BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com BloggingStocks http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/media/feedlogo.gif BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Ben & Jerry's new green freezers blaze frozen trails]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/10/24/ben-and-jerrys-new-green-freezers-blaze-frozen-trails/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/10/24/ben-and-jerrys-new-green-freezers-blaze-frozen-trails/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/10/24/ben-and-jerrys-new-green-freezers-blaze-frozen-trails/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

A world without ice cream is unthinkable. But serving up frozen food in the U.S. in the middle of the summer (when we scream most loudly for ice cream) is creating greenhouse gases due to the hydroflourocarbons used in most refrigerators and freezers. Something must be done.

Enter Ben & Jerry's, whose parent, Unilever (NYSE: UL) has been working with Greenpeace, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) and Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) to develop more global-warming-friendly (or unfriendly?) freezers. The company will be rolling out the country's first HFC-free freezer in convenience stores and supermarkets across the U.S.; and as a bonus to your favorite ice cream outpost, the green freezers use about 10% less energy than their HFC-emitting cousins.

The new freezers use butane rather than HFC as a refrigerant and required special permission from the EPA; which has banned the use of butane and propane (which are used throughout Europe and Central and South America for refrigerators and freezers) because these hydrocarbons are flammable and are blamed for depleting the ozone layer. The 2,000 freestanding Ben & Jerry's freezers are just a test, and it may be eight to 10 years before the company is allowed to replace all of its 100,000 freezers nationwide.

While it will likely be an extremely moderate impact on expense reduction, the rollout of green freezers stands to underscore Ben & Jerry's ethical, do-gooder image in the mind of its consumers and give it yet another edge over rival Haagen-Dazs.

Ben & Jerry's new green freezers blaze frozen trails originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ben and jerrysBenAndJerrysfreezersgreengreenpeacehfchydroflourocarbonice creamIceCreamulFri, 24 Oct 2008 14:44:00 EST<![CDATA[Greenpeace to Apple (AAPL): iPhone may be in the black but it's not green]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/15/greenpeace-to-apple-aapl-iphone-may-be-in-the-black-but-its/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/15/greenpeace-to-apple-aapl-iphone-may-be-in-the-black-but-its/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/15/greenpeace-to-apple-aapl-iphone-may-be-in-the-black-but-its/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

TechCrunch reports that Greenpeace is chiding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) for the iPhone's toxic chemical ingredients. Moreover, Greenpeace's analysis suggests that the iPhone is losing "green ground" to other mobile phone competitors which are in the process of eliminating the iPhone's toxic chemicals.

According to Greenpeace, the iPhone contains toxic brominated compounds (indicating the presence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs)) and hazardous PVCs. Two of the "phthalate plasticisers" found at high levels in the iPhone headphone cable are classified in Europe as 'toxic to reproduction, category 2′ and are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe.

Greenpeace's analysis of competitors is most interesting: Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is totally PVC free while Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and Sony Ericsson already have products on the market with BFR free components. I am in Greenpeace's camp on this one. I also think that if Apple cleaned up the iPhone, it would find that green means green -- particularly in Europe.

That's something that Apple shareholders and Greenpeace would both celebrate.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Greenpeace to Apple (AAPL): iPhone may be in the black but it's not green originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aaplappleenvironmentally friendlyEnvironmentallyFriendlygreengreenpeaceinthenewsiphonemotmotorolanoknokiaMon, 15 Oct 2007 09:57:00 EST<![CDATA[GE throws light on incandescent bulb ban movement]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/02/23/ge-throws-light-on-incandescent-bulb-ban-movement/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/02/23/ge-throws-light-on-incandescent-bulb-ban-movement/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/02/23/ge-throws-light-on-incandescent-bulb-ban-movement/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Just as concern about the energy inefficiency of incandescent light bulbs (the ones we are most used to) has inspired a world-wide movement to ban them in favor of compact fluorescent lights (CFL), General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) announced a breakthrough that changes the equation. Its Consumer and Industrial Lighting division has developed an incandescent bulb that will match fluorescent lamp's power miserliness while retaining the quality of light customers are used to.

The high efficiency incandescent (HEI) lamp could also reduce CO&sup2; emissions by 40 million tons in the U.S., and the company claims they will also cost less than comparable compact fluorescent lights.

A grass-roots campaign to ban the incandescent light bulb, called the 18Seconds Movement (the average time it takes to change a light bulb is 18 seconds) is supported by entities such as Greenpeace, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT), the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy. Australia has already passed legislation banning incandescent lamps by 2012.

Either way, HEI or CFL, GE is well positioned with lines of products, but this could certainly slow down the rush to legislation worldwide.

For me, CFLs are headache-producers, so if they want my old-fashioned bulbs they'll have to pry my hot, dead fingers from the filaments.

GE throws light on incandescent bulb ban movement originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>energy efficiencyEnergyEfficiencyflourescent bulbFlourescentBulbGEgeneral electricGeneralElectricgreenpeaceHEIincandescent bulbIncandescentBulblight efficiencyLightEfficiencywal-martyhooFri, 23 Feb 2007 14:12:00 EST<![CDATA[GE to build more nuclear plants]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/05/19/ge-to-build-more-nuclear-plants/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/05/19/ge-to-build-more-nuclear-plants/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/05/19/ge-to-build-more-nuclear-plants/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Well this is probably not going to be promoted under GE's Ecomagination series: GE is expecting two new contracts to build nuclear power plants.

The company already has a series of nuclear power plants under management for Entergy Corp, so this will put GE in a position of being a nuclear plant leader, and part of an initiative by the current administration to invest more in nuclear power. GE will be working on building five new nuclear power plants.

The last nuclear power plant in the US had been finished in 1971, so GE is in position to become the forefront of this total sea change, prompted by fears of foreign oil dominance, high oil prices, and higher need for energy. Another example of GE looking forward.

And with Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore making an impassioned case that nuclear is the true green technology, maybe GE will be able to tout nuclear energy as part of their Ecomagination line of technologies. Or not...

GE to build more nuclear plants originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 May 2006 17:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>entergy corpEntergyCorpGEge nuclear energyGeNuclearEnergygreen and nuclearGreenAndNucleargreenpeacenew nuclear plantsNewNuclearPlantsnuclearnuclear plantsnuclear reactorsNuclearPlantsNuclearReactorspatrick moorePatrickMooreFri, 19 May 2006 17:06:00 EST