Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 04/20/2007
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.
Titles here, abstracts below:
- Green technologies: an innovation agenda for America
- U.S. dairy farms rush to qualify as organic
- Electronic displays that fit on clothing could power revolution in lighting
- New methods and tools needed to measure exposure to airborne nanomaterials
- Indoor air quality in a dentistry clinic
- Creating a campus sustainability revolving loan fund: a guide for students
- Toxic wastes and race at twenty: 1987-2007
1. Green technologies: an innovation agenda for America
Source: TechNet, March 14, 2007
Abstract: We are at a unique inflection point at which it is within our reach as a nation to make the shift from an economy fueled predominantly by oil to one that relies on a balanced mix of alternative energies and new technologies. Consumers are driving widescale commercialization of hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels, and demand for energy efficient products and clean energy solutions. U.S. venture capital investment in green technology has doubled in the past year, generating exciting new alternative and renewable energy technologies and solutions. Advances in solar, wind, biofuels, energy efficiency and fuel cell design create the potential for technology-driven energy and cost efficiencies that can revolutionize industries. U.S. corporations, manufacturers and energy companies are embracing solutions that drive efficiency and environmental improvement – and make economic sense.
Our nation’s commitment to public policies that spur innovation will determine whether we are able to surmount the challenges and seize the tremendous opportunities of the 21st century. It is critical that the United States forge a national energy policy that boldly commits to new energy technologies and innovations, and creates new opportunities for economic growth and international competitiveness. Recognizing the energy imperative and the enormous potential of innovation as a solution, the TechNet Green Technologies Task Force has developed the following recommendations to spur the development and adoption of new technologies to enhance energy efficiency, encourage use of renewable energy and protect the environment. The purpose of this report is to identify
key public policy recommendations that will be most effective in spurring clean technologies.
Link: http://www.technet.org/resources/GreenTechReport.pdf
2. U.S. dairy farms rush to qualify as organic
Source: International Herald Tribune, April 19, 2007
Abstract: American dairy farmers are rushing to convert to organic milk production, and it is largely because of a blueberry farmer who lives in Maine with a solar-powered computer and an outhouse fitted with a stained-glass window.
Arthur Harvey, the blueberry farmer, persuaded a U.S. court in 2005 that some regulations on organic milk were too lax, including those governing how a dairy farmer can convert his business into an organic one. As a result, hundreds of dairy farmers decided to switch last spring so they could complete the yearlong conversion before the more stringent rule takes effect in June.
Organic Valley, a cooperative based in Wisconsin that sells dairy products, is adding 269 farmers this year for a total of 972, and it will process 45 percent more milk this spring than a year earlier. And Horizon Organic, the biggest organic dairy company in the country and a unit of Dean Foods, added 64 organic dairy farmers in 2006 for a total of about 350, and about 230 more are in transition, said Sara Unrue, a spokeswoman.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not track the number of organic dairy farmers, nor does the Organic Trade Association, the primary trade group. But farmers say that many among them are converting to organic farming, and that Harvey's lawsuit is not the only reason. Rock-bottom prices for conventional milk have also pushed farmers to consider more lucrative alternatives.
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/business/milk.php
3. Electronic displays that fit on clothing could power revolution in lighting
Source: University of Bath, April 19, 2007
Abstract: An international research project has begun that could help bring to mass-market organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), which could have far reaching technological implications and cut the cost of lighting by billion of pounds each year.
Because the devices are thin and flexible, lighting and electronic display screens could for the first time be created on almost any material, so that clothes and packaging can display electronic information.
The devices’ uses could vary from lighting that is many times more efficient than current bulbs to clothes whose colour can be changed at will and beer cans that display the latest football results.
At present, the devices are used as displays in some mobile phones and MP3 players, but they are not reliable enough for larger screens such as in TVs and computers as they stop working after a few months.
But now an international consortium of researchers, led by the University of Bath, UK, has begun an £850,000 ($1,700,000), three-year project to put the science behind the devices on a firmer basis, so helping make them efficient enough to be worth producing for the mass market.
The consortium, called Modecom, consists of 13 groups from nine universities and two companies. Three groups are from the UK, six from the USA, and one each from China, Belgium, Italy and Denmark. The European Union is funding the European and Chinese partners.
The devices exploit a discovery made around 15 years ago that some polymers have the unusual property of either turning electricity into light, or light into electricity, depending on how the devices are made.
Because these polymers are thin and flexible, they could be used in a multiplicity of ways:
• as a transparent window. This is like a conventional window during the day, but when it gets dark a switch is turned on and the entire window area emits light in a more efficient way than conventional or energy saving bulbs, promising huge savings (see Related Links for an animation of this).
