Future Building Will Change The Look And Feel Of Towns And Villages

What if zero carbon building became the standard? What would towns look like? Are carbon free homes only for the rich? These questions dominate the news headlines in Great Britain, which is preparing to have all new houses being built to be zero carbon by 2016. The UK government issued the strictest rules in the world on its building industry two years ago and the impact of the new regulations is drastic.

Whether the 2016 deadline is going to be achievable is doubted by both builders and regulators, but a lot of effort is made at making building green. The rest of the world looks on with eager anticipation at how it all unfolds.

Company Bosses Eager To Avoid A Carbon Crunch

The looming global economic recession won’t stand in the way of company plans to adapt their strategies for the effects of global warming. Instead, 90% of the bosses of the FTSE-100 companies believe action in favor of the environment is an impetus for business.

A recent report by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reveals that corporations are stepping up their efforts to measure and reduce carbon emissions in their supply chains. They also are getting more on target to elimininate carbon emissions linked with product use and disposal.

The Confusion Surrounding Burning Wood As A Biomass Source And CO2 Emissions In Rainforests

It’s one of the biggest issues currently being addressed in Poznan; disappearing natural forests because poor people burn firewood to heat their food and housing. Yet there are also many reports indicating wood is increasingly popular as a biomass fuel. So what’s the deal? Can you burn wood and not impact the environment?

It’s a question that many people ask who are considering buying that place or vacationing at that spot which comes with a log fire. The quick answer is that so long as wood comes from a well managed forest, you’re absolutely in the clear.

And in case you are worried about the ecological impact of the smoke and the carbon dioxide emissions, this recent article The Telegraph newspaper points out that because wood is a biomass fuel there ain’t much of a problem. When you burn wood, it releases the exact amount of carbon dioxide that it absorbed when growing. It’s actually better to burn it because when wood decomposes, it slowly lets go of the carbon it soaked up, a process which in many cases goes by unaccounted for.

Climate Negotiations – Halfway To Copenhagen

The climate conference which starts December 1st is the halfway mark in two year negotiations by 190 countries to eke out a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The new deal will be more ambitious than Kyoto which was signed by only 37 industrialized countries who committed to reducing carbon emissions to below 1990 levels by an average 5% by 2012.

China, which was hesitant about some of the issues on the table, made a u-turn in its approach last December, agreeing to commit to a target in emissions reductions —on condition that it wouldn´t be bound to the same limits as industrial countries, and only if the rich world assists the poor countries in transitioning to cleaner production methods.

Why Clean Tech Is So Easy

Electronics giants have various options to produce devices that are less damaging for the environment. Among the easier options is to design products that are less energy consuming. But the companies are increasingly devoting their talent and know how to the creation of proprietary power generating systems for their own manufacturing plants to run on wind or solar energy.

Many of the larger electronics companies have announced intentions to this end. The latest manufacturer to reveal details to the public of plans to ‘green’ their internal energy consumption is Hewlett Packard. The computer producer which recently concluded its conversion to solar energy for its San Diego research center, said it will now get into wind energy for its Austin operations.

Pepsi And Coke Close To Add Stevia

Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo are reportedly readying their manufacturing units to replace artificial sweeteners in their beverages with an all natural sweetener called Stevia. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to give thumbs up this week to Stevia, a natural plant extract which has been in use for hundreds of years already in Latin America.

Cokes enriched with Stevia, also known as sweet leaf or sugar leaf, will have all the sweetness of sugar but none of the calories or carbohydrates, and a zero glycemic index. The plant, which already has holy grail status in the industry, will likely be adopted in many fizzy drinks and other beverages if it gets approved.

How Viral Does Green Marketing Get?

Viral marketing is a concept that few of us environmentalists are naturally inclined to take up in a technical sense. Yet there’s no denying that green has got wonderful potential when it comes to creatively using the internet to spread messages.

It’s surprising that there’s hardly any attention from the either marketing professionals for green or from “green eco-battle-axes” in cross fertilizing with the marketer guys. Everybody who knows the very basics of marketing knows that keeping up with the trends is something that’s the hallmark of any successful marketer. Green marketing, whilst a hype in the high street shops, is not so much an online viral gimmick most likely because it’s simply too earthy.

UK Policy Makers Ignore Poor Quality Of US Made Biofuels

Most of the biofuels on sale in Britain do not conform to environmental standards according to a study by the Renewable Fuels Agency which has shocked experts. The agency found that only 19% of all biofuel on sale in Britain actually is environmentally friendly. The remainder fails to meet quality standards drawn up by the UK government.

In America, such reports are published almost weekly. Everybody knows that some biofuels are of dubious quality. The worst types are the biodiesel blenders (B20 biodiesels). These apparently contain anywhere between 10 to 74% of actual biodiesel content.

Smart Recycling Is Actually About Product Manufacturing

Recycling gadgets is a headache. Many of the few gadgets that actually are kept out of the landfill are painstakingly taken apart in the Third World under hazardous conditions and creating environmental problems. A new method called Active Disassembly using Smart Materials could be the problem that producers and consumers are looking for.

Product disassembly offers an attractive alternative to manual methods for reducing the landfill and helping countries to get on the legal targets they at the moment fail to achieve. That’s because the method optimizes the recovery of hazardous and valuable components during the recycling process.

Blackspot – The Anti Label That Won’t Tolerate Greenwashing

Got a contrary eco product that needs branding/labeling? Why not try using an anti label? It’s free to use and you’ll get your marketing done via 100% open source principles.

The anti label is called Blackspot and anyone can use the logo; a black spot. Products you sell are not only branded under the world’s first truly open source label, but they’re also joining a product portfolio that’s almost 100% eco friendly/low on carbon output.

The people behind the Blackspot label are the organizers of the ever growing annual global BuyNothingDay at Adbusters.org. They represent a radical, no-compromise experiment, a total rethinking of capitalism from the ground up. People selling a Blackspot product tend not to talk of customers or clients but of ‘participants shaping the social enterprise’.

The organization offers great tips for practically marketing your stuff. Blackspotters are offering their wares to the big players in Jujitsu style.