Welcome
Welcome to another two-weekly review of energy and environmental events and developments from both here in New Zealand and throughout the world. As always we hope you will find our collection of stories to be of interest as the impact of an increasingly resource constrained world becomes evident.
The US Green Building Council has been working to apply its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating programme to include existing buildings. This is an interesting development – and the first time such a programme has been applied to legacy building stock, rather than nice and clean new buildings from the ground-up. Given that buildings are directly or indirectly responsible for 40% of the world’s greenhouse emissions, this is an important development. We’re interested to see if more organisations can get kudos for doing the best with what they’ve got.
With rising energy prices, sustainability has become more about survival than a point of difference. A global survey of corporate suggests that sustainability is under-resourced, suggested as being less resourced than “improving perception of the company” within the majority of CEOs responding to the survey. It also states that a culture of sustainability needs to have board and senior management support if it is to be integrated throughout an organisation. Perhaps still too much talking and not enough walking……
Water has always been important – we’re 75% water by content, and food production requires “1 lite of water per calorie”. If we add 2.5bn people by 2030, that’s an extra 2000 cubic km of fresh water in order to feed them… A quick look at this week’s 2kg bag of orange coated chocolate orbs suggests an energy content of 500kCal per 100g, or 10MCal per bag – we would question where the 1L of water to 1 calorie figure comes from – maybe people that eat chocolate are being energy efficient???
Land erosion is on the radar – the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 1.5bn people will have food supply directly affected by land erosion – including 20% of all cultivated areas, 30% of forests and 10% of grasslands. This is said to be driven largely by poor land management. I still remember a high-school geography project that I did on uncle Jimmy’s farm in Clydevale on the south bank of the Clutha river – it’s since been sold, but the land loss was significant (3 acres) – suffice it to say they weren’t too impressed with management of the Clutha hydro scheme…
The number of people not eating enough (<2100 calories per day according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) has increased by 15% to 982,000,000 from 2006-2007. From this it would appear that food is becoming a more highly valued commodity – evident given that NZ dairy farmers are getting a higher return on milk production, rather than relying on capital gains on the value of land. One thing is for sure – everything points toward food and basic requirements for living continuing to rise in price.
Global carbon dioxide trading in the European Union has reached 38bn Euros in the first half of 2008 – which is almost double the whole of 2007, and is expected to grow significantly with the inclusion of aviation emissions from 2012. Looking at this, the market for CO2 emissions is beyond concept let alone start-up stage.
Australia is pretty hungry, for energy that is, according to a recent report prepared for the Climate Institute. Its motor vehicle energy use is high (per passenger km) – maybe the Ford vs Holden culture is not the way to go – will we ever see a biodiesel falcon or solar powered HSV rocketing down Conrod Straight (Bathurst)? Who knows, but with the change in government, some fresh thinking is required if Australia wants to improve its use of energy resources – they’re lagging behind everyone except the USA and Canada.
Now on a lighter note, a new gadget called the “Carbon Hero” is being tested for its ability to report on carbon emissions simply by analysing its position using GPS technology. This device communicates wirelessly with mobile phones, and can tell what mode of transport you are using by a smart algorithm. Maybe they will come up with a “Diet Hero” that calculates the carbon emissions of the food you eat by weighing you on a continuous basis…
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The Renovation of LEED-EB
By Venessa Wong
Published July 3, 2008
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As LEED fever spreads across the United States and abroad, the U.S. Green Building Council hopes to revitalize the LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) standard, which has been trailing behind its far more popular counterpart for New Construction (LEED-NC). As of July 1, LEED-EB: Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EB:O&M, pronounced "leed-e-bom"), will become the default rating system for existing buildings entering the LEED game.
The implications are significant: if successful, EBOM will give green building the muscle to transform an enormous section of the industry. USGBC Director of Certification Mike Opitz explains that the existing buildings market is much larger than that for new construction. There are about 5 million commercial buildings in the United States. Also, EB registration can be sought at any point in the lifecycle of a building, unlike new constructions which must incorporate LEED from the design and construction phase. By improving the EB system, "we are trying to take the best practices of today and make them the standard practices of tomorrow," says Opitz.
