wrdforwrd

The United Kingdom’s Environment Agency has given a somewhat grudging endorsement of biofuels in a new report that asks this question in its title, Biomass – carbon sink or carbon sinner?

It seems an overly clunky and cutesy title for a government agency, but that aside, the report highlights how biomass energy “could play a key role in delivering our greenhouse gas emission targets but only if action is taken to ensure it is genuinely low carbon.”

Parsing that sentence could drive one crazy: “Could play a key role?” and what does “genuinely low carbon” mean?

Somewhat better is this quote about the report on the agency website: “Using biomass to generate electricity and heat can deliver very large greenhouse gas emission savings compared with using gas or coal but only if the fuel is produced in an environmentally sustainable way and used efficiently.

“Best practice can deliver up to 98 percent less emissions than using coal but worst practice can result in more greenhouse gas emissions overall than using gas. The report estimates that greenhouse gas emissions of over three million tons of carbon dioxide per year could be saved by 2020 if good practice is followed.”

The agency urges the government to ensure that all power generators publicly report GHG emissions from producing, transporting ands using biomass fuels and “be ready to set minimum standards if required.”

GHG emissions from energy generated using biomass “are generally, but not always, lower than those from fossil fuels,” the report says. How it is produced has a major impact on emissions.

Overall the best performing biomass schemes in terms of greenhouse gas emissions are those that deliver combined heat and power rather than just electricity, which is the current trend, the report continues. “They use wastes or energy crops that have not been transported too far. The worst performing schemes are those where energy crops are grown on what was previously grassland using a lot of nitrogen fertilizers. They expend energy in processing the biomass, for example into fuel pellets, and the fuel is transported thousands of miles and burned to generate electricity only.”

Biomass heat and power is currently the largest source of renewable energy in the UK but it accounts for only 2.3 percent of the UK’s electricity generation and 1 percent of the country’s heat needs.

“It can be a low carbon renewable energy source because it is either based on wastes which would otherwise go to landfill or on energy crops and forestry that, after being harvested, continue to grow and absorb the carbon emitted when they are burned.”

The UK government’s renewable energy strategy does plan for huge growth in energy generation from biomass so that by 2020 it provides about 30 percent of renewable electricity and heat towards the UK’s overall target of 15 percent renewable energy.

“We want to ensure that the sector’s growth is environmentally sustainable and that the mistakes made with biofuels are avoided, where unsustainable growth has had to be curbed,” says Tony Grayling, the agency’s Head of Climate Change and Sustainable Development. “Biomass operators have a responsibility to ensure that biomass comes from sustainable sources, and is used efficiently to deliver the greatest greenhouse gas savings and the most renewable energy.”

Read the 12-page report here.

More backlash: There was this provocative assertion on the UK-based PeakOil news & message board: Biofuels ‘Like Pouring Vodka Into Beer.’

Huh? Is that bad or good? The short item sees that as a bad thing apparently, considering the opening line: “Biofuels could produce twice the carbon emissions of fossil fuels they replace, environmentalists have claimed.”

Talking about the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, the item says Friends of the Earth have said rules introduced a year ago requiring a percentage of UK transport fuels to be “green” could have created an extra 1.3 million tons of CO2.

Considering the source of this one, is it possible that FOE were taken out of context a teensy bit?

While corporations increasingly glom-on to Earth Day as a public relations and marketing tool to demonstrate just how green and sustainable they are – whether they really are or not – the Sierra Club is taking the jamboree back to its more populist and individual roots, with Seven Ways to Heaven on Earth Day 2009.

Don’t forget, April 22 is the 39th edition of Earth Day and as the club says, “If you let this one come and go without doing some good work to celebrate the day, well, you just might not get into heaven.”

It continues:  “We confirmed with the eco angels (green wings, pesticide-free cotton gowns, and fair-trade halos) that the following seven activities will confirm your seat at that big sustainable feast in the sky.” So click the link above, read, enjoy, laugh, cry and get ready to “Get out and DO something!”

And remember: Every day is Earth Day.

There’s some heartening news on the green investment and GHG fronts.

While the stock market remains, shall we say, volatile at least it goes up and down rather than falling off another level of the cliff each day.

State of green investment

World-Wire reports that green investors, who had watched the portfolios drop even lower than the overall market, are benefiting from staying in the game. Unlike the mass of investors who sold at the bottom of the market, green investors are taking a long-term view.

