Filed under: Etc., Green Culture, Carbon Offset, Green Daily

The first hints that low-mpg cars were sinful in the eyes of the Catholic Church came last fall, when a spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that the Pope would use an April 2008 address to the UN as a way to speak to the moral implications of living a greener life. Today, the Vatican has gone a bit further and told its followers that polluting the earth should be considered a “new” sin.

Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, whom Reuters describes as “the Vatican’s number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance,” said over the weekend that pollution ranks up there with human cloning and other genetic manipulation as barriers to heaven. There have got to be about ten thousand great editorial cartoons generated by his statement.

As we know, the Vatican became the first country to fully offset CO₂ emissions last summer by installing photovoltaic cells and buying carbon offset credits. If I had centuries’ worth of booty stored in my basement, I could probably afford all those PVs as well.

[Source: Reuters / Yahoo]

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Filed under: Carbon Offset

Delivery services like DHL are very efficient operations that get your package from point A to point B at the lowest possible cost, but the company’s mega-fleet spews CO₂ by the truckload. In the Asia Pacific region, DHL has started Gogreen Express to give environmentally conscious shippers the ability to choose carbon-neutral package delivery. Using Gogreen Express is as simple as paying an additional three percent fee on top of the cost of the overall bill. DHL then invests the money into green projects like vehicle technology, solar panels and reforestation. It’s definitely not electric-powered delivery vehicles, but at least it’s a start. There is no word at this time whether the option will be offered here in the U.S.

[Source: Times of India]

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Filed under: HUMMER, Carbon Offset, Legislation and Policy

California bill SB 1374, if passed and signed into a law, would allow any car to join the HOV sticker program as long as that vehicle is carbon neutral. This would mean someone driving alone in a Hummer could legally be allowed into the HOV lane, if the Hummer’s emissions were offset. Senator Jim Battin officially proposed the legislation but his press release - which includes lines like “every owner of a polluting, flashy, fuel sucking car” - makes me think he is not serious. The law is starting to grow on me anyway. Why shouldn’t a carbon neutral car - even a Hummer - be allowed in the HOV lane?

[Source: LAist]

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Filed under: Biodiesel, Kia, Carbon Offset, Africa

Let’s set this story up by placing the players on a map. First, Kia, which is a South Korean automobile company. Secong, Mali, which is a country in Africa. Third, Kia Netherlands, which sells the Korean cars in Holland.

Now that we’re clear on who’s where, here’s the story: According to AfricaNews, Kia Netherlands is offering new car buyers a chance to purchase carbon offsets by funding biodiesel production in Mali. New Kia buyers in the Netherlands can calculate their annual CO₂ emissions and donate money (between 15 and 65 Euros) to a Dutch charity, Trees for Travel, which will then plant, among other things, jatropha plants in Mali. The oil from the jatropha seeds is then processed into biodiesel and distributed locally. It may take a global network to organize this scheme, but on the face of it, it makes a lot of sense.

[Source: AfricaNews]

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Filed under: Etc., Carbon Offset, Green Daily

It’s a minor change, but over at TerraPass, the carbon-offset-powers-that-be have added a comparison bar to the online emissions calculator. Now, when you input information to figure out how much your indulgence TerraPass CO₂ offset sticker will cost you, you’ll also see a yellow bar that compares your annual emissions with the average U.S. car. The blog entry that announces this addition also asks us for our input on the change. I like it, but would be very interested in seeing a bar that represents the average TerraPass customer’s vehicles. Are the users driving eco-cars or not? Your thoughts?

Related:

• CO₂ offset milestone: 100,000 TerraPasses sold
• Survey of TerraPass members finds they’re not buying away their guilt

[Source: TerraBlog]

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Filed under: Etc., Ethanol, Carbon Offset, Green Daily

We’ve covered some of the green car items that’ll be on TV this afternoon, including an ad for the Yukon Hybrid, but what about the people who actually go to the game? What sort of cleaner driving angle can they add to their day? A couple, but I’m not convinced anyone will ever be able to call the Super Bowl an eco-friendly event.

Still, there are a few green spots to the big game. Fox Business reports that this year’s Super Bowl, like last year’s, will use renewable energy certificates to indirectly offset carbon emissions. Also, at least one “high-profile Super Bowl party” will be a “100% environmentally sustainable event this year.” According to FB, that means that, “The green celebration will be a ‘zero net waste event,’ meaning that everything from the cups to the tablecloths - even human waste - will be processed and reused in some way.”

From Auto Spectator, we learn that the first E85 station opened up this past week in Phoenix, where the game will be played. The pump is operated by Western States Petroleum, which also provides a lot of biodiesel to Arizona.

The Fox Business story ends with a fitting look at the football players, who aren’t exactly known for their green work. As Brendan Sexton of the environmental consulting firm Sexton Company says that the players need to change vehicles. Kind of.

“Maybe we’ll get them into some hybrid SUVs. That would be a step in the right direction,” he told FB.

