April 2009 Archives

Where in the world is Al Gore??

Unfortunately, you will not be able to track him down with this new green search engine (complete with map) site but the cool thing about "reegle" is that users can click on a specific location and get the latest events, news, and a sampling of green energy development projects in that area.

A list of stakeholders and an energy-oriented profile of the relevant country, including up-to-date statistics and information on local green energy policies and regulations can also be found here.

reegle is a public online resource provided by REEEP (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership) and REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century), funded by the British Department of the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (MINVROM) and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW).

Best of all there are plenty of widget tools available for green bloggers like me!

"Sometimes concerns about product performance and credibility of the environmental claims are the reasons shoppers opt not to buy green products, but more often communication and product education are the biggest obstacles. The larger potential population of shoppers that lean toward green want price and performance parity for sustainable products because it is not their dominant purchase driver."

It's about time that Arizona invests in solar technology given that they have plenty of raw materials to start with.

Nonprofit group Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) is spending $4 million for five new solar investments and the establishment of their Solar Technology Institute (STI), which aims to catalyze solar technology breakthroughs and commercialization of products and services to boost growth in the state.

The investments include:

• Concentrator Photovoltaics - Researchers at University of Arizona (UA) and Arizona State University (ASU) are collaborating on next generation low-cost solar reflectors that can be used in solar energy generating systems.
  

• Nanostructured Films for Photovoltaics - Global Solar, General Plasma, Prism Solar, ASU and UA are teaming up to enhance the capabilities of thin film solar panels through innovative technology. This will significantly reduce the cost of electricity from solar panels. Other partners include Advalue, All Optronics, Aerospace Corporation and Nanovoltaix.
  

• Photovoltaic Environmental Performance and Reliability - ASU and UA are working with Tucson Electric Power, and TUV-Rheinland, to expand the ASU Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory so it can conduct more rapid product certification and testing of solar products, and help identify and create better performing solar products. Other partners include Sandia National Laboratories, Reliasoft, Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Spire Solar and Solan AG.
  

• Compressed Air Energy Storage - Southwest Solar Technologies, the U.S. Geological Survey, UA and ASU are developing compressed air solar storage technology for use when the Sun is not shining. Other partners include Simmons, Nanovoltaix, and Eusthatia.
  

• AZ Smart - Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, ASU and UA are partnering to create a system of smart grid management and to develop decision making software to help select future power generation station locations, storage sites and power lines throughout Arizona. Other partners include Viasol, Bright Source, Creatasoft and Tucson Electric Power.

Investments might be down a bit this year but it seems the outlook for the solar energy industry is still pretty darn bright, according to this study from SRI Consulting.

SRI said the global solar energy market is projected to more than double to reach $70 billion by 2013. Solar cell efficiencies of organic photovoltaic technology are said to have reached over 5% but silicon based cells in the commercial photovoltaic industry are still the predominant technology because of higher efficiencies reaching over 25%.

In Pennyslvania, the state's governor believes the solar energy industry will great green collar jobs that's why Governor Edward G. Rendell recently announced a new $80 million incentives for projects that generate and use solar energy, or that manufacture and assemble solar equipment.

"There are tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars in solar energy projects now looking for a home. Other states and nations are competing for those projects and the good jobs they'll create."

Under Pennsylvania's solar energy incentives, solar energy generation or distribution projects and solar R&D facilities are eligible for loans of up to $5 million or grants of up to $1 million.

Companies that manufacture solar components for renewable-energy generation equipment may receive loans of up to $35,000 for every new job they project to create within three years after being approved as well as receive grants of up to $5,000 for each new job created.

More recent investment news on solar:

• Solar Panels at Budweiser Brewery Now Providing Power
  

• Wal-Mart to Nearly Double Solar Energy Use in California
  

• PG&E makes deal for space solar power
  

For the first time in eight years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a new biopesticide, this time made from catmint plant - a feline's favorite catnip, according to its developer DuPont.

The refined Oil of Nepeta cataria can reportedly repel a broad range of biting insects with effectiveness similar to synthetic ingredients such as DEET. Sales for natural insect/pest repellents are expected to increase said DuPont.

"Potential markets for the new insect repellent include topical personal care products such as sun block lotions, sprays, wipes and insect repellent candles. This product could also potentially be formulated into sunscreen because of its ability to be reapplied," said Henry Bryndza, director of chemical science and engineering for DuPont Central Research & Development.

The company has been actively promoting their investments in renewable materials. DuPont's Senior Vice President and Chief Science & Technology Officer Uma Chowdhry recently said that the company and its affiliates now offer more than a dozen products containing a minimum of 20% renewable content by weight to industries ranging from consumer apparel, cosmetics and personal care, to industrial applications such as aircraft de-icing.

First we had the elephant dung paper products, and now Indonesia's Prasetiya Mulya Business School developed high-quality bricks made from abundantly available cow dung.

The school won this year's top $25,000 top prize at the 10th annual Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) hosted by University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business. This year's competititon had a record 300+ submissions from more than 100 universities in 23 countries.

