By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

It could be colder in Boston this time of year. With overnight lows in the upper 40s, it’s not the worst or best condition for sleeping outside.

Still, that’s what dozens of college students and environmental activists across the state have decided to do to make a point about clean energy and press Gov. Deval Patrick to promote a bill that would power Massachusetts with 100 percent clean energy by 2020.

The students, organized through the student-led Leadership Campaign began their “sleep out” protest this past weekend with about 70 students and community members sleeping out in Boston Common

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports

Northampton, Mass.-based non-profit Soldier On, which will break ground this month on a limited-equity housing project for formerly homeless veterans, said the project will use photovoltaic technology supplied by Berkeley, Calif.-based Borrego Solar to supply electricity to its 39 apartments.

Berkshire Veterans Village will house formerly homeless veterans. (Image: Soldier On)

Berkshire Veterans Village in Pittsfield is intended to serve as a new national model for transitioning veterans from homelessness to home ownership. The Soldier On, which has been helping get veterans off the street since 1994, said a second limited-equity housing project is planned for Leeds. The organization said it eventually hopes to take the model to a national level.

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports

The Department of Energy announced $10 million has been awarded to 16 cities for 40 new Solar America Cities Special Projects. The funds, made through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will enable the cities to increase solar energy use in their communities through innovative programs and policies that the government believes can be replicated across the nation.

The cities chosen for these awards came from the group of 25 large U.S. cities that are part of the DOE’s Solar America Cities program, which recognizes the participating cities as partners highly committed to solar technology adoption at the local level. Those cities already have been given millions of dollars in funds and technical assistance to accelerate solar adoption.

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports

The fifth annual Conference on Clean Energy, which showcases opportunities in clean energy for the New England area, will be held in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center on Nov. 12 and 13.

The conference unites entrepreneurs, investors, late-stage companies and market leaders and others in the clean energy start-up community. It will include panel discussions and two days of investor pitches by emerging clean-tech companies.

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports:

St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR, the national symbol for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. St. Anthony’s is the first hospital in Florida and one of only 86 hospitals in the nation to achieve this recognition. Buildings that receive the EPA’s ENERGY STAR designation reduce greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy-efficient specifications set by the government.

[Read more →]

Massachusetts Energy Summit 2009
DCU Center, 50 Foster Street Worcester, MA
Thursday, October 15, 2009 (Registration: 7-8 a.m.; Program: 8 a.m.-3 p.m.)

The 3rd Annual Mass Energy Summit will educate business owners, executives, municipal leaders and others about the wide variety of energy supply choices, conservation methods, and the evolving array of alternatives to fossil fuels. Experts will participate in three panels: Funding Alternative Energy Projects, Economic Impact of Large Scale Renewable Energy Developments Retrofitting & Renovating for Energy Efficiency/LEED Certification.

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports

Grammy winner and environmental activist Sheryl Crow will open the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild 2009 Conference, the organization announced today.

“Performing at Greenbuild is like being on the international stage of the green movement, celebrating with you the progress we’re making on this important issue,” Crow said in a statement.

The Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, scheduled for Nov. 11 to 13 in Phoenix, has grown to be the leading forum on sustainable buildings and communities. Because of its increasing profile and size, the USGBC decided to open this year’s event at Chase Field, home to Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks.

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports

The Princeton Review has released its second annual Green Ratings of colleges: a measure of how environmentally friendly the institutions are on a scale of 60 to 99. The company tallied its Green Ratings for 697 institutions based on data it collected from the colleges in 2008-09 concerning their environmentally related policies, practices, and academic offerings.

The Princeton Review also named 15 colleges to its “2010 Green Rating Honor Roll” – a list that salutes the institutions that received the highest possible score – 99 – in this year’s rating tallies:

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports

San Francisco residents are more likely to go for a green vehicle than drivers in other cities, according to new research from Nielsen. The Nielsen Claritas’ PRIZM Market Potential Report found that households in San Francisco are 60 percent more likely to buy a green vehicle than the average U.S. home.

Washington D.C. was second (44 percent more likely) and New York City finished third (31 percent more likely).

The research looked at the national ownership rates of high-mileage vehicles including the Honda Fit, Toyota Prius, Toyota Yaris and Mini Cooper. Using auto registration data from RL Polk and Nielsen’s PRIZM segmentation, the percentage of each segment owning these vehicles was calculated. Individual market potential then was calculated based upon the segment composition of each market.

[Read more →]

From Green Right Now Reports

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Mayor Thomas Leighton won the 2009 Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards, the U.S. Conference of Mayors announced today.

The awards, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., recognizes mayors for innovative practices in their cities designed to increase energy efficiency and curb global warming. An independent panel of judges determined the winners from a pool of 140 applicants.

[Read more →]

By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now

The world is not our oyster. At least, not according to The Nature Conservancy, which presented a pioneering survey on the state of global shellfish to the International Marine Conservation Congress in Washington, DC in late May that uncovered some startling statistics.

Conducted by Nature Conservancy scientists from five continents over a five-year period, the first-ever report states that 85 percent of the world’s oyster reefs have disappeared over the last 150-odd years, largely due to over-harvesting, poor water quality and degraded environments. The complex habitats, also called oyster beds by some, are vital to the world’s bays and estuaries. And as go the reefs, the report warns, so, potentially, go much larger, interlocking marine ecosystems.

[Read more →]

Photo: PRNewswire
Methane gas from Waste Management’s Turnkey Recycling and Environmental Enterprise in Rochester, N.H., is collected, purified, and compressed before travelling via a 12.7-mile pipeline to the University of New Hampshire.

From Green Right Now Reports

The University of New Hampshire announced today that it has completed its “EcoLine” gas-to-energy project, which will use purified methane gas from a nearby landfill to power the campus. The five million square-foot campus in Durham, N.H., will receive up to 85 percent of its electricity and heat from the system, making UNH the first university in the nation to use landfill gas as its primary fuel source.

EcoLine is a partnership between the university and Waste Management’s Turnkey Recycling and Environmental Enterprise in Rochester, N.H. Methane gas, a naturally occurring by-product of landfill decomposition, is collected via a state-of-the-art collection system consisting of more than 300 extraction wells and miles of collection pipes.

[Read more →]