August 2008 Archives

The US presidential race is now in full speed as both democratic and republican parties officially nominate their candidates. The future of the US renewable energy market will be at stake as each presidential nominee tries to solve the soaring energy price crisis.

In other news, the 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy conference in Valencia, Spain, will start on September 1. Although I'm not attending the conference (more's the pity), I've been receiving several press releases from chemical companies that deal with the industry and I'll share them with you next week.

For now, here's this week's news roundup.

Bioplastic buyout
International Consolidated Companies (ICCI) will acquire Massena, NY-based Bio Plastics Inc. for $5m. The company plans to produce biodegradable plastic products such as CD cases, DVD boxes, etc.

Organic glycerine in Europe
Cremer Care has become the exclusive distributor of organic glycerine and soap noodles from the Daabon group of Colombia for the European cosmetics market. The products were made from palm oil.

Recycled plastic contract
Recycled polymer producer Blue Earth Solutions bagged new supply contracts for expanded polysterene foam with Master Containers, Inc. and Technology Conservation Group.

Acquiring European wind
San Diego, Calif.-based Green Star Alternative Energy plans to buy Serbian wind power company Notos d.o.o. Green Star will also acquire Sirius Regulus, which owns the land used for the various projects constructed by its sister company Notos.

Japan's new solar plant
Mitsubishi Electric plans to build a new photovoltaic cell plant in Nagano Prefecture. The company will also invest a total of 50 billion yen ($459m) to quadruple its annual PV production capacity from 150 megawatts to 600 megawatts by 2012.

And in ICIS News (which requires subscription):
California lawmakers plan to give the California Department of Toxic Substances Control the power to regulate the use of toxic chemicals in the state.

A new report by the Government Accountability Office charged that the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), set up by the US Congress to investigate serious chemical leaks and accidents, is not doing what legislators told it to do.

Greenpeace Germany is charging that the European Union's new rules on maximum residue levels of pesticides will expose German consumers to higher levels than previously allowed.

Barack Obama's democratic national convention speech last night is probably sending shivers down an oil company's spine (and perhaps the petroleum industry as well??) as he promised to end America's oil dependence from the Middle East in 1o years if he's elected president.

In his speech, Obama said he will invest $150 billion over the next decade in solar, wind, next generation biofuels, clean coal, natural gas, nuclear (as long as it's safe!) and other affordable renewable energy sources.

"[This is]....an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced...I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars."

"Now is the time....to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close."

Next week is the Republican's turn to officially nominate John McCain. We already know that he is for offshore drilling but we have to find out what is his specific platforms for renewable energy

It seems that producible quantities of oil and gas can be found in the Dreki area of Iceland (in the Atlantic, northeast of Iceland on the Jan Mayen Ridge, between Iceland and Jan Mayen Island), and the Icelandic government is inviting experts and specialist in geology and oil exploration (as well as oil/energy companies) to attend its Iceland Exploration Conference next week.

The government plans to start tendering exclusive licenses for oil exploration in the Dreki area in January 2009. They said further research including exploratory drilling is needed to verify whether oil and gas exist in the area.

"We have high expectations of finding oil in the Dreki area since scientific research has indicated that valuable oil resources may be found there," said Iceland's Minister of Industry, Össur Skarphédinsson. "We therefore urge all parties interested in new oil fields in northern areas to attend the conference in Reykjavik."

Orkustofnun, Iceland's National Energy Authority, said energy consumption per capita in the country is among the highest in the world. The majority of Iceland's electricity (80%) is generated using hydropower and the remainder is based on geothermal power.

The US seems to be intent in pushing a lot of chemical bans this year especially in California. Meanwhile, plastic bag bans are plastered all over the news as well.

Joe Acker, president of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA), noted the rampant chemophobia going on in the US in his blog, and how US regulatory agencies seem to be pandering to these fears.

"The resulting widespread fear often pressures the government or retailers to react rashly and eliminate useful substances, regardless of the true hazard or the potentially disastrous market or safety outcomes."

Chemical associations continue to emphasized their historical safety but it seems several chemical companies are already working to find alternatives as a way to increase their competitiveness (and make higher profits).

Ban or not, maybe spotlighting these chemicals could be a good thing to drive the industry's innovative spirit (and profitability) to a higher level.

An online green study from global market research firm TNS reported that 51% of the UK population rated their own natural environment as 'excellent' to 'good' while 71% rated the rest of the world's environment as 'poor' or at best 'fair'.

The report said 51% of the Brits surveyed claimed to have recently started changing their behavior to become 'greener', which is a higher proportion compared to the average 40% surveyed worldwide. Their favorite green methods are turning off computers after use, recycling, unplugging unused appliances, buying reusable products, weather-proofing and home insulation, adjusting thermostats, mailing lists removal, and annual vehicle tune-up.

The UK folks seem to be more hesitant when it comes to bigger green investments such as buying eco-friendly products or used clothing and furniture, green gift giving, and donating to green organizations. Other unpopular green behaviors in the UK include making their own cleaning supplies (who would???), washing clothes in cold water, organic gardening and making compost (only the die-hard green fans will probably do this one).

"The danger is that we overestimate how good the state of the UK's own environment is, and become complacent in our efforts to become 'greener'. With our negative view of the environment globally, we should recognize our responsibility to do whatever we can and be open to a wider range of 'green' behaviors, in order to reduce our impact on the environment as much as possible." - Andrew Czarnowski, Managing Director of TNS' UK and Ireland Custom business.

To celebrate the National Conventions here in the US (democratic convention this week and republican's next week), here's an interesting article by Greenbiz.com about the ongoing green war from the red and blue convention organizers.

The article noted the more publicized green initiatives coming from the democratic side although a republican spokesperson said their green measures are more practical, realistic and conscientious.

Just today, a press release from AeonSolar, Evergreen Solar and PV Powered stated that an 18.2 kilowatt solar power system has been installed on the grounds of the Pepsi Center in Denver, home of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

I have not yet encountered an article about the greening of this year's Republican convention so feel free to share it with me.

Is $26m enough to partially fund development of new energy efficient industrial processing?

The US Department of Energy (DOE) seems to think so and has given the three-year funding to be shared by eight lucky projects:

• Energy Reduction and Advanced Water Removal via Membrane Solvent Extraction Technology for $5.6m by 3M company.

• Thermochemical Recuperation for High Temperature Furnaces for $4.6m by American Iron and Steel Institute.
  

• Paired Straight Hearth (PSH) furnace for $1.51m also by American Iron and Steel Institute. PSH furnace is said to be an alternative to the energy and carbon-intensive blast furnace commonly used to make steel.
  

• Induction Consolidation/Molding of Thermoplastic Composites using Smart Susceptors for $4.1m by Boeing Company.

• Prototyping Energy Efficient Thermo-magnetic and Induction Hardening for Heat Treat and Net-Shape Forming applications for $4.3m by Eaton Corporation.
  

• Electrohydraulic Forming of Near-Net Shape Automotive Panels for $3.7m by Ford Motor Company.
  

• Inorganic Membranes for Refinery Gas Separations for $897,265 by Media and Process Technologies, Inc.
  

• Ultra-Efficient and Power Dense Electric Motors for $1.9m by Reliance Electric Company.

Wind turbine syndrome, vibro-acoustic disorder, and now solar blindness...Fact or fiction? The myth busters may have to work on these ones but for now, other myths in the solar energy area are being dispelled by the company Sunrise Solar.

