Renewable energy partnership launched for Southern and East Africa

Renewable energy partnership launched for Southern and East Africa

Green Marketing and Green Advertising

Green marketing is not just green advertising. Nor is it, for the cynical, “greenwashing”, at least in its principled forms. Green marketing is, in part, about using the persuasive and communicative media we have available to us to help people make more sustainable choices and help organizations and companies understand what the market needs are for their goods and services. Green marketing can involve product development and internal re-organization to meet the needs for sustainable products and sustainable ways of doing business.

As concerns about our environment and fuel prices grow, we have seen a growing crop of green advertising initiatives. Notable in green advertising currently are ads for both devices and organizations that are emphasizing either actual products or future intentions to introduce green products. There is as well an increase in public service announcements that advertise the concern of the networks, the Ad Council, and public entities about the environment and global warming.

One piece of green advertising is the now well-known spot with Kermit the Frog advertising the Ford Escape Hybrid. The actual greener characteristics of the product are implied in the ad, though the word “hybrid” communicates greater efficiency and lower emissions. The Escape Hybrid does in fact deliver lower emissions and MPG compared to other SUVs in its class. In terms then of the ad content, we are then amused by the play on the familiar“It’s not Easy being Green” that the Escape makes it easy to be green.

BP, one of the more forward-looking of the major oil companies, has been leading the US market by provoking questions in a variety of media including the web about viewers/users/readers “carbon footprint”, a term that is probably more familiar in countries where the Kyoto protocol has been ratified. Additional ads in BP’s current arsenal interview the public about where they think an oil/energy company should be heading. While BP owns and markets solar panels through Home Depot and solar installers, its main business is still in the extraction of petroleum, so this campaign reflects something of the reality of the company as it switches gears. No concrete greener products are offered but at the same time the campaign informs the public about the direction of where BP is moving relative to other oil companies.

Tesla Motors has in a way the opposite, higher quality problem of having ONLY a greener product to offer the market. Tesla is a California-based start-up that is building electric vehicles for the high-end and eventually the mass market. As Tesla’s new $85K-100K roadster will be one of the greenest production vehicles out there by far, transparency on their content-rich website yields a great deal of positive green information about their product and company. Particularly notable are Tesla chairman Elon Musk’s blog which lets us in on the Tesla “secret”and Tesla founders, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning’s white paper. The rich detail on the site only adds to the attraction of the product that will start delivery sometime next year.

If Tesla is the model for a company with only greener products, what about a company with a wide range of holdings that are not necessarily green? General Electric, the company that Thomas Edison founded is one of the biggest companies in the world and is also a classic and highly successful conglomerate with properties in heavy industry, in media content (NBC Universal), in household appliances, in finance and in healthcare technology. While GE as any large 20th century industrial company has had its problems with emissions and waste disposal, General Electric’s technological and energy base is by luck AND design relatively cleaner than traditional large automobile companies or oil companies.

In addition to its technology base and expertise with electricity which has turned out to be an efficient and greener energy carrier, GE has the advantage of being one of the top producers of some of the key technologies (in particular wind turbines and to a lesser extent diesel hybrid locomotives) needed for our advance to a more sustainable economy. As we move away from petroleum use, GE will continue to benefit from its dominant market position in electricity generation equipment of all types.

GE’s Ecomagination initiative, a complex plan that included marketing and strategic policy decisions, was in part conceived by the GreenOrder sustainable business consulting firm. Ecomagination is both a series of advertisements for GE products and GE as a brand and a series of company wide initiatives to improve the company’s product line and environmental footprint. GE has committed to cut greenhouse gas emission intensity by 30% by 2008 andabsolute greenhouse emissions by 1% worldwide by 2012 which would otherwise have grown substantially from 2004 levels.

Ecomagination advertising is just the tip of the iceberg. Not only do we have dancing elephants(not my favorite ad) and sooty locomotives (particularly well written and funny) in current TV ads but GE has integrated its efforts to create more sustainable technologies and has a VP of Ecomagination to coordinate the efforts. GE has also upped R&D spending on sustainable technologies. Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO is personally involved as well in the Ecomagination program.

While GE is uniquely positioned to play a major role in a sustainable economy, it takes the initiative through its Ecomagination campaign and re-organization to capitalize more fully on its unique assets and market niche. Can other companies with a diversity of assets do the same? Of course, but it will take more initiative. time, and R&D for some of the major industrial combines and players to be able to orient their businesses in the direction that GE has taken.

