CO2 emissions caused by payment methods could drop by 45% if consumers switched from cash to contactless debit cards, new research shows. Global Payment Trends reveals the financial and societal impacts of going cashless, as society shifts towards exclusively digital transactions in 2018. If all banknotes manufactured over the last year were replaced by contactless cards, a staggering 3.380 billion g/CO2e …
Read More »Lighting Industry Sues to Block California’s Jan. 1 Expanded Light Bulb Efficiency Standards
SACRAMENTO (Dec. 19, 2019) – Two lighting industry trade associations are suing California in a desperate attempt to block the state’s updated light bulb efficiency standards from going into effect on January 1. The lawsuit puts at risk the billions of dollars Californians would save and millions of tons of climate pollution that would be avoided annually. The lawsuit by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and the American Lighting Association, filed in U.S. District …
Read More »New Aqueous Lithium-Ion Battery Improves Safety Without Sacrificing Performance
Non-flammable, cost-efficient, and effective battery developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute TROY, N.Y. — As the lithium-ion batteries that power most phones, laptops, and electric vehicles become increasingly fast-charging and high-performing, they also grow increasingly expensive and flammable. In research published recently in Energy Storage Materials, a team of engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute demonstrated how they could — by …
Read More »How to Have a Green Backyard Wedding
Planning a wedding can be both an exciting and expensive ordeal, and it’s also something that many people look forward to all of their lives. Seeing as weddings are a big event, if they could be done in a green way, it could benefit the environment in unimaginable ways. This could explain why green weddings are becoming increasingly popular, but …
Read More »Public Natural Gas Fueling Station
American Natural Gas (ANG) officially breaks ground at their public natural gas fueling station in Modesto, California. This Natural Gas fueling station will be number 61 for industry leader, ANG. This fueling station will be an extension of their prominent infrastructure nationwide, enhancing ANG’s ability to create a healthier environment through alternative fuels. This natural gas fueling station is made …
Read More »Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings
Grid-interactive efficient buildings are the future, and utilities can help lead the way By Christopher Perry , Research Manager, Buildings Program More utilities across the United States are adopting programs to promote grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs), which will be critical to the grid of the future. Some programs focus on energy savings and others on demand flexibility, but none of those …
Read More »Power of the Wind Grows Exponentially in the U.S.
Wind turbines near White Deer in Texas. Photograph: Shutterstock By Michael Tobias Wind power in the U.S. has more than tripled over the past 10 years making it the largest source of renewable power-generation capacity. Furthermore, it has effectively reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 151M metric tons since 2009, and in 2018 this reduction was equivalent to the emissions of …
Read More »A Happy (Work)Place: The Wonders of Biophilic Design
Home may be where the heart is, but work is likely where you spend a lot of your time. Stereotypes of the modern workplace, though, can call to mind images more in keeping with a particularly disturbing Twilight Zone episode than with scenes of happy, creative productivity. When you think of today’s workplace, you might picture row upon row of …
Read More »Solar Irrigation Pump
Azuri GrowFast solar irrigation pump finalist in Global LEAP Award GrowFast solar irrigation system from Azuri Technologies has been named a finalist in the 2019 Global LEAP Awards, highlighting the world’s best off-grid appliances. Since launching in 2012, Azuri has become one of the leading providers of life changing pay-as-you-go solar power lighting and TV systems, operating in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, …
Read More »Clean Trucks Powered By Renewable Fuel
Over 100 Clean Trucks Powered By Renewable Fuel Now Operate At The Ports Of Long Beach And Los Angeles NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – October 29, 2019 –Meeting the challenge to clean up some of the most polluted air in the country, Southern California has hit a new milestone with over 100 trucks outfitted with the cleanest ultra low-NOx engines available now …
Read More »Renewable Wood Energy
University scientists highlight carbon benefits of renewable wood energy; Call for policymakers to look at key science fundamentals More than 100 university scientists emphasize: “The carbon benefits of sustainable forest biomass are well established” The US Industrial Pellet Association (USIPA) today lauded a recent letter signed by more than 100 scientists from more than 50 colleges and universities citing the …
Read More »Floating Solar System
Sayreville, New Jersey, Installed the Largest Hydrelio Floating Solar System in North America Ciel & Terre’s Hydrelio “floatovoltaic” system will deliver 4.4 MWp of sustainable solar power Ciel & Terre USA (www.ciel-et-terre.net), innovators in floating solar power systems, in conjunction with Solar Renewable Energy, LLC and RETTEW are pleased to announce completion of its made in USA Hydrelio floating …
Read More »The Best Time to Go Solar is Now
With time ticking on the Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), is now the best time to install solar? Determining the best time to install a solar system can be a challenge for many homeowners. In fact, the cost of solar has dropped substantially over the last several years; prompting homeowners to consider waiting for the cost of solar to decrease …
Read More »Why the new energy generation should not focus on the past
How Africa is forging a new path for renewable energy Commentary from Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO of Azuri Technologies, leading next-generation energy in off-grid Africa A changing climate for new solutions The saying goes, the best way to predict tomorrow’s weather is to assume it will be the same as today. A lot of the time it will be. But this approach gives …
Read More »Important Elements of Energy-Efficient Homes
Energy-efficiency and renewable energy are buzz words that are gaining importance daily. But for them to be meaningful, we all need to identify what we can do to make our houses and apartments sustainable whether we are building from scratch or renovating an older structure. Generally, a new build is easier in terms of compliance with regulations, codes, and even …
Read More »Iowa biodiesel producers, soybean farmers welcome plan to restore integrity to the RFS
Biofuels, ag leaders unite over halting Small Refinery Exemptions ANKENY, Iowa – The Iowa Biodiesel Board joined other renewable fuel and farm advocates today in thanking the president for directing the Environmental Protection Agency to properly account for future small refinery exemptions in annual Renewable Fuel Standard rules. Grant Kimberley, Iowa Biodiesel Board executive director and Iowa Soybean Association director of …
Read More »Natural Gas Trucks
Los Angeles-Long Beach Port Trucking Company Replacing Entire Diesel Truck Fleet with Near-Zero Emissions Natural Gas Trucks In Lead-up to Clean Air Day, Total Transportation Systems, Inc., teams up with Coalition for Clean Air to Celebrate the Switch LONG BEACH, Calif. September 26, 2019 – Total Transportation Services Inc. (TTSI) today announced it is replacing its entire diesel trucking fleet with near-zero emission natural …
Read More »The Connection Between Solar Power and Public Health
In the wake of September’s UN Climate Action Summit 2019, held in New York City, addressing the detrimental effects of climate change is a hot topic of discussion around the world. Climate change is a veritable public health crisis, according to the United Nations. The organization claims that, “the impacts of climate change are being felt everywhere and are having …
Read More »Taxes on polluting fuels are too low to encourage a shift to low-carbon alternatives, says OECD
Taxing polluting sources of energy is an effective way to curb emissions that harm the planet and human health, and the income generated can be used to ease the low-carbon transition for vulnerable households. Yet 70% of energy-related CO2 emissions from advanced and emerging economies are entirely untaxed, offering little incentive to move to cleaner energy, according to a new OECD …
Read More »Con Edison Challenges Repeal of the Clean Power Plan
NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2019 — Con Edison, as part of a coalition of public and private electric utility companies, has filed a petition in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new Affordable Clean Energy Rule and the repeal of the Clean Power Plan. Con Edison has taken this action because …
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