E-waste in China is a huge problem. It is extraordinarily dangerous for the health of the planet and for the people who work in e-wa…

Continue reading " 60 Minutes Reporter Attacked in Chinese E-Waste Pit "

At least that is what the media releases are saying. Late last month, the Australian Solar Sailor company announced they’d signed a deal with China’s biggest shipping line, COSCO, to fit some of their jumbo jet sized solar-powered sails to a tanker and bulk carrier.

The 30 metre long sails, festooned in photovoltaic panels are expected to catch enough wind to reduce fuel costs by between 20% and 40%, whilst those PV cells will provide the ships with 5% of their electricity. A computer automatically angles the sales for maximum wind and solar efficiency, and if all goes to plan the sails will have recovered their initial cost within four years.
…

Continue reading " Solar Sailor Sun Sails To Be Fitted to Chinese Cargo Ships "

Ai Weiwei is one of China’s most famous artists. He was a design consultant on the iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium at the Olympics and he has been a brave critic of the Chinese Olympics. It was he who denounced Steven Spielberg for his participation in the opening ceremonies. He lived in New York for 12 years and returned to China in 1993 and has since become a big media star, blogger…

Continue reading " Bamboo in Chinese Art "

By Joseph Romm

The staid International Energy Agency is poised to bring a note of sanity back to the oil discussion next week, according to the Financial Times:

Oil prices will rebound to more than $100 a barrel as soon as the world economy recovers, and will exceed $200 by 2030, the International Energy Agency will say in its flagship report to be published next week.

“While market imbalances could temporarily cause prices to fall back, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the era of cheap oil is over,” the report states …

“Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable,” the report states.

Duh!

This is a strong reaffirmation of IEA’s “dire forecast” from July.

The above figure is IEA’s new demand forecast. Needless to say, for global fossil fuel emissions to peak by about 2020 and drop 50 percent from current levels by 2050 — in order to have a chance of keeping total planetary warming at or below the (hopefully) safe level of 2°C — then a 25 percent increase in oil consumption is untenable.

The new report lays out a stark warning about the difficulty of increasing supply even that much in the next two decades — and a starker indirect warning about the gross misallocation of global resources needed to achieve that increase:

The IEA estimates that by 2010 oil companies will have to commit to projects producing almost as much oil as Saudi Arabia — or about 7m barrels a day — if the world is to avoid a supply crunch by the middle of the next decade … The stark assessment comes as companies cancel projects from Kazakhstan to Canada because the collapse in oil prices makes them uneconomical.

The industry will have to invest $350bn each year until 2030 to counter the steep rates of decline of existing fields and find enough extra oil to satisfy the growing demand of countries such as China, the report states.

Output from the world’s oil fields is declining at a natural rate of 9 per cent, the IEA found, following the most comprehensive review of its kind. This decline rate is curtailed to 6.7 per cent when current investments to boost production are made. However, even with such investments, the decline rate worsens significantly to 8.6 per cent by 2030.

The declining rates are steeper than the industry had previously assumed. They are also slightly steeper than an earlier draft of the report because the IEA has expanded the study to 800 oil fields, adding 250 smaller fields.

The oil industry will “have to invest $350 billion each year until 2030″ — a total of more than $7 trillion devoted to the Sisyphean effort of hanging on to a dwindling resource that is destroying the very climate that our health and well-being depends upon. Imagine what could be done if just half that money were allocated toward a sustainable energy future.

Ironically, an article last week in the Wall Street Journal noted, “Oil’s Slide Threatens Future Supply“:

Nobuo Tanaka, head of the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based watchdog, was one of several experts at the annual Oil and Money conference here predicting that the industry could be setting the stage for yet another supply-and-demand whiplash down the road. “We’re concerned that supply won’t catch up with demand after this crisis,” Mr. Tanaka said. “The supply crunch may come again, but in a more acute way … “

In two years’ time, “we could see much higher prices than we saw three months ago, if the investments are not going through,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist …

Mr. Birol said falling oil prices will also deter investment in alternative energy. Low-carbon technologies such as wind and solar were economically competitive only so long as oil prices were high. Countries set to meet in Copenhagen next year to agree a new deal on curbing emissions may decide it is a “luxury” in view of the financial crisis. Lower oil prices are “not good news for climate change,” he said.

While libertarians and conservatives continue to advocate a do-nothing or make-things-worse energy policy, thankfully Americans were smart enough to elect a president who is committed to pursuing an aggressive strategy of energy efficiency and clean, alternative energy even at a time when prices are (temporarily) low.

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Continue reading " Up, up, and away! "

I started writing this post a few weeks ago, inspired by this article, PR Agency Warned Starbucks About Wasteful Water Policy. Like, what were they thinking?

