Back in April we talked about Dell and it’s eco-ambitions; both with products and operations. We talked about their eco-products here and Dell’s eco-operations here. We mentioned that Dell’s Chief Executive, Michael Dell, previewed a desktop PC at the Fortune Brainstorm: Green conference in Los Angeles on Earth Day that would be 81% smaller and use 70% less energy than current minitower Dell desktops. On top of that - the packaging will be recycled. Though Dell doesn’t have a name for the new eco-friendly desktop, Dell plans to make the more eco-friendly computer available by the end of the year. Dell anticipates that the “ecoputer” will retail in the $500-$700 range.
According to the EPA, small business employs more than half of all U.S. workers and is responsible for the majority of new eco-friendly technologies developed in the country. That may explain why the EPA has become a quasi venture capitalist firm in recent years providing funding to the best eco-friendly innovations emerging from small businesses. As reported in a recent GreenBiz article, the EPA will award $1.75 million to 25 small business on the forefront of eco-friendly technologies.
According to George Gray, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development; “There are huge new opportunities for profits in the booming green technology business sector.”
The Small Business Innovation Research program is designed to support the development of nanotechnology, pollution prevention, biodiesels, solid and hazardous waste, air pollution control and homeland security, in particular.
One previous winner, Edenspace Systems, produced a plant that could remove arsenic from the soil and was used by the Army to clean parts of Spring Valley, Washington D.C. This year’s winners will receive an initial $70,000 to produce a proof of their concept and then they may apply for a second phase to begin commercializing the product. The EPA is accepting submissions for next year’s contest until May 21 of 2009.
Just under a month ago we talked about the much discussed blackle.com and finally found some answers to questions about the “greenness” of a black screen. So if your still getting over blackle.com here’s a new green search engine to get you out of your rut. Green Maven, another Google Custom Search, will find matches for your search from only “green” sites. Essentially, when you type in your search term, you will get results from the green web, not the entire web.
As well as being a green search engine, Green Maven, also has some great news information and lots of links on the side of their page to some neat eco-friendly organizations. It was while I was on Green Maven that I read about an eco-friendly flying saucer. And here’s a hearty shout out to Green Maven for featuring Sattler Clothing on it’s webpage! 
Eco-Friendly & Fair Labor Clothing
http://www.sattlerclothing.com
Michigan and Arkansas.
According to an article in the LA Times, Wal-Mart is looking to green up its operations.
Last fall Arkansas-based retailer Wal-Mart (heard of them?) teamed up with Michigan based Cleantech Group. As a result of that contract Cleantech will begin taking suggestions for Wal-Mart on how the mammoth retailer can make its operations more sustainable. Cleantech Group, a small, private company, helps 1,300 big-pockets investors connect with inventors of sustainable technologies and, since its inception in 2002, has facilitated over $1.1 billion in investments.
According to Rand Waddoups, Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Director, “The number of innovators and well-funded ideas is growing so rapidly that we can’t keep up with it. We’re looking for something that’s got potential, even if it’s not here today. We want to be able to implement this as quickly as possible because we’ve set some pretty lofty goals, and those savings translate into savings for our customers.”
Got any good ideas?
Sustainable Life Media Interview with Rand Waddoup
Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcgutierrez/145814234/
Amazing new product of the week
Now this is cool. Wendy Chua, 21, and Gabriel Tan, 23, have developed an eco-friendly, waterless washing machine. Both are students at the National University of Singapore and said they were inspired by the technology in air purifiers which uses negative ions (natural cleaning agents) to clump dirt and bacteria and then suck it out. The sleek, compact design is modeled after a waterfall, a natural generator of the negative ions. The Straits Times quoted Chua as saying that “It’s not meant to replace the traditional washing machine, but it’s more a hybrid of the washing machine and the dry cleaner.”
Read Article
Read the Gadget Blog article
Enrico Borgarello is head of Research and Development at Italcementi, has developed a cement that can ‘eat’ pollution. The way it works is a substance called TX Active is added to the cement so that “When light sines on TX, the material becomes active and neutralizes surrounding pollutants.” After 10 years and $10 million dollars spent developing the product, Italcementi test results indicate that TX can reduce local air pollutants from 20% to 70%, depending on sunlight levels and wind. Borgarello estimates that if you could cover 15% of a concrete jungle like Milan and you would cut pollution in half. The company is eyeing developing countries like India and China where annual cement demand in China is expected to rise above 1 billion tons this year. The first building to use the cement was the 2003 Dives in Misericordia church in Rome by architect Richard Meier.
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According to an article posted on GreenBiz.com, NRG and Powerspan plan on building the country’s first commercial scale carbon dioxide capture facility in Texas. The plant is designed to capture 90% of the CO2 emitted from the coal-fired power plant capturing some 1 million tons of CO2 each year. The move was intended to preempt anticipated legislation curbing greenhouse gas emissions. This would make that plant the most eco-friendly power plant in the U.S. and hopefully not the last to incorporate a carbon dioxide capture facility. Read the article
Next month (October) UK mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse is set to launch a mobile phone charger that stops consuming power the minute the phone is fully charges rather than staying connected and continuing to pull electricity from the socket. According to the company, 95% of energy used by all mobile phone chargers is wasted. The new charger could save consumers millions and cut CO2 emissions by 250,000 tonnes – the same amount of energy it takes to heat 54,000 homes for an entire year.
Of the 800 certified LEED projects to date only 50 are retail but Best Buy is trying to change that. In its annual sustainability report released in June of this year Best Buy stated that beginning mid-2008 the company intends to build only eco-friendly stores certified by the USGBC through LEED. (LEED = Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - a program that gets the nod from many eco-activists for its tough standards and inspections that is administered by the USGBC) Since mid-2006 20 retailers including Best Buy, Starbucks, Target, Lowe’s and others have been working with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to create a new bulk certification program. The new program would allow chain stores to get prototype buildings of the chain certified rather than each individual location. The USGBC could then conduct random surprise visits to test the quality controls and energy efficiency of each location. In addition to getting LEED certified Best Buy plans to increase use of reusable containers by 30%, retrofit 20% of its 650 stores with dimmable, zonable ceramic metal halide lights, and recycle 75,000 tons of cardboard,1,800 tons of plastic, 15,000 tons of consumer electronics and 27,500 tons of appliances before the end of the fiscal year.
A good year for Best Buy that also wrapped up a consumer electronics recycling grant program earlier this year. Sharp launched their own similar program that will recycle your old television for free with the online purchase of a new LCD TV no smaller than 37 inches and no smaller than the size of the screen to be recycled. Want to see your office or building go green? Get LEED certified.
