Posts Tagged ‘Solutions’
How Can ISO 14001 Benefit My Business?
May 16, 2012 | 
Author Environmental Concerns are now of paramount consideration by company directors, owners and employees worldwide.
Since the 14001 EMS includes everyone in the business and all aspects of the organization that affect the environment, it can improve an organization’s environmental performance in many ways. This improved performance comes at a cost to the organization, a cost which can be recovered by aggressively seeking benefits.
Some of those benefits are as follows:
All environmental policies and procedures are now in the same format
All documents are now easily accessible to employees so compliance has improved
Regularly scheduled EMS reviews are ensuring both legal and ethical obligations are met in a timely fashion.
Increased Profits
The quantity of materials and energy required for manufacturing a product may be reduced, thereby reducing the cost of the product, material handling costs, and waste disposal costs.
An EMS can help reduce incidents of pollution and the associated expense of recovery.
Recycling manufacturing waste and unused inputs could increase revenues. Recycling need not be within the same facility, but with another one that can use the waste as input to their production.
Employee health and safety can be improved, thereby improving productivity, decreasing sick days, and reducing insurable risk.
Insurance claims may be reduced, thus reducing the costs of coverage and settlements.
This is just a sample of the benefits available to business; the list of benefits and potential benefits is considerably larger.
Posted in Carbon accounting, carbon emissions, Carbon footprint, Carbon management, carbon reduction, Carbon Reduction Commitment, Climate Change, CO2, CSR, Environmental accounting, Footprint, ghg emissions, Iso14001, Social Responsibility | 
Tags: Benefits, Business, carbon reduction, Change, Climate, Corporate, CSR, EMS, Enterprise, Environment, ENVIRONMENTAL, environmental management system, Global, Green, Greenhouse, ISO 14001, Management, Money, Social, Social Responsibility, Solutions | 
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Clean Energy Solutions for Climate Change
Dr.Donald Aitken – presents an inspiring ‘yes we can’ vision of a solar energy future and how to get there in this excerpt from a keynote address by physicist, solar architect, recipient of the World Solar Industry Award. 40 mins.
Business Energy Management Solutions
Energy costs represent one of the biggest slices in the expenditures pie of any given business, be it small, medium or large sized companies, a well planed energy management plan can help save money and reduce end costs.
With that mindset, the objective of this article is highlight energy management solutions that can help businesses save thousands of pounds and reduce their carbon footprint at the same time.
First step is to choose the right energy supplier, one that offers an energy contract that will best suit your business needs. As the UK energy market grows more complex, the independent advice offered by energy brokers and consultants can help you choose the right energy supplier. The catch here is to find an energy consultancy firm rather than trying to do the job in-house.
A ‘fresh pair of eyes’, with relevant experience of achieving tangible results in other organisations, can often uncover areas for significant improvement that may not have been previously identified.
With climate change concerns, oil prices on the raise and increasing government support, incentives and commercialization, renewable energy prices are falling year after year, despite the fact that renewable energy technologies are sometimes criticised for being unreliable or unsightly, the market is growing strong.
Right now in the UK there are a wide range of green energy suppliers offering a comprehensive portfolio of green energy products, which are both audited and certificated, that can help your business saving money and reduce its carbon footprint.
After choosing the ideal energy supplier, a business needs an advance metering system that provides accurate information on the amount of electricity being used.
Smart meters can do just that and even more, smart meters enable costumers to choose flexible electricity tariffs over set periods as well as improve accuracy of forecasting energy demand at different time of the day.
Conserving energy is important, not only because it saves you money, but because it will have a real impact on the environment.
To meet the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and Climate Chance Agreements the government has launched the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), the UK’s first mandatory carbon trading scheme, with the aim of reducing he level of carbon emissions currently produced by the larger ‘low energy-intensive’ organisations by approximately 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2020.
While the scheme officially started 1stl April 2010, many organisations will need to make preparations now, or face very severe fines.
As an incentive to install AMR meters, and in recognition for good energy management undertaken prior to the start of the CRC scheme, there is a mechanism called the Early Action Metric which rewards participants who install voluntary half hourly electricity AMR and gas AMR by 31st March 2010.
In addition to this, another Early Action Metric is to obtain the Carbon Trust Standard certifications which will also rewards participants who obtain this standard by 31st March 2011.
The term Wholesale Energy Purchasing is a term well known to big corporations that consume at least 50GWh per annun. But by combining the energy consumption of a number of business in a portfolio arrangement, called the energy basket, whole energy purchasing has become a really to small and mid-sized business across the country.
How does it Work?