The revised EB framework, introduced earlier this year, aims to remove unattractive prerequisites in the old version while strengthening the focus on water and energy efficiency. Building professionals thinking seriously about shrinking their facilities' footprints welcome the change, especially as environmental programs such as the Clinton Climate Initiative and the C40 Large Cities group gain momentum. All projects registering for Existing Buildings after July 1 must do so under EBOM, while any projects already registered for Version 2.0 before this deadline have the option to upgrade to EBOM or continue certification under Version 2.0.
A Retailored Framework
The first version of LEED-EB was introduced in 2004 to address buildings' overall and daily facility management issues. Despite the environmental advantages and financial incentives offered by the government, the uptake of EB was slower than USGBC hoped. As of June this year, there were only 85 EB certified projects, compared to 1,090 for New Construction. California ranked number one with 18 EB projects.
James Baker, director of facilities management at Armstrong, says "[EB] certification was very challenging to complete." Last June, Armstrong World Industries received EB Platinum rating for its corporate headquarters in Lancaster, PA. The biggest challenge was lack of experience to estimate the resource requirements and timing to earn certification. "We had an in-house facilities team which was very knowledgeable of the building's systems, however [they] already had plenty on their plate to accomplish each day," Baker says.
In addition to the steep learning curve, many other factors discouraged building managers. "[EB] was not a good fit for the existing buildings market," Opitz says, as there was too much carryover from the NC rating system in terms of architectural and design requirements. For example, the Daylight and Views credit in Version 2.0 might call for major window renovations, which was not viable for most owners of occupied buildings. Building managers also complained about onerous prerequisites for commissioning, waste stream audit and mercury in lamps reduction. (All of these were converted to optional credits in EBOM.)
The USGBC started the process to revise EB over a year ago. The new program is not dramatically different but does shift the spotlight from design to facilities and maintenance. Overall it should alleviate the challenges in Version 2.0, according to Kaitlin Regan, marketing manager for green building consultancy CodeGreen. While certification is not effortless, there are more streamlined credits and the requirements and prerequisites are adjusted to fit existing buildings, hopefully making them easier to achieve. In total, EBOM adds seven new credit options "to allow more flexibility for projects to choose credits which are most feasible based on project scope," explains Regan.
Most of the new credits deal with energy and water, the top two areas where facilities managers can realize cost savings. Anna Dengler, a consultant at sustainability firm Great Forest, says, "While the bar has been raised, very efficient buildings will have a shorter distance to go to obtain certification." EBOM raises the minimum Energy Star rating from 67 to 69 and the number of possible energy points from 10 to 15, nearly half of 34 required points needed for certification. Meanwhile, the number of points for water doubled from 5 to 10.
Over 60 projects had already registered for EBOM by June and Opitz expects the first certified project to debut in the United States this summer. Industry insiders say the new version has strong potential to outshine its predecessor, especially as energy costs rise and managers look for ways to reduce their energy consumption.
EBOM is expected to be particularly successful in urban areas, which have a dense concentration of existing buildings and limited space for new constructions. "LEED does involve some advantages in cities ... associated with size," says Russell Unger, executive director of the New York chapter of USGBC. To support green building, major cities such as New York and Los Angeles are offering financial incentives such as grants and tax credits. While only two buildings in New York City are certified under Version 2.0, six have already registered for EBOM and many more are in the pipeline: CodeGreen is now working with Monday Properties to register two buildings in Manhattan.
Preparing for Change
Although it is still early in the game, Armstrong's Baker expects some new challenges with EBOM: "We know more of what's required so we will spend more time making sure our building systems are operating as designed while reviewing the sustainable policies and procedures that we developed specific to the next building," he says. Armstrong is evaluating the next building on its campus to go through the certification process and has installed metering devices to get a baseline on the building's operational systems. The EB Platinum rated headquarters building will also be recertified under EBOM.
As the focus on energy and water efficiency is strengthened, facilities managers may need to invest in efficient plumbing and lighting systems to achieve credits. "The key is to know what your energy profile [and] usage look like before you start changing anything," says Baker. Resources such as Energy Star Portfolio Manager can track and assess energy and water consumption across a company's entire portfolio of buildings.