Last year many green mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and individual stocks fell 50-80 percent, while the Dow shed about 40 percent of its value. Green investors today can expect their portfolios to rise higher than the overall market as it recovers. Recently the Dow has gained 21 percent from its low in early March, while clean-tech indexes are up 30 percent. Green building stocks are up 11.6 percent in the past two weeks, exceeding the 7.9 percent increase registered by the S&P 500 and NASDAQ.

During a period of the most extreme withdrawals from U.S. mutual funds – 10 times the typical amounts – green mutual funds and ETFs have seen little outflow. “Investors have been holding and, since the beginning of the year, buying into these funds,” says the SustainableBusiness.com report on the State of Green Investing 2009.

“People I work with are more optimistic than I’ve seen in years,” says Sam Jones, portfolio manager of the New Power Portfolio. “The stimulus plan is a big piece of it – they finally feel they have backing. They’ve been swimming against the tide for a long time.”

Clean energy and efficiency comprise about 14 percent of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. “All the elements we advocated for are in the plan,” says Elena Foshay of the Apollo Alliance, a a group that was involved in developing the clean-tech provisions.

A survey of institutional investors representing more than $1 trillion in assets, conducted by New Energy Finance and DB Climate Change Advisors (Deutsche Bank’s climate change investment business) found that 49 percent are “more likely” or “much more likely” to increase their exposure to clean energy now than they were a year ago. Another 46 percent said their intentions haven’t changed, and just 5 percent said they’re “less likely” or “much less likely” to invest more in clean energy.

Progressive Investor, a monthly newsletter published by SustainableBusiness.com, has identified these green investment trends for 2009:

• Credit is already loosening up for clean energy projects in the US and Germany. Utility scale projects will likely drive growth beginning in the second quarter of 2009. Project financing hasn’t stopped, but has become less predictable, slower and more expensive.

• Green venture capital firms with a strong track record are able to raise funds, albeit more slowly. Those that raised funds before the crash have their pick of strong candidates at lower valuations.

• Worldwide, over $200 billion in incentives and spending for renewable energy, energy efficient buildings, smart grid and clean transportation is evident in stimulus bills across the world. Industry insiders expect the cleantech industry alone to create at least 2 million jobs in the U.S.

• The latest data from NASA shows unprecedented global warming in 2008 – 20 times that of recent annual warming, exceeding that of conservative climate model projections. 2000 scientists at a March conference in Copenhagen warned policy-makers to “vigorously” implement policies. Research shows that even the most stringent greenhouse gas reduction targets can benefit the economy, rather than hurt it.

• The big question for many years has been whether companies that make a commitment to sustainability outperform their peers. Last year, in the most difficult of economic periods, they did. In 16 out of 18 industries, companies with a commitment to sustainability outperformed industry averages by a significant 15%, representing $650 million in protected market capitalization per company, according to A.T. Kearney. Investing in sustainability for the long term will prove to be the best way to protect a company’s value through the months and years ahead.

Progressive Investor said the following leaders in each Green Stock category “should outperform” this year:

• Solar: First Solar (FSLR), SunPower (SPWR)
• Wind: Vestas (VWS.CO), Gamesa (GAM.MC)
• Geothermal: Ormat (ORA), WaterFurnace (WFI.TO)
• Smart Grid: IBM (IBM), Itron (ITRI), EnerNoc (ENOC)
• Energy Efficient Buildings: Owens Corning (OC), Baldor Electric (BEZ), ICF International (ICFI)
• Water: TetraTech (TTEK), Northwest Pipe (NWPX)

Click here to view SustainableBusiness.com’s excellent and comprehensive Green Stock Watch.

Slow progress on climate in Bonn

At least there’s progress. The latest round of U.N. talks on a treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ended yesterday in Bonn. Officiasl said “important progress” was achieved, but there is still lots of work and more meetings ahead.

“Countries have narrowed gaps in many practical areas, for example on how to strengthen action for adapting to the impacts of climate change,” said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“This is important progress given the very limited time negotiators have to get to an agreed outcome in Copenhagen in December this year,” de Boer said.

Copenhagen, Denmark will be the site of the UN’s annual climate change conference at which countries are expected to adopt an agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period for reducing greenhouse gas emissions ends in 2012.

Negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions reductions to be achieved by industrialized countries after 2012 centered on issues related to the scale of the reductions, improvements to emissions trading and the Kyoto Protocol’s carbon offset mechanisms, as well as concerns relating to land-use change and forestry.

A friendly atmosphere is fine, but step up the pace, says the World Wildlife Fund.

