The five-year period of the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) that ends in 2012 will deliver carbon savings of less than a third of 1 percent of total emissions, according to a report from emissions trading campaign group Sandbag, reports The Guardian. The report, “Cap or trap? How the EU ETS risks locking-in carbon emissions” (PDF), indicates that only 32 million tonnes of pollution permits will need to be surrendered to meet the cap on greenhouse gas emissions, which is a small fraction of the 1.9 billion tonnes of carbon emissions covered by the ETS each year, according to the article. This is a result of lower industrial activity while the caps remain at the same level. “The recession has rendered the ETS caps thoroughly obsolete,” says Sandbag campaigner Damien Morris, in a statement. “Unless they are adjusted to reflect our new circumstances, the EU ETS risks ...

From 2010 to 2015, the global energy efficient lighting market is projected to increase from $13.5 billion to $32.2 billion, according to the latest issue of EL Insights. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% during this time period. Today, 20% of the world’s electricity is used for lighting. Electricity consumption can be reduced to 4% with the full-scale adoption of LED (light-emitting diode) and could translate to a savings of 334 million barrels of oil per year in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the adoption of LED lighting in the U.S. over the next 20 years would reduce electricity consumption by 25%, save an accumulated $120 billion in energy costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 246 metric tons of carbon.

Samsung Electronics has expanded its ‘Green Memory’ initiative beyond DRAM and solid state drives (SSDs) to include several memory products for PC and mobile application areas as more customers choose to buy green IT products with energy-saving benefits. The initiative will now include Samsung ’s LPDDR2 and GDDR5 green memory devices as well as its GreenDDR3 and Green SSDs. Samsung also launched a new Website (www.samsung.com/GreenMemory) to boost its efforts to increase global interest in green IT products and eco-friendly solutions, targeting both manufacturing customers and consumers. It provides information on Samsung’s green product strategies and green-focused partners and industry-wide green IT trends.

The world’s low-carbon energy market is likely to triple by 2020, HSBC analysts forecast on Monday, saying that rising concerns about resource scarcity would support broad consensus on the threat of climate change Reuters reports. The electric vehicle market would benefit most, growing more than 20 times by 2020 to reach $473 billion, said HSBC’s “Sizing [...]

Data centers across the nation are implementing a host of initiatives aimed at energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, ranging from HVAC optimization to being powered by renewable energy sources. As an example, Georgia Data Center, an 80,000-square-foot data center located in Atlanta, Georgia, was designed to use 40 to 50 fewer air conditioning units than typical data centers. The data center worked with WayPoint Systems to integrate an efficient building system and to ensure that the HVAC system operates efficiently to maximize its energy performance.

UK businesses are facing hefty fines for failing to comply with new carbon emission regulations under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) energy-efficiency scheme, reports Business.Scotsman.com. The Energy Agency estimates that only 1,229 out of about 4,000 large businesses and other commercial organizations that qualify have registered under CRC. If companies fail to register by the September [...]

Many of us thought that earlier this year we saw the end of cap and trade. But with the oil disaster, cap and trade is poised to make a big comeback. But is emissions trading the answer or just a Band-Aid on a bullet hole? Though there has been a great deal of debate surrounding cap and trade in its most recent context of carbon trading, cap and trade in history has had its successes. It all started back in 1988 when former President George H.W. Bush came into office in the midst of a major environmental issue, acid rain—rain that was laden with sulfur dioxide seemingly from power plants burning coal. Bush, who billed himself as the “environmental president,” took action and in 1990, worked to pass the Clean Air Act. The Act provided provisions for emissions trading that were supported by many on both sides of ...

From 2010 to 2015, the U.S. green data center market is projected to increase from $3.82 billion to $13.81 billion, according to the latest issue of EL Insights. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29% during this time period. Information technology is responsible for two percent of the world’s carbon emissions and the average data center uses as much electricity as 40,000 homes annually. Data centers operate at only four percent average utilization and represent 3 percent of all energy use in the United States. Worldwide there are 4.75 million operating servers that are not actively used and cost $20.7 billion to run, consume $3.7 billion in energy costs, and effectively waste $21.4 billion annually on maintenance, management, hardware, energy, and cooling.

With the IT industry responsible for about two percent of the world’s carbon emissions and data centers as the fastest growing part of that equation, investments in greener data centers will grow rapidly over the next five years, increasing from $7.5 billion in global revenue to $41.4 billion by 2015, according to a report from [...]

The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA International) has reduced its physical and carbon footprint by transitioning its data center infrastructure into a virtualized environment with the help of HP. The consolidation cut AFCEA’s data center from 12 servers to two principal servers and two backup servers. The streamlined operations reduced both energy consumption and [...]

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has voted in favor of a measure that now requires electric utilities to reduce the amount of power they sell by 22 percent by 2020 as part of its drive to help businesses and homeowners conserve energy, reports The Arizona Republic. Arizona’s measure mirrors a national push by utility companies to [...]

Commercial buildings are responsible for 37 percent of California’s energy needs, according to a new report by Next 10. The findings suggest a new, untapped resource for reducing the state’s energy needs through efficiency measures. The report, Untapped Potential of Commercial Buildings: Energy Use and Emissions, suggests that energy use by commercial buildings could be reduced by up to 80 percent through energy efficiency measures, based on national averages. Simple energy efficiency improvements to existing buildings, such as insulating window films, yield three dollars in savings on average for every dollar invested. Existing building stock represents the greatest opportunity for capturing the low-hanging fruit for energy efficiency gains. In the average building, upgrading building insulation results in energy savings of 30 percent. Advances in lighting technology offers energy savings of up to 20 percent, according to the study.

