The new Google search: how to be cheaper than coal?

We reported earlier this week on Google's announcement that it will spend hundreds of millions of dollars developing new solar and wind technologies. (click here for press release from Google)

The goal, according to Google, is to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. Google is especially focusing on introducing renewable energy options in fast-growing countries like China and India, which depend heavily on coal.

Here's some more links:

Click here to read an article in Fortune

Click here for an interview with Bill Weihl, Google's "alternative energy czar," on NPR's show, 'Talk of the Nation.'

- David Adams

Office Depot launches it's 2007 'Green Book'

Office Depot has launched its new 'Green Book' the company's annual catalog of 3,000 'environmentally preferable products.'

"Year-over-year we are seeing a significant increase in the number of customers wanting to 'green' their purchasing practices," says the company, which has its headquarters in Delray Beach, Florida.

I sat in on a presentation yesterday by Office Depot's Environmental Strategy Advisor, Yalmaz Siddiqui, who was speaking at a Green Purchasing Summit in Miami.
Siddiqui, and other participants think 'green procurement' is here to stay, saying it has now joined cost, services and quality as one of the pillars of the purchasing industry. In his speech, titled 'Debunking the Myths about Green Procurement,' Siddiqui said it's not just green for the sake of being green. It's actually about sensible business practices, such as increasing efficiency and reducing waste.
"People think green means increased cost and poor quality," he said. Not true, he added.

The key, Siddiqui says, is not to seek perfection. In the past that kind of absolutist approach by environmentalists turned companies off. But things have changed as more rational ideas are being developed. "No-one is pure and perfect," says Siddiqui. Instead, a new concept of progress, rather than perfection, is taking hold.
"Old green is perfection,"  he said. "New green is all about progress."

Under this new concept, green means:
1./ measures that reduce pressure on natural resources
2./ measures that reduce energy and fuel use.
3./ measures that reduce use of chemicals

Office Depot has found that its green practices are savings the company $6.2 million in energy costs alone, Siddiqui said, while also boosting its brand name. For example, it's new Sprinter Vans are 40 per cent more fuel efficient. The company even uses a road mapping system to reduce the number of left turns its vehicles must take - thereby reducing idel time!
The compoany is also switching from wood to plastic pallets, as well as recycle its corrugated cardboard which it used to pay to have dumped in landfill.

Features of The Green Book include:

    * Over 2,200 recycled or remanufactured products and 600 items with environmental benefits other than recycled, such as reduced energy, non-toxic, refillable and rechargeable.
    * 500 new environmentally-preferable products ranging from furniture and cleaning supplies with reduced chemicals, to solar charging business cases.
    * Explanations on what constitutes a greener office (e.g., Green Guard Furniture, Energy Star-rated lights and technology, recycled paper and remanufactured ink and toner cartridges).
    * Check lists and self assessment guides to help any business better gauge their green rating (e.g., what office products are you currently recycling?; do you print on both sides of the page?; do you recycle your old ink and toner cartridges and purchase remanufactured ones?).
    * Listing of the greenest office products rated by their environmental attribute (e.g., recycled, Energy Star-rated, low toxic, refillable, rechargeable, etc.).
    * Tips and Solutions for a greener Worklife (i.e., recycle e-waste, use by sides of the paper when printing; purchase a reusable mug).

Click here to find out more about 'buying green.'

Click here to order a copy of The Green Book.

- David Adams

Japan helps China combat warming...to help Japan meet Kyoto targets

The Yomiuri Shimbun is reporting that Japan and China -- two nations that have not always gotten along -- have worked out an agreement to join forces in battling global warming.

China and the U.S. have been the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gas that have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, the global treaty calling for emissions cutbacks to combat warming.

But now Chinese leaders have now realized that air pollution has become a major problem, so they are ready to accept what Japan is offering: technological assistance in finding ways to lower its emission levels.

This is not an altruistic move by Japan, though. In exchange for helping China, Japan gets credits toward meeting its emissions target set under the Kyoto Protocol.

To read the full story -- though there's not much more to it at this point, click here.

--Craig Pittman

Christians warming to climate change action

My colleague Sherri Day, religion writer at The St Petersburg Times, has taken a look at how American churches are taking up the message of global warming under the banner of preserving God's Creation.

Despite being unpopular with some conservative Christians, the concept appears to be gaining wide acceptance. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has increasingly spoken of 'doing God's work' in his speeches on climate change.

Click here to read her article.

