The recyclable plastic bags you get at the green grocer are not biodegradable. But product life-cycle assessments, which are about to become more prominent in the marketplace, fail to consider whether those bags will break down in landfills or just end up as litter.
The production of waste, especially with many countries emerging into powerful economies, has become a problem of such dimensions that something definite has to be done.Many new technologies are being developed to process, recycle and reuse waste, some combining waste treatment processes in the same plant to produce a variety of useful products such as electrical energy, diesel, heat, carbon black and other recyclable materials. Latest estimates show that there are 431 waste-to-energy (WTE) plants in Europe and 89 in the United States (2004). The U.S. recycles 14 percent of its trash in WTE plants.
This post, a part of five part series on green building regulation looks at the anatomy of green building regulations identifying three main types of regulations, which are command and control, in other words building codes and such; financial incentives, like tax breaks; and non-financial incentives such as increases in floor to area ratio, building height or density for building green.
Drew Tulchin talks about how to finance green businesses in the U.S. in terms of capital options and sources. He gives step by step practical advice for green entrepreneurs and suggests various things that can be done to help obtain financing. Drew Tulchin talks about how to finance green businesses in the U.S. in terms of capital options and sources. He gives step by step practical advice for green entrepreneurs and suggests various things that can be done to help obtain financing.
A new study that is sure to create some controversy proposes that the world can provide for all of its energy needs, including electric, transportation, heating/cooling energy needs using only wind, water, and solar power by 2030.
green marketplace economicsConsumers now have little information about the true ecological impacts of what they buy. But that may be about to change, as new technologies that track supply chains are emerging and companies as diverse as Unilever and Google look to make their products more sustainable.
Beginning February 1, 2010, an estimated 82,000 construction sites must comply with the EPA’s new regulation governing construction site discharge. The new regulation outlines stricter measures to reduce water pollution and the EPA expects compliance with the rule to reduce the amount of sediment and other pollutants discharged from construction sites by 4 billion pounds per year.
President Barack Obama proposed a new rebate program on Tuesday to reward homeowners for making their homes more energy efficient, while also proposing additional federal investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. As part of a speech about jobs and the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., the president noted that home energy retrofits create jobs, save money for families, and reduce the pollution that threatens our environment.
Venture capitalists invested $4.8 billion in 637 deals in the third quarter of 2009, according to the MoneyTree™ Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data provided by Thomson Reuters . Quarterly investment activity increased 17 percent in terms of dollars, but fell 3 percent in number of deals compared to the second quarter of 2009 when $4.1 billion was invested in 657 deals. The increase in dollars invested was driven by several large rounds in the Clean Technology sector, one of which is the ninth largest deal since 1995. The Life Sciences sector (biotechnology and medical device industries combined) also had a solid quarter relative to other industry sectors, leaving Software as the third highest investment sector, a notable decline in industry ranking.