Earth911.com's Sustainability In Your Ear

A few states are pioneering the rise of compostable packaging and building a composting infrastructure. World Centric's Resource Recovery Managers Erin Levine and Elly Ventura share the lessons the compostable packaging leader is learning as California, Colorado, and other states introduce composting and extended producer responsibility programs for fiber and plastic packaging. Making packaging sustainable — whether it can be recycled conveniently or composted to return the material to nature without pollutants — is essential to reducing the 292 million tons of solid waste created annually in the U.S. as of 2018. Only 32% of that waste was recycled or composted. World Centric has stopped using PFAS, the controversial "forever chemicals" that make compost that includes food service items unusable in agriculture. The company is experimenting with new bio-based compostable plastics for use in cups and as liners in fiber bowls and takeout packaging.Composting progress is a patchwork -- while there are about 4,000 composting sites in the U.S., only about 10% of those programs offer industrial composting of packaging. California continues to expand its composting capacity after passing S.B. 1383, which calls for curbside pickup of food waste and compostable packaging across the state. On the other hand, Colorado recently proposed limiting composting to food waste — compostable packaging might not be processed in the state. Packaging makers can help by designing products for recyclability and compostability and labeling products to help customers find responsible ways to dispose of them. Erin and Elly explain that standardizing labeling, especially by clearly indicating what materials require the higher temperatures achieved in industrial composting, will help consumers make better decisions when shopping. You can learn more about World Centric at https://www.worldcentric.com/

Over the past two years, the United States made a significant investment to improve industries and protect the environment. The funding in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law could help reduce the country's carbon emissions by 50% in 2030. However, a new debate is happening in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. House Majority Leader, Steve Scalise (R, La.), supports a bill called the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, which prioritizes lower gas prices over developing renewable energy sources. Adrien Salazar, who works for the Global Grassroots Justice Alliance, is here to talk about the strategies of Republicans and Democrats as they try to raise the debt ceiling.The Limit, Save, Grow Act would increase pollution globally, even though the atmosphere can take less than 25 years of our current pollution levels. We must avoid exceeding the planet's carbon budget to prevent the atmosphere from tipping over into disastrous climate consequences. If the bill passes, it would also cancel the $37 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, undo the decisions to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, weaken rules on pollution and emissions, and reduce protections for workers in the energy industry. The bill's impact on the climate is an important topic, but the focus on the debt ceiling in the media is overshadowing it. The Global Grassroots Justice Alliance is a group of more than 60 organizations in the United States that work on social, climate, and gender justice. Learn more about the GGJA at https://ggjalliance.org/.

Electronic waste is a global problem. Despite the immense value of the gold and other critical minerals they contain, 80% of computers, mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and other electronics end up in landfills. But we can do better. Meet Aaron Kamenash, the founder and chief innovation officer at Camston Wrather, a Carlsbad, California, e-waste recycler that launched its first “green smelter” facility last year. All the metals, circuit boards, plastics, and other materials in the electronics it receives are recycled. The facility claims its recycling processes are 90% less carbon intensive than legacy waste techniques and reduces water usage by 92% compared to traditional methods. For example, it converts the plastics recovered from electronics into park and campus equipment the City of San Diego uses.Camston Wrather is developing a carbon credits program that will provide companies that recycle waste to track and report the end-of-life and reuse-related emissions, water, and environmental impacts of avoiding sending electronics to a landfill. The revenue generated by carbon credits could also unlock new revenue that can help to finance a robust reverse-logistics infrastructure for electronics. You can learn more about Camston Wrather at https://camstonwrather.com/

How can we sustainably harvest more energy and move it to where it is needed? The United States' annual energy consumption requires about one-quarter of one percent of the 174 petawatts the Sun sends to Earth daily. The prospect of new solar generation capacity created by placing transparent solar cells on windows and other surfaces will transform how we think about power management, buildings serving as largely self-sufficient electric grids, and our ability to place efficiency-enhancing functionality in windows. Veeral Hardev, vice president of corporate strategy at Ubiquitous Energy, a developer of transparent solar technology, joins the conversation to discuss the path to plentiful power, self-powering intelligent devices and vehicles.Ubiquitous Energy's 3 x 5 foot UE Power windows for commercial buildings and homes generate about 200 watt-hours of electricity a day, preventing some heating of indoor spaces by sunlight by capturing about 20% of the energy passing through window glass. The company envisions using its thin-film technology as a power source embedded in greenhouses and partially or fully self-powering consumer electronics and vehicles. Veeral discusses how to make photovoltaics sustainable and reshape the grid to deliver the best value to consumers and businesses. Ubiquitous Energy says it uses abundant materials sourced with minimal environmental impacts. You can learn more about Ubiquitous Energy at https://ubiquitous.energy/