One tip: although commissioning is no longer a prerequisite, Great Forest's Dengler argues it is still a must for anyone who is serious about sustainability. Commissioning a typical commercial office building can easily cost over $100,000 in areas such as New York City. Yet Opitz says it quickly pays for itself, enabling building systems to function better, which means fewer service calls, and more comfortable and marketable properties. Other advantages such as the increased marketability of a space, asset value, tenant retention, and employee satisfaction can also be factored into ROI considerations, says Regan. In a CodeGreen survey, 79 percent of respondents said they would pay at least 5 percent more in rent for a LEED Silver rated building.
An added boon: more federal, state and local governments incentives are available to alleviate the costs of commissioning and energy modeling. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, for instance, operates a 50/50 co-fund program.
Simple changes such as having a green cleaning program (ex. using Green Seal products) can also earn credits. Many sustainable services and products, previously sold at a higher premium, are now priced on par with traditional counterparts.
As the EB landscape evolves, Baker says communication will be key in keeping parties abreast of the company's goals. "Educating building occupants on the new policies and procedures as well as educating management was also [a challenge] and continues to be an ongoing process," he says. To help get past the bottleneck in expertise, USGBC offers regular workshops and educational courses; the New York chapter is working with contractors and unions to update professionals on the new framework.
As building professionals get up to speed on the new LEED requirements, the framework will continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of the market. EBOM is certainly not going to be the last version for Existing Buildings, but it shows promise of bringing green building practices to an enormous market. "The wood has caught fire," says Unger, "and it's getting hot."
Venessa is a business writer and editor based in New York City. She currently works as a freelance writer and has been published in Forbes.com, Newsweek Select, Business China (by the Economist Intelligence Unit) and Corporate Board Member.
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Corporate Sustainability: It's All About Survival
By GLOBE-Net Staff, GLOBE-Net
Published: June 23, 2008
In a world of rising energy prices, increased scarcity of natural
resources, rampant changes in our climate, growing competition from
emerging economies, and increased consumer concern about the quality of
life, health and safety, corporate sustainability is synonymous with
corporate survival.
Surprisingly, that message is not getting through to many CEOs.
Only
half of the businesses recently polled on a global survey of corporate
sustainability reported having a formal sustainability strategy. The
survey also showed with such strategies were more focused on improving
public perceptions or responding to increased regulation, than meeting
broader societal needs or generating revenue opportunities.
More
than 75 percent of the respondents said sustainability was an important part
of their organization’s corporate strategy, or would become so in the
future. But a string of reports indicates companies need to spend less
time thinking about sustainability and more time putting it into action.
CEOs made up the majority of respondents of the poll developed by
the Vandiver Group, an award-winning strategic communications firm, and
sponsored by PR firm Pinnacle Worldwide. This is ironic, because the
same study shows that CEOs are the primary drivers of sustainability
decisions, with communications and public affairs managers rarely in
that role.
Other facts emerging from the survey:
- More than 65 percent of companies do not have dedicated sustainability staff;
- Of
those with dedicated staff, nearly half have fewer than five employees
working more than half of their time on sustainability;
- "Improving perception of the company" was rated as more important than increasing revenue via sustainability programs.
- Nearly
half of companies surveyed have less than $50,000 allocated annually to
sustainability-related programs; only 10 percent have more than
$50,000 so allocated.
There is a depressing similarity to
these findings and those of a 2004 study conducted by the Certified
General Accountants Association of Canada. In partnership with the
CGA-Canada Research Foundation, this study also found that only half of
the companies surveyed provided some coverage of their social or
environmental performance. Regulatory requirements (49.5 percent), stakeholder
pressure (21.4 percent), and corporate image objectives (12 percent) were the most
important factors influencing decisions on corporate sustainability
according to that report.
Sustainability Pays Off
However, a more recent report by GMA and PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) indicates that companies that employ sustainability practices and
share sustainability data generally experience higher gross margins and
return on sales, higher return on assets, and stronger cash flow and
rising shareholder return.
A similar report prepared by Natural Marketing Institute
(NMI) suggested that many companies have identified very profitable
ways of being good environmental stewards, allowing environmental
issues to move from a "liability" to an "asset." The example most
frequently cited is GE’s Ecomagination campaign, which has proven that
selling green products can produce clear and substantial bottom-line
results.
