Coca-Cola’s first electric refrigerated truck flee, which will be deployed by year’s end, will displace the conventional diesel-powered transport refrigeration units (TRUs) which create a significant source of air pollution in transport hubs. And Hewlett-Packard says it will decrease its first-tier manufacturing and product transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions intensity 20% by 2020, as its supply chain GHG goal developed in consultation with the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Climate Savers program. It is a first for the information technology industry. Read More

By Mary Catherine O’Connor in Green Biz.com

Published September 19, 2013

Coca-Cola launches first electric refrigerated truck fleet

By year’s end, 16 new Smith Electric trucks will deliver chilled Odwalla products around the Bay Area. Using electric chillers, the fuel-free fleet is a first and could stoke more interest among cold chain players.

While they make up a tiny slice of the automotive market, U.S. sales of plug-in electric vehicles are hot: up 147 percent between August 2012 and August 2013. But at an EV industry event Monday in San Francisco, the big news from Coca-Cola was cold. The beverage company announced it is launching a fleet of 16 refrigerated electric trucks, which will be used to transport Odwalla beverages around the Bay Area.

The trucks, manufactured by Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City, will be deployed by year’s end and will mark the first fully electric refrigerated truck fleet in the country, said Sonya Soutus, Coca-Cola’s senior vice president of public affairs.

The beverage company already operates a number of alternative fuel fleets in North America, including more than 650 hydrid trucks as well as vehicles that run on compressed natural gas. But the electric chillers displace the conventional diesel-powered transport refrigeration units (TRUs) which create a significant source of air pollution in transport hubs. The California Air Resources Board is working to better control these through graduated performance standards through 2019.

TRUs are “like a lawnmower running on top of your truck,” said Jim Neu, fleet manager for Coca-Cola’s Odwalla Market Unit.

Neu said the Smith trucks employ eutectic cold plate technology, which chills the air using a series of aluminum beams that circulate a refrigerant. The chiller is powered by a electric system that operates independently of the electric motor and batteries used to power the truck.

Electric-powered truck refrigeration is not new; it’s a 50-year-old technology, said Smith Electric CEO Bryan Hansen. But improvements to cold plate technology have made it much more compelling to fleet managers in recent years. The chiller system is powered overnight, while the truck’s batteries are recharging.

“Then, then you use the cold plate system as your source of refrigeration inside the truck all day, and you only need to run fans to keep the cool air circulating,” said Hansen. “You don’t need to add batteries to the truck, which saves weight and keeps costs down.”

The trucks can be driven 60 to 80 miles on a single charge, depending on the terrain and the amount of cargo being carried, he said. Using a 240-volt (level II) charging station, the trucks should take 8 hours to completely recharge. This fits into the truck’s use case, as it is can be charged overnight while not on the road.

“Frito-Lay and other companies use light electric-powered trucks for deliveries, but carrying perishable food [such as Odwalla beverages] is a specific challenge,” said Neu. “We piloted one of these trucks for 13 months” before deciding to purchase the fleet, he added.

That the trucks performed well is important, but perhaps a bigger trigger for Coca-Cola’s commitment was a combination of Department of Energy grants and discounts through the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project. While he did not share a specific price, Neu estimated that after these incentives the Smith trucks were roughly $10,000 more expensive than comparable diesel-powered alternatives. He expects that fuel savings and low maintenance costs will provide a return on the investment into the trucks within 3 to 4 years.

Of course, as with any new technology some long-term questions are as-yet unanswered. For Neu, one point of concern is how long the trucks’ batteries will hold up and how they will be disposed of, or reused, once they no longer perform adequately in the fleet. Used batteries have shown promise as energy storage for alternative energy systems or for electrical grid back-up.

Hansen said it has sold larger fleets of its electric trucks, but Odwalla’s, which will consist of the Smith Newton model, will be the largest fleet with electric chillers. “If you have an electric truck and you add a conventional diesel-powered compressor, it’s no longer a zero emissions vehicle. We see [electric] refrigeration as a growing segment for us. The Odwalla fleet will be a demonstration to others,” said Hansen. “When people see Coca-Cola committing to this, it will move the industry forward.”