(image above is a detail from the Sistine Chapel fresco Creation of the Sun and Moon by Michelangelo)

- David Adams

Climate change report: Costs more to do nothing

It will, it won’t, what if we do, what if we don’t...Another volley Wednesday in the whipsaw back-and-forth on the cost (or not) of climate change. This time, it came from researchers from Tufts University in Boston, sponsored by the activist group Environmental Defense. The report, Florida and Climate Change: The Costs of Inaction, argued that Florida stands to lose billions of dollars in tourism and coastal property if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated.

Experts have issued competing conclusions about the issue, with a recent report by the Florida and U.S. Chambers of Commerce that concluded that Florida’s economy would suffer if the state moved to quickly to curb greenhouse gases. The dueling conclusions mirror a divide between state lawmakers, some of whom side with Gov. Charlie Crist’s aggressive efforts to combat climate change, and those that agree with state House Speaker Marco Rubio, that Floridian’s can’t afford to move so fast.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

US greenhouse emissions down...but not because we're trying

Some good news from the Department of Energy today:  U.S. emissions of the gases blamed for global warming fell 1.5 percent in 2006. It was the first time since 2001 that U.S. emissions have dropped.

The bad news: It wasn't because we were really TRYING to cut the emissions. Instead, the DOE credited mild weather and high prices for fossil fuels.

"Unseasonably cool weather in the summer and warm weather in the winter kept power demand flat last year which reduced emissions of CO2 from power plants, while higher prices for energy cut emissions from industry and cars," Reuters reported.

Same thing with 2001. The drop in emissions then occurred because of the abrupt drop in tourism travel after 9-11.    

Reuters reports that President Bush said "the drop kept the country 'well ahead' of his greenhouse gas intensity goal, as measured by the amount of such gases emitted per unit of economic activity. However, Reuters pointed out, "U.S. emissions remained much higher than they were in 1990, a key year in international efforts to fight climate change because it is the baseline year for the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol."

Beginning next week, delegates from 190 countries are scheduled to meet for two weeks in Indonesia to work on a successor to the Kyoto agreement. Among their biggest problems: trying to figure out how to get the countries that have spurned the Kyoto Protocol but are big greenhouse gas emitters -- namely the U.S. and China -- to join in the U.N.'s fight against climate change.

But U.S. officials told the Associated Press today that when they go to Indonesia, they "will make no commitment for specific reductions in greenhouse gas emissions."

To read the full Reuters story, click here.

To read the AP story, click here.

--Craig Pittman

Democratic presidential contenders ahead of Democratic Congress on energy policy

In honor of tonight's GOP presidential debate here in St. Petersburg, we thought it was time to bring you up to date on the energy-policy side of the presidential race. Today's New York Times has a nice little piece on the contrast between the Democratic and Republican contenders for president on energy policy that in passing points out another, more intriguing difference.

"...most of the Democratic rivals are proposing plans that are more aggressive than the bills that Democratic leaders in Congress are hoping to pass before year-end," the story notes. "The disparity raises questions about whether the candidates’ plans are politically realistic."

The D-side candidates want to "repeal billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil companies, spend billions more each year to develop alternative fuels, and require cars and trucks to be far more fuel-efficient," today's NYT reports.

"For Democrats, the goal of energy policy is largely about reducing oil consumption and has become inseparable from the goal of reducing the risk of climate change," the story reports. "For the Republican candidates, energy policy is primarily about producing more energy at home — more oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; more use of American coal to produce liquid fuel; and, as with Democrats, more renewable fuels like ethanol."

Among the GOP contenders, only Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee "support mandatory limits on emissions of greenhouse gases," the story notes. "Mr. Huckabee, who has positioned himself as a standard-bearer for social conservatives and Christian evangelicals, recently called action on climate change a 'moral issue.' "

To read the full story, click here.

--Craig Pittman

Taking the measure of global changes

Starting tomorrow, ministers and officials from over 100 governments and international organizations are assembling in Cape Town, South Africa to map out the next steps in a 10-year effort to build a system that would monitor all of Earth's environmental conditions.

The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations, or GEO, meeting, is supposed to review progress so far and figure out what needs to be done next to build a ground-based, ocean-drifting, air-borne and space-based Global Earth Observation System of Systems, or GEOSS for short. Needless to say, measurement of climate change is one of the goals.

GEO was launched after the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the G8 (Group of Eight) leading industrialized countries both agreed that there was a need for such an organization. "These high-level meetings recognized that international collaboration is essential for exploiting the growing potential of Earth observations to support decision making in an increasingly complex and environmentally stressed world," GEO's website reports.

The project, which started in 2005, is slated for completion in 2015. To read more from the GEO website, click here.

And to read a story from Science Daily about a group of scientists working to build a world marine monitoring system, click here.

