Green Drinks Singapore – Jan 2010

From Green Drinks Singapore:

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Venue: Naive, 99 East Coast Road

This month, we are gathering all the green groups, societies, businesses and individuals with green values to talk about their plans for 2010, and explore ways we can all work together.

In particular, we are targetting to have ECO (Singapore), SEC, Nature Society (Singapore), Vegetarian Society (Singapore), Social Innovation Park, Food for All, green societies from the various tertiary institutions, various businesses, and individuals already well known in the green sphere. As always, everyone is welcome!

Let us have a meaningful greater conversation about what we can do together! Do spread the word, and we hope to see you there!

Foodwise, Naive has kindly put together a special three-course menu at the price of $18+ for those wishing to dine there.

How to get there: By bus- 10, 12, 14, 32, 40; By car- parking is available at Katong Mall and Katong Village

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(We are selling Al Gore’s new book, Our Choice, at Green Drinks to raise fund for the Haiti Earthquake relief operations. Have 40 copies of the book to sell at $50 each. 100% of profits will go to the Singapore Red Cross who will channel it to the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies.)

Green Buildings China 2010

Event Venue: Grand Hyatt Shanghai

Event Website: www.ibc-asia.com/greenbuildingschina

Enquiry: info@ibcasia.com.sg

Booking Hotline: +65 6514 3180

• Be updated on latest updates on green building initiatives and policies in China
• Keep abreast of key accreditation schemes for green buildings in China
• Identify abundant opportunities from up-coming sustainable cities such as the Tianjin Eco-city
• Learn how you can leverage on Eco-tourism
• Gain indepth understanding of the ROI of green buildings and learn about the latest financing options and models in project financing for the built environment
• Understand how you can achieve utmost energy efficiency in buildings
• Get an insight on maximizing renewable energy utilization in green buildings
• Discover the latest trends and issues associated with sustainable and alternative building material

Alternative Energy Thailand Forum 2010

Thailand faces serious energy security issues in the wake of volatile oil prices and the limit to the traditional sources of energy such as oil, gas, coal, etc. Placing importance on this energy policy, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that the Government would provide support for the promotion of alternative energy sources. The Government has placed the use of alternative energy in the national agenda. In response to this aims, it will encourage the production and use of alternative energy such as biomass, biogas, ethanol-based oil, biodiesel, natural gas for vehicles, wind, solar and waste energy to enhance energy security.

In response to the nation’s energy security challenges, this first-time Alternative Energy Thailand Forum 2010 aims to provide participants with a platform to keep abreast with government policies & regulatory updates, latest market developments, practical insights, and regional/international trends and perspectives on alternative energy development.

Download the event info here.

2010 China Sustainable Building Forum

Society of Entrepreneur Ecology (SEE) – Top Non-profit Environmental Protection Organization

Initiated China Green Build Movement Meeting in Shanghai

Organized by Society of Entrepreneur Ecology (SEE), China Urban Realty Association (CURA) and China Philanthropist Network, China Green Build Movement was initiated at Chateau 599 on January 5, 2010 in Shanghai. This meeting has obtained positive response from all participants including Zendai Group, Greentown, Landsea，Forte Land Co., Sunny World，Shanghai ZK-Group, Dasso Industrial Group, Somfy China, Shanghai QingYing Sun-shading Technical Development Co., NVC Lighting Technology Corporation, Tongji University and China Green Building Council Jiangsu Branch etc, covering the real estate development, green material, energy saving technology, research organization and other related industries. All participants accepted this campaign unanimously and agreed on supporting the movement.

China Green Build Movement aims at calling on people to raise concern about the ecological protection in the situation of the rapid development of urbanization, meanwhile, to promote the urban development and reduce the energy consumption during the construction. Moreover, it advocates the environmental protection issues by enhancing daily behavior and assists the government to upgrade the regulation of urban planning and construction. Through joint effort, the earth will be much greener and help create a sustainable environment for mankind.

To be held from March 23-25 in Shanghai, China Green Build Movement will host a series of activities including the China Sustainable Building Leaders Summit, the Founding Ceremony of Society of Entrepreneur Ecology Eastern China Region, 2010 China Sustainable Building Forum, USGBC LEED Educational Training, Green Design Workshop, Qualified Green Materials Souring Show, Green Investment Opportunity Fair. This event will bring together over 60,000 professional visitors from government agencies, real estate developers, building and construction corporations, educational institutes and media partners around the world.

Visit the event website at http://www.csbexpo.com.cn/.

Energy Storage Forum

How do you integrate cost effective energy storage solutions and renewable power into the smart grid?

Come to Beijing on 30-31 March 2010 and join in Asia’s one and only comprehensive conference that has been thoroughly researched to include and examine all aspects of optimising Energy Storage. Tap into over 30 key expert speakers from utilities and suppliers such as ABB, EDF, CHINA LONGYUAN ELECTRIC POWER, ENERGIAS DU PORTUGAL, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA and CHINA HUADIAN NEW ENERGY to gain insights on:

- Forecasting Energy Storage Return On Investment

- Examining How Energy Storage Can Facilitate The Deployment Of The Smart Grid

- Maximising and Integrating Renewable Resources With Energy Storage

- Examining the CapEx and OpEx Of Flywheel Based Energy Storage Systems

Click Energy Storage for more information.

4 Simple Green Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) – Part One

There’s a growing interest in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) wanting to green their businesses, but real action is slow as they usually lack the knowledge and resources to do so. If you’re a SME who wish to be more sustainable, we present 4 simple green strategies here as a starter for you to take the first few steps:

1. Reduce Risks
2. Reduce Costs
3. Increase Revenue
4. Enhance Brand

1. Reduce Risks

Look at aspects of your business that has environmental impacts. It could be the use of resources: energy, water, chemicals and materials. Or discharges to the environment such as wastewater, air and chemical emissions, and waste disposal.

If these resources and discharges are not handled properly, they could be a risk to your business due to fluctuations in prices of resources, over-dependency on suppliers, change in government regulations, change in consumer demands, legal issues and liabilities, and hazards to employees.

Start now by identifying your environmental risks, monitoring them regularly and reducing those risks over time.

Some questions on environmental risks that you might ask:

• How much energy, water, materials and chemicals are we using?
• Which are the chemicals that are toxic and how are they handled?
• How do we dispose or discharge wastewater, air emiisons, waste and used chemicals?
• Are we meeting government regulations and how do we anticipate future regulations to change?
• Are there incidents of leaks and spills of chemicals, and how can they be prevented?
• Are we using too much resources and generating too much waste as compared to the industry norms? What happens if prices of the resources increase or disposal fees increase?
• Do we depend only on resources from one or few suppliers, and are those resources sustainable and non-toxic?
• Are our customers demanding for greener products or are more environmentally conscious?
• What happens to our products after being used by our customers?

Keep track of those questions above and other relevant risks, and get someone or a team to monitor the potential risks. Take immediate actions to reduce the important and urgent environmental risks. And set a timeline to reduce other lesser risks.

To be continued in Part Two.

Image credit: asifthebes via stock.xchng.