GSVC aims to promote the creation and growth of successful social ventures worldwide supporting people and planet while being profitable.

With EcoFaeBrick, the winning team said the use of cow dung will not only solve the hygiene problem in Indonesia and other emerging countries but also reduce the use of firewood and clay.

The $10,000 second prize went to mPedigree Logistics from the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth University. The team developed anti-counterfeit solutions to the growing global counterfeit drug market via mobile marketing and supply chain technologies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to 30% of drugs sold in developing nations are fakes, containing little to no active ingredients or laced with malicious chemicals. The growing global counterfeit drug market is estimated to reach US $75 billion by 2010, forming about 10% of all global pharmaceutical trade.

SolarCycle from the George Washington University School of Business won the competition's third prize of $5,000. Their low-cost reflective material made from used plastic bags and the interior of metalized chip bags can reportedly replace mirrors in solar concentrating applications for developing countries.

"We've designed this product to help low-income urban Africans turn a local trash problem into a cheap, green and revolutionary new product that can assist rural people with both solar cooking and water pasteurization." - George Washington University School of Business

Market research firm IBISWorld reported that amid growing green businesses, the recycling market seems to be the only one that has really been hit by the economic recession.

Compared to green industries such as natural products, biotechnology, environmental consulting, hydroelectric and renewable power generation, the recycling market this year is expected to decline after growing 6.3% for the past five years until 2008, IBISWorld said.

"Falling prices have put the recycling industry on the scrapheap this year," explained George Van Horn, senior analyst with IBISWorld. "It is the thirteenth biggest revenue loser in 2009, and is expected to plummet a drastic 20 percent."

Major players in the US market include Waste Management Inc., Covanta Holding, Allied Waste Industries, Casella Waste Systems, and Republic Services, Inc. Consolidation is expected within large players while smaller operators, more labor intensive, and without integrated waste collection and disposal activities, may be forced to exit the industry.

Check out some of my earlier posts on recycling woes for this year.

Dow Chemical, Wal-Mart Mexico and Grupo Ravi have joined forces to create "Green Comfort" sandal for women in Mexico. The companies said the shoe soles and insole is made up of Dow's natural oil-based polyols.

"The eco-sandal is produced with vegetable pigmented leathers, zero solvents in the manufacturing process and is sold with 100% recyclable and recycled packaging."

In another Dow news, Anne Wallin, director of Dow's Sustainable Chemistry and Life Cycle Analysis, was recently appointed as a member of California's new Green Ribbon Science Panel.

California's Department of Toxic Substances Control appointed 27 experts to provide scientific and technical advice for California's Green Chemistry program, which aims to remove or reduce toxic chemicals in products sold in California. The panel will hold its first meeting on April 29 and 30.

The European Parliament proposed last week for tire manufacturers starting November 2012 to label the fuel efficiency/performance as well as the wet grip and noise performance of tires (or 'tyre' as they spell it in Europe).

According to EU lawmakers, the new tire label will use a fuel-efficiency classification similar to the energy label for washing machines and fridges, with performance rated from 'Class A' (best) to 'Class G' (worst).

Tire suppliers are also expected to provide a "fuel savings calculator" on their websites so that consumers can assess the potential average savings of fuel, CO2 and costs of the tires.

The proposal still requires approval by the Council of the European Union.

European-based rubber chemical producer Lanxess said it welcomes the decision as "their high-performance rubber products can enable the tire industry to comply with the requirements." A car's tires are said to be responsible for 20% of its fuel consumption

In a related news (which might interest tire manufacturers concern on the life cycle analysis of their tire products), Japanese specialty chemical company Teijin started supplying chemically recycled ECOPET PLUS® polyester fibers for the cords of Toyo Tire & Rubber's PROXES® Ne tires.

Toyo Tire & Rubber will put its PROXES Ne tire on the market beginning on December 11. Teijin expects to produce 10 tons/month (approximately 50,000 tires) of the recycled polyester fibers for tire cords in 2009, and rising to 30 tons/month (approximately 150,000 tires) in 2011.

I'm not sure if ECOPET PLUS will be produced exclusively for Toyo Tire & Rubber or if other tire manufacturers can use them too. I have to ask Teijin for that...stay tune!

By the way, another interesting information on tires from this NY Times' blog Green Inc.

Of the 300 million tires recycled annually in the US, roughly 45% are used as fuel in cement kilns, paper mills and power plants, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association. The article debates on whether recycled tires used as fuel should be exempted from the stringent Clean Air Act regulations that apply to solid waste incinerators.

After several baby bottle manufacturers announced their plans to phase out polycarbonate baby bottles that might contain bisphenol-A, the pressure is on for food and beverage manufacturers to do the same in their packaging.

A new report from investment advisory firm Green Century Capital Management and noprofit group As You Sow said food and beverage companies are not doing enough to seek alternatives to BPA, which is used to line food and beverage cans.

According to the study, Hain Celestial, Heinz, and Nestle are the only companies that plan to phase out BPA in some of their products. Heinz is said to be the only respondent already using a substitute to BPA in some of its can linings.

