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Starbucks accused of big-time water-wasting
Starbucks wastes some 6.2 million gallons of water each day through a health policy that requires a constantly running tap at each store, says a breathless indictment in British tabloid The Sun. A Starbucks spokesperson confirms the use of a dipper well, which uses “a stream of continuous cold fresh-running water to rinse away food […]
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We have another billion-dollar resource at risk: the ocean
The financial collapse of the past couple of weeks offers striking parallels to the collapse of ocean wildlife. How is what’s happening in Wall Street and in financial capitals around the world like what’s happening in our seas? Lehman Brothers and Canadian cod aren’t coming back The word “collapse” appears in nearly every thoughtful report […]
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Carbon offsets still booming despite financial crisis
The carbon-offset market in the United States is still booming despite the financial crisis, with offset sellers reporting continued gains even in the face of rising offset prices. Analysts say the carbon market’s relative strength could mean consumers’ green guilt knows no bounds or that the country’s recent economic troubles have not hit most would-be […]
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Sharp to boost thin-film solar capacity six-fold to 6,000 MW by 2014
The world’s second-largest maker of solar batteries plans a massive increase in capacity to meet soaring demand. Bloomberg reports: The company will raise the capacity to 6 gigawatts as early as 2014, from 1 gigawatt estimated for 2010 … Sharp, which lost its market-leading position to Thalheim, Germany-based Q-Cells AG last year, is focusing on […]
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Methane digesters make dairy good sense
When Shawn Saylor was in high school, he built a science-fair-sized solar-powered home, complete with tiny solar cells and working lights. (He got an A.) These days, Saylor is a fourth-generation dairy farmer working on an entirely different renewable energy project. The Hillcrest Saylor Dairy Farm in Rockwood, Pennsylvania, produces some 6,000 gallons of milk […]
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Cleantech venture investment hits record $2.6 billion in third quarter
And what are the three hottest technologies? Smart grid, algae (advanced biofuels), and, surprise surprise, thin-film solar. Venture capital investment in clean tech has been soaring in recent years because of high energy prices along with the growing concern and growing action on global warming. You might think that VC investment would be hurt by […]
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Demand for green products exceeds supply
My relatives in the D.C. area are on a Prius waiting list. People wanting to build their own electric bikes are on waiting lists for parts. If you’re planning to put up some solar panels, well, get in line. According to Rich Bunch, at Silicon Solar Inc, their next shipment of solar components is due […]
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Green, Inc. author says big environmental groups have sold out to big business
For my money, there’s nothing more delicious than a book that lays bare the rot of a corrupted industry from an insider’s perspective. In the hands of a skilled observer, the subject can spring to life. Liar’s Poker, Michael Lewis’s hilariously disturbing account of Wall Street’s investment-banking industry in the late 1980s, comes to mind. […]
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Constructing a green space for green biz
Driving along I-90/94W out of downtown Chicago, you can see London, France, the old Vassar Swiss Underwear Company building now under construction. A sign adorning the highway-facing façade tells you this will soon be the Green Exchange, a retail and office facility that will house some 100 businesses, all of them environmentally and socially responsible. […]
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Streamlining the agricultural process in Iowa
This is a guest post by my travel partner, Todd Dwyer, head blogger for Dell’s ReGeneration.org, where this post originally appeared. —– I have a shocking piece of news for you. You may want to sit down for this: Agriculture is big business in Iowa. Did I say “big?” Maybe that’s an understatement. Of the […]