GE, like many other major retailers, was quick to capitalize on growing consumer desire for sustainable products and services.
Jargon
aside, more companies are catching on to the notion that one can do
well by doing good, and catering to the sustainable market segment is
picking up steam in North America and Europe, and in parts of Asia.
But
Corporate Responsibility in its broadest sense goes far beyond the
short term market gains of catering to high end consumers that can
afford to buy environmentally sound products and services.
Companies
that are involved in major resource development activities or which are
active in the developing world see a more fundamental dimension of
corporate responsibility, namely contributing to the necessities of
life that are in short supply to over two thirds of the world’s
population -- clean drinking water, safe cities, adequate housing,
meaningful employment, access to health and education, and most
importantly stable food supply.
The U.N. predicts that by 2025,
two-thirds of the earth’s population will be living in areas suffering
from scarcity of water, due to growing populations, rapid economic
development, droughts and changes caused by global warming. Already
there are fears of massive starvation in many parts of the world due to
skyrocketing prices and plummeting food supplies, in part driven by
rising energy costs.
Responsible corporate leaders see these
conditions as a call to action simply because no one benefits from
chaos and no company can survive in conditions of high civil unrest,
destabilized government structures, inequitable markets, and
starvation.
The World Business Council on Sustainable
Development (WBCSD), a Geneva-based international coalition of leading
corporations, is committed to the proposition that free markets, the
end of poverty, environmental responsibility and corporate citizenship
are the keys to a sustainable future for mankind. This is not utopian
rhetoric, but the hardnosed reality that business can only prosper when
the world prospers.
WBCSD has its counterparts in Canada, namely the EXCEL Partnership,
a coalition of leading Canadian Corporations and senior executives that
have committed themselves to developing, integrating and improving
sustainable development principles into their corporate strategies and
practices. Established in 1996 the EXCEL Partnership is an initiative
of the GLOBE Foundation of Canada.
EXCEL’s influence has reached
beyond the corporate world and members regularly work closely with
governments on sustainability and competitiveness issues.
Are Things Changing?
Most of the reports cited earlier note that sustainability concerns
are unlikely to diminish. And certainly the work of the EXCEL
Partnership is based on the premise that the hallmarks of business
success in the future will include a transparent and sincere commitment
to sustainability principles in all aspects of corporate behavior.
Therefore,
recognizing and understanding this trend allows an organization to gain
a strategic advantage in the marketplace, according to the NMI report.
The idea may be taking hold -- at least in Canada.
In an April 2008 report released by Stratos Inc.,
a business consulting firm, it would appear that a growing number of
Canadian companies are finally getting the message. The report found
that over the past 15 years there are signs of growth and improvement
in sustainability reporting. Today, corporate sustainability reporting
is a core element in the business strategies of 47 of the 265 companies
on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) Composite Index.
Similar to
both the Ipsos poll and the NMI report, the Stratos study speculates
that as sustainability reporting gets more strategic and sustainability
issues become more frequently addressed in corporate reporting,
stakeholder and consumer confidence in the numbers, procedures and
practices being reported on will grow.
"Disclosure of
information on sustainability performance is routine now among large
Canadian corporations. We expect the next few years to see dynamic
improvements with companies looking hard at how they can differentiate
themselves through their sustainability reporting," said George Greene,
Chair of Stratos.
What Does it All Mean?
Volumes
have been written on corporate sustainability, but to reduce it to its
core elements what is at stake is defining and adopting a strategic
framework that makes sustainability the core of the company’s vision
and embedding those values in every part of the business. It’s a
concept that lives through actions, not words. Walking the talk is more
than a trite expression. It is the essence of the strategy.
To
make it work, sustainability requires leadership from the top, board
level support, firm rules and guidelines to shape management decision
making at all levels, empowering people and rewarding success.
Leadership
counts. If the occupants of the corner offices or the attendees at board meetings don’t see the connection, it is highly unlikely that
those beneath them will see it either.
