Dear
Subscriber,
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 Welcome to 2010, this year is destined for great things and filled with energy, change, hope and challenges.
Globally, countries are working hard to lift themselves out of the economic depression and begin building new economies. Much of this growth is to be built utilising clean, renewable energy and green technology, and forecasts put the green collar job sector as one of the fastest growing of all sectors globally.
For those following Copenhagen, check out the summarised account of the conference, with the next step being that countries were asked to voluntarily submit their emission reduction targets by 31st January this year. South Africa has stepped up to the task by setting targets for 2020 and will be implementing reduction strategies in 2012 - read more here.
This means that businesses will be required to measure, monitor, reduce and report on their carbon footprints as part of their annual business operations.
The GCX team strives to provide the highest standard of news, information, insight and support throughout 2010 to help our readers, businesses and industries adapt to a changing climate of business.
Happy reading! |
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Product Carbon Footprints – A first for South Africa! |
 GCX is extremely proud of our new and vital service - Product carbon footprinting. This examines the full life cycle of a product from cradle to grave and determines the total carbon emissions associated with producing it, e.g. a bottle of milk or packet of chips. |
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NEW Carbon Literacy Course launched |
 Carbon Literacy is the essential 1-day course which gives employees and executives a good working knowledge of carbon related factors that will need to be included in their strategies to ensure their departments and businesses are prepared for doing business in a new low-carbon economy.
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Distance Learning Carbon Footprint Analyst Course launched |
 GCX, in partnership with Educor - one of SA’s leading distance learning institutions, is now offering a 3 – 6 month distance learning option for the very popular Carbon Footprint Analyst course. The correspondence course covers the same curriculum as the face-to-face courses, but with the benefit of being done in a student’s own time. The correspondence course is being offered through Damelin and Intec so if you are interested in signing up, please click the link below.
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Free Waste Directory launched |
 Want to recycle but don’t know where the drop off points are? GCX has taken the frustration out of doing the right thing, thanks to the launch of our free waste directory. This allows users to select an item to be disposed of (batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, glass etc), and locate the closest waste disposal site to the user. The database is currently limited to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban but has a submit functionality that allows users and waste providers to register sites they know of, so in time, it will become a national waste directory.
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Copenhagen round up |
 The Copenhagen Climate Change conference last year had the world holding its breath in anticipation of a global treaty, which would result in emission reduction targets set for 2020 with reduction implementation becoming effective in 2012. South Africa was a key negotiator along with China, the USA and Brazil. Things did not go as expected and the result was the Copenhagen Accord. For a summary of the facts, decisions, role players and next steps... |
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South Africa news |
 ABOUT 800000 jobs could be created if SA pursued renewable electricity and bio fuels, according to a report from the Global Climate Network, which was launched in SA on the 27th January this year. |
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 Eskom needs almost a third less coal than originally expected to feed its power stations until 2018 due to weaker demand and a delay in Eskom’s build programme. However, along with this good news comes anxiety over where this coal would come from. Eskom is urging mining companies to invest in new projects to tap into existing coal resources.
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 The “Basic” country bloc South Africa, along with Brazil, India and China, are showing leadership and commitment to reaching an agreed outcome at this year’s global climate change conference taking place in Mexico. South Africa has already committed to undertake mitigation actions that would result in a 34% reduction in emissions from current baseline by 2020, and 42% by 2025.
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 Households installing solar water heaters can expect to achieve a saving of between 30% and 50% on their energy costs. To make the installation of solar water heaters even more cost effective, Eskom has doubled the rebate it offers on these systems. With rising energy costs, electricity supply problems and a payback period of less than 5 years (family of 4), a solar water heater becomes a very attractive option indeed.
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 With city buildings using about 16% of electricity in the Cape Town area, the rising electricity prices and the shortage of electricity supply, finding energy efficient solutions becomes increasingly important in South Africa. The Energy Efficiency Forum has been set up to help solve the problem. GCX developed the Energy Efficiency Auditor course in response to this growing need; which trains building, facilities, plant and energy managers in the skills required to implement these much needed solutions.
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International |
 The Green Economy is growing daily and with this growth comes the need for skilled labour. 27 jobs are highlighted as having potential for growth in the new economy. The jobs featured in this article that we offer specific training for are the following: Carbon Footprint Analyst Training for the Accounting, carbon consulting, emissions trading, greenhouse gas auditing/compliance jobs; Energy Efficiency Auditor Training for the Electrical Engineering and Energy management jobs and Carbon Literacy Training for executives and management who wish to succeed in the low carbon economy.
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 A WWF report predicts that the clean energy technology industry would be worth €1,6-trillion a year globally by 2020, lagging behind only the automobile and electronics sectors. Energy efficiency and renewable energy have already seen strong growth, with further predicted growth of 5% and 15% respectively. And all this growth is happening with only partial Kyoto protocol framework support for clean energy development in place. When an official global climate deal is made and it becomes mandatory to reduce emissions, this industry will explode. |
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 Obama, in his first state of the Union speech to congress, in trying to save a stalled climate bill, focused on the bills potential to drive investment in solar panels, wind farms and other green energy, and thereby creating jobs and boosting exports. Obama even addressed the skeptics, stating that a clean energy economy would lead the global economy and it was important for the growth of the US economy and job creation.
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GCX
Loves |
Rubber slabs inserted into regular pavements generate energy from people stepping on them! Visit Site |
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