An Oregon company is seeking permits for a facility on the Columbia River that would harness methane gas for energy by collecting it from decomposing old tires and cow manure.
Portland-based Northwest Biogas proposes an anaerobic digester project at a large dairy farm and is seeking a permit from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to store waste tires.
The DEQ scheduled an information meeting Tuesday to discuss the permit, which would allow using 40,000 waste tires to help grow micro-organisms for producing the methane.
The company would use the waste tires inside a lined and covered digester lagoon. If the facility ceases to operate, Northwest Biogas will have to clean, remove and recycle the tires.
Bruce Lumper is a permit writer with the DEQ's Solid Waste Program out of The Dalles. He told the newspaper that this will be a new digester and that plans for a previous one at the farms "never quite penciled out."
Threemile Canyon Farms has 16,000 cows that produce about 120 pounds of waste a day each. Threemile flushes the manure along cement alleys and pipes to a lined lagoon, where it releases methane.
Clean methane, the DEQ said, offers an alternative to natural gas. Generators also use methane to produce electricity. And using the tires eliminates the potential for tire fires or the breeding of mosquitoes.
Oregon has similar digesters, Lumper said. In 2003, the Port of Tillamook Bay constructed a centralized methane digester to biologically process the manure from 4,000 of Tillamook County's 30,000 dairy cows. He said it is working and producing energy.
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska landowners are being urged to apply for federal dollars to conserve grassland, including range and pasture land.
They can apply for some of the $1 million that is available in the Grassland Reserve Program by July 1. Applications can be made at any USDA Service Center.
The goal of the program is to protect and restore existing grasslands for working grazing operations and improving plant and wildlife diversity. Landowners maintain ownership and can sign rental agreements or have a permanent conservation easement.
Priority will be given to land previously in the Conservation Reserve Program, if there is a significant threat of conversion to uses other than grazing.
Monday, June 15, 2009
8 Ways to Green Your Kitchen
So all those gourmet cooking shows have inspired you to spend more time in the kitchen. But between energy use, water use and food/packaging disposal, there’s lots of opportunity to help or hurt the environment in the process. Here’s eight ways to green your time in the kitchen . . . BAM!
1. Set Up Recycling Bins
Over 32 percent of our solid waste is some sort of packaging, and much of this ends up in our kitchen. Depending on your community’s curbside program, you should set up one bin for all recyclables or a different bin for each one. Make sure you are recycling:
Aluminum cans
Glass bottles
Paper (including mail and cardboard boxes)
Plastic bottles
Steel cans
You can find out where to recycle packaging using Earth 911
2. Compost Food Waste
Putting food waste down the garbage disposal is a better alternative than throwing it in the trash. But disposals use lots of water. An even better option is to compost your organic food waste, including fruit/vegetable remains, egg shells and coffee grounds (avoid meat and dairy). Compost bins produce nutrient-rich soil for your backyard.
3. Be Time Sensitive
Most of the appliances in your kitchen are designed to make things hot or cold. Interrupting this process wastes lots of energy. Exposing the inside of your refrigerator/oven to room temperature makes them work extra hard to get back to normal. Here’s a few good suggestions to follow:
Know what you want before going to the fridge so you limit open door time
Use your oven light to check on food instead of opening/closing the door
Cook multiple dishes on the same burner so it will already be warm
4. Reuse Cooking Water
So you’ve just boiled some vegetables on the stove and have a pot full of water left. Instead of pouring it down the drain, use it to water plants (once it has cooled). Nutrients from foods like pasta and veggies will serve your house plants well, and you’re killing two birds with one stone.
5. Save Grease and Oil
Even the newest George Foreman grill creates grease, and you may be tempted to pour it down the drain. The same thing happens with cooking oil. But your kitchen pipes aren’t made to handle these products. In addition to pipe clogs, your sewer treatment center will have a difficult time with them. Save your grease and oil in a coffee tin and it can be reused for future cooking.
6. Be Dish Savvy
You already have a step in the right direction if you’re using ceramic plates instead of disposable ones. The next step is to fill that dishwasher before running a load. This will cut energy and water use, and extend the life of your dishwasher.
