The U.K. government is contemplating reducing the incentives it had planned for the solar power sector. The above market rates promised for the sector is seeing a plethora of firms moving into it. The government is keen to avoid a boom bust scenario for the sector. It was a very similar scenario was seen in the Czech Republic and Spain. Some of the County’s like Cornwall are very disappointed by the government’s move. The county was expecting to get around $1.6 billion investments in solar power. The investors are now tightening the purse due to uncertainty in government’s policy. 
The market for carbon management and energy management softwares are booming. According to one estimate, the U.S firms are expected to spend about $600 million on such softwares in the next four years. The market is expected to grow at an average of 50 % each year. As the economic growth stabilizes, the spending in this sector would also increase. The Oil and Gas sector followed by the telecom sector will be biggest spenders in the green and sustainability management softwares. The sustainability officers will have ever-increasing budgets at their disposal.
While The King’s Speech is sweeping the Oscars, let us take look into how Oscar is becoming green and Sustainable. Every year the organizers of Oscar and the stars who attend the night make sure that they do their bit to make the event green and sustainable. Some stars like Livia Firth would be wearing a dress, which has been recycled from old dresses. Stars are also making a conscious effort to move into environmentally friendly fuel-efficient cars. Some of them also might give up limousines and other vehicles, which are not so environmentally friendly. Some of the actors support the cause of animal rights and promote being a vegan. The red carpet that will be used in the Oscars is being made out of recycled water bottles. There are also four documentaries, which have been nominated in the Oscars cover green topics. Efficient Hydrogen Fuel cells will be the energy source for the lighting. In addition to that there is an effort to server organic food for the various parties that are held during the event.
Green Architecture has been the focal point in the recently inaugurated architecture fair in Seoul, South Korea. People and customers have been showing increasing interest in green buildings and town planning. To keep in tune with the times the Seoul fair is focussing on green buildings. It attempts to bring in small firms, and large corporations under a single roof and brings latest developments in architecture and building technology to address worlds environmental issues.
Master data is backbone for any ERP implementation and more so for planning tool like SCM master data hungry animal. Especially when we talk about the SCM as it cut across various functions and dependencies are quite high, it’s most important to have this integration done as we have experience more often a time the master data gets corrupted during this integration only.
UPS is always been green conscious. Over the years, it has been trying to reduce fuel consumption by introducing various energy efficiency improvement projects. Now it has bought 48 new tractor trucks, which run on liquefied natural Gas (LNG). The new truck will be more energy efficient and will emit about 25% less green house gasses.UPS is working along with Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program to build LNG fueling stations in Las Vegas. Once the fueling stations are build UPS is planning to increase the number of LNG power trucks.
Converting to IFRS is one decision you won’t have to make. Every company will eventually be going on this ride. The questions are when and how. This might feel eerily familiar. Over thepast decade, many companies have traveled the Y2K and Sarbanes-Oxley roads. Those experiences offer lessons you’ll be able to use with IFRS, but there are important differences, too. For one thing, IFRS is being driven by the globalization of capital markets. Not just by government policy. This is a unique challenge. If you act as though you’ve done it all before, you’ll run the risk of under-planning and missing opportunities. And if you think convergence will solve this problem, think again. Important decision points are coming up faster than you may think. Do you want to get ahead of the crunch and ensure a smooth, orderly process? Do you want to move among the early adopters to realize potential benefits before your competitors? Every business will have a different outlook on IFRS, but no matter what your approach, know this: The full transition will take a well planned effort, requiring leadership and vision. For many companies, it will take at least three years
Employee participation is the key for the success of any sustainability initiative within an organization. In addition to that, if customers and suppliers also participate in the program then it becomes an added advantage. Some organizations like Entergy Corporation have made a conscious effort to include the local community as an integral part of the sustainability initiative. They have included the local non-profit bodies as a part of the program and the disadvantaged consumers. Alcoa have launched a program where in they have engaged themselves with the local community and schools. In one of the program, Alcoa saved about $100,000 from reduced power consumption from a suggestion made by an employee.
Taiwan plans to have around 6400 MW watt of installed capacity for power generation from renewable sources by 2020. In the year 2009, the installed capacity was around 3060 megawatt. The electricity from renewable sources will constitute about 6% of the total energy being consumed by the country in 2020.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has come up with new rules that will reduce the cost for the industry to half of what it was earlier estimated. The Clean Air Act standards for boilers and certain types of incinerators have come up with norms, which will result reductions in toxic emissions like mercury dioxins etc. With the new rules, the costs are estimated to be $1.8 billion for the industry. The new rules also puts up norms for the boilers, which are small and are installed in hospitals, universities, hotels and buildings. Last year industry had raised concerns that which huge amount that would be involved in adhering to the rules the cost to the industry would stall economic recovery.
