Archive for February, 2011

Continental, a leading global automotive supplier, has developed a sensor, the evSAT, for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that will immediately shut off the high-voltage battery in the event of a collision, which will allow emergency service workers to aid accident victims without the risk of suffering an electric shock. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are powered by high-voltage batteries of up to 400 V, and, according to Dr. Axel Gesell, Senior Manager Platform Development Sensors & Satellites, “The major benefit of our product is that it prevents fire and rescue service personnel sustaining high-voltage injuries when coming into contact with vehicle metal parts or if they have to cut through the vehicle to recover accident victims.” Read the rest of this entry »

In development since 2008, ISO 50001International Standard for energy management will help organizations to improve their energy performance, increase energy efficiency, and reduce climate change impacts. It is intended to establish a framework for industrial plants, commercial facilities, or entire organizations to manage energy, and it is estimated that the standard could influence up to 60 percent of the world’s energy use. Read the rest of this entry »

Believe it or not, there is an an online marketplace for business-to-business waste sales. Launched in 2009, RecycleMatch lets business list waste they want to get rid of, and then buyers can bid on the materials, with the seller choosing a winning bid. Sellers can offer one-time waste dumps as well as ongoing wastes they create, and they can also list trash they’re willing to give away for free. Materials can include plastics, textiles, paper, metals, rubber, and chemicals, along with electronics, ceramics, glass, minerals, and wood, among others. There is no fee for sellers to list the materials – they pay 5% commission or a $5/ton landfill diversion fee to RecycleMatch only when the trash is sold. Read the rest of this entry »

Rockwell Automation, a leader in industrial automation control and information solutions, has available a first of its kind online tool that will help manufacturers identify and compare current energy management behavior and find areas that need improvement. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine a plant that is so massively useful it can be used for food, textiles and clothing, commercial building materials, boat construction, wind turbine blades, furniture, musical instruments, flooring, scaffolding, bridge building, bicycles and cars, paper, medicine, beer brewing, wine-making, water desalination, household and kitchen goods, animal feed and landscaping. Read the rest of this entry »

As one of 3M strategic principals for sustainability, Environmental Stewardship hopes to “provide practical solutions and products to address our environmental challenges for ourselves and our customers.” They have taken another step toward a sustainable future with the installation of an electric vehicle charging station at their headquarters in Maplewood, MN . Read the rest of this entry »

We may have a new psychological term entering our consciousness soon: green fear. Not fear of the actual color green (though that is apparently a real but rare condition: chromatophobia, or fear of certain colors). But fear of and resistance to green technologies themselves. Read the rest of this entry »

As part of the recently announced SunShot initiative, a DOE program that aims to reduce the total costs of photovoltaic solar energy systems by about 75% over the next decade, DOE has introduced the second edition of Solar Powering Your Community: A Guide for Local Governments. The guide serves as resource that can help communities: Read the rest of this entry »

Those red medical waste boxes that sit outside of doctor or laboratory offices may soon be a thing of the past. Instead of storing medical wastes (such as needles or unused patient medications) until a service comes to collect them, Sharps Compliance Corp. is offering a greener alternative. Read the rest of this entry »

In warehousing and manufacturing environments, pallet wrappers are commonplace. They are used in storing and shipping of materials and goods. Most people don’t realize the amount of plastic shrink wrap that is used in manufacturing and shipping. This is a large source of waste material that is generally not put into the recycling stream. Amici Enterprises has developed an alternative to shrink wrap: the Envirowrapper Re-usable Pallet Wrapper™. Read the rest of this entry »