To answer the question about which is better, hand washing plates or using a dishwasher, this is going to depend on way too many factors for a clear answer. If you hand wash dishes, try to fill the sink with water and soak them instead of running the faucet the whole time.
7. Think Long-Term for Cooking Utensils
Metal is king when it comes to long-lasting cooking gear. Stainless steel pots and pans, iron skillets and the like will pay off in the long run. Plus, these items can be recycled easily as scrap metal, so you won’t have to worry about where to take a plastic spatula with egg stains for disposal.
8. Recycle Appliances
Inevitably, your appliances will need to be replaced. If it’s an upgrade, donate your old microwave or toaster to a second-hand store (call before bringing a refrigerator). It the old appliance doesn’t work, get the new appliance delivered and see if the store will take the old one for you. Appliances are made of valuable steel and can contain freon, neither of which belongs in a landfill. You can recycle appliances using Earth 911
1. Set Up Recycling Bins
Over 32 percent of our solid waste is some sort of packaging, and much of this ends up in our kitchen. Depending on your community’s curbside program, you should set up one bin for all recyclables or a different bin for each one. Make sure you are recycling:
Aluminum cans
Glass bottles
Paper (including mail and cardboard boxes)
Plastic bottles
Steel cans
You can find out where to recycle packaging using Earth 911
2. Compost Food Waste
Putting food waste down the garbage disposal is a better alternative than throwing it in the trash. But disposals use lots of water. An even better option is to compost your organic food waste, including fruit/vegetable remains, egg shells and coffee grounds (avoid meat and dairy). Compost bins produce nutrient-rich soil for your backyard.
3. Be Time Sensitive
Most of the appliances in your kitchen are designed to make things hot or cold. Interrupting this process wastes lots of energy. Exposing the inside of your refrigerator/oven to room temperature makes them work extra hard to get back to normal. Here’s a few good suggestions to follow:
Know what you want before going to the fridge so you limit open door time
Use your oven light to check on food instead of opening/closing the door
Cook multiple dishes on the same burner so it will already be warm
4. Reuse Cooking Water
So you’ve just boiled some vegetables on the stove and have a pot full of water left. Instead of pouring it down the drain, use it to water plants (once it has cooled). Nutrients from foods like pasta and veggies will serve your house plants well, and you’re killing two birds with one stone.
5. Save Grease and Oil
Even the newest George Foreman grill creates grease, and you may be tempted to pour it down the drain. The same thing happens with cooking oil. But your kitchen pipes aren’t made to handle these products. In addition to pipe clogs, your sewer treatment center will have a difficult time with them. Save your grease and oil in a coffee tin and it can be reused for future cooking.
6. Be Dish Savvy
You already have a step in the right direction if you’re using ceramic plates instead of disposable ones. The next step is to fill that dishwasher before running a load. This will cut energy and water use, and extend the life of your dishwasher.
To answer the question about which is better, hand washing plates or using a dishwasher, this is going to depend on way too many factors for a clear answer. If you hand wash dishes, try to fill the sink with water and soak them instead of running the faucet the whole time.
7. Think Long-Term for Cooking Utensils
Metal is king when it comes to long-lasting cooking gear. Stainless steel pots and pans, iron skillets and the like will pay off in the long run. Plus, these items can be recycled easily as scrap metal, so you won’t have to worry about where to take a plastic spatula with egg stains for disposal.
8. Recycle Appliances
Inevitably, your appliances will need to be replaced. If it’s an upgrade, donate your old microwave or toaster to a second-hand store (call before bringing a refrigerator). It the old appliance doesn’t work, get the new appliance delivered and see if the store will take the old one for you. Appliances are made of valuable steel and can contain freon, neither of which belongs in a landfill. You can recycle appliances using Earth 911
Mexico’s Recycling Advancements
Appliance Recycling Centers of America, Inc. (ARCA) recently announced expansion of refrigerator recycling services to Mexico, the result of a joint venture with Mexican corporation Diagnostico y Administraction de Logistica Inversa SA de CV (DALI).