Most of all, corporate sustainability is all about ensuring survival is an increasingly uncertain world.
http://www.greenbiz.com/feature/2008/06/23/corporate-sustainability-survival?page=0%2C0 |
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Water: The Forgotten Crisis
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2008) |
This year, the world and, in particular, developing countries and the poor have been hit by both food and energy crises. As a consequence, prices for many staple foods have risen by up to 100%. When we examine the causes of the food crisis, a growing population, changes in trade patterns, urbanization, dietary changes, biofuel production, and climate change and regional droughts are all responsible. Thus we have a classic increase in prices due to high demand and low supply.
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Center pivot irrigating corn. (Credit: Photo by T.A. Howell (USDA-ARS))
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However, few commentators specifically mention the declining availability of water that is needed to grow irrigated and rainfed crops. According to some, the often mooted solution to the food crisis lies in plant breeding that produces the ultimate high yielding, low water- consuming crops. While this solution is important, it will fail unless attention is paid to where the water for all food, fibre and energy crops is going to come from.
A few years ago, IWMI (the International Water Management Institute) demonstrated that many countries are facing severe water scarcity, either as a result of a lack of available fresh water, or due to a lack of investment in water infrastructure such as dams and reservoirs. What makes matters worse is that this scarcity predominantly affects developing countries where the majority of the world's under-nourished people-- approximately 840 million -- live.
The causes of water scarcity are essentially identical to those of the food crisis. There are serious and extremely worrying factors that indicate water supplies are steadily being used up. Essentially every calorie of food requires a liter of water to produce it. Thus those of us on western diets, use about 2500-3000 liters per day. A further 2.5 billion people by 2030 will mean that we have to find over 2000 more cubic kilometers of fresh water to feed them. This is not any easy task given that current water usage for food production is 7500 cubic kilometers and supplies are scarce.
According to the recent report "Water for Food, Water for Life" of the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, which drew on the work of 700 scientists, unless we change the way we use water and increase "water productivity" (i.e. more crop per drop) we will not have enough water to feed the world's growing population (This population is estimated to increase from 6 billion now to about 8.5 billion in 25 years.) Compared with the lengthy agenda to combat climate change, this is a very short time indeed and yet the impacts of water scarcity will be profound. However, very little is being done about it in most countries.
Since the formulation of the UN Millennium Goals in 2002, much of the water agenda has been focused around the provision of drinking water and sanitation. This water comes from the same sources as agricultural water and as we urbanize and improve living standards there will be increasing competition for drinking water from domestic and other urban users, putting agriculture under further pressure. While improving drinking water and sanitation is vital with respect to health and living standards, we cannot afford to neglect the provision and improved productivity of water for agriculture.
There are potential solutions. Better water storage has to be considered. Ethiopia, which is typical of many sub-Saharan African countries, has a water storage capacity of 38 cubic meters per person. Australia has almost 5000 cubic meters per person, an amount that in the face of current climate change impacts may be inadequate. While there will be a need for new large and medium-sized dams to deal with this critical lack of storage in Africa, other simpler solutions are also part of the equation.
These include the construction of small reservoirs, sustainable use of groundwater systems including artificial groundwater recharge and rainwater harvesting for smallholder vegetable gardens. Improved year- round access to water will help farmers maintain their own food security using simple supplementary irrigation techniques. The redesign of both the physical and institutional arrangements of some large and often dysfunctional irrigation schemes will also bring the required productivity increases. Safe, risk free reuse of wastewater from growing cities will also be needed. Of course these actions need to be paralleled by development of drought- tolerant crops, and the provision of infrastructure and facilities to get fresh food to markets.
Current estimates indicate that we will not have enough water to feed ourselves in 25 years time, by when the current food crisis may turn into a perpetual crisis. Just as in other areas of agricultural research and development, investment in the provision and better management of water resources has declined steadily since the green revolution. I and my water science colleagues are raising a warning flag that significant investment in both R&D and water infrastructure development are needed, if dire consequences are to be avoided.
The summary of 'Water for Food, Water for Life' is available at http:// http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Assessment
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080710103907.htm |
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Some 1.5 bln people may starve due to land erosion
Wed Jul 2, 2008 6:47am EDT
MILAN (Reuters) - Rising land degradation reduces crop yields and may threaten food security of about a quarter of the world' population, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday.
Food security has been highlighted in recent months as soaring crop prices resulting from poor harvests, low stocks, high fuel prices and rising demand, risks causing starvation for millions of people in the developing world.
