Walmart Announces Goal to Eliminate 20 Million Metric Tons of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Supply Chain

Walmart announced on Thursday a goal to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its global supply chain by the end of 2015. This represents one and a half times the company's estimated global carbon footprint growth over the next five years and is the equivalent of taking more than 3.8 million cars off the road for a year.

"Energy efficiency and carbon reduction are central issues in the world today," said Mike Duke, Walmart president and CEO. "We've been working to make a difference in these areas, both in our own footprint and our supply chain. We know that we have an opportunity to do more and the capacity to do more."

You can read the announcement at http://www.edf.org/pressrelease.cfm?contentID=10834

So is focusing on the suppliers and turning up the pressure on them a good idea?

Miguel Bastillo of the Wall Street Journal thinks that "Wal-Mart will make its suppliers do the dirty work of reducing the carbon footprints of their global supply chains."

Elizabeth Sturcken of the Environmental Defence Fund (an organization that worked closely with Walmart to develop the goal) thinks it's a smart thing to do because "Walmart's supply chain is where the action is. It's the biggest possible lever that Walmart could bring to the table. Walmart will work with suppliers to reduce their emissions - which they otherwise might not do -- resulting in positive ripple effects around the globe."

You can read more comments about the announcement at http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/02/wal-mart-the-green-giant-its-plan-to-cut-pollution-raises-questions-/1


So what do you think?

Raz

Facebook vs. Greenpeace - who's right?

From Treehugger.com: You may have heard that FaceBook recently chose to power a new energy-hungry data server with coal-fired electricity at a new location up in Oregon. Greenpeace, and others, scolded the company--which many consider among the most innovative in the world--for making an big investment in the dirty fuel. Facebook retorted that by housing the server in the cool climes of Oregon, the equipment wouldn't need cooling equipment and would therefore be more efficient and less carbon intensive than if they had moved it to a location with access to more renewable power. So who's right? Is Facebook playing dirty, or is Greenpeace too harsh?

The full article is available at http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/facebook-between-rock-greenpeace.php

Raz

PHI Electric Vehicles

Here are some links to the story concerning Pepco's electric vehicle program.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/getthere/2010/01/pepco_opens_two_electric_vehic.html

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2010/01/25/463079.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Pepco-Energizes-First-PlugIn-bw-2676192644.html?x=0&.v=1

http://www.pepco.com/welcome/news/releases/archives/2010/article.aspx?cid=1330

Offsetting your cheating?

There is an ongoing debate about carbon offsetting and their effectiveness and contribution to carbon reduction. We'll talk about this issue in the class later on this semester. In the meantime, following Caleigh's post about carbon offsetting and Amber's comment, I would like to present you with two guys who found a unique way to show their criticism of carbon offsetting.

Please check out http://cheatneutral.com and let us know what you think of it.

Here's also their video clip:



Best,
Raz

Green Delaware/Drinks

In class last week there was some discussion about the Green Drinks event that occurs monthly to bring together Delawareans from all walks of life. This is a chance for green minded professionals to network and connect on eco-friendly issues in the community. It would be great to see more UD students there. Check out the Green Delaware website and sign up for the email newsletter as well as Green Drinks notifications.

Check out where Green Drinks met last month: Precision Air Convey.

Delaware and "Green" Land Development

The State of Delaware is among many states who are progressing towards green development practices. One practice which is growing in popularity is called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). LEED provides a number of standards for environmentally sustainable design, construction, and operation of buildings. These design standards are a useful guideline for developers, engineers, and architects to create a green and sustainable project from construction to maintenance of a building. Once a project is designed it is rated by a committee to ensure it meets enough of these standards to be considered a LEED certified project.

An example of a LEED certified project in Delaware is the Delaware Welcome Center, which is currently under construction along I-95. The link below will show you some pretty drawings of the completed project, some details about the stores, and the LEED certification it received.

http://www.ediscompany.com/Current-Projects/Delaware-Welcome-Center

In my experience as a Civil Engineer, LEED projects can be effective in the long run. Although it does raise the price of initial design, because it is another design criteria that must be met which can raise the complexity of the design. It also has to go through an additional committee which can increased the time the design takes if rejected (a common occurrence). Therefore, engineering and architecture costs will be higher, but because the State of Delaware is the client paying the bill it may not a big deal.

These initial costs are not always tolerated by private developers, unless they can sell the building for a higher price, or if they get a tax rebate from the State or Federal government. It is unsure how long these tax rebates will continue to be given out, but hopefully the market will be willing to pay a higher price based on the energy and environmental sustainability of the building.

The interest in green development is growing and the practices are constantly improving. The more the market pushes for green development and sustainability the faster new construction will comply. The long lasting benefits of green development are evident, but there is still a ways to go before all new construction is sustainable.

Carbon Offsets

http://www.newsweek.com/id/226941?from=rss&&obref=obinsite

An interesting article about a man's company in Ghana making energy-efficient stoves. His company has become successful because he can sell the carbon offsets gained from his company to companies like Goldman Sachs who want to lower their carbon emissions.
The article also talks about how the reduced-emission bills are making their way through the senate, and so companies like Goldman Sachs are buying up carbon offsets now because once these bills pass, the cost of companies with these offsets will rise immensely.
This article brings up some interesting questions about energy policy and ways that companies can lower their carbon foot-print. Supporting a company like the one in Ghana seems like a great idea, but is this all that big companies need to do in order to lower their emissions? Should more emphasis be put on the research and re-working of the inner developments of the existing company or, are carbon offsets enough to call a company sustainable or green?

Stuff.

While I was working at the Missouri Botanical Garden last year, they had a special exhibit about sustainability and green practices. The video on this website was playing on a continuous loop. "The Story of Stuff" is a great 20 minute overview of the "cradle to grave" concept, if I understood it correctly in class. The other videos on the website are equally interesting.

Walmart Developing Sustainability Scale

Hello classmates - I found this article in the February edition of "Fast Company". It's about 1.5 pages, and talks about Walmart's long-term efforts to label their products according to their environmental friendliness.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/142/attention-walmart-shoppers-clean-up-in-aisle-nine.html

I think it raises some interesting questions. First, can a sustainability index can be used across products fairly? Is there potential to use this outside of Walmart?

Do you think this will cause some businesses to take measures to create more sustainable products, and what could the potential be to influence consumers? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Green Marketing in the Age of Transparency

From GreenBiz.com: In a world in which vast amounts of information are available about companies and products, the rules of green marketing have changed. It’s no longer just about making claims and sporting logos. Today, companies must respond to green ratings and rankings from websites, media companies, nonprofit organizations, and big players like Walmart. In a world where consumers have unparalleled access to data about products and companies, how does a company truly be seen as green?

The course website is online

Dear students,

The course website is online at http://www.buec.udel.edu/razgo/. It will include class presentations, guest presentations and the teams presentations. You can also find there the syllabus.

All presentations are protected with a password.

Best,
Raz

State of Green Business 2010

You're welcome to check out this comprehensive report that was published by GreenBiz.com earlier this month.

Here's a bit more about it: GreenBiz.com’s annual State of Green Business Report is the landmark study measuring the environmental impacts of the growing green economy. We document whether and how companies were reducing their environmental impacts, and the mixed results revealed: More companies are doing more things, but moving the needle of environmental progress only slightly, if at all.

You can download the report at http://stateofgreenbusiness.com/

Best,
Raz

Welcome to our new blog!

Hope you will enjoy it and find it useful!

Raz and Rich