大公司怎樣減少碳排放并從中盈利?
????全球能源巨擘西門子稱,自己可以通過減少碳排放來盈利。令人震驚,對吧? ????在9月28日晚間舉行的首屆《財富》能源頭腦風暴大會上,西門子美國分公司首席執行官埃里克?斯皮格爾表示,該公司計劃投資近1.1億美元來減少碳排放。但他堅持說,西門子借此可每年節省2000-3000萬美元,從而最終收回投資。 ????西門子上周宣布,計劃到2020年將碳排放量降低一半,到2030年實現零排放。要達到零排放目標,企業就需要確定自己的碳排放量,投資于減排項目,還需要通過投資外部項目來抵消自己無法削減的那些碳排放。 ????西門子在《財富》全球500強中排名第63位,在全球范圍內擁有4.5萬輛客車和5萬輛貨車。為達到上述目標,該公司計劃讓這些車輛變得更環保,并且投資于新的節能制造技術。斯皮格爾稱,西門子旗下的300家工廠都有望受益于新設備,比如更節能的馬達和泵。 ????選擇此路的企業當然不只西門子一家。比如,戴爾的重點工作之一就是在包裝和計算機方面更多地使用再生材料。 ????負責戴爾運營事務的副董事長杰夫·克拉克在大會主席臺上展示了一些用麥秸,也就是收割小麥的副產品制造的包裝材料。克拉克表示,和傳統包裝材料相比,用麥秸生產包裝材料可讓能耗降低40%,水耗減少90%,成本也更低。 ????他還說,戴爾最近啟動了一個新項目,內容是收集廢棄碳纖維并將其用于戴爾的經營活動和游戲型計算機。 ????除了循環利用,戴爾還在為大數據和分析等信息技術的應用投入資金,以此來減少設備能耗。克拉克說,計算機技術讓可持續發展“成為現實”。 ????他指出,對戴爾來說,減少碳排放和開展環保項目是個吸引新員工的好辦法,“這對正在走上工作崗位的八零后和九零后來說真的很重要”。 ????美國環境保護基金正在和企業共同致力于減少碳排放。該基金執行董事黛安·雷加斯指出,實現這些可持續發展目標并非總是輕而易舉,但更好的政策和企業管理方式有助于降低這項工作的難度。(財富中文網) ????譯者:Charlie ????校對:詹妮 |
????Siemens, the global energy giant, says it can make a profit by reducing its carbon emissions. Shocking, right? ????At Fortune’s Brainstorm E conference on Monday night, the CEO of Siemens’ U.S. division, Eric Spiegel said that his company plans to spend nearly $110 million lowering the company’s emissions. But he insisted that investment would eventually pay off through savings of between $20 million to $30 million annually. ????Siemens announced last week that it plans to slash its carbon emissions in half by 2020, and become carbon neutral by 203o. To become carbon neutral companies need to identify their emissions, invest in projects to reduce them, and also invest in external projects that offset any emissions a company can’t eliminate. ????To achieve its goals, Siemens, which is #63 on Fortune’s Global 500 list, plans to make its company vehicles—it has 45,000 and 50,000 cars and trucks worldwide—greener, and also invest in new energy efficient manufacturing technologies. The company has 300 factories that could benefit from more efficient gear like motors and pumps, said Spiegel. ????Siemens, of course, isn’t the only company taking this path. Dell, for example, has focused on making its packing and computers use more recycled materials. ????Dell’s vice chairman of operations, Jeff Clarke, showed off on stage some of Dell’s packaging made of wheat straw, a byproduct of wheat harvesting. Clarke said the wheat straw packaging uses 40% less energy to produce, 90% less water, and costs less to make than traditional packaging. ????Clarke also said that Dell had recently started a new program to take scraps of carbon fiber and use them in both Dell’s business and gaming computers. ????Beyond recycling, Dell has invested in using information technology—like big data and analytics—to reduce energy consumption in its facilities. Clarke called computing technology “an enabler” of sustainability. ????He pointed out that reducing carbon emissions, and running environmentally-focused programs at Dell, is a good way to attract new employees. “For millenials entering the workforce, this really matters to them,” said Clarke. ????It’s not always easy to meet these types of sustainability goals, said Diane Regas, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, which works with companies on lowering carbon emissions. But better policies, as well as business leadership, can help make the process less challenging. |