THE GALLON ENVIRONMENT LETTER
Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment
Fisherville, Ontario, Canada
Tel. 416 410-0432, Fax: 416 362-5231
Editorial: editor@gallonletter.ca
Subscriptions: subscriptions@gallonletter.ca
Vol. 12, No. 5, May 28, 2007
Honoured Reader Edition
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This is the honoured reader edition of the Gallon Environment Letter and is distributed at no charge: send a note with Add GL or Delete GL in the subject line to subscriptions@gallonletter.ca. Paid subscribers receive a more complete edition without subscription reminders and with extensive links to further information following almost every article.Organizational subscribers also receive the monthly Sustainable Technology & Services Supplement. If you would like to subscribe please visit http://www.cialgroup.com/subscription. Individual subscriptions are only $30 including GST. Organizational subscriptions are $184 plus GST and provide additional benefits detailed on the web site. If you feel you should be receiving the paid subscriber edition or have other subscriber questions please contact us also at subscriptions@gallonletter.ca. This current free edition is posted on the web site about a week or so after its issue at http://www.cialgroup.com/galloncurrent.htm. Back free editions from January 2007 are available at http://www.cialgroup.com/whatsnew.htm
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ABOUT THIS ISSUE
Our 2006 EcoCouncillor Awards (yes, there are two this year) will be announced at a reception in Calgary on Saturday afternoon, June 2. All readers of Gallon Environment Letter in the Calgary area are invited to attend - see below for details.
Our theme this issue is the environment content of current magazines. From March through May we have seen many environmental articles in Canadian magazines. We bring you some of the highlights.
Ethanol is touted by governments on both sides of the Canada-US border as a green fuel, but some of the citizens in towns chosen for ethanol plants disagree. We bring you a summary of some of the opposition to ethanol plant siting and ask the question: Would you want an ethanol plant in your neighbourhood?
Sir Nicholas Stern recently visited Canada and received generally favourable media coverage regarding his analysis of the consequences of inaction on climate change. In our editorial, GL asks Where Is Canada's Nicholas Stern? We look at what used to be the manure management conference and at the upcoming EECO. Last issue we started our favorite ecobooks section and this issue we share one of the first book reviews we have received. In response to a comment from a reader about the role of warranties in extended producer responsibility, we reviewed the issue and found at least a partial solution, in Singapore.
If you have environmental knowledge, experience and enthusiasm then maybe the David Suzuki Foundation has a job for you. See this almost one-of-a-kind job posting in this issue. We regret we have to bring you two obituaries, each important in their own way and one of pecial importance to many in the environmental movement. A charity known by the acronym LUTW is helping to conserve mountain gorillas and to provide health care to villagers in remote areas. We explain how and why.
Organizational subscribers receive in this issue the Sustainable Technologies & Services Supplement with more articles and additional content.
In the next issue we plan to provide an update on international and national water issues, an area that is still of vital importance but that may not be getting its share of attention as Canada spends so much of its time debating climate change and air quality problems. Enjoy this issue and remember to keep those Letters to the Editor coming. We hope to see you in Calgary.
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ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2006 ECOCOUNCILLOR AWARDS CEREMONY
The Gallon Environment Letter will sponsor a reception to recognize elected municipal leadership in Environment and Sustainable Development from 4.00pm to 6.00pm on Saturday June 2nd, 2007, in the Alberta Room of the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, 133-9th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta.
At 4.40pm, former Alberta Environment Minister, The Honourable Ralph Klein, will present the Gallon Environment Letter 2006 EcoCouncillor Awards.
All Gallon Environment Letter readers who are in the Calgary area on Saturday June 2nd are invited and encouraged to attend the reception. RSVP is not necessary. If you are subscriber to the Gallon Environment Letter at either the organizational or individual rates, present a printed copy of the first page of this issue along with your email address to editor Colin Isaacs to receive a complimentary beverage ticket.
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WHERE IS CANADA'S NICHOLAS STERN?
As winter has turned into spring and now into summer it might appear that the Canadian policy discussion has moved from whether or not climate change is real to whether or not we can afford to do anything about it, at least in the short term. That shift could be good news were it not for the fact that the discussion is most often based on a false perspective of the national economy.
The Gross Domestic Product is the total market value of all goods and services produced in a given year. It neither determines the quality of those goods and services nor does it evaluate whether they are contributing to human well being or to human extinction. Provided a country has a significant domestic armaments and military supply industry, one of the best ways to quickly ramp up GDP is for a country to go to war. Fires, earthquakes, and floods are good for GDP because we pour large amounts of money into fixing the problems caused. Public sector debt is left as a problem for future generations.
Green economics seeks to incorporate environmental and social aspects into economic analyses. Goods and activities that destroy natural capital are recorded as negatives rather than as positives. So, in a green economic analysis, emission of greenhouse gases, manufacture of gas guzzling vehicles, and depletion of reserves of fossil fuels are seen as being among the many activities that are harmful to our economic well-being.
