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Sunday, 3 January 2010
Happy New Year!
Looking back, 2009 was a brilliant year for Terra Infirma. We worked with some great new clients like the NHS, Aker Solutions Ltd, Middlesbrough Council and Innovation Scout, while continuing working with long term clients like the EU and the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme. We had our rebranding exercise to polish up our image and installed a new phone system. And our turnover kept growing, despite the ongoing recession (we also spent more on the business than ever before).Personally, my big story was the birth of Jimmy, my second son. Coming a close second was the publication of book #1, The Three Secrets of Green Business and getting about half of #2, The Green Executive, written as well. I also launched the Green Gurus website and added profiles of 10 environmental pioneers. Hint: this could just possibly become book #3 - you read it here first.
Looking forward to 2010, we're starting with the book launch at Newcastle Business School on 28 Jan (e-mail us for details or to book a seat), and, to be confirmed, one in London soon after. As mentioned, I hope to have The Green Executive finished by June. Or July. Hopefully. Which means a publication date of Spring 2011. We are also planning to have some quality new content on the website in the Spring of this year. And of course, the Low Carbon Agenda will continue to provide unique insights, news and tips for free throughout the year - this month we'll be looking at peak oil before going on to low carbon strategy development and leadership.
The wider sustainability picture will almost certainly move on rapidly through 2010. OK, Copenhagen was a flop - or a 'Klimafarce' as the Danish press dubbed it - but it did show that the world was serious about taking on this issue - and at a Premier level, not just lip service from environmental ministries. Proactive businesses will continue to move ahead of the pack, green spending will continue to rise (as it has through the recession) and laggards will fall further behind as they lose business to greener rivals. The big questions that remain are whether the economy will be rebuilt as green as everyone claims it will be, whether green technologies will go mainstream (solar PV, electric vehicles, smart grids et al) and, here in the UK, whether the result of the general election will have any effect on this.
So what are your green goals for 2010? You could sign your organisation up to the 10:10 campaign, you could set up a staff committee, you could appoint a director level staff member to lead on green. You could set an ambitious target, develop your strategy or develop a new green product. Whatever it is, if you need some assistance, you know where to find us!
Labels: green executive, green gurus, news, terra infirma, three secrets of green business
# posted by Gareth Kane : 21:05
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Thursday, 12 February 2009
UK Govt Announces Green Home Makeovers
Today the UK Government announced a package of green measures for every home in the UK. For some reason this will not start until 2013, which would be after at least one general election, but as the other two main political parties are proposing similar measures, this is unlikely to go away.Very welcome, but maybe a little more haste would be in order.
There's plenty of work to do too, with the Energy Savings Trust estimating there are 7.3m cavity walls that could be filled with insulation, 7m solid walls that could be insulated, and 12.9m lofts which do not have the recommended depth of insulation, and 4.5m G-rated (the least efficient) gas boilers.
Labels: home improvements, insulation, news
# posted by Gareth Kane : 15:38
1 Comments
Friday, 28 November 2008
Brown ditches clean tech for home insulation
A couple of weeks ago, Gordon Brown was trailing a big investment in green tech as part of yesterday's pre-budget report, but it seems to have been quietly dropped in place of a boost in home insulation. There is a certain amount of logic in this in the current climate - an investment in clean tech may only deliver in economic and environmental terms several years into the future whereas the insulation scheme, if done properly, will deliver economic and environmental benefits to the lower income sections of the community with a much quicker return on investment.Barak Obama has made a similar promise on clean tech investment - it will be very interesting to see how this good intention manifests itself when the rubber hits the road next year.
Labels: gordon brown, low carbon economy, news
# posted by Gareth Kane : 11:50
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Friday, 7 November 2008
Warning: Phoney Environment Agency Inspector
This came from BERR via NEPIC, so I assume it is not a hoax:Dear All
The Environment Agency has alerted us that someone claiming to be from the EA has been trying to gain access to certain oil refineries and chemicals plants. The individual concerned has tried to gain access to installations regulated under PPC and COMAH. The person has used three names so far Barry Thorpe, Alex Ross and Keith Johnson but all with the same mobile number.
EA Regional Directors have been advised to make contact through their PPC teams with the sites that they regulate to advise them of these approaches and to inform them if others occur, so that we can hopefully track down the individual. The police have been informed.
Thanks
Chris Barrell,
Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
Labels: environment agency, news
# posted by Gareth Kane : 17:24
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Friday, 31 October 2008
New Product Carbon Footprinting Standard
The BSi, along with the Carbon Trust and DEFRA, have just released the PAS2050 carbon footprinting standard for goods and services along with a guide to its use. You can download it for free from the BSi website.Labels: carbon footprint, green products, news
# posted by Gareth Kane : 06:07
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Friday, 18 July 2008
Bits & Pieces
There's all sorts of news at Terra Infirma...1. We've set up the 'Green Business Club' on the business networking site Ecademy for those who see environmental performance as a competitive advantage.
2. The long trailed e-book "The Green Business Bible" is in the very last stages of completeness (cover design, final proofing) and will be launched by the end of the month. Low Carbon Agenda subscribers will be eligible for a substantial discount, so make sure you are signed up - it's free and officially "awesome".
3. We're in negotiation with a number of very prestigious organisations for new 'Lean, Mean & Green' programmes - the effective way of improving your environmental performance.
4. We're getting a make-over in the design and branding front - although it'll be a couple of months before you see the results.
And, it's the start of the holiday period, so if you're off somewhere nice, have a good'un!
Labels: green business bible, lean mean and green, news, terra infirma
# posted by Gareth Kane : 06:10
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A highly accessible, practical guide to those who want to introduce sustainability into their business or organization quickly and effectively.
