tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19350347152587239102024-03-21T19:27:52.017+01:00The Green RadarSustainable Technology & DesignGiuseppe Bonohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04828171830353270876noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-76009523379790831812012-06-19T14:57:00.002+02:002012-06-19T14:58:33.857+02:00Painting The Industry Green<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Ford reemphasized it's view that <a href="http://bit.ly/NLGtzS" target="_blank">green technology is key</a> to not only the success of itself or future auto makers but the viability of having a healthy economy in Michigan. While most of us live in citys that aren't dependent on one industry, there are many cities that rely heavily, sometimes completely, on the success of a single company. </span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEx4ulkFOtPXO8QVSMRyusQCl5LCvrzDVR5yESx91vf8LAjLcO4sN8PtF8Iyha2vTtTin224yYHN1L0pqvqNh50Xf6iVfi6yLbwc9rT4M3i-kyQfJrjNYNjAqUBs4LJ1KU6PROZP8wnzg/s1600/green_oval.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEx4ulkFOtPXO8QVSMRyusQCl5LCvrzDVR5yESx91vf8LAjLcO4sN8PtF8Iyha2vTtTin224yYHN1L0pqvqNh50Xf6iVfi6yLbwc9rT4M3i-kyQfJrjNYNjAqUBs4LJ1KU6PROZP8wnzg/s320/green_oval.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">One thing that has always been part of the Ford brand is the channeling of it's heritage in everything they do. Very Detroit, very American, very unlike anything the automotive industry has been moving towards. Yet, they've seemed to have found a place for it in their vision moving forward; </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">“While Michigan is the home of the auto industry, the trends affecting our industry offer a great opportunity to make it the home of a variety of other industries as well,” said Bill Ford. “We are heading in the right direction to grow Michigan by putting the right policies in place and investing in Michigan’s future.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">How wonderful would it be if Ford were to lead the industry toward other forms of mobility, outside the scope of the automobile, as urban areas become increasingly congested. After all, at the core, they are a mobility company.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The costs associated with redefining or reinventing automobile use and similar moves are tremendous of course. Ford has spent nearly $1 billion in electric vehicle investment alone. But believes it's absolutely necessary it become a core competency for Ford in the 21st century.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">This may be one place where we would like to see more big picture thinking come from Michigan. We agree that innovative technology and automobile should be tied at the hip, and it can only mean good things for the state of Michigan which has already seen a large increase in jobs associated with high technology. But what about adding an alternative mobility division at Ford? Where the automobile is taken out of the equation. Where mobility is at the center of research and development, and the simple concept of helping people reach a destination leads the conversation. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Organizational transformations are difficult to achieve. The motivations of Mr Ford or the vision which he is trying to instill at Ford and Michigan may take some time to reach formidable adoption. But at least in rhetoric, it's nice to see the vision in print, and to hear that it includes putting pressure on policy makers to insure that nothing hold entrepreneurs and innovators from bringing sustainable ideas to production. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>Arturohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15108263213114080287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-42395178072935666652012-06-19T14:03:00.002+02:002012-06-19T18:13:10.359+02:00Rio+20 Update: @DowChemical, @GM, @KCCorp, @Xerox, @marriotthotels amongst other major firms commit to assigning a value to nature<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSULOUYbWOdG-a9I7Cg2pF_JT_ZSCNUZRG2TdTaiutuABhTHqPZ3JyrdEECUmtGia03bq2dwxkov6JKOiP5yt7vl0l4SqTu_u-QgtxGJmubwHmUxrswt-ms40B5XZd3myLmTs173ue0T-/s1600/rio20_logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSULOUYbWOdG-a9I7Cg2pF_JT_ZSCNUZRG2TdTaiutuABhTHqPZ3JyrdEECUmtGia03bq2dwxkov6JKOiP5yt7vl0l4SqTu_u-QgtxGJmubwHmUxrswt-ms40B5XZd3myLmTs173ue0T-/s320/rio20_logo.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
We're following Rio+20 closely, <a href="http://bit.ly/KWpljP" target="_blank">so it's great to see this news filtering in</a>, of major corporations such as Dow Chemicals, General Motors, Kimberly Clark, Marriott and Xerox (along with 20 others) all signing up to look at how to better "account" for nature in corporate practices.<br />
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We earnestly believe that it's not until we account for the environmental impact of firms, that sustainability will truly succeed.<br />
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Some estimates suggest <a href="http://bit.ly/9TnPhb" target="_blank">the value provided by the environment is something like US$33 trillion, on average per year</a>. <a href="http://bit.ly/oAUsJ" target="_blank">Which is more than half of Global GDP</a>.<br />
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And that's why we have an increasing <a href="http://bit.ly/MiZWos" target="_blank">clamor of voices demanding a better articulation and calculation of success than GDP, because right now it's just not sustainable</a>. And this is something policy makers are unlikely to be able to implement -- <a href="http://bit.ly/Khmz8t" target="_blank">it's more likely that firms will have to proactively learn to account for the environmental and social costs of doing business</a> and modify their value chains accordingly.<br />
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Looking forward to the rest of Rio+20.<br />
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<a href="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/06/Rio-De-Janiero-e1340109537592.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/06/Rio-De-Janiero-e1340109537592.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://inhabitat.com/the-rio20-conference-academic-panel-urge-governments-to-seize-historic-opportunity/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo Source: Inhabitat</span></a></div>
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09039867757711641746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-52791498352463881702012-06-18T07:22:00.001+02:002012-06-18T10:52:36.451+02:00On @Nest, Personal Sustainability, and Simplicity in form and function<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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At The Green Radar, we're big fans of firms that put design first. Our belief is that design -- when used as an intrinsic function of the overall product, when it is educated by human insight and a keen understanding of a given problem -- can scale up to alter behavior itself.<br />
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And with matters of personal sustainability, we feel it's going to be products like <a href="http://www.nest.com/" target="_blank">Nest</a>'s thermostat (pictured here) that will go a long way in helping achieve this.<br />
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Nest is a smart meter that learns your energy usage habits and can help you optimize and minimize any losses in energy use. It knows when you wake up, when you leave for work, when you get back, and adjusts the temperature accordingly. <span style="background-color: white;">They also have</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><strike>other products in the works, like</strike>* <span style="background-color: white;">a humidity control mechanism called Airwave.</span><br />
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It also helps to know that Nest was designed by Tony Fadell, the guy who designed the first iPod. A firm to watch for the future, certainly.<br />
