Green news, crazy ideas, leisures and jokes | Everything you need green up your week!
Sincere apologies to all readers as there is no Serious Monday article today.
Unfortunately, one of our beloved writers, Dawn, had to leave us but she will be replace as of next week and the Serious Monday articles will be back.
Have a pleasant beginning of week
Aurelien
During my research, I stumbled across a website that allows you to view green videos for free. The site is www.greenenergytv.com. The categories range from solar to webinars.
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Startech Environmental Corporation announced it has appointed Waste2Green Energy Limited (W2ge), headquartered in London, as the company’s exclusive distributor for the United Kingdom. W2ge has a presence in Poland so it will be a distributor there as well. Startech is known for its Plasma Converter System which safely destroys waste and turns most into useful and valuable products.
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M&S announced between September 20-22, customers would be able to take any unwanted plastic coat hangers into any of the participating 11 M&S stores for recycling.
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An Energy Safari Weekend will be held in Bideford, North Devon (UK) on the 29th and 30th of September at Hallsannery Center. MP Geoffrey Cox as well as other keynote speakers will be in attendance. Tours are being offered to view what some residents of the area are doing to reduce their carbon footprint.
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Did you know there are 6 greenhouse gases? They are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro fluorocarbons, per fluorocarbons and sulfa hexafluoride.
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Johnson Controls announced the search for Tomorrow’s Energy Ambassadors, Managers, and Scholars (TEAMS). It is a competition open to University seniors and graduate students in the United States. The competition calls for an open draft letter to the 2008 presidential candidates to clarify their positions relating to energy and sustainability. The winning team will receive a $10,000 scholarship fund check for their school and its letter will be published in a full page as in a National Publication. There will also be cash prizes available for teams placing first, second and third.
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The US Department of Justice and the EPA announced the East Kentucky Power Cooperative, a coal fired electric utility, will pay an $11.4 million dollar penalty to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act’s acid rain program.
The Financial Times and Citi Private Bank announced the winners of their first Environmental Awards.
F.Hoffman la Roche (Roche) was the winner as the large cap company in Europe, Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) from the United States, Mackies, Ltd. A farming and food business based in Scotland was rewarded the most carbon efficient small/medium enterprise in Europe.
Carbon efficiency was measured by reduction of carbon emissions in operations when compared to turnover and compared to their peers. Trucost Plc. provided technical support and quantitative environmental impacts.
Roche
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Improved carbon efficiency by 31%
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>19% reduction in direct emissions equating to a total reduction in emissions of 120,000 tonnes of CO2.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Roche adopted new building technologies and is holding a Best Practices Summit for its North and South American operations.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Roche is demonstrating a commitment to phasing out all halogenated hydro carbons from its cooling systems by 2015.
ConEdison
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Improved Carbon efficiency by 20%
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Reduction of direct emissions by 17% resulting in a total of 1.3 million tonnes of CO2.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Reductions were achieved by replacing old technology with natural gas burning combustion turbines.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Con Edison has committed to voluntarily reducing its Greenhouse gas emissions and has already achieved this by reducing its sulfur hexafluoride emissions by 62%
Mackies, Ltd.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Was awarded the small/medium enterprise award for its commitment to generating 100% of its energy needs through wind turbines.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>The company produces a surplus of energy from its private wind turbines and supplies electricity to the national grid to power 1000 homes.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>– <!–[endif]–>Its ability to generate its own energy requirements and supply renewable energy to the national grid, improved carbon efficiency of 70%.
European companies provided the most entries across a wide range of sectors, mostly large cap companies. National Grid, BT Group, Imperial Tobacco and Novo Nordisk made the final short list.
US entries were dominated by large cap companies from the high tech sector. Xerox and General Motors were commended.
FT and Citi also commended Asian Pacific companies but there were too few entries to usefully compare results.
“We were impressed by the quality of entries to these awards and the commitment shown by these businesses to tackling the challenge of carbon emissions. We congratulate this year’s winners for their schemes and dedication, and look forward to building on the success of these inaugural awards next year,” said John Ridding, CEO, and Financial Times.
Dawn
ChoicePoint, Inc. received a fifth consecutive perfect score on the Human Rights Foundation’s annual Corporate Equality Index.
The index rates employers on a scale from 0-100 percent for their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees, consumers, and investors.
ChoicePoint is the only Georgia business that has been rated 100 for the past five years. Seven other companies in the state were recognized this year. They are Alston & Bird, LLC, The Coca Cola Company, ING North America Insurance Corporation, Newell Rubbermaid, Powell Goldstein, LLP, Sun Trust Banks, and United Parcel Service.
“More businesses than ever before have recognized the value of a diverse and dedicated workforce,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “More importantly, these employers understand that discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers will ultimately hurt their ability to compete in the global marketplace.”
“Diversity is not just a program or initiative at ChoicePoint. Rather, it is a philosophy of mutual respect and inclusion that influences how we relate to our associates, manage our business and serve our customers,” said Derek V. Smith, Chairman and CEO. “We are honored to again receive this recognition through the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index.”
The index, which this year rated 519 businesses, measures the extent which employers treat their GLBT employees. Ratings are based on factors such as non discrimination policies, diversity training, and benefits for domestic partners and transgender employees.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality.
ChoicePoint provides businesses, government agencies and non-profit organizations with technology, software and information and marketing services.
Dawn
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $28 million first-stage loan for Viet Nam’s Mong Duong thermal power project.
The plant will eventually add 2200 megawatts of generating capacity to the country’s power system. The demand for electricity is growing by 16% each year.
“There is not a single example of a modern nation significantly reducing poverty without dramatically increasing its use of energy,” said the Director of ADB’s Southeast Asia department Infrastructure Division, John Cooney.
“The only way we can fundamentally address the needs of the 8 million people in Viet Nam who still live on less than $1 a day is to make sure we put all the indispensible building blocks of development in place.”
Power shortages are a serious threat to the country’s sustained economic growth and are becoming very bad during the dry season due to low water levels in hydro power plants. 40% of the generated power comes from hydro power plants.
“Viet Nam needs to diversify its energy resources to ensure a reliable, long-term source of power to fuel the nation’s development,” added Mr. Cooney. “Given its availability, and the fact that it is the most affordable source of energy in Northern Viet Nam, where the project is located, coal is a necessary part of that mix.”
In order for ADB to support the Mong Duong thermal power project, an environmental study was conducted. The project will introduce circulatory fluidized bed boiler technology, which will significantly reduce emissions.
“While projects like Mong Duong are essential for Viet Nam’s continued growth, we recognize that greater use of clean energy, renewable energy and increased energy efficiency are critical to Asia’s longer-term development,” said Mr. Cooney.
Viet Nam is one of six countries for clean energy investment assistance under ADB’s $1 billion a year energy initiative.
Dawn
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