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LowerCarbonEconomy.com’s David Lockie

LowCarbonEconomy.com is a site dedicated to gathering and sharing information about low carbon products, services and lifestyles – everything from appliances, to government policy through to utility-related information. Considering our urgent need to lower our carbon emissions as a race, the information on this site is could be hugely important.

The site is wiki-like and makes heavy use of tagging search and RSS to make the information easier to find.

I had a chance to speak to Dave Lockie from LowCarbonEconomy recently and I asked him more about the site.

Btw, for the first time I added a bit of music to the start and end of the video – would love to know if you think it improves the show.

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GreenMonk Energy & Sustainability show – 30th March 09

This is an archive copy of this week’s GreenMonk Energy & Sustainability show and the chat stream is below:

05:31 TomRaftery : Anyone seeing video? Hearing audio?
05:31 paulsavage : I see it
05:31 ustreamer-9468 : not yet tom
05:31 paulsavage : and I hear
05:31 paulsavage : Doing good
05:31 mikeTheBee : Hi tom
05:31 ustreamer-1659 : You’re on for me Tom – john P, Cork
05:31 mikeTheBee : Yep
05:31 ustreamer-9468 : ok starting
05:31 ustreamer-9468 : got ya now
05:31 TomRaftery : ustreamer 9468 not seeing me anyone else having problems?
05:31 ustreamer-9468 : dublin is good!
05:32 TomRaftery : Good, good,
05:32 mikeTheBee : May need to reload
05:33 paulsavage : 8:30 in LA
05:34 TomRaftery : http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/03/24/woodchips-with-everything
05:34 mikeTheBee : Like Charcoal
05:38 mikeTheBee : 14 viewers
05:38 ustreamer-9468 : down to african levels …
05:39 mikeTheBee : 15 viewers
05:39 TomRaftery : http://www.whitehouse.gov/openforquestions/
05:40 TomRaftery : http://greenmonk.net/what-will-it-take-for-america-to-wake-up-to-the-threat-of-climate-change/
05:42 paulsavage : Did you submit any questions ?
05:44 ustreamer-9468 : scary bigtime
05:45 mikeTheBee : There are plenty of deniers in the media
05:46 TomRaftery : http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/03/23/the-ecodrain-cuts-water-heater-use-by-40/
05:48 mikeTheBee : neat if 40% is the figure
05:48 paulsavage : Really smart idea. I guess it’s for electric showers ?
05:48 mikeTheBee : Just have a cold shower
05:48 TomRaftery : http://blogs.msdn.com/see/archive/2009/03/25/wwf-studies-find-information-technology-significantly-reduces-climate-impacts-costs-of-doing-business.aspx
05:49 monkchips : wash less, you’ll even smell green ๐Ÿ˜‰
05:49 monkchips : top of the afternoon to ya
05:49 mikeTheBee : 6 Viewers
05:49 mikeTheBee : Correction 16
05:50 TomRaftery : http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10203013-54.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1
05:51 mikeTheBee : km
05:51 mikeTheBee : not mph
05:51 paulsavage : 265 km / h ??
05:51 monkchips : yup
05:51 mikeTheBee : wow
05:51 monkchips : love train travel!
05:51 ustreamer-57460 : Me from BCN. Help me a lot. Save money & time!
05:52 monkchips : tom but what about links? its no good if you want to then fly from madrid
05:53 monkchips : train – there are those that would claim otherwise
05:53 divydovy : and key = CO2 emitted at ground level not up in atmosphere
05:53 ustreamer-57460 : waiting for the new basque “Y” trains
05:54 monkchips : the dutch airline VLM claims their fokkers are greener than train engines http://www.flyvlm.com/emc.asp?pageId=1153
05:54 monkchips : the dirty fokkers
05:54 ustreamer-3567 : In Ottawa-Montreal corridor, even without a high speed train, the math still works. And I was able to work with more space too. In Pacific NW of US, we don’t even have that
05:55 ustreamer-1659 : But surely there will be opportunities for may more people on trains than plane capacity …
05:55 divydovy : must be fokking cramped in there
05:55 ustreamer-1659 : Agree Tom…
05:55 mikeTheBee : 8 Viewers
05:55 mikeTheBee : 8 viewers
05:56 mikeTheBee : 8
05:56 paulsavage : if you travel without any extra weigh (baggage) , or filled up with people who are less than 50kgs ๐Ÿ˜‰
05:56 mikeTheBee : ighteen
05:56 TomRaftery : http://www.physorg.com/news157200916.html
05:56 monkchips : oh yeah- wrong link. here is the trains vs planes argument http://www.flyvlm.com/myDocuments/04/004%2F080915_co2factsheet_uken.pdf
05:56 mikeTheBee : Nineteen
05:57 paulsavage : my screen shows 22 views
05:57 paulsavage : viewers*
05:57 ustreamer-25233 : fish – what about hormones in meet
05:57 monkchips : straight
05:57 monkchips : hormones in meat- indeed. my son eats meat and that one drives me nuts
05:58 paulsavage : ryanair would love to do that. ๐Ÿ˜‰
05:58 ustreamer-1659 : Ryanair’s next strategy ๐Ÿ˜‰
05:58 mikeTheBee : Ryanair does!
05:58 ustreamer-1659 : LOL x 3!
05:58 mikeTheBee : But not your Body, yet