I know, I know, it’s hard to think of everything, but that they pay good money to a PR firm then ignore their advice? Hello?

Yes, well, they were busy. Uses they aren’t now…oh wait – free coffee on election day – business is back up!

But seriously, I talk to ecopreneurs everyday. People email me questions, catch me on Twitter or actually (gasp) pay me to give them advice (Yes, I am a marketing consultant and have been for ummm a whole bunch of years.)

Often what I hear from folks is…do you think I, as a green product manufacturer can do xyz (overpackage; make product in China; use plastic…ship my product over 2000 miles away to a customer)? My answer is

Read more of this story »

Continue reading " Building A Greenwash Crisis Plan "

Ecopreneurist recently received a question from a reader about whether manufacturing an eco-friendly product in China is a good idea.  We thought his question would make a good topic for discussion and encourage other Ecopreneurist readers to give Chris your advice too by commenting below.

Chris wrote, “I have designed some great eco-friendly items […that…] are not eco- or green-washed, but [are] designed from the start to be green and are made with fully sustainable and recycled materials… The problem I am having is, the only place I can find a supplier to make these green products is in China. I am afraid that there could be criticism, backlash or negative comments made about the brand because the products are not made in a more eco-friendly perceived Country. I have made a huge effort to have the items made elsewhere without any luck… Do I make the items in China if that is my only option and risk criticism?”

Chris, you are right to see this as an important branding question.

I assume that you have checked into the potential manufacturer and have confidence in that factory’s environmental record and labor practices. If you know that it is possible to manufacture a product in China in a sustainable way, then it is just a matter of either transportation or image. And, for products sold on the West Coast of the US, shipping from China can have less impact on the environment than other transportation means, such as trucking or air freight.

So, let’s assume that your product will be truly green in all ways (materials, manufacturing and shipping) and that your issue is only a matter of impression. What can you do?

Read more of this story »

Continue reading " Can a Green Business Manufacture in China? "

1 // Arizona is confused about daylight-saving

The state of Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time. But it is the law in the Navajo Nation, located in Arizona’s northeastern corner. The Hopi Nation—situated inside the Navajo Nation—follows the rest of the state and disregards DST. So if you drive the length of Route 264 during the summer, you might have
to reset your watch three times.

2 // Venezuela is off by 30 minutes

In 2007, Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez, turned the country’s clocks back 30 minutes—saying
if people wake up in the daylight, they will be more productive. (Some speculate that he made the switch just to mess with El Norte.)

3 // All of China is on Beijing time

China spanned five time zones until 1949, when the entire country was synchronized to
the same hour.
So when dawn breaks in Beijing at 6:43 am, it’s also 6:43 am more than 2,000 miles west
in Kashi, where the sun won’t rise for another two hours and 45 minutes.

Continue reading " 3 Smart Things About Time Zones "

By Grist

We asked a number of leaders in environment and sustainability issues to imagine they found themselves in an elevator with the president-elect — giving them one minute of his undivided attention. Here are their messages to Obama about how he should approach environment, energy, and climate policy:

—–

Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco:
"Where the Bush Administration has failed in the last eight years, you must lead. In your first 100 days, begin implementing a detailed, acheivable plan to establish America as the world’s leader in the fight against climate change. By investing in energy independence, you will rebuild the American economy and rid our dependence on foreign oil. Move from the common rhetoric of creating a green revolution in America to achieving results:

“You must:

• Follow-through on your promise to invest $150 billion in clean-technology infrastructure, research, and development (and consider increasing this level of investment). Infrastructure should focus on modernizing our national power grid to make it more efficient and allow new renewable energy projects to feed into that grid. R&D funding should flow to our nation’s universities and scientific institutions to develop new energy-effiency and renewable-energy technologies, such as ocean power, that can be further advanced through the marketplace.
• Establish agressive new national effiency standards for buildings, cars, and appliances. We’ve done this in California over the past two decades and have witnessed no change in per capita energy usage amidst explosive economic growth.
• Recognize the true price of greenhouse-gas pollution by creating an aggressive cap-and-trade system or carbon tax that will make renewable energy competitive with polluting fossil-fuel-burning technologies.
• Organize a bilateral energy summit with China that establishes both countries as leaders in the developed and developing world toward growing national economies while reducing the environmental impact.
• Ensure that clean-energy investment benefits all Americans by creating green-collar job requirements as a pre-condition to any federal funding of infrastructure, research, and development.
• Support cities’ impressive climate protection efforts through technical assistance and resources for programs such as energy-effiency retrofits in low-income housing."