"Alternatives to BPA exist for many products. We believe companies should implement all feasible alternatives and increase investments into substitute can linings for all products, including highly-acidic foods."

In honor of post-Earth Day I am trying to clean up and consolidate all my Inbox's green news releases and so bear with me as I post more updates, this time on new green chemical research and developments.

• A University of Toronto research team from the Department of Chemistry has discovered useful "green" catalysts made from iron that might replace the much more expensive and toxic platinum metals typically used in industrial chemical processes to produce drugs, fragrances and flavours.
  

• Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN)have succeeded in unlocking the potential of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by converting it into a more useful product such as methanol using organocatalysts.
  

• Stanford University researchers develop natural hemp fibers fused with a biodegradable plastic resin called polyhydroxy-butyrate (PHB) - as biodegradable substitutes for wood, plastic bottles and other common materials.
  

• Purdue University students created new uses for corn and soybeans such as melt-away cupcake liners, biodegradable cork and toilet paper.
  

• A scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory was able to develop a greener process of turning propane into propylene using platinum clusters as catalyst.

• Scientists from the University of California San Francisco have taken a bacterium they founded in a French garbage dump and combined it with a synthesized yeast to convert plant waste into a gasoline that is indistinguishable from fossil fuel derived petroleum. [More info on this one soon!]
  

• Researchers from the University of Southern Mississippi developed self-healing polymeric materials called oxetane-substituted chitosan polyurethane networks that are activated by sunlight. A self-repairing property is said to increase sustainability of a material. [This reminds me of my post last year about MIT's self-reassembly materials with the idea coming from abalone shells]
  

Like most green bloggers and reporters will tell you, Earth Day is a good time to clean up one's email inbox if you don't want incoming emails bouncing back.

This article from Greenbiz.com talks about the good, the bad and the ugly as companies come out in full force hawking their green wares and spreading the message of their greenness to the world wide web.

Here are also a few examples of them:

Airline industry:

• United Airlines Launches Customer Carbon Offset Program

• Delta Commemorates Earth Day 2009 by Matching Customer Donations to Offset Carbon Emissions

• Pledge Green with JetBlue: Do Your 'One Thing That's Green' To Help Protect Our Environment

• Virgin America Teams Up With California State Parks Foundation For Earth Day

Oil companies are usually environmentalists' biggest nemesis but the website Greenopia admitted that you can't live without 'em...yet.

So they ranked the top ten most sustainable oil companies based on their production efficiency, oil spill efficiency, sustainability reporting, alternative energy investments, climate change position and resource efficiency.

And here are the results:

1. British Petroleum - said to have one of the most transparent and complete sustainability reports as well as taking its slogan "Beyond Petroleum" seriously.
2. Sunoco - excellent environmental reporting and extremely efficient practices in conserving water and reducing waste.
3. Shell - serious investment in renewable resources.
4. Hess - good sustainability reporting and water usage efficiency.
5. Marathon - the smallest number of spills and the smallest amount spilled.
6. Exxon - production efficiency and oil spill efficiency.
7. Conoco Philips - one of the few who reports amount of hazardous waste generated.
8. Chevron - good portfolio in alternative fuel investments.
9. Valero - low greenhouse gas emissions.
   
10. Citgo - oil spill efficiency.
    

Glycerine [or glycerin] is actually the first topic that I covered when I started working for the chemical publishing industry so this subject is somewhat near and dear to my heart.

A lot changed in this industry since September 2000 and one of them is the development in new glycerine application.

According to gas company Linde, they were able to make a sustainable production of hydrogen using the biodiesel byproduct glycerine. The company plans to build a demonstration plant this year in their Leuna, Germany, chemical site.

The plant is expected to come on stream in mid-2010. The "green" hydrogen from the site will initially be used in centers such as Berlin and Hamburg for fuel, according to Linde.

Here are other glycerine updates that I recently came across:

• A bird tweeted to me that Dow Chemical is still producing its Optim synthetic glycerine at its Stade, Germany, plant. Dow almost exited the synthetic glycerine market but changed its mind because of its vital use in the pharma industry.

• Archer Daniels Midland's construction of its glycerine-based 100,000 metric tonne propylene glycol facility in Decatur, Ill., is ongoing. Once the facility is complete, ADM said it will be the only producer of renewable propylene glycol that meets United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards.

• Huntsman launched its glycerine carbonate for use as a reactive intermediate and as a solvent. It can be polymerized or reacted with isocyanates or acrylates for applications in coatings, adhesives and lubricants.
  

• ICIS News* said Dow Chemical is still mulling on its long-term strategy in producing glycerine-based propylene glycol. If Dow decided to build a facility, it would be worldscale in size equating to 50,000-100,000 tonnes/year, according to the company.

• ICIS News* also reported today that US glycerine producer Twin Rivers is planning to layoff some of its top management. The company started its new glycerine refinery last fall.
  

Now that you read (hopefully you did) about my recent posts about several new eco-friendly products recently launched in the market; Kimberly-Clark's new green tissue and diapers; Frito-Lay's biodegradable packaging and PepsiCo's Eco-Fina water bottle, my question is do you think many of these product and technology launches are just greenwashing??

