• In San Jose, California, three private partners will produce 900,000 gallons of biogas using German technology and 150,000 metric tons of organic waste generated by San Jose residents (source: New York Times).
• Puget Sound Energy, the electricity provider for the Seattle, Washington region, gets 42% of its total electricity production from hydro-power.
• New York City unveiled the “world’s first scientifically valid, real-time indicator of carbon emissions” on a giant billboard outside Madison Square Garden. The ticker shows that atmospheric greenhouse gases are rising by 800 tonnes a second.
• China’s ban on free plastic bags, imposed in 2008, has “saved the use of an estimated 40 million plastic bags that would have taken 1.6 million tons of oil to produce.”
• Sony has announced plans to produce an alkaline battery that contains no mercury, a chemical that is said to be particularly harmful to humans and the environment.

- Justin Manger

[image source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art]