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The authors of Renewable Energy Policy Project’s, “Renewable Energy Policy Outside the United States,” contend that because “U.S. policymakers have chosen to reject strategies to commercialize renewable energy in favor of continued reliance on fossil fuels” U.S. renewable energy companies are losing ground to overseas companies. They assert, “Europeans have seized the lead” and Japan has “systematically laid the groundwork for a possible widescale deployment of renewable energy.” You will read about the governmental policies and market-driven incentives in Germany, the UK, The Netherlands, Denmark and Japan. They cover guaranteed electricity purchases, green labeling, consumer financing, supplier tax incentives, and competitive bidding measures. The report suggests that renewable energy technologies may soon join the list of innovations pioneered in America – but developed into competitive industries elsewhere. Download the report at: [sorry this link is no longer available] and click on “New Publications.”
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Your email box is probably filled to the brim, but this new email newsletter is worth one more informational input. It’s an eclectic synthesis of thought provoking articles and resources that integrate the world of work and business in the Age of Possibility including: – ecological & social entrepreneurship – talent & capital – leadership & innovation – Internet & e-commerce – groundbreaking companies – courageous & amazing people The first issue included the abstract from Natural Capitalism on SustainableBusiness.com, “Robert Swan Brings Leaders to the Edge” from Fast Company, and “Neo-Business: Indicators of An New Emerging Paradigm” from Awakening Earth, among others. Todd Smith: todd@thebanyaneffect.com
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After six years of research, policy experimentation and front-line observation, the World Bank’s New Ideas in Pollution Regulation team (NIPR) believe sustainable development is within reach. Although greening industry will take time, even the poorest countries can accomplish it. How? They recommend market-based incentives, a broad commitment to public environmental information, and targeted assistance to managers who are trying to improve environmental performance. The authors emphasize the importance of participatory regulation, where community representatives, government regulators and factory managers sit together at the negotiating table. The team invites the public to a seminar based on the report, “Greening Industry: New Roles for Communities, Markets, and Governments.” If you can’t attend the November 22nd event in Washington DC you can view the live webcast from 2-4:30PM Eastern Time on the NIPR website. You can download the report there too. It is also available in CD-ROM format. “Resources for Greening Industry” is an electronic version of the report packed with 500 files of background material. It is a reference for state-of-the-art research and tools on innovative industrial pollution control programs in the developing world. The seminar will focus on: the use of economic instruments; public information disclosure programs; promoting clean production by […]
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Our Common Journey: A Pioneering Approach to Cooperative Environmental Management, authored by Paul De Jongh (project leader) and Sean Captain, is written like a hiker’s journal: it is a step-by-step insider account of how the very successful Dutch National Environmental Policy Plan was built by pulling together government, business, citizens, and activists to negotiate long-term deals on policy. Comparing policy-making to a hike, they learned “when to hit the trail and how much ground we could cover in a day. The trick is to decide on the absolute essentials and have the courage to pack nothing else… A little extra baggage is not a problem for a day hike; but it can become an excessive burden on a long trip. The ad hoc phase of policy was something akin to a day hike. Devising quick responses to individual problems, we only saw a small part of the trail ahead and didn’t worry about what was over the next hill.” When they took a more strategic, long term approach, “the weight of our many ad hoc policy tools became noticeable. To lighten the load, we had to share our [hiking] equipment by integrating our work with other departments. [sorry this link […]
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A growing number of manufacturers are beginning to sell the use of their products, rather than the physical products themselves, a process the Tellus Institute calls “servicizing.” There is much talk of the potential environmental gains from this trend, but it has yet to be subjected to critical study. Do environmental gains always result from servicizing? Not necessarily, according to a Tellus Institute report that looks at the services provided by seven companies. It uncovers when there are environmental benefits from servicizing, what policy initiatives can encourage them, and whether this trend can lead to extended producer responsibility. Coro, Inc., a Herman Miller subsidiary, provides moving and reorganization services to its corporate customers, offering to take-back or trade-in furniture. Castrol Industrial offers its customers the option of using the chemicals they need without purchasing them. The company manages the procurement, inventory, storage etc. of chemicals and receives compensation based on cost savings rather than volume sold. Xerox sells “documents” rather than copy machines. It integrates document storage and reproduction technology with customer business systems providing them with automated, just-in-time, custom document production. Radian International (Dow Chemical), IBM, DuPont and Electrolux are the other companies profiled. Download the 90-page report, “Servicizing: […]
