The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that gas pumps using air-pollution control systems can be phased out because of advances in vehicle emissions capture, according to EPA.gov. This final rule is part of the Obama Administration's is meant to protect public health and the environment “without being unnecessarily burdensome to American businesses.” Beginning in late 2012, states may begin phasing out vapor-recovery systems at the pump since “approximately 70 percent of all vehicles are equipped with on-board systems that capture these vapors.” Potential savings at the approximately 31,000 affected gas stations located in mostly urban areas: more than $3,000 a year. Since 1994, gas stations in areas that do not meet certain air quality standards have been required to use gasoline vapor recovery systems.

A bill authored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) proposes to eliminate up to $110 billion in subsidies for manufactures in the fossil fuel business, according to the Huffington Post. Subsidies to the oil, coal and natural gas industries would "preserve" the money in the next 10 years, the measure states. It is the goal of the bill to "comprehensively abolish fossil fuel subsidies." Specifically, language says there will be $14 billion saved by eliminating the "intangible drilling deduction."

NOx control equipment and consumables revenues are projected to exceed $6.8 billion in 2012, according to the McIlvaine report, NOx Control World Markets. The report also states that new systems are popular in Asia; catalysts and reagents are expected to do well in the U.S. and Europe; and China has already passed all other countries except the U.S. in terms of investment in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems. At the rate it is installing additional units it will surpass the U.S. in 2014, the report states. It can be found at Mcilvainecompany.com.

Fuel prices may be dropping, but revenues at Fuel Tech, Inc. are on the rise. The company, which specializes in advanced engineering for combustion systems and emissions control in utility and industrial applications, reported an 11 percent increase in revenue during first quarter 2012, totaling $25.2 million. Net income for the quarter was $1.5 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared with net income of $1.3 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in the same year-ago quarter, according to company figures. However, adjusted EBITDA was $3.5 million, down from $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2011. Fuel Tech's air pollution control technology (APC) segment seems to have done well, in particular. Its APC segment saw revenues of $15.7 million, an increase of 42 percent versus Q1 2011. This increase is due primarily to the “recognition of revenue from its record year-end backlog" that occurred as a result of the higher contract bookings recorded during the second half of 2011.

Test drilling at geologic sites in three states is underway, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSP). The sites are prime candidates for carbon capture and sequestration. If their “potential” is fulfilled, they could “safely and permanently store combined CO2 emissions equivalent to that produced by more than 11 million passenger vehicles annually, or from the electricity use of more than 7 million homes for one year,” according to Environmental Protection Agency conversion data. Evaluation-related well-drilling projects have begun in the resource-rich Black Warrior Basin in northwest Alabama; the Newark Basin, underlying a heavily industrialized region in parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; and the Rock Springs Uplift in southwestern Wyoming, in proximity to some of the state's largest sources of CO2 emissions, according to a release by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which is partnering with the Department of Energy on the carbon capture projects. Launched in 2003, the RCSP is now in its deployment phase, (which will last from 2008 to 2017).

A new rating of the 360 largest U.S. companies names a number of major brands as green leaders. GE, Alcoa, Johnson Controls, Ford, Intel, Hess, Air Products, Praxair, United Technologies and Autodesk were cited as “leaders in the innovation of clean-tech solutions and new products, the mitigation of climate-change related risks and the management of carbon emissions,” in the latest Maplecroft Climate Innovation Indexes (CIIs). Maplecroft rated each company against more than 100 criteria, including: technological innovation and new working practices to combat climate changeimpacts; management of climate-related issues; emissions reductions; and adaption to physical climate-related risks, such as flooding or extreme weather events throughout the supply chain. General Electric has topped the list of best performers for each of the three CII cycles.

Funding for carbon capture and storage, technology used for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, remained unchanged at $23.5 billion in 2011, according to Worldwatch Institute report. Currently, there are 75 large-scale, fully integrated carbon capture and storage projects in 17 countries. Only eight are operational, a figure that has not changed since 2009. Carbon capture and storage, more commonly known as CCS, refers to technology that attempts to capture carbon dioxide from a human-created source—often industrial- and power-generation systems—and then store it in permanent geologic reservoirs so it never enters the atmosphere. The United States is the leading funder of large-scale CCS projects, followed by the European Union and Canada.

