Editorial

Following one of the worst years in economic history, signs of hope have begun to emerge for the clean-tech sector, with clean energy becoming a driving force for global economic recovery. In 2009, combined global revenue for the three major clean-energy sectors – solar photovoltaics, wind power and biofuels – grew by 11.4 percent over 2008, reaching $139.1 billion. These three sectors are expected to reach $325.9 billion by 2019, according to the Clean Energy Trends 2010 report issued by Clean Edge Inc., a research and publishing firm devoted to the clean-tech sector.

“From the smart grid and energy efficiency to renewable energy generation and advanced battery storage, clean tech continues to be a major driver of regional job growth, economic recovery and technological competitiveness,” says Ron Pernick, Clean Edge co-founder and managing director. “Despite severe economic conditions, clean-energy markets were able to hold their momentum in 2009 as many regional and federal governments and private corporations focused on clean-energy investments as a way to pull out of the global economic tailspin.”

The Clean Energy Trends report includes growth projections for the major clean-energy sectors (solar PV, wind and biofuels), as well as global clean-tech investment and jobs data. The report’s key findings include:

• The global production and wholesale pricing of ethanol and biodiesel reached $44.9 billion in 2009 and are projected to grow to $112.5 billion by 2019. In 2009, the biofuel market consisted of more than 23.6 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel production worldwide.

• Wind power (new installation capital costs) is projected to expand from $63.5 billion in 2009 to $114.5 billion in 2019. Last year’s global wind power installations reached a record 37,500 MW. China, the first-time global leader in new installations, accounted for more than a third of new installations, with 13,000 MW.

• Solar PV will grow from a $30.7 billion industry in 2009 to $98.9 billion by 2019. New installations reached almost 6 GW worldwide in 2009, a nearly sixfold increase from five years earlier. But because of rapidly declining solar PV prices, industry revenue in 2009 fell about 20 percent, from $38.5 billion in 2008.

• U.S.-based venture capital investments in energy technologies declined from $3.2 billion in 2008 to $2.2 billion in 2009. However, clean energy’s percentage of total U.S. venture capital investments continued to rise, accounting for 12.5 percent of total activity in 2009. This represented the largest share in the history of the clean-energy asset class.

• The global solar PV and wind power industries together currently account for a total of more than 830,000 jobs worldwide. By 2019, global industry growth will push the total to more than 3.3 million jobs.

The annual Clean Energy Trends report, now in its ninth year, can be downloaded for free at www.cleanedge.com.

Canada has been putting up with a lot of emotional abuse. Often labeled as a bunch of hockey-loving, beer-drinking, plaid-wearing socialists, many people can’t take our Northern neighbor seriously. But it’s time to cut the junk. The host of the last Olympic Games is actually much cooler than you think. And the reason has nothing to do with maple syrup.

Canada’s cool factor can be attributed to a really innovative production of Olympic medals. A February third article from Bloomberg describes the green process. The recent awards included metals from old televisions, circuit boards, monitors and electronic waste. Talk about trash to treasure. The metal was produced in a Vancouver based company called Teck Resources, Ltd, which is Canada’s largest base-metal producer which plans of processing 15,000 tons of e-waste this year, up from 2,100 in 2006. The company plans on augmenting its electronic stash to include DVD players, fridges, and light bulbs in an effort to re-use even more items that are just wasting away in dumps.

Although the whole Olympic process can wear down a few resources, Canada proves that eco-friendly elements can be incorporated. Not only does the production of these medals give Canada some good publicity, it shows that recycling is easy and just takes a little creativity. Including what would normally be considered “junk metal” in the production of other metals will help us reuse all those old TVs and fridges that are just hanging out in dumps. The junk can even be used to produce more of the same product, just with more recycled manner. Think of it as an e-reincarnation. So let’s toast our dear Canadians and take a hint toward more green production.

They usually pull up in a truck or van. And they usually need some assistance in pulling an old TV, computer, stereo, VCR or DVD player out of their vehicles.

It’s been going on for at least six years now, maybe even longer in some places.

It’s people taking advantage of an “Old Electronics Recycling Day,” and a county recycling service most often offers it.

With the choices in TVs, video components, computers and numerous other cell phone or compact music/Internet players growing with each passing year, there continues to be a great need for places to recycle these products.

It was only a few years ago in which consumers were warned that their appetite for new electronics carried an unhealthy side effect with the huge amounts of “toxic e-waste” they were creating in the process. Health experts were specific in their warnings that the cathode ray tube in old-style TV sets or computers contained as much as four to eight pounds of hazardous lead.

With the smaller appliances, the amount of mercury in their batteries and the cadmium in their displays was a health concern.

