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Renewable Aviation Fuel: A Market in the Making
This is part two of a three part series introducing the renewable aviation fuel market in partnership with The Carbon War Room & reprinted from CCW Magazine. Read part one here.
The renewable jet fuels market is on the cusp of remarkable success. Just a few short years ago, the idea of manufacturing fuels from algae, various plant species, waste, industrial off-gases and other feedstocks was theory – a glint in a scientist’s eye. Yet today, through a combination of research breakthroughs and demand from an industry eager to switch from fossil fuels, production of renewable jet fuels in the quantities needed to enable our hunger for air travel is just around the corner.
Technologies are proven, performance tested, and certification by bodies such as ASTM has been gained in a number of cases.
For some of the leading lights in this new market, scale-up to commercial production is underway; others are actively seeking investment to allow the millions of gallons of fuel required to power the world’s aircraft to flow.
Rapid development
Graham Ellis, vice president of fuels and business development for California-based Solazyme, whose fuel production process is based on genetically modified algae, says: “If you look back to 2007, the world didn’t have renewable jet fuels at all, we were sitting in labs and had just about figured out it was possible. A year or two later there were demonstration fuels being produced to show the processes would work and test flights began. And now we’ve got ASTM certification.”
Managing Your Employee Volunteer Programs: 9 Steps to Success
This is the first in a six part series on building better employee volunteer programs, presented by MicroEdge, the leading provider of software and services to the giving community worldwide. Follow the rest of the series here.
What are the benefits of engaging employees in CSR efforts?
Corporations hold the keys and the resources to solving many of our most pressing problems. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, including community involvement, charitable giving, volunteering and sustainability initiatives are all ways in which corporations have begun to address societal issues. Such programs have seen tremendous growth in recent years. Getting your employees involved is a key part of maintaining that growth and increasing the impact of your program, and a robust volunteer program is a great place to start.
Successful volunteer programs comprise many elements – a strong tie-in to established corporate values, management commitment, and adequate resources, to name a few. Even the best programs, however, can be undermined by common problems: too much administrative overhead, lack of employee engagement, and difficulty demonstrating return on investment.
Crowdsourcing for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
Lending an ear to customer demands
Large companies lead the way. A number of large companies including Pepsi, Fiat, Lego, McDonald’s and Starbucks discovered crowdsourcing as a means of obtaining product ideas, opinions and user behavior directly from the consumer long ago.
These companies use their prominence and their own consumer fan community in social networks and/or on their own web pages and blogs. However, small and medium-sized companies with a lesser degree of popularity and smaller fan communities on Facebook and Co. can also make use of the crowdsourcing concept. Crowds belonging to one or more crowdsourcing platforms take the place of the fan communities of the large corporations.
Renewable Aviation Fuel: Ready for Take-Off
This is part one of a three part series introducing the renewable aviation fuel market in partnership with The Carbon War Room and has been reprinted from CCW Magazine.
No sector of the world’s economy is more ripe and ready for the Carbon War Room’s approach to emissions reduction than aviation.
Encroaching international regulation, rising fuel prices and falling passenger numbers as holidaymakers look closer to home to save money are all contributing to commercial airlines’ healthy appetite for the uptake of renewable jet fuels.
And the airlines are not alone – militaries worldwide consume enormous quantities of aviation fuels. In fact, the US military is the largest buyer of transportation fuels in the world, and is spending tens of millions testing and certifying renewable fuels and has recently committed to spend $170 million on co-financing production facilities with the private sector.
Airlines are enthusiastically pushing for commercialisation of recently developed alternatives to traditional fuels in a bid to diversity their fuel supply, develop new hedging strategies and reduce their environmental impact, and a wide range of companies hoping to profit from this developing market have emerged with both new and proven technologies.
The Carbon War Room targets business sectors where potential exists for gigaton-scale carbon reductions, which can be achieved by implementing existing technologies within current policy and regulatory regimes, and where its expertise can catalyse change by helping businesses overcome barriers such as lack of information or high transaction costs.
Crucial U.S. Conservation Legislation Under Attack in Congress
By Alexandra Stark
The Lacey Act, the legislative centerpiece of U.S. efforts to combat illegal logging and wildlife trafficking for the past 110 years, has come under attack in Congress. Amendments to the Lacey Act passed in 2008, which ban the import of wood products that were illegally harvested in their country of origin into the U.S., have angered tea party conservatives, who are trying to paint this legislation as an example of “government overreach.” The 2008 amendments are critical to U.S. efforts to combat global illegal logging, and have contributed to a 22 percent reduction in global illegal logging in just the four years since they were passed.
