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Trends: July 1-15, 2012
Contents: ENERGY MANAGEMENT 3 COMPLIANCE & STANDARDS 4 ENVIRONMENTAL & ENERGY SOFTWARE 9 CORPORATE REPORTS 9 POLICY & ENFORCEMENT 10 FLEETS & TRANSPORTATION 17 GREEN BUILDING 20 PACKAGING & PAPER 20 WATER MANAGEMENT 21 WASTE & RECYCLING 22 RENEWABLE ENERGY 23 CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY 24 RANKINGS 25
In this issue: Dec. 1-15, 2012 e 2011
Issue 29 • December 20, 2012
Latest sustainability & environmental management developments
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EL Trends: December 1-15, 2012
Contents: ENERGY MANAGEMENT 3 COMPLIANCE & STANDARDS 4 ENVIRONMENTAL & ENERGY SOFTWARE 7 CORPORATE REPORTS 7 POLICY & ENFORCEMENT 9 STUDIES & REPORTS 16 PACKAGING & PAPER 17 FLEETS & TRANSPORTATION 18 GREEN BUILDING 19 EXECUTIVE MOVES 20 WATER MANAGEMENT 22 WASTE & RECYCLING 23 RENEWABLE ENERGY 23 CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY 23 RANKINGS 25
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Energy Management
A study from Digital Realty Trust, Vigilent Corporation, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that upgrading fans and adding fan speed controls in a data center reduces the facility’s electrical energy usage and reduces average and peak electric power demand. The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games’ operations generated 311,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, 28 percent less than was forecast, thanks to energy savings in transportation, venues, IT services and the supply and use of materials, according to a report by the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games. Facebook’s new data center in Forest City, N.C. uses outside air to keep its servers cool, and says this direct expansion coil system remained off throughout most of the summer — one of the hottest on record. A consortium of 15 TV providers and set-top-box manufacturers including Comcast, DirecTV, Cisco and Motorola announced a Set-Top Box Energy Conservation Agreement they say will result in annual residential electricity savings of $1.5 billion – but the National Resources Defense Council has dismissed the announcement as little more than greenwash. Brookshire Brothers expects to reduce its annual operating costs more than $235,000 after installing GE energy-efficient lighting at its retail supermarkets in Texas and Louisiana, according to the companies. Data center efficiency nonprofit The Green Grid released a framework aimed at standardizing life cycle assessments of data centers. The white paper aims to show organizations what attributes of their data centers should be included in an LCA.
The Deltalis RadixCloud data center lies deep inside a mountain near the Swiss Gotthard massif. This location offers clients of Deltalis a highly secure Tier IV colocation facility. It’s also an energy-efficient data center, using the mountain’s cold glacier water for the cooling.
Six of Koch Industries’ sites received Sustained Energy Performance awards from the company, for developing and implementing programs that reduce energy intensity and consumption. One energy efficiency standout at the company’s recent Energy Leadership Conference was an INVISTA fiber manufacturing plant
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where employees were recognized for a more than 20 percent reduction in the site’s energy consumption during a two-year period.
The latest generation of Philips’ 60 watt A-19 LED bulb uses 10 percent less energy than its 12.5 watt predecessor while increasing brightness by nearly 5 percent, the company says.
A new report from Calvert Investments, Ceres and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) shows that most of the world’s largest companies aren’t waiting on governments to embrace renewable energy and lower emissions: a majority of Fortune 100 companies have set a renewable energy commitment, a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction commitment, or both.
Compliance & Standards
Changes regarding water efficiency have been proposed to ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings through the new addendum v. The addendum, which is open for review and comments until Jan 14, 2012, includes limits on the full-flush volume for all toilets at 1.28 gal per flush and limits on kitchen faucet capacity at 1.8 gpm. A proposed standard from ASHRAE and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering – ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 189.3P, Standard for the Design, Construction and Operation of Sustainable High-Performance Health Care Facilities – is open for public comment until Jan. 21, 2013. The proposed standard would provide procedures and documentation requirements for the design, construction and operation of high-performance sustainable healthcare buildings. UL launched its indoor air quality services in its Nansha testing service center in Guangzhou, China, in response to increasing demand in the Chinese market. The new IAQ services include product emissions testing, chemical content testing, indoor air quality certification, and advisory services. The services, which follow the Greenguard certification program, aim to help manufacturers assess sources of pollution such as volatile organic compounds, aldehydes, and phthalates in household electrical appliances, electronic products, furnishings, and building materials, UL said.