Sustainability management requirements of an organization based out of Australia:
ICC World Cup cricket being organized in the Indian subcontinent and being hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It would be a good study to see to find out what is the effect of such mega event on the environment. It is a well-known fact that such events have a salubrious effect on the local economy however, they do have a major impact in terms of environmental aspects. Have the organizers taken measures to neutralize the effect of the event? What is the Carbon and other Green house Gasses emitted from such events. How are the organizers making sure that the wastes generated are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner? I have not found any information.
Indian Space Research Organization ( ISRO ) has found a big underground cave on the lunar surface. This could be used by man to settle on lunar surface and conduct scientific experiments. Scientists form Space application Centre (SAC) using data from the Chandrayaan-I have found this 1.2 km long horizontal lava tube. This cave would be a good shelter for the astronauts on the hostile environment of the moon.
Heinz in a move towards Sustainability and Green will start using plant- based bottles developed by Coke for their 20-ounce ketchup. Heinz and Coca- Cola have announced a partnership in this regard. The traditional bottles which Heinz uses have greater GHG footprint and hence moving over to the plant based bottles will help them to reduce green house gasses emissions, energy and water consumption and Solid waste.
In a recent study and research by consultancy firm SustainAbility found that most of the firms which rate organizations on their sustainability initiatives actually do not disclose their methodology and approach to the firms they are rating. The methodology is often a black box and organizations often do not come to know how and what to do to improve on their ratings. The rating firms at least should disclose the methodology and various parameters to the client so that they can work on those areas where they do not fare well. The rating firms also often depend on sources of public information and media to form their opinion. There is a huge discrepancy in approach of various rating systems.
Earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck Christchurch, New Zealand on 22nd Feb 2010. At least 65 people seems to have died and the toll is expected to rise further. Christchurch is New Zealand’s second biggest city. This is the country’s deadliest natural disaster in the last 80 years. The damage caused by this earth quake seems to be much more than the one caused by the earthquake measuring 7.1 on 4th September. The dead include people who were travelling busses and were crushed by falling buildings.
According to International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) , ISO 26000 is not a code which can be certified by any organization and body. This is a code is voluntary guidance for Sustainability. Hence organizations and governments cannot force any organization and suppliers to comply with this guidance. According to Roger Frost, head of communication at the ISO central secretariat in Geneva, “Anyone tempted into buying such a service is wasting their money and risks damaging the credibility of their organization since ISO has made it quite clear that ISO 26000 is not a certification standard,”.
Kraft Foods is planning to use EPS Corp software for carbon and energy management and services to reduce its energy consumption. The organization plans to deploy EPS’s xChange Point system after the pilot project at one of the facility gave encouraging results. Kraft has already cut its energy consumption by 15 percent. The energy experts from EPS will also help Kraft to identify the potential improvements and the initiatives for Sustainability.
Rocket farms is large flower grower in US. The firm has taken a number of measures to reduce their energy consumption. They have installed heat curtains and under-bench heating. They have also installed rolling benches to increase the utilization of space in the green houses. They have started using drip irrigation, building green houses using recycled materials, reducing consumption of pesticide by pest management and recycling cardboards and plastics. The firm was rewarded an incentive of about $300,000 by Pacific Gas and Electric for its energy saving drives.
Ormat Industries Ltd. said that it expected to report loss in 2010. The firm operates and manufactures geothermal plants. The firm is based out of Israel and it mentioned that it would write down the value of a U.S. unit. The share fell in the Tel Aviv stock exchange on the news.
Oracle is targeting the market of smart meters by launching its solution Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management 2.0. This solution will help energy and utility firms to manage consumer’s energy and water consumption data. This solution will interface with smart meters. This also has a portal where in the customer service representative and the technician can view consumer’s details and past consumption data. With this release the firm has resolved a lot of integration issues between disparate systems.
Prince Charles delivered a speech on low carbon and its cross-linkages with development and prosperity at the European Parliament. He covered various aspects of industrialization, environment and developmental issues. About 300 MEPs (Member of the European Parliament) attended the talk. Economists, EU corporate leaders, Investors, Pensions Funds also attended the Summit. The complete transcript of the speech is available at the following website:
Contact Energy, which is New Zealand’s largest Energy and utility company, has plans to raise about $500 for a geothermal project in New Zealand. The firm has already placed order for equipments for the 166-mega watt power plant. The Te Mihi project will be built near the Wairakei plant. Once the new plant is ready in 2013, the old plant will be decommissioned. According to the Chief Executive Officer of David Baldwin Geothermal Energy is the most important source of power in the country as most of the other sources of power depend on the vagaries of nature. The firm also has the permission to build a second steam plant with a capacity of 250 megawatts. 