Our federal government views even its modest proposal to address climate change as a cost to Canada's economy. It views the Kyoto Protocol as potentially devastating to Canada's economy. The green economic perspective, that inaction on climate change will likely be devastating to Canada's economy and that the government's modest proposals will probably be enough to ensure that Canada's economy declines sufficiently that we no longer qualify for membership in the G8, gets essentially no mention even when Canadian economists who are tinged with green discuss the climate change issue. In Canada, only Sir Nicholas Stern, Britain's Chief Economist and a former chief economist of the World Bank, seems to be willing to discuss the horrendous downside of inaction on climate change. His voice needs to be echoed by many more Canadians.
Canada's manufacturing sector is already in serious decline especially in relation to well-paid jobs. Whether with cash grants or with abandonment of a government's responsibility to protect the commons, propping up stupid companies that are unable to plan for the path ahead is as foolish today as would be grants given to the Canadian mechanical typewriter industry when computers arrived on the scene [this is a metaphor, not a statement of fact, but see the reference below for additional insight into the concept.] Those among our industrial, labour, and government leaders who refuse to chart a path that gets Canada off a carbon intensive economy in as short a period of time as possible are contributing far more to the potential for economic collapse than those who are pushing for continued efforts to meet our Kyoto Protocol target.
Unless we start laying the groundwork for a green economy within a very few years, today's youngsters can look forward to Canada in which jobs are scarce and living conditions pretty poor for the overwhelming majority of the population. Nicholas Stern has told us: a country cannot keep drawing down its natural capital, as Canada is currently doing, without experiencing an economic crisis of very major proportions.
The National Round Table on the Environment and Economy NRTEE and many universities have published the studies that show the need for green economics. Now is the time for leaders to emerge from their ivory and other towers and, Pied-Piper-like, to show Canadians the way to a greener and more sustainable economy.
Colin Isaacs
Editor
Canada in the 21st Century. III. Responding to the Challenges. Morck, R. and Yeung, B. Industry Canada Research Publications Program. 1998. http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/pics/ra/10morc-e.pdf
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GREEN ISSUES OF MAGAZINES
The April and May editions of many North American consumer magazines indicated on their covers that they were green issues. We chose a few articles of interest among the many which were published. We have never seen so many magazines in one or two months that claimed to have green themes. We sometimes wonder how consumers are supposed to deal with good advice when faced by the plethora of ads urging purchase of more stuff but there were many good, and a few not so good, ideas.
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OUTSIDE MAGAZINE
Of the many we reviewed, Outside Magazine's The Green Issue (April) did an exceptional job of being both comprehensive as well as informative. Almost every section, including gear, travel ideas, and people (another cover with Arnold Schwarzenegger - see article below) focussed on environmental issues. Running taglines at the bottom of pages added even more e.g. Enterprise Rent-A-Car is expanding its green-car fleet.
The River Is Running
An article about a whitewater rafting trip along a portion of the Yangtze River by Chinese and American paddlers discusses how China faces choices of burning coal or damming its great rivers with concrete to produce cheap hydro electricity. The portion of the river traversed by the trip is part of a project of the Chinese government and the Nature Conservancy called the Yunnan Great Rivers Project which borders on habitat for endangered animals such as snow leopards, golden monkeys, and 6000 rare plants. However, wilderness is not really protected, often being open to settlements, grazing and deforestation. Twelve dams are already planned and estimates are that in a few decades 100 dams will be built on theYangtze.
Although China uses ten times less electricity per person than the US, China is adding the equivalent of one Sweden in electricity use every year. A thousand new vehicles hit the road every day in Beijing alone. China has already 22,000 dams but has tapped only 20% of hydro power compared to the US which has about 6,600 dams tapping about 80% of the potential. China's Three Gorges Dam, constructed against global protests (local protesters are threatened by the national police), is the largest electricity producer in the world. Local villagers don't usually benefit as the electricity is distributed to the big cities. Little global attention is being paid to the Yangtze dams.
The commercial trip organized by Mountain Travel Sobek is intended to show that the rivers are a resource much more valuable as a sustainable alternative through tourism. Writer Patrick Symmes says "Our five tiny rafts and 21 puny humans flow in harmony with nature, seeing that rarest of things in China: nothing....Our raft was the perfect Chinese democracy: one fearless leader, two yes-men and four obedient masses."
Ma Jun, author of China's Water Crisis, a book some say is equivalent to Carson's Silent Spring identifies the problem not as environmental but as political: lack of transparency, restrictions on non-governmental groups, and secret executions of protestors who get in the way of dam projects. Some green technologies have been successful: energy efficient lightbulbs are widespread, solar panels have brought riches to a Shanghai business man and recycling paper to a Hong Kong business woman. It is intended that the 2008 Beijing Olympics be carbon neutral.
Symmes ends up with hope (not much) that some success in Nepal might serve as a model for China and "Maybe there's hope for Chinese rafting after all." One doesn't usually expect to find a seminal piece of insight into a country's situation from what is basically a sports magazine but this article on China is exactly that.
Paid subscribers see links to original documents and references here.
