A round up of the sustainable development news stories from June and July 2008.
Online carbon calculators give different results
A recent study carried out by the University of Washington found that when the same values were used with 10 different online carbon calculators, the results varied greatly. In one category, the bottom line for a typical American homeowner varied by more than 32,800 pounds of carbon produced per year. The variation suggests tallies of carbon emissions have been oversimplified to produce a “one-click” solution to an extremely complicated problem.
Sustainable Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN), a working group of the Social Investment Forum has released the “2008 S&P 100 Sustainability Report Comparison”. According to the research 86% of companies on the Standard and Poor’s 100 Index have corporate sustainability websites, compared to 58% in 2005.
E.ON takes 50% stake in world’s largest offshore wind farm
E.ON have joined with Danish utility DONG Energy to buy out Shell’s stake in the London Array offshore wind farm. E.ON and DONG Energy will become 50:50 partners in the project. London Array is the world’s largest offshore wind farm project with an estimated total power up to 1,000 megawatt (MW). It is located around 15km from the Kent and Essex coasts in the outer Thames Estuary, and may include more than 270 wind turbines. Due to high wind speeds, a low water depth and suitable ground conditions, London Array is regarded as an ideal location for a large-scale offshore wind farm. It is hoped that the first phase of the project will be completed by the end of 2012.
Cars to run on fuel from household waste within two years, say Ineos
INEOS, the world’s third largest chemical company, has announced that it is aiming to produce commercial quantities of bioethanol fuel from biodegradable municipal waste within around two years. INEOS’ new technology will produce bioethanol in large quantities from municipal solid waste, organic commercial waste and agricultural residues amongst other things. According to Peter Williams, INEOS Bio CEO, “In North America and Europe we will see around 10% or more of petrol (gasoline) being replaced with bioethanol. Our technology will make a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gases and the world’s need for fossil fuels.”
Airbus has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to support ‘The Green Wave’, a worldwide educational campaign for children and youth. Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO and Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary for the Convention on Biological Diversity, signed the partnership at Farnborough International Airshow, where the theme was Sustainable Aviation.
Panasonic has released an environmental statement that outlines the company’s mid- and long-term environmental management plans. The company has set up an “Eco Ideas Factory” at the Kusatsu Factory of Matsushita Home Appliances Company. The name plays off Panasonic’s eco concepts: “eco ideas for manufacturing,” “eco ideas for products,” and “eco ideas for everybody, everywhere.”
Building industry to reach government targets on sustainability
The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has launched a consultation to find out what guidance the industry needs to help it achieve Government sustainability targets. Ministers have announced that following the 2016 zero-carbon target for homes, they also want all non-domestic buildings to be zero carbon by 2019. UK-GBC is inviting a range of companies and organisations from the building industry to take part in a task group led by the council’s chief executive Paul King.
Contact
UK Green Building Council
020 7580 0623 www.ukgbc.org
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