Eco World 2010

Download the conference programme outline here.

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

Continued from Part One.

The first step to our 4 simple green strategies is to keep track of the relevant risks and take immediate actions to reduce them. Here, we present our second step:

2. Reduce Costs

Look at your business operations and the use of resources such as electricity, water, fuel, materials and chemicals. Monitor regularly on your fuel, material and chemical usage, water and electricity consumption, and waste disposed.

Find ways to increase the efficiency and productivity of your operations so as to reduce the use of fuel, materials and chemicals. Find ways to reduce the consumption and disposal so that your business can save on utilities bills and waste disposal fees.

For example, you could conduct an energy survey by taking a walk around the offices, building and facilities to observe what is happening on the ground, identify bad and wasteful energy use and habits, and identify opportunities for energy saving.

Or you could find out how your business manages waste, water and transport in your daily operations, and take steps to reduce the impact of these activities. You could also adopt energy efficient office equipment and energy saving tips.

Or you could start a recycling programme to minimise waste and start recycling at work.

There are many opportunities to reduce unnecessary wastage and inefficient practices in your business. Engage your employees and get them to give suggestions and help improve the use of resources and reduce costs.

To be continued in Part Three.

Image credit: lusi via stock.xchng.

Co-opportunity: Join Up for a Sustainable, Resilient, Prosperous World

Author: John Grant

ISBN: 978-0-470-68436-8

Hardcover; 350 pages

Published in March 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Recommended Retail Price: US$27.95 / S$49.17 including GST

Available at all major bookstores

Book Review

John Grant, the award winning author of The Green Marketing Manifesto, is back with his latest book called Co-opportunity, which explores “what co-operative solutions to sustainability challenges could look like.” He explains that the possibility to “co-operate may lead to a better human society”.

The book tackles five key sustainability challenges, introduces co-operative solutions through case examples in practice, and suggests tactics for application:

1. Creating a climate for change: Engaging the public to recognise the problems and take action together

… ideas about new forms of social organisation and campaigning, beyond passive media audiences.

2. Relocating the dreams: Going beyond consumerism and exploring a better future

… ideas about creating desire for brands, campaigns, movements that heal the world.

3. Making organisations accountable (and hence responsible for wellbeing): Being more transparent and taking responsibility

… ideas about new kinds of eco-label, social change campaigns or consumer co-operatives to create change through what they buy.

4. Economic resilience: Rethinking economic growth and switching to co-operative economic systems

… ideas for anything from restoring trust in banking, to a community scheme to support renewable energy.

5. Abundance rather than ‘lean and mean’: Shifting from productivity to wellbeing return on resources

… new ways of organising for service or supply systems – or equally use it to think differently about the design of the organisations themselves.

Promotion for Green Business Times Readers

Readers in Singapore can now buy the book from John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd at a 20% discount from 23 Mar 2010 to 23 Apr 2010.

1. Place your order to this email address: csd_ord@wiley.com or call: +65 6463 4604

2. Quote the ISBN of the book title

3. Quote the 4 digit promotion code to be entitled to the 20% discount – Promo Code 2478

Want Free Green Advice For Your Business?

Green Future Solutions is a Singapore-based business that provides environmental consultancy services to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) go green. We are planning to develop free case studies on how businesses can reduce their environmental impacts and save costs.

For the green case studies, we are looking for five SMEs in Singapore from the following sectors to participate:

1. Commerce
2. Engineering
3. Food and Drink
4. Hospitality and Catering
5. Retail

Free consultancy services will be provided to the selected businesses and they will share information on the environmental and cost benefits after implementing the solutions. The consultation and information will be documented as case studies, which will be available for free download on the Green Business Times website to serve as examples for other businesses who want to go green.

We would like to invite your company to participate in the green case studies. This would be a good opportunity to find out how your company can go green and save costs. If you are interested, please contact us by 30 April 2010.

CSR – Its Place in Business and the World

Venue: Orchard Hotel, Orchard Ballroom 3, 442 Orchard Road, Singapore 238879

Jointly organized by ISEAS and the EU Delegation to Singapore, the aim of the seminar is to examine the notion of CSR and the importance of involving all stakeholders. The seminar will also identify the real challenges a company might face when implementing a CSR strategy and, more broadly, facilitate an exchange of views from companies from Asia and Europe. This would allow businesses to take advantage of the diversity of views and experiences so as to further enhance their companies’ global strategies.

