Tag Archives: Environment

Natural gas use by the US trucking industry – how fast can it happen ?

Posted on April 23, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 22, 2013) describes the growing use of natural gas in the US trucks, with the industry consuming over 3 million gallons of diesel fuel daily. Natural gas use is estimated to cut … Continue reading →

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Federal labeling standards for GMO foods ?

Posted on March 6, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (January 31,2013) describes a move by food manufacturers and retailers like Wal-Mart to urge the FDA to propose labeling standards for food. Their reason, proposed state level labeling initiatives by 20 states. In … Continue reading →

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Tracking lead batteries recycling supply chain from the US to Mexico

Posted on February 9, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (February 9,2013) describes lax tracking of the recycling of lead batteries exported from the US to Mexico. In the absence of treatment of used batteries as hazardous waste, shipments into Mexico are not … Continue reading →

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Transporting wine in bulk in plastic bags from Australia to the UK

Posted on February 9, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (February 7,2013) describes shipments of Australian wine in 24,000 liter plastic bags that are then packed in the UK. Saving 25 cents per bottle by shipping without the bottle enables the wine to be sold for … Continue reading →

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The overturning of E.P.A.’s mandate for biofuel use and associated questions

Posted on January 26, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (January 26, 2013) describes the overturning of a mandate by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding use of “liquids made from woody crops and wastes in car a truck fuels”. But the lack … Continue reading →

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“Earth’s Balance Sheet” discussion by Nestle

Posted on January 26, 2013 by aviyer2010

A discussion with Nestle’s Jose Lopez (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulB-ETDI2wA) focuses on the idea of the Earth’s balance sheet, a concept described by Solomon Darwin in (http://openinnovation.berkeley.edu/Solomon_Darwin_Balance_Sheet_Earth_Executive_Summary.pdf). The idea is to account for the assets that are removed from the earth and not … Continue reading →

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Reclothing, Upcycling – the Schmidttakahashi way

Posted on January 24, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Brander (http://www.thebrander.com/article.php?o=391) describes the Berlin based Schmidttakahashi manufacturer of clothing that creates new apparel from used apparel. The donor of the clothing keeps part of the numbered label and can track the garment’s evolution downstream. But … Continue reading →

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Green US navy and ocean fuel source impact

Posted on November 7, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in BBC news online (http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121019-turning-the-oceans-into-jetfuel/2) describes plans by the US navy to get to 50 % of its fleet powered using alternate energy fuel sources by 2020. One approach is to use seawater as a source of fuel, … Continue reading →

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The economics of vertical farming in downtown locations in cities

Posted on October 23, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (October 15,2012) describes vertical farming – growing crops in greenhouses in cities – close to customers. A twelve floor vertical farm in Sweden is the largest such effort – claimed to save transport … Continue reading →

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Ban plastic bags ? Or worry about unintended consumer costs ?

Posted on October 8, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (October 8, 2012) describes two sides of a decision to ban plastic bags. On the one hand, plastic bags clog up recycling equipment, create clean up costs and add up to $ 30 … Continue reading →

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