What's New List Serve Post Display

California Air Resources Board News Clips for November 8, 2011. 


This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
of Communications.  You may need to sign in or register with
individual websites to view some of the following news articles.

AIR POLLUTION

Carbon monoxide deadly in enclosed rooms.  The Air Resources
Board, CalFire, Office of the State Fire Marshal and the
Department of Public Health are urging Californians to guard
against carbon monoxide poisoning by having detectors installed
and gas appliances inspected.  A new state law effective just
this summer requires every California home with an attached
garage or gas-using appliance to have an operational
carbon-monoxide sensor installed.  Posted. 
http://www.recorderonline.com/news/deadly-50738-enclosed-monoxide.html


The Hidden Toll of Traffic Jams.  Congested cities are fast
becoming test tubes for scientists studying the impact of traffic
fumes on the brain.  As roadways choke on traffic, researchers
suspect that the tailpipe exhaust from cars and trucks—especially
tiny carbon particles already implicated in heart disease, cancer
and respiratory ailments—may also injure brain cells and synapses
key to learning and memory.  Posted. 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203733504577024000381790904.html


Murkowski wants more funding for EPA.  Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski
wants the Environmental Protection Agency to pitch in more money
to help clean up Fairbanks' air pollution problem.  The Fairbanks
Daily News-Miner ( http://bit.ly/vq2HYZ) says the senator sent a
letter to the agency's director last week outlining Fairbanks'
difficult situation. The senator cites the high cost of
electricity—at more than twice the national average—and the very
cold winter temperatures in the Fairbanks area.  Posted. 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19282422?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19282422?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com


NJ gov won't support new pollution rules.  Gov. Chris Christie
says New Jersey won't join a lawsuit supporting the Environmental
Protection Agency's new pollution rules.  The rules are designed
to decrease smokestack emissions in 27 states that contribute to
unhealthy air in other states.  Monday was the deadline to join
the suit.  Posted. 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19283953?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19283953?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com


CLIMATE CHANGE

Australian Senate OKs carbon tax on big polluters.  Australia on
Tuesday passed legislation that would impose a tax on the
nation's 500 largest polluters, a deeply unpopular measure that
the government defended as necessary to control climate change. 
Prime Minister Julia Gillard had promised not to push for a
carbon tax during elections last year, but has since said it is
Australia's best option. Australia is one of the world's worst
greenhouse gas emitters per capita becuase of its heavy reliance
on abundant reserves of coal to generate electricity.  Posted. 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AUSTRALIA_CARBON_TAX?SITE=MAHYC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204554204577025153789673004.html?KEYWORDS=climKEYWORDS%3Dclimate+change

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/australian-senate-passes-carbon-tax-on-500-largest-polluters-breaking-pms-election-year-vow/2011/11/07/gIQAnvyaxM_story.html

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/07/2606140/australian-senate-oks-carbon-tax.html#storylink=misearch

http://www.modbee.com/2011/11/07/1937696/australian-senate-oks-carbon-tax.html

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19287242?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19287242?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19287242?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com


Tallying the health costs of climate change.  Six climate
change-related events taking place between 2000 and 2009 cost the
U.S. about $14 billion in health costs, researchers reported
Monday in the journal Health Affairs.  Most of those costs -- 95%
-- were attributable to the value of lost lives, they wrote.
About $740 million originated in "760,000 encounters with the
health care system."  Posted. 
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-health-costs-climate-change-20111108,0,5060022.story


FUELS

Frying the Friendly Skies.  Americans are getting used to burning
ethanol in their daily commute. Now, pond scum and french-fry
grease could help fuel their next business trip.  Americans are
used to pouring corn into the gas tanks of their cars, now United
and Alaska airlines are gassing up a limited number of flights
with algae and cooking oil. Jack Nicas has details on The News
Hub.  On Monday, United Airlines flew from Houston to Chicago
with a 40% blend of biofuel made from algae—the first
biofuel-powered commercial flight in the U.S. On Wednesday,
Alaska Airlines launches the first of 75 flights powered by a 20%
biofuel blend made from used cooking oil.  Posted.  SUBSCRIPTION
ONLY. 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203733504577024252080729374.html?KEYWORDS=fuels