For details and registration, visit the European Union Delegation to Singapore website.

Source: European Union Delegation to Singapore

Methodological Approaches for Cost-Effective Carbon Trading

Venue: MEWR Theatrette, #4-00, Environment Building, 40 Scotts Road, Singapore 228231

Speaker: Sébastien Raoux, Ph.D., J.D., Esq., President & CEO, Transcarbon International Corporation

In this presentation, Dr. Raoux will review the essential elements of carbon trading methodologies and cover topics such as additionality, anti-gaming and capping procedures, the calculation of baseline and project emissions, and monitoring methodologies. He will pay particular attention to the issue of accuracy and uncertainty in the determination of emissions reduction, and examine the tradeoffs and procedures to optimize the cost effectiveness of carbon trading projects. He will illustrate the presentation with examples taken from existing CDM methodologies (Clean Development Mechanism), in particular related to the electronics and the high-tech industry, as well as energy and waste management.

For details and registration, visit the SEI website.

A Smart Energy Economy: Panel Discussion on ESC’s Recommendations on Energy Resilience and Sustainable Growth

Venue: National University of Singapore, The Auditorium, University Hall, Lee Kong Chian Wing, Level 2, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119077

Join the panel discussion on the Economic Strategies Committee’s (ESC) recent recommendations on Energy Resilience and Sustainable Growth, moderated by Jessica Cheam, Correspondent, Straits Times, Money Desk. The panelists include:

• Prof. Linda Yuen-Ching Lim: Professor of Strategy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan
• Dr. Natasha Hamilton-Hart: Associate Professor and Deputy Head in the Southeast Asian Studies Programme of the National University of Singapore
• Dr. Tilak Doshi: Chief Economist and Principal Fellow at the Energy Studies Institute
• Dr. Cheng-Guan Michael Quah: Chief Scientist and Principal Fellow at the Energy Studies Institute

Visit the Energy Studies Institute (ESI) website for details and registration.

CCS – Climate-Friendly Power Plant Technology

By Siemens

Power supply over the next few decades will be marked by a balanced mix of centralized and decentralized power plants, and of power taken from all available resources. Efficient and innovative technologies will become more important than ever for climate-compatible electricity generation.

Increasing importance of CCS Technologies for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in coal-fired power plants will provide a crucial bridging solution, enabling substantial reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from coalfired power plants.

Up to 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions produced in the combustion process can be reduced with this technology. CCS describes the chain of processes whereby carbon dioxide is sequestered from the power plant process before or after combustion, compressed, and then stored in geological formations.

Siemens is developing two technologies in the area of clean coal electrification for existing and new power plants. The first, for existing steam power plants and new plants, is the scrubbing and capture of carbon dioxide after combustion.

The other technology, carbon dioxide capture before combustion, is used for new IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) plants. These are combined cycle power plants with integrated coal gasification and upstream carbon dioxide capture. Having acquired the coal gasification business of the Swiss Sustec Group, Siemens can offer the GSP entrained-flow gasification process, which forms a central element of climate-friendly IGCC power plants.

Siemens technologies are also used for carbon dioxide transport and subsequent storage. Compressors supply the necessary pressure in the pipelines, and the pressure required for forcing the carbon dioxide deep underground. Here again, efficiency is called for, to minimize line losses.

State of the art

The various processes for carbon dioxide capture are presently being developed and tested. From today’s technological viewpoint, flue gas scrubbing is the main process available as a retrofit for existing power plants (if these plants are capture ready).

However, to enable CCS technology to be used on a large scale, a reliable political and regulatory framework must first be put in place for implementing CCS and for constructing CCS demonstration plants to verify environmental compatibility and economic viability. If this succeeds, the zero-carbon-dioxide coal-fired power plant will be able to play an important role in delivering climate-friendly and reliable energy from 2020 onward.

This article and image is contributed by Siemens Pte Ltd.