A US example of how businesses are responding to the new realities is the Southeastern Texas company GreenPointe Holdings LLC. The company was launched a few months back by Ed Burr, a seasoned real estate developer. He plans to develop financially feasible eco-friendly communities throughout the Southeast and Texas. Burr is aiming to coordinate with public/private partnerships to get infrastructure projects going.
“Our company is unique because we are fusing the concepts of green building and sustainability, and the interlocking function of public/private partnerships,” Burr was quoted as saying in a US newspaper.

The company’s Jacksonville offices are a live testimony to this business strategy. Energy saving air conditioners are placed on the roof, climate neutral carpets line the floors, the bathrooms have been fitted with double flushing toilets, appliances in the kitchen are Energy Star rated and the walls sport eco friendly paint.  Oh, and there’s the lighting – all energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs. Everything has been thought of.

The company aims to build residential developments in much the same style. But it’s not only housing that Burr is going to focus on; he’s all about infrastructure. And that means roads, sewage systems and other structural public developments are going to emerge under his supervision.

Read more of this story »

The numbers are important for traders on the European Climate Exchange, who take guidance from the level of actual carbon emissions to gauge what demand for offsets is likely to be.

The data indicate there’s been a 1.1% rise in CO2 emissions according to Oslo-based Point Carbon. The release of the data marks the start of the second phase of the European Trading Scheme, a market-based cap-and-trade system which has been going for three years already.

Read more of this story »

All participants to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme ought to have submitted crucial data on their 2007 greenhouse gas emissions levels by 31 March. The greenhouse gas data would be sourced by around 10,500 companies involved in carbon trading and is an important factor influencing the market price of traded carbon.

But many of the parties failed to meet the deadline, which is why the EU authorities in charge of the information said they will release the data to the public at a later date.

Emissions data is of vital importance for market traders because it shows the level of demand for the instruments they trade. The data is seen as a benchmark number setting the appropriate carbon price.

Read more of this story »

The FSA says that the integrity of the carbon trading market is under threat. The information that carbon emissions traders relay to clients often has a truth content that’s lower than you’d expect. In many cases there’s also no clarity over the regulations involved, a lack of credible data. Investors are also frequently offered climate change related products that are totally unsuitable for their goals.

Read more of this story »

The main criticism centers on what’s left out of the equation. Companies embarking on greening up their business practices are faced with a daunting task and most go about it the “easy way” at first. There’s the option to simply offset carbons on the Chicago Climate Exchange, the European Climate Exchange or on the newly established NYMEX venture, the Green Exchange. Businesses have access to these exchanges if they wish to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions by as little as 1%.

Read more of this story »

The Green Exchange is part of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). During its first week, the equivalent of 1.59 million tons of carbon was traded. That volume makes the Green Exchange “the most successful launch of exchange-traded carbon contracts,” according to a report in the SunHerald.

Read more of this story »

Green collar jobs have a magic lure to them. Not only because the people involved in the sector are supposedly making a conscious effort to salvage what’s left of the earth’s natural resources, but also because they’re hoping to drag the ailing economy out of its current quagmire.

The environmentalist visionary Van Jones, who heads up the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, is drawing massive crowds across the country to his speeches about the green sector. He has helped initiate a green jobs program in Oakland and it is in part due to his work that the Presidential candidates have included green collar jobs in their programs.

Read more of this story »

An interim summit held in Japan mid March convened representatives of the world’s top 20 greenhouse gas emitting countries responsible for 80% of the world’s pollution. It appeared that little progress was made. But all countries including the US agreed in Bali that they’d participate in the negotiations to the Kyoto’s successor and that promise was upheld two weeks ago. What was termed a “principle of common but differentiated responsibility” was accepted as a framework for negotiations. In other words, the new pact will bind all countries to various actions.

Read more of this story »

The two research houses put the LOHAS market size down at $209 billion. This number includes services as well as tangible products. LOHAS are determined by NMI and Nielsen as people who “have a meaningful sense of environmental and social responsibility and incorporates those values into their purchase decisions.”

Read more of this story »

Ahimbisibwe owns a little plot of land on which she grows some of the trees involved in TetraPak’s contract to produce fresh air for all the pollution caused by its production processes. A case study of the carbon sequestration project on EcoSystemMarketplace.com reveals interesting insights into the practices of an emissions offsetting program.

Read more of this story »

The community is called the Lammas and the members will build four detached dwellings and a row of five attached houses on a plot of 76 acres. They’re going to live off-grid and collect their water from a spring that’s existing on site as well as from rain water captured on the turf-made roofs of their houses.

Read more of this story »

Contestants participate in “Big Ideas For A Small Planet,” which is presented by Lexus Hybrid Living. What do you have to do to participate? Submit a one-minute short film or photo essay featuring your “Big Idea” to sundancechannel.com/bigideascontest before May 20.

Viewing of the top 25 entries selected by the program takes place between May 27 and June 24. After that, the five proposals ranked by the number of votes are reviewed by a panel of environmental experts who will pick the winner. Bear in mind that the jury judges submissions on creativity, overall theme, feasibility and presentation. The winner will be announced the week of July 7th and is awarded a cash prize of $10,000 to fund the idea.

Theoretically the agreement whereby airlines from the US and Europe are allowed to land in any airport on the two continents, should lower flight costs, open up airlines to foreign ownership and the create new flight routes between Europe and the US. But it ain’t happening. All of these targets are obscured in heavy clouds.

Virgin Atlantic, which inaugurated the world’s first biofuel flight a few weeks back, told a recent New York news conference that it doesn’t foresee any progress on Open Skies in the near future. The company hasn’t even chosen any destinations for new flight routes and says this is not in the cards for at least another two years.

Read more of this story »

An important part of the Palestinian economy consists of organic cotton manufacturing but the conflict in the Middle East has badly impacted the industry. Neiman signed a deal with the organic cotton manufacturing company in Bethlehem after it had been forced to ax 30% of its workers. Many of the laid off workers returned to the Bethlehem factory after he stepped in. The deal included the creation of a trade union.

“We’ve found a rare piece of common ground — more good jobs for Palestinians on the West Bank will help,” the Boston entrepreneur was quoted as saying in a recent interview. “Economic development is no substitute for a diplomatic settlement but no settlement can survive without a sustainable Palestinian economy,” Neiman added.

Read more of this story »

Konarka, a Lowell, MS, company pioneering the technology, says it’s ready to market the products in which the solar dye has been implemented after the summer. The technology has a light to energy conversion rate of of 7.2 percent. This compares to 16 to 20 percent of regular, photovoltaic, solar technology.

The advantages of dye solar technology include flexible implementation options. Dye-based solar technology also converts low light and light rays at obscure angles. Plus the electricity generated can be applied to specific current wavelengths.

Read more of this story »

The report, entitled Green Living, researches the factors involved in environmentally friendly purchasing decisions and establishes a firm connection between health concerns and green food products. Green food sales are experiencing massive growth, Mintel says. The research house predicts the natural food and drink products market to be worth $19.6 billion this year, compared to $11.9 billion last year.

One factor in the growth is the ever increasing sophistication by producers who go to great lengths to innovate product development procedures. In the next few years, the alcoholic beverages branch might be one to watch. Mintel singles this area out as a new growth sector. A clear example of an alcohol company “going green” is McCormick Distillery’s recent launch of a new luxurious brand called 360 Vodka.

Read more of this story »