The companies will partner to provide recycling services to more than 160 appliance retailers and manufacturers that participate in a government-sponsored refrigerator replacement program. The program offers residents a cash rebate and low-interest financing on new energy efficient refrigerators in exchange for turning in an old refrigerator for recycling.
The companies will partner to provide recycling services to more than 160 appliance retailers and manufacturers that participate in a government-sponsored refrigerator replacement program. The program offers residents a cash rebate and low-interest financing on new energy efficient refrigerators in exchange for turning in an old refrigerator for recycling.
Reviving American Chestnut Trees May Mitigate Climate Change
A Purdue University study shows that introducing a new hybrid of the American chestnut tree would not only bring back the all-but-extinct species, but also put a dent in the amount of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere.
Douglass Jacobs, an associate professor of forestry and natural resources, found that American chestnuts grow much faster and larger than other hardwood species, allowing them to sequester more carbon than other trees over the same period. And since American chestnut trees are more often used for high-quality hardwood products such as furniture, they hold the carbon longer than wood used for paper or other low-grade materials.
"Maintaining or increasing forest cover has been identified as an important way to slow climate change," said Jacobs, whose paper was published in the June issue of the journal Forest Ecology and Management. "The American chestnut is an incredibly fast-growing tree. Generally the faster a tree grows, the more carbon it is able to sequester. And when these trees are harvested and processed, the carbon can be stored in the hardwood products for decades, maybe longer."
At the beginning of the last century, the chestnut blight, caused by a fungus, rapidly spread throughout the American chestnut's natural range, which extended from southern New England and New York southwest to Alabama. About 50 years ago, the species was nearly gone.
Douglass Jacobs, an associate professor of forestry and natural resources, found that American chestnuts grow much faster and larger than other hardwood species, allowing them to sequester more carbon than other trees over the same period. And since American chestnut trees are more often used for high-quality hardwood products such as furniture, they hold the carbon longer than wood used for paper or other low-grade materials.
"Maintaining or increasing forest cover has been identified as an important way to slow climate change," said Jacobs, whose paper was published in the June issue of the journal Forest Ecology and Management. "The American chestnut is an incredibly fast-growing tree. Generally the faster a tree grows, the more carbon it is able to sequester. And when these trees are harvested and processed, the carbon can be stored in the hardwood products for decades, maybe longer."
At the beginning of the last century, the chestnut blight, caused by a fungus, rapidly spread throughout the American chestnut's natural range, which extended from southern New England and New York southwest to Alabama. About 50 years ago, the species was nearly gone.
Water in Africa — Business turns on the tap
Business is stepping in where governments fail to provide clean water in Africa, with Coca-Cola, SABMiller and major platinum miners leading the way.
A world running short of water is presenting a new category of risk to businesses that few have begun to appreciate. That was the warning from campaigner WWF and noted research body the Pacific Institute, at the World Water Forum in Istanbul in late March.
Water experts say leading companies are starting to use water more efficiently in their own operations. But they will need to look deeper into their supply chains and at the performance of water regulators if they are to address the growing challenge of water scarcity
Water remains so basic a commodity that few businesses realise the extent to which disruptions in supply or increases in price — both predicted with increasing frequency — can affect their operations. “If yours is an efficient business sitting in a poorly managed river basin you are still exposed to extremely high water risk,”? Stuart Orr, freshwater manager at WWF International, told the water forum.
For businesses operating in Africa, the risk of climate change — which threatens the stability of water supplies — is compounded by the inability or the unwillingness of the public sector to create and sustain the basic water supply infrastructure so critical to a well-functioning society and economy. As a result of this amplified risk, businesses in the developing world are themselves increasingly drawn into providing water supply infrastructure in the public sector's place.
In Africa, the space for companies to do so is created by the state, which although having a duty to extend water services and protect water resources, rarely has a financial incentive to do so. Rural communities and the urban poor usually cannot afford to pay for the extension of water supplies and even where the better-off can pay, local and municipal government often lacks the systems to collect equitably the user fees.
As a result the provision and extension of basic services, such as water, becomes a political issue, something used by politicians to build or reward a particular constituency. This means that the management of water resources tends not to follow long-term plans but lurches from one scheme to another, with scant regard for ecological or economical sustainability. Rural and poor areas get the worst of it because few skilled people wish to live and work there, leaving maintenance or the rehabilitation of run-down systems to non-governmental organisations and foreign donors.
Therefore companies operating in many African countries cannot simply limit their management of water risk to improving efficiency. Often business needs to get involved in the overall management of a regional resource in order to protect the quality of this water and the company's access to it.
A world running short of water is presenting a new category of risk to businesses that few have begun to appreciate. That was the warning from campaigner WWF and noted research body the Pacific Institute, at the World Water Forum in Istanbul in late March.
Water experts say leading companies are starting to use water more efficiently in their own operations. But they will need to look deeper into their supply chains and at the performance of water regulators if they are to address the growing challenge of water scarcity
Water remains so basic a commodity that few businesses realise the extent to which disruptions in supply or increases in price — both predicted with increasing frequency — can affect their operations. “If yours is an efficient business sitting in a poorly managed river basin you are still exposed to extremely high water risk,”? Stuart Orr, freshwater manager at WWF International, told the water forum.
For businesses operating in Africa, the risk of climate change — which threatens the stability of water supplies — is compounded by the inability or the unwillingness of the public sector to create and sustain the basic water supply infrastructure so critical to a well-functioning society and economy. As a result of this amplified risk, businesses in the developing world are themselves increasingly drawn into providing water supply infrastructure in the public sector's place.
In Africa, the space for companies to do so is created by the state, which although having a duty to extend water services and protect water resources, rarely has a financial incentive to do so. Rural communities and the urban poor usually cannot afford to pay for the extension of water supplies and even where the better-off can pay, local and municipal government often lacks the systems to collect equitably the user fees.
As a result the provision and extension of basic services, such as water, becomes a political issue, something used by politicians to build or reward a particular constituency. This means that the management of water resources tends not to follow long-term plans but lurches from one scheme to another, with scant regard for ecological or economical sustainability. Rural and poor areas get the worst of it because few skilled people wish to live and work there, leaving maintenance or the rehabilitation of run-down systems to non-governmental organisations and foreign donors.
Therefore companies operating in many African countries cannot simply limit their management of water risk to improving efficiency. Often business needs to get involved in the overall management of a regional resource in order to protect the quality of this water and the company's access to it.
Microbe wakes up after 120,000 years
After more than 120,000 years trapped beneath a block of ice in Greenland, a tiny microbe has awoken. The long-lasting bacteria may hold clues to what life forms might exist on other planets.
The new bacteria species was found nearly 2 miles beneath a Greenland glacier, where temperatures can dip well below freezing, pressure soars, and food and oxygen are scarce.
"We don't know what state they were in," said study team member Jean Brenchley of Pennsylvania State University. "They could've been dormant, or they could've been slowly metabolizing, but we don't know for sure
Dormant would mean the bacteria were in a spore-like state in which there's not a lot of metabolism going on, so the bacteria wouldn't be reproducing much. It's possible the bacteria could have been slowly metabolizing and replicating.
"Microbes have found ways to survive in harsh conditions for long times that we don't yet fully understand," Brenchley told LiveScience.
To coax the bacteria back to life, Brenchley, Jennifer Loveland-Curtze and their Penn State colleagues incubated the samples at 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) for seven months, followed by more than four months at 41 degrees F (5 degrees C).
The resulting colonies of the originally purple-brown bacteria, now named Herminiimonas glaciei, are alive and well.
"We were able to recover it and get it to grow in our laboratory," Brenchley said. "It was viable."
Such vigor is partially due to the microbe's small size, the scientists speculate. Boasting dimensions that are 10 to 50 times smaller than Escherichia coli, the new bacteria likely could more efficiently absorb nutrients due to a larger surface-to-volume ratio. Tiny microbes like this one can also hide more easily from predators and take up residence among ice crystals and in the thin liquid film on those surfaces.
