JetBlue goes Green

CSRwire reported this morning that JetBlue has announced a green initiative. The press release from carbonfund.org addresses several steps that JetBlue is taking to clean up their act. They will be making operational changes (read: increasing efficiency), working in conjunction with Airbus, Honeywell Aerospace and International Aero Engines to develop a sustainable jet-bio-fuel, and offering carbon offsets to their customers through carbonfund.org.

This move to help customers purchase carbon offsets for their flying is one that I have been expecting for a while. It seems natural. PG&E has an offset program that goes right on your monthly gas bill (I wrote about it here).

I have been wondering why car dealerships aren't offering Terrapass offsets right from the salesperson. They could even offer offsets as an incentive.

conventional green

This popped up on CNN about a week ago. Convention and conference organizers are finally leaning green in response to their corporate clients. Big Business is starting to care:

But lately, greener practices have become a priority for businesses. Of the two-thirds of the world's top 500 companies that publish corporate social responsibility reports, 87 percent address climate change and 65 percent have a specific portion on climate change issues. Seventy-eight percent publish quantitative emissions data, according to CorportateRegister.com.

These types of corporate social responsibility mandates -- combined with some managers' genuine concern for the issue and a public demand that companies do their part -- has led to the growth of green meetings.

And here's a good reason:

Many companies and meeting planners have been pleasantly surprised that producing green meetings can be cost effective.

Some elements do cost more, but the increase in efficiency can offset the expense, Makower said.

For example, he said, using pitchers of water instead of individual bottles might cancel out the cost of organic food.

McKinley said a meeting client recently saved money by switching from plastic disposable service ware to compostable serving pieces, because the high price of petroleum increased the cost of plastic.

Again we see that green is good from both an economic and an environmental perspective. For those who are still skeptical about climate change, I'll say this: Take advantage while you can! It's a trend right? So no one can actually accuse you of caring about the climate (how embarrassing!). If they do, you can explain how you're taking advantage of the ignorant masses by using their desire for all things green to save you money!

Enertia Creeps

I have a little Kymco People 50cc scooter that I use whenever I can. It uses less gas and is much easier to park than my normal car. I've always liked the idea of an electric scooter, but I haven't been impressed with the ones I've seen. The Vectrix is a little bulky for me (and expensive). The Zapino comes close, but I need a little more speed to feel safer. Others, like the X-Treme XB-500 don't have near the power or speed to drive safely in traffic. And that's important, because in my experience, if people see you on a scooter (at all) they expect you to be part of normal traffic, not off to the side. Denying people's expectations when you're at such an extreme disadvantage is not safe.

The Brammo Enertia looks pretty exciting. CNN Money/Fortune tells the story of how the Enertia came to be, and has pictures of some of the top contenders in the field. It's slightly more expensive than the Vectrix, but much better looking. Of course, for me, there's still the problem of where to plug it in...


Update (May 22): Terrapass wrote about the Enertia last year and it caused quite a stir, mostly people complaining that it was ugly, expensive, and slow.

Also, The Scooter Scoop has some good stuff on electric scooters/motorcycles.

Auntie Em Goes Green

A small, tornado ravaged town in Kansas is realizing the benefits of going green. On May 4, 2007, Greensburg Kansas was virtually wiped off the map. Now the town is rebuilding with an eye towards renewable energy and energy efficiency and finding green isn't just for hippies anymore.

The local John Deere dealership lost nearly everything in the disaster, but is taking the opportunity to get LEED Platinum certified. This is not about taking the moral high ground though. From the Article:

Although "green" may be viewed as trendy and new by some, Mike Estes {owner of the John Deere dealership] knows that it is not for show.

"We're looking at saving money here; truthfully, we are. We're running a business. If we can't make this make sense, why would we do it?" he asked.

And he says the non-political approach of the city in encouraging energy efficiency has helped.

