I was reminded of this fact recently when I read an interview with the king of all energy geeks, Amory Lovins, at Mother Jones. Lovins was asked the question, “If you had $1 million to invest in the energy sector, where would you put it?” Lovins responded,

“Efficient use. I want to do the cheapest things first to get the most climate protection and other benefits per dollar. Buying micropower and “negawatts” instead of nuclear gives you about 2 to 11 times more carbon reduction per dollar, and you get it much faster.”

While not as ’sexy’ as solar and wind, energy efficiency might be the smartest investment play if you’ve got some cash burning a hole in your pocket (though that’s not really the current trend). And while we here at CleanTechnica do not really fancy ourselves to be professional analysts of Jim Cramer or Tom Konrad caliber, we do keep our eyes on emerging trends in the industry. For that reason it is hard not to pick some favorites. I’d like to share two of my favorite energy efficiency plays with you: Echelon (ELON) and Beacon Power (BCON) .

Read more of this story »

The Chinese coal industry is known for its lucrative returns: the China Shenhua Energy Co. gained 65% from July to September, and many investors claim they can’t afford not to be in China. In fact, 20% of Shenhua’s stock is held by U.S. investors — one of whom is the Teachers Retirement System of Texas.

But China’s coal is also a huge polluter. According to the New York Times, China uses more coal than the US, the EU, and Japan combined, contributing an enormous amount of CO2 to the atmosphere. Coal-fired plants emit more than 60 different hazardous air pollutants. The large amounts of sulfur dioxide produced by Chinese coal cause acid rain, which pollutes water sources. But because of China’s rapidly advancing economy, the country needs energy — fast and cheap. Coal-fired plants are much cheaper and quicker to build than natural gas, nuclear, or hydroelectric plants, and it’s widely available.

China’s booming coal industry is also harmful to its citizens, producing so much sulfur dioxide that the World Bank estimated 400,000 premature deaths happen each year due to pollution-related illnesses. Not only that, but as much as 40% of air pollution in South Korea and Japan is believed to originate in China, and many experts believe that pollution from China is reaching the western part of the United States.

Do Texas teachers know where their pensions are coming from? For that matter, are other teacher retirement systems investing in Chinese Big Coal? I checked out Missouri’s Public School Retirement System, in which my husband and I have each invested. With my little financial knowledge, I was able to determine that PSRS has invested with Merrill Lynch, which is a shareholder in Shenhua. Just how much of my money is in coal remains to be seen. Looks like it’s time to work towards divestment…

Source: Associated Press

Innovest, an investment research firm, launched the study in order to better understand the effect of sustainability upon potential business investment. What they found was a much more substantial difference than most had predicted. In fact, the report found that, "In the longer term, the out-performance potential will become even greater as the capital markets become more fully sensitized to the financial and competitive consequences of environmental and climate change considerations”.

While this may be great news for some, it does not mean happy days for all. The report noted that the ’strong and postive’ correlation between a business’s performance and its sustainability was not necessarily true for every sector of business.

Further, the report found that potential investors are having difficulties figuring out which companies are truly sustainable. Because of inadequate reporting methods, investors have to do a substantial amount of leg work to figure out which companies have a comprehensive sustainability program in place, and this may be a deterrent in future investing. As the report notes, disclosure information is notoriously unreliable, inconsistently reported across companies and over time, and generally not validated by independent third parties… Emissions data alone provides less than 25 percent of the information a sophisticated investor requires."

The folks at Innovest think that the method of disclosure is a pretty big obstacle for investors looking for a truly green company. As founder Matthew Kieman puts it, "It is increasingly critical that performance-driven investors move beyond simply pressing for greater company disclosure," he said. "We are now seeing them begin to demand the sorts of investment tools, research and products they need to turn mere information into superior investment decisions and performance." Superior investment decisions, indeed! As business owners and conscious citizens, we really need to take measure that would ensure that investors looking to put money into a green company had the resources to make informed decisions. Not only will it be good for green minded investors, it will bonly serve to increase the green business edge.

Besides the agreement by utilities to invest in energy efficiency, and besides Florida Power & Light’s major new commitment to solar energy, the Clinton Global Initiative is also partnering with the Joint U.S.-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUUCCCE) on efficiency efforts in China.

The China Lighting Conversion program will distribute 10 million free energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) to customers. CFLs use one-third the energy of traditional bulbs, but are still cost-prohibitive to many Chinese. According to JUUCCCE, the CFLs would save about 3.7 million tons of CO2 over 4 ½ years — enough to avoid having to build one typical U.S.-size coal plant. While I tell myself it’s encouraging to see the start of another clean energy commitment in China, I’m still disheartened by the multiple coal plants they’re building each week. But change has to start somewhere.

The other JUUCCCE program is the Energy Efficient Urban Design Tools for Mayors. This is an interactive, multimedia curriculum to train hundreds of Chinese mayors on technology and best practices that can make their cities more energy efficient. Mayors will learn about green building programs, for example, and will connect with vendors, service providers and financial advisors to help them implement what they learn. The key with this program will be rigorous follow-up and support to ensure that the information learned isn’t forgotten or lost in the bureaucracy one the mayor returns to the city.

