Published in The Scotsman, Monday, 15 September 2008

 

Has carbon disappeared off the corporate radar, as businesses switch to short-term survival mode? Has the eco-director of today sacrificed his or her green credentials despite customers and clients still demanding action from the businesses they buy from?
It’s worth having a think about how carbon action is delivered through today’s corporates. As with most businesses issues, leadership comes from the top, and the boardroom is often where strategic green vision thrives. Bryan Donaghey, Managing Director of Diageo Scotland, which owns 27 distilleries, employs four and a half thousand people, and produces a third of the country’s whisky output, has been described as a climate change evangelist. When asked about his green leanings, he said, ‘It makes sense on so many levels. The whisky industry is part of Scotland’s heritage, including its wonderful natural environment. Being responsible is what’s best for the company, and what’s expected by customers. And, as a family man, I think about my children’s future. I am in a fortunate position of being able to influence the business that I am a part of.’
Corporate Social Responsibility and environment managers are the foot soldiers who carry this vision forward on the ground. At Scottish and Newcastle (S&N), climate change is also high on the agenda. Richard Naylor, UK environment manager, explained, ‘In the past three or four years, senior management mindset has shifted, influenced by expectation of the supermarkets, public perception and energy costs. Now, the environmental agenda is no longer seen as a risk, but, rather, a competitive investment opportunity.’
Has the recent downturn negatively influenced activity? Not for many. Diageo considers the cost of carbon in all its major decision-making. As a result, at Cameronbridge in Fife, a &pound65 million biodigestion and biomass plant is being planned, which will use waste residues from barley to create natural gas and fuel – both of which will be used to run a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant. If all goes according to plan, the site will be entirely self-sustaining in power. Diageo believes this will be the largest single investment in renewable technology by a non-utility company in the UK. This plant has in fact become more viable over the last year or two as fossil fuel costs have risen. A similar development is taking place at Roseisle, in Speyside.
Research and development investment across technologies is critical to the performance of some industries, however. With transport fuel as the least advanced renewable energy, the sector is faced with a huge challenge. FirstGroup, with headquarters in Aberdeen, is the largest transport company in the world. Last year, it transported 2.5 billion people on trains, and city, Greyhound and yellow school buses. Terri Vogt, Group Head of CSR, explains the options, and limitations, ‘Training and efficiency improvements are the first route to reducing emissions, and we will always push better driving styles and vehicle replacements. We have switched to 5% blended biofuels for our buses in the UK. However, concerns over the environmental and social impact of biofuels mean we cannot yet make a commitment to go beyond the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) in this area.’ She continues, ‘Diesel-hybrid vehicles are being tested at the moment, and are expected to form a growing part of our fleet from 2012 onwards. Hydrogen fuel-cell powered buses, which have been tested in London, are popular and reliable, but it is difficult to predict when the infrastructure will be in place to make a large-scale change. We are keeping a close eye on developments.’ Despite the limitations, The First Group has still set itself a 25% carbon dioxide reduction target for the UK bus division, and 20% for the train division, by 2020.
There is increasing green pull from the consumer level. Richard Naylor, of Scottish and Newcastle, believes, ‘The era of carbon footprints of products is coming’. The brewer has recently undertaken a life cycle carbon footprint of two of its drinks. The findings are illuminating. For canned Fosters lager, over half of the carbon emissions are attributable to the aluminium can, and less than a quarter to the brewing process. In contrast, raw materials (including barley and water), account for under a tenth of the footprint. A bottle of Bulmers cider, has a similar life cycle story, with the glass bottle comprising over half the footprint. Draught beer presents another challenge. Four fifths of the emissions from a pint of Fosters are created from energy for cooling — in particular, the sleeve around tubes, which bring the beer from cellar to tap.
This allows the brewer to focus action where it counts. It has started with its own operations, installing biomass CHP plants at the Machester and Tadcaster breweries, reducing CO2 emissions by 70%. Customer expectation of packaging and presentation, avoiding contamination, and pub ownership, means to reduce other life cycle impacts will be a long and challenging process. In partnership with British Waterways, S&N is opening a series of ‘eco-pubs’, including the Boathouse, at Auchinstarry. This uses residual heat from the adjoining canal to generate hot water and heating, whilst a reed bed treats waste naturally.
Adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change poses another challenge. Greenvale potatoes, which employs 200 people in Scotland, and has 35 contracted growers, supplies many of the potatoes we buy from major supermarkets. Stephen Rennie, environment manager, explained , ‘We’ve noticed the weather has increasingly affected crop in the past decade or so. Extreme events are more frequent, and generally, temperatures are less predictable.’ Potato blight is a risk with warmer, wetter weather, and Greenvale is at the forefront of developing new, more resistant varieties with the Scottish Crop Research Institute at its Perth centre, such as the Lady Balfour potato. And action doesn’t stop in thinking about adaptation. Greenvale has calculated the life cycle impact of two of its product lines. Again, the results are interesting – almost half of the carbon emissions from the humble spud, are created when we cook it.
Scottish Water, a publicly owned company, sits at the centre of the country’s water cycle, supplying 2.3 billion litres of drinking water, and removing nearly a billion litres of waste water, per day. Climate change adaptation is very high on the agenda there, too. Mark Williams, environment manager, explained how climate change fits amongst its priorities, ‘We have a public duty to treat water carefully to meet stringent quality standards, and to cut down on leaks – and hence our carbon footprint, too. A close eye is being kept on work by

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