The total carbon footprint for the recently concluded 2010 World Cup came to 2,753,250 tons of CO2 equivalent, according to a recent study by Ernst & Young, an eight-fold increase over the last World Cup in Germany. The majority of emissions were the result of international travel: teams, fans, administrators, and support staff all contributed to the 1,856,589 tons emitted as the result of international travel to South Africa, by far the largest component of the World Cup’s carbon footprint, representing 67.4 percent. The second largest component, intercity travel, generated 484,961 tons and represented 17.6 percent of the total. The third largest component, energy used for accommodations, emitted only 340,128 tons, or 12.4 percent.

Just like a faucet that never turns off, the enterprise is dealing with a constant flow of digital information. At the same time that human beings continue to implement and use the blazing speeds of technology, our new computers eventually become slower to boot up, they crash and involve lengthy and painful interactions with technical support. On top of this they become energy hogs. Rather than fix the problem, too many of us prefer to simply replace the machine. That’s not good from a “green” standpoint – cash-wise and eco-wise. Most people think it’s a memory problem, but it’s not. Every system, every network and every company suffers these burdens due to the effects of fragmentation – and there is a solution.

U.S. utilities, which are responsible for 40 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, will need to provide cleaner, low-carbon electricity and enable their customers to better manage and reduce their energy use in order to remain competitive, according to a report from Ceres. A key finding of the report, “The 21st Century Electric Utility: Positioning for a Low-Carbon Future,” authored by Navigant Consulting, indicates that making the transition will require significant changes to the utility industry’s traditional business model. These include implementing energy-efficiency measures and delivering cleaner low-carbon electricity through renewable and smart-grid technologies.

The climate bill being discussed in Congress would cut $19 billion off the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in a finding that could increase the odds of the bills passage, according to press reports. The Associated Press reported that several senators have told Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), one of the bills co-sponsors, that they would oppose the bill if it added to the national debt. The CBO report could convince many of those senators to support the bill. The bill, which would tax carbon emissions from large emitters like coal-fired power plants, would bring in an estimated $751 billion in new revenue over the next ten years, according to the CBO, while increasing spending by almost $732 billion through rebates and incentives.

A majority of servers in data centers operate at only four percent average utilization, representing a huge opportunity for organizations to reduce energy use through better design and operation, according to findings by Greening Greater Toronto. The statement is the result of a recent “Green Exchange” meeting on greening IT practices hosted by Greening Greater Toronto in partnership with the Ontario Institute of the Purchasing Management Association of Canada. The meeting brought together IT purchasers from large private and public sector organizations to delve into the trends, considerations and paybacks of buying green and increasing the energy efficiency of IT.

An association of Massachusetts businesses that have been upset about Gov. Deval Patrick Patrick’s green and renewable energy programs plans to launch an online calculator designed to estimate the cost of government environmental programs for businesses and individuals, according to a report in the Boston Herald. The group, known as the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) said the “energy surcharge calculator” will allow businesses to type in the amount of energy they use, and see an estimate of how much the government’s environmental initiatives are adding to their electricity bill. According to AIM, the programs add a combined $206 million per year for the next 15 years.

From 2010 to 2015, the total US green building market value is projected to increase from $71.1 billion to $173.5 billion, according to the latest issue of EL Insights. This represents a CAGR of 19.5% during this time period. The goals of building green include the efficient use of energy, water, and other resources, the protection of occupant health and improvement of employee productivity, and the reduction of waste, pollution, and environmental erosion. Buildings in the United States are responsible for 40% of total energy consumption, 12% of water consumption, 68% of total electricity consumption, and 38% of carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, commercial green building is projected to grow by 18.1% annually, according to new research revealed in EL Insights, from $35.6 billion to $81.8 billion.

The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) has installed an energy dashboard to help the school improve the efficiency of their operations, reduce energy use, and combat climate change, according to a press release. The dashboard provides updated energy information for the university’s facilities and equipment, helping the them to save $900,000 a year, reducing energy consumption by 19 million kilowatt hours, and reducing 9,600 metric tons of greenhouse gases.

The Naval District Washington (NDW) has several improvement projects underway to reduce energy consumption ranging from testing experimental technologies to replacing light bulbs at a ballpark. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandates that federal agencies reduce their energy consumption 30 percent by 2015, based on a baseline year of 2003, said David Capozzoli, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington utility and energy product line coordinator. Since energy use is based on use per square foot the Navy can construct new buildings as long as the consumption is decreasing per square foot, according to Capozzoli.

Shanghai will get some help in its efforts to make its factories more energy efficient, according to an announcement by the World Resources Institute (WRI). WRI said it will launch a new initiative that could help the city reduce its carbon emissions by 60,000 tons a year. The initiative would also assist China in its efforts to reduce its energy intensity under its newly announced five-year plan. According to WRI, the initiative aims to aggregate 30 to 40 energy efficiency projects into one portfolio to reduce capital costs for companies and the transaction costs of energy services companies (ESCO) that can help install and sometimes finance energy efficient equipment. The energy efficiency projects are across 23 state-owned, foreign-owned and private Chinese companies that represent over $2 billion in annual revenue.

A new survey of CEOs by the United Nations Global Compact and Accenture found that 93 percent see sustainability as crucial to their future success. The report, “A New Era of Sustainability” interviewed more than 750 chief executives from almost 100 countries. Of these, 72 percent said that strengthening their brand, trust and reputation with consumers was the primary driver behind sustainability initiatives. Concerns about climate change were one of the most common voiced by CEOs, with 66 percent saying it was a critical development issue, behind education (72 percent). The results represent a significant shift from a similar survey Accenture conducted just two years ago which found that most businesses did not consider climate change a significant priority. The shift in priorities has been echoed in other surveys of business leaders as well.