2nd Green Revolution

The following article is by Alison Hopcroft,a sustainability and carbon management consultant who works for Fluid Market Strategies in Portland, Oregon. Alison is leading a free webinar on carbon management this Tuesday, March 2nd at 12pm EST.

Despite the fact that hope for meaningful climate legislation has all but completely disappeared for this session of Congress, climate regulation will be arriving at some point in the near future. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the avenue for this regulation, and although many industry groups and a group of senators are challenging the EPA’s Endangerment Finding released last December advocating for a slower phase-in of regulations with higher reporting thresholds, the EPA’s Final Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule is still in effect (Read more about these challenges in the New York Times and the Washington Post)

Regulation means that there will be an increased need for professionals who can quantify and verify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Quantification is the accounting of all of an organization’s emissions, otherwise known as developing a GHG inventory. Verification is essentially an audit (the act of verifying that the quantification was performed accurately) and follows the reporting protocols and meets reporting standards. Read the rest of this entry »

Bloom Energy had the official public unveiling of their solid oxide fuel cell technology today in Silicon Valley. After years of flying under the radar as a stealth start-up, the company made it’s debut on the world stage with a bang. California governor Arnold Swarzenegger was on hand as was former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Google co-founder Larry Page, venture capitalist John Doerr, and executives from eBay, Walmart, Coca-Cola, and FedEx. These companies have been generating energy from Bloom Boxes (units that contain stacks of these fuel cells) on a trial basis. According to TechCrunch, “Five Bloom energy boxes about the size of a parking space each now provide 15 percent of the power at eBay’s campus. Walmart is testing the boxes in two locations where [they are] carrying 60 to 80 percent of the energy load of an entire store.” A video describing the technology can be found here. Below is Bloom Energy’s explanation of how their technology is more flexible and better than “hydrogen” fuel cells. Read the rest of this entry »

Green energy start-ups often promise revolutionary technology in going after the Holy Grail of clean, cheap, efficient, and abundant energy only to disappoint in the end. What makes Bloom Energy and the claims that they make any different? Well, perhaps nothing. But perhaps they will back up their talk when a mysterious countdown on their homepage is explained on Wednesday. Featured recently on 60 Minutes, the company is the product of a foray into business by former NASA engineer KR Sridhar. The origin of the technology goes back to a project to produce oxygen for astronauts on Mars. Once that program was scrapped by NASA, Sridhar reversed his design to make a fuel cell that uses oxygen and fuel to produce electricity. Read the rest of this entry »

For those interested in learning more about the burgeoning field of carbon management, on March 2nd from 9am-10am PST(Noon EST), Fluid Market Strategies is hosting a webinar on the topic. Specifically, the event will “look at future regulations and why organizations must assess the carbon emissions in their operations, products, services and supply chain to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, increase sales and gain a competitive edge.” This could be informative for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and any organization that is interested in reducing costs. Fluid is a “privately held for-profit S-Corporation…founded in 2005 as a marketing and program management firm.” The company focuses on projects with an environmental or social benefit, specializing in energy efficiency and conservation.

We’ve been in contact with the event’s host and will provide more details next week.

- Justin Manger

Late last year Thomas Friedman was interviewed by Anne Strainchamps on Wisconsin Public Radio’s To The Best of Our Knowledge. The focus of the interview was the current green revolution, what we have taken to calling the second green revolution. He argues that everyone must participate if this is to be considered a true revolution.

In the interview, which can be heard here, Friedman claims that today’s measures fail to qualify as a revolution. He cites the general greenwashing of goods and services and argues that the day when every product achieves the highest energy efficiency will mark the next green revolution. What Friedman fails to acknowledge is that a revolution starts with a small force. However, his observation that “people actually have to change” is an important one. Behavioral changes represent the most daunting hurdle. Read the rest of this entry »

In a site visit to IdleAire’s Denver facility last year, we were impressed with the “provider of comprehensive in-cab idle reduction and driver lifestyle services to the long-haul trucking industry.” But the company couldn’t make it through the recession and, as of January 29th, went bankrupt. The company provided a place where truck drivers could park, shut off the engine (along with its noise, fumes and vibration) and still stay warm or cool while having access to the comforts of home. Providing a comfortable place for drivers to rest while reducing pollution from idling trucks, we praised the company for taking a triple bottom line approach to business. But, as they say on their website, the challenges of the recession were too great to overcome: Read the rest of this entry »

A recent article from the Economist states that there are five billion power adapters that connect wall electrical sockets to people’s electronic devices and gadgets. Everything from TVs to cellphones, computers to radios, electric razors to clocks can be found in these simple devices that convert high-voltage alternating current from the grid into low-voltage direct current to power our modern lifestyle. The article states that “until recently the conversion was made using copper wire. Typically, half the power they drew from the wall, and sometimes as much as 80%, would be lost in conversion. As a result, electricity bills and carbon emissions were both higher than necessary.” The rationale for this was laid out as such: Read the rest of this entry »

We end this week with two final questions from the Wall Street Journal’s Green IQ Test. See if you know the answers to the questions below and try your hand at the entire week-long series here.

When it comes to emissions of greenhouse gases, most people know the biggest culprits: China and the U.S. Which three countries round out the top five?

A. Brazil
B. Mexico
C. South Korea
D. India
E. South Africa
F. Russia
G. Indonesia
H. Japan Read the rest of this entry »

We’ll be featuring “Green IQ Tests” all this week as a way to mark the climate change negotiations in Denmark. Regardless of the outcome of the conference, the second green revolution is well underway among consumers and businesses.  Here are another couple of questions from the Wall Street Journal’s Green IQ Quiz to test your knowledge.

Just how does the U.S. keep the lights on? Match the share of electricity generated this year to the fuel source:

A. Coal
B. Nuclear power
C. Natural gas
D. Hydroelectric
E. Other renewables

1. 3.4%
2. 22%
3. 45%
4. 21%
5. 7.4% Read the rest of this entry »