Coca-Cola announced news of the fleet during a press conference following a private meeting between California Gov. Jerry Brown and a group of 50 corporate executives as part of a Drive the Dream media event hosted by the California Plug-In Vehicle Collaborative.

http://www.greenbiz.com

Environmental Leader (24 September 2013):

HP Supply Chain Goal: 20% GHG Cut by 2020

Hewlett-Packard says it will decrease its first-tier manufacturing and product transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions intensity 20 percent by 2020, compared to 2010.

The company says its supply chain GHG goal, developed in consultation with the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Climate Savers program, is a first for the information technology industry.

HP calculates intensity as its suppliers’ GHG emissions divided by HP’s annual revenue.

The company says it will provide business incentives for suppliers to set and achieve tangible GHG emissions-reduction goals. It will also publicly report, through its Global Citizenship Report, on supply-chain GHG emissions.

HP says by 2020, it will prevent 2 million metric tons of GHG emissions across its multitier supply chain, cumulatively, through specific supplier environmental improvement projects, including:

• Expanding its Energy Efficiency Program (EEP) for manufacturing suppliers;
• Instituting specific emissions reduction initiatives with suppliers with GHG-intensive operations, such as LCD panel manufacturing; and
• Creating product transportation-related efficiency initiatives.

HP’s GHG emissions reduction goal for supply-chain partners is the latest in a series of initiatives by HP’s supply chain Social and Environmental Responsibility program. For example, in 2008, HP became the first major IT company to measure and publish aggregated supply chain GHG emissions. Since 2008, HP also has implemented projects that cut emissions from product transport collectively by 190,000 metric tons CO2e, the company says.

The CDP S&P 500 Climate Change Report 2013, published yesterday, awarded HP 99 out of a possible 100 points for its disclosure score and an “A” — the highest ranking — in its performance band. The CDP disclosure score is based on how well a company tells its climate story, and the performance band indicates how fully a company has integrated a climate change strategy to drive significant reductions in emissions.

HP is also listed on a stock index of sustainability leaders launched last week by the UN Global Compact that shows a total investment return of 26.4 percent during the past year, surpassing the general global stock market. The GC 100, released in partnership with research firm Sustainalytics, is composed of a representative group of Global Compact companies selected based on their adherence to the Global Compact 10 principles as well as evidence of executive leadership commitment and consistent base-line profitability.

Source: www.environmentalleader.com

How to green the supply chain? How can consumers become truly green if suppliers – of fashion products and designer-brands – don’t come up with the goods? Here’s a band of designers who are opting out of the mainstream to spend time focusing on supply chains and waste prevention. Meanwhile, working with a global conservation organization, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Interface has created a partnership called Net-Works that works with local people in 26 villages in Danajon to collect, clean, and bale old nylon fishing nets. Carpet tiles out of the blue are the result. Read More

Amy DuFault in Guardian Professional (16 September 2013)

A band of independent, sustainable designers tired of keeping pace with mainstream fashion are opting off the traditional fashion calendar this season. Many designers who have routinely shown at New York fashion week in the past, have this year declined paying thousands for an opportunity they say doesn’t help generate sales.

Still presenting themselves to the buying public and boutique owners, these designers are now relying on multimedia catalogues, pop-up shops, film and creative collaborations, and are going on record declaring that by venturing away from the traditional fashion route, they are finally turning a small profit after years of barely breaking even.

Carrie Parry, a Brooklyn-based designer of an eponymous womenswear label and recipient of the Eileen Fisher 2012 business grant for women entrepreneurs, says she decided to recreate her fashion model this year, putting a stop to shows in order to spend more time exploring her supply chain.

“Consumers want to buy pieces that can be worn when they see them in the media. The fashion industry’s system of showing collections six months prior to shipment and selling collections out of season is no longer applicable to today’s culture,” says Parry.

Parry adds that by delivering meaningful design with quality workmanship and fabrication, her fashion business model no longer needs to sacrifice these points for pace. She explains that getting off the fashion calendar makes for increased flexibility in production time, more time to develop and produce during the off-season, giving her factories consistent work and managing inventory better to prevent waste.

Known for pioneering zero-waste garments, Tara St James, founder of Study NY, has shown during New York fashion week for the past three seasons but has also opted out of the spring/summer 2014 showing to take a closer look at her business model.

When St James started Study in 2009 with the Square Project, a collection of zero waste garments made using squares, it was intended to be more of a research project than a collection – hence the name of her line.

