Green Daily

Global warming and peak oil might sound nasty to you, but for some folks working on green technologies it sounds like "Ka-ching." With growing concern about CO2 from fossil fuels that may or may not be running out anyway, venture capitalists pumped a record $2.2 billion into cleantech last year, says a report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers entitled "Cleantech Comes of Age."

Much of the boom is focused on alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and biofuels with total investment in that area reaching $1.1 billion. However, pollution mitigation and recycling also attracted funding, with 29 recorded deals totalling over $202 million.

It'd be nice to think that the surge in interest in eco-friendly tech has to do with our collective consciences driving us to better stewardship of the planet, but we all know it's because oil is at $123 a barrel and rising, making alternative energy and straight-up conservation look a lot more attractive. But whatever the reason, it's all a step in the right direction.

via [Green Tech Blog]

You may have to wave goodbye to your ant farm - climate change may prove to be a more powerful pesticide than DDT. New research shows that even relatively minor fluctuations in temperature could have devastating effects on insects, especially in the world's tropical regions.

An article in the Independent quotes Curtis Deutsch, who co-authored the study to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, as saying that although temperatures are not expected to increase as much in the tropics as at the poles, even a 1C or 2C jump could be fatal for insects already surviving at their edge of their climactic comfort zone.

While that doesn't sound like it's all downside, especially for anyone who's been up north during blackfly season, the repercussions could be pretty ugly. Insects in warm climates are key to a healthy environment, pollinating flowers and plants, carrying away organic waste (read: eating crap) and serving as dinner for various birds and animals. If the bugs fail to adapt to a changing climate, the consequences will be felt all the way up the food chain.

When you and I holler about global warming, it may not mean much, but when a group of folks whose name is immortalized in the song "Puttin' on the Ritz" start complaining, people sit up and take notice.

A group of descendants of John D. Rockefeller, founder of ExxonMobil predecessor Standard Oil, are calling for a shake-up in management at the oil giant, saying that the company is "failing to address the future of energy". The family are apparently concerned about Exxon's late and reluctant conversion to climate change belief, and subsequent failure to do much about the issue.

The group is looking to have the jobs of Chairman and CEO, currently both held by Rex Tillerson, to be split into two separate roles. It's not known exactly how much Exxon stock the family actually owns, so it's unclear whether their request will have any impact.

As Earth Day transmogrifies from funky hippie-fest into mass-marketed secular holiday, there's been a lot of hand-wringing about business jumping on the eco-bandwagon. After all, isn't it the greedy corporations who mucked everything up in the first place with all their smokestacks and oil spills and whatnot? There's an idea that saving the planet requires shunning the ugly corrupt world of money and power, and focusing on composting our poo and planting herb gardens in old hub caps.

Unfortunately, that idea isn't just wrong, but dangerously so. As individuals, we lack the resources, (and generally the willpower) to do what it's going to take to slow down the oncoming freight train of environmental disaster. That's why this is the time to form partnerships, not draw battle lines; time to embrace the occasionally fumbling but often well-intentioned efforts of the corporate world.

If that sticks in your craw, consider the fact that unless you're living Unabomber style, you and yours have been sucking at the teat of big business for decades anyway, sticking your head in the sand as the planet got ripped apart in the quest for consumables. That's why you've got an iPhone and a freezer full of Lean Cuisine, while about a billion people around the planet are casting a hungry eye on the family goat.

The thing about greening up Information Technology is that apart from saving a polar bear or two, it usually entails using less power, less space, and less waste, which means...anyone? anyone? That's right, you over there in the pocket protector, it'll save money too. So if you currently are, or plan to become, the CIO of a major corporation, then InfoWorld has some useful tips on how you can feel ecofriendly while also helping the bottom line.

Among the suggestions:

• Desktop power management - Power management tools that automatically power down computers can save $50 per year per machine.
• Server virtualization - Many companies have servers that are underutilized because they're dedicated to a specific department or function. By combining and maximizing the use of each server, you save on hardware and energy.
• Document technology systems - Software is now available that automatically forces printing on two sides, or requires black and white only. No more employees printing out the family holiday card using expensive colour ink.
• Refurbished machines - Does everyone in the accounting department need a new and super-powerful machine? Of course not unless they're spending their days playing World of Warcraft, in which case you've got issues other than IT to deal with.

There you go - you just bought yourself a flight on the corporate jet.

So you arrive at college and life's a party; until exams come and bills start rolling in. Well, I can't help you with your exams, but I can offer some advice for your bill situation.

It seems obvious that setting up all of your bills to be delivered online rather than on paper is the greener option, but do you really know how much of a positive impact you'd be making?

According to a recent study, if one American household converts all of their bills and statements (on average about 19 per month), as well as payments (7 per month on average) from paper to online, 24 square feet of forest would be saved each year.