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ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: A NEW GREEN GIANT
The Governor of California was featured in a number of green magazine issues in April. Newsweek called him The Green Giant. Fortune magazine explored the conversion of Schwarzenegger, who wasn't much interested in the environment in 2003, to leading California and the the rest of the US in environmental initiatives including:
Asked what he thought of the Detroit auto industry accusing him of costing it $85 billion, he responded that people need to look at the opportunity for a clean technology industry, a whole new industry of clean cars, clean components, and clean engines. Detroit is struggling, he said, because they are behind the Japanese, the Germans, and the Chinese, who are adapting to what their customers want. To those who are still sceptical about climate change, he says, "As governor, you talk to scientists at universities. These are not wacky people but they will tell you straight. ... There is no conspiracy, this is real stuff...I'm an optimist. I don't look at this as if the world is coming to an end. I see it as a great opportunity to clean up our mess. We're grownups, we aren't children, and we can do it."
His belief that Californians can keep driving muscle cars, SUVs and Hummers, as long as the vehicles have clean engines stretches his credentials with environmentalists. Some of his own seven Hummers have been retired and some have been converted to hydrogen and biodiesel. An article in the UK Observer by Lucy Siegle talks of the praise "Arnie" has received from Tony Blair and David Hawkins of Natural Resources Defence, who was quoted in Rolling Stones as saying "He belongs in the sparsely populated top tier of elected officials who are not only taking global warming seriously but devising solutions on a scale that actually matches the problem." Siegle writes, "Yet Arnie is also popular with big business because he doesn't do all the apocalyptic stuff. His brand of eco living is less hemp hair shirt and more about having your carbon cake and eating it." Critics such as Bill Magavern of the US-Sierra Club say his free-market approach limits him in how to pay for climate change initiatives causing him to focus too much on technology fixes. But overall he is becoming a relentless powerhouse celebrity for the environment.
[see also STSS section in this issue]
Paid subscribers see links to original documents and references here.
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ALTERNATIVE JOURNAL: CALLING FOR SUBMISSIONS
Every issue of the Waterloo, Ontario-based Alternatives Journal has a green theme such as Water, Politics or Food. Editor Nicola Ross is asking for submissions for the December 2007 which will be an "Out of the Box" issue exploring ideas and stories not covered well in the mainstream press, "We are looking for several 1500-word to 2500-word essays that dive deeply into environmental ideas and action. These articles will present alternative viewpoints that get behind, on top of and inside various environmental issues. Lively, thoughtful writing will lead the reader through the hidden dimensions of ecological issues, to reveal their social, scientific and political underpinnings. You may explain important research that has escaped mainstream notice, or expose the layers of gender, race and culture in scientific reports. Tell our readers about the music and language of nature, or make a case for how corporate-Canada is advancing the environmental agenda. Report on the grassroots successes of other nations, profile an unlikely activist, or play devil's advocate on an issue du jour. In the spirit of ''no-limits'' we are interested in your short fiction, poetry and artwork as well...Alternatives has a limited budget of about $250 per essay to a maximum of four submissions. This stipend is available to professional and amateur writers and students only. Please indicate your interest in this funding in your submission." Check out back issues first, writer's guidelines and the call for proposal at the web site. Send submissions electronically to Nicola Ross, Executive Editor (editor @ alternativesjournal . ca) before June 15, 2007. http://www.alternativesjournal.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=160&Itemid=69 or http://www.alternativesjournal.ca [find Call for proposal]
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CANADIAN LIVING
Canadian Living's April edition gave ideas for Going Green relating to business initiatives:
100-mile Diet
Canadian Living has also posted an excerpt from the book 100-mile diet and an interview with the authors, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, which seems to have been taken to heart by quite a few people.
GL thinks that it is great there is such a focus on local food although the environmental benefits of local food may at times be overstated, for example, a lot of people driving long distances to get small quantities of food may offset the environmental benefits of local production or small scale processing or storage such as home canning or freezing may be more energy demanding than large scale processing and storage from a distance. And while wild sources may be acceptable for a few small families, it would really be damaging if all of us rooted around foraging in wilderness areas collecting our food.
The assumptions about "food miles" isolates all the other contributors to the environmental impacts of food and also assumes the worst case for transport of food, for example long range trucking. Rail and cargo ships because they carry much higher volumes may have lower impacts as GL has already written about. Although it is automatically assumed that "food miles" are the most important contributor to the carbon footprint of food, this is not necessarily so as mineral inputs and packaging materials even for local food or the fuels used to produce it may come large distances.
Recently GL visited the Calgary Farm Market and was amazed at the range of Alberta grown produce from greenhouses such as green beans and peppers. While this produce would be eligible to Calgarians for the 100 mile-diet, it is quite probable that the carbon footprint of the greenhouses could be high compared to food produced in sunny California and transported to Calgary. A study conducted for the UK government in 2005 concluded "that a single indicator based on total food kilometers is an inadequate indicator of sustainability." For example, offsets against transport may result if the food is imported from areas where production is more sustainable e.g. tomatoes in sunny Spain produced outdoors rather than in greenhouses in the UK.