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The Charlotte Fire Department’s Fire Station No. 42 earned LEED Gold certification, and it is the first fire station built under the city’s 2009 sustainable facility policy. More than 40 percent of the building’s materials came from within a 500-mile region. SERGAZ, a Tunisian-Italian service company working on behalf of the Tunisian Pipeline Transit Company, earned ISO 14001 certification for the management, monitoring and maintenance of facilities connected with its pipeline transportation system. The company is responsible for the maintenance of the pipeline linking Algeria to Italy, via Tunisia, through which more than 20 billion cubic meters of Algerian gas transit per year, writes African Manager. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi earned ISO 14001 certification at its Blue Springs, Miss., facility. The Blue Springs plant began manufacturing the Toyota Corolla in 2011 and has taken steps in its operations to reduce waste and recycle materials, WTVA News Tupelo said. EBI Consulting was certified as a Sustainable Business Leader by the Sustainable Business Leader Program of Greater Boston. The environmental consulting company also said that its corporate headquarters have achieved the EPA Energy Star designation. Both certifications are based on EBI’s implementation of policies in the areas of energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, pollution prevention, transportation, local purchasing and local food, and sustainability management, EBI said. Maersk Line, Limited, became the first shipping company to receive global certification from the American Bureau of Shipping for energy management according to the Guide for Marine Health, Safety, Quality, Environmental and Energy (HSQEEn) Management. ABS requirements for energy management are based on the ISO 50001 international standard, Maritime Executive said. Boshart Engineering achieved verification from the California Air Resources Board of the BE Econix Diesel Particulate Filter active metal system – the industry’s first safety device for a DPF. With the verification Boshart can immediately market and install systems with its safety device to support California fleet regulations and air quality improvement efforts. The San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s Office and Department of Environment announce the Green Labels program, which adds sustainable building practices into the official land records maintained by the city and county. There are more than 1,000 properties and 250 buildings in San Francisco that have earned a Green Label covering more than 60 million square feet of commercial space, the San Francisco Business Times said.
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ET Solar Group Corp. earned carbon footprint verification for its PV modules from TUV SUD Asia Pacific. The verification involves an assessment of the greenhouse gas emission values over the life cycle of goods or services. The company’s solar modules are in full compliance with PAS2050, and with audits of raw material processing, finished product manufacturing, transportation, and waste treatment phases, ET Solar said. Newport Corporation expanded its capabilities that include solar wafer testing and calibration. Newport’s Technology and Applications Center’s Photovoltaic Lab is accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. The TAC-PV lab can certify the dimensional and performance parameters of photovoltaic cells, including solar reference cells, small area research cells, irradiance sensors and solar wafers, Photonics Online said. The Carillon Office Tower in Charlotte, N.C., earned LEED Gold for Existing Buildings OM certification. The 470,726-square-foot office saves an estimated 66 cents per square foot in energy costs in comparison with a standard office building. Its recycling program also diverts 84 percent of waste from local landfills. The Carillon property is also a participant in the Envision: Charlotte project, an energy efficiency initiative for buildings in uptown Charlotte, the Charlotte Business Journal said. Milestone AV Technologies’ renovated global headquarters and design center in Eden Prairie, Minn., earned LEED Silver certification. The facility realized a 30 percent reduction in water usage with the implementation of low-flow fixtures, and a 5 percent reduction in energy consumption from lighting fixtures, the company said. The WindMade organization will next year launch a consumer label for companies using any of a variety of renewable energy sources, including wind, solar and geothermal along with hydro power and biomass from approved certification schemes. The new label will be applicable to organizations, buildings, events and eventually products, and will be backed by WindMade partners UN Global Compact, WWF, Vestas Wind Systems and the Global Wind Energy Council. The USGBC launched the Green Building Information Gateway, a web-based tool that aims to provide greater transparency and understanding of the green dimensions of the built environment. GBIG provides a view of projects and credits, detailing the actions and activities of LEED building owners and project teams over time. Internap Network Services, a provider of IT Infrastructure services, said its newly-opened Los Angeles data center received the GBI Green Globes certification. Also, its Santa Clara data center earned EPA Energy
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Star certification. The Los Angeles data center achieved a nearly 50 percent reduction in energy use for the entire facility compared to similar buildings through the use of high-efficiency lighting, HVAC systems and intelligent controls. MetLife’s Rensselaer Information Systems Center earned Energy Star certification, becoming the first data center in New York to achieve the standard and joining fourteen data centers in the US with a 2012 designation. As part of the Energy Star certification, MetLife worked with Cushman & Wakefield to perform several upgrades and enhancements at the facility, the insurance company said. Littelfuse, Inc. announced two new products for protection of solar installations. The SPFJ 70-100 amp fuses complete the SPFJ series of 1000VDC fuses approved to the new UL Photovoltaic fuse standard – UL2579 and meet the electrical tests for the new IEC photovoltaic fuse standard 60269-6. The SPFJ 70-450 amp fuses are for global applications to provide protection in array-combiners and inverters in photovoltaic and concentrated photovoltaic systems up to 1000V, the company said. Transwestern’s South Florida office received LEED Gold certification for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance. The 13-story, 231,000-square-foot multi-tenant office building in Coral Gables, Fla., also earned an Energy Star performance rating of 90. Green Seal awarded Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle, Wash., gold certification under the Green Seal Standard for Hotels & Lodging Properties. Hyatt at Olive 8 earned the GS-33′s highest level of certification for its practices in energy reduction, sustainable building initiatives and use of renewable energy. The Napa New Technology High School in California earned LEED Gold certification in new construction for schools. The design firm Ausonio Incorporated’s LEED Division provided consulting and oversight on the reporting process.
Environmental & Energy Software
Target and Staples are among the companies using a new World Resources Institute tool to evaluate their sustainability efforts. The Sustainability SWOT, or sSWOT, adds sustainability to the traditional strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis to help businesses translate environmental risks, like climate change and water scarcity, into opportunities.
