Climate Action - Assisting business towards carbon neutrality

There are several ways to switch to energy sources that emit less carbon and can reduce costs and emissions. Generally, coal produces twice the emissions of gas, six times the amount of solar, 40 times the amount of wind and 200 times the amount from hydro.

Green power

A new energy service has been offered in many parts of the world where an electricity customer can choose to have a percentage of their electricity supplied from a renewable energy source, such as a wind farm or landfill gas project. These ‘green choice' programmes are maturing and proving to be a powerful stimulus for growth in renewable energy supply, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which operates the Green Power Network.

Today, more than 50 per cent of all US consumers, for example, have an option to purchase some type of green power product from a retail electricity provider, with 600 utilities offering green power programmes to customers in 40 states.

These programmes allow customers to purchase some portion of their power supply as renewable energy or to contribute funds for the utility to invest in renewable energy development. The term ‘green pricing' is typically used to refer to such utility programmes and is often offered at a premium price.
Utility green pricing programmes are one segment of a larger green power marketing industry that counts many government agencies, colleges and universities and Fortune 500 companies among its customers, and helps support more than 2,200 megawatts (the power required for about one million average US homes) of renewable electricity generation capacity. More than 200 universities purchase green power for some (or in a few cases all) of their electricity requirements. The clean-E standard provides guidance for green power in Europe.

Generate your own

Of course, you can also build your own lower emission energy system, including solar power and lower carbon technologies such as generators powered by natural gas. One of the first companies to do this was beauty products retailer, The Body Shop, buying a 25 per cent stake in a large modern wind generator to provide renewable energy for its UK operations. Other companies installing their own renewable energy plant include 3M, DuPont, General Motors, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and Staples.

US telecom company, Verizon, is using a combination of energy efficient Hypalon roofs, microturbines and fuel cells for some of its facilities. The natural gas mircoturbines generate about 50 per cent of the electricity for two offices in California, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 6.6 thousand tonnes per year, or the equivalent of taking 1,400 passenger cars off the road for one year. At its switching centre and office building in Garden City, New York, Verizon operates seven fuel cells of 200 kilowatts each, reclaiming the heat and water the cells produce to help heat and cool the building. In addition to environmental benefits, Verizon is saving more than US$600,000 by not having to obtain power from the commercial power grid.

State and federal tax breaks and incentives means solar photovoltaic systems and other renewable energy technologies can often be profitably built and used when combined with long term electric contracts. Roofs are being transformed into a source of savings through the installation of solar electric panels that provide energy over time, reduce electricity costs and provide a buffer against price fluctuations.

Solar roofs are also good public relations with a growing number of companies combining government incentives and subsidies to create ‘green' brand value. The largest organic and natural food supermarket in the US, Whole Foods, installed a 125 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system at its Edgewater, New Jersey store. The system covers 1,400 square metres of the store's roof and meets more than 20 per cent of the its electricity needs. The one megawatt Green Garden Solar Project in Shenzhen is located in the grounds of Shenzhen's International Garden and Flower Expo Park and is spread across the roofs of four iconic buildings, each with solar arrays ranging in capacity.

Cleaner fuels and vehicles

As a sector, transport is responsible for 25 per cent of total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning petrol and diesel. Various options for climate action exist in the field of vehicles fleet management and logistics. Take for example fuels. Vehicles can run on a range of fuels, including compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biofuels. Depending on location, these fuels can offer both cost and environmental benefits, although they also often require an additional investment that take some time to payback. Hybrid engines that combine electricity and conventional petrol or diesel engines can also offer substantial fuel savings while reducing emissions.

Biodiesel and bioethanol are biofuels made from crops, such as wheat, soy, corn and sugar cane. They are often blended with petrol or diesel, and almost all vehicles can run on blends up to 10 per cent without modification. Specially enabled biofuel cars, such as the Ford Focus flex-fuel or the Saab Biopower, can run on higher blends, such as a mix of 85 per cent bioethanol and 15 per cent petrol.

Even when blended in small amounts, biofuels can substantially reduce pollution, particularly greenhouse gases as the carbon dioxide released by burning the fuel is absorbed by the crops when they are grown. Depending on how the crops are grown and converted, the greenhouse benefit can be a 30-90 per cent net reduction.

In many parts of the world, biofuels are becoming more popular and easier to find commercially and in various blends. Particularly for companies with automotive fleets, biofuels can offer an attractive alternative, as their cost can be cheaper than conventional fuels. In the UK, for example, Tesco, the country's largest supermarket chain, will run three-quarters of its delivery fleet (2,000 trucks and vans) on a 50 per cent biodiesel mix to cut the greenhouse gases from January, 2008.

Modes

Switching the mode of your transport can also reduce emissions. DHL Ltd, an international express mail carrier, sought to cut costs and reduce waste and also found unexpected improvements in productivity and quality. Instead of using separate delivery vehicles, the company implemented a single ‘Team Bus' to transport couriers to a central London location. Once in London, the couriers travelled on foot to their delivery destinations. The company reports that this system significantly reduced fuel and maintenance costs but also improved delivery times and productivity because couriers spent less time in traffic.

Sometimes simple actions can produce a shift. Secure bicycle storage and change/shower facilities, for example, are often inexpensive compared to other parking structures but create a strong incentive for those who can commute by bicycle. In larger cities with adequate public transport, a monthly or yearly pass can be offered instead of parking facilities. Paris and Vienna, for example, offer all its inhabitants a public bicycle system in an action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion.

It's the bill, not the price

In the short term, many green power programmes carry a slightly higher price. So why should a business pay more for such energy? They shouldn't, and in the medium term, the cost may be cheaper when carbon is priced into the market. However, it's worth remembering that the higher price is in terms of a rate, whereas your business pays a bill for energy: the rate times the number of units used. By becoming more efficient, you can still lower the bill, even though the rate is slightly higher. It's efficiency that enables a switch to cleaner energy that might have a higher price, but a lower bill because you have used less.