To GL, the interest in the 100-mile diet book is not just the "food miles" but the broader concept of food security and agricultural sustainability. There is always the quandary of buying organic from a distance or non-organic locally; some recommend local first then organic second. In addition, media is often disconnected from local food issues as food shows and newspapers feature out-of-season food such as fig recipes at the height of Ontario pear season. Store ads often promote wrapped California cauliflower with only barely a nod to length of the Ontario asparagus season. When the border was closed due to E. coli on spinach in the US, Canadian spinach was available to fill the reduced demand. While many of us could do without spinach (not GL's editor though who loves all greens!), it showed how much of our food comes from somewhere else as discussed by the authors who expressed their frustrations about sourcing local food. Local farmers cannot produce food just to fill an emergency; they face many risks and must have steady reliable markets with decent prices to enter and stay in the business. More direct purchasing from the farmer by consumers and more demand for local food (not only fresh but also processed) at the supermarket could move Canada much further along.
Paid subscribers
see links to original documents and references here.
Energy Use Comparison of Local and Globally Sourced Food. Gallon Environment Letter. January 25, 2005.
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OPPOSITION TO ETHANOL PRODUCTION PLANTS
While renewable energy is an essential part of a sustainable future, the push towards ethanol, especially in the US but now also in Canada, has resulted in the fast-tracking of ethanol production facilities. At first the ethanol plants were located primarily in rural areas and were not that large, providing economic benefits to local farmers who supplied mostly corn as feedstock. Ethanol is also produced with other inputs such as sorghum, milo, wheat starch, potato waste, cheese whey, and beverage waste, and may eventually be produced from cellulosic waste such as straw. In rural areas plants provide economic development to the local communities.
As the number and size of ethanol plants have increased, they have begun to move into more urban areas and to affect the environment of more densely populated towns a cities. Once established plants would expand without updating their permits to meet their new status as major air emission sources and associated expansion of other impacts. Even though federal and state incentive programs favour ethanol expansion, citizen opposition to plant siting and expansion seems to be on the increase.
Backlash includes concern about high water use resulting in depletion of aquifers, heavy truck traffic, safety concerns of fire and explosion, exemptions in zoning allowing what citizens regard as inappropriate siting, air pollution and sickly smell. Lawsuits are also being used to try to stop plants focussing on unreasonable use of water and questioning rezoning. The scale of operation increases the impacts, for example, a facility might expand to require the transport of as much grain as would supply a grain facility serviced by a 110-car train or 13 million bushels of grain each year. The fuel and power to produce the ethanol may be controversial including tire-derived fuel, coal and, recently in Idaho, a proposed ethanol production plant may use the excess heat from a nuclear power plant. Critics raise some questions about the "greenness" of nuclear ethanol. While the ethanol industry admits that there have been problems, they also say "that was then and this is now" claiming that new technology has solved the problem. Many citizens are not convinced and although some win and some lose, the backlash is likely to continue.
History of Ethanol Expansion
Fuel ethanol is not a new technology, having been produced in commercial quantities since the turn of the 1900s. Annual US production in 1917-1918 was 50-60 million gallons per year. From the 1950 to the 1970s virtually no fuel ethanol was produced in North America. In 1980, less than 10 ethanol production plants existed in the US, again producing 50 million gallons of ethanol a year.
By 1984 with subsidies of 60 cents a gallon, there were 163 ethanol plants in the US but many went out of business due to the low cost of oil with only 74, producing about 600 million gallons of ethanol a year, remaining by the end of 1985 . As states passed bans on MTBE, which had been mandated as an oxygenate for gasoline but was found to pollute groundwater, ethanol demand increased as an alternative oxygenate, added to gasoline to reduce air pollutants. Some say ethanol may become the next MTBE if more care isn't taken to control environmental impacts. By 2004, 81 plants produced 3.41 billion gallons of ethanol which is still less than 2% of the fuel used for automobiles in the US. It was an additive for one out of eight gallons of gasoline. By 2006, production was 4.9 billion gallons in 95 plants. In comparison, Canada's ethanol production in 2004 was 61 million gallons and, in 2006, 153 million gallons.
Gopher State Ethanol Plant: Warning of Environmental Problems
After the public began to complain about noise, odour and air emissions from the Gopher State Ethanol Plant in St. Paul, Minnesota, the state Minnesota Pollution Control Agency MPCA discovered that the facility underreported emissions. The City of St. Paul considered the possibility of criminal charges. As a result of the investigation of that plant which closed in 2004 (later bankruptcy was declared), the US Environmental Protection Agency and the MPCA investigated other ethanol plants in the state and in 2002 entered into enforcement actions with 12 plants. By the end of December 2005, the US Department of Justice reported that 83% of the ethanol production capacity nationwide was under consent decrees requiring new pollution controls with a number having to pay civil penalties ranging from $19,000 to $39,000.
Among the issues were:
Citizen Opposition Groups
An Energy Justice Network lists proposed ethanol plants and the groups opposing their siting or development in various states such as Michigan, Oregon, Illinois, Indians, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and in Canada in Barrie, Ontario. It notes that Clean Air For Barrie a citizen group in Barrie is fighting the siting of an ethanol plant by Northern Ethanol on the old Molson brewery site, where the dust, air emissions and odour could impact on one of Barrie's important economic sectors, tourism. The group regards the development as the equivalent of allowing a chemical plant right at the entrance to the city and Kempenfeldt Bay.