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The Environmental Defense Fund has launched an environmental, social and governance management tool for the private equity industry. Created in collaboration with advisory firm Irbaris, the tool defines for the first time the practices necessary to build a successful ESG management program and provides a framework to assess, analyze and improve such management at private equity firms of all sizes, EDF says.
Corporate Reports
CO2 emissions intensity from Honda’s automobile production in North America in financial year 2012, at 695 kg/unit, was down 2.0 percent versus the FY 2001 baseline and reduced 4.5 percent compared to FY 2011 levels, according to the company’s 2012 North American Environmental Report. The greenhouse gas intensity metric for members of Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers remained virtually flat year-on-year and is unlikely to improve in coming years as the industry continues to move to more energy-intensive production methods such as hydraulic fracturing and sourcing fuel from oil sands, according to the industry’s latest sustainability report. University of Massachusetts Dartmouth researchers compiled the US’s – and maybe the world’s – first Global Reporting Initiative-based corporate sustainability report for a city. By communicating over 67 measures of economic, environmental, and societal progress, the city of Fall River (Mass.) 2012 Sustainability Report meets the requirements to be called an A-level report according to the GRI’s G3 standard. Hasbro Inc. reduced its scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent year-on-year, according to the company’s latest corporate social responsibility 2011 update.
Pharmaceuticals firm Eli Lilly and Company beat its goal of cutting normalized greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2013, compared to 2007 levels. It achieved a 16 percent cut against the baseline in 2011, according to the company’s latest sustainability update.
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Policy & Enforcement
Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, said its “lack of a safety culture” and “bad habits” were behind the worst nuclear accident in 25 years. The company said it accepted the findings of a parliamentary inquiry into the Fukushima nuclear disaster that accused the company of “collusion” with industry regulators, Reuters reports.
The British government lifted the country’s ban on exploratory hydraulic fracturing, but because of environmental concerns, the government has called for controls. The levels of unusual seismic activity at which operations must stop is set at 0.5 magnitude. The ruling allows Cuadrilla Resources to resume the use of technology that caused earthquakes in 2011, Bloomberg said.
The EPA gave energy and mining companies permission to pollute aquifers in more than 1,500 places across the country that help supply more than half of the nation’s drinking water, according to ProPublica. The news site aims to identify which aquifers have been polluted, and its investigation reveals that EPA records have not adequately tracked the exemptions issued, or their impacts, ProPublica said.
Conservative groups American Energy Alliance, Heritage Action for America, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the American Conservative Union, and others are pushing lawmakers in states without renewable electricity targets to oppose an extension of the wind energy tax credit. The 21 states without such incentives are in the Southeast, Appalachia and the Gulf Coast, and also generally have less installed wind power. The groups say the tax credit is unfair to taxpayers in those states, The Hill said.
Leading US medical professionals, scientists and engineers have petitioned the Obama Administration to halt the push toward large-scale exportation of liquefied natural gas until the health impacts of fracking can be clarified. The petitioners, led by the Physicians, Scientists, & Engineers for Healthy Energy, say that in the absence of needed testing, the Obama Administration could expose Americans to potential health harms.
A group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers plans to change the tax code so wind, solar, biofuel and other renewable projects could qualify for beneficial tax structures commonly used by pipelines and other energy-related companies. Called “master limited partnerships,” the structures allow companies to raise money in the stock market, while having income taxed only at the unit holder level, thus avoiding corporate income taxes, Reuters said.
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Fuel storage and distribution company Harbor Fuel Oil on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts faces penalties of up to $177,500 for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The EPA said it filed a complaint against the company for failing to properly prepare for possible oil spills at its Nantucket facility, in violation of federal Facility Response Plan requirements.
Albee Realty Trust have resolved a penalty action for discharges of silt-laden storm water associated with development of a residential subdivision in Uxbridge, Mass., in violation of the Clean Water Act. Albee will pay a penalty of $24,000 for discharges of stormwater from the construction site without a permit for several years, the EPA said.