The first phase will begin with the CFL program in April 2008, with the training for mayors to start in October of next year.

Joint U.S.-China Cooperation on Clean Energy

GO and ENN news articles have reported on Ecuador’s high-minded decision to leave its largest oil reserve untapped. The unexploited oil fields lie in Yasuni National Park, home to at least two indigenous tribes. Drilling them would add a pretty penny to the country’s purse. However, under the YasunÌ-ITT Initiative, President Rafael Correa has vowed to leave the oil in the ground. The initiative also sets the lofty goals of developing greater renewable energy, building greater mass transit, and stimulating eco-tourism.

How can the average person reading this article encourage Ecuador to do the right thing by the Earth and its indigenous people? Is it enough to say "good job, well done?" With the rest of the world fumbling to look busy over addressing climate change, it is our opportunity and perhaps our obligation to stand up and support Ecuador for its brave move.

Ecuador hopes to receive some compensation from other governments for the unexploited oil due to the benign effect on the global climate of leaving it in the ground. But for the average person in a country that exports 420,600 barrels of oil a day, President Correa’s decision may seem like a risky one. Ecuador’s official unemployment is 10.6% and an estimated 47% are underemployed, estimates the CIA World Factbook.

41 year-old Maritza Salazar owns a stationary store in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. She is one of a long list of Ecuadoran entrepreneurs requesting a loan through the micro-financing organization, Kiva.org. For vendors like Mrs. Salazar, national oil revenues may be less important if she’s able to fund the growth of her non-oil-dependent business. By funding businesses like Mrs. Salazar’s, the average person from anywhere in the world can make substantive progress in alleviating Ecuador’s dependence on oil and encouraging its transition into one of the world’s leading environmentally friendly nations.

Another green option that may appeal to the lover of travel is to visit Ecuador and make use of its rich eco-tourism opportunities. Tourism is the Ecuador’s fourth most valuable source of revenue. Eco-tourism is a great way to get the memorable experiences that tourists often look for when traveling to Ecuador, including visiting indigenous tribes, experiencing local customs and tasting regional foods, horseback riding, animal-watching, and setting out on guided hikes through the unbelievably beautiful scenery of virgin rainforest. Take this opportune moment to visit the land that eco-tourism company, Global Exchange, calls "a bastion of cultural and biological diversity… home to one of the most successful and peaceful indigenous movements in the Americas." See the list of resources below for some ways to take advantage of Ecuador’s eco-tourism industry.

The decision not to drill in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park will benefit the entire world, by protecting an ecological heritage and indigenous lands as well as effectively preventing 436 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Ecuador must know that its decision was a good one, and here’s where you and I have the opportunity to step in. As usual, if you have other ideas about how to encourage Ecuador’s exciting, ecologically minded move, please leave them here below in the comment and discussion area.

Resources:

Kiva.org

Ecuador | Iloveecotourism.com

Adventure Ecotourism in Ecuador | Piedra Blanca

Ecuador | Global Exchange

Department of Tourism | Ecuador National Website

Ecuador Adventures | OARS

Ecotourism and Ecuador | Ecuador Tierra Viva Travel Company

Rio Muchacho Organic Farm | Guacamayo Tours

Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands | Lonely Planet

References:

Ecuador to Leave Oil – And Revenue – In the Ground | GO

Gutsy Ecuador proposes to put a lid on oil | Environmental News Network (ENN)

Introduction to Ecuador’s Economy | Ecuador Ministry of Tourism

Ecuador | The United States Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook

The utilities involved have more than 20 million customers and cover 22 states: Con Edison (ED), Edison International (EIX), Great Plains Energy (GXP), Duke Energy (DUK), Pepco Holdings (POM), PNM Resources (PNM), Sierra Pacific Resources (SRP), and Xcel Energy (XEL). Up until now, the only utilities that want to grow profits through energy efficiency investments have been in California.

The move by these utilities comes at a time when demand is growing, concerns and lawsuits about emissions abound, and global warming is a hot political and business issue.

Energy efficiency is the cheapest and fastest way to cut global warming emissions, and the utilities agree: ” …we share a common belief that energy efficiency is the greatest untapped resource in addressing global climate change in the near-term.” Here are the major elements of their plan:

• Boost investments in energy efficiency projects to $1.5 billion per year in the next 10 years.

• Create a national institute for electric efficiency. The Energy Efficiency Institute will work on regulatory policy models, notably how utilities can make money when customers use less energy rather than more. It will be formed within the Edison Electric Institute, which represents the nation’s investor-owned utilities.

Innovation and multi-party collaboration will be needed to craft policies that allow companies to profit from investing in efficiency. Utilities could profit from replacing inefficient air conditioners and light bulbs, for instance. Great Plains hopes to get legislation passed in Kansas and Missouri that would allow them to earn a higher return on efficiency investments than what would be made investing in traditional power plants. The utility could install smart electricity meters that tell customers when electricity prices are highest and even allows the utility to adjust the operations of appliances in customer homes. Michael Chesser, Chairman and CEO of Great Plains, said that energy efficiency, “with the right incentives,” could take care of all the growth in electricity demand between 2010 and 2017.

