Green and Global

Biodiesel, the heartland's new favorite crop

Yesterday, Green Car Congress reported on Benefuel, Inc.'s plans to build a 10 million gallon per year biodiesel plant in Seymour, Indiana. The new plant, expected to begin operations next year, will be just a three-hour drive from the Claypool biodiesel/soybean oil plant we talked about in an October 4 post.

Posted by Dawn

A long time (cough) coming

American Electric Power Co., which supplies coal-fired power to 5 million customers, today agreed to spend $4.6 billion to reduce chemical emissions blamed for spreading smog and acid rain across the northeast.

That's good news, considering that I live in the top 10% of the most heavily air-polluted locales in the nation.  Smog, particulates, hazardous air polluntants and increased cancer risk, we've got it all. (You can find out where your hometown stands by typing in your zipcode here.)

Today's announcement was the culmination of an eight-year-long legal battle and lawsuit filed by the EPA, environmental groups and eight northeastern states. What took them so long?

Posted by Dawn

Just how dirty is your car? If you're a New Yorker, you'll know soon

To help drive home the point about greenhouse gas emissions, New York state will become the second state (after California) to require a "global warming index" sticker on all cars sold in the state starting with the 2010 model year.

New York Governor Elliot Spitzer is working toward meeting his goal of a 15% reduction in electricity usage by 2015 through a medly of energy-efficiency programs.

Posted by Dawn

The solar-powered potato chip

Thanks to the new photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof of its Arizona Service Center, Frito-Lay can now boast it has the largest business-owned PV system in the state of Arizona. It's expected to generate 350,000 kilowatt hours of electricty annually, meeting a portion of the facility's daytime needs.

Friot-Lay already has solar panels in use at six other distribution centers in California and New York.

Posted by Dawn

Throw another sweater on

This crazy, mid-summer-like weather we've been experiencing in October has me worried about global warming. But privately, I've been gloating about all the money I've been saving on my heating bills, because as I recall, last year at this time we had already seen some a frost.

Then I came across this article saying that those of us who use heating oil can expect a sharp spike in prices this winter, to the tune of about 16%, while those using natural gas or electricity will see lower increases.

So maybe I did all right by filling my oil tank in late August at $2.29 a gallon.

I was surprised to read that only 7% of American households use oil to heat their homes, while natural gas (58%) and electricity (30%) are used to warm many more of our homes.

On the natural gas front, a small Norwegian town called Hammerfest is experiencing a kind of resurgence, after years of fishing declines, with the start of operations of a natural gas plant whose origins were discovered way back in 1981.  The field, located 1,000 feet deep and 340 miles north of the Arctic Circle, is in a region long considered too inhospitable to consider developing. But rising energy consumption and the pressures to find new energy sources changed all that. The natural gas, destined for the American east coast, will be the first commercial energy production from waters north of the Arctic Circle.

Posted by Dawn

Solar house tours

Don't forget that tomorrow, October 6, solar house tours will be taking place nationwide. The event, sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society, lets the public visit energy-efficient solar, wind, and renewable energy powered homes and businesses. Check the link to see where the tours are in your state.

Posted by Dawn

Yes, Virginia, there is a social conscience

Heard this on the radio on the way to work today.

This weekend (Friday-Monday)  residents of Virginia won't have to pay sales tax on items priced up to $2,500 that have the Energy Star logo. This from a state that earlier in the week announced an estimated $641 million budget shortfall, layoffs and a plan to use rainy day state funds to get their finances in order.

Virginia joins Florida, Georgia and Connecticut (my state) in offering consumers tax relief for Energy Star products.

Posted by Jeff

For buyers, the importance of energy efficiency depends on the product, poll reveals

Last month, 1,000 adults were surveyed on their attitudes about energy efficiency, and how energy-efficient products are marketed to them, by Media Post's Marketing Daily.

While more than one-third of respondents said energy efficiency was very important in their buying decisions (36.9%), a resounding majority (70.3%) said marketers' claims of energy efficency are only "somewhat believable." Despite a degree of skepticism, an even greater majority believes the current marketing emphasis on energy efficency is a long-term trend (84.2%) rather than a fad (15.8%). Sounds like a significant number of consumers have embraced energy efficiency as an important consideration, but marketers have to do a better job in ensuring their products do, in fact, save energy and in communicating this accurately to consumers.

Interestingly, when asked in what categories of purchases energy efficiency played the most important part, respondents named gas/fuel, automotive and appliances as areas where they payed the most attention to energy efficiency ("very important:" 56.7%, 51.9% and 56.7%, respectively). Other categories where respondents viewed energy efficiency as being a "very important" consideration included home improvement materials (39%), consumer electronics (36.5%, hotel/travel accomodations (10.5%) and food (16.8%).

Presumably, energy efficiency is most important when it comes to the price of gas, something nearly everyone notices, and least important when it comes to vacation time indulgences.

Posted by Dawn

How to burn fat in a really big way

If you're a Midwesterner, or maybe just someone with an interest in biodiesel fuels, you may have heard the news: Connecticut-based Louis Dreyfus has opened one of the largest biodiesel production plants in the U.S. recently. Biodiesel produced there will be an environmentally friendly, domestically produced fuel replacement for foreign oil.

Located in tiny Claypool, Indiana (population 311, according to the 2000 census), a town that's crazy about basketball, the plant will produce cleaner burning, homegrown fuel, relying on soybean oil. By purchasing more than $450 million worth of locally-grown soybeans as a renewable fuel source, Louis Dreyfus will be helping out Indiana farmers as a ready and local buyer, in an area where the median family income is about $35,000.  In addition, the plant is fully integrated with a soybean processing plant, so the protein-rich soybean meal produced each year will be used by the livestock and poultry industry.

My employer, News Broadcast Network, produced a video feed about the plant's opening in August. Check it out.

Posted by Dawn

Chevron's "Untapped Energy" ad

Last week we talked about Chevron's new ad on this country's energy challenges. Watch the ad here.

Posted by Dawn