Category Archives: Green

Renewable Energy in Australia: Potential and Progress

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Recently there has been a lot of talk in how a country can improve their ecological footstep. One way of doing so is definitely changing the way the respective country produces its energy. Australia has recently been headlining the news in regard to the renewable energy situation. Australia’s energy production is looking towards a new future with a specific aim on solar and wind power.

If Australia plans on keeping its water resource at a steady level, it has got to go from its use of coal to renewable sources. Thanks to its abundance in both solar and wind energy, Australia has quite the advantage when it comes to green energy production possibilities.

Unfortunately though due to their geographic position, the water supply is limited for the country. So much so, that the coal industry was taking a toll on the water supply due to the large quantities of water needed when producing energy from coal. As a result, moving over to wind and solar energy fueled productions is a viable option seeing how both respective energy productions do not require water.

The news that Australia was listed as a “water-stressed company” was released by the World Resource Institute; a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C. Moreover, on this past May 13th The Sydney Morning Herald also wrote that 73% of Australia’s electricity needs were met by the use of coal. In respect to these findings and Australia’s continuous growth, it is imperative that new resources are used for energy production.

Australia has been making headlines in renewable energy sector.

Fortunately, Australia’s geography is a big resource as well when it comes to studying the possibilities of implementing the new energy production. It was in fact calculated that the dimensions of the solar power farm needed to meet the country’s demands would result in occupying only 0.1% of Australia’s total land mass; I think we can all agree on the fact that that land could be spared for a solar farm.

And on that note, the government is taking the matter seriously, and has called upon everybody to try and better the situation. The incentives call upon small businesses and households as well by reminding them that there are the possibilities of installing their own solar panels, heat pumps, solar water heaters, and more.

Thanks to the various incentives, the Green Energy Council has stated that there is a lot of activity in the sector, including at least 58 different projects focused on implementing the renewable energy sources. As a consequence of these projects, the council has also stated that there would be an income of $10 billion in investments, 6,141 new jobs, and 5,482 megawatts of renewable energy capacity. Definitely great numbers to look forward to!

Recommended Reading: Reasons Behind Electric Vehicle Adoption in Australia

Top 5 Positive Environmental Effects of COVID-19

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Even the gravest of occurrences have some silver linings, and COVID-19, in all of its dreariness, has been pretty good to Mother Earth. There have been some negative drawbacks, but on the whole, the environment is one thing that has actually been positively affected by the novel coronavirus. Stay-at-home orders mean less cars on the road, and social distancing means less people at national parks and beaches in need of a good cleaning. A study now published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal went as far as to say, “In China alone, all of these air quality improvements that have outnumbered confirmed [COVID-19-related] deaths thus far.”

covid19-clean-cities

Here is a closer look at 5 positive environmental impacts caused by COVID-19.

1. Environmentally Friendly Infrastructure

With many citizens greatly limiting their travel, cities and states alike have been upgrading their transportation systems (trains, cars, planes, etc.). At a quick glance, a reasonable response to that would be, “Nice, better roads,” but fortunately, with advances in infrastructure resilient to climate change, it also means structures made with environmentally friendly materials, reduced waste, and made renewable-resource-ready, depending on the locale.

Some jurisdictions with a bit less of a “convinced” mindset towards climate change do, however, have a lot of legal loopholes in place regarding renewable energy, but at least making structures ready to switch power when the law allows is something to breath easy about (literally).

2. Lowered Emissions

As touched on in the intro, limited travel and social distancing have been large parts of increased air quality across the globe. Even NASA satellites have produced photographic evidence of less smog in urban areas.

As many large businesses in these large cities are becoming aware of the positive effects (both socially and monetarily) of corporate social responsibility, it’s also reasonable to think that many corporations will take into account all of the positives that come with remote work, and maximize opportunities do so in a world where going green is as good for the trees as it is the bottom line.

3. Moral Awareness / Disaster Relief

Most natural disasters affect those who can actually see the destruction first-hand much more deeply than people who just see pictures and videos. With a truly global pandemic affecting everyone on Earth, the overall will to “help a neighbor” has been tried and true during the COVID-19 wave. Some places just had much better disaster preparedness practices than others, and where there were shortages in one area, and excess in another, the right moves were made.