Without a national recycling program in place for electronics, states and mostly county municipalities created recycling programs and in some cases even banned the cathode-ray devices from landfills.

Just two years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency was estimating that 20 to 24 million unused TVs and computers were stuck in closets or cluttering up desks and tables across the country. With the advent of high-definition and now LED television sets, that number could skyrocket.

With a growing number of manufacturers creating their own recycling programs, there may be more options available to consumers for recycling old electronics.

However, it would be wise to check with your county government and contact a recycling coordinator to determine what is offered.

Generally, old electronics recycling days are held on a quarterly basis, or at least three times a year.

It’s a good alternative while state governments consider other programs. For example, Consumer Reports reported three years ago that Main instituted a first-of-its-kind of statute in which manufacturers would be directly billed for the cost of recycling based on the proportion of waste generated by their products.

The concept was simple. It would be one of many future steps designed to hopefully convince manufacturers to either design longer-lasting equipment or recycling-friendly models, or inform consumers about bringing old equipment to the manufacturer’s “consolidation center.”

Some states have gone as far as banning any CRT materials from landfills, while others have mandated that manufacturers create trade-in or buy-back programs for their own recycling efforts.

Much more will unfold in the coming years, mainly because much more will continue to happen on the new electronics front.

In the meantime, load up the truck or van with those old computers and TVs and head off to your county’s old electronics recycling location, or investigate the possibility of donating them to organizations seeking such equipment.

The state of Maryland is going green in its effort to get rid of the white stuff. The state became the first in the nation to purchase an all-natural road de-icing product, Ice B’Gone, to use in clearing snow and ice from roads during the winter season.

The product was chosen as part of the state’s Smart, Green & Growing initiative. That program brings together state agencies, local governments, businesses and citizens to establish a number of environmental guidelines, including investment in green technologies and restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The state is one of the first to set environmental procurement standards and to uphold those standards by choosing a green road de-icer.

The makers of Ice B’Gone, Sears Ecological Applications Co., began research in 1997 that eventually developed into the product in 2001. For the past decade, the company has been hopeful the environmental de-icing technology would become mainstream, especially with its ability to also reduce overall costs, improve road safety and impede corrosion.

“It is much more effective at clearing roads while being less harmful to the environment than untreated chloride salt,” says David Wood, president of SEACO. “We’re excited to see Maryland take progressive steps to becoming an environmentally friendly state in all aspects of procurement.”

Ice B’Gone is the only road de-icer in the country to receive the EPA’s “Design for the Environment” designation, which indicates the product has undergone rigorous testing and has been proven to reduce risk to the environment. The product is all natural and formed from low-molecular-weight carbohydrates, which have shown to work much longer and at significantly lower temperatures than untreated rock salt. Because it works longer and at lower temperatures, Ice B’Gone can drastically reduce the amount of chloride salt used over the course of a winter. With less salt applied to roads, less salt finds its way into watersheds and runoff, thereby reducing the impact road de-icing can have on local water sources. Ice B’Gone also has proven a 70 percent reduction in corrosion to bridges, roadway surfaces, equipment and vehicles, saving governments additional costs in maintaining the roadway and maintenance equipment, according to the product’s developers.

SEACO’s technology has been adopted around the country, particularly in the Northeast, with successful results, but Maryland is one of the first states to purchase the product in a statewide bid for green road de-icers.

Celebrities are probably the most notorious for their bad habits. Wasting resources is definitely one of them. Of course they need 20 bedrooms villas, several cars ( all high priced, low fuel economy), not to mention thousands of clothes, shoes, doodads, hobbies, whatever. Point is, Mother Nature frowns upon their wasteful ways. But certain celebrities are in line with reality. Local band, The Giving Tree, is an example. A recent article from the Chicago Tribune describes the band’s green ways. In an effort to clean up the dirty old ways of other recording artists, this band spent a month recording their album in rural Wisconsin at the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center. The center generates all of its electricity on site, meaning no power is taken from the local grid.

And things get better. In order to avoid the Chicago-Wisconsin commute, the band camped at Mirror Lake State Park and biked to the facility every day. Take that, Al Gore. But don’t mistake the band’s eco-conscious ways as just a publicity stunt. The members are involved in promoting other green habits. They wear clothes made of organic cotton or hemp and they planted trees in order to make their first album ‘carbon neutral’.

I know what you may be thinking. Good luck getting Paris Hilton and P.Diddy to bike to work. Well, the moral of the story is that everyone, not just celebrities can adapt a more green lifestyle. And you don’t need to record an album in Wisconsin to do it. Consider taking public transportation or carpooling with friends and co-workers. Think about adapting more energy saving actions such as turning off the lights or turning down the heat/AC. No one said you have to move to the woods and be a nomad to be green. All it takes is some simple steps and dollop of determination. Thanks, Giving Tree, for showing us that green doesn’t mean grim.

