Barclays to cut energy consumption

Yawn.

Barclays says it will reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with a new major data centre in Gloucester, U.K.

So it should as well. Greenbang thinks it’s time to start reporting the companies that aren’t making eco-progress rather than those that are - and then making a big song and dance about it.

The company has brought in HP’s Dynamic Smart Cooling to save up to 13.4% of total energy used for its data centre. These energy saving measures will significantly reduce its carbon footprint by approx 7470 tonnes of CO2 per year, it claims.

And the ten least green brands are…

A survey says:

1. Shell
2. Exxon/Esso
3. McDOnalds
4. BP
5. BA
6. Ryanair
7. BAA
8. Coke
9. E.ON
10. British Gas

It’s odd though - Marks and Spencer was listed as the UK’s greenest brand followed by Innocent smoothies and The Body Shop.

Marks and Spencer ranked above Airtricity - a massive wind farm company that was eaten up by Scottish and Southern. It wasn’t even mentioned.

Waitrose and Tesco also ranked in the top ten. Something’s not right about this. Who did this YouGov survey ask? Marketing managers with one GCSE who think packaging is invisible?

Anyway - somehow car company Honda features in the top ten alongside washing detergent company Ecover. And McDonalds and Coke list alongside fossil fuel companies and airline industry as least environmentally friendly.

The survey of 1,000 marketing professionals was carried out by trade magazine Marketing Week

Top ten green brands:
1. M&S
2. The Body Shop
3. Innocent
4. Co-OP
5. ECover
6. Honda
7. Waitrose
8. Tesco
9. BP
10. Greenpeace

Solar power: industry overload will come in 2009

Can you ever get enough sun? Greenbang guesses that all those SAD cases in Britain would mumble a wishfully resounding ‘no’. After all, it’s not as though we’re overly blessed with sunshine. For the average Brit, one sunny Saturday afternoon does a summer make but not only will the sun not be delivering the tan Greenbang would hope for any time soon, it won’t be able to keep up with electricity demands either.

Being a pasty Brit, Greenbang was unhappy to learn that this is the imminent future facing the solar power industry. According to the sun worshippers at Lux Research, the solar power industry will begin to fizzle a bit in 2009 when supply begins to exceed demand.

Lux estimates that that the annual solar industry will grow to $70.9 billion in 2012, up from $21.2 billion in 2007, but 2009 will mark the decline in the boom time driven by early adopting countries such as Germany, Japan and Spain.

Says Lux Research Senior Analyst Ted Sullivan:

“During this period, solar demand has consistently outpaced supply. But the market is now approaching a tipping point: we project that the supply of solar modules will exceed demand in 2009, leading to falling prices and a shake-out among companies that aren’t prepared to thrive in this new environment – particularly crystalline silicon players that haven’t invested in new thin-film technologies.”

Lux Research projects that the costs of supplying solar generated energy will fall as consumption grows. As a result, it reckons, demand for solar technology will slacken, dampening investment interest in solar companies. Other factors such as the withdrawal of government subsidies and mounting materials costs will also give the industry a bit of a kicking.

And there’s more:

While the solar IPO environment has exploded since 2005 – of the 46 solar IPOs that have taken place on major exchanges since 1995, 76% have occurred in the last three years – solar IPOs dropped in 2007, as total funds raised fell 40% from 2006’s level to $2.20 billion. Since 1995, the 46 solar companies that have gone public on major exchanges have raised a total of $7.33 billion and boasted combined opening valuations of $34.7 billion.

Solar M&A has only become a factor in the last two years. All told, 41 solar M&A deals have taken place since 1995, totaling $2.48 billion – but 97% of this value has been realized since the beginning of 2006, owing largely to an acquisition spree by thin-film solar manufacturing equipment supplier Applied Materials.

$10 million prize up for grabs in fuel-efficient race

If you fancy getting your hands on $10 million - and let’s be honest here, who doesn’t - then Greenbang has found a better way than buying a ticket for this week’s lottery draw. No, it’s not buying two or three tickets for the lottery draw - it’s putting on your big science thinking cap and entering the X-Prize.

