Sustainability Momentum Sdn Bhd

Solar cells are one of the most ‘easy-to-apply’ forms of renewable energy. However, their efficiency is still low when compared to their cost. Researchers from the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Spain have developed a graphene-based solar cell which they believe has 60% efficiency in converting sunlight to energy. The pure carbon substance is capable of absorbing a large spectrum of light and converts it to energy efficiently. However, researchers are still looking for a solution to extract the energy from the graphene cell. Solar cells may become the main form of renewable power if a solution to this issue is found.

Link: http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/solar-energy-may-break-efficiency-barriers-with-help-of-graphene/859339/

Date & source: March 9, 2013, Hydrogen Fuel News

An international wildlife summit, Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was held in Bangkok, Thailand recently. Among new rules discussed was to have tougher trade regulations for turtles, which was supported by 200 countries including US and China. Turtles have been long targeted by obsessive collectors and traditional medicine practitioners for their variety of shell and ‘long life tonics’. During the summit, Japan made history when they seek help to protect their rare Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/08/tougher-trade-rules-turtles-cites

Date & source: March 8, 2013, The Guardian

A recent survey conducted by PwC Malaysia shows that Malaysian companies rank top in terms of managing sustainability. 211 companies from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam participated in the survey. The companies are evaluated against three key building blocks of a sustainable business; the importance of alignment to corporate strategy, stakeholder engagement and also measurement and reporting. The report entitled ‘Going Beyond Philanthropy’ also states that ‘businesses that are in the high sustainability groups financially outperformed companies that are in the low sustainability groups’.

Link: http://my.news.yahoo.com/malaysian-firms-rank-top-emerging-asean-sustainability-080417054--sector.html

Date & source: March 6, 2013, The Edge Malaysia

Texas A&M University has managed to cut its normalized energy consumption by 40% and saved the management $40million over the last 10 years with the help of environmental initiatives that has also improved their recycling rate and reduced its water use. Though the main campus has increased in size by 25% since 2002, a more efficient heat and power system and updated water distribution system management has made this feat remarkably achievable and has earned them a 2013 Energy Star CHP Award. Texas A&M has even employed Engineering firm Burns & McDonnell to help the campus in their upcoming $45 million capital plan to turn their campus even more sustainable.

Link : http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/03/06/texas-am-cuts-normalized-energy-40-over-10-years/

Scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and elsewhere are turning the entire Los Angeles metro region into a state-of-the-art climate laboratory. Historically, researchers have tried to understand anthropogenic global warming by looking at it from the big picture — first across the planet, then by regions and countries but they soon realized that the emissions of a large landmass are extremely difficult to measure. Climate scientists now suspect that cities are some of the worst offenders when it comes to generating greenhouse gases, especially so-called megacities with more than 10 million residents, like Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Mumbai as that’s where all the people and resources are.

Link: http://grist.org/climate-energy/how-nasa-scientists-are-turning-l-a-into-one-big-climate-change-lab/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=update&utm_campaign=socialflow

Growing up, we were reminded to not waste food, that there were children in countries like Africa that were starving and would’ve gladly gobbled up all the leftover food on our plates. These days, this argument may not fly as the US Military has shown that food waste has value but only if the food waste is composted. The US military composted 670 tons of food waste at its Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash., in 2012, diverting the food from landfills and saving $300,000 in disposal costs.

Link: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/03/01/military-base-saves-300000-with-composting/