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How to Reduce Commercial Electricity Demand Charges

Posted on September 20, 2020September 20, 2020 by dishanth

The way companies are billed for energy use is changing in the UK.

This guide explains how businesses can reduce their commercial electricity demand charges as soon as possible, and why.

Energy costs

The two most significant energy costs for a business are the rate paid per unit used and demand charges.

Demand charges are measured in kW and represent the amount of energy consumed at a single point in time.

Energy consumption is measured in kWh and is the total amount of energy used over a given period.

What’s the difference between demand charge and usage?

Imagine you drive from London to Glasgow. You drive for a few minutes at a maximum of 75mph; this top speed represents your demand charge (kW). So 75mph is your peak kW demand.

The 412 miles you cover, at varying speeds, are your overall consumption (kWh). Your energy bill is measured by taking this number of kilowatt hours (kWh) and multiplying it by the predetermined unit rate your business pays for energy.

It’s essential to understand your business energy bill before we look at how to reduce your demand charge.

Understanding your bill

Triad

The UK’s demand charge price is based on its ‘Triad’ system. ‘Triads’ are three, half-hour periods in the UK winter when energy demand is at its highest.

The Triad dates must be at least ten days apart. They typically fall on weekdays, between 4 pm-7 pm, November to February and during periods of cold weather. The National Grid often has to fire up expensive coal and gas-powered stations to meet industrial and domestic demand during these windows.

The National Grid uses the Triad method to determine Transmission Use of System charges (TNUoS) for large companies. The more power a company uses on these three Triad dates, the higher the bill will be. The Triad determines a company’s ‘demand charge’.

The Triad dates are announced retrospectively to ensure companies do not deliberately reduce consumption on those days. With big money at stake, many companies do try to guess Triad timings and reduce their consumption – known as Triad Avoidance – to save money on bills.

Ofgem, the UK government regulator for electricity and gas markets, wants to scrap Triad by 2022 and replace it with a fixed charge system. Businesses will fall into one of four fixed payment bands, based on previous energy use and demand charges.

Distribution Use of System (DUoS)

The Distribution Use of System (DUoS) is paid to Distribution Network Operators (DNO) to carry electricity from the high voltage transmission grid to industrial, commercial and domestic users.

There are three price units, colour-coded red, amber and green, which vary depending on the supplier and include bank holidays.

Red is the peak time of highest demand and the most expensive time to draw power down from the grid. Typically, from 16.00 to 19.00, Monday to Friday.

Amber is generally daytime business hours, typically from Monday to Friday from 07.00-16.00 and 19.00-21.00.

Green represents night charges, when demand is lowest, typically from 21.00-24.00 and 00.00-07.00 and from Monday to Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday.

Other charges on a company bill

There is the Climate Change Levy (CCL) tax; businesses pay less by boosting energy efficiency and reducing their carbon emissions. The bill also includes contributions to the maintenance and running of meters, and everything comes plus VAT.

How to reduce commercial electricity demand charges
Businesses can choose one or many of a multi-pronged approach to reduce demand charges.

Trying to second guess the Triad dates may adversely affect operations; the switch to a fixed payment band means it’s best to reduce overall energy consumption and round down peaks.

Half Hourly meters

The first step to reducing demand charges is to install a Half Hourly (HH) electricity meter. HH meters send an accurate usage reading every 30 minutes, down a phone line and directly to an energy supplier.

Your company may already have a HH meter fitted. Take a look at the S number on a recent bill – it’s in a small box and contains six multi-digit figures. If the top left number reads 00, then a HH meter is fitted.

HH meters can provide an accurate overview of when and how much electricity a business uses and removes the need to take regular readings. Energy suppliers can tailor a price plan based on a business’s exact needs. If they cannot help, shop around with other suppliers.

Ways to reduce demand charges

Optimise the when and how a company uses energy

Half Hourly meter data readings show the times a company uses a lot of electricity. Lower those by:

• Shifting energy-intensive processes to times with cheaper rates if possible
• Spreading energy use across the working day/night.
• Installing battery storage units – charge them during periods of low demand/cost and use their energy during energy peaks.

See if your company can use energy at times that take advantage of the red/amber/green pricing in the Distribution Use of System (DUoS).

Multi-site businesses can switch to a plan that covers all locations. More extensive industrial operations can use multiple meters across one site to help spread energy use better.

This may seem complicated and time-consuming – online energy marketplaces help businesses bridge the knowledge gap.