Not sure where to start, or why you should go to the trouble, aside from the pretty trees? Let's explore how to set up web transactions and what benefits they will bring.

There's still a myth in some businesses that green initiatives are something you do so that when Greenpeace turns up at your board meeting complaining about your latest oil spill or toxic baby food scandal, you can point to the half dozen trees you planted as proof of solid corporate citizenship.

However, research shows that being green has advantages way beyond image. Even if you're an evil company that doesn't care about the planet, fostering an eco-friendly attitude can be profitable.

A recent study by Brockmann and Co. found that when comparing organizations which were highly eco-aware with those who weren't, the greener firms had 3 times more customer satisfaction, 4.7 times more employee satisfaction, and 1.7 times more revenue per employee.

Greening up technology was a key driver in improving the overall score of a company, especially the use of videoconferencing instead of air travel when possible. However, factors such as effective recycling of waste, and encouraging employees to engage in environmentally responsible activities such as taking public transit play a big part as well.

With the high-tech and housing bubbles thoroughly popped, at least one pundit is looking to green technology as the next engine to keep the US economy running.

In an article in Harper's magazine last month, venture capitalist Eric Janszen says that the conventional business cycle is now toast, at least in the US, and that the struggling economy will require continual bubbling in order to avoid collapse. Given that large numbers of investors are unlikely to be driven into a speculative frenzy over, say, new pet foods or modern art, he sees the logical bubble developing in eco-friendly technologies.

Janszen says that "the gross market value of all enterprises needed to develop hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, nuclear energy, wind farms, solar power, and hydrogen-powered fuel-cell technology-and the infrastructure to support it-is somewhere between $2 trillion and $4 trillion" . He adds a further $12 trillion in "hyper-inflated fictitious value", i.e. speculative overvaluation that typically ends up in share prices and the six-car garages of investment bankers.

Keep in mind that Janszen doesn't seem to view another round of enthusiastic delusion and inflated asset pricing as all that desirable - just the only viable alternative to a disastrous economic crash. There's something whimsical yet terrifying about Janszen as he breezily discusses the need for hyper-inflated values while tossing off phrases like "When the bubble finally bursts, we will be left to mop up after yet another devastated industry. "

However, in a recent interview with Wired, he comes off as a little more optimistic, suggesting that a focus on green tech would not only keep Americans employed and relatively prosperous, but would provide obvious side benefits in a a post-oil, globally-warming world. And why not? Spending money on clean, efficient energy production and transportation systems should be at least as beneficial for the economy as 1000 acres of power-guzzling McMansions or a host of Internet porn sites.

When Wal-Mart refers to a new store it's opening in Las Vegas as being modeled after an HE. 5 prototype, we can truly be assured of the sophistication of our civilization.

In case you were wondering, the computer-age term refers to a design method that emphasizes integration between energy consumption and the environmental particulars of the Western U.S. (read: dry, desert-like conditions).

According to Wal-Mart's press release, the new HE. 5 store, which opens tomorrow, will feature, "advancements in heating, cooling, refrigeration and lighting to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

The green technology Wal-Mart proudly highlights is a temperature-control system that pumps water through roof-mounted cooling towers. In lieu of traditional air conditioning, it runs the roof-chilled water back underneath the retail floor.

According to the AP, the store will also incorporate, "innovations from the previous pilot stores that include recycling heat from refrigerators and combining low-power LED lights in freezer cases with sensors that turn off those lights when no customers are around."

Wal-Mart also added that the new HE. 5 store will use up to 45 percent less energy, "than the baseline Supercenter," which appears to mean it's gonna be totally, totally rockstar awesome.

Nintendo, Sony and Honda are three companies I don't associate immediately with social responsibility and "the enrichment of the natural environment." When someone says they're going to "enrich the natural environment" I wonder if they mean they'll be adding lead to the soil or planting flowers.

So take this for what you will, but green investing is a real possibility. Here are a few mutual funds that come recommended.

Amy Domini is an investment adviser and author. She's written books such as "Socially Responsible Investing" and runs the Domini Social Investments. She's got a couple of funds, such as Domini PacAsia Social Equity Fund and the European version of the aforementioned that pick companies by how they act in the global environment. Nintendo, Sony and Honda are three companies in her PacAsia portfolio.

The companies meet Domini Standards. While I'm sure this means something, my perusal of the pages netted a lot of rhetoric but not many specifics. Then again, how do pin down the terms of whether the Royal Bank of Scotland is socially responsible?

Sustainable Asset Management funds also tout their commitment to investing in companies that are mindful of the limits of our natural resources. The water fund and climate fund are both international funds that invest dollars with companies that either influence water demand or efficiency or reduce their carbon and nitrogen footprint.

The company is based in Zurich and launched in 1995. It also conducts its own research to assess the sustainability of the companies open for investment while also ensuring they'll turn a profit for investors.

More green investment options can be found on Environment News Network.

