Tagged with Association for Sustainability in Business

The Future of Renewables, Solar, Battery Storage and Electric Vehicles

Electric_Car_rechargingA global renewable energy transformation is underway. The proposed merger between Tesla and Solar City outlines the shape of things to come.

The integration of solar panels with battery storage and electric vehicles is the paradigm for both ecological global economic growth, and reaching the goals of the Paris Climate accord as reported by Roy Morrison.

An integrated renewable energy company will combine electric vehicles, battery storage, and solar electric panels, all with rapidly expanding market share and plunging prices. Globally, investment in cheap and carbon free solar energy is already rapidly supplanting fossil fuels.

Whether or not Tesla’s corporate reorganization proceeds, this is the model for a global renewable energy company with a comprehensive and compatible product line.

Elon Musk of Tesla understands that the combination of increasingly cheaper solar panels with rapidly developing and affordable battery storage makes 100% renewable energy systems achievable globally.

Mega battery and photovoltaic factories, being constructed by Tesla and others like Faraday Future in the United States, and in India, China, Ghana, mean that global industrial productive might is being rapidly deployed for a renewable energy transformation.

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates that at least 12 lithium ion mega-factories will come online by 2020. Seven of them in China. Sony is pushing forward with sulfur lithium battery development. China has passed the US in yearly production of electric vehicles by the start of 2016. 250,000 to 180,000 a year. China is now also global leader in lithium battery anode production. The French oil giant Total has bought the lithium battery company SAFT for $950 million as big oil is beginning to see where the sun is shining. And even the Saudis are now planning for major solar development as oil revenues collapse.

Profit driven renewable enterprises need sensible encouragement by fair market and utility rules, not carbon taxes, in order to continue to rapidly transform the global energy balance. Regulators and politician need to support, not sabotage the renewable energy transformation.

Instead of economically destructive and costly carbon taxes that would put a break on all economic activity, what’s needed is using the already successful renewable portfolio standards (RPS) mandating an ever increasing percentage of renewable energy.

The more renewables that are built , the lower the cost, the less pollution,the more good community jobs are created. California and its utilities and regulators are a good example of how we are moving rapidly toward a renewable turn. To read more click here.

The National Sustainability in Business Conference; renewables, markets, innovation, opportunities and capital will be held 23 – 24 March 2017 at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.

To register for the conference CLICK HERE.

Sustainability now simply part of doing business

greenwash-largeThe term ‘greenwashing’ might be officially outdated. In 2016, the number of companies making unmerited PR splashes over sustainability is far outweighed by those who are taking significant strides forward and not talking about it. When faced with the science of climate change and transparency into corporate accountability in 2016, sustainability is simply part of doing business.

Yet many leading companies still shy away from fully embracing their sustainability stories. Excellent, groundbreaking work is happening across the private sector with no-one around to hear. To re-philosophize the old saying … if a tree grows in a deforestation zone, and no one is around to hear the re-surging wildlife, does it make an impact?

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Corporate sustainability has reached new heights, driven new innovations and industries, and been embedded at the core of business strategy and systems, yet there are still barriers to sharing this information publicly.

Having just surfaced from taking a deep dive into Environmental Defense Fund’s 10-year history of working with Walmart, I’m particularly focused on all the great corporate sustainability stories that need to be told. As an environmental NGO that has partnered on the ground with leading brands for over 25 years, EDF is keenly aware that companies are often doing considerably more sustainability work than they publicize. Why is this? It could be out of fear of greenwashing; fear of financial stakeholders assuming that mindshare has been taken away from the next quarter’s earnings; or perhaps fear of being perceived as irrelevant to their target audiences.

t’s time to go beyond the annual sustainability report and engage deeply on these stories. PepsiCo did an excellent job of this with their How Will We microsite, launched contiguously to its latest sustainability report. PepsiCo’s chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi, picked up the pen herself to call for strong heavy-duty truck standards that are good for business and the environment in a recent op-ed with EDF’s Fred Krupp.