“I was quickly absorbed into the fashion system and therefore the calendar by buyers and press. It took until now for me to realise that I didn’t have to subscribe to anything, and I could create my own calendar,” says St James.

She says it has become increasingly obvious that not only do the production methods used by fast fashion companies and designers have a huge impact on the environment and the socio-economic wellbeing of other human beings, but our consumption has got so out of control that a statement needs to be made.

“My goal is to limit the availability of the brand to customers and hope they will carry these consumption values to other items. I only produce what I believe is beautiful and wanted,” she says.

But when it comes to creating limited quantities of cherished garments, the public might be scratching their heads wondering how that model equates to profit. St James says that her boutiques have been incredibly supportive of her changes and it has allowed her to learn more about their needs.

“If I’m being completely honest, not all designers – including myself – are good at all seasons or all commodities, and by eliminating those weaker points, changing the business model accordingly allows designers to focus their time, energy and money where it will be most beneficial and least wasteful,” says St James.

Adrienne Antonson of State draws parallels to St James and says she sees opting off the fashion calendar as not so much a re-creation of a fashion model, but more so charting her own course.

Coming to fashion from a background in art allowed Antonson a different path from the beginning. Whereas many fashion designers are taught to design on the calendar, Antonson realised early on that the frantic fashion pace never felt right.

“At the end of the day we’re just making clothes – it doesn’t need to be so stressful. I try to remind myself of that every day, though it’s difficult in New York. The pace is contagious,” says Antonson.

Antonson recently created a printed Secret Summer catalogue, which served as a fashion meets multimedia art project bringing together her favourite designers, photographers, and friends. More than a collaboration, she says it was a way to reach customers and get them excited about new ways of shopping.

“We’re all so over-saturated as consumers that as a brand it’s key to think of new, sideways approaches that get people engaged,” she says.

While interacting and selling directly to customers might seem only for the lucky or “in the know,” designers like Antonson see the relationship as vital.

“There’s a lot of talk in the design community about the ‘broken system’ and wasteful industry. But, ultimately, the calendar is how the money flows,” says Antonson, adding that stores buy on the calendar, and designers also need stores.

“A fellow designer recently told me I was brave for not doing market this season, and instead opting to slow down, take better care of myself, and focus on the online shop. I’m taking that as a compliment, and seeing where it leads.”

Amy DuFault is a writer and sustainable fashion consultant. In addition to being a former co-owner of an eco-boutique and a rep for sustainable designers, she coaches and connects the sustainable fashion community

Source: www.theguardian.com

How Net-Works fishes for a triple bottom line

By Mikhail Davis for greenbiz.com (19 July 2013):

How Net-Works fishes for a triple bottom line

An impoverished and spectacularly biodiverse region of the Philippines, Danajon Bank, boasts one of only six double barrier reefs in the world. But it is also one of the planet’s most degraded coral reefs due to unsustainable fishing practices and the dumping of enough worn fishing nets to circle the earth 1.5 times if laid out end to end.

Working with a global conservation organization, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Interface has created a partnership called Net-Works that works with local people in 26 villages in Danajon to collect, clean, and bale old nylon fishing nets. Thanks to the Econyl Regeneration System, an innovative process developed by nylon producer Aquafil, the nets can then be recycled into new carpet fiber.

Less trash in the ocean, new income for impoverished people and beautiful new carpet from recycled materials. What’s not to like? Could this nascent supply chain initiative be a path to the kind of triple bottom line fantasy we’ve all been searching for?

In last month’s column, I examined a commercial about turning PET bottles into carpet that sounded good until we took a closer look. How does this happy recycling story in Danajon Bank hold up under scrutiny?

1. Does using the recycled material reduce the use of virgin materials and reduce the life cycle environmental impact of producing the product?

This brings clouds of doubt over our Danajon Bank recycling fantasy when you consider that the fishing nets are shipped from the Philippines back to Aquafil in Europe, and then to one of Interface’s carpet factories in Europe, the United States or East Asia as finished yarn. Doesn’t all that transportation offset any environmental benefits of using recycled content nylon instead of virgin materials?

Actually, it doesn’t.

This is exactly the kind of comparison that life cycle assessment (LCA) is good at making. Patagonia has made these LCA calculations for its own global supply chain for polyester garment recycling. Even after accounting for transportation of recycled materials from California to Asia and back, using recycled polyester emits 71 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than making polyester from virgin petrochemicals.