Five years since establishing stricter smog standards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 45 areas across the country that are still not meeting the 2008 standards (at 75 parts-per billion), based on the most recent certified air quality data. All but three of the 45 areas already have programs in place to improve air quality because they did not meet the 1997 smog standards, according to the EPA. Information: http://www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations/2008standards/index.htm

While global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) declined slightly in 2009, there was an unprecedented emissions increase of 5.8 percent in 2010. In 2011, global atmospheric levels of CO2 reached a high of 391.3 parts per million (ppm), up from 388.6 ppm in 2010 and 280 ppm in pre-industrial times. According to new research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute (www.worldwatch.org) for its Vital Signs Online project, energy use represents the largest source of global CO2 emissions. More than 70 percent of CO2 emissions result from the burning of fossil fuels for energy use, such as electricity generation, transportation, manufacturing, and construction. In 2009, electricity generation and heating alone accounted for 41 percent of all energy related CO2 emissions.

The World Energy Forum is holding a high-level international conference of leaders from all energy sectors commemorating the 2012 United Nations "International Year of Sustainable Energy for All." This event will take place October 22-24, 2012 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with a three-day program of high-level round tables, plenaries, network events, World Energy Awards, country pavilions and exhibitions, and visits to Dubai's smart buildings. The conference will also serve as an opportunity for all energy sectors to work toward social responsibility for the underserved, including an estimated one and a half billion people without electricity. Information: http://bit.ly/Kl9Jfl

FLSmidth has signed a contract with a company in the Middle East to supply a complete 6,000-tons-per day cement production line. When converted from Euros, the contract could pay out $112 million. The contract includes a variety of supplies and equipment including a limestone and clay crusher, a gypsum crusher, a circular stacker, and a reclaimer store. FLSmidth will also supply automation equipment. The cement plant will feature state-of-the-art equipment to "ensure an environmentally friendly and energy efficient production process."

Demand for the fuel from U.S. power plants is running about 20 percent lower than this time last year, according to government estimates, the Wall Street Journal reports. Utilities are favoring cheaper natural gas, and unusually warm weather has limited total electricity use. As a result, coal-company shares have taken a hit under expectations that sagging demand may last through the year. WSJ says it's been “a bleak spring” for U.S. coal miners. "These are some of the most challenging times that some of these coal companies have ever seen," said Mark Levin, a coal analyst with BB&T Capital Markets. "It's hard for me to imagine that things could get a whole lot worse."

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded more than $1 million in grants to 15 university and college teams participating in the 8th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington, D.C. EPA's People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) award competition was held at the expo, and featured more than 300 college innovators showcasing their sustainable projects designed to protect the environment, encourage economic growth, and use natural resources more efficiently. A P3 team used spinach to capture and convert the sun's energy to electricity, while another partnered with a landfill to design a process using waste heat and drainage to grow algae for biodiesel production.

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued industry standards for capturing air pollution from fracking. “Fracking,” or hydraulic fracture drilling, occurs when water, chemicals, and sand are injected into underground geological formations, creating fractures that allow natural gas to escape and collected for sale. Estimates show that millions of tons of air pollution are released from the more 20,000 wells that are fracked (or re-fracked) each year, doing “serious harm to human health and the environment,” according to a Natural Resources Defense Council report. Many major natural gas drilling and production companies argue they already use green completion systems, the report said. Cost estimates to capture excess methane, and other harmful gases, range from $20,000 to $180,000 per well. EPA fracking standards call for drilling companies to comply by 2015.

Among the attendees at the PTXi (Process Technology for Industry International) show will be Herding Filtration, a supplier of filter media, dust collection and filtration systems. PTXi, an International Powder & Bulk Solids Conference and Exhibition, will be held May 8-10, 2012, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. Herding Filtration has products that “span broad sectors” including chemical processing, the food industry, recycling, plastics, metals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and others. You can find Herding Filtration at booth 3617.

Jay Mitchell is the new chief executive officer at FlexEnergy. Mitchell most recently served as FlexEnergy's president and chief operating officer. He has an operations background in manufacturing environments, and manufacturing-process improvement. Joseph Z. Perry, who had served as CEO since April 2009, will remain a FlexEnergy advisor and shareholder. FlexEnergy, Inc. manufactures gas turbines.