The business community was also interested by the announcement. The Dow Jones Wire commented:

It’s a sign of how quickly energy efficiency has taken center stage in the utility industry’s growth plans. Even in states where rates are low, power companies increasingly see efficiency investments as an inexpensive way to satisfy growing electricity demand and boost revenue without provoking the public opposition that usually dogs proposals for new power plants and transmission lines.

The utilities are working in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, backed by former President Bill Clinton’s foundation.

Cross posted on Maria Energia

Kansas City Star
Dow Jones Wire
Yahoo Finance

A group of state officials, state pension fund managers, investors, and other organizations think so. They are asking the SEC to make all public companies formally address the financial risks their company could face as a result of climate change.

Supporters — led by organizations like Ceres (a network of investors and organizations working on sustainability issues) and the Calvert Group (an assets management firm) — have asked for this disclosure before, and the SEC ignored them. This time, they’re hoping for action by filing a formal petition stating public companies should reveal their total global warming emissions, provide a strategic analysis of the risks and opportunities present by global warming, assess the physical risks to their operations, and analyze any regulatory risks (such as limiting carbon dioxide emissions).

So far, the SEC hasn’t said much except that the requirement for triggering disclosure is that the impact or potential impact has to be material to a company, and therefore material to investors.

The petition argues that the threat and impacts of global warming are financial risks and are material. It’s the SEC’s job to ensure investors have the information they need to make smart decisions, and because climate change will have major impacts on business, those risks need to be disclosed.

While some companies are reporting on global warming already, others find it difficult to do so. Differences in potential regulation — such as a carbon tax versus a cap-and-trade policy — means different outcomes for certain industries and difficulty in assessing the risks. One attorney who advises utilities and energy firms told the Washington Post: "For some of our electric power clients, depending on how allowances are distributed, they lose or gain hundreds of millions of dollars. Some are winners under some schemes and vast losers under other schemes."

Green Wombat
Washington Post

For those of you who do not live in Michigan, or keep up on its politics, it may come as a surprise to find out that our economy is pretty much in the gutter. Our unemployment rate is the highest it has been in nearly six months, and it seems the bad news keeps rolling in. With large cuts in the automotive industry, coupled with the dissapearence of jobs from such powerhouses as Pfizer and Visteon, the future for Michigan looks bleak at best… or does it?

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has some progressive ideas about how to get Michigan economy back on track. Recently returning from a brief stint in Sweden and other Scandinavian contries, Granholm reiterated her commitment to making Michigan a green state. Going above and beyond the usual ecopolitical jargon about how Michigan should be harnessing wind and hydroelectric power, Granholm went straight for the gold and put things into a perspective that matters most to the people of Michigan right now: economics.

Citing the creation of a new economy for Michigan, Granholm discussed her plans to compensate for the lagging automotive industry by strengthening Michigan’s alternative energy sector. She also made sure to note that she was working very hard to attract outside investments to increase the rate at which the sector can feasibly grow.

A good example of her commitment seemingly coming to fruition is the Memorandum of Understanding that was recently signed by a Swedish company, Chemrec AB, and NewPage Corporation, an Ohio-based business with mills and factories in Michigan. The memorandum outlines each company’s commitment to working together to develop plants in Michigan that would produce renewable biomass-based fuels in Escanaba, Michigan. According to Governor Granholm,

This partnership between Chemrec and NewPage is a great opportunity for us as we work to make Michigan the North American hub for alternative energy production…With its potential for biomass-based fuel production, this plant in Escanaba could put Michigan at the forefront of renewable next-generation fuels, helping to end our dependence on foreign oil while bringing jobs and investments to the community.

But not everyone in Michigan sees Governor Granholm’s vision as positively as she does. As Leah Burcat, writer for the Michigan Land Use Institute states, "Governor Jennifer M. Granholm’s efforts to make Michigan the ‘alternative energy epicenter of America’ is yielding some progress, but not nearly enough to keep Michigan competitive with other states, according to energy experts, academics, and government officials in and out of Michigan." In her article "Michigan’s ‘Energy Epicenter’ Turing Black, Not Green," Burcat discusses what many in Michigan believe to be Granholm’s biggest hurdle: the coal industry. Burcat goes on to explain that,

Many of [these] same experts and officials interviewed by the Great Lakes Bulletin News Service also pointed out that the two-term Democratic governor chooses not to talk about a very different, more potent trend taking shape in the state’s energy markets: The proliferation of new proposals to build coal-burning power plants, the dirtiest way to manufacture electricity… Citizens are already battling proposals for multi-billion dollar coal plants in Rogers City and Midland because such facilities cause acid rain, smog, mercury pollution, and contribute heavily to global warming.

So, the question many Michiganders have for Governor Granholm is, "Has your pledge to ‘go anywhere and do anything’ for jobs led us down a contrarian’s path? Are we preaching one thing, and doing the opposite behind the closed doors of big business?" As Burcat puts it, "The question… is whether that pledge should include using 19th-century boiler technology and an 18th-century fuel source to power a 21st century economy-and whether that will do nearly as much for Michigan as conserving energy and developing cleaner sources of electricity?"

