Top Stories
Coke, eBay, Google, Wal-Mart Buy Bloom Fuel
Cells.—reliability high.
"the new Bloom Energy Server . . . has been in use for at least 18
months at various test sites. Bloom’s first customers include: Bank of
America, Coca-Cola, Cox Enterprises, eBay, FedEx, Google, Staples and
Wal-Mart, according to a press release. . . . The product was launched
amid much fanfare. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colin Powell
and top execs from Google and Wal-Mart were at the launch, reports the
Guardian UK." See Environmental
Leader. Press release here.
Story on launch event in The
Guardian. [Bloom
has been on top of the hype heap this week, so we just had to mention
it.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
BBC documentary leads Unilever to blacklist
Indonesian palm oil company.—reliability medium.
"Unilever has told Indonesian suppliers to stop sourcing palm oil from
Duta Palma due to concerns over deforestation, reports Reuters.
Unilever's warning comes shortly after a BBC documentary linked palm
oil used in the company's products to rainforest destruction by Duta
Palma." Unilever did not have supply contracts with Duta Palma, but as
a direct result of the documentary it is ensuring that no oil from that
company gets into its supply chain. More at Mongabay. [Duta Palma is a
member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which comes under
increasing pressure to do something about unsustainable practices. The
incident again calls into question the ability of industry-formed
sustainability-assurance schemes to deliver sustainable supplies.]
Tesco Powers Distribution Center With Food
Waste.—reliability high.
"Tesco’s new distribution center in Widnes, England, will be
100-percent powered by renewable energy generated from food
waste. Through a partnership with logistics company Stobart and food
waste recycler PDM Group, the new 500,000-sq.-ft. distribution center
will be supplied with renewable energy from PDM’s combined heat and
power (CHP) plant. The UK retailer’s project will also reduce CO2
emissions by about 7,000 tons annually." Story in Environmental
Leader.
While Congress Lags on Climate, Some Firms
Take the Lead.—reliability medium.
"We have a completely ineffectual Senate, a gun-shy EPA, too, and a
dysfunctional global climate community. Our political leadership also
seems to be paralyzed by fear to take on the climate crisis." But in
the meantime businesses and business coalitions have been pushing
forward. Six companies have joined with Climate Counts to form Climate
Counts Industry Innovators, Amtrak, Ben & Jerry's, Clif Bar, REI,
Shaklee, and Timberland. "Companies that are setting a high bar on
corporate climate responsibility are increasingly faced with a critical
issue: how to gain the consumer's attention for that leadership." See GreenBiz
blog. More about the project here.
81% of
European CEOs Focus on Sustainability.—reliability high.
Consultants brands & values publish a commercial report analyzing
company strategies. "They identify four key trends in their business
models" "Of the 1200 CEO’s surveyed across every industry in 14 West
European countries, 86% view ecological and social challenges as
motivators of innovative products and business models. Further,
90% believe that global threats are a challenge for the long-term
success of their companies." More at Sustainable
Life Media. PDF of sample from report here.
Government and
Regulation
L.A. will reward recycling through new
RecycleBank program.—reliability medium.
"Called RecycleBank, the program gives points to individuals who
recycle, worth as much as $400 per year per blue bin. . . . About
15,000 single-family homes in the West Valley and North Central
sections of L.A. are eligible for the program, which will begin April 5
after participating residents’ bins have been equipped with
identification tags that allow their waste to be weighed and assigns
them points that can be redeemed at various retailers. CVS, Bed Bath
& Beyond and Ruby Tuesday are among the national chains
participating in the program. El Pollo Loco, Tritsch True Value
Hardware and Jollibee are some of the local businesses that have also
teamed with RecycleBank. Throughout the nation, more than 1,000 stores
accept RecycleBank points. . . . The rewards are weight-based and will
be evenly distributed among an entire waste-collection route, not by
individual participation." See Los
Angeles Times Greenspace blog.
HB2701 | Arizona.—reliability
high.
"In a surreal scene yesterday afternoon, the Republican-dominated
House Government Committee voted 5-to-2 to approve a bill that major
business interests in the state had just testified against, portraying
HB 2701 as a major jobs-killer in a state that has been one of the
hardest hit by the current recession. The bill adds 'nuclear' power to
the list of renewable energy sources that count toward Arizona’s
Renewable Energy Standards (RES)." The bill is part of a turf war
between the legislature and the commission that manages energy
regulations. See Phoenix
Sun story. Another story at Environmental
Leader about reaction.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
