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Sunderland based people and property business, Gentoo, is aiming to create a benchmark to measure and therefore effectively manage their environmental impact in order to contribute to the UK’s Carbon Reduction Commitment.
Sustainability experts Best Foot Forward have calculated that a well thought-out "Plas Tax" could reduce UK carbon emissions by 240,000 tonnes per year.
Personal travel and particularly flying are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, as we know. Winter ski trips are hugely popular, but from the UK the most common mode of travel is still by plane even when many European resorts can be readily reached by train.
Daniel Elkan is a journalist who has been writing for several years about better travel options to reach the slopes, but he became frustrated by the lack of any coherent travel planning resources. So, with a number of partners, Daniel developed snowcarbon.co.uk to enable skiers to plan their travel to different resorts by train.
Here at BFF we really liked his idea, which provides a solution to promote low carbon travel. We offered support in kind, with calculations of comparative emissions to reach each resort by different modes. Of course the resorts themselves still have a significant environmental impact, but research has shown that travel is the most significant source of emissions and snowcarbon offers a neat solution to help skiers to reduce their footprints. You can visit snowcarbon to learn more, and to book your ski trip by train.
The Guardian online has featured a study BFF conducted for Reed Elsevier on the relative carbon merits of online versus conventional delivery of publications. The study, which examined the journal 'Fuel', presented a number of interesting findings - for instance if a user was going to spend more than 40 minutes reading a paper online it would be better for them to print an article.
A growing percentage of Reed Elsevier's revenue comes from the online part of their business – over 50% last year compared with 37% in 2006 - and so they consider it important to properly assess the environmental impacts of new delivery methods.
The study looked at the full life cycle impact of production: preparation, typesetting, printing/distribution, online hosting, and end user behaviour. We reviewed the overall impact of production (both direct such as utilities/fuel use and indirect such as materials and waste) utilising two years of data to compare the efficiency of both delivery channels.
As a result of the study, Reed Elsevier are tackling business travel and commuting emissions (a very significant part of the product footprint). They are also surveying online customers to see if a tool providing advice on the environmental impact of their usage behaviour would be of interest.
Other recommendations included licensing remote journal printing for paper copy subscribers which would cut carbon emissions by 11%.
A summary of our report is available here.
BFF was commissioned to footprint Jamie Oliver's latest culinary adventure so that the celebrity chef could offset the emissions of the new TV series as it traveled around the United States. The total carbon footprint - 243 tonnes - covered all flights, hotel stays and car travel (including early research trips by the production company). The study will also be used to see how emissions from future series can be reduced.
To offset these emissions Jamie helped fund a number of projects with Climate Care - including one to improve the energy efficiency of cooking stoves in Cambodia. This is believed to be the first time a TV travel series has become 'carbon neutral'.
'Jamie's American Roadtrip' visited New York, Los Angeles, Arizona, Louisiana, Georgia and Wyoming over an eight-month shoot but often with long gaps between each location. The series will be shown on Channel 4 in September - with a book to follow.
A recent study undertaken by BFF into the greenhouse gas emissions associated with different water provision options for the House of Commons committee rooms has been 'leaked' to the Evening Standard. The study, which quantifies the life cycle emissions of several different options, found that bottled water performed the worst - and that savings of 11tCO2 per year were possible through a switch to tap water.
The debate over the impact of bottled water is almost as old as the geology which filters the product ...
For many the environmental impact of bottled drinking water has become symbolic of a wasteful society that consumes fossil fuel-intensive products when lower impact alternatives exist.
Conversely, those who support bottled water consumption point to health and taste advantages – and say that by buying locally you can minimise transport impacts and help protect British countryside and rural employment. Bottled water advocates also say that their product is often purchased as a substitute for highly processed soft drinks - which have a similar carbon footprint, but aren't targeted in the same manner.
A few clarifications about The Standard article worth noting:
The article was written without input from BFF, and consequently shows a degree of journalistic interpretation. For example: "The study warns that Parliament is damaging the environment by refusing to use only tap water." As environmental accountants we present results objectively and allow clients to come to their own conclusions, with this quote being the conclusion of the journalist.
Also - the article says that a 750ml bottle of water emits 300 times more emissions than the equivalent volume of tap water. This comparison was not taken from our report - and we do not know the source of these figures.
You can read the article for yourself here.
The latest edition of the ENDS Report includes two references to BFF and our work. Firstly, Strategy Director Nicky Chambers was invited to comment on Asda’s launch of its ‘low-carbon’ beef that comes from surplus male calves born to dairy cows. The same ENDS edition includes a supplement called the ‘Consultancy Market Guide 2009’ which features an article on the Consultants’ Role to the London Olympics.
The beef story is a fine example of the challenge facing environmental accountants when GHG emissions have to be allocated to co-products which result from a single system. The ENDS article (pp22-23) carries a quote from Nicky: “Rules governing how emissions are allocated between co-products are complex and not standardised, meaning it is possible to get quite a range of answers depending on your approach." She added: "It is good practice to disclose these assumptions”. The lack of this disclosure prompted Nicky to suggest the Asda media release may be “a triumph of reallocation over reduction” - a comment ENDS decided not to include!
BFF's work for LOCOG, ODA and LDA for over two years doing the total carbon footprint and carbon management strategy for the Games, was also recognised on p22 of the supplement.
BFF Principal Consultant Simon Miller was invited to chair and present a session on footprinting at Sustainable Business - the Event, held a couple of weeks ago at the NEC, Birmingham. A video of the session is available here, but unfortunately the slides aren’t shown so some of his points lack the supporting visuals. However, it is a rare chance to see Simon in a suit and tie...
US wine producer Fetzer has announced the results of a study undertaken by BFF into the carbon savings associated with the lightweighting of their bottles. The new design eliminates the punt — the concave indentation on the bottom of bottles — and reduces the thickness of the glass.
The study, which concentrated on the manufacturing and transportation stages of bottle production, highlighted annual potential savings of 3,000 US tons of greenhouse gases (c. 14% of the footprint associated with current claret and burgundy-style bottle production & transportation). The news has been picked up by Green Biz and Packaging Digest websites.
The September issue of The ENDS Report features a full review of BFF's work with the Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse on the eco-efficiency of remanufacturing printer cartridges. Our study concluded that a remanufactured cartridge has a 46% lower carbon footprint than a new one, saving approximately 2.8kg of CO2 per cartridge.
The study, which was based on the assumption that cartridges are remanufactured an average 3.5 times, only looked at production versus remanufacturing. It did not examine questions over apparent poorer print quality of refilled cartridges - something manufacturers say will make these savings less impressive as paper wastage would be increased. However research in this area is still ongoing and so this debate is likely to continue for some time!
BFF's footprinting work is well-recognised for its quality and robustness - so we are regularly asked to peer review other studies. One such request recently came from Building Magazine, who have enlisted us as expert reviewers of CSR and carbon emissions reports in the construction sector. Our aim is to use the column to promote transparency, highlight greenwashing and encourage more quantitative assessments of corporate environmental performance.
BFF reviews will be appearing bi-monthly. Our first assignment focuses on the Cement Sustainability Initiative, Tube Lines, NHS England and Upstream. The article is available online in two parts.
BFF Principal Consultant Simon Miller was recently interviewed by an analyst from Quocirca to provide his views on the significance of IT in the wider context of carbon footprinting. Simon commented on the tremendous interest in ‘green IT’ but highlighted crucial issues which have not been addressed - including the significance of embodied carbon in IT equipment relative to operational efficiency and normal equipment refresh rates. Quocirca were also impressed by BFF’s Footprinter and have included commentary on the tool in the final article published in IT Analysis.