Green Education Prospectus
Green Job Growth
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, based on the National Establishment Time Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the States and Collaborative Economics.
Green Job Distribution
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, based on the National Establishment Time Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the States and Collaborative Economics.
Tag Archives: carbon emissions
US Voters Warm Up to Renewable Energy
It’s election season once again. One of the most important times of the year, where we get to decide the direction that our country is moving in. It looks like elections this year will hold good news for renewable energy. In a recent poll of voters conducted by Public Policy Polling for the NRDC Action Fund it was found that the majority of voters were in support of an energy bill with strong ties to renewable sources. The poll was conducted in 23 congressional districts and concluded that at least 52% of voters in these districts would be more inclined to support a candidate whose platform included energy policy that would cut pollution and reduce the effects of climate change.
This is good news for the booming renewable energy sector. Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has already gotten the ball rolling by supporting renewable energy projects in the United States. Continued legislation in favor of renewables will only further cement the progress that has been made in the past 3 years. Continue reading
Posted in Green, Green Government, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Sustainable Living, Wind Energy
Tagged american recovery and reinvestment act, carbon dioxide emissions, carbon emissions, clean energy, clean energy jobs, eco friendly, energy, energy conservation, environment, green, green collar jobs, green government, recovery act, renewable energy, solar energy, solar panels, solar power, wind energy, wind turbines
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Cars Are Getting Cleaner, Faster
Taking a deep breath nowadays might just be a little bit healthier than it was just a few short years ago. It’s common knowledge that cars and transportation are a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and other airborne pollutants. However, according to recent figures new cars today are cleaner than ever before. Of course most consumers expect that cars will get cleaner as time goes on; as part of the natural progression of technology and the demands of continuing legislation regulating vehicle emissions. What might come as a surprise is how quickly the change is happening.
Of course progress is most noticeable among the cleanest of the herd. Average carbon emission figures for the cleanest cars dropped by 21 per cent over the last four years. According to consumer information website Green-Car-Guide.com, cars in the low-emission group emitted an average of 102.8 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven for the 2010 model year (CO2 is considered to be the primary contributor to global warming). In 2006 the same group recorded an average emission of 131.1 g/km. The difference of28.3 g/km represents the 21 per cent drop.
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Posted in Car, Energy Efficiency, Green, Sustainable Living
Tagged alternative fuel vehicles, alternative fuels, carbon dioxide emissions, carbon emissions, cars, clean cars, clean diesel, eco friendly, electric cars, energy efficiency, environment, fuel efficiency, global warming, green, green cars, green economy, green environment, green living, hybrid cars, sustainability, sustainable living, suv
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5 More Green Living and Eco Friendly Apps for Iphone and Android
These days our phones are so much more than just simple communication devices. The Apple [Nasdaq: APPL] iPhone and Google [Nasdaq: GOOG] Android platforms are revolutionary. They are our lifelines, and they also provide us with help on things that many people would never imagine a phone can do. With that in mind, here are 5 more green related apps that Eco Institution found when researching our last article.
Carbon Tracker – The Carbon Tracker app is a GPS-enabled program that helps users to actually calculate and account for their carbon footprint from daily commuting, business trips and vacations. The cool thing is that you can actually set goals for maximum emissions per month and then check up on your progress. It can also be networked for use by more than one person for businesses and universities. Continue reading
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Sustainable Living, green education
Tagged android, apple, carbon dioxide emissions, carbon emissions, eco friendly, energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency, environment, Google Inc, green, green environment, green living, iphone, iphone 4, smart phones, sustainability, sustainable living
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Green Automaker Standings Announced for 2010
As the concern over global warming and its connection to vehicle emissions has increased over the past few years, alternative fuel vehicles and other green automobiles are now becoming more popular. Cars have been singled out as one of the major contributors to air pollution, so to minimize the effects that cars have on the environment different car manufacturers have made varying versions of their own green autos. This year the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) awarded Honda Motor Co. [NYSE: HMC] as the “Greenest Automaker” for the fifth consecutive year for its effort to reduce carbon emissions.
Toyota and Hyundai were tied at second place. Honda beat them by only one point. Toyota almost made it to the top this year but lacked effort in reducing carbon emissions. Hyundai’s fleet showed considerable improvements in fuel efficiency which put it in a contender spot. In order to determine the rankings, the top eight car manufacturers’ average per-mile smog pollution and global warming emissions of its vehicle fleet were studied. The top eight car manufacturers are Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Continue reading
Corporations Moving Toward the Use of 100% Renewable Energy
The use of renewable energy has passed a critical threshold with companies aiming toward making the transition to the use of 100% renewable energy. Environmentalists, ecosystem advocacy groups and the blossoming wind and solar industries are on board pushing for the exclusive use of renewable energy wherever possible.
From a technical standpoint it is seen as being a realistic goal through the use of the Cradle to Cradle principle. The Cradle to Cradle principal entails the use of 100% renewable energy while maximizing an organization’s environmental, social and economic impacts. Cradle to Cradle is a holistic, economic, industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not just efficient but fundamentally waste free. It moves beyond traditional sustainability goals of only reducing negative impacts to instead creating a wholly positive or beneficial mark on the planet.
