3 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Company’s Costs & GHG Emissions

What if I told you that Emerger Strategies can reduce your company’s costs and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously. Well, if you are not interested in reducing your company’s costs, nobody can help you, but if you are like most business owners, you are interested in learning more.

As I write this, Hurricane Milton is fast approaching Florida’s west coast as a Category 4 hurricane, which is a major hurricane that will cause billions of dollars worth of damage, and just a couple of weeks ago Hurricane Helene ravaged Florida, Georgie, Tennessee, and North Carolina, which already caused billions of dollars of damage, especially in Florida and western North Carolina. Both hurricanes are unprecedented , but are similar due to their rapid intensification, which is defined by NOAA as “an increase in the maximum sustained winds of a tropical cyclone of at least 30 kt in a 24-h period.” In the case of Hurricane Helene, she went from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane within 24 hours, and Hurricane Milton went from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in within a 24 hour period, so what causes the rapid intensification? You guessed it…human caused global warming. More specifically, above average ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico is what has been like throwing gasoline on a fire. My point is that climate change is not some thing that is going to happen in 100 years from now, it is happening in real-time, which is the bad news. However, there is good news, and even better news if we act NOW!

The Bad News

According to NASA, “we already see effects (from climate change) scientists predicted, such as the loss of sea ice, melting glaciers and ice sheets, sea level rise, and more intense heat waves; and scientists predict global temperature increases from human-made greenhouse gases will continue. Severe weather damage will also increase and intensify”, but here are list of the future effects from climate change from NASA:

• U.S. Sea Level Likely to Rise 1 to 6.6 Feet by 2100
• Climate Changes Will Continue Through This Century and Beyond
• Hurricanes Will Become Stronger and More Intense (happening right now!)
• More Droughts and Heat Waves
• Longer Wildfire Season
• Changes in Precipitation Patterns
• Frost-Free Season (and Growing Season) will Lengthen
• Global Temperatures Will Continue to Rise
• Arctic Is Very Likely to Become Ice-Free

So, the “effects of human-caused global warming are happening now, are irreversible for people alive today, and will worsen as long as humans add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.”

The Good News

The next logical question is, what can we do to reduce the harmful of effects of climate change because according, to the IPCC, “we must halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 to avoid catastrophic effects of climate change.” For context, here’s a look at the different sectors that make up our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:

According to the EPA, “Greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer. Human activities are responsible for almost all of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years.¹ The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation.”

The good news is that all the solutions to solve the climate crisis exist today, and Project Drawdown has an extensive list of climate solutions, but here’s my short list:

• Support strong climate action at the policy level as individuals and business owners.
• Stop subsidizing the fossil fuel and plastic industries so that renewable energy, which is already becoming cheaper by the day, makes it the cheapest source of energy.
• Advocate for clean energy from our energy utilities.
• Execute energy-efficiency and renewable energy at scale at home, and at our businesses.
• Electrify everything so that our vehicles, farming equipment, tools, etc. are able to be charged with clean energy.

We know which sectors our GHG emissions are coming from, and it is recommended that companies also measure their own greenhouse gas emissions from operations (Scope 1), purchased electricity (Scope 2) and value chain (Scope 3). Measuring your company’s greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint) is meant to be used as a tool that helps you identify hotspots and focus your efforts where you can make the greatest reductions.

The Better News

For homeowners, and business owners, the best news is that when you conserve energy through energy efficiency, or make the switch to renewable energy, you can also reduce your costs! For example, completed a Sustainability Assessment for Z-Man Fishing Products and saw that they were using A LOT of energy, and as a result were spending over $80,000 per year on their energy utility bills. So, we worked with them to make the switch to solar, and they not only reduced their carbon footprint, but created a new revenue stream because they generate more power than they consume and the energy utility pays them for the excess energy they are putting back into the grid! Z-Man took advantage of Federal and State tax credits to help with the ROI on the project and are happy with their decision. Z-Man Fishing CEO Daniel Nussbaum had this to say: “In fact, rather than paying big energy bills during the summer, we’re actually selling electricity back to the power company. It’s a pretty exciting development that’s exceeded our initial hopes and started us well down a path toward minimizing our carbon footprint.”

Here are 3 ways your company can reduce costs and reduce your carbon footprint:

1. Energy Efficiency: Conduct an energy audit for your home and/or business and make improvements through energy efficiency, such as: switching to LED light bulbs, increasing insulation, switching to Energy-Star appliances and computers, and weatherization. Energy efficiency is the lowest hanging fruit to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce your costs! For your home: check out the DOE website for additional resources and tips for saving energy and money!
2. Renewable Energy: Make the switch to renewable energy, which will help you reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and your energy costs! If you choose solar, which is the most common, make sure you are dealing with a legitimate solar contractor. I recommend finding a solar provider on the AMICUS website to find a local company in your state. There are lots of State and Federal incentives and tax credits that can help your home or business, which can be found at the Database for State Incentives for Renewable & Efficiency.
3. Electric Vehicles: When upgrading to a new vehicle, make the switch to an electric vehicles, which can reduce your cost from purchasing fuel, as well as reduce your GHG emissions! The Inflation Reduction Act has some tax incentives for make the switch to EVs.