• in garments which could change colour at the press of a button
• in clothing which displays strips of the polymer which run off solar power, allowing electronic messages to be displayed which can be updated. This could be useful for the emergency services such as police or ambulance (see Related Links for an animation of this).
• in packaging for common goods that could be made to display electronic messages such as health warnings and recipes, or could emit light (see Related Links for an animation of this).
• as a source of solar power to top up mobile phones batteries
• as lightweight, solar power sources that could be rolled up and stored and which would also be ideal for people requiring electricity in remote locations, such as field researchers, mountaineers, sailors and military personnel.
Link: http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/2007/4/19/oled-project.html
4. New methods and tools needed to measure exposure to airborne nanomaterials
Source: Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, April 17, 2007
Abstract: New methods and tools for measuring exposure to airborne engineered nanomaterials will be required to protect the health of workers in nanotechnology-related jobs— estimated to total 10 million people by 2014—according to two occupational health experts writing in the inaugural issue of the journal Nanotoxicology.
The article, “Assessing Exposure to Airborne Nanomaterials: Current Abilities and Future Requirements,” written by Andrew Maynard, chief science advisor at the Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, and Robert Aitken, director of strategic consulting at the Institute of Occupational Medicine (Edinburgh, UK), can be viewed online at http://www.nanotoxicology.net
“Airborne engineered nanomaterials present complex exposure measurement challenges,” Maynard said. “Conventional approaches—measuring the mass of airborne material—will not always be sufficient. This presents a challenge because studies have indicated that, on a mass-for-mass basis, certain nanometer-scale particles may be more toxic than larger particles with a similar composition. In other words, smaller particles may be more harmful than conventional thinking would lead us to believe.”
Maynard and Aitken reduced the incredibly diverse set of possible engineered nanoparticles into nine distinct categories, ranging from very simple spherical particles to complex multifunctional particles. By pairing these categories with particle properties associated with potential health effects, they teased out possible monitoring approaches for each particle-property combination.
“What our analysis shows is that in the complex new ‘nano world’ there is no single or simple method for monitoring nanoaerosol exposures in order to assess and manage potential health effects,” Aitken explained. “There are instruments that present partial solutions to the measurement challenges we face. But at the end of the day, we lack the tools and devices that are sophisticated, cost-effective and fast enough to do the job.”
Maynard and Aitken conclude that current approaches of measuring the number of particles in a volume of air, surface areas, and mass concentration, will all be useful to some degree. However, further research is needed to identify which is most important for specific nanomaterials and which measurement methods are most effective.
The authors advocate developing a new “universal aerosol monitor” capable of providing detailed information on the nature of airborne engineered nanomaterials to which people are exposed.
Link: http://www.nanotechproject.org/118/
41707-new-methods-tools-needed-to-measure-exposure-to-airborne-nanomaterials
5. Indoor air quality in a dentistry clinic
Source: Science of the Total Environment, article-in-press, April 16, 2007
Abstract: The purpose of this work is to assess, both experimentally and theoretically the status of air quality in a dentistry clinic of the Athens University Dentistry Faculty with respect to chemical pollutants and identify the indoor sources associated with dental activities. Total VOCs, CO2, PM10, PM2.5, NOx and SO2 were measured over a period of approximately three months in a selected dentistry clinic. High pollution levels during the operation hours regarding CO2, total VOCs and Particulate Matter were found, while in the non-working periods lower levels were recorded. On the contrary, NOx and SO2 remained at low levels for the whole experimental period. These conditions were associated with the number of occupants, the nature of the dental clinical procedures, the materials used and the ventilation schemes, which lead to high concentrations, far above the limits that are set by international organizations and concern human exposure. The indoor environmental conditions were investigated using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model PHOENICS for inert gases simulation. The results revealed diagonal temperature stratification and low air velocities leading to pollution stratification, accompanied by accumulation of inert gaseous species in certain areas of the room. Different schemes of natural ventilation were also applied in order to examine their effect on the indoor comfort conditions for the occupants, in terms of air renewal and double cross ventilation was found to be most effective. The relative contribution of the indoor sources, which are mainly associated with indoor activities, was assessed by application of the Multi Chamber Indoor Air Quality Model (MIAQ) to the experimental data. It was found that deposition onto indoor surfaces is an important removal mechanism while a great amount of particulate matter emitted in the Clinic burdened severely the indoor air quality. The natural ventilation of the room seemed to reduce the levels of the fine particles. The emission rates for the fine and coarse particulates were found to be almost equal, while the coarse particles were found susceptible to deposition onto indoor surfaces.