What have we learned? For one, the major supports to a successful green marketing initiative are, of course, greener products and research programs. Whether these products have emerged through careful market research or through the inherent unfolding of a company’s original mission and R&D program becomes irrelevant when it is time to show the market the benefits. Green advertising can help to broadcast intentions and educate the public even when a greener product line is years away or a small fraction of the offerings of a company. Finally, there is no substitute for the commitment of corporate leaders to working on issues of sustainability on an ongoing basis no matter what the level of public information nor the prospect for immediate payoff or damage control.

Original Post: http://terraverde.wordpress.com/2006/08/09/ecomagination-etc-green-marketing-and-green-advertising/

The South African Big Green Directory now available for listing Green and Alternative Energy products.
A special 10% negotiated discount is available to SAAEA members.
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Can we in South Africa avoid the same problems found in Aus.

Can we in South Africa avoid the same problems found in Aus.

I always believe it is best to examine what is happening internationally, especially in countries that are years ahead of us in this solar thermal sector (basically everybody). This may help us predict what trends may slowly develop here in South Africa.

Solarthermalworld wanted to investigate why the Australian Government decided to discontinue its Solar Water Heater Rebate Programme and conducted an interview with Stephen Cranch, Sales and Marketing Manager of Solahart Industries Pty Ltd Australia.

Cranch provided a short overview of the current market and support scheme situation. Since 2005, the solar water heater expert has been part of the Solahart Team, an Australian flat plate collector and tank manufacturer. Before that, he had been General Marketing Manager at Heatcraft Australia, a major supplier for the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector.

Solarthermalworld: We have recently reported that the Federal Solar Water Heater (SWH) Rebate has been discontinued. What caused this abrupt end?

Cranch: There has been a lot of market turmoil here. Around September last year, the heat pump rebate was reduced to AUD 1,000, because people were installing for free and the market was massively overheated. As a result, REC prices plummeted, which made solar less attractive and the demand started to drop off. The peak for the SWH market was around June till November. In January, the New South Wales rebate was reduced from up to AUD 1,200 to AUD 300.

At the same time, the insulation program had been plagued with some real problems. And therefore, the Federal Government decided to suspend the program on 19 February 2010 and to reintroduce it in June this year. However, for SWHs, which as you know were part of the programme, a new scheme was immediately launched called the Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme and the rebate amount reduced from AUD 1,600 to AUD 1,000, effective from 20 February 2010.

Solarthermalworld: In 2009, market volume almost doubled and reached its peak around June/July 2009. Was the market volume pushed by the Federal Solar Water Heater Rebate?

Cranch: In February 2009, the Federal Government increased the national solar hot water rebate from AUD 1,000 to AUD 1,600 and removed the requirement for means testing, which was previously only available to householders earning a combined income of AUD 100,000 or less. This was bundled up with free home insulation as part of the federal government stimulus package in the midst of the global financial crisis.

Solarthermalworld: Insulation and solar water heaters are not usually combined in one and the same incentive programme. How did that work?

Cranch: You could only claim the SWH rebate when replacing an electric water heater and proving that you had not had free insulation installed. For instance, householders could have free insulation up to AUD 1,600 or the AUD 1,600

SHW rebate. Insulation was provided free to householders without money changing hands, whereas with SWHs, the householder still had to pay the up-front cost and wait 2 to 3 months for the rebate to come back after sending the paperwork in.

This was on top of the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), which are linked to the 20 % renewable energy target by 2020. 1 REC is 1

MW of electricity generated or displaced over a 10-year period. The value of each REC is determined by market factors, for instance: the current value around 33 AUD/ REC, multiplied by the number of RECs per system – lets say 30 – is AUD 990. Additionally, some other state rebates where available, such as the New South Wales rebate, which was up to AUD 1,200. Those rebates and RECs are available for heat pumps and solar water heaters.

Solarthermalworld: How would you assess the current state of the SWH market?

Cranch: Now, it’s significantly down from the numbers in 2009. In summary, the market is a lot tougher now than 12 months ago. It peaked at around 200,000 SWH systems, including a large number of heat pumps, but has come back significantly from these numbers.The interview was conducted by communication specialist Hanna Schober based in South Africa.

The Southern African Alternative Energy Association (SAAEA) reports on issues

Relative to Climate Change and Alternative Energy.

