Training set: sustainable zoning and development controls

November 20, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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Sustainable Zoning & Development Controls Planners Training Service (PTS) Meeting Planned for Austin, TX
Austin, Texas – January 21-22, 2010
Hosted by the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute
Marriott Courtyard Residence Inn
Austin, TX/Downtown Convention Center

Local governments have a legitimate — and leading — role to play in creating sustainable communities. In this PTS Workshop, you’ll learn how communities around the country have written or amended land-use plans, zoning codes, and subdivision regulations to achieve greater sustainability.

Find out how you can apply many innovative models and strategies to your own community.
Faculty: Christopher Duerksen, Esq., James Duncan, FAICP, Craig Richardson, James van Hemert, AICP, Jeremy Klop, AICP, Lynn Richards
Application approved for certification maintenance credits CM |14 (including one law credit)
Please visit http://law.du.edu/index.php/rmlui/planners-training-service to register or for further details.

Biodiesel tax incentive introduced in House

November 17, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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Press Release from National Biodiesel Board
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) today applauded Representatives Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and John Shimkus (R-IL) for introducing H.R. 4070, legislation to reform and extend the biodiesel tax incentive. Currently, the biodiesel tax incentive is set to expire December 31, 2009.

H.R. 4070 will help provide stability and reliability in the marketplace by extending the biodiesel tax incentive for five years. In addition, the legislation would change the biodiesel tax incentive from a blenders excise tax credit to a production excise tax credit. This common sense change will focus the incentive on the domestic biodiesel industry, improve administration of the nation’s tax laws and protect the integrity of the credit.

“Expiration of the biodiesel tax incentive at the end of the year would cause domestic biodiesel production to cease. The U.S. biodiesel industry appreciates the proactive steps Representatives Pomeroy and Shimkus have taken to save jobs and preserve the commercial scale production and use of biodiesel in the U.S.,” said Manning Feraci, NBB Vice President of Federal Affairs.

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Action under ozone treaty stalled for Copenhagen deal

November 12, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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Source: Environmental News Service

PORT GHALIB, Egypt, November 11, 2009 (ENS) – Two separate proposals to expand the Montreal Protocol on Ozone-Depleting Substances to include the gases known as hydrofluorocarbons, HFCs, have failed to win the approval of delegates at the treaty’s annual Meeting of Parties. These “super” potent greenhouse gases warm the climate but are not as damaging to the Earth’s ozone layer as other gases they are used to replace.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2009/2009-11-11-02.asp

Green equity toolkit released

November 10, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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Press Release 10 November 09

ARC releases guide to ensure shared benefits from the green economy

November 10, 2009: Applied Research Center (ARC) is releasing a Green Equity Toolkit: Standards and Strategies for Advancing Race, Gender and Economic Equity in the green economy. Purpose:  to help community organizations, public agencies and individuals maximize and share the benefits of green economy jobs. The Toolkit provides a guide for creating high-quality jobs that are fully accessible to people of color and women.

Visit http://www.arc.org/greenjobs to read and download the toolkit.

More than $200 billion in the Recovery Act was earmarked for green jobs programs.  The Toolkit highlights the impact of recovery monies and provides analysis of recently released Recovery Act data.

On November 18 at 10AM PST/1PM EST, ARC will convene a Webinar on the Green Equity Toolkit. The webinar will feature Toolkit coauthors Yvonne Liu and Terry Keleher of the Applied Research Center along with Elsa Barboza of Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE). In Los Angeles, SCOPE convened the local chapter of the Apollo Alliance and …

Suzlon completes Silver Sage windpower project

November 5, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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Press Release: 5 November 09

Chicago: Suzlon Wind Energy Corp., the North American subsidiary of Suzlon Energy Limited (SEL), announced the early completion of the Silver Sage Windpower Project, a Duke Energy wind farm in Cheyenne, Wyoming, that is comprised of 20 Suzlon S88-2.1 megawatt wind turbines.