A close look at any company that provides a product or service would reveal an economic truth about the waste it generates: Virtually 100 percent of it is recyclable.

Take a look around any office in Anytown, U.S.A., and you would generally find the same things – drywall, computer equipment, glass, metal, Styrofoam, printer ink cartridges, plastic, paper, wood and carpet.

“All of these materials can be recycled, but most of them are overlooked,” says Fred Rosenthal of the Rosenthal Group, a waste consultation business out of St. Charles, IL. that has trademarked the slogan, “Turning Waste Green.”

“The slogan does have a double meaning,” Rosenthal said. “Green can either mean financial or environmental, depending on what our client is trying to accomplish. It normally starts with the environment, but ultimately depends on the cost.”

When a company overlooks the recycling process, it usually comes down to any combination of three key reasons: they were not aware; the volume of material is low; or the cost to dispose was restrictive.
Rosenthal feels there is more awareness of the “green movement” today, but that does not necessarily equate to more participation.

“This will sound political, but I do not believe in global warming and it is that fear that drives a lot of politicians to regulate the recycling industry,” Rosenthal said. “What I do believe is that we should all be good stewards of the world. If we can use materials that were recycled, then we should. “Like most things in life, there is a cost regardless of what is done,” he added. “Most businesses want to do the right thing, but they also have a bottom line they must meet, and that causes many to stay with their old ways rather than recycle.”

The most common items that a waste consultant will help a client deal with are cardboard, paper, plastic and computer equipment. But there is a cost in training employees, installing proper procedures and equipment and the pickup and transfer of waste products.
The poor economy has also put a damper on the recycling industry because rebates for recyclable commodities have fallen.

“Prior to the collapse of our economy, the rebates were at an all-time high,” Rosenthal said. “We saw cardboard at $200 a ton, and then when the bottom fell out and recycling processors were refusing material, the cost to dispose, with no rebates, was $50 a ton, or in effect a $250 drop.“Today, the market has made a turn and rebates for recycling materials have turned to the positive side,” Rosenthal added. “It’s not the $200 a ton of the past, but around $75 to $100 a ton for baled cardboard.”

Rosenthal cautioned that the supply-side of that equation has been low “because companies that used to generate large volumes of cardboard have reduced their inventory and thus do not generate what they did prior to the collapse of the economy.”

While companies start to rebound through an economic recovery and commodities prices edge forward, there is another waste product that Americans have generated for decades without much concern. “It’s food waste,” Rosenthal emphasizes. “For the state of Illinois, there is so much control on regulations for food waste that most is ending up in our landfills.” By comparison, Rosenthal points out, his son worked as a chef with Disney Company at the Flying Fish Restaurant in Florida. “All of Disney’s food waste was either used for feed for the animals, or it was composted.”

People often joke about living in a box as a means to convey financial desperation. Well, for many impoverished individuals around the globe, living in a box may be the next best thing. A recent earthquake in Haiti devastated the nation, leaving many people homeless, without shelter. In response to this literal housing crisis ( you thought Americans had it rough), researchers at Clemson University are looking to use shipping containers as temporary housing. Don’t call DCFS just yet. The idea is not as gruesome as it seems.

Researchers Pernille Christensen, Doug Heckner, and Martha Skinner are working on a method to convert unused shipping containers into temporary housing after disasters such as hurricanes and recently, earthquakes, that often rock the Caribbean. Many countries have hundreds of these containers that sit, useless, at marine ports. The project would utilize these containers as means of temporary housing, so that community members can work on rebuilding their own homes as well as those of neighbors while still having a place to stay. The researchers hypothesize that this situation would help build a sense of togetherness among member as well as a sense of security, in that displaced individuals would have a place to stay.

Reading the beginning of the ‘life in a box’ proposal, I have to admit I was a bit taken aback…moving people into boxes? Is this the Dark Ages? But when you take a deeper look into the situation as a whole, you realize that 1) These containers have no other use once cargo is unloaded and 2) The displaced people are often forced to live in the street when disaster strikes and the containers provide the perfect solution to a housing problem. Not only do the containers provide housing, but they make excellent use of the ‘recycle and reuse’ principle in an innovative way. So, box or street? I would take the box any day.

Cities across Illinois are lending residents a helping hand–and a calculator–to help control energy costs and conserve energy resources. Members of the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency are able to gain access to Home Energy Calculator software provided by Atlanta-based Apogee Interactive. The calculators are presented as part of the city website, allowing users to click on and get various estimates of energy costs.