According to TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, 98% of green products they surveyed are guilty of at least one sin of greenwashing especially in toys, baby products and cosmetics.

"TerraChoice's survey of 2,219 consumer products in the U.S. and Canada shows that 98% committed at least one Sin of Greenwashing and that some marketers are exploiting consumers' demand for third-party certification by creating fake labels or false suggestions of third-party endorsement. Despite the number of legitimate eco-labels out there, consumers will still have to remain vigilant in their green purchasing decisions"

TerraChoice by the way announced that a new GreenWashing sin emerged this year, the "Sin of 'Worshiping False Labels", which describes an effort by some marketers to exploit consumers' demand for third-party certification with fake labels or claims of third-party endorsement.

• In Takoma Park, a sister refuses her brother's idea to keep a five-gallon bucket in the shower to catch the water that bounces off her and then use it to do the laundry.
  

• In western Loudoun County, a family quietly defies a mother's rules. She likes locally raised bacon, whole-grain bread and raw milk. But somebody keeps smuggling in Chef Boyardee.

• Also in Tacoma Park, a husband refuses his wife of having another child, which has too high of an environmental cost.

• In Fairfax County, a husband wanted to move to Arizona and live in the desert in a trailer, with only an experimental kind of air conditioner to keep cool.
  

• Near Leesburg, a couple is using a herd of sheep as a low-emissions mower. The wife said no to canning her own food and hand-grinding her own flour.

This year's event was composed of 44 teams, who are all trying to break the 2008 fuel efficiency record of 2,843 miles per gallon (mpg) bagged by Mater Dei High School of Evansville, Indiana. Last year's Shell Eco-marathon Europe recorded a 7,957 mpg from Lycee La Joliverie of France.

Shell will launch for the first time the Eco-marathon Asia in Malaysia next year.

One important thing to note is that the high schools teams competing against college teams are definitely impressive. Also took note of the fact that many women are participating in this kind of event. It makes me feel proud to be a chemical engineer.

Here's a recap of the 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas winners. With these types of ingenuity and skills, I don't think anybody could be losers. Congratulations all!

As they always say, kids are our future and Shell definitely hopes that their Eco-marathon events will inspire participating students to eventually join the scientific and engineering fields and help them figure out how to source new energy, efficiently use traditional energy and at the same time solve the growing climate problems.

Graeme Sweeney, vice president of Shell's Future Fuels and CO2 noted the need for various sources of energy because of the expected surge in demand especially coming from developing countries - where the number of vehicles are expected to double by 2050.

Sweeney said there's currently a shortage of engineers and scientists but the good news is that more and more young people are now interested in helping solve the global energy and climate change problems.

Maybe Shell might get lucky to get some of these brilliant minds to work for them soon. Check out some of the teams' vehicles at this year's Shell Eco-Marathon Americas.

Check out here for more team interviews.

Shell's first love (when it comes to renewable energy investments that is) is definitely in biofuels these days but that doesn't mean the company is abandoning wind energy and solar as was hinted in news reports in the past several weeks.

During Shell's Eco-Marathon Americas event in Fontana, California, I was able to interview Shell Future Fuels and CO2 vice president Graeme Sweeney and he emphasized that the company's renewable energy strategy hasn't changed.

He said that Shell is still operating about 550 megawatt of wind energy capacity in total mostly in North America (others in Europe) while in the solar sector, Sweeney noted Shell's continued stakes in a thin-film solar manufacturing company in Germany and in Japan-based Showa Shell which last year expanded its solar cell manufacturing capacity.

But Shell's renewable energy investments going forward in the next year or so is definitely going to be in second generation biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol and algae-based biodiesel. Long-term investments right now are in hydrogen for fuel cells and in carbon capture and storage technologies.

As tweetered yesterday, Sweeney said their hydrogen station here in Santa Monica, California, is refueling hydrogen-based cars for free right now since only 6-7 fuel cell cars per day are operating in the vicinity. If you have a fuel cell car (lucky you!) get your hydrogen while its free as Shell said it will definitely charge a fee when more fuel cell cars are out on the market.

Sweeney thinks hydrogen source in the medium term will mostly come from fossil fuels so in order to have a more sustainable hydrogen production, it has to be linked to carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.

Several CCS technologies worldwide are currently in demo phase right now, said Sweeney. He said that the in the demo phase, new technologies have to be worked at scale, this is where the costs have to be sorted out in order to determine whether they will be allowed to commercialized them or not.

"The public needs to accept new technologies before it can go through. These technologies, like CCS, have to go through that demo phase where you need to invest in it in order to get the cost down," said Sweeney.

"What we need to do is get the cost of vehicles becomes affordable for people, we need to have a joint plan so we can have the stations and the vehicles at the same time. We've been working hard on that here in California," said Sweeney.

A very busy day in Fontana, California, attending Shell's Eco-marathon Americas. About 44 teams from 6 high schools and 29 universities across the Americas came today to challenge each other on whose fuel-efficient, low carbon emitting vehicle has the highest mileage.