The Net-Works global supply lines are bit longer than Patagonia’s, but the carbon footprint of virgin nylon is also about five times that of virgin polyester, so sourcing recycled nylon from the Philippines still has 56 percent less climate change impact than using virgin nylon. The Danajon nets become part of Aquafil’s Econyl nylon-6, made entirely from non-virgin sources by regenerating fishing nets, carpet waste and industrial scrap (including 50 percent post-consumer materials), yielding all the durability required for commercial carpet without the egregious environmental footprint associated with making this plastic from virgin oil.

2. Does using the recycled material reduce the negative impacts associated with end-of-life disposal?

If the first question took some serious explaining, the second is more intuitive. Just the removal of the fishing nets from reefs, beaches and other habitats in Danajon Bank would be ecologically beneficial, even if no one recycled them. Fishing nets discarded in the ocean do not know that no one will pull them up again. They continue entrapping fish, turtles, seals and other sea life. This phenomenon is known as “ghost fishing” and is one factor that has degraded the fisheries and damaged the economy of the Danajon Bank and other ocean-dependent communities worldwide.

In 2011, Aquafil launched a program to source new waste streams to feed its Econyl plant, including collection of used nylon nets from the aquaculture and fishing industries. This led Miriam Turner, Interface’s assistant vice president of co-Innovation, to ask, “Could we take this down to the community level and benefit some of the poorest people in the world? What if we could build a truly inclusive business model — buying discarded nets from local fishermen and giving them extra income — while cleaning up the beaches and oceans at the same time?”

Building in the right economic incentives, including community banking systems, ensures that Net-Works will not be a one-time, feel-good beach clean-up, but instead a viable system to keep nets from ending up on the beaches and in the water to begin with.

3. Is the recycled material used in a way that it is recoverable to cycle multiple times through a circular economy?

Once again, we come to the question of whether putting this recycled material in carpet is a dead end, inherently a “one and done” process, rather than a circular one.

The Net-Works material will live out its second useful life as the type of Aquafil yarn used for about half of Interface’s U.S. carpet tile production. At end-of-life, any nylon that can be separated from other carpet tile components can be sent back to Aquafil’s Econyl Regeneration System to become carpet yarn again, so the first challenge is not technological, but logistical. Our ReEntry program recovers our products from all over the United States and Europe for recycling, but we don’t get everything back and the technology to cleanly separate yarn from backing exists only at our facilities in Georgia (U.S.) and the Netherlands.

In the United States, separating nylon for recycling presents a second challenge in that a substantial amount of the nylon face fiber of the carpet remains bound to the backing, even after shearing. Sheared nylon-6 “fluff” from our carpet tiles goes back to Aquafil. The remaining bound nylon is still recycled with the backing into new carpet backing, but this represents a form of downcycling for this expensive and technical material. Innovation in product design and recycling technology are required to ensure that the nylon fishing nets recovered by Net-Works live on as carpet yarn for many cycles, rather than being shifted into the recycled backing material over time by imperfect separation.

At the end of the last column, I promised to show you our perfect recycling fantasy, and this is the best we can do right now. Did we nail it yet? Well, to be fair, only a single ton of Danajon nets has been processed by Aquafil, so our fantasy is still far from realized. We hope that Net-Works, though small and new, proves that it is possible to make a product that is a solution, not a cause of global problems, as Method is attempting to do with its ocean plastic bottle. The biggest promise of recycling is to help build a better economy, one that grows the things we want more of, such as healthy ecosystems and thriving communities.

The ultimate test of recycling systems is to imagine what the world would look like if we scaled them up dramatically. If we could spread the Net-Works template to fishing communities all over the world with the right local partners, we could grow our supply of raw materials while restoring fisheries and coastal ecosystems, creating more stable and diversified local economies and reducing the environmental footprint of our products.

There’s much work to be done to make this triple bottom line fantasy a global reality, but it’s one more step toward proving that we really can leave the world better with every yard of carpet we make and sell.

If a carpet company can do it, maybe any company can.

Mikhail Davis is director of restorative enterprise for Interface in San Francisco. Interface is the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet and has promised to eliminate its negative impact on the environment by 2020.

