Walmart Funds Green Supply Chain Research

Guest post by Cheryl Lee

WalMart has teamed with the World Resources Institute by awarding the Institute a grant of $420,000 to better serve the world by providing companies with the accounting tools to measure their supply chain carbon emissions. The president of WRI, Jonathan Lash stated, “Sustainability is becoming a driver of business strategy for smart companies.” Sustainability is a must if a company wants to survive in today’s economy. Some of the grant money provided from WalMart will aid in helping Chinese suppliers become more environmental friendly. WalMart wants to get their 100,000 suppliers on board as well and help them to become more sustainable. WalMart has put together a Sustainability Consortium comprised of universities, NGOs, and government business interests to assist in providing research for future products.

Cadbury Seeks to Reduce Emissions Through "Guide to Low Carbon Dairy Farming"

In calculating its carbon footprint, Cadbury discovered that over 60% of its emissions comes from milk production. As a result, Cadbury will begin working with select dairy farmers in the UK in an effort to help the farmers reduce emissions. The Cadbury Guide to Low Carbon Dairy Farming outlines best practices to help the farmers reduce carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

The initiative is part of the larger "Purple Goes Green" carbon reduction strategy of the company. Cadbury's goal is to reduce absolute emissions by 50% by 2020.

United Environmental Flight Reduces Carbon Emissions by Nearly 33,000 Pounds

Press Release

United Environmental Flight Reduces Carbon Emissions by Nearly 33,000 Pounds

November 14, 2008

Flight from Sydney to San Francisco showcases potential savings with new technology

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 14, 2008 – United Airlines charted a new path across the Pacific as the first U.S. carrier to participate in the Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE), saving 1,564 gallons of fuel and 32,656 pounds of carbon emissions on a single flight, showcasing real savings gained from next-generation technology. United flight 870 from Sydney, Australia made a smooth, continuous descent into San Francisco International Airport at 10:20 a.m. Pacific Time after using 11 fuel saving initiatives from gate-to-gate.

“I am pleased to have seen first-hand the technologies that have helped our state be at the forefront of aviation’s future,” says California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who greeted the flight at the airport. “The reduction in fuel usage and carbon emissions is another example of businesses both reducing costs and helping the environment.”

Prior to the flight’s arrival, Governor Schwarzenegger joined United Boeing 777 Captain Rick Shay in the cockpit of a United Boeing 777 to receive a tutorial on Tailored Arrivals, a special arrival procedure that generates additional fuel savings with a smooth, continuous descent rather than the traditional step-down approach. United and partner Boeing have expanded the program this year with a substantial increase in the number of flights permitted to conduct Tailored Arrivals, each of which saves around 60 gallons of fuel.

‘ASPIRE United’ reduced fuel burn and emissions by using up-to-the-minute fuel data, priority takeoff clearance, normally restricted airspace around Sydney’s airport, and new arrival procedures – all of which are possible with new technology.

“’ASPIRE United’ has demonstrated the tremendous environmental and fuel savings potential if our nation invests in next-generation technology and in updating our air traffic control system,” says Pete McDonald, Chief Administrative Officer – United Airlines. “We are pleased to have reached another milestone with our partners as we use safe, modern technology that reduces our carbon footprint.”

ASPIRE is a multilateral partnership of the Federal Aviation Administration, Airservices Australia, and Airways New Zealand. Data from the flight will be analyzed by the FAA in its ongoing effort to accelerate the development and implementation of operational procedures to reduce the environmental footprint for all phases of flight.

About United
United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA) operates nearly 3,000* flights a day on United and United Express to more than 200 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United also is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 975 destinations in 162 countries worldwide. United's 52,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at united.com.

*Based on United's flight schedule between October 2008 and October 2009.

Diesel Fuel from Bug Excrement

The Times reports that scientists from LS9 in California have genetically altered small bugs so that when they feed on agricultural waste they excrete crude oil. The oil excreted is carbon negative, meaning it emits fewer carbon emissions as crude oil than it did as agricultural waste.

The bugs are bacteria from industrial yeast or nonpathogenic strains of E. coli. The fatty acids normally excreted by yeast or E. coli during fermentation are molecularly very close to crude oil. Through genetic modification of the DNA, they can easily change the fermentation process to create crude oil. The process is "the same as using natural bacteria to produce ethanol, although the energy-intensive final process of distillation is virtually eliminated because the bugs excrete a substance that is almost pump-ready."

Read the full story in The Times Online.

IT Industry Emissions Exceed Those of Entire Nations

According to a study by McKinsey & Company with the cooperation of Uptime Institute, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the U.S. information technology (IT) industry already exceeds the emissions of entire nations, such as Argentina, the Netherlands, and Malaysia. At the current pace, emissions are expected to quadruple and the IT industry will exceed the airline industry in emissions by 2020.

According to the study, the U.S. IT industry is increasing energy usage at a rate of 10-20% annually. "If current data center power consumption continues to grow at the current rate, 10 new coal-fired or nuclear power plants will be needed by 2010 and 20 more (for a total of 30) by 2015."

