EIN Presswire: Biofuels Live Feed Press Releases

Union of Concerned Scientists Gives Monsanto an ‘F’ in Sustainable Agriculture

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:10:00 +0000

Science Group’s New Web Feature Documents Eight Ways Monsanto is Taking Agriculture in the Wrong Direction

WASHINGTON (February 7, 2012) – The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) today published a new web feature documenting how agribusiness giant Monsanto Company is failing to deliver on its promise to make the U.S. agriculture system more sustainable.

A sustainable system would produce an adequate supply of food, safeguard the environment, and protect farmers’ bottom lines at the same time. Monsanto, UCS says, fails this three-pronged test.

“Monsanto talks about ‘producing more, conserving more, improving lives,’ but its products are largely not living up to those aspirations,” said Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist with UCS’s Food and Environment Program. “In reality, the company is producing more engineered seeds and herbicide and improving its bottom line, but at the expense of conservation and long-term sustainability.”

Monsanto’s public relations campaigns trumpet that its products, such as its genetically engineered Roundup Ready seed and herbicide system, will lead to an agricultural future that minimizes environmental pollution, addresses global warming, and feeds the world. The truth is decidedly less impressive, according to UCS.

UCS explores eight ways that Monsanto has failed to deliver on its sustainability claims. The company is undermining efforts to promote sustainability by:

1. Fostering weed and insect resistance. Monsanto’s RoundupReady and Bt technologies lead to resistant weeds and insects that can make farming more difficult and reduce sustainability.

2. Increasing herbicide use. Roundup resistance has led farmers to use more herbicides, which threatens biodiversity, sustainability and human health.

3. Spreading gene contamination. Engineered genes have a bad habit of turning up in non-genetically engineered crops. When that happens, sustainable farmers—and their customers—pay a high price.

4. Expanding monocultures. Monsanto’s focus on a few commodity crops contributes to reduced biodiversity and, as a consequence, to more pesticide use and fertilizer pollution.

5. Marginalizing alternatives. Monsanto single-minded focus on genetic engineering fixes may come at the expense of cheaper, more effective solutions, such as classical crop breeding and ecological farming methods.

6. Lobbying and advertising: Monsanto spends more than other agribusiness companies to persuade Congress and the general public to support the industrial agriculture status quo.

7. Suppressing research. Monsanto thwarts independent research on its products, making it more difficult for farmers and policymakers to make informed decisions that could foster more sustainable agriculture.

8. Falling short on feeding the world. Monsanto’s genetically engineered crops have done little to increase crop yields. Regardless, the company stands in the way of proven, scientifically defensible solutions.

“Crop breeding is cheaper and more productive than the genetic engineering that Monsanto aggressively pushes. And proven ecological farming methods, ignored by Monsanto, rely on fewer pesticides and fossil-fuel-based fertilizers,” noted Gurian-Sherman. “But some of these practices conflict with the agricultural model that generates the company’s profits.”

How has Monsanto been able to burnish its undeserved reputation as a sustainability leader? In large part, by spending tens of millions of dollars annually to influence the public and policymakers.

Monsanto spent $8 million lobbying members of Congress and federal officials in 2010, for example, and more than $400,000 more in political contributions in that year’s election cycle. At the same time, it spent $120 million in advertising.

“The undue influence of companies like Monsanto result in food policies that encourage less diversity, and an over-reliance on herbicides and insecticides,” said Karen Perry Stillerman, senior analyst with the UCS Food and Environment Program. “As the farm bill is currently being debated in Congress, now is the time to prioritize sustainable agriculture alternatives to genetically engineered crops in our food policies.”

The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading U.S. science-based nonprofit organization working for a healthy environment and a safer world. Founded in 1969, UCS is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also has offices in Berkeley, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Ahold USA Recognized by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Leading Green Power Purchases

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:34:34 +0000

Ahold USA Recognized by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Leading Green Power Purchases

Ranking recognizes company's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint

PR Newswire

CARLISLE, Pa., Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahold USA announced today that for the first time it appears on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) list of the largest green power purchases. The company ranks No. 7 on the EPA's Top 20 Retail list and No. 30 on the National Top 50 list. Ahold USA is purchasing more than 149 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which is enough green power to meet 7 percent of the organization's electricity use. Ahold USA is buying renewable energy certificates (RECs) from 3Degrees. In addition, Ahold USA is generating green power from its on-site renewable energy systems which demonstrates a proactive choice to switch away from traditional sources of electricity generation and support cleaner renewable energy alternatives.

"Reducing our carbon footprint is a primary tenet of Ahold USA's main corporate responsibility priorities, which helps us minimize our impact on the environment while at the same time making operations more efficient," said Jihad Rizkallah, vice president of store planning for Ahold USA. "Being recognized by the EPA for our green power purchases highlights our on-going efforts and commitment to reduce our electricity consumption and expand our renewable and clean energy portfolio."

The EPA recently updated each of its National Top Partner lists, highlighting some of America's largest green power purchasers. Each list highlights EPA Green Power Partners that have completed the largest annual voluntary purchases through January 5, 2012. For access to the EPA Green Power Top Partner ranking, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/top50.htm. Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydro. Purchases of green power help accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector.

"EPA is excited to welcome Ahold USA as a Green Power Partner and congratulates them on making the list of the Top 50 largest green power purchases," said Blaine Collison, Director of EPA's Green Power Partnership. "By opting to purchase renewable energy, Ahold USA is helping to grow the nation's green power market while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution."

According to the U.S. EPA, Ahold USA's green power purchase of more than 149 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of more than 20,000 passenger vehicles per year, or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of nearly 13,000 average American homes annually.

From stores to distribution centers and corporate support offices, the company has a strong focus on greener efforts. Its newest stores are built with innovative green building technologies that reduce energy consumption, conserve water and reduce the environmental impact of operations. Ahold USA also continues to help its retail divisions make existing stores more energy efficient by utilizing energy efficient light bulbs, turning lights down during off hours, improving the efficiency of refrigerated display cases and installing smaller cooling systems by replacing open frozen food cases with closed door cases.

Ahold USA has been developing its renewable and clean energy portfolio since 2008. Roof-mounted solar photovoltaic systems at thirteen Stop & Shop stores generate between 7 and 10 percent of the stores' annual electricity requirements. In addition to solar power, the Ahold USA team worked with its New England division to construct their first fuel cell project at a Stop & Shop in Torrington, CT, which consumes natural gas to produce electricity and waste heat. The electricity being generated provides 95 percent of the store's annual electricity requirements and the waste heat offsets the gas consumption required to heat the air and hot water for the store.

About EPA's Green Power Partnership
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,300 Partner organizations voluntarily purchasing billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500^® companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.

