economically fueling fl eets of doing business march 2013...
TRANSCRIPT
AN iNdepeNdeNt sectioN by mediAplANet to the vANcouver suN
Robert Herjavec — discusses the advantages of doing business in Canada
the Herjavec group taKing YoUr bUsiness to tHe neXt leVel
cNg sustainably and economically fueling fl eets
the new world of workchanging the landscape of doing business
March 2013
MANAGING THe THRee PILLARS OF
SUSTAINABILITY
MANAGING THe
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BUsINess INNovatIoN & sUstaINaBIlItY
AN iNdepeNdeNt sectioN by mediAplANet to the vANcouver suN2 · mArch 2013
sustainability: why it matters
economy, environment and community are not separate concerns. By balancing these issues business has the opportunity to take all three to higher levels.
Why is it im-portant for bu-sinesses to ba-lance the th-ree pillars of sustainability in their prac-
tices? The longevity of a business is de-pendent on economic, social, and envi-ronmental initiatives. That is only part of the answer. Sustainability is more than preserving business longevity. It is fundamental to the survival of our eco-nomies, our way of life, and some would argue, to our continued presence on this planet.
Without sounding alarmist, let’s look at sustainability more broadly, starting in British Columbia, one of the most bles-sed areas of the world in terms of natural resource wealth and quality of life. Natu-ral resources have fueled our economy for over 100 years, and in turn have con-tributed to the success of the larger Cana-dian economy.
Some of the world’s largest mining, en-ergy, and forestry companies are based in BC and their presence helps to sustain our relative prosperity and our high stan-dards of living.
Many of these companies are global leaders in corporate sustainability prac-tices, having balanced goals in the three fi elds of sustainability (economic, social,
and environmental), and one might as-sume they will easily sustain themselves for generations to come.
If only life were that simple. British Columbia’s economy is part of a larger global system that is undergoing pro-found and accelerating changes that af-fect us all.
Globally, readily accessible natural re-sources are already in short supply and voracious consumer demand is raising prices at the well head, the gas pump, and at the supermarket. Costs for every servi-ce essential to our health, education, em-ployment, and housing are rising. Access to safe clean water is not a reality for mil-lions and a pressing concern aff ecting
the global food industry.Resource exploitation is moving into
areas deeper, more remote, or more envi-ronmentally vulnerable, which also can have widespread and in some case irre-versible ecological consequences.
I could go on, but it is clear that sustai-nability is more than a way of doing bu-siness. It is a complex, inter-dependent dynamic system that aff ects everyone and spares no one.
That is why this report is important not only as a call to action for commu-nities and industry, but also to clarify the environmental, economic, and so-cial dimensions of sustainability.
Managing growing volumes of solid
wastes is as important as managing ener-gy and water. British Columbia is a world leader in waste recovery, recycling and reuse. Metro Vancouver in particular is leading the way on a Zero Waste initiati-ve that will have national and internatio-nal signifi cance.
Ensuring responsible management in both the renewable and non-renewable resource sectors is also addressed here, as is the need for more sustainable trans-portation and infrastructure, including measures to lessen the environmental impact of buildings and structures.
Overall, the importance of embedding sustainability into our culture, linking environmental sustainability, economic viability, and community well being can-not be overstated.
On all these fronts the GLOBE Founda-tion has been one of British Columbia’s strongest assets in advancing leading ed-ge ideas and technologies that can make sustainability a reality. We will be conti-nuing our mission of making our provin-ce a world center of excellence in sustai-nability at GLOBE 2014, taking place in March of next year. I look forward to see-ing you there.
“the technology start-up community is fl ourishing — practically bursting at the seams with talent and disruptive ideas.”
WE rECOMMEND
pAge 4
The 21st century brought with it a fl ood of exciting new technologies that chan-ged the ways we communicate, and the ways we work. Some companies are em-bracing these new technologies and al-low employees to take their work on the road to reap the benefi ts of greater fl ex-ibility. This new trend is called “work-shifting.”
A new way to work“Work just isn’t 9 to 5 anymore; you work when you need to,” says Erin Hintz, vice president of global marke-ting and general manager of eCommer-ce at Citrix. “Work is no longer a place, it’s a thing you do. It’s not attached to a particular location or a particular time.
You know what you need to do and you accomplish it when you can.”
A wide range of technologies make workshifting possible. Video conferen-cing, mobile devices, and cloud-based access to company databases are all ne-cessary as well as having remote tech support if things go awry. It doesn’t mat-
ter where an employee is, or what time it is, they can do their work just as eff ec-tively as they would at the offi ce, or even more so.
Workshifting proposes a new balan-ce between one’s work life and personal life by providing more fl exibility, and al-lowing people to better manage their responsibilities to both their employer and family.
Managing mobile employeesThe main challenge with adapting this new work model is ensuring that the employees stay on task and manage their time. Some employers fear that if workers aren’t watched they’ll slack off and waste time.
“One of the important things with workshifting is having an agreement between managers and employees say-ing, ‘here’s the things we need to ac-hieve. Here’s how we’re going to mea-sure that, and here’s how we’re going to check in on that,” says Hintz.
“Companies have a lot of tools for doing that. A lot of managers will take the initiative to put the things in place that they need between themselves and their employees to ensure the work is being done,” Hintz explains.
A workshifting success storyA good example of a company that suc-cessfully adopted workshifting is the Sick Kids Foundation in Toronto. They gave employees remote access to offi ce fi les, which allowed Sick Kids to invest in desktops rather than costly laptops which are often left at work. They found the ability to workshift when needed produced happier, more productive em-ployees.
“It almost doesn’t matter where you are as long as you have access to the inter-net and some type of a device,” says Hintz. “It enables so many diff erent things.”
how new technology is changing the way we work
erin Hintzvp global marketing & gm, ecommerce citrix
Entrepreneurial businesses, the back-bone of our economy, can beat the odds of failure by overcoming the sales and marketing challenges of 2013. Grow customers and increase brand awa-reness with these 3 best practices for small business growth.
Sales growth: manage your activities, not your results
1 First, set monthly, quarterly and annual sales targets. Then, the
next step is to plan how you are going to get there. To be successful, manage dai-ly activities and not your results. If you are a small business owner who wears many hats in the business, spend at least 50% of your time every day on selling.
Focus: sell your strengths and buy your weaknesses
2 What do you do best? What part of the business do you love? As
entrepreneurs, we tend to get caught up in doing everything, especially things that we are not the best at. We spend an obscene amount of time on things that are not our strengths. Fo-cus on what you do best in your busi-ness and bring in great people.
Be an industry expert: become a Story Teller Online
3 Engage your audience and future customers with valuable con-
tent on your social media and blog and become THE expert in your indu-stry. Join online groups and discus-sions, ask questions, comment on posts and respond to questions. Give expert advice and DON’T SELL your services. It takes time and eff ort but it’s worth it.
Robert Hartcanadian cloud council
CHrIS rIddell
MOe SOMAnI, PreSIdenT And CeO,SOHO BUSIneSS GrOUP
busiNess iNNovAtioN & sustAiNAbilitysecoNd editioN, mArch 2013
Publisher: Dino [email protected],Ash Macleod [email protected] Manager: Maggie [email protected] Designer: Alana [email protected]: Anna Staffansson
Contributors: robert Hart, Max Jones, Chris riddell, Andrew Seal, Moe Somani,John Wiebe
Managing Director: Jon [email protected] Developer: Emily O’Donnell [email protected]
Photo Credit: All images are from iStock.com unless otherwise accredited.
Distributed within:Vancouver Sun, March 2013This section was created by Mediaplanetand did not involve The Vancouver Sun orits Editorial Departments.
mediaplanet’s business is to create new customers for our advertisers by providing readers with high quality editorial contentthat motivates them to act.
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Vancouver has been a front runner in the sustainability movement by marrying environmental concerns with business practices.PHOTO: VANCOUVER CONVENTION CENTRE
■Question: how is the workforce of today different than it was before?■Answer: New technology is allo-wing workers to go mobile, and do their work wherever and whenever they choose.
John Wiebeglobe foundation
“sustainability is more than preser-ving business longe-vity. it is fundamental to the survival of our economies, our way of life, and some would argue, to our continued presence on this planet.”
BEST PrACTICES ON SMAll BUSINESS GrOWTH
AN iNdepeNdeNt sectioN by mediAplANet to the vANcouver suN mArch 2013 · 3
INsIght
source: www.teleworkreseArchNetwork.com/resources/costs-beNefits; www.teleworkreseArchNetwork.com/pros-coNs; http://customfitworkplAce.org/wiN-wiN/cut-costs
4,500flex empoyees save on averge per year
of organizations with mobile workstyles that have seen cost-related benefits
The new world of work
Work is not a place — It’s an activity. Modern technology changes the traditional o�ce.
of �ex employees are happier
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55%of �ex empolyees are more likely to go the extra mile for employers.
RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, PROTECTION.Learn about our new tools for IT Service Continuity.blackbridge.com/networks
BUYER BEWARESome Canadian canned tuna brands are working to ensure ocean-friendly tuna for their customers. Other brands refuse.This April, see how your brand of choice measures up.greenpeace.ca/tunaranking
AN INDEPENDENT SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET TO THE VANCOUVER SUN4 · MARCH 2013
INSPIRATION
Cloud in CanadaThe country of Canada is staring in-to a great white abyss — one of either profound opportunity or abject fai-
up community is flourishing — prac-tically bursting at the seams with talent and disruptive ideas that ha-ve the potential of turning over the
of the most robust and expansive net-work infrastructures on the planet, inexpensive green energy and an agi-le and relatively flourishing business
still failing to commercialize innova-tion and assertively adopt cloud com-puting as a transformational way of doing business?
The ChallengeFor starters, we do not have a federal connection strategy in place; one that supports the cloud as a mechanism for innovation enablement or global
are encumbered by risk adverse and painfully slow policy making, a tele-communications oligopoly that in-sists on rolling out the lowest inter-net caps in the industrialized world, and the misguided and often incor-rect perception that clouds are not se-cure and deliver little business value besides cost reduction.
Cloud computing, at its bare essence, is a platform to enable and commer-
line-up of Canadian companies that are looking for such a platform to con-vert their innovative ideas into eco-
-stry is looking to the Canadian govern-ment to understand these principles and act accordingly which will repre-
and losing, maintaining a first-tier pre-sence in the global market.
If you own a television and have seen Dragon’s Den, to you, the name Ro-bert Herjavec likely screams entre-preneurship.
It’s an easy association conside-ring the Canadian businessman and investor’s role in the reality show and it’s U.S.-counterpart Shark Tank – where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to a panel of investors in the hopes of securing financing.
His story reads like the archetypal rags to riches tale – immigrating to Ca-nada from Croatia at the age of eight, at-tending New College at University of To-ronto before “falling” into the techno-logy business — but in the 25 years sin-ce he sold his first firewall Herjavec has watched the budding culture of innova-tion in his adopted country grow.
“When I started out there were no classes on entrepreneurship — I’m not sure people could even spell the word,” says Herjavec. “Now, you look at Laurier, Western and UBC, you’ve got classes in business and entrepreneurship, classes in computer engineering and you’ve ac-tually got programs that combine com-puter engineering and business into a single degree.”
That educational infrastructure is Canada’s greatest asset when it comes
to cultivating a culture of innovation, says Herjavec.
“Before you can build a great fire you need a spark,” he says adding that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Canada because young people know the resources and tools they need exist. He points to fantastic capital gain ra-tes, a solid investment environment for government support and a great banking environment for funding.
Personal income taxes may be a bit high, he says, and the venture capi-talist environment isn’t as strong in Canada as it is in California – but “we make up for it with access to fantastic engineering.”
“If I was American, would I come he-re to (start a company) probably not,” says Herjavec. “But as a Canadian is there any driver for me to go and mo-
ve my company to California? No becau-se everything you can do there, you can
and the United States is blurring.
Digital InnovationGlobally, Canadians are well perceived as good business partners and hold their own against foreign competitors when it comes to digital innovation. Tech doesn’t have borders which means all you need is a great idea, a start up infrastructure and some funding.
For Herjavec there are four major trends when it comes to digital innova-tion — cyber security, cloud computing, commercialization of data storage and regulation/compliance with the chang-ing needs of security.
“We’ve moved into an age where we realize that online activity is dangerous
and needs to be secure and that’s being driven by compliance and policies and procedures on an internal basis,” says Herjavec who launched BRAK Systems in 1990, an integrator of Internet secu-rity software.