The Progressive Automotive X-Prize, in case you’re not familiar with competition, is a little bit does-what-it-says-on-the-tin: there’s a prize of $10 million in race of super fuel efficient cars.

The X-Prize Foundation announced the prize this week and explains it like this:

The goal of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles that offer more consumer choices. Ten million dollars in prizes will be awarded to the teams that win a stage race for clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 MPGe.

The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE will place a major focus on affordability, safety, and the environment. It is about developing real, production-capable cars that consumers want to buy, not science projects or concept cars. This progress is needed because today’s oil consumption is unsustainable and because automotive emissions significantly contribute to global warming and climate change.

The race will kick off in 2009 and take in stages across the US, including New York, finishing some time in 2010.

Apparently, 60 teams are ready to take the challenge.

AES, Riverstone team on $1 billion solar venture

AES: three little words worth a wholes hedload of dollars. Well, Greenbang says shedloads, but on reflection, I guess it depends on the size of the shed in question. Can sheds fit $1 billion in it? Has anyone ever tried? Greenbang would like to find out.

To inject some sense into this shedbased ramble: AES Solar is a new, $1 billion venture set up by power company AES Corporation and private equity firm Riverstone Holdings which will “develop a global platform of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects”. Each of the two companies will put in $500 million over five years.

Here’s more:

The jointly owned entity, to be called AES Solar, will seek to become a leading global developer, owner and operator of utility-scale solar installations that will be connected to the power grids that supply homes and businesses. These installations, ranging from fewer than two to more than 50 megawatts in size, will consist of land-based solar PV panels that capture sunlight and convert it into electricity, feeding the power grid directly.

The business will follow the traditional independent power producer and wind business growth models by initially focusing on developments and projects in those countries offering the most attractive tariffs. As the costs of both PV panels and installation come down, AES Solar will look to expand into other countries with appropriate market incentives, with the goal of “grid parity” - being competitive with conventional fuels.

Hyundai hybrids coming next year, fuel cells in 2012

Greenbang can hardly keep up with which car makers have leapt on the green bandwagon and promised either hybrid or hydrogen vehicles. Luckily, promoting eco-credentials is hotter than leftover hot cross buns right now so Greenbang will quickly bring you up to speed, so to speak.

The latest bunch to produce green motors: Hyundai. If you’re of a lazy cast of mind and can’t be bothered to read on, the company opted for hybrid vehicles, set to be on the road from next year and have a small fleet of fuel cell electric vehicles by 2012.

Here’s what they’re doing and how they’re doing it:

Hyundai will begin its first mass production with the compact-sized LPG model, the Avante (Elantra) LPI (Liqufied Petroleum Injection) hybrid, a car that uses both Liquefied Petroleum Gas and electricity. In 2010, Hyundai plans to introduce mid-sized hybrids that use gasoline and LPG.

Currently, Hyundai provides Verna (Accent) hybrid models to government agencies as pilot projects. The plan is to expand the line-up to mid-sized sedans and beyond for mass production, starting from 2009.

Hyundai entered the environmentally-friendly auto market in October 2004, when it supplied the government with 50 Click (Getz) hybrid cars. Since then, Hyundai and Kia have supplied the government with 350 hybrid cars in 2005, including the Verna model. This number increased to 730 cars in 2006 and 1,682 cars in 2007, totalling about 2,800 cars so far.

Based on the technology accumulated from producing these cars, Hyundai will from 2009 mass produce hybrid cars that use LPG, which creates less pollution than conventional cars. Hyundai is also kicking its development plans into full gear with the aim to mass produce Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) beginning 2012.

Hyundai plans to expand a demo fleet of FCEV´s to 500 units by 2010, including mid-to-large size SUVs, then establish a small production system to begin mass production from 2012.

German parliament switches to 100% renewables

Greenbang is a big fan of the Germans - a nation that has a love of unfeasibly large two pint glasses of beer, is rather partial to a bit of football and knows that their meat should come in large portions with some bread involved in there somewhere.

If Greenbang needed another reason to love the Germans it would be that David Hasselhoff thing. If Greenbang needed yet another reason, it would be that the Reichstag, the German parliament building is converting to 100 percent renewable energy, according to the The Guardian.