Look to renewables

Several localised energy solutions can reap long-term dividends on a company’s investment in them.

Battery storage systems charge overnight when energy prices are lower. A company then uses during expensive rate times and avoids paying premium energy rates.

Even more efficient is the installation of solar panels, small wind turbines, hydro energy or biomass systems. Having renewable energy sources on-site lowers Climate Change Levy payments and reduces the amount of energy drawn from the National Grid. On a windy night, a business’s wind turbine could even charge a battery storage system for free.

Make your business energy efficient

Underlying everything is overall business energy use. All reductions in use will help lower bills and lower your peak periods of energy use.

Heating and air conditioning
Heating and air conditioning can double energy bills. Make sure the premises are well insulated and that your company heats or cools only vital areas.

A smart thermostat positioned in an optimum site, e.g. not in a corridor, should be set to a higher temperature when cooling (recommended 24°C/75°F) and lower when heating (recommended 19°C/66°F).

Use fans in summer rather than air conditioning and keep all equipment in tip-top shape for best performance. Some buildings can recycle heat from ovens or other areas to warm office spaces or hot water tanks.

Motor Controls and Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) can help, too. A VFD alters the voltage input of appliances and can run an air conditioning unit at less than 100% of its usual power.

Lighting

A company spends up to 40% of its electricity bill on lighting, according to the UK government.

It’s good practice to reduce a company’s overall energy footprint, which in turn will help bring down demand charges.

• Switch to energy-efficient LED light bulbs – they use up to 90 per cent less energy than conventional lightbulbs.
• Turn off all lights when they are not in use.
• Swap switches for motion sensors.
• Replace old lighting fixtures with modern fittings that send out more light.

Commercial demand charges may soon change in the UK. It’s best practice to reduce your company’s demand charge and electricity use and source as quickly as possible.

By Ovidiu Sandru

Source: Green Optimistic

Green tugboats? ‘Revolutionary’ hydrogen ship engine unveiled in Belgium

Posted on September 20, 2020September 20, 2020 by dishanth

BeHydro joint venture claims its 1MW hydrogen-diesel motors can cut CO2 emissions by up to 85 per cent.

A “revolutionary” hybrid ship engine powered by green hydrogen and diesel has been unveiled today in Belgium, with developers claiming the innovation could cut CO2 emissions from ships, trains and electricity generators by up to 85 per cent.

Over the past three years, engine specialist ABC has been working with shipping and logistics group CMB as part of a joint venture to develop, produce and test the dual-fuel BeHydro engine, which has a capacity of up to 1MW, the two Belgian firms announced today.

They claim the 1MW hydrogen-power motor can produce as much power as a single 3MW turbine or 36,000 solar panels – enough to meet the needs of up to 3,000 homes – while helping to cut CO2 emissions by up to 3,500 tonnes a year compared to typical diesel motors.

Tim Berckmoes, CEO of ABC, said the BeHydro engine was soon set to be installed on the “world’s first” hydrogen tugboat currently being developed in Antwerp, which would mark the technology’s maiden commercial use.

“BeHydro has already received its first order for two 2MW dual-fuel engines that will be installed on board the HydroTug,” he explained. “This vessel is the very first hydrogen tugboat in the world, and will be deployed by the Port of Antwerp.”

The companies claim they have the capacity to build up to 100 of these 1MW engines per year in the first phase of their strategy, with added potential to construct even larger 10MW motors.

In addition, a mono-fuel version of the BeHydro is also currently being developed with a view to completion in the second half of next year.

The announcement comes amid rapidly growing interest in the production and use of green hydrogen as a zero emissions fuel for a range of applications, including energy storage, heating, shipping, trains, heavy road transport and even aircraft. Earlier this year the EU Commission also unveiled a major strategy to scale up the development of green hydrogen as part of its Green Deal plan to deliver net zero emissions across the continent by 2050.

It also follows a vote in the EU Parliament earlier this week which saw MEPs back the inclusion of international shipping in the bloc’s emissions trading scheme (ETS), which would see a carbon price apply to all ship voyages via EU ports from 2022. Under the proposal, part of the revenues from shipping in the ETS would also then go into a fund earmarked to help incentivise the development of greener fuels such as hydrogen.

Alexander Saverys, CEO of CMB said the BeHydro engineengine reinforced the EU’s growing ambitions for hydrogen “and proves that the energy transition for large-scale applications is possible today”.