“Friendly rhetoric certainly helps, but without serious commitment and binding targets to reduce carbon dioxide it simply isn’t good enough to protect a fragile planet from runaway climate change,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.

“The atmosphere at the talks in Bonn may have improved, but the climate out there is still spinning out of control. We must turn nice words into aggressive action to tackle the giant threat that’s upon us,” he said.

“Stringent targets for emission cuts will be the heart of the new global deal, and finance for technology and adaptation is the lifeblood,” Carstensen continued. “But the heart is not beating and the blood is not flowing, as Bonn only managed to build a frame and some muscles, bringing parties closer to consensus on the overall structure and the mechanisms of the deal.”

And the answer is not for a long time, at least in large enough quantities to make a difference.

Fuel is by far the biggest cost center for airlines, mainly because aviation fuel is the most expensive fuel to refine and, well, airplanes guzzle a lot of it.
That’s why the drive to develop an alternative aviation biofuel is becoming increasingly urgent for aircraft and engine manufacturers.

But even with the attention of the two largest aircraft makers, Boeing and Airbus, aviation biofuel is not exactly on the near-event horizon: Think 2025 before biofuel accounts for even 25 percent of the fuel airlines use, says Christian Dumas, vice president of sustainable development and eco-efficiency for Airbus.
“I hope we can go faster than that,” he says.

At least there’s been progress on two important fronts, says Paul Steele, executive director of the Air Transport Action Group. One is that the aviation industry has moved past any consideration of food-based alternative fuels. Instead it is concentrating on the development of second-generation biofuels using non-food biomass.
Steele also says that research over the past year has proven that biofuels are technically feasible for aviation without changes to airframes and engines.
Now the future of aviation biofuel hinges on questions about feedstock availability, especially its availability in sufficient quantities.

Bill Glover, Boeing managing director of environmental strategy, says it is “reasonable to see aviation biofuel commercially available in the next 3-5 years.” But not in very large quantities. As for significant amounts, Glover says “It depends on how you define significant.” That area is still being worked on from a technical and economic standpoint. “It’s hard to forecast a certain amount at a certain date.”

The first priority is get the right feedstocks at the right quantities and availability, said Jennifer Holmgren, Honeywell UOP’s general manager, renewable energy and chemicals business unit.
Honeywell’s stake in this became clear late last month when it launched Envergent Technologies, a joint venture with Ensyn Corp. that plans to offer technology and equipment to convert second-generation biomass into pyrolysis oil for power generation, heating fuel and for conversion into transportation fuels.

Boeing and Airbus say they are not planning to make their own alternative fuels, but are working with ethanol and other biofuel producers to make planes ready for the new technologies in the coming decades.
Also, they are not directly investing in feedstock development. Boeing is doing some “small development support to find out what’s possible in feedstock,” says Glover. “We’re in an exploratory mode.” Airbus is in the same mode.

An excess of caution? If Boeing and Airbus were to put their huge cash reserves and the weight of their technological expertise behind second-generation biomass and the feedstock needed for aviation biofuel, its ETA might change.

An Industry Week article speculates the Obama Administration is poised for a “major expansion” of cellulosic ethanol.

The report says the appointment of Steve Koonin, former chief scientist at BP, to the position of Under-Secretary of Energy, reporting to Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu is an indicator. Koonin and Chu are physicists who worked together through Energy Biosciences Institute.

From the IW article: “There are a multitude of folks chasing this cellulosic ethanol grail,” said Joe Skurla, CEO of Dupont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE), a joint venture of Dupont; and Danish enzyme and biotech company Danisco. “Those that are aligned with large companies and have their own funding are more likely to succeed.”

Here’s the link to the article: Industry Week

Biofuels Digest has pulled together a list of cellulosic ethanol plants that are open or in the planning stages (sources: IEA Task 39 Group, Biofuels Digest, Reuters). It’s one of the more comprehensive lists of the players I’ve seen.

