Guest Columns
Renewable Energy Projects On Tribal Lands: A Growing Trend
Tribal communities in the Southwestern United States are making renewable energy development on tribal lands a reality. Areas defined as “Indian country” [see the end of the article for a definition] are known to be rich with potential ...
Sustainability Boosts Returns for Private Equity Funds
Part I: Introduction to Environmentally-Driven Value Creation for General Partners
With the recent presidential campaign attention paid to Bain Capital, it seems likely that 2012 will be the year that Americans become better acquainted ...
What 2011 Taught Us about the Green Supply Chain (and What It Means for 2012)
As regular readers of Environmental Leader know, there was a blizzard of corporate sustainability news in 2011. There are lots of lessons to be learned from the prior year, and some important implications for 2012. Some of ...
Green Banking Part IV: Cutting Your Footprint and Your Costs
In Part III of our green banking series, we examined how from coal to real estate to small business lending, environmental, social, and governance underwriting criteria are a critical tool for banks to reduce risk ...
A Three-Part Approach to Corporate Sustainability
Sustainable development is a vast and all-encompassing idea, and corporate sustainability is nearly so. No corporate sustainability leader can hope to make their company "sustainable" in the next year—or even the next five. So as we think ahead ...
Financing Wind Ambitions: Offshore Wind Parks
Wind power is currently a highly relevant energy source, especially offshore wind. Within five years, offshore wind power plants are expected to account for approximately 20 percent of the entire wind-power market. Nevertheless, financing offshore wind projects faces ...
EPA’s Design for Environment (DfE) vs. ISO 14006:2011 for Eco-design
What's the difference?
How do DfE and the eco-design goal of ISO 14006:2011 compare? Someone asked me that and I realized some research was in order. Both DfE and ISO 14006:2011 are a systematic way to design less ...
The Business of Water
The world is dealing with a severe water crisis. Population growth and economic development continue to push water resources beyond natural limits, and demand will only continue to grow – projected to triple in the next 20 years. ...
Four Sustainability Trends to Watch in 2012
The worldwide movement toward sustainability has made significant progress over the past half-dozen years as companies and cities have pursued strategies that balance future and current societal needs. Now, sustainable development is entering a new phase, characterized ...
Where to Start with Reducing Indirect Carbon Emissions?
By definition, indirect carbon emissions are outside of a company's direct control, so reducing them can be challenging. According to research by Carbon Trust Advisory, 60% of multinational companies have yet to look at ...
Leveraging Internal Energy to Achieve Sustainability Success
As organizations are implementing environmental management or sustainability programs, results are mixed. Programs that are viewed as successes may be leaving quite a bit of opportunity on the table. Often, sustainability programs are seen as a bolt-on ...
How to Engage in Sustainability with Higher Purpose
Most of us who lead companies want to establish organizations and businesses that are sustainable for the long-run. We understand that our ability to achieve this goal is dependent on our stakeholders – especially our employees. ...
Downtime Means Time for Sustainability
This year I couldn't help but notice a trend. It's been happening the past few years and I believe its meaning is significant. Our busiest time – the period when we get the most inquiries, the most ...
Turbine Makers: Who’s Producing Most Efficiently?
Decarbonising Europe's energy use will create opportunities for manufacturers of low-carbon energy technologies, such as Vestas and General Electric. Their operational and upstream impacts will come under growing scrutiny as they compete on all-round energy and carbon ...
Case Study in Action, Partnerships That Turn Petroleum into a Renewable Resource
There are countless definitions of leadership, but perhaps among most resonant remains the explanation offered by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Albert Schweitzer. "Leadership," he mused, "is example."
As environmental leaders, we spend much of our time analyzing and ...
Five Reasons Why Ultracapacitors Are Attractive to Auto Manufacturers
Rising fuel prices, new impending corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations and rising consumer demand for fuel-efficient vehicle options mean auto manufacturers are looking for ways to green their products. Auto engineers have looked at options for shifting ...
Implementing a Universal Sustainability Scorecard: How Do Your Partners Measure Up?
As I have discussed frequently in this column, the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is facing a major shift in response to consumer demand for more sustainable products. Although it is easy for the average shopper to ...
Sustainable Musings for the New Year
Choice Items for the New Year
I've hit the pause button on the "Tools of the Trade" postings for the moment and, on the occasion of New Year, have included here a few items that seem ...
6 Signs that Mark the Path to Sustainable Road Design
The United States highway system puts Roman roads to shame as the largest public works project in the history of man. With an approximate cost of $425 billion, the government's reluctance to abandon the network of roads and ...
How Traffic Jams Affect Air Quality
No one will be surprised to learn that areas with the largest number of cars on the road see higher levels of air pollution on average. Motor vehicles are one of the largest sources of pollution worldwide. ...
Advertisers
Benchmark Your Company's Sustainability Goals
Custom research and advice on corporate sustainability and clean tech >>
Tesco Tackles Food Waste with Ethylene-Absorbing Strips