Only time will tell if optimism turns to reality, but thinking that the global reach of this disaster and the “all in this together” mantra will lead to more disaster relief for issues some people may not be familiar with (hurricanes, tornados, famine, earthquakes, etc.) is definitely beyond reasonable.

4. Clean Beaches

Over the last 10 years, roughly 60 million Americans visit a beach per year. Couple that with coastal population booms, and it’s safe to say the sand in the United States gets a lot of foot traffic. Though the lack of tourism certainly hurt the economy, it gave the beaches a long overdue break, resulting in massive decreases in coastal pollution, deep beach cleans by locals, and increases in water quality.

beach-covid19

5. A Little Bad with the Good

With closures of schools and a lot of work places, brought with it closures of some recycling centers, resulting in a lot of recyclables being trashed. The increases in online deliveries are certainly sensible, but they, too, added to an uptick in waste production, due to packaging. Additionally, medical waste (including masks and gloves) experienced a steady uptick as well.

Ultimately, the environmental effects of COVID-19 are things we can take a bit of resolve in, as pretty much everything else has been affected negatively by the pandemic. Increases in air and water quality should continue to be steady, new infrastructure with renewable resources now exist and just need some legislative boosts in areas, a lot of public places that needed a good cleaning have gotten it, and the only negatives on this list involve human actions that can be adjusted, moving forward.

The Role of IP Law in Spearheading Green Technologies

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You do not have to be a scientist to know the world is in an environmental crisis. Plastic waste is piling up virtually everywhere, and pollution is at an all-time high.

While many countries are doing their part to reduce their carbon footprint, it takes more than just regulations to create real change in this area.

Thankfully, environmentally conscious innovators are developing technologies that can help reverse or at least slow down the environmental crisis. Like other innovations, the greatest challenge to these innovators is safeguarding their innovations, and that’s where IP laws come in.

benefits of going off-grid

What are Green Technologies?

Green technologies, also known as environmental technologies, refer to practices and products that reduce energy consumption while helping to protect the environment.

They can include renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower, as well as improved efficiency in heating and cooling systems and use of new materials that are more recyclable than traditional ones.

These technologies are key to achieving sustainability – a state where human activity does not exceed our planet’s ability to support us.

IP Laws and Their Role in Spearheading Technologies

IP is the acronym for Intellectual Property, which refers to a person’s creative work or invention. IP laws are designed to protect the rights of these inventions to ensure creatives and innovators benefit from their creations.

Categories of intellectual property include trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, and patents, with trademarks and patents being the most applicable IP laws in the green technology industry.

How Trademarks Work for Green Technologies

Trademarks are symbols, names, slogans, marks, or sounds used to identify the goods and services of a specific company or individual. When used properly, they become synonymous with a specific product.

By obtaining a trademark, inventors get exclusive rights to use the identifier in connection with their invention or products and prevent others from using it without authorization. This means their customers will easily pick their products from the crowded market, which can help improve profits.

Trademark protections in Canada run for renewable terms of ten years. In other words, an innovator can secure their trademark for life as long as they pay service fees after every ten years.

Role of Patents in Spearheading Green Technology

If you are involved with developing technologies, you will need more than trademarks to protect your business because trademarks are limited to identifiers. For example, if you want to protect specific inventions or product designs, you may want to consider getting patent protections.

Finding a green provider for specialty chemicals

A patent is a form of intellectual property protection that grants the holder exclusive rights over their invention. Two main types of patents apply to green technology innovations; utility and design patents, also known as industrial design rights in the Canadian context.

Utility patents protect inventions that are novel, useful, and non-obvious. These patents can apply to products such as renewable energy sources, efficient heating and cooling systems, or new materials that are more recyclable than traditional ones.

Design patents protect the non-functional aspects of a product, such as its aesthetics, shape, texture, or color. The product doesn’t have to be novel, but the design has to, and it can’t have anything to do with the function of the product.