The global fabric filter market is expected to grow from $625 million in 2010 to $1,211 million in 2015, according to Energy Business Review. Stringent regulations controlling power plant particulate matter and mercury emissions are expected to drive the market, the report says. As the clampdown on emissions and increase in air-pollution monitoring continues, utilities are likely to retrofit older equipment and electrostatic precipitators with fabric filters, with coal -fired power plants, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, are expected to drive the market.

Illinois-based Fuel Tech Inc., which supplies combustion and emissions-control systems, has inked $2 million in orders for air-pollution control systems in China. Customers ordered nitrogen-oxide (NOx) reduction and control technology for two medium-sized and two large-sized coal-fired units, the company said in a news release. Delivery is expected in the second half of 2012. Fuel Tech President and CE0 Douglas Bailey said that as more SCR systems are installed to comply with the NOx reduction requirements of China's “12th five-year plan”, the company anticipates additional orders. Fuel Tech reported $10.5 million in orders for 2011, which included three Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) systems for large coal-fired units. Information: Ftek.com

The latest in a series of actions by the Environmental Protection Agency calls for a new technology review and a new residual-risk analysis for chromium electroplating and anodizing facilities, and proposes revisions to National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutant (NESHAP), according to Pollution Engineering. The new actions will supplement proposed amendments to NESHAP. The measures will be aimed at emissions for Hard and decorative chromium electroplating and chromium anodizing tanks. The EPA also completed its final emission standards for facilities that manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Facilities will be able to chose their own solution to reduce the emissions, but will be required to monitor their output. The majority of PVC production facilities are located in Louisiana and Texas.

A new EPA proposal would require new power plants to emit no more than 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of produced electricity. EPA is proposing these requirements because CO2 is “a greenhouse gas (GHG) and fossil fuel-fired power plants are the country's largest stationary source emitters of GHGs,” read the March 2012 EPA proposal, authored by EPA Chair Lisa Jackson. Once officially published, the EPA will hold hearings and open a 60-day comment period. Opponents of the proposed policy say EPA is overstepping its authority, that carbon-capture technology isn't advanced enough to meet the requirements, and that the policy would effectively shut down the development of new coal power plants. The proposed requirements, strictly limited to new sources, would require new fossil fuel-fired EGUs greater than 25 megawatt electric (MWe) to meet an output-based standard of 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour. Coal plants average 1,800 lbs. of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour, according to Pow-Gen.com. That's reportedly double the amount natural-gas plants emit.

A Washington, D.C., district court in March approved an agreement between EPA and conservation groups establishing "firm, enforceable deadlines" for action on plans to reduce air pollution in 32 states, District of Columbia, and U.S. Virgin Islands. Clean Air Act requires states and territories to "curb haze-causing pollution," including pollution emanating from the nation's "biggest and oldest coal-fired power plants." A majority of states had reportedly missed the December 2007 deadline to submit plans to reduce regional haze pollution in major national parks and wilderness areas, and EPA had not collected the states' action plans by January 2011, thus the groups' court action. New deadlines call for final EPA action to cleanup pollution from facilities in non-complying states from March through November 2012. States' revised deadlines can be found at: http://bit.ly/Hm4Ydo

The CO2 Capture Project (CCP), is a partnership between several major energy companies in United States, Europe, and Canada. Companies are working together to “advance the technologies and to improve operational approaches in order to reduce costs and accelerate” the deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage (or CCUS). The project is in its third phase of activity (2009-2013). During phase three, the program will culminate in at least two field demonstrations of capture technologies and a series of monitoring field trials which aim to better monitor CO2 in the subsurface. CO2 Capture Project is one of six new CCUS projects endorsed by the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, a voluntary climate initiative comprised of nations that account for 75 % of all manmade carbon-dioxide emissions.

Craig Richardson recently joined Enviro-Equipment Inc.'s Remediation Equipment Division. He brings valued expertise in programmable logic controllers, remote telemetry controls, industrial controls, and explosion proof controls.

Mr. Richardson previously worked in the aerospace and electronic manufacturing industries. Projects involved high speed automated production lines, industrial waste treatment, building automation, remediation systems, and test and measurement operations.

In his new position, he will work on a variety of projects, from field support to the design and fabrication of custom controls and systems. The company will also use his expertise to create in-house PLC-based control panels, and rely on his military background to meet the needs of the company's military customers. For more information, visit enviroequipment.com.

Numerous oil and gas producers and pipeline operators are now reviewing and incorporating Engineered Concepts' emission-free natural gas dehydrator technology. The technology was developed and field-proven under a cooperative agreement with the EPA and the Greenhouse Gas Technology Center Southern Research Institute.