05:59 ustreamer-25233 : flying – most CO2 is created in taxing on run way and circiling over heathrown waiting to land – why cannot they fix that – eg use tow on airstrip to and from gate, and not hang about over London for 30 mins waiting to land
05:59 TomRaftery : http://www.regeneration.org/2009/03/24/led-there-be-light/
05:59 cgarvey : If it’s cost-based and done fairly, (as an overweight person!), I’d welcome the move
05:59 monkchips : @ustreamer-25233 its one reason i LOVE city airport in london… in and out, no taxi ing or circling
06:00 mikeTheBee : cfl destroy IR remote signals too
06:00 monkchips : tom we don’t need new technology so much as turn the things off when you’re not using them
06:00 monkchips : earth hour we didn’t even make a difference to the grid, but it was a powerful statement
06:01 monkchips : to see the sydney harbour bridge and houses of parliament tower with lights off
06:01 ustreamer-14148 : Have any stats been published on the effect of Earth Hour?
06:01 cgarvey : dimmable, hue/colour/warmth of light, startup time, etc.. all confusing factors of CFL
06:01 ustreamer-25233 : LEDs $120 per bulb according to national geographical march issue. they are potential for future for sure.
06:01 paulsavage : from wiki
06:01 paulsavage : A standard North American 100 watt incandescent light bulb emits 1500รขโ‚ฌโ€œ1700 lumens,while a standard European 230 V model emits 1200รขโ‚ฌโ€œ1400 lm.
06:01 divydovy : EU project to reduce aircraft emissions (partly through ATC measures): http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air/environment/aire_en.htm
06:02 mikeTheBee : I Agree Totally
06:03 TomRaftery : http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2238989/national-grid-launches-carbon
06:03 monkchips : really? WOW
06:03 monkchips : when did that happen?>
06:03 monkchips : missed that link.
06:04 joegarde : new interconnector between Ireland and UK http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0329/energy.html
06:04 TomRaftery : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090318090348.htm
06:04 mikeTheBee : www.eastwestinterconnector.ie
06:04 cgarvey : no noticable dip in EirGrid (Irish electrical grid) generation for Earth Hour (week on week, for best comparison).. http://www.eirgrid.ie/EirgridPortal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=System+Demand&TreeLinkModID=2314&TreeLinkItemID=57
06:05 cgarvey : Working link .. http://url.ie/1dzf
06:05 paulsavage : Trickle power is the term AFAIK
06:05 divydovy : Tom: interesting new lighting technology: http://www.ceravision.com/
06:05 ustreamer-14148 : Would be nice if they were installed by default in new-build houses.
06:06 ustreamer-3567 : Need to get the electronic manufacturers to take away the need for standby (clocks that don’t retain state when off etc)
06:06 divydovy : Many people are just putting in energy efficient lighting for building regs then replacing it as soon as it’s signed off.
06:06 paulsavage : longer lifetime means less chemicals, or is that just fluff ?
06:07 ustreamer-25233 : ditto with cars – waiting at lights, level crossings etc – cut engine and restart on press of accelerator rather than turning on and off – wish more models would do it
06:08 joegarde : 2012 complete
06:08 cgarvey : Would it not make more sense to expand the existing NI/Scotland one, rather than build the new one to Wales ?
06:10 cgarvey : so NI/Scotland too small to upgrade (financially) (MWs rather than GWs?)
06:10 joegarde : interesting
06:10 mikeTheBee : I believ it needs Eurpean funding approval.
06:10 cgarvey : got it, ta
06:11 ustreamer-25233 : a good tip
06:11 mikeTheBee : No that intelligent obviously
06:12 monkchips : yup
06:12 monkchips : the UK adveristing standars authority
06:12 monkchips : last week ruled
06:12 divydovy : good show Tom, thanks
06:12 joegarde : thanks Tom – great
06:12 cgarvey : Cheers again Tom!
06:12 ustreamer-14148 : Thanks
06:12 monkchips : that greenwashing will get pulled
06:12 ustreamer-25233 : thankS Tom and thanks James for the tip
06:12 ustreamer-1659 : Thanks Tom….
06:12 paulsavage : good show.
06:12 paulsavage : Adios
06:12 TomRaftery : THanks everyone for a great show
06:13 ustreamer-3567 : ciao
06:13 mikeTheBee : Thanks tom, fully packed show today

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SAP’s Environmental Health and Safety Management solution

In the third part of my interview with SAP’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Peter Graf, we discuss SAP’s Environmental Health and Safety Management solution.

Why is this important? Several reasons:
– employee health and safety,
– compliance with constantly changing EHS regulations (REACH, and WEEE for example),
– increasing importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and from SAP’s perspective,
– annual investment in EHS solutions between 2008 and 2010 is expected to reach $80bn.

Sustainability isn’t just about carbon footprints – it is great to see SAP helping its large customer base be better corporate citizens.