The Silver Sage Wind Farm began operating in early October.  At full capacity, the 20 Suzlon wind turbines are capable of producing 42 MW of wind-generated electricity, which is enough energy to power nearly 20,000 average US homes.*  Cheyenne Light Fuel & Power, a utility subsidiary of Black Hills Corp., and Colorado-based Platte River Power Authority are buying the renewable energy generated by Duke Energy at its Silver Sage Project.

In addition to supplying and building the turbines, Suzlon is providing operations and maintenance at Silver Sage through a five-year service agreement with Duke Energy. Suzlon also supplied the 14 S88 turbines in use at Duke Energy’s nearby Happy Jack Windpower Project, a 29-MW wind farm that entered commercial operation in September 2008.

Suzlon has more than 1,600 megawatts of wind turbine capacity installed in …

Nov. 19 conference at Green Technolocy Trade Center

November 4, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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Release Source:IGTTC

trade picThe Massachusetts-based International Green Technology Trade Center announced its first executive-level conference at TradeCenter128 on November 19th and 20th.  The two-day conference will focus on the evolution of green technology and policy in the U.S., featuring leading venture capital investors, asset managers, management consultants, policy experts, legislators and advisers to President Obama.

A home for trashed tape dispensers, at last

October 29, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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News from Sustainable Life Media/Green Design

“Terracycle has partnered with 3M and their Scotch Brand transparent tape products to design an upcycling program where the Terracycle Brigades will collect empty Scotch tape dispensers and cores and return them to 3M for reuse.

Terracycle Brigades upcycle target

Terracycle Brigades upcycle target

“The project is the first in which Terracycle is participating in the reverse supply chain space. Previous projects have involved collections for product to be upcycled, creating new and different goods. The program will begin in late 2009 and will involve the collection of more than 25,000 dispensers through more than 25,000 Terracycle “Brigades”. Consumers are not compensated for their efforts, rather 3M will be donating 2 cents for every dispenser collected to the charity of the donator’s choice.

“Terracycle has been partnering with many large brand names this year for waste upcycling, including Mars candy and Kraft Foods. Terracycle CEO Tom Szaky said “We …

IFC to issue bond for microfinance programs

October 27, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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Source: World Bank Press Review

“The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector lender, said on Tuesday it will seek to raise $300 million through a bond issue targeted at Japanese investors to finance microfinance programs for the poor. It is the first time that the IFC will issue a bond to raise money to lend to commercially viable microfinance institutions which offer affordable small loans to the poor in developing countries…. Until now, IFC has used its own general resources for its microfinance operations….” [Reuters/Factiva]

Dow Jones adds that “… ‘We are looking at other possibilities for microfinance financing elsewhere in the market and hope to be able to realize another transaction within a few months,’ said IFC Treasurer and Vice President of Finance Nina Shapiro….

World Bank President Robert Zoellick recently said that the IFC will need more cash as the Bank tries to address the global credit crisis. The IFC ‘faces a possible capital restraint’ by around 2011 if it is to continue to met swelling demand, Zoellick said, adding that support for developing countries …

Abengoa Solar inks 25-year deal for 250-MW plant

October 26, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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Press Release:

Abengoa Solar has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with PG&E to build a 250-MW concentrating solar plant about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The plant will provide electricity for 90,000 homes and bring 1,200 green construction jobs to the area. It will also help California meet its renewable energy requirements and support a clean energy future.

The new plant, called “Mohave Solar” will be located in an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County, between Barstow and Kramer Junction.  The project is expected to bring 1,200 green construction jobs and, when completed, approximately 80 permanent jobs to this desert area.

UK offshore wind farm approvals decline in 2009

October 21, 2009
 | by grmeyers
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In an article today by James Murray, of BusinessGreen, numbers released by the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) shows only 25 percent of the applications for offshore wind farms now  gain approval, down from a high of 63 percent in 2007.

“The planning system is broken when it comes to wind energy,” said Maria McCaffrey MBE, BWEA’s chief executive. “A 25 percent approval is truly shocking, especially when you think that there is an approval rate of more than 70 percent for roads, housing, and supermarkets.”

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