Countries have different approaches to patent law, but the core principles of securing a patent remain relatively the same. For example, most countries have a 20-year protection period for utility patents and 15 years for design patents.

Where to Register Your IPs

Country laws designate the bodies through which its inventors and creators can register their IPs. The law places the responsibility for IP registrations in Canada on the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO).

Registration of IPs under Canadian laws limits IP rights protection to Canada, meaning the rights are not enforceable beyond Canadian territory. If you want to have a broader scope of protection, you may want to register your IPs with the World Intellectual Property Organization, which offers protection on a global scale.

Bring New Life to Your Garden by Making it Bee-friendly

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It is remarkable how resistant humankind has become to working with nature, all too often preferring to dominate and exploit the world around us – a trait which is detrimental to human and non-human life in the long run. Thankfully, more and more people are waking up to the idea that it is the processes and lessons of the natural world, rather than its exploitable properties, which are our most valuable assets.

bees-garden

As the renewable energy movement becomes truly mainstream, everyday people are beginning to turn their backs on the excesses of 19th and 20th century consumption and to instead look forwards and embrace an ecosystem of which we are not the master – but rather just another essential component.

One way in which you can do so is to take a stand against the decimation of bee populations in a constructive manner – by creating a bee-friendly garden. Patterns and techniques of crop farming have left the insects in increasingly hostile territory, with bee numbers falling dramatically enough to hit the headlines. But it’s possible even for individuals to make a difference just by the flowers and plants they choose to put in their garden.

Bees are crazy for the kinds of wildflowers that have been torn up by industrial-level farming, and a good variety of local, colorful blooms can brighten your days while providing a delicious stopping point for the stripy critters. Even just allowing your garden to grow naturally – without clamping down on weeds and dandelions – can make it a more inviting environment for the right kinds of insects.

Bees are crazy for wildflowers

Bees are crazy for wildflowers

While it’s okay to use a smattering of non-native plants in your garden, this should always be done in sensitivity to the surrounding area, as unwelcome plant-life can create environmental imbalances. If in doubt, stay local – and consult this new chart from Budget Direct, which lists some of the best choices you can make for the bees in your garden, wherever you are in the world.

DESIGN-18-plants-to-grow-for-a-bee-friendly-garden-535x3380

Tips To Improve Indoor Air Quality Without Sacrificing Energy Efficiency

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Every year, illnesses caused by household air pollution from incomplete combustion of fuels used for cooking, like kerosene and biomass, claim the lives of 3.2 million people, according to The World Health Organization. Many people believe that indoor air quality in homes is cleaner than outdoor air, and preventing outside air from seeping into living spaces can help reduce pollution. Unfortunately, these assumptions aren’t true because indoor air is highly polluted and poor ventilation increases pollutants and energy consumption.

how to improve indoor air quality

Typically, moving to a well-designed energy efficient building helps you manage a home’s indoor air quality effortlessly. However, there are several ways to reduce the impact of indoor air pollution even if your home doesn’t feature energy-efficient designs. Below are the best tips to improve indoor air quality without sacrificing energy efficiency.

Use Natural Ventilation Strategies

Natural ventilation strategies rely on wind and buoyancy to enhance air circulation and cool buildings. For example, opening a window at night during summer is an easy way to let fresh air in your home. The cool air then pushes pollutants outside and creates a cooling effect inside the building without artificial cooling equipment.

Other effective natural ventilation strategies include the chimney effect and allowing the cooling sea breeze to ventilate homes through large, operable windows facing the ocean. The chimney effect uses convention, where cool air enters the home in the basement or first floor, absorbs hot air, rises and escapes through upper floor windows.

Add Indoor Plants

Findings from a study on the impact of indoor plants on air quality published in the Air Quality Atmosphere and Health Journal reveal that plants can reduce nitrogen dioxide, a common pollutant, by up to 20%. Since plants absorb pollutants and release oxygen, they are a perfect option for purifying indoor air. Plants also increase humidity and reduce dust levels, thus improving indoor air quality.