Contact information
Ahold USA Press Office: +1 717 240 1513

Ahold USA is part of Ahold, a Dutch-based international food retailing group that operates quality supermarkets in the United States and Europe. Ahold USA supports four regional Divisions – Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York Metro, Giant Landover, and Giant Carlisle – that together operate more than 750 supermarkets with approximately 115,000 associates in 14 states and the District of Columbia along with Peapod, the nation's leading e-commerce grocery shopping/delivery service.

For more information, visit www.ahold.com.

SOURCE Ahold USA

Soy Oil Delivers Another Use: Heat

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Soy Oil Delivers Another Use: Heat

NYC depends on renewable fuel throughout the year

PR Newswire

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New York City looks a little greener these days thanks in part to biodiesel. This renewable, soy-based fuel powers Big Apple vehicles, furnaces and generators year-round and can be found throughout the city from Central Park to John F. Kennedy Airport.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/53949-united-soybean-board-soy-oil-bioheat-biodiesel-fuel-power-in-nyc

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120207/MM46369)

The New York Parks Department uses a B20 blend of biodiesel when fueling diesel vehicles and generators, as well as replacing the oil heat for warming their buildings. The department has used strictly B20 in these applications for nearly two and a half years.

New York City's sometimes progressive mindset coupled with its frigid winters also helped make it a big focus for a new soy oil market: Bioheat^®. This heat source combines home heating oil with biodiesel, resulting in a renewable, cleaner-burning fuel.

"Biofuels are welcomed in this part of the world and embraced by home heating oil representatives," says Lewis Bainbridge, a soybean farmer from Ethan, S.D., and farmer-director for United Soybean Board. "Everyone is working together to promote Bioheat."

The home heating oil industry itself took proactive action to implement biodiesel into their systems, replacing petroleum with the cleaner burning fuel. They resolved to use Bioheat blends of B2 to B5 and proved to be instrumental in passing a New York City law that requires that all home heating oil contain 2 percent Bioheat by October 2012. They also plan to increase their Bioheat percentage even more in the future.

Through Bioheat, soybean farmers can help home heating oil customers achieve freedom from foreign oil. Soy oil's consistent supply will help home heating oil marketers reach their goals of cleaner burning heating fuel.

"This is an exciting market for our soybeans," adds Bainbridge. "As soybean farmers, we hope to help the heating oil industry meet their aggressive goals."

Providing the oil to meet these demands shouldn't be a problem. Biodiesel production broke many records in 2011, and biodiesel's availability continues to increase. The Environmental Protection Agency's Renewable Fuel Standard 2 requires that at least 1 billion gallons be produced in 2012.

USB is made up of 69 farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization, industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.

For more information on the United Soybean Board, visit www.unitedsoybean.org

Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnitedSoybeanBoard

View our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/UnitedSoybeanBoard

CONTACT: Erin Hamm or Jon Butler at Osborn & Barr Communications, 888-235-4332. For a digital version of this news release, see the "Media Center" section of the USB website at www.unitedsoybean.org.

SOURCE United Soybean Board

VIASPACE Director Purchases Additional 4 Million Shares of Common Stock on the Open Market, Interviews With Green Baron Report and VIASPACE CEO in Malaysia

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

VIASPACE Director Purchases Additional 4 Million Shares of Common Stock on the Open Market, Interviews With Green Baron Report and VIASPACE CEO in Malaysia

PR Newswire

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSPC), a clean energy company growing Giant King™ Grass as a low-carbon, renewable biomass dedicated energy crop, and its subsidiary VIASPACE Green Energy Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VGREF), today announced that its CEO Carl Kukkonen and newest Board of Directors member Dr. Kevin L. Schewe conducted an exclusive audio-taped webcast interview on The Green Baron Report.

The Green Baron Report previously released an updated Green Baron "Stock Pick" profile on VIASPACE on Monday, November 7, 2011 and provided a webcast interview on November 22.

Unrestricted access to the webcast is now available on the "Webcasts" page at http://www.thegreenbaron.com/Webcasts.htm. Investors who wish to receive The Green Baron Report for free can join at http://www.thegreenbaron.com/Join.htm.

The interview is summarized below.

Question: Carl and Kevin, thank you for joining us for this audio-taped webcast interview. We at The Green Baron Report continue to be excited about the positive direction that VIASPACE continues to demonstrate. To start with, please introduce yourself and tell us briefly about your experience and background that will lend to the future success of VIASPACE.

Phil, thank you for having us on the program. I'm particularly pleased to be able to share the interview with Dr. Kevin Schewe, the new VIASPACE board member.

As to my background, I am trained as a theoretical physicist with a PhD from Cornell University. I worked at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn Michigan where I initially did physics research and then moved into alternative energy. I was Ford's expert on hydrogen as an alternative automotive fuel and I led a team to design and develop a new direct injection diesel engine. I then worked for 14 years at the NASA Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California where I directed a research center in electronics and computing technology. In 1998, the president of Caltech said that he wanted to commercialize more technology from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and I left my secured job to form a startup company. Originally we were focused on commercializing technologies licensed from NASA and the products came via the space program. This is how we got the company name VIASPACE. Now VIASPACE focuses on biomass energy using our proprietary high yield energy crop Giant King Grass-- which has nothing to do with the space program.

Now I'd like to introduce Dr. Kevin Schewe who is a renowned cancer specialist and entrepreneur from Denver, Colorado. He is also one of VIASPACE's largest shareholders. He was appointed to the board of directors at our meeting on January 19.

I am a Medical Doctor and a Board-Certified Radiation Oncologist in my 25th year of private practice of Oncology. I am the Medical Director of a beautiful, new radiation oncology department at the Red Rocks Medical Center in Golden, Colorado and also the Thornton Cancer Center in Thornton, Colorado. I designed and co-own these two facilities in partnership with HealthONE, the Colorado Division of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) -- the largest private operator of healthcare facilities in the world. I am an entrepreneur and have developed a premium line of skin care products called Elite Therapeutics. These products help to naturally heal, protect, repair, and subsequently maintain the damaged skin of cancer patients who have received radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. Since they can help this extent of skin damage, they can also help anyone with skin damage from aging, dryness, UV exposure, other illnesses or environmental causes. Later this spring, Elite Therapeutics will become the exclusive in-room amenity provider for the world famous Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Our website address is www.elitetherapeutics.com

Question: Carl – Before our focus turns to the press release issued on January 24, please provide us an overview of VIASPACE and discuss your most important developments going on now.

VIASPACE focuses on bioenergy and biofuels. We have a proprietary dedicated energy crop called Giant King Grass that can be used to generate clean renewable electricity, produce liquid biofuels, biochemicals and bio plastics. Giant King Grass has the highest yield per acre of any crop in the world and this makes it the lowest cost feedstock. Giant King Grass has been tested by many companies and independent laboratories. It is an extremely well-characterized and dependable fuel and feedstock.