As shale play and other oil and gas production operations become more popular and continue to encroach upon urban populations through the nation, federal, state, and local governments are demanding more effective pollution control methods during the production of these natural resources.

For decades oil and gas producers have been using various technologies to capture or destroy air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the greenhouse gas methane and cancer causing hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene, and hexane commonly referred to as BTEX. The majority of these technologies involve burning or flaring that produces the greenhouse gas CO2.

BTEX emissions are a bi-product of natural gas dehydration practices and are difficult to capture and dispose without emissions escaping into the atmosphere. Previously accepted BTEX unit equipment designs have been found ineffective when dealing with rich gas streams or when operating in geographic regions that experience cold temperatures or wide temperature swings such as desert climates.

Engineered Concepts' developed a temperature-controlled BTEX removal system in 2002. This system is a closed process that consumes or sells all of the uncondensed hydrocarbons such as BTEX and is unaffected by gas volume, climate, or “rich gas” content. The company currently has four entirely emission-free locations with tank vapors and dehydrator emissions captured in one process, and is expected to install numerous others in 2012. For more information, visit www.engineeredconcepts.com.

Dioxide Pacific, Inc. and Pacific Rim Design and Development have discovered a new treatment method that removes nearly all NOx from gas scrubbers in less than two seconds contact time. This is a dramatic improvement in the treatment and safe elimination of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), both significant contributors to air pollution from combustion processes.

There are six forms of nitrogen oxide (NOx); nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are the two most problematic forms. These two are of particular interest because they are identified as atmospheric pollutants (greenhouse gases) and subject to regulatory control by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and many other organizations.

This new patented NOx scrubbing process uses environmentally friendly chlorine dioxide as the oxidizing agent. This treatment is expected to be not only cost effective, but also the best available technology for waste gas streams containing both NO and NO2.

This process will be beneficial for a number of industrial applications such as exhaust gas treatment in chemical milling and pickling of metals, cooled stationary source combustion process flue gas (i.e., power generation plants), tail gas from nitric acid plants, and other sources of waste gas containing nitrogen oxides.

For more information, contact Steve Eberhard at 702-938-6418, or visit www.dioxide.com, or contact Robert Richardson, Ph.D., at 530-474-4819 or visit http://prdd.net.

Applied Rigaku Technologies, Inc. recently announced a new method for the measurement of heavy metals in aerosols on air filters. Monitoring such emissions is essential in industrial manufacturing, coal-fired power plants, and chemical and plastics production to quantify air pollution and maintain compliance with U.S. EPA and other regulations concerning the airborne release of toxic metals.

Element analysis of aerosols and particulate matter released by smokestacks, and other industrial gas discharge, is critical to ensure that toxic and hazardous elements are neither released into the air improperly, nor exceed environmentally acceptable levels. The NEX CG analyzer, with polarized and secondary target excitation, helps ensure compliance while enabling both analysts and technicians to easily conduct the required analytical protocols.

The method uses a combination of secondary target excitation, with a high resolution silicon drift detector (SDD), to deliver optimal EDXRF sensitivity and selectivity for the measurement of metals in aerosols on air filters, including chromium, gallium, arsenic, selenium, silver, cadmium, barium, and lead. The product can analyze elements from Na to U, making the XRF technique ideal for other elements on air filters as well. For more information, visit www.rigaku.com.

Vortex Valves recently named Shawn Opat as regional sales manager for both the Upper Midwest and Northeastern region. His territory includes Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, and Toronto. Opat headed Vortex sales for the Eastern Seaboard in 1998 and 1999, joining the company as sales engineer in 1995. He previously worked as a territory account executive for Con-way Freight, director of sales for G.L. Huyett, and in business development for United Parcel Service. For more information, visit www.vortexvalves.com.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have recently discovered that there is enough capacity in deep saline aquifiers in the U.S. to store about a century's worth of carbon dioxide emissions from the nation's coal-fired power plants.

Since coal-burning power plants account for about 40 percent of worldwide carbon emissions, lead researcher Ruben Juanes, ARCO associate professor in Energy Studies in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, says climate change “will not be addressed unless we address carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants. We should do many different things” such as developing new, cleaner alternatives, he says, “but one thing that's not going away is coal,” because it's such a cheap and widely available source of power.

