2Sustain

Earlier this month, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol launched two new standards to help businesses better measure, manage and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:

• The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard reveals opportunities for companies to make more sustainable decisions about their activities and the products they produce, buy and sell. Large and small companies can look strategically at greenhouse gas emissions across their value chain, showing them where to focus limited resources to have the biggest impacts.
• The Product Life Cycle Standard enables companies to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of an individual product. Covering materials, manufacturing, use and disposal, the product standard will help companies improve and design new products and provide insights for more informed consumer choices.

The two new standards were developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). They were created in response to businesses that want to better understand and measure their climate impacts beyond their own operations, and they’ll enable companies to save money, reduce risks and gain competitive advantage, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol says.

“The new standards provide companies with a comprehensive view of the emissions produced when making a product and across the value chain. They will help companies make better business decisions and stimulate innovation of products and production methods,” explained Björn Stigson, President, WBCSD. “In today’s world, it is necessary to understand and measure the costs for production, labor and transportation of products, which become visible and actionable through emissions.”

Already, these new standards are gaining widespread traction: (more…)

Both large emission sources and certain suppliers are now required to report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  –and the deadline to submit this data is just around the corner.

Fortunately, the agency has released a new electronic GHG Reporting Tool (e-GGRT) to simplify the process.

EPA’s GHG Reporting Program (GHGRP), launched a year ago (in October 2009), requires the annual reporting of GHG data from large emission sources across a range of 28 industrial industry sectors. Likewise, suppliers of products that would emit GHGs if released, combusted or oxidized are also required to report GHG data.

Under this program, the deadline to submit 2010 reports is September 30, 2011.

The EPA says it expects to receive 2010 GHG data from approximately 7,000 large industrial GHG emitters and suppliers, including power plants, petroleum refineries and landfills. The agency plans to publish non-confidential GHG data collected through the GHGRP by the end of 2011. (more…)

Earlier this month, Consolidated (Con) Edison issued its 2010 Sustainability Report, detailing its long-term business strategy, an approach that relies on energy efficiency, renewable energy and recycling.

Con Edison is a New York-based utility that employs 15,000 employees, has $13 billion in revenues and holds $36 billion in assets. The company provides nine million people with electricity while balancing sustainability principles based on six fundamental points:

• Insist on green behavior from employees.
• Encourage green behavior to external stakeholders.
• Meet customers’ demands for a greener lifestyle through innovation.
• Partner with governments to create policies that match Con Edison’s sustainability vision.
• Develop an infrastructure for renewable energy.
• Include environmental and social values within its decision making process.

What are the results so far?

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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…)

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors recently approved an ordinance that will require taxi cab companies to operate fleets with greenhouse gas emissions at least 20 percent lower than 1990 levels. To help cab companies pay for it, the Board of Supervisors increased the daily fee (tax) that drivers pay by $12.50. Check out the San Francisco Chronicle article.

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