Last fall, Industry Week ran a good article on getting the green light that outlined some good ways to go green and save green at the end of the article that I haven’t covered yet, and in one case, even thought about before. Cutting right to the chase:

• Install Alternate Power Units (APUs) in Private fleets

  for heaters, air conditioners, etc. in sleeper units. This can cut engine idling time by up to 80%.

• Efficiently Route and Load Transportation
  Reduce out of route and empty miles, increase cube utilization, and emphasize multi-stop shipments.
• Near-Source Air-Intensive Components
  If you receive plastic bottles or packaging in un-blown, test-tube format, blow them into shape on-site, reducing the number of truckloads required to deliver the bottles or packing to the plant by up to 90%.

For more ideas, see the article.

March ended with the introduction of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (registration required) by representatives Edward Markey and Henry Waxman, as outlined in this recent article on Green Logistics in Logistics Management.

The act, which currently calls for:

• a reduction of emissions by 20% below 2005 levels by 2020,
• a low-carbon transportation fuel standard,
• a focus on transportation efficiency that would order the EPA to set emission standards for locomotives and marine vessels, and
• authorization of the EPA to carry out the SmartWay Transportation Efficiency Program to increase the efficiency of highway transportation

would go a long way to tackling the significant amount of climate change emissions which is a direct result of global shipping.

After all, as I pointed out in What’s Worse? The Personal Automobile or 15 Container Ships, a single giant container ship can emit the same amount of cancer and asthma-causing chemicals as 50 Million cars in the course of a year. And while some will try and argue that it’s not fair to compare a container ship against an automobile, and have a valid point as they are in two separate vehicle categories, I’d like to point out that I don’t think it’s fair that our cars are regulated to the point where the air exiting our vehicle (after going through mandatory catalytic converters) is cleaner than the air entering our vehicles in a big city like Los Angels while there are no regulations (at all) on container ships that collectively spew 6,000 times the emissions of every single automobile on the planet. That’s right … the ocean shipping industry alone is 6,000 times as damaging as the personal automobile industry. (That’s right … you could drive that Hummer till you drop and still not make a noticeable contribution to global warming relative to the shipping industry.)

And I’m getting fed up of business and media and environmental action groups trying to blame the consumer when all the studies I’m reading on energy waste and pollution clearly demonstrate that big industry, often completely unregulated, is 10 times, 100 times, and sometimes 1000 times, as damaging as the common man who, in this day of age, is starting to realize that there’s a more important green than the money in our wallets.

I’m not saying I’m not willing to do my part, or that we shouldn’t do everything we can to be green, but that it’s time we insist that big industry be held accountable for their actions as well.  It’s only fair that everyone takes equal responsibility.

An article from a recent issue of Material Handling Management, which proclaimed that All Roads Lead to Savings, outlined nine ways that you can save energy, and money. So next time you’re looking to cut the energy bill, in addition to sourcing that next energy contract, you might want to remind your organization that they can cut costs further by reducing overall energy consumption using these methodologies, among others.

1. Fluoresce
   Lighting can eat up to 50% of a building’s energy consumption, especially in moderate climate zones where heating and cooling requirements are minimal (and you’re not running a data center). Convert metal-halide systems to T5 or T8 fluorescent lamps and use LED signage.
2. Flick It
   Leaving lights on 24 hours a day? That’s unnecessarily doubling or tripling your lighting bill. Turn lights off when not needed (and if you need lighting 24 hour a day, consider LED lights) and consider motion sensors to automatically turn off lights after 5 minutes of inactivity (outside of normal business hours).
3. Go Solar
   Designing a new building? Consider lots of windows for natural light (and solar sensors to dim lighting when not required) and solar panels on the roof (to reduce the electricity you have to buy). (And if you can get your building efficient enough, maybe you can even sell some of that solar energy at a profit.)
4. Control the Air
   It takes heat out in the winter and cool out in the summer. Install doors that can open and close quickly and consider unconditioned “foyers” that can reduce energy loss. Use fans instead of air when the heat is mild. Go “casual” in the office and don’t turn on the air until the temperature hits 25 (and don’t turn on the heat until it drops below 17).
5. Go Lean
   Minimize the distance vehicles have to travel in a warehouse. Put fast moving product close to the doors. Design the assembly “line” to minimize movement.
6. Get Slack with VFDs
   Variable Frequency Drives, which control the frequency of electrical power supplier to AC electric motors, can reduce the wasteful “in rush current” needed to start a motor.
7. Retrofit Motors
   Retrofitting old conveyor motors with secondary windings can increase their efficiency by up to 40%.
8. Keep the Heat
   Up to 85% of the energy used to convert air pressure from 0 to 100 psi in a compressed air system is released as a heat byproduct. If you’re in a cold climate, you could use the heat to warm your building, or you could use it heat the water supply.
9. A Low Energy Vision
   Design buildings, machinery, and processes to use as little energy as possible.