Kudos for Newsweek for ranking the environmental record of America’s Top 500 companies in their latest issue.

From their list, it is clear to see that the high-tech community has taken a lead in the pro-environment segment, with both hardware companies, such as Dell and HP among the top spots. In fact, technology companies made up ten of the top 13 spots on the list.

When will other industries come aboard the green movement and not wait for government regulation to force the issue?

Dell, for example, had responded well about a decade ago to a call out from environmental groups encouraging greater recycling of computers — and they took the initiative and bought into the environmental movement.  Dell could have just as easily have ignored the actions of these action groups , or hired a team of lobbyists to ward off legislation, like so many other industries do.

Instead, Silicon Valley is miles ahead of most other industries in encouraging recycling, reducing wasteful packaging, and reducing their environmental footprint.

Hopefully this article will serve as a wake-up call to other industries to self-police their environmental impact.

In addition, I challenge all businesses — small and large, public or private, to see what they can do to reduce their carbon footprint 10% for each of the next 10 years.

Sure, there is always the low hanging fruit that can easily be done for the first year or two.  After that, it will take a bit more planning, but can be achieved easily with a bit of effort.

10% per Year Over Next 10 Years.

Will you join me?
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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and recycled promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

Budgets and hiring in corporate environmental departments are on the rise. Those are core findings of the twice-annual “Green and the Economy” survey, conducted by GreenBiz Intelligence. While the overall economy still seems shaky, corporate environmental and sustainability departments seem to be on much more solid ground.

One big finding of this mid-year 2010 survey is that “the economic downturn is no longer driving most large companies’ environmental strategy”. That means environmental initiatives are being driven more on the basis of strategic business decisions, as they should be. Chief among them, according to the survey, is that “the economic downturn has taken a backseat to growing customer requirements as the principal driver of corporate environmental strategy.”

Hiring is up, too. Large companies, in particular, are increasing headcounts for environmental and sustainability roles. In early 2009, 27 percent of large companies reported hiring freezes and only 8 percent planned to increase headcount for environmental departments. Today, only 11 percent report hiring freezes and more than 28 percent plan to increase headcount, a major swing.

Although the economy has not fully recovered, signs are positive that the green economy is no fad and is here to stay.

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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

While various businesses are resorting to sustainable manufacturing and are taking many CSR plans progress is falling way short of the challenges of change in climate, energy security and dearth of natural recourses brought about by growing economic activity.

Furthermore increased efficiency in a few regions are getting offset by increased consumption in other.

The cost of measures practiced by climate policies can be kept low in the upcoming years if the governments make clear their climate change intentions for medium, as well as long durations. Using resources and energy more efficiently, and taking part in a variety of modernizations which work towards a green economy, will also produce fresh jobs and industries in the tears to come.

The present economic crisis and campaigns to deal with changes in climate should so be viewed as a chance to move to a more green economy. Short term improvements are not good enough. The industry has to reorganized and the technologies that exist and are advanced has to be applied cleverly to realize a green economy.

Modernization has for a long time been viewed as essential to economic performance as well as social well-being. Modernizations are also fundamental to improve practices of corporation that work for a green economy.

Innovations/modernizations towards a green economy are usually similar to other innovations/modernizations but with a couple of differences:
Read more…

A report from Clean Energy Trends 2009 has just been released–which provides a very interesting analysis of the future of clean energy over the coming decade, in terms of job growth and potential size of the market.

Some findings from the report include:

Clean Edge reports that global revenues for solar photovoltaics, wind power, and biofuels expanded from $75.8 billion in 2007 to $115.9 billion in 2008. For the first time, one sector alone, wind, had revenues exceeding $50 billion. New global investments in energy technologies—including venture capital, project finance, public markets, and research and development—expanded by 4.7 percent from $148.4 billion in 2007 to $155.4 billion in 2008, according to research firm New Energy Finance.

Severely tightened credit markets also began to take their toll. In late 2008 and early 2009, the extent of constrained credit became apparent, with a range of clean-energy companies delaying plans, laying off staff, or scuttling projects entirely. While we expect to see continued growth for the sector in the mid- to long-term, we believe 2009 will be a year of refocus, consolidation, or retrenchment for many firms. At the same time, new government spending, regulation, and policies should help the sector weather the current economic crisis better than most other sectors. On balance, we believe clean energy and energy intelligence will be seen as a means to help economies around the world pull out of the current economic malaise.

