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Rainforest Alliance and Lavazza Team Up for Sustainable Coffee

The international conservation organization that pioneered the concept of certified sustainable coffee and the Italian company that pioneered espresso have joined forces to help farmers in remote villages in Colombia, Honduras and Peru improve their quality of life so that it matches the quality of the coffee they grow. The partnership between the Rainforest Alliance and Lavazza, announced at the Slow Food Fair in Turin, Italy, combines the forces of the two standard setters. The Rainforest Alliance is a not-for-profit green group based in New York and Costa Rica that has developed environmental and social standards for farm management and a certification seal to reward farms that meet the criteria. For more than 100 years, Lavazza has set the standard for the exquisite quality Italian espresso served in inimitable style. The Rainforest Alliance and Lavazza agree that good farming practices can produce top quality beans and lead to better prices for farmers, sustaining rural communities while conserving the rainforest ecosystem. Many coffee producers agree, and just need some guidance, training and capital. Through the partnership, which has been more than a year in development, the Rainforest Alliance and Lavazza are evaluating farms according to the Alliance s standards and helping […]

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:November 12, 2004

News and Events DOE to Help Install Concentrating Solar Power in the West Colorado Voters Approve Renewable Energy Requirement Voters in 11 States Pass Transit Measures Pennsylvania Awards $5 million in Clean Energy Grants Study Finds Low Impact from Massachusetts Offshore Wind Farm Site NewsClean Energy States Alliance Energy ConnectionsRussian Ratification Brings Kyoto Protocol Into Effect News and EventsDOE to Help Install Concentrating Solar Power in the WestDOE announced last week that it will support efforts to install a total of 1000 megawatts of concentrating solar power (CSP) systems in seven western states by 2010. CSP systems involve focusing and collecting the sun’s heat and converting it into electricity, and are best suited for hot, sunny desert climates. With that in mind, the Western Governor’s Association (WGA) is backing a five-year, $1,860,000 effort to encourage CSP installations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. Through a cooperative, cost-shared agreement with WGA, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will provide $90,000 for the first year and offer its CSP expertise over the life of the project. WGA and the involved states will provide $61,690 toward the project in the first year, and WGA expects to provide […]

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:November 3, 2004

News and EventsFederal Employees Receive DOE Awards for Saving Energy Fuel Cells Help the U.S. Military Meet its Power Needs WestStart Launches Utility Deployment of 20 Hybrid Trucks U.S. Wind Industry Predicts Record Growth in 2005 California Continues to Pursue Solar Power in a Big Way Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Promote Growth of Green Power Site NewsNowHouse Project Now Open in San Francisco and on the Web Energy ConnectionsDOE, EPA, and Non-Profits Emphasize Ways to Cut Heating Bills News and EventsFederal Employees Receive DOE Awards for Saving EnergyThe efforts of 27 individuals, teams, and organizations throughout the federal government yielded almost $39 million in energy savings in the past year. In honor of those achievements, DOE presented the 2004 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards last week to employees of the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy; DOE and the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Interior; the Environmental Protection Agency; the General Services Administration; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and the Social Security Administration. One naval facility also received an Energy Star Building Award for superior building performance. Presented each year since 1981, the awards are sponsored by DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP).The 2004 winners purchased […]

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:October 27, 2004

News and EventsPresident Bush Signs New Energy Tax Incentives Into Law GE Energy Receives $1.3 Billion in U.S. Wind Turbine Orders Connecticut Clean Energy Fund to Jump-Start Renewable Projects BP Solar to Boost U.S. Production of Solar Cells and Modules New BLM Policy Encourages Solar Power on Public Lands Schwarzenegger Opens Hydrogen Fueling Station at L.A. Airport Site NewsEPA Launches Heat Island Effect Web Site Energy ConnectionsIEA: World Energy Demand May Increase 59 Percent by 2030 News and EventsPresident Bush Signs New Energy Tax Incentives Into LawPresident Bush signed H.R. 4520, the “American Jobs Creation Act of 2004,” into law on Friday. The new law creates and extends a number of energy-related tax credits, including an expansion of the renewable energy production tax credit. This credit formerly applied only to wind energy and some biomass energy projects, but Section 710 of the law now expands the credit to a wide range of biomass, geothermal, and solar energy projects, as well as hydropower produced from small irrigation projects. The tax credit applies to facilities placed in service before the end of next year.The bill’s Title III also extends the tax credit for ethanol through 2010 and creates a new tax credit […]

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North America's Largest Printer Gets FSC Certified

RR Donnelley & Sons Company facilities in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, have earned Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain-of-Custody certification (SCSCOC-00648). Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) conducted the certification. Now RR Donnelley (NYSE:RRD) customers who use FSC-certified paper can use the FSC-trademarked logo in their magazines, catalogs and other printed materials to demonstrate their commitment to the environment. “RR Donnelley has a long history of pursuing practices that help us and our customers in our respective sustainability efforts,” said John Paloian, President, RR Donnelley Group Publishing and Retail Services. “We were able quickly and easily to obtain the FSC certification due to the strength of our supply chain management practices – especially those related to paper procurement and to paper and product tracking capabilities in our plants. A chain-of-custody certification, like FSC’s, is an expansion of those efforts. To continue meeting our customers’ needs, we intend to leverage our manufacturing and environmental expertise and pursue other sustainable forestry management certifications around the globe. We seek to provide our customers with the industry’s best products and services, and to work with them to protect and improve the environment.”The use of paper from sustainably managed forests is important to many of their […]

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Hot Green Companies that Use Recycled Materials

Hot LogsHot Logs, located in Oroville, California, has been in business only two years but is growing rapidly. The company makes fire logs from old waxed corrugated boxes. Much of the feedstock comes from local manufacturers like Holiday Markets and Raleys or from packing plants that receive fruits and vegetables in waxed boxes. The logs are quick and easy to light, are nontoxic and burn cleaner than most firewoods. They generate 40 percent more heat than other manufactured firelogs. Best of all, there is now a “realistic way to reuse waxed boxes” – material that is difficult to recycle, and often ends up in landfills.Mike Decker, VP Operations explains that wax is paraffin, safe for fireplaces and wood stoves. “We cut the boxes and chip the wax. Then it goes into a dryer. What comes out are pieces of cardboard and wax” that can be molded into fire logs or sold loose as fire starter. The company uses a trailer tractor load of old boxes a day – 8000 logs – and is looking to substantially expand over the next year. Decker hopes to open a plant in Georgia and is scouting locations in the San Francisco Bay area as […]

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