Posts tagged "Community"

CSR Minute December 13 – New Belgium Brewing Reports Sales Increase as Sustainable Business

New Belgium Brewing Reports Sales Increase as Sustainable Business ; Oregon Christmas Tree Farms Certify as Sustainable – CSR Minute for December 13, 2011 New Belgium Brewing reports a seven percent sales increase in its craft beer brands for 2011. The company operates on a sustainable business model, with ownership and decision-making shared among its 425 workers. New Belgium also pays 100 percent of health insurance premiums and matches 401(k) contributions. Its charitable giving includes donations of 0000 this year, and it is the first brewery to commit to wind energy and to recycle its brewing waste into fuel. Five Oregon tree farms have signed up for a new sustainability program for Christmas tree farms. The trees will bear a tag identifying their origin as a Socially and Environmentally Responsible Farm—SERF. To be certified, a farm must develop a plan that addresses five areas of social and environmental health: biodiversity, soil and water resources, integrated pest management, worker health and safety, and consumer and community relations. For more information on these and other stories, go to thecsrminute.com

The Big Solar Backtrack

An urgent message from the UK solar industry. Tens of thousands of jobs are at risk within the next few weeks. Act Now: www.oursolarfuture.org.uk In 2007 David Cameron pledged his support for feed-in tariffs for renewable energy. On the 31st October 2011 his government slashed feed-in tariffs by 50%. This move threatens 4000 businesses and tens of thousands of solar jobs in the UK. Greenest government ever? We ask David Cameron to ‘Cut, don’t kill solar’, support our solar future at www.oursolarfuture.org.uk

MACH 282 Wind Turbine Class Episode 1

KALAMAZOO – The way to learn how to make things, is to make things. While much of education today focuses on philosophical and theoretical discussions, an experimental class at Kalamazoo Valley Community College has been focusing on the hands-on processes involved in manufacturing, from design to fabrication. From January to May, Kalamazoo Gazette photographer Mark Bugnaski documented the class as it went from design to installation of its innovative wind turbine on the KVCC’s Texas Township campus. Mach 282 — short for the Machine 282 class — was experimental not only in its unique structure, which allowed students to design and create a product in 13-week class, but also in its focus: wind turbines, which tie into the college’s innovative Wind Energy Technology certificate program to train workers to install, maintain and service wind turbines. Enlarge Scott Harmsen | Kalamazoo Gazette KVCC Mach 282 students shape fiberglass cloth into a mold as they prepare to cast stator copper coils in resin. Students in the class chose to build the electric generator rather than purchase one for the wind turbine. Kalamazoo Gazette / Mark Bugnaski KVCC Wind Turbine class gallery (12 photos) Howard Carpenter, a KVCC machine tool and material science faculty member, sees the class as one more piece in the network of alternative energy studies KVCC is opening to students. In addition to the wind energy program, the college’s heating and ventilation program offers classes on renewable …

Solar Energy Advocate Hermann Scheer – Part 1 – Democracy NOW!

Democracy NOW! – DN! – Hermann Scheer, 1944-2010, one of the world’s leading advocates for solar power, has died at the age of 66. The German economist and politician helped make Germany a renewable energy powerhouse and inspired many across the world to expand the use of solar power. Scheer had been member of the German parliament for three decades and was the president of Eurosolar–the European Association for Renewable Energy. In 1999 he won the Right Livelihood Award for his “indefatigable work for the promotion of solar energy worldwide.” When he received the award he described solar energy as the energy of the people. We met up with Herman Scheer last month in Bonn, Germany for what turned out to be one of his final interviews. Published with written permission from democracynow.org. www.democracynow.org Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license. Copyright for broadcast belongs to democracynow.org, an independent non-profit user funded news media, recognized and broadcast world wide.

Yuraku solar cell plant

The production of solar panels for the Yuraku Community is online. With a big boost on technology Yuraku can afford to fulfill any order of solar photovoltaic energy.