The study was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For more information, visit web.mit.edu/press/2012/greenhouse-gas-in-aquifers.html.

Cary Bullock, CEO of ThermoEnergy Corporation, Worcester, MA, expects that the Obama Administration's EPA-proposed first carbon pollution standard for future power plants will spur the adoption of technologies like ThermoEnergy's to eliminate air pollution from coal-fired plants. “While the EPA Clean Air Act proposal is aimed at new power plants, ThermoEnergy's clean combustion technology can also be used to retrofit existing power plants to meet the new EPA regulations for both air and carbon emissions,” says Bullock.

ThermoEnergy owns patented technology for clean coal combustion that enables a coal-fired plant to eliminate its smoke stacks, Bullock noted. The company's clean combustion technology would allow power plants to burn coal with near-zero carbon and air polluting emissions. The process captures carbon dioxide in clean form for sequestration or beneficial re-use. For more information, visit www.thermoenergy.com.

Eco Power Solutions, a provider of advanced multi-pollutant emission control systems, recently announced that Peter Kawa has joined the company as senior vice president of sales. Prior to Eco Power Solutions, Kawa was vice president of sales and marketing for Burns and Roe, a privately held firm that provides engineering, procurement, and construction management services for all areas of the power industry. Kawa has more than 20 years of experience in the electric power industry, including sales force management, and business development. He also held key positions at ABB, Alstom Power, and Vogt Power, covering coal-fired utility boilers, heat recovery steam generators, and air pollution control equipment. For more information, visit www.ecopowersolutions.com.

John H. Seinfeld, a professor of chemical engineering at Caltech, and Kirk R. Smith, a professor of global environmental health at the University of California-Berkeley, were awarded the 2012 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, according to a March 20, 2012 article in The Los Angeles Times. Seinfeld's work examines how soot billowing from diesel trucks and industrial smokestacks contributes to climate change and how biogenic emissions from plants and trees affects air quality. Smith's research examines the debilitating risk of air pollution on developing nations. His work shows that acute exposure to air pollution occurs in rural, indoor settings where biomass and coal are the primary sources of fuel. This exposure also indicates a heightened risk of developing pneumonia, cataracts, tuberculosis, heart disease, and chronic lung disease, according to Smith's research.

Met-Pro Corporation's Environmental Air Solutions business unit recently received an order of approximately $500,000 to supply three Duall brand air pollution control systems for a metals anodizing operation in the Eastern United States.

The systems include Duall brand exhaust fans, ducting, and packed bed scrubbers to reduce acid mist emissions. The packed bed scubbers use Sethco® brand recirculation pumps from the company's Global Pump Solutions business unit. For more information, visit www.met-pro.com.

URS Corporation has been awarded a contract to engineer and furnish the SBS Injection™ technology for Hoosier Energy's Merom Generating Station. The proprietary technology for sulfur trioxide (SO₃) control is offered by URS and licensed through Codan Development, LLC. The process will be installed on two 540 MW coal-fired boilers at Merom and will begin operation this summer. URS will provide design, engineering, equipment procurement, construction, and commissioning services for the project.

The first commercial application of the technology was installed by URS in 2003 at a power plant in Pennsylvania. Subsequent systems have been installed in Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The Merom application will be the fifth in Indiana and the 12th overall, and will increase the total installed capacity for the technology to 15,000 MW. The Merom system will inject sorbent and remove SO₃ prior to the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to enhance plant operational performance and reliability, and to meet stringent sulfuric acid emission limits.

The SBS Injection technology can remove greater than 95 percent of sulfur trioxide at low sorbent injection rates, thereby eliminating visible sulfuric plumes that are often produced by coal-fired power plants. The technology also reduces corrosion and fouling of back-end equipment, improves the performance of other pollution control systems, and can improve overall plant energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For more information, visit www.urs.com.

Mark Crisson, president and CEO of the American Public Power Association, responded yesterday to the EPA's proposed rule curbing greenhouse gas emissions with the following statement: "The American Public Power Association (APPA) is extremely disappointed with the proposed New Source Performance Standard announced recently by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In our view, this proposed rule effectively kills coal going forward as a resource for electricity generation and contradicts the Obama Administration's claim that it will pursue an 'all of the above' fuel strategy for meeting the nation's energy needs. This will limit our future resource options and could likely lead to higher electricity rates in the coming years.

