Odwalla is continuing its successful plant-a-tree program by donating $100,000 worth of trees to be planted in state parks in California, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Texas, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia.

Visitors to www.parkvisitor.com/odwalla can choose their preferred state to receive a tree — no contribution or registration is required. The trees will be used to support important reforestation and planting initiatives across the country.

Since debuting in 2008, the Odwalla Plant a Tree program has provided more than 60,000 trees to state parks across the country. Trees donated through the 2008 program were planted through volunteer and other events at local parks.

The Odwalla Plant a Tree program runs from May 27, 2009 through December 31, 2009. The species of trees donated will vary by region and will be planted in fall 2009 and early 2010.

The solar energy sector enjoyed record growth last year, according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The 2008 U.S. Solar Industry Year in Review notes that 1,265 megawatts of solar power of all types were installed in 2008, increasing total U.S. solar power capacity by 17 percent to 8,775 megawatts. That increase included 342 megawatts of solar photovoltaic power, 139 thermal equivalent of solar water heating, 762 thermal equivalent of pool heating and an estimated 21 megawatts of solar space heating and cooling.

“Despite severe economic pressures in the United States, demand for solar energy grew tremendously in 2008,” Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the solar association, said in a statement. “Increasingly, solar energy has proven to be an economic engine for this country, creating thousands of jobs, unleashing billions in investment dollars and building new factories from New Hampshire to Michigan to Oregon.”

The report said grid-tied photovoltaic power led with a growth rate of 81 percent for the amount of installed power — 292 megawatts in 2008, up from 161 megawatts in 2007. Solar water heating installation grew at a 50 percent rate, but pool heating growth slowed by 3 percent in 2008.

While no concentrating solar power plants went online in the U.S. last year, 2009 projects in the pipeline will add more than 6 gigawatts of capacity. Among these are projects planned for California’s Mojave Desert, Arizona and Florida. The association says four gigawatts of solar energy can power up to a million households.

The industry also notes that several states have added or expanded incentives or requirements for solar energy, including California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri and Ohio. A total of 28 states have renewable portfolio standards that require a defined amount of energy be generated from renewable sources, with 19 of these states mandating a portion come from solar or distributed sources.

But the emerging industry says it must have continued support from the federal government to realize it long-term potential. A total of 42 states and the District of Columbia now have net metering rules allowing owners of solar energy systems to sell excess electricity back to the grid. However, these rules differ from state to state and solar association executives say a unified national policy is necessary.

“To maintain our industry’s growth, create jobs and meet President Obama’s goal of doubling renewable energy production in the next three years, we need smart federal policies, such as a renewable portfolio standard with a specific solar provision that help to develop and deploy vast solar resources around the country,” said Resch. “Today’s solar technology combined with the right policies will help us double solar production in the United States and move us to a clean, energy future.”

U.S. photovoltaic manufacturing capacity grew by 65 percent, creating new jobs in states such as California, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee, the report says.

“The growth of solar manufacturing jobs in the U.S. was a breath of fresh air for communities hit hard by the recession. The recently enacted manufacturing tax credit will give further incentive to manufacturers, such as my company Suntech America, to invest in new operations in the U.S.” Roger Efird, chairman of SEIA and President of Suntech America, Inc., said in a statement. “With the right policies, solar deployment will continue robust growth and thousands of new green-collar jobs in manufacturing will be created in states where jobs are needed most.”

The association noted that the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 extends by eight years the federal solar investment tax credit that has helped spur U.S. market growth in recent years. The report predicts the extension will aid long-term planning and stimulate investment in solar.

Here are the states that led in grid-tied photovoltaic installation:

• California — 178.6 megawatts (MW)
• New Jersey — 22.5 MW
• Colorado — 21.6 MW
• Nevada — 13.9
• Hawaii — 11.3 MW

For solar water heating systems, Hawaii led states, installing 37 percent of the total U.S. systems in 2008, followed by Florida (20 percent), California (7 percent), Colorado (5 percent) and Arizona (5 percent). The Mid-Atlantic States, an important emerging region for solar, installed 7 percent of solar water heating systems.

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Here’s an excerpt from my new book, Saving The World At Work:

Every day at work, you are surrounded by waste that could be easily converted into social nutrition for your community. Have you ever counted all the broken or outdated computers, monitors, printers, phones, desks, and chairs gathering dust?

Many innovators are turning their trash into food by partnering with nonprofit groups with expertise in preparing used items for community distribution. Electro-Motive, a LaGrange, Illinois–based manufacturer of electric-diesel locomotives, took a novel approach to a recent company-wide upgrade of its computers. Instead of throwing out 700 old computer workstations, the company donated them to Chicago’s Computers for Schools, a nonprofit that refurbishes computers for local school systems. And when executives discovered that the recycling program was popular with employees, they organized a three-day recycling drive. Employee enthusiasm was so high that organizers created a follow-up event for the general public at Chicago’s United Center. Between the two events, more than 80,000 pounds of computer and office equipment were collected.

Don’t stop at computers. In Lynchburg, Virginia, the local nonprofit Crayons to Computers works with dozens of local businesses to redistribute unused or discarded office supplies, equipment, and furniture to community area schools. Similarly, Maryland farmer Rod Parker lets the Washington Area Gleaning Network, a local nonprofit that feeds the needy, pick over his farm after the annual harvest.  As a farmer, he’s committed to feeding people, and he derives satisfaction from knowing his unpicked items are being put to good use.  Larry’s Markets in Seattle donates expired or dented canned goods to local food banks. Fletcher Allen Healthcare, a medical center in Vermont, donates unused produce from its cafeteria to local nonprofits that feed the homeless.

Your company meetings and events may provide you with an opportunity to give back to your local community as well. I’ve attended hundreds of them over the last few years as a public speaker, and I’m always amazed how much food is wasted. In the fall of 2007, the socially minded rock band Phish, along with event vendors, donated all the edible leftover food from its concert in Limestone, Maine, to Catholic Charities Maine. The results were not trivial: Volunteers collected more than $5,000 worth of frozen, dry, and canned food.

Read more from Tim at SandersSays.

This week, for the first time in the United States, an auction was held allowing power plants to bid against each other for the right to spew carbon dioxide into the air.

The goal, of course, is to reduce atmospheric carbon by finding the best way of putting a price tag on it for polluters. Ten Eastern states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — have formed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (or RGGI, pronounced “Reggie”) to coordinate their efforts by placing mandatory overall caps on emissions levels, then auctioning off allowances for CO2 emissions that can be traded between companies. As a result, companies will have a financial incentive to clean up their own act as quickly as possible.

Other regions of the country, from the state of Florida to a Western Climate Initiative, are either studying or actively planning similar cap-and-trade programs; this one is the result of five years of research and planning and is partly inspired by earlier efforts to tackle acid rain. According to Thursday’s press release, “Under RGGI, the ten participating states will stabilize power sector carbon emissions at their capped level, and then reduce the cap by 10 percent at a rate of 2.5 percent each year between 2015 and 2018.”

A ten percent reduction over ten years, of course, is a far cry from what most activists would like to see. But it’s a more substantial measure than any being taken on a nation-wide level, and the states promise to invest the funds raised in “energy efficiency programs, renewable energy stimulus efforts and other programs to benefit consumers. As a result, RGGI will deliver economic and environmental benefits and improve energy security through reduced use of fossil fuels.”

Six of the participating states offered allowances yesterday, selling credits for over 12 million tons of carbon emissions. Other states will sell their credits in future auctions, the next of which takes place in December.

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