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Green
Ink: You First, by Keith Johnson - 26th February
2008
(Credit:
The Wall Street Journal)
Environmental
Capital
Virgin’s maiden flight with
biofuels highlights some of the problems facing
the aviation sector if it moves toward kerosene
replacements, reports the WSJ: Biofuels don’t
burn much cleaner than regular jet fuel, and they
require new infrastructure. That’s also
bedeviled biofuel for cars, of course. The L.A.
Times reports on California’s efforts to
open more than three ethanol filling stations.
Diving into the food-versus-fuel debate, the FT
urges any government subsidizing biofuels to also
underwrite food for the world’s poor. Maybe
plug-in hybrids are the answer? Not when the juice
they use comes from dirty coal plants, reports
USA Today.
The
U.S. took a big step toward fighting climate change
by agreeing to binding limits on emissions, reports
the FT. But read the fine print: The U.S. will
play ball if every other big economy does the
same, notes the BBC. Like China, which has found
a new carrot to coax companies into environmental
compliance, reports the WSJ: Regulators are blocking
stock-market listings of dirty companies.
Australia,
for one, is grappling with its own emissions fight
in the wake of a new report urging deeper GHG
cuts, notes The Economist. Australia has ruled
out nuclear, but not out of supply concerns: high
uranium prices won’t hobble nuclear’s
revival, notes Beyond the Barrel. One way to go
is big solar: Australia will build the world’s
second-biggest solar thermal plant, though it
will only provide 0.1% of its electricity, reports
the FT. Meanwhile, Grist takes aim at last week’s
Berkeley report questioning the economics of solar
power, and finds the study full of holes.
Big
wind may become more viable. EcoGeek reports on
new deep-water turbines that could make offshore
wind more palatable. The problem for most wind
power, even onshore, is the same: getting the
juice into the grid. USA Today notes the lack
of transmission lines threatens to stunt wind
power’s growth. Still, you have to start
somewhere: Gaz de France rushes into the green-energy
game with the acquisition of a tiny wind-farm
operator and says it will create a clean-energy
subsidiary like many of its peers, reports Reuters.
Finally,
fed up with employees commuting in gas-guzzling
cars? The WSJ reports on companies that underwrite
a greener lifestyle for workers, from paying for
smaller cars to letting them purchase carbon offsets.
Comments
Report offensive comments to blogsadmin@wsj.com
Richard
Branson and Virgin Enterprises Limited are making
an effort, and
that’s why I prefer to do business with
Virgin when possible. Sure, he’s
also a showman and self promoter, but there’s
a ton more substance than show
and hype. Richard Branson will continue to make
history as a switched on businessman, environmentalist
and humanitarian, and something else…not
all of his good deeds go reported, and I’m
close enough to know this.
Greg Tingle
Comment by Greg Tingle
- February 28, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Nice
WSJ story about companies doing good, reducing
operating costs, and cutting employee costs so
their wages go further.
Of
course, telecommuting would be a lot cheaper and
make many service companies much more profitable
and competitive if they could stop renting a building,
or sell their building to some rich shiek.
Comment by Anonymous - March 1, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Greg,
care to share some of the unreported good deeds?
Meanwhile,
Mr Branson should cash in the airline (before
the British economy suffers) and invest in something
cleaner with a brighter future.
Comment by Anonymous - March 1, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Profiles
Virgin
Richard
Branson
Environmentalists
and the environment
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