One team even came from India, where their car got stuck in LA customs. Fortunately it arrived today just in time for the race. Shell said it had to scramble to prove to customs that the car would not be used for commercial purposes.

You can watch this video clip as the drama unfolded when team Stealth from Chitkara Institute of Engineering & Technology finally unveiled their car to their competitors.

Stealth team's car was designed with an innovative four-link steering mechanism which has complete reversibility and is equipped with a muffler to cut down sound pollution. It's spark plug in the engine at the exhaust port dramatically reduces the waste of fuel and hydrocarbons.

Shell said students this year are looking to break the nearly 3,000 miles/gal (1,275 km/liter) record last year.

According to our tweeter friend Shell ecomar, the first day's results brought Laval University [prototype combustion, gas] with 2622.2 MPG; Penn State [prototype fuel cell, hydrogen] with 1776.4 MPG; Purdue University [prototype solar] with 4614.2 MPG, and Mater Dei High School [urban concept, gas] with 380.3 MPG.

The prototype entries include 28 vehicles powered by combustion engines, five by fuel cell/hydrogen technology, 3 by LPG (liquefied natural gas), 3 by solar power, and 2 by diesel fuel.

The urban concept entries include 2 vehicles powered by combustion engines and one by solar power.

You can read some of the other highlights of the event from Shell's website or you can also watch my attempted slideshow accompanied by Beethoven's symphony no. 9 (the only music available in my work computer)...

Stay tune for more updates and twitters tomorrow!

I am trying to guess whose plastic technology PepsiCo uses for its new Eco-Fina water bottle, which is said to be the lightest half-liter water bottle in the market.

The new bottled water is now available in retail stores nationwide this month. Pepsico said it weighs 10.9 grams and is made with 50% less plastic than the previous half-liter Aquafina bottles.

Here's another nicely made video of PepsiCo's new Eco-Fina (no it doesn't compost like the previous SunChips bag post).

Aside from eliminating 75 million pounds of plastic use per year, it also eliminate the use of cardboard base pads from Eco-Fina Bottle 24-packs, which will contribute to saving 20 million pounds of corrugate by 2010, according to the company.

I was guessing that maybe BASF has their hand on this plastic technology as they also developed the world's lightest half-liter polystyrene bottle for milk product container. But your guess is as good (or bad) as mine.

Another recent news from PepsiCo is that the company is currently testing the use of eco-friendly refrigeration system in their vending machines in Washington DC area. The machines use carbon dioxide (CO2) as refrigerant instead of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

PepsiCo said this marks the first time that vending machines cooled by CO2 have been introduced in the United States. In other countries, the company is also testing thousands of machines using refrigerants such as isobutane and propane.

Confusion might still lingers on what bioplastics really mean but their use is definitely growing.

In the compostable bag sector, SunChips maker Frito Lay announced that they are going to launch in 2010 the world's first fully compostable chip bag of its kind, with the bag fully decomposing within 14 weeks - when placed in a compost bin or pile. See the vid below!

The company will use NatureWorks polylactic acid plastic Ingeo (usually made from corn) in the packaging's outer print web film and inner barrier web film. The adhesive layer gluing the two films together will be made with other "also" eco-friendly material.

Frito Lay said it did not replace all the materials with PLA as there is currently not enough PLA supply available at this time and there are still work needed to maintain the packaging's quality. The company, by the way, also explains the difference between degradable, biodegradable, compostable and renewable plastics.

Meanwhile, KMart in Australia last month said that they are going to use bioplastic shopping bags for their 12 stores in South Australia using Cardia Technologies Limited's Biograde compostable bags. South Australian Government's ban on plastic
checkout bags takes effect on 4 May 2009.

In Minnesota, the state's Department of Administration, Materials Management Division picked Northern Technologies International's Natur-Tec(r) Compostable Plastic Bags for various state agencies' use.

In addition, under Minnesota's Cooperative Purchasing Venture (CPV), entities such as counties, cities, townships, school districts, charitable organizations and community clinics are also eligible to procure Natur-Tec(r) compostable plastic bags from NTIC at the prices and terms negotiated with the State.

The National Wooden Pallet and Container Association put out a press release yesterday about the possible toxic hazards of plastic pallets because they contain the flame retardant deca-bromine. Non-fire retardant plastic pallets, meanwhile, can pose fire hazards according to the group.

"We recognize that alternative materials each have their place, and competition breeds innovation and quality improvements," said Bruce Scholnick, president of the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association. "But if new technologies prove to be harmful or risky, it needs to be excluded from use. There are alternative fire retardants. Let's face it, they may be more expensive, but what price does one put on human health and our environment?"

The group said wood pallets are a byproduct using wood discarded by furniture and home builders for cosmetic purposes.

The wooden pallets are recycled into new products such as landscape mulch, animal bedding, boiler fuel, firewood and wood stove pellets when they can no longer be repaired.

I guess the wood industry is beginning to feel the pinch of lower demand because the National Wood Flooring Association also put out a statement today touting the environmental benefits of wood flooring.

