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Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines (AHN) – Belgian company Enfinity has applied with the Philippine Department of Energy for 15 renewable energy service contracts. The firm, through local subsidiary Enfinity Philippines Renewable Resources, wants to build solar energy projects in different parts of the country.

Among the planned ventures of the company are two 50-megawatt power facilities in the Clark Freeport Zone and the Cavite Export Zone. Enfinity is also eyeing five other projects in Surigao del Norte, Cebu, Aurora, Quezon and Romblon provinces with a combined capacity of 10 MW.

Other solar projects of the energy firm still in the blueprint stage will be in Tawi-tawi, Palawan, Sultan Kudarat, Davao del Sur and Tarlac provinces and the Mactan Economic Zone in Cebu.

The different projects aim to build a total 500 MW power capacity, which would require an investment of about $1 billion over the next three to five years.

In anticipation of the DOE approval of its applications, Enfinity has entered into agreements with several electric cooperatives in the provinces and the government-owned National Power Corporation.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the DOE is planning to place under a private-public partnership the planned Batangas-Manila pipeline project. The venture will bring natural gas from the Malampaya rig to power stations and gasoline stations in the national capital region.

Almendras said he has asked the Philippine National Oil Company, a state-run energy firm, to study the project as an alternative source of power supply. The secretary foresees the government taking the lead in establishing a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline system because of the long-term investment and payback nature of such a project.

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Reported in Environmental Issue Stories follow this link for the rest of the article

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Westchester, NY, United States (AHN) – Lee Porrazzo, a BMW salesman from Westchester, NY, had eaten Bumblebee Food Co.’s canned tuna since 2006 due mainly to its low $1 price tag and advertising campaign of being “heart healthy.” That changed in 2008 when he was hospitalized for chest pains. While there, doctors found he had a dangerously high level of mercury in his body.

Porrazzo is now suing Bumblebee for unspecified damages for breach of warranty and negligence. He is also suing the “Stop & Shop” supermarket chain where he always purchased the tuna for selling a defective product.

In October 2008, Porrazzo’s doctor told him to take a “heavy metals” test, which found that his body had more than twice the normal level of mercury at 23 micrograms per liter.

The Health Department contacted him about his alarmingly high levels and told him to stop eating canned tuna as eating more than 140 grams (5 ounces) of tuna a week can cause high mercury levels in the body.

Porrazzo said that his mercury levels went back down to normal but remains perturbed by the possible long-term side-effects or problems caused by his tuna-eating binge.

A spokeswoman for Bumblebee stated that the company has no knowledge of any case of toxicity from eating commercial seafood in the U.S. and that Porrazzo’s highly publicized suit can have an “adverse impact” on people’s health.

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Reported in Environmental Issue Stories follow this link for the rest of the article

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Trail, British Columbia, Canada (AHN) – Teck Metals Limited reported over the weekend the accidental release of a solution containing mercury into the Columbia River.

The company immediately informed the British Columbia Emergency Program, BC’s Ministry of Environment and Environment Canada of the incident.

Teck said the discharge happened while the company was reconfiguring its piping to the effluent treatment plant.

During the process, the solution was moved to a different pipe. When the pump failed, the water backed up into another pipe which drained into the river. When Teck discovered the leak, the company immediately stopped the flow of the water.

Teck said it is probing the cause of the leak, the level of mercury discharged and its potential effect on Columbia River. Initial testing showed mercury contamination was half a part per billion of mercury. It is still within the threshold one part per billion mercury for water to be considered safe to drink.

Teck runs one of the world’s largest full integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining operations. Its Trail Operations has 1,500 workers and has been running for more than 100 years.

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Reported in Environmental Issue Stories follow this link for the rest of the article

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Trail, British Columbia, Canada (AHN) – Teck Metals Limited reported over the weekend the accidental release of a solution containing mercury into the Columbia River.

The company immediately informed the British Columbia Emergency Program, BC’s Ministry of Environment and Environment Canada of the incident.

Teck said the discharge happened while the company was reconfiguring its piping to the effluent treatment plant.