--Craig Pittman

Google aims for green on the cheap

Google today announced plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to make renewable energy cheaper than coal. The campaign, called RE<C, will focus at first on solar thermal, geothermal and wind power. The program will hire experts and engineers to investigate new technology, and the company plans to invest in breakthrough renewable energy projects.

"Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic that this can be done in years, not decades," said Larry Page, co-founder of Google and president of products. One gigawatt could power a city the size of San Francisco, the release said.

In Florida, critics of renewable energy say it's more expensive and less reliable than traditional fuels, like coal and natural gas. However, that calculus is hotly disputed by some, including solar proponents, who say the cost of solar power is coming down as oil prices rise. Additionally, new regulations could put a cost on carbon dioxide emissions, making coal far more expensive than it is today.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

France and China sign $12 billion nuclear energy deal

France is one of the few countries that has never lost faith in nuclear power. In fact, 80 per cent of the country's energy comes its nuclear power sector, which continues to expand.
Now, France is helping build nuclear plants in China (click here to read a story in today's The New York Times).

In a major $12 billion deal signed signed Monday, France's state-run nuclear energy company, Areva, will supply the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group with two nuclear reactors in the city of Taishan in the southern province of Guangdong. Areva will also help run and maintain the plants, The New York Times writes.

While this may help reduce emissions from China's coal -powered energy sector, it still raises enormous concern about the disposal of nuclear waste. France also claims to have the answer to that by converting its waste into pellets that can be reused in nuclear power stations. That obviously has the potential to reduce the waste stream, but by how much? Anyone have the answer?

- David Adams

Choose to be catalog free ... and save a tree

Tired of all those unwanted - and unrequested catalogs?

Now a coalition of environmental groups has come up with a free  Web site CatalogChoice.org to get yourself removed from mailing lists. Think how much paper could be saved!

The group claims it has already helped 165,000 people op out of 1.7 million catalogs since it went online Oct 9. I am just about to add my name. It's clever and simple. All you have to do is sign up and look for the catalog names you want to stop receiving.

The website is operated by the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Ecology Center.

- David Adams

An underwater tidal turbine farm in the Florida keys

It's one of the newest emerging concepts for alternative energy: harnessing tidal energy to drive turbines to create electricity. There are a number of projects in the United States, including several in Florida.

Click here for an article about one scheme, Keys Hydro Power in the Florida Keys to combine 300 turbines to create 160 megawatts, enough to power the entire lower Keys. It's the non-profit brainchild of a massage therapist, Douglas Bedgood, who lives in Love Lane, Key West.

- David Adams

The future of wind. It's pros and cons

Wind power is running into some resistance from environmentalists (who dont' like the impact on the landscape) and from some in the energy industry who say it is unreliable (because you don't know when the wind is going to blow).
Is wind being over-hyped? The New York Times looks at the case study of Sweden. Even so, the wind energy industry is expected to grow by 26% annually over the next five years.

Click here to read the article, 'Wind Power, and Resistance.'

- David Adams.

'Green Dreams,' a National Geographic biofuels cover feature

National Geographic recently published an excellent long article about biofuels called 'Green Dreams.' I think it's perhaps the best article I have read on biofuels, together with a recent piece in Wired magazine about cellulosic ethanol technology. (Click here for a link.)

I just discovered that 'Green Dreams' has a fabulous inter-active version on the web which I strongly recommend.

Click here for a link to the website.

- David Adams

Why coal is still attractive.

The Economist has a fresh new look at coal power this week. "Using coal to generate electricity produces more greenhouse gases per resulting watt than using oil or natural gas," The Economist notes. "But coal is cheap."

So cheap in fact, that the energy industry in America and Europe continues to build more coal plants. "In America more coal-fired generation is being built than at any time in the past seven years, despite the threat of emissions caps, according to the Department of Energy," The Economist reports. It's not much different in Europe.
Energy companies are betting that even with a future carbon tax, coal will still be a cheaper source of energy.

Click here to read the article.

- David Adams

A new 'golden' biodiesel crop, that's not a food - or is it?

Two private U.S. companies have formed a joint venture to produce biodiesel from a non-food crop.

The joint venture, called Sustainable Oils, Inc. will produce and market up to 100 million gallons of biodiesel by 2010 made from camelina (also known as gold-of-pleasure or false flax), a plant people used to grow to provide oil for lamps before petroleum was discovered. Contrary to the announcement I note that some sources say it can be used as a vegetable oil, which would technically make it a food crop. The company says camelina is a distant relative of canola, with seeds that produce about 20 percent more oil than seeds from conventional plants.

Sustainable Oil is a joint venture between Green Earth Fuels, an established biodiesel manufacturer from Texas, and Targeted Growth, which specializes in creating genetically enhanced plants.

By the way, Reuters reports that U.S. biodiesel production more than tripled last year to about 250 million gallons.

Click here for more details from Reuters.

Looking for biofuels? Please hold.

Several local biofuel projects have suffered delays ranging from months to years. Quite a few projects have been announced in the past few months, and Florida's Department of Environmental Protection provides a fairly comprehensive list of producers they know of, and the status of those projects.

The list below comes from Sarah Williams, spokeswoman at DEP. The question marks on start dates are DEP's.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

ETHANOL PRODUCTION

Alico, Inc. (LaBelle, FL)

• Production Capacity: 7.7-14 MGY

• Feedstock: Yard, wood and vegetative wastes

• Operational: 2008-09

Citrus Energy, LLC (Clewiston, FL)

• Production Capacity: 4 MGY

• Feedstock: Citrus processing waste

• Operational: 2008-09

Bartow Ethanol (Bartow, FL)

• Production Capacity: 2-5 MGY

• Feedstock: Citrus waste, sweet sorghum, and nonfood high starch sweet potato

• Operational: 2008-09?

Port Sutton Envirofuels, LLC (Tampa, FL)

• Production Capacity: 50 MGY

• Feedstock: Corn

• Operational: 2008-09?

University of Florida Research and Development Production Plant (Okeelanta, Florida)

• Proposed Production Capacity: 1-2 million gallons per year

• Proposed Feedstock: Sugarcane bagasse

• Operational: 2008-09?

BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

Agri-Source Fuels (Tampa, FL)

• Production Capacity: 20-120 MGY

• Feedstock: Chicken fat, cottonseed and soybean oils

• Operational: Yes

Purada Processing, LLC (Lakeland, FL)

• Production Capacity: 18 MGY (expanding)

• Feedstock: Soybean oil

• Operational: Currently not operating

Xenerga, Inc. (Kissimmee, FL)

• Production Capacity: 5 MGY

• Feedstock: Recycled cooking oil

• Operational: Yes

Renewable Energy Systems, Inc. (Pinellas Park, FL)

• Production Capacity: 1 MGY

• Feedstock: Recycled cooking oil

• Operational: Yes

 

San Francisco bans plastic grocery bags. Other cities to follow.

Plastic grocery store bags are now banned in San Francisco thanks to a new city ordinance that entered into effect this week. Pharmacies will be obliged to do the same six months from now.

Oakland has passed a similar ban that goes into effect early next year. New Jersey is hoping to become the first state to adopt a similar ban. London and Paris are both adopting measures.

Stores in San Francisco can still use plastic bags so long as they are a special type that are compostable. Bags must now be made of at least 40 percent high-grade recycled paper.

Click here for more news.

- David Adams

Plastic patch in the Pacific Ocean

A cluster of floating plastic garbage has formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Los Angeles. Capt. Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, talks with NPR's Andrea Seabrook about his recent trip through the "garbage patch." Scientists are monitoring the patch, estimated to weigh 3 million tons and cover an area twice the size of Texas. The patch is about 1,000 miles west of San Francisco.

Click here to listen to the interview.

- David Adams

Bringing biofuels to Florida - the hassles and hurdles

Asjylyn has a story in the paper today about the hurdles of bringing biofuels to Florida. She looks at three companies that have encountered difficulties bringing their projects to fruition, varying from lawsuits to loans.

Click here to read her story.

- David Adams

Using smoke & mirrors to question global warming

The letter arrived in a big white envelope, and the return address said it was from Dan Miller, business editor of the Chicago Sun-Times. And the letter inside bore the letterhead of Dan Miller, business editor of the Chicago Sun-Times.

But the content was dictated by a right-wing group called the Heartland Institute that has relentlessly questioned the existence of global warming.

"Global warming is one of the most controversial issues journalists have to address today," Miller writes in the letter, dated Nov. 12, that arrived at the St. Petersburg Times and other papers around the country this week. "I urge you to keep an open mind on this important topic."

And so to aid journalists in keeping "an open mind," Miller enclosed with his letter a DVD containing copies of both Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," which portrays global warming as a dire emergency that needs immediate action, and a British documentary called "The Great Global Warming Swindle," which has been promoted by oil companies and debunked by scientists.

Miller's letter noted that the dual DVDs "were provided by the Heartland Institute, a 23-year-old national nonprofit organization based in Chicago. Heartland's president, Joseph Bast, tells me no corporate funding was used to purchase or package these DVDs, in case that matters to you. I think it speaks highly of an organization that it is willing to present both sides of an issue."