H. glaciei is not the first bacteria species resurrected after a possibly lengthy snooze beneath the ice. Loveland-Curtze and her team reported another hardy bacterium in the same area that had survived for about 120,000 years as well. Chryseobacterium greenlandensis had tiny bud-like structures on its surface that may have played a role in the organism's survival. Another bacterium survived more than 32,000 years in an Arctic tunnel, and was brought back to life a few years ago.
The harsh conditions endured by these microbes serve as models of other planets.
"These extremely cold environments are the best analogues of possible extraterrestrial habitats," Loveland-Curtze said, referring to the Greenland glacier. "The exceptionally low temperatures can preserve cells and nucleic acids for even millions of years."
And studying such microorganisms may provide insight into what sorts of life forms could survive elsewhere in the solar system.
The new bacteria species was found nearly 2 miles beneath a Greenland glacier, where temperatures can dip well below freezing, pressure soars, and food and oxygen are scarce.
"We don't know what state they were in," said study team member Jean Brenchley of Pennsylvania State University. "They could've been dormant, or they could've been slowly metabolizing, but we don't know for sure
Dormant would mean the bacteria were in a spore-like state in which there's not a lot of metabolism going on, so the bacteria wouldn't be reproducing much. It's possible the bacteria could have been slowly metabolizing and replicating.
"Microbes have found ways to survive in harsh conditions for long times that we don't yet fully understand," Brenchley told LiveScience.
To coax the bacteria back to life, Brenchley, Jennifer Loveland-Curtze and their Penn State colleagues incubated the samples at 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) for seven months, followed by more than four months at 41 degrees F (5 degrees C).
The resulting colonies of the originally purple-brown bacteria, now named Herminiimonas glaciei, are alive and well.
"We were able to recover it and get it to grow in our laboratory," Brenchley said. "It was viable."
Such vigor is partially due to the microbe's small size, the scientists speculate. Boasting dimensions that are 10 to 50 times smaller than Escherichia coli, the new bacteria likely could more efficiently absorb nutrients due to a larger surface-to-volume ratio. Tiny microbes like this one can also hide more easily from predators and take up residence among ice crystals and in the thin liquid film on those surfaces.
H. glaciei is not the first bacteria species resurrected after a possibly lengthy snooze beneath the ice. Loveland-Curtze and her team reported another hardy bacterium in the same area that had survived for about 120,000 years as well. Chryseobacterium greenlandensis had tiny bud-like structures on its surface that may have played a role in the organism's survival. Another bacterium survived more than 32,000 years in an Arctic tunnel, and was brought back to life a few years ago.
The harsh conditions endured by these microbes serve as models of other planets.
"These extremely cold environments are the best analogues of possible extraterrestrial habitats," Loveland-Curtze said, referring to the Greenland glacier. "The exceptionally low temperatures can preserve cells and nucleic acids for even millions of years."
And studying such microorganisms may provide insight into what sorts of life forms could survive elsewhere in the solar system.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
INDIAN ENVIRONMENT SUMMIT 2009
Welcome to Indian Environment Summit 2009
IRWM & Co., is delighted to present Indian Environment Summit 2009 – India’s only premium environmental trade exhibition and conference on Waste, Water, Pollution, Energy and Recycling from 14 – 16 September 2009 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, INDIA. Under the support of its partners, IES 2009 is India’s only united forum constituted to recognize the environmental issues and confront them innovatively by providing a perfect platform for the best and most innovative technological solutions with multidisciplinary global approach in order to meet the escalating demand for pollution free green environment.
IRWM & Co., is delighted to present Indian Environment Summit 2009 – India’s only premium environmental trade exhibition and conference on Waste, Water, Pollution, Energy and Recycling from 14 – 16 September 2009 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, INDIA. Under the support of its partners, IES 2009 is India’s only united forum constituted to recognize the environmental issues and confront them innovatively by providing a perfect platform for the best and most innovative technological solutions with multidisciplinary global approach in order to meet the escalating demand for pollution free green environment.
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