CleanTechnica

A team of researchers at Yale University has developed a new kind of magnetic, lead free solder that could be used to manufacture electronics more cheaply and efficiently.  That would be a big boost for efforts to manage the growing problem of electronic waste disposal and recycling, because conventional solder is made from lead, a known health hazard.

Lead is a heavy metal that was commonly used in house paint and gasoline in the U.S.  Those uses were banned after the discovery that lead is a potent neurotoxin, but lead solder continues to be permitted in U.S. manufacturing.  That creates a huge problem in the electronic waste stream, and it also impedes U.S. companies from entering global markets where anti-lead regulations are growing.

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In a landmark announcement the Indian Finance Minister, in his annual Budget speech, put forward the proposal of setting of National Clean Energy Fund which would be constituted through tax lieved on coal usage in the country. The quantum of tax would be INR 50 per ton of coal used, which would generate an annual revenue of around $600 million.

The announcement is extremely important and a major step in India’s endeavor to promote renewable energy infrastructure. India is heavily dependent on coal for power generation with 75% of the power generated coming from coal-fired power plants. Read the rest of this entry »

Keeping with its announced target of reducing carbon intensity by 20-25% by 2020, India is looking to improve the efficiency of its coal-fired power plants. India’s Central Electricity Authority is in talks with the Japan Coal Energy Center over a Memorandum of Understanding which would help India access technical and financial help to retrofit old and inefficient coal power plants.

Although no official word is out, Indian daily Mint has quoted unnamed officials saying that under the deal plants having low efficiencies would be identified and their efficiencies would be improved through financial and technical add-ons. Many Indian states are not in a position to afford the costly technical improvements in the power plants. Japan has played a major role in financing important infrastructure projects in India and thus can provide assistance in this regard too.

India agreed to reduce its carbon intensity by 20-25% under pressure after China announced a similar but more ambitious target just before the Copenhagen climate summit. India’s main source of power generation has been coal for many decades – coal gained prevalence over the years as small hydro’s contribution dwindled. Over the last few years, as the demand for coal has risen - partially because of rapidly increasing demand and poor efficiency of plants – the supply has not been able to keep up the pace. As a result, India had to import coal from other countries. Read the rest of this entry »

Corn has been flaming out as a biofuel crop, and taking its place is a regular fruit salad of non-food and waste food alternatives.  The latest up and and comer is being developed by researcher Henry Daniell of the University of Central Florida, who naturally turned to oranges for his biofuel inspiration, with a new method for producing ethanol.

The fact that Florida is swimming in oranges illustrates the unfolding potential of the biofuel industry.  In contrast to fossil fuels, which are often shipped long distances to their point of use, biofuel production can be tailored to take advantage of local resources, whether it’s biofuel from unmarketable watermelons, algae, carbon monoxide harvested from factory emissions, or even biofuel from microbes and sunlight.  As for the connection between biofuel and tobacco, that’s the “secret ingredient” behind Daniell’s success.

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Nearly two years ago, I wrote that transportation was “the leading contiributor to greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the country, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and… the fastest growing contributor.”

Now, in other terms and looking at additional factors, NASA has determined that automobiles are the largest net contributor to climate change pollution.

In other words, when you take into account the climate change (or global warming) gases automobiles emit as well as gases they emit that have a cooling effect, automobiles are the largest contributor to climate change, followed by 2) burning of household biofuels (i.e. wood and animal dung) and 3) raising livestock.

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Marks & Spencer (M&S) may not be a familiar company to those outside of Britain or Europe, but it is no small business. It sells clothing, home and furniture goods, electronics, and food in 30 countries. It has 560 stores in the UK and 130 more worldwide.

Why would you care about this?

Well, M&S is on track to start one of the most innovative recycling systems in the world. It will fund a new curbside (kerbside, if you are British) recycling program and will use the recycled materials for its own food products. Closed-loop — that’s what this kind of full-cycle system is called.

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Mix steel, oil, and chemical companies together with the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and you have a chunk of the financial backing behind the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which has just filed a petition challenging the U.S. EPA’ recent determination on greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

In challenging the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gasses, the Southeastern Legal Foundation joins the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a number of companies including  Massey Energy (which includes mountaintop removal in its coal mining operations).  Though these actions are taken against a government agency, they are also yet another indication that an epic battle of titanic proportions is brewing in the private sector, pitching old school fossil fuel industries against climate-conscious companies including Nike, Starbucks, Apple, and Exelon (the nation’s largest utility) – each of which has protested the Chamber’s position on global warming.

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The tradition-bound, somewhat chemical-heavy sport of golf isn’t exactly the first place you’d look for evidence that we really have launched into a more sustainable future, but there you have it: golf is going green, and the ferociously upscale St. Andrews Country Club of Boca Raton is part of the revolution.  The club has just announced completion of a new system that will irrigate its two golf courses with reclaimed water (aka wastewater), along with tennis courts and landscaping, too.

The news comes on the heels of an announcement by the PGA Tour and FedEx that Tiger Woods – wait, scratch that – that golf courses in several cities hosting the tour will get sustainability makeovers that include habitat and waterway restoration. Read the rest of this entry »

British Airways has announced plans to source a part of its fuel supplies from waste municipal waste to fuel plant. The company plans to procure 16 million gallons of green jet fuel annually from the Solena plant that would come up in London.

The plant which is expected to come online in 2014 would convert 50,000 tonnes of municipal waste into jet-grade fuel. The volume of fuel supplied initially would be 2 percent of the total fuel consumption of British Airways. This would cut down on the carbon emissions that is generated due to the conventional jet fuel, kerosene.

British Airways aims to obtain 10 percent of its jet fuel waste-to-energy processes.

Waste to energy process provides a three pronged advantage. One, it helps in the management of the ever increasing waste in the cities, two, it converts the methane (an efficient fuel and a greenhouse gas) which is produce from the decomposition of municipal waste and, third, its use results in reduction in carbon emissions. Read the rest of this entry »

A new way to use natural gas could cut its carbon dioxide output to zero, making it competitive with solar or wind farms.

MIT Postdoctoral associate Thomas Adams and Chemical Engineering Professor Paul I. Barton have proposed a system which produces power from natural gas without burning it, and produces a stream of clean water, and almost pure carbon dioxide, making it easy to harness for sale to cement manufacturers now developing a use for it, or pre-separating it cheaply for Carbon Capture and Storage. Read the rest of this entry »