Source: www.greenbiz.com

We have said it before and we say it again. There is a connection between art and sustainability. Art and nature.  And as this article clearly demonstrates …..”artists have unique knowledge and must claim sustainability power”. From the Guardian Sustainable Business newsletter is a report and interview with the artist and renewable energy entrepreneur, Olafur Eliasson, discusses his solar lamp project and the connection between art and sustainability. Also we remind readers that we have a chapter on “Art and Nature: Creatively Connecting Sustainability” in our book “Race for Sustainability” due out next month and ready to order now at: www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/8998  Read More

Elisabeth Braw in theguardian.com (17 September 2013)

Olafur Eliasson’s Little Sun solar lamps on display at at the Tate Modern. Photograph: Merklit Mersha

Icelandic-Danish installation artist Olafur Eliasson has achieved worldwide fame with his weather-related artworks: 2003 blockbuster Weather Project, The glacierhouse effect versus the greenhouse effect, the Cold wind sphere, the New York City waterfalls. But now he is taking his interest in climate into practical action with Little Sun, a project that aims to bring solar lamps to the 1.6 billion people who lack access to electricity. Tens of thousands of lamps have already been distributed in countries like Ethiopia and Uganda.

In an interview with Guardian Sustainable Business, Eliasson says westerners should learn to use more solar power too.

You once created the Eye See You installation for Louis Vuitton, and now your big new thing is solar energy. Is there a connection between art and sustainability?

Art is very good at reconsidering the systems with which we’re doing things. My own rule is that art is about art, but in our society today we’re trying to come to terms with how to understand and live sustainably, and I have confidence in art being one of the fields that show the possibilities of doing this.

When it comes to solutions to global climate issues, do artists have a credibility that business leaders and politicians don’t?

Their motivation for creating a work of art is not to profit at someone else’s expense. As a result, art enjoys credibility and trust. And remember that throughout history, art has combined thinking and doing. After all, art is about taking a vision and turning it into reality. By contrast, many problems on the world stage exist because there’s a huge disconnect between thinking and doing.

You’re moving more into practical action with Little Sun. How are the lamps getting to the people?

Our company is 14-months-old and has produced and delivered 165,000 lamps to date. Our business partners, for example micro-entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe and micro-financed domestic workers in South Africa, have been very successful in delivering the lamps. We compete with kerosene and petroleum, which gives us a benchmark price. We need to be attractive to local users. But we also try to raise the issue about renewable energy. Little Sun isn’t just about the 1.6 billion people who lack access to electricity. It’s about the notion of our shared responsibility for the Earth’s resources. I use it at home myself. It’s not about “us” who have electricity and “them” who don’t.

When we met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, you were wearing a Little Sun around your neck. Do business leaders take you seriously, or do they dismiss you because you’re an artist?

When I’m in Davos and wear the lamp, it’s a very efficient way of starting conversations with people. I went out in the mornings in Davos to charge my Little Sun outside my hotel room and could say, “I just picked up the sun this morning.” When people hear that, they take you seriously. And when I tell them that I started this project together with a solar engineer, I think they’re quite happy that I’m not some hedge fund boss doing it. And there’s another thing, as an artist I’m used to moving in many different circles: with NGOs, with politicians, with business leaders, with people at the bottom and the top of the pyramid. This gives me and other artists, unique knowledge. That creates respect.

You’ve worked with Ethiopia’s sustainability-focused, but rather authoritarian, government on the Little Sun project. Why Ethiopia?

It’s a country where around 80 million people live in relative density without access to energy. It’s also a country whose government is very environmentally committed and thinks big. Right now, we’re working with the government to try to open a factory in Ethiopia where we can produce Little Sun. Obviously, the government likes any business initiative, but particularly ones related to renewable energy, because most Ethiopian households currently use kerosene. Imagine if 80 million people went from using kerosene to using solar power! That’s a whole lot of petroleum that wouldn’t have to be imported to Ethiopia.

You have said you use Little Sun at home. How sustainable are you?

At my studio in Berlin, where we have 80 people working, we organise the way we cook and think about how we buy and eat it. We also have solar heaters, tubes on the roof where water passes through to be heated up by the sun. But it was only after having children that I started taking sustainability into a personal sphere. When I used Little Sun while reading bedtime stories to my daughter, we’d naturally start talking about how the light that naturally illuminates the book is the same sun that was outside in the garden earlier in the day. Like everyone else, I’ve been relatively sloppy, but in the past 10 years I’ve become less sloppy.

Source: www.theguardian.com