A group called C.A.R.E. in Seneca Falls, New York successfully worked to push the Town Board to conduct a full impact assessment of an ethanol plant under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and respect the local zoning laws so that a proposed ethanol refinery was moved to an old army depot rather than on nearby agricultural land which the group considered "too close to our schools, waterways, parks, and the most densely populated areas of community. The noise, odour, hazardous materials, and truck/train traffic of an ethanol plant at this site, would unnecessarily threaten our public safety, natural resources, tourism industry, economic development, quality of life and property values." The Town of Seneca Falls Board calls the town "the Historic Gateway to the Finger Lakes." On the web site, C.A.R.E. collected press coverage documenting concerns about ethanol across the US. Concerns included odour levels, noise, spills, train derailment,violation of zoning laws, hazardous air emissions including VOCs, wastewater releases, greenhouse gas emisions, and violations of other environmental laws.
In Clovis, New Mexico, Concerned Citizens for Curry County are asking Governor Richardson to intervene because they say that the state Environment Department approved the ConAgra plant's location in contravention of his 2005 "environmental justice" executive order.
Iowa Sierra Club
The Iowa Chapter of Sierra Club has expressed serious concerns about the environmental impacts of ethanol production in the state. Iowa has 26 operating ethanol plants with an operating capacity of 1.7 billion gallons or 32% of the US ethanol production. Five ethanol plants are expanding production and 15 new ethanol plants are under construction. Concerns at the production end include:
The position statement concludes: "We recognize that it is difficult for the state to ignore the millions of dollars in economic development expected from ethanol production. However, the costs to our air quality, water quality and land resources could outweigh any benefits to such massive ethanol production. In addition, we believe that concerns about dismantling at the end of a plant's life are reasonable considering ethanol will probably be transitioned out of our energy policy within a decade or two. '
New York Governor Retreats from Ethanol as Priority Renewable
When New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced the state's new clean energy initiative in April, wind and solar power, conservation goals and new power plants with lower emissions were part of the plan but he didn't talk about ethanol at all partly because of concerns about the energy efficiency of ethanol and air quality.
Energy Justice Network. http://www.energyjustice.org/ethanol/locations/
Citizens Against Re-Zoning for Ethanol in Seneca Falls. Empire Biofuels will Build Plant at Seneca Army Depot Instead of Seneca Falls. Seneca Falls, New York: August 1, 2006. http://www.caresf.com/
Robinson, Jr.,Clayton M., Saint Paul City Attorney and Eric D. Larson, Assistant City Attorney. Final Report Regarding Gopher State Ethanol. St. Paul, Minnesota. February 7, 2001.
http://www.stpaul.gov/depts/attorney/ethanolrept010207.html
Brady Daniel and Gregory C. Pratt, Ph.D.Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Dry Mill Ethanol Production. Environmental Bulletin (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency). No. 8. August 2006. http://www.pca.state.mn.us/publications/environmentalbulletin/tdr-eb06-08.pdf
US Department of Justice. Illinois Ethanol Facility Will Significantly Reduce Emissions, Pay Civil Penalty. Eighty-three Percent of Uncontrolled Ethanol Production Capacity Now Under Federal Consent Decrees. December 21, 2005. http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2005/December/05_enrd_689.html
Sierra Club. Iowa Chapter. Iowa Chapter of Sierra Club Concerns about the Environmental Impacts of Ethanol Production. http://iowa.sierraclub.org/enviro%20impacts%20of%20ethanol.pdf
Residents plan to appeal ethanol plant permit. Associated Press. May 22, 2007. http://kob.com/article/stories/S92504.shtml?cat=517
Gershman, Jacob. Spitzer's Silence on Ethanol Fight Speaks Volumes. New York Sun. April 19, 2007. Albany, New York: April 19, 2007. http://www.nysun.com/article/52763
Urbanchuk, John M., Director, LECG LLC. Contribution of the Biofuels Industry to the Economy of Iowa. Prepared for the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. February 2007. http://www.iowarfa.org/PDF/2006 Iowa Biofuels Economic Impact.pdf
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ENERGY CONSERVATION AND GENERATION FOR FARMS AND FOOD PROCESSORS
A number of years ago, the environmental consulting division of the company which publishes GL prepared a report which recommended that the environment industry participate more by exhibiting and speaking at sector-specific trade events, such as automobile and chemical sector trade shows, rather than just gathering at environmental industry shows. The conference discussed here is an example of the environment industry having developed an understanding of environmental challenges for a sector and offering solutions.
Around the same time, others in the environment industry identified the need for discussing and partnering with livestock producers, policy makers, technology suppliers, researchers and other stakeholders to meet the challenges and business opportunities for livestock operations and manure management, including on-farm energy generation. An exhibit area (this year with space for about 40 exhibits) shows new technologies, processes and services to meet the needs of producers.
Chaired by John McMullen, for three years, the event affectionately known as "that manure conference", or even worse, was officially titled Integrated Solutions to Manure Management. Held in London, Ontario in April, the conference has turned out to be an ongoing success and this year had a name change to Growing the Margins: Energy Conservation and Generation for Farms and Food Processors. This broadened the target audience to include not only livestock producers but also field and horticulture crop farmers, greenhouse operators, food and beverage processors.
