As tech lowers cost, fuel cell commercial uses expand

Recently, Wal-Mart placed an order for 1,738 fuel cell powered forklifts that move products in the giant retailers’ warehouses.

Gibbons attorneys Uzoamaka N. Okoye and Samuel H. Megerditchian write in their firm’s Environmental and Green Issues blog that this: "highly publicized order spotlights the emerging commercial markets and the technologies and patents that have made the production of energy through fuel cells more cost effective."

*Like what you’re reading? Click here for free updates** 

The attorneys note that the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index shows that "for the last decade fuel cell related patents outpaced all other clean energy technology patents until 2013 when solar patents for the first time surpassed fuel cell patents."

Read the full post here     

Related:
Wal-Mart Chooses Fuel Cell Forklifts 
DOE fuels US competitiveness in fuel cell market with $3-million project 
European Hydrogen Fuel Cell Charging Clusters Planned 
FuelCell CEO Expects First Big Sale in Europe This Year  
Toyota’s North America chief seeks fuel cell sedan supply boost

As tech lowers cost, fuel cell commercial uses expand Read More »

Want shore protection funds? Make your beaches public


With New Jersey spending more tax dollars on shore protection projects after
Superstorm Sandy, advocates for greater public access to beaches see the
time is ripe for legislative change.

Tom Johnson reports today in NJ Spotlight that a bill moving in Trenton (S-183) would
require any shore protection projects receiving public funding to include public access
to the waterfront, an amendment urged by a conservation group in a vote by a committee considering the bill last month.

Beyond the public access requirement, the measure also would require the DEP to establish a priority system for ranking shore protection projects.
It also requires all shore protection projects that include a structural component, such as seawalls and other permanent facilities, to also include non-structural components, like sand dunes. Towns with dunes fared much better during Hurricane Sandy than those without these natural barriers.

Want shore protection funds? Make your beaches public Read More »

Looking for environmental seminars? Here's the place

You’ll be surprised by the number of valuable environmental seminars, forums, meetings, workshops, webinars and other great educational and networking opportunities available each week in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware. And most of them are free!



Where can you find them? On our free Enviro-Events Calendar. 


Be sure to use the form in the upper right to sign up for free email updates.
You’ll receive one when we add new events–at least several times a week.

Tell your friends and colleagues, too, so they can subscribe to this great service.

Bonus: Submit information on your upcoming environmental event to:
Editor@EnviroPolitics.com  We’ll list it for free.

Looking for environmental seminars? Here's the place Read More »

Should chemicals pass safety tests like pharmaceuticals?

Should Congress shift the burden of proof about a chemical’s safety or toxicity to the manufacturer before the chemical can be released into the environment?

Two prominent women physician believe that chemical makers should share the same burden as pharmaceutical companies when it comes to product safety.

Jeanne A. Conry, MD, PhD, and Linda C. Giudice, MD, PhD, write in The Hill that the Toxic Substances Control Act, unchanged since its passage in 1976, could do much more to protect the public — especially pregnant women and children– from unsafe chemical exposures.

"U.S. and global chemical production has risen steadily, with a more-than-15-fold increase between 1947 and 2007. A reformed Toxic Substances Control Act can give us a greater understanding of the risks posed by toxic chemicals in our environment, and better equip us to inform and care for our patients"
**Like what you’re reading? Click here for free updates**

Why do Conry, who is president of the American Congress of Obstetricians, and Giudice, the past president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, think this is necessary?

"Studies have documented that dozens of toxic chemicals are found in virtually every pregnant woman in the United States," they write "Robust scientific evidence demonstrates that preconception and prenatal exposure to toxic chemicals can have a profound and lasting impact on health across a patient’s life, including increased risk of cancer in childhood and impairment of reproductive health development in adulthood, such as infertility."

Read the full post here

Recent Posts:
Bill would repeal ‘Summer gas’ rule in Pittsburgh area 
High voltage issue: Reversing NJ solar slowdown  
Sunoco Pipeline plan draws political resistance  
Will you know if a fracker next door polluted your well?
NJ’s Kimberly Diamond to lead Women of Wind Energy 
 

Should chemicals pass safety tests like pharmaceuticals? Read More »

Bill would repeal 'Summer gas' rule in Pittsburgh area


The Environmental Resources and Energy Committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would eliminate the requirement for summer blend gasoline in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler,
Fayette, Greene and Washington Counties.

The legislation, SB 1037, sponsored by Senators Elder Vogel and  Timothy Solobay,
passed the Senate 46-0 on March 19.

In a memo accompanying the legislation the sponsors write that, in 1998, the state Department of Environmental Protection adopted a 7.8psi RVP (Reid Vapor Pressure) fuel standard for southwestern Pennsylvania to address federal air pollution control measures.

"Since that time, ethanol became mandated by the federal government, increasing the RVP value of fuel. This resulted in an exclusive “boutique” fuel mandate for southwestern Pennsylvania."

The sponsors say that the law has resulted in "gas prices averaging 10 to 15 cents higher in western Pennsylvania than in neighboring counties and also across the border in Ohio."

"In Pennsylvania, this boutique fuel is only required for the Pittsburgh region, and demand for the product is low. This equates to a hidden tax drivers must pay in southwestern Pennsylvania that is not required anywhere else," they argue.

**Like what you’re reading? Click here for free updates**

The Pittsburgh-based Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) opposes the measure.

“Southwestern Pennsylvania and much of the northeastern United States struggle to meet federal health-based standards for ozone for a number of years,” said its Legal Director Joe Osborne. “The summer gas requirement is one of the most common sense and cost-effective ways to reduce ozone emissions in the area.” 

Related environmental news stories:
Bill to Do Away With ‘Summer Gas’ in Pittsburgh Passes Senate

 

Bill would repeal 'Summer gas' rule in Pittsburgh area Read More »

High voltage issue: Reversing NJ solar slowdown


[Updated at 10:45 p.m. to add related news stories} New Jersey once ranked second the nation in the number of solar energy installations, but its status has dropped in recent years.

How much? It depends on which study you believe. One says the Garden State now ranks third in the cumulative number of solar installations. But an industry trade group claims that the state has slipped to fifth place. Tom Johnson, who covers energy and environment issues for NJ Spotlight, asked a number of experts how to the slide can be reversed. He found that there is no easy answer.

Read the full story here

Related environmental new stories:

Solar Industry Snapshot: A Volatile Sector Still in Search of Stability 
Energy company offers incentive to move to solar for PSE&G customers
UD researchers and utility employees join to discuss solar power integration

PSEG Long Island announces results for 100 MW solar PV procurement program

Recent Posts:
Sunoco Pipeline plan draws political resistance
Will you know if a fracker next door polluted your well? 
NJ’s Kimberly Diamond to lead Women of Wind Energy  
Happy Birthday to Us–We’re 25 today! 
 

High voltage issue: Reversing NJ solar slowdown Read More »