Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 09/30/2005
This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library, reporting a selection of recently published titles we have acquired. Our pledge is to keep the bulletin relevant to your work and brief -- no more than 10 titles. You are
welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more
information on any of the articles listed here.
- Informed Public Perceptions of Nanotechnology and Trust
in Government. September 2005
- The ecoinvent database system: a comprehensive web-based
LCA database. November 2005
- Norway
May Ban Retardant. August 2005
- From Words to Action: The Stakeholder Engagement Manual,
Volume 1: The Guide to Practitioners' Perspectives on Stakeholder Engagement. July 2005
- The Ins and Outs of Yarn Drying -- Haste Without Waste. July 2005
- Making the Case for
- Phosphite Blends in the Stabilization of Polyolefins. September 2005
- Life Could Be Cooler with Sugar Coated Roads. August 2005
- Ushering in the New Toxicology: Toxicogenomics and the
Public Interest. July 2005
- Stock Market Values Responsible Companies, Says New
Prizewinning Study. September 2005
1. Informed Public Perceptions of Nanotechnology and Trust
in Government
AUTHOR Macoubrie, Jane
DATE 2005
ABSTRACT This report presents results of a study,
conducted May through June of 2005, on the public’s perceptions of government,
nanotechnology, and regulation. The study was designed in response to a number
of questions that emerged from a 2004 study, which found low levels of public
trust in government to manage potential risks associated with nanotechnology.
In this study, we wanted to learn more about why this low level of trust
exists. Is there simply a general public mistrust in government or is it related
to individual government agencies or particular applications of nanotechnology?
More specifically, we wanted to find out what steps government and industry
could undertake to improve trust. Our findings suggest the following general
public perceptions: major benefits are anticipated; public wants to be
included; lack of support for a ban on nanotechnology products; high demand for
effective regulation; low public trust in government; suspicions of industry;
specific recommendations on how to improve trust; and, media influence is
presently low.
2. The Ecoinvent database system: a comprehensive web-based
LCA database
AUTHOR Frischknecht, Rolf; Rebitzer, Gerald
DATE 2005
SOURCE Journal of Cleaner Production, v13 n13-14,
November-December 2005, pp1337-1343
ABSTRACT This paper describes the general structure of
the ecoinvent database developed by the Swiss Centre for Life Cycle
Inventories. The database accommodates more than 2500 background processes
often required in LCA case studies. Quality guidelines, established in order to
ensure coherent data acquisition and reporting across the various institutes
involved, are described. These include aspects such as the reporting of
pollutants (e.g., heavy metals), or the nomenclature of processes and
elementary flows. The data (exchange) format is also described. Processes are
documented with the help of meta-information and flow data (including both unit
process raw data and aggregated LCI results). The structure of the data format
corresponds to the ISO/TS 14048 data documentation format. Data exchange
between project partner institutes and between the database and its customers
(database users) is based on XML-technology. Matrix inversion is used to
calculate the cumulative LCA data using efficient algorithms and making use of
the fact that LCA matrices are usually sparse.
3. Norway May Ban Retardant
DATE 2005
SOURCE Chemical Market Reporter, v268 n6, 22August-4
September 2005, p13
ABSTRACT The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT)
is considering a ban on perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in fire extinguishing
systems. The SFT said PFOS can be bioaccumulated.
4. From Words to Action: The Stakeholder Engagement Manual,
Volume 1: The Guide to Practitioners' Perspectives on Stakeholder Engagement
DATE 2005
SOURCE Stakeholder Research Associates
ABSTRACT This Guide to Practitioners’ Perspectives on
Stakeholder Engagement and its sister volume The Practitioner’s Handbook on
Stakeholder Engagement (AccountAbility et al, 2005) are the result of UNEP’s
interest in producing a best practice guide to stakeholder dialogue, with the
broader aim of promoting the use of stakeholder engagement worldwide as a way
of advancing sustainable development goals. As with all research projects of
potentially widespread applicability, this initiative grew from a simple
proposition. Participants in UNEP’s Annual Consultative Meeting with Industry
Associations, of October 2002, requested guidance on how to engage in
meaningful dialogue with stakeholders. UNEP began its exploration by surveying
nearly two dozen leading corporations in order to understand the main engagement
approaches they used and the major constraints they faced. This research
revealed that the issues at stake differ across stakeholder groups and
highlighted the need to understand stakeholder engagement from multiple
perspectives, including those of non-governmental organisations, labour unions
and trade associations. More than three dozen additional interviews were
undertaken with senior representatives in an international selection of those
organisations.