He thinks back to when he sold his first commercial firewall 25 years ago. “I came home and told my wife ‘wow I discovered this incredible business, in-ternet security’,” says Herjavec adding that he was a little bit depressed. “My wife says ‘why are you sad?’ and I said ‘after I sell everyone a firewall, there’s nothing left to sell them’.”
Ten years later, BRAK was sold to AT&T for $30.2 million. In 2003, he launched the Herjavec Group – another security software integrator and reseller.
“I think online security has no finish line because threats are constantly evol-ving,” he says adding that data storage and cloud computing will continue to grow as well.
“If I step back and look at Canada as a global IT investment,” says Herjavec. “It’s a good investment environment.”
ANDREW SEALE
INNOVATION FROM INSIDE CANADA AS A GLOBAL COMPETITOR
ROBERT HART
Robert Herjavec■ Position: CEO
■ Company: The Herjavec Group
■ Industry: Data Security Integrator
■ Residence: Toronto, Canada
PROFILE
DELAY — THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINNING AND LOSING
Robert HartPresident, Canadian Cloud Council
AN iNdepeNdeNt sectioN by mediAplANet to the vANcouver suN mArch 2013 · 5
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The new normWhen one hears the phrase “clean tech-nology,” they might think of feel-good innovations that don’t hold weight from a fi nancial standpoint. Considering the ever-increasing environmental regulations, though, the profitabi-lity of clean-tech was inevitable. Ac-cording to Wal van Lierop, the CEO of Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, “clean-tech is the norm. It has beco-me part of mainstream industry, par-ticularly part of the mainstream en-ergy industry.”
If you open the annual report of either Siemens or GE, you will see that in the past two years both com-panies reported 25 billion, that’s bil-lion with a ‘b’, in clean-tech revenu-es.” The industry of clean technolo-gy is no longer relegated to being a fringe economy, but instead has been adopted by major companies in the interest of increasing revenue. That’s good news for investors who are in-terested in clean-tech, but afraid of the technology risk that comes with investing in a startup. Now they can look to large corporations who “ac-cording to GRI, are earmarked as companies that have been very good at incorporating clean-tech in their core business.”
BC clean-tech communityBritish Columbia is a hotspot for up and coming clean-tech companies, the likes of which are constantly be-ing scouted by larger corporations looking for the next industry-chan-
ging innovation. From an investors standpoint it is at the other end of the investment spectrum: higher risk, but also the potential for a higher reward. As van Lierop explains, “If you have the stomach to invest in early-stage companies like we do, you can get an enormous premium for taking that technology risk. Let’s face it; the clean-tech community in BC is huge.”
BC clean-tech is huge and only getting bigger. The GLOBE Foundation reports that the “clean energy, green building, and clean transportation sector were re-sponsible for 123,350 full-time equivalent jobs and over $15 billion in GDP in 2011.” Those numbers indicate a sector that, while still maturing, is in no danger of disappearing overnight.
Time to investThanks to the increasing awareness of the profitability of clean-tech, due in part to organizations like Chrysa-lix and GLOBE, the clean-tech indu-stry is ripe for investment. The po-tential investor can either play it safe with a large, stable corporation with a ‘clean’ record, or take a chance on a BC startup, because as van Lierop ex-plains, “consolidation will take pla-ce over the next little while, but the-re are definitely gems here in British Columbia.”
Andrew SeAle
Investing in the green economy
Clean cities
MAX JOneS
“if you open the annual report of either siemens or ge, you will see that in the past two years both com-panies reported 25 billion, that’s billion with a ‘b’, in clean-tech revenues.”Wal van Lieropceo chrysalix energy venture capital
as businesses try to fi nd innovative ways to reduce their car-bon footprint, com-munities that are adopting sustaina-ble practices are be-
coming more enticing both as part-ners and places to grow business ope-rations.
Dianne Watts, Mayor of Surrey and Leo Facio, Mayor of Harrison Hot Springs, weigh in on how they’re in-jecting sustainability into their cities.
Surrey In October, the city put a new organic’s waste program in place. From October through to December, Surrey’s garbage tonnage dropped by 43 percent, bringing the city’s total waste diversion close to 70 percent in just 3 months.
“The goal is to reach 75 percent was-te diversion by 2015,” says Watts.
Also, the city is saving $3 million a year by switching the entire fl eet to compressed natural gas and modify-ing its collection system.