“These include main engines for coastal shipping, inland shipping and tugboats, auxiliary engines for deep-sea vessels, but also trains and electricity generators for hospitals and data centres,” he explained. “In theory, any large diesel engine can be replaced by a BeHydro engine. The hydrogen future starts today.”

By Michael Holder

Source: Business Green

Singapore as a regional solar energy hub? It might just happen.

Posted on September 18, 2020 by dishanth

Tiny Singapore may have a big future in solar energy, thanks to a new initiative based in Australia.

The plan positions Singapore not as a generator, but as a distributor. After all, where could you put a solar array large enough to generate even Singapore’s own electricity needs, let alone the region’s? Even a ten-gigawatt array could only deliver about 20% of the nation’s demand, and that would occupy about a sixth of the island’s entire landmass.

The answer, it seems, might lie in the Australian outback, replete with sun and space. But how might an energy supplier link this resource with its customers?

Sun Cable, a Singapore-based Australian-backed company, has an answer: a 4500km cable, most of it running underseas, that would deliver power from the sun-drenched Northern Territory directly to Singapore.

It’s a hugely ambitious project that’s taken a big step forward after the Australian government granted it “major project status”. It will require AUD$22bn worth of investment, but already the company has backing from mining magnate Andrew Forrest and tech entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes, two of Australia’s leading business figures.

The company hopes that the resulting infrastructure won’t just deliver solar power, but could eventually link up other sources of renewable energy to the Asian market.

“It allows Singapore to be a strategic hub as renewable energy starts to develop,” says the company’s Chief Strategy Officer Fraser Thompson. “There’s no reason why Singapore couldn’t put itself at the heart of the ASEAN power grid, and it benefits from all those ancillary services that come with that.”

‘A fantastic solar resource’

Ultimately, Sun Cable hopes to sell power across the region, but it’s starting in Singapore for a number of reasons. The regulatory environment is favourable, the country has a strong record of innovation, and it also has a need for more renewable sources.

“Singapore has a real imperative to diversify its energy,” says Thompson. “Once the piped gas from Indonesia ends in about 2023 or 2025, you basically have a system which is 95% dependent on LNG. And that comes with a whole set of other risks, not to mention the climate change imperative and carbon reduction.”

Recognising this, the nation state has been experimenting with solar technology in the form of rooftop generation and offshore floating solar arrays. But, Thompson says, the cloud cover in Southeast Asia means that solar panels just aren’t as efficient as in Australia, which boasts some of the best solar energy potential in the world.

According to Geosciences Australia, Australia has the highest solar radiation per square metre of any continent, particularly in the desert regions in the northwest and centre of the continent, where Sun Cable will build its array, which Thompson estimates can produce 31% more energy than a similar one in Southeast Asia.

In the initial phase of development, the first cable would be able to supply some 20% of Singapore’s electricity requirements. Subsequent cables will then be laid to deliver further supply to Indonesia, and then to the rest of ASEAN.

Why now?

So if Australia is a great place to generate solar energy, and Southeast Asia is a great place to sell it, why hasn’t anybody attempted to connect the two previously? Put simply, it has always been either too technically difficult or too expensive.

Thompson acknowledges that the project wouldn’t have been possible even a few years ago, but he thinks it is now – for two reasons. First, because solar has become much cheaper. But secondly – and more importantly – because of what he describes as a “silent revolution” in power transmission.

Advances in High Voltage Direct Current mean that less power is lost between the solar panels in the desert and the powerpoint. At the same time, building the infrastructure is becoming easier because undersea cables can be placed deeper than before as the shipping and marine infrastructure to lay the cables has improved.

Professor Subodh Mhaisalkar, Executive Director of the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University, is enthusiastic about the project’s potential. “It would be incredible if it could be realised,” he says. However, the challenge doesn’t stop at getting the power to Singapore.

He points to the absence of an integrated regional grid that would allow for the broader distribution of power, and to the possibility of competition with other distributors looking to export the sustainable energies generated closer to home, such as thermal power from Indonesia and hydroelectric power from Laos and Sarawak.

And then there are the underlying economic realities. Can Sun Cable, with its large infrastructure costs, compete with power sources that don’t have to build expensive undersea cables? Can it compete with local projects that only need to plug into an existing grid? “It would have to under-bid the current fleet, which may not provide enough revenue for the project to cover its capex,” says Professor Tony Owen, an independent energy expert who previously worked at the Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore.