When we talk about solar energy, most of us think of the traditional silicon-based photovoltaic cells that Jimmy Carter famously installed on the roof of the White House in 1977. They have become fixtures in homes, businesses, and large-scale solar farms. But in the future solar technology could generate energy on almost any surface or window. Aaron Bates, founder and CEO of Toledo Solar, a Perrysburg, Ohio, maker of durable solar panels and solar glass using thin-film photovoltaic technologies, joins the conversation to discuss the benefits of American solar panels made using cadmium telluride. The material, referred to as “cad tell,” is a byproduct of other industrial processes that supports building thinner photovoltaic films laid onto the glass. Cad tell is also easily recycled and 60% of the material is recovered today, according to Bates.American-made solar technology is critical to energy independence, as supply chain issues and political tensions with China have led to an 18% increase in the cost of foreign panels. The U.S. installed 20.2 gigawatts of solar energy production in 2022. The nation’s current 142.3 GW of solar capacity can power more than 25 million homes, according to a March 2023 Solar Energy Industries Association report. Toledo Solar windows, which come with a 30-year warranty, promise to add more generation capacity to a building by extending the solar surface area beyond rooftop panels. Combining electricity generated by traditional panels, windows, and other thin-film photovoltaics on buildings could make our built environment energy self-sufficient. But there are many questions about how the U.S. solar industry can grow and the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act’s solar incentives. Aaron discusses the consequences of cutting IRA incentives, which is under debate as Republican lawmakers seek to roll them back in the debt ceiling confrontation. You can learn more about Toledo Solar at https://toledo-solar.com/

The future lies in our farmlands — as the fossil fuels industry fades, crops like camelina, a flowering seed oil plant from the Meditteranean region, may serve as a source of plant-based sustainable airline fuels, feedstock for making bioplastics and nutritional oils. We welcome back Dr. Oliver Peoples, president and CEO of Yield10 Bioscience, to discuss the company’s progress in engineering camelina to produce more oil for a variety of uses. Since he last talked with us two years ago, Yield10 has announced agreements with Mitsubishi Corporation and American Airlines to develop biofuels and progress on developing camelina strains that are more efficient and herbicide-resistant. During the Fall of 2022, farmers in the US and Canada planted Yield10-engineered camelina as a winter crop for the first time.Genetic engineering remains a controversial subject, and introducing herbicide-resistant strains of camelina could encourage the use of more soil-harming weed control chemicals. Oliver is an evangelist for regenerative agricultural practices, which typically discourage using chemical inputs like herbicides. We discuss how no-till cover crops like camelina can provide additional income for farmers and encourage the restoration of complex root structures and biomes in the soil, offering new choices to farmers and consumers. He argues that contemporary genetic engineering uses vastly greater volumes of data to pre-check the impact of a gene mutation on a plant, the environment, and people before actually making the modification a reality. You can learn more about Yield10 at https://www.yield10bio.com/acz1W1wb5eFT8jFLsR34

Vertical farming, the emerging indoor approach to growing greens and other vegetables, has begun to transform agriculture. This food revolution is starting from the center of cities, where unused industrial space is now being converted to grow produce for local consumers. Marc Oshima, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of AeroFarms brings a career's worth of marketing experience at Toys R Us, L'Oreal, and Turner Broadcasting, among others, to develop a new approach to growing and selling fresh produce. AeroFarms offers a variety of greens, including arugula, wasabi mustard, kale, and other blends designed for surprising flavor. The company's farming technology is reported to be 390 times more productive than growing produce on a traditional farm, and it uses 95% less water.AeroFarms is a Certified B Corp that works to create social and environmental benefits, not just a profit. They plan expansions to create local jobs, eliminate food deserts, and build sustainable communities. The company has been recognized for its FlavorSpectrum Philosophy, a labeling approach that illustrates the taste profile of the greens to help cooks create salads and meals with specific flavor characteristics. AeroFarms greens are available in low-impact packaging that uses recycled plastic at Whole Foods, Walmart, ShopRite, and other grocers, in addition to home delivery from Amazon Fresh and FreshDirect. You can learn more about AeroFarms at https://www.aerofarms.com/

