Green Notes

Will Google remake the national grid?

There's a fascinating article in the current issue of Portfolio about how Google, in partnership with GE, plans to reform the nation's electrical grid:

Google’s goal in energy is twofold: First, it wants to make your home energy-smart, so that appliances know when to power up and power down, and heating and cooling systems respond automatically to changes in the price of energy. The company views this as essentially a software problem, akin to making sense of the torrent of information on the Web. But before Google can transform your home, it’s pushing for a revolution in the way energy is produced.

And further on:

The world as envisioned by Google includes a vast computer network that monitors and controls the nation’s electricity grid and sets price s for power based on real-time supply and demand. For example, the system could, on a particularly hot afternoon, send a signal to millions of utility customers warning that power prices are soaring. The information could be fed directly into an energy-management system linked wirelessly to people’s air conditioners and appliances, and their Jacuzzis, garden lights, and electric cars. After being programmed, the system would automatically shut down designated devices if prices hit preset levels, just as program trading automatically buys and sells stocks. For those without automatic systems, it would take just a few keystrokes from a computer at the office to power down selected machines at home and avoid being walloped by the price spike.

The grid itself would work in similar ways. If it faced shortages, it could send out a signal offering to buy back power stored in people’s electric car batteries for a healthy premium above what the same electrons cost just 15 hours earlier. Those interested would click accept on their computer screens. The network would locate their vehicles and automatically activate decharging. Eventually, demand and prices would drop, triggering dishwashers and clothes dryers to switch on. Electric cars would resume charging.

The single biggest problem holding the upgrading of the national grid is the one we're all familiar with: It's too expensive.

But then came the stimulus bill and President Obama's commitment to renewable energy. This is a unique opportunity to take a great leap forward.

Read the rest of the story here.

Fl. boaters can sue Big Oil over ethanol

I got this press release yesterday:

Ft. Lauderdale, FL-- Exxon, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, BP and Shell, all defendants in a proposed Florida class action lawsuit, were dealt a huge blow yesterday when a Federal Court in the Southern District of Florida issued an order denying their joint motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three Florida residents, Erick Kelesceny, John Egizi and Todd Jessup.  The Plaintiffs allege that the world’s largest oil companies failed to warn them, as well as all Florida boat owners, that the gasoline they purchase at the pump, which is blended with ethanol, may destroy fiberglass tanks and tends to absorb water and phase separate, which could cause damage to all boats, regardless of whether they have a fiberglass tank. 

The lawsuit was filed by consumer protection lawyers, Jeffrey Ostrow, David Ferguson and Jonathan Streisfeld of The Kopelowitz Ostrow Firm, P.A. (TKO), a litigation firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  The oil companies argued that the proposed class action lawsuit is preempted by federal and Florida law. By denying the motion to dismiss, the Court has allowed the Plaintiffs to proceed with their lawsuit. 

The basis for the Court’s ruling is that federal law encourages, but does not require, the use of renewable fuels such as ethanol, while Florida does not require it be used by boat owners.  If successful, the oil companies will be forced to place a warning label on all pumps at all gas stations in Florida, notifying the boating public that usage of gasoline blended with ethanol may be hazardous to their boats. 

Further, the Plaintiffs seek compensation for all Florida boat owners who have been damaged as a result of the oil companies’ failure to warn of the destructive tendencies of fuel blended with ethanol when used in boats.  Boat owners have been forced to spend thousands to tens of thousands of dollars to repair their boats. 

If you need more info, contact TKO in Fort Lauderdale.

Avoiding toxic household cleaners

If you want to avoid potentially harmful chemicals in household cleaning products, Women's Voices for the Earth tells you how to make your own. The recipes use everyday products that have been used forever and their dangers, such as they are, are well known.

WVE, a national nonprofit, has just released a report card that grades five leading cleaning product manufacturers (Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Sunshine Makers, Inc./Simple Green and The Clorox Company) on toxic chemical and consumer right-to-know issues.

Extracts from the press release:

The companies were graded on several subjects, including toxic chemicals in products, responsiveness to consumer concerns, their toxic chemicals screening process and how well companies inform consumers of ingredients contained in their products. All companies were given an opportunity to review their grades and provide feedback prior to the release of the report card.

