[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Environment > Energy]
Bright future for lighting technology with glowing
OLED wallpaperOLEDs may soon replace lightbulbs in homes and offices with panels of energy-efficient light built into walls
Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 December 2009 Article history
Wallpaper that can glow with light and bendable flat-panel screens are a step closer thanks to research into organic LEDs (OLEDs), which are widely hailed as the next generation of environmentally friendly lighting technology.
OLEDs use very little power to produce light, even compared with modern energy-saving bulbs. The chemicals they are made from can be painted on to thin, flexible surfaces, allowing them potentially to be used to replace traditional lightbulbs in homes and offices with panels of energy-efficient light built into walls, windows or even furniture. Other uses include flexible display screens, whose very low power consumption would mean they could operate without mains power, for example as roadside traffic warning signs powered by small solar panels.
Lomox Limited, a two-year-old company based in north Wales, awarded more than £450,000 today by the government-backed Carbon Trust to accelerate the development of its OLED technology.
Around a sixth of all the UK's electricity is used for lighting and Lomox claims its OLEDs are 2.5 times more efficient than standard energy-saving lightbulbs. The Carbon Trust said that, if all modern lights were replaced by OLEDs, annual carbon emissions around the world could fall by 2.5m tonnes by 2020 and almost 7.4mT by 2050. Replacing old, incandescent bulbs with OLEDs would generate even greater CO2 savings.
OLEDs have shown much promise in laboratories but must get over two major hurdles to become widespread consumer items: they are expensive to make and they tend to have relatively short lifetimes. "What our technology does, with the seven patents we have, is fix those problems," said Ken Lacey, chief executive of Lomox. He said his company's OLEDs have the potential to last as long as modern fluorescent lights and, for the display sector, as long as LCD panels. Lomox also claims its light matches natural light more closely than other energy-saving bulbs.
The company will focus its efforts on getting the first of its OLEDs to market by 2012, mainly for outdoor lighting. "The early part of the grant is to do the testing and take this out to that marketplace," said Lacey.
Mark Williamson, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust, said: "Lighting is a major producer of carbon emissions. This technology has the potential to produce ultra-efficient lighting for a wide range of applications, tapping into a huge global market. We're now on the look-out for other technologies that can save carbon and be a commercial success."
The grant for Lomox is one of 164 projects supported by the Carbon Trust for small companies working on a range of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies such as fuel cells, combined heat and power, bioenergy, solar power, low-carbon building technologies, marine energy devices and more efficient industrial processes.
[Business > Ethical business]
Ethical sales triple over decade, says Co-operative Bank
> UK ethical market expands from £13.5bn to £36bn
> Fairtrade products enjoy significant growth since 1999
Rebecca Smithers
The Guardian, Wednesday 30 December 2009 Article history
Consumer spending on "ethical" products from Fairtrade food to eco-friendly travel has almost tripled in the past decade, a survey reveals today.
The Co-operative Bank's annual ethical consumerism report, which measures ethical spending, shows that overall the ethical market in Britain has expanded from £13.5bn in 1999 to £36bn a decade later.
The rate of increase in household spending on ethical products outstripped the growth in overall consumer spending, which increased by 58% over the decade.
But overall, the total market for goods that were environmentally friendly, sustainable or supported poor communities remained a small percentage of the £891bn spent by households last year.
Some sectors enjoyed huge growth, including Fairtrade goods, which pay a premium to farmers and producers in poor countries to help them work their way out of poverty, according to the survey.
The Fairtrade market, which now covers products from developing countries ranging from chocolate and coffee to cotton, was worth £22m in 1999. Last year sales of Fairtrade products had grown to £635m and the Co-operative is predicting it could break the £1bn barrier in 2010. The Co-operative was the first major supermarket to support the concept of Fairtrade 15 years ago.
The survey also reveals that spending on "green" products for the home, from energy-efficient boilers to rechargeable batteries, has increased fivefold in the past decade, up from £1.4bn in 1999 to £7bn.
Average household spending on measures tackling climate change has also increased over the decade, from £23 a home to £251, but spending on renewables and eco-travel has remained relatively low. At the same time, the mature financial services market has seen ethical banking and investments triple over the course of the decade.
Neville Richardson, chief executive of the Co-operative Financial Services, said: "Although the report shows that the idea of ethical purchasing is now well established amongst many consumers, there is still a long way to go if we are all going to adopt the low-carbon lifestyle needed to avoid cataclysmic climate change. The growth in energy-efficient products such as boilers, white goods and more recently light bulbs, has been underpinned by government intervention."
He said that in order for Britain to reduce its carbon emissions by 30% by 2020 "there will need to be a step-change in take-up of low-carbon technologies and this will need a new contract between business, government and the consumer".