Grander vision

Thompson thinks the numbers add up, and he’s hopeful the project will be supplying power to customers in Singapore by 2027. If the project is successful, Sun Cable hopes that it will be just the beginning of an export market for renewable energy.

“The grander vision that Sun Cable has is to create a connected grid across Asia that takes everything from the wind assets in New Zealand through to the solar in other parts of Asia, and effectively harnesses that.”

With the region’s overall energy demand growing fast – up by more than 80% since 2000, the solution won’t come a moment too soon.

By Timothy McDonald

Source: Tech For Impact

TED COUNTDOWN – We can change climate change

Posted on September 18, 2020September 18, 2020 by dishanth

Countdown is a global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, turning ideas into action. The goal: To build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 in the race to a zero-carbon world – a world that is safer, cleaner and fairer for everyone.

The ongoing health and economic crises are reminding us of an important fact: We’re all part of the same fragile system, dependent on nature and one another.

As we look to the future, we must build forward and emerge more sustainable and resilient than before.

We can change climate change – #JoinTheCountdown to a safer, cleaner, fairer future. Countdown invites collaboration from every organization, company, city and nation and from citizens everywhere. It is a movement open to everyone – and everyone has a vital role to play.

THE PLAN

Countdown seeks to answer five fundamental, interconnected questions that help inform a blueprint for a cleaner future.

We are bringing together scientists, activists, entrepreneurs, urban planners, farmers, CEOs, investors, artists, government officials, and others to find the most effective, evidence-based ideas out there. Our goal is to identify the bold solutions that can be activated when people break out of their silos and rise to the challenge.

Countdown in 2020 and beyond

GLOBAL LAUNCH

10.10.2020

On October 10, 2020, we will host a virtual event to hear from leading thinkers and doers about what a healthy, abundant, zero-emission future can look like; stirring examples of real progress underway; and powerful reasons why this post-crisis moment is the time to act. This global gathering will serve as inspiration and a call to action to the world’s leaders — and to people everywhere — to step up and participate in building a better future. You can host your own event on 10.10.2020 or afterwards. Learn how

ACCELERATE PROGRESS

October 2020 – October 2021

Building on the ideas shared on 10.10.2020, we will work with partners to support a series of cross-sector projects — each designed to tackle a climate-related, challenge. The projects will bring together leaders from business, finance, government, local communities, science, the arts and philanthropy. Each project will set specific, bold goals and drive fresh commitments and action in the lead-up to the Countdown Summit and to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021.

In addition, around the world, independent Countdown Circles will host citizen-led conversations that help drive action. These groups will explore the five fundamental questions in their regular convenings – virtual or in-person – that are supported by the Countdown team and our partners.

COUNTDOWN SUMMIT + LOCAL EVENTS

October 2021

We will share a blueprint for a beautiful net-zero future at a central Summit of 1,200 leaders in Edinburgh, Scotland, further amplified by hundreds of TEDx Countdown events around the world. The Summit and the TEDx events will combine talks, case studies and workshops — and celebrate new commitments made, efforts in progress, and the people who are driving them. Learn more

JOIN THE COUNTDOWN

Here’s what you can do now to get involved:

1. GET INFORMED

The first step to making smart, informed decisions is to educate ourselves on the core problems.

See the starter kit of resources.

2. JOIN US ON 10.10.2020

Mark your calendar now!

3. GET INVOLVED AT WORK AND IN YOUR CITY

Take action in your company and in your community to put solutions into practice and to advocate for faster change.

4. SPREAD THE WORD

Show your passion for this issue by sharing Countdown* with your friends and people in your networks.

5. STAY CONNECTED

Sign up

* And stealing these images…

‘Ambitious, achievable and beneficial’: EU Commission pushes for more stretching 2030 climate target

Posted on September 17, 2020 by dishanth

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has officially backed plans to increase the EU’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to 55 per cent from 1990 levels, as she announced a raft of climate priorities in her maiden State of the Union address to European lawmakers this morning.

Addressing the European Parliament in Brussels, von der Leyen emphasised that pushing the EU’s existing carbon reduction target of 40 per cent to a more stretching 55 per cent by 2030 was “ambitious, achievable and beneficial for Europe”, and would enable to bloc to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement.

“I recognise that this increase from 40 to 55 is too much for some and not enough for others,” she said in her speech, designed to set out the Commission’s priorities for the year ahead. “But our impact assessment shows that our economy and industry can manage it.”

