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Green Business Trends
April 7, 2009
Historic Day for Solar
First Solar, Inc. announced that it has successfully reduced its manufacturing cost for solar modules to 98 cents per watt, breaking the critical $1 per watt price barrier. Through a two-thirds cost reduction since their full commercial operation began in 2004, First Solar has made significant progress in making solar affordable and scalable enough to compete with traditional fuel sources and provide a meaningful contribution to addressing climate change.
“This achievement marks a milestone in the solar industry’s evolution toward providing truly sustainable energy solutions,” said chief executive officer Mike Ahearn. “First Solar is proud to be leading the way toward clean, affordable solar electricity as a viable alternative to fossil fuels.”
Congress takes Leadership as Anti-Coal Activists focus on the Nation’s Capital
Just four days before a planned demonstration at the coal-fired power plant near the U.S. Capitol, leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate asked for the plant to replace all its coal with natural gas.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote to the acting architect of the Capitol to request that he reduce the amount of coal burned at the plant and prepare for converting it to burn only natural gas by the end of the year.
The plant, which heats and cools the Capitol and twenty other federal buildings using both coal and natural gas, is the top source of air and carbon pollution in Washington D.C. Environmental activists see it as a symbol of the nation's reliance on coal, the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel.
Capitol Climate Action, a coalition of environmental and other advocacy groups, held the action as a cap to Power Shift, a national conference of young green activists in Washington, D.C.
Investors’ Circle 2009 Spring Conference & Venture Fair
In the face of reshaping markets, growing demand for accountability, and “the collapse of business-as-usual,” Investors Circle presents their spring Conference entitled Social Enterprise: Seizing Emergent Opportunities. Devoted to funding for-profit socially and environmentally responsible businesses, Investors Circle will present opportunities to help guide the business community into this new era.
To be held in San Francisco, April 19 - 21.
2009 National Sustainable Design Expo coming to D.C.
The Environmental Protection Agency presents the Fifth Annual National Sustainable Design Expo on April 18-20, 2009 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The expo features over 40 teams that participated in the People, Prosperity, and the Planet Student Design Competition for Sustainability. In addition, more than 30 non-profit and government exhibitors will demonstrate their sustainable designs for alternative energy sources, agricultural applications, green chemistry, green buildings, water use, and other technologies.
Beyond Benign is a co-sponsor of the 2009 Expo and will arrange for display of sustainable designs and activities by for-profit organizations and businesses at the Expo. The EPA welcomes applications to co-sponsor future expos.
Learn more about the Expo»
Information about sponsorship»
Cadbury announces move to Fair Trade in the U.K.
Cadbury Dairy Milk, the leading chocolate bar in the U.K., has announced plans to begin using Fair Trade cocoa this summer. This significant victory for Fair Trade advocates will boost Fair Trade Certified™ chocolate to 15 percent of the chocolate market in England.