Unmentioned in Miller's letter are a few inconvenient facts:
*He used to work for the Heartland Institute
*The institute gets a lot of its funding from ExxonMobil
*An ExxonMobil executive serves as Heartland's "government relations advisor."
*A Heartland-created website asserts there is no scientific consensus on global warming and features a list of experts and like-minded think tanks, many of whom have received funding from ExxonMobil and other polluters.

Heartland's public relations chief, Tom Swiss, told the Chicago Tribune that the group decided to use Miller to do Heartland's PR work as a way to get its message across to people who might otherwise look askance at something from the right-wing advocacy group.

"If it came from just ourselves, it would look like an advertisement and just get lost," he said. Others whom Swiss declined to name signed cover letters that accompanied packages for those in other fields, the Tribune reported. "A letter from someone in their industry makes it stand out," Swiss said

However, as the Tribune reported, Miller's bosses at the Sun-Times didn't know he was using his position to plug something for his former employer, which could lead to him getting in trouble. To read the Tribune piece, click here.

For some background on the Heartland Institute and its sources of funding, click here and here. To read the Heartland Institute's own position on global warming, click here.

And to read a summary of the problems with "The Great Global Warming Swindle," click here.

--Craig Pittman

Climate change bill in trouble? Enviros, Big Oil & FPL against it

The first climate change legislation to pass a congressional subcommittee is in trouble, beset by objections from an unlikely group of allies -- including Florida's largest utility, according to Bloomberg News.

"The alliance is running into resistance from an unlikely collection of environmental activists, big oil and coal companies, labor unions and Congress's sole socialist," reports Bloomberg News. "Some opponents say the measure doesn't go far enough; others say complying with it would cost too much and put U.S. businesses at a competitive disadvantage.                    The fight threatens to scuttle the first legislation mandating emissions cuts to be approved by a congressional subcommittee."

And what's Florida Power & LIght's objection? " FPL Group Inc., Florida's biggest utility owner and one of the nation's biggest investors in wind power, says the measure awards too many free allowances to the largest polluters," Bloomberg reports. "Juno Beach, Florida-based FPL has asked that any legislation also give it credit for its investments in non-polluting energy production."

To read the full story, click here.

--Craig Pittman

Genetically modified trees could boost cellulosic ethanol production

Scientists are working on ways to get ethanol from the cellulose in trees. (see previous posts on Range Fuels) But the energy required to break down the lignin (the chemical that makes trees stand up straight) in trees in order to get at the cellulose makes it uneconomic. So, what if you could genetically modify a tree to reduce its lignin content?

That's what scientists are looking at. But just as with GM crops, GM trees raises concerns in some sectors about the potential effect on the environment.

Click here to read more about this technology today in The New York Times, Science Times pages.

- David Adams

Florida Energy Commission sets targets for emissions reduction

The Florida Energy Commission has brought out its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The plan cast aside some warnings that Governor Crist's targets would devastate the Florida economy. It sets a target of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2050. Of course, the big question now is how? Many ideas are floating around from education the consumers to save energy, to increased incentives for production of renewable energy, and taxing emissions from cars.

Click here for more news.

- David Adams

Biofuels in the Americas Conference at FIU in January

Florida International University (FIU) is organizing a 'Biofuels in the Americas' conference in January to promote the concept that oil-importing countries can make huge economic savings by switching to locally-produced biofuels.

"Energy security and sustainability in the Americas can and should be pursued by developing a portfolio of biofuels to supplement traditional fuel supplies," organizers say.

The conference objective is to serve as a forum for Western Hemisphere energy stakeholders to discuss the status of biofuels technology development; how to overcome the challenges to commercialization; the potential for regional technology transfer; and how hemispheric collaboration can help the Americas collectively secure its energy future.

Click here for conference details and registration.

- David Adams

The UN's climate change conclusions.

The United Nations has issued it's final policy guide for global warming. Soon the talks will begin on creating a global climate change treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expired in 2012.

Click here to read UN Sec Gen Ban Ki-Moon's challenge to the US and China.

Click here to read the analysis of Andrew C Revkin, one of America's top environment writers, at Dot Earth.

- David Adams

Emissions and the court. The California case.

The courts are pushing Congress and the White House to take action on global warming and auto emissions.

Click here to read The New York Times editorial on the last court ruling in the California emissions test case.

- David Adams

The candidates and global warming. Where do the Democrats stand.

If energy and global warming are the issues that will define your presidential vote next year, there doesn't seem much to choose between the Democratic party candidates. This article looks at Clinton and Edwards. But Obama appears to have the most detailed ideas that I have seen so far.

