British PM Says Investment in the Green Economy is a Competitive Necessity

On February 4, 2013, British Prime Minister David Cameron made a speech in which he spoke to the competitive necessity of his government's investments in the green economy. Speaking at the official launch of the Department of Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) new Energy Efficiency Mission, Cameron boldly addressed his critics by saying

"So to those who say we just can't afford to prioritize green energy right now, my view is we can't afford not to. Far from being a drag on growth, making our energy sources more sustainable, our energy consumption more efficient and our economy more resilient to energy price shocks – those things are a vital part of the growth and wealth that we need."

The Future of Integrated Sustainability Reporting

Corporate transparency is moving towards an integrated report in which financial and non-financial performance are tied together and articulated in a single document. Although as yet there is no formal standard as to what constitutes an integrated report, it is becoming clear that the sustainability reporting benefits a company. Research shows that financial markets reward those companies that engage in sustainable behavior and comprehensive disclosure.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting: To Disclose or Not to Disclose

Although there is more public pressure to disclose information, that does not mean everyone wants to comply. While many companies have committed to greater transparency, others believe greater transparency provides too much information to detractors and competitors.

As explained in a triple Pundit article by Robert Ludke, the Managing Director of Public Strategies, sustainability reporting is the better option.

While there are undeniably risks associated with disclosure, by presenting reports, a company or organization is able to set the terms of the discussion about how these materials are provided to the public.

Sustainability Offers a Competitive Advantage & Better ROI

According to the 2012 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) report, sustainability makes companies more competitive and offers investors better returns. This is driving an increasing number of publicly traded companies to embrace sustainability as part of their long-term strategy to combat climate change. The CDP gathers information for investors about the environmental policies of large companies and the environmental risks they face. The CDP has created an index to recognize the world's best companies called the Carbon Performance Leadership Index (CPLI). The companies that make it onto these lists tend to generate superior returns for investors.

"Our focus is less on payback periods and more on targeting environmental investments to be 'value positive," Deirdre Mahlan, Diageo's CFO, said. "It is insufficient, and even irresponsible, to consider only short term payback when making investment decisions."

The Free-Market Case for Sustainability from a Skeptic (Video)

Free market capitalist, libertarian, and green advocate T. J. Rodgers is neither a Democrat nor a Republican, yet he enthusiastically makes the business case for companies cashing in on renewable energy like solar power. He has demonstrated through his own experience and the experience of his company (Sunpower) that going green is fiscally responsible. Rodgers is even receptive to President Obama's take on cap-and-trade. What makes his approach particularly interesting is the fact that his advocacy does not engage the environmental argument, rather he argues the case for green based upon the benefits provided to business.

Historic Opportunities in the Green Economy

We have the means to reinvigorate the economy, create millions of jobs, increase energy security and open up vast new exports markets. If we are to keep carbon concentrations below 450ppm, we can anticipate clean energy investments exceeding $13 trillion over the next two decades. These investments lower energy costs and directly benefit manufacturers of cleaner cars, cleaner fuels, cleaner power and companies involved in improving industrial, power plant, and building efficiency.

While the clean energy industry offers significant growth opportunities, to capitalize on this historic opportunity we need comprehensive energy and climate legislation. Such legislation can create 1.9 million new clean energy jobs in the US by 2020. Globally the new green economy could generate 15 to 60 million additional jobs over the next two decades.

Bridging the Gap: A Financial Approach to Sustainability (White Paper)

"Do good and you will do well!" pundits and companies often assert. While the tagline sounds great, the reality is that many companies struggle to connect sustainability with core business goals such as increasing sales, reducing costs, or reducing risks. As a result, sustainability departments are often seen as tangential to the core business, and annual CSR reports are mostly filled with anecdotal feel good stories. More often than not, environmental impacts, costs, and risks are mostly hidden and do not show up in companies' main accounting systems. As long as a CFO or Procurement Officer does not have visibility on such costs and risks in financial terms, the environment will at best remain a Chief Sustainability Officer issue.

Slash Energy Cost & Reduce Budget Uncertainty

Here is a white paper on energy for big retailers sponsored by Verisae and published by Environmental Leader. In this special report you can discover energy management ideas tailored to the business of big retailers. New-store design, refurbs and retrofits may present the biggest and most obvious opportunities to make dramatic, long-lasting improvements in energy efficiency and budget certainty. But the weak economy has caused most retailers to cut way back on such projects. Energy-cost reductions can make a big difference for your company’s financial performance. After payroll, energy is among the largest operating costs for any grocery retailer. In fact, energy cost may amount to roughly half or more of net profit. A 10% reduction of energy cost can increase net profit by 5% to 10%. To download the white paper see below.