In order to get an energy project financed by equity investors or lenders, the project must have a long-term secure fuel supply agreement. Lenders and investors will not finance a biomass project that does not have a guaranteed source of fuel. Giant King Grass gives projects both fuel security and a low feedstock price.

Over the last three years we have invested over $3 million to develop Giant King Grass and to demonstrate it in a pilot plantation and a pilot processing facility. Many potential customers and strategic partners have visited our plantation and processing facility. Giant King Grass is now widely recognized as an attractive energy crop, and customers are coming to us.

Giant King Grass is not a food crop, is sustainably grown and carbon neutral. Because of its high yield, Giant King Grass can meet the price targets for the fuel or feedstock for all bioenergy projects.

I am joining the interview today from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where I am meeting with a potential joint venture partner. This partner visited us and has seen Giant King Grass and is looking to develop a power project in Malaysia.

Then I go on to Thailand where we are working with Seema Energy which is developing a 90 MW biomass power plant complex based entirely on Giant King Grass. This would be the largest biomass energy plant in Asia and the first one to use a dedicated energy crop.

We are also working with a partner to develop a Giant King Grass plantation and pellet mill in the Dominican Republic. The pellets would be shipped in bulk in ocean freighters to an electric utility in Europe.

We are working with partners on other potential bioenergy projects in the Philippines, Indonesia, Central and South America, and Africa.

Question: Last week on January 24, it was announced that VIASPACE appointed you, Dr. Kevin Schewe, to the Board of Directors. It also notes that you are a large shareholder of VSPC common stock having acquired 77 million common shares with a goal to acquire another 53 million shares. It is clear through your purchases that you have positive conviction in the future of VIASPACE and believe your investment will grow over time. Please explain how you were originally introduced to VIASPACE and why you believe this is going to be a profitable stock investment for your portfolio.

I have a separate portfolio for microcap and smallcap stocks and enjoy investing in smaller companies that have a reasonable probability of future success and therefore significant appreciation and return on investment. I particularly have focused on companies related to technology, energy and biotech. I originally discovered VIASPACE about three years ago and subsequently made a small investment in VSPC common stock. Once the investment actually becomes a part of my portfolio, I then watch it every day and research the company's activities more rigorously. The VIASPACE focus of bioenergy and biofuels with the proprietary dedicated energy crop of Giant King Grass that caught my attention in a big way! I started to research the renewable energy sector and realized that we, VIASPACE, are on the leading edge of what should become a major component of the future of renewable energy.

Giant King Grass may be the most "perfect" energy crop on the planet. It has the highest yield per acre and therefore the lowest cost feedstock. It grows best in a bandwidth of twenty degrees north or south of the equator where in can be harvested up to three times per year. A Giant King Grass plantation can be co-located with a power plant to generate local electricity; a pellet mill to produce an energy commodity that can be shipped anywhere in the world for bioenergy consumption or co-located with a biofuel, biochemical or bioplastics manufacturing facility. Wow, the possibilities are mind-boggling and it is our job at VIASPACE to introduce this amazing renewable energy source to the world. The term "peak oil'' is used a lot in the current hydrocarbon universe, we have an ideal and perfectly green solution to supplement the world's energy needs with Giant King Grass. I believe this is a once in a generation opportunity to invest in a small company with gigantic upside potential and I, for one, am putting my personal money where my conviction is.

Question: Carl – Please explain the reasons you wanted Dr. Schewe to join the Board of Directors, and do you plan to add more members to the Board over the next year?

Dr. Schewe contacted me over a year ago, and we ended up communicating by e-mail and then by telephone. It was clear to me that Dr. Schewe shared our vision and was putting his money where his mouth was. He also has experience as an entrepreneur-- having started a skincare products company called Elite Therapeutics. Dr. Schewe represented to me an ideal shareholder. He understands the company and its goals and clearly sees the potential for rapid growth after we complete our first successful project. He takes a long-term view and is interested in increasing shareholder value. He is not looking for a 20% increase in the value of his holdings. He is looking for a 100 times increase which he believes is possible if we can execute on our plans. Dr. Schewe is already helping.

We have five board members now. Three of them are from outside the company and they provide a lot of strategic guidance to management. We don't have a specific plan to add additional members at this time.

Question: Kevin – What else would you like to tell an investor that might be considering a purchase of VSPC stock?

I am a medical doctor and board-certified radiation oncologist in my 25th year of private practice. I choose to pick my own investments rather than having someone else do that for me. Through the years, I have invested in numerous biotech companies: pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical services, etc. ... I have invested in early-stage biopharmaceutical companies that have incredibly promising drug technology, but they have to go through very expensive and time-consuming clinical trials and then ultimately face FDA approval. It is common for these early stage biotech companies to have a market cap of $100 million, even though they have no revenue, a significant yearly financial burn rate, and literally years of clinical testing and FDA hurdles out in front of them, not to mention incredibly stiff competition from other pharma companies and the chance that the product won't work as well in humans as in theory, the lab or animals. If those companies have market caps of $100 million, then VIASPACE should have a similar market cap right here and now, and yet, we have a market cap of $10 million. We have a product, Giant King Grass, which has been independently tested for energy content and it has been successfully pelletized. In the proper climate, it grows like crazy and can be harvested multiple times per year. You just can't get that kind of performance from trees and wood pellets. We are working to have a renewable energy model that can be replicated over and over again -- literally on a global basis! Once that model is proven successful and begins to replicate, then this company's value takes off faster than Giant King Grass can grow. I did not sign on to work as a Board Member for VIASPACE so this could be a $100 million company, I signed on to make this a billion dollar plus bioenergy company. Energy is big business and we intend to make Giant King Grass the recognized standard in renewable bioenergy crops -- the "light sweet crude" of bioenergy.

Since becoming a VIASPACE Board Member, I have purchased an additional 4 million VSPC common shares on the open market and now preferentially hold 81,000,000 common shares. At the current share prices and even well north of a penny per share, I will keep buying. In my opinion, we are significantly under valued. I will do my part to work with Carl, the VIASPACE staff and other Board Members to make this company successful and increase the share value for all shareholders.

Question: Carl – Same question, what else would you like to tell an investor that might be considering purchase of the stock, or an investor that might already own VSPC at a higher price?

I always tell investors to do their homework. Look at our website www.VIASPACE.com. We have been public since June 2005. We are fully audited and fully reporting to the SEC. Our SEC filings are available. VIASPACE also communicates regularly with shareholders through press releases and these are available on our website. An investor should always do this type of homework.

I believe that VIASPACE and Giant King Grass are on the verge of being a key partner in successful energy projects. The first successful project is extremely important, because our basic business model of a power plant or pellet mill co-located with a Giant King Grass plantation can be replicated many many times throughout the world. I believe that the first successful project will generate many more.

About VIASPACE Inc.