"I don't think it's red or blue to be green; I think green is green, and green makes sense. And green saves you green!" he said with a laugh.

He's right too. It's a wonderful thing to be able to run a business in accordance with your values, but it's not always possible. More often than not, economics force our hand. In the end, a business has to make money or it won't survive no matter what your values are. What needs to be recognized is that capital investment in energy efficiency can save a tremendous amount of money in the long term. And when it comes to the balance sheet, saving money is the same as making money.

Dirty Secret

Tesla Roadster
Originally uploaded by jfraser

My dirty little secret is that I'm really into exotic cars. I have a particular soft spot for Aston Martins. For the last few years though, every time I see an exotic the initial drool is immediately followed by pangs of guilt and the knowledge that they are off limits to me forever because there is no way I can justify buying a car that drinks that much gas. If you look at this list of the most vs. least efficient cars, you'll see that eight out of the ten least efficient vehicles are exotics. My dream is tainted. Even if I had the money, I just wouldn't be able to justify the consumption. (even offsetting the carbon doesn't replace what you've consumed.)

In any case, my dream is alive once more! I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Tesla Roadster since I first heard of it a couple years ago. And now the wait is over. The first Tesla store is opening next week in Hollywood, with another coming to San Carlos shortly thereafter. Now I just need 100 grand to buy it, and another 180 grand so I can add a garage to my house in order to have a place to plug it in.

Well, at least I can dream again.

Towards a Unified Theory of American Problems

AP (via CNN) this morning provides evidence that our economic woes are tied to our national security problems and our environmental issues. The article, entitled "Planes Slow Down to Save Fuel," states that several airlines are slowing their aircraft (by approximately 10mph) in order to save fuel. According to the article, this change, while adding just minutes to the average flight, can save hundreds of gallons of fuel. Airlines mentioned in the article are said to be saving in the tens of millions of dollars per year on fuel.

What the article does not acknowledge is the reduced carbon footprint that goes hand in hand with the cost savings. It's pretty obvious though: use less fuel, produce less CO2. The EPA says that fossil fuel consumption made up about 94 percent (pdf) of CO2 emissions from the US in 2006. According to Wikipedia, the aviation industry is responsible for 11 percent of greenhouse gases (mostly CO2) emitted by the transportation sector in the US. This makes it about 3.6 percent of the total CO2 emissions in the US (again using the 2006 figures (pdf)).

Jet fuel produces approximately 23 pounds of CO2 per gallon. So saving 162 gallons of fuel (from the article) not only saves the airline $535, but it spares us 3726 lbs of CO2.

This is evidence that a very small change (minutes per flight) can have a significant economic impact, reduce our carbon footprint, and simply by virtue of conserving help to ease our dependency on foreign oil.

If JetBlue saves $13.6 million in fuel per year and they pay about $3 per gallon (at a guess), that could mean as much as 4.5 million gallons of fuel conserved by a single airline. And of course, the less we use, the less money we send overseas. It's interesting to note that this conservation need not be motivated by politics or concern for the environment. Pure economics is enough to drive the change in this case, but the by-products are great.

Addendum 5/3/08: McCain claims to have an energy policy that will end our dependency on foreign oil and admits that (well, ok, the first one anyway) the gulf war was about oil.

sacrifice

There's just too much to write about. New things show up every day and I think "ooh, I should write about that." The problem is there's always more than one. This should be a good thing. It means I'll never run out of material. Selection is always so difficult though, and I like to pursue things in some depth. Oh well. If this isn't a first world problem I don't know what is: I have too much to blog about. boo hoo.

One thing I found the other day that I thought was really good, is this article by Adam Stein on the terrapass site. He points out that most climate legislation will have little affect on individuals, and that the change in our society will happen in much the same way that the internet has managed to find a place in almost every aspect of our lives. It will require very little in terms of individual sacrifice.

The comments associated with his post are for the most part thoughtful, interesting, and relevant to issues that I pursue here.

Check it out.