With all potential hypocrisy aside, let just say for a minute that the alternative energy sector really was on the verge of taking off. Who would be qualified to work for these companies? See, the job diversity in Michigan is not what it is in other states- we have a very heavy concentration of workers, especially those over the age of 40, whose professional specialization lies somewhere within the production of cars or trucks. Therefore, to "boost the alternative energy sector" will mean much more than attracting new alternative energy companies; it will entail the retraining of nearly an entire section of our workforce, and that just covers the short-term.

In the long run, Michigan will need to adapt all aspects of its economy that funnel people into working for the automotive industry. Maybe this will mean modifying high school shop programs to include lessons on maintaining a wind turbine, or maybe it will require the creation of trade schools whose entire focus is various careers in the alternative energy sector.

Either way, training programs and specialty schools will both help to create a pertinently educated workforce and, in doing so, create a strong base for the expansion of the alternative energy sector. Yet, that leads us to the question of whether we run the possibility of educating these people just to have them leave for more desirable state economies. I don’t think so. I think that an educated workforce, along with an honest commitment to the alternative energy sector will give Michigan the help in needs to overcome the economic slump that is currently keeping us from being the economic powerhouse we once were.

For many, this Sunday will bring the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Dr. Jane Goodall. Participants in the Los Angeles event will join Dr. Goodall and hundreds of others in celebrating peace, while around the world dozens of other groups will host similar events. If you’d like to attend the L.A. event (free admission), visit the event’s website, or simply arrive at the location pinpointed on the maps below.

If you’re not in the Los Angeles area, you can still join Dr. Goodall this weekend in a celebration of peace. The Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots program, a grassroots action organization, echoes U.N. Peace Day (September 21) with family-friendly celebrations in many locations throughout the world.

What makes the Roots & Shoots peace celebrations truly special is their unique way of conveying the message that peace is possible. Participants fly handmade, white, cloth dove puppets in a visually spectacular demonstration of the global desire for peace. Giant Peace Doves, as they’re called, boast a 20-foot wingspan and are made largely from recycled materials. Three to five people carry each dove atop 10-foot poles, giving the impression of a giant bird in flight. Witnessing hundreds of Giant Peace Doves flying together, as will happen in Los Angeles, is a truly inspiring experience.

You can learn more about Roots & Shoots’ celebration of U.N. Peace Day at the organization’s website. There, you can find listings of Peace Day events, photos of past Peace Day celebrations, information about the event in Los Angeles, and even instructions for building a Giant Peace Dove of your own. For more information, you can also contact the folks at the Jane Goodall Institute Monday through Friday at 800-592-JANE.

Jane Goodall first gained worldwide attention as a primatologist when, studying chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Kakombe Valley, she discovered that chimps use tools to “fish” for edible termites. News of the discovery overturned the notion that making tools is an exclusively human characteristic and redefined our basic notions about what differentiates our species from others. When it became clear that the chimpanzees Dr. Goodall was observing were in grave danger of vanishing underneath the growing footprint of human settlement, she became engaged in efforts to secure their survival. She has since become a prominent advocate for primate protection, environmental conservation and human rights. Each September, Dr. Goodall joins members of her worldwide grassroots action and youth empowerment program, Roots & Shoots, to celebrate U.N. Peace Day. This Sunday, September 23, is the first time that Dr. Goodall will attend Los Angeles’ event.

References and Resources:

Home | The Jane Goodall Institute

Home | Roots & Shoots

Photo Sources:

Maps from Google

Kofi Annan | Flickr

Jane Goodall | Flickr

TerraPass is a popular, for-profit seller of carbon offsets. They’ve leapt into the limelight with strategic partnerships like the one at Expedia.com, which allows customers booking travel reservations to also purchase carbon offsets to cancel out their transportation emissions. But this popularity has also made TerraPass a frequent target of carbon offset skeptics who argue that their customers use them for nothing more than a sort of "get out of polluting free" card.

So the company decided to take a close look at its customer base itself, and just completed a survey that examined customer behaviors and attitudes towards energy. Among the results, the company found the "indulgence factor" to be untrue among their customers.

While Terra Pass customers are buying carbon offsets to counteract their unavoidable dirty activities like driving a car, they are balancing it with other direct action and changes to their own lives. In general, they are doing much more than the average person is to make their lives clean and efficient, and carbon offsets are a component of that. For example, 64 percent have installed compact fluorescent light bulbs (personally, I think CFLs should be a requirement before you’re even allowed to buy offsets), 26 percent take public transportation to work, 6 percent have solar panels, 50 percent have contacted their elected official about global warming, and 69 percent contribute to "green" organizations.

Are offsets a "get out of polluting free" card? Not always. But whether you decide to purchase offsets yourself, first take a hard look at the immediate changes you can make to your own life. Energy efficiency measures are often the cheapest, fastest, and easiest way to shrink your own carbon footprint.

Los Angeles Times
TerraPass

Also on GO:

The Green Options Interview: Erik Blachford, CEO of Terrapass

At the Waveney Greenpeace festival this weekend, Brother Sutch will be on hand to hear people’s tales of over consumption and waste.

Thought to be the first confessional of its kind, the eco-fessional is made from recycled materials, such as doors and other found objects. Further, Sutch will be decked out in a specially designed robe made from recycled curtains.