Company name location capacity in mgy feedstock

-AE Biofuels            Montana           0.15       Corn, corn stover
-KL Energy Corp      Wyoming           1.5         Wood
-Poet                     S. Dakota         0.02        Corn cobs
-Verenium              Louisiana         1.4           Bagasse

Commercial scale plants not yet open:

-Abengoa Bioenergy      Kansas            30          Biomass
-BlueFire Mecca Llc       Calif               17          Green waste
-Colusa Biomass           Calif              12.5        Rice hulls
-Gulf Coast Energy     Florida           25           Woody biomass
-Mascoma Corp           Michigan         40          Woody biomass
-Poet                          Iowa              25          Corn cobs, stover
-Range Fuels                Georgia          20          Woody biomass
-US Envirofuels LLC    Florida           20          Sorghum, sugar cane
-Verenium-BP            Florida           36           Energy cane, sorghum

Pilot, or pre-commercial plants, not open yet:

Company                 location          capacity   feedstock
-Abengoa                Nebraska          10             Corn stover
-BlueFire                 Calif                 3.2           Green landfill waste
-Citrus Energy Llc      Florida             4              Citrus waste
-Clemson University   S. Carolina       10             Wood waste, algae
-Coskata                  Pennsylvania     0.04          Woody biomass, waste
-Dupont Danisco        Tennessee        0.25          Switchgrass, stover
-Ecofin Llc                Kentucky           1          Corn cobs
-Fulcrum                Nevada            10.5          Municipal waste
-GulfCoast Energy      Alabama           0.4           Wood Waste
-Flambeau River        Wisconsin          6              Forest, paper waste
-ICM Inc                   Missouri           1.5       Switchgrass, sorghum
-KL Energy Corp        Colorado           5              Wood pellets
-Liberty Industries      Florida            7              Forest waste
-NewPage                Wisconsin          5.5           Woody biomass
-Pacific Ethanol        Oregon             2.7        Wheat straw, poplar
-PureVision              Colorado           2          Corn stalks
-RSE Pulp & Chem      Maine              2.2           Woody biomass
-SunOpta                  Minnesota        10          Corn stover, waste
-University of Florida  Florida             2              Bagasse
-West Biofuels          Calif                0.18       Wood chips

(Mgy: million gallons/year)

Today’s Industrial Info Resources reports that the German government has passed a draft law on carbon capture and storage (CCS) that will allow major energy producers to forge ahead with the testing and development of pollution-cutting technology at coal-burning power plants. According to the report, the draft law, which has been the subject of much wrangling and controversy, “will go a long way to harmonizing German CCS laws with European Union guidelines.”
CCS is the putative and controversial “white knight” for coal-burning power plants, which have come under the most criticism for their high carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions. CCS systems aim to siphon harmful CO2 from the burning process and store them deep underground in facilities like old oil or gas fields.
The draft law, which could be passed by parliament before the summer break, sets out strict regulations and a framework for pilot projects and demonstration projects. A review is expected in 2015 to see whether CCS is technologically and financially feasible, but the draft law clears the way for big utilities to create large-scale, underground CO2 storage facilities for commercial roll-out after 2020.

The article continued that there are three CCS pilots in Germany:

German utility giant E.ON AG (Dusseldorf) has joined with Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich) to establish a pilot to capture carbon-dioxide emissions from coal-burning at the Staudinger power plant near Hanau, Germany.

Vattenfall (Stockholm) kicked off the world’s first CCS demonstration plant last September at the Schwarze Pumpe in northern Germany at a cost of 70 million euros ($94 million).

RWE Power (FRA:RWE) (Essen) received permission within the past few days to build a flue gas scrubbing pilot system at the Coal Innovation Centre of the Niederaussem Power Plant in Bergheim, Germany. It will go into operation this July and will aim to handle up to 90 percent of emissions.

wrdforwrd comment:
Is CCS really the right to to go? There’s a lot of money and energy behind it in a desperate bid to keep coal in the picture, perhaps at the expense of more viable and clean alternative options…

Maybe…and let’s hope so.

That’s the question that Dan Gilmore, the editor-in-chief of SupplyChainDigest is asking today in his interesting First Thoughts column.