Lawmakers in European Parliament are set to vote on the long-debated climate proposal – which is believed to be supported by a dozen of the EU’s 27 member states – at a plenary session in early October.

Should the proposals secure approval from MEPs and Member States, von der Leyen said the EU would revise all its climate legislation by next summer to comply with the new 55 per cent emissions reduction target. “We will enhance emissions trading, boost renewable energy, improve energy efficiency, reform energy taxation,” she said. “But the mission of the EU Green Deal involves much more than cutting emissions. That is important, but it is about making systemic modernisation across our economy, society and industry. It’s about building a stronger world to live in.”

Von der Leyen confirmed that 37 per cent of the Commission’s proposed €750bn Covid-19 recovery package – the so-called Next Generation EU fund – would go towards EU Green Deal objectives, and that 30 per cent of the fund would be raised through green bonds.

Hydrogen production, electric charging points, fossil-free steel production and sustainable construction were all areas singled out by von der Leyen as contenders for €750bn package.

She also reiterated the commission’s plans to introduce a carbon border tax on imported goods, envisaged as a means of avoiding ‘carbon leakage’ by discouraging more carbon intensive goods from abroad flooding the EU market. She said the plans would help drive a “level playing field” as the EU attempted to drive a green recovery from the coronavirus.

“Carbon must have its price, because nature cannot pay this price anymore,” she said. “The carbon border adjustment mechanism should motivate foreign producers and EU importers to reduce their emissions while ensuring we level the playing field in a World Trade Organisation-compatible way.”

Meanwhile, von der Leyen said, the bloc would embark on “high ambition coalitions” dedicated to fighting deforestation and supporting nature preservation – including an ongoing push to create protected areas in Antarctica which she dubbed “one of the biggest acts of environmental protection in history”.

The push for higher ambition in the EU’s 2030 climate target is seen as key to encouraging other major economies – including the USA and China – to ramp up their efforts in support of the Paris Agreement ahead of next year’s crucial COP26 UN climate conference hosted by the UK in Glasgow.

As such, several green groups welcomed von der Leyen’s backing for the 55 per cent by 2030 target. Jill Duggan, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Europe urged the EU to enshrine the ‘at least 55 per cent’ target into its Paris Agreement commitment before the close of the year in order to galvanise action in other high emitting economies.

“A stronger commitment from the EU could leverage greater ambition from other countries in urgent need of raising their climate commitments,” she said. “This is especially true in light of the approaching presidential election in the United States, the G20 where Italy is presiding and where greater ambition is most urgent, and for China, soon to be home to the world’s largest carbon market.”

Helen Clarkson, chief executive of green business NGO The Climate Group, echoed Duggan’s call for the EU to swiftly adopt the target. “A stronger European climate target is critical to the EU’s global leadership role and unlocking greater ambition from other countries ahead of next year’s crucial COP26 summit,” she said. “EU member states need to reach an agreement by the end of the year to give businesses and regions the policy and investment certainty they need. This will fire the starting gun on bold, ambitious green economic recovery for the European economy.”

To deliver on the target, Clarkson stressed that the EU must mandate the phase out all petrol and diesel cars by 2035, set a goal of tripling the rate of energy efficiency renovations for existing buildings, and ensure all countries introduce plans to enable direct corporate sourcing of renewable energy.

Elsewhere, however, some green groups raised concerns that the EU Commission’s proposal would also allow emissions-removals through ‘natural solutions’ such as forestry and soil restoration to count towards the 55 per cent target, potentially undermining efforts to decarbonise sectors such as transport and industry.

Moreover, William Todts, executive director at Brussels-based NGO Transport & Environment, warned that plans to include road transport in the EU ETS could undermine the “ambitious” 55 per cent target.

“The EU is finally getting real on the climate crisis,” he said. “The key to tackling transport, Europe’s number one polluter, is carbon dioxide standards that drive car and truck makers to go electric much faster whilst making charging as simple as filling up at gas stations. But the plan to put road transport in the EU carbon market is a mistake. It will undercut the national climate targets whilst jacking up fuel prices for low-income families.”

By Cecilia Keating

Source: Business Green

How Remote Offices Can Help Companies Go Green

Posted on September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 by dishanth

Turning your home into your workplace doesn’t just mean going easy with your dressing and flexible timings. But it has some REAL impacts on our eco-system and numerous benefits for the businesses. Working from the remote offices can help the environment by cutting commutes, reducing traffic load on roads, and reduced waste.

