Coolness Column
Initiatives from Around the World of Carbon Reduction
WBCSD
Walking the Talk
Repeated business surveys show an increasing awareness of climate change by businesses but insufficient response. Walking the Talk on Energy and Climate, a report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development shows a low-carbon economy is the economy of the future. Scientific evidence and economic analysis confirm the need for rapid, radical changes in the global energy system – an enormous challenge. The stakes are high. The opportunities are huge. The report proposes a host of avenues for corporate citizens to follow to play their part in the climate change emergency without giving up their pursuit of profits. A list of “Megatrends” lists the major shifts in society and legislation which businesses and investors should anticipate and take heed of.
http://www.wbcsd.org/DocRoot/
DGNdUgo16LNihFkXTJea/ec-walking.pdf
Arup
Future living available today
- Arup
As part of the Offsite 2007 prefabricated homes exhibition in the United Kingdom, Carbon Challenge partner, Arup, collaborated with architects Sheppard Robson and building products experts Kingspan to create the first domestic home in the UK awarded the highest sustainability rating available.
Like Carbon Challenge’s planned Boathouse, the Kingspan Lighthouse is zero-net-energy: It uses photovoltaic panels, solar thermal panels and biomass burners to create all the energy it needs. A long list of additional innovations prevent heat loss and conserve water use.
IPCC
Synthesis Report
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the world’s foremost authority on climate change issues – consisting of hundreds of scientists from around the world. The impact and importance of their work was recognized in 2007 by the bestowing of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize upon them.
The IPCC’s Synthesis Report is considered by most to be the reference document on which all discussion and debate about the reduction of greenhouse gases post-Kyoto protocol should be based.
http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm
SkySails
Making Tankers Soar
Kite-surfing sail technology has provided much of the impetus behind the launch of SkySails, developers of a completely new technology to reduce the reliance of commercial shippers on fossil fuelled propulsion.
- SkySails
The Hamburg-based company, SkySails, is now building towing kites of up to 320m² to help reduce a ship’s fuel costs by a factor 10-33%. Targeting cargo ships, fishing trawlers and superyachts initially, Sky Sails enters serial production of its kites in 2008 after successful trials up to 2007. Most vessels are able to be retrofitted to immediately begin enjoying fuel savings, even if, unlike the kite-surfers, they can’t get “wicked air”.
Carbon Disclosure Project
Charting the economic impact of climate change
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a non-profit initiative which unites nearly four hundred of the world’s largest investors in a dialogue with the world’s largest companies in an attempt to ascertain and track the impact of climate change on the commercial sector and the views of big business towards the climate change issue.
Companies are invited to join the CDP database by completing its questionnaire. More than 3,000 companies have been invited to join the survey in 2008.
http://www.cdproject.net/questionnaire.asp
Throwplace.com
Helping Businesses to Put Waste to Use
- throwplace.com
Many at Carbon Challenge have worked for years in events and short term sporting campaigns, and know what volume of materials get thrown out by businesses because they have outlived their short promotional lives. Valuable one day, valueless the next.
Throwplace is one of those simple ideas that makes you wonder it hasn’t been thought of before. It helps businesses and individuals make unwanted collateral known to the world and connects companies with companies, recycling stations and charities so that one person’s junk is can become another’s treasure.
