Green energy a trillion dollar business

The Carbon War Room's Jigar Shah points to green energy as one of the great business opportunities for 2012 and beyond, saying that it's in mostly in the hands of entrepreneurs operating with or without government incentives.

The next trillion

Big opportunities in greening suburbs

As the world moves to end new urban sprawl, existing sprawled suburbs have become the target of much greening, since they're not going away and folks there must get with the program every bit as much as their city brethren. For green economy firms and professionals, this translates into tremendous opportunities across a wide range of fronts: renewable energy and efficiency, waste management and recycling, residential water systems, sustainable consumption, alternative transportation, and more.

Streetscape shows the way

LEED retrofits surpass new buildings

Contractors, developers and facilities managers take note. The exponential growth of green retrofits has opened exciting opportunities for even more professionals to become LEED certified and for all to impact far more existing buildings in local and global markets.

More LEED existing buildings than new ones

New rules further opens green market

It is only the latest example of how green regulation can spur the growth of the industry nationwide, as manufacturers of green lighting solutions react to the latest lighting standards coming out of Washington, D.C. with large investments and even bigger plans.

Lighting standards create new opportunities

Durban climate conference wraps up

The UN climate conference at Durban, South Africa wrapped up last weekend with some positives, but not on the goal of reversing climate change.

An agreement, yes, but...

Oops! That new road you thought was good? Think again

Game-changing research from the University of Toronto has complicated matters for both road builders and mass-transit advocates alike. We've known for a some time now that new roads and highways only serve to increase traffic flows and congestion. Hence the loud holler by sustainable-city advocates opt for high-density mass transit instead.

But what the research reveals to everyone's surprise is that mass transit also increases traffic flows. But of course! By freeing road space, more folks take to their cars, which, naturally, creates congestion anew. As the researchers indicate, this doesn't mean mass transit is useless, since it works for those who find it cheaper and more convenient.

The clear and unequivocal conclusion, then: Don't build more roads! The goal is to develop or redevelop high-density cities and urban areas with great mass transit and other alternatives to cars, and either not build new roads or disincentivize driving in other ways.

The study is great for everyone in the alternative transportation business. The trick is to influence local-level public officials and get them to get the message.

Highway to hell: More roads = more traffic

One week down, one to go at Durban

From the ashes of disappointment, hope has emerged after a full week of talks at the U.N. climate conference in South Africa. European, island and least-developed nations are placing intense pressure on the U.S. and BRIC countries to commit to serious negotiations on a new binding global treaty that would replace Kyoto and take effect later this decade.

The makings of hope

Green savings, revenues the key to engaging small business

Small businesses emit roughly half of all climate-change gases, yet remain largely outside the trend to green the world's companies. The key to bringing them on board, argues the author of this analysis, is to focus on the big savings they stand to gain by going green. And, we would add, the big revenues from selling all those green products and services the world needs to reverse climate change.

How to get small companies into green

Surprise: U.S. becomes obstacle at Durban

A hard stance by U.S. negotiators at the Durban, South Africa climate talks is not only blocking progress in the early days of the U.N. conference, but has led participants and observers to question whether the Obama administration has been so weakened by Republican pressure back home as to become a defining obstacle to a solution even beyond Durban.

U.S. position leaves Durban scratching its collective head