All right, kick off is in just a few minutes…

Related:

• Yukon Hybrid Super Bowl ad includes imagery from 1976 animated short
• Malibu, Vue hybrid Superbowl ads might not air because of low inventory
• Videos: Referees against SUVs in Brussels
• Making FA Cup 2007/08 soccer season carbon neutral
• It’s the Colts, the Bears and Segways in Super Bowl action this weekend (2007 post)
• Football fans also getting hit by ethanol blitz (2007 post)

[Source: Fox Business, Auto Spectator]

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Filed under: Green Culture, Carbon Offset, Green Daily

If I can’t buy a hybrid or get an EV for ’round town needs, then perhaps a carbon offset sticker is the right move. That’s what at least 100,000 people have decided, according to the leading consumer/driver carbon offset vendor, TerraPass. Earlier this month, TerraPass sold its 100,000th TerraPass to one Heraldo Botelho of Palo Alto, CA. It was Botelho’s first TerraPass and it offset a flight he took to visit his family. Like so many other TerraPassers, he said he wanted to do something for the environment, and carbon offset was his solution.

[Source: TerraBlog]

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Filed under: Carbon Offset, European Union, Japan, USA

NYSE-Euronext, the company that manages the NY Market Exchange, as well as some European markets and French savings bank Caisse des Depots, have announced Bluenext. It’s a carbon rights trading scheme which labels itself as “the global environmental exchange,” although they define themselves as able to trade any environmental product. Basically, they try to be like the stock market but for CO₂ rights.

Bluenext currently manages a CO₂ emission rights spot which is the leader in Europe. The company also plans to open a credit and stock options trading system, as soon as Euronext and Caisse des Depots finish linking their international interconnection systems.

Related:

• Carbon Catalog update, now it’s twice as good
• Japan to buy carbon rights in Hungary

[Source: Agencia EFE]

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Filed under: Etc., Flex-Fuel, Hybrid, Carbon Offset

Enterprise Rent-a-car has a couple of green initiatives going. First of all, it has a good number of fuel-efficient vehicles (defined as those that get more than 28 mpg, as shown above) including 5,000 hybrids and 73,000 flex-fuel vehicles. Then, it’s offering carbon-offsetting for all its customers, which is claimed to be equivalent of “planting the trees in New York’s Central Park every 10 days for the next 50 years.”

This sounds nice, doesn’t it? Well, the fact is that the company can’t fully implement this policy. First of all, its flex-fuel vehicles seldom run on E85 due to the lack of fueling stations. Second, less than one in 10 customers so far are paying the extra $1.25 per rental to offset their carbon emissions. And let’s not forget that none of Enterprise’s vehicle providers (Toyota, Saturn and Ford) can supply its demand. As Pat Farrell, Enterprise’s vice president for corporate responsibility says “We’ve told our manufacturing partners that we want many, many more. You just can’t get them.”

Related:

• VeraSun Energy and Enterprise will bring ethanol to rental cars
• Enterprise’s 50 million tree plan. What are you doing for Arbor Day?

[Source: CNN money]

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Filed under: Land Rover, Carbon Offset

Land Rover is very fond of its CO₂ offsetting program and has decided to launch a campaign with a website to promote it, as well as celebrating the marque’s 60th anniversary. The program not only plants trees but also includes humanitarian projects, as well as a window of Land Rover’s statements on sustainable manufacturing and cleaner engines that produce less CO₂.

One of the nice features of the website is that you can find the official information about the LRX concept recently unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show (which Land Rover states produces 120 g of CO₂ per km) as well as the full details, on a world map, of Land Rover’s projects.

Full press release after the jump.

Related:

• Study commissioned by Land Rover finds small cars are bad for the environment
• Land Rover’s orangutan business
• Geneva Motor Show: Details of Land Rover’s new CO2 Offset program

[Source: Land Rover]LAND ROVER HIGHLIGHTS ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS

Gaydon, Warwickshire 17 January 2008 - Land Rover is today launching its Our Planet communications campaign which sets out the progress the company has made in improving its environmental performance and a commitment to maintain the momentum with technical innovation and the world’s biggest CO2 offset programme. In addition, Our Planet will highlight Land Rover’s global conservation and humanitarian projects. Full details can be found at www.landrover.co.uk/ourplanet.

The Our Planet campaign comes as Land Rover celebrates its 60th anniversary, a time to look back over its heritage, celebrate the present (with the limited edition SVX Defender) and embrace the challenges of the future with the LRX Concept car being shown at the Detroit Motor Show this week. This has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions below 120 g/km thanks to an efficient footprint, lightweight material and hybrid technology.

Land Rover takes its responsibility to the environment seriously. Emissions have been cut with new models and, together with Jaguar, it’s spending £700m on technology specifically aimed at reducing CO2.

Technology is just one aspect of Land Rover’s integrated approach to reducing its impact on the planet and conserving habitats and wildlife. Land Rover’s carbon dioxide offset programme, for example, is the biggest consumer offset initiative in the world and covers all manufacturing emissions and customer use in the UK, with a number of other markets to follow suit soon.

Land Rover is proud of its association with conservation and exploration bodies like the Born Free Foundation, the Royal Geographical Society, the China Exploration and Research Society, Biosphere Expeditions and EarthWatch. In addition, our partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies with the Land Rover G4 Challenge will raise over £1m over the next two challenges.

The Our Planet campaign will enable Land Rover to demonstrate its commitment to reducing its impact on the environment and improving the living conditions for the peoples and wildlife of Our Planet.

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