The U.S. does not require household cleaning product companies to disclose all ingredients on their labels, and currently none of the five companies WVE reviewed include this information on all of their cleaning products. Sunshine Makers, Inc./Simple Green and The Clorox Company label ingredients on their “green” line of products but do not include complete ingredient lists on their more extensive, “traditional” product lines.

Procter & Gamble received an F for having the most toxic chemicals in products.
Simple Green received an F for lack of responsiveness to consumer concerns.
The Clorox Company received an F for poor ingredient disclosure.

Details are on the website, but in Clorox's defense, I like its new GreenWorks line of products - and they have the Sierra Club's backing.

Green cleaning

A while back, I tried Seventh Generation's dishwasher detergent and, I have to say, was not overly impressed. While the dishes were clean, the coffee stains remained in the mugs and needed scrubbing to remove them. Perhaps dishwasher detergents need bleach to kill the stains.

I'm trying Method's dish detergent and Green Works all purpose cleaner, both seem to work very well - except for Method's irritatingly difficult cap, but I'm leery of trying another dishwasher detergent.

Grist is now testing household products, in an admittedly unscientific way, but it's a good place to start if you want to try some yourself. Please let me know if you've found any good, green cleaning products out there.

Miami's green bus shelters

I have no problem with anyone making money (responsibly) out of being green.

I'm not a great fan of advertising, but given our society, there's no getting away from it. When the two are combined, I'm not sure what to make of it.

I got an email from a New York PR firm about its client, Fuel Outdoor Holdings and its subsidiary, Fuel Miami, which is donating 600 bus shelters, with solar powered lighting for the advertising display, to the City of Miami.

On the whole, I think I like the whole idea, especially since no taxpayer money is involved. And I think the designs are pleasing.

Thoughts?

Plastic bags, again

Before moving to the U.S. in '86, I shopped at Sainsbury's, one of the U.K.'s leading supermarket chains. When it introduced plastic bags, it charged for them. It seemed outrageous at the time, but not so now. If banning doesn't work, how about making us pay for them?

See why plastic bags are so dangerous to the environment here.

CocoWalk doesn't want cyclists

It seems that the management of CocoWalk doesn't want those pesky cyclists cluttering up its space.

Avoid CocoWalk if you are riding your bike there or it may not be there when you return. It seems that you can't "go green" when going to CocoWalk. They do not encourage bike riders and apparently do not want them as shoppers.

Here is a letter to CocoWalk sent from an irate mother, and below is the response from CocoWalk manager Rick Torres.

More

Paper vs. plastic bags

Los Angeles banned plastic bags and the industry fights back, with some surprisingly good points.

It seems to me that much of the problem - paper or plastic - would be reduced if we simply reused the bags.

Green rural jobs

Here's an encouraging story from the Worldwatch Institute on the growth of jobs from the green economy in rural parts of the U.S.:

As wind energy continues to expand across the U.S. heartland, rural America is likely to experience a revitalization not experienced since the homestead land grabs of the 19th century. Green jobs - high-quality employment for environmentally sustainable industries - and related spin-off opportunities are proliferating across West Texas. Local leaders predict that the economic growth has only just begun.

Read the entire story...

Beware the greenwash!

This post by Joel Makower, editor of GreenBiz.com, examines the green frenzy in public relations:

You wouldn’t think that the world of green business would need much more publicity, given the steady drumbeat of media stories, blogs, websites, TV shows, billboards, events, and other shout-outs plugging green companies, products, and services.

But get ready for more. The world of public relations has discovered green with a vengeance, and the big global firms seem locked, loaded, and ready to ratchet up their drum beating. Nearly all the major PR firms have set up practices focusing on sustainability and corporate responsibility ....

... The greening of P.R. reflects a newfound reality: It’s now safe, or at least safer, for companies to tell their green stories.

More ...

You've only got to see Exxon Mobil's new campaign aimed at convincing the world that it's taken the well-being of the environment to heart (belied by the board's defeat of the pro-environment Rockefellers at the annual shareholder meeting in May) to get the idea.

Still, the post cites a 2007 Ipsos study that suggests most consumers are well aware that greenwash is a marketing tactic. We must stay tuned to learn how marketers intend to counter that.