2Sustain

According to a survey released last week by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), cloud computing can both save American businesses billions of dollars in energy costs by 2020 and help their information technology (IT) operations run more efficiently.

The study, Cloud Computing–The IT Solution for the 21st Century, polled 11 global firms that have used cloud computing services for at least the past two years. This new research, conducted by Verdantix and sponsored by AT&T, includes analyses that demonstrate how business can use cloud solutions to decrease carbon emissions while simultaneously improving the bottom line.

For example, the data shows that: (more…)

The US Postal Service is on track to meet two long-term sustainability goals.

For years now, USPS has been committed to:

• reducing energy use in its facilities 30 percent by 2015

• reducing greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by fiscal year 2020.

New last week, the agency reported significant progress on both fronts.

USPS says it has achieved:

• an 8 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its fiscal year (FY) 2008 baseline –that’s a reduction of 1,067,834 metric tons of CO2 and an amount equivalent to the annual emissions of approximately 204,000 passenger vehicles

• a 12 percent reduction in facility energy-related emissions from its fiscal year (FY) 2008 baseline –enough to power approximately 39,000 average American households for a year.

What’s contributing to these positive results? According to USPS, the reductions are coming from a variety of sources, including: (more…)

Back in 2007, China earned the dubious distinction of overtaking the US as the world leader in greenhouse gas emissions.

Since then, it seemed there would be “no end in sight.” As China’s economy continues to soar, won’t its energy use and GHG emissions follow the same trajectory?

Surprisingly, a new analysis by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) suggests the answer to that question is a rather emphatic “no.”

According to the research, China’s energy use will level off well before mid-century, even as its population edges past 1.4 billion. Why? Because, somewhere between 2030 and 2035, China will: 1) reach a “saturation” point with regard to consumer goods, and 2) develop alternative energy sources.

For example, the study predicts that before 2050: (more…)

Earlier this month, Tim Hortons, Inc. released its first 2010 Sustainability and Responsibility Report, which includes information about the Company’s 2010 performance, compared to the commitments and goals outlined in the company’s 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Tim Hortons is the fourth largest publicly-traded restaurant chain in North America based on market capitalization, and the largest in Canada, and the company has outlined several specific goals for the coming years. For instance, Tim Hortons is committed to: (more…)

A new report evaluates job impacts under these two Clean Air Act rules currently being proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):

• the Clean Air Transport Rule, focused on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from 31 targeted states in the East and Midwest and

• the Utility MACT rule which, for the first time, will set limits on hazardous air pollutants such as mercury, arsenic, lead and hydrochloric acid.

The research concluded that the job impacts are positive,  underscoring the significant economic benefits of updating the nation’s power plants.

The report, New Jobs-Cleaner Air: Employment Effects under Planned Changes to EPA’s Air Pollution Rules, prepared for Ceres by Dr. James Heintz of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, finds that these new air pollution rules will provide economic benefits and jobs across much of the United States, concentrated especially in the next five years.

More specifically, the report concludes that: (more…)