Reports, books, initiatives, conferences (past or to come), new products and other pieces of information I have read or know about and worth sharing:

Green Chemistry: 2008 Report by the University of California

State of Green Business 2008

Microbes in you engine

Bad germs killer plants

Meet the 2007 California CleanTech Winners

The Fire Retardant Dilemma

Wanna trade some CO2?

Sad sad news

I Love Swedish Trucks

Green Chemistry: 2008 Report by the University of California (report)
A must read. The UCs (Berkeley, Davis, SF, Irvine, LA) published an excellent report addressing the flaws of industrial chemicals regulation in California that has contributed to create an unmeasurable health and safety risk. The UCs present a comprehensive approach to developing and implementing chemicals policy that reduce or eliminate the toxic uncertainty a chemical formulation might have on the environment and people throughout its life cycle. It provides a framework for green chemistry that could offer California a competitive edge in the near future.

State of Green Business 2008 (report)

From Joel Makower and the editors of GreenBiz.com comes the State of Green Business 2008. Should read 2007 as it revisits what has been achieved to tackle the issues of climate change, toxics reduction, water conservation and resource efficiency in the last year. Over 1,000 pieces of news such as China and its recalls are on the menu, as is Target’s decision to phase out PVC from its plastic bags, household and children’s products, Wal-Mart sustainability initiatives, the e-waste issue. But the real plus of this report is to provide us with indicators that help us follow the environmental performance of corporations. You can download directly (and for free) at greenbiz.com.

Microbes in you engine (article)

Bob Drummond looks at the latest development in synthetic biology to produce an environmentally-friendly fuel and the challenges this field is facing to convince investors, environmentalists and the public of the benefits of engineered microorganisms. One of the toughest challenges these labs are facing will be to anticipate the behavior of these genetically engineered microbes in the real world. From Bloomberg.com

Bad germs killer plants (new products)

San Francisco-based CleanWell Company has launched a new antibacterial hand soap that harvests the immune system of plants into a patented formula called Ingenium. Ingenium is the environmentally and people friendly alternative to Triclosan. The company has innovated in 2007 with CleanWell Hand Sanitizer, a product moms and schools should enjoy: no-alcohol, no toxic chemicals, safe for kids.

Meet the 2007 California CleanTech Winners (event)

The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco is hosting on 2/21 an event gathering the winners of the Second Annual California Clean Tech Open 2007. Interesting to learn how these companies have performed in the market place since last year.

The Fire Retardant Dilemma (event)

The Fire Retardant Dilemma is “How can we achieve fire and environmental safety as well as protect public health?” This seminar series brings together contributors from industry, government, academia, and citizen groups to share information and research results on the impacts of new fire retardant technologies, materials, and policies and discuss solutions to the fire retardant dilemma. Join the Initiative for Green Science and Policy will be holding its 4th symposium on the topic on May 2nd, 2008, in Berkeley.

Wanna trade some CO2? (event)

That should be an interesting one (at least for me) as I still have problems understanding how we can trade what we have already released in the atmosphere. A conference and a trade sho, that is the Carbon Forum America, February 26-27 in San Francisco, CA (how come these guys get all the green stuff?).

Sad sad news (news)

The “Louis-Saint-Laurent”, a Canadian heavy Arctic icebreaker has done what was still unthinkable just a few years ago. The ship usually opens the International Northern Sea Route in July and makes a last trip through the forming ice in October. From October 11th to 19th the Louis-Saint-Laurent went through its normal route without cracking ice. It is only at the very end of her trip that she “got some ice”. That was at Resolute Bay. This event could signify the opening of a new route, further north. Cargo ships owners might also be tempted to take that route further into the months of October and November to save about 40% of the time and the fuel it would take to go through the Panama Canal. With the current regulations which have failed to avoid environmental catastrophes in pretty much every part of the world, an accident could have an environmental impact like never seen before.

I Love Swedish Trucks (news)

Swedish truck manufactures Volvo and Scania are not only building the cleanest (or least polluting) trucks on the planet (20% less CO2 emmission than the closest competitors) but they are also building the cleanest plants: renewable energy, water-bases paint and increased proportion of recyclable components. Scania also offers training assistance to truck drivers to help them improve their driving skills, increasijng mileage efficiency by 10 to 15%.

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