While the good father has given up his weekend to promote environmental sustainability, his commitment to the environment extends much further than just a two-day jaunt at a festival. In fact, Sutch has taken his commitment to the environment so far, that some of his parishioners have started to complain. In an interview with The Times he explains, "I try not to turn on my heating but people come and stay with me and demand it. I get attacked for having a cold church. I have cut my electricity bill by 30 per cent." It is at this point that one must ask, "which is worse, a cold church or a wasteful congregation?" Obviously, Dom Anthony Sutch prefers the former.

While the first religiously motivated confessional of its kind, the eco-fessional is said to be loosely modeled after Earthly Sins, a popular sustainability campaign. As the people at Earthly Sins put it, their booth is a "non-judgmental environmental advice installation”aimed at getting people to sign a pledge promising to reduce energy consumption and engage in socially sustainable practices, like ethical banking. Although Earthly Sins made its first debut at the Glastonbury festival, it has since established quite an impressive presence on the net.

The Earthly Sins website is a fun and interactive way to become environmentally pious. The site includes a Temple of Sustainability, where you can learn about ways to live a more eco-friendly life, confess your eco-sins and meet other disciples.

So, whether you are a devout Catholic, a staunch atheist, or something in between, it looks as though there is a way for everyone to find environmental salvation. Thanks to people like Dom Anthony Sutch and groups like Earthly Sins, we have new creative and interactive ways to view our commitment to environmental sustainability and that is truly a blessing.

Image Source: Earthly Sins

Our consumer choices make a difference for the climate. Choosing a Big Mac over a Whopper, or picking a Dell over an Apple may help to slow climate change, suggests a new consumer guide. That’s because McDonald’s and Dell made the “good list” (though not the “great list”) of companies that are taking actions to address climate change. Burger King and Apple received failing scores and are at the bottom of their industries.

Want to know which corporations are greening up and which are just greenwashing? Climate Counts has devised a way to tell. They’ve compiled a free pocket guide listing 56 major corporations according to how serious they are about solving climate change.

If you want to stop climate change and still get those hot new jeans and sleek new laptop, you can, simply by choosing the better of two products. The free pocket guide from Climate Counts can help. Carry it with you and use it as a quick go-to list for everyday shopping decisions. Every dollar we spend is a vote for or against our environmental values and the companies that support them.

How Much of a Difference Can I Make As a Consumer?

“Anyone who thinks they are too small to make a difference has never been in bed with a mosquito.” –Climate Counts

Consider ozone holes. As consumers, once we decided that ozone holes were an important issue to address, we started to make shopping decisions based on this environmental value. It didn’t take long for industry to react by eliminating ozone-depleting CFC’s from their products. An issue as threatening and global as the formation ozone holes in our atmosphere is on its way to being resolved, and we have small changes in our shopping habits to thank! (That and the environmentalists who sparked the change.)

What is the Climate Counts Pocket Guide Based On?

Working in partnership with Green Order, Climate Counts assembled a test that gives companies scores ranging from 0 to 100. To get these scores, the guide uses 22 criteria to measure four important benchmarks. First, they assess how accurate a company is in reporting its climate footprint. Next, they test how much the company has done to reduce its global warming pollution. Third, does the company support legislation that aims at addressing climate change, or does it try to block this legislation? Finally, the criteria reflect how clearly and openly companies share their climate protection efforts with the public.

What Do You Mean Apple’s Bad? I Just Bought an i-Phone!!

If a company receives a poor or failing score, it simply means that they have a lot of work to do in taking responsibility for their impact on the climate. For these companies there is hope, but they need consumers to give them a little guidance.

In my case, I bought a MacBook last year, so it was a big disappointment to learn that Apple’s not doing much of anything to take responsibility for its impact on the climate. I like my Mac, but in light of this report, PC’s are looking a whole lot sleeker. I’ll write to Apple to let them know my views.

If you already made a big purchase from a company that you want to see improve, write or call and (politely) let them know that you like their product, but that you would like to see them take steps to measure and reduce their climate footprint. Remember to be kind to the service representative who assists you: they might also be able to tell you what positive environmental steps the company is taking. If they don’t know about climate footprints or ways that the company could improve its environmental responsibility, consider suggesting a few of your ideas.

You can also tailor your investments to reflect your environmental values. Investing in companies that are taking action to become environmentally sustainable is another excellent and effective way to make real change in the world.

Photo Source: Climate Counts (www.climatecounts.org)

Photo Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

A thought-provoking new study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has found that locally-owned renewable energy projects generally hold more local economic benefits than large-scale ones.

The “Economies and Diseconomies of Scale” concludes that bigger is not always better. The Minneapolis-based ILSR analyzed the costs and return of wind power and ethanol, both major renewable energy sources in the Upper Midwest. While they are both less expensive to produce on a large scale, the costs of having to transmit the energy across long distances can negate those savings. That, coupled with the fact that large projects are generally owned by corporate or out-of-state interests, makes smaller, local projects more beneficial for the immediate community.