After Gibson Guitar was raided by the Fish and Wildlife Service last August for allegedly importing stolen wood, two bills were introduced in Congress that are designed to gut some of the most important pieces of the 2008 amendments. The RELIEF Act (H.R. 3210), sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), would remove the declaration requirement for importers, exempt ‘non-solid wood products,’ drastically reduce penalties, and allow manufacturers to keep illegal wood that is currently subject to confiscation. In other words, it would essentially remove incentives to ensure legal sourcing of wood.
Fighting for Family Farms and A Better Food Supply
Judith McGeary’s t-shirt labels her clearly as an organic sticker: Agtivist. McGeary fights for family farms, small ranches and food producers outside the agricultural-industrial complex. With her husband, she owns a farm (70 sheep, 50 chickens, five cows and four horses) which he operates while she agitates.
In 2006, this former lawyer founded FARFA, which is designed to save the family farm from regulation and follow what it calls common-sense food policies. In just a few years, she’s made a mark.
Her Texas-based organization was instrumental in changing two significant federal policies. Along with a coalition, they combated the National Animal Identification System, which would have required every agricultural animal to be tagged. FARFA also claims victory in federal legislation that exempts small producers from federal food safety regulations, allowing them access to markets without having to maintain standards meant for larger corporations. In Texas, they’ve also made it easier to sell at farmers’ markets.
Saudi Arabia Plans $109 Billion Solar Future
By Steve AllenSaudi Arabia hopes to have upwards of 40,000 megawatts of solar power capacity installed within the next twenty years says a consultant at King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy. This recent push for solar energy is also a run toward creating a sustainable solar energy sector that will help drive domestic energy. Not only does this mean eventually saving roughly 520,000 barrels of oil per day over the next two decades; it means more governments are starting to take alternatives seriously. If the end goal of 41 GW capacity is ever met, it would launch Saudi Arabia toward the top of the solar power generating countries.
Bike Culture at Levis: Built to Last
Levi Strauss & Co. volunteers and CEO Chip Bergh assemble bicycles for the San Francisco Bay Area YMCA's YBike program.
By Jason McBriarty, Levi Strauss & Co.
Biking to work does more than offer a more sustainable way to commute and good daily exercise – it can directly contribute to business innovation and a thriving culture.
A bit of perspective: I’m a lifelong biker. My dad gave me my first commuter bike in 1987. I was quickly hooked by the rush I got sailing down the winding New Hampshire hills and how the early-morning air felt pumping through my lungs.
Through the years I’ve kept up that same bike with repairs and tune-ups. And to this day, it’s my most prized possession.
Biking, for me, has become more than my primary form of transportation – it’s a lifestyle. Most days, I bike to work. When I don’t, I usually walk or take public transportation. My wife and I share one car, though she’s the main driver. I’ve even planned my career around employers I could cycle to.
“Drill, Baby, Drill” Will Not Decrease Gas Prices
By Jacqueline Savitz, Vice President for North America at Oceana
The “drill, baby, drill” chant may not be heard as often as it was a few years ago, but the sentiment is still very much alive in Washington. As if the Gulf of Mexico BP spill never even happened, bills that would open up new areas to offshore drilling and undercut government oversight have passed through the House this year. After all, increased domestic production would decrease gasoline prices and provide relief to squeezed families. Or so they say.
But that’s just not the case according to a recent report from the Energy Security Leadership Council, which is part of the organization Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) which includes retired four-star generals and admirals as well as industry leaders. The report joins a growing list of publications that refute the notion that the United States can drill its way to energy independence and free itself from the myriad problems that come from oil consumption and offshore drilling.
It’s Biodegradable! Or is it? How to Distinguish the Green from the Greenwash: Part II
By Gia Machlin
This is Part II of a two part post on how consumers can use ecolabels to distinguish the green from the greenwash. Read part I here.
Last time I wrote about how easy it is for marketers to “greenwash” by claiming their products are “eco friendly,” “green,” and “natural” with very little regulation and enforcement around these claims. I introduced the importance of the ecolabel: a “seal of approval” that is given by a government agency, a non-profit or an independent third party when a product or company meets certain predetermined environmental standards. With over 400 ecolabels floating around out there, how do you know which ones to rely on for your purchasing decisions? Which ones seem to be the most reputable and unbiased? Of course, as with most things in life, it is hard to know if any of these organizations are truly “independent” and have no vested interest in making the claims they make, but the best we can do is rely on their transparency, track record, and reputation. So, with this caveat, please read more about those ecolabels that, at least based on my research and experience, seem to be the most worthy of consumers’ trust.
One can categorize ecolabels in a number of ways: who issues them, whether they apply to the entire company or just specific products, and whether they are general or industry specific. Let’s start with the type of issuing organization.
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