The group claimed that wood flooring has little impact on the environment in terms of raw materials and in terms of the natural resources required to harvest the trees and manufacture the lumber into a finished product.

Try to squeeze every last penny you can get from the government by checking out some of the tax incentives under federal and your own state laws.

Here are some of the US federal tax incentives on green home improvements, eco-friendly cars and other energy efficiency projects by the Tax Incentive Assistance Project.

Businesstaxrecovery.com also explains what's in several green tax credits such as New York State Energy tax credit, green manufacturing tax credit, hybrid vehicle tax credit, solar tax credit, energy and energy star tax credit, some of California's green tax credits and home improvements tax credit.

Treehugger has this cool post (and pics) about the recently passed tax credits under President Obama's stimulus bill.

Finally, just check out the US EPA/DOE's EnergyStar website for various links on federal tax credits for energy efficiency.

Market research firm SBI said that the global carbon market achieved a 256% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years and recorded nearly $118 billion of global carbon emissions transactions in 2008.

The industry is expected to decrease by 29% this year as a result of the decline in the prices of carbon units traded linked to the economic downturn but SBI said continued growth in volume and the anticipated recovery of economies worldwide in years to come will project the industry to reach $669 billion in 2013.

A significant factor for its growth is the likely participation of the United States through the enactment of a federal cap and trade system by 2012.

"Transactions conducted under such a compliance-based system are expected to create the world's second largest carbon market, valued at nearly $117 billion by 2013. Other positive factors include higher prices, greater market turnover, and the creation of new carbon markets." - SBI

Thanks to Tom Nicolay of Research Advantage for the tip on the booming botanical and plant-derived drugs market.

According to market research firm BCC Research, the global market for botanical and plant-derived drugs was worth $19.5 billion last year and is expected to reach $32.9 billion in 2013 for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%.

"Evidence of plant-derived compounds taking on a more significant role in the pharmaceutical market today is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's carving out of a new drug approval pathway for botanical drugs in 2004, and approving the first botanical based on these guidelines in 2006." - BCC

In related news, a researcher from the Michigan State University says he was able to develop a green chemistry processing that could pave the way for a more cleaner and more efficient production of cancer-fighting paclitaxel - also known as the blockbuster drug Taxol.

Sustainable or not, green jobs are definitely sprouting across the country especially in Washington (according to New York Times blog Green Inc.).

The journal Science reported about the endless list of green science jobs in every employment sector whether it's in academia, non-profit, government, quasi-public or within various industries themselves (retail, manufacturing, energy, financial...you name it!).

In Industry Week magazine, Rutgers professor Carl Van Horn talked about business strategies for manufacturers such as training (and retraining) their workers about green skills.

Lastly, here are some of the available green jobs posted on Greenbiz.com.

You can also check out my recent article about the new breed of chemical management on ICIS Chemical Business' February 2 Human Resources and Education issue.

[Clip art from imageenvision.com]

Remember the rumor last year about BASF's big fuel cell investment here in the US?

Well, BASF says it is gearing up for the inauguration of its new fuel cell manufacturing plant in Somerset, New Jersey - said to be the world's only facility that can fabricate complete Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) which is the heart of the fuel cell.

The company says the facility will provide critical components to the renewable energy market under the BASF's Celtec brand. Celtec MEAs recently powered the flight of Antares DLR-H2 said to be the first manned aircraft to be powered exclusively with hydrogen.

"Following test flights of the Antares, fuel cells will be installed in their Airbus A320 where they will be optimized for use in wide-bodied aircraft to make on-board electricity supply more efficient in the future," says BASF.

Since real cars operated by fuel cell is not yet manufactured, me and my ICIS Chemical Business editor-in-chief Joe Chang are content to examine how Celtec MEA-based fuel cells work in a toy car - complimentary of BASF.

Watch out for my colleague Feliza Mirasol's report about BASF's fuel cell plant opening on May 6 (as I will be attending the American Oil Chemists Society's 100th annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, that day).

[Photo of membranes for MEA by BASF]

ICIS News (subscription required) reported on Wednesday about the intensifying anti-chemical attacks from state-legislative and advocacy groups and that according to the American Chemistry Council, it is getting harder for the chemical industry to contest them.

Josh Young, ACC director of state affairs spoke at the 2009 Global Chemical Regulations Conference (GlobalChem) that was held in Baltimore early this week.

"Typically, these campaigns will position the issue in terms of children and mothers' health and focus on one or two products at a time. It is hard to win over a state legislator, get him to do the scientifically correct thing, when his vote will be characterised as 'anti-children'," Young said.

Here's another one about phosphates that came out on March 24. Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) plans to limit the use of phosphates in automatic dishwashing detergents by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), beginning in 2010, to ban the sale of residential dish washing detergent that has more than 0.5% phosphorous nationally.

And the chemical industry knows they should hold on to their hats because there's more to come. Cases in point are the following recent studies that will surely inflame more anti-chemical news. This is how advocacy groups now fight against industry associations, by pitting their own scientific studies against the industry's scientific conclusions.

• Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said reported that polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), chemicals commonly used in commercial goods as flame retardants since the 1970s, are found in all United States coastal waters and the Great Lakes, with elevated levels near urban and industrial centers. Dr. Gunnar Lauenstein, program manager for NOAA's mussel watch program, said that PBDEs have been found in high concentrations in Americans

• The New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation said that cancer-causing toxins are detected in fluoride chemicals. The group is opposed to fluoridation schemes being promoted by groups such as the American Dental Association which claims adding fluoride chemicals to public water supplies reduces tooth decay. The group cited references from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the NSF, and the FDA.
  

Although soy chemicals (excluding biodiesel) account for a very small portion of soybean oil consumption, this news regarding expansion of soy-based chemical development is still a very good news for the US agriculture industry.

According to the United Soybean Board (USB), soy-based foam made from soybean oil polyol is now being incorporated by more than 30 furniture companies. Cargill and Pittsburgh State University's Kansas Polymer Research Center (KPRC) partnered to develop the first commercial soy-based polyols used in flexible foams for furniture.

Cargill sells the soy polyols product under the brand BiOH.

Polyols are currently available with soy content ranging from 30% to 50% depending on type of application. The USB said the industry is currently working to increase the percentage of soy in foam and hopes to reach 100% soy polyol use equivalent to 67% bio-content in finished foam products (the rest are of course still petro-based).

Companies using soy foam now includes Martha Stewart Living's Good Bed line of mattresses and Crate and Barrel's several upholstered products. Here is a list of companies currently using soy foam.

Ford Motor also said that it is currently using soy-based seat cushions and backs on over 1 million vehicles per year, consuming over 76,000 bushels of soybeans.

Watch out for my article about new industrial uses of fats and oils which will come out on ICIS Chemical Business' April 27 issue.

[Photo of BiOH foam by Cargill]

The group Western Business Roundtable sent an email yesterday about a Spanish study concluding that for every green job created in Spain resulted in the loss of 2.2 other jobs.

The study finds that only one in 10 renewable energy jobs created in Spain were of a permanent nature. Two-thirds consisted of temporary jobs in construction, fabrication and installation jobs; one quarter were positions in administration, marketing and projects engineering; and only one of ten was related to more permanent operations and maintenance of renewable power systems.

The study was prepared under the direction of Dr. Gabriel Calzada, an economics professor at Juan Carlos University in Madrid.

The study calculated that, since 2000, Spain spent $774,000 to create each "green job", including subsidies of more than $1.3 million per wind industry job. It found that creating those jobs resulted in the destruction of nearly 113,000 jobs elsewhere in the economy, or 2.2 jobs destroyed for every "green job" created. Jobs lost were mostly in the fields of metallurgy, non-metallic mining and food processing, beverage and tobacco.

"The loss of jobs could be greater if you account for the amount of lost industry that moves out of the country due to higher energy prices," Calzada said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

The moral of the study, according to Calzada: Renewable energy stimulus and subsidies are not the answer to solving the current economic crisis.

I wonder what will?

Solar modules can soon be bought for $1 per watt, which will be cheaper than the cost of electricity from grid excluding subsidies.

Chinese solar manufacturer QS Solar said it is aiming to sell this cheaper solar module by 2010. Module prices are said to be under pressure since third quarter last year because of oversupply.

QS Solar started production of its amorphous silicon thin-film modules last year. The company currently has 3 production lines with an installed capacity of 95 MegaWatts, and it plans to increase another 4 lines by 2009, which will lead to a total capacity of 235 MW by next year.

"We will bring down the sales price to our goal of $0.75/watt through the continuous expansion of our production capacity and process optimization."

Looks like epoxy producers are sticking to the wind energy sector like glue (lol!).

I've been hearing several epoxy resin investments floating in the air (ok I gotta stop) and came up with the following announcements from Dow Chemical, Hexion, BASF and Energy Composites.

Last month, Dow Chemical's Dow Epoxy System (DES) established an on-the-ground manufacturing facility in China by utilizing a state-of-the-art site from another Dow business. DES will also start producing blends in a Dow Epoxy site in South Korea. The investments target two key markets - wind energy and infrastructure in Asia.

Dow said it expects growth of epoxy resins demand in the wind market at 20%/year within the next five years.

Also last month, Hexion Specialty Chemicals announced that it will build a new specialty epoxy resin production facility in Esslingen, Germany, for used in the production of windmill blades for the wind energy market.

Last year, BASF launched an expanded offering of epoxy resin systems for fiber-reinforced composites developed specifically for the production of wind turbine rotor blades. BASF's new offer includes two infusion resin systems and one laminating resin system designed specifically for the production of wind turbine rotor blades.

Energy Composites Corp., meanwhile signed an exclusive agreement with Swancor Industries Co, Ltd. of Nantou City, Taiwan, where the company will exclusively distribute an advanced line of epoxy resin systems to manufacturers of wind energy system components in North and South America.

Market research firm Cleantech Group reported that venture investment in the clean technology sector fell 41% to around $1 billion for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the 4Q '08.