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More <a href="http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Correction: Airwave is a part of the Nest thermostat, and not a separate product. Thanks to the Nest team for confirming this!</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09039867757711641746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-6714601879094018682012-06-17T18:14:00.000+02:002012-06-17T18:14:38.765+02:00On Sustainability and @Nike's Better World project<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We love the <a href="http://nikebetterworld.com/about" target="_blank">Better World</a> initiative by Nike. They have been focused on developing sustainable solutions at all points in their value chain, including all the material that goes into their shoes and their merchandise.<br />
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For example, they talk about "Considered Design:<br />
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"Considered Design is Nike's ongoing commitment to design without compromise – either to performance or the planet. It is a continually progressing standard, applied every day to everything we do.</blockquote>
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As an ever-evolving standard for both innovation and sustainability, it's applied every day and to everything we do. By continually raising that standard, we envision a future where the shoes you wear today become the shoes, shirts or equipment you use tomorrow. This "closed loop" manufacturing process, where nothing is wasted and everything is kept in play, is not just wishful thinking, it's the future."</blockquote>
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Or FlyKnit and Recycled Polyester.<br />
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NIKE Flyknit: NIKE debuts the NIKE Flyknit Racer and NIKE Flyknit Trainer, lightweight shoe. NIKE believes that to design for the future, we need to create products in a completely new way today.<br />Our innovation is in the NIKE Flyknit manufacturing process; NIKE uses only the materials needed to knit the upper of a shoe. Traditional footwear manufacturing processes use a number of materials and cuts. NIKE Flyknit reduces waste using special yarns, knitted together to create one lightweight, formfitting upper.</blockquote>
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Recycled Polyester: Utilizing recycled PET plastic bottles, NIKE designs superior performance apparel. Reclaimed, discarded plastic bottles are melted down to produce new yarn and converted into fabric to create NIKE’s high performance apparel. This process saves raw materials and reduces energy consumption by an estimated 30% compared to manufacturing virgin polyester.</blockquote>
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All said, Nike is another great firm that puts its money where it's mouth is, and delivers true impact and value for consumers and the broader sustainability movement.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09039867757711641746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-15274078044207276292012-06-15T00:05:00.000+02:002012-06-15T16:22:27.388+02:00Green is sexy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3nkvPlj2K4ROZNtfNP4GAj_wesg35QY3yBnwisx1PxxIpshRgG6srkkdcyBVMhuzHkY4kR82e2kYjp-14rsGlKR9rQ-ynRvDHv_8mKtIg4NWLYg6v7ikp3loDXb5jNIbgKQaelLzN-Xy/s1600/57256-94f7ed-475-328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp3nkvPlj2K4ROZNtfNP4GAj_wesg35QY3yBnwisx1PxxIpshRgG6srkkdcyBVMhuzHkY4kR82e2kYjp-14rsGlKR9rQ-ynRvDHv_8mKtIg4NWLYg6v7ikp3loDXb5jNIbgKQaelLzN-Xy/s320/57256-94f7ed-475-328.jpg" width="0" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxElrA7IgqqOBeTAxFxL1GHc5e8sCC7Ho3EuCRPsETBqDQMHH4cstOX6WuNb24cU5JZWX44zbonuopxronKSrVOszf8lkWiUr7Hbxd3Ip-34zzxcuR7m66Sl0_ZXjCqMaArEEicD2jzQds/s1600/the-sustainable-dance-club.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxElrA7IgqqOBeTAxFxL1GHc5e8sCC7Ho3EuCRPsETBqDQMHH4cstOX6WuNb24cU5JZWX44zbonuopxronKSrVOszf8lkWiUr7Hbxd3Ip-34zzxcuR7m66Sl0_ZXjCqMaArEEicD2jzQds/s320/the-sustainable-dance-club.png" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's long, long time ago when the green movement was seen as a nerdy movement of a small minority of Birkenstock wearing "alternatives" (no offence here, I am wearing Birkenstocks as well). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By today sustainability is mainstream, and I mean this in the best possible way!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With this development, sustainability is entering more and more aspects of our lives, e.g. did you ever think of a nightclub when you where pondering about sustainability?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We learned about a Dutch nightclub the other day. The Dutch might not know how to play football, but they sure have a unique sense of creativity. Check out this <a href="http://bit.ly/Mu6Mr3" target="_blank">sustainable dance club</a>!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Their sustainable dance floor is remarkable. The more people jump, dance, enjoy themselves, the more energy is created and can be reused (remember the <a href="http://bit.ly/L9cpJ2" target="_blank">BMW</a> post a few days ago on a similar topic?).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By now the sustainable dance club initiative takes pride in developing sustainable concepts and solutions for clubs and festivals, aided by innovative technology. We feel they are onto something big as it makes young people think about their own impact on sustainabilty and in a playful way introduces the future decision makers of our world to this critical idea.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Check out their Vision and Mission here:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Vision</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Sustainable Dance Club™ believes that having fun and taking responsibility for our world should go hand in hand. We do not believe that profit should be the only focus of a modern society. We want to make the world a better place while having a good time and we want everyone to join us. Therefore SDC’s vision on sustainability reads: People, Planet, Party<span class="Apple-style-span">!</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mission</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span">‘</span><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To create personal experiences where sustainability and fun are combined. To inspire (young) people worldwide to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle</span><span class="Apple-style-span">.’</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With this knowledge, let's go out and dance sustainably (and on a final note, it might even happen that the Dutch team creates enough energy on the pitch to still make it to the EURO quarterfinals).</span><br />
<br />AKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988556126807799642noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-39790514900322965672012-06-14T00:47:00.001+02:002012-06-14T01:09:24.776+02:00Solar Mosaic: the crow-founding projectSolar power has always got a lot of incentives (only for <a href="http://bit.ly/9Iok0o" target="_blank">USA</a> is sufficient to check the <a href="http://bit.ly/Mvnot" target="_blank">DSIRE</a> to figure out how many are available).<br />
<div>
Solar panels are not cheap so, even with the incentives, it is difficult for citizens and small companies to invest in this "new"technology.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/screen-shot-2012-05-31-at-2-51-03-pm.png?w=224" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/screen-shot-2012-05-31-at-2-51-03-pm.png?w=224" /></a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://bit.ly/L1EiDR" target="_blank">Solar Mosaic</a>, a company founded by a team of entrepreneurs, coders, finance experts and change-makers, wants to enable people to invest their own money into solar energy projects large and small.</div>
<div>
It can look like a copy of <a href="http://kck.st/I9REX" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> (the most known crow-founding portal), but it is not! According to Solar Mosaic’s website, investors earn a return from each project’s eventual revenue — so it seems to be facilitating actual equity investing, not the donation model (due to some <a href="http://bit.ly/1iPBAx" target="_blank">legal restriction</a>) used by sites such as Kickstarter.</div>