Myth 1: Solar electricity cannot provide a significant part of America's electricity needs.

Fact: The solar energy resource in a 100 square mile area of Nevada could supply ALL of the electricity needs of the United States, even while using today's modestly efficient solar cell technology. Solar systems covering America's 5 million acres of abandoned industrial sites alone could produce 90% of our power needs.

Fact: The solar industry does not currently have the capacity to meet all current demands. High demand is expected to continue for many years to come, which will provide strong growth prospects for solar companies.

Fact: Over the past several years the solar industry has achieved 30% annual growth. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that is growing rapidly and could reach $15 billion annually within the next 5 years. Current projections suggest that within the next 20 years more than 300,000 Americans will have solar related jobs.

Fact: The cost of making a solar cell capable of producing one watt of electricity has fallen from approximately $50 twenty years ago, to under $3 today. In some markets the cost of solar power is now under $0.11 per kwh, which is competitive with traditional power generations methods. It is expected that the return on investment for new solar modules will be less than 24 months, resulting in 20 or more years of clean, near-zero cost energy.

Aside from its unprofitability forecast, maybe Shell knows something about wind energy that we don't when they pulled out of their UK offshore wind farm investment.

According to this article from New Scientist, a study shows that the moving blades from wind turbines can cause a drop in pressure that makes the delicate lungs of bats suddenly expand and burst. This is known as a barotrauma, and is well-known to scuba divers.

The theory is that the high-frequency noise from the turbines' gears and blades could be disrupting the bats' echolocation systems.

*Echolocation - in Wiki definition is the biological sonar used by animals such as dolphins, bats and whales for navigation and for foraging in various environments.

Will this issue cause investment hesitation towards wind energy? It's too soon to tell although if dolphins and whales will be found suddenly floating near offshore wind farms, this clean energy will definitely be out of the picture as soon as possible.

These bats will probably have to fend for themselves for now unless somebody will have the bright idea to build a force field big enough to warn the bats to go away from these evil lung poppers.

As one commenter noted, every energy source has its pros and cons. We just have to choose wisely which one will give the most benefit to humans and the environment.

I'm curious though if there are such illnesses as Wind Turbine Syndrome and Vibro-Acoustic Disorder???

Marketers may have to attend Greenwashing seminars and classes if they want to learn the do's and don'ts on how to use green words in their advertisings.

All over the world, public advocates are scrutinizing every green word in marketing and advertising and this summer alone found major companies such as tire manufacturer Goodyear in Australia, and in the UK, oil company Shell, accused of greenwashing.

Another one brewing in Australia is within the beverage industry. According to this article from FoodProductionDaily.com, beer producer Coopers Brewery has been accused by the Australian consumer advocate group CHOICE of greenwashing. The group filed a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the article reported.

Coopers' slogan for its beer: "Australia's greenest beer", "Big beer. Tiny footprint."

CHOICE voiced out that Coopers doesn't provide the reassurance of third-party certification, or support its claims with much evidence. When they asked the company about its green practices, CHOICE claimed that Coopers cannot provide comparable data on how it was performing in relation to other beer manufacturers in Australia.

"Months after we first spotted its footprint advert, Coopers said it is just now in the process of measuring their footprint. Where does this leave the consumer who wants to drink enviro beer? The marketing might be cute and clever, but don't lap up a green claim unless it's backed up with reliable evidence," CHOICE said.

• Cascade Green "100% carbon offset", "Beer of the earth."
• Barefoot Radler "Carbon neutral", "Treading softly on the planet."

According to the Council of Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division (NAD), SC Johnson is challenging Clorox's claims that its Green Works product line works as well as traditional cleaners.

The NAD said Clorox should discontinue or modify their claims as based on their testing, the natural-based cleaners "do not perform as well as all cleaners on the toughest grease and does not kill germs as many traditional cleaners do."

Definitely not a good news for Clorox especially when its Green Works line is widely being promoted by the retail giant Wal-Mart. The product line also has the endorsement of the green group Sierra Club.

Clorox said it disagreed with the NAD's findings but will not appeal the decision.

Are major oil companies just full of hot air when it comes to their clean energy strategies?

Last month, Shell decided to abandon its stake in a large offshore wind farm in the UK, which was then bought by energy company E.ON and Danish utility firm DONG Energy.

According to this article from the International Herald Tribune, Shell said it made the sale because rising costs made it unclear whether the planned 341-turbine wind farm in the Thames Estuary would be profitable.

The Tribune added that Shell's move echoes plans by BP to review its renewable energy portfolio for a possible partial sale or flotation, after the BP chief executive, Tony Hayward, decided that his investors put little value on green assets.

No wonder it is sometimes so easy for environmentalists to get skeptical at oil firms' green marketing campaigns when you hear news like this and at the same time they are reporting billion-dollar quarter earnings.

Here's a nice interesting insight from my colleague John Richardson about China's fast track towards becoming the world's leader in clean technologies.

If you're an ICIS subscriber (about ICIS), you can access the whole article in this link. Or you can also read the unedited somewhat similar version on his blog. Otherwise (that is if you don't have the time or just plain lazy to click links), here are some points that John noted on how China's government subsidies are helping push the region's green revolution.

• China ranks fifth on wind energy capacity behind Germany, the US, Spain and India.
  

• China is second only to Japan in the global solar photovoltaic market.

• Chinese companies are zealously pursuing viable carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and the region could become excellent CCS testing ground for major global energy companies.

• China is also introducing fuel efficiency standards for cars.

• China is the second largest recipient of sustainable energy investment behind Germany.

Atlantic City in New Jersey will have a new player in their midst...and it will be green.

Revel Entertainment is building Atlantic City's 12th casino, which it claimed will be the world's greenest come 2010. The $2 billion casino resort will use environment-friendly concrete mix technology and the company said it will pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the US Green Building Council and other green building certification abroad.

I'm sure my boss would love to promote this place. Anything for a green cause!

Sometimes the way to get to your pocket is to tug your heart strings and this advertising about polar bears almost worked on mine.

According to WWF, several polar bears are way miles away from home and swimming more in open waters to find food and shelter.

"While these bears are swimming around in an ice-free coastal Arctic Ocean, the only thing the State of Alaska is doing is suing the federal government trying to overturn the listing of polar bears as endangered species. The bottom line here is that polar bears need sea ice, sea ice is decaying, and the bears are in very serious trouble. For any people who are still non-believers in global warming and the impacts it is having in the Arctic, this should answer their doubts once and for all."

Oh who am I kidding?!? I wouldn't give my last penny because between me and the polar bears, the bears will probably eat me alive with no regrets. But I still feel sorry for the bears who are losing their homes slowly each year.

This week's big news (for me at least) is Mayor Mike Bloomberg considering wind energy projects in New York City.

According to this article from the New York Times, the mayor is not only looking to install wind turbines in the windy parts of Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island (what about Staten Island?), the top of skyscrapers and even in bridges could be possible installation spots as well.

Let's see if that will push through bringing the fact that he's time in the city hall is ticking fast.

For now, here's this week's green global news roundup.

Solutia's solar solution
Solutia will be supplying a solar thermal power plant in Egypt with its synthetic heat transfer fluid Therminol VP-1. The fluids are being utilized in the production of solar energy for more than 20 years, the company said.

Ohio solar expansion
First Solar will expand its manufacturing operations and development facilities at its Perrysburg, Ohio facility. The expansion, to be completed in the second quarter of 2010, will increase the facility's capacity to approximately 192 megawatts/year.