United Nations has suggested that to give a boost to the Green Economy countries would need to pump in about $ 1.3 trillion from industries to areas, which will help cut emissions of Green house gasses. This money roughly translates to about 2% of the economic output. This would also greatly reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and reduce the effect of fuel price fluctuations on the economy. The areas where this money would be utilized are as follows:
Every coal producer in India pays tax. The government is mulling over to check if they can use a part of this money to build up transmission line for clean energy. The money would be distributed to the States, which are building significant capacity to generate power from renewable sources (like solar and wind power). The money would be used by the states to build the infrastructure to distribute the power generated from such sources. A nationwide grid is not available to distribute power generated from renewable sources. The coal tax, which is in effect from 1 July, is expected to generate revenue of $ 500 million.
Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates are coming to India next month. Their mission is pure philanthropy. In his recent article, the three have expressed their excitement about the visit to India. They want to meet the rich and the wealthy people in India and want to convince them to give a part of their wealth to the society. They have termed it as the Giving Pledge. In US the movement has met with good success. Recently Azim Premji donated about $ 2 billion to his philanthropic activities. It is also good to see the three also have gained good knowledge about India and its history. It is also heartening to see that these rich and famous people have made more visit to India for their philanthropic activities than they made for their Business pursuits. 
IFRS isn’t completely different from Indian GAAP. After all, it’s still accounting. But a lot of important things are different, and each can trigger far-reaching changes. Here are some of the key things to look out for—and what CFOs need to do about them.
Trust you guys are very bussy preparing for IFRS since the countdown has started and it is no longer a wishful thinking any more...All must of grearing up their concerned area of interest as preparor of financial statement or as practionor or as user of the report. Plz take a pause and ponder whether we will be able to comply with all the requirements of standards by preparings financial statement & books of accounts manually. All the complex principles like fair value, NRV, marked to market price, componentised capitalisation, etc. which itself will be paradigm shift from the historical cost of reporting. Further, most of quality professional time will be invested in presentation and disclosure. Most of the professional time will taken in applying the principles of IFRS - 'Form over substance'. In such situtation your dependency on the IS [ information system] will increasly become intese. Further, there are enterprise which have already invested in ERPSAP or other form of ERP. You have to spend qulaity time in tweaking and tinkerring the application module to make the same align with you IFRS requirements and yet suit the business process of the organisation. In addition to all these there is one more imposing challange staring at our face, is training all process owners, power users, end users,etc. where most of them may be having any finance background or acumen. The evaluation of your level of preparedness in the above context is also call for serious attention. The adoption of IFRS or convergence of IGAAP to IFRS may happen at statue level but the same has to get infused in the culture and work practice of the enterprise.....
FedEx has announced that it has opened the first green data center next to its Rocky Mountain Tech Center in Colorado Springs. The environment friendly data center is claimed to be one of the best in the country in terms of energy efficiency. The data center’s Power Usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio on an average is 1.28. A ratio of 1 is said to be the perfect and most data centers have the PUE ratio at around 2.5. FedEx has also applied to LEED certification for the building.
Greetings from INCA (INitiative for Community Action)! We are pleased to release a compilation of all the consulting projects undertaken by lNCA in 2010-11 (http://tinyurl.com/projects2010-11). This year, 19 teams worked with 13 organizations from the social sector on a variety of projects, under the guidance of 12 faculty members. The organizations we helped ranged from Bengal Home Industries Association which is close to completing 95 years to a new generation advocacy organization like Prantakatha. The projects varied from marketing to fund raising to designing awareness campaigns to help in capacity planning. Besides the attached Abstract document, INCA has also released a booklet containing detailed reports of the work done on all 19 projects, which will be available at IIMC Library for any future reference. Apart from the management consulting projects, INCA was also actively involved in organising various events at IIMC to promote social awareness. Some of these activities included:The first ever "Joy of Giving Week" at IIM Calcutta from 26 Sept - 2 Oct, where students and faculty members donated money, clothes, books, and other resources to help the under-privileged Blood Donation Camp at IIM Calcutta in association with Indian Association of Blood Cancer & Allied Diseases 3 Guest Talks by: Mr. Anshu Gupta (an Ashoka Fellow and founder of Goonj), Ms. Anupama Muhuri (Manager-Volunteer Action, CRY), Mr. Bappaditya Mukherjee (Social Development Consultant) Stalls by CRY, Bengal Home Industries Association, Behala BodhayanWe hope to continue receiving your guidance and support in all of INCA's future endeavors. To know more about INCA activities, do visit our website: http://www.inca-iimcal.com/ 
Vestas Wind Systems A/S, is the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines. It has also planned to deploy the world’s first off shore wind farm on a floating platform. For this it has signed an agreement with WindPlus.
The German firm Conergy AG is planning for $ 2.7 Billion wind farm in Australia. The firm is waiting for more support from the government. They are also looking towards the expansion of targets of renewable energy by the government. The firm is also expecting that the government will put a praice on carbon emission which will force people to move towards renewable energy. Australia has a target to draw 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has decided that it is important to push the country to move towards clean energy.