Going green is nowadays a subject undergoing intense study. In the past few years, the has population has badly affected mother nature. We all notice how our atmosphere is changing due to the irresponsible actions of humanity. That came a limit, and our earth told us that we need to stop polluting and take better care of our planet’s gifts. Just then, the COVID-19 stepped in. It immediately stopped everything, and here we are now, running our businesses from home!

But, going green is not only beneficial for the environment. Using virtual office to set up the business allows companies to save on their office spaces. Additionally, practicing a more eco-friendly approach can offer several commercial-based advantages, from bottom-line cost savings to an outstanding market advantage.
Consider these amazing benefits of working from home to going green for business, and see how efforts toward sustainability can help boost business.

It Cuts Down Added Expenses

New regulations are passed every year, and it raises the standards for businesses to be more justifiable in their processes. Practicing to make a “green” business will not only help improve your brand image and attract the ever-growing market of environmentally-minded consumers. When you and your teamwork from home, you cut down 50% of your expenses. Your business saves money from bills, parking lot charges, and other rents.
Other than that, working from home minimizes transportation costs, thus reducing the business expenses and saving the environment altogether.

Promotes Healthier & Safer Work Ethics

Working from home and staying safe is the top priority of the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertain times. We all care for our team members, and when they’re logged in from their places, they’re safe. Following your state’s laws, you can tell the government that your company is fully cooperative and spreading the message of social distancing. You can try establishing a rewards program for employees who share pictures of their home workplaces.

Conserves the Office Space

Every individual who is remotely working is one less person who needs to use an additional space resource when going to the office. The space you choose in your home, to work, will always be there, either you use it or not. But the space a business needs to accommodate its employees can be conserved when fewer employees are there. You can also temporarily shut down the office premises to save the area completely until the situation gets better. So, who’s winning? (Obviously, you! The business owner!)

Boosts Productivity
Let’s now discuss the memes and myths floating around related to the laziness of employees in WFH (work from home). They say remote workers are lazy pseudo-professionals without real jobs. Researches have shown that those employees are more productive than employees who work from a physical office. Allow your team to work from home, and help the global cause of going green! (in fact, secretly get the business advantage).
Increased efficiency among remote member is mainly due to the reduced workplace distractions and more freedom to work during hours they find most productive. Even tiny improvements in the efficiency of your team members can improve the overall productivity of business operations. It ultimately results in increased sales and more profits.

Strengthens Customer Loyalty

Other than acquiring new customers, the practice of remote working to go green can also strengthen your relationship with your existing customers. You highly attract the audience who are conscious of the benefits of going green. Adding this idea to your business’s mission is a great way to strengthen ties with new and current customers.
Health and eco-conscious buyers show extraordinary brand loyalty when they are informed that your business not only deals with the best quality products but is also committed to providing a healthy environment for them.

Improves Employee Retention

Work from home has facilitated employees like nothing else. Surprisingly, a report found that 42% of employees would take a salary cut to have more flexible work hours from their employers. Despite the high unemployment rate, employees are willing to sacrifice more than 10% of their salaries to achieve professional flexibility’ work from home’ provides.
Other than these employees, team members who can’t concentrate in noisy areas are relaxed enough to have their small one-room office in their comfort zone.

Spreads Brand Awareness
Everybody is concerned about the planet. So, the people interested in your products also expect that businesses should also care about preserving the environment. For this, adding a green campaign to your business can do wonders in building brand awareness. It makes your business unique and favorite! Businesses that support going green movements will have increased brand awareness and will be more popular in public.

Earns Eco-friendly Incentives and Refunds

Earn special discounts for your going green efforts. Some sources can help you save while going “green.” It includes federal tax credits for energy by different states, incentives from energy companies, and other environmental corporations. Research and find out the programs for your state and federal programs to see if your business qualifies them.

FINAL WORDS:
Remote offices are playing a vital part in going green, and going green is helping the planet and your business equally. These benefits are quite measurable and meaningful. From saved overhead costs to increased employee retention and positive environmental impacts, employers who embrace telework plans within their business models can enjoy the advantages of being part of the modern US workforce without sacrificing business performance.
It can help differentiate you from the competition, attract customers, retain employees, save overhead costs, and be productive. Let’s continue working from home and our efforts to go green to see the positive impact we can make.
Good Luck!

