Boeing to develop sustainable biofuel from tobacco plants
Leading aircraft manufacturer Boeing is to collaborate with South African Airways (SAA) and SkyNRG to make sustainable aviation biofuel from a new type of tobacco plant. The project aims to not only help lower carbon emissions and achieve environmental objectives but also benefit society. The initiative will see SkyNRG expanding production of a hybrid plant known as Solaris as an energy crop, which farmers in South Africa can grow instead of traditional tobacco. The development will support efforts to meet the country’s public health goals as well as those focussing on rural development. The oil from the plant’s seeds will be converted into jet fuel, and Boeing believes that emerging technologies will lead to other parts of the plant also being used. Ian Cruickshank, South African Airways Group’s environmental affairs specialists, said: “This is another way SAA and Boeing are driving development of sustainable biofuel while enhancing our region’s economic opportunity”. Collaboratively, the aviation industry aims to achieve carbon-neutral growth from 2020, with sustainable jet fuel playing a vital role in this goal. (Blue and Green Tomorrow)
Reporting
Third-party quality assurance for sustainability reports on the rise
According to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), external assurance is an effective way of ensuring that a report is comprehensive, transparent, non-biased and standardised. In a new report, GRI reports that over the past 12 years it has witnessed “a tremendous and rapid uptake of sustainability reporting, and an increasingly growing trend towards external assurance by organisations worldwide”. The report notes that 45 percent of GRI-based sustainability reports published by companies worldwide last year were externally assured, compared to 38 percent in 2011. “This growth in reporting reflects the increasing demand for extra-financial/sustainability information… as this demand rises, so does the demand for more reliable data,” the GRI report says. Steve Leffin, director of global sustainability at UPS, said: “What drives transparency is information that is comprehensive, credible, and comparable”. (Triple Pundit)
International Development
US criticised over increased private sector investment in Africa
Civil society groups have criticised the US government’s enthusiasm for private sector investment in Africa. The dispute follows the release of the latest progress report of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a controversial agriculture scheme that has now attracted more than $10 billion in investment. The initiative has been condemned as a “new wave of colonialism” for its requirement that governments change laws and policies in favour of businesses. Katie Campbell, a senior policy analyst at ActionAid US, said: “Handing over the future of farming in Africa to big agribusinesses will only hurt people living with poverty and hunger. Poor farmers need investment from US and African governments to help their farms flourish”. The NGO’s African advocacy officer, Buba Khan, also criticised private sector investment on the continent. “The New Alliance will put more money into the pockets of a few wealthy businessmen who are clearly not concerned with the food security of Africa’s most vulnerable people”, he said. (Guardian)
World Bank pledges $5 billion to power Africa
The World Bank has pledged $5 billion of support for energy projects in six African countries. Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania will all get a share of the funds to bring electricity to more people. The announcement came as part of a summit of African leaders in Washington. In partnership with US president Barack Obama’s Power Africa initiative, the World Bank will provide direct finance, investment guarantees and advice. Across Africa, 600 million people have no access to electricity. The solution is set to include burning coal, oil and gas as well as cleaner technologies such as hydropower, where only 8 percent of resource potential is currently exploited. Makhtar Diop, World Bank vice president for Africa, said: “Like Europe and the rest of the world, Africa deserves the same opportunity to exploit this green source of power to improve the lives and economic prospects of its people”. (RTCC)
Supply Chain
Panasonic ventures into farming in Singapore
Electronics giant Panasonic has recently set up a farm in Singapore to produce local vegetables, becoming the country’s unlikely first licensed indoor farmer. It has started the commercial supply of fresh, locally-grown crop varieties such as red lettuce, mini red radish and potherb mustard – produced in its indoor farm facility – to local Japanese restaurant chain Ootoya. The country currently imports most of its vegetables and only about eight per cent are grown in local farms. Hideki Baba, managing director of Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia, said: “We see agriculture to be a potential growth portfolio, given the global shortage of arable land, climate change and increasing demand for quality food as well as stable food supply”. Indoor farming practices eliminate the use of soil and fertilisers and reduce carbon emissions through reduced transportation and handling of goods. “Panasonic hopes the indoor vegetable farm can contribute to the nation’s food self-sufficiency levels and at the same time provide a better life and a better world through improved food quality”, Baba added. (Eco-Business)
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