VIASPACE is a clean energy company providing products and technology for renewable and alternative energy that reduce or eliminate dependence on fossil and high-pollutant energy sources. Through its majority-owned subsidiary VIASPACE Green Energy Inc., the Company grows Giant King Grass as a low-carbon fuel for electricity generating power plants, as a feedstock for bio methane production and cellulosic biofuels, and for other low-carbon, renewable energy products. For more information, please go to www.viaspace.com or contact Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications, at 800-517-8050 or IR@VIASPACE.com.

About The Green Baron Report

The Green Baron Report is a subsidiary of Evergreen Marketing. The Green Baron Report is an internet stock market newsletter that focuses on low priced stocks that appear to have significant upside potential. For more information about Evergreen Marketing, Inc. and their subsidiary The Green Baron Investors Society visit them on the web at http://www.EvergreenMarketingInc.com and http://www.TheGreenBaron.com. Our disclaimer can be viewed at http://www.thegreenbaron.com/Disclaimer.htm.

Safe Harbor Statement

Information in this news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation, risks outlined in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, as well as general economic and business conditions; the ability to acquire and develop specific products and technologies; changes in consumer and business demand for the Company's products; competition from larger companies; changes in demand for alternative and clean energy; risks associated with international transactions; risks related to technological change; and other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control.

SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.

Enerkem and GreenField Ethanol Announce Quebec's First Waste-to-Biofuels Production Facility

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:41:00 +0000

Enerkem and GreenField Ethanol Announce Quebec's First Waste-to-Biofuels Production Facility

PR Newswire

VARENNES, QC, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - At a news conference in Varennes today, the Government of Québec announced its plan to inject $27 million in Québec's first full-scale commercial cellulosic ethanol plant through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife and Investissement Québec. This facility will be built and operated by a joint venture partnership formed by Enerkem (www.enerkem.com), a waste-to-biofuels and chemicals company, and GreenField Ethanol (www.greenfieldethanol.com), the Canadian leader in alcohol production.

The future plant will be located in Varennes, Québec and will use Enerkem's proprietary technology to convert non-recyclable municipal solid waste into biofuels. With a full-scale waste-to-biofuels facility under construction in Edmonton, Alberta, and another one under development in Mississippi, the Varennes facility represents Enerkem's third full-scale commercial project.

"By producing liquid transportation fuel from non-recyclable waste, this facility opens the door to the emergence of a new energy sector and will allow for local sustainable management of our waste materials", declared Vincent Chornet, Enerkem President and CEO. "Located on the site of Ethanol GreenField's current plant, this project will represent one of the first integrations between an existing, first generation ethanol plant and a new cellulosic ethanol plant."

"The construction of this innovative plant on our current site marks the beginning of our transition to an integrated biorefinery in Varennes", said Jean Roberge, General Manager, GreenField Ethanol Québec. "We are pleased to partner with Enerkem and integrate their technology to build Québec's first full-scale commercial cellulosic ethanol plant. The use of waste materials, that is made possible with Enerkem's technology, complements GreenField Ethanol R&D efforts with other types of biomass. "

This waste-to-biofuels production facility will help reduce greenhouse emissions, fossil fuel imports and landfilled volumes. The non-recyclable waste will come from institutional, commercial and industrial sectors, and from construction and demolition debris. The anticipated annual production capacity of this plant is approximately 38 million litres.

"In addition to presenting a solution to landfilling, today's announcement will enable greenhouse gas emission reductions by about 110,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year. Cellulosic ethanol is a renewable fuel that will contribute to reducing our dependence on petroleum products. By supporting this project, our government is concretely reinforcing energy security for Québec. Today's announcement puts Québec in an advantageous position in the search for alternatives to fossil fuel consumption", outlined Minister Clément Gignac.

"Québec has resolved to reduce, by 2020, its greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1990 levels, as part of its 2006-2012 Climate Change Action Plan. We believe we can be productive and create wealth and jobs, all while protecting our environment. The construction of the cellulosic ethanol facility belonging to the joint venture formed by Enerkem and GreenField Ethanol, is one step closer towards reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. It is with solid and structured projects, such as the one presented today, that Québec will reassert its leadership in a green and sustainable economy", commented Minister Sam Hamad.

The $27 million contribution from the Government of Québec includes $18 million in financial assistance from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife and a $9 million loan from Investissement Québec.

About Enerkem
Enerkem develops biofuels and chemicals from waste. With its proprietary thermochemical technology, Enerkem converts abundantly available municipal solid waste (mixed textiles, plastics, fibers, wood and other non-recyclable waste materials) into chemical-grade syngas, and then methanol, ethanol and other chemical intermediates that form everyday products. By using waste instead of fossil fuels, Enerkem addresses the growing demand for renewable energy sources and chemicals, while reducing landfill volumes and greenhouse gas emissions. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, the company currently operates both a pilot and a commercial demonstration facility in Québec, has its first waste-to-biofuels full-scale commercial plant under construction in Edmonton, Alberta, and is developing several similar facilities in the U.S. and Canada that will convert municipal solid waste into biofuels and chemicals. www.enerkem.com

About GreenField Ethanol
Greenfield Ethanol is the largest Canadian alcohol producer whose head office is located in Toronto. The Varenne's Distillery is fully operational since March 2007 and is one of the most efficient in North America as to yield, energy efficiency, environmental foot print and GHG reduction. Éthanol Greenfield Québec is a founding member of the University of Sherbrooke Research Chair for second generation biofuels and supports other R&D initiatives with other Canadian Universities. The company's striving efforts in R&D also include various strategic partnerships with specialised companies and in house development of proprietary Second Generation Technologies in its Chatham laboratory. www.greenfieldethanol.com

SOURCE ENERKEM INC.

Image with caption: "Quebec's first commercial waste-to-ethanol facility in Varennes. (CNW Group/ENERKEM INC.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120206_C9846_PHOTO_EN_9680.jpg

Image with caption: "From left to right: Messrs. Vincent Chornet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem, Clément Gignac, Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife and Minister responsible for the Northern Plan, Sam Hamad, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade, and Jean Roberge, General Manager, GreenField Ethanol Québec (CNW Group/ENERKEM INC.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120206_C9846_PHOTO_EN_9705.jpg

Enerkem and GreenField Ethanol Announce Quebec's First Waste-to-Biofuels Production Facility

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Enerkem and GreenField Ethanol Announce Quebec's First Waste-to-Biofuels Production Facility

PR Newswire

SOURCE ENERKEM INC.

W2 Energy Sells WaterHelix System to Maine BioEnergy

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:15:00 +0000

W2 Energy Sells WaterHelix System to Maine BioEnergy

PR Newswire

GUELPH, Ontario, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- W2 Energy, Inc. (OTC:WTWO) is pleased to announce that it is has sold a WaterHelix hydrokinetic power system to Maine BioEnergy in Naples, Maine.

