Daily Magazine

Rising energy prices, along with cost cutting, helped secure the soaring result at Europe’s largest energy company.

Heavy equipment users have a new tool from Volvo Construction Equipment to help with carbon reduction goals tailored to their operations.

The CO2 Reduction Program is designed to be integrated into an organization’s operational plans and offers insights, analysis, improvement possibilities and sustainability targets while working toward carbon neutrality. The approach will be designed specifically to each user’s goals and operations.

The program will start by analyzing where an organization stands on its carbon emissions to establish a baseline for making improvements. It will use data from connected machines to determine the carbon footprint for all machines, regardless of brand, that are in use. Volvo CE says this will help users visualize the impact of carbon reduction changes over time.

German polymer materials manufacturer Covestro and Chinese companies Huafeng and Cyclone say they have jointly developed a 'more sustainable' way of producing high-quality running and sports shoes.

It makes use of Covestro's Insqin waterborne polyurethane (PU), textile technology company Huafeng's Haptic 3D textile printing system and recycled PET fibers from Cyclone to signficantly reduce carbon emissions.

Cyclone's recycled polyester yarns are used for the shoe uppers and coated using Huafeng's 3D Haptic textile printing process and Covestro's partially bio-based Impranil eco DLS polyurethane (PU) dispersion as a binder.

The logistics giant Maersk will order eight new ocean-going ships that will use only carbon-neutral fuels to hit its net-zero goal by 2050. While it will be a more expensive endeavor than traditional vessels that run on fossil fuels, it is in line with what its customers want. They include: Amazon, Disney, H&M Group, HP Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., Microsoft, Novo Nordisk, The Procter and Gamble Company, PUMA, Schneider Electric, Signify, Syngenta, and Unilever. More than half of Maersk’s 200 largest customers have set – or are setting – ambitious science-based or zero-carbon targets for their supply chains.

Only a third of companies have credible carbon emission reduction plans in place - with apparel among the worst offenders, according to the CDP intitiative.

The non-profit, which runs the world's environmental disclosure system, said more than 13,100 companies disclosed their plans to mitigate climate change last year.

However, only 4,002 had developed a low-carbon transition plan and just 135 - fewer than one per cent - reported on all 24 of the CDP's key indicators of a credible plan.

Current global emissions targets will only be achieved through the acceleration of innovative technologies, enabling industries to pivot their organizations towards sustainable operations. Digital technology may be the most powerful, scalable tool the world has to tackle climate change and 5G is at the forefront of this effort.

Operators of wireless networks have already taken numerous steps to limit emissions, such as reducing energy consumption, switching to more efficient network equipment, and sourcing renewable energy. However, offsetting the growth in data volumes over mobile networks will require more than improvements to current networks.

The impact of 5G is threefold in its potential to combat the effects of climate change: 5G, with its substantially greater energy efficiency, will reduce greenhouse gases, abate the emissions of other industries, and enable more precise monitoring of our environment to help meet broader climate change commitments.