Green laws in the US and efforts to clean up China

The Popular Science system compiled new laws that will change the ecological habits of Americans, new alternative energy projects and how China is trying to preserve the environment despite the indifference of the authorities

Expensive e-waste cleanup
The state of Indiana joins 18 other states in the United States that have approved e-waste laws that impose the duty of recycling toxic electronic devices on manufacturers. Seven of the countries begin collection this year. The manufacturers will demand to cover the cost of recycling electrical appliances, including televisions and almost any device with a screen whose diagonal size exceeds four inches. E-waste reaches about three million tons in the United States each year. Federal lawmakers will not enact laws until individual state programs have proven effective.

Biodiesel becomes official
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania will join three other states that require every amount of diesel sold to include at least two percent biodiesel. At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's attempts to expand older laws, such as the Renewable Fuel Standardization Program, to prevent the use of new farmland to grow soybeans for oil (instead of food), angers biodiesel and ethanol producers.

Incentives to lower emissions, finally here! (Maybe)
The much-discussed Emissions Reduction Incentives bill would require companies to operate within fixed greenhouse gas emission limits, with the option to buy and sell rights to exceed those limits. The bill that was approved by the US House of Representatives last July, is supposed to come before the Senate later this year after passing one significant obstacle: "As a rule, legislators don't like to do controversial things in an election year," says Amy Ridenour, president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. - Amina Allahi

Alternative energy projects starting this year

capturing solar rays
Who: Sterling Energy Systems and Tessera Solar
Sixty SunCatcher plates for concentrated solar absorption - the most efficient in the world in the conversion of solar energy - will be installed this month in Arizona, and will supply electricity to 202 homes throughout the year. During the year, larger facilities are planned to be built in California and Texas.

Exhaust heat capture
Who: BSST
Devices made of thermoelectric materials installed in the exhaust systems of vehicles capture heat emissions and convert them into electricity, saving up to eight percent of fuel expenses by supplementing the electricity from the alternator. This year BSST will test the system in BMW 5 series models and Ford Focus models.

Seaweed harvesting with fish
Who: LiveFuels
Six fish can filter the same amount of algae-filled water per minute as a $250,000 centrifuge. Extracting the oils is simple: cook and squeeze the fish to get algae oil for diesel fuel. After that, the fish can be fed to the farm animals. The algae-eating fish also absorb carbon from the atmosphere and are able to eat algae that spreads rapidly. The LiveFuels company intends to open its first facility this year to prove the method. – Brooke Burrell

Environmental activists start green projects

Harmless hydroelectric energy
Hazard: A dozen new hydroelectric dams on the Yangtze River will disrupt the habitat of 188 fish species.
Cleanup Conference: The Natural Resources Conservation Authority and the Three Gorges Project Corporation Group will develop a restoration plan for the water basins and flood plains that will be affected by the dams to preserve the habitats of the fish.
Potential obstacle: lack of support from the Chinese government; Heavy flooding is possible upstream.

green building
Hazard: 1.95 billion square meters of buildings in China consume 25 percent of all its energy.
Cleanup Conference: Two buildings slated for occupancy, the Beijing Parkview Green and the Venke Center, are the nation's first candidates for LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) green and energy-efficiency certifications. The Natural Resources Defense Commission helped develop China's first standards for energy rating and classification.
A potential obstacle: the Chinese government is reluctant to hire external building energy testers to test the buildings, and it prefers to rely on government workers, who are few in number and sometimes less professional.

Sustainable wood
Hazard: China is the number 1 furniture producer in the world - it buys one out of every two tropical logs that are cut elsewhere.
Cleanup Conference: The Rainforest Alliance is working with IKEA to examine where the wood from which the company's furniture is built in China comes from and if it comes from a legal forest, planted for the needs of the industry.
A potential obstacle: the existing tracking system for wood sources in the country is ineffective. A new, more efficient system needs to be established from scratch. – Corey Binns