Ways to Learn More About Plants

Popular plants that people add to their living spaces, like the pothos plant, peace lily, English ivy, and bamboo palm plants, are effective in improving indoor air quality. However, you can add to your indoor plant collection house plants with fuzzy leaves, such as the green goddess, pussy willow, chenille plant, lamb’s ears, and old man cactus.

The leaves of these indoor plants have tiny hairs on the surface that give them a velvety texture. Besides adding character to your space while improving air quality, these plants are low maintenance. That’s because the tiny hairs also help plants draw moisture from the air, so they can survive on regular spritzes of clean water.

Replace Filters in AC Systems Regularly

Your AC filters play a significant role in trapping pet dander, pollen, dust, and spores to keep indoor air clean. But as dust and other pollutants accumulate on air filters, your AC stops circulating clean air in your home, thus increasing pollution. When air filters are dirty, your AC works harder and consumes a lot of energy. With this in mind, changing your air filters regularly helps enhance air quality and keep your AC system working efficiently.

clogged filter of AC

Contrary to popular belief, indoor air isn’t cleaner or healthier than the air outside. Also, allowing fresh air from outdoors to infiltrate your house doesn’t push energy bills up. With this in mind, using natural ventilation strategies is one of the best ways to improve indoor air quality without sacrificing energy efficiency. Other practices for improving your home’s air quality include adding house plants and changing AC air filters regularly.

Product Life-Cycle Assessment: Closing the Loop

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If you’re interested in green and environmental issues you may have heard the phrase ‘life-cycle assessment’ in relation to a particular product. It can be difficult to ascertain exactly what this life-cycle assessment involves – so we’re hoping to shed some light on the process, the different types of assessment that take place and explain what’s involved with each step.

product-life-cycle-assessment

A look at the bigger picture

Essentially, a product life-cycle assessment takes an overall view of that item’s impact on the environment – and in doing so, offers a true picture of how green that product really is. The aim is for consumers, manufacturers and policy makers to be given a true environmental picture of any product.

Although it’s an example that divides the opinion of environmentalists around the world, the Toyota Prius provides an interesting picture of why the product life-cycle assessment is required in a world driven by a company’s desire to be seen as green. The Prius is an electric-hybrid car which Toyota claims delivers an impressive 60 miles per gallon of fuel – a statistic that puts it as a firm environmental favourite.

However, there are claims that the construction methods used to create the batteries that power the Prius are hugely detrimental to the environment – with some sources saying the manufacturing plant impacts the environment so greatly that by the time a Prius is driven from the showroom – it’s already had the environmental impact it would take any other car 1,000 gallons of fuel to match.

What’s the verdict?

So, is the Prius good or bad? That’s not for us to decide – and we’re not suggesting one way or another, we’re simply using this as an illustration of how complex any environmental consideration can be in a product with such an intensive manufacturing process and prolonged lifespan. At the other end of the calculation you’d have to consider how long the Prius will run for – and whether that balances a supposedly negative building method.

Stages of product life-cycle assessment

The product life cycle analysis is ordinarily broken down into different stages:

1. Extraction and processing of raw materials

This is a full understanding of the journey from source to point of manufacture that the building blocks of any product take. For example, in the manufacture of a table you would begin by looking at the trees that provide the wood, the logging process that takes them from forest to timber yard and the impact of the machinery used throughout that process.

You would repeat this process for every raw material that goes into the table’s manufacture.

2. Manufacturing

Next comes the manufacturing itself – if machinery or any industrial process is used to piece our table together then resources used in that process must be considered when we look at the overall impact of the product on the environment.

3. Packaging

The packaging that a product is delivered in is effectively another product in itself. Although unlikely in our table example, it’s not uncommon for extravagant packaging to represent 10-20% of a product’s recommended retail price. Curtis Packaging, an award-winning UK based sustainable packaging company suggest manufacturers pay careful consideration to the impact of packaging on a product’s overall green credentials – from raw materials to the point of disposal, the packing that adorns your product can have serious environmental considerations.

4. Marketing

At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking marketing a product comes with no environmental impact – but you’d be wrong. From the printing of advertising materials – to the sales team’s 20,000 annual miles in company vehicles – there can be a lot of resource put into any marketing process. However, measurement is no mean feat – companies can find it difficult to differentiate between their overall carbon footprint and that associated with any one product.