Renewable industry groups including the Geothermal Energy Association, Biomass Power Association, Energy Recovery Council and National Hydropower Association asked President Obama for a change to the wind production tax credit. The requested change would allow geothermal, hydropower, waste-to-energy and biomass projects under construction before 2014 to collect a 2.2-cent per kilowatt-hour credit for power production, The Hill said. The Interior Department no longer plans to finalize rules in 2012 that will impose new controls on hydraulic fracturing. The Bureau of Land Management received 170,000 comments on the draft rules released in May and said it wants to have enough time to properly review the comments. Industry groups have criticized the proposed rules for federal lands, saying that state oversight is sufficient, The Hill said. An official with the Belarus delegation said he would recommend that Minsk now abandon the new treaty from Doha, Qatar, just 48 hours after it was extended. Alexandre Grebenkov, who works for the UN Development Program and negotiates on behalf of Belarus, said that Ukraine and Kazakhstan also might withdraw from the treaty because of a provision that capped their emissions at 2008-2010 levels, Reuters said. A coalition of seven eastern states including New York, Connecticut and Delaware plans to sue the EPA for failing to issue new guidelines to curb methane emissions. In their letter to the agency, the states said recent dramatic weather patterns were linked to methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, and the agency should have addressed methane emissions when it revised emission control standards in August, Reuters said. W&T Offshore reached a $1 million agreement with the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana that resolves environmental violations related to the company’s Ewing Banks 910 oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Under the agreement, W&T will plead guilty to one felony count
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under the Clean Water Act and to one misdemeanor count for negligence. The company said it will to pay a $700,000 fine and make a $300,000 community service payment. A printing company near Springfield, Mass., has paid a penalty of $118,600 to settle EPA claims that it violated the Clean Air Act. Suddekor, Inc. is an international manufacturer of decorative printed papers using inks containing hazardous air pollutants, and should have a Title V operating permit, the EPA said. A settlement between the EPA and two subsidiaries of Student Transportation of America (STA) - Ocean State Transit and STA of Connecticut - addresses excessive idling across a fleet of 7,500 school buses operating in 16 states. The agreement reduces school children’s exposure to diesel pollution, the EPA said. Under the settlement, the companies will pay a $35,000 penalty and perform environmental projects valued at $131,000, the EPA said. The Miller Company, of Meriden, Conn., agreed to spend $25,000 to purchase and provide emergency response equipment for the Meriden Fire Department, in a settlement with the EPA. The company’s copper base alloys manufacturing facility, which has an oil storage capacity of 50,000 gallons, was alleged to be the source of a 2010 oil spill into Harbor Brook, the agency said. Royal Dutch Shell’s US president Marvin Odum said he expects the federal government to approve expanded exports of natural gas using a phased-in approach, with some export permits approved in the near future. The Energy Department is reviewing 15 applications to export more than 21 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day to nations that don’t have free-trade agreements with the US, The Hill said. The new chairman of the Democratic Governors Association – second-term Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin – said the group will focus heavily on climate change during his tenure. Shumlin said that a package of “liberal values,” including focuses on marriage equality and climate change that won in elections in November, are key to securing the governors’ mansions, The Hill said. Rep.-elect Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), who will replace Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), said he would support climate change legislation as well as advocate for the Everglades and other environmental issues. West conceded to Murphy on Nov. 20 following a challenge of election results after a close race, The Hill said. Chinese state-run oil company China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Cnooc) received Canadian government approval for the $15 billion takeover of domestic energy company Nexen. Cnooc said it would keep Nexen management and establish Calgary, Alberta, as its headquarters for North and Central America.
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The government also approved a $5 billion acquisition of Progress Energy Resources of Canada by Petronas, the Malaysian state-owned oil and gas company, the New York Times said. The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency said that nuclear plants along the eastern coast of Japan near the region hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake appear to be operating normally, and no emergency measures have been put into place so far. The IAEA said it had been in contact with Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority to collect information about the status of nuclear power plants that could be affected, the UN News Center said. The EPA reached a settlement with two companies for reimbursement of EPA’s past costs for the remediation of contamination at the Whitman Cistern Site, located in Whitman, Mass. The settlement requires Brown Shoe Co. and Brown Group Retail to pay $450,000. Between Dec. 2005 and June 2006, the agency said it removed about 2,800 tons of contaminated soils, demolished and removed three cisterns, and removed about 10,000 gallons of contaminated sludge contained within the cisterns. The EPA and the New York City Department of Sanitation are collecting and properly disposing of potentially hazardous common household products from flood-damaged homes and residences in New York City. Through Dec. 21, residents of the five boroughs may bring household products, including solvents, paints, cleaners, oil, propane tanks, batteries, petroleum products, weed and bug killers, car batteries, bleach and ammonia to a set drop-off location, the agency said. UK Chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement to parliament said the UK will consider tax breaks for shale-gas exploration, as the ban on fracking is set to soon expire. The chancellor wants to give priority to gas because it’s cheaper than renewables and less harmful than coal. China announced a new air pollution reduction plan addressing PM2.5 fine particulate matter and called for cutting the PM2.5 intensity at least 5 percent by 2015 in 13 major areas covering 117 cities. To meet the new air pollution targets, China will limit coal-fired power, promote the use of clean energy and limit the number of industrial programs with high-energy consumption and pollution, United Press International said. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Jon Wellinghoff said recent multimillion-dollar fines imposed against JPMorgan and Barclays for alleged power market manipulation could become more frequent as the commission now has the resources and support to conduct investigations. Congress gave FERC the authority to penalize power market manipulators in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, following the Enron case. Wellinghoff said FERC’s actions have widespread support, The Hill said.