Video: The Financial Opportunities from Sustainability

In this video Sarah Slaughter, the Associate Director for Buildings and Infrastructure at MIT, address the challenge of sustainability. Many organizations feel overwhelmed by the prospect of being more sustainable. Slaughter addresses the question of who needs to be at the table to build a Sustainability strategy. Sustainability is an important issue for communities and government officials, but is is also a key part of what CFOs need to consider when looking at risks and opportunities. As Slaughter says, if CFOs can find new ways and new products and new services that provide new market opportunities, it's like found money on the sidewalk.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Video: Sustainability is Driving Competitiveness

According to National Business Initiative (NBI) program manager Steve Nicholls, Environmental sustainability is an important business driver for competitiveness.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Video: Sustainability...Your Competitive Advantage

Caterpillar Sustainable Development Manager John Disharoon presented "Sustainability...Your Competitive Advantage" daily from the stage in Generations Park at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

ISO Standards and Greener Vehicles

ISO is working to support cleaner cars because they understand that the future is about fuel-efficient, low or no emission vehicles. ISO standards for the automotive industry cover environmental considerations but they also cover things like safety, ergonomics, performance, test methods, and the roll-out of innovative technologies. These standards help to make new automotive technologies ecological, efficient, safe and effective.

Standards are being adapted to the new challenges of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). These new standards cover issues like safety from electric hazards, on-board rechargeable energy store systems and protection against failures.

The ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have reached an updated agreement concerning the standardization of road vehicles. The Agreement Concerning the Standardization of Road Vehicles improves cooperation on standards for electric vehicles and automotive electronics. As revealed in the agreement, ISO is helping to plug these technologies into the electricity supply infrastructure, also known as the grid.

ISO 15118 deals with the interface between electric vehicles and the grid, including communication links and protocols.

ISO committes are currently working on standards for electric vehicles and extensions of existing standards. A committe known as ISO/TC 22 is developing standards for electric vehicles and the extension of ISO 6469 seeks to ensure the safe handling of electric vehicles.

Also under development is ISO 12405, which provides test specifications for lithium-Ion traction battery systems.

ISO is providing an internationally recognized approach that will help to further the growth of greener vehicles.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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ISO 14001 Certification in the Solar Sector

A number of green companies have sought ISO 14001 environmental management certification including those associated with solar power.

Satelite solar panel maker AXT Inc. is committed to environmental protection and positive corporate citizenship. In 2006, they were certified as ISO 14001:2004.

A German manufacturer of photo-voltaics known as Q-Cells, is also ISO certified. The company earned ISO 9001:2000 certification and ISO 14001:2004 certification. Q-Cells is the world`s second largest maker of PV cells, after Sharp of Japan.

The Swiss connector manufacturer, Multi-Contact, which provides electrical connectors to the photovoltaic industry, recently achieved DIN ISO 14001 certification. The company uses resource saving MC Multilam Technology. With the MC3 and MC4 connector systems, Multi-Contact is leading in the Photovoltaic sector worldwide. With successful ISO 14001 certification the company has strengthened its sustainable positioning.

With the help of ISO certifcation, companies in the solar sector are integrating ecology into their management, processes and practices.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The Implications of ISO 50001 for Your Business

To help businesses understand the implications of the new energy oriented ISO series, GreenBiz.com gathered a panel of energy and sustainability executives for a webinar titled, "ISO 50001: Preparing for the New Energy Management Standard."

The business community is increasingly adopting sustainable practices to decrease costs, reduce environmental impacts and add value. Energy management is central to these efforts. According to panelists Bill Allemon, vice president of Energy Management Services at ARCADIS U.S. what distinguishes the new ISO standard is its reach and range.

Other panelists include Don Macdonald, director of Sustainability Business Development of UL DQS Inc., and Kelly Smith, Global Energy and Sustainability program manager for Johnson Controls Inc.. The discussion was moderated by GreenBiz Executive Editor Joel Makower.

Allemon said, "the standard gives you the tools and basics, and if you want to, you can go all the way to certification." Smith of Johnson Controls noted that the standard can be applied to a single facility or building within a company and be used across an organization.ISO 50001 provides a systematic comprehensive approach for continuous improvement and an emphasis on performance management which are essential for development of sustainable organizations, Macdonald said."Energy is a corporation's 'currency,' " said Macdonald, pointing to a failure to value energy as organizational currency as a key barrier to improving energy management. Other barriers he cited include:

-Absence of continuous monitoring, metrics and performance management.
-Initial costs more important than recurring costs.
-Disconnect between capital and operating budgets.
-Immature sustainability culture.
-Shareholder focus on production rather than efficient use of resources.
-Failure to embed deep process quality management systems in an organization.

