Category Archives: Going Green

Let’s All Hope That A Rational Version of American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 Passes

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.

What’s Worse? The Personal Automobile or 15 Container Ships?

A recent article in The Guardian noted that the health risks of shipping pollution have been ‘underestimated’, to put it very lightly. A recent study by the Danish government’s environmental agency found that ONE giant container ship can emit the same amount of cancer and asthma-causing chemicals as 50 Million cars. That’s right … just 15 of the world’s biggest cargo ships emit more pollution than the roughly 750 Million cars currently in operation around the globe … AND THERE ARE 90,000 of them! Current estimates is that global shipping is responsible for 3.5% to 4.0% of ALL climate change emissions.

So the next time you start calculating the costs of global sourcing you might want to step back and think about whether a temporary savings of a few percentage points is really worth global sourcing when YOU could be ultimately responsible for not only draining trillions of dollars from the world’s economy to pay for the health care required to treat the tens of thousands of victims who suffer from pollution-induced lung and heart disease but causing thousands of deaths a year. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for home-cost country sourcing.

Nine More Ways to Save Energy in Your Building

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.

Has Aberdeen Caught the Green Bug?

Browsing the Aberdeen site, I noticed a benchmark report on “Going. Going Green: Planning for The Green IT Ecosystem” which caught my eye for three reasons: (1) I hadn’t noticed a study of this specific nature before (and as far as I can tell, it’s their first), (2) last year was the first time I noticed Aberdeen addressing the concept of Green (with their “Green Initiatives: Lowering Costs and Increasing Efficiency in the Data Center”), and (3) if they build on the research they started with “Building a Green Supply Chain”, it could revolutionize both their “Procurement & Supply” and “Supply Chain & Logistics” practices, which, despite their continued consistency in benchmark quality, could use a little jazzing up as many of the topics they’ve been covering haven’t changed much in the last few years, and the benchmark reports start to become nothing more than updated statistics once you get to the third, fourth, or fifth study on a topic. (While this is great for tracking your progress against your best in class peers, it’s not so great if you are looking for new ideas to take your practice to the next level once you reach best-in-class.)

This latest report, which notes that the global economic downturn and the fluctuations in energy prices emphasize the financial need for organizations to understand and manage their consumption of energy as a key part of their ongoing corporate strategy requires IT to examine its role in the larger organization relative to corporate responsibility and to implement strategies that not only decrease consumption and optimize performance, but also catalyze the proper management and achievement of overall corporate sustainability goals.

IT can play a big role in energy reduction and sustainability efforts as it can:

  • decrease power consumption requirements in the data center and on the desktop (see my posts on Green Your Desktops and Green Your Data Centers for more details and check out the Green IT Savings Template to calculate how much Green IT can save you)
  • decrease the size of the data center
  • decrease the cooling requirements of the data center
  • reuse the heat generated by the data center to heat the surrounding building

The study found that of the best-in-class performers in Green IT,

  • 67% have a formal green/sustainability policy and documented energy efficiency policies
  • 78% include sustainability principles in the requirements for new systems and products
  • 81% use energy efficient components to decrease power consumption
  • 69% use tiered storage to manage the data life-cycle
  • 63% use alternative data center cooling technologies

and this tells us that you can Green Your IT Ecosystem and Save if you

  • make it a mandate to go Green
  • develop and document appropriate procedures and policies
  • take a holistic approach in your operations
  • make green a requirement in everything you source
  • take advantage of new technologies to reduce your energy and operating footprint

Allowing you to sustain the environment and sustain your business at the same time. How can you go wrong?

Want more information on green technology? See my previous posts on greening your data centers, greening your desktops, and calculating your savings with green technology.

 

 

Profiting from Environmental Regulation

A recent article in Industry Week on “the regulation opportunity” noted that companies with an environmental vision and plan can mitigate increasing environmental regulation and actually profit by improving:

  • Revenue
    Companies perceived as green by consumers have increased customer loyalty and attract higher rates of sale.
  • Cost Structure
    Companies that place importance on environmental compliance are generally better run and costs are more fully understood. Having an environmental strategy helps to trim the fat, reduce waste, and improve the overall operating cost structure.
  • Public Relations
    These days, many consumers will actively punish companies that they feel are environmentally irresponsible.
  • Government Relations
    You’ll garner regulatory “good-will” and be considered a key stakeholder who can help shape future regulations.
  • Employee Relations
    Gen-Y job seekers actively look for environmentally friendly organizations and actively shun those that aren’t. You’ve been warned!

Furthermore, you don’t need to wait for regulations to put a halt to current operating practices, you can improve them now and reap the rewards.