Read his discussion: Gilmore’s First Thoughts in SCDigest

New Generation Biofuels Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: NGBF) closed the second round of a private placement of common stocks and warrants this week worth $1.64 million.
The firm had earlier raised $1.5 million on March 4, bringing its total private placement to $3.17 million.
In the second installment, the company issued more than 2 million shares of common stock at a price of 80 cents per share.
Investors received five-year exercisable warrants for a number of shares equal to the same number of shares they purchased at a price of 90 cents a share. The lead investor in the second round was 2020 Energy LLC. The managing member of 2020 Energy has partnered with the inventor of the company’s proprietary biofuel technology, Ferdinando Petrucci, to form PTJ Bioenergy Holdings Ltd. As a result 2020 Energy now holds 7.3 million shares, or about 29.5 percent of the New Generation’s outstanding stock. 2020 Energy first got involved as an affiliate when it bought 5.3 million shares of NewGen’s stock from Global Energy Holdings Group (formerly Xethanol Corporation) on March 17.
New Generation Biofuels Holdings Inc. (NGBF) is a development stage renewable fuel provider based in Lake Mary, FL. It holds an exclusive license for North America, Central America and the Caribbean to “commercialize proprietary technology to manufacture alternative biofuels from vegetable oils and animal fats.”
Its product can be used as a replacement for diesel, #2 heating oil, kerosene and other fuel oils.
It said on Thursday (April 2) that it produced and delivered its first truckload sale to a customer from its commercial-scale facility in Baltimore. The shipment went to Delta Chemical.
The company says it has a nominal production capacity of 5 million gallons a year, expandable to up to 50 million gallons. Its plan is to target large stationary users such as the power generation industry, commercial and inductrial processes and space heating, as well as marine transportation.

Lots going on,  from Obama in Europe and the G20, a new task force and another biofuel company hitting the skids.

Government role on support, access to biofuel feedstocks crucial

Second generation biofuels are taking center stage as the market shakes out the first generation biofuel producers.The research firm Frost and Sullivan says that nearly all of the technologies for the production of second generation biofuels are in the final stage of commercialization and their launch is expected within the next two years.

These are biofuels that are derived from non-food biomass such as agricultural and forest waste, or energy crops like miscanthus and switch grass.

The conclusion: The success of these fuels will depend to a large extent on the sustainability policies and measures that nations develop and implement, says Frost & Sullivan Analyst Phani Rajkumar Chinthapalli.

Then there’s the questions of availability and access: “Ensuring access to the required feedstock for second generation biofuels is also crucial for the sustainability of the market.” Accessibility to this biomass will play a catalytic role in ensuring the long-term commercial viability of second-generation biofuels.

“The accessibility changes for different feedstock,” Chinthapalli says. “Agricultural waste, forest residues and energy crops have different supply models to get them to the gates of biofuels manufacturers. Frost & Sullivan believes it would be most profitable for producers to partner with forest and food industries.”

Availability is not as big a concern. The estimates of biomass by different organizations such as the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) at local, national and international levels have shown that there will be no lack of feedstock for second-generation biofuels.

The Palo Alto, CA firm believes that the policies and the long-term renewable fuel targets set by the European Union and the US will significantly assist in establishing second-generation biofuels. They will also help sustain the commercial success of such fuels up to 2020.

Related to that premise, on Wednesday U.S. Congressional leaders were asked to help biofuel producers and biotechnology companies overcome economic obstacles to obtaining financial backing and bring commercially ready advanced biofuels to the marketplace. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) weighed in with a letter to Congressional leaders proposing “six principles to guide development of legislation needed to support continued development and deployment of advanced biofuels.”

The principles, as outlined by BIO:

· Implement a comprehensive systems policy approach to federal support for advanced biofuels and biobased products deployment that recognizes the need for coordinated end-to-end infrastructure development;

· Inject immediate capital for biorefinery construction, feedstock development, and fuel delivery infrastructure by boosting funding and quickly issuing loans and loan guarantees for biorefinery construction;

· Ensure a strong market for advanced biofuels by maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard, addressing the blend wall, and extending the cellulosic producer tax credit;

· Incentivize the full range of biobased products produced by biorefineries by ensuring renewable chemicals and biobased products facilities are eligible for grant and loan programs;

· Aggressively fund ongoing research, development and deployment to maximize economic competitiveness, sustainability and greenhouse gas benefits of advanced biofuels and biobased products; and

· Explicitly incentivize greenhouse gas reducing biotechnologies in climate change legislation.

Second generation biofuels could also find an ally in the forest and food industries Frost & Sullivan said. The paper and pulp industries, which have low operating profits for the last 30 years, would benefit from expanding into this new market.

“Sugar companies across the globe are looking to participate in the biofuels market with their waste by-products,” says Chinthapalli. “Large joint ventures and partnerships between forest and food companies and technology providers are being formed across the world. Biomass power plants can also be viewed as potential customers for the second generation biofuels technology providers.”

In addition to biomass, algae represents a potentially lucrative alternative market for fuels in the future. Companies and researchers are increasingly investigating the development of high yield algae and the production of fuel from algae, Frost & Sullivan says.

“In Japan, fuels that are based on camelina, jatropha and algae have successfully been tested,” Chinthapalli says. “The competition from algae-based biofuels is expected to be strong in the future due to its high yield potential compared to other biomass feedstock.”

