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Building for a cooler planet

Suddenly, “recyclable” seems so old-school. When the FTC held its first workshop reviewing its Green Guides in January, carbon offsets and renewable energy credits were the topic of the day, and the only consensus was that the carbon market is chaotic and difficult to define.

new ECO4 energy saving technologies have been installed, including a new permanent magnet motor that delivers increased propulsion chain efficiency and a "driver assistance system."

This exciting and innovative showcase tidal farm scheme would be capable of generating 10.5 megawatts (MW) of clean, green power, drawn entirely from the sea’s major tidal currents.

Subject to successful planning consent and financing, the tidal farm could be commissioned as early as 2011 or 2012.

Companies that have switched to renewable energy are reporting a number of bottom line advantages, including reduced corporate greenhouse gas emissions, diversification of energy sources to hedge against fluctuating fossil fuel prices, as well as strengthening customer relationships and brand differentiation.

This helps explain why the Prius so outsells the rival Honda Civic Hybrid. Both have similar base prices, about $22,000, and fuel economy (Prius, 60 miles per gallon city/51 highway; Civic, 49 mpg city/51 highway).

Neuwing Energy Ventures, a New York-based marketer of energy-efficiency certificates, would perform an initial assessment of IBM customers' sprawling data centers -- the massive, air-conditioned facilities that store information and route anything from eBay purchases to e-mail. IBM would identify potential energy savings areas for its clients, and Neuwing would grant the IT firms certificates for the total megawatt-hours no longer needed to cool or operate the data center equipment. Each certificate would equal 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) per annum, said Rich Lechner, IBM's vice president for IT optimization. Clients could sell the certificates to utilities subject to state renewable portfolio standards, as well as sell to other companies that aim to reduce their carbon footprint through energy savings. The value of the energy efficiency certificates, historically in the $2-$10 range, is determined by the supply and demand for those certificates in each trading market.

Osaka Gas Co. of Japan announced that an energy-saving house in Saito Asagi, Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, equipped with a "double-generation system," which is made up of a co-generation system using a household-type polymer electrolyte fuel cell and a solar photovoltaic system, would be open to the public. The house will remain open until the end of May 2008.The fuel cell is rated at one kilowatt and simultaneously generates power and heat, with the heat being effectively utilized for heating water. The combination of the 4-kilowatt photovoltaic system and this fuel cell enables the average household to reduce primary energy consumption by about 55 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by about 70 percent over conventional systems.Moreover, although blinds are typically set inside of windows, the blinds in this house are set outside of windows in order to cut sunlight in the summer, while absorbing thermal energy from sunlight in the winter and transmitting it to the specially designed walls; thus, energy requirements for heating and cooling are reduced. With the latest gas facilities and home-security systems, visitors can enjoy experiencing the exceptional functionality this concept house offers.

Failure is not an option, they say. But Polish veto threats, Italian resistance, and German insistence that it will not jeopardise jobs to help save the planet, suggest that the action plan will be diluted. The risk is the EU will draw withering criticism from climate campaigners and signal weakness and indecision to the US, China, India and other key players in the global warming fight.

FACT: There aren't enough resources on this planet to sustain continued human growth and increasing quality of life.FACT: If we want to avoid catastrophic war, suffering, and global shortages of energy, we need to start looking to space seriously for solutions.Space Based Solar Power is the first step.