Click here to look at the campaign and energy issues in more details on Politifact, The St Petersburg Times' political accuracy website.

- David Adams

Governors against global warming

Come Monday, the Governator will be back on your t.v. This time, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to terminate climate change. Okay, maybe the Terminator jokes are tired, but he does keep coming back. This time, he’s joined by fellow action heroes Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a fellow Republican, and Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana. The three appear in a new, national ad campaign from Environmental Defense. All three have taken action to curb greenhouse gas emissions in their state. But what about Congress? “Now it’s their turn,” Schwarzenegger says in the advertisement. It lacks the panache of “I’ll be back,” but it’s politically threatening all the same.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Cattle manure powered ethanol plant moving forward in Texas

Panda Ethanol is moving forward with its innovative 115 million gallon-per-year ethanol refinery in Muleshoe, Texas. The company just received an air permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Unlike other ethanol facilities which burn natural gas to generate the steam used in the ethanol manufacturing process, the Muleshoe facility will be engineered to gasify up to 1 billion pounds of cattle manure per year.

Panda’s Hereford facility, currently nearing completion (see photo), will be the largest biomass-fueled ethanol plant in the United States with one of the lowest carbon footprints of any similar-sized ethanol facility in the nation.

- David Adams

Hey! That's my coal!

So is it your fault that coal mines have made off with mountaintops? Now you can find out. A new tool unveiled Thursday by Appalachian Voices, an environmental group based in North Carolina, uses Google Earth to help consumers see if their coal came from mountaintop-removal coal mining.

Type in the 33602 zip code of the St. Petersburg Times Tampa office, and you get this message: "You are connected to mountaintop removal. Your electricity provider, Tampa Electric Co , purchases coal from companies that operate mountaintop removal mines -- Tell them to stop!"

According to the tool, Progress Energy is in the same boat. On a whim, I borrowed some zip codes from friends and family in New York, Baltimore, Massachusetts and California. No luck there, either.

It may be a depressing result, but it's hardly surprising. About half of the nation's electricity comes from coal. It's cheap, plentiful and reliable, although loaded with carbon and other pollutants.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Courts deal blow to fuel economy opponents

The courts dealt a blow today to automakers and opponents of fuel economy standards, the Associated Press reported.

The New York Times posted this from the Associated Press: "The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the standards, which were to go into effect next year, didn't properly assess the risk to the environment and failed to include heavier SUVs and trucks, among several other deficiencies the court found."

Read the whole story here.

The Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard, or CAFE standard as most people call it, currently has separate categories for cars and trucks. SUVs fall in the truck category, so they have to meet less stringent guidelines. Congress is still debating whether to make CAFE standards tougher, a policy many automakers oppose. Environmentalists would like to see the separate standard for trucks eliminated, to give automakers an incentive to improve the mileage of popular SUVs, or tilt their line-up toward lighter cars.

Of course, improving fuel economy isn't just up to car makers. It's also up to consumers. Read why here.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times Staff Writer

The debate over biofuels at the UN

The UN's environment agency chief has called on producers of biofuels to guarantee that their crops are grown in a sustainable way - and not on deforested land.

Achim Steiner of the UN Environment Programme (Unep) made his comments in response to criticism from a group of scientists who complained to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that its analysis of biofuels is not critical enough.

The IPCC is meeting this week in Valencia, Spain where its latest policy guide on climate change is due to be unveiled on Saturday.

Click here to read more from the BBC.

- David Adams

Another coal-to-gas plant canceled

Southern Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company, and the Orlando Utilities Commission pulled the plug Wednesday on their joint venture to build a 285 megawatt coal gasification plant slated for the Stanton Energy Center near Orlando. Uncertainty over carbon regulation prompted its withdrawal, said a release from the company.

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, know as IGCC, produces less smog and acid rain pollutants, but it produces just as much carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, as a traditional coal plant. Experts say that IGCC, which turns coal into a compressed gas before combustion, is the best platform for capturing carbon. But capturing the carbon and storing it, perhaps in saline aquifers deep underground, remains unproven in Florida.

Tampa Electric canceled its plans for a second IGCC plant at its Polk Power Station in October. If Gov. Charlie Crist or Congress puts a price on carbon, IGCC could become prohibitively expensive, utility executives worry.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Frito-Lay aims for zero carbon.

Two thumbs up for Frito-Lay's efforts to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions at its huge Arizona potato chip factory.

The company is planning to take the factory off the grid by 2010. It plans to build at least 50 acres of solar concentrators behind the plant to generate solar power. A biomass generator will burn agricultural waste to provide additional renewable fuel.