5. Product use, re-use and maintenance

This is where the impact of a product moves from the manufacturer and into the hands of the consumer. What does typical use look like? How long is a product being used for? Does one person’s use vary compared to another’s? For our example table, the answers could be fairly simple – on the other hand, there’s a huge amount of variation when you look at a broad range of car drivers.

Packaging that adorns your product can have serious environmental impact.

Packaging that adorns your product can have serious environmental impact.

For any product that requires maintenance, the LCA just became much more complex (again!) – just as packaging represented an entirely separate product that requires its own assessment – a similar process is required when a car receives a tank of fuel, a top up of coolant, brake fluid, spark plugs, brake pads… hopefully you get the picture (hint – it’s complex and sprawling!)

However difficult it might be to anticipate, it’s an environmental imperative that big industry is aware of the impact they have – even when their product has left their hands.

6. Recycling, disposal and waste at the end of the product’s life

From pizza boxes to old cars, it’s easy to think of their job as being done when they’re waved off to a recycling bin or breaker’s yard – but environmentally this could just be the beginning of their impact.

In terms of recycling – the effort and impact of the process must be outweighed by the benefit of the salvaged material, it’s often in life-cycle assessments that decisions are made around what is worth recycling – and what should be destined for landfill. If landfill is the ultimate resting place for any product, what does the deterioration process look like and what does that mean to the environment in the short, medium and long-term?

Then, to bring the assessment cycle full circle – any product that can be processed and re-used re-enters the assessment cycle back at the extraction and processing of raw materials stage…

Ultimately, what is the life-cycle assessment done for?

There’s no one reason that a product life-cycle assessment is done. For some companies, they’re keen to explain the full back-story of the product. For others, it can be an exercise in understanding the full process and highlighting any areas that can be financially streamlined – it certainly provides a solid baseline from which improvements can be made.

For the most environmentally ethical companies, the life-cycle assessment gives a true picture of the impact they have on the well-being of the planet – and offers a chance to get a full and honest picture of the moves they and their partners can make in creating a product that fulfils the requirements of the environment – as well as those of the customer and shareholders.

How Renewable Energy Can Solve Smog Problem in China

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China is currently facing serious environmental problems, with potentially few solutions. Currently, this is mostly taking the form of serious smog issues plaguing North China, with more than 24 cities on red alert. However, with airports being shut down due to lacking visibility and the economy of China being heavily disrupted, action needs to be taken to solve this serious smog problem. While limited action has been taken, perhaps renewable energy is the key to cutting down China’s smog.

smog-china

How Bad Is the Problem?

The smog problem in China has become increasing worse from 2015 to 2017, with more than 90 micrograms of pollution per meter squared. These levels of air pollution are similar to the levels recorded previous to 2014, when the Chinese premier declared a war on pollution due to the health dangers posed by rising air pollution levels.

However, since 2015, levels of air pollution have risen once again. This pollution has had hard hitting effects on urban areas, especially the Chinese capital Beijing, and has caused widespread disruption to the lives of Chinese citizens and economy of the country.

The air pollution leads to the cities becoming hotter than ever. Urban Heat Island effect, which refers to buildings absorbing the sun’s heat well, is exacerbated by the smog. In fact, a car in the heat can reach temperatures of 114 degrees Fahrenheit after just 20 minutes, making travelling on hot days nearly unbearable for any living creature. In order to decrease the heated condition of China, it is essential to decrease the amount of smog covering the cities.

What Has the Chinese Government Done?

The Chinese government has taken limited action in an attempt to minimize the air pollution being created in the country. This includes the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Plan, which acknowledged the danger posed by air pollution levels and aimed to reduce coal usage in urban areas like Beijing.

However, this is not representative of the main action the government has taken. Primarily, the Chinese government has focused on individual areas and attempting to reduce local pollution levels through efficient coal burning and banning the burning of waste materials, especially on farms. These solutions, while effective on a short-term basis, are not all that is needed, though.