Eastman reduces sulfur
Hydrogen Energy International (HEI) will license Eastman's Reduced Sulfur Start-Up Technology, which will minimize sulfur emissions during start-up of HEI's first solid-fueled gasification facility with carbon-capture.

Eco-certified cosmetic pigments
Germany-based Merck has their cosmetic pigments and fillers sold under the brand names Biron®, Colorona® and Timiron® certified with the ECOCERT standard. ECOCERT is currently the most important internationally recognized certificate for natural cosmetics, according to Merck.

More wind for California
Pacific Gas and Electric Company entered a long-term agreement with Klondike Wind Power III LLC to purchase 90 megawatts of renewable wind energy from the Klondike facility in Sherman County, Oregon. The project will generate 260 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually.

Praxair seeks green money
Industrial gas company Praxair submitted a proposal to the US Department of Energy to get funding for its Jamestown Oxy-Coal project. Praxair said the Oxy-Coal technology is designed to capture more than 90% of the carbon dioxide generated in coal-fired plants.

And in ICIS News (which requires subscription):
Growing investments in wind energy could create new demand for maleic anhydride.

German environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe is pressing for an additional 20-cent Euro charge on PET bottles, cans and other one-way packaging for non-alcoholic drinks.

Greenpeace wants Germany to crack down on illegal pesticides following a study that showed widespread use of unlicensed and illegal products.

Syngenta said they have not sold any of the illegal pesticides that Greenpeace reported since 2003.

Chrysler said it has begun rolling off its new hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) assembly line in Newark, Delaware, in time for the introduction of the company's new 2009 Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid and 2009 Chrysler Aspen HEMI Hybrid.

The company said the two full-size 4x4 sport-utility HEVs are nearly $8,000 below the competition. Dodge Durango's suggested retail price is $45, 340 and the Chrysler Aspen is $45, 570. Buyers are also expected to receive an estimated tax credit of $1,800.

With some of the 2008 SUVs and heavier cars currently being sold at 40% off and gas price slowly going down, I wonder if hybrid vehicles remain competitive at these prices? I guess if you're not really driving your car that much or that far, maybe it is still cheaper to buy the traditional models?

Here's how Chrysler's HEV works:

-- Electric power only
-- Engine power only
-- Any combination of engine and electric power

The two-mode hybrid provides all of the fuel-saving benefits of a full-hybrid system, including electric-only operation. In this mode, the engine is "shut off," with the vehicle moving under electric-only power at low speed, resulting in reduction of fuel consumption in heavy stop-and-go traffic.

The second mode is used primarily at highway speeds. In addition to electric assist, the second mode provides full power from engine when conditions demand it, such as when passing, pulling a trailer or climbing a steep grade.

Plastic bags' disposal and waste issues are under scrutiny all over the world but is bioplastic really the solution? There are buzzing questions whether some of the bioplastics currently being offered in the market are 100% biodegradable or maybe they're just partially degradable. Some of them are being labeled as renewable - what the heck is the meaning of that?

Hopefully, some of these questions can be answered by BASF, which just released their podcast this week about bioplastics. If you still have questions, you can always email them at chemicalreporter@basf.com.

If a chemical or chemicals can help make cars reduce fuel consumption and carbon emission; help create cheaper fuel cells or solar panels; or make existing or new sources of water drinkable, does this mean the chemical or chemicals can be categorized as green?

Even if they are not made from plants, bacteria or other natural/renewable-based feedstock, or that they are not biodegradable or recyclable?

Lanxess likes to think so if the said chemical/s are also eco-friendly, safe and are manufactured in an environmentally-conscious production processes.

Last Wednesday during the company's gala event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Lanxess' chairman and CEO Axel Heitmann said they are making good progress in their green chemistry goals with these examples:

• Their rubber additives make tires reduce rolling resistance, which in turn reduce fuel consumption, which in turn reduce carbon emission.

• Their engineering plastics are used to make lighter-weight cars, which in turn reduce fuel consumption, which in turn reduce carbon emission.

• Their ion exchange resins are being developed and customized to make fuel cells more practical to use.

• Their ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers (EVM) are being used to develop more cost-effective solar modules.

• Their water treatment chemicals provides more sources of clean drinking water.

Heitmann said it is also investing in the transformation of their facilities worldwide to becoming more environmentally productive. He cited examples such as eliminating nitrous oxide emission in its Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany, plant; lowering water and energy consumption as well as reducing waste in facilities such as in China, the US, and Mexico; and using biomass instead of oil to generate high pressure steam at its Thane, India, facility.

"It's of little significance to have a "green" end product if the front-end process leading up to it is harmful to the environment," said Heitmann.

As long as there's energy and environmental problems, I guess we'll be seeing the Chemistry Energizer company to keep on going and going and going...

With all of these activities, my question is do you now consider Lanxess (and other chemical companies with the same initiatives) a green company?

I'll soon be posting some green chemistry news from the specialty chemical company Lanxess.

But while I'm working on it (and sipping my green tea frapp from a nearby Starbucks here in Pittsburgh, Pa), here's a cool game to ease your pain in waiting for my next post [with bated breath I assume].

Presenting Treewala, a vocabulary game that not only will make you learn more about the environment, it will also let you help contribute in saving a South American rainforest, according to this green social media company Greenwala Inc.

The company said Treewala tests a player's vocabulary skills and adapts the level of difficulty based on the number of correct answers. Players earn one leaf for every word they define correctly. Every leaf generates revenue, which Greenwala uses to buy trees to plant as part of the Marion Institute Los Gaviotas project.

When you get 20 leaves, you get to save one whole tree! Have fun planting!

I am off to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for two days attending a US bash given by the Germany-based specialty chemicals company Lanxess. The company is also celebrating their recent quarterly profit.

In case I'll be too muddled with their champagne and wine to be able to concentrate on posting any witty green news comments, I'll leave you today with this interesting video by ZDNet.com about Pittsburgh trying to shed its image of a gritty, grimy steel town starting with the construction of their new convention center, which is said to be one of the most environment-friendly buildings of its size in the US.

The building was awarded gold-level certification on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ratings scale set up by the U.S. Green Building Council.

[Thanks to GreenTechnoLog for the video tip]

Here's more bad news for plastic producers but good news for the environment.

According to ConAgra Foods, a major US packaged food manufacturer, they are planning to recycle 8 million pounds of plastic waste into new frozen meal trays for their brands Healthy Choice^®,Banquet^®, Kid Cuisine^® and Marie Callender's^® products.

I hate thinking of recycled plastics in contact with the food I eat but one must sacrifice for the sake of Mother Earth. I just hope these post consumer plastic producers do a damn good job in de-contaminating their products.

One assurance, according to ConAgra, is that the Food and Drug Administration approved the post-recycled trays as direct food contact materials. I wonder how the FDA's guidelines in recycled plastics for food packaging compare to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)?

Back to the ConAgra news, the company said their post-recycled food trays are on store shelves this summer.

Here's a nice cool story from the New York Times about a certain Nebraska town and its growing pride in their windy condition.

Ainsworth, Nebraska, according to the article, became the state's first major wind farm with 36 wind turbines erected in late 2005. Nebraska Public Power District, the state's largest utility, hopes that within a decade or so, 10 percent of its energy will be produced by clean, free, plentiful wind.

Here in the US, the wind energy sector is certainly keeping score and could even be ahead of the solar sector in terms of investments.