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Italian prosecutors are reviewing a natural gas pipeline project in Algeria built by energy services company Saipem, which is controlled by Italian oil company Eni. Although no executives from Saipem have been charged with corruption, the chief executive has resigned, two other Saipem executives were suspended and the chief financial officer of Eni stepped down. Prosecutors are focusing on a suspicious payment of $180 million to $200 million in connection with the pipeline project, the New York Times said. The EPA and DOJ reached two settlements for more than $50 million related to cleanup at the B.F. Goodrich Superfund Site in San Bernardino County, Calif. Under one agreement, Emhart Industries will perform the first portion of the cleanup, which is estimated to cost $43 million over the next 30 years. A significant portion of these funds will come from other settling parties, including the Department of Defense. As part of the second agreement, six entities, including Pyro Spectaculars, Inc. and its former subsidiary, will pay the EPA $4.3 million toward cleanup at the site and $1.3 million to the cities of Rialto and Colton and San Bernardino County, the agency said. Strategic Materials will pay a penalty of $159,750 to settle EPA’s claims that it violated the federal Clean Water Act. The agency said a glass recycling facility in Franklin, Mass., emitted polluted storm water into nearby waters, failed to obtain permit coverage for its storm water discharges and did not prepare a storm water pollution prevention plan. The House of Representatives passed the American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act (H.R. 6582), which updates equipment efficiency standards previously enacted by Congress and aims to reduce barriers to industrial energy efficiency deployment, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The bill modifies legislation that passed the Senate last month, and will return to the Senate for final approval. The European Commission released a new Environment Action Program, a plan that updates the EU’s various environmental programs including the Resource Efficiency Roadmap, Biodiversity Strategy and Low Carbon Economy Roadmap. It aims to secure the commitment of EU member states and other stakeholders for environment policy action up to 2020. EU energy ministers from the 27 member states are seeking some guidance from the European Commission on post-2020 reform of green fuel subsidies as part of the policy debate on 2030 targets. A document asks for “non-binding guidance on the further improvement of national support schemes,” Reuters said. Federal prosecutors in West Virginia charged David C. Hughart, the former president of Massey’s Green Valley Coal Company, with one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and a second
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misdemeanor conspiracy count. The charges stem from the 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine that killed 29 miners. Prosecutors say that he and others knowingly conspired to violate safety laws at the mines and to hide those violations by giving advance warnings of surprise inspections, the New York Times said. The Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU Law School submitted a notice of intent last week to sue the EPA to force the organization to put a cap on carbon emissions from fuels used in boats, planes and other vehicles. A 2009 petition requested that the agency propose and adopt regulations for a cap-and-trade system to control emissions of greenhouse gases from fuels used in motor vehicles, nonroad vehicles, and aircraft under the Clean Air Act, related to the protection of public welfare. The EPA did not respond to the petition, creating the opening for the suit, the institute said. Ohio-based manufacturer Owens-Brockway Glass Container reached an agreement with the EPA and DOJ and will pay a $1.45 million penalty to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations at five of the company’s manufacturing plants. As well, the company will install pollution control equipment to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter (PM) by nearly 2,500 tons per year, the EPA said. China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction Co., a nuclear engineering company tied to the Chinese government, pleaded guilty in US court to charges of illegally exporting high-performance coatings to a nuclear power plant in Pakistan. The company admitted to charges that it conspired to ship the coatings through China to Pakistan in 2006 and 2007. The Climate Action Tracker issued its latest briefing, saying that major nations’ policies are inadequate to limit global warming, and the US is off track in meeting its weak pledge to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The report, issued on the sidelines of the Doha, Qatar, climate talks, said tougher policies could still possibly avert damaging floods, heat waves and rising seas, Reuters said. The European Commission is beginning an investigation into whether Germany’s 2012 renewables energy law is leading to the misuse of incentives and exemptions. The commission confirmed it had received a complaint in relation to new features of feed-in tariffs and the exemption of energy-intensive investments, Reuters said. The Congressional Progressive Caucus’s Energy & Environment Task Force officially endorsed a bill that would extend the wind energy production tax credit through 2016 for wind, biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, landfill gas, trash and hydropower. But the legislation does not have much chance in the House if there is no timeframe for the incentive eventually to be phased out, analysts said.
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Road travel group AAA called for a suspension in the sale of E15 ethanol-blended gasoline, in the latest opposition against increasing the use of biofuels in transport. Currently only about ten stations in the US offer E15, but AAA wants the suspension before next year, when the rising renewable fuel standard could increase supply, Reuters said. House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders expressed concerns in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services about the scientific objectivity of the department. HHS has a role in the Interagency Working Group to Support Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources, which is taking part in a broad study of health impacts associated with hydraulic fracturing and other shale gas development activities, the committee said. An American Lung Association national survey of 942 registered voters finds support for a proposal to strengthen air pollution standards for soot. Sixty-two percent of respondents favor the proposal, compared to 30 percent who oppose it, and 7 percent who are undecided. Nearly 4 in 10 respondents (39 percent) strongly favor the standards, while 20 percent expressed strong opposition, the association said. The EPA proposed to approve the Texas clean-air plan that covers public notification requirements for existing and new facilities applying for air permits. The TCEQ revised the public participation rules to apply to new and existing facilities that are classified as major or minor sources of pollution and submitted a State Implementation Plan for EPA action. The revised rules give citizens two opportunities to provide comments on air permits, the EPA said. The EPA entered into a Clean Water Act administrative consent agreement and final order with PDC Mountaineer to resolve alleged violations stemming from construction activities at Marcellus Shale gas extraction facilities in northern West Virginia. The settlement requires PDCM to pay a penalty of $177,500. Also, the company is restoring or completing mitigation projects at four sites related to three administrative orders as part of the agreement, the agency said.