The panelists' presentations and their discussion are available in a GreenBiz webinar which can be downloaded free with registration.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard

The International Standards Organization (ISO) is developing a guideline for energy management known as 50001 which will be published in the third quarter 2011. ISO 50001 is designed to help organizations improve their energy performance, increase energy efficiency and reduce climate change impacts.

ISO has identified energy management as a priority area meriting the development and promotion of international standards. Effective energy management is a priority focus because of the significant potential to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide.

The new energy guideline establish a framework for energy management systems for buildings, industrial plants, commercial facilities and utilities. ISO 50001's broad applicability across national economic sectors, it is estimated that the standard could influence up to 60 percent of the world’s energy use.

ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard is based on the common elements found in all of ISO’s management system standards. It is entirely compatibility with ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management).

ISO 50001 will provide a framework for integrating energy efficiency into management practices. It will make better use of existing energy-consuming assets, as well as provide benchmarking, measuring, documenting, and reporting of energy intensity improvements and their projected impact on reductions in GHG emissions

ISO 50001 will provide energy management best practices and good energy management behaviors. It will also supports transparency and communication on the management of energy resources. Evaluating and prioritizing the implementation of new energy-efficient technologies are important part of the framework that also promotes energy efficiency throughout the supply chain and energy management improvements in the context of GHG emission reduction projects.

ISO 50001 is being developed by ISO project committee ISO/PC 242, Energy management, whose Chair, Edwin Piñero, has said of the new series of guidelines, “Everyday, organizations all over the world deal with issues such as energy supply availability, reliability, climate change, and resource depletion. A critical element in addressing these issues is how effectively an organization manages its energy use."

“ISO 50001 provides a proven model that helps organizations systematically plan and manage their energy use. With a strong focus on performance and continual improvement, ISO 50001 will contribute to enhanced energy efficiency and prudent energy use. An extremely high level of consensus drove our committee’s fast progress toward publication - proof that the world needs and wants this standard.”

Roland Risser, Chair of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO/PC 242, and Manager of the Building Technologies Program at the U.S. Department of Energy, underlines that, “This new International Standard provides the structural framework for commercial and industrial companies to continually improve their energy intensity - saving money, improving competitiveness and reducing pollution. When companies can link efficiency to profitability, that’s a win-win.”

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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China's Green Investments and Growing Economic Preeminence

Companies operating in China are seeing a wealth of opportunities in the green sector as are investors. However, Chinese government investments are driving even greater opportunities on the horizon.

In 2010, China surpassed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy. In three-decades China has emerged from Communist isolation to global superpower. China is also leading the world in its support for a green economy.

Domestically China has lifted 300 million citizens out of poverty. Globally China has helped lift the world out of recession. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, China's “double-digit” expansion was responsible for a third of global growth in 2010. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report on Oct 6, 2010 that China's growth was projected to be 10.5 percent in 2010 and in 2011 growth is projected to be 9.6 percent.

China has even overtaken the US as the world's biggest automobile market. It is also increasingly leading the world in technological innovation and new patents. China is already the world leader in wind and solar energy manufacturing, firmly establishing its global dominance in cleantech.

China’s clean-energy success is due to the same factors that made it a manufacturing leader, low labor and construction costs, expanding universities that produce large numbers of engineers and technicians, improving telecommunication and transport systems.

The green market is destined to be the single biggest economic trend of the twenty-first century and China's leadership is cementing the nation's role as the world's green leader. China's green market investments will soon propel that nation ahead of the US as the world's pre-eminent economic power.

PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a January 2011 report that China is on course to overtake the US as the world’s largest economy around 2020. Ten years from now a waning superpower may look back and realize that Chinese government investments provided the edge that enabled China to out-compete America.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The Chinese Government is Investing in Clean Energy while the US Congress Dithers

In January, Chinese President Hu Jintao came to Washington on an official state visit. In a joint statement President Obama and President Hu said that they "view climate change and energy security as two of the greatest challenges of our time."

During a press conference, President Obama said, “I believe that as the two largest energy consumers and emitters of greenhouses gases, the United States and China have a responsibility to combat climate change by building on the progress at Copenhagen and Cancun, and showing the way to a clean energy future. And President Hu indicated that he agrees with me on this issue.”