"An estimated 1.5 billion people, or a quarter of the world's population, depend directly on land that is being degraded," FAO said in a statement presenting a study based on data taken over a 20-year period.
Long-term land degradation has been increasing around the world and affects more than 20 percent of all cultivated areas, 30 percent of forests and 10 percent of grasslands, FAO said
Land erosion leads to reduced productivity, migration, food insecurity, damage to basic resources and ecosystems, loss of biodiversity and also contributes to increasing emission of heat-trapping gases, the Rome-based agency said.
"The loss of biomass and soil organic matter releases carbon into the atmosphere and affects the quality of soil and its ability to hold water and nutrients," said Parviz Koohafkan, director of FAO's Land and Water Division.
According to the study, land degradation is being driven mainly by poor land management.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKL0223173420080702 |
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Food Security Assessment, 2007
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Pollution: Value of global carbon trading is already nearly double last year's figure at £30bn
Mark Milner, industrial editor
The Guardian,
Wednesday July 9, 2008
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The value of carbon traded on the world's markets reached €38bn (£30bn) in the first half of this year, almost double the total for the whole of 2007, according to the market analysis and consulting group, Point Carbon. The world's trade in CO2 was dominated by the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS), which has accounted for 70% of all trades so far this year and which will grow further after the inclusion of aviation emissions from 2012, according to the report. The ETS, which covers a series of industrial sectors, sets limits on the amount of CO2 that companies covered by the scheme can emit. Any permits they do not use can be sold, while companies which overrun their allotment have to buy permits to cover the excess. In the first half of the year trades within the ETS hit €30bn, up 161% on the first six months of 2007, according to Point Carbon. Initially the ETS came in for heavy criticism because allocations were perceived to be too high, allowing companies to meet their targets too easily. The European commission has since tightened the rules, with further changes in the pipeline. Point Carbon said that although the ETS increased its share of the global market in carbon trades, other markets in the US, Canada and Australia were developing. Endre Tvinnereim, a senior Point Carbon analyst, said despite its short comings, the Kyoto Protocol was driving the development of the global market. "The market is no longer immature and precocious, but rather advancing, geographically and in terms of financial sophistication. Unlike other sectors hit by a global downturn this year, the carbon market is in rude health," Point Carbon said the increase in the value of carbon changing hands through the market was the result of a series of factors, including an increase in price from €13.36 a tonne in the first half of 2007, to €20.61 in the first six months of this year. Overall 1.8bn tonnes were traded in the six months to the end of June and the total for the full year is forecast to reach 4.2bn tonnes. Last year traded carbon contracts amounted to 2.7bn tonnes, while in 2003 it was 28m tonnes. Point Carbon argued that the American presidential election would usher in a new era of American engagement in international climate negotiations, with both presidential candidates supporting a national cap and trade system for CO2 emissions.
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Australia third most energy hungry economy
July 14, 2008 12:01am |
AUSTRALIA must dramatically improve its energy efficiency and productivity, new research has found.
An expert report prepared for the Climate Institute shows Australia's energy productivity lags far behind other developed countries across many sectors of the economy.
"In manufacturing, we're the second most inefficient of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-opeartion and Development) countries studied - and that's taking into account the high proportion of raw materials production,'' Climate Institute chief executive John Connor said.
The report found Australia had the third most energy hungry economy, after Canada and the US, and the third highest energy use for passenger kilometres travelled.
The report found Australia improved its service sector efficiency by only six per cent between 1990 and 2004. Germany, by contrast, achieved 43 per cent, and the UK 23 per cent.
"Australia needs to dramatically improve its energy efficiency and productivity and government action is vital on that front,'' Mr Connor said.
"We're being left behind in the energy efficiency race and we urgently need policies to reverse our rising pollution by 2012 and make our economy competitive in the emerging global low-carbon economy.''
The federal government's upcoming Green Paper on climate change should put a 2015 timeline on its pre-election promise to put Australia at the forefront of OECD energy efficiency improvement, Mr Connor said.
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New Gadget Lets You Track Your Carbon Footprint
ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2008)
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An innovation called Carbon Hero may help reduce global warming by making people more aware of their carbon footprint. Regional prize winner in the 2007 European Satellite Navigation Competition, sponsored by ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme, the device uses satellite navigation technology to track journeys.