In the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) second quarter report, the US installed a total capacity of over 2,700 megawatts in the year and over 19,500 MW overall. AWEA said over 8,000 MW more are under construction for completion this year or early next year. Over 7,500 MW is likely to be installed in 2008.

Here are some of the projects recently announced in the past few weeks:

• Hydro Green Energy and the Wind Energy Systems Technology Group (W.E.S.T.) will explore the potential to develop the world's first hybrid offshore wind-hydrokinetic ocean current power projects that will utilize the Gulf of Mexico's wind and water currents to generate nearly 5,000 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity.

• IBERDROLA RENEWABLES today announced it has sold the output of a commercial-scale wind power project that is expected to be the first wind project constructed in Arizona.

• GE is partnering with ACCIONA and is investing $141 million in the Tatanka Wind Farm on the North Dakota-South Dakota border.
  

• American Electric Power signed a long-term power purchase agreement for renewable wind energy with Beech Ridge Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Invenergy Wind LLC. Beech's wind project currently under development in Greenbrier County, W.Va., is expected to be on line by March 31, 2010.

• Southern California Edison signed a 20-year contract with DCE, an affiliate of Caithness Energy, which will provide up to 909 megawatts of wind power. The Caithness project will reportedly be one of the world's largest fully permitted wind farms.

But they shouldn't celebrate as of yet, because according to AWEA, the expiration of the federal production tax credit less than five months from now threatens the wind energy sector's spectacular progress in the US.

AWEA said the pipeline of investment for 2009 has been on hold for months, with escalating risks and costs for the industry, because of the uncertainty about the production tax credit.

Step aside Whole Foods!

This up and coming organic retail chain store from Washington metro area, MOM's (which stands for My Organic Market) is taking its green initiative to the next level by phasing out all imported bottled water from their shelves.

"Once we thought about the amount of energy, oil, and water that go into producing, shipping, and disposing of a product that is readily available by simply turning on your faucet, we knew it was the right decision." said Lisa de Lima, the Vice President of Grocery at MOM's.

Another great green initiative of theirs, according to the store official, is that they are accepting used fluorescent light bulbs, old batteries, and plastic bags in any of its stores for recycling.

It seems congratulations are in order to more than 1,000 US builders, remodelers and other members of the home building industry who just got their green certification from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

If you want to be green certified, the association said all you need to do is complete 24 hours of classroom training including 16 hours of green building instruction; must have two years' industry experience, must sign a code of ethics and must commit to fulfilling continuing education requirements to qualify for the designation.

With the US housing market not doing good, builders might as well get this to give them a slight edge among their competitors.

In another green building news, the US Department of Energy (DOE) launched its Zero-Net Energy Commercial Building Initiative (CBI) with the establishment of the National Laboratory Collaborative on Building Technologies Collaborative (NLCBT).

The Zero-Net Energy CBI will make new commercial buildings capable of generating as much energy as they consume available by 2025 through advanced energy efficiency technologies and on-site renewable energy generation systems, such as solar power and geothermal energy.

After being dismissed in California's legislation floor last year, the bill AB 706 was again revived although slightly amended in August 4 by its sponsor, Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).

This time, AB 706 does not outrightly proposed a ban on brominated (BFRs) and chlorinated fire retardants (CFRs) but instead laid the banning discretion to California's Department of Toxic Substances Control.

The bill, however, will require the agency to look more closely into BFRs and CFRs. The bill will also require products containing 1% of more of the flame retardants to include a label that says they contain halogenated fire retardants.

In the end, the rewritten bill will probably arrive at the same conclusion as the original bill - banning halogenated flame retardants in California's furniture and bedding products.

According to the advocacy group Citizens for Fire Safety (CFFSI), the amended bill also calls for the elimination of California's current open flame standard testing in furniture to be replaced with a yet to be developed standard that has no set date for adoption by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Who would want their furnitures and beddings without flame retardants? Sure they could look for healthier alternatives but until they find one or two that are proven effective, I'm sticking to the current versions and I don't need the local government taking away my "safety blanket". Good thing I don't live in California!

By the way, I was unable to upload a video on a recent flammability test conducted by Southwest Research Institute (paid for by CFFSI) comparing a sofa with fire retardant and one without. I searched You Tube and found a similar test instead.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a report last week Thursday stating that there is no health risk in the use of bisphenol-A in food containers for infants and adults.

The FDA is still proposing more testing strategy to erase the uncertainties surrounding BPA's use in food contact materials but for now the agency has concluded that based on their tests and calculations, an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure in food containers.

The American Chemistry Council released a statement saying the FDA's assessment is the most up-to-date analysis on the safety of bisphenol A in the world.

"The FDA's conclusions are supported by reviews recently conducted by the European Food Safety Authority and the Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, which point to an international consensus on the safety of bisphenol A in food-contact products," the ACC said.

The ACC needs to address and communicate quickly and efficiently that there is nothing to worry about BPA use to consumers, retailers and mass media or it won't matter whether scientific studies deem the chemical safe as long as green hysteria continues to reign.

[Photo from WashingtonPost.com]

Companies nowadays have to be careful in using green words when it comes to advertising, as government agencies are getting complaints from green groups...especially maybe if the advertiser is a big oil firm??

Read this new national advertising in the UK from Shell and let me know which word/s or sentence/s gave a greenwash flag. You get a prize of free subscription of Green Chemicals Blog if you find the correct answer!

After receiving the complaint about Shell's advertising from the World WildLife Fund (WWF), UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) advised Shell to pull the ad out because certain terms in the ad was misleading. Shell explained their side of the story but agreed to pull it when ASA was not swayed.

Shell said it was also just a one-time advertising.

You can read ASA's ruling on this link.

Why is California always seem to be ahead when it comes to ginormous green projects?

In the solar sector, Pacific Gas and Electric Company will soon be able to supply enough clean energy to 239,000 homes in California with its recent solar power contracts for a total of 800 megawatts with Topaz Solar Farms and High Plains Ranch II.

Topaz Solar's project would deliver 1.1m megawatt-hours annually of renewable electricity and is expected to begin power delivery in 2011 and be fully operational by 2013.

High Plains Ranch will deliver an average of 550,000 megawatt-hours of clean electricity annually and is expected to begin power delivery in 2010 and be fully operational in 2012.

The media world is abuzz with the Olympics in Beijing, and even the chemical industry is enthusiastically putting out news releases on how their products contribute to some athletes getting the gold, or how they enable them to break world records, why the LED lights in the ceremony are brighter and colorful, or why Peking duck in China is tastier than in New York's Chinatown (this last one I made up).

Even ICIS Chemical Business (the magazine I work for) released its Sports feature for the year in honor of the event. You can check out interesting articles on how the chemical industry contributes to these games.

Will Michael Phelps get his 8th gold medal tonight? Will China's project 119 lead them to being the top Olympic gold medal harvester? Do you think the 7-year old girl Yang Peiyi who sang China's national anthem in the background (while the cute little girl in the red dress lip sync during the ceremony) should seek therapy after being pushed aside from the spotlight because she wasn't pretty enough according to Chinese officials?

We'll soon find the answers for these questions but for now, here's this week exciting Green News roundup!

Chinese green tech in US
Mantra Venture Group signed an exclusive deal to distribute green technology products from China-based E.S.D. Environmental Protection and Technology Co., Ltd. E.S.D. manufactures outdoor solar lights, LED lights, solar power home generation systems, wind and solar hybrid power systems, solar charge controllers and other related products.

