Environment Blog- April

Earth Day
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Companies are going all out with their green ideas and  oodles of useful information on recycling, reuseability, etc.

Verizon Wireless is offering customers tips on how they can celebrate the Earth Day. Newsweek readers can receive a reusable tote bag by turning the cover of the April 14 issue into an envelope they can use to send old plastic bags to Target.

Office Depot is all set to launch a new brand on Earth Day called "Office Depot Green" that will specialize in green products.

The company will also start programs for small businesses that will offer strategies and tips for energy efficiency. Designer Kelly LaPlante will set up a site later this year that will grade the greenness of building materials.

Some of the company's prudent steps to reduce its carbon footprint include swapping high-output fluorescents with regular bulbs and testing out low-emission vehicles for deliveries and building a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building in Austin, Texas.

 

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Al Gore’s Vision : forced change and meaningful political action
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Al Gore’s brainwave on the $300m advertising campaign in the US is sure to ignite strong emotions and spark a debate about climate change among the presidential candidates. 

TV adverts might seem very banal for something as urgent and serious as this, but these ads can certainly be expected to move people and raise their interest level on this issue.

Apart from the powerful message, the ads are remarkable for getting political figures with diametrically opposite ideologies and viewpoints to come together expressing their collective wish for some political action on the climate change issue. This time around, probably, there’s a greater chance of causing a huge stir.

Anyone who feels inspired to act by these ads is invited to join Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection which aims to mobilise 10m volunteers to call for political action on climate change.

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Environment tops utilities execs' concerns, reveals survey results
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Researcher Platts and consulting firm Capgemini have published the results of a survey on the biggest concerns of 100 executives from the utilities industry.

Environment and greenhouse gas regulations top the worry list of executives. Global warming, climate change, and carbon emissions were the top environmental issues for 77 percent of the participants. Ninety-five percent of respondents said the industry's awareness of and response to environment has improved since 2006.   

Energy utility executives are already preparing, even though there are no federal regulations to restrict greenhouse gas emissions.

There is a much higher awareness of global warming and carbon emissions in the general public, which utilities feel necessary to respond to, said John Christiens, vice president of Capgemini's energy and utilities practice.

They are looking seriously at energy efficiency technologies including cleaner-burning techniques and storing carbon emissions underground, while exploring the expanded use of nuclear power and renewable sources of electricity, such as solar and wind. They are preparing to adopt advanced metering technology and smart grid infrastructure as this will enable them to curtail electricity use during peak times of the day.

On the issue of deregulation, the respondents did not arrive at a consensus, with utilities predicting that there could be more or less.

Dealing with an aging workforce was also one of the top five concerns of utilities.

"There's a lot of people talking about a carbon tax, or talking about a carbon cap and trade system, so many executives think the carbon trading will be a reality very soon," said Christiens. He also added that there will have to be investments made in carbon technologies as well.

The aging workforce was also one of the top five concerns of utilities.

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