The company say the retrofit will reduce electricity and water consumption by 90 percent and its natural gas use by 80 percent. Greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by 50 percent to 75 percent.

Frito-Lay has already installed solar panels on its Arizona Service Center in Phoenix.

Click here to read today's front page story in The New York Times.

- David Adams

Maine company plans tide power

A company in Eastport, Maine plans to launch a pilot project to generate power from tides. Ocean Renewable Power Company said its $1-million pilot, scheduled to launch in early December, was three years in the making.

St. Petersburg scientists recently tested a different type of device to harness ocean power. Read about that here.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Closing the US biodiesel loophole

As I reported last month, US biodiesel is being dumped on the European market by traders hoping to cash in on a US tax credit.

It is now being reported that the EU is seeking to close this loophole. The current policy cheats U.S. taxpayers, say EU officials, since the credit was designed to help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Instead, the biodiesel is being sent to Europe.

Click here to read more.

- David Adams

Al Gore's latest venture is a capital one.

Al Gore is joining Silicon Valley venture capitalist firm, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers in to build a global energy business, according to Fortune magazine. Looks like that finally rules him out of a presidential bid.

Click here to tread more from Fortune.

- David Adams

Seville solar energy plant begins operating

The Solucar solar energy plant in southern Spain is now operational, providing 11 MG to the city of Seville, according to the Green Bloggers Digest.

Costing around 1.2 billion euros, the full plant project will be completed by 2013, when it will produce around 300MW – energy for around 180,000 homes, equivalent to the needs of the city of Seville. It will then prevent emissions of more than 600,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere per year over its 25-year life.

Click here to read more.

- David Adams

EU seeks to impose airline emissions quota

Transatlantic airfares could be going up. The European Union has voted to places limits on CO2 emissions by airlines, the region in the world to adopt such measures.
It's not clear how much this will expect aviation costs, due to uncertainty over prices in the new carbon trading market.
Aviation contributes about 1% of all CO2 emissions.

Click here for more.

- David Adams

Oil prices slipping. But how far?

Oil prices are receding due to expectations of falling consumption. But don't expect it to slide for long. Oil demand is still expected to grow 2.3% next year.

Click here for more on latest outlook from the International Energy Agency.

- David Adams

Ford chairman disappointed by speed of alternative fuel production

Ford chairman Bill Ford says alternative fuels are not developing fast enough.

Click here to read more about his speech at the University of Michigan.

- David Adams

GM breaking records in Brazil

On Monday I had the opportunity to visit the General Motors Sao Caetano do Sul assembly plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil to learn about the growth of their 'ethanol-ready' flex-fuel vehicles.

General Motors has been making cars in Brazil since 1925 (only 17 years after its launch in the US) and it is now the company's third-largest manufacturing operation after the US and China. (see photo from the main entrance) GM has 22,000 employees in three large plants in Brazil and has sold 490,000 cars there this year alone.

GM's operation in Brazil is also one of its more profitable, in part due to the huge success of the flex fuel technology. It's Latin America, Africa and Mid East region made a $340 million profit last year, compared to losses of $247 million in the US and $90 million in Europe.
After launching in 2003 GM now has converted all its models to flex-fuel. (For those still not familiar with the term, this means the car engine can run on gasoline or ethanol, or any blend of the two). Brazil now has 4 million FFV on the roads.

Car sales in Brazil are up 28% this year, a record which reflects consumer confidence in Brazil's economy. But GM says they expect sales will drop back to between 10-17% next year.

As I reported during my last visit to Brazil in 2005, the first FFV in Brazil was a Volkswagon 'Gol' launched in March 2003. But GM claims that it was the first company to launch an exclusive flex fuel line, the Corsa. (When VW launched its Gol, the flex-fuel capacity was only an option.)

Henrique Pereira, GM's manager of Product Engineering, explained that it took GM eight years to perfect the FFV technology, together with Bosch. He took us through what he called the 'flex architecture,' showing us how GM engineers developed a new electronic fuel measuring system to help the engine
calibrate itself to the blend of fuel in the tank. This process takes milli-seconds to read the blend and alter the working of the engine.
This also involved altering the fuel injector, the fuel pump and cylinder heads, as well as new spark plugs and special heat-resistant rubber engine seals.

Pereira is confidant about the future of the FFV. "It's here, and I think it's going to stay," he said. Last year GM ceased making gasoline only vehicles and has dedicated its entire production to FFVs. Pereira and his team are now working on improving the engine compression ratio to optimize fuel efficiency. The company is also trying to find a way to eliminate the 'cold start' gasoline tank, which current models still require. This will requite finding another way to heat the fuel before the engine starts.