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Studies & Reports
North American companies are still lagging considerably in the integration of sustainability when compared to their counterparts in other regions of the world, according to early findings from a survey conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group. Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic in the nation, yet few companies are reaching out to this group in their sustainability initiatives, according to research by advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi. Favorable oil-to-gas price ratios driven by the production of natural gas from shale will fuel a renewed US competitiveness that will boost exports, and fuel greater domestic investment, economic growth and job creation within the business of chemistry, according to research by the American Chemistry Council. The EPA and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission are collaborating in a worldwide research effort to assess any potential impacts of nanomaterials on people’s health and the environment. Companies remain unprepared for the effects of dwindling natural resources, according to research from UK nonprofit the Carbon Trust. The survey, of 475 senior executives in Brazil, China, South Korea, the UK and the US, shows that many are not prepared to look at the issue of resource shortages now and believe they will not need to make significant changes to combat resource scarcity until 2018.
More than 80 percent of manufacturers say sustainability is essential to the success of their business, according to an Underwriters Laboratories report.
Oil investors could be at serious financial risk if they fail to hold companies responsible for their environmental practices and impact on communities in fossil fuel-rich nations, according to an academic report conducted by the University of Essex.
“Operational” crises that impair a company’s ability to function, such as environmental disasters, cause the greatest long-term effect on stock prices, according to research by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
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Fifty-three percent of CEOs say energy and raw materials costs are the biggest threats to business growth prospects, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.
The $12.2 billion winter tourism industry in the US experienced an estimated $1 billion loss and up to 27,000 fewer jobs from 1999 to 2010 because of diminished snowfall patterns, according to a study prepared for the Natural Resources Defense Council and nonprofit group Protect Our Winters.
Global cleantech will “backtrack” in 2013, with venture capital investments declining even further than it did in 2012 and long-term risks emerging in the solar, wind and electric vehicle market, forecasts consulting and analysis firm Kachan & Co.
During 2012 many stock exchanges globally announced new rules for the disclosure of non-financial information on environmental and social issues, but weak enforcement mechanisms mean that most CFOs and investor relations directors will opt out of following the guidance, according to a report from independent analyst firm Verdantix.
Packaging & Paper
Rainforest Action Network launched a campaign urging HarperCollins to end the use of fiber from controversial sources after it said that independent forensic tests found significant quantities of pulp from Indonesian rainforests in several of the publishing company’s books.
AB InBev introduced a lightweight bottle for Beck’s and Beck’s Blue in the UK, a change which will affect more than 130 million bottles and save 2,642 metric tons of glass in 2013.
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Fleets & Transportation
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard signed an executive order requiring the city to purchase either electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles for its non-police fleet. It is the first city in the US to enact such a requirement, according to the mayor’s office. US aircraft giant Boeing and German automaker BMW Group agreed to work together to research carbon fiber recycling and share information about carbon fiber materials and manufacturing. The trim around the window switches in the 2013 Ford Fusion saves 2,700 gallons of diesel fuel usage and about 60,000 pounds of CO2 emissions a year, the automaker says. Delta Air Lines joined The Climate Registry with successful verification of its greenhouse gas emissions inventories from 2005 through 2010, making it the first legacy carrier to meet the requirements of the registry. Clean Energy Fuels met its goal of completing 70 liquefied natural gas truck fueling stations this year, finishing the first stage of a network to support long-haul, heavy-duty trucks moving goods along major interstate corridors throughout the United States. Vehicle charge network operator Clever chose ABB, a power and automation technology group, as supplier of 50 Terra 51 DC fast chargers at multiple locations throughout Denmark. ABB’s Terra 51 is specially designed for freeway driving and is capable of charging an electric vehicle in 30 minutes or less. Peake Fuel Solutions LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, announced the development of a diesel natural gas conversion kit that could cut heavy-duty truck operators fuel costs by 30 percent. British Airways committed to purchasing, at market prices, low-carbon jet fuel produced by the GreenSky London waste-to-fuel plant. The contract is worth $500 million over ten years, at today’s prices. AMP Americas is now operating its trucking fleet on renewable natural gas produced from the country’s first agricultural digester project to make products eligible for the Renewable Fuel Standard mandate, the company says. These long-haul trucks now run on renewable CNG made from manure sourced at the dairy.
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The 2013 Ford Fusion was named Green Car Journal’s 2013 Green Car of the Year. The Fusion emerged on top of a field of finalists including the 2013 Dodge Dart Aero, Ford C-MAX, Mazda CX-5 Skyactiv and Toyota Prius c. The Fusion reduces petroleum use, CO2 emissions and overall environmental impact, but is priced to encourage the kind of sales volume that can truly influence environmental improvement, according to Green Car Journal. Audi is developing a city car that will get 282 mpg, according to Autocar. The car, which is known internally as “the 1.0-litre car,” will be based on the existing Audi A1. Honda’s 2014 Accord Plug-In Hybrid earned a class-leading EPA-certified 115 MPGe rating, the company announced. The car will go on sale in New York and California on January 15 with an MSRP of $39,780. It has been rated by the EPA with a maximum all-electric EV mode range of 13 miles, and a fuel-economy rating of 47/46/46 mpg (city/hwy/combined). Toyota launched its 2013 RAV4 crossover SUV, which boasts a fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine. RAV4 front-wheel-drive models have received EPA-estimated fuel efficiency ratings of 24 mpg city/31 highway, while all-wheel-drive models are EPA-estimated at 22 mpg city/29 mpg highway. A new Eco mode is designed to promote more efficient driving, thus helping to enhance fuel efficiency, Toyota says. GM launched the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. The car will be priced under $25,000 with tax incentives. Chevy did not detail the car’s electric-only range, but expects the Spark to have “among the best EV battery range in its segment.”