In 2007 keynote speakers from Canada, Europe and the US included:
One of the strengths of the conference is the technical sessions complemented by technology tours of farms and food processing under the direction of program chair, Carole Burnham of Burnham Consulting. As an engineer she understands the technologies and processes such as farm-based biofuels production, demand management and energy efficiency, biomass energy such as anaerobic digestion and use of food by-products, and micro-hydro. Policies, financing and business planning were also part of the discussions.
Growing the Margins: Energy Conservation and the Generation for Farms and Food Processors. London, Ontario: April 11-14, 2007. http://www.gtmconf.ca/ [more about the conference in our STSS section, this issue. ]
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EECO 2007 TORONTO JUNE 19-20
EECO 2007 Conference on Environment and Energy will welcome 700 delegates and close to 100 high-level speakers to discuss the hot topics of Clean Energy, Climate Change and Clean Air, and their effects on the Great Lakes Economy in the next few years. June 19-20, 2007 Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Tel: (604) 775-7300 Toll Free: (800) 274-6097 Fax: (604) 666-8123 Email: info @ eeco2007.com Web: www.eeco2007.com
The Climate Change Plenary on Tuesday June 19 8:30-10 am is titled Creating a Competitive Advantage Through Technology and Product Innovation. Remarks will be made by Ontario Minister of the Environment Laurel Broton. Speakers are Elyse Allan, President and CEO of General Electric (GE) Canada; David Douglas, VP of Eco Responsibility at Sun Microsystems, Burlington MA; and William B. White, President duPont Canada.
The Emerging Leaders Forum: the Next Generation: Driving Sustainability Well Past 2020, also on June 19 at 10:45am - 12:15 pm, is moderated by the former federal Environment Commissioner Johanne Gelinas, who is listed as Partner, Enterprise Risk, Environment, Health Safety and Sustainability, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Montreal Quebec.
Among other topics to be discussed are how capital markets are reacting to climate change, implementing strategies to reduce both air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable energy systems and alternate fuels for the Great Lakes Economic Region, how companies are developing risk mitigation strategies, emission trading systems, municipal strategies for climate change, e-waste and competitiveness through green innovation. Mark Rudolph will lead the Pundits' Panel, always popular for ideas and trends and including Dan Gagnier, Chair of IISD, and Louise Comeau, Executive Director Canadian Centre for Policy Ingenuity.
Evan Solomon will host the closing luncheon where the 6th Globe Awards will be presented.
See this and other events listed by month at http://www.cialgroup.com/events.htm
[The above space sponsored by The Delphi Group, Ottawa, Ontario]
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ON GL'S READERS' BOOKSHELVES
Do you have a favourite or inspirational environment book (fiction or non-fiction) or magazine or have you written a book, report or article you would like to draw attention to? Let us know what it is and in 50 words or less why it appeals to you from an environmental point of view and a few words on who you are. We'll select one for printing in each issue over time in the next year or so. Send email to editor@gallonletter.ca with subject line: Fav Env Book.
This issue's book recommended by Jackie Scott, Ottawa, Ontario: Last of the Curlews by Fred Bodsworth.
Colin: I've simply copied the description of the book and some information about the author from the Indigo site. I read the book and am still thinking about it 2 months later - it's short, well researched and written, and very moving. It's an extraordinary book. I like the fact that it was written in 1954 (i.e. for some, concern for the environment and other species didn't start yesterday).
"Now nearly extinct, flocks of Eskimo Curlews were once so numerous during their annual migration from Patagonia to the Arctic that they darkened the skies. First published in 1954, Last of the Curlews is Fred Bodsworth's celebration of the curlew and an angry denunciation of wanton slaughter. His haunting and eloquent narrative follows a solitary curlew on a search for a mate...Fred Bodsworth is a naturalist, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada. In the beginning of his career, Bodsworth worked on tugboats and in tobacco fields. He became a reporter for the St. Thomas Times-Journal in 1940 and later was the editor of the Toronto Star and a staff writer for Maclean's. In 1955, Bodsworth left Maclean's and concentrated on magazine writing, nature writing, and novels. .. The film based on the book won an Emmy for children's broadcasting and the Golden Eagle Award from the Council on International Nontheatrical Events. Bodsworth died in 1996."
Original is out-of-print. Reprinted as a 1991 trade paperback (New Canadian Library) with an afterword by Graeme Gibson. McClelland. $9.95 http://www.mcclelland.com/catalog/results.pperl?title_auth_isbn=Last+of+the+Curlews
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INTEGRATING SERVICE INTO PRODUCT DESIGN
In relation to GL's two issues on producer responsibility, one of our readers, a small retailer, Helen Lofgren in Halifax, Nova Scotia who sells among other things, water purifiers, called to say that product warranties ought to be considered part of producer responsibility as warranties or lack of them affect the durability of products. She said one of her water treatment systems is made in England and the Canadian distributors offers no warranty for such components as the cartridges. Some manufacturers have very short life warranties or none at all or honour warranties only under limited conditions. A small business usually has to take a recently purchased product back from the customer even if it means that the product may have to be put in the trash so the producer isn't taking responsibility. A 2006 paper by Hui Mien Lee of the Information and Communications Institute of Singapore suggests a framework for considering warranties and other service support in design to close the loop of the product life cycle. While the details relate to information technology, the concept applies to broader manufacturing.
