Political Ecology

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today announced that it has begun offering isosorbide under its line of Evolution Chemicals™. Isosorbide is an industrial ingredient made from corn that is a potential alternative to the petroleum-based chemical Bisphenol A in plastics and other applications. ADM is the first company in North America to offer renewable [...]

Very little is known about mixed polybrominated/chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBCDD/F) in industrial thermal processes. In this study, the occurrences and characteristics of PBCDD/F from various incineration and metallurgical processes were investigated. In addition, PBCDD/F analytical protocols based on HRGC/HRMS were developed and optimized. The sum of isomer group concentrations ranged from 1.7−3740 pmol Nm−3 [...]

The offshore wind power market is now entering a period of rapid and prolonged growth. The European Wind Energy Association expects that Europe alone will increase its amount of offshore wind power from less than 2 gigawatts at the end of 2009 to more than 150 GW by 2030. Since subsea structures and installation services [...]

Consumer choices affect sustainability of societal systems, and state governments increasingly are interested in environmental impacts of consumption. This article describes a Consumer Environmental Index (CEI) to track the impacts of product purchase, use, and disposal and applies this initial CEI to Washington State in the United States. CEI has modules for product and service [...]

The American Chemical Society (ACS), a congressionally chartered independent professional organization, through its Green Chemistry Institute® (GCI), is working with federal agencies, nonprofits, end users, and industry to craft a “business-to-business”6 standard for measurably reducing hazardous materials in all kinds of products and processes. The effort, says ACS GCI director Robert Peoples, is very close [...]

The growing demands of society for greener products and corporate America’s desires to meet it and make a profit make for “a fascinating interaction with cultural change,” says Lyon. “The norms have really started to shift. I think that’s our hope for information and labeling—that it will create a new floor that keeps rising. I [...]

President Obama was out touting green jobs at Solyndra’s Fremont, Calif-based factory Wednesday morning, which a $535 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy is helping to build. The TV news coverage of the event has been calling Solyndra’s factory an example of how successful the Department of Energy’s clean power investment programs can [...]