“Global Players - What does it mean to be green?”
I attended this event at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, CA on February 13, 2008. The event was arranged by the German American Business Association of California (GABA), Lufthansa and the MIT Alumni Club. It was informative and encouraging to learn about sustainable business practices at Google, PG&E, Lufthansa and BMW. Measuring the scale and accountability of each company’s practices is not my intention in this post - just merely to share highlights of the discussion.
Know More:
The panel discussion commenced with Jasmin Ansar, PG&E’s Manager of Environmental Policy. A focus of the discussion concerned the mixed views prevalent in society about the profitability of corporate social responsibility (CSR) versus conventional policies. Ansar indicated that the electric sector is responsible for 30-40% of greenhouse gas emissions (ghg) on the national level. Therefore, PG&E’s policy reflects their obligation to sustainability because “in the long-term, it’s the only way to go.” Besides diminishing the corporation’s environmental impact, CSR has provided other benefits for the company such as: enhanced learning, improved strategic thinking, and builds trust, confidence and partnerships. An example of the Environmental Justice Policy entails limiting pollution levels in communities by the Port of Oakland. In hopes of reducing the level of harmful pollutants contributing to asthma and other health issues in the area, PG&E converted the fleet diesel trucks to liquefied natural gas.
The discourse was followed by Carleen Goeckel, Lufthansa’s Regional Sales Manager. The focus of the presentation pertained to Lufthansa balancing their goals of global expansion in a sustainable manner. To maintain balance and meet their goals, the Lufthansa approach entails ‘leadership and vision’. The company developed an Environmental Concepts Department in 1996 that has contributed to the accomplishments and goals. A few are highlighted below and are covered more in depth in the Sustainability Report Balance 2007:
- Goals to reduce CO2 emissions by 33% this year and by 38% by the year 2012.
- Utilization of intelligent mobility concepts that combines air and rail transportation in Germany and other European locations.
- Technological progress include; investments in €12 billion in alternative fuels for aircraft, usage of an the alternative fuel-operated AirBus 380 in the United States by the year 2009 and future services from the Boeing 747-8 model.
- Inclusion of the carbon offset program myclimate.org
- Improved infrastructure and more efficient use of air space (SES) has resulted in 132,000 tons of fuel saved per year in reducing taxiing and delays at Frankfurt Airport.
The next presenter, Rob Passaro with the BMW Group, emphasized the importance of the company maintaining sustainable standards due to the sector’s inherent role as a greenhouse gas emitter. The company’s corporate responsibility is reflective by their commitment to the principles of the 2001 UN Global Compact (which pertains to human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption). As Pasarro states, “sustainability is as important as the company’s annual financial disclosures because it affects the ability to maintain the business.” BMW’s track record has proven sustainability can yield economic success. The BMW Sustainable Value Report, “allows expressing and managing sustainability performance in monetary terms. It is the first approach worldwide to follow a value-oriented logic using opportunity costs.”
Abiding by the sustainable policies, BWM continues to excel in producing ecologically-efficient products.
- Enhancements to conventional valve trains (Valvetronic, High Precision Injection)
- Lightweight construction from thermoplastics enhances fuel efficiency and improves the car handling.
- Efficient Dynamics implemented in all products to reduce fuel usage, tire resistance, etc.
- Provide free car recycling services in Europe
- Working towards their Clean Energy Strategy for long-term hydrogen vehicles.
- Collaborative work with Chrysler and General Motors in hydrogen trains, which will be launched in 2009.
The panel discussion concluded with Google’s Green Energy Czar, Bill Weihl. The presentation entitled “Green at Google: Why and What?” highlighted the company’s sustainable practices. In relation to the prior panelists, Google’s sustainable practices are relatively new with the inception of the Green Strategy Group in 2005. The focus of the Group is to research and deploy high performing technologies that can make a difference. In such a short amount of time, the company’s achievements are vast and impressive.
- Utilize energy efficient computers, (the typical desktop wastes 50% of its energy), which saves the company immensely in costs.
- Installed 1.6mw of solar panels at the Google campus, which will pay itself off within about seven years and will offset the installation expense.
- Food provided oncampus is organic and locally grown within a 150 mile radius
- The private transit system of bio-diesel powered shuttles is serviced by 1500 employees per day
- Free bikes provided to staff in European locations.
- The RechargeIT project of the Google Foundation converts hybrid cars into plug-in hybrids, which has already demonstrated 50-100% improvement in gas mileage.
- As Weihl states, “Renewable energy is cheaper than coal in California.” In 2006, Google started tracking their ecological footprint and by 2007 were carbon neutral. Their Clean Energy Goal is to operate on 50mw of renewable energy by the year 2012.
Notable QuotesBill Weihl, Google
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“I worry what we are doing today is not enough.”
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“We can’t offset or conserve our way out of climate change but offsets can slow the process down and buy more time to come up with technology to get rid of emissions.”
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“Sustainability is a trade off of short-term costs vs. long-term investments. In the long-term, the investments will pay off with economic growth required for continuing sustainability.”
Rob Passaro, BMW Group
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“Vote with your dollar, don’t buy inefficient cars.”
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“If society is affected by negative environmental problems, this directly affects BMW’s business.”
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“The risk of not doing anything (about sustainable issues) means failing in the market.”
Carleen Goeckel, Lufthansa
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“Being sustainable is an economic incentive for Lufthansa. The airline industry is difficult in terms of continuous increases in fuel and CO2 emissions. To be competitive in the industry requires fuel efficient operations.”
My Know How:
Public panel discussions always allow community members a chance to engage with the experts by voicing their comments and questions. Suffice to say, some opposition (by Green Guerrillas Against Greenwash GGAG) was directed to PG&E about their “sustainable practices.” On a whole however, all of the public comments pertained to a deep level of concern about the sustainability of California’s resources.
In relation to urban sustainable tourism, each company is either a direct or indirect stakeholder in San Francisco’s tourism industry. As a major airline, Lufthansa services San Francisco International Airport bringing tourists from domestic and international locations. The sustainability of airline operations is vital in reducing emissions and mitigating climate change impacts. As the primary power company in San Francisco, PG&E’s impact spans across every tourism stakeholder category (hotels, restaurants, stores, etc.). Diminishing the City’s tourism-derived energy consumption and emissions is largely dependent on the sustainability of this company. As a high-end company, BMW is a preferred mode of transportation (rental services) for business and middle to upper class leisure travelers. Eco-efficient vehicles not only decrease emission levels, but also promote the economic viability of sustainable businesses. Google dominates the search engine industry and is utilized by tourists for researching about San Francisco’s attractions, activities, and options for trip planning. As a global entity, the online services can promote, generate awareness and provide education about sustainable tourism practices in San Francisco. Although not intended to be an event about sustainable tourism, the correlation between panelists and the travel industry was evident. This is just another example of how the sustainability of all companies across the economic spectrum impact tourism.
Tags: BMW, economy, GABA, Google, Lufthansa, MIT Alumni Club, PG&E, San Francisco tourism, sustainable business, sustainable tourism