Would you pay more for carbon neutral shipping? DHL is offering a new service to its customers in the European and Asia Pacific service areas that attempts to make the package delivery business more carbon-conscious. it's called "GoGreen Express," and it basically gives customers a choice to pay a 3% rate hike in order to offset their package's carbon output.

GoGreen Express is latest of many announcements from shipping companies who are voluntarily greening their business model. For example, giants like Fedex, Coca Cola and UPS recently announced that they were buying hybrid delivery trucks for their North American operations. While DHL has yet to announce a switch when it comes to their trucks, the new GoGreen program will invest the 3% surcharge in 1 of 3 carbon friendly schemes: fuel vehicle technology, refortestation, solar panels.

All of the offsets will be overseen by the Swiss certification company, Societe Generale de Surveillance to ensure the effectiveness and transparency of the program. It makes me feel left out that we don't get the option yet in the US. You'd think it would be a good way to differentiate their brand from the big 2. Hopefully, DHL will roll out the GoGreen service in North America soon.

[via AutoBlogGreen]

Even though "yuppie" seems like a bona fide word now, somebody just made it up out of clean air (or smog) back in the eighties. Somebody else, a financial planner named Chuck Failla to be specific, wants to put the word "scuppie" into regular circulation. SCUPPIE stands for "Socially Conscious Upwardly-mobile Person" (I guess "Scumpie" didn't sound quite as good).

Failla argues that it's time for a new designation for the people who are successful, yet caring, sort of the opposite of the prototypical selfish eighties yuppie. Instead of being focused on yuppie accoutrements like yachts, power suits, and pearls, scuppies are interested in solar panels, Priuses (Prii?) and expensive organic cotton outfits. Of course, scuppies, like yuppies, care about what other people think; that's why it's important that their do-gooding be obvious.

Failla is convinced the nation is crying out for this new vocab, and plans to publish a Scuppie Handbook sometime soon. He's already got www.scuppie.com up and running. What do you think? Will "scuppie" stick, or will it be another "grupster"?

The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development has released a report saying that one way or another we're going to pay for climate change, and it'll be cheaper if we do it now rather than later.

The bad news is that greenhouse emissions are going to go up no matter what we do, as much as 37% by 2030 if no action is taken. Needless to say, the consequences of a jump of that magnitude will include more wacky weather, water and food shortages, and other kinds of climate change unpleasantness with which we're already becoming familiar. However, the report estimates that the rise could be held to 12% if countries worked together to implement changes like "green" taxes, emissions trading, and more stringent regulation on heavily polluting industries.

Going to the root of the problem which bedevilled the Bali Climate Change Conference, the report says that it isn't enough for industrialized nations to limit their emissions, while developing countries go CO2-crazy in the pursuit of economic growth. It points out that by 2030, greenhouse gases from Brazil, China, India, and Russia are expected to be greater than that of all 30 OECD members combined, and suggests that the costs of reducing emissions be shared "fairly". That would include wealthier countries helping poorer ones by providing green technology and expertise to help them advance on a low carbon track.

The OECD is essentially a club of rich nations and wannabes, so the insistence on equal participation could reflect a little bit of self-interest. However, the group isn't especially known for its treehuggerish tendencies, so a warning from them is something governments might want to take seriously.

Are solar panels really worth their eco-footprint? The debate on small-scale renewable energy devices continues to go back and forth as we, the consumers, try do determine whether we're doing harm or good by investing in these nascent technologies. While a professor at UC Berkeley says that solar panels -- in their current form -- are really nothing but a financial sinkhole, Vasilis M. Fthenakis of Brookhaven National Laboratory gives solar manufacturing two green thumbs up.

The environmental impact of producing the 3 main types of photovoltaic cells is relatively small -- the greenest being the thin-film cadmium telluride cells. These findings are based on a PV cell's lifecycle analysis, not on their viability as a mass energy source. Per GWh, solar panels produce far less emissions than a typical power source like coal. In other words, if all of our power magically came from solar panels, it would reduce our nation's energy emissions by 89%.

That said, a solar setup costs around $90,000 to install and produces a whopping $19,000 - $51,000 worth of electricity over its lifetime. That's not exactly the kind of equation that makes me want to run to the bank and get a loan.

News from Portfolio.com on "The Green 11," eleven of the most eco-friendly corporations in the United States.

Whole Foods and Organic Valley, a major producer of organic products, made the cut.

What? Fun people like surprises? Okay.

Well...Bank of America topped the list! Maybe that's because the list was alphabetical, or because an internal recycling program the bank sponsors saves, "the equivalent of more than 200,000 trees a year."

DuPont also merited inclusion, since it's done work to reduce pollution, and because it hired a Paul Gilding, a former head of Greenpeace, as a consultant.

Wal-Mart, too, earned praise -- it seems to be coasting towards ultra-green. Portfolio gets credit for noting irony.