According to Clean Edge research:

* Biofuels (global production and wholesale pricing of ethanol and biodiesel) reached $34.8 billion in 2008 and are projected to grow to $105.4 billion by 2018. In 2008 the global biofuels market consisted of more than 17 billion gallons of ethanol and 2.5 billion gallons of biodiesel production worldwide. For the first time, ethanol leader Brazil got more than 50 percent of its total national automobile transportation fuels from bioethanol, eclipsing petroleum use for the first time in any major market.

* Wind power (new installation capital costs) is projected to expand from $51.4 billion in 2008 to $139.1 billion in 2018. Last year’s global wind power installations reached a record 27,000 MW. In the U.S., which accounted for more than 8,000 MW, wind installations represented more than 40 percent of total new electricity generating capacity brought online in 2008 – and moved the U.S. ahead of Germany as the world’s leading generator of wind energy.

* Solar photovoltaics (including modules, system components, and installation) will grow from a $29.6 billion industry in 2008 to $80.6 billion by 2018. Annual installations reached more than 4 GW worldwide in 2008, four times the total set just four years earlier, when the solar PV market reached the 1 GW milestone for the first time in 2004

Together, we project these three benchmark technologies, which equaled $75.8 billion in 2007 and expanded 50 percent to $115.9 billion in 2008, to grow to $325.1 billion within a decade.

Total Investments Reach $155 Billion

The global growth rate in clean-energy investments, across a wide range of investment categories, was much smaller than that exhibited in the U.S. venture sector. According to New Energy Finance, new global investment in clean energy increased 4.7 percent, from $148.4 billion in 2007 to $155.4 billion in 2008. This figure includes investments made by VC and private equity investors; public market activity (IPOs, etc.); project financing; asset financing; government research & development; and corporate research, development, & deployment. This is a far cry from the previous year’s growth rate: Between 2006 and 2007, global clean-energy investments expanded by approximately 60 percent. One reason: Pubic market investments saw a significant decline, falling from $23.4 billion in 2007 to $11.4 billion in 2008, while other investment arenas either remained steady or increased slightly.

To read the full report from Clean Edge, which has been tracking the growth of clean-tech markets for nearly a decade, please download the PDF file by clicking here.

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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any company interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his green blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

The US Department of Energy has recently updated its general information site called Tax Breaks for Businesses, Utilities, and Governments.

There are huge savings available for both commercial accounts (businesses, utilities, and government) and consumers.

The recently passed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-343) included, extended and/or amended many offered for businesses, utilities, and government originally introduced in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT). The bill also included tax incentives for consumers. For a complete summary of the tax incentives included in the bill, download the summary of Energy Tax Incentives in The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

The following types of incentives on the commercial side are covered in the bill:

Renewable Energy Incentives
These incentives include tax credits for production and facilities using wind, refined coal, geothermal, biomass, solar, and combined heat and power systems. In addition, $800 million of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) are authorized to finance renewable facilities.

Transportation & Domestic Fuel Security
These incentives provide tax credits for alternative fueling stations, cellulosic biofuel facilities, and for alternative fuel production, including biofuels, biomass gas versions of liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied or compressed natural gas, and aviation fuels. Idle reduction units and advanced insulation for heavy vehicles are also provided a tax exemption.

Energy Conservation and Efficiency
These incentives provide financing and incentives for state and local governments to reduce greenhouse emissions, for builders and developers to build efficient buildings or to improve existing buildings, and for manufacturers to produce efficient appliances. In addition, these incentives allow for swifter recovery of the cost of smart electric meters and grid equipment.

Consumer Energy Tax Incentives include such breaks as:

Home Energy Efficiency Improvement Tax Credits
Consumers who purchase and install specific products, such as energy-efficient windows, insulation, doors, roofs, and heating and cooling equipment in the home can receive a tax credit of up to $500 for improvements “placed in service” starting January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009. The ENERGY STAR® website has a complete summary of energy efficiency tax credits available to consumers.

Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credits
Consumers who install solar electric systems can receive a 30% tax credit for systems placed in service from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2016; the previous tax credit cap of $2,000 no longer applies. In addition, consumers who install small wind systems can receive a tax credit up to $4,000. Geothermal heat pumps also qualify for tax credits up to $2,000.

