The Bay Area Air Quality Management District voted 15 to 1 to implement a CO2 tax of 4.4 cents per metric ton of emissions.  The tax would effect 2500 businesses ranging from refineries to grocery stores.  While this is the first Carbon Tax in the US, 4.4 cents per metric ton of CO2 represents just little more 1/2 of 1% of the actual cost of carbon offsets on the Chicago Climate Exchange where offsets closed today at $7.35 per metric ton.

For more details:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/21/MNDN10QD6O.DTL

Landfill-Saving Idea Comes From Teen
We all know that plastic bags are the biggest item in landfills. Everything from diapers to supermarket shopping bags clog our trash bins and our planet. The biggest problem is that they take forever - almost literally - to decompose.

But Daniel Burd, an 11th grader from Canada, thinks he knows a feasible way to make plastic bags decompose in just 3 months. Will it work? More …

With Biofuels, It Seems Like There’s Always a Catch
Just when it seemed that the problem of biofuels using much-needed food crops was being solved with non-food crops, we find that it isn’t. Not when the non-food crops are invasive species, as so many of them are.

Will biofuels lead to another kudzu epidemic like the one in the Southern US or some other species that takes over and chokes out native plants? Is biofuel still feasible or is it a dead-end? More …

Solar Makes Big Gains In North Carolina
Duke Energy announced that it will be buying solar power from SunEdison of Beltsville, Maryland. The power will come from a solar farm to be built in North Carolina.

Duke Energy is also adding wind to its power portfolio by using power from a wind farm in Indiana which went online last month. The solar plant is scheduled to start providing power by 2010. More …

Cars Powered By Natural Gas Save More Money Than Ever
Especially for companies who depend on vehicles for deliveries or other heavy industrial use, natural gas is becoming a lifesaver. Fueling a conventional vehicle at current pump prices is causing fleet managers to think twice about buying more conventional vehicles.

Many of them are opting for natural gas vehicles in an effort to stem rising fuel costs that make it necessary to add on to their customer fees and merchandise prices. More …

The Queen Invests in Wind Energy in a Royal Way
The Queen of England, or at least her Crown Trust, has just purchased the world’s largest wind turbine at 7.5 Megawatts. It’s a prototype of the Brittania Line from Clipper Windpower in California.

It will join other wind turbines that are being installed in order to help achieve Britain’s goal of generating 33 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2020. More …

Restaurants Serve Up Sustainability
What with so many disposable dishes, napkins, tableware and containers, restaurants aren’t famous for sustainability. Now that’s going to change, according to the National Restaurant Association. The aim is to reduce the impact of the food service industry on the environment and to conserve resources.

So far, Pepsico and the Chicago Culinary Institute have signed on. More …
“Farmer Green” Makes a Case for Sustainable Farming
79 year old Ralph Dull was recuperating from knee surgery when he read a book on wind energy, just to pass the time. It changed his life and may change the lives of farmers and other people from Ohio, where he lives, to wherever farming is practiced.

Since then, he’s added wind turbines, a geothermally heated office, recycling systems and even a hydrogen generator that he hopes will replace propane in his forklifts and other farm equipment.

He’s also become an ambassador for green farming practices, as he tries to convince other farmers that this may be the best way to save their farms and their way of life. More …

MIT Increases Fuel Cell Output
One kind of fuel cell could be much more in demand in future, not that its output has been improved by 50%. Portable electronic devices could use them instead of less environmentally-friendly batteries, thus reducing the impact on resources and landfills.

Even better, the new material that has made this possible is actually less expensive than older materials. More …

Rockefellers Get Backup In Attempt to Influence Exxon Mobil Policies
When members of the Rockefeller family announced their intent to sway the company’s policies toward investing in renewable energy, Exxon Mobil resisted. However, now that four more investors have come onboard with the heirs of John D. Rockefeller, the pressure is on.

The Rockefeller family has stated that renewable energy exploration and investment is necessary not only for environmental reasons, but because other oil companies have already started to brand themselves with the renewable energy image, which may hurt Exxon Mobil’s image with consumers. More …

A Car That Pays You Back As You Drive It
By the time you finish paying for a new car, it’s an old car. It may have mechanical problems or fading paint, but you still have to finish the payments. Enter the super-efficient XH-150 from AFS Trinity Power Corporation. This hybrid SUV uses electric power for the first 40 miles and then switches to gas with an unheard of mileage of 150MPH.