By Ovidiu Sandru

Source: The Green Optimistic

Indigenous Tribes Are Using Drones to Protect the Amazon

Posted on September 14, 2020 by dishanth

The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau are a tribe of less than 300 people in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest who first came into contact with people outside their community in the early 1980s, according to the Povos Indigenas No Brasil. While they still maintain many of their tribal ways, they and other tribes have recently begun using modern drones to detect and fight illegal deforestation in their territory.

“Nature is everything to us,” Awapy Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau told CNN. “It is our life, our lungs, our hearts. We don’t want to see the jungle chopped down. If you chop it all down, it will definitely be hotter, and there won’t be a river, or hunting, or pure air for us.”

Awapy is a member of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau tribe. Last December, he and other young leaders from six Indigenous communities learned how to operate drones to track deforestation, Interesting Engineering reported. The training was held by World Wildlife Federation (WWF) and the Kanindé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association, a local NGO dedicated since 1992 to protecting the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau and the environment in their home state of Rondônia, Brazil.

“They really accepted the technology with open arms, and really started to use it,” WWF Brazil Senior Conservation Analyst Felipe Spina Avino told CNN.

Avino added that the Indigenous trainees became hooked when they realized they could see the forest from above and keep patrol over much greater areas than ever before.

According to CNN, the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau tribal lands lie within a roughly 7,000-square-mile protected area of dense jungle that can be difficult to traverse and monitor on foot. Drones allow them to cover more territory faster and avoid potentially dangerous confrontations with loggers, miners and land-grabbers.

Within the first month of drone surveillance, the tribe discovered an area of about 494 acres being illegally deforested within their reserve, Reuters reported. Days later, a helicopter spread grass seed on the plot, indicating that the land would be used for cattle pasture; Awapy’s team caught it all on drone video, reported CNN.

“The technology today, for territorial monitoring, is very worthwhile,” said Bitate, a 19 year old from Awapy’s tribe who was also trained in drone operation, reported Reuters. “Without a drone, that deforestation — which was already advanced — would still be unknown to us.”

They called FUNAI, the Brazilian governmental agency in charge of Indigenous affairs, to stop the illegal land-grab, supplying video evidence and GPS coordinates, but the latter did not respond before the destruction was done, reported Reuters. Awapy hopes technology will help tribes stop deforestation sooner, as it is already too late once trees have been felled and burned, Reuters reported.

So far, the WWF-Kaninde project has donated 19 drones costing around $2,000 each to 18 organizations focused on the Amazon, Interesting Engineering reported.

Aerial drones have been used by Indigenous peoples in Ecuador, Peru and other places for about three years after becoming more affordable, reported Reuters. The images illustrate the damage of deforestation.

“Seeing the extent of deforestation from above is much more impactful than standing in the middle of it,” Jessica Webb, senior manager for global engagement with Global Forest Watch told Reuters.

The high-resolution images, video and GPS mapping data from drones can also be submitted in court as evidence of illegal activities, CNN reported. Drones are likely to become more widespread as technology advances allow for longer range and stronger batteries.

“The key is not to think of the technology as a silver bullet,” Webb told CNN, advocating to pair the new technology with Indigenous knowledge to create more powerful protections for the forest.

Keeping remaining rainforest intact is crucial to slow global warming since trees act as a carbon sink. Conservation also protects the Amazon’s rich biodiversity, and is critical to food security, water services and the preservation of Indigenous cultures, noted WWF.

Despite this, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro consistently pushes to develop Indigenous lands and allow mining and commercial farming to deforest the Amazon. Last year, the Brazilian Amazon suffered its highest level of deforestation since 2008, with this year poised to become worse, WWF reported.

Awapy and his team have faced death threats from illegal loggers and land-grabbers for their work protecting the forest, CNN reported, but they remain determined to use this new technology to protect their home for future generations.

“My hope is that while I am alive, I want to see the jungle standing, the jungle intact. That is my hope,” Awapy told CNN.

By Tiffany Duong

Source: EcoWatch

100,000th native tree planted in mini forest scheme in Canterbury

Posted on September 14, 2020 by dishanth

The vision for a network of native forests across the Canterbury Plains is fast becoming a reality, with 100,000 trees now taking root.

A small crowd joined Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage, Selwyn mayor Sam Broughton, Te Ara Kākāriki Greenway Canterbury Trust members and students of Glentunnel School on Monday to mark the planting of the milestone tōtara.