<div>
Thanks to the <a href="http://bit.ly/zPZrTL" target="_blank">JOBS Act</a> (signed into law on April 5, 2012) anyone is allowed to invest in private companies.</div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZh1qazArTZ2zN6879Al2y1y-7zLmwd5sKQPF8b2JPyeP626QUp8H02KgW4fehj9y93BmEDd6RIhqUuF-pk75xJ-toIcZ3PewAjChSt8ylF0Tmcpxw6bhi09sTn8G1NkrUjQZd1e1Tz2E/s1600/Investors.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZh1qazArTZ2zN6879Al2y1y-7zLmwd5sKQPF8b2JPyeP626QUp8H02KgW4fehj9y93BmEDd6RIhqUuF-pk75xJ-toIcZ3PewAjChSt8ylF0Tmcpxw6bhi09sTn8G1NkrUjQZd1e1Tz2E/s1600/Investors.png" /></a>We think Solar Mosaic seems like a smart idea that comes at a smart time.</div>
<div>
Moreover it has just been awarded a <a href="http://1.usa.gov/OAlxZp" target="_blank">$2 million grant</a> from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Sunshot Initiative.</div>
<div>
So far the company has facilitated the crowd-funding for five projects in its beta mode, in which more than 400 people invested more than $350,000 in five rooftop power plants in California and Arizona. It plans to put its venture capital and grant money toward building out its platform for crowdfunding on a larger scale.</div>
<div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="http://tcrn.ch/Kixpkd" target="_blank">TechCrunch</a></span></div>Giuseppe Bonohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04828171830353270876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-13201077276356954002012-06-13T07:03:00.000+02:002012-06-15T16:23:37.712+02:00From Denmark to India: Top 100 Companies Leading the World in Clean Capitalism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmLdYdNEGdbnsX2hxFnIMc3HkxbziJSX6U1duXbj9kQVyD1kBeaXMIlveowCwZNETc-0ewqCQK93uh4X17HWx2ptXD4xG7DSSNThnDX0Iuws2ezzZgeSlO9XlFsNB_ZS08elZTGGwojcw/s1600/pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmLdYdNEGdbnsX2hxFnIMc3HkxbziJSX6U1duXbj9kQVyD1kBeaXMIlveowCwZNETc-0ewqCQK93uh4X17HWx2ptXD4xG7DSSNThnDX0Iuws2ezzZgeSlO9XlFsNB_ZS08elZTGGwojcw/s320/pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">According
to Corporate Knights, <span lang="EN" style="color: #444444;">media,
research and financial products company focused on quantifying and animating
clean capitalism drivers for decision makers</span>, “<span lang="EN">In business, sustainability is when what is good for a company is also good
for the planet, and vice-versa”, says Toby Heaps, editor-in-chief.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In other words, we can say that sustainability is a
company’s power to align efforts towards balancing money, people and the
environment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this sense, Corporate Knights just announced 2012- List
of the 100 World’s Most Sustainable Companies. “For us at Corporate Knights,
sustainability is closely tied to what we call ‘clean capitalism,’ which we
define as an economic system in which prices fully incorporate social, economic
and ecological costs and benefits, and actors are clearly aware of the
consequences of their marketplace actions,” says Doug Morrow, vice president of
research at Corporate Knights. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The research group evaluated 400 companies using 11
environmental, social and governance performance measures, including energy
productivity, waste productivity, CEO-to-average-worker pay ratio and employee
turnover. Premise: to assume that companies were sharing reliable information,
be objective and if there is no data available then penalize the criteria.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN">As you are about to see, 8 of the top 10 are European companies and
16 of 100 are based in the United Kingdom, making it the </span><span lang="EN">country with the most companies on the list. Japan
was second, with 11 companies, while the U.S. and France tied for No. 3, with 8
companies each. Even though I believe the 100 companies are making outstanding
efforts to excel, there is still a long...very long… way to walk. The first
company scored 74.37% and an Indian company in the 100<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>th </sup></span><span style="font-size: small;">position scores 8.06%! This makes me think: Is this really a good
result? What is a reasonable score to be praiseworthy? What is the gap between the 100th and the rest of the world?</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the end, these companies do not invest
and change their business mindsets towards sustainable initiatives just because
they have “good heart” or are “planet conscious”, but most importantly because
they are aware that sustainability is a key differentiator, a competitive
advantage that will maintain them profitable and ongoing over the mid to long
term.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2012 is the 8th year that this ranking take place, hope that in future releases more companies get on board and consider all the benefits of this study, including improving their global image and strenghten their brands.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is the top 10, and if you want to see the complete
ranking go: </span><a href="http://www.corporateknights.com/report/8th-annual-global-100-most-sustainable-corporations/final-results-global-100-list?page=show"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.corporateknights.com/report/8th-annual-global-100-most-sustainable-corporations/final-results-global-100-list?page=show</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Novo Nordisk</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: Denmark<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: <span style="color: black;">Health</span>
Care<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 74.37%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Natura
Cosmeticos</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: Brazil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Consumer Staples<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 67.09%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Statoil</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: Norway<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Energy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 65.73%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Novozymes</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: Denmark<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Materials<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 64.81%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">ASML Holding</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: Netherlands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Information Technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 64.79%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">BG Group</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: United Kingdom<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Energy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 63.24%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>Westpac
Banking Corporation<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: Australia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Banking<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 61.74%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">8.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Vivendi</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: France<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Telecommunications<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 59.53%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">9.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Umicore</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: Belgium<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Materials<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score: 58.44%<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">10.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Norsk Hydro</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Country: Norway<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sector: Materials<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Score 58.24%<o:p></o:p></span></div>squarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05087264574642046459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-50925674966196637052012-06-12T00:44:00.000+02:002012-06-12T00:52:01.460+02:00Banking Going Green, Are We Seeing a Trend?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-8Z2QBEfSKJu6EzzYBd4HgO8F7Aq17Nhgs_Xp8y2eeD1TU_DLg3gaG5cvA6_zNuVz4oRBwhoQcvfIi3qwhvM2ZsA58zGhMuwsz0mL176O1YWr7fx_SQUSnCbNoutXf-0nSZD5gF6N7P3/s1600/bofa.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-8Z2QBEfSKJu6EzzYBd4HgO8F7Aq17Nhgs_Xp8y2eeD1TU_DLg3gaG5cvA6_zNuVz4oRBwhoQcvfIi3qwhvM2ZsA58zGhMuwsz0mL176O1YWr7fx_SQUSnCbNoutXf-0nSZD5gF6N7P3/s200/bofa.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It looks like another bank, Bank of America, will be making some <a href="http://yhoo.it/LNyu1N" target="_blank">heavy investmen</a>t into green technology. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last week we highlighted <a href="http://bit.ly/KaNHHY" target="_blank">Goldman Sachs</a> as they announced a 40 billion dollar commitment toward investing in green technology, following Wells Fargo's own dive into supporting green tech found here. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bank of America's plan includes a 50 million dollar venture that will span 10 years. Specifics beyond that portion of their announcement aren't know, but they're also committing themselves to a reduction in energy consumption of 25% from 2004 levels and additional reductions in paper and water. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To many, this effort from B of A appears like the latest from big
banks trying to divert attention from their fading image. Besides the negative
perception that many banks have received from the 2008
crisis, deservedly or not, B of A has also been the target of
criticism for their part in</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://bit.ly/MyQ5qX" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">lending to the coal industry</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our stance...well,
we don't really have one... I mean, I guess it's bad? What we like is the
funding and this new focus on real sizable investments in renewal,
clean technologies. Regardless of what they're motivation is, like we
stated in the Goldman Sachs post last week, these institutions are there to
make money. But if along the way they shift their focus to green, we are clearly
in support of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can catch more
here on B of A and their<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://bit.ly/MDQT1Z">corporate responsibility</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>initiatives.</span></div>Arturohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15108263213114080287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-65503102499922779302012-06-11T14:04:00.000+02:002012-06-11T14:04:31.954+02:00Sustainable Architecture and @Inhabitat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/10/GO-Home-sm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/10/GO-Home-sm1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
@TheGreenRadar we are now following @Inhabitat on twitter. We love the architecture they curate.<br />
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And we loved their <a href="http://inhabitat.com/bright-red-go-home-is-a-leed-platinum-house-that-packs-a-green-energy-punch/" target="_blank">most recent feature</a> on the <a href="http://www.gologichomes.com/" target="_blank">bright red GO Home</a> in Belfast, Maine.<br />
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It's classified a Passive Home, and ends up saving $300 a year -- a 90% reduction in heating bills. And with solar panels on its roof, it is also a Net-Zero home.<br />
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Check out the video walkthrough on how PassiveHouse works, by GoLogic Homes below:<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09039867757711641746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-48342827994358265952012-06-10T16:47:00.000+02:002012-06-10T17:08:30.714+02:00The Football Carbon FootprintThis week we were thinking about a subject to post on the blog and sports came to our minds.<br />
There is no doubt that sports are, in general, a positive element for society. Sports practice improves the quality of life of the population, sporting goods industry generates jobs around the world and major sports events literally transform the life of a population of a city or even a country (The legacy of Barcelona Olympic Games is a great example).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrn6xeY0dHS5Yrztphc-jBFVavviLuCgSaBewy2gXgjUu5Mb9dpHU_moURTd5OforpiCG5Mf3KUJNbrUZIMFQ9U5cmr-XimhKMHNSj0WoSC7R_viuPSWXnyLbvEP1KOreybMD_4W1sqyg/s1600/2764-DUODART-FOOTBALL-F4-RGB_954x492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrn6xeY0dHS5Yrztphc-jBFVavviLuCgSaBewy2gXgjUu5Mb9dpHU_moURTd5OforpiCG5Mf3KUJNbrUZIMFQ9U5cmr-XimhKMHNSj0WoSC7R_viuPSWXnyLbvEP1KOreybMD_4W1sqyg/s320/2764-DUODART-FOOTBALL-F4-RGB_954x492.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
But in an era of scarcity of resources, are huge sports events like Olympic Games or FIFA World Cups sustainable? <br />
Since 2005 <a href="http://bit.ly/LHRwGW" target="_blank">FIFA is putting efforts into a program called Green Goal </a>to reduce the carbon footprint of football events. The incentive to construct environmentally friendly stadiums is part of this program. Although these efforts, <a href="http://bit.ly/y7KNdm" target="_blank">a study of the consulting firm Ernst &Young Terco</a> brought a shocking conclusion that 2010 FIFA World Cup generated a carbon footprint of 2,7M tons of CO2, mainly caused by transportation emissions (international travel: teams, fans, administrators, and support staff all contributed to the 1,856,589 tons).<br />
For the 2014 World Cup that will take place in Brazil, <a href="http://bit.ly/KXHimo" target="_blank">the policy to build “green stadiums”</a> has been taken in practice but, due its location and continental size the transportation remains a huge challenge.Guilhermehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437550825075561359noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-51151311592679251652012-06-10T13:04:00.001+02:002012-06-10T13:08:26.723+02:00The @DesignObserver looks at the Evolving Narrative of Sustainability<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We love <a href="http://bit.ly/MdeDGo" target="_blank">this article</a> by the Design Observer, which looks at the evolving narrative of sustainability over the years.<br />
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There is a technological progression towards efficiency, towards creating smaller or lesser polluting systems. But that's not necessarily the solution, and in fact can perhaps get in the way of every achieving true sustainability.<br />
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The article implores us to differentiate between technologically-driven sustainability, which is where a lot of what we're talking about lies, and instead also pay attention to the broader questions of ecological sustainability. To look at and develop new models for consumption itself, not just more efficient ways of producing and consuming as we always have, being cognizant that there is a broader ecological impact of iterations within the narrow field of "efficient products".<br />
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This is a conversation we hope to have on The Green Radar over the next few weeks, and would love for you to participate.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">“Ever bigger machines, entailing ever bigger concentrations of economic power and exerting ever greater violence against the environment, do not represent progress: they are a denial of wisdom. Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">E.F. Schumacher</span></blockquote>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09039867757711641746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-65168839657651820912012-06-08T10:41:00.002+02:002012-06-08T10:41:29.525+02:00Qatar 2022 - a sustainable idea?<div style="text-align: justify;">
As excitement about the upcoming EURO 2012 is about to burst, we can't help but post about a football topic, namely the tremendous infrastructure project of development for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46tZeAC-gDbk6ikHzc6DJK_iOTbsbLRF9Yt1q03ZLjclb31eT-ggiAXhM9PtzGy-vCHxvHOY29Gs_0pUVaH0mtYZ-3CtUtx70W9u1COY4ngA_yadWbzTHpSW2ZaTlHzlRBt_1e1lIMtNl/s1600/Qatar+Stadium+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46tZeAC-gDbk6ikHzc6DJK_iOTbsbLRF9Yt1q03ZLjclb31eT-ggiAXhM9PtzGy-vCHxvHOY29Gs_0pUVaH0mtYZ-3CtUtx70W9u1COY4ngA_yadWbzTHpSW2ZaTlHzlRBt_1e1lIMtNl/s320/Qatar+Stadium+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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When we first heard about the decision of FIFA to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar reactions ranged from disbelieve to anger. Why on earth would it make sense to host the World Cup in a country where there is no football infrastructure at all, the history of football is close to non-existent and drinking beer on the streets could theoretically be punished with lashes? Leaving all political, social and financial aspects aside, we came across this interesting (english) <a href="http://bit.ly/N5Kr4Z" target="_blank">article</a> at German newspaper Spiegel.de on German Architect Albert Speer and his sustainable approaches to build the stadiums and infrastructure.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwt4Txoyxsl5Qo3ldBXKWtpJPHIxtFLlfSX-YXhkhzQRs_TN9NWoIVGn0Q9kt9hAmxkfkAlNma7S8DK-zBNCFMOZKbvPEY31fZf7XWhw4dtD8N_bT5OerJuzDyvrmQyok6oCxCdzl9BmU/s1600/Qatar+Stadium+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwt4Txoyxsl5Qo3ldBXKWtpJPHIxtFLlfSX-YXhkhzQRs_TN9NWoIVGn0Q9kt9hAmxkfkAlNma7S8DK-zBNCFMOZKbvPEY31fZf7XWhw4dtD8N_bT5OerJuzDyvrmQyok6oCxCdzl9BmU/s320/Qatar+Stadium+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Speer's firm <a href="http://bit.ly/LcP2h1" target="_blank">Speer&Partners</a> is renowned for development of large scale cities with a special focus on sustainability. Naturally, Speer was an ideal partner for Qatar and as S<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">peer says, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">"Major events like the Olympics or the World Cup make the unthinkable thinkable"</span>.</span></div>
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And suddenly we are confronted with seemingly crazy but also fascinating ideas, e.g. all the stadiums are designed in a way so that they can be either significantly downscaled after the world cup or even completely dismantled to be shipped to developing countries as smaller sports venues. Another idea focuses on cooling the stadiums down in a sustainable CO2 neutral way using a technology called absorption cooling, using water from the Persian golf that will enable the stadium to "sweat".</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RtcKYnEjn-TzB3JmX_F5V-EVrcH_983OcNa-_bPSicc26AEQibxw6kKWT_HQfhsDqePQXZ2NKns9wDSSml8smC8o4hjNieQ4rHcM3uFRlTwRPs8YERr_pWsmLM3o2wxTtl-lEV_vOnBp/s1600/Qatar+Stadium+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RtcKYnEjn-TzB3JmX_F5V-EVrcH_983OcNa-_bPSicc26AEQibxw6kKWT_HQfhsDqePQXZ2NKns9wDSSml8smC8o4hjNieQ4rHcM3uFRlTwRPs8YERr_pWsmLM3o2wxTtl-lEV_vOnBp/s320/Qatar+Stadium+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, all in all, although we are still skeptical of the idea, at least we feel that this development might turn out into an interesting playing ground for sustainable development technologies and ideas. So after we have survived EURO frenzy, we will continue to follow up closely on developments in Qatar. </div>
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<br />AKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988556126807799642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-42581139606912542782012-06-07T23:22:00.001+02:002012-06-10T13:05:22.852+02:00Plastic from plants?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Two days ago five global brands (The Coca-Cola Company, Ford Motor Company, H.J. Heinz Company, NIKE, Inc. and Procter & Gamble) <a href="http://bit.ly/Lly3M8" target="_blank">announced</a> the formation of the <b>Plant PET Technology Collaborative (PTC)</b>.<br />
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Their aim? To accelerate the development and use of 100% plant-based PET materials and fiber in their products.<br />
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<a href="http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/img/img-14.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/img/img-14.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
Everything started almost 3 years ago, when CocaCola unveiled <a href="http://bit.ly/3xM2xm" target="_blank">"PlantBottle"</a>, a new plastic bottle made partially from plants.<br />
Traditional PET bottles are made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. The PlantBottle is made from a blend of petroleum-based materials and up to 30% plant-based materials, reducing carbon emissions by up to 25%.<br />
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A good result considering that more than 50% of Coca-Cola beverage volume is delivered in plastic bottles! In 2010 alone, the use of this packaging eliminated more than 60.000 barrels of oil.<br />
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You will never distinguish a PlantBottle PET bottle because it feels like traditional PET plastic, they have the same weight and function identically.<br />
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The Green Radar applauds this commitment and hope that the 100% renewably sourced bottle goal will be reached in 2020 . PTC is worth keeping an eye on. We can see wide spread adoption for it.</div>Giuseppe Bonohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04828171830353270876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-5599144902738079462012-06-07T19:26:00.000+02:002012-06-08T00:27:02.017+02:00PORTABLE SOLAR POWER – ENERGY EVERYWHERE!<br />
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Portable Solar Power – Energy Everywhere!</h2><h2 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><o:p></o:p> </h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/4-pgoafc_bk/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4-pgoafc_bk&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4-pgoafc_bk&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The renewable energyindustry moves fast and it is well known that solar energy is one of the most trendynowadays. Probably we all know of a city, an organization or even a neighborthat is investing in this technology (to use it in a building, car or otherassets) not only because the renewable sources like the sun provide free energybut also because they are eco – friendly. I think it worth to mention that theinitial cost of implementation and other required systems might be quiteexpensive but at the end this alternative is very convenient because its regularusage has no cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Furthermore, thisindustry has been evolving at the same time that portable electronics. That iswhy we can find companies like Goal Zero that has a very interesting offer of productsthat by means of portable solar panels allows us to charge our devices whereverwe are. They have even developed chargeable backpacks, lanterns and “powercontainers” and they are prepared to connect to the devices by USB, DC, AC. Theprocess seems easy: <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Collect Power in a “power pack”: Depending on the devicethat you are looking to provide power to in the future it may take a while.Imagine that you can consider from an iPod, iPhone, tablet, laptop, TV to a 12Vrefrigerator!<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Store Power: Once the power pack is charged, you can takeit wherever you want and have it available for whenever you need it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Power your device: Use your power pack to power orrecharge your device.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Once again, the initialcost is not that cheap and the size of some products is not comfortable, but Iam sure that as much as we get used to this technology, it will keep improvingon the go faster and faster.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In general, this sustainable technology, trendy and available worldwide, is very recommendable foradventurers that like to camp or hike, travelers that stay long hours waitingin the airports or train stations, students that carry several electronicdevices at the same time, and for every eco – friendly user that wants to depending on electric power at home or office.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Very motivating to all of those who wants to be part of the "green revolution" that is coming... actually, that is already around us now.</span></div>squarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05087264574642046459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-7302972501989693502012-06-04T23:03:00.002+02:002012-06-04T23:03:16.383+02:00Goldman Goes Green. Investing 40 Billion On The Way.Ah... and another. We know, Goldman is all about money, sure, but, <a href="http://bit.ly/KYEKTd" target="_blank">40 billion is a lot</a>. So regardless of the connotations associated with the firm as of late, 40 BILLION is a lot of money!<br />
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And they've done it before. In 2011 Goldman Sachs helped finance green technology companies worldwide to the tune of 4.8 billion dollars. Now, this is in contrast to the types of commitments we've seen from universities and other firms like Harbro and Microsoft who've pledged operational changes within their own organization mirroring mostly internal changes to reflect their steps toward being green. And while Goldman Sachs has pledged to zero carbon emissions by 2020, we haven't heard of much else on that front.<br />
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We can say a lot, and perhaps not positively, about the many green technology companies that have received heavy funding in the past decade and seen little to no growth, we can't think of any other firms investing this much cash into green technologies. And it's the not the usual suspects of clean enery solutions that Goldman Sachs plans to invest in... "The banks new 40 billion dollar target applies to investments and financings for solar, wind, hydro biofuels, biomass conversion..." and the list goes on.<br />
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We recognize green technology is a valuable investing opportunity to huge upside, and we're happy to see another firm does as well.<br />
<br />Arturohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15108263213114080287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-78389942168277479152012-06-02T23:55:00.000+02:002012-06-08T13:24:16.282+02:00Alternatives to sustainable transportationThe city of São Paulo in Brazil one of the main the business
centers of Latin America is well known by its cosmopolitan lifestyle with great
options of restaurants and night life.<br />
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São Paulo is also known for its terrible traffic, one of the
worst in the World. The huge amount of cars and a poor public transportation do
the Paulistano spend in average nearly 3 hours a day stuck in the traffic,
causing, <a href="http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/vidae,sao-paulo-perde-por-ano-r-33-bilhoes-com-o-transito,611570,0.htm">according some studies</a>, estimated losses of 33M per year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/investments-in-transport-infrastructure">A recent initiative </a>of the government in partnership with
private companies (<a href="http://bit.ly/ZEwqF" target="_blank">Banco Itaú</a>) is trying to solve part of the problem by changing the way
people move around the city. The alternative is to invest in bike renting
system similar to which is used in France and UK. The system allows the users
to rent a bike in one of the bike station for short journeys around the city. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to diminishing traffic congestion, such option
reduces the emission of CO2 on the atmosphere and, as a consequence,
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The system is working well so far, but to make a real impact
on quality of life the number of users need to increase significantly. To do
this the Government should increase investment in exclusive routes for bicycles
and educational programs focused on changing the mindset of the population with
emphasis on the advantages of use bicycles instead of cars to cover short and
medium distances.<o:p></o:p></div>Guilhermehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437550825075561359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-23542814217361933672012-06-02T11:46:00.003+02:002012-06-02T11:46:55.154+02:00Lord Smith of the UK Environment Agency at the RSA: "Are green and growth compatible?"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lord Smith, the Environment Agency</span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09039867757711641746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-16971504078578064602012-06-02T11:39:00.001+02:002012-06-02T11:39:52.812+02:00On Marks and Spencer, Corporate Sustainability, and Plan B<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We came across an interesting project by Marks & Spencer, referred to as Plan A.<br />
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In their own words, they describe it as<br />
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We launched Plan A in January 2007, setting out 100 commitments to achieve in 5 years. We've now extended Plan A to 180 commitments to achieve by 2015, with the ultimate goal of becoming the world's most sustainable major retailer.<br />Through Plan A we are working with our customers and our suppliers to combat climate change, reduce waste, use sustainable raw materials, trade ethically, and help our customers to lead healthier lifestyles. <a href="http://plana.marksandspencer.com/media/pdf/how_we-do_business_report_2011.pdf" rel="external" style="color: #2d8714; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Explore">Explore</a> our Plan A commitments for 2010 - 2015. </blockquote>
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We're doing this because it's what you want us to do. It's also the right thing to do. </blockquote>
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We're calling it Plan A because we believe it's now the only way to do business. </blockquote>
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<strong>There is no Plan B.</strong></blockquote>
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We feel that such initiatives are important. Sustainability is only going to truly become meaningful with firms when they build it into their brands -- what people expect of them, what they're known for delivering. It needs to go beyond Corporate Social Responsibility and become a key part of the Corporation itself. We look forward to more firms reengineering themselves to achieve this.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09039867757711641746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-9376919318756115472012-05-31T21:20:00.002+02:002012-05-31T21:20:19.096+02:00300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds by @postcarbon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Interesting video titled "300 years of Fossil Fuels in 300 seconds" that we discovered today.<br />
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It's by the <a href="http://www.postcarbon.org/" target="_blank">Post Carbon Institute</a>. While the narrative occasionally gets amusingly neo-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthusian_catastrophe" target="_blank">Malthusian</a>, the issues it raises are genuine and of great concern, and something many of the projects we have looked at here on The Green Radar have looked to tackle.<br />
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In the Post Carbon Institute's own words,<br />