"We knew the numbers were coming down. Capital markets overall have dropped the past two quarters and cleantech as a subset is not immune to that," said Brian Fan, Cleantech Group senior director of research. "We didn't record a single $100 million deal. That's very unusual. We haven't seen that for several years."

There were still bright spots despite the venture funding slowdown, according to CleanTech.

During the first quarter, solar companies again garnered the most attention, capturing $346 million, or more then one-third of the quarter's total venture investment. Norsun, a Norwegian polysilicon producer, raised the most in a $72 million round led by Good Energies.

Biofuels raised $96 million, followed by the advanced batteries and electric vehicle subsectors, which raised $94 million and $78 million respectively.

But wait! There's more!

The biggest bright spot, said CleanTech, is that governments representing nearly a dozen countries are now backing clean technologies through stimulus packages, loan guarantees and tax incentives.

Almost $400 billion of roughly $2.6 trillion in economic stimulus allocations announced so far by G20 nations are now earmarked for clean technologies such as renewable energy, improved electrical grids and cleaner cars.

All in all, clean technology is here to stay where the current economy likes it or not.

"The industry will also need a better visibility over the entire supply chain which will mean that biofuel producers will need much better visibility on feedstock supply chain that exists in many regions of the world."-IEA

You know why traditional chemical manufacturing processes are considered very energy efficient these days? Because they have been doing these processes for decades.

This cannot be said for newer manufacturing methods such as solar panel production, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Timothy Gutowski.

"The seemingly extravagant use of materials and energy resources by many newer manufacturing processes is alarming and needs to be addressed alongside claims of improved sustainability from products manufactured by these means," he said.

MIT also analyzed other major manufacturing processes in a study, which was recently published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (ES&T). The researchers, however, did not analyze production of pharmaceuticals or petroleum, and they only looked primarily at processes where electricity was the primary energy source.

I was horrified by last week's CBS' Sixty Minutes report (see video below) about lions in Kenya being poisoned by cattle herders and ranchers using the insecticide Furadan.

Furadan is currently manufactured by US chemical company FMC for crop protection. FMC said it has stopped all Furadan sales in Kenya since May last year but reporters from 60 minutes said they can still find Furadan in several Kenyan Agro-Vets stores shelves. The show said Furadan are being sold in neighboring countries (where lions are also disappearing).

In its granular form, Furadan is banned in Europe and the United Kingdom while it is severely restricted in the United States. According to 60 minutes, just a tiny amount from a $2 bottle like this one is enough to kill an entire pride of lions.

"Furadan, even when used as directed, is estimated to have wiped out millions of birds in the United States. That's one of the reasons why the US Environmental Protection Agency restricted its use and wants to ban it entirely." - CBS 60 minutes

That might be true but it is impossible for the company to account for each and every Kenyan farmers who use the pesticide to eliminate the threat to their livelihood. A ban for the product, stopping its production and developing an alternative pesticide that are not toxic to humans, animals and the environment are the only way that can prevent the killing of these magnificent creatures.

I am sometimes in agreement with chemical companies when a ban of a certain product when there is no scientific based to it is idiotic. But in this case, I am all for banning this pesticide if it means preventing the extinction of a great species.

"Rhodia's intent is to support its customers in their eco-design strategies based on the increased use of high-performance recycled materials from sustainable, ecologically responsible channels," according to Richard Bourdon, who is responsible for the development of recycling at Rhodia Polyamide.

Amid the current mess the financial industry is in, democratic congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland thinks this is the right time to create an independent, tax-exempt US-owned bank that will provide a range of green financing support.

The Congressman introduced last week the Green Bank Act of 2009 that would fund clean energy and energy efficiency projects within US. The bank will have an initial capital of $10 billion through the issuance of Green Bonds by the Department of Treasury, with a maximum authorized limit of $50 billion in Green Bonds outstanding at any one time.

He emphasized that it will operate at the highest levels of efficacy, accountability and transparency. Depends on who's going to handle the bank I'd say...remember Madoff??

The week before, Congressman Van Hollen also introduced the National Home Energy Savings Revolving Fund Act, which will enable over one million households across the country to save money and make their homes more energy efficient.

The Coalition for Green Bank (CGB) is definitely happy with this news and said that the funding will facilitate private investment in the green economy and create up to 1.5 million new and permanent jobs.

Billion dollar taxpayer funds in the hands of the financial industry again...I guess trust have to start somewhere. This might be better than just giving bailout funds to keep banks afloat.

In another financial news, an Aruba Exempt Corporation just launched a new financial private exchange called GREENDAQ geared to be the world's first global equity and commodities exchange focusing on the green sector.

"GREENDAQ ® was created to provide a missing mechanism in the marketplace. Our goal is to fund compelling -- and qualified - innovative Green Companies while providing qualified investors' access to the first global green centric exchange, including creating new classes of Green commodities," said Andrew McLean, CEO and Founder of GREENDAQ®.

According to this Reuters report, McLean expects the minimum investment for equity offerings will be about $100,000.