By John Ivanko •
July 1, 2009
Like millions of Americans, we’re celebrating July 4th, Independence Day.
However, we’re celebrating this national holiday by focusing on the many aspects of our life that, in various ways, have led us to quite a different vision for a sustainable tomorrow – complete with local, renewable energy and lots of delicious meals harvested within ten miles of where we live – if not from our own kitchen garden. Sometimes we even celebrate July 4th with a rainbow.
Here’s how our Independence Day is different — and yours can be too:
• Be energy independent by generating all our power with renewable energy systems.
For a vast portion of the United States, there is enough solar and wind energy to completely meet our needs right where we live. True, adopting renewable energy will require an investment either personally or for your business if you work from home. But with present Federal tax credits and many state incentives, the time couldn’t be better. We completely power our Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast and Farm with solar electric and wind turbine systems. In fact, we overproduce renewable energy to the tune of about 4,000 kWhs (kilowatt hours) a year. We share the surplus with our neighbors.
By Tom Schueneman •
June 29, 2009
The Mother Nature Network reviews their pick of the top ten greenest cities in the United States.
By Tom Schueneman •
June 26, 2009
Enterprise Fleet Management, a division of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, was awarded the 2009 “Stevie” American Business Award for Environmental Responsibility Program.
By Tina Casey •
June 26, 2009
Move over, silicon: graphene is ready for its closeup. Discovered just a few years ago, graphene is a sheet of graphite the thickness of just one atom. It can be processed like silicon to make electronic devices, which makes it easier to manipulate than the current “it” material, carbon nanotubes. Without the breakdown problems that beset silicon at the nanoscale, graphene is bringing the dream of a molecule-sized computer closer to reality.
By Lester R. Brown
Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling. Since 1981, the quantity of oil extracted has exceeded new discoveries by an ever-widening margin. In 2008, the world pumped 31 billion barrels of oil but discovered fewer than 9 billion barrels of new oil. World reserves of conventional oil are in a free fall, dropping every year.
As I note in my latest book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, discoveries of conventional oil total roughly 2 trillion barrels, of which 1 trillion have been extracted so far, with another trillion barrels to go. By themselves, however, these numbers miss a central point. As security analyst Michael Klare notes, the first trillion barrels was easy oil, “oil that’s found on shore or near to shore; oil close to the surface and concentrated in large reservoirs; oil produced in friendly, safe, and welcoming places.” The other half, Klare notes, is tough oil, “oil that’s buried far offshore or deep underground; oil scattered in small, hard-to-find reservoirs; oil that must be obtained from unfriendly, politically dangerous, or hazardous places.”
This prospect of peaking oil production has direct consequences for world food security, as modern agriculture depends heavily on the use of fossil fuels. Most tractors use gasoline or diesel fuel. Irrigation pumps use diesel fuel, natural gas, or coal-fired electricity. Fertilizer production is also energy-intensive. Natural gas is used to synthesize the basic ammonia building block in nitrogen fertilizers. The mining, manufacture, and international transport of phosphates and potash all depend on oil.
By Derek Markham •
June 23, 2009
The 13th annual LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) Forum, held in Boulder last week, brought some of the world’s most influential conscious commerce leaders, green businesses, and inspiring personalities together for three days, building connections and exchanging ideas for a brighter world and healthier planet.
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By John Ivanko •
June 15, 2009
I’m coming to the conclusion that there’s very little that’s sustainable about the company known as GM.
It’s frustrating and sad, because I was raised in the auto city and had family members who worked in the industry. I even spent a summer at the GM Tech Center (working for then EDS as an intern at the time). I’m perplexed by the company’s name which most of us recognize only as a vehicle company. But it wasn’t always this way.
There was a time when GM was diversified, and innovative. I was amazed by the poor decision making at GM when it recalled and promptly crushed their all-electric EV1s after bringing them to market in 1996. I drove an EV1 in California; it rocked! The company used to also make refrigerators starting in the 1920s under the Frigidaire brand and airplane components during WWII (my grandfather was an engineer who worked on a few).
So when, exactly, did the General Motors Corporation stop becoming a “generalist” industrial powerhouse making motors and instead, devote all its energies to making only motors in transportation vehicles and to lesser extent, but profitable one, vehicles for the military — you know, Humvees and the like?
Manchester, Tennessee- The first day of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, a day which has traditionally been a day of travel and arrival for most festival attendees, greeted an estimated crowd of seventy-five thousand music fans from around the world with some good old fashioned southern rainshowers. And this wasn’t a light rain, by any definition. The rain, which began shortly after the four-day festival’s first performances, didn’t dampen the mood of the smiling festivarians, but it didn’t help the speed with which people were able to enter the festival grounds and set up their encampments.
The elements may have slowed the entrance for many, but delays were nothing like those in years past. In 2002, for example, at the inaugural Bonnaroo, it took this author about 18 hours to cover the last 45 miles!
By Tina Casey •
June 14, 2009
Could the next war be powered by potatoes? The U.S. military is exploring bio-batteries and fuel cells as part of its overall commitment to transformational energy, particularly portable power. To help kick-start the effort, the Department of Defense is soliciting bids for cutting edge bio-battery and fuel cell development through its Small Business Innovation Research grant program. That could mean just about anything for a fuel source, from sugar to potatoes, vodka or beer. Stay tuned for more: the deadline for submitting SBIR proposals is June 17.
Another book on green business? You may be tempted to wonder if we need another one. After all, there are already numerous classics on the subject (The Ecology of Commerce, Natural Capitalism, Mid-Course Correction), as well as more recent books that bring the subject of sustainable business into the 21st century (Green to Gold, Strategies for the Green Economy). What can Gil Friend, founder and CEO of consulting firm Natural Logic, add to the subject with his new book The Truth About Green Business? (Note: that paragraph’s brimming to the gills with affiliate links…)