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Carbon Hero, a personal carbon calculator, consists of a sensor (left) which detects movements by use of satellite navigation data. The carbon footprint is then displayed on a mobile phone (right). (Credit: www.CarbonHero.net)
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Concerned about global warming, many people are now looking for ways to reduce their generation of carbon dioxide (CO2). One option is to use public transport and limit journeys by car and plane; however, although this can significantly reduce each person’s carbon footprint, until now the benefits have been difficult to measure.
“With Carbon Hero calculating your carbon footprint is easy,” explains Andreas Zachariah, a graduate student from the Royal College of Art in London and inventor of Carbon Hero. “This easy-to-use mobile system uses satellite navigation data to calculate the environmental impact of travel. With its specialist database and algorithm, it can determine the mode of transport and its environmental impact with almost no user input.”
It was back in 2006, that Andreas Zachariah came up with the idea of a small and practical device to track personal CO2 emissions during travel. It determines the carbon footprint of travellers using different modes of transport by using satellite navigation data to measure the distance, identify the type of transportation and calculate the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere through travel.
In April 2007, Oxford graduate student Nick Burch joined Zachariah in his effort to bring Carbon Hero to life. Burch has produced a number of open source, mobile and navigation location-based applications and with this expertise the team developed the device.
"We have now tested our application using GPS and it has proved to be very efficient. Once Galileo, the European global navigation satellite system, becomes fully operational its increased accuracy will aid Carbon Hero to measure journeys and then determine their carbon footprint," says Zachariah.
Galileo, a joint initiative of the European Commission and ESA, will provide a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. The system will deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to better than one metre, a range unprecedented for a publicly available system, and by using dual frequencies Galileo will guarantee worldwide high-integrity (Safety-of-Live Service) for safety-critical applications, such as maritime, aviation and rail, where guaranteed accuracy and availability is essential.
Calculating journeys in carbon terms
With Carbon Hero, to see the effect a journey is having on the environment you just need to look at your mobile phone. “The feedback loop is almost immediate,” says Zachariah.
It is also educational in that by giving an idea of the environmental impact of different types of transport - whether by train, plane, bike or by foot - it allows users to easily compare one kind of travel with another and calculate the environmental benefits daily, weekly and monthly.
“If you go on a diet you want to see if all that effort has made a difference so you weigh yourself. The beauty of our system is that it’s easy; you have a ’weighing scale’ on you all the time giving you your carbon footprint. When you make the effort to walk instead of taking the car you can immediately see the result, so it feels more worthwhile doing it and you are more likely to stick with it,” says Zachariah.
To be tested in industry
Zachariah and Burch have filed a patent for their invention and they plan to have Carbon Hero ready for beta-testing in a company by the beginning of the next UK financial year in April 2008. It will then be used to track a team, a department or the whole company throughout the financial year.
“We are now in a closed beta-testing phase verifying that all works well, fixing problems and improving the application. It is a live and kicking application working on mobile cellular phones; it has already been tested on the Nokia platform now we are moving to Blackberry,” says Burch.
Sustainability is an important issue for governments, consumers, businesses and employees. Companies now want to show the efforts they are taking to reduce their carbon footprint.
“Green credentials don't just attract customers; they also attract employees who may have gone elsewhere," says Zachariah. “Companies that use Carbon Hero could present the results in their annual report, together with other ways in which they are helping the environment. It is easy to document carbon emissions from heating and electricity; now with Carbon Hero, companies can also document CO2 emissions from business travel. I'm also immensely proud that the EU has shown leadership with its '20% by 2020' carbon reduction goal”.
In addition to winning a regional prize in the 2007 European Satellite Navigation Competition, Carbon Hero was awarded the British Standards Institute (BSI) prize for Sustainability Design in July last year. It was a finalist in the 2007 Oxygen Awards and Deutsche Bank Pyramid Awards, and also invited to enter the Saatchi & Saatchi World-Changing Ideas Awards. It is now in the closing rounds of the 2008 St. Andrews Environmental Prize.
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Quote of the week |
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There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all.
~Robert Orben
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