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1. Core77's Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide
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2. The Cardboard Christmas Tree
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3. Daily Sprout
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4. Chromatin Raises Cash to Move Into Biofuel Market
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5. Green Homes Will Defy the Housing Slump, Says EPA
Core77's Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide
Mike Chino - Announcements
Looking for the perfect holiday present for the design aficionado in your life? Core 77 just launched their annual gift guide: 77 Design Gifts Under $77. From recycled doll feather-dusters to chic bicycle baskets and modern gingerbread houses (”too modern to eat”), they’ve selected a great assortment of gifts that skirt the quirky, cheeky, and delightful side of design.
Core 77 Ultimate Gift Guide >
The Cardboard Christmas Tree
Piper Kujac - Home decor
This Holiday Season you can save a tree (and a box) with a fun, enviro-friendly Cardboard Christmas Tree! With Christmas quickly approaching, many of us would like to engage in the holiday cheer without the use-once-and-toss-in-the-street traditional Christmas tree, and this simple centerpiece may be just the alternative you were looking for.
Daily Sprout
Josie Garthwaite - Misc
Carbon Market Now Worth $48B: The world market in greenhouse gases grew to $48.26 billion in the first half of 2008, an increase of 41 percent over the same period last year, according to an International Emissions Trading Association estimate presented at this week’s UN climate conference in Poznan, Poland. — AFP
ZPower Silver-Zinc Batteries to Appear in Laptops Next Year: Rechargeable battery developer ZPower says a leading laptop manufacturer plans to launch the first computer designed to accept silver-zinc batteries in mid-2009. — NYT’s Green Inc.
Truck Sales Most Resilient for GM, Ford: Ford has been heavily advertising its trucks while touting plans for a more fuel-efficient fleet to Congress. What gives? Trucks still sell. — WSJ’s Environmental Capital
Seven Injured in Suntech Accident: Solar-cell maker Suntech Power Holdings announced yesterday that seven employees were injured at its Wuxi, China plant last Friday after a piece of equipment used for laminating modules malfunctioned. — Press Release
ACAL Energy Raises $4.9M: Fuel cell company ACAL Energy has closed a $4.9 million fundraising round led by by CT Investment Partners. The funds will help the company continue its development of fuel cell systems with low-cost liquid catalysts. — Green Car Congress
Chromatin Raises Cash to Move Into Biofuel Market
David Ehrlich - Energy
Chromatin, a company that uses genetics to enhance crops, announced today that it raised $12.4 million in funding and plans to use the new cash to enter the biofuel feedstock industry.
This is the third round of financing for Chicago-based Chromatin, which pulled in the cash from Quantitative Financial Strategies, the Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund, Burrill & Co., Venture Investors, Foragen Technology Ventures, Illinois Ventures and Unilever Technology Ventures — part of the Unilever group, a major player in the consumer foods market.
Chromatin, which gets its name from the substance in the nucleus of a cell that condenses to form chromosomes during cell division, initially developed its “mini-chromosome” technology to enable quick improvement of crops and feedstocks for the agriculture industry. With this fresh round of funding, Chromatin said it plans to team up with companies in the biofuel industry to provide distribution channels for its genetic products, but has yet to name any potential partners for the move.
The company was founded in 2000 based on technology developed at the University of Chicago. Chromatin said its mini-chromosome technology makes it possible to introduce multiple genes, or gene stacks, simultaneously into any plant cell, with applications in crops such as corn and soybeans. The company plans to develop feedstocks with the gene stacks needed to boost yields and cut the costs of producing fermentable sugars for the burgeoning cellulosic ethanol industry.
Chromatin hasn’t said which properties it’s looking to enhance in biofuel feedstocks, but for its agricultural products the company said its technology could lead to crops with properties such as resistance to disease, greater salt and drought tolerance, and more nutritional value. The company also said its mini-chromosome process could cut the time it takes to to get those new crop traits to market by half and increase crop yields by 25 percent.
Earlier this year, Missouri-based Monsanto, which is working with Chromatin on gene stacking technology, announced plans of its own to double corn, cotton and soybean crop yields by 2030. Monsanto and Chromatin signed a collaborative agreement in 2007 to carry out a three-year joint research program on corn, cotton, soybeans, and canola.
But the use of genetically modified crops continues to be a controversial issue, with opposition keeping most genetically modified crops out of Europe and Japan, and slowing their introduction in the U.S. Last year, protesters rallied against the creation of a research institute at the University of California Berkeley, that would look at using genetic engineering to increase biofuel yields.
Green Homes Will Defy the Housing Slump, Says EPA
susan - Sustainable Ideas
There is one bit of a good news in this terrifyingly tumultuous housing market. Going green can help you sell your house — at least that’s what the EPA believes. While traditional houses are spiraling downward in value across the country, according to the Environmental Protection Agency homes that incorporate environmental features – especially green plumbing fixtures – are what buyers are looking for.
EPA's optimism about the green housing market stems from a McGraw-Hill Construction study (conducted when the housing market was very soft but not yet in its current panic) which predicted that the current market share of green housing (6-10%) would double in the next five years. The study also found that 60% of builders believed that green features in a home would help them sell houses in a down market
While Sales figures on green homes are hard to come by, a number of studies indicate that home buyers are coming to expect green fixtures and features. Makes sense — house buyers are looking for ways to save money – not just on the price of the house – but on the long-term maintenance. They want to save on energy costs. But they also seem to like water-saving fixtures. Builders are also turning to these water-saving fixtures, especially because many localities (in California and other areas where water is scarce) have made water-saving a requirement for new housing projects.
Anticipating the demand for saving water in home-building, the EPA's WaterSense program (which certifies water-saving appliances) launched a New Housing Project in August 2008 to sign on builders who will produce at least one home that meets the EPA'S standards for a water-efficient home – ready for sale within six months of the launch.
So look for water-efficient homes to come onto the market in early 2009 from the following builders who were selected to participate in the pilot program.
- Anderson Homes; Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Aspen Homes of Colorado; Windsor, Colorado
- Cleantech Homes; Beverly, Massachusetts
- Dorn Homes; Tubac, Arizona
- Greenlife Homes; Houston, Texas
- Nappier and Turner Construction Company; Hendersonville, North Carolina
- Tim O'Brien Homes, Inc.; Waukesha, Wisconsin
To find water-saving fixtures that have been approved by the EPA, look for those that have the WaterSense label.
For more about water-efficiency in new homes, go to the EPA's WaterSense web site.
Photo credit: EPA web site
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