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Posted in Green, Green Government, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Sustainable Living, Wind Energy, green education
Tagged carbon dioxide emissions, carbon emissions, clean energy, cradle to cradle principle, eco friendly, electricity, energy conservation, energy efficiency, environment, renewable energy, renewable energy companies, steelcase, wind energy
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“Carboholics” (Carbon-Loving) US & China are Unlikely Marriage for Energy Efficiency Project
The saying “two heads are better than one” comes to mind when trying to work through a particularly difficult crossword puzzle; but how universal is this old adage? Are say, two countries better than one? Our leadership seems to be hedging their bets towards the conclusion that this is in fact the case. In line with this spirit of collaboration comes the latest in a series of interesting (and sometimes unlikely) pairings in the environmental research and development field. Berkeley Lab has been chosen to lead a cooperative US-China project called the Clean Energy Resource Center (CERC).
The project was conceived in 2009, beginning with a meeting between United States President Barack Obama and President Hun Jintao of China. The meeting was held in Beijing to establish a basis for the cooperative effort, which will work to develop efficient energy-saving buildings and cost-effective / waste reducing construction processes in the next five years. It is a dubious mating for the more cynical among us, especially considering the United States’ seemingly uncontrollable construction fetish (for wastefully assembled “throwaway buildings” which are simply replaced every 10 or 15 years or whenever they go out of style) and China’s love for all things carbon (if you recall the vicious smog that threatened the health of Olympic Athletes during the Beijing Summer Games and the mysterious “air scrubbers” that the Chinese government was supposedly using to keep the rampant pollution under control). Continue reading
Posted in Green, Green Government, Sustainable Living
Tagged berkely lab, california, carbon dioxide emissions, carbon emissions, china, clean energy resource center, eco friendly, electricity, energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency, environment, hun jintao, obama, sustainability
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Top 5 Green Apps for iPhone and Android
These days our phones are so much more than just simple communication devices. They are our lifelines, and they also provide us with help on things that many people would never imagine a phone can do. Like going green; your smartphone can do just that. Dozens of applications have been created that can help you with going green at home and elsewhere. Here are a sampling of a few of Eco Institution’s favorite green apps and their uses.
Carbon Meter – The carbon meter by ViralMesh helps you track and log your eco-friendly activities like walking or biking instead of driving as well as the amount of Co2 emissions you save because of it. The savings are deposited in the program’s EcoBank so that you can keep track. There are also specials or discounts available from ViralMesh’s green partners as your carbon savings stack up. Continue reading
Posted in Car, Green
Tagged android, carbon emissions, eco friendly, energy conservation, energy efficiency, environment, green, green living, htc, iphone, smartphone, sustainability, sustainable living
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Flying on Greener Skies
Air travel was once a point of contention in green circles. The possible consequences of emitting toxic and greenhouse gasses at high altitudes are not fully understood, and are very difficult to measure. However, in response to the concern several airlines have demonstrated sterling social responsibility by putting measures in place to reduce carbon emissions before official regulation came into play.
British Airways [NYSE: BAY] was the first airline to initiate a voluntary carbon offset scheme, which it introduced in 2005 amid rising concern about aviation pollution. BA’s “Carbon Offset Scheme” is available to passengers during the booking process. It is an entirely voluntary program letting passengers make donations to offset the share of the carbon dioxide that their flight generates. BA calculates the carbon emission through a CO2 emission calculator that generates an estimate of the carbon produced during the journey. Money raised helps to fund hydro-electric power plants and wind farm projects around the world. In addition, BA also voluntarily reassessed their carbon footprint in 2008 by applying the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Standard and their calculations now include direct and indirect emissions, such as those from their suppliers.
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Epicor and Village Green Global Partnered for Green IT Sustainability
More and more companies are getting involved in the “greening” of the IT industry. A great example of this is the Computer Savers Computing Initiative’s (CSCI) coordinated efforts in slashing a total of 32 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions generated as a result of computer use over the last three years. This has fueled them in expanding their focus to include commercial and networking systems and devices like routers, switches, cables, WLAN, security and access devices.
Next in line for the “green IT” prize is Epicor Software Corporation [NasdaqGS: EPIC] and Village Green Global, Inc. after announcing their strategic partnership that will extend the abilities of Epicor’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite in the area of sustainability. The venture will assist companies to analyze, identify, track, audit, manage, and report on carbon emissions, environmental impact and energy consumption. Founded in 1984, Epicor Software is a worldwide leader delivering business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality and services industries. It provides enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise retail software solutions that permit companies to drive increased efficiency and improve profitability.
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Ford Wins Top Honors with Eco-Conscious Designs
Ford Motor Company [NYSE: F] has managed to rise from the ashes of the automotive crisis stronger than ever, snagging the prestigious awards in two distinct market sectors for their Fusion™ passenger sedan and Transit Connect™ commercial vehicle. A panel of 49 automotive journalists at the Detroit Auto Show named the vehicles North American Car and Truck of the year, respectively. It represents a huge stride for a domestic automaker to sweep the awards in this fashion, especially in an era of bailouts and struggling sales (although it should be noted that Ford is the only American Car Manufacturer who didn’t require bailout money during the financial crisis).
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