Pereira says the Brazilian cars running on ethanol are great contributors to reducing CO2 emissions. Of course, that depends if you are running your car on Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol (far more efficient and lower overall emissions, including energy used in the cultivation and harvesting of the crop) than US corn-based ethanol.

"The challenge of expanding flex-fuel cars now is really all about distribution," he said.

Last week I interviewed Mary Beth Stanek, GM's director of Environment and Energy. She told a Florida trade mission to Brazil how GM plans to introduce new flex-fuel models in the US next year, as well as partnering with gas stations to increase the availability of ethanol-blended fuel in Florida.

She put it very well saying: "There's no reason to talk about chickens and eggs. We think   there's a lot of eggs and people are being a bit chicken."

GM's assembly line itself is a surprisingly clean, not overly hot or noisy place to work. The company's Sao Caetano do Sul plant turns out 42 cars an hour. (For those who don't know me, I'm the guy in the photo with the funky glasses)

(My thanks to Doreen Hemlock and Carey Wagner of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel for letting me tag along, and to GM's Renato Luti for giving us such a great tour.)

(click here for my article two years ago about the history of flex-fuel cars in Brazil)

- David Adams

Ethanol? Not in my backyard, say some in Corn Belt

The New York Times today reported on a new backlash against the ethanol industry, one that's stymied the opening of several new distilleries. The sentiment is summed up,the paper reports, by a T-shirt being worn by opponents of a new ethanol plant in Wisconsin: "Good idea. Bad location."

"For years, the arrival of an ethanol distillery in agricultural America was greeted mainly with delight, a ticket to the future in places plagued by economic uncertainty," the Times reports. "But in the nation’s middle, the engine of ethanol country, the glow is dimming. In Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and even Iowa, the nation’s largest corn and ethanol producer, this next-generation fuel finds itself facing the oldest of hurdles: opposition from residents who love the idea of an ethanol distillery so long as it is someplace else."

“There is a campaign of sorts that is seeking to slow and preferably to stop the growth of the ethanol industry,”  Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group based in Washington, told the Times. “We have to get through a barrage of mud pies to get our message out.”

To read the full story, click here.

--Craig Pittman

Green building code in Tampa. Council member takes on the challenge

A City Council member in Tampa got tired of waiting for the city staff to draw up a green green building code. So John Dingfelder is writing it himself. Way to go John.

Click here to tread more in The St Petersburg Times.

- David Adams

UN chief visits melting glaciers, calls for action

Nothing like a personal inspection to bring home what's really happening. With prehistoric Antarctic ice sheets melting beneath his feet this weekend, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a call for urgent political action to tackle global warming, according to the Reuters news service.

"I need a political answer. This is an emergency and for emergency situations we need emergency action," Ban said during a visit to three scientific bases on the barren continent, where temperatures are their highest in about 1,800 years, Reuters reported.

Reuters noted that, amid occasional snow flurries, the UN secretary general "flew over melting ice fields in a light plane, where vast chunks of ice the size of six-story buildings could be seen floating off the coast after breaking away from ice shelves.... '(Climate) change is progressing much faster than I had thought,' he said, calling on developed countries in particular to do more."

Meanwhile the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- the folks who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with ex-Vice President Al Gore -- began meeting in Valencia, Spain, today to work out a 20-page summary of the risks of global warming that is meant to guide governments.

The guide "aims to provide a compass for governments, legislators and other decision-makers on how to mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to a changing climate," the Times of India reports.

"This will be the report that everyone will turn to time and time again over the next five years to see what the science is telling us," said Hans Verolme, head of the Wolrd Wildlife Fund's Global Climate Change Program.

At the opening session,  the UN's top climate change expert, Yvo de Boer, said, "Failing to recognize the urgency of this message and acting on it would be nothing less than criminally irresponsible." 

For a short item about the meeting and the background of the IPCC, click here.

To read the Times of India report from the opening day of the IPCC meeting, click here. Or click here for a more in-depth story from the Associated Press on the same subject.

And for more from the Reuters report on the UN secretary general's visit to Antarctica, click here.

--Craig Pittman

Brazil's big oil find

Brazil's announcement of a huge new offshore oil discovery sent shares in the state oil company, Petrobras soaring on Thursday.

The company says the deep-sea Tupi field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro could add 5-8 billion barrels of oil to its current reserves - equivalent to 40 per cent of all the oil ever discovered in Brazil! This could move Brazil up to 8th place in the ranking of global oil reserves. It could also make Brazil a major oil exporter, but it is too soon to expect that to have an impact on current oil prices.

Click here for more news from the Associated Press.

- David Adams