The President of Maine BioEnergy is longtime Maine businessman Robert Fogg, the President of Q-Team Tree Service (www.q-team.com), one of the largest and most established tree removal companies in Maine.

Maine BioEnergy will be installing and testing the WaterHelix on one of the streams on the Q-Team Tree Service property.

"I called W2 Energy wanting to establish a renewable energy company in Maine," says Robert Fogg, the President of Maine BioEnergy. "Our first project is using the WaterHelix to convert hydropower into electricity. Maine BioEnergy's second project will be using the NT Plasmatron to convert our wood waste into electricity."

W2 Energy has begun building the WaterHelix system for Maine BioEnergy, which will mate the WaterHelix head with the SEGS power offtake system.

"This is a great project for W2 Energy," says Mike McLaren, President and CEO of W2 Energy. "This will demonstrate the viability of run-of-river hydrokinetic projects using the WaterHelix system."

W2 Energy trades in the United States on the OTC market under the symbol "WTWO."
For further information, please contact Mike McLaren at (519) 341 4776 or go to www.w2energy.com

Note: Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause results to differ materially. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include but are not limited to new economic conditions, risk in product development, market acceptance of new products and continuing product demand, level of competition and other factors described in reports and filings with regulatory bodies

Contact:

W2 Energy, Inc.
519-341-4776
info@w2energy.com

SOURCE W2 Energy, Inc.

Eagle Ford Shale Brings Injuries and Potential for New Wealth

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:13:10 +0000

The Eagle Ford shale is arguably the most important economic variable in South Texas. However, worker safety may be compromised in the pursuit of profits. Learn more about potential accidents and what injured workers are entitled to after an accident.

February 04, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Eagle Ford Shale Brings Injuries and Potential for New Wealth

The Eagle Ford Shale that stretches across South Central Texas has been a boom to some and a nightmare to others. The Eagle Ford Shale spans an area from Karnes City, Texas in Wilson County down highway 181 to Kenedy, Texas in Karnes County; as well as across highway 72 through Three Rivers, Texas and Beeville, Texas as well as the surrounding areas. It is arguably the most abundant pocket of untapped oil and natural gas in the U.S., and scores of oil companies are sending equipment and workers to cash in. Much of this is due to hydraulic fracturing, also known as "hydro-fracking". Through this process, mining companies are now able to tap resources previously inaccessible through traditional methods.

2011 may have been a down year for the national economy, but in Karnes County, business is booming. Hotels, restaurants, and mobile home parks have sprung up overnight. The roads and highways are congested and some are crumbling under the weight of the 18 wheelers that now crowd the once quiet countryside. To the landowners that have now received thousands if not millions of dollars the inconvenience of the traffic and lines at the local establishments are a small price to pay for their new wealth. However, to those who were not fortunate enough to be business owners or land owners the change in their lifestyle is often distressing.

Analysts believe that Eagle Ford has huge economic potential, even though drilling is in its early stages. The Texas Railroad Commission reports that drilling permits have skyrocketed in the last two years, from 94 in 2009 to more than 1,200 in 2010.

This means that jobs are plentiful for entry level workers and truck drivers. According to a report by the Houston Chronicle, roustabouts (entry-level drilling workers) can make $12 to $17 an hour, and truck drivers can earn $13 to $18 an hour. While the drilling rush has created jobs and new wealth in an economically depressed region, a number of serious accidents have occurred.

There are three common locations or causes of injuries in the area of the Eagle Ford Shale. The most common injuries are car accidents and trucking accidents. Because of the dramatic increase in traffic on roads that were never intended to carry the volume of traffic now seen in Kenedy, Karnes Three Rivers and other cities in South Central Texas, there is a need for all drivers to be extra careful.

Also, many of the truckers are new hires with very limited experience driving the big rigs used by the oil and gas companies. Another source of serious injuries is in the laying and burying of the gas lines. The oil and gas workers responsible for site preparation as well as the laying of the gas lines are always subject to being injured by someone else's negligence. Finally, workers on the drilling rigs often work long hours in blazing sun with tons of equipment and materials being moved around as quickly as possible. There is also the risk of fires and explosions that can happen if safety protocols are not followed.

In September, two workers were injured in an oil rig explosion. More than 40 barrels of hot oil were being transferred from a truck into a well as part of a pipeline cleaning process. The backflow set the truck (which was carrying the oil as well as two propane tanks) on fire and ignited the explosion. The driver and another worker suffered second and third-degree burns. Also in September, a worker was killed in a separate explosion on Santa Verta Ranch near Raymondville when a team was working on a well head that was leaking natural gas.

In addition to the potential for burns, workers are also at risk of suffering broken bones, crush injuries, and back injuries while working with heavy powerful drilling equipment.

While developing the Eagle Ford Shale may be South Texas' most important economic generator in the new decade, worker safety cannot be compromised. Companies that own oil rigs and conduct hydro-fracking operations have an obligation to maintain safe working conditions.

If you have been injured in an oil or gas rig accident, an attorney can advise you on how to obtain workers' compensation benefits, or if a personal injury lawsuit would be appropriate.

Article provided by Rush & Gransee, L.C.

Visit us at www.southtexaslawfirm.com/CM/Custom/TOCCriminalDefense.asp

---

Press release service and press release distribution provided by http://www.24-7pressrelease.com

Enerkem Files for Proposed Initial Public Offering

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:53:00 +0000

Enerkem Files for Proposed Initial Public Offering

PR Newswire

MONTREAL, Feb. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Enerkem Inc., a waste-to-biofuels and chemicals company, announced today that it has filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a preliminary prospectus with securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, relating to a proposed initial public offering of its common shares in the United States and in Canada. Goldman, Sachs & Co., Credit Suisse Securities and BMO Capital Markets will act as joint bookrunners. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the Canadian and U.S. preliminary prospectuses related to the offering may be obtained, when available, from the related prospectus department of:

Canada	United States

Goldman Sachs Canada Inc. Prospectus Department 200 West Street New York, NY, 10282 via telephone: 1-866-471-2526, or via email at prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com	Goldman, Sachs & Co. Prospectus Department 200 West Street New York, NY, 10282 via telephone: 1-866-471-2526, or via email at prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com

Credit Suisse Securities (Canada), Inc. Prospectus Department 1 First Canadian Place Suite 2900, P.O.Box 301 Toronto, Ontario Canada M5X 1C9 via telephone: 1-416-352-4799, or via email at ecm.canada@credit-suisse.com	Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC Prospectus Department One Madison Avenue New York, NY, 10010 via telephone: 1-800-221-1037, or via email at newyork.prospectus@credit-suisse.com

BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. Investment & Corporate Banking 1 First Canadian Place 100 King Street West, 4^th Floor Toronto, ON, M5X 1H3 via telephone: 1-800-414-3627, or by email at bmoprospectus@bmo.com	BMO Capital Markets Corp. Prospectus Department 3 Times Square, 27^th Floor New York, NY, 10036 via telephone: 1-800-414-3627, or by email at bmoprospectus@bmo.com

The U.S. registration statement on Form F-1 may also be accessed directly from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Canadian preliminary prospectus is also available on SEDAR.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. A preliminary prospectus has also been filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada but is still subject to completion or amendment and has not yet become final for the purposes of a distribution to the public in Canada. These securities may not be sold in the United States or in any province or territory of Canada nor may offers to buy be accepted in the United States or Canada prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective in the United States and a receipt for the final prospectus has been issued in Canada.