So many companies have impactful, innovative, brand-building sustainability stories that aren’t being heard. Excellent work is being done, but often in a marketing vacuum. Making sure these stories are shared is what fuels me — along with a lot of Starbucks. To read more click here.

Sustainable office space makes financial sense

Greenhouse-Office-OpenNABERS explained – article written by Andrew Brown

Sustainability and business are no longer mortal enemies. On the contrary, more and more enterprises are realising that going ‘green’ makes cold hard economic sense. This overarching trend is borne out by increasing demand for environmentally friendly office space.

A recent report by the World Green Building Council argues that the debate surrounding ‘green’ buildings has shifted away from a ‘save the environment’ narrative and now focuses on the financial benefits sustainable offices can provide.

It’s no secret that environmentally focused building design can slash ongoing costs associated with lighting, temperature control and water usage. At the same time ‘green’ buildings deliver significant intangible advantages. For instance numerous academic studies show that factors such as natural lighting and good ventilation positively affects worker wellbeing and ergo productivity. Not least, sustainable practice elevates an organisation’s corporate image, boosting its credibility in the eyes of both clients and prospective employees.

NABERS makes it easy

Whilst many companies want sustainable office space, most lack both the time and expertise to wade through the myriad of factors that influence a building’s environmental impact. Fortunately the Australian government has devised a comprehensive yet easy to understand system for rating a commercial building’s ‘green’ performance.
Managed by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, the National Australian Built Environment Ratings System (NABERS) benchmarks a building’s environmental credentials using a simple star system. NABERS measures a buildings actual performance based on its recent energy and water usage, waste management and the indoor environment and ranks it on a scale of one to six stars.

A six star rating denotes a market leading performance. So far only one Australian building has received this accolade – Sirius House in Canberra. However a number of other buildings including Legion House in Sydney and 76 Berry Street, North Sydney have signed a NABERS Six Star Energy Commitment Agreement with the NSW Government. To put this in perspective, a six star rated building emits 50% less green house gas than a five star rated building.

At the other end of the scale a zero star rating reveals an extremely poor performance with enormous scope for improvement. Three stars is average.
NABERS offers a range of services including ‘accredited ratings’ performed by qualified assessors and online tools for self-rating. An accredited rating is a legal requirement under the

Commercial Buildings Disclosure program which requires energy information to be made public when office spaces of over 2,000 sqm are offered for sale or lease.
A formal accreditation is also mandatory for joining the City Switch Green Office initiative, a Commonwealth Government funded program which aims to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint.

Over 75% of Australia’s office stock has been through the NABERS process making our commercial real estate market one of the greenest in the world.

Andrew Brown is the Chief Operating Officer at JAGONAL – Australia’s office space search engine. A veteran of a number of successful IT start ups in the commercial real estate sector, Andrew brings to JAGONAL an impressive combination of technical expertise and business acumen.

Will wind energy have longevity?

wind energy australiaWind power is currently the cheapest source of large-scale renewable energy. It involves generating electricity from the naturally occurring power of the wind.

In a TriplePundit article published yesterday; Wind Energy is Top-Dog in the EU … But Will It Last? It refers to a report by the European Wind Energy Association and discusses whether or not it will remain top of the league board.

The article states, it’s a good time for wind energy, particularly in the European Union. The EU added more new wind-energy capacity than any other form of power last year, according to the EWEA report.

In the 28 EU member countries, wind accounted for 44 percent of all new power installations and connected 12.8 gigawatts to the grid, with nearly 10 GW in onshore wind and 3 GW in offshore wind. This amounted to a 6.3 percent increase in wind installations over 2014. Total wind capacity in the EU is now 142 GW and accounts for 11.4 percent of power needs.

Oliver Joy, spokesperson for the European Wind Energy Association, told TriplePundit wind power is no longer an alternative energy source. “Last year, Europe added more new wind capacity than coal, gas and nuclear. We no longer think of wind power as an alternative technology,” “It is mainstream and mature – not to mention onshore wind is the cheapest form of new power generation available to us. An energy transition is underway in Europe and wind power is at its heart.”

The more wind energy installed means less fossil fuel-based power — and that means reduced greenhouse gas emissions.