Carbon removal strategies will play an essential role in drawing down CO2 levels. A carbon removal industry is developing that includes natural options like planting trees and restoring prairies and wetlands, pulling CO2 from the atmosphere with Direct Air Capture, and various technical approaches that engineer changes in the environment or rely on injecting CO2 into deep geological structures. But will the industry be a good neighbor to the human communities and the natural world? That's the question asked by our guests, Nikki Batchelor, director of the $100-million XPRIZE Carbon Removal program, and Alayna Chuney, managing advisor at Carbon180, an NGO working to reduce and reverse the impact of carbon emissions. The XPRIZE, funded by the Musk Foundation, awarded 15 $1-million interim prizes during 2022 to the most promising entrants on a path to deliver a viable carbon capture business that can remove at least 1,000 tons of CO2 per year. The remainder of the prize will be presented by Earth Day 2025. Following the first round of awards, the XPRIZE team and Carbon180 surveyed entrants to understand their commitment to environmental justice. In February, they released a report, From the Ground Up: Recommendations for Building an Environmentally Just Carbon Removal Industry, that summarizes their findings and presents recommendations about how the nascent industry should engage with the communities where they operate. Nikki and Alayna were the report's lead authors, and they discuss environmental justice, community involvement, and how to achieve an equitable carbon capture industry. You can learn more about the XPRIZE for Carbon Removal at https://www.xprize.org/ and Carbon180's mission and work are explained at https://carbon180.org/

Energy generation and distribution are experiencing the kind of disruption that transformed many other industries over the past 20 years. But the electric grid is a stubbornly rigid physical infrastructure that will require vast investments to modernize. Dr. Tim Lieuwen, Regents’ Professor and executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute at Georgia Tech, joins the conversation to discuss accelerating the pace of electrification of transportation and modernization of the electric grid to support renewable energy generation and distribution. The changes that will follow the reorganization of the grid will also transform our relationship to energy as fundamentally as the introduction of electricity and power distribution lines in the late 1800s. It will be a challenging, fascinating, and sometimes terrifying time for energy companies, investors, and consumers.Dr. Lieuwen is the author of four books on the physics of combustion and gas turbine engines, as well as a member of governing or advisory boards for Oak Ridge National Lab, Pacific Northwest National Lab, and the National Renewable Energy Lab, among others. Discover how the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law contribute to rapid progress in renewable power and electrification of the economy. We also explore how long fossil fuels will stay in the energy mix and the lessons of Texas' 2021 winter storm power outages. You can learn more about him at https://ae.gatech.edu/directory/person/timothy-charles-lieuwen

Transportation in the modern world needs to make more sense. We pay tens of thousands of dollars for vehicles that sit unused about 95% of the time. We have designed an infrastructure based on car-centric population centers that have become hard-wired into the map and prevent the evolution of flexible alternatives to the internal combustion vehicle. With logistics and cloud technology, a car can be shared, and a new financing option can help. Meet Ezra Goldman, cofounder and CEO of Upshift, a San Francisco-based company rethinking the car lease, delivering vehicles for use on the days they are needed, and reallocating them to other users when they would be sitting idle. The company is doing a fund-raising campaign on WeFunder, a crowdfunding platform. Upshift hit its first goal, raising about $105,000 to accelerate its deployment of "fractional auto leasing" of hybrid and electric vehicles in San Francisco. The WeFunder campaign ends on April 30th and will support Upshift's expansion in Washington, DC.Uber and Lyft proved that car use can be maximized by connecting a driver and someone needing a ride or delivery. But that model still relies on the idea of static ownership, and many alternatives are possible now that the digital infrastructure has matured. Ezra explains why fractional leasing saves money and reduces the environmental impact of driving. He is an MIT graduate with a Master's Degree in Urban Planning, Design, and Mobile Technology, and he studied for a Ph.D. at the University of Copenhagen. Ezra also spent four months as a Lyft driver in 2017, an experience that convinced him never to use gig workers at Upshift. You can learn more about Upshift at https://www.upshiftcars.com/ and check out the WeFunder campaign at https://wefunder.com/upshift