The report showed that average household spending on ethical food and drink had increased from £81 to £244 over the decade, spending on cosmetics had risen from £7 to £20, and clothing had increased from £21 to £49. Overall, average family spending on ethical goods and services increased from £241 to £735 since 1999, and now one in two UK adults say they have made a purchase primarily on ethical grounds in the past year.
[Environment > 10:10 climate change campaign]
Making the cut for 10:10: Adnams brewery
With 2010 just days away, those pledging to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010 are getting set for action
Felicity Carus
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 December 2009 12.51 GMT Article history
It takes 8 pints of water on average to make one pint of beer. That's just one reason why brewing is an carbon-intensive process. But the mid-sized Suffolk brewery Adnams is trying to make its own operations less energy guzzling in the next year. Along with nearly 2,000 other businesses and over 50,000 individuals it has joined the 10:10 climate change campaign, which involves people and organisations pledging to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.
Adnams has already made headway. The water footprint of its beer is now down to 3.2 pints and it has made efforts to cut its carbon emissions, with innovations such as a warehouse that stores beer at an optimum temperature of about 11C without the need for heating or refrigeration and energy efficient equipment that recycles 90% of the heat used in the beer-making process. Adnams has reduced the energy used to produce each barrel of beer from 51.4kWh in 2007 to 46.3kWh in 2008. Total carbon emissions for the business in 2008 were 4,000 tonnes.
The company expects increases in energy prices and "polluter-pays" policies, which is driving it to "green" the business and its products – such as its carbon-neutral East Green beer.
It is planning an "industrial ecology" project which will use waste products from the brewing process, such as spent grain, to produce methane that could in turn produce electricity. From next year the brewer will also work with MBA students at the University of East Anglia, who will help monitor its emissions so that the company can report carbon emissions alongside its financial results.
"We are proud of our carbon reduction effort throughout the past few years at Adnams," says the managing director, Andy Wood. "But we are certainly not resting on our laurels."
Key target area for reductions in 2010
Adnams says it has some work to do in its hotels and Cellar & Kitchen stores. The next big challenge will then be to improve the energy efficiency of its pubs.
Area of most concern
Water is a key area. It takes 3.2 pints of water to make every pint of Adnams beer – this is better than the industry average of 8, but the company plans to reduce it further.
[Environment > Energy]
Bright future for lighting technology with glowing
OLED wallpaperOLEDs may soon replace lightbulbs in homes and offices with panels of energy-efficient light built into walls
Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 December 2009 Article history
Wallpaper that can glow with light and bendable flat-panel screens are a step closer thanks to research into organic LEDs (OLEDs), which are widely hailed as the next generation of environmentally friendly lighting technology.
OLEDs use very little power to produce light, even compared with modern energy-saving bulbs. The chemicals they are made from can be painted on to thin, flexible surfaces, allowing them potentially to be used to replace traditional lightbulbs in homes and offices with panels of energy-efficient light built into walls, windows or even furniture. Other uses include flexible display screens, whose very low power consumption would mean they could operate without mains power, for example as roadside traffic warning signs powered by small solar panels.
Lomox Limited, a two-year-old company based in north Wales, awarded more than £450,000 today by the government-backed Carbon Trust to accelerate the development of its OLED technology.
Around a sixth of all the UK's electricity is used for lighting and Lomox claims its OLEDs are 2.5 times more efficient than standard energy-saving lightbulbs. The Carbon Trust said that, if all modern lights were replaced by OLEDs, annual carbon emissions around the world could fall by 2.5m tonnes by 2020 and almost 7.4mT by 2050. Replacing old, incandescent bulbs with OLEDs would generate even greater CO2 savings.
OLEDs have shown much promise in laboratories but must get over two major hurdles to become widespread consumer items: they are expensive to make and they tend to have relatively short lifetimes. "What our technology does, with the seven patents we have, is fix those problems," said Ken Lacey, chief executive of Lomox. He said his company's OLEDs have the potential to last as long as modern fluorescent lights and, for the display sector, as long as LCD panels. Lomox also claims its light matches natural light more closely than other energy-saving bulbs.
The company will focus its efforts on getting the first of its OLEDs to market by 2012, mainly for outdoor lighting. "The early part of the grant is to do the testing and take this out to that marketplace," said Lacey.
Mark Williamson, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust, said: "Lighting is a major producer of carbon emissions. This technology has the potential to produce ultra-efficient lighting for a wide range of applications, tapping into a huge global market. We're now on the look-out for other technologies that can save carbon and be a commercial success."
