Linking people & redesigning systems
for a healthy future

International

Energy auditors help homeowners

See it? There, in the downstairs laundry room, escaping through the needle-fine spaces between the cinder-block walls.

That chill in the front bathroom during the winter? The oppressive heat in the attic during the summer?

Experts say it's all part of the same thing: energy being lost.

A new group of professionals known as home performance contractors are here to save the day.

On our present course, the bold new carbon target is worthless

The decision by Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change
secretary, to commit Britain to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by
80 per cent by 2050 is welcome. Recent research has made it clear that
the government's previous target of a 60 per cent reduction would be
insufficient to help halt profound climate change this century. New
measures were required.

Recipes: Greg Christian's eco-friendly cooking

Pesto Shrimp hors d'ouevre: Fisherman's Daughter shrimp in a pesto sauce, resting on a tortilla chip, with Genesis Growers butternut squash, garnished with a tiny green

For 10 appetizers:

California's landmark greenhouse-gas plan a step closer to reality

State environmental regulators Wednesday released a near-final version of California's landmark plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions, emphasizing for the first time the key role expected for the kind of innovation that has long kept Silicon Valley humming.

The message delivered by Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the state's Air Resources Board, was clear: Businesses, especially small and midsize operations, will be the among the primary drivers behind the state's sweeping goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels within 12 years.

Greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by 80 per cent, says Government

Britain has become the first country in the world to make a legally-binding commitment to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80per cent by the middle of the century.

Ed Miliband, the new Climate Change and Energy Secretary, said that
the current target of 60 per cent was not stringent enough to tackle
global warning.

He told MPs that the Government would not "row
back" on green issues, despite the pressures on the economy of the
current downtown.

Substantial Loss Of Carbon, Nitrogen From Burned Soils -- And Connections To Warming Climate

For decades, scientists and resource managers have known that wildfires affect forest soils, evidenced, in part, by the erosion that often occurs after a fire kills vegetation and disrupts soil structure. But, the lack of detailed knowledge of forest soils before they are burned by wildfire has hampered efforts to understand fire's effects on soil fertility and forest ecology.

Now mills enter carbon markets

Carbon market capitalists have turned rice husk into a hot profit opportunity for the milling industry. Rice companies are earning big bucks selling husk as fuel to electricity plants that wish to earn carbon credits. And whether or not the earth is cooler, they have received a mega infusion of power.

MaineHousing trains more insulation auditors

AUGUSTA, Maine-As the state increases its emphasis on energy conservation in view of high energy prices, the Maine Housing Authority is expanding classes for energy auditors.

Energy audits help homeowners decide what energy efficiency improvements will save the most energy and which are the most cost effective.

MaineHousing Director Dale McCormick says the agency is doubling to 24 the size of its two monthly energy auditor classes.

Green-Age Wasteland

If a neighborhood block party or backyard picnic for friends and
family is on the books for Labor Day weekend, don't let your good times
go to waste.

Waste goes green in Essar Steel plant

Hazira, August 25 The saying—convert waste into
wealth—has been truly put into practice by the Ruias-promoted Essar
Steel. It has been touted as the first Indian steel company to become a
zero waste and environment-friendly steel plant.

“We have adopted various measures to utilise the
plant waste effectively to achieve our goal of becoming a zero waste
company. It is our endeavour to make this world class plant into a
green plant,” said Dilip Oommen, Chief Executive Officer of Essar