Europe carbon report now available
Energy market information provider ICIS Heren (Disclaimer: I work for ICIS) now publishes a European daily carbon markets report, which contains over-the-counter price assessments, carbon exchange data, clean dark and spark spreads and key news stories.

Grass plastic viable
Metabolix was able to produce significant amount of polyhydroxy alkanoates (PHA) bioplastic in leaf tissues of a switchgrass plant. A scientific paper about this development will be published in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

Growth in Eco-foams
Market research firm SBI reports that the $14 billion market for polystyrene and polyurethane foam may see its resurrection in the move toward sustainable and green construction products.

Asbestos suit won $16m
Law firm Weitz & Luxenberg P.C. won a $16.25 million asbestos lawsuit on behalf of Marvin Penn who was diagnosed with cancer mesothelioma. The suit was against Kerr Corp., a dental supply company. The firm alleged that Penn was exposed to asbestos while making castings by carving wax replicas of teeth using asbestos-containing dental tape.

And in ICIS News (which requires subscription):
The US Department of Energy will provide $340m (€228m) to help accelerate carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology for coal-fired power plants.

US exports of chlorinated solvents declined in the first half of 2008 because of increased regulation and a market shift to water-based solvents in Europe.

German beekeepers demanded adequate compensation for the destruction of some 11,000 bee colonies allegedly caused by an insecticide earlier this year.

Legislation to ban certain phthalates in children's products was signed into law by President George Bush on Thursday.

Ford's new motto seems to be focus on getting smaller...with their vehicles that is.

The company's new Ford Fiesta, said to be the first of a generation of new global small Ford cars, is now being mass produced in Cologne, Germany. The Fiesta will be tailor-made for each region, Europe, Asia, Americas, and will go on sale progressively between now and 2010, starting in Europe.

In January 2009, Ford's Valencia plant in Spain will begin to manufacture the new Fiesta, while the production facilities for new Fiesta outside of Europe will be Nanjing in China, Rayong in Thailand and Cuautitlàn in Mexico.

Ford also emphasized the use of renewable electricity at the Cologne plant generated by three hydro-power plants in Norway and Sweden , which reduces the plant's CO2 emissions by 190,000 tons a year.

It's about time cute European cars come into the US market! Not only will it save gas but will give more parking space especially those who live in the city.

Disposing trash must be really getting costlier if a hauler has to sue its municipal garbage authority for landfill discrimination.

Lebanon Farms Disposal, a hauler from Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, was fined in 2003 for violating Lebanon County's disposal regulation by transporting their refuse to a cheaper landfill in Schuykill County. The hauler filed a complaint against the Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority (GLRA) stating that the county's solid waste plan is unconstitutional.

Unfortunately for the hauler, their complaint was trashed as the Federal Appeals court ruled that Pennsylvania counties can enforce private municipal trash haulers to use their landfill despite cheaper disposal alternatives outside of the county.

I wonder if the county will still retain the hauler's service?

For added info, GLRA said its landfill facility accepts an average of 250 tons of regulated municipal solid waste from Lebanon County each day at $53.64 per ton.

While the US Congress is debating on offshore drilling, another debate that has been going on for years is government funding on another supposedly clean energy source, liquid coal.

Environmentalists are definitely dead-set against using any types of coal even if they're supposedly clean. Here's one example of their view of "clean coal" from the National Resources Defense Council. [Kudos to GreenTechnoLog.com for posting this].

Still, some major green groups such as Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund are not that totally opposed to the idea of clean coal with these recent news of coal operators in Wisconsin and Texas resuming their expansion without these green groups' opposition so long as they use carbon sequestration technologies, and that these coal operators will retire their less, efficient plants.

Greenpeace put out a report in May on why carbon capture is just a scam and that this technology will not help climate change much less make coal a source of clean energy.

Do I sense a bubbling disharmony in the green world?

Just as the dot.com era produces this generation's young millionaires (or billionaires), the green trend is starting to drive out new entrepreneurs straight out of school..or some of them still in school.

An example is this MBA student from the University of Toledo who re-purposed part of his student loan to set up his eco-tableware business.

Lawrence Ohlman III could be the next Tableware king if demand for his Eco-collection continues to blaze in the US houseware kingdom. Ohlman said the first offering on his EcoProducts is shaping to be one of the hottest gift this Christmas season.

His products, made from plant-based resins, are said to be 100% natural and sustainable. They are also FDA-approved (since when did the Food and Drug Administration approves tablewares??).

Ohlman still plans to finish his MBA with his leftover loan money.

In a different field, another young green entrepreneur who was recently mentioned in my blog is SiGNa's Michael Lefenfeld. Lefenfeld also founded his start-up advanced materials company SiGNa Chemistry when he was still working as a graduate student in molecular electronics at Columbia University.

You can read his story (such as trying to invent a new toilet bowl freshener for his grandfather and discovered a new chemistry material instead) in this New York Times article published in 2005.

According to researchers from the University of Copenhagen, there is no difference in taste and nutritional content between an organically grown fruit and vegetables, and food grown with the use of pesticides and chemicals.

"Modern crop protection chemicals to control weeds, pests and diseases are extensively tested and stringently regulated, and once in the soil, mineral nutrients from natural or artificial fertilizers are chemically identical. Organic crops are often lower yielding and eating them is a lifestyle choice for those who can afford it."

When my sister often tells me that organic food is better tasting than regular ones, could it be that it's all in her head and that she has been duped by an industry who charges triple for their products?

I wonder if the same research applies to organic botanicals for cosmetics...

Big house furnishing stores are already selling eco-friendly products such as bamboo floorings, recycled counter tops, energy-efficient appliances, etc. So it makes sense, I guess, for Swedish homeware retailer Ikea to soon start selling solar panels, maybe even lithium ion batteries for cars or even a ready-made solar-powered house.

According to the website Cleantech.com, Ikea is investing €50 million ($74.6m) into cleantech startups over the next five years, with the eventual goal of selling solar panels and other clean technologies in its stores or used by Ikea suppliers.

The company's product focus will be on solar panels, alternative light sources, product materials, energy efficiency, and water saving and purification.

The famous Swedish meatballs will now be cooked with solar-powered electric grill.

Residents near farms or livestock processing facilities will soon breathe a cleaner (and less smelly) sigh of relief.

Bion Environmental Technologies said they now have a patent approval for their phosphorus removal process in livestock waste treatment. The company said excess nutrients from livestock waste, primarily phosphorus and nitrogen, have been shown to cause serious environmental problems in the U.S. and worldwide.

The patent application was made on April 15, 2005; upon publication and issuance, the patent will be officially granted and will remain in force until December 26, 2021.

According to this article from ICIS News, the temporary ban of some plasticizer phthalates on kids' products can cause permanent consumption loss in this end-market.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) hold a media web conference yesterday talking about the consequences of the phthalates ban under the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act (H.R. 4040), which is expected to be signed by President Bush this week.

ACC said infant toys and child care products now account for several million pounds annually of diisononyl phthalate (DINP), one of the phthalates that will be banned temporarily in kids' products.

Toy applications for DINP, however, is much smaller compared with the plasticizer's use in building and construction materials, the ACC said.

PVC, Bisphenol-A, phthalates, flame retardants, plastic bags....the chemical industry is certainly facing tougher challenges these days and environmentalists seem to be on top of the game.

