Climate Technology

Intel It Like It Is

Tech companies go for the green This week, a consortium led by big tech kahunas Google and Intel kicked off an effort to reduce the power use of the approximately 250 million personal computers and servers manufactured each year. Participants that signed on to the Climate Savers Computing Initiative — including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sun […]

The financial giant is ready to take on climate change

The investment firm Goldman Sachs has released an environmental policy framework (PDF) and invested billions of dollars in clean energy and research into environmentally-friendly markets, a stark contrast with the inaction of our own government.

In their environmental policy framework, Goldman Sachs recognizes climate change and its threat to financial markets and general livelihood. Consequently, they advocate limiting emissions, participate in Europe’s carbon market, and have agreed to voluntarily report and cut their own emissions by 7 percent by 2012.

You can find their progress in their 2006 Year-End Report (PDF), which includes the partnerships they have forged, research papers they have commissioned, and even exact numbers for emissions from their real estate utilities.

From GreenBiz News:

Market analysts have called the U.S carbon market a "hibernating giant." With Goldman Sachs leading the way, the conservative wing of Wall Street seems to have woken up. And so the question is: when will lawmakers on Capitol Hill follow suit?

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Honda ditches Accord hybrid

Honda is ditching the Accord Hybrid because it discovered that … are you sitting down? … people who buy hybrids like good gas mileage.

Are the two inextricably linked?

The G8 wants to “decouple economic growth from energy use.” Is that possible? That’s the central question of out times, I guess. Walden Belloon thinks not: The only effective response to climate change is to radically reduce economic growth rates and consumption levels, particularly in the North, and in the very near future. The climate […]

How scary …

… is this picture?

Holy $%#!

The Big Three automakers might just dodge the bullet again. Amazing.

A couple of podcasts for your commuting pleasure

I've run across these shows in the past couple days, and thought fellow Gristmill readers might like to hear them too. The first is Science Friday's "Hour One" from last week. There is a segment on carbon sequestration, which I have yet to form an opinion on, and also one on generating hydrogen. The second, which I'm actually listening to as we speak, is about the economic benefits of "going green." Apparently being environmentally conscious is a smart business move! Go figure. The podcast comes from a series called "TED Talks" and the show can be downloaded here.

Enjoy!

Company presentation offers glimpse of life on the other side

Have you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall at a top-level corporate meeting just to see what really goes on behind closed doors? Consider this nifty PowerPoint presentation your ticket in.

It turns out chlorine companies talk about Oceana in their meetings as much as Oceana talks about them. The Chlorine Institute held a meeting a few months back where one of the companies gave a formal presentation about being "In the 'Crosshairs' of an Environmental NGO."

Their presentation looks an awful lot like our presentations -- outlining all of our tactics to stop seafood contamination, which to them are challenges they need to overcome. It's nice to know that ERCO has realized Oceana's in it for the long haul.

My favorite slide? "Essential survival tactics."

… but doesn’t let governments off the hook

So I'm a sucker. I can't walk by a newsstand where a magazine features a pair of innocent green cotyledons sprouting from a bed of industrial factories. It's this week's issue of The Economist, and what's inside the "Cleaning Up" issue is as alluring as the cover.

Although I've only just skimmed, the articles look promising, and they're all freely available online. Here's the rundown:

• "Cleaning up: How business is starting to tackle climate change, and how governments need to help"
• "Everybody's green now: How America's big businesses got environmentalism"
• "Trading thin air: The carbon market is working, but not bringing forth as much innovation as had been hoped"
• "Irrational Incandescence: People can't be bothered to make easy energy savings"
• "Fairfield vs. the valley: Two competing models for the clean-energy business"
• "Sunlit uplands: Wind and solar power are flourishing, thanks to subsidies"
• "Boom: As security and climate concerns rise, nuclear power may be coming back"
• "Dirty king coal: Scrubbing carbon from coal-fired power stations is possible but pricey"
• "The drive for low emissions: Car and fuel companies are investing in clean transport"
• "The final cut: Business can do it, with governments' help"
• Audio interview: "A discussion with Emma Duncan, Deputy Editor of The Economist"

Check Baby Check Baby One Two … 300

Wachovia, fourth-largest U.S. bank, plans to build 300 green branches The fourth-largest bank in the U.S. will build only green branches by the end of 2008, aiming for 300 eco-friendly offices by 2010. Wachovia, based in Charlotte, N.C., is expanding into California and will begin its green experiment there. It is also seeking LEED certification […]