The grant for Lomox is one of 164 projects supported by the Carbon Trust for small companies working on a range of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies such as fuel cells, combined heat and power, bioenergy, solar power, low-carbon building technologies, marine energy devices and more efficient industrial processes.
[Business > Ethical business]
Ethical sales triple over decade, says Co-operative Bank
> UK ethical market expands from £13.5bn to £36bn
> Fairtrade products enjoy significant growth since 1999
Rebecca Smithers
The Guardian, Wednesday 30 December 2009 Article history
Consumer spending on "ethical" products from Fairtrade food to eco-friendly travel has almost tripled in the past decade, a survey reveals today.
The Co-operative Bank's annual ethical consumerism report, which measures ethical spending, shows that overall the ethical market in Britain has expanded from £13.5bn in 1999 to £36bn a decade later.
The rate of increase in household spending on ethical products outstripped the growth in overall consumer spending, which increased by 58% over the decade.
But overall, the total market for goods that were environmentally friendly, sustainable or supported poor communities remained a small percentage of the £891bn spent by households last year.
Some sectors enjoyed huge growth, including Fairtrade goods, which pay a premium to farmers and producers in poor countries to help them work their way out of poverty, according to the survey.
The Fairtrade market, which now covers products from developing countries ranging from chocolate and coffee to cotton, was worth £22m in 1999. Last year sales of Fairtrade products had grown to £635m and the Co-operative is predicting it could break the £1bn barrier in 2010. The Co-operative was the first major supermarket to support the concept of Fairtrade 15 years ago.
The survey also reveals that spending on "green" products for the home, from energy-efficient boilers to rechargeable batteries, has increased fivefold in the past decade, up from £1.4bn in 1999 to £7bn.
Average household spending on measures tackling climate change has also increased over the decade, from £23 a home to £251, but spending on renewables and eco-travel has remained relatively low. At the same time, the mature financial services market has seen ethical banking and investments triple over the course of the decade.
Neville Richardson, chief executive of the Co-operative Financial Services, said: "Although the report shows that the idea of ethical purchasing is now well established amongst many consumers, there is still a long way to go if we are all going to adopt the low-carbon lifestyle needed to avoid cataclysmic climate change. The growth in energy-efficient products such as boilers, white goods and more recently light bulbs, has been underpinned by government intervention."
He said that in order for Britain to reduce its carbon emissions by 30% by 2020 "there will need to be a step-change in take-up of low-carbon technologies and this will need a new contract between business, government and the consumer".
The report showed that average household spending on ethical food and drink had increased from £81 to £244 over the decade, spending on cosmetics had risen from £7 to £20, and clothing had increased from £21 to £49. Overall, average family spending on ethical goods and services increased from £241 to £735 since 1999, and now one in two UK adults say they have made a purchase primarily on ethical grounds in the past year.
[Environment > 10:10 climate change campaign]
Making the cut for 10:10: Adnams brewery
With 2010 just days away, those pledging to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010 are getting set for action
Felicity Carus
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 December 2009 12.51 GMT Article history
It takes 8 pints of water on average to make one pint of beer. That's just one reason why brewing is an carbon-intensive process. But the mid-sized Suffolk brewery Adnams is trying to make its own operations less energy guzzling in the next year. Along with nearly 2,000 other businesses and over 50,000 individuals it has joined the 10:10 climate change campaign, which involves people and organisations pledging to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.
Adnams has already made headway. The water footprint of its beer is now down to 3.2 pints and it has made efforts to cut its carbon emissions, with innovations such as a warehouse that stores beer at an optimum temperature of about 11C without the need for heating or refrigeration and energy efficient equipment that recycles 90% of the heat used in the beer-making process. Adnams has reduced the energy used to produce each barrel of beer from 51.4kWh in 2007 to 46.3kWh in 2008. Total carbon emissions for the business in 2008 were 4,000 tonnes.
The company expects increases in energy prices and "polluter-pays" policies, which is driving it to "green" the business and its products – such as its carbon-neutral East Green beer.
It is planning an "industrial ecology" project which will use waste products from the brewing process, such as spent grain, to produce methane that could in turn produce electricity. From next year the brewer will also work with MBA students at the University of East Anglia, who will help monitor its emissions so that the company can report carbon emissions alongside its financial results.
"We are proud of our carbon reduction effort throughout the past few years at Adnams," says the managing director, Andy Wood. "But we are certainly not resting on our laurels."
Key target area for reductions in 2010
Adnams says it has some work to do in its hotels and Cellar & Kitchen stores. The next big challenge will then be to improve the energy efficiency of its pubs.
Area of most concern
Water is a key area. It takes 3.2 pints of water to make every pint of Adnams beer – this is better than the industry average of 8, but the company plans to reduce it further.
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