Again you will need the help of an energy consultancy firm. The Energy Consultancy firm will add your company to these so called energy baskets, this portfolio of companies can then trade as a national company allowing it to trade these combined commercial energy requirements as a commodity in the wholesale market, bringing the advantages of the wholesale market to much smaller organisations
How Carbon Solutions Can Benefit Climate Change
Everyone have become familiar if not in tune with the term carbon footprint and reducing ones carbon footprint. The term has only recently been revealed to people as this is something we are all unaware of doing on a daily basis from the comforts of our home. Carbon solutions have been instigated in the form of guidance for people to follow as a way of reducing ones carbon footprint. However, in order to make this fully effective, the first thing that would need to be put across is letting people know what carbon footprint is.
Carbon solutions are all about climate protection. One leaves their carbon footprint by producing an increased amount of greenhouse gases, which is released into the atmosphere. This is measured by the amount of CO2 emissions, which is the main cause for concern over global warming. Human activity is believed to be the cause of the increasing risk of global warming. One can measure how much carbon footprint they leave behind by measuring how much energy they use in one year.
Each individual uses enough energy, through their normal daily activities, producing a certain of CO2. One can produce plenty of CO2 emissions from travelling by car to work, leaving their computers on, leaving the light on, washing their clothes at forty degrees as opposed to the recommended thirty, or even use aerosol deodorants as opposed pump sprays. This can cause a problem for people looking to reduce their carbon footprint and pose a problem for the solution to this problem.
Climate change has affected many parts of the world, with the people in the UK noticing the difference of weather change. Climate change is a relatively new concept to which even experts are working on ways of find solutions to this problem. With people consuming less energy and partaking in carbon solutions, this may affect the climate change and reduce the risks of global warming. Green electricity is also a new concept, which uses sustainable and reusable energy sources, to produce the amount of electricity.
The Christmas is possibly one of the worst periods for energy consumption due to the amount of lighting put up for decoration, high consumption of food, gift purchases and paper wastage, higher usage of travelling vehicles and more electricity used in the home. This produces up to 650kg of CO2 emissions; the government aim to reduce to just 250kg. This is a difficult solution to instigate, however, this is possible with people practising the concept of recycling and learning to use energy saving equipment.
Posted in Climate Change | Tags: Benefit, Carbon Accounting, Change, Climate, Solutions | No Comments »
Global Warming Solutions Act Of California
This briefly explains the essence of the Stationary Equipment Refrigerant Management Program which is the newest integration into the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).
Information that is related to emerging and existing refrigerant gas monitoring, reporting, tracking and management legislation is communicated here. As with all other pending legislation, the refrigerant management is still subject to many changes.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act or AB 32 was first passed in 2006 taking effect in 2010, which is a comprehensive directive aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2010.
This goal is derived from the increase of greenhouse gasses in California since 1990. To reverse the pollution of 16 years in the United States in less than 14 years, the legislation aims to cut down greenhouse gas emissions to its 1990 levels.
As part of the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) the Air Resources Board (ARB) has approved an early action measure to reduce high-global warming potential (GWP) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by establishing new legislation and defining requirements related to improved monitoring of AC/HVAC systems, enforcement of regulations, reporting of refrigerant usage, and recovery, recycling, or destruction of high-GWP refrigerant gases.
The greenhouse gasses (GHGs) as defined by the California’s AB 32 are identical to those gasses already identified in the Kyoto Protocol and are already being regulated, monitored, and managed by many other countries around the World.
In addition to carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the most widely known GHG, the following gasses are also defined as GHGs with high global warming potential (GWP) carbon equivalent emissions by the AB 32 legislation:
* Methane (CH4): a byproduct of natural geological phenomena and decomposition of waste; the majority of methane is derived from natural gas drilling.
* Nitrous Oxide (N2O): a pollution from exhausts coming from motor vehicles, processes in industries and other industrial pollutants of the air; like methane, nitrous oxide can also be a product of waste decomposition in nature and agriculture.
* Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6): a gas used for various electrical applications, including gas insulated switchgear. Sulfur Hexafluoride is also being used for applications in experiments.
* Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) & hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs): a collection of commonly used refrigerant and aerosol gasses with a wide variety of other commercial applications.
Some Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) are CFCs and HCFCs which are identified in title VI of the US Clean Air Act (Section 608).
Solutions for Renewable Energy
Wind energy is generated by windmills, wind turbines or wind generators. Even in the days before industrialization, wind energy was used to pump water. Only recently, it has been used to generate electrical energy. This solution can create a lot of megawatts, making it an excellent renewable energy source.
If used in the home, federal regulations (specifically, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, or PURPA) require utilities to connect with and purchase power from small (less than 80 MW) wind energy systems. When used to power the home, wind energy makes a promising source for future generations.
