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Alternative fuels are making inroads to the 207,680 Postal Service vehicle fleet. It recently purchased 500 electric vehicles, and plans to buy 5500 more – the largest purchase of electric vehicles to date. 440 of the vehicles will be used in California and the rest in Washington DC. The Postal Service also acquired 11,275 FFV (flexible fuel) vehicles in addition to the 10,000 scheduled to begin delivery this fall. Flexible-fuel vehicles use ethanol, unleaded gasoline or a combination and are said to be 75 percent cleaner than the vehicles they are replacing. The post office currently uses 8,272 alternative fuel vehicles, either running on ethanol, natural gas, propane or electricity. They expect the AFV fleet to grow to more than 30,000 by 2001. The vehicles are being subsidized partially by the Department of Energy. “Being an environmental leader requires us to step forward in support of new technology,” explained Governor Robert Rider, who chairs the Boards Capital Projects Committee. “Our support, however, does not extend to subsidizing these investments. Additional funding from other organizations is expected.” The U.S. Postal Service stands out as a leader in environmental stewardship. In addition to its extensive recycling program (one million tons last year) […]
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Remember the infamous USDA organic industry draft standards that were resoundedly rejected last year? They promised a second draft by summer’s end; now it looks like it won’t appear before the new year. In the meantime, a small group of volunteers is feverishly preparing its final draft of North American organic standards, in time for ratification at the October Organic Trade Association meeting. “In my 25 years of working on organic issues I have never seen a project of this size go this smoothly,” says Lynn Coody, of Oregon Tilth, one of the drafters. The others are Jim Riddle, inspector and trainer, and Emily Brown Rosen, Northeast Organic Farming Association and Organic Certifiers Council. According to Coody, every one of the 1100 comments on the second draft, released in early August, indicated they were on the right track. The state of Iowa pledged to adopt the standard for state certification, as has a private certification agency. If others follow, the USDA’s rules may be a moot point. In any event, an industry-wide consensus document will be a useful tool to guide USDA’s efforts. In fact, a USDA representative was first in line to purchase a copy at a recent trade […]
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There are 17 eco-industrial projects underway in the U.S., Canada and Denmark, taking a variety of forms. For example: A Computer and Electronics Disposition Eco-Industrial Park in Austin, Texas is being positioned as a leader in the emerging field of electronics recovery and recycling. The businesses in the park will use the latest industrial ecology techniques for wide-scale energy, resource and waste efficiency. The plan calls for reuse, sale of parts and units, recycling, remanufacturing, and ultimate disposition of all computer and electronic equipment. Tenants will benefit from shared social services such as job-training, transportation, public space, child-care and technology research. The anchor business will be a computer and electronics disposition facility. There will be a Research & Development Center, a business incubator (Innovation Center), and the non-profit managing partner of the park. Future resident companies will feed off the product streams of the anchor facility. The Industrial Ecosystem Development Project, in Research Triangle, North Carolina, completed a two year, EPA-funded research project to match company wastestreams in a six-county region. The challenges of industrial waste matchmaking and the specific industry inputs and byproducts they found offer a useful guide for implementing such programs elsewhere. 182 facilities furnished information on […]
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The mission of Presidio World College in San Francisco is to equip entrepreneurs with practical skills to achieve sustainable development goals. Its first project, with Goddard College (VT.), is an upper division BA degree in Creating Sustainable Ventures, and begins this fall. Students can participate onsite or online. Others in the planning stage are a graduate program with The Fielding Institute in Transformative Leadership, and an independent program in sustainable Later-Life Design. 415-561-6590
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PRODEEM (Program for Energy Development of States and Municipalities), a Brazil government agency, is charged with supplying renewable energy to the 20 million rural inhabitants without access to grid power(about 15% of Brazil’s total population). About 20,000 MW of power are needed. The price tag – about $25 billion. With the assistance of the Inter-American Development Bank, PRODEEM will create market mechanisms to stimulate the private sector to provide off-grid renewable energy services. 200 rural renewable energy systems were installed in 1997; 2,000 in 1998. With IDB’s technical assistance, they plan to increase the number of annual installations to 10,000. Each system serves about 200 people. Non-grid connected households, small businesses, farms, and community or social end-users (health clinics, churches, schools and community centers) provide a solid base of customers with a considerable range of energy requirements suitable for renewable energy stand-alone systems. Solar, wind and biomass are the priorities for energy sources. The effort is part of a new Brazilian energy policy that emphasizes efficiency, diversity of energy sources, private sector incentives, and ensuring energy access for every Brazilian citizen. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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This June, the Sustainable Business Alliance started operations in Berkeley, California. Its purpose is to support the growth of the environmental business sector and to improve the environmental profile of all local economic activity. Charter members include eco-business owners, the city’s economic development department, Chamber of Commerce, and the Haas School of Business at the University of California/Berkeley. Berkeley has the highest per capita membership in environmental organizations of any U.S. city and there are 119 ecobusinesses there. Plans include: Green Resource Center: a library of information on green building and sustainable community development along with drop-in/phone consulting services. Business & Environment Program: a future website with a local ecobusiness database and Green Map; joint marketing and ad campaigns; a referral and co-op purchasing system; and environmental audit services. Environmental Advocacy & Business Development: Advocacy on procurement policies, land use, alternative transportation, and eco-efficiency incentives. 510-845-9500 Source: In Business Magazine
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The Taj Group is leading an environmental management training program for hoteliers throughout India in conjunction with the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India. Called “Environmental Management for Hoteliers,” it targets hotels of all sizes to raise awareness about the benefits and how to’s of environmental management. It draws on the Taj’s successful “Eco-Taj” initiative and covers: – awareness and responsibility – global overview of best practices – environmental management systems – energy and water conservation – waster water treatment and solid waste management – use of environmental materials – training and staff motivation Contact: Brian Bhasin Briefly read about the Taj program in our February ’99 Feature article. From The Green Hotelier
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The Hunt family, Texas real estate developers, are offering home buyers the option to power their homes with fuel cells rather than electricity from traditional utilities in the 500 homes they are building each year through 2013. A $6,000 investment buys a fuel-cell generator (using natural gas or propane), which can produce electricity for less than what the local utility charges. “Our studies show,” says Oklahoma Gas & Electric’s Jack Phipps, “that if you can get to a thousand units manufactured, you’ll get your costs down to where they can compete with local electricity prices in areas where gas is relatively cheap and power is relatively expensive.”
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After attending two Natural Step workshops, Bob Maddox, a Republican Representative for the state of Connecticut, sponsored a bill called, “An Act Concerning Exemplary Environmental Management.” The first in the nation, it passed June 8. The bill rewards companies that demonstrate “an exemplary record of compliance with environmental laws,” are “registered as meeting the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard and have adopted principles for sustainability.” Some of the benefits are accelerated and system-wide permits, along with reduced or waived fees. The Natural Step framework is explicitly mentioned in the bill’s definition of principles for sustainability. Maddox explained, “ISO 14001, without a global framework like TNS, is virtually meaningless. Truly cutting-edge companies must demonstrate a change in their corporate culture, and adoption of TNS principals is a sure signal they have an exemplary environmental management system.” House bill 6830, Senate amendment A at the Connecticut’s General Assembly website To learn more about The Natural Step: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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In an effort to help companies integrate eco-efficiency metrics into their operations, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is developing a standard set of measurements that can be used by all companies. 25 companies representing a cross section of the business community are presently testing a draft set of eco-efficiency indicators. The process will be completed by March, 2000. WBCSD’s goal is to establish a voluntary framework that is flexible enough to be widely used, broadly accepted, and easily interpreted throughout the world business community. The framework consists of five elements: – agreed definitions and terminology for indicators – set of core indicators that follow a widely agreed measurement methodology, relevant to virtually all businesses – process for developing additional indicators relevant to specific businesses – a means by which the relationship between economic/value performance and environmental performance can be quantified – ways for companies to communicate eco-efficiency measurements clearly and transparently to stakeholders. If your company would like to participate, please contact Markus Lehni To learn more, visit the WBCSD website
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