French City Uses Sidewalks to Generate Power

City officials have announced that they’ll be installing power-generating tiles in the sidewalks in the city center for two weeks as a test run of using people power to create electricity.
The move is one of the latest in attempts by municipalities and companies to turn the basic elements of daily life into energy-generating activities, from revolving doors to workout equipment.
From a report in the GuardianAs part of wider efforts to put France’s south-western technology capital at the forefront of green wizardry, city authorities are testing out a scheme to generate electricity for street lights through the stamping feet of passers-by.
Designers say the section of eight custom-made modules placed in the city centre for a two-week trial period can produce between 50 and 60 watts of electricity to power a nearby street lamp.
It is the first time the modules — unveiled to the world by Dutch company Sustainable Dance Club (SDC) for use in nightclubs — have been tested on the street. For Alexandre Marciel, the city’s deputy mayor in charge of sustainable development, the new function is potentially ground-breaking.
The modules work by installing a generator that draws energy when compressed, as seen below in an image from Sustainable Dance Club.
The LEDs are optional for city use, though they might provide added incentive for pedestrians to stroll around the city center in Toulouse.
GreenBiz first reported on the energy-generating dance floor back in 2008, along side the news about a revolving door that creates electricity with each spin.
SDC’s power-generating dance floor tiles are also in use in Surya Club4Climate in London and at Club WATT in Rotterdam.
Southern African Alternative Energy Association (SAAEA) represents and actively promotes Renewable Alternative Energy Solutions in our region.

Renewable Energy Advances

Search Engine for South Africans to find Green Products.

Search Engine for South Africans to find Green Products.

A SEARCH ENGINE for South Africans to find what they are looking for to reduce their carbon footprint, that is healthy, good for our planet, organic, green conscious and reduce, reuse and recycle.

·     The ability for the public to find your company using a multiple search facility . 

Search by Keyword   OR    Search by drop down categories…

It should take one click to find what you are looking for.

·     Marketing  through social media on Facebook (BigGreen Directory)  and Twitter (TBGDirectory).  Currently, no other search portal or directory offers this service to their clients and we are offering this as part of the ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION of  only R365.  The newsfeed goes out when your listing is put up. If you become a friend on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, you will receive copies of the newsfeeds and tweets –see example attached.

·     Any events you are hosting are put on the Event Calendar for free.

·     If you choose to participate in the SUBSCRIBE AND WIN competitionsthat we run continually to increase our newsletter and special offers database (go to the Newsletter Submission Formhttp://www.thebiggreendirectory.co.za/?newsletter  and subscribe and see how this works) then this is promoted on the newsfeed regularly.

·     Same on Twitter 

·     This is viewable and searchable from your cellphone (as long as can access the internet from it) on http://thebiggreendirectory.co.za/?mobi

·     You can amend your listing details if you need to, no charge.

·     Your listing next year will be THE SAME PRICE!

A special negotiated 10% discount is available to SAAEA members.
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Two new wind projects on the cards for Eastern Cape

Two new wind projects on the cards for Eastern Cape

Call for Proposals: Africa Forum for Clean Energy Financing

Call for Proposals: Africa Forum for Clean Energy Financing

Call for Proposals: Africa Forum for Clean Energy Financing

The CTI PFAN Africa Forum for Clean Energy Financing (AFRICEF), seeks to nurture individuals, project teams and consortia, start-up and existing companies with environmentally beneficial business proposals with the aim of making them happen.

Note: Applications for the African Clean Energy Financing Forum & Business Plan Competition must be received by the 23rd of April 2010. Find out more on the criteria and application process and timeline in the adjacent document titled, "AFRICEF Guidelines.pdf"

One you have qualified for the 2nd stage of the Forum, you will receive coaching from experts in the field who will guide you in creating a financially, socially and environmentally viable business plan. With this concrete business plan, you will be able to stand in front of investors with full confidence that it will be well received and that it is ready for action.

An investors’ forum will be held in July, in Johannesburg, to which potential investors will be invited to provide you with an opportunity to present your plan and help source the financing that you need. In addition, a panel of judges, made up of investors, industry specialists and business executives who have a keen interest in enabling cleaner and greener projects will select the best projects for award of the CTI Africa Clean Energy Financing Awards.

Accordingly, it is our expectation that through this Forum, there will be a marriage between budding entrepreneurs and ready investors. So we encourage you to take your ideas to the next level and grab this opportunity to see your business proposals transform into business reality.

AFRICEF is promoted by the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) and its Private Financing Advisory Network (CTI PFAN), the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Centre for Environmental Technology Transfer (ICETT).

AFRICEF is promoted by the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) and its Private Financing Advisory Network (CTI PFAN), the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Centre for Environmental Technology Transfer (ICETT) and is co-organised by;
- The Rural Electrification Agency of Uganda (REA): http://www.rea.or.ug
- The South African National Energy Research Institute (SANERI) http://www.saneri.org.za/
- The Private Sector Foundation of Uganda Energy for Rural Transformation Programme (PSF / ERT) http://www.psfuganda.org.ug/