PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
By sharing a pool of kegs rather than owning their own, over 200 leading craft brewers have helped reduce their collective carbon footprint by over 3 million kg of CO2e in 2013. These findings, based on a study by John Heckman, Ph.D with PE International and commissioned by MicroStar Logistics, will be used as a benchmark to help the craft beer industry further minimize its carbon footprint each year.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Following an extensive multimedia Greenpeace campaign, LEGO published a statement this morning committing to "not renew the co-promotion contract with Shell."
PRODUCTS AND DESIGN -
Goodyear has launched a new fuel-efficient long haul drive tire that improves highway fuel economy by an average of 2 percent compared to the Michelin X Line Energy D, the next most fuel efficient tire on the market.The tire, called Fuel Max LHD G505D, saves around $1,444 worth of fuel per truck per year, compared to the Michelin X Line Energy D. The Fuel Max technology incorporates innovative fuel-efficient compounds, tire constructions and tread designs to lower the rolling resistance of the tires, which reduces truck fuel consumption.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from large industrial facilities were 0.6 percent, or 20 million metric tons, higher in 2013 than the previous year, driven primarily by an increase in coal use for power generation, according to new data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
CLEANTECH -
Southwest Airlines has signed an agreement with Red Rock Biofuels (RRB) to purchase approximately three million gallons of low carbon renewable jet fuel per year.The biofuels are made using forest residues that will help reduce the risk of destructive wildfires in the Western United States. RRB’s first plant will convert approximately 140,000 dry tons of woody biomass feedstock into at least 12 million gallons per year of renewable jet, diesel and naphtha fuels.The blended product will be used in Southwest’s San Francisco Bay Area operations with first delivery expected in 2016.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Caesars Entertainment’s fifth annual Corporate Citizenship Report, "Serious Play," highlights the gaming resort chain’s progress in areas including Responsible Gaming, Employee Development, Environmental Stewardship and Community Investment Performance. The report details the company's societal and environmental impacts in 2013, highlights its corporate citizenship efforts in action, and elaborates on how Caesars is fulfilling its mission of inspiring grown-ups to play responsibly.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
As the likelihood grows for climate change to potentially wreak havoc with seasonal temperatures around the world, it not only has implications for our outdoor environment but indoors, as well: When rooms inside buildings become uncomfortably hot, for example, it can negatively affect the well-being and the performance of those living or working there.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Global populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish dropped 52 percent between 1970 and 2010, according to a new report by World Wildlife Fund (WWF).The 2014 Living Planet Report says this biodiversity loss is occuring disproportionately in low-income countries — and correlates with the increasing resource use of high-income countries.
CLEANTECH -
CO2 Solutions, an enzyme-enabled carbon capture technology company, has partnered with the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) to test its technology at EERC’s testing facility using natural gas and coal flue gas in December.The program's goal is to evaluate several CO2 capture technologies that are among the most advanced systems under development for power and steam-generation plants.
WASTE NOT -
Whirlpool has announced a new recycling initiative that offers consumers a responsible alternative to throwing out their used refrigerator water filters.Whirlpool typically recommends that consumers replace their refrigerator water filter every six months for optimum performance. However, consumers can now take advantage of the company's Refresh & Recycle mail-in program; a simple way to recycle used refrigerator water filters. Recycled filters will be tested for material content and transformed into concrete aggregate used to build roads and other concrete structures. To make this all happen, Whirlpool says it is partnering with recycling company g2 revolution.
NEW METRICS -
“How do you get buy-in and get the resources to implement a sustainability campaign? How can you prioritize this over firehouses being shut down and teachers’ salaries? We need data and research.” — Roya KazemiOn Friday, the final day of #NewMetrics '14, Roya Kazemi — director of GreeNYC for the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability — led a candid and engaging conversation about public-private partnerships at the city level. Session attendees brought their own examples from the cities of Copenhagen, Vancouver, Lexington, North Carolina, and closer to home in Lowell and Cambridge, Mass.
CLEANTECH -
Cisco, 3M, Kimberly-Clark and Jackson Family Wines have announced commitments to deploy onsite solar energy and improve energy efficiency as part of an Obama Administration call to action.In total, 50 companies, states, communities and multifamily housing leaders from across the country have announced commitments representing more than 35 megawatts of solar deployed – enough energy to power thousands of homes – as well as energy efficiency investments that will lower energy bills for more than 400 million square feet of buildings.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
This post is our second in a series on how companies can reduce deforestation from their supply chains. Read the first post here.What do companies, governments, civil society organizations and indigenous peoples have in common? Despite their differences, they share a common interest in reducing deforestation, which accounts for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
WASTE NOT -
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced Monday it will begin using ash left over from the burning of rice husks to produce electricity and an environmentally friendly source of silica for use in its tires.
NEW METRICS -
More than $100 trillion in cumulative public and private spending, and 1,700 megatons of annual carbon dioxide (CO2) — a 40 percent reduction of urban passenger transport emissions — could be eliminated by 2050 if the world expands public transportation, walking and cycling in cities, according to a new report released by the University of California, Davis, and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).In addition, an estimated 1.4 million early deaths could be avoided annually by 2050 if governments began requiring the strongest vehicle pollution controls and ultralow-sulfur fuels, according to a related analysis of these urban vehicle activity pathways by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) included in the report.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Nearly 350 global institutional investors representing over $24 trillion in assets have called on government leaders to provide stable, reliable and economically meaningful carbon pricing that helps redirect investment commensurate with the scale of the climate change challenge, as well as develop plans to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
The number of sea ports using ship evaluation systems to decrease carbon emissions will expand from two to 10 in the next year, according to Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Bloomberg reports.Branson is a founder of the Carbon War Room, a nonprofit that rates ship efficiency.Port Metro, Vancouver and the Prince Rupert Port Authority in Canada already use a system that ranks 60,000 vessels in the merchant fleet with an A-to-G scale for fuel efficiency — ships rated A get the biggest discounts on port fees. Metro gave $1.1 million in discounts last year, while Prince Rupert budgeted for $100,000 this year, according to Bloomberg.
LEADERSHIP -
Kellogg Company has joined the Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP), committing to expand its global sustainability efforts by working with businesses and policymakers to enact meaningful energy and climate policies.BICEP, a project of Ceres, was launched in 2008 with a core group of five companies, including Starbucks, Nike, and Timberland. It has since expanded to 32 leading companies, such as eBay, Symantec and Jones Lang LaSalle, which represent a broad spectrum of business sectors. BICEP members have been vocal proponents of renewable energy, sustainable transportation and stricter pollution controls on power plants.
LEADERSHIP -
The University of California has announced it will allocate $1 billion over five years for direct investments in solutions to climate change.In addition, as part of UC President Janet Napolitano’s goal of bringing university operations to carbon neutrality by 2025, the 10-campus university system has signed agreements to secure substantial solar energy for the next 25 years.
PRESS RELEASE -
Study: Cutting emissions pays for itselfSavings from healthier air can make up for some or all of the cost of carbon-reduction policies.