admin | January 16, 2010
London, United Kingdom — McDonald’s U.K. is starting a three-year investigation into its cows’ methane emissions and the best methods for lowering their impacts.
The Guardian reports that the E-CO2 Project, a consultancy that provides energy and carbon assessments for farmers and growers, will study the methane emissions from cows at 350 British farms.
Full story: http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2010/01/12/mcdonalds-studies-uk-cow-emissions
Category: Carbon Footprint, Emissions
admin | January 10, 2010
Test your home for radon. Radon is an invisible radioactive gas that causes lung cancer. The only way to know if your home contains high radon levels is to test for it. January is National Radon Awareness Month at the EPA.
http://www.epa.gov/radon/radontest.html
Category: Emissions
admin | November 1, 2009
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released a user-friendly document to help risk assessors understand how children are exposed to pollution. The document, titled “Highlights of the Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook,” serves as a quick-reference guide to the more comprehensive “Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook,” published by EPA in 2008. It will serve as [...]
Category: Emissions
admin | September 29, 2009
Following the recent meeting of the G20, the possibility of attaining agreement on how to address climate change in the near future have decreased substantially. The current state of the economy has forced most of the group to ask their Finance Ministers for options on how to support the cost of deploying technology to reduce [...]
Category: Carbon Footprint, Emissions, Fuels
admin | August 26, 2009
“Renewable fuels” encapsulate a range of products, from ethanol and biodiesel, to next-generation bio-based fuels. Renewable fuels can be blended into traditional petroleum-based fuels. Their most common use is in internal combustion engines, burning gasoline or diesel, at low blend levels (e.g., up to 10% for ethanol and 5% for biodiesel).
Use of renewable fuels can [...]
Category: Emissions, Fuels, Regulations
admin | August 21, 2009
Legislation using a cap and trade system is working its way through congress and possibly on its way to becoming law, but now some of the original people behind the idea doubt the system can work on a larger scale. They are tending back toward the original system which would tax emissions because it would [...]
Category: Carbon Footprint, Emissions, Regulations
admin | August 19, 2009
Trees are the antidote to the carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases produced by factory smokestacks and automobile tailpipes. Trees take in carbon dioxide and send oxygen back into the air. In that respect, they are natural air cleaners. As trees are destroyed to make way for development, the carbon they store in their roots, leaves [...]
Category: Carbon Footprint, Emissions, Forests
admin | August 11, 2009
Yard trimmings and food residuals constitute 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. That’s a lot of waste to send to landfills when it could become useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead.
Did You Know That Compost Can…
Suppress plant diseases and pests.
Reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers.
Promote higher yields of agricultural crops.
Facilitate [...]
Category: Carbon Footprint, Emissions, Organic Waste, Reuse & Recycle
admin | August 3, 2009
WASHINGTON –EPA will hold two public hearings on the agency’s proposal to strengthen the nation’s nitrogen dioxide (NO2) standards. The proposed revisions would establish, for the first time, a one-hour NO2 standard, at a level between 80 and 100 parts per billion (ppb) and would retain the current annual standard of 53 ppb. The proposed [...]
Category: Emissions
admin | July 25, 2009
We may not see the labels for years, but recently Wal-mart revealed an environmental labeling program which will appear in its stores. Suppliers to Wal-mart have been made aware of the program and will need to disclose the complete environmental costs of their products. Wal-mart will then enter this information in their rating system. Shoppers [...]
Category: Carbon Footprint, Emissions, Regulations