulbsamerica.com/yourenergy.asp. The LightbulbsAmerica website also tracks the energy savings, and CO2 and coal reductions connected to the number of light bulbs sold.

About LightbulbsAmerica
LightbulbsAmerica is dedicated to improving the environment and reducing energy dependence. The company is headquartered in Orinda, California.

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LightbulbsAmerica

Phoenix Motorcars Signs Deal With Pacific Gas and Electric for All-Electric Vehicles

Powered by Altairnano's NanoSafe Battery Packs and UQM's Electric Drive Motors

ONTARIO, CA -- February 28, 2007 -- Phoenix Motorcars announced today it received a purchase order for four of its zero-emission, all-electric sport utility trucks (SUTs) from Pacific Gas and Electric Company to be delivered in June. The SUTs, which are powered by UQM Technologies, Inc.'s propulsion system, Boshart Engineering's homologation process and Altairnano's NanoSafe™ 35kWh battery pack, will represent the only series of battery-electric trucks in the PG&E fleet.

Phoenix's SUT can travel at freeway-speeds while carrying five passengers and a full payload. The SUT exceeds all specifications for a Type III ZEV, having a driving range of over 100 miles, can be recharged in less than 10 minutes and has a battery pack with a lifespan of more than 12 years. PG&E plans to place a purchase order for 200 of Phoenix Motorcar's vehicles annually to assist in its daily operation of serving over 70,000 square miles in Central and Northern California.

"PG&E operates the fourth largest alternative-fuel truck fleet in the nation, and we are honored to supply them with a reliable all-electric vehicle to improve their fleet operations," says Daniel J. Elliott, CEO of Phoenix Motorcars. "We want to provide the California-fleet market with high-performance, zero-emission vehicles to reduce costs, improve air quality and protect public health."

Phoenix Motorcars targets operators of fleet vehicles, such as public utilities, public transportation providers and delivery services. A limited number of vehicles will be available to consumers in 2007 with an expanded consumer launch scheduled for 2008. Phoenix Motorcars will also introduce an SUV model in late 2007.

About Phoenix Motorcars, Inc.
Phoenix Motorcars Inc., a privately-held company headquartered in Ontario, Calif., has been an industry leader in the development of battery-electric, freeway-speed vehicles since 2001. The mission of Phoenix Motorcars is to manufacture zero-emission vehicles including Sport Utility Trucks and Sport Utility Vehicles to reduce the toxic emissions from the largest contributor to air pollution, personal automobiles. Phoenix Motorcars has strategic alliances with UQM Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: UQM), Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTI) and Boshart Engineering.

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Phoenix Motorcars, Inc.

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How to reduce emissions from diesel vehicles by using diesel particulate filters

States, Enviros Sue EPA Over Cement Factory Emissions

ALBANY, New York – February 21, 2007 -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo today announced a multi-state legal challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, for adopting a rule that refuses to regulate mercury and other pollutants from existing portland cement plants.

The states seek to have a federal court overturn the rule by finding that it violates the Clean Air Act.

A petition, signed by nine states, was filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The states joining New York in the petition are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Portland cement is the primary cement used in building projects and road construction. It is produced throughout the United States. Collectively, these cement plants are a major source of mercury emissions nationwide.

The federal Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set standards for various hazardous air pollutants, including mercury, based on the performance of the cleanest 12 percent of existing plants.

The EPA’s rule would exempt existing portland cement plants from having to do anything to lower their emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) refusal to set emission standards for portland cement plants leaves a significant source of mercury pollution in the United States unregulated.

Mercury in the environment is blamed for neurological disorders, learning disabilities, and, in certain high dosage cases, even death. Recent studies suggest that mercury exposure may also contribute to adult cardiovascular problems. In addition, mercury contamination in many water bodies has led to the issuance of fish consumption advisories across New York State.

This will be the second time that the EPA has been challenged over its failure to set mercury pollution standards for the portland cement industry. In 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit directed the EPA to set mercury standards. The EPA has since ignored the court’s ruling.

'It is shameful that the Bush Administration’s EPA continues to abdicate its responsibility to protect public health and the environment. This coalition of states is resorting to the federal courts in an effort to compel the EPA to follow the law and establish limits for the most dangerous pollutants,' said Cuomo.

'This is just another instance in a long line of examples of the Bush Administration caving to industry lobbyists at the expense of the health concerns of ordinary citizens.'

On Friday in the same court, environmentalists brought their own lawsuit against the EPA for its latest refusal to limit cement kilns' mercury emissions.