ILSR recommends that states follow Minnesota’s example, where law provides a favorable tariff for locally owned renewable energy projects, requires 51 percent ownership by Minnesota residents, and designates 51 percent of financial benefits to local owners. In addition, the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind should be changed to allow it to be taken against ordinary income rather than only applying to passive income (such as from rent). This would allow greater access to the tax credit and open it up to more individuals to be renewable energy investors.

A carbon-constrained world presents us with many options for change. Do we want to create – and is it realistic – a totally new energy system, one that is locally owned, producing energy for the local area, with the majority of economic benefits going to the local community? Or does the urgency of global warming demand as much renewable energy as possible, as fast as possible, owned by whomever possible?

Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Enthusiastically, he explained how many cars the parking lot could hold, the costing of renting an additional adjoining unit (for when my business becomes so successful that I need more space, obviously!) and the malls proximity to various major highways. To him, these were all major selling points for any potential business owner. To me, they were all reasons to look for another financial advisor.

For eco-entrepreneurs, it is important to question many of the ‘quick solutions’ offered by various industry professionals, The result of doing so may be larger fiscal investments, longer-term commitments and temporarily thin profit margins, but the pay-offs can be substantial.

Often times, when sticking to conventional notions of what makes a business successful, an entrepreneur finds themselves at the mercy of the trends. Just because a certain suburb is the hottest market around today, does not mean its subsequent strip-malls will be at all profitable in five years. Another downside of setting up shop in places between places (i.e.: the bi-product of sprawl) is that you can be subjected to fluctuating or over inflated rent. In reality, this can mean that you are financing a building or space you may never have ownership over while, at the same time, substantially decreasing your margin of profit.

A good way to think outside of conventional conception of business is to consider the tenets of New Urbanism when developing your business plan. New Urbanism is a great way to not only solidify your new business as sustainable, but to better ensure its longevity. New Urbanism is an urban planning and design movement that began in the mid-1980s. While many American cities were dealing with the aftermath of decades of large-scale sprawl, New Urbanism offered remedies for depleted populations, unused urban space and stagnate real estate markets. With the goal of taking old infrastructure and retrofitting it to incorporate more useable cities, New Urbanism can be seen as an attempt to recycle an entire city, making it a more enjoyable (and sustainable!) place in the process.

New Urbanism has a lot to offer eco-entrepreneurs. First of all, it can act as a checklist of things to look for in a new location. Is the city walkable? Is there adequate public transportation available? What is the housing situation? Is there enough ‘mixed use spaces’ in the area you are looking to invest in? The end goal of New Urbanism is to create cities with a true sense of place, cities that have all the amenities within walking distance, and places where people are relatively connected.

Another way in which New Urbanism can be seen as a tool to any eco-entrepreneur is in its focus upon the revitalization of areas and neighborhoods that have lost popularity, or density. By encouraging people to re-inhabit places that were previously vacant, or run-down, New Urbanism is working to not only recycle existing buildings and infrastructure, but to increase the long-term profit of small-businesses.

For small business the financial advantages of New Urbanism is two fold: On the most basic level, New Urbanism can act as a catalyst for urban growth. By investing early in such a place a small businesses can reap the benefits of increased property value over time. This phenomenon is referred to as Sustainable Prosperity.

As explained Richard Florida’s book, The Rise of the Creative Class, when people re-inhabit a place that was once considered ramshackle and put forth the effort to make it a desirable place to live, more people will follow suit and thus repopulate the area. As more people move to this newly improved city, corporations will soon follow, as there exists an ample employment base. The financial contributions of these corporations to both the community and the tax base serve to further economic growth. Basically, it is a strategy for economic recovery that focuses on issues pertaining to quality of life.

In ‘big picture’ terms, New Urbanism promotes ownership. While the ownership New Urbanism encourages usually involves purchasing a neglected property and bringing it up to code, the investments this process entails are well worth their price. Ownership is key for small business success, as it frees eco-entrepreneurs from the control of a landlord and all limitations that go along with being a renter.

Although it may seem daunting to take on a large project like renovating a building, the end result is a space that has been retrofitted to fit your exact needs. Further, as an eco-entrepreneur, you have a responsibility to look for more sustainable alternatives to conventional business practices, By rehabbing a building that may been destroyed otherwise, you are making a commitment to sustainability, especially if you employ eco-friendly building practices in the process!

Being an eco-entrepreneur comes with both adversity and rewards. If you keep long-term success in sight, and disregard much of what you thought you knew about short term profit, the struggles will seem more manageable and the rewards more obvious. New Urbanism provides the eco-entrepreneurs of the world with a vision of what their struggles can help actualize.

Microfinancing, the loaning of small amounts of money to the asset-less poor, garnered worldwide attention last year when one of the leaders in this emerging field, Grameen Bank, and its founder Muhammad Yunus were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Microfinancing reaches out to a massive economic underclass that has been shunned by the international banking and lending system by providing necessary seed capital for small ventures.

It may seem intuitive for some to believe it foolish to loan money to a person with no assets and seemingly little prospect of converting that loan into a profit and repaying it. Grameen Bank has proven that belief to be very wrong indeed. Grameen sees a default rate of only 2% on its small loans to the poor. Compare that to the 4.5% default rate on student loans within two years of beginning repayment in the US. The low default rate vindicated Grameen’s simple founding principle, that “the poor will repay loans.” The reliability of the poor to repay has also helped to make microfinancing economically viable for lending institutions in a competitive free market. In short, microfinancing has been one of the huge successes of social-capitalism.