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This guide can help you start a green builder program in your municipality or region. It surveys six green building programs – Austin, Metro Denver, Central New Mexico, Kitsap County and Clark County in Washington, and Suburban Maryland – comparing and analyzing each to determine the most effective requirements and incentives, as well as nitty gritty details like organizational structure and advertising budgets. It lays out the steps needed to create a program and includes a “Green Builder Program Template.” Download it (click on “Builder Programs”) or order it on CD-ROM or hard copy. If you are looking for sample contract documents and specification language for green building products, check out Ross Spiegel and Dru Meadow’s book, Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection & Specification (1999: James Wiley & Sons). If it is the products themselves you are interested in, you will find an edited list of 1200 green building products in GreenSpec, produced by Environmental Building News. Listings include product descriptions, environmental characteristics, and contact information. http://www.ebuild.com
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This new website sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be increasingly useful as a way to find and compare the many alternative fuel vehicles coming online. I chose the Honda Civic, since that’s the car I own. Two clicks later, I found the year 2000 model gets no better gas mileage than my 1999 model (28 mpg city, 35 mpg highway), the annual fuel cost is $599 and annual greenhouse gas emissions are 6.3 tons. A very useful next step for the website would be for it to automatically recommend similar cars that offer greater efficiency. http://www.fueleconomy.gov
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What are the market conditions for your product line in countries around the world? Industry Canada’s website has a growing list of briefings that give you a quick but thorough overview of individual countries. Interested in Australia? There are summaries of the market for Energy Efficiency Services or Recycling Equipment. For Austria, there are summaries for Renewable Energy and Air Pollution Control Equipment. If you are interested in renewable energy in Austria, for example, you will learn that the “share of renewables in the overall energy system reached 26.23 percent of total energy supply in 1997. The most important renewable sources of energy are hydropower with a share of 13.38 percent, and the so-called other energy sources (especially biomass) with 12.85 percent. This puts Austria third in Europe among countries relying on these environmentally sound energy sources. Within the European Union (EU) only Finland and Sweden exceed Austria in the proportion of biomass used.” The report covers each type of renewable energy and its prospects, programs that foster its development and more.
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“Building Sustainability with The Natural Step: UT-Houston’s Journey,” is a 22-minute video (there’s a shorter executive version) that illustrates the TNS system conditions through graphics and animation. University of Texas staff and an international design team describe how the new Health Science Center they are building puts each of the system conditions into practice. Order the video or view a sample , or visit the Video Project. The video is available in English and Spanish. The Portland State University Center for Watershed and Community offers two TNS public listservs. The first focuses on incorporating TNS into public policy development and implementation, and the second focuses on community programs. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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The World Resources Institute is starting a venture capital fund, New Ventures, to help sustainable businesses in Latin America. They will distribute US$100,000 to the three best environmental companies in six sectors: sustainable agriculture, sustainable tourism, sustainable forestry (certified wood and non-timber forest products), renewable energy, eco-innovation (including product innovations and original technologies for cleaner production), and information technology (digital applications for sustainable development). Twenty finalists will receive advanced mentoring services and 50 semi-finalists will receive services to improve their business plans. Finalists will be invited to participate in the first Latin American Environmental Investor Forum which brings together early- and mid-stage environmental companies with institutional, individual, and corporate investors. Companies will have the opportunity to attract joint-venture partners, other sources of financing, and meet critical market players in their sector, including multinational corporations and buyers. If you would like to submit your business plan or you are an interested investor, learn more at WRI website. Source: United Nations Association of the USA
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