—–

Bill McKibben, author, climate activist, and member of Grist’s board of directors:
"Hey, congratulations, or condolences, or whatever’s appropriate. I know you’re focused on that financial meltdown, but it’s the meltdown meltdown that is going to define your two terms in office, Mr. Obama. How you deal with it may be the key to our economic recovery, but even more to the recovery of our stature in the world. We need a deal — but it’s a deal that has to reflect the new crucial piece of information about the planet. According to the scientists at NASA — your scientists, now — that world doesn’t work right above 350 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. Now that you’re done with 270 electoral votes, that’s the number that’s got to focus your thinking."

—–

Vinod Khosla, Silicon Valley investor:
"Don’t focus on all things green. Instead look at the few things that can achieve 80 percent carbon reductions per mile driven in our transportation fleet and be low-cost enough to penetrate 80 percent of all transportation including in India and China. For electric power, go beyond current renewable fashion. Look at the technologies that can replace or clean up 80 percent of coal-based electric generation with 80 percent lower carbon kilowatt hours!"

—–

Summer Rayne Oakes, eco-activist and model:
"President Obama, we are faced with not only a challenge but an opportunity. You have millions of supporters who are urgently seeking a plan to get this country off of dirty energy and lift millions of hardworking people up by providing clean-energy, green-collar jobs. Bills like the Green Jobs Act need to be fully funded and appropriated; Congressman Edward Markey’s iCAP bill is a shining example of forward-thinking legislation; and even Republicans — including Colin Powell and T. Boone Pickens — are looking for change.

"President Obama, the plans and solutions are here — today. Now we need you to help us make them a reality. I say this not only as the sensible but hard-nosed activist that you see me as today, but as a young girl from Pennsylvania who has seen her single mother struggle in an ailing economy and the very land beneath her feet laid to waste by decades of coal mining. I do not forget where I grew up. I do not take the present for granted. And I sure as hell know that with this knowledge, we can look forward to the future with open eyes. I, too, share in your story of a better America and a better world, but we will not get there if we do not have leadership and force of will. So the question is now, will you be that leader … our leader?"

—–

Gus Speth, dean at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies:
"Mr. President, the climate problem is more of a threat to the human future than even many environmentalists realize. You would be well-advised to create a cabinet-level position to lead your efforts nationally and internationally to address it. You should also move quickly to convene a White House meeting of top climate scientists and use that as a springboard to an address to the American people from the Oval Office. You can’t responsibly put this issue off or subsume it under an energy initiative. The most important thing you can accomplish early in your term is major federal climate legislation and a post-Kyoto Protocol international agreement, both aimed at dramatic greenhouse-gas emission reductions."

—–

Randall Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association:
"If you really want to make the New Energy Economy a reality, the most important step would be to establish long-term, stable policy in support of renewable energy. That means a long-term extension of the renewable-energy-production tax credit as well as the 25 percent federal renewable-electricity standard by 2025.

"Secondly, our best renewable energy resources — wind, solar, geothermal — tend to be found at a distance from where most people live. To get our renewable energy to electric customers, we will need a significant upgrade of the nation’s transmission infrastructure. But the cost of that investment is cheap compared to the value of all the clean, renewable energy that will be made available to help create new jobs, clean up our environment, and make a substantial down payment in the fight to curb global warming.

"Those two steps — stable long-term policy and transmission infrastructure — are the most important steps to move this country into a position for wind to be able to provide 20 percent of our nation’s electricity by 2030."

—–

Rick Piltz, director of Climate Science Watch:
"Mr. President-elect, I believe global climatic disruption poses two unprecedented challenges. We must dramatically cut emissions, and we have to prepare for potentially disastrous impacts that are already underway and are projected to intensify in the future. Mobilizing the country to take effective action will require great leadership from your administration and a restoration of integrity in dealing with the findings communicated by the science community. Only when the leadership communicates a clear understanding of the potential dangers will Americans support policies that will adequately reduce emissions and the actions needed to prepare for likely impacts. Couple this with putting in place an ongoing nationwide process to further assess the likely consequences of climate change and opportunities to reduce emissions, and incorporate this knowledge into all relevant spheres of activity. This process should engage citizens all across the country."

—–

Evon Peter, executive director of Native Movement:
"Barack, as you are aware, our world is in need of deep healing and a transformation of consciousness that will lead to tangible changes in policy and practice, shifting the fundamentally unsustainable and exploitative direction in which we are headed. This is not unlike the years leading up to the end of slavery as ideological forces conflicted and arguments over economics and political structure prevailed. Your presidency will require courageous decisions to face the truth in what is inequitable, unjust, and unsustainable if we are to make needed change happen. Many will vehemently challenge these decisions because they are terrified to face the truth in the situation humanity is facing. Your job is to stay true to principles that the world is in great need of receiving from its leaders. We are entering an era of truth over politics and love over violence as a means to our survival. I wish you blessings in keeping to a solid path and carrying this torch forward."

