PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Anellotech, a sustainable technology company focused on producing cost-competitive BTX (benzene, toluene and xylene) – petrochemical-based aromatic hydrocarbons - from non-food biomass, has announced Toyota Tsusho Corporation, a member of the Toyota Group, as a multinational strategic equity investor and corporate partner in the renewable aromatic chemicals supply chain.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The United States, the world’s second-largest emitter of CO2, is faced with the task of converting its energy system from black to green. Offshore wind can help get the job done.
Danish energy company DONG Energy believes that the US has the perfect conditions for exploiting the potential of offshore wind. The company, which has built roughly a quarter of the world’s current offshore wind capacity, has acquired the rights to establish wind farms in two areas off the country’s east coast, and expects offshore wind energy to be cheaper than fossil energy within 10 years.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
When you set out on your purpose journey, what steps can you take to ensure that your purpose will be genuinely transformational for your business?
In the ten years that we’ve been championing purpose and helping organisations to craft purpose-led visions, we’ve learned lessons about how to ensure that purpose sticks. Above all, we’ve seen how vital it is for purpose to be grounded in reality.
Right from the start, you must root your purpose in the political, economic, social and technological context in which you operate. We call this the ‘dig’ phase: a period of intensive research and analysis of the current environment and future trends that affect your business.
CLEANTECH -
Not only is chocolate ice cream one of the most popular flavors worldwide, it has now emerged as the most powerful flavor: A new partnership between the world’s third-largest ice cream manufacturer, R&R Ice Cream; resource management company, Veolia; and Iona Capital is turning inedible ice cream waste into biogas for the National Grid, with chocolate producing the most energy of any flavor.
NEW METRICS -
In this series of articles, the team at the Carbon Trust outlines the reasons for businesses to adopt science-based targets on climate change.
CLEANTECH -
Today, energy management and automation specialist Schneider Electric launched a collaborative online platform to help commercial and industrial companies find the right tools and financial vehicles to meet their sustainability goals.
COLLABORATION -
News Deeply, in partnership with Sustainable Brands, is producing a series of profiles looking at how brands are tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. The goal is to examine trends and gather insights from a new wave of corporate citizenship – in an era when the private sector is increasingly expected to play a positive role in improving our lives and societies. This is the 2nd article in the series.
PRESS RELEASE -
LAKE ORION, Mich. – The General Motors Orion Assembly plant that builds the Chevrolet Bolt EV ranks as the eighth largest user of green power generated onsite in the United States among the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership Partners. Over half of the plant is powered by methane captured from decomposing trash in a nearby landfill.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Billionaire industrialist Elon Musk is doubling-down on the ambitious vision he laid out in August 2006. In a blog post, Musk recently revealed his “Master Plan, Part Deux,” which extends beyond a corporate strategy for his electric car company Tesla, covering the breadth of the sustainable energy chain from generation and storage, to electrification of several types of vehicles, to the sharing economy.
PRESS RELEASE -
Evergreen Packaging® has recently announced the introduction of a fully renewable polyethylene cup stock. This product, which was developed for both hot and cold applications, reflects Evergreen Packaging's continued commitment to the use of renewable resources and reinforces the company's expertise in custom co-extrusion barrier technology.
"Sustainable packaging is at the heart of what we do at Evergreen Packaging and developing this product with renewable polyethylene offers customers a unique, innovative cup stock," said Evergreen Packaging Director of Sustainability Derric Brown.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
In December of 2015, representatives from virtually every nation gathered in Paris for the 21st Conference of the Parties, better known as COP21. While the conference didn’t fully resolve the steps needed to address the issue of climate change, the signatures from countries throughout the globe symbolized the emergence of a worldwide commitment to climate action.
Officially, COP21’s stated goal was to balance carbon emissions by the latter half of the century. But while the related objectives often target 2030, 2050 or beyond, they will only be realized by making changes today.
CLEANTECH -
News Deeply, in partnership with Sustainable Brands, is producing a series of profiles looking at how brands are tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. The goal is to examine trends and gather insights from a new wave of corporate citizenship – in an era in which the private sector is increasingly expected to play a positive role in improving our lives and societies. This, the 1st article in the series, features additional reporting by Mike Hower.
COLLABORATION -
Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) is a consortium featuring Accenture, the University of Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (NDIGD) and The Rural Development Company, which have joined forces on a renewable energy initiative in Uganda and South Africa that leverages solar-powered microgrids to deliver clean, affordable electricity to local populations.
CLEANTECH -
California’s aggressive climate policies — combined with the sheer size of its economy — have helped it create the most clean energy jobs of any state in the country, according to a new study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center.
The report, The Link Between Good Jobs and a Low Carbon Future, says the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) — California’s principal climate policy — has created 25,500 blue-collar job years — or around 53 million hours of blue-collar construction work. Many of these jobs have been created in regions of the state where they are most needed, with high unemployment and low income.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
In 2015, Target wrapped up its five-year goals and built the foundation for the future of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice, which is to make wellness a way of life; pursue sustainability for products and business operations; champion a more inclusive society; and invest and engage in their communities. Summarizing their progress and capturing important projects and milestones, Target’s 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report was released this week.
PRESS RELEASE -
Toyota believes hydrogen-fuelled vehicles are more viable than electric ones — and it has brought three of its Mirai models to Australia to prove it.
The Mirai is already on sale in Europe, Japan and California and uses an on-board fuel cell to convert hydrogen into electricity. The small demonstration fleet will be accompanied by a portable refuelling station, which will allow the company to tour the vehicle around the country for maximum exposure.
When the Mirai’s hydrogen supply is running low, it can be fully refuelled in a matter of minutes — a stark contrast to the longer charging times of most electric vehicles. The Mirai can also travel roughly 500km before needing a refill.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Is your business embracing the disruptive forces of a low-carbon world as Ford and Ben & Jerry’s are? Over the next 10 years, climate change will drive industrial disruption at rates that previously seemed unimaginable. In response, policy makers must come to terms with the need to keep the mean global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Researchers from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC) have found a new way to break down the strong bonds of polyethylene, the most commonly used synthetic plastic, and convert it into useful liquid fuels and waxes. The new technique is less toxic and less energy-intensive than current approaches to breaking down the polymers' chemical bonds.
CLEANTECH -
The cost of black energy has now got ‘green’ competition. Solar power and onshore wind are already cheaper than fossil alternatives and according to DONG Energy, offshore wind must follow the same development. DONG Energy aims to make clean energy from offshore wind turbines at least as cheap as black energy from fossil fuels in ten years. The Danish energy company, which is among the global leaders within offshore wind power, gives five specific examples of how that is going to happen.