Kids might soon forget how polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic feels like under their hands and feet as major US playground manufacturer Playworld Systems become the first to eliminate PVC from their products.

Playworld said it is replacing its PVC with 100% recyclable thermoset polyethylene.

"PE-produced products and coatings will stay clean longer because PE is less porous than PVC, is slip resistant due to its textured finish, and contains no volatile organic compounds or dioxins in the manufacturing process."

Will other manufacturers follow suit? Will this be the start of PVC demise in kids' playgrounds? What will the PVC industry faces next? Stay tune for more PVC posts!

Your "99 bottles of beer on the wall" could have some real use after all.

This Do-It-Yourself solar water heater can be easily constructed according to the website Ananova. The site said a Chinese farmer invented his own solar water heater using beer bottles and hose pipes attached to a board.

The heater was able to provide enough hot water for all three members of the farmer's family to have a shower every day.

More DIY solar-ed hot water projects can be found in this link.

A lot of plastic news happening in the West Coast particularly in Seattle and Los Angeles that I did not have the time to talk about last week.

According to several news sources, the city council of Los Angeles, California, voted a resolution on July 22 to ban all plastic bags from retail stores starting July 1, 2010 if the state of California fails to impose a pending bill (AB 2058) that would force retailers to charge shoppers 25 cents for each plastic bag provided by supermarkets and large retail stores.

The LA Times reported that the ban was proposed by Councilman Ed Reyes, who called plastic bags "the graffiti of the L.A. River," which passes through his district.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) released a statement a day after the news came out and clarified that the council vote was not an actual ban but instead a recommendation

The coalition Savetheplasticbag.com, meanwhile, sued the LA county board when it adopted in January 2008 a phased program to ban plastic bags. The lawsuit was filed on July 17. Last week, the coalition also testified before the California Senate Appropriations Committee in opposition to Assembly Bill 2058.

Maybe that helped because the bill failed to pass the Appropriations Committee last week Thursday, according to the ACC.

"We are pleased to see that the members of the Committee understand that many Californians are already struggling to make ends meet in our current economy."

Savetheplasticbag.com reported that taxing or banning plastic carryout bags in the US will result in the direct loss of approximately 4,000 American jobs.

In the city of Seattle, independent grocers are also fighting back on a recent city council proposal to charge 20 cents on each disposable shopping bags at grocery, drug and convenience stores. The council also proposed a ban on the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) containers in restaurants, fast food outlets, coffee shops and all other food service establishments.

The EPS ban includes some of the packaging used at grocery stores such as meat trays and egg cartons. The proposed rules are expected to start in January 2009.

The state's independent grocery association, the Washington Food Industry (WFI), propose to the Seattle City Council to increase the use of reusable bags instead of a tax plan. WFI also proposed its Seattle grocer members to pay customers to reduce bag use and urged the City to become more proactive and less punitive in its actions to encourage bag reuse.

As a consumer, I agree with the WFI for incentives instead of punitive actions. However, I'm also for biodegradable plastics use. I understand that not all plastic bags can be recycled especially if they were in contact with food-based garbage that usually got dumped into a landfill. Why not give us a choice of recyclable as well as biodegradable plastics?

My advice to consumers: Stop jumping into the plastic bag hating bandwagon, don't let the government imposed needless tax (I don't want to buy additional plastic just to line my trash can because FYI - paper can't hold my garbage!) , and support recycling and biodegrable plastic use instead.

If a lot of consumers will agree with me, that will make this biodegradable plastic producer, Diamant Art Coporation, happy.

Mining company US Mine Makers says they can recover gold and platinum using a more environment-friendly processing that uses sodium bromide instead of sodium cyanide to leach the metals from the ore.

The waste byproducts in the recovery process is also more eco-friendly, the company said.

"For years we have been involved in the remediation and restoration of toxic mine sites, and now we are extending our 'eco-friendly' and 'Green' philosophy to our gold and platinum metals recovery process," say CEO Ronald Bell.

US mine makers said their new pilot plant and future full-scale processing plant will be designed with the green processing technology.

My apologies for the delayed news roundup. I've been kidnapped by the people from Planet Green since Friday and they wouldn't let me use the internet unless I drink their green fruity concoctions and get inebriated. I have no idea what happened the day after and I have a theory that the green people wiped out my memory of those two days.

I am back and in good blogging form, so here's last week's big green news (aside from the football news of Brett Favre leaving Green Bay for New York's Gang Green! )

Symrise' new green cosmetics
Symrise expands its green cosmetics offering by becoming the exclusive distributor for California company Bayliss Ranch's Essence line of water-soluble plant extracts that are 100% organic.

Batelle's biobased plasticizer
PolyOne has entered into an exclusive license arrangement for a series of bio-based plasticizer technology patents owned by Battelle. The plasticizers was developed with early stage funding from Ohio Soybean Council.

More eco-complexing agent
BASF is building a new plant for its biodegradable chelating agent methylglycinediacetic acid under the brand Trilon M. The chelates are used in detergents, cosmetics and cleaning agents.

Energy-saving silicon plant
Evonik and SolarWorld opened their new solar silicon plant in Rheinfelden, Germany. The plant uses an innovative process saves energy up to 90 percent compared to conventional production.

Bio fertilizer investment
Denham Capital will invest up to $60 million in VitAG Corporation, which converts municipal biosolids into a high-nitrogen fertilizer. The investment will fund the construction of multiple biosolids-to-fertilizer manufacturing plants.

And in ICIS news (which requires subscription):
International retail chain Metro Group increased its Chinese plastic shopping bags prices by 67-100% because of high raw materials and decreasing consumption driven by the plastic bag ban.

US petrochemical and refining groups criticized plans of presidential hopeful Barack Obama to impose a windfall profits tax on energy firms, saying it would make the US more dependent on foreign oil.

Coal plant operators in Texas and Wisconsin have caved in to pressures from green groups as they promised to retire older, less-efficient facilities; use emission-reduction technologies in their new plants; and invests in renewable alternative energy resources.

We Energies, Madison Gas & Electric and Wisconsin Public Power concede today to settle their dispute with environmental groups Sierra Club and Clean Wisconsin after three years of legal battle. The utility companies also promised to commit to several additional environmental initiatives including a $4m annual payment for 25 years for the protection of Lake Michigan's ecosystem.

In Texas, NRG Energy will now be able to expand with a new unit their Limestone coal-powered station without the opposition of the groups Environmental Defense Fund and Texas Clean Air Cities Coalition (TCACC). NRG said the new unit will use new technologies that can offset or sequester greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.

If I'm an alternative energy investor, should the surge in solar projects make me think twice in investing in this industry? They reminded me of the dot.com and housing boom before their bubbles burst.

The same sentiment is partially echoed in this article published last week in ICIS Chemical Business (Disclaimer: I work for ICIS). Some consultants think investors especially in the US are going way overboard in tossing money to clean technology ventures.

"Just look at the amount of funds that these companies are raising on the back of minimal track records. There is such a resemblance to the dot-com boom that it has to be a worry."

• GE Energy and Grupo Corporative Landon invest $350m in Fotowatio, one of Spain's largest solar power project developers.
  

• Sunrise Solar Corp. has entered the final stages of negotiations with several Korean and Chinese suppliers solar technology suppliers.

• Chinese photovoltaic manufacturer Trina Solar signed a sales contract with Enel.si S.r.l, a subsidiary of Enel SpA, Italy's largest power company.