Earthjustice is representing Sierra Club, the Texas group Downwinders At Risk, the Huron Environmental Activist League from Michigan, Friends of Hudson from New York, California's Desert Citizens Against Pollution, and Montanans Against Toxic Burning in the lawsuit.

'Once again the EPA has failed to put public health first,' said Carl Pope, Sierra Club executive director. 'The agency ignored the law. They have ignored the courts and they have ignored public health for too long.'

The agency estimates that 118 cement kilns emit over 11,000 pounds of mercury each year, making cement kilns one of the largest sources of mercury pollution.

The nation's single largest mercury polluter of any kind is a cement kiln in southern California, which emitted over 2,500 pounds of mercury in 2004.

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Environment News Service

The Green Grid Addresses Energy Efficiency in Data Centers

Consortium Completes Formation and Calls for Members

Portland, Ore. -- The Green Grid, a non-profit consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems, today announced the completion of its formation, membership structure, technical charter, and made available three new white papers.

The collective viewpoint of Green Grid members is that energy efficiency in the data center is the most significant issue facing technology providers and their customers today. This situation is not only due to exponential increases in power and cooling costs over the past few years, but also because customer demand for concentrated computing is outpacing the availability of clean reliable power in many places around the world. The Green Grid is the first industry initiative chartered to take a holistic view of the computing ecosystem, with a focus on addressing the pressing issues facing data center users.

The consortium also announced its Board of Directors, comprised of AMD, APC, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Rackable Systems, SprayCool, Sun Microsystems, and VMware. These companies represent leadership across all facets of product development for the data center and are collectively committed to driving new user-centric metrics, technology standards, and best practices for use by data center managers worldwide.

End users and technology suppliers are encouraged to become members of The Green Grid to help drive the creation of platform-neutral specifications and metrics. The Green Grid's membership structure includes Contributing and General Member levels. General members will have access to all technical documentation produced by The Green Grid, access to intellectual property licensing, and opportunities to attend events. Contributing members will have all the above benefits and be eligible to join technology working groups, review technology documentation at each phase of development and directly contribute to shaping future consortium direction.

The organization has also made available its first three white papers developed by The Green Grid's technical committee. The papers offer perspectives on data center efficiency issues as well as efficiency baseline recommendations, and are targeted at CIO, data center administrator and facility manager audiences.

For more information about The Green Grid's activities or to become a member, please visit the organization's Web site at www.thegreengrid.org.

About The Green GridThe Green Grid is a global consortium of companies dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and computing ecosystems. The Green Grid does not endorse any vendor-specific products or solutions, and will seek to provide industry-wide recommendations on best practices, metrics and technologies that will improve overall data center energy efficiencies. Membership is open to companies interested in data center operational efficiency at the Contributing or General Member level.

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The Green Grid

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About CleanAIR’s PERMIT Filter. The CleanAIR filter/silencer is commonly installed on diesel emergency generators used by data centers to ensure uninterrupted power during power outages. The PERMIT filter/silencer virtually eliminates diesel particulate, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons when the back-up generator is called into service.

DOE Selects Six Cellulosic Ethanol Plants for Up to $385 Million in Federal Funding

Funding to help bring cellulosic ethanol to market and help revolutionize the industry

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced that DOE will invest up to $385 million for six biorefinery projects over the next four years. When fully operational, the biorefineries are expected to produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. This production will help further President Bush’s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012 and, along with increased automobile fuel efficiency, reduce America’s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in ten years.

“These biorefineries will play a critical role in helping to bring cellulosic ethanol to market, and teaching us how we can produce it in a more cost effective manner,” Secretary Bodman said. “Ultimately, success in producing inexpensive cellulosic ethanol could be a key to eliminating our nation’s addiction to oil. By relying on American ingenuity and on American farmers for fuel, we will enhance our nation’s energy and economic security.”

Today’s announcement is one part of the Bush Administration’s comprehensive plan to support commercialization of scientific breakthroughs on biofuels. Specifically, these projects directly support the goals of President Bush’s Twenty in Ten Initiative, which aims to increase the use of renewable and alternative fuels in the transportation sector to the equivalent of 35 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2017. Funding for these projects is an integral part of the President’s Biofuels Initiative that will lead to the wide-scale use of non-food based biomass, such as agricultural waste, trees, forest residues, and perennial grasses in the production of transportation fuels, electricity, and other products. The solicitation, announced a year ago, was initially for three biorefineries and $160 million. However, in an effort to expedite the goals of President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative and help achieve the goals of his Twenty in Ten Initiative, within authority of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), Section 932, Secretary Bodman raised the funding ceiling.