During the process, the solution was moved to a different pipe. When the pump failed, the water backed up into another pipe which drained into the river. When Teck discovered the leak, the company immediately stopped the flow of the water.

Teck said it is probing the cause of the leak, the level of mercury discharged and its potential effect on Columbia River. Initial testing showed mercury contamination was half a part per billion of mercury. It is still within the threshold one part per billion mercury for water to be considered safe to drink.

Teck runs one of the world’s largest full integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining operations. Its Trail Operations has 1,500 workers and has been running for more than 100 years.

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Reported in Environmental Issue Stories follow this link for the rest of the article

As you are looking for ways to reduce your spending and maximize your profits, you can also look for ways to reduce your waste. The best way to produce less trash is to have fewer materials to start with. Look beyond the office supplies. Think about ways to make your production line more efficient with the raw materials. Look at your shipping schedules. Do not ignore your office entirely. Start wondering how much of the paper is really necessary.

Scrap or loose paper should be a thing of the past. Fax machines and copiers jam often enough to produce plenty of wrinkled paper that can be cut up and used for phone messages. Both sides of a piece of paper should be used. When it is all said and done that paper should land in the recycling bin, not the waste basket.

Lots of companies are making the move to paperless billing and invoicing. Not only does it create a lot of waste, it also costs a lot of money to produce the waste. If you are not comfortable jumping in with both feet you could test the water first by offering it as an option to existing clients, customers, or suppliers first. Then gradually make the shift to paperless billing as a standard. While people can still request paper, they will incur additional fees for it.

Traveling expenses can add up quickly in a company. Cutting these costs can have a gigantic effect on the budget. If you cut down the number trips taken altogether you also will cut your travel emissions from cars or planes. By adopting web conferencing in your company you can really cut back on those expenses. While this generally does have some cost, it will be nothing compared to what it costs to get people together in one place.

If office space is costly you a lot of money, then see who on your staff is a good candidate for telecommuting, sharing office space with flexible schedules, or another similar arrangement. While you may still have to pay to set up their home office, and will need them to physically come in periodically, it saves you from having to maintain their office or cubicle. Your employees may be wanting this change anyway, so it could do wonders for morale. You also will not have people driving their cars into work everyday. Lower emissions, happier employees, and the reduction in expenses was just the icing on the cake.

Be sure that you are making the most of your recycling facilities. Make certain that the bins in your office are clearly marked and easy to find. Recycle as much as you can. In some communities there are fines for failing to do so.

The green business movement has some serious advantages. Doing the right thing generally pays off one way or another and this is no exception. If you check into it you will find that there are a growing number of grants and funding opportunities available to people wanting to implement environmentally responsible changes in their companies. Tax breaks are also often available.

It is best to start small when you are thinking about going green. Recycling is one step that you can take to reduce your impact on the environment. While many business buildings already promote recycling, you can take the initiative to recycle all materials that you possibly can. Because so many things are recyclable, this is an easy step toward greening your business.

Composting is another solution that will help to make your company green. Compost is organic material that is used for plant fertilizer rather than going into landfills. This can help the environment because it keeps trash out of landfills and puts plant matter back into the earth.

Offices use a lot of materials – so you can take the easy step to find ways to reduce the amount of consumption of materials in your office. Reducing consumption means thinking about how much paper, plastic, and other materials (even ones that can be recycled) that your office uses, and trying to reduce that amount. One idea is to switch from single-sided pages to double-sided pages. This will cut the amount of paper that you use in half, which will also save your business money.

You can make your business greener by buying eco-friendly supplies. Recycled paper is one greener solution that is easy to implement. You may also buy other products that are recycled, as well as products that are considered free trade, organic, and/or sustainable. If you make these easy changes, you can significantly reduce your consumption. You may also make a positive impact on the environment.

Green cleaning supplies can also help one to go green. These supplies include cleaners that use natural ingredients in place of harsh chemicals. There are many other options, however. One other solution is to purchase sponges that are made from recycled materials. This can have a dual effect – it reduces the consumption of materials and can replace paper towels for cleaning. If you use a sponge instead of paper towels for cleaning you can save money, and also consume far less paper towels.