Hydro or water energy is a very effective solution, typically generated on a large scale. It can be converted to electricity for use in the home, and other applications. Most recently seen, are the electric cars. Electrical energy production by renewable sources, has been estimated that 90% is from hydro power only.
Water power supplies about 10 percent of the electricity that we use in the United States. In California, for example, about 15% of all the electricity comes from hydroelectric. The only problem with this source, is the effect on the eco-system of the body of water.
As the most available energy source on earth, solar power will contribute to a greener world. It has been said that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100% of the entire world’s energy needs for a full year.
You can use solar power in the home for many uses, electricity being the most common. Not only being extremely cost effective and environmentally friendly, it is very low maintenance saving time and effort. A return on investment can be achieved very quickly with a solar power system, making free over time.
Make power at home with solar and wind energy to eliminate your power bill.
Waste Management
Waste Management
Waste management services exist to assist business with the challenge of industrial waste. As you can imagine some areas generate more waste than others and those that generate a lot in the course of their business usually find it more cost effective to have someone else deal with it.
This topic covers a broad spectrum. It is a term often used to describe the management of a variety of waste, usually collected, treated, processed, recycled, reused or disposed of by a department of the local authority.
As people produce more and more waste, partly as a result of more and more packaging being used for our produce, our waste management services are becoming more sophisticated and better able to deal with the problem.
In industry there is a growing need for waste management services, some specialising in certain aspects of it and others attempting to be all things to all companies. Those who specialise in certain areas tend to deliver a better service as they can fine tune their expertise into a narrow and clearly defined area.
Industries such as the oil industry or chemical industry need waste management services who can respond to a given situation 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Often their waste management needs involve coping with an unexpected emergency, an oil or dangerous chemical spill, for example.
Waste management services trained and expert in dealing with the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste is invaluable to these industries. They will most likely have licensed facilities for the treatment and transfer of contaminated waste and the personnel trained and experienced to carry out the operation.
The first line of defence against an emergency spill can be the use of skimming equipment to try and recover the spill. Booms and dispersants as well as absorbents and may also be used. Waste can be transferred from the site to a holding facility using appropriate waste transfer vehicles.
The industries that can suffer heavily by a serious waste problem rely heavily on the expertise and experience of professional waste management services. Their emergency response teams can contain, collect and treat hazardous waste in the fastest possible time, thereby rendering the situation as safe as possible as quickly as possible.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive all give useful guidance on the regulations governing the storage of hazardous waste in the UK. All service providers have to operate under these regulations and each one should be a registered waste carrier and usually also having a facility with an appropriate permit for accepting and treating hazardous waste, as well as its possible disposal.
Waste management services provide an invaluable backup service to a variety of industries that have come to depend on them for the necessary support and assistance they need when it comes to collecting, recovering, treating, recycling, reusing and disposing of waste. Waste has paradoxically become big business for the companies who have chosen to specialise in it.
Who handles your waste management?
From October 2010 SEPA can now request the waste management records of all business, from the accountants office to the North Sea oil companies.
At Be Seen Go Green we can help on a variety of environmental issues which may affect you, including your compliance responsibilities.
To find out more contact us www.beseengogreen.eu
Posted in Carbon footprint, Carbon management, computer recycling, Edinburgh Recycle, Edinburgh WEEE, eee, Food Recycling, Food Waste, glasgow eee, glasgow recycling, Glasgow waste, glasgow weee, landfill, Packaging Waste, Recycle Edinburgh, Recycle UK, recycling, Skip Hire, UK Recycle, UK WEEE, Waste management, weee, WEEE Edinburgh, WEEE UK, wheelie bin | Tags: computer recycling, Disposal, edinburgh recycle, Edinburgh Recycling, Efficiency, electrical waste recycling, Emissions, Environment, ENVIRONMENTAL, Footprint, glasgow recycle, glasgow recycling, glasgow weee, Global, Green, Greenhouse, Management, Recycling, Reduce, Renewable, Services, Solutions, Treatment, Waste | No Comments »
Renewable Energy Solutions Are Currently Available
The beloved planet we live on, will have no oil resources by 2056. At least that’s what some brainy men think. Renewable energy solutions are sources of energy that will never expire and help the environment. There only about three different types of these energy solutions that can be considered renewable energy solutions: using solar energy, wind energy solutions, and use of hydro energy solutions.
The world’s growing demand for energy combined with the fragile state of earth’s environment means that renewable energy solutions are becoming increasingly important. Renewable energy generation can provide homes, businesses and communities with their total power requirements, supplemental power or back up power.
If you are a resident in an urban or suburban area who is interested in switching to renewable energy you will probably find the traditional approach difficult or impossible. Renewable energy solutions are currently available no matter what the needs of the customer may be.