“We had a number of very good proposals, but these six were considered ‘meritorious’ by a merit review panel made up of bioenergy experts. So I thought it would be best to front-end some more funding now, so that we could all reap the benefits of the President’s vision sooner,” Secretary Bodman said.

Combined with the industry cost share, more than $1.2 billion will be invested in these six biorefineries. Negotiations between the selected companies and DOE will begin immediately to determine final project plans and funding levels. Funding will begin this fiscal year and run through FY 2010. EPAct authorized DOE to solicit and fund proposals for the commercial demonstration of advanced biorefineries that use cellulosic feedstocks to produce ethanol and co-produce bioproducts and electricity.
The following six projects were selected:

Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC of Chesterfield, Missouri, up to $76 million.The proposed plant will be located in the state of Kansas. The plant will produce 11.4 million gallons of ethanol annually and enough energy to power the facility, with any excess energy being used to power the adjacent corn dry grind mill. The plant will use 700 tons per day of corn stover, wheat straw, milo stubble, switchgrass, and other feedstocks.
Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass investors/participants include: Abengoa Bioenergy R&D, Inc.; Abengoa Engineering and Construction, LLC; Antares Corp.; and Taylor Engineering.

ALICO, Inc. of LaBelle, Florida, up to $33 million.The proposed plant will be in LaBelle (Hendry County), Florida. The plant will produce 13.9 million gallons of ethanol a year and 6,255 kilowatts of electric power, as well as 8.8 tons of hydrogen and 50 tons of ammonia per day. For feedstock, the plant will use 770 tons per day of yard, wood, and vegetative wastes and eventually energycane.ALICO, Inc. investors/participants include: Bioengineering Resources, Inc. of Fayetteville, Arkansas; Washington Group International of Boise, Idaho; GeoSyntec Consultants of Boca Raton, Florida; BG Katz Companies/JAKS, LLC of Parkland, Florida; and Emmaus Foundation, Inc.

BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. of Irvine, California, up to $40 million.The proposed plant will be in Southern California. The plant will be sited on an existing landfill and produce about 19 million gallons of ethanol a year. As feedstock, the plant would use 700 tons per day of sorted green waste and wood waste from landfills.BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. investors/participants include: Waste Management, Inc.; JGC Corporation; MECS Inc.; NAES; and PetroDiamond.

Broin Companies of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, up to $80 million.The plant is in Emmetsburg (Palo Alto County), Iowa, and after expansion, it will produce 125 million gallons of ethanol per year, of which roughly 25percent will be cellulosic ethanol. For feedstock in the production of cellulosic ethanol, the plant expects to use 842 tons per day of corn fiber, cobs, and stalks.
Broin Companies participants include: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company; Novozymes North America, Inc.; and DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Iogen Biorefinery Partners, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, up to $80 million.The proposed plant will be built in Shelley, Idaho, near Idaho Falls, and will produce 18 million gallons of ethanol annually. The plant will use 700 tons per day of agricultural residues including wheat straw, barley straw, corn stover, switchgrass, and rice straw as feedstocks.
Iogen Biorefinery Partners, LLC investors/partners include: Iogen Energy Corporation; Iogen Corporation; Goldman Sachs; and The Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

Range Fuels (formerly Kergy Inc.) of Broomfield, Colorado, up to $76
million.The proposed plant will be constructed in Soperton (Treutlen County), Georgia. The plant will produce about 40 million gallons of ethanol per year and 9 million gallons per year of methanol. As feedstock, the plant will use 1,200 tons per day of wood residues and wood based energy crops.
Range Fuels investors/participants include: Merrick and Company; PRAJ Industries Ltd.; Western Research Institute; Georgia Forestry Commission; Yeomans Wood and Timber; Truetlen County Development Authority; BioConversion Technology; Khosla Ventures; CH2MHill; Gillis Ag and Timber.

Cellulosic ethanol is an alternative fuel made from a wide variety of non-food plant materials (or feedstocks), including agricultural wastes such as corn stover and cereal straws, industrial plant waste like saw dust and paper pulp, and energy crops grown specifically for fuel production like switchgrass. By using a variety of regional feedstocks for refining cellulosic ethanol, the fuel can be produced in nearly every region of the country. Though it requires a more complex refining process, cellulosic ethanol contains more net energy and results in lower greenhouse emissions than traditional corn-based ethanol. E-85, an ethanol-fuel blend that is 85-percent ethanol, is already available in more than 1,000 fueling stations nationwide and can power millions of flexible fuel vehicles already on the roads.

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DOE