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Cleantech

The latest products, services and cleantech applications and how they are tackling some of our most pressing social and environmental issues.

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SmartSPEC™ to Help Retailers Increase Transparency Around Food Product Sustainability

Label Insight - leading provider of SaaS data solutions providing insights and strengthening the connections between CPG brands, retailers and consumers - announces the launch of its Sustainability SmartSPEC™ solution. The Sustainability SmartSPEC is customizable based on a retailer's unique sustainability initiatives in categories such as environmental impact, animal welfare and farming techniques.

Avery Dennison, Evrythng Unleash the ‘Internet of Clothing’ with 10B Smart Apparel Products

A minimum of 10 billion apparel and footwear products are expected to be produced with unique digital identities and data profiles in the cloud over the next three years through a partnership between packaging materials leader Avery Dennison and Internet of Things (IoT) company Evrythng. The companies believe this to be the largest number of IoT-connected products in a single deal, to date.

Can ‘The Paris Effect’ Take Companies, Governments Beyond Flagship Initiatives?

This Friday, world leaders will convene to sign the Paris Climate Agreement. The international regulatory environment and national policies to curb emissions are reshaping global markets. Decarbonization could define the 21st century economy. But what do these changes mean for businesses?

New Research from MorningStar Farms, WRI Illustrates Environmental Benefits of Eating Less Meat

This week, both the World Resources Institute (WRI) and MorningStar Farms — producer of veggie burgers, sausages and other faux meat items beloved by vegetarians across the U.S. — have unveiled research asserting that the average American could cut their diet-related environmental impacts by nearly half just by eating less meat and dairy.

Offshore Wind Farm the Size of Malta to Power 1M UK Homes

The world is picking up on the fight against global warming and more renewable energy capacity is under construction. In this transformation, impressive pieces of cleantech engineering are seeing the light of the day; major wind farms, massive solar panels and intelligent waste-to-energy plants, just to mention a few. The record-size Hornsea Offshore Wind Farm In line with these impressive pieces of engineering is the forthcoming Hornsea Project One Offshore Wind Farm, located 120 kilometres off the coast of the UK, built by the market leader within offshore wind construction, DONG Energy.

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B of A Expands Catalytic Finance Initiative, Directs $8B to High-Impact Sustainability Projects

A consortium of leading financial institutions and investors today announced a new partnership under the Catalytic Finance Initiative (CFI), to direct $8 billion in total commitments toward high-impact sustainability investments.

The Bar for Corporate Leadership on Climate Has Been Raised

As the legal briefings pile up over the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP), I’m inspired by the growing number of companies and business organizations standing up for the most significant step in U.S. history toward reducing climate pollution. The bar continues to rise for companies that want to lead on sustainability, and it’s great to see companies aligning their corporate sustainability strategy and policy advocacy. Today’s corporate-led amicus briefs in support of the Clean Power Plan and smart climate policy are the latest example.

Vodafone, Philips Partner on IoT Solution That Lights the Way for Smart Cities

Telecommunications firm Vodafone and Philips Lighting announced a new partnership earlier this month that will focus on smart street lighting systems.

Utility Companies Turn to ‘PR Guru’ for Help Cleaning Up Their Reputation

The trade organization representing investor-owned electric companies, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), has hired a communications consultant who will help utilities rebrand themselves into something more appealing to the public. The changes will include shifts in messaging, such as from “utility-scale solar” to “community solar.” A new communication plan is expected to be presented to the organization’s members within a month.

South Pole Group: Why Companies Should Care About Renewable Energy

The landmark international climate change nearly 195-nation agreement that came out of COP21 late last year sent a message to the world that a low-carbon future is imminent. The Paris Agreement, for the first time, brings all nations into a common cause based on their historic, current and future responsibilities. Its main aim is to keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The 1.5 degree Celsius limit is a significantly safer defense line against the worst impacts of a changing climate.

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The Internet of Things, Smart Cities and World Water Day

Click to enlarge. The United Nations deemed March 22 World Water Dayas a way to call global attention to this diminishing resource.

Cisco: Partnerships, Shared Value Key to Driving Emissions Reductions Throughout a Supply Chain

When you look through a sustainability lens at Cisco’s supply chain, you see three things clearly: a focus on climate and carbon impacts, a deep concern for the protection of human rights, and an imperative around product take-back opportunities. Cisco’s approach to a responsible supply chain is structured around this impact framework.

GRI: The Next Era of Corporate Disclosure Is Real-Time Interaction

Scores of sustainability data are collected and reported, but much of its value is still buried. According to GRI, sustainability performance data will be pivotal in solving society’s key challenges – and with the help of technology, the way it is captured, analyzed and used is all about to change.

This Company Accounts for More Than Half of Denmark's CO2 Reduction

The energy sector accounts for around one-third of global CO2 emissions. Thus, countries’ urgent need to combat climate change is strongly related to energy companies’ ability to change from ‘black’ to ‘green.’ A Danish example is DONG Energy. The company says its cut in CO2 emissions from electricity and heat production accounts for more than half of the Denmark’s total CO2 reduction from 2006 to 2014. But how can one single company cut more than half of a country’s CO2?

United Flights from LA to San Francisco Now Use Biofuel, Create 60% Less Emissions

Regularly scheduled United Airlines flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco will be fueled by a blend of 30 percent biofuel and 70 percent traditional fuel, reducing an estimated 60 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared with regular fuel. Other airlines have tested biofuel, but United says it has “made history … by becoming the first U.S. airline to begin use of commercial-scale volumes of sustainable aviation biofuel for regularly scheduled flights,” with this new initiative.

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Tim Greiner: Everything You Need to Know About Corporate Carbon Pricing

Advances in renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage are pushing us toward a more sustainable, low-carbon future, but an outright energy revolution is being held back by the fact that the market prices of coal, oil and gas include almost none of the costs of carbon pollution. At the national level, putting a price on carbon will transform energy investment, re-shape consumption, and sharply reduce the carbon emissions that are driving global warming, according to the Carbon Tax Center. This “upstream” tax would target the carbon contents of fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas, as well as biofuels.

Winning Water Tech Removes Contaminants Using Bubbles, Wastewater Minerals, Biomaterials

Last week, Veolia, The Water Council and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) announced the first-ever “Pow!

IoT Lighting From Cree, Cisco Automatically Saves Energy By Connecting Ceilings to the Cloud

A new collaboration between Cree Inc. and Cisco Technology, Inc. enables light-emitting diode (LED) lighting to be connected through the internet and customized for each building to create more productive spaces while saving energy and

California’s Drought Added $2B In Energy Costs, Caused 10% More Emissions

California’s drought is contributing to a dangerous cycle: Reduced water flows have reduced hydroelectric power generation, leading to an increased reliance on natural gas for the state to meet its energy needs. Since climate change is worsening California’s drought, and emissions contribute to climate change, well, the situation is not good, to say the least.

Hilton, Whole Foods Go Head to Head on Energy Efficiency in DOE Reality Series

This week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the “Better Buildings Challenge SWAP,” a three-episode web-based reality series in which Hilton Worldwide and Whole Foods Market swap energy-management teams at their facilities in San Francisco.As part of the SWAP, each team identified innovative ways to save energy in Hilton San Francisco Union Square, a 1.8 million sq. foot hotel and Whole Foods Ocean Avenue, a 25,600 sq. foot grocery store. See episode one, below:

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