This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any state, province, territory or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state, province, territory or jurisdiction.

About Enerkem
Enerkem develops biofuels and chemicals from waste. With its proprietary thermochemical technology, Enerkem converts abundantly available municipal solid waste (mixed textiles, plastics, fibers, wood and other non-recyclable waste materials) into chemical-grade syngas, and then methanol, ethanol and other chemical intermediates that form everyday products. By using waste instead of fossil fuels, Enerkem addresses the growing demand for renewable energy sources and chemicals, while reducing landfill volumes and greenhouse gas emissions. Headquartered in Montréal, Canada, the company currently operates both a pilot and a commercial demonstration facility in Québec, has its first waste-to-biofuels full-scale commercial plant under construction in Edmonton, Alberta, and is developing several similar facilities in the U.S. and Canada that will convert municipal solid waste into biofuels and chemicals.

SOURCE ENERKEM INC.

NRC Releases Draft Report on Simulated Accident at Two Nuclear Power Plants

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:10:00 +0000

Statement by Edwin Lyman, Union of Concerned Scientists

WASHINGTON (February 1, 2012) — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today released a draft report that analyzes the potential consequences of a serious accident at the Surry nuclear plant in Virginia and the Peach Bottom nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The report was written by researchers with the agency’s State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) study, which began in 2007. The agency plans public meetings later this month in both states.

Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Global Security Program, obtained an October 2010 draft copy of the SOARCA report last summer through a Freedom of Information Act request and posted an article on its contents on UCS’s All Things Nuclear blog. That draft document evaluated the consequences of an earthquake-induced loss of on-site and back-up power at Peach Bottom, located 65 miles west of Philadelphia and 45 miles down the Susquehanna River from Three Mile Island. That is very similar to what happened at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan last March, and the General Electric reactor designs at Peach Bottom and Fukushima are similar.

Below is a statement by Edwin Lyman.

“The draft SOARCA study has largely confirmed the health impacts of prior studies such as the one conducted by Sandia National Laboratories in 1982, known as the CRAC2 study, even though it did not analyze an accident sequence as severe as the worst-case one in CRAC2. In fact, the results for the number of latent cancer fatalities for some of the SOARCA sequences are essentially the same as the CRAC2 results, given all the uncertainties. The SOARCA draft predicts as many as 1,000 cancer deaths, given average weather conditions, within 50 miles of the Peach Bottom plant if a Fukushima-type accident occurred there.

“The draft study also confirms an obvious fact: Fatalities from acute radiation exposure will be small if effective evacuation of close-in areas occurs before large radiological releases occur. It says nothing about the potential for acute fatalities if releases occurred before residents living near the facility were evacuated.

“Finally, the report’s comparison of station blackout sequences at Peach Bottom with similar initiating events at Fukushima reveal important differences with the NRC’s computer analyses of such events. For example, SOARCA significantly under-predicted the magnitude of potential hydrogen explosions compared with what actually happened at Fukushima. This indicates serious problems with the NRC analyses that the agency must resolve before they can be used to reliably model severe accidents.”

Enerkem appoints new board member

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Enerkem appoints new board member

PR Newswire

MONTREAL, Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Enerkem Inc. (www.enerkem.com), a waste-to-biofuels and chemicals company, announced today that Carl Rush, Senior Vice President of Organic Growth for Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM), joined its board of directors.

"We are glad to have Mr. Rush join our board of directors", said Vincent Chornet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem. "Carl is a seasoned executive who brings extensive experience and knowledge of the waste management industry."

Mr. Rush joined Waste Management in 2001. As Senior Vice President of Organic Growth, he is responsible for finding growth opportunities that are synergistic with the company's objective of maximizing value from waste, including converting them into biofuels, renewable chemicals and energy. Enerkem has established a strategic relationship with Waste Management since the company's initial investment in Enerkem in 2010.

"As a strategic investor in Enerkem, we are seeking opportunities to leverage Enerkem's technology in our business," said Mr. Rush. "It is exciting to have an opportunity to support Enerkem as a Board member."

Carl Rush replaces Tim Cesarek as Waste Management's representative on Enerkem's board of directors.

About Enerkem
Enerkem develops biofuels and chemicals from waste. With its proprietary thermochemical technology, Enerkem converts abundantly available municipal solid waste (mixed textiles, plastics, fibers, wood and other non-recyclable waste materials) into chemical-grade syngas, and then methanol, ethanol and other chemical intermediates that form everyday products. By using waste instead of fossil fuels, Enerkem addresses the growing demand for renewable energy sources and chemicals, while reducing landfill volumes and greenhouse gas emissions. Headquartered in Montréal, Canada, the company currently operates both a pilot and a commercial demonstration facility in Québec, has its first waste-to-biofuels full-scale commercial plant under construction in Edmonton, Alberta, and is developing several similar facilities in the U.S. and Canada that will convert municipal solid waste into biofuels and chemicals. www.enerkem.com

SOURCE ENERKEM INC.

2011 U.S. Venture Capital Investment in Cleantech Steady at $4.9 Billion Despite Tough Economy

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

2011 U.S. Venture Capital Investment in Cleantech Steady at $4.9 Billion Despite Tough Economy

Industry continues to innovate and mature

PR Newswire

BOSTON, Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- US venture capital (VC) investment in cleantech companies reached $4.9 billion in 2011, flat in terms of deals and down 4.5% in terms of capital invested compared to 2010, according to an Ernst & Young LLP analysis based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource. However, this represents a 29% increase from the $3.8 billion raised in 2009. In Q4 2011 VC investment in cleantech reached $940.5 million with 70 rounds of financing.

"Cleantech is still in the early stages of a long-term journey," said Jay Spencer, Ernst & Young LLP's Americas Cleantech Director. "We've reached a point where new products and services are ready to be launched, and as these products come to market, we're seeing renewed interest, innovation and opportunity in cleantech."

Energy/Electricity Generation segment leads annual growth

The Energy/Electricity Generation segment led investment in 2011 with $1.5 billion raised through a total of 71 rounds, representing a 5% decrease in dollars invested from 2010. The Solar sub-segment received the lion's share of capital in Q4 2011 with $284.5 million, accounting for 91% of the sector's total investment of $312.9 million. The top Solar deal for this quarter was completed by Stion Corp., a San Jose-based a manufacturer of high-efficiency, thin-film solar panels, which raised $130.0 million.

