Sustainability in the News
Salt Lake Tribune
Green to the end
'Natural' burials include biodegradable coffins, some of recycled paper
The Associated Press December 26, 2007
PORTLAND, Ore. - Cynthia Beal wants to be an Oregon cherry tree after she dies. She has everything to make it happen - a body, a burial site and a biodegradable coffin.
''It is composting at its best,'' said Beal, owner of The Natural Burial Co., which will sell a variety of eco-friendly burial products when it opens in January, including the Ecopod, a kayak-shaped coffin made out of recycled newspapers.
Biodegradable coffins are part of a larger trend toward ''natural'' burials, which require no formaldehyde embalming, cement vaults, chemical lawn treatments or laminated caskets. Advocates say such burials are less damaging to the environment. See entire article...
Putting a lid on global warming
Utah on forefront of 'CO 2 sequestration' project
By Brian Maffly and Judy Fahys
"The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to spend $67 million over the next decade on a technology solution for climate change that will be tested in Utah. Plans call for pumping carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, into mile-deep rock formations under Carbon County for long-term underground storage. Leading the sequestration project is engineering professor Brian McPherson, who was recruited last year to work for the Utah Research, Science and Technology (USTAR) initiative, the new public-private venture to develop commercial applications for technologies at Utah's two major state universities..." See entire article...
Utah's energy outlook is clean
Geothermal, solar, wind resources may turn state into a major powerhouse
By Patty Henetz
12/04/2007
"Utah has the potential to be a major exporter of clean energy.
Make that mega major.
Energy experts who have calculated the state's renewable energy potential figure there are enough geothermal and wind resources to supply about 9.8 million people at today's national consumption levels. If Utah's potential with a newer solar technology also is considered, there could be enough power for an additional 1.4 billion people..." See entire article...