• Trina also signed a contract with US-based Spire Corporation, which provides turnkey solar factories and capital equipment to manufacture photovoltaic modules worldwide.

• Evolution Solar acquired Synergy Design and Development Company, a Hong Kong R&D and Procurement Company based in Shanghai, China.

• Solyndra reached a long-term supply deal of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic panels with Solar Power.

• Australian solar panel distributor RFI signed an agreement to partner with solar module manufacturer Suntech Power Holdings.

• US solar panel installer Akeena Solar will expand its operations into Connecticut.

• Black Hills Energy and BP Solar will install and operate a solar electric power system in Colorado State University-Pueblo.

• Hoku Scientific signed a $284m deal to supply polysilicon to photovoltaic cell manufacturer Tianwei New Energy (Chengdu) Wafer over a 10-year period beginning 2010.

• Day4 Energy developed a photovoltaic module technology specifically designed for application with solar cells based on Upgraded Metallurgical Grade (UMG) silicon material.

Summer this year in New York has seen several weeks of downpours and continuous heat and humidity, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said you ain't seen nothin' yet.

The EPA released its climate change report last month and noted that continued global warming could likely increase the frequency and intensity of heat waves and heavy storms; severe frequent droughts in big areas; intense hurricane wind speeds; and increases in the occurrence of coastal and river flooding.

Here are some of the likely scenarios that the EPA found:

• It is very likely that heat-related morbidity and mortality will increase over the coming decades.

• The impact of higher temperatures in urban areas can exacerbate cardiovascular and pulmonary illness if current regulatory standards are not attained.

• Hurricanes, extreme precipitation resulting in floods, and wildfires also have the potential to affect public health through direct and indirect health risks.

• Likely increase in the spread of several food and water-borne pathogens among susceptible populations.

I'm sure that's very reassuring but just in case I should start stockpiling some emergency necessities....

Another sign that the green market is recession-proof is this new survey from Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

The survey indicated that many American consumers are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products even in the face of economic uncertainty.

"Americans who said their current financial situation is "fair" or "poor" were just as willing to spend 15% more on environmentally-friendly detergent or wood furniture as those Americans more confident of their current financial situation."

I wonder if these surveys match the actual green purchase of American consumers. I hope there will be an accurate market data for that.

Nissan might have its new EcoPedal technology but Ford is preparing to launch its EcoBoost engine technology developed by turbo manufacturer Honeywell.

By next year, Ford's 2010 Lincoln MKS model will feature a new turbocharged 3.5L V-6 engine, which performs like a large V-8 engine but will deliver the fuel economy of a V-6.

Honeywell said the new EcoBoost engine development resulted from the need for powerful but fuel-efficient and lower-emitting vehicles.

I just finished my article on natural waxes (such as soy wax and beeswax) and found out that demand for the products are really increasing because 1. consumer preference for natural-based materials, and 2. price for petroleum-based counterparts has surged.

I'll post the article once it's out on August 18. For now, here are several new consumer products launched formulated to include natural, biodegradable and other 'green-based' ingredients.

Green dishwashing liquid - Clorox new Green Works™ natural dishwashing liquid joins the company's line of natural cleaning products introduced in early 2008.

Natural sunscreen on the block - Caribbean Solution's suncreen products are said to be free of avobenzone, oxybenzone, cinnamates, parabens, artificial fragrance or other petrochemicals.

Soy candles - Village Candle Factory Store introduces a premium line of scented soy candles that is said to be 100% natural.

Green deodorants - Tom's of Maine launched its new line of Sensitive Care Aluminum-Free Deodorants, which are also said to be Kosher and Halal-certified.

Don't be alarmed if your car pedal seems to push back when you accelerate.

The car maker Nissan is going to commercialize next year its Eco Pedal technology designed to assist drivers to become more fuel-efficient.

Each time the driver steps on the accelarator, a counter push-back control mechanism is activated if the system detects excess pressure, helping to inform the driver that they could be using more fuel than required. Nissan said the eco pedal can improve fuel efficiency by 5-10%.

The eco pedal can also be turned on or off especially if you get annoyed using it.

Two more news from Nissan today is the unveiling of the company's all-electric and original hybrid electric prototype vehicles, both powered by advanced lithium-ion batteries; and the development of a new fuel cell stack with double the power density of the previous generation stack.

The electric vehicle (EV) is expected to be introduced in 2010 and mass produced in 2012. The new fuel cell stack, meanwhile, is said to achieved a 35% cost reduction mainly due to half the use of platinum, a key material in fuel cell stacks. Test fleets using the improved cell stacks will be operational by the end of this year.

This news reminded me of my interview with Evonik about their lithium ion battery components business (Note: accessing this article needs subscription).

According to an Evonik official, their ceramic membrane technology used in fuel cells has higher energy storage capacity and can withstand extreme heat compared to traditional polymer membrane currently in use.

I wonder if Evonik is one of Nissan's battery component supplier...

An interesting article from Reuters regarding the effects of European carbon trading schemes in sports cars manufacture.

Makers of sports car such as Lamborghini, Porsche, Fiat (which also makes Ferrari and Maserati), and Aston Martin are claiming that they should be excluded in the European Union's new rules to cut carbon dioxide emissions from new cars to an average of 120 grams per km by 2012 from the current average of around 160 grams.

The article reported that sports cars usually pump out anywhere between 200 and 500 grams of carbon dioxide/kilometer.

The sports car makers argued that the emissions rules will make them globally uncompetitive and that their niche industry is a rare art that should be protected.

Niche manufacturers making less than 10,000 vehicles a year will be able to negotiate individual targets with the EU legislators, the article said. Manufacturers that are part of a larger corporation, however, could be in trouble.

According to this article from the New Journal of Chemistry, Japanese researchers from Saga University were able to recover precious metals such as gold, palladium and platinum from industrial wastewater using a sorption active gel formed from chemically treating an ordinary newspaper with p-amino benzoic acid, a compound used in sunscreen.

The researchers said a high percentage recovery of the precious metal ions (85-95%) and regeneration of the gel was attained by using a mixture of 0.15 M thiourea and 1 M HCl.

"The fact that valuable high demand metals can be recovered by using waste paper looks promising for its practical future application. From an economic viewpoint, this gel raises the prospect for recovering expensive metals at low cost and, from the environmental viewpoint, this gel is quite environmentally benign and acceptable."

Analytical grade chloroauric acid and chloroplatinic acid (both from WAKO, Japan) were used to prepare the gold and platinum test solutions, respectively. Ion exchange resins used were acquired from the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Japan. All other chemicals used for the synthesis and for the sorption tests were of analytical grade and were used without further purification.

The waste newspaper feedstock doesn't have to be in printed Japanese.

Biogas from chicken manure will now power a big chicken farm in Beijing using GE's Jenbacher gas engines.

According to GE, the plant, with annual capacity of 14,600 megawatt/hour electricity, is the first of its type in China designed to help reduce suburban electricity shortage.

With 3 million chickens in the farm producing 220 tons/day of manure and 170 tons/day of wastewater, the project will hopefully be a sweet-smelling success.

GE said the biogas plant will save more than $1.2 million/year in electricity costs alone.

A bill banning the export of electronic waste to developing nations was introduced last week in Congress by Environment and Hazardous Materials subcommittee chairman Gene Green (D-Texas), and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), a member of the Congressional E-waste Working Group.