—–

Julian Dautremont-Smith, associate director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education:
"Higher education has been a leader in helping America overcome many critical challenges and is uniquely positioned to enable the achievement of your goals related to energy, climate, and green jobs. Colleges and universities are eager to help — almost 600 of them have signed a commitment to eliminate their greenhouse-gas emissions and to provide education, research, and outreach to support the transition to sustainability — but they need financial support to meet their potential for leading the sustainability transformation. The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 authorized funds to create a "University Sustainability Grants Program" at the Department of Education, but no funds have been allocated. With your help securing this and other federal support, colleges and universities can mobilize their intellectual resources to break America’s dependence on fossil fuels and create millions of new green jobs at the same time."

—–

David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance:
"Our energy, environmental, and economic problems are interdependent. So are the solutions. While there are many ways to stimulate the economy, we don’t need a 20th Century stimulus package. We need a "green recovery" — big, public investments in global warming solutions that put Americans back to work. China is building a coal-fired power plant a week. We need to build 500 megawatts of renewable power a week. Set a goal of creating 2 million new jobs in the next two years with global warming solutions. Then push federal spending down through the states and cities to create massive energy-efficiency programs for our building stock, expansion of mass-transit systems, and a modernized grid to bring our renewables to urban markets. With a green recovery underway and Americans headed back to work, you’ll be able to muster the political will to pass legislation that puts a price on carbon, stabilizes energy prices, and funds the long-term economic transition to a clean-energy economy."

—–

Terry Kellogg, executive director of 1% For The Planet:
"If you look at the landscape of corporate environmental initiatives, the headlines are impressive. But we are a long way from seeing the kind of change that’s necessary. Despite all the noise, most of the big indicators are still moving in the wrong direction. You should incent companies to show what a new, truly sustainable paradigm looks like. Use today’s ‘best in class’ performers as a guide for setting tomorrow’s baseline. And don’t lose sight of the most important challenge and opportunity: getting the prices right. In getting this stuff done, leverage the wisdom and perspective of the nonprofit sector, and the cover and capacity of corporate leaders."

—–

Jim Moriarty, president of the Surfrider Foundation:
"Inspire us. Lead us. Challenge us. Your campaign was about these themes and now that you are President we need these more than ever. The United States and its citizens are beaten down. We’ve lost our luster around the world and we’ve lost our sense of optimism. Our environments are red-lining; they are under siege because we’ve lost our collective sense of stewardship. Please look beyond the lobbyists who will anchor us to our past, and challenge every single American to build a new future built on energy independence and environmental stewardship. Do these things with the spirit which compelled us to elect you … your sense of hope and optimism. The most important thing we need from you is your belief in what is possible. Remember that always."

—–

Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University:
"Renewable energy systems at every level of our economy and at every level of user will be the single most positive thing you can do to address our strategic failures in global economics, global warming, and global politics. This trifecta will renew America’s independence and allow us to focus on the most important issues of education and competitiveness."

—–

Jonathan Fink, director of the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University:
"You should view universities as intellectual resources — not just for new research ideas, but for new ideas on how to implement policy. Public universities in large cities have experience in translating research into policy — that’s where the big gap is.

"More specifically, your administration should view urban areas (where most Americans live) as the places where sustainable solutions need to be developed and implemented. The federal government lags way behind the cities and states in experimenting with new sustainability concepts. Direct your agency heads to figure out how best to address the social, environmental, and economic challenges associated with our country’s continuing trend toward urbanization."

Continue reading " Going up? "

photo: Storm Crypt

A few quick wind power predictions to file away: One of the most interesting statistics coming out of the Global Wind Power conference in Beijing (the news of which comes via Cleantech) is that not only does China have the fattest growing wind power market, it is also expected to be the largest manufacturer of wind power equipment in the world by the end of the 2009.

Other wind power stats/predications coming out of the <a href=”http://www.gwec.net/fileadmin/documents/Pub…

Continue reading " China Will Be the Biggest Wind Power Equipment Manufacturer by End of 2009 "

Chinese car maker Changan announced today that it will launch electric cars in Canada before the end of 2008. The cars, developed jointly with Canadian company Electrovaya, could be the first sold by a Chinese company in North America.

The fleet of 30 electric vehicles (EVs) have been under development since May, and are based on one of Changan’s exisiting compact models, the BenBen, fitted with an Electrovaya powertrain. For the time being, the cars will be assembled and distributed in Canada, but in the long term Changan intends to develop the EVs entirely in China, before shipping to North America.

Read more of this story »

Continue reading " China Company Changan and Electrovaya to Launch Electric Cars in Canada by End of Year "