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<span style="background-color: #ebebeb; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Fossil fuels have powered human growth and ingenuity for centuries. Now that we're reaching the end of cheap and abundant oil and coal supplies, we're in for an exciting ride. While there's a real risk that we'll fall off a cliff, there's still time to control our transition to a post-carbon future.</span></blockquote>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09039867757711641746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-2695874365044154882012-05-31T16:16:00.001+02:002012-05-31T16:19:28.690+02:00BMW i's neat idea to advertise electric mobility<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We love how sustainability is getting more and more into focus with major companies and the way companies find innovative ways to promote sustainability. Today we found this nice little video of BMW promoting their new sub-brand BMW i, which stands for visionary mobility and sustainably conceived electric vehicles.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They created an exhibition at the Gare de Lyon in Paris where <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">passers-by have the opportunity to walk over an piezoelectric floor. The clue is that each step on this piezoelectric floor generates energy, thus vividly raising awareness for energy sustainability. The energy created is made visible on the edges of the floor and culminates in the creation of the BMW i logo.</span></span></div>
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</div>AKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988556126807799642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-75541756681527739062012-05-30T23:42:00.000+02:002012-05-30T23:42:28.794+02:00Measuring Efficiency in IT with HP<span style="text-align: justify;">In the article </span><a href="http://bit.ly/JAyH9A" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">"How clean is your cloud?"</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> we discussed how much green energy the "most famous" data center uses: the CEI (Clean Energy Index).</span><br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/math/2/5/b/25b96f4337f29c3aedf1fe7131ddcb66.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/math/2/5/b/25b96f4337f29c3aedf1fe7131ddcb66.png" /></a>Thanks to PUE (Power usage effectiveness, an energy metric developed by a non-profit data center efficiency group: <a href="http://bit.ly/KUdiH7" target="_blank">The Green Grid</a> organization) we can know how much of that energy is really used by IT equipment and how much is "wasted" for cooling, lighting or other uses. An ideal "1,0" PUE indicates a high efficient data center.</div>
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In a recent <a href="http://bit.ly/M8ImWP" target="_blank">Press Release</a> HP debuted with an architecture for a Net-Zero Energy Data Center that combines both.<br />
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">In the HP solution power and cooling are largely generated from local renewable resources, helping to reduce the CEI; schedules, provisions power and cooling resources help to bring the PUE to the ideal 1,0 ratio.</span><br />
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The proposed solution enables organizations to cut total power usage by 30 percent, as well as dependence on grid power and costs by more than 80 percent.</div>
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Video: <a href="http://bit.ly/NfUn9x" target="_blank">HP Net-Zero Energy Data Center</a></div>
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<br /></div>Giuseppe Bonohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04828171830353270876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-5000080236881830282012-05-29T00:18:00.002+02:002012-05-29T00:22:17.231+02:00Hasbro Sustainability: Since 2002Having recently looked into NASCAR and it's ongoing efforts to spread EPA program awareness, I thought it might be helpful to see what other firms have adopted sustainable initiatives.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6ivn4Lk3TMqXsgiyO3FdaLHVQL_7hKGYn9pUgZo1AFtXG63INxxZVQvk2EPOX_rxerKTnG96iuyyCtdO8WieW-rKB81E1Te4C8jvPA5LMJNMNJiCz9F_3TDSTBAPl3NT0UZIfsw6BdLf/s1600/logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6ivn4Lk3TMqXsgiyO3FdaLHVQL_7hKGYn9pUgZo1AFtXG63INxxZVQvk2EPOX_rxerKTnG96iuyyCtdO8WieW-rKB81E1Te4C8jvPA5LMJNMNJiCz9F_3TDSTBAPl3NT0UZIfsw6BdLf/s200/logo.gif" width="200" /></a><a href="http://bit.ly/KR9sKC" target="_blank">HASBRO</a> has created it's own environmental programs, and has been doing so for quite sometime. Since 2002 Hasbro has been reporting environmental performance of it's US operations when it joined the EPA's Climate Leaders Program (now ceased) to reduce green house emissions. </div>
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Which begs the question that is often asked when companies take on green initiatives; is it a trend?</div>
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I recall the BMW 750 HL Hydrogen vehicle early in 2002. Car enthusiast or not, you could not help but wonder if this was a formidable step forward in a new age of car manufacturing adopting cleaner energy sources to power engines. Because after all, this was BMW, a major player. And it's influence many hoped would influence others.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The concept of modern renewable energy has existed since early 20th century (</span><a href="http://bit.ly/LCCuyr" style="line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">MIT Solar 1 House</a><span style="line-height: 19px;">, 1939). But we haven't seen an adoption like it as we've seen in the last decade. Perhaps it's the forward leap in other emerging technologies that have pushed us to consider the way we use energy, or maybe companies are seeing the perceptual benefits and financial savings from advocating sustainability. How long until this is regarded a conscious step forward for us and not a trend? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">What we have seen is continual funding. </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2010 was an specially </span><a href="http://bit.ly/K5w682" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">important year for green technology</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, in which the "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">US $243 billion was invested in wind farms, solar power, electric cars, and other alternative technologies worldwide."And while much can be said about government subsidies and the <a href="http://bit.ly/Ko2ZLE" target="_blank">Solyndra's</a> of the world, we can always point to many other examples of successful green programs like those at Hasbro.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">One thing that caught my interest about Hasbro is the specific goals they've set for their sustainability efforts; </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW09W27Mmtf4RDU2g7tgR-ixkdpriHLvQLsdK1wHHnwJIJ0XcoLN-J2DpHEj-uLI2Z1PWsSwR65V8i4w7JbNnHLoCF1dwXrNh7tTxXY6c-Fd0kIKWCK24JYzdkC_6vG2IJ69iSBCxZ_7aM/s1600/hasbro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW09W27Mmtf4RDU2g7tgR-ixkdpriHLvQLsdK1wHHnwJIJ0XcoLN-J2DpHEj-uLI2Z1PWsSwR65V8i4w7JbNnHLoCF1dwXrNh7tTxXY6c-Fd0kIKWCK24JYzdkC_6vG2IJ69iSBCxZ_7aM/s400/hasbro.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I really like the commitment major companies like Apple, Microsoft, NASCAR and Hasbro have pledged toward sustainability. We'll keep an eye out for others that are doing the same. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*More detailed information about the Hasbro environmental sustainability program <a href="http://bit.ly/KnZV2j" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div>
