Energy management

Retailers need to save money to make money
Apr 26, 2011 Guardian
The spike in oil prices undoubtedly has piqued consumers' interest in energy-efficient products. When they visit retailers to make such purchases, however, the venues in which they shop are notorious for their energy waste. Lights are often left on 24 hours a day; refrigerators do a good of a job chilling shoppers as well as products; and packaging is often excessive. Furthermore, most consumers simply do not have an appreciation for how much energy is used transporting products from factory to warehouse to store. Yet, as the retail sector becomes even more competitive, thin margins make it incumbent on these companies to invest in initiatives that can both reduce energy consumption and maximise profits.
Walmart has won plenty of recognition for its energy efficiency initiatives. The world's largest retailer's trucking fleet delivered 77 million more cases in 2009 while driving 100 million less miles (161 million kilometres) in 2008. More stores boast everything from white roofs (which reflect sunlight), LED lighting installations, and additional energy-saving features that are specific to local climate conditions. Walmart's success, however, has not gone unnoticed by its competitors.

Minnesota-based Target also has aggressively worked on reducing its carbon footprint. Like Walmart, the chain partners with the US government's "Energy Star" coalition, and 150 of Target's stores and facilities have met the program's strict standards for energy efficiency. Low-wattage light fixtures illuminate most stores' floors, and enclosed refrigerated cases have sensors that only light them up when shoppers traipse by them. In addition, Target reduces its overall energy consumption by boosting recycling efforts at stores, which decreases the amount of waste sent to landfill. Meanwhile, at its headquarters, the central office has done its share to save electricity by installing an automated system that nudges computers into standby mode after business hours.

Just as Walmart's focuses on energy efficiency in its stores abroad, European retail chains with extensive global operations work on reducing their utility bills, too. Ahold, the Dutch conglomerate that operates both the omnipresent Albert Heijn in the Netherlands and Giant supermarkets along America's east coast, has incrementally reduced its CO2 emissions per square metre of sales area in the last few years. Design is a large part of Ahold's energy efficiency agenda. At Albert Heijn stores, integrated heating and cooling systems use wasted energy from cooling systems to heat the stores, eliminating the need for natural gas for heat. Across the pond, Ahold removed many unnecessary lighting fixtures in its Giant and Stop & Shop stores, reducing energy waste. Other stores benefit from daylight harvesting, a system in which photosensors reduce light fixtures' illuminance during daylight hours, which not only make the stores appear more airy, but reduces energy consumption. Finally, Ahold has given its stores the flexibility needed to experiment with alternative energy systems, from fuel cells to solar arrays to the purchase of renewable energy credits in places where renewable energy technologies are not feasible.

The investment in energy efficiency goals is not cheap. France-based Carrefour, for example, spends 30M euros (US$42.3M or GDP£26.4M) annually on energy efficiency programs, a tiny sum compared to its worldwide revenues (90 billion euros) but 3% of its net profit. But just as making small changes within a home can reduce consumers' energy bills, retailers' can reap sizeable dividends by attaching freezer doors, streamlining trucking fleets' delivery routes, and installing cost-effective lighting systems. Automation also can add to the bottom line by the quick detection of refrigerant leaks and shutting down information and communication systems when they are not needed.

While solar panel and wind turbine installations make for great public relations campaigns, they are at a pilot stage. Not only is this large equipment expensive to install, but retail stores face numerous constraints when they attempt to do so, including the fact that they often lease, not own, the land and buildings on which the equipment operates. With their vendors already supplying them with consumer products at the thinnest of margins, retailers will continue to invest in energy efficiency programs and experiment with renewable energy pilot projects. Cutting energy use is not only about good public relations, but – while economies are still weak and as energy prices are on the rise – about staying competitive

Electricity no longer a cheap commodity

Wasteful energy consumption isn’t what it used to be. Once merely an act of inattentiveness that held little consequence, gluttonous energy consumption practices now significantly impact the bottom line of both individuals and businesses. As energy costs continue to skyrocket and environmental concerns move to the fore, running an energy-efficient business becomes a mission-critical practice that not only saves significant money, but also helps create a positive identity that attracts publicity and ongoing business

Green Energy Alternative Energy

Take that!
This is the content of a short speech given on Friday night in Cape Town by Lewis Gordon Pugh OIG (a.k.a. the Human Polar Bear) about the proposed fracking for gas in the Karoo, by Shell. He received a sustained standing ovation !

Please read it to the end and pass it on if it matters to you….


Ladies and gentlemen, thank for the opportunity to address you. My name is Lewis Pugh.

This evening, I want to take you back to the early 1990's in this country. You may remember them well.

Nelson Mandela had been released. There was euphoria in the air. However, there was also widespread violence and deep fear. This country teetered on the brink of a civil war. But somehow, somehow, we averted it. It was a miracle!

And it happened because we had incredible leaders. Leaders who sought calm... Leaders who had vision. So in spite of all the violence, they sat down and negotiated a New Constitution.