Automobile Tax Credits
Individuals and businesses who buy or lease a new hybrid gas-electric car or truck are eligible for an income tax credit for vehicles “placed in service” after January 1, 2006 and purchased on or before December 31, 2010. The amount of the credit depends on the fuel economy, the weight of the vehicle, and whether the tax credit has been or is being phased out. Hybrid vehicles that use less gasoline than the average vehicle of similar weight and that meet an emissions standard qualify for the credit. There is a similar credit for alternative-fuel, diesel, and fuel-cell vehicles.

This tax credit will be phased out for each manufacturer once that company has sold 60,000 eligible vehicles. At that point, the tax credit for each company’s vehicles will be gradually reduced over the course of another year. Read the IRS’s Summary of the Credit for Qualified Hybrid Vehicles for information on the status of specific vehicle eligibility.

If individuals and businesses buy more than one vehicle, they are eligible to receive a tax credit for each. If a tax-exempt organization buys such a vehicle, the retailer is also eligible to receive another credit. Companies that buy heavy-duty hybrid trucks are also eligible for a larger tax credit.

Consumers who purchase plug-in electric drive vehicles can also receive a tax credit. The credit for passenger vehicles and light trucks ranges from $2,500 to $7,500 based on the tax code formula.
Taxpayers may claim the full amount of the allowable credit up to the end of the first calendar quarter after the quarter in which the total number of qualified plug-in electric drive vehicles sold in the U.S. exceeds 250,000.

The Obama Administration has promised to continue its push for more tax incentives for renewable and alternative energy –so this Act is surely just a start.

Here’s to a Greener Tomorrow…Today.
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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for anyone interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

Many businesses are now taking advantage of a new tax incentive vehicle, known as demand response.

According a recent article entitled How to Take Charge, Rack Up Revenue, Earn Incentives and Whittle Away Waste by Mary Catherine O’Connor, a demand response event occurs when heightened energy use, generally caused by weather extremes, leads to the threat of overtaxing an electrical grid. To avoid blackouts, the utility puts out a call to companies that can lower their energy usage over a given block of hours during peak demand to do so — in exchange for money.

She notes that these businesses often work through an independent third party that works both with the end user of energy and the utility provider, which is known as an independent system operator (ISO). An ISO works to maintain a balance of supply and demand on an electrical grid that serves a given region or state, and ensures that adequate power supplies are always available.

Basically the businesses participating in the manual demand response system needed only to install a special meter to measure electricity usage in intervals — usually an hour or 15-minute periods — so they can prove how much they have reduced energy usage over a given time.

Other businesses are installing large on-site power generation plan –usually large solar panels across their roofs- which can actually pay them for generating power, if they buy the equipment. If they choose to lease the solar equipment, the tax incentives go to the installer, but the property gets the benefit of reduced energy costs.

The US Department of Energy has recently updated its general information site called Tax Breaks for Businesses, Utilities, and Governments.

Free money talks – and if states and cities can do a better job of promoting their “demand response and energy efficiency improvements”, it will be a short time before most businesses seek to improve grid utilization through rebates and money back.

Some city utilities are currently offering free digital thermostats for private homeowners, which adjust temperatures automatically to peak energy demands and empty houses, such as the City of Austin.

All are good steps to take in a greener future. Whether businesses switch to these programs out of bottom-line demands just because “going green” is the right thing to do—the American people win.

Here’s to a Greener Tomorrow…Today.
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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for anyone interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

According to a recent press release, Dell is implementing a plan to modify their computer packaging in hopes of eliminating approximately 20 million pounds of packaging material over the next four years. Dell will integrate air-filled cushion technology and renewable materials including molded pulp cushions and 100 percent recycled High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) thermal-formed cushions –which will also result in a cost-savings of over $8 million.

Companies of all sizes are finding tremendous cost-savings by changing their packing and packaging options. Switching to small cartons and HDPE provides tremendous cost savings in terms of reduced transportation costs, smaller box sizes and simpler packaging and tooling costs. In addition, these changes reduce the consumption of raw materials, reduce landfills, encourage recycling –and saves money.

Reducing excessive packaging is one of the simplest steps any company can take in their campaign to “go green”. Tod Arbogast, director of Sustainable Business at Dell said, “We’re challenging every technology company to join us in implementing a global green packaging strategy”.

We present this challenge to all companies—not just those in the high-tech industry. To create greater awareness for this campaign, we would like to report on how other companies are reducing the amount of packaging they are using – and how they are quantifying the savings both in terms of monetary savings and in landfill waste and packaging reductions.

