I always laugh when somebody blows their horn from making something out of recycled (or recyclable) material. Recyclability is nice, but what is the whole picture? Was a ridiculous amount of extra energy expended to do that recycling? Don’t get me wrong… if it’s economically feasible, stuff *should* be recycled. There are things which aren’t, though (without subsidy prop-ups). Window glass (unlike bottle glass) is typically not worth recycling. The process is energy intensive, optical quality is important, the feedstocks are highly variable, and silica is not scarce! Don’t bother unless you are trying to wave a greenie banner.

Low VOC paint sounds nice, until you compare it to the product it replaces and find it that is sucks. Poor application characteristics and poor durability means that it needs to be renewed more often. How is *that* good for the environment?

Finally, as for those convinced that we are about to run out of oil: Go read some newspapers or news magazines from 30 or 40 years ago. You will see that through the years, the chicken littles have always been claiming that there is “only 20 years of oil left”. Well, there is a whole lot left, it’s just that the huge additional sources (like Canadian tar sands) are more expensive to extract. Long before it starts running out, the price will start going up (in real, not nominal dollars). At some point, other technologies will become more economically feasible and a natural transition to them will occur over time. There’s no need to rush things any faster than the market will do on its own, though. Oh yeah, who will probably deliver the EtOH, MeOH, H2, or whatever? The current oil companies… They have the infrastructure & distribution channels and are not stupid.

I think that they see the writing on the wall: If they don’t diversify beyond oil, they will be left behind when the next energy revolution takes over. With record profits over the last few years, big oil companies could ironically become some of the biggest drivers of green energy.