In Part I of this blog series we covered a brief summary of two common types of Green Energy, biogas and biomass.  In today’s blog we will be looking to review three other common and widely used forms of green energy.

Solar power– Solar technology generally refers to the conversion of light into electricity using solar or photovoltaic cells, however there is much more to it than that making it one of the most promising green energy sources for the future. While it is true that the amount of energy that reaches the planet surface every year is twice the amount of energy we will ever produce from all of the non-renewable natural resources combined, solar technology is also being used as a source of natural lighting in businesses to save electricity and as a heating source to naturally heat water. 

Wind power– Wind power is creating by harnessing the energy generated from giant turbines that are moved by wind power.  Many countries around the world are employing the technology, and large scale wind farms have successfully been used in countries such as Denmark, Portugal and Spain deriving more than 15% of their total energy from wind. While worldwide, wind power generates a relatively low amount of the total energy consumed, this number is growing very quickly every year with 9 of the top 10 Green Energy companies in the U.S. using wind power in some manner.

Hydropower – Similar to wind power in that a force is being used to turn giant turbines that create electricity, hydropower uses the force of moving water to do the turning as opposed to wind.  Used in some form for decades, over 20% of the world’s energy is derived from hydropower and over 75% of the renewable energy used. Rivers, tides, and dams provide the bulk of the force used to create this type of energy which reduces emissions typical of fossil fuel power plants and can easily be regulated to meet power demands as needed.  Countries such as Paraguay produce 100% of their electricity from dams exporting 90% of what they produce to other nearby countries.

For more information about how you can partner with companies that are involved with using these types of technologies for your sourcing needs please contact a SafeSourcing customer service representative today.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Every day we hear about companies going “green” whether it is how they produce their products, package their products, transport their products or how they power the processes to make their business run. 

Solarhomeresearch.com produced the top 20 companies using “green power” with Kohl’s Department Stores and Whole Foods Markets leading the pack with 100% of their electricity coming from green power resources.  Other companies in the top 20 with 100% of their energy being green were; REI, The Estee Lauder Companies, The North Face, Aveda Corporation, prAna, Half Price Books and Origins.  These companies employ a number of technologies to achieve this and this week we will be looking at some of those technologies and the companies that offer them.

Biogas – This type of gas is produced when matter such as manure, sewage or municipal waste is biologically broken down producing a primarily methane gas and carbon dioxide result.  Often referred to as “landfill” gas due to the fact that the decomposition of waste in landfills can produce much of this gas as more and more waste is compressed on top of each layer.  Cow manure is another potential source of biogas with some studies saying that it could potentially be a future source of billions of kilowatt hours of energy.  Capturing biogas can not only provide a new source of energy but in the process of capturing the gases you prevent the escape of those emissions into our atmosphere.

Biomass – Biomass, as the prefix implies, also involves the processing of organic material to create energy.  In this process, natural residue such as dead trees, branches, tree stumps, and other living or recently living organisms is converted to energy typically through incineration much the same way coal or oil is processed.  New processing methods will allow for processing of this material in a way that enable the creation of hydrogen gas which can be used directly as fuel.  Currently the largest plant for biomass processing, the New Hope Power Partnership produces enough power for the plant and almost 60,000 homes, reducing dependency on oil by more than one million barrels per year.

Many companies are beginning to use these technologies today.  For more information about how you can partner with these companies for your sourcing needs please contact a SafeSourcing customer service representative today.

To see the entire Top 20 Company list go to http://solarhomeresearch.com/2011/01/top-companies-going-green-how-to.html.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

I love it when I open the paper in the morning and read something like “What’s Big Green and Found All Over” that’s exactly the title of the lead article in the Business Section of  The Arizona Republic yesterday Tuesday May 27th 2008 by Cathryn Creno. An accompanying article titled “Chains sold on Green” also written by Cathryn Creno details how retailers embrace energy efficiency.  The environment wins twice in one day. We must be making progress. Areas of focus within the article are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED, the EPA’s Retail energy Star program, and the EPA’s retail Green Power Partnership list.

A couple of other certifications that retailers may want to pay attention too are Green Seal www.greenseal.org .Green Seal works with manufacturers, industry sectors, purchasing groups, and governments at all levels to “green” the production and purchasing chain. Green Seal utilizes a life-cycle approach, which means they evaluate a product or service beginning with material extraction, continuing with manufacturing and use, and ending with recycling and disposal. EcoLogo www.ecologo.org . is also worthy of consideration and is North America’s most widely recognized and respected certification of environmental leadership. By setting standards and certifying products in more than 120 categories, EcoLogo helps you identify, trust, buy, and sell environmentally preferable (“green”) goods and services. Both of these certifications are included in the SafeSourceIt™ North American supplier database as one of our supplier certification standards 

Personally and for Safesourcing I would like to offer congratulations to the following retailers. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Whole foods Market Inc., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Kohl’s Corp., and Safeway Inc. You all serve as a wonderful example of leading the charge in what we all can do towards leaving a better world for our children and theirs.

What has your company accomplished in the last three years? Are you even as this stage yet.

We look forward to your comments.

According to Wikipedia Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970.

Why not use this day as a time to reexamine your environmental policies and practices as well as those of your supply chain partners. A simple way to do so is to simply come up with a list of questions and have an open discussion with your executive committee or management team where you try and answer these questions about your company.

Here’s a list to get you started. How many members of your management team can answer all of these questions?

1. Do we track Triple Bottom Line?
2. Are all of our construction projects LEED certified?
3. What programs do we have that are reducing the company’s carbon footprint?
4. Do we have quantifiable evidence as to the reduction of our carbon footprint?
5. What environmental permits and certifications do we have in place?
6. Are we measuring compliance and do we have readily available audit results? 
7. What are our pollution prevention controls?
8. What is our hazardous materials handling process?
9. What is our waste management and recycling plan?
10. What do you do to insure clean air emissions?

Let’s pass a better earth on to our children and their hildren.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments