Greenhouse Business Challenge and Carbon Footprint - Assignment Example

Greenhouse Business Challenge and Carbon Footprint Summary The consumption of energy and change in climate are closely related. Multinationals understand the relation between the greenhouse gases and the energy consumption. In short if the usage of energy consumption is reduced then the emission of green house gases can also be reduced. Companies need to find short-term solutions to reduce their greenhouse gas emission. Many non-government organizations have come up to conserve the environment and take actions to protect it. The countries in the middle-east are highest emitters of greenhouse gases. They have less water resource, so most of their energy is spent on desalinating the water. The awareness level is low in those countries, so people are not concerned much about environmental issues. In order to see the business aspects, the example of Apple Inc. was taken. Apple Inc. being the design leader in the electronic market faces several issues in relation to its carbon footprint reduction or supply chain. The company has skillfully taken measures to solve each of its environmental issues and reduced emission by almost 40 to 50 percent by focusing on its transportation, production and supply chain department. The company prefers renewable electricity and energy efficient machineries for its factories. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Background of Greenhouse Business Challenge including Carbon Footprint in Kuwait 5 Current Global Practices – how countries are responding to the Greenhouse Business Challenge including Carbon Footprint 6 Organization Background Apple 10 3 Carbon Footprint responses 11 Organization response 11 Comparisons with other organizations 12 Identified problems 13 Recommendation 14 Overall Recommendations 14 Conclusion 15 References 16 Appendices 18 Introduction It has been observed that about 100 percent of the temperature has increased over the last 50 years. This is due to the increase in the emission of green house gases in the atmosphere of the earth. The concentration of gases like carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, etc has created a harmful layer over the ozone. The greenhouse gases act as a mirror for the earth. It reflects the heat waves of the sun back to the earth. This process increases the temperature of the earth causing global warming (Carbonica, 2012). As we can see in Appendix 1, carbon dioxide (CO2) generated through fossil fuel such as kerosene, gas, petrol or oil has increased dramatically over the past 50 years. Concentration of the CO2 has also increased due to the same. The temperature of earth has increased by 3 to 5 percent in the year 2010. The sea level has also increased by 25 meters, i.e. about 82 feet above in 2010. Carbon footprint is nothing but the sum total of all the greenhouse gases. The main cause that contributes to the increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the household electricity, clothing, food and transportation. All these factors are responsible for the release of huge amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. However, the good news is that there are ways to reduce emission and carbon footprints. The various ways may be using recyclable materials, wasting less paper, saving more trees, using renewable energies for electricity, using green electricity driven cars over petrol driven vehicles (Carbonfund, n. d.). Background of Greenhouse Business Challenge including Carbon Footprint in Kuwait According to International Energy Agency (IEA), about $ 200 billion is required per year for oil and gas and more than that is the investment on electricity. It was estimated that about 60 percent of the world investment is for electricity. In the past 30 years the rate of emission in the Middle East countries have increased about 10 times more than what it was. The Middle East countries produce about 5 percent of the carbon emission as it can be seen in Appendix 2. Six countries of Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and UAE are major gas and oil producing countries that form the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC). These countries fall among the top 25 countries for CO2 emission. Though the population of the middle-eastern countries is small, yet they are the largest carbon emitter in the world. Qatar produces about 55.4 tons of carbon per person. This is the highest in carbon footprint in the world. Kuwait stands third in this race. It produces the third highest carbon footprint per person in the world. Kuwait is a geographically small country running mainly on the wealth of oil and gas reserves. It has about 10 percent of the world oil reserves. Moreover, it also has one of the highest per capital consumption of electricity in the world. The official figures states that around 70 percent of the energy is consumed by the air-conditioners. This has placed a huge burden on the electricity supply of the country. Apart from this the country is also having plans to squeeze in five big cities for its increasing population. But this would again require more electricity in the country. This further worsens the situation. The other issues faced by Kuwait are: The increase in the local demand for fuel due to increase in the number of vehicles. Lack of proper legislation in relation to