Thus the IT industry is being challenged to increase energy efficiency of current systems, even at the risk of losing some control over data centers. The study reports that most companies could double energy efficiency of data centers by 2012. They propose automobile CAFE-type industry standards for measuring efficiency in conjunction with the following ten suggestions: creating an energy efficiency dashboard, sealing cable cutoffs, turning off and removing excess hardware, increasing temperatures, virtualizing, and upgrading equipment.

How green is your IT?

Clean Air Lawn Care - Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week

Clean Air Lawn Care (Fort Collins CO) was started in 2005 by Kelly Giard. The company uses solar-powered lawn mowers for yard care. Trucks are equipped with solar panels to recharge the mowers throughout the day. When it is not possible to use solar-powered mowers, they use conventional mowers fueled with biodiesel. They will also remove yard waste to an organic waste recycling center, where available. The company purchases carbon offsets for the business and is carbon neutral.

Clean Air Lawn Care has seven nationwide company-owned locations and 20 employees. Franchises are also available. Locations are now in Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Austin, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Portland, and Seattle.

On their website, you'll find an online calculator to determine the carbon emissions of your current mowing methods. You'll also find a $1000 scholarship application for environmentally-minded students preparing to enroll in college for the first time; deadline for applications is May 1, 2008.

Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week: If they can do it, so can you!

Mighty Green Paper: Sustainable Business Design Does Carbon Consulting Right

Thanks to Olga Orda (Equo3 Strategies, a sustainability public relations, writing, and research firm) for the following great write-up at Green Options.

When companies make the shift to reduce the carbon footprint of their supply chain, paper is one of the first – but perhaps most overlooked – ways to shed those office carbon pounds.

But the carbon, environmental and cost savings benefits of switching from virgin paper to more sustainable paper didn’t escape Sustainable Business Design - a consulting firm that provides carbon footprint, greenhouse gas audits and “The Low Carb Corporate Diet” ™ service.

Nancy E. Landrum, Ph.D., of SBD demonstrated that a local, multi-site client who had not thought about paper purchasing as a way to “go green” experienced “immediate environmental and financial success in their quest for green” by simply making the change to recycled paper.

But how big of a success was it exactly?

“The final combination of paper choices recommended to the client represented a 10% cost savings, 13% fewer carbon dioxide emissions, and 35% fewer trees when compared to their previous product,” says Landrum.

And, if offering climate change and carbon strategies that work wasn’t enough, Landrum oversees a blog worth reading at http://www.sustainablebusinessdesign.blogspot.com/, check out the January 30 post for a list of useful webinars like “A Guide to Green Purchasing (Feb. 20)”. It’s like attending a green learning conference across the country minus the across country flight emissions – we are loving it.

Breathing Earth: Real-time Counter of CO2 Emissions

Breathing Earth "displays the carbon dioxide emission levels of every country in the world, as well as their birth and death rates, all in real-time." You can move your cursor over any country, read their current statistics, and watch the counter increase, showing the worldwide number of births, deaths, and tons of CO2 emissions since you started viewing. "The presentation shows the impact different countries have on climate change." Breathing Earth is the creation of David Bleja.

Toward Oversight of Voluntary Carbon Offsets

Voluntary carbon offsets remain a growing yet unregulated business and two additional efforts are underway to oversee the burgeoning field.

First is the recent announcement of a new Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) for carbon offsets is intended to boost the sector's credibility and help to drive rapid growth in voluntary offsetting. The VCS covers "reductions in all six gases regulated by Kyoto."

"Carbon offsetting is growing rapidly but remains controversial. The VCS aims to counter this by guaranteeing that certified offset projects reduce carbon emissions, and that reductions are measurable, additional, permanent, verified and are not double counted."

"Guarantees made about the VCS include: certified offsets will have environmental benefits, the VCS will stimulate greater innovation and investment in a wider range of low-carbon technologies without compromising environmental integrity, and the public will be able to access information on every VCS-approved offset project."

Second, the Federal Trade Commission has announced they will hold a free public workshop on January 8, 2008 in Washington DC "to examine the emerging market for carbon offsets (i.e., greenhouse gas emission reduction products) and renewable energy certificates, and related advertising claims. The workshop will focus on consumer protection issues in these markets, such as consumer perception of carbon offset and REC advertising claims and substantiation for such claims." A live webcast of the workshop will be available.

Men Produce More Carbon Emissions Than Women

Men's lifestyles create more carbon emissions and contribute more to climate change than women's lifestlyes. This is the conclusion of a study presented at the UN Commission for Sustainable Development in May 2007. The study, "A study on gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable development," was conducted by Gerd Johnsson-Latham.

"The purpose of the study is to bring out often-neglected facts concerning dissimilarities in the lifestyles and consumption patterns of women and men, and thus in their environmental impact, by describing how men, primarily through their greater mobility and more extensive travel, account for more carbon dioxide (COB2B) emissions than women, in both rich and poor countries. The study points to how a changed behavior among men – notably rich men who are decision-makers - can be crucial in addressing climate change and in enhancing the opportunities of all human beings to enjoy sustainable development."

You can read the full paper here.