This is exciting! Read on to find out more…

Erica Gies

GREEN, LIKE MONEY

In the first quarter of 2011, renewable energy production in the United States surpassed nuclear production in overall quantity and percentage. Also, the percentage of natural gas is growing slowly, while coal is declining.

Entrenched energy industries like to say that renewable energy can never provide a significant amount of U.S. energy needs. And while it’s true that some technologies still face barriers to widespread implementation and others, while technically renewable, might not be very green, renewables as a percentage of U.S. energy generation are creeping up steadily — and not just in California, with its target of 33 percent renewables by 2020.

In the first three months of 2011, renewable energy — hydroelectric, geothermal, solar/PV, wind, and biomass — made up 11.7 percent of the U.S. energy production mix, surpassing nuclear at 11.1 percent. The same period last year, nuclear was 11.6 percent, and renewables 10.6, according to a June report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (Table 1.2).

“The rise in conventional hydroelectric generation was by far the largest absolute “fuel-specific” increase as it was up 10,759 thousand megawatthours, or 52.2 percent,” according to Electric Power Monthly. This was largely due to heavy spring rains in Washington, Oregon, and California, which accounted for 71.5 percent of the national rise.

However, environmentalists find objectionable the two biggest technologies that make up the renewables sector: hydroelectric power at 35 percent and biomass at 48 percent.

While large hydroelectric power doesn’t emit emissions (at least not after accounting for the materials and energy expended in building it), it has harmful impacts on river ecosystems and has therefore fallen out of favor as a power source in the developed world.

As for biomass, there are many types of feedstocks, and each much be evaluated individually for its emissions profile, it’s water footprint, and other considerations, such as whether farm fields or forests need that material to decompose in place to retain soil or ecosystem function.

Wind was next highest at 13 percent of renewables, or 1.5 percent of total U.S. energy production, up from 1.1 percent the same time last year.

This represents a 20.4 percent increase from March 2010, and the third-largest fuel-specific increase, according to the report. “Wyoming, California, and Illinois had the largest gains, but the increase was widespread,” it said.

Natural gas plus natural gas plant liquids were 32.9 percent of U.S. production in the first quarter, a bit up over last year (32.7) and 2009 (32.4).

But overall U.S. generation was up 2.0 percent from March 2010 to March 2011, so in spite of small percentage gains, “natural gas-fired generation showed the second-largest increase over March 2010 as it was up 5.0 percent or 3,131 thousand megawatthours,” said the report. “Increased gas-fired generation in Pennsylvania and Ohio accounted for 78.8 percent of the national jump in gas-fired generation.” It would seem the recent hype about shale gas reserves is bearing some fruit — well, some gas.

Coal is declining, with 29 percent the first quarter of 2011, down from 29.4 percent the same time last year, and 31.1 percent during the same period in 2009.

Phenomenal post by Environmental Leader! It’s not just up to activists to change the green profile of the US but an unspoken corporate responsibility.

Jeffrey Puritt
President
TELUS International

Corporate social responsibility is becoming more of a strategic advantage as organizations look to align themselves with partners that embrace good corporate citizenship. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) definition of CSR is: “a firm’s accountability to internal and external stakeholders for organizational performance towards the goal of sustainable development.”

A rising social consciousness is inspiring the best companies to be premier corporate citizens, not only to provide exceptional value to customers but also to volunteer their time, money and resources to support local communities. But what should you consider when evaluating potential business partners?

Is there a culture of sustainability?

Look for partners that have a culture of social responsibility. Culture embodies the values, mindsets and behaviors of people in that organization. Start by looking at the senior leadership team as they are ultimately responsible for an organization’s CSR performance. This team is responsible for entrenching CSR practices, measures and objectives throughout the company. Sustainability is top-led by actions. While many things can influence a culture of social responsibility, the single most important one is leadership – what leaders do and say – in that order.

Is there a CSR scorecard?

Organizations that are truly committed to a CSR strategy will have a corporate scorecard that tracks CSR priorities against results year-over-year. In addition to covering economic growth (the foundation of any sustainable organization), the CSR scorecard should also address environmental and social goals. This establishes a triple bottom line approach to doing business. Here’s a potential framework and a few key questions to ask to get started:

Environmental sustainability. Is the organization committed to environmental change and do they have the strategy and metrics in place to measure progress? Is their environmental performance strategy disclosed? What does it cover – energy consumption, CO₂ efficiency, paper consumption, water consumption, recycling, others?

