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France is moving forward with a "Positive Energy" initiative to add solar panels to 621 miles of road. The panels are glued onto the roadway and can handle the weight of six-axle vehicles. This stretch of road could collect enough energy for 5 million people. A Dutch company has already used solar panels on 328 feet of road in Holland.

Since 2014, oil companies reported that they used more than 20 million pounds and 2 million gallons of chemicals in their operations, including at least 16 chemicals the state of California classifies as carcinogens or reproductive toxicants under the state's Proposition 65 law. That recycled wastewater was then sold to irrigation districts largely in Kern County. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board has allowed the practice for at least four decades and only recently required the oil companies and water districts to disclose the details. EWG detailed its findings in a report released Wednesday, two days before a public meeting of an expert panel convened to study the practice's safety. Although scientists don't know whether using oil field wastewater to grow crops poses a health risk to people who eat the food, the water board has refused to halt the practice until the expert panel releases its findings.

news broke of a pending decision by the RSPO Complaints Panel to lift the suspension of IOI Group's certification under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification system. If successful this move would do irreparable harm to the RSPO's credibility. Less than five months after the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) suspended Malaysian palm oil producer IOI Group's certification, that suspension has been lifted - much to the dismay of NGO campaigners. While the RSPO's Complaints Panel has said it is "satisfied that IOI has met the conditions set out in its letter to IOI," Greenpeace Indonesia and the Center for International Policy says they have yet to see any real action on the ground. This was the second time a suspension has been placed on an IOI subsidiary. A coalition of NGOs has rapidly issued an appeal, urging the RSPO to maintain its suspension of IOI Group stating that it is far too premature to lift the suspension given that the company has not come into full compliance with the RSPO Certification Systems nor resolved outstanding complaints. There are fears that any change at this stage would seriously hinder the resolution process between the complainant and the company.

India is delaying a decision on asking for a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organisation against domestic content regulations in renewable energy programmes run by eight states in the US as it is hoping to work out a "mutually beneficial'' solution with the new regime under Republican leader Donald Trump. "New Delhi is still hopeful that it could work out a compromise with Washington on the flexible implementation of the WTO verdict against it in the solar power programme dispute. It may decide not to ask for a panel against US renewable energy programmes if it gets an assurance from the Trump administration on leniency in the solar case," a government official told BusinessLine.

Mounting ocean health problems -- which are threatening the primary food source for more than 1 billion people -- can be fixed, but only with public and private sectors working together to a much greater extent, according to a World Bank blue ribbon panel.

Washington, D.C., is on track to obtain 40% of the electricity used by its city government from wind and solar sources. Part of the electricity will come from a wind farm in Pennsylvania. The city signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with the project in August. Mayor Muriel Bowser says the city will also source electricity from solar panels, with a plan to install panels at 34 government-owned sites. 

On Tuesday, Whole Foods WFM -1.91% said that it planned a huge project to cover nearly one-fourth of its stores with solar panels. After construction is complete, Whole Foods says it could be among the top 25 biggest commercial U.S. solar suppliers alongside Walmart WMT -0.08% , Walgreens WBA -0.41% , and Target TGT 0.59% .

Photovoltaics made from organic semiconductors that can be 3D printed to cover large areas also turn out to be better than their silicon-based counterparts at capturing solar energy in cloudy environments, writes Jenny Xie. The key is the ability of organic photovoltaics to generate electricity regardless of the angle of the sun's rays

In a delay for the EPA's Clean Power Plan, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit yesterday said the full court will hear oral arguments on the carbon emissions rule on Sept. 27. A three-judge panel had been scheduled to hear the case on June 2.

The Hotel at Oberlin in Ohio is one of five US hotels that have met the stringent sustainable criteria for LEED Platinum certification. The hotel relies on geothermal energy for heating and cooling and uses solar panels to produce electricity.

Levi's Stadium, the home of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers, features an urban farm that will produce as much as 150 pounds of produce weekly. The garden encompasses 4,000 square feet of the 27,000-square-foot green roof that also has solar panels.

The Minnesota National Guard installed solar panels and geothermal systems at its Camp Ripley base in an effort to reach zero emissions. The Guard earned a silver LEED rating for its readiness center and hopes to achieve a similar rating for all of its federally funded buildings.

IKEA wants to become a net exporter of renewables by 2020 and plans to spend another $670.5 million on renewable energy development. It currently sources 53% of its total electricity needs from renewables, controlling 314 turbines and 700,000 solar panels worldwide. The company will continue to embrace energy-efficiency measures, reduce supply chain emissions and make its products more sustainable.

IKEA has installed a 1.14 MW rooftop solar PV system - comprised of more than 3,600 panels - at its new store in Las Vegas. The installation is the largest of its kind in Nevada.

A shopping center in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has been named the first BREEAM USA In-Use certified building in the country, a designation for sustainability efforts at pre-existing nonresidential structures. The Oaks Shopping Center features 6,000 solar panels, LED lighting, a mixed-materials recycling campaign and more to help minimize the building's environmental impact.

Amazon intends to install solar power panels at more than 50 warehouses and distribution centers worldwide, including 15 this year in the US. The company estimated power generation of as much as 41 megawatts of by year's end.

Sara Neff, vice president for sustainability at Kilroy Realty, says an upcoming project in San Francisco will be the real estate investment trust's most innovative sustainability project. The site "will feature a living roof, use of storm water for toilet flushing, solar panels and bricks grown from bacteria," writes Sarah Borchersen-Keto

Hotel chains and casinos are adding low-energy lighting to guest rooms, putting solar panels on roofs and using hotel limousines powered by compressed natural gas, but these sustainable practices could be bolstered by the use of third-party standards that measure hotels against one another, writes Marc Gunther. "[I]ndustry executives cite three reasons why they have begun to take action on the sustainability front: to save money, attract and motivate their employees, and respond to demand from business and leisure travelers," Gunther writes

Global warming is "unequivocal" and humans are turning up the heat - but more slowly since 1998, according to a report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released today.