Investment in renewables can reduce China's dependence on coal for power generation

Investment in renewables can reduce China’s dependence on coal for power generation

China needs to reduce its overall usage of coal produced energy, which currently stands at 64 percent of total energy consumption. While this has already been happening in China, the further introduction of renewable energy could be of great help to China’s pollution levels.

How Could Renewable Energy Help?

Many people believe renewable energy to be a small affair, something undertaken by the Western world in a vain attempt to reduce our collective guilt concerning climate change and wastage levels. This is simply not the case. Renewable energy is a $120 billion industry that receives investment and application across the world. This includes solar energy, waste-to-energy technology, wind energy, hydroelectric energy and many more attempts to reduce overall energy usage.

Through investment in renewable energy, China could reduce its dependence on coal and increase the efficiency of its energy production and economy. Smog is directly created by China’s use of coal for its energy production, and by investing in other renewable means, China can simultaneously improve its health situation.

In fact, the obviously positive nature of investment in renewable energy can be clearly seen through the Chinese government’s already existing plans to further incorporate it into the economy. In the five-year plan announced in 2016, the Chinese government explicitly stated it would decrease air pollution levels through investment in wind, solar and biomass energy production technologies.

While the plans additionally included investment in making the coal industry more efficient and reducing emissions on an industrial and commercial level, clearly renewable energy is believed to be a valid alternative energy source.

Overall, it is clear that renewable energy can certainly help with China’s serious smog problem. Whether this should be in tangent with further investment in the coal industry or necessitate the end of widespread coal usage in China is still a question for debate.

What is a Full Carbon Audit?

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Carbon auditing allows businesses to fully understand their carbon footprint and the impact that they have on the planet.

Carbon auditing allows for companies to understand their energy usage and costs, enabling them to use their resources more efficiently to combat climate change.

Throughout this article, you will find out what a carbon audit is and why a full carbon audit is so important. We will also give you tips on how to conduct a full carbon audit and highlight some of the challenges and limitations related to carbon auditing.

guide to carbon auditing

What is carbon auditing?

A carbon audit is sometimes called a “carbon footprint”, but it is a way of measuring and recording emissions from an organisation.

Carbon audits are used to review the usage of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions for one business or building.

This process allows companies to figure out where they might need extra help in reducing their emissions or what they can do to improve their carbon footprint.

What are some different types of carbon audit?

There are two different types of carbon audit – otherwise known as a carbon footprint. They are:

  • Primary footprint – this refers to carbon emissions produced by our primary activities (these activities include: driving cars, burning fossil fuels and the use of electricity).
  • Secondary footprint – this refers to the indirect carbon emissions associated by manufacturing, and the breakdown of all products, services and food, which an individual human requires.

Why should you do a full carbon audit?

The importance of a full carbon audit cannot be underestimated, and a full and comprehensive audit will be extremely beneficial for your business going forward.

Not only will a comprehensive carbon audit inform your business how it can improve its carbon footprint, but a carbon audit can show businesses if they need to offset carbon, by working with companies like Celestial Green Ventures PLC.

What are the benefits of a carbon audit?

The benefits of a carbon audit are numerous and here are some examples of why carbon auditing will be good for your business:

  • You can use a completed carbon audit as a benchmarking tool
  • A carbon audit will allow you to create a strategy to improve your carbon emissions – be that in the form of cutting down your emissions directly, or using carbon offset projects, like Celestial Green Ventures, to reduce emissions
  • Celestial Green Ventures PLC’s carbon offsetting projects are a great way to mitigate carbon emissions and you will help communities and biodiversity all across the world
  • There may be financial incentives to reduce your carbon footprint
  • Customers and stakeholders expect companies to be more responsible in terms of carbon output

Finding a green provider for specialty chemicals

How do you conduct a full carbon audit?

There are several steps to conducting a full carbon audit, and often a professional will do this for you. Here are the main steps to complete in order to conduct a full carbon audit:

  • Step One: Identify the material sources of emissions
  • Step Two: Collect data on emission quantities
  • Step Three: Turn this data into a carbon footprint report
  • Step Four: Assess any potential carbon reduction opportunities
  • Step Five: Purchase any carbon offsets – from organisations such as Celestial Green Ventures PLC
  • Step Six: Establish a time-saving process to make carbon auditing an easy and repeatable process

What are the challenges and limitations of carbon auditing?

