As BP finishes cementing the damaged Gulf of Mexico oil well this week, I thought it topical to take a look at what others are doing to preserve our environment and how they are using Business Analytics to refine and improve.
The Hague, home to the UN’s judicial capital has some ambitious goals. By 2050, they aim to be climate neutral, a town where transportation is free of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and where energy is cleanly generated.
Business Analytics are helping them quantify progress and explore options for improvement.
Here are highlights I captured from “A breath of fresh air in the UN’s judicial capital: The Hague rules in favor of climate-neutral future”
As with many organizations, they have opted for a practical approach towards sustainability focusing on the civil service and the council services, including buildings and vehicles. Their biggest emission sources are gas, electricity and heating in 120 buildings, electricity for public lighting and pumping stations, and fuel used by vehicles.
Initial analysis of energy usage amounted to 41,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents (CO2e).
Not all information is readily available today, but they have enough to get off to a good start. They recognize the need to use data from the same year and based on the same measurement units. This is the only way to effectively and carefully calculate CO2 equivalents.
Their use of Business Analytics provides an option to track and determine what causes change so that they may make appropriate adjustments over time.
As a council, they rent out many buildings. Moving forward each will have its own energy label helping to reinforce the need to be environmentally conscious. As simple step, much like the dietary labels you find on food, or on washers, refrigerators and the like.
After analyzing options and buying “green” electricity, they were able to reduce emissions levels to 16,000 tonnes – instantly!
In order to fund energy efficient options, the city makes use of investment credits. In other words, the savings realized are used to pay back the credit over time.
From green to gold
Creating a better environment is only half the story. The more you get into “sustainability” the more you realize it can save you money and provide a competitive advantage. It all starts with rethinking how you do business, creating a baseline analysis, then exploring options.
For more ideas and inspiration, I recommend checking out “The courage to lead” – an article I wrote last November after learning how DOW Chemical transformed a $1bn investment in sustainable practices into a $5bn return.