air conditioning. The electricity tariffs are very low. This leads to electricity wastage. Fluctuations in power during peak demand period. No proper regulating and monitoring system. Current Global Practices – how countries are responding to the Greenhouse Business Challenge including Carbon Footprint The organizations for global business and industries round the world have taken various steps to understand and fight against the risk of climate changes and greenhouse gas emission. All the countries round the world are concerned about the carbon footprints and its effects. The developed countries have already taken various measure and adopted policies under the Kyoto Protocol. The other developing countries are taking steps towards reduction of greenhouse effect but none of them have accepted the international legal bindings to do so (UNEP, 2011). Middle-East Countries Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain produces maximum greenhouse gases and are among the top carbon emitting countries in the world. The reason behind this is the lack of renewable water resources of the middle-east. These countries have to survive on the scarce amount of proper water because most of the country is only surrounded by sea and sea water is not drinkable. So now the government is taking initiatives to desalinate the water to satisfy the needs of its growing population. Currently the fossil fuel required for desalinating the water is again increasing the emission rate. All the Arab countries are coming forward to decide their course of action for taking measures against climate changes. The first totally carbon neutral and waste free city is being constructed in Abu Dhabi. This city will have the best of the green technology available in the world. Solar and wind power would be utilized to deal with waste management issues in the city. This city would use 75 percent less electricity and almost half of the water supply than any conventional city in the world. The government is also taking steps to use leaner fuel and use eco-friendly products (Al Waref Institute, 2009). United Kingdom United Kingdom also followed the Kyoto Protocol and the share of European Union's target for UK was 12.5 percent below 1990 for the time span of 2008-2012. The Climate Change Act of 2008 was introduced to present a long-term target of cutting down the emission by 80 percent till 2050 and at least 34 percent by 2020. This Act also includes other commitments such as carbon budgeting system, creating climate change committee, etc. It also includes the government to amend the emission acts relating to the shipping and aviation industry by December 2012. It also focuses on the fact of reducing 40 percent emission in the power sector by 2012. Apart from this they have set the goal of reducing the emission from new house to zero by 2016. China In China each province has been allotted individual target of action. The central government wanted to meet its target of reducing emission from 2006-2010. The keys used by the government to meet its targets were: Removing inefficient and polluting plants. Setting the targets of energy consumption for the top 1000 companies. Providing financial help to set up low GHG emitting technologies. Setting vehicle efficiency standards and setting rules to destroy or eliminate the old vehicles. Strong policies were made for municipalities. United States The US government has not set any legal bindings or targets for reduction of GHG emission in the past but President Barack Obama has introduced the policy of US to reduce the emission by 14 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The US government is mainly focusing on the reduction of fuel emission by regularly reviewing the number of vehicle and the emission of GHG gases. European Union The European Union agreed to reduce the Greenhouse gases emission of its 15 member states by 8 percent within the time period of 2008-2012. The EU was successful in reducing its emission level by 7 percent. So for the next step they have projected that they would try to reduce green house gases emission level by 13 percent in the time frame of 2008-2015. After the Kyoto Protocol period the EU has taken a 20-20-20 policy. It signifies 20 percent reduction of greenhouse gases, 20 percent share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption of EU and 20 percent reduction of energy consumption (Saundry, 2010). Russian Federation Russia has also estimated that by 2010 its green house gas emission will be 28 percent below 1990. The government’s policies would mainly depend on the oil and gas sector because 50 percent of the revenue is generated from this sector. In the year 2009, the president had declared that Russia would take measures under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emission. They were: To install energy meters for individual households Increasing efficiency in the public sector. Production of energy-saving light bulbs. Introduction of paid energy service contracts. Sales of natural gases instead of flaring gases. Organization Background Apple Apple Inc is a US based multinational organization engaged in manufacture of digital electronics and computer hardware equipments. The company was founded in the year 1976 by the name of Apple Computers Inc and since then it has grown into a mammoth organization with a formidable brand image. In the year 2007 the company renamed itself as Apple Inc. The company is presently listed on the bourses of the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. The company is presently headed by Steve Jobs one of the most dynamic business leaders of the modern world. The company is known for its innovations in technology and bringing out cutting edge technology products that are unmatched by any of its competitors in the market. Apple Inc was one of the pioneers in the industry that designed computers like mackintosh (Apple, 2011). Apple Inc. has taken comprehensive steps to deal with the environmental issues. The company has taken many significant initiatives to reduce the carbon footprints arising from various functions and activities of the company. The company's 98 percent green house emission is generated through the production, transportation and other energy and electric consumptions in various functions and activities of the company. The corporate offices of Apple Inc. are responsible for the emission of 2 percent of their greenhouse gases. Apple has efficiently managed the everyday operations round the globe by investing in energy efficient technology. 3 Carbon Footprint responses Apple has taken significant initiatives to take leadership position in reducing the greenhouse gas emission. They have announced several environmental friendly strategies to take steps forward in this context. The company has made it a policy to increase the usage of renewable energy when they are citing the data centers. They have also expressed their urge to the electricity providers to move away from using dirty sources of producing electricity and use renewable energy sources. They have decided to maintain transparency by regularly announcing the total energy usage, rate of emitting carbon footprint and also the cloud presence. Apple Inc. also took initiative to encourage their suppliers to take similar policies and they themselves started giving preference to green suppliers only (Moren, 2012). Organization response It was estimated in the year 2011 that Apple Inc. was responsible for the emission of 23.1 million tons of greenhouse gases. In order to see the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by Apple, we have to first see the emission amount produced by the products of Apple round the world. After adding up all the activities and emission generated from them, it was found, as we can see in Appendix 3, that 98 percent of the carbon footprint is derived from the products of Apple. The rest 2 percent is from the facilities provided by the company. Apple understood that in order to reduce emission it has to make sure that the products of Apple are eco-friendly. So the company designed such products which require less materials, the shipping is done in smaller packages, and the materials should be free of ant toxic element and can be recycled. As it can be seen in Appendix 4, this has increased the revenue of the company and reduced the greenhouse gas emission per dollar by 15.4 percent after 2008. Apple Inc. is the only company which not only meets but also exceeds the standards of the ENERGY STAR specifications. The designers and engineers of Apple have always made it a point to design thinner and smaller products which would require less materials and resources. Due to this factor the rate of emission has reduced in case of all its products such as iMac, MacBook pro, iPad, Apple TV, etc., as stated in Appendix 5. The toxic substances such as arsenic, brominates flame retardants (BFRs), polyvinyl, etc are major challenge for the industry. Apple Inc has worked to not only eliminated these substances but also utilize greener substances to manufacture their products. They sell products free of bromine, chlorine or other harmful chemicals (Appendix 6). Comparisons with other organizations Greenpeace is an organization responsible for monitoring the environmental issues. They issued a report according to which they have reported that Nokia, Dell and Hp acquires the top spot in the competition of successfully dealing with the issues related to reduction of carbon footprint. Nokia always acquired the first position because they took various steps to increase energy efficiency in the company and used greater amount of renewable energy. Dell has taken measures to reduce 40 percent of their emission rate by 2020. They have also taken initiatives to use recyclable materials for their products. Apple due to its increasing efforts in environmental issues and initiative has move up from rank 9 to 5. Even companies like BlackBerry, LG and Toshiba has acquired position in the list for taking various measures, reducing using of electricity from dirty sources and eliminating toxic materials from their products. Now initiatives are being taken to include the internet companies such as Facebook to take part in this campaign. Identified problems Apple Inc. faced many environmental issues in relation to spreading toxic pollution and increasing carbon foot print. The environmental issues that China is facing due to mismanagement of Apple Inc. are beyond words. The supply chain of Apple is mainly responsible for such issues. The suppliers are failing to properly dispose the hazardous waste. This is also spreading pollution in the neighboring areas. Moreover, the factory environment is so hazardous that the workers might get poisoned. The company seemed to have kept all these issues a secret from the regulating bodies, customers and others. The trendy image of the company would not be support if customers get to know how the production and supply process of the company is spreading emission through workplace poisonings, metal contamination and other factors in places like china. So it can be well assumed that the most important problems the company is facing are: Emission spread through supply chain. Unhealthy working condition for workers. Disposal of Hazardous waste. Recommendation Apple Inc. must first maintain the policy of transparency. The emission rate and carbon footprint rate should be clearly disclosed, so as to give the true picture, rather than just hiding the condition of the workers from the regulatory body or rest of the world. The company has to set up a Fair Labor Association which would monitor the working conditions of the employees and train them to improve their work environment by disposing waste properly. The offices of Apple Inc. are utilizing the renewable energy to eliminate almost 30,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emission. High efficient machineries are installed in the factories to reduce pollution and poisoning. The most important part is that Apple Inc. need to disclose the proper and authentic list of its suppliers like the other companies in the industry do. Proper supply chain training is a must to reduce carbon footprint. The suppliers had to be properly trained for disposing the toxic waste. Overall Recommendations Reduce emission Cut down the usage of toxic substances Utilize the solar energy for electricity Proper disposal of harmful waste should be done Laws and Act relating to environmental issues should be strictly followed Reforestation Creating eco-friendly working environment for the employees Usage of energy efficiency machinery should be done (Generation Green, 2010). Conclusion The word Carbon used in the phrase "Carbon Footprint" defines the core greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide or methane. Carbon footprint signifies the emission of greenhouse gases by the individuals, companies or products. The Carbon footprints of companies, organizations or individuals are measured by assessing their greenhouse gas emission rate. So when the rate of emission is known, a company can take measures to reduce it. The Middle East countries have rich source of oil and gas but they have less water resource and the energy they spend to acquire water emit a huge amount of greenhouse gases. Carbon foot prints can be reduced by developing alternative methods of generating business such as utilizing the solar energy, wind energy, planting trees and protecting the forests. In this study we have taken the example of the company, Apple Inc., to discuss the issues arising out of climate change, or increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Apple Inc. is the market leader in the industry of electronic gadgets. But the company is also very efficiently managing the environmental aspects to reduce emission and offer green products to its customers. References Al Waref Institute, 2009. The Arab World gets Serious about Climate Change. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.alwaref.org/en/climate-change/60-the-arab-world-gets-serious-about-climate-change > [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Apple Inc., 2012. The Story Behind Apple’s Environmental Footprint. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.apple.com/environment/#transportation > [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Apple, 2011. Investor Relations. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Carbonfund, no date. About Climate Change and Carbon Emission. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.carbonfund.org/climate-change > [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Carbonica, 2012. What is my Carbon Footprint. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.carbonica.org/carbon-footprint.aspx > [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Exxon Mobil, 2004. A Report on Energy Trends, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Alternative Energy. [Pdf]. Available at: < http://esd.lbl.gov/SECUREarth/presentations/Energy_Brochure.pdf > [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Moren, D., 2012. Apple details carbon footprint, environmental progress. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.macworld.co.uk/apple-business/news/?newsid=3339265 > [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Saundry, P., 2010. Overview of Greenhouse Gas Control Policies in Various Countries. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Time for Change, no date. Cause and effect for global warming. [Online]. Available at: < http://timeforchange.org/cause-and-effect-for-global-warming > [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. UNEP, 2011. GREEN Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication. [Pdf]. Available at: [Accessed on June 13, 2012]. Appendices Appendix 1 Source: (Time for Change, n.d.) Source: (Time for Change, n.d.) Source: (Exxon Mobil, 2004) Appendix 2 Source: (Time for Change, n.d.) Appendix 3 Source: (Apple Inc., 2012) Appendix 4 Source: (Apple Inc., 2012) Appendix 5 Source: (Apple Inc., 2012) Appendix 6 Source: (Apple Inc., 2012) Read More