I welcome your comments on this blog so that I may follow up in future blog postings and articles.
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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for anyone interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

According to an article in ClimateBiz, such firms as Nike, Starbucks, Sun Microsystems, Levi Strauss & Co. and The Timberland Co. have created a organization, called Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy.

This group is trying to encourage and lobby for “aggressive new environmental policies based on a set of eight principles ranging from renewable energy requirements, a national greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system and the elimination of federal subsidies for fossil fuels.”

According to the article, BICEP’s principles include:
– Reducing greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020
– A nationwide greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system in which all emissions permits are auctioned off, not given away.
– Creating aggressive policies that will lead to a doubling of the energy efficiency improvement rate.
– A national renewable portfolio standard where 20 percent of electricity will be come from renewable sources by 2020; 30 percent by 2030.
– Investment in renewable energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and the elimination of subsidies for fossil fuels.
– No more coal-fired power plants unless they use CCS technology, with a plan to eliminate existing plants without CCS by 2030.
– Boosting more efficient transportation in the form of plug-in electric and fuel-efficient vehicles, low-carbon fuels and transit-friendly development
– Creating green collar job investment

Let’s hope the Obama administration can be pro-active in encouraging most of BICEP’s goals, which seem reasonable. It is promising to see the business community trying to enact environmentally-friendly goals, as opposed to fighting legislation or delaying its implementation.

Businesses understand that a level playing field is in everyone’s interest, and the sooner these changes are implemented, the sooner costs of alternative energy and energy-efficient products will decline.

Let’s hope it is sooner, rather than later.
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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

From time to time a like to comment and report on companies that are promoting green products or services. I came across a website the other day called Avego.com, that is a ride-share program that links passengers with drivers using the internet or iPhones. Money can be made by drivers and a percentage would go to Avego for setting up the transaction.

Avego was founded by Sean O’Sullivan, a high tech entrepreneur. He admitted, in an article to the Los Angeles Times that it may take years or decades for it to be profitable. As of the time f this blog entry, they only had 74 members worldwide.

My guess is that a company like this needs a quick infusion of member, possibly through social networking and other broad-base marketing. It will also need the support of the major cities involved to help promote it, or it won’t take off. Possibly even tie-in to city-wide events for publicity, like football games, outdoor concerts, 5K and 10K downtown races and parades where organizers and the cities are aiming for ways to reduce traffic congestion.

I like seeing green-friendly companies and new green start ups getting launched, and I know eco-friendly businesses are the wave of the future.

Good luck Avego and thank you for trying to make this a planet greener.

Note: If readers know of other green-friendly businesses that are trying to change the way business-as-normal is done, I would love to hear about it.

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Robert Piller is President of Eco Marketing Solutions, a company that helps businesses to promote their brand and name to their customers and prospects using environmentally-friendly promotional products that won’t end up in a landfill. He is a frequent speaker and writer on issues of green marketing. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com. You can visit his website at www.ecomarketingsolutions.com.

Forget about the United States as the hub of the solar powered technology future, as Mexico is seeking to become a leader in this competitive industry. A $250 million project named Silicon Border Science Park is being planned as a 10,000 acre high-tech/science park…in Baja California, Mexico. Originally planned as a chip making project, it has changed its strategy to attract solar manufacturers to a location just south of San Diego. Since California is at the heart of the American alternative fuel revolution, this project looks like a sure bet. Mexico offers lower labor costs than its northern neighbors, lower operating costs and preferences under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In addition, transportation costs will be minimal due to its proximity to the United States. Although there are still a few details to work out before construction begins, Mexico can become a leader in alternative fuels, especially as its own nationalized oil infrastructure is beginning to show signs of misuse and wear and tear. In fact, Q-Cells, a German solar cell manufacturer will soon be breaking ground on a 3,000-acre site in Mexico–just on the other side of the border from Calexico, California. Perhaps this project will spur similar projects along the US-Mexico border and make North America the capital of solar and alternative energy for the 21st century.
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Robert Piller is President of Eco Marketing Solutions, which helps companies promote their brand and image at trade shows and in direct mail with environmentally-friendly imprinted promotional products that won’t end up in landfills. He is a frequent guest writer and speaker on issues of green marketing. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com or visit his blog: www.greenspotblog.com.