Through this rule, the EPA is also inexplicably mandating that the nation's utilities utilize carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology to reduce emissions when this technology has not even been proven to be commercially viable and, according to several studies conducted by APPA, (www.publicpower.org/files/htm/ccs.html), will not be anytime soon. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson herself recently admitted to reporters that CCS technology would take within 10 years to be commercially available. This will therefore effectively force utilities to switch fuels to natural gas or face heavy fines for non-compliance with the rule. APPA staff and legal counsel will be reviewing the rule more closely in the coming days and may have additional comments on the proposed rule at that time."

Based in Washington, D.C., APPA is the national service organization for the nation's more than 2,000 community- and state-owned not-for-profit electric utilities serving 46 million customers.

Robert Cox recently joined PHG Energy, a Tennessee-based alternative energy company, as national sales manager. Cox, who graduated from the University of Michigan-Flint with a bachelor of science in resource ecology and environmental science, has more than 16 years of professional experience in the design and implementation of regenerative thermal oxidizers, recuperative thermal oxidizers, regenerative catalytic oxidizers, and various other environmental control systems. With a focus on capital equipment and aftermarket service, Cox previously served as eastern regional sales manager for Pro-Environmental, Inc. in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Prior to that, he spent 14 years with Durr Systems, Inc. of Plymouth, MI, in a variety of sales and engineering roles.

PHG Energy provides equipment and technology for industrial grade gasification that gives large energy users the ability to cleanly convert waste material or renewable biomass to gaseous fuel. For more information, visit www.phgenergy.com.

Air Burners Inc., Palm City, FL, is using bar code scanning technology so that its operators can scan QR codes with a smartphone and instantly download and read operating manuals and servicing information. This technology saves operators time and money while in the field, and the QR code stickers are provided free by the company to its customers. The company manufactures air curtain burners for waste processing. For more information call 888-566-3900 or visit www.airburners.com.

The Carbon Trust recently conducted a survey of public and private sectors and found that the public sector is the most committed to reducing carbon emissions. More than half (58 percent) of public sector respondents said their organization planned to make ‘tangible investments' in carbon reduction in 2012. And, despite the economic downturn in recent years, 77 percent of these respondents agreed that carbon reduction was a key organizational objective. The majority (78 percent) of respondents are looking to the public sector to lead the way on carbon reduction by cutting their own emissions. For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/7v7e6av. The Carbon Trust recently launched Carbon Trust Empower® that contains quizzes, animations, tutorials, and a virtual tour to help employees see how they can make both a difference and a commitment to act. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/7gvbtpd.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced the alignment of the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) with the United Nations' Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals to better protect workers from hazardous chemicals and help American businesses compete in a global economy. The HCS will be fully implemented in 2016 and is expected to reduce confusion in the workplace, facilitate safety training, and improve the understanding of hazards, especially for low-wage and limited-literacy workers. The harmonized standard will classify chemicals according to their health and physical hazards, and establish consistent labels and safety data sheets for all chemicals made in the United States, or imported from abroad. OSHA has estimated that more than 32 million workers are exposed to 650,000 hazardous chemical products in more than 3 million American workplaces. For more information, visit www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/index.html.

In response to the growing market demand for high performance calcium hydroxide emission control reagents for both industrial and utility facilities, Lhoist North America is currently constructing a new hydration facility at its Ste. Genevieve, Missouri plant. Proximity to the U.S. utility market was a significant factor in selecting the location. The facility will produce Sorbacal SP, the company's proprietary emission control reagent that is the leading calcium hydroxide reagent for dry sorbent injection (DSI) in Europe and Japan. This calcium hydroxide product makes calcium-based DSI a viable acid gas control option for utility MATS and CSAPR compliance. The facility is expected to be operational in early 2013, in advance of new HCI and SO₂ limitations associated with recent air emission rules affecting utility boilers, industrial boilers, cement plants, and municipal solid waste incineration facilities. For more information, visit www.sorbacal.com.

Summit Training Source, Grand Rapids, Mich., is now offering The Hazard Communication Answer Book, which addresses how hazards should be communicated to employees under the newly revised HazCom standard. The book covers requirements for new labels and MSDS sheets; changes required in classification, labeling, and employee training; practical tips for compliance; and more. For more info, visit www.safetyontheweb.com. Summit provides technical environmental, safety, and health training programs.