Community welfare. Does your potential business partner align their community investment strategy to their strategic business and financial priorities? Does the organization provide an opportunity for employees to play positive roles in social, environmental or other causes? Do they track donation amounts and volunteer hours?

As an example, we have opted for a comprehensive global CSR philosophy focused on “doing good” in the communities in which we work, live and serve. Since 2007, more than 3,900 of our contact center team members in the Philippines have volunteered over 26, 000 hours to build homes in the two TELUS Gawad Kalinga Villages, clean up rivers, conduct medical missions, give lectures on healthy living and hold livelihood sessions. Likewise, in Central America, our team members have donated over 10,000 hours in the last two years to build and improve schools for young children. These activities not only contribute to the community but also to the welfare and engagement of our employees.

Workplace well-being. Does your potential business partner bolster employee engagement with a focus on recognition, career and performance development? Do they have wellness targets – for example, how many employees take advantage of onsite fitness facilities or well-being programs? Are there employee engagement targets (often measured by what employees do and say)? For example, do employees say good things about the company? Would they recommend the company to others? Would it take a lot for them to consider leaving the company? Also, how much budget is set aside for employee learning and recognition? And more important, are these targets met each year?

Governance, integrity and transparency. Finally, how integrated, strategic and accountable are their CSR efforts within the direction of their business? And how much of this is made transparent and disclosed? At TELUS, for example, we use the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI-G3) reporting guidelines to help direct our own disclosure.

Why this matters

Your business partners are an extension of your own business, so ensuring their CSR programs are viable for the longer term helps everyone fulfill their commitments in both economically good and challenging times. Partnering for sustainability also benefits all stakeholders involved. For the CEO, CSR strengthens brand and reputation; for employees, it increases engagement and employer respect; and for customers, it enhances trust and willingness to do more business. In today’s business climate, evaluating the social and environmental sustainability practices of your potential partners could go a long way to enhancing economic success.

Jeffrey Puritt is President of TELUS International – a provider of BPO and contact center solutions to global clients, backed by TELUS, a leading Canadian telco with $9.9 billion of annual revenue and 12.3 million customer connections. In 2010, TELUS was named the world’s most philanthropic company corporation by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.For more information, visit: www.telusinternational.com.

This is pretty impressive! Hope to see more developments like in the US. Read more…

Written by Megan Treacy on 06/07/11

Here’s some really exciting renewable energy news.  Spain’s Gemasolar concentrating solar power plant just became the first solar power plant to generate power for 24 continuous hours.

The plant uses a Power Tower design where a field of mirrors concentrate the sun’s heat onto a boiler in the central tower.  That boiler creates steam which turns a turbine.  None of that is out of the ordinary when it comes to concentrated solar power, but the Gemasolar plant is the only one in the world to use molten salt as a heat transfer fluid, which allows for the storage and generation of electricity even once the sun goes down.

The 19.9 MW capacity plant on average is able to generate power for 20 hours a day and during the summer, many days will see 24 full hours of energy generation.  The molten salt generation really makes a big difference here.  Compared to the larger 21.2 MW Solarpark Calaveron plant that generates about 40 GWh per year, the Gemasolar plant generates almost triple that with 110 GWh per year.

Power storage is one of the major issues facing the growth of renewable energy generation.  The wind isn’t always blowing and the sun isn’t always shining, but innovative storage solutions like the one at Gemasolar will be what turns renewable energy into not just a clean source of electricity but also a reliable one.

via Grist

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a rule requiring 27 states to improve air quality by cutting power plant emissions that contribute to ozone and fine particle pollution in other states.

Lora Kolodny

A Chicago startup Clean Urban Energy (CUE) raised $7 million in a series A round from Battery Ventures and Rho Ventures, the company announced today.

CUE’s software-as-a-service “exploits the thermal mass of commercial office buildings to make [them] more efficient,” according to a company press statement. The software was developed at theUniversity of Colorado, which struck an exclusive, research and development and licensing agreement with CUE in 2008.