Environment
We are beginning to recognize that our dependence on fossil fuels is hazardous to our environment and getting more and more expensive every day. The importance of obtaining energy that does not harm the environment cannot be understated. Along with the great possibility of reducing the amount you pay for your power bills, you can also help the environment on the problem on energy crisis and global warming without any much effort.
Wind Power
We all know that wind power is a great improvement over fossil fuels when it comes to our environment. Another benefit is that wind power and wind generation does not have an impact on the surrounding environment. The fact that wind power is a great option for our environment is an enormous benefit, but so too is that fact that we would have complete control over this power source. Currently, however, wind power accounts for a small percentage of energy generated from renewable sources.
Solar Energy
Sun has always provided the earth with heat and light. Solar energy is the most abundantly available and free source of renewable energy solutions. In addition to being very cost effective and environmentally friendly, solar energy systems have many other advantages.
This means that, after a short time, the systems will have paid for themselves, and will continue to provide completely free energy for a long time thereafter. It seems that more and more homes that are requesting solar hot water systems are coming equipped with metal roofs.
Conclusion
Most people would love to have their electric bill reduced. Unfortunately, many people either don’t want to build their own renewable energy solutions or they are totally unaware of the option to do so. Believe it or not building your own renewable energy solution is very easy as long as you follow a DIY energy guide.
Think of these benefits plus doing your part to make the world a greener place.In addition to making you money and helping the environment, these renewable energy systems are low maintenance.
Change the Rules, Change the Games; New Thinking on Climate Change Solutions
“Life is a game full of games. There is no getting around the games of life. The question is not whether we will play the games but rather: What games will we play? and How well will we play them? The more we accept and understand any game, the better we are able to play it.” Laurence G Boult
Many believe that rugby was born in 1823 when William Webb Ellis “with fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time at Rugby school, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game”.
Change happens when people act “with fine disregard for the rules” but there is an important caveat: the others playing the game need to join in virtually simultaneously. After all, the other plays could have easily cried “foul” and keep playing by the existing rules (or, as one guy at my primary school used to do, declare the action so heinous that he deserved a penalty regardless of where on the field of play the offence took place). But they didn’t. They played along and a new sport was born.
Life is often referred to as a game. In today’s industrial civilisation, the rules of the game of life are governed by money or, more particularly the rules of accountancy. When we make “rational” decisions the money aspect will almost always feature. But there is a very strange feature to these rules. They operate as if the world comes for free. No cost is put onto the services that the environment gives us: clean air, fresh water, cooling forests.
This has led us into some very strange behaviour. While we believe we are making progress materially, we are simultaneously destroying the ecosystem of the planet. One in five species of mammals, one in three amphibians and one in seven birds are extinct or globally threatened. Climate change will simply make these numbers worse.
We need new thinking to find climate change solutions so, if our “rational” behaviour is wrecking the place, why don’t we change the rules?
There is a new organisation that is sponsored by the G8 and five major developing economies that is championing just that. It is called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity and it is has just published its draft report on the global economic benefit of biodiversity, the costs of the loss of biodiversity and the failure to take protective measures versus the cost of conservation. It has drawn on expertise from around the world to evaluate the costs of the loss of biodiversity and the associated decline in ecosystem services worldwide. The intent of the study is to sharpen awareness of the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services (which are estimated in to be in excess of US$2.5 trillion) and try and work out how to change the rules of accountancy so that the cost of using the planet is properly accounted for.
One scheme they should look at is the fee and dividend ideas of James Hansen. He makes the simple observation that as long as fossil fuels are the cheapest energy, their use will continue and even increase on a global basis. Fossil fuels are cheapest because they are not made to pay for their effects on human health, the environment, and future climate.
Governments must place a uniform rising price on carbon, collected at the fossil fuel source – the mine or port of entry. 100% of the fee should be given to the public, as a uniform dividend, payroll tax deduction, or both.
In the UK, for example, if the charge was £100 per tonne of carbon dioxide each individual would receive a dividend of about £1000 per year. Prices of stuff made with energy derived from fossil fuels would go up but now the basis of choice would be different. The average electricity bill would go up about £430 per year if the electricity comes from coal but only about £50 per year if it came from renewable energy sources. Now the rational decision really is rational.
A simple change of the rules that can transform how we play the game.
Unlimited Energy Solar Solutions
Unlimited Energy is the largest, locally owned solar contractor in the Central San Joaquin Valley. We have been in business in Fresno since 1984 and have designed and installed some of the largest PV projects in the State of California. With over 2.75 million watts installed spanning over 400 installations, we’ve earned the right to be called the authority on solar. Solar energy can be a complicated endeavor. We make it simple. This video explains solar energy and shows Unlimited Energy’s depth and breadth of work.