6. Creating a campus sustainability revolving loan fund: a guide for students
Authors: Diebolt, Asa; Herder-Thomas, Timothy Den
Source: Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
Abstract: This guide contains key background information about revolving loan funds and provides step-by-step directions for establishing a student-led revolving loan fund on your own campus. All revolving loan funds operate on a fairly simple premise: An initial sum of money is set aside for the fund. The fund then finances sustainability projects that have a quantifiable monetary savings or return – such projects abound in the realms of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy conservation. A portion of the returns from these projects is reinvested into the fund until the project has been paid off. The money is then reused for more projects. Some loan funds are designed to grow over time, so they can provide ever-greater benefits. These funds require that projects return slightly more money to the fund than the inflation-adjusted project cost. This does not deter projects because even with this requirement, loan fund money is easier to get and less expensive than borrowing from traditional sources, such as banks.
This simple mechanism has a number of benefits:
*Reduces the negative environmental impact of the college or university.
Investing in alternative energy sources and improving the efficiency of heating, insulation, lighting, or water use can significantly lessen a campus’s environmental impact—while reducing college utility bills. Having a revolving fund addresses a major roadblock in campus greening: high initial costs make many sustainability measures difficult for colleges and universities to finance, despite
the fact that these projects often have long-term cost savings. A revolving fund capitalizes on the long-term profitability of sustainability projects by covering these initial costs while securing the return they produce for future initiatives, making such projects much more feasible.
*Saves the college money.
This is a crucial selling point for university administrators. Savings or returns from projects funded by Macalester’s CERF are divided between a “project recipient” (Facilities Management, for example) and the fund. The recipient pays a pre-determined percentage of its savings—typically 90%—back into the CERF until the initial costs plus an additional percentage (allowing for growth)
are repaid to the fund. After that point, the recipient receives the full cost savings of the project, which can amount to over 30% of the project’s costs per year. By reducing an institution’s energy consumption, the fund can also help protect the institution from energy cost spikes, which can place considerable financial pressure on colleges.
*Educates and empowers students.
Colleges and universities are traditionally the cradle of social change, educating around 14.5 million students annually in the U.S. Today, campus greening is rapidly gaining momentum, as colleges and universities embrace green building, innovative recycling, local food initiatives and other environmentally conscious practices. There are many forces encouraging campus greening, but action is often delayed because of the initial cost of projects. Revolving loan funds could become engines for the college sustainability movement, financing the projects of student environmental leaders while simultaneously raising awareness, generating funding for larger projects, and giving campuses an effective, reliable method for financing projects with both short and long payback periods.
Link: http://www.aashe.org/resources/pdf/CERF.pdf
7. Toxic wastes and race at twenty: 1987-2007
Authors: Bullard, Robert D.; Mohai, Paul; Saha, Robin; Wright, Beverly
Source: United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries, March 2007
Abstract: In 1987, the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice released its groundbreaking study Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States. The report was significant because it found race to be the most potent variable in predicting where commercial hazardous waste facilities were located in the U.S., more powerful than household income, the value of homes, and the estimated amount of hazardous waste generated by industry. The Toxic Wastes and Race study was revisited in 1994 using 1990 census data. The 1994 study found that people of color are 47 percent more likely to live near a hazardous waste facility than whites.
This year, the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries commissioned a new report as part of the twentieth anniversary of the release of the 1987 report. The 2007 Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty report uses 2000 census data. The report also chronicles important environmental justice milestones since 1987 and a collection of “impact” essays from environmental justice leaders on a range of topics. This new report also examines the environmental justice implications in post-Katrina New Orleans and uses the Dickson County (Tennessee) Landfill case, the “poster child” for environmental racism, to illustrate the deadly mix of waste and race.
Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty is designed to facilitate renewed grassroots organizing and provide a catalyst for local, regional, and national environmental justice public forums, discussion groups, and policy changes in 2007 and beyond. This new report includes the first national-level study to employ 2000 Census data and distance-based methods to a current database of commercial hazardous waste facilities to assess the extent of racial and socioeconomic disparities in facility locations in the U.S. Disparities are examined by region and state, and separate analyses are conducted for metropolitan areas, where most hazardous waste facilities are located. The application of these new methods, which better match where people and hazardous sites are located, reveals that racial disparities in the distribution of hazardous wastes are greater than previously reported. In fact, these methods show that people of color make up the majority of those living in host neighborhoods within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of the nation’s hazardous waste facilities. The evidence is clear that these racial and ethnic disparities are prevalent throughout the country.
Link: http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/TWARTreport.htm
You are welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more information on any of these resources. Also, please tell us what topics you are particularly interested in monitoring, and who else should see GREENLIST. An online search of the TURI Library catalog can be done at http://greenlist.turi.org/ for greater topic coverage.
This page updated Friday April 20 2007