August 2010

Just a few weeks of actual negotiating time remain before the year-end summit in Cancun, and climate talks are a mess. Sure, most parties agree it’s a good idea to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by saving trees, but that’s about all they agree on.

MIDLAND, Mich. -- Dow Corning’s Midland manufacturing site is considering the installation of a biomass-powered energy facility to provide a renewable, reliable and cost-effective supply of steam and electricity necessary for the site’s operations.

Cirque Energy, LLC, which would build, own and operate the plant for Dow Corning, recently filed for appropriate environmental permits with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, which is the first step in the process of installing the facility.

Environmentalists are challenging the plans of a S.C.-based biotechnology firm to grow genetically engineered eucalyptus trees in the South, saying the fast-growing Australian species could spread uncontrollably.

ArborGen LLC won federal permits in May to plant 330 acres of a eucalyptus hybrid in South Carolina and six other states. The test sites include Marlboro County, S.C., about 75 miles southeast of Charlotte.

New Zealand’s sheep farmers are flocking to a government carbon trading program that pays more to plant trees than sell wool and mutton.