Toward a sustainable future [News]

By Mindy Tan, The Business Times, 27 Sep 2011.

Beyond ensuring that their wood is logged from sustainable forests, home-grown ETH Enterprise is the first in Singapore to try to work out how much is the carbon dioxide equivalent stored in their packaging materials. With more attention being paid to corporate social responsibility (CSR) these days, ETH says that sourcing from sustainable resources is the way forward for packaging materials.

The company, which focuses on crate customisation, logistics, and timber trading and production, is the only company in Singapore to use 100 per cent sustained, certified materials for their pallets and crates for their packaging operations, according to ETH Enterprise director Tok Chuan Hoo. Read more

More airlines strive to reduce carbon footprint [News]

The world’s airlines have committed to achieve carbon neutral growth by 2020 and globally, airlines are looking to implement new initiatives and incentives to keep up with industry and reduce their carbon footprint.

German airline Lufthansa said it has been reporting its environmental initiatives since 1994, and is looking to take things to the next level to be a driver of change.

For example, the airline will be undertaking the largest investment program in its corporate history to advance its fleet.

Frank Puttmann, Head of Corporate Communications (Asia-Pacific) with Lufthansa, said: “An investment to a modern and technologically advanced fleet is (not just) very good for the cash box first of all, but also for the environment (as well), and that is also the reason we are running the largest investment program in our corporate history ever. Read more

IDC’s LCA Calculator Makes It Easy to Conduct Life Cycle Assessment of Products

UK product design agency, Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC), has recently launched the LCA Calculator, a new web-based solution for lifecycle analysis of products.

Life Cycle Analysis or Assessment (LCA) refers to the study of the environmental impact of a product over its entire life-span. The LCA Calculator by IDC provides users with a simple solution to conduct and compare the life cycle assessment of a product and calculate its carbon footprint over the entire period of its life – from manufacture, transport, product use to disposal. Read more

Green Manufacturing Technologies and Products at the Sustainable Manufacturing Centre in Singapore

The Sustainable Manufacturing Centre (SMC) is an industry innovation centre under the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

SMC was set up to help the manufacturing industry develop and implement innovative sustainable manufacturing technologies that reduce emissions, waste and toxicity. SMC currently offers research and core capabilities in:

• Sustainability assessment tools and techniques
• Carbon measurement and reduction strategies
• Eco-design of sustainable products
• Processing and application of sustainable materials
• Knowledge and technologies for resource efficient manufacturing
• Resource recovery and recycling from manufacturing waste
• Remanufacturing
• Sustainable packaging
• Green supply chain management

If your company is looking for sustainable manufacturing solutions and technologies, or is interested to find out the environmental life cycle impact and carbon footprint of your products, do visit and contact the Sustainable Manufacturing Centre. Read more

Measure Your Organisation’s Carbon Footprint or Greenhouse Gas Inventory

For an organisation, the term carbon footprint or greenhouse gas inventory includes the carbon emissions and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated directly from the organisation’s activities or use of fuels, and also indirectly from the use of electricity and from the use and disposal of materials, products and services.

By measuring its carbon footprint or GHG inventory, the organisation can manage and reduce emissions over time, and also use it for disclosure to stakeholders or for marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) purposes.

After calculating the carbon footprint, it is then possible for the organisation to take active steps to manage the emissions. The organisation can:

• Set emissions reduction targets
• Identify opportunities for energy efficiency and reduction of emissions
• Take action to implement emissions reduction projects
• Monitor the performance of the projects and improve accordingly

The approach to an organisation’s carbon footprint usually involves five steps:

1. Define a consistent methodology
2. Specify the boundary and scope involved
3. Obtain the emissions data and calculate the carbon footprint
4. Verify the results with a third party
5. Disclose the carbon footprint in a report and to stakeholders

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GHG Protocol

If your organisation wishes to calculate your carbon footprint or GHG inventory, you can follow the GHG Protocol produced by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD):

The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard provides standards and guidance for companies and other organizations preparing a GHG emissions inventory. It covers the accounting and reporting of the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol — carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

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ISO 14064

You can also follow the ISO 14064 from the International Organization for Standardization, which comprises three standards on specifications and guidance for the organisational and project levels, and for validation and verification. Read more about the standard here.

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Carbon Footprint Calculators

Or you can use these online carbon footprint calculators to estimate your carbon emissions:

• Carbon Trust
• Carbon Footprint
• The CarbonNeutral Company
• ClimateCare

Some of the above websites provide carbon offsets to help your organisation become carbon neutral.

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Carbon Disclosure Project

If you wish to study how companies disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, visit the Carbon Disclosure Project website:

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an independent not-for-profit organisation which holds the largest database of corporate climate change information in the world. The data is obtained from responses to CDP’s annual Information Requests, issued on behalf of institutional investors, purchasing organisations and government bodies. Since its formation in 2000, CDP has become the gold standard for carbon disclosure methodology and process, providing primary climate change data to the global market place.

Image credit: CMSeter; Plusverde.

Alila Hotels and Resorts Head Office is Carbon Neutral

This is a press release from The GreenAsia Group.

(Singapore, April 2009) Since announcing its commitment to become carbon neutral last October, Alila Hotels and Resorts has achieved carbon neutrality for its head office in Singapore for the year 2008, after calculating its carbon footprint and offsetting its emissions with a cogeneration project in India.

In October 2008, Alila Hotels and Resorts commissioned The GreenAsia Group, a specialist in carbon management in Asia, to conduct a comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) assessment of its management operations based in Singapore. This was compiled by an international third party expert in GHG calculations. Read more

Smaller Carbon Footprints or Bigger Green Footprints?

Speakers: Mr Mitesh Patel, Manager, Power Select, WorleyParsons Pte Ltd; Mr Henry Kwok, Global Partner, Haines Centre for Strategic Management, Asia Pacific

Venue: Seminar Room II, ISEAS

This seminar discusses the need for a collective and holistic response to create a bigger green footprint, which looks at economics, social, ecological, technological and other measures, and involves individuals, society, national and global responses to build a better tomorrow for future generations. Details and registration at the ISEAS website.

Alila Hotels and Resorts to Become Carbon Neutral

This article is a news release from The GreenAsia Group.

(Singapore, 20 October 2008) Alila Hotels and Resorts is pleased to announce its commitment to go carbon neutral, first through its head office and then throughout all of its properties in Asia. Working with The GreenAsia Group, a specialist in carbon management in Asia, Alila will first achieve carbon neutrality for its head office in Singapore by December 2008.

The entire process involves the measurement, reduction and offsetting of greenhouse gases emissions resulting from not only the business activities of Alila’s head office, but also from both the professional and personal engagements of its management team. A carbon footprint assessment is presently being conducted. With guidance from The GreenAsia Group, Alila is methodically measuring its total greenhouse gases emissions in Singapore and will implement energy efficiency practices accordingly to reduce and avoid carbon emissions to the greatest extent possible. The remaining unavoidable emissions will be offset by purchasing carbon credit certificates from green projects based in Asia. Read more

Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan Areas: Lessons for Singapore and Beyond

Speaker: Marilyn Brown, Professor of Energy Policy, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology

Venue: Seminar Room 3-1, Level 3, Manasseh Meyer, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772

This seminar discusses the assessment of carbon footprints for metropolitan areas, and explains the implications and policies that can help Singapore and cities in Southeast Asia reduce their carbon footprint. For details and registration, visit the LKYSPP website.