The Industry Products and Services segment completed 2011 with the second largest amount raised at $1.0 billion, down 34% from 2010. In Q4 2011, the segment raised $256.2 million, with strong support from the Transportation sub-segment, which raised $203.2 million or 79% of the Q4 2011 total, a 36% increase from the amount raised in Q4 2010. The largest deal was for the quarter was completed by Better Place, a Palo Alto-based provider of electric car networks, which raised $201.0 million.

The Energy Storage segment ranked third in terms of total amount invested in 2011, with $932.6 million through 28 deals representing a 253% increase from 2010 in dollars invested and a 47% increase in number of deals. In Q4 2011, the segment raised $35.0 million, all of which can be attributed to the Batteries sub-segment. With $30.0 million raised, VIA Motors Inc., a Utah-based electric vehicle development and manufacturing company, secured the largest battery transaction in Q4 2011.

Companies in the Energy Efficiency segment attracted $646.9 million in 2011, a 29% decrease from 2010. The segment, however, led both the year and quarter in rounds of financing with 78 deals and 21 deals respectively. Q4 2011 investments in this segment were led by the Energy Efficiency Products sub-segment with $57.5 million raised through 10 deals.

Revenue generating companies lead with investments received

Cleantech companies in the revenue generation stage of development accounted for 69% of dollars invested, up from 50% in 2010. Total dollars invested in companies at this stage of development reached $3.4 billion, a 31% annual increase.

Capital market activity

Growth in the US cleantech market in 2011 was supported by five cleantech IPOs – up from three in 2010. Three of the 2011 deals were completed by companies focused on biofuels: Solazyme Inc., Gevo Inc. and KiOR Inc. Two more IPOs were completed in Q4 2011, one by Intermolecular Inc., a San Jose-based research and development company for the semiconductor and clean energy sectors that raised $96.5 million, and another by Rentech Inc., a Los Angeles-based provider of clean energy solutions, that raised $136.8 million. A total of $688.3 million was raised through cleantech IPOs in 2011.

"There's a strong appetite among cleantech companies to go public and we see tremendous opportunity as this industry continues to mature," said Spencer. "The growing IPO pipeline shows viable, long-term potential."

In terms of other capital market activity, there were 13 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with a disclosed value of $150.5 million in Q4 2011, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Total M&A activity in 2011 reached 79 deals with a total disclosed value of $2.8 billion.

Additionally, in Q4 2011, the US recorded 39 new–build clean energy asset financings with a total deal value of $1.8 billion, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. New-build asset financing in 2011 totaled $23.2 billion in 234 deals, of which the $2.5 billion financing of the 855MW NRG Energy Project Amp PV plant was the largest.

Corporate activity in solar and wind

Corporate activity was especially focused in two areas: solar and wind. In the solar market, Google Inc. and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) invested $189.0 million in four California solar farms totaling 88 MW of capacity. The projects will be built by Recurrent Energy Inc., a unit of Sharp Corp. Additionally, NRG Energy Inc. acquired solar-power developer Solar Power Partners, deepening NRG's involvement in the solar power market.

On the wind front, MidAmerican Energy bought 49% of the $1.8 billion 290 MW Agua Caliente project based in Yuma County, Arizona, which is being developed by NRG Energy. Duke Energy Corp. and American Transmission Co. bought a power line project to bring wind energy from Wyoming to the US Southwest. MidAmerican Energy acquired three wind power projects with a combined capacity of 404.8 MW in Iowa.

Cleantech partnerships across multiple segments

Vestas is teaming with IBM to improve return on wind power investment by using the IBM BigInsights analytics software and an IBM Firestorm supercomputer to increase energy output. Honeywell is teaming up with AliphaJet to boost the development and eventual commercialization of renewable jet fuels from plant and animal matter. Mascoma is teaming up with Valero Energy to develop its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant at an expected cost of $232.0 million.

Additionally, key players in the EV space are collaborating to expand the accessibility of EVs. Walmart will participate in ECOtality's EV Project, which is tasked with overseeing the installation of 14,000 hosted charging stations at select stores in 18 metropolitan areas. ECOtality will integrate its Blink EV charging stations with Silver Spring Networks' Smart Energy Platform to enable utilities to offer customers more EV charging options globally.

Regional highlights

California continues to lead national cleantech investment in 2011 with $2.8 billion raised. In Q4 2011 alone, California garnered 67% of all dollars with $629.5 million through 26 deals. Massachusetts raised the second highest level of annual investments with $465.1 million, a 63% increase from last year. Colorado had investments of $363.3 million throughout 2011, a 28% increase from 2010, making it the state with the third highest level of investments.

About Ernst & Young's Strategic Growth Markets Network

Ernst & Young's worldwide Strategic Growth Markets Network is dedicated to serving the changing needs of rapid-growth companies. For more than 30 years, we've helped many of the world's most dynamic and ambitious companies grow into market leaders. Whether working with international mid-cap companies or early stage venture-backed businesses, our professionals draw upon their extensive experience, insight and global resources to help your business achieve its potential. It's how Ernst & Young makes a difference.

About Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 152,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.

For more information, please visit www.ey.com.

Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, a US client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.

Note to editors:
Data analyzed in the press release encompasses equity financings--including cash investments by professional venture capital firms, corporations, other private equity firms, and individuals--into cleantech companies that have received at least one round of venture funding.

Ernst & Young uses the following definitions to classify the cleantech industry and its sub-sectors:

Clean technology encompasses a diverse range of innovative products and services that optimize the use of natural resources or reduce the negative environmental impact of their use while creating value by lowering costs, improving efficiency, or providing superior performance.

Alternative Fuels – Biofuels, natural gas
Energy / Electricity Generation - Gasification, tidal/wave, hydrogen, geothermal, solar, wind, hydro
Energy Storage - Batteries, fuel cells, flywheels
Energy Efficiency - Energy efficiency products, power and efficiency management services, industrial products
Water - Treatment processes, conservation & monitoring
Environment - Air, recycling, waste
Industry Focused Products and Services - Agriculture, construction, transportation, materials, consumer products

Contact name:	Michelle Sing	Alex Hahn
Company:	Ernst & Young LLP	VOX Global
Tel:	+201 872 1362	+202 772 5029
E-mail:	Michelle.Sing@ey.com	ahahn@voxglobal.com

SOURCE Ernst & Young LLP

Contrarians Push Global Cooling Again

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:11:17 +0000

Climate contrarians are again pushing “global cooling” claims, despite the fact that 2011 was the 35th year in a row in which global temperatures were above the historical average.

Today, they’re relying on a column by David Rose in the United Kingdom’s Daily Mail in which the author mischaracterizes research from the Met Office, the U.K.’s official weather and climate science research body.

According to the Met Office, they told Rose he was misrepresenting their research, but their comments failed to make it into his column.

Rose claims there has been “no warming since 1997.” But his analysis relies on cherry-picking a single year and counting forward from there. By that logic, any year that breaks the record for “warmest ever” can be used as the starting point to argue there has been cooling. The Met Office rightly pointed out that taking a longer, scientifically defensible time frame shows significant warming over the past several decades.

Further, Rose claims that the sun’s energy output will drop, saving us all from climate change. Alas, if only it were true.

According to the Met Office, the study Rose cites shows that changing solar output “would only most likely cause a reduction in global temperatures of 0.08 degrees Celsius” over the next 90 years. For those keeping score in the United States, that translates to 0.114 degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, hardly a dent in the many degrees of warming expected under a business-as-usual emissions scenario.

This isn’t the first time Rose or the Daily Mail have gotten it wrong on climate science or ignored researchers who say their work was misrepresented.

Rose’s claim comes on the heels of the Wall Street Journal publishing cooling claims in a Jan. 27 op-ed, which the Union of Concerned Scientists also debunked.

We can expect more global cooling claims from media figures and politicians who are sympathetic to a do-nothing strategy for addressing climate change.

But we shouldn't believe them.

California Adopts Robust Plan for Cleaner Cars

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:10:00 +0000

Biggest Change to ZEV Program in 20-Year History

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) today approved a historic package of vehicle polices that will reduce air pollution and the adverse public health impacts of cars and trucks while accelerating the market for electric car technology.

“California is putting the pedal to the metal on electric cars and healthier air by strengthening its clean-car standards,” said David Friedman, deputy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ (UCS) Clean Vehicles program. “With these new standards, California will give car buyers a real choice between the fuels of the past and the clean cars of the future.”

The newly approved standards address two of the most important environmental and public health threats facing the state by significantly reducing or eliminating heat-trapping emissions that drive climate change from cars and trucks, and contribute to unhealthy levels of smog and particulate pollution.

The package of initiatives will save Californians $22 billion through 2025, according to ARB analysis. By 2025, the program will create 21,000 new jobs across the state as consumers spend less on gasoline and shift that money to more productive parts of the economy. Individual consumers will save $4,000 over the life of the typical car sold in 2025, even after paying for clean car technology. The added cost of the technology improvements would be fully recovered from fuel savings within the first three years of owning the vehicle.

One key improvement to California’s clean car standards is the most significant change to the Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEV) program in its 20-year history—requiring battery, fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to account for up to 15 percent of California’s new vehicle sales by 2025. Overall, the program will result in more than 1 million such vehicles being sold in the state between 2018 and 2025.

"These robust, zero-emission vehicle standards will provide the market assurance automakers and the energy industry need to transform the electric vehicle into a mass-market success," said Don Anair, senior engineer with the UCS Clean Vehicles program. "This landmark initiative will strengthen California's emerging electric vehicles industry, creating jobs and making zero-emission vehicles more affordable for consumers."

Ten other states have already adopted California’s ZEV program, nearly tripling the impact of California’s program on the electric-car market.

“A successful electric-car industry will further California’s legacy as a leader in economic and environmental innovation,” said Anair.

Another allows vehicles with a small gasoline engine and at least 75 miles of all-electric range, typically considered a range extender hybrid, to get the same credit as a pure battery electric car. This provision could reduce an automaker’s pure electric vehicle requirements by up to 50 percent.

"These provisions will require close scrutiny in the coming years to ensure they do not undermine the promise of the program for putting over 1 million electric cars on the road in California," said Anair.

Other complimentary measures adopted by ARB include:

Clean Fuels Outlet (CFO) rules that require oil companies to install hydrogen refueling stations as automakers ramp up sales of fuel-cell vehicles, ensuring consumers have access to fuel for these vehicles. The rules also require California to study infrastructure needs for vehicles that recharge from the electric grid.
A 75 percent reduction in smog-forming emissions from the tailpipes of new cars and light trucks, the near elimination of evaporative emissions, and a reduction in toxic particulate matter, all by 2025.
Global warming standards for vehicles built between 2017 and 2025 that require a reduction in a vehicle's emissions to 166 grams per mile—about half of current levels and a 34 percent reduction from 2016 requirements. These new global warming pollution standards are part of a coordinated effort between California and federal agencies to establish a single, nationwide set of global warming pollution and fuel efficiency requirements for automakers. If federal global warming pollution standards remain on course, California will accept those standards as an alternative to its own. The state will still, however, maintain its separate vehicle smog, particulate, ZEV and CFO requirements.

“With this new, stronger clean cars program, California continues to be a model for the rest of the country,” said Friedman.

California Clean Water Agencies Champion Clean Energy Initiative

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:01:19 +0000

California Clean Water Agencies Champion Clean Energy Initiative

PR Newswire

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) is spearheading a statewide initiative to better educate the public, regulators, and local, state and federal leaders on the role they need to play in achieving new state and national clean energy goals.

In Governor Jerry Brown's 2012 State of the State address, he called for "…a goal of 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2020." In President Barack Obama's 2012 State of the Union address, he set a goal of having 80 percent of all Americans' electricity provided through clean energy by 2035. California's clean water agencies are listening and responding to the demand for clean energy.

Many of California's publicly owned clean water agencies and wastewater treatment plants are successfully generating clean energy to offset their individual agency needs. Wastewater plants are identified as resource recovery agencies producing energy in the form of biogas, biosolids, and methane. They are also able to produce energy when processing foods, fats, oil and grease provided by restaurants and residents.

"California's clean water agencies are ready to be active partners at the state and national level to achieve these clean energy goals," CASA President Gary Darling said. He added, "Local wastewater treatment and recycled water facilities are the ideal places to look at when investing resources into clean energy generation. Increased clean energy production at local wastewater facilities is just one of the ways we are protecting the environmental and local waterways."

CASA's initiative is not only aimed at educating about the value of clean energy, but it will identify opportunities in public forums to advocate for investing in its members' clean energy production, as well as removing any obstacles for funding and production.

"Clean energy production is a relatively new industry, both the public and the decision-makers need to understand dollars invested today will reap benefits in the future by helping to significantly reduce our reliance on traditional, and rapidly dwindling, energy supplies such as oil," Darling said.

In April 2009, a Water Environment Research Foundation report stated, "The energy potential contained in wastewater and biosolids exceeds by at least five times the energy used to treat it." Currently, some California wastewater facilities are striving for a net zero energy consumption, literally becoming energy neutral by generating their own heat and power and even having excess energy available for outside use.

"This is an exciting time for California's clean water agencies," said Darling. "We have the opportunity to be part of our nation's transformation from energy users to energy producers by expanding our everyday resource recovery work practices. Waste to watts, that's our vision."

SOURCE California Association of Sanitation Agencies