With a 2009 investment of $34.6 billion (US), a 2010 study by Pew Charitable Trust considers China to be the world's leading country in clean energy financing. Due to China's domestic policies that promote the use of renewable energy, China's investment and financing for clean energy is almost double America's $18.6 billion (US). The Pew study said countries like China, Brazil, the UK, Germany and Spain that have "strong, national policies aimed at reducing global warming pollution and incentivizing the use of renewable energy are establishing stronger competitive positions in the clean energy economy."

According to a 2010 International Energy Agency report, Chinese energy consumption has doubled over the past decade, and will soar 75 percent by 2035, accounting for more than a third of total global consumption growth. To help meet this demand, China is aggressively investing in renewable sources of energy.

China's need for energy will transform the global clean energy landscape, dramatically expanding markets for clean technologies and prompting major state investments in low-carbon energy alternatives. China has become the world's most vibrant market for a range of green economy technology including renewable energy, high-speed rail, smart grid technologies, and even a growing domestic market for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

China has also set ambitious targets of 100 gigawatts of wind power and 20 gigawatts of solar by 2020. Each target is supported by feed-in tariffs and other financial incentives for renewable energy projects, and in 2009, China surpassed the United States as the world's largest market for wind power.

China is also the world's largest solar cell manufacturer with an annual output of 4,382 MW and the number is still increasing. The current yearly output of solar cells in Jiangsu Province alone accounts for 25% of global output.

China's planned investment in the clean tech market amounts to $740 billion or 5 trillion yuan while the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has allotted less than 5 percent of that amount to clean tech.

Despite a wealth of bilateral engagements and coordination between the two leaders, America is not competing on the same footing in clean tech. The current American energy policy can only be defined as stupid. While the Chinese government is making massive investments, a climate denying Congress ensures that the US will continue to fall behind in the clean technology race.


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Video Trailer: Revenge of the Electric Car

In 2006, as many as 5,000 modern electric cars were destroyed by the major car companies that built them. Today, less than 5 years later, the electric car is back... with a vengeance.

This video clip is the official trailer from the movie "Revenge of the Electric Car," the much anticipated follow up to the disturbing movie "Who Killed the Electric Car," the story of how big auto crushed the EV.

With almost every major car maker now jumping to produce new electric models, Revenge follows the race to be the first, the best, and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world. It’s not just the next generation of green cars that’s on the line. It’s the future of the automobile itself.

Revenge of the Electric Car goes behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and Tesla to find the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. This new generation of car is faster and cleaner than ever.

The movie features interviews with Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, GM’s Bob Lutz, The New York Time’s Tom Friedman, and various other analysts, entrepreneurs and auto makers. The movie will be launched in Spring 2011.

To have the film screened near you go to the film's official site.


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Video: Chevrolet Volt Test Drive

Both Motor Trend and Automobile magazines joined Green Car Journal in naming the Chevrolet Volt the 2011 car of the year. The Volt is touted as one of the greenest cars on the market. This video reviews the efficiency instruments in the Volt. Mobile applications give you remote access to your car, including remote starting and charge monitoring. On the right of dashboard there's a floating ball that glows green when you're driving efficiently then turns a fiery orange when you are taxing the power plant.

A friendly horn, which is quieter than a regular horn, is designed to warn pedestrians who may not hear you due to the lack of noise from the electric engine. While most electric cars have a good deal of low end torque, the Volt has a sport button that delivers more power to provide rapid acceleration (0-60 in 9 seconds). This is considerably faster acceleration than the industry leading Prius.

The Volt has many of the qualities of an electric car, but due to its gas engine, drivers do not need to be concerned about electric refueling.

Although it costs more than a Toyota Prius or a Ford Fusion Hybrid and almost twice the price of the Nissan Leaf, the Volt offers some appealing advantages. The ride feels rock solid, yet it is also light and responsive. While the Volt looks good, some have criticized the fact that it lacks character for such a revolutionary vehicle.


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Video: Chevrolet Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf

The choice between the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf comes down to a vehicle that does not burn fossil fuels and one that does not come with the fear that you will run out of electric charge.

Both are greener cars, but as the Leaf is an entirely electric powered car, there are no emissions and it is therefore more sustainable. Although the Volt is more expensive, it has a gas engine for trips greater than 40 miles. The fear that you will run out of charge is known as "range anxiety," and for the Leaf this is a valid concern.

While the Leaf is a zero emission car and therefore more sustainable than the Volt, for those who need more than the 100 mile range offered by the Leaf, this car will prove impractical.


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