I will never forget holding the Constitution in my hands for the first time..

I was a young law student at the University of Cape Town. This was the cement that brought peace to our land. This was the document, which held our country together. The rights contained herein, made us one.

I remember thinking to myself - never again will the Rights of South Africans be trampled upon.

Now every one of us - every man and every women - black, white, coloured, Indian, believer and non believer - has the right to vote. We all have the Right to Life. And our children have the right to a basic education. These rights are enshrined in our Constitution.

These rights were the dreams of Oliver Tambo. These rights were the dreams of Nelson Mandela. These rights were the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, of Desmond Tutu and of Molly Blackburn. These rights were our dreams.

People fought – and died – so that we could enjoy these rights today.

Also enshrined in our Constitution, is the Right to a Healthy Environment and the Right to Water. Our Constitution states that we have the Right to have our environment protected for the benefit of our generation and for the benefit of future generations.

Fellow South Africans, let us not dishonour these rights. Let us not dishonour those men and women who fought and died for these rights. Let us not allow corporate greed to disrespect our Constitution and desecrate our environment.

Never, ever did I think that there would be a debate in this arid country about which was more important – gas or water. We can survive without gas.... We cannot live without water.

If we damage our limited water supply – and fracking will do just that we will have conflict again here in South Africa. Look around the world. Wherever you damage the environment you have conflict.

Fellow South Africans, we have had enough conflict in this land – now is the time for peace.

A few months ago I gave a speech with former President of Costa Rica. Afterwards I asked him "Mr President, how do you balance the demands of development against the need to protect the environment?"

He looked at me and said : "It is not a balancing act. It is a simple business decision. If we cut down our forests in Costa Rica to satisfy a timber company, what will be left for our future?"

But he pointed out : "It is also a moral decision. It would be morally wrong to chop down our forests and leave nothing for my children and my grandchildren."

Ladies and gentlemen, that is what is at stake here today: Our children's future. And that of our children s children.

There may be gas beneath our ground in the Karoo. But are we prepared to destroy our environment for 5 to 10 years worth of fossil fuel and further damage our climate?

Yes, people will be employed – but for a short while. And when the drilling is over, and Shell have packed their bags and disappeared, then what? Who will be there to clean up? And what jobs will our children be able to eke out?

Now Shell will tell you that their intentions are honourable. That fracking in the Karoo will not damage our environment. That they will not contaminate our precious water. That they will bring jobs to South Africa.

That gas is clean and green. And that they will help secure our energy supplies.

When I hear this – I have one burning question. Why should we trust them? Africa is to Shell what the Gulf of Mexico is to BP.


Shell, you have a shocking record here in Africa. Just look at your operations in Nigeria. You have spilt more than 9 million barrels of crude oil into the Niger Delta. That's twice the amount of oil that BP spilt into the Gulf of Mexico.

You were found guilty of bribing Nigerian officials – and to make the case go away in America - you paid an admission of guilt fine of US$48 million.

And to top it all, you stand accused of being complicit in the execution of Nigeria's leading environmental campaigner – Ken Saro-Wira and 8 other activists.

If you were innocent, why did you pay US$15.5 million to the widows and children to settle the case out of Court?

Shell, the path you want us to take us down is not sustainable. I have visited the Arctic for 7 summers in a row. I have seen the tundra thawing.

I have seen the retreating glaciers. And I have seen the melting sea ice. And I have seen the impact of global warming from the Himalayas all the way down to the low-lying Maldive Islands. Wherever I go – I see it.

Now is the time for change. We cannot drill our way out of the energy crisis. The era of fossil fuels is over. We must invest in renewable energy. And we must not delay!

Shell, we look to the north of our continent and we see how people got tired of political tyranny. We have watched as despots, who have ruled ruthlessly year after year, have been toppled in a matter of weeks.

We too are tired. Tired of corporate tyranny. Tired of your short term, unsustainable practices.

We watched as Dr Ian Player, a game ranger from Natal, and his friends, took on Rio Tinto (one of the biggest mining companies in the world) and won.

And we watched as young activists from across Europe, brought you down to your knees, when you tried to dump an enormous oil rig into the North Sea.

Shell, we do not want our Karoo to become another Niger Delta.

Do not underestimate us. Goliath can be brought down. We are proud of what we have achieved in this young democracy – and we are not about to let your company come in and destroy it.

So let this be a Call to Arms to everyone across South Africa, who is sitting in the shadow of Goliath: Stand up and demand these fundamental human rights promised to you by our Constitution. Use your voices - tweet, blog, petition, rally the weight of your neighbours and of people in power.

Let us speak out from every hilltop. Let us not go quietly into this bleak future.

Let me end off by saying this - You have lit a fire in our bellies, which no man or woman can extinguish. And if we need to, we will take this fight all the way from your petrol pumps to the very highest Court in this land. We will take this fight from the farms and towns of the Karoo to the streets of London and Amsterdam. And we will take this fight to every one of your shareholders. And I have no doubt, that in the end, good will triumph over evil.