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</div>Arturohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15108263213114080287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-42816421786493724002012-05-26T20:28:00.003+02:002012-05-29T00:22:55.493+02:00NASCAR Takes A Green Lap With EPA<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This may seem like an odd pairing but we are certain that <a href="http://bit.ly/KUCoTy" target="_blank">NASCAR and the EPA</a> made great moves this past week when they announced a partnership with to build awareness for "<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">environmentally friendly products and solutions to address America’s environmental challenges."</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6SBcmDg-t9kR3F_sRajHdp1aIRZgJ1qe9ULxnUhFEmSI1T0BdNI84sexq_rroiCx1HmWZWwIPxbzQQdMxT_9uSvTzZKPHR_pfvvqN0bjvvGGYFJ5jN9efS0vpgEc8A6Cn7FB0O_qW0Na/s1600/NASCAR-GREEN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6SBcmDg-t9kR3F_sRajHdp1aIRZgJ1qe9ULxnUhFEmSI1T0BdNI84sexq_rroiCx1HmWZWwIPxbzQQdMxT_9uSvTzZKPHR_pfvvqN0bjvvGGYFJ5jN9efS0vpgEc8A6Cn7FB0O_qW0Na/s320/NASCAR-GREEN.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">EPA is set to help NASCAR spread awareness for a number of green programs including it's <a href="http://1.usa.gov/cpU7xS" target="_blank">Design for The Environment initiative</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Now, if any of this appears to be a little of a surprise you aren't alone. After all, this sport relies on the guzzling of an ethanol based fuel at about 4 MPG. It wouldn't be short sighted to suggest that NASCAR fans are probably not the influencer base for environmentally sound initiatives either, especially if they are driven by government agencies. But rest assured, this isn't the first NASCAR has stepped up to the plate to bat for green technology. Last month the new Ford Focus EV was used to set the pace at the </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Sprint Cup 400 series at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia. In 2010, 40,000 solar panels were installed over 25 acres at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. A number of other <a href="http://bit.ly/LxVnCJ" target="_blank">NASCAR green</a> tech programs have been launched in the past. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Given the nature of the sport, it may seem like simple awareness of green programs would not be enough of an input by NASCAR to count as a significant effort. But when taking into account the operational costs, massive number of fans at races (</span></span><span style="line-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Indianapolis seats around 250,000)</span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and logistical complexity of NASCAR events, there are few events outside of it that would benefit as much if they were to continually adopt more sustainable ways to run the sport. Additionally, if there is a base of sports fans traditionally resistant to green technology one need not look further than NASCAR fans. NASCAR, although wildly popular, is still considered a regional sport that has settled comfortably in the Southeast part of the US. Far from the influence and pressure to adopt sustainable technologies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">It will be interesting to see the evolution of the sport and if sustainability becomes easily engrained in it's development. Think better mass transportation for races for those 250,000 fans or expanding guidelines to allow for alternative fuels used in race cars. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">For the time being, this is great step forward. The awareness NASCAR will bring to the EPA is especially important because of the audience they are reaching. Serious adoption of sustainable technologies is something we are still waiting but excited to see.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">*Image borrowed from NASCAR GREEN.</span></span></div>Arturohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15108263213114080287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-54432447034398784822012-05-26T14:12:00.001+02:002012-05-26T14:12:29.942+02:00Electrifying idea on electrification of trucks by Siemens<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtM5m54zCzNxBC1w-XpNnL-VeLf674A0EHn4Ij_VJgufgLNo2Wrqk25Wm7vbQjMpfF8rpbw2efWdRy7pTFs6nHikc0WkZ98mqg9BSLyDZdfSl5TgPd5feyQ5qtPKtPVYqVH7AerZtZjHNE/s1600/image-351359-breitwandaufmacher-imfh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" qba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtM5m54zCzNxBC1w-XpNnL-VeLf674A0EHn4Ij_VJgufgLNo2Wrqk25Wm7vbQjMpfF8rpbw2efWdRy7pTFs6nHikc0WkZ98mqg9BSLyDZdfSl5TgPd5feyQ5qtPKtPVYqVH7AerZtZjHNE/s320/image-351359-breitwandaufmacher-imfh.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The <a href="http://bit.ly/KhW4DQ" target="_blank">26<sup>th</sup> International Electrical Vehicle Symposium</a>, held in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Los Angeles</place></city> from May 6<sup>th</sup> to May 9<sup>th</sup>, 2012 showcased new and innovative solutions to enable electrification of transport. </div>
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One idea we particularly liked dealt with electrification of truck transportation. While most new ideas focus on improving electrification for cars, trucks are often neglected. This is quite unfortunate as trucks are a serious contributor (roughly 29%) to CO2 emission related to transport.</div>
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Siemens, the German industry giant, is promoting a different approach to electrify trucks.</div>
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The concept introduced at the EVS in LA proposes a hybrid drive. This in itself is not new. However, instead of using a Diesel engine and a battery to save the energy generated, the trucks will get their electricity from overhead lines similar to the ones used for trams and trains.</div>
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As long as trucks are using streets equipped with overhead lines providing electricity, trucks are using electricity only. Once they leave the so-called e-Highways, the Diesel engine kicks in to generate electricity to keep the truck running on electricity.</div>
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Sounds like a promising idea. Unfortunately details such as how much such an infrastructure would cost and when it could be implemented are not available yet.</div>AKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12988556126807799642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935034715258723910.post-49135442594288506782012-05-24T20:40:00.001+02:002012-05-30T23:41:47.092+02:00The Tangibility of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe4yc2TODEIQ8K-bz1LslPnFk0RAAr639DhnFe5mlGiI8NI3e10PysIy9rS5iXPaCKyDyaF8Fvm5bxLZgEDkvhyeyVt9SqSesRSHivEQJ3yva6VvSBcUfnidnf3CoVvV___ppQbbpA8Dc/s1600/csr-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe4yc2TODEIQ8K-bz1LslPnFk0RAAr639DhnFe5mlGiI8NI3e10PysIy9rS5iXPaCKyDyaF8Fvm5bxLZgEDkvhyeyVt9SqSesRSHivEQJ3yva6VvSBcUfnidnf3CoVvV___ppQbbpA8Dc/s200/csr-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Although the huge trend in his favor, until the past decade. CSR was looked with some suspicious, especially by business people. CSR was faced just as a trend that could not really impact the way the companies do business.<br />
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Now things changed. Companies realized that CSR is not just a matter of image but is fundamental to the business survival in the market. Sustainability - to produce more and better products with fewer resources – is now real source to reduce costs and, consequently, increase profits.<br />
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In addition, the intangibility that in the past was linked with the word sustainability in the business world is becoming narrower. <a href="http://econ.st/LexOoD" target="_blank">Some companies</a> developed ways to measure the impact of sustainability on its operations turning more clear to the market the rules of the game.<br />
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The era in what CSR was more related with something mystic and intangible, which was used to give a green reputation to corporations, is over.<br />
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<br /></div>Guilhermehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437550825075561359noreply@blogger.com0