What has propelled Grameen beyond vindication and to the Nobel Prize is that the vast majority of loan recipients have used the financing to reliably generate assets. Many borrowers, for instance, have started businesses selling phone services in their remote villages. Take the story of Sophia Nalujja (photo reprinted with permission of Grameen Foundation) of Uganda. She
has been a successful borrower from the Grameen Foundation in Uganda for many years, has started a couple businesses and more than quadrupled her farmer’s income. Stories like Sophia’s abound as
microenterprises represent an estimated 80% of total enterprises and 50% of urban enterprises in developing countries, where they are the main source of jobs for poor people.

You, too, can become a microlender at Kiva.org. Kiva provides an easy way for you to connect directly with microenterprise entrepreneurs all over the world. Photographs and thorough descriptions of the loan’s purpose make it fun to just surf around and see what people are doing to improve their lot in life. A typical Kiva loan is for right around $1,000 give or take and you can contribute as little as $25 to any project you wish to fund. Re-payment typically takes one year and you’ll receive a little interest on your investment or you can choose to make your money a gift to the entrepreneur.

Update: Our sister site Planetsave makes micro-loans a part of how they do
business, GO founder and Planetsave publisher Shea Gunther explains the
details here.

The idea of socializing capitalism, an economic system that combines the idea of open market competition with consumer enforced social ends, has been responsible for the steady birth and growth of creative economic institutions that are realizing economic, social and environmental profits. One of the best examples of social-capitalism’s love-children are the social stock exchanges of Brazil, South Africa and one under development in Scotland.

Brazil’s Environmental and Social Investment Exchange (BOVESPA) was the first incarnation of this idea, and was then emulated by the South Africa Social Investment Exchange (SASIX). These organizations very simply list NGOs that are working toward bettering life for the poor and disadvantaged and the health of our environment. One can "invest" in a particular NGO, or give money to a fund that spreads money across NGO projects that are working toward one particular goal, say reducing air pollution. Although BOVESPA and SASIX are organized like a traditional stock market, they really amount to creative ways to raise money for non-profit projects. "Investors" will realize environmental and social profits on their money but no economic profit.

Scotland, however, is taking this idea a step further. The Cabinet Office of Scotland is working with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Credit Suisse, as well
as ethical bank Triodos, to research the feasibility of the first social stock
market, an exchange which would be restricted to for-profit companies with primarily social
and environmental objectives. The exchange would list companies like Fair Trade retailer Traidcraft and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant run by disadvantaged young people in the east end of London. These are profitable businesses that represent a viable economic investment opportunity with social and environmental returns as well.

The establishment of a seperate exchange hosting businesses that pursue a triple bottome line would make it easy for socially-minded investors to find responsible businesses, but it would also help protect the integrity of the business’ mission. "The main concern of social businesses about listing on a mainstream exchange is having their social mission hijacked," said Whitni Thomas, an investment manager at Triodos bank, quoted in The Scotsman.

The economy and businesses are evolving from the narrow focus of basic capitalism toward being more sustainable and just, yet still profitable. The framework of this new economy is being built slowly but surely and Scotland’s new social stock exchange, when launched, will provide another piece of the foundation to be modeled around the world.

Sources: ‘Fair Exchange’ plan for ethical firms

Whether you just cashed in with a winning lotto number or just have a bit of extra cash lying around, investing can be easily overwhelming and intimidating. If you want to avoid financing companies that sell products such as weapons or oil, there are options which offer more control over the direction of your investments, with Shared Interest playing a vital role in Fair Trade through financial assistance.

In 1984, the first ethical investment funds were introduced in the UK. While concerns about poor performance of ethically-based investments still linger, there has been no correlation discovered between the two. In fact the "performance of ethical funds is just as reliant on good management techniques as that of conventional funds."

Shared Interest is a UK-based co-operative lending society of over 8,400 members which seeks to help finance and support Fair Trade projects. Shared Interest achieves this goal through two avenues: one focused on the developing world; the other on Fair Trade businesses in the developed world. Trade finance is given to producers against both individual orders and through long-term loans to help with business development and expansion. As Shared Interest is supportive of Fair Trade, they understand the limitations faced by producers, such as collateral and credit history, and take such into account when evaluating applicants. On the buyer side, capital is provided to both help new stores acquire initial inventory of Fair Trade items and to assist in bridging the gap between advance payments to producers and subsequent sales. The latter is especially important within the Fair Trade movement as it is the prepayment which allows a direct trade to be successfully established between the retailer and producer.

Shared Interest qualifies companies on individual basis, but typically asks that they be members of Fair Trade groups such as International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT), Fair Trade Federation, or Fair Trade Labelling Organizations (FLO), to ensure Fair Trade practices are being followed. To create an understanding with consumers about the need for Fair Trade, Shared Interest has created the Beekeeper game, which allows you to make the tough decisions faced by poor producers in a "choose your own adventure" setting, and to see where they take you. This drives the point that without Fair Trade and financing opportunities, the producers face choices of bad or worse, jailed in a cycle of poverty frequently exploited by traditional international trade systems. Consumer impact is also achieved through stories about producers and buyers and the success they’ve found with Shared Interest support.