Green Building
Green-certified schools typically cost more to build than conventional schools, and don’t always deliver energy savings, according to a USA Today report.
Professional engineers are showing a heightened interest in incorporating energy-saving and other green initiatives into product design projects, according to a joint survey by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and 3D design software company Autodesk.
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Singapore property developer City Developments Limited recently completed infrastructure upgrades to its Republic Plaza building, one of Singapore’s tallest skyscrapers, and anticipates an annual energy savings of $712,000 or 4 million kWh.
Executive Moves
Montana State University hired Kristin Blackler as its sustainability director. Blackler will begin her duties Jan. 9; she currently works as a program director at the Sustainability Solution Institute at the University of California San Diego.
EPA promoted Christopher Grundler to director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, The Detroit News reports. He previously served as deputy director, and was named director of the office following the retirement of long-time EPA official Margo Oge.
EPA also promoted Jose Font to lead the EPA’s Caribbean Environmental Protection Division, covering Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Font had previously served as deputy director of the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division since 1997. He started his career with the EPA in 1984.
Environmental Working Group promoted Heather White to executive director. White has been the organization’s chief of staff and general counsel since 2009.
Environmental Defense Center appointed Mark Heintz to its board of directors. Heintz is director of sustainability and corporate responsibility at Deckers Outdoor Corporation, the locally based footwear company whose brands include Teva and Ugg.
In North Carolina, Gov.-Elect Pat McCrory appointed John Skvarla to state secretary of environmental and natural resources, WFMY News 2 reports. Skvarla currently serves as CEO of Restoration Systems, an environmental restoration company based in Raleigh.
Veolia Environmental Services North America appointed Jeff Adix as president and CEO. Adix, who previously served as vice president of audit advisory services for ManpowerGroup, worked for Veolia from
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200o to 2009. Adix replaced Richard Burke, who left the company to serve as president of Advanced Disposal Services, which acquired the assets of Veolia ES Solid Waste. Citation Technologies appointed four executives tasked with driving global adoption of software-as-a-service EHS risk and compliance management solutions. David Carlson was named president and CEO and will be responsible for accelerating global sales penetration of the company’s cloud-based software. Carlson previously worked at IHS, where he was SVP/CTO. The other appointments include Mark Hutchinson as senior vice president of global content and product management, Sam Buffington as CFO and Tom Bonetto as senior vice president of sales and marketing. Xylem Inc. appointed Nicholas R. Colisto as senior vice president and chief information officer. Colisto previously held executive IT positions, including vice president and CIO, at Hovnanian Enterprises, a residential construction company. Greeley and Hansen environmental engineering and consulting firm named Kim A. Tanner as managing director of the firm’s southwest operating group. Tanner recently served as vice president of Arizona operations for Kennedy/Jenks Consultants. World Water Council elected Lisette Provencher, senior vice president of operations support for United Water, to serve on its board of governors. SmartBIM promoted Richard Semmes to president. Semmes was previously executive vice president of technology. Balcones Resources promoted Sara Koeninger to senior vice president of corporate services. Koeninger also will sit on the company’s executive leadership committee. Koeninger served as project manager for Balcones’ new $25 million Austin material recovery facility. EPA chief Lisa P. Jackson appointed 11 environmental education professionals to serve on the EPA’s National Environmental Education Advisory Council, which is comprised of representatives from organizations outside the US government who provide the agency with advice and recommendation on environmental education. The appointees include: Caroline Lewis and Kelly Keena, both of whom will represent primary and secondary education; Mark Kraus and Edna Negron-Martinez, who will represent colleges and universities; Kay Antunez de Mayolo and Vidette Cory, who will represent state departments of education and natural resources; Cara Gizzi and Scott Frazier, who will represent business and
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industry; Angie Chen and Richard Gonzales who will represent nonprofits; and Kenneth Gembel, who will represent the interests of senior Americans.
Water Management
The city of Carlsbad, N.M., plans to double water rates for businesses in the wake of a boom in oil and gas production that is using large volumes of the resource. The city government says it can no longer support the oil and gas industry’s growing demand for water, the Carlsbad Current-Argus reported. The region has been further impacted by a drought.
Record low snowfall is causing low water levels and thus harming navigation on the Mississippi River, potentially hurting local and national economies to the tune of $2 billion, according to The American Wetlands Foundation. Calgon Carbon Corporation was awarded a contract by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to supply Sentinel Ultraviolet Disinfection Systems for the Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant and the Los Angeles Reservoir. The contract is valued at $12.4 million. Calgon is providing 14 Sentinel Chevron UV reactors, each 48 inches in diameter, along with associated control equipment, for the filtration plant; and 15 Sentinel Chevron 48 UV systems for the reservoir. Water technology company Xylem Inc. won a contract to treat municipal drinking water for a new high-tech industrial zone in South Korea. The 101,000 cubic meter per day water treatment facility will be the first step in the development of the new $3 billion Sihwa Multi-Tech Valley project, a government-backed regional industrial development initiative. Wisconsin Industrial Sand Company reduced its freshwater consumption by more than 50 percent during the last three years at all of its mines. The mines, which are located in Maiden Rock, Bay City, and Menomonie, Wisc., are recapturing, recycling, and reusing nearly all of the process water following significant capital investment in new technology such as thickener tanks at the Menomonie and Bay City mines.