“With anything that requires change there’s an education piece of it — everybody needs to be respon-sible for his or her own space,” adds Watts.
Harrison Hot Springs“Being located on the shores of one of the purest and pristine lakes in southern British Columbia, Harri-son Hot Springs residents value our water,” says Facio.
Harrison upgraded its wastewa-ter treatment facility to use a Mem-brane Bioreactor (MBR).
“This approach greatly increases the sustainability of the treatment plant due to the decreased complexi-ty, costs (capital and operating), foot-print and materials,” says Facio. “This technology has made this plant a mo-del of sustainable sewage treatment that ensures that continued natural beauty of the community is preser-ved and protected.”
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British Columbia’s municipalities are working together to create a better envi-ronmental future for our communities.
eCONOMIC VIABILITY & FINANCIAL STABILITY ARe KeY
eCONOMIC
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AN iNdepeNdeNt sectioN by mediAplANet to the vANcouver suN6 · mArch 2013
Richard DunnVice-President, regulatory & Government relations, Encana
Doug BloomPresident,Spectra Energy Transmission West
Doug StoutVice President, Energy Solutions & External relations, fortisBC
paNel of experts
Question 1:How is your Sector (Stream) impacting BC’s Economy and Employment?
Question 2:What does environmental sustainability mean to your sector?
Question 3:What challenges does your stream face moving forward?
As demand for energy grows, our customers’ energy needs must be met in an environmentally sustainable way. Our energy solutions — conventional gas, natural gas-powered vehicles, district energy systems, renewable natural gas, or energy conservation programs — are designed with this in mind. Before commencing work on large infrastructure projects, we undertake environmental assessments to minimize and mitigate our impact. We undertake activities to support sustainability and environmental protection, while helping customers reduce their carbon emissions and get the most out of their energy dollar through conservation.
It means working hard to develop natural gas responsibly. We need to continue to strive to reduce emissions intensity, and responsibly source, handle and dispose of water. Industry’s environmental responsibilities can be seen in the “Guiding Principles for Hydraulic Fracturing” announced last year by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Encana supported the development of these principles and our participation demonstrates our commitment to responsible water use.
To us it means setting and achieving high standards, and continuously impro-ving our own environmental performance. At its simplest, our role is to expand infrastructure to facilitate the use of natural gas as a source of clea-ner-burning energy. We take a comprehensive full life-cycle approach to project development, from identifying sensitive areas and biodiversi-ty issues to minimizing our environmental foot-print. We champion energy efficiency and emis-sions reductions in our own operations, invest in new technologies and provide innovative energy services, such as carbon capture and storage and waste heat recovery. We’re also advocates of gas-fired electricity generation as an opportunity of growing importance.
We are developing new ways for natu-ral gas to be used more broadly in BC, and need to ensure our customers are aware of the eco-nomic and environmental advantages of the-se new energy options — natural gas vehicles and district energy systems are only the be-ginning. Going forward we must work close-ly with our industry peers, policymakers, and stakeholders to ensure a level playing field in the energy industry and that consumers have access to the tools and resources required to make informed choices about their energy use.
BC has lots of opportunity but we’re deve-loping a resource located in relatively remote areas of the province. And we’re currently in an oversupplied North American market. So pro-jects that boost demand and grow markets are important to the BC natural gas industry—such as the Kitimat LNG project, in which we’re a partner. From a social perspective, we know the public has questions about natural gas develop-ment. We encourage open, transparent, fact-ba-sed discussions. We are continuing to build pu-blic understanding, including where we have challenges. We will continue to adopt new tech-nology and best practices to continue to impro-ve performance.
Our massive natural gas reserves in northeast British Columbia, though plenti-ful, could be shut in without swift action that would also shut in jobs and economic activity. We must address the modernization of Canada’s outdated system for large project approvals with the end goal of a “one project, one review” regime. Only by establishing a modern energy-related regulatory process of linked or integra-ted legislation that ends overlap and duplica-tion (both provincial and federal), will we sup-port energy development, innovation and att-ract investment in this increasingly competiti-ve global marketplaceamet.
Natural gas plays a key role in BC’s economy, representing about 22 per cent of the energy consumed in BC, more than elec-tricity. Compared to other fuels, natural gas can be more economical and is used in a va-riety of ways — from home heating to indu-strial processes. We invest in significant en-ergy infrastructure projects that drive eco-nomic benefits and jobs to communities across BC. For example, our liquefied natural gas storage facility on Vancouver Island dro-ve $70 million into the local economy over the course of the project.