By the end of 4-5 years, it will have paid for itself at its projected price of $40,000. And it - or a similar vehicle - could be available in 2-3 years. More …

$1 Trillion Market for Carbon Trading Predicted
Analysts are bullish on carbon offset trading, which has grown exponentially since its inception in the last few years. Buoyed by strong public interest and a stabilizing structure of certified offsets, things can only get better for the companies that deal in the most trusted types of offsets.

Of course, there are some caveats for consumers, but commonsense research into which type of offset a company offers should be done before investing, as it would be with any investment. More …

Biggest Electric Car Fleet is Created by TNT
Joining fellow British company Tesco, TNT, the business-to-business delivery service, has ordered a fleet of electric vehicles. The trucks are made by Smith Electrical Vehicles and will join 50 already online.

According to Peter Bakker, the CEO of TNT, the company’s goal is a zero emissions fleet, although that would of course depend on the charging source. More …

T. Boone Pickens Orders $2 Billion in Wind Turbines
Over a million homes in North Texas will be powered by the wind energy that will come from the wind farm he plans to build in the panhandle of Texas. The project will be the largest wind farm in the world when it’s completed.

The Texas oilman paid over $3 Million dollars for each GE turbine and installation is scheduled to start in 2010 and the first turbines will be online sometime in 2011. More …

Germany is Unlikely Leader in Solar Power Development
Q-Cell, which surpassed Sharp, the former leader in solar panel production, last year, is located in a desolate stretch of what used to be East Germany. Amidst the rusting factories and abandoned coal mines, under usually cloudy skies, other companies have joined Q-Cell in what has come to be called Germany’s Solar Valley. More …

Mon Dieu! Climate Change May Make Truffles Extinct!
Very expensive and already hard to find, the black truffle may be only a memory of high-class restaurants if global warming isn’t checked. According to truffle experts, production from Italy, France and Spain has already fallen to a mere 100 tons a year, down from 1,000 tons or more in the 19th century.

Drought is responsible, because the fungi can’t live for more than three weeks without rainfall. With temperatures predicted to rise, the future looks black indeed for this delicacy, its growers and the gourmands who savor it. More …

Can Phoenix Rise Again?
Phoenix, AZ has long been known as a city that exemplifies everything that’s wrong with building a metropolis in the desert. The only green thing about Phoenix are the lawns that shouldn’t be there in a desert landscape.

Man-made lakes evaporating many gallons of water everyday, miles of simmering concrete and tar creating water runoff and swimming pools in almost every yard… Is it possible that Phoenix can be turning toward a new sustainable pathway? More …

Good News For Solar Industry Means Good News for Job Seekers
The solar industry is booming, especially in California. This is good news for the alternative energy industry and also for potential solar industry workers. With the creation of cheaper and more efficient solar panels, there’s been a sharp increase in solar projects with more being added weekly.

Companies are going to great lengths to attract and retain employees in this fast-growing field and it only promises to make more jobs in years to come. More …

Sweet Solution to Biofuel Problem?
Sorghum is mostly used for animal feed in the US, but it could be a source of biofuel according to experts. Able to grow in poor soil under difficult growing conditions, the stalk could be used for biofuel without damaging the food crop at the end of the stalk, which makes it more acceptable than crops that would sacrifice food for fuel.

Experts also suggest that it would be more energy efficient than other biofuels which take more energy to manufacture than they return. Sorghum uses only one unit of energy to produce eight units of energy, which is much better than corn. More …

Honda’s New Approach to Fuel Cell Car
The new fuel-cell powered car from Honda has been completely redesigned. Unlike its uninspiring predecessor, it has the same interior space as a regular car because the fuel cell is smaller.

The new Clarity, which will be available for leasing later this year, has its fuel cell situated between the driver’s and passenger’s seat, which makes for a much more appealing style. The new lithium-ion battery is a vast improvement also. More …

Students Use Fruit to Improve Solar Power
Some New Jersey students are going overboard with their fruit consumption. They’re not eating it; they’re using it to create dyes that help solar panels be more efficient. With the help of their teacher, they’re conducting experiments with fruit “smoothie” mixtures, to find out which fruits produce the most effective dyes.

First generation solar panels, which rely on silicone and sometimes synthetic chemicals for dye, could be a thing of the past if this “mixed fruit” trial proves successful. More …