"Many Americans are unaware that discarded electronics contain lead, mercury, and other toxics and end up being salvaged under inhumane conditions in the developing world," said Gene. "I am encouraged by the efforts to improve e-waste recycling in the U.S., but progress is an illusion when 'recycling' means exporting e-waste to be picked over by scavengers under hazardous conditions."

As China's Beijing continues to be shrouded with smog days before the Olympic games, more transportation solution is being offered to reduce air pollution from companies such as Segway and Alcoa.

Chinese and Olympic officials are going to use the zero-emissions Segway PT for stadium and event hall management, community policing, arena logistics, airport security, personnel transportation, and even for Olympic Ambassadors. Austere looking dignitaries riding the Segway? Now that I will watch!

To clear Beijing smoggy skies, Chinese authorities even closed factories and chemical plants just to prepare for the event, according to this article published today from ICIS Chemical Business.

Restrictions have also been placed on the shipment of hazardous chemicals in order to avoid any environmental incident.

Chinese biodiesel producer Gushan Environment Energy announced that it is suspending operations of its Beijing plant from August 1 to September 20 because of the strict traffic control measures enforced.

The enforcements made several chemical traders definitely unhappy with the incoming overpaid strutting athletes, ICIS Chemical Business reported.

It seems salary and benefits options are not enough to entice newly graduate students to work for a company. They have to have a good green status too.

According to a recent survey conducted by career service provider Experience Inc.,79% out of 2,774 college students and recent grads they asked reported that they would be more likely to accept a job offer at a green company over another company, when evaluating two similar job offers.

Only 16% are currently working or doing internship at a green company, the survey said.

Experience founder and CEO Jenny Floren advised that companies should clearly communicate their environmental commitments and socially responsible practices throughout all recruiting programs to attract the best talent.

Who would want to work for a company who has environmental liability? But at this time when the word recession is in the mind of a graduate, I wonder if being green would really matters to them that much?

I thought July would be a lull time for companies to launch new green chemicals but I seem to have my own record-breaking number of products this month. Either that or I'm just lazier the previous months in scanning new product news.

Congratulations to the top 7 chemicals that made the list! Why seven? Because that's my favorite number!

1. Rohm and Haas' green coatings - The company introduced almost two dozen environmentally advanced products for the architectural and industrial coatings markets at the recent American Coatings Show in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are so many so just go the link for information.

2. Dow's low-VOC biocide - Dow Chemical's CANGUARD ULTRA BIT 20 LE Preservative provides a low volatile organic content (VOC) biocide for the protection of industrial water-based products against harmful bacteria, yeasts and fungi.

3. Cummins glycerine - Cummins Filtration launched its Fleetguard ES Compleat glycerin, a heavy duty engine antifreeze/coolant using based on glycerin as alternative to the traditional ethylene glycol or propylene glycol antifreeze/coolant.

4. PWP ag-resin packaging - PWP Industries introduced its AgroResin packaging made from renewable agricultural biomass fiber composite. AgroResin is 100% biodegradable, compostable and made from non-genetically modified biomass.

5. Ticona's green flame retardants - Ticona Engineering Polymers added two new Riteflex thermoplastic polyester elastomer grades to its portfolio of XFR halogen-free flame retardant polyesters.

6. Recycled gypsum - USA Gypsum released a new product, granular gypsum, which consists of 100% recycled drywall for use as a soil conditioner for farm or home use. The drywall scraps used in recycling are gathered from new construction projects.

7. Symrise's cooling agent - Symrise has introduced Frescolat ML Natural in response to the personal care market's demand for a natural alternatives to menthol. It is said to be the first natural coolant without odor.

One of the big news this week is the pending pthalates ban on kids' products. Both Senate and Congress already approved the bill that contains the ban and is just waiting for President Bush's signature. This is a major blow for the chemical industry and a big win for public advocates.

Another is the record-breaking $11.7bn quarter earnings pumped by the US oil mogul ExxonMobil. Investors might be unimpressed with the company's $1,485 per second profit but gas consumers will surely be irate with this news and will be more supportive of alternative energy investments.

As for the rest of this week's green news roundup...

Launderer likes NPE-free
Cintas Corp. has become the first industrial launderer to ban the use of nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) - based detergent in its facilities nationwide. The company will start using NPE-free detergents manufactured by Washing Systems.

IBC enters bio-ethylene
Industrial Biotechnology Corp.'s newly formed subsidiary Renewable Chemicals will soon produce ethylene made from sugarcane-based ethanol using their proprietary AlchemX production platforms. The company can use existing petroleum-based ethylene manufacturing infrastructure.

Daimler's fuel cell buses
Ballard Power Systems will continue to supply fuel cell systems to Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses in Hamburg, Germany, for two years. The buses are said to be the largest fleet of fuel cell buses currently in operation worldwide.

Albemarle buys sorbent tech
Specialty chemicals Albemarle acquired the power plant mercury-control provider Sorbent Technologies. Sorbent Technologies supplies brominated carbon adsorbents and advanced sorbent injection systems to control mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

My bank invests in green
Bank of America has sourced Field Diagnostic Services for their software, energy efficiency diagnostic tools, and project management services to reduce the bank's energy costs and carbon footprint by 50%. The investment is part of Bank of America's $20 billion, ten-year sustainability initiatives.

And in ICIS News (which requires subscription):
A study reported that US shale gas reserves can meet all of the country's natural gas demand growth for the next 100 years and can supplement oil and coal use.

Chemical producers should consider water conservation at the top of their agenda to cut costs by up to 30%.

A two-mile portion of the Mississippi river was closed on Wednesday after a damaged barge released more fuel oil, according to the US Coast Guard.

During my Wednesday visit to Evonik Degussa's groundbreaking ceremony for its new alkoxide (used as biodiesel catalyst) plant in Mobile, Alabama, they told me about their high-tech wastewater monitoring system - using sea urchins to monitor the site's waste water effluent.

According to Evonik, sea urchin bioassay determines the concentration of wastewater versus potential toxicity of a substance by measuring its effect on a living organism such as sea urchins. The company has been using this testing for decades.

In order to test the Mobile wastewater, Evonik staff collects cells from male sea urchins and exposes them to the wastewater for one hour. After that, eggs from female sea urchins are collected as well and put them in the wastewater along with the male sea urchin sperm for fertilization (which takes place within 20 minutes).

After the romantic mating, a sample of the egg is tested under a microscope for any fertilization ring. If the ring turns blue (or the word Yes is formed) then congratulations are in order. But for a really good testing, Evonik said a ring should be formed around the egg indicating that no toxicity is present in the wastewater.

About 100 eggs are regularly being tested.

Unfortunately, I was not able to see the creatures or their fertilization habitat but Evonik did assured me that the sea urchins are darn cute.

I received good news that the Green Chemicals blog reached its record-breaking 4,323 readers for the month of July! Thanks for the visit and come back again! (and again and again!!)

To get the momentum going, I'll post later this afternoon this week's roundup and the blog's monthly new green chemical products launch. For now, ICIS News has been churning a lot of regulatory updates this week and some of these are free to access.

An interesting update is the reaction of China's toy industry with the incoming US phthalates ban. ICIS News said the industry is expected to see consolidation with some small manufacturers likely to exit the business because of the ban.

The Senate is expected to vote on a bill today, which will ban three phthalates permanently and other three temporarily pending further study.

Another news is this week's Senate hearing on Imperial Sugar's refinery dust explosion in Georgia. The US Chemical Safety Board warned the Senate Committee that mandatory federal regulation of explosive dust hazards is urgently needed.