If your business has a car fleet, consider switching to hybrid or electric cars. Hybrids get better gas mileage than many similar cars, so they can be a good investment. Electric/hybrid cars are even greener, but they tend to be more expensive. These cars run initially on electric power, which comes from plugging the car in. When this power runs out, the car can be switched to hybrid mode, so you are never stuck somewhere with no power.

Solar power is an investment, but it can have a great pay out. It is ideal if your company building is often in the sun. Solar power converts energy from the sun into electricity using a series of cells. With enough cells you may be able to make your company completely solar-powered, and you may even be able to help the environment by returning extra power back into the power grid. They are expensive, but in the long run can save your company money.

photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar

In order to consider investing, angel investors must believe that the company has great potential to achieve a liquidity event, and one that enables them to earn a significant return on their investment. The following factors imply that a company has this potential.

The first criterion is scale or the potential for the company to achieve significant annual revenues. If a company expects to raise venture capital after the angel round, it must have the potential to earn annual revenues of $50 million to $100 million within five years.

Conversely, an angel investor, when no follow-on capital is required, might be willing to invest in a restaurant or website that has the potential to generate hundreds of thousands or a few million dollars as long as a clear path has been laid out regarding how they could get a sizable return on their investment.

The second criteria is barriers to entry. Barriers to entry are those things that make it difficult for another firm to compete against you, such as patents or proprietary technology, a unique location, and long-term customer contracts.

The third criteria is having a strong management team with relevant experience and successes under their belts. The angels must believe in and be comfortable with both the founders and the key operating personnel of the company.

The fourth criteria is that angel investors need to feel confident of your exit strategy, mainly that the chances are good of eventually having another firm purchase you or your firm going public. It is through your exit strategy that these investors profit from their investment in you.

A final criteria, while not necessarily tied to liquidity potential, is that angel investors tend to only invest in local companies. Angel investors often like to invest in companies that are close by so that they can visit them often and participate in Board and other meetings. In fact, according to the Center for Venture Research, 70% of angel investments are made within 50 miles of the investor’s home or office.

Dave Lavinsky is president of Growthink, a consulting and publishing company that helps entrepreneurs develop professional business plans and raise capital. Growthink recently released a report entitled “The Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capital from Angel Investors, which explains exactly how to find angel investors and successfully raise angel funding.

photo credit: Kevin Krejci

It looks like investing for green now has a double meaning.

A couple of years ago, if you would have asked someone about “green investing” they probably would have told you that you were just trying to make some cash. Today, “green investing” not only means investing to make money, but to invest your money in an environmentally friendly way.

So, how can you get in on this type of investing? Aside from investing in mutual funds that specialize in these sorts of companies, it seems like there’s really one of two ways for you to invest your hard earned money “greenly”:

1. Invest in companies whose sole purpose is to be environmentally friendly – i.e. companies that focus on recycling, research and development of renewable/alternative fuels, etc.
2. Invest in companies who have put significant resources into making sure they do business in the most environmentally friendly way possible – i.e. making their offices more energy efficient, encourage their employees to telecommute, etc.

Now that you know where to start, how do you go about finding these sorts of companies? Listed below (in no particular order) are some simple things I have done in the past in order to identify companies that are doing things a bit greener than their counterparts.

* Keep up to date with current events. Sites like Treehugger.com and Hugg.com are great places to find stories on environmentally friendly companies.
* Keep your eye open for environmentally friendly products when you’re out shopping. In most cases, companies that are willing to put out environmentally friendly products tend to be environmentally friendly companies!
* Remember that industries such as oil, logging, home building, etc. probably aren’t the best places to start your search.

Keep in mind, just because a company does things in an environmentally friendly way doesn’t necessarily make them a good investment. Please make sure that you do a good job of researching each company (meaning you have to put in the due diligence) before you decide to invest in them.

There’s no point in investing in a green company if it’s not going to give you a good return on your green!