CUE claims it can lower buildings’ energy expenses by 15-30 percent through predictive modeling and optimization. The company can also aggregate energy demand across portfolios of buildings in cities, which means it has the potential to provide more macroscopic benefits.

Utilities and grid operators in big cities could use CUE technology to understand how their biggest customers are using electricity, and to introduce price elasticity in cities, encouraging commercial customers to shift power use away from high- to low-price (and lower demand) periods. Power generated outside of high demand periods generally causes less pollution, today. It also relieves power companies from the need to develop new power generating facilities— like coal or nuclear plants that nobody seems to want in their back yard.

With its new found capital, CUE aims to grow sales throughout cities in the U.S. including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston. Jason Matlof from Battery Ventures and Joshua Ruch from Rho Ventures are joining CUE’s board of directors with this round.

July 7, 2011 
In NEWS & EVENTS, SGCC IN THE NEWS, SMART GRID BENEFITS

Recently, representatives from utilities, the Maine state government, the University of Maine and smart grid experts including SGCC member group GE Energy’s John McDonald and SGCC’s Executive Director Patty Durand gathered with around 150 people at the University of Maine’s Haskell Energy Conference “Smart Grid: Consumer and Utility Perspectives”. The main goal of the conference was to give consumers and companies a general idea on how to use their electricity more efficiently. Naturally, the conversation included educating students and consumers on the benefits, opportunities and challenges of the smart grid. The conference was a success in helping describe how smart grid is important.

Read the following article > >

by Jasmine Greene, July 7th, 2011

Vestas Wind has announced two studies to move corporations and consumers towards increased renewable energy use. The Global Consumer Wind Study 2011 and the Corporate Renewable Energy Index (CREX) 2011 shows actual consumer demand and which corporations are addressing these needs.

The Global Consumer Wind Study is the largest of its kind where 31,000 consumers in 26 different countries were asked about their renewable energy needs. The studies show that around 90 percent of consumers want more renewable energy and 65 percent wish to purchase from brands that use wind energy. A related study, the CREX, shows consumers which brands are in fact utilizing renewable energy. In the largest study of its kind, around 1,000 largest listed companies by market capitalization have been surveyed with 176 respondents. Currently Whole Foods Market is the leader in renewable energy use.

image via Shutterstock

According to Morten Albaek, Senior Vice President for Group Marketing & Customer Insight at Vestas, “The Global Consumer Wind Study and the Corporate Renewable Energy Index study complement each other. The first one from a consumer demand perspective, the latter details corporate energy usage…transparency in renewable energy will not only be good for society and future generations, it also will be good for business.”

These two studies are the largest of their kind and will hopefully allow the use of more renewable energy by both consumers and corporations.

July 1, 2011

Recovery Act funds accelerate cleanup; support job creation and footprint reduction

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy completed the cleanup of Cold War legacy waste at the Nuclear Radiation Development, LLC (NRD) site near Grand Island, New York, and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The two locations became the 18th and 19th sites to be completely cleaned of legacy waste. This milestone was achieved as part of a $172 million investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expedite legacy waste cleanup activities across the DOE complex.

“Cleanup of these two sites represents important and continued progress in the Department of Energy’s commitment to reducing the nation’s nuclear waste footprint,” said Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Dr. Inés Triay. “Thanks to the Recovery Act investment, we were able to achieve these goals and save taxpayer money over the long term.”

At the two sites, contact-handled defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste was characterized and certified for transportation. It was then sent to the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) in Idaho, where it will be characterized for disposal and then shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. TRU waste consists of materials contaminated with radioactive elements that have atomic numbers greater than uranium, including tools, rags, protective clothing, sludge and soil.

At the NRD site, eighteen cubic meters of contact handled TRU waste, packaged in 87 steel drums, were loaded into nine TRUPACT-II shipping packages. On June 24, the packaged waste was shipped from the site in three truckloads.

On June 3, a single shipment of contact handled TRU waste was removed from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

WIPP is a DOE facility designed to safely isolate defense-related TRU waste from communities and the environment. At WIPP, waste is permanently disposed of in rooms mined out of an ancient salt formation 2,150 feet below the surface.  WIPP, which began waste disposal operations in 1999, is located 26 miles outside of Carlsbad, N.M.

Media contact(s):

(202) 586-4940