Apparently, according to the paper, the Reichstag runs on 40 percent renewable energy at the moment, using biofuels, with the remainder coming from coal and nuclear.

Soon, the building will move to renewable sources using wind, water and solar for the entirety of its energy demands after a parliamentary subcomittee started the hunt for a supplier. The lucky winner will be found in the summer, the Guardian says.

Car sharers get own motorway in the North

Some things, Greenbang is led to believe, are even better if you add an extra person into the mix. No, Greenbang wasn’t talking about that.

There are lots of other things that it’s more fun to do with a partner or even in a threesome or foursome. No, Greenbang really isn’t talking about that. Playing table tennis is good with several people, for example, and going on a date really wouldn’t be quite the same if there was only one person involved.

Now the Department of Transport is pressing people to add more people to their cars by opening up a car share lane for those carrying two or more occupants, as well as buses and coaches. The 1.7-mile lane, built by the Highways Agency, links the southbound M606 near Bradford to the eastbound M62 towards Leeds. Apparently going in the car share will save cars six to eight minutes and there’s a great big emissions cutting kickback too.

Said Ruth Kelly, Minister for Transport:

“This new lane offers motorists the opportunity to reduce both their journey times and their carbon footprints. Currently, four out of five vehicles using this busy junction have only one occupant. I hope this new lane will encourage people to share their journeys, which will ease congestion, cut journey times and improve local air quality.

“The Government is committed to finding innovative ways to get more from our existing roads and improving journeys for motorists. We have identified around 500 miles of motorway as potential priority sites for new traffic management measures, which may also include more car share lanes.”

The lane will let cars on the M606 bypass congestion at J26 of the M62 and gain priority entry on to the eastbound M62, says the government, a busy commuter route from Bradford towards Leeds.

River, rail could cut freight emissions by 12 percent

If a report by Royal & SunAlilance is on the money, the UK transport sector should be making like Ratty from The Wind in the Willows. You may be wondering waht use the UK transport sector would be in getting Mr Toad of hilarious scrapes, but think more along the lines of messing about on the river.

Well, messing about is taking a bit far - there are health and safety issues to consider, Greenbang supposes, and it’s all fun and games til someone loses an eye - but the report says that transport should be looking to shift more to water rather than road freight.

A little more from the report, if you fancy:

The UK could reduce the carbon impact of domestic freight by 12% within a decade (a reduction of 1.2 million tonnes of carbon) if policy makers, the transport industry and planners improve rail and water freight infrastructure. By 2018 road haulage could be reduced to as little as 50% of total domestic freight movement (currently 257 billion tonnes), a fall of 22%. To reach this figure, water and rail freight would need to increase by a third and three-quarters respectively.

Unfortunately, the report says, a lack of investment in rail and shipping infrastructure now means that the UK is far from capable of supporting an efficient intermodal* system. But don’t fear, there’s an answer at hand:

Francis Power, Director of Sea & Water, says: “In the UK we seem only to think about providing good links to residential property, leaving businesses to carry on creating hefty carbon footprints. When we look at regenerating port areas, we need to think of our future transport needs, providing rail access and building warehouses nearby.”

The report calls for a number of strategic inland ports to be developed and suggests that Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) play an important role in identifying these sites. Additionally, although the UK is not in a position to make an overnight logistical switch, more than 50 smaller ports around the UK could already take feeder freight services from major ports.

China kicks off auto recovery effort

What’s better than recycling? Reusing, of course. Greenbang isn’t against reusing tea bags when feeling far too lazy to get out down the shops. And reusing goods that someone else has discarded, that’s even better, right? Greenbang has picked up someone else’s Metro on the Tube. But it’s not much compared to China’s latest effort.

According to China View, China has kicked off a pilot to recover and reuse old auto parts.

The National Development and Reform Commission has inked an agreement with three auto makers and 11 parts manufacturers to join in with the program.

Apparently, says China View, the country scraps 3 million motors every year and by 2010, that will figure will be up to four million. The market for reused car parts will go up from 700 million yuan this year to 3.8 billion-worth by 2010.

Greenbang tracks the explosion of the environmental industry, reporting on news of green innovation and thought leadership.

We blog on this rather than the environmental problems of the world because we are interested in the answers to climate change.