Please visit Saving Without A Budget for more money saving tips like this. Saving money is easy, I’ll show you how.

photo credit: robertnelson

As any experienced marketer knows, differentiating your business from your competitors is a primary key to attracting new prospects and customers and retaining them once they decide to become your customers. But will the same “hook” that attracted them to become your customer be enough to maintain their loyalty? Let’s examine a few strategies:

Low Price: As people are always price conscience, especially in this slow economy, this can be an excellent method to attract new customers. However, unless your company plans on being a “discount house” operation, you will need to evolve a different strategy to retain those customers, otherwise they will simply seek out the next big discount elsewhere.

Great Products: Every business advertises great products. Why is your product better than your competitor? Provide your prospects with a reason to walk in your door. Then make sure your products are updated and tweaked regularly to ensure a competitive edge.

Great Service: This strategy typically does not attract new customers, unless you detail how your service will exceed your competitors. On the surface, there is nothing to differentiate your company from your competitors. Of course, great service is a major key to customer retention.

There are many other innovative marketing strategies being employed in the marketplace which are based upon surveys. These studies can give you an understanding of your target market’s concerns as well as focus on the latest trends. One such trend which every major survey (Harris, Nielsen, Mintel, Intellitrends) has been following is Going Green. With unstable fuel prices, new energy tax credits, and the promise of an upcoming New Green Economy, there has never been a better time to incorporate Green into your company’s business practices and products.

Will Going Green help attract new customers or members? According to Intellitrends, nearly 35% of those surveyed considered a company’s environmental policies before purchasing. Monster Trak reported that, for college graduates, this number was above 80% and 92% of these “Gen Y’s” were seeking to work for a company with a solid environmental and corporate social responsibility policy.

Even with all of the news and surveys on Going Green, business journals have estimated that less than 2% of all small and medium sized companies in the U.S. have begun any green initiatives at all. Pity. According to the Makovsky Green Gap survey, people are looking for businesses to take the lead in improving the environment. That could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to differentiate and really make a difference.

Joseph Winn is the President/CEO GreenProfit Solutions, Inc., an environmental consulting and benefits firm specializing in assisting small and medium size companies in Going Green. You may contact Joseph at:

jwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com

http://www.greenprofitsolutions.com

photo credit: Choubistar

In today’s global market place people are looking to go green for many reasons.
One good reason is the environmental impact going green has.

If you consider the impact of fuel burn in the daily commute to work the overpowering reason to go green is the cost of gasoline.

More and more the ability to stay at home and telecommute is taking first choice for many people.
Inter the home business arena and the ability to have family time when you want it, work in your sweats and slippers, not have to suck the exhaust fumes of the traffic ahead of you on the daily commute is another environmental plus.

Now the dawn of going Green really makes sense to the stay at home business. With the event of webinar conference calls, instant messaging, email, the access to the internet on every form of communication and the blossoming down turn of corporate jobs has awakened the drive of many home businesses.

The ability of high technology to interface with down home values has driven one home business to record setting growth. This is good news to those looking for a home business in this maze of global confusion.

To have a successful green home business you want to be sure that you do not jump on the wrong ship. Several things must align for green be effective.

The product should be toxic free with a wide range use (usable for animals and humans alike).

The return on your work should be substantial with no hard qualifying to keep your check coming in each month.

There should be no breakage on commissions that go to the company ever. Avoid the company that says in their income statements “we pay Up To” a certain amount this is a sign that they may not pay that much unless you qualify.

The company should have a strong vision of where they are going long term and should have a strong policy of enforcement.

There should be a global bonus pool that all the top distributors can share in which helps the many groups of distributors work together for the common goal of the company (IE, they all share in the global growth eliminating competition.)

Last but not least there should be many events tied to the internet for training the new growing business builders who want go green and make lots of green from home.

One company has accomplished all of that in one sweep. Growing at a rate in its first four years faster than Wal-Mart, E-bay, and if you think back that far even Microsoft.

This going green and high-tech for this company had created some income figures that out pay some if the top government paying jobs in the white house. This company has made more millionaires than the famed show Deal or No Deal. Going green can really change your life and life style. Try it you might like it!

Keith Hiebert has over 25 years of experience in the home business arena and as aligned himself with Xango a company that in five years is doing business in twenty five countries so far. Keith Hiebert can be reached by accessing his web site http://StreamLineQuick.com