A number of innovative new programs have been launched in Massachusetts in the US to increase the use of alternative energy technologies. The goal is to shift electricity use from conventional fuels to solar, wind and other renewable resources.

The initiatives, developed by Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation (MTPC) are targeted at two major groups: renewable energy and waste-to-energy. The renewable energy program will receive US$47 million from the state's Renewable Energy Trust Fund in the form of grants, loans and other support to promote green power, green buildings, and premium power. The waste-to-energy program will receive a one-time US$53 million grant to help Massachusetts cities and towns reduce their costs for pollution control equipment at waste-to-energy plants.

The renewable energy programs include:

"Green Power" that finances new wind, biomass and other energy production facilities, helps consumers to purchase electricity from renewable resources and expands the use of solar technologies.

"Green Buildings" targets the design and installation costs of "green building" concepts. The program also includes a "green school" component to encourage school districts to construct or renovate school buildings using renewable energy sources.

EA Technology Environmental Group of UK will run a 12-month program to use hydrometallurgical techniques, involving the electrolysis of metals in solutions, to recover manganese dioxide from alkaline and dry cell batteries. This will reduce the environmental hazard and waste from the disposal of such batteries.

HydroFlo, a wastewater treatment equipment manufacturer in North Carolina has announced the preliminary results of a new Pressure Line Up Stream (PLUS) sewage treatment technology that it has tested.

The system reduces odour and increases the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants by using the wastewater collection system to begin the process of treatment while the wastewater is being transported to the treatment plant.

The technology adds oxygen into the waste as the waste is traveling to the waste treatment plant. This enables the waste to break down faster, and reduces the corrosivity of the waste in the pipeline system, increasing the life span of capital equipment for the municipality.

Low-level noise in open-style offices results in higher levels of stress and lower task motivation, according to a new study by a Cornell University environmental psychologist.

Experienced workers in these mildly noisy offices make fewer ergonomic adjustments to their workstations than workers in quiet offices.

London will take delivery of three hydrogen powered fuel cell buses that will go on trial in 2003.

Fuel cells combine hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water. Electricity from the cells is used to power the vehicle. The only emission from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is water vapor.

The London trial is part of a project involving 27 fuel cell buses to be tested in 9 major cities in Europe including Amsterdam, Stockholm, Reykjavik, Barcelona, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Porto and Luxembourg.

A partnership between county commissioners and a plastics company has produced the first commercial plastic bottle in the world to be made of 100% curbside recycled PET plastic.

The Lucas County Commissioners and Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI) unveiled the Green Bottle ™ product in the US. PTI is the first company in the US to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration for manufacturing recycled food grade plastic from curbside recycled PET plastic.

The European Parliament said polyvinyl chloride (PVC) should be collected and disposed of separately from other waste materials because the plastic poses potential environmental hazards.

Responding to environmentalists' concerns that toxic additives used to soften or stabilize PVC can leach out when it is put in waste dumps, and that the plastic can give off toxic fumes when incinerated, the European Union assembly said PVC should be labeled and sorted from other wastes.

In a non-binding report, the European deputies also called for legislation to phase out lead and cadmium that are added to the plastic to stabilize it.