Lee recommends manufacturers adopt an Integrated Manufacturing and Product Service System for both business and environmental benefits. Three aspects of the IMPSS framework are manufacturing and use by the purchaser as well as service which "refers to sales training, product warranties, maintenance, repair, cleaning, reverse logistics, end-of-life, sales of complementary product, upgrading and take back" Currently the system for the service stage of product life is fragmented and poorly implemented.
Among the elements of the IMPSS concept are:
GL notes that it is becoming increasingly difficult to service and repair products; even when components are available they are usually not the small part which is out of order but a whole big part of the product. For example, when a fuse in the electronic control panel blows in a dishwasher, it is common that the the whole control panel has to be replaced instead of a few grams of material which is actually causing the problem. In many cases, the cost of the new product is less than the cost of the part.
Paid subscribers see links to original documents and references here.
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CEO SOUGHT FOR THE DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION
Chief Executive Officer, Vancouver, Canada: Visionary leader, Organizational excellence
The David Suzuki Foundation is a leader in the Canadian environmental and climate change movement. For over 15 years it has been developing and delivering science-based programs that have been designed to advance government policy and change the behaviour and practices of Canadian corporations, communities and individuals. Their goal: Sustainability Within a Generation. The evolution and continued growth of the organization has led to an international search for a CEO.
Reporting to the Board, the CEO will implement management practices that lead to a highly disciplined organization that has integrity, accountability, financial stewardship, program excellence and impactful communications at the core of its operational philosophy. From an external perspective, the new CEO will advance relationships with a broad range of stakeholders including politicians, bureaucrats, corporate leaders, funders and environmentalists, and position the Foundation as a thought leader on a wide range of environmental issues.
The ideal candidate is a consummate leader who has demonstrated his/her ability to provide outstanding organizational leadership and vision to a highly effective science-oriented program delivery organization. You will have a passion for and knowledge of the environmental and climate change issues facing Canada, and the educational and professional qualifications to gain credibility in the eyes of stakeholders. Your communication skills, diplomacy, and ability to present complex issues to a very broad range of constituents will be exceptional.
To explore this exceptional leadership opportunity contact Derrick Chow or Catherine Van Alstine at 604-685-0261 or Lorraine Scrimshaw at 506-388-1848 or lorraine.scrimshaw @ rayberndtson.ca
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GLEN DAVIS: SUPPORTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Glen Davis, though unknown to most Canadians, was the kind of businessman that most of us only dream about. GL's editor met him on numerous occasions while Executive Director of Pollution Probe in the 1980s. Glen cared intensely for the environment, especially the wilderness of Canada, was knowledgeable and inquisitive about the issues, and loved a good debate. He challenged environmental groups on why they were doing what they were doing but after an evening of discussion he would often provide a fairly or, in some cases, very substantial donation. Though he was hardly known to most Canadians, his major contributions to Canada's leading wilderness protection groups and to individuals fighting to protect the environment in areas like Haida Gwai made a very real difference. He always made sure that his contributions were used to achieve results: he had no use for bureaucracy, big reports, or operating expenses. His environmental commitment extended to his travel, often by human power in remote areas, and to much of his personal life.
His murder on May 18 in a Toronto underground parking garage has been a great shock to the many in the environmental movement who knew him. A tribute to Glen Davis on the WWF Canada web site calls him an informed philanthropist and credits him with having a huge influence on WWF-Canada's accomplishments over the last 30 years such as conserving wilderness areas such as Ivvavik National Park in the Yukon, Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve in British Columbia, Tuktut Nogait National Park in the Northwest Territories. He led wilderness trips into remote areas of Canada and was skilled in hiking and canoeing. Mike Russill, CEO of WWF-Canada said that "It was this understanding and experience of the issues behind conservation achievement that helped make Glen so special as a supporter. ...He networked, he listened, he read, and most importantly, he spent time in the field. In all things, Glen had a clear vision for conservation."
CTV. Police hunt for Toronto's philanthropist's killer. May 20, 2007. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070520/philanthropist_murder_070520/20070520?hub=TorontoHome
WWF Canada. A Tribute to Glen Davis. http://www.wwf.ca/tribute/
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GEORGE KERR: FIRST ENVIRONMENT MINISTER IN CANADA
George Kerr served in the Ontario Legislature from 1963 to 1985. He died at the age of 83 on May 21. He was Minister of the Environment for the province of Ontario from July 23, 1971 to February 2, 1972 and was in this position the first Environment Minister in Canada during the Conservative premiership of the Hon. William Davis. George Kerr returned as minister to the environment portfolio from October 7, 1975 to January 21, 1978.
