Negative Impact

Hey,

Quick update on the results of your help:  we just learned that yesterday Planet Forward filmed the first documentary, featuring a really cool from your suggestions:  Tri-State Biodiesel.  Four more of your suggestions to go!

And the best of them will be put on PBS and National Geographic specials.

Check out Planet Forward’s Tri-State Biodiesel video: http://bit.ly/ck37u8

And it gets better!  Planet Forward just asked to attend our July 22^nd Green Entrepreneur Summit: Scaling Up Without Selling Out in Manhattan to meet, interview and possibly film more green entrepreneurs like you.

Since the planet needs more thriving small green businesses like yours, we’re trying to make attending this event a no-brainer for you. We’ve just secured a larger venue for the extra people and you can now come with a guest for the price of one:  $79.

Just use discount code GUEST01 on the website above.

Looking forward to seeing you this coming Thursday, July 22^nd!  Mention you came because of this announcement and I’ll introduce you to Jason from Planet Forward.

UnReasonably yours,

Stefan

PS: If you attend on July 22^nd’s Green Entrepreneur Summit, Planet Forward is looking to meet and film some of the following green companies:

• TECH— What technology are you developing that will improve how we generate or use energy?
• BUSINESS—How is your business going beyond the hype and going green in a real way?
• RESEARCH— What theory, behavior, or norm are you researching to improve how we generate or use energy?
• POLICY— What is, should, or could your town or state be doing to encourage better energy use? 

Cross-posted from The Brandeis Hoot <http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/7724>

By: Max Fischlowitz-Roberts 9 Apr. 2010

As we approach the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, know this: If you care about saving the planet, you’re better off driving a Hummer than eating a cheeseburger.

That’s the conclusion of “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” a 2006 report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (U.N.). The FAO estimated that animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than all forms of transportation combined.

The Worldwatch Institute’s recent report, “Livestock and Climate Change,” released late last year, suggests the figure is closer to 50 percent, dwarfing the U.N.’s more conservative estimate. Whatever the specific percentage, the science is clear: Our appetite for hamburgers, milkshakes and omelettes is a major contributor to global climate change. The simplest way to combat climate change is to stop eating meat–or, at minimum, to replace some of the meat, dairy and eggs in our diets with plant-based foods.

(continue reading…)

17 Sept. 09

Nedbank’s CEO Tom Boardman announces that Nedbank s going Carbon Neutral. Having assessed their Carbon Footprint they will be buying the equivalent in value through carbon credits with the assistance of WWF-SA. They will also be investing in Prince Charles’ rain forest projects in Central Africa.

Cross-posted from GreenTech Media <http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/food-fertilizer-and-biofuel-all-in-one-place1>

By: Michael Kanellos 17 Jan. 10

Abu Dhabi – Take marginal land, fish waste and a plant that’s not currently cultivated for human purposes and what do you get? Hopefully jet fuel.

The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Honeywell UOP, Boeing and Ethiad Airways announced a project on the eve of the World Future Energy Summit to study how to combine fish farms and biofuel crops in a manner that will also potentially reduce carbon dioxide as well as the amount of waste going into oceans.

The project essentially revolves around an oily plant called Salicornia (also known as pickleweed and sea asparagus) that grows in salty water in the region. Under the plan, fish farmers would create ponds and streams for raising shrimp and/or tilapia interspersed with Salicornia and mangrove, which also grows natively. The fish would be harvested for food. Their waste-which can run into the ocean and pollute it — would be absorbed by the Salicornia and mangrove as fertilizer.

The Salicornia could then be harvested for oil, which could be converted into jet fuel or biodiesel. The seed meal left over after the plant gets squeezed, meanwhile, could be converted into fish food while the straw of the plant could get burned in a biomass reactor to produce electricity, according to Scott Kennedy, an associate professor at the Masdar Institute, a graduate school created here with MIT’s help focused on alternative energy. It’s a whole cycle of life thing.

(continue reading…)