BC is blessed with tremendous natural gas resources. Developing these resour-ces provides a source of direct revenue to the province through royalties and taxes — sup-porting such things as education and health-care services - and is a source of income to the many people working in the natural gas indu-stry. For example, Encana alone has invested more than $1 billion a year on average into Northeast BC natural gas development over the last 10 years, providing good paying jobs for British Columbians.
It’s important to recognize the signifi-cant positive correlation between increased na-tural gas demand and industry investments across this province. A prime example is Spectra Energy’s capital expansion program in which we are invested $1.5 billion in BC’s natural gas in-frastructure. In addition to employing more than 850 British Columbians, we are creating an incre-mental 1,350 construction and construction-rela-ted jobs, totaling approximately two million per-son-hours of work. We pay approximately $61.5 million in property taxes and $33 million in car-bon taxes annually — funds that are essential to maintaining the critical social programs upon which we all rely.
www.surrey.ca /rethinkwaste
with our newrethink wastecollection program
organic waste can be turned into Fuel
AN iNdepeNdeNt sectioN by mediAplANet to the vANcouver suN mArch 2013 · 7
FUeLLING UPCNG provides an economic environmental option for indus-trial and commercial vehiclesPHOTO: NATURAL GAS VEHICLE ALLIANCE
Industry spotlightThe global forestry market itself has been marred with illegal logging and other unsustainable practices. But tougher regulations and environmen-tal footprint-conscientious decisionsin Canada have helped build a “green-er” pulp, paper and wood market.
Avrim Lazar, former president and CEO of the Forest Products Associa-tion of Canada and chair of the Advi-sory Committee on Paper and Wood Products to the United Nations says “environmental credentials” are essential.
“There’s always a danger of beingshut out of markets based on envi-ronmental decisions,” says Lazar. “We’re looking to translate our en-vironmental credentials into mar-ket advantage.”
He says the key is “extracting morevalue from each tree.” Biomass—was-te left over from the manufacturing process—can be converted into bio-fuels that can be burned for energy or used as substitutes in the production process.
According to Natural Resources Canada, bioenergy provided 58 per-cent of the energy used by the pulp and paper sector in 2007.
“We’ve gotten onto such a positivepath that the environmental groupshave partnered with us—they’re nolonger campaigning against us,” no-tes Lazar.
A forest-saving frameworkIn May 2010, 21 forest companies andnine environmental organizations signed the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement aimed at setting a frame-work for responsible forestry. Steven Price, senior director of ConservationScience and Practice at WWF says that work to establish the Forest Steward-ship Council helped to lay the ground-work for the Boreal agreement.
“It’s an exciting and ground-brea-king agreement between two sectorsthat are normally at war with each other,” says Price.
“A tree was still cut to make this product. It’s not perfect but it makes less impact then other products,” says Price.”
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the City of surrey takes the lead on CNg vehicles
over the next two decades, Canada’s natural gas indu-stry is expected to rival the Alber-ta oilsands, says the Conference
Board of Canada – one of the country’s leading business think tanks.
As it stands, the industry already adds about $24.5 billion a year to our country’s economy and employs 130,000 people. Demand is expected to double by 2035.
So it’s no surprise that businesses and services in British Columbia, the country’s second largest producer, are jumping on natural gas.
In early March, energy company For-tisBC awarded $6 million in incentives to transportation operators — ranging from BC Transit to Cold Star Freight System — to purchase compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled vehicles for their fl eets. The funding will put 150 new compressed natural gas vehicles on the road and is part of a $104.5 milli-on program geared towards bolstering
natural gas in-f r a s t r u c t u r e development and training within the province.
But why all the support for natural gas?Because it ma-kes sense from an environ-mental, social and economi-cal standpoint, says Robert Costanzo Deputy Manager of Operations for the City of Surrey’s Engineering department.
“We’re looking to reduce our carbon footprint,” says Costanzo. “Natural gas is 23 times cleaner than diesel or gaso-line and it has approximately 9 percent less particulate emissions.”
He points out that CNG is ideal for short distance travel — like courier ser-
vices and waste mana-gement.
The city was an