The Te Ara Kākāriki Trust was established in 2006 to increase biodiversity in Canterbury by creating a corridor of native “green dots” between the Waimakiriri and Rakaia rivers, and linking the mountains to the sea and Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere.

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage joins an important day for Te Ara Kākāriki Greenway Canterbury Trust.
JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF

The trust is working to restore indigenous vegetation on the Canterbury Plains – where less than 1 per cent remains – and raise awareness of the area’s biodiversity.

The first green dot was planted at the Greendale Golf Course in Selwyn.

Further areas have been established at Coalgate and Joyce Reserve in Glentunnel, where five new tōtara were planted on Monday.

A flock of sheep put a pause on proceedings, but the newly-planted trees were unharmed.
JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF

Paul Mcoskar became involved in planting Joyce Reserve as part of the Coalgate/Glentunnel Reserve Management Committee.

Since Te Ara Kākāriki started, about 40 per cent more plants had gone in, and the community had noticed an increase in native birds, he said.

“There are far greater numbers – we have kingfishers, bellbirds, waxeyes, although we are still waiting for a tui.’’

Te Ara Kākāriki coordinator Letitia Lum said the day was a great success, with the weather playing its part.

Glentunnel School students had been involved in the project for four years, and planted another 400 trees after the tōtara planting on Monday, she said.

By EMMA DANGERFIELD • SENIOR REPORTER

Source: Stuff

We solved the food supply problem. Now agritech entrepreneurs need to solve our nutrition problem.

Posted on September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 by dishanth

2 billion people today don’t have affordable access to nutritious diets.

Beverley Postma, CEO at Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (Singapore), tells us about the opportunities she sees for entrepreneurs to get high-yield, nutritious crops to the people who need them most.

Source: Tech For Impact

L’Oreal launches make-up recycling across UK shops

Posted on September 10, 2020 by dishanth

Its Maybelline brand and recycling firm TerraCycle will install the recycling points in branches of Tesco, Boots, Sainsbury’s and Superdrug.

L’Oreal’s UK boss said the firm wants to “lead the way” in creating beauty recycling habits.

But Greenpeace said without reducing single-use plastic production, firms “cannot claim they are doing enough”.

From Thursday, consumers can drop off empty make-up products from any brand at the recycling bins in participating Tesco and Superdrug stores, which can be found online.

Boots and Sainsbury’s will follow at the end of September.

Compacts, eyeshadow palettes, foundation or concealer tubes, mascara, eyeliner and lip products will be accepted, although make-up brushes, nail polish and aerosols will not.

The used items will be collected from the shops, sorted, cleaned and recycled into plastic pellets, which can be used to make other products, such as outdoor furniture.

Chains such as The Body Shop and skincare specialist Kiehl’s – also owned by L’Oreal – already offer customers rewards for returning empty products to stores to be recycled.

Vismay Sharma, country manager of L’Oreal UK and Ireland, told the BBC that the firm had the “ability to make impact at real scale”.

Nearly half of make-up wearers did not know that recycling beauty products was possible, according to a recent survey of more than 1,000 consumers by Maybelline.

Asked what differentiates Maybelline and TerraCycle’s new “Make-up Not Make Waste” scheme from other similar ones, Stephen Clarke, head of communications at TerraCycle, said that the number of stores participating meant it would be easier for consumers to recycle their beauty buys.

He also said the firm can recycle mixed materials, such as compacts with mirrors, as well as beauty items with pumps and triggers, which local councils won’t necessarily do.

‘Damaging our planet’

However, environmental campaign group Greenpeace said that “recycling will only ever get us so far”.

Will McCallum, head of oceans at Greenpeace UK, said: “Given the almost daily torrent of research revealing the extent to which plastic pollution is damaging our planet, it’s frustrating to see a major plastic producer like the make-up industry fail to commit to reduce its overall plastic footprint.

“Without action plans to move towards reusable packaging and reduce single-use plastic production, companies cannot claim they are doing enough.”

More than 120 billion units of packaging are produced globally every year by the cosmetics industry alone, according to the Zero Waste Week campaign.

L’Oreal told the BBC that its global consumption of plastic totalled 137,000 tonnes in 2019.

The cosmetics firm has pledged that 100% of its plastic packaging will be refillable, reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

Mr Sharma also said that the firm was dedicating €50m (£45.4m) to investing in recycling or plastic waste-related projects.

By Lora Jones Business reporter, BBC News

Source: BBC