Reuters: Is Corporate America Going Green?

Reuters ran this story yesterday: Is Corporate America Going Green? I was happy to see it run in our very own Boston Globe.

The article cites the efforts of companies like DuPont and GE, which last year unveiled its "Ecomagination" initiative -- "GE’s company-wide commitment to address global environmental challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water," according to the GE website.

Reuters reports that sales of "Ecomagination" products, ranging from washing machines to jet engines, reached $10.1 billion last year and GE aims to double that by 2010. It also aims to double its research spending on such products to $1.5 billion by 2010."

The article calls out DuPont for making good progress as well. According to a March study by Boston-based Ceres, a network of investment funds and environmental organizations, BP and DuPont lead a list of 100 companies for their climate change strategies. The study used a "Climate Governance Checklist" with a 100 point scoring system. BP racked up 90 points with DuPont coming in a 85. ExxonMobil (35 points) and PPG (21 points) landed in the laggards list.

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Lately, it feels like the whole nation has gone green. I'd remarked previously on Vanity Fair's first green issue; now I find (as I'm getting my hair cut) that Elle (yes even Elle!) did an April Green Issue, edited by Laurie David.

First Postal Service Delivery Van to go Hybrid

It didn't look like this today in Boston! Still raining here.

FIRST MAIL-DELIVERY VAN CONVERTED TO HYBRID
Postal Service demonstrates hybrid-electric technology

BOSTON — For more than 200 years, the U.S. Postal Service has been on the cutting edge in the development of every new mode of transportation in the United States. From the dash of the Pony Express rider, the daring of the early airmail pilot, or the rumble of the postal railway car, the Postal Service has been instrumental in the birth, growth, and development of a variety of transportation industries. And this year is no different.

At a ceremony today at the Boston General Mail facility, the Postal Service launched the first conversion of a mail-delivery van into a hybrid-electric vehicle.

“As an agency that delivers mail to 145 million businesses and households six days a week, drives approximately 1.1 billion miles a year, and consumes more than 125 million gallons of motor fuel annually, we are in a unique position to demonstrate to the public and other businesses the growing viability and positive environmental and energy-savings benefits of alternate-fuel technologies,” said Walter O’Tormey, Vice President, Engineering, U.S. Postal Service. O’Tormey spoke to an audience of nearly 100 industry representatives, environmentalists, and Postal Service employees.

Solar Panels Go Svelte

Last Thursday, CNET ran this cool story on solar panels from PowerLight. These panels remove the understandable aesthetic beef about those rather jarring angular solar panels on rooftops. PowerLight makes a SunTile system for your roof that integrates into the roofing surface. For a picture, check here.

The CNET story reports on a developer named Grupe Homes, which is selling homes equipped with PowerLight's SunTiles at a development in Rocklin, Calif. In less than three months, the company has sold 23 of the 30 green homes it has offered for sale. Another developer, Lennar, is planning to build the naton's largest solar community -- 45o homes -- in partnership with PowerLight Corporation and Roseville Electric.

Another promising development on the residential front...

The green issue of Vanity Fair salutes Edward Norton, for helping to forge a partnership between B.P., the progressive energy giant, and Enterprise Community Partners, which is "a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities." It was also founded by Norton's grandfather.

After Norton purchase a solar-powered system for his own home in 2003, he connected B.P. and ECP, which led to the formation of the BP Solar Neighbors program.

From the Solar Neighbors site:
For every system purchased by a celebrity, BP will donate and install one complete system on the home of a low-income family. For celebrities that buy extra large systems (above 6 kW), BP can choose to donate up to one complete system for each additional 6 kW installed for celebrities. So far, 26 systems have been donated through the BP Solar Neighbors program thanks to Ed Begley, Jr., Don Cheadle, Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman, Roland Emmerich, Larry Hagman, Daryl Hannah, Matchbox 20, Edward Norton, Carlos Santana, Alicia Silverstone, and Robin Williams.

So it's a small program so far, but what it lacks in volume, it makes up for in glamour. It makes solar sexy.

Why EnerTek? Why Now?

Why another blog?

This is my Mother's Day gift to me. Years ago, as a freshly minted B.U. journalism grad, I wanted to be an energy writer. Now I can be, if only for a limited audience.

Energy and green tech have come back into fashion, driven by oil prices that we couldn't have dreamed of when I interned at various energy concerns in the early '80s. As I read to get more current on the latest in energy and green developments, I'm encouraged by signs of progress, and saddened at how little real progress has been made during the intervening 20 years when I've focused primarily on enterprise software.

The time feels write to start an energy blog:

• Because the VC community has gotten on the bandwagon
• Because MIT kicked off its Energy Research Council on May 3rd
• Because when Vanity Fair publishes a green issue, you know the topic has seeped into the public consciousness

These may be rather random bellwethers, but they tell a story of a growing public awareness that we can't keep consuming energy like there's no tomorrow. Or there won't be.