Tag Archives: Sustainable

Volvo offers Dimethyl Ether (DME) as a truck fuel

Posted on June 12, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Supply Chain Digest (June 12, 2013) describes the use of Dimethyl Ether (DME) as a truck fuel by Volvo, producing 95% lower carbon emissions than diesel and 70% lower emissions than natural gas. Volvo claims that … Continue reading →

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Should the US restrict LNG exports to assist higher margin plastics exports ?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (June 3,2013) describes efforts by chemical companies like Dow Chemicals to argue against US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) given the abundance of natural gas in the US. These chemical companies produce polymers and plastics … Continue reading →

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Palm oil using manufacturer constraints impact Indonesia’s forests

Posted on June 11, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (June 3,2013) describes sourcing restrictions for palm oil by Nestle, Unilever and Cargill which bans palm oil grown in virgin rain forest land. The impact is a move by the Indonesian government to ban virgin rain … Continue reading →

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US forests to fuel European power plants – a green supply chain ?

Posted on May 29, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 28, 2013) describes exports of US forest generated pellets to replace coal in European power plants as Europe cuts down on fossil fuel use and tries to decrease emissions of carbon dioxide. … Continue reading →

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The emerging “internet of things” and opportunities

Posted on May 22, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in WIRED magazine (June 2013) describes the emerging internet enabled devices across homes, factories, cities etc. They predict three stages – Stage 1 links devices to the internet, Stage 2 enables conditional actions (If-Then actions) between pairs of … Continue reading →

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Sustainable metrics at REI and associated insights

Posted on May 21, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article by Kevin Hagen (http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/articles/what-i-learned-about-sustainability-rei-part-2-metrics-over-intuition?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=businessweekly&utm_campaign=may20) describes REI’s tracking of greenhouse gas emissions in 2011. The company realized that while 10 % of these emissions were caused by transportation of its products, 15 % were the result of employee commutes … Continue reading →

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Cadmium in Chinese rice – what should a consumer do ?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 20, 2013) describes the problem of ‘cadmium rice” – a report that claims that 44 % of the rice tested had twice the level of cadmium (0.4 milligrams per kilogram) as considered … Continue reading →

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Can consumers force retailers to develop ethical supply chains for products?

Posted on May 12, 2013 by aviyer2010

In a discussion in the Sunday Review of the New York Times (May 12, 2013), Professor Jerry Davis suggested that consumers can demand from retailers that they develop ethical supply chains, following the deaths of employees manufacturing clothing in Bangladesh. … Continue reading →

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Fair Trade clothing ?

Posted on May 10, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 8, 2013) describes a movement to inform consumers about the supply chain used to produce apparel – termed Fair Trade clothing. This is to convince consumers that the clothing was produced by … Continue reading →

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Fair Trade smartphones ?

Posted on May 10, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (May 9, 2013) describes a Dutch company, Fairphone, that intends to create a smartphone using a “Fair Trade” supply chain. This means the phone is recyclable, can be repaired, the supply chain will minimize … Continue reading →

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