The global water services industry is on pace to double its annual revenues to $1 trillion by 2020 largely driven by scarcity issues and growing demand for water treatment, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch global research report.
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Waste & Recycling
Textile suppliers for Levi Strauss & Co, Zara, and many other global clothing brands likely dump a wide range of hazardous chemicals into China’s wastewater systems, according to a Greenpeace study. Big River Fish Corporation acquired a liquid food composter machine from Power Knot LLC to digest waste fish on site and save sending the waste to the landfill. H&M partnered with I:Collect (I:Co) to launch a clothing collection initiative next year. Beginning February 2013, customers will be able to donate used garments — any piece of clothing will be accepted, of any brand — at all H&M stores in the chain’s 48 markets worldwide. I:Co then repurposes the collected clothes, and customers will receive a voucher for each bag of clothing they donate.
Renewable Energy
Air Products won a contract with India’s University of Petroleum and Energy Studies to build the country’s first solar powered renewable hydrogen fueling station. Air Products’ hydrogen fueling technology and infrastructure will be part of a mass public transit bus fueling and vehicle demonstration program administered by UPES. DuPont broke ground on its cellulosic ethanol facility in Nevada, Iowa, which the company expects to generate 30 million gallons of fuel a year from corn stalks and leaves. Slated for completion in mid-2014, this more than $200 million facility will be among the first and largest commercial-scale cellulosic biorefineries in the world, according to DuPont.
Corporate Sustainability
Companies will continue to make breakthroughs in sustainability in 2013, including collaborating on environmental goals, finding new ways to bring innovation into operations and developing net positive plans,
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according to predictions by World Wildlife Fund UK’s Dax Lovegrove and the Guardian Sustainable Business advisory panel. The US Postal Service and UPS partnered in an initiative they say will cut costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The entities say the Blue and Brown Make Green partnership will reduce carbon footprints of both companies’ supply chains. Steel giant ArcelorMittal pulled out of the European Union’s subsidy program for carbon capture and storage projects, the latest in a string of setbacks threatening to derail the bloc’s plan to develop CCS while other nations, including the US, press forward. Nations at the United Nations climate talks in Doha agreed to extend pollution limits under the Kyoto Protocol to 2020, and a handful of countries, not including the United States, have taken on new carbon-cutting targets and made concrete financial pledges for climate change adaptation aid to poorer nations. Aviva Investors, UBS, AXA Real Estate, Sonae Sierra and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation are among the companies integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into investment processes, according to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. The European Union and the United States refused at the United Nations’ climate talks in Doha to commit to concrete climate funding for poor nations, while India continued to balk at any agreement requiring developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Companies are increasingly making their climate and energy strategies public, as Unilever once again leads a ranking of companies’ global warming commitments, according to research by ClimateCounts.org. Climate change compensation emerged as a major issue of the UN climate talks in Doha, Qatar, with rich countries like the US and Europe opposing the idea that they should pay developing counties for “loss and damage” in vulnerable areas caused by climate change. Staples, Hewlett-Packard and Kaiser Permanente are among the companies that will use The Guide to Safer Chemicals, a new tool that tracks the safety of chemicals in products and supply chains.
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Zara, one of the world’s largest clothing retailers, will eliminate all discharge of hazardous chemicals from its supply chain and products by 2020, following a Greenpeace campaign pressuring the brand to end use of toxic chemicals in its products.
The European Chemicals Agency has begun to disclose information about which chemicals companies make and import, more than a year after the agency was sued for its alleged lack of transparency.
The extension of pollution limits under the Kyoto Protocol at the UN climate talks in Doha, Qatar, likely won’t help reduce a surplus of carbon offsets and emissions allowances that have dampened prices, according to Stig Schjølset, head of EU Carbon Analysis, Thomson Reuters Point Carbon. Waitrose stalled plans to expand its partnership with Shell, in a victory for Greenpeace, which has been pressing the UK supermarket to abandon the partnership because of the oil company’s plans to drill in the Arctic.
Rankings
Whole Foods Market was named the leading major retailer of non-toxic cosmetics in a report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. CVS trailed Whole Foods, followed by Walgreens and Target.
The Asset Owners Disclosure Project (AODP) has published what it calls the first-ever global climate investment index showing how the world’s biggest investors, including pension funds, are managing climate risk, and no US firms rank in the top 10.
The 2013 Scion iQ electric vehicle and the Honda Fit electric vehicle topped the EPA’s annual list of fuel efficient vehicles.
CH2M Hill, Tetra Tech, URS Corporation, Golder Associates, AECOM and 15 other companies are spearheading the global environmental consulting industry with combined EC revenues of $10.6 billion in 2011, a 10.4 percent increase from the previous year, according to a report by Environment Analyst.
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Hertz, Phillips, Kingfisher, DONG Energy, BASF and PepsiCo are among the large companies moving toward more sustainable business models and reaping economic rewards, according to a report published today by WWF.