Norm Sterling former Conservative Minister of the Environment (October 10, 1997 to June 17, 1999 when Mike Harris was Premier), said that George Kerr credited Fred Burr, a New Democratic Party NDP backbencher "with forcing the creation of the new ministry in 1975." Burr's commitment to the environment was way ahead of his time and while he may have succeeded in promoting the creation of an Environment Department, some of his other ideas later proven right were not accepted, according to Eric Dowd, a veteran member of the Queen's Park Press Gallery who wrote on Burr's death in 2006, "the first MPP to suggest wind power could help to solve Ontario's energy shortage was almost laughed out of the legislature." The jeering suggested the NDP had windmills in their heads.
Paid subscribers see links to original documents and references here.
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LIGHT UP THE WORLD FOUNDATION FUNDRAISING
GL's editor, a member of the Board of EnerGreen, a charity installing renewable power in remote communities in the developing world such as Ecuador and Nepal, stayed on the Board when EnerGreen merged with Light Up The World Foundation last year. LUTW was founded by University of Calgary engineering professor Dave Irvine-Halliday a few years after a trip to Nepal in 1997 where he saw the negative effects of dark villages and dark schools. LUTW builds solar powered lighting units with highly efficient white light emitting diodes and a plug for recharging a cell phone. LUTW is now cooperating with Philips to have the technology commercialized. [see STSS]
At the beginning of May, LUTW held a breakfast fundraiser at the Calgary Zoo with CEO Kim Veness explaining how important illumination is to poor people. Darkness comes early near the equator. Light allows the children to study, people to get together to share stories to maintain their culture, and to generate income by making crafts or other items. The LED lighting also helps with conservation efforts, for example, LUTW is cooperating with the International Gorilla Conservation Project in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo to help people with alternate sources of income and lighting at Community Lighting Centres so they won't cut down the forests which provides habitat for 700 remaining mountain gorillas.
Another project is in honour of Captain Nichola Goddard who was killed while serving in Afghanistan. She was born in Papua New Guinea. LUTW is working with her family with the goal of lighting up 1820 first aid stations in the South Pacific country. Each lighting station costs about Canadian $200 helping healthcare workers see what they are doing in providing basic care in case of emergencies or common illness. The alternative is kerosene which is hazardous due to the risk of fire in the simple structures made of wood or palm fronds. LUTW asks donors to "help us light up Papau New Guinea in Nichola's name."
Solid State Lighting for the Developing World
One of GL's table guests was LUTW staff Ganesh Doluweera, who is finishing his PH.D. in electrical engineering and has installed lighting in his home country of Sri Lanka. He was co-author of an article with Dr. Irvine-Halliday and others on the performance of solid state lighting systems. LEDs have a long life so have increased reliability and reduced cost for poor people. About 2 billion people have no access to electricity. Single source renewable power such as solar may not be suitable for all regions so alternative sources such as wind, hydro, biomass and thermoelectric generators are also considered. The article suggests that flashlights with white LEDs could have considerable environmental and economic benefit. Data suggests that families in non-electrified homes typically own at least one flashlight and on average have three D cell batteries, usually carbon-zinc, the cheapest available, rather than longer lasting alkaline ones which would last 2.5 times longer. These cheap batteries have to be replaced very two weeks or so as well as an incandescent lightbulb which tends to wear out fast. An estimated 31 billion D cell batteries are used annually which adds to the villagers' costs and often end up polluting waterways. LUTW's 3 D cell white LED flashlight tested in rural Nepal, India and Sri Lanka compares favourably in light quality while the "bulb" is practically indestructible, lasting for years. The batteries provide a useful light for 500 hours instead of the 50 hours for the incandescent bulb. This reduces the number of batteries discarded and lightbulbs replaced. If rechargable batteries are used, the number of batteries thrown out decreases dramatically to benefit both the economic well-being of the villagers as well as the environment.
Light Up The World Foundation c/o The Schulich School of Engineering ECE, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW Calgary AB Canada T2N 1N4 Tel: (403) 210-9552 Fax: (403) 282-6855 http://www.lutw.org
Peon, R., Doluweera, G., Platonova, I., Irvine-Halliday, D., Irvine-Halliday, G., Solid State Lighting for the Developing World - The Only Solution, Optics & Photonics 2005, Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 5941, pp. 109-123, San Diego, 2005. http://www2.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/Halliday/pdf/SSLforDevelopingcountries_SPIE_Paper.pdf
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For our organizational subscribers this issue is accompanied by our monthly Sustainable Technology & Services Supplement. Articles in the STSS supplement include:
Biomethane in Germany
California Dreamin' - Trade Mission
New Green Labelling Rules May Be Coming
Business at the Base of the Pyramid
Philips Lighting: Smile
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All rights reserved. Readers are advised to check all facts for themselves before taking any action. The Gallon Environment Letter (GL for short) presents information for general interest and does not endorse products, companies or practices. Advertising or sponsorship of one or more issues consistent with sustainable development goals is welcome and identified as separate from editorial content. Subscriptions for organizations $184 + GST = $195.04 includes monthly Sustainable Technologies and Services Supplement STSS ; for individuals (non-organizational emails and paid with non-org funds please-does not include monthly STSS): $30 includes GST. Issues about fifteen times a year with supplements. http://www.cialgroup.com/subscription
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