Continental jet uses Solazyme algae-based biofuel.  A Continental
Airlines jet on Monday became the first U.S. passenger carrier to
fly using an algae-based biofuel blend developed by Solazyme in
South San Francisco.  United Continental Holdings, the airline's
parent company, estimated that the biofuel blend on the
Chicago-bound flight reduced carbon dioxide emissions by an
amount equal to what would come from the exhaust of a car driven
30,000 miles.  Posted. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/08/BUBK1LRQ38.DTL


GREEN ENERGY

Most Solar Makers Will Disappear by 2015: Trina CEO.  Most of the
biggest solar-equipment makers may disappear in the next few
years as plunging prices erode margins and drive the weakest out
of business, according to Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL), the
fifth-largest supplier of solar panels.  “This is the decade of
mergers and acquisitions,” Jifan Gao, chief executive officer of
Changzhou, China-based Trina, said in an interview. “From now
until 2015 is the first phase, when about two-thirds of the
players will be shaken out.”  Posted. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-08/most-solar-manufacturers-may-disappear-by-2015-trina-ceo-says.html


Debunking common energy efficiency myths.  Energy efficiency can
be difficult to conceptualize -- there's not a representative
device like a solar panel or wind turbine. Rather, it's a
collection of technologies, strategies, and policies involving
our houses, businesses, transportation, and behavior that improve
the way we live. There are often misunderstandings or "myths"
about how we verify that energy efficiency is working and measure
what benefits it's providing.  Posted. 
http://www.grist.org/energy-efficiency/2011-11-08-debunking-common-energy-efficiency-myths


VEHICLES

AAA Testing Mobile Electric Car Charging Service.  Everyone makes
mistakes once in a while, and we’re sure most drivers have run
out of gasoline at least once in their life.  But as the saying
goes, it's hard to carry a gallon of electricity back to your
plug-in car if the battery is completely out of charge.  Which is
why AAA is now testing roadside assistance for rapid charging of
electric cars whose owners are stranded because they ran the
battery pack flat.  Posted. 
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/11/07/aaa-testing-mobile-electric-car-charging-stations/


BLOGS

On Electric-Vehicle Incentives, Diesel Defenders Cry Foul.  The
U.S. Coalition for Advanced Diesel Cars, a Washington-based
advocacy group whose members include Bosch, Honeywell and
BorgWarner, all major automotive suppliers, released a white
paper on Monday to make the case for technology-neutral
policy-making on fuel efficiency.  The document, credited to
Norman Y. Mineta, the transportation secretary under President
George W. Bush until 2006, objected to incentives and other
policies of federal and state governments that encouraged the
development and adoption of electric vehicles, while diesel
technologies received no such encouragement.  Posted. 
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/on-electric-vehicle-incentives-diesel-defenders-cry-foul/?scp=1&sq=diesel%20emissions&st=cse


Plugsurfing: Europe’s largest community network of charging
stations.  Thanks to Plugsurfing, a new EV charging online
network, European EV owners don’t have to worry anymore about
range and insufficient public EV-charging infrastructures. The
service includes more than 9.000 public and private charging
points localizable via the smartphone app or the website. 
Electric mobility now benefits from a new social network:
Plugsurfing is the first European online community of EV charging
poles users. This new tool combines successfully the technical
aspects of a charging network with all the functionalities of a
social network.  Posted. 
http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/68820111108.php 

New “diagonal” approach for the reductive functionalization of
CO2 to make building blocks for chemicals and fuels.  French
scientists working with Thibault Cantat at the Institut
Rayonnement Matière de Saclay in Gif-sur-Yvette have introduced a
new approach for the conversion of carbon dioxide into both
useable building blocks for chemical synthesis and new fuels.  To
date, there have been two different approaches for the
utilization of carbon dioxide, Cantat says: a “vertical”
approach, and a “horizontal” approach. In a paper in the journal
Angewandte Chemie, Cantat and his colleagues propose a third,
“diagonal” approach.  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/11/cantat-20111108.html