Industry, experts join “low carbon prosperity task force”

In response to an invitation from UK Prime Minister Gordon at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, 52 companies joined forces with 34 experts and organizations to create a “Low-Carbon Prosperity Task Force.”

The Task Force, launched at a press conference in London and timed to coincide with G20 economic summit in London, will work with government and UN officials to develop a set of practical projects and policy proposals around the world designed to stimulate the low-carbon economy from 2010 onwards.

An open letter signed by The Climate Group was sent Tuesday to Prime Minister Brown, setting out the Task Force’s suggested agenda for the coming months.  The Task Force’s recommendations for ready-to-implement “low-carbon projects” will be delivered to UN Secretary-General in September.

Low Carbon Prosperity Task Force

Nova Biosource Fuel goes belly up

Earlier this week I wrote about the financial problems of the Denver ethanol producer Biofuel Energy, which has posted huge losses and warned that a bankruptcy filing could be in its future.

Well, another biofuel outfit, Nova Bioresource Fuels (AMEX-NBF), a Houston-based refiner and marketer of ASTM quality biodiesel, announced on Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Chapter 11 usually means continued operation while restructuring operations and finding new funding sources.

NBF cited the drop in energy prices as the catalyst for its decision. The company also said that it has $50 million in liabilities and assets The company posted an $11 million first quarter loss, and included 10 affiliate companies in the bankruptcy filing.

Nova produces biodiesel from fats, oils and greases, and from a total of five refineries.

Nova joins other recent bankruptcies such as VeraSun Energy, and another filing may be imminent from Aventine Renewable Energy, which is attempting to restructure outside of court.

Seattle port proposes new clean trucks plan

The of Port of Seattle has come up with a new clean trucks plan designed to keep older, more polluting trucks of the port’s terminals and surrounding roads.

Port staffer’s this week also unveiled a plan to give a break to its maritime cargo customers through fee reductions and some payment deferrals.

Taken together, these actions will help to protect the economic and environmental interests of the region, the port said. The plans were presented to the five member Port of Seattle Commission for approval.

“We’re fighting to protect 12,000 seaport jobs in the face of an economic hurricane,” said Port Commission President Bill Bryant. “This proposal protects jobs and our environment. It’s a win-win in a difficult time.”

In the clean air package, the port said it will contribute $2.3 million to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA). It said the funds will go to programs that reduce diesel emission from maritime sources, including ocean going vessels, trucks, and cargo handling equipment. “Additional funds available from other sources will be used to replace older trucks with newer, cleaner retrofits that produce less pollution,” it said.

If the commission approves this plan, the port would begin offering 100 overnight truck parking spaces for area truckers in July. The designated truck parking will reduce congestion in the neighboring communities of South Park and Georgetown.

Earlier this year, the port implemented the At Berth Clean (ABC) fuel program for ocean going vessels. The program reduces vessel emissions under the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy. The port noted it has the only shore power facility that can power two at-berth cruise vessels at the same terminal.

The customer “relief package” – as the port described it – is focused on terminal operators whose revenues depend on the number of cargo containers they handle. Port container cargo was down 37 percent in February 2009 as consumer spending continued to drop, endangering the jobs that cargo generates.

The customer support program, also subject to Commission approval, would go into effect from June 2009 to June 2010, although adjustments could be made as economic conditions change. The package offered to Seattle terminal operators is “proportionally similar” to what Los Angeles and Long Beach have offered their terminal operators, the port said.

Out of Africa: DHL’s first carbon-neutral express shipments from Africa

A green supply chain is possible. DHL said today that it has sent its first carbon-neutral express shipments from Africa, a shipment of trophies commemorating the first anniversary of the Climate Neutral Network (CN Net) of the UN’s Environment Program.

The trophies, which are made of recycled glass with recycled metal stands, were shipped from Nairobi in Kenya to the 86 cities, associations and companies around the world that currently form UNEP’s CN NET. DHL expanded its service offering to temporarily include its GOGREEN services, which are currently not part of the standard DHL portfolio for Africa.

Deutsche Post DHL is the first global logistics company to join CN Net, which, according to DHL, is a good indication of the company’s commitment to stay at the forefront of the logistics industry’s efforts to reduce its emissions and improve its carbon efficiency, despite the economic crisis.

The long-term aim of CN Net is to address the reduction of all greenhouse gases, including the six that fall under the Kyoto Protocol, and others covered by treaties such as the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.