FEATURES AND NEWS
European ministers plan to cut overall carbon dioxide emissions 20 percent by 2020, adding that they were ready to go to 30 percent if other industrialized nations matched their efforts, The Globe and Mail reports. EU members still need to agree on what cuts each country must make in order for the EU to reach that goal.
The official announcement for the Live Earth concerts has taken place with the news that MSN Network, in partnership with Kevin Wall, executive producer of Live 8 and CEO of the Control Room, have launched Save Our Selves (SOS) - The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis. Platforms include television, film, radio, the Internet and, the campaign's cornerstone, Live Earth,
European business leaders think that protecting the environment should be the number one priority for global political leaders, placing this policy area ahead of sustaining economic growth or securing future energy supplies, according to the UPS Europe Business Monitor. When asked which issues should be the highest on global political leaders' list of priorities...
WEA, the U.S. sales and distribution company of Warner Music Group, says (via Ecorazzi) that by the end of March, it will use ecologically-enhanced paper packaging for its standard CD and DVD products in the U.S...
Continuum Partners, the Denver-based Belmar, a mixed-use project that combines retailers, boutiques, restaurants, cafes, theatres, offices, residences, artist studios, parks and plazas, is already using wind turbines on top of street lights, solar-powered parking meters, and energy-efficient building techniques, Rocky Mountain News reports. Now, the developer is planning to incorporate...
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The Delaware Energy Office has launched "Energy An$wers for Business," a program that provides financial incentives to install products that save electricity, as well as develop habits that conserve electricity, Delaware Online reports. A business can apply for up to...
GE Energy will supply 300 1.5-megawatt wind turbines to Noble Environmental Power. The company will use the new GE turbines for the second phases of the Bliss Windpark, located in Wyoming County in western New York; and the Clinton Windpark, located in Clinton County in northern New York. As of Dec. 31, 2006, the state's installed wind energy capacity stood
The National Association of Manufacturers has unveiled an energy strategy, "Energy Security for American Competitiveness," that the organization says is designed to diversify the nation's energy mix and lay a foundation for meeting the nation's energy needs in the future...
Bob Langert, Vice President for Corporate Social Responsibility at McDonald's has posted his "Top Ten Lessons Learned on CSR Strategy, Partnerships, and Policy Development" on his blog. Here's an abbreviated version: Don't stereotype NGOs. Most are...
Companies are embracing CSR practices because they believe such strategies can be profitable and socially responsible, according to a story in USA Today (via Gil Friend). Christine Arena, a San Francisco business consultant, Natural Logic associate, and author of The High-Purpose Company, says more corporations are using CSR not for feel-good philanthropy or to polish their public image, but as
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U.S. data centers and their associated infrastructure consumed five million kW of energy in 2005, the equivalent of five 1,000 MW power plants, according to Randy Allen, corporate vice president, Server and Workstation Division, AMD, revealing findings from a report (PDF) that measures the energy consumed by national and global data centers annually. That five million kW of energy use
The nation’s two leading containerports, San Pedro Bay ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, have issued a joint Request for Proposals for a new liquefied natural gas truck program. The effort is a component of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan approved last November. A LNG-powered truck fleet could reduce particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen
Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Ken Salazar (D-CO) have introduced legislation that they hope will stimulate investment in solar power. The bill (S. 590, the Securing America’s Energy Independence Act) would extend and expand solar energy investment tax credits for homeowners and businesses through 2016. Under current law, the credits are set to expire at the end of next year.
General Motors and Governor Bill Ritter's Colorado E85 Coalition today announced plans for the addition of forty new E85 ethanol fueling locations to be opened throughout the state by the end of 2007. The new fueling locations will be promoted by GM as part of a broader, ongoing national GM campaign to boost the use and awareness of ethanol-based E85
Sony Electronics has committed to joining the Chicago Climate Exchange, North America’s only voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction, registry and trading program. Specific committments to CCX were not addressed, but according to the Exchange's statement (PDF), "Sony has outlined several goals for global environmental efforts through its Green Management 2010...
The office in the U.S. Department of Energy that opened last summer to provide federal loan guarantees for producing clean energy and innovative technologies has only one employee who hasn't had time to do more than open the mail, The San Jose Mercury News reports. Pre-applications for loan guarantees simply get...
p>CRO magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens list is led, for the second year in a row, by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Green Mountain has been among the top 10 companies on the list for five years running. The list identifies companies that excel at serving a variety of stakeholders well. The list is drawn from more than 1,100 of the
GE Energy Financial Services has announced that it is investing $270 million in wind farms in California, Illinois, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, Business Week reports. In addition, yesterday, the company announced it would sell 165-megawatt wind farms in Germany for 5.2 million shares of Theolia, a Paris-based company that generates electricity from wind power. GE Energy Financial Services also purchased
Five power companies have issued an RFP seeking greenhouse gas offset proposals for more than 10 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions sourced from projects within the U.S. The Greenhouse gas offsets are for compliance with current and future mandatory climate change policies as well as for use to attain corporate emission reduction goals. This is likely the largest offset
Sir Richard Branson has floated the idea of Virgin Media making a move into utilities so that customers could receive a single monthly bill for all services to their homes, The Telegraph reports. According to the article, Branson thinks that adding utilities to its cable television, fixed and mobile telephones and broadband internet, could prove attractive to customers because they
Companies whose bottom lines will be affected by the results of global warming are already finding it necessary to change the way they do business, Green Options reports (via Grist). Just a few examples: Diavik Diamond Mines of Canada, is paying more money to transport materials by helicopter, rather than relying on melting Arctic ice bridges to move equipment. Allstate
A new report from the Alliance to Save Energy says computer data centers offer an important area for increasing the nation’s energy efficiency and notes policies and measures that could help mitigate the energy used by this emerging sector. Energy Efficiency in Data Centers: A New Policy Frontier says the thousands of high-density data centers nationwide that house some 10
p>Sixty-seven percent of China's solar panel manufacturers plan to raise export prices in 2007, according to Global Sources' China Sourcing Report: Solar Panels. "Solar cell prices, which have increased by about US$0.30 per watt in the past two years, are expected to rise further, driving the cost of solar panels higher," said Global Sources general manager of Content Development, Michael
GM of Canada has come up with an interesting marketing campaign. The automaker has provided Saturn VUE Green Line hybrids to 16 Toronto-area florists that they can drive while delivering Valentine's Day flowers. To promote the VUE Green Line's efficiency (20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, the florists are offering various 20 percent discounts...
The American Council On Renewable Energy has released a standard form contract for national trading of Renewable Energy Certificates. The contract is intended as infrastructure to help buyers and sellers transact, foster market...