There are a few challenges that you may face when you start carbon auditing, such as:

  • Finding that there is a lack of standardised calculation models
  • Disagreements regarding which greenhouse gas emissions make up a carbon audit
  • Difficulties in collecting accurate data
  • Errors in both calculating and reporting
  • Difficulties in ensuring transparency and audit credibility

Conclusion

Carbon auditing is, for many businesses, a vital part of reducing their carbon emissions. A completed carbon audit will allow businesses to fully grasp what their carbon emissions are and they can take steps to tackle them.

This could include implementing carbon reduction schemes or utilising carbon offset programmes. However, there are limitations associated with carbon auditing and difficulties surrounding data collection and a lack of uniformity in the carbon footprinting sector could affect the results of a carbon audit.

Factors to Consider When Installing Commercial EV Chargers

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More and more businesses are moving away from their fossil-fuel fleets to plug-in hybrid and adopting all-electric vehicles these days. It is easy to see why when so many companies have sustainable motoring as a part of their corporate and social responsibility policies. Why would you continue to run old technology when electric vehicles (EVs) provide so many advantages, not least in boosting a brand’s green credentials?

Factors When Installing Commercial EV Chargers

And yet there is a cost associated with switching from fossil fuels to EVs. Not only do you have to establish the capital cost of the fleet whether you intend on buying vehicles outright or leasing them but you also need to consider the necessary charging infrastructure, as well. Although charging an electric car’s battery from a three-in mains outlet is technically possible, it will be slow and, worse still, could be unsafe. Given that the production of fossil-fuel-powered cars will cease at the end of this decade, it is consequently not surprising to hear how many companies are buying their own commercial EV chargers.

Indeed, as the 2020s draw to a close, you can only expect the demand for commercial EV charging equipment to grow. Therefore, forward-thinking businesses are already focussed on perhaps the most important consideration of all – adopting this new technology sooner rather than later. If you and your businesses are already committed to such a switchover, what are the other considerations you should be weighing up? Read on to find out.

1. Location and Property

To begin with, you will need somewhere suitable for your EV chargers to go. In many cases, businesses already possess suitably sized car parks outside of their offices where charging equipment can be located. Typically, wallboxes will be fixed to parking bays close to the main building for security and convenience. However, robust floor-standing units are also available that can be fitted further afield and, perhaps, charge multiple cars in neighbouring bays simultaneously.

Please note that it is possible to install EV chargers even if you have no car park but you do have access to off-street parking. In addition, the lease of your business premises will make a difference. Owner-occupiers will be fine but if you rent your commercial premises, then you ought to check what is allowed outside. For now, the main thing to take on board is that in the majority of cases, fitting EV chargers at rented commercial premises is possible.

Why Electric Cars are the More Sustainable Choice

2. EV Fleets and Capacity

The next thing to consider is how much charging capacity you will need. Some offices may want to be able to charge their entire sales team’s cars when they turn up for the weekly sales meeting. Others may have electrically powered delivery vans that they want to charge up overnight and on weekends. The size and scale of your electric fleet will impact on the capacity you need.

As previously mentioned, some EV chargers can charge more than one electric car at a time. This may affect how fast the process is, however. Therefore, you may still need to ramp up capacity to meet peak demand. Fortunately, there are many different chargers around from the likes of Sevadis and EO, to name but two manufacturers, that will offer a range of charging capacities to suit all business models.

3. Public and Private Usage

Although many businesses will want the sole use of their EV chargers, not all will. If you run a restaurant or a visitor attraction, for instance, then providing EV chargers for customers may be a good way to monetise their use of the car park. There again, you may have a forecourt where you will want to charge your own car while also levying a fee for others to do so at other times. If so, then check out the commercial options available, some of which also double-up as electronic advertising hoardings, before opting for a particular charger.