With over $40 million in share capital, Shared Interest is able to support many avenues, making a significant impact upon individual lives and within the Fair Trade movement. While becoming a member is currently limited to residents of the UK, hopefully the success of such companies as Kiva will inspire expansion or others to fill the gap and offer investment opportunities in other developed countries.

Two weeks ago

• They’re sustainable. Instead of making petrol-based products (which would be a poor economic decision right about now), they’ve opted to use things like corn sugar, sugar cane, and vegetable oil. They currently hold over 90 patents.
• A national survey recently found that 72% of Americans DO NOT know that plastic is actually made from oil (a fact that isn’t very comforting to packaging companies and just about every consumer product known to man). Even more concerning, 10% of all that oil we import…is to make plastic! In the US alone, we’re spending over $300 billion a year….with only a tiny percentage being sustainable.
• The Economist wrote an article about them. Perhaps this isn’t on everyone’s list of indicators, but I put it on mine because those guys, simply put, don’t mess around. I look at it like this: typically if a company is praised in The Economist, odds are that actual economists and business leaders see it as making “business sense.” Other appearances: Fortune Magazine, The Boston Globe, Forbes
• Metabolix partnered with Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM), the largest ethanol producer in North America, to commericialize the production of the first ever bio-based “natural plastic” called “Mirel.” Construction on the world’s first “green” biorefinery, specifically for natural plastic production in Iowa is just about complete.
• ADM is in the process of expanding to Brazil, the world’s #1 sugar and ethanol producer. I’m a fan of global expansion.
• Metabolix’s “Mirel” is also completely bio-degradable…in every environment. This product doesn’t just reduce the overall waste of consumers (you can do home composting with their products too), but Mirel can also be used in industrial composting, septic systems, rivers, and oceans, and all types of soil. Translation? They’ll be cutting the amount of waste production per person if some of the “big boys” that make consumer products and foodstuffs catch on. Imagine if 1.3 billion people in Asia started using Metabolix’s biodegradable paper cups ( made from switchgrass). With increasing environmental regulations by the second, this doesn’t seem so outlandish anymore.
• Apparently the Target Corporation caught on. Yep, that’s right, your Target Gift Card…will now be made from fermented sugar. Metabolix is currently working with 50 other companies to develop more bio-degradable plastic products.
• Solid management team. In May, Metabolix got itself a new president, who, ironically, had been a staple on the petro-chemical scene at BP for years. The head honcho of Metabolix aside, supporting board members are stocked full of people from who used to run companies like Pepsi Co. and Frito-Lay. Scientists. Plastic geniuses. Even the economic advisor to the Commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration is on board. And, needless to say, with no shortage of financial gurus either, the company appears to be moving in the right direction.
• They make it easy to switch. Metabolix has made it so they’re products can be made on ANY type of plastic processing machine. So, those companies out there who are saying “going green” (in terms of plastic) “isn’t economically feasible right now” can kiss that excuse goodbye.

Today the U.S. House is likely to vote on the Udall-Platts Amendment to the energy bill. This legislation would require 15 percent of our nation’s electricity to come from renewable sources by the year 2020. It’s high time the federal government catch up to so many states that already have implemented 21st century policies like this one.

But in addition to broad state and federal programs, consumers can also do some renewable energy good for themselves, even if they don’t own a wind turbine or live in a sunny area. They can buy green power.

“Green power” is a term for clean, renewable energy. More than 600 utilities in 36 states give their customers the option to buy their power from renewable energy sources (depending on the state, they normally include solar power, wind, biomass, hydropower, or geothermal) rather than traditional ones (likely to be coal). Although the transmission system can’t guarantee that particular energy from a wind farm makes it to your refrigerator, the total amount of green electricity that travels over the entire system is increased because (ideally) the utility is taking all of the extra revenue and investing in more renewable energy sources.

My fellow blogger Philip Proefrock just covered a green power program he is considering in his homestate of Michigan. Green power programs do vary, whether it’s the location from which the renewable energy is coming (in state or out of state) or the source (I know of one municipal provider that promotes destructive Canadian hydropower as an eco-friendly option, so make sure you know where the energy is coming from).

Here in Minnesota, I purchase wind power through Xcel Energy’s Windsource program. The initial cost is a little more than $3.50 per 100 kWh block, but I also get a credit on my bill for the avoided fuel costs of conventional (i.e. coal) power. The credit varies each month, but my cost last month was less than $11. Windsource was also audited by the Green-e program to ensure that ratepayers’ money is going to build new renewable energy sources, and it passed with flying colors: Windsource funds the costs associated with Xcel purchasing wind power from private owners of wind turbines and new wind generation facilities across the state, so I feel good about my investment.

Find out whether you can buy green power in your state at the U.S. Department of Energy. If you can’t buy green power locally, consider investing in renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset your emissions.

Sierra Club, North Star Chapter
Union of Concerned Scientists
Xcel Energy