There's nothing like the possibility of a shortage to get the supply chain humming. Demand for rare earth elements (REEs) is on the rise and is expected to soon outstrip supply. But this particular supply/demand imbalance could help accelerate US recycling efforts and support green technology advances at the same time. (See: The Truth About…
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Today, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced a major research initiative, with several leading academic and corporate research organizations across Europe, to address the alarming growth of energy consumption by electronic devices, ranging from mobile phones to laptops to televisions to supercomputers. The research project, called Steeper, aims…
My column last week produced some interesting reactions among readers, and I wanted to follow up before leaving the subject. (See: China, Emerging Markets Ready to Pay More for Green Products.) As reported then, a DHL study of 1,002 respondents found that Asians were 30 percent more likely than North Americans to pay higher prices…
Scattered amongst this week's news on {complink 379|Apple Inc.}'s MacBook Air and record earnings announcements are releases regarding companies' green and/or social responsibility programs. On any given day, every third or fourth release on the business or PR wires that trade publications use is on something “green.” (Here are a couple examples: Advantest Acts to…
The message Germany’s DHL is pushing from its 160-page report on green logistics, out last week, is that Asian customers are overwhelmingly more willing to pay for green supply chains than are Western customers. Here’s the money quote, making the rounds of logistics blogs: Especially customers in Asia are ready to accept that [environmentally-friendly shipping]…
CHICAGO — The organization working on smart grid standards in the United States has a sourcing problem and has invited the attendees of the NEDA Executive Conference, here in Chicago, to help solve it. “We are going to need to supply 15 million smart meters and monitors [as the implementation moves forward] and one of…
Another wave of environmental regulations is on the horizon and — not surprisingly — accelerating in markets targeted for significant growth in the electronics sector. Specifically, India, Mexico and Brazil are drafting hazardous materials restrictions, e-waste laws, recycling initiatives, and energy conservation measures. While most of these laws are modeled on the familiar EU RoHS…
MEMPHIS, Tenn.– FedEx Corp. (NYS: FDX) is recognized by The International Charter for clear commitment to understanding its environmental impact and reducing it. FedEx is the only company in its industry to receive the Committed to the Environment award. “We were very impressed with the efforts FedEx is making, in particular with regard to reducing…
If you have any doubt about which way the industry wind is blowing, then check out which technologies venture capital (VC) firms are investing in. True, VCs gave us the dotcom disaster. But they (and we) have learned their lesson and are being a lot more diligent about which startups they are investing in. Case…
MILAN & PALO ALTO, Calif.–Accent, a world leader in semiconductor integration of communications and metering technologies, announced today that it has closed a new round of financing of 5 Million Euros from Silicon Valley investor Tallwood Venture Capital. The funding will be used to accelerate development and productization of key communication technologies for system-on-chip solutions…