4. Installers and Suppliers

If you have decided on an EV charger manufacturer, then don’t immediately jump into purchasing your chosen system. Many businesses will benefit by turning to an approved installer instead. According to Go Electrix, an established EV charging equipment fitter that covers London and Essex, it is often more cost-effective to buy your equipment through the company that will go on to install it for you. This is because they tend to offer favourable pricing thanks to pre-existing arrangements with charger manufacturers.

In addition, when you buy your EV charger from an approved installer, you should be better placed to purchase the right equipment. Typically, professional installation companies will conduct site surveys at commercial premises so that the equipment you buy doesn’t just do the job for which you intend it but also looks good, as well.

electric-mobility-vacuum-technology

5. Three-Phase Versus One-Phase Installations

Note that not all commercial premises have three-phase wiring installations as many factories or other places of work that have a high energy demand may enjoy. This may place a limit on the sort of EV charging equipment you can invest in. Typically, single-phase wiring systems can only support up to 7kW chargers while three-phase ones often go up to 22kW. Therefore, if you are considering switching from fossil-fuel cars in your fleet to EVs, then you might also weigh up the merits of a complete rewire so that a three-phase installation will be possible.

6. Grant Funding

Finally, you need to know that you are not on your own when it comes to funding the installation of a commercial EV charger system at your place of work. This is because the government provides grants to businesses so long as the sort of EVs they have bought and the charging equipment they intend on installing are compliant. Many are, so there is still plenty of choice.

Check out the government’s OZEV scheme. Up to £15,000 is available for commercial EV charger installations per application. In fact, you could get as much as £500 per parking bay you convert into a charging zone. This dramatically reduces the amount of finance you’ll have to find from within your business development budget, of course, so don’t miss out.

How Blue Collars Are Turning Into Green Collars

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If there’s one thing that many people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about, it is the growing link between traditionally blue-collar jobs and green-collar technologies. However, this relationship is becoming quite a trend and there are many ways that these traditional businesses can take advantage of the burgeoning green revolution.

1. Use Government Money and Incentives

Before investing in any new technology or making any modifications to existing technology, review what free money opportunities are available to you. Everything from government grants to tax incentives is within reach of many companies. This is especially true in the automotive industry, where the focus is growing on manufacturing vehicles that do not rely on gasoline.

Green Finance

2. Be Realistic

When looking for ways to make your truck fleet more environmentally friendly, you have to be realistic with what you can do. There are many small things you can do to change behavior within the fleet itself that can change all aspects of fleet management, besides helping in improving fleet fuel efficiency.

Such things as improving driver training and making routes more efficient can all drastically reduce the carbon footprint that the company leaves. You can read about many green options in an online fleet management guide.

3. Green Power Sources

The blue-collar sector has long encouraged factories to reduce their energy usage and this viewpoint is only increasing. Alternative power sources such as wind or solar power not only reduces energy usage but have a positive effect on the bottom line of the company in question.

When you are dealing with investors and stockholders, saving money is definitely something in which you’ll want to partake.

green tech

4. Cloud Computing

For those blue-collar businesses that rely heavily on multiple servers to process their computerized data needs, the constant running of multiple servers can prove to be quite costly. This is why many are looking into cloud computing to solve their data center needs.

By virtualizing most of their computing, they are able to run only one server while everything else runs multiple images of numerous operating systems.

5. Reducing Waste

Many factories became experts in waste reduction a long time ago and other blue-collar businesses are now finally paying attention. Everything from recycling wastewater to the practice of reusing materials that are normally cast-off is being embraced in attempts to both save money and increase efficiency.

waste reduction in businesses

6. Green Replacements

When replacing either manufacturing equipment or office equipment that has broken down and no longer useful, many companies are choosing to purchase green alternatives in their place. This is a simple way to increase the green status of your company without exhibiting undue effort all at once.

Whether it be simple replacements such as LED lightbulbs or more specific acts such as installing ergonomic workstations for production line workers, there are numerous ways to become and stay green.

7. Listen To Your Customers

Your customers will almost certainly be among the first to let you know what changes you should be making. Today’s consumer is much more conscientious that the customers of the past and they place a high value on businesses that are actively working to become more environmentally responsible.