5. The Ins and Outs of Yarn Drying -- Haste Without Waste
AUTHOR Grizzle, Tom
DATE 2005
SOURCE AATCC Review, v5 n7, July 2005, pp12-15
ABSTRACT A dyers dilemma -- select the technology or
combination of technologies that will uniformly dry a carrier load of yarn
packages in a minimal amount of time, with the least energy cost, without
adversely affecting yarn quality, and with a minimum of handling and labor. Of
additional benefit, depending upon production requirements, is the choice of
either "economy" drying cycles or shorter, high performance drying
cycles; i.e., the most economical drying cycle that meets production demands.
The drying process is generally divided into three sequential, but overlapping
steps according to the yarn's moisture level. First, large quantities of
"loose" or unbound water are physically removed or extracted. Next,
surface water is removed by midrange evaporation. Finally, lowering and leveling
the final moisture content to residual levels is accomplished by a conditioning
step.
6. Making the Case for
AUTHOR Wilson, Alex
DATE 2005
ABSTRACT To those of us entrenched in the green building
world the benefits seem obvious. Why would anyone choose to build in a way that
isn't comfortable, healthy, and energy efficient? In the process of designing
and building green, however, we keep running into others who are not yet as
convinced. For those situations, it's useful to be able to spell out the
benefits. There are lots of reasons for building green, none necessarily better
than others. This article examines the spectrum of reasons, providing short
explanations for 46 benefits.
7. Phosphite Blends in the Stabilization of Polyolefins
AUTHOR Reese, Ryan; Stevenson, Don; Jakupca, Mick
DATE 2005
SOURCE Wire Journal, v36 np, September 2005, pp86-90
ABSTRACT Phosphites are well-known process stabilizers
for polyolefins that allow the processor to operate over a wide range of
conditions without adversely affecting important properties such as melt flow
stability and resin color. Phosphites operate by consuming peroxidic species
that are invariably generated during processing, thereby limiting the damage to
a polymer caused by oxidation. The ability of a phosphite to consume peroxides
depends upon its chemical structure, which means the protection for a polymer
can vary with the phosphite. This paper compares the effectiveness of two
phosphites for providing protection to polymers during processing.
8. Life Could Be Cooler with Sugar Coated Roads
DATE 2005
SOURCE ECOS, Issue 126, August-September 2005, p6
ABSTRACT Family-owned Australian company, EcoPave, has
developed a commercially viable, non-petroleum-based asphalt substitute made
from organic wastes, such as the sugar byproduct molasses. According to
EcoPave,its GEO320 asphalt not only out-performs regular, ‘old-fashioned’ road
asphalt bitumen, it is also less toxic and promises reduced environmental
impacts. EcoPave says its product is internationally unique. Under development
and testing for 20 years, GEO320 has come of age – right on time it seems.
About 2 billion tonnes of asphalt bitumen are used annually around the world
and demand is growing dramatically – especially as
9. Ushering in the New Toxicology: Toxicogenomics and the
Public Interest
AUTHOR Balbus, John
DATE 2005
SOURCE Environmental Health Perspectives, v113 n7, July
2005, pp818-822
ABSTRACT New scientific tools spawned by the genomics
revolution promise to improve our ability to identify causative factors in
human diseases. But as these new tools elucidate the complex interactions
between chemical toxins and biologic systems, the strain on traditional ways of
understanding toxic effects grows. Despite major advances in the science and
technology of these new toxicogenomics tools, scientific and political
complexities threaten to delay the use of toxicogenomics to further the public
interest or--worse--to advance its use initially to weaken the regulation and
safety of widely used chemicals. To gain further insight into the scientific and
political landscape of the new toxicology, we interviewed 27 experts from a
variety of disciplines and sectors. Interviewees expressed widespread agreement
that the new toxicology promises a significant increase in the amount of
information available on toxic effects of chemicals. But the interviews show
that the promise of the new toxicology will be realized only if technical and
political obstacles can be overcome. Although scientific rigor is necessary for
the new toxicology to move forward, the scientific and public-interest
communities must ensure that inappropriate definitions of rigor, as well as
proprietary interests, do not create unnecessary barriers to more effective
public health protection.
10. Stock Market Values Responsible Companies, Says New
Prizewinning Study
DATE 2005
SOURCE GreenBiz.com
ABSTRACT The 2005 Moskowitz Prize for Socially
Responsible Investing has been awarded to a new study which claims that the
stock market could provide a higher value to companies rated above-average on
environmental issues. The prize is awarded by the Center for
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