Partner Article

Will you thrive or dive in the green economy?

The economy is starting to go green. Reading the mainstream media, or listening the political narrative, you mightn’t believe that statement, but here’s some strong indicators of change:

• Renewable energy produced a record 15.5% of the UK’s electricity in the second quarter of 2013 – up 50% on the previous year. Portugal managed 70% in quarter 1;
• The cost of a solar panel has plummeted by a factor of 100 since the 1970s and halved in just the last couple of years;
• Fossil energy prices remain stubbornly high despite the shale gas boom in the US;
• Commodity prices in general are higher than they have ever been since we started measuring them;
• Electric vehicle sales in the US have risen 447% on the back of the Tesla Model S. The Tesla was also the best selling car of any kind in Norway in September, but it got bumped in October by its electric cousin the Nissan Leaf.
• The amount of material going to landfill in the UK has hit an all-time low;
• According to the CBI, a third of all UK growth now comes from the green sector.

And here’s the rub. ‘Building a sustainable supply chain’ is no longer about assessing similar potential suppliers to see which one is more eco-friendly, but about finding completely different sources of energy and materials.

For example, Marks & Spencer launched their recycled polyester suit last year and talk about ‘racing to scale the circular economy’ – in plain English they want to ditch virgin materials altogether in favour of recycled alternatives. If this kind of venture does scale up, it will completely reshape the traditional, linear take-make-waste economy.

The question for every business is how, if at all, it fits into this change. Those in traditional supply chains may find their market evolving rapidly, or at worst, suddenly disappearing. This has already happened in niches such as glycerol production where the traditional virgin material has been elbowed out by the by-products of bio-diesel.

On the flip side, big change means lots of opportunity. While we think of the green economy as the production of shiny new breakthrough green technologies, there are plenty of opportunities for those who provide smaller links in the chain such as building management software, or those who provide support services to the green economy, for example how Gateshead College trains emergency personnel in dealing with electric vehicles in a road traffic accident.

So, the bottom line is, how do you approach this agenda – will you rise to the challenge and exploit the emerging opportunities, or hunker down and hope for the best?

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gareth Kane .