The user inputs data based on energy use in the home, and the calculator outputs annual and monthly estimates while reminding users that “the results are not intended to be extremely accurate, but rather to provide a comparison platform to give you the differences between the energy your home is currently using (the “Base House”) vs. various ‘Scenario’ variations.” The user can then view the annual and monthly costs of the different scenarios.

The program, called the HomeEnergySuite® on the website, can answer many questions for consumers, from how much energy it takes to watch television to how much money can be saved by possibly replacing the windows in your home with more energy-efficient models. Users enter information in up to 22 categories about their homes, including type, square footage and lighting. The calculator uses weather measurements that are representative of the city where the user lives, which are then used in calculating electricity and fuel costs on a monthly basis.

City officials who have placed the Home Energy Calculator on their websites generally encourage residents to try the calculator as a way to save money or help determine if a purchase, such as new windows, can save money over a long period of time. An interactive house illustration is used to give users various energy-saving tips throughout a household.Cities that incorporate the calculator are promoting the common sense of saving money in a down economy, while also conserving energy, which should become a lifelong habit for everyone.

More, more, more-the classic mantra of American society. Thriving on anything that is bigger and better than their neighbor, Americans have truly embraced the definition of consumerism. Although this gaudy materialism is not always healthy, for us or the environment, many companies and newspapers are stepping up and encouraging consumers to cut back in order to save money and resources. Especially with the current recession, any money saving tips are greeted with more than open arms. And if you are helping the environment while you are at it, kudos to you.

A recent article from Parade magazine introduced some tips to readers that are both eco- and wallet friendly. The article presents 5 tips that cover different aspects of readers’ lifestyles, discussing anything from laundry use to gas mileage. These tips are great for those who are new to conservation practices. But if you really want to stretch your wallet and lessen the burden on Mother Nature, here are some ways to take those tips even further.

1. Plant a rain garden- This will not only reduce your water needs, it will practically eliminate them. This type of garden works by planting a variety of native plants in an area close to a pipe that drains rainwater from your roof directly to the garden. The garden is watered every time it rains, keeping storm water from flooding your house and the streets. If you live in a dry area, planting plants that are native to your area will dramatically reduce your watering needs.

2. Always turn off the appliances that you do not use often. That plugged in crock pot that only gets used when grandma comes into town? No need to have it plugged in 24/7. In fact, unused but plugged in appliances can contribute about 20% more to your utility bill.

3. Low on funds? Forget shopping, try swapping. Get some friends or neighbors together and host a clothes exchange. This provides you with an alternative to spending money for a new wardrobe and allows you to get rid of those clothes that have been sitting around. The old saying goes ‘one man’s trash in another man’s treasure.’

4. Don’t just slow down, buddy up. Carpooling can save you quite some money on gas bills and also make that morning commute to work less of a chore. If you don’t live too far, why not bike to work? Biking provides an excellent source of fuel economy (infinity!) and doubles as exercise- a great way to squeeze in some cardio into that busy schedule of yours.

5. Laundry cycles are guzzlers of both energy and water. And because you don’t want to reek at the office, not washing your clothes is NOT an option. One option is buying a ‘smart’ washer such as the LG Steam Direct. It is a combination washer and dryer that weighs your load before you wash to determine how much water to use. It washes and dries clothes using a steam technology in which moisture is carried away by hot air, condensed by cold mist in a separate chamber and then exits the system.

They are decorative, green, and with some tender love and care, not only can they spruce up your space for a couple bucks, but they can also help reduce indoor air pollution. Yes, the award goes to houseplants. Many people mistake these simple plants for just easy decor, but recently researchers found out they are so much more useful. A sciencedaily.com article from November 5th, 2009, reveals how certain houseplants can help decrease indoor air pollution. Researchers found that often, indoor air can be as much as 12 more contaminated with particulates than outdoor air. This is a scary finding, since people often about 90% of their time indoors. The cause for this surprising statistic has to do with house construction: many varnishes, paints, furniture, and building materials emanate harmful pollutants that contribute to respiratory illness.

Fortunately, there is no need to throw away your furniture and move into a tent. Purchasing certain types of house plants can significantly reduce the amount of air pollution in your home or even office. The study concluded that plants such as the Purple Waffle plant, English ivy, Variegated wax plant, and Asparagus fern had the highest removal rate of household pollutants. Researchers said that simply introducing these plants to your home can dramatically decrease the amount of air pollution present.

This new study is encouraging because it offers solutions that the public can do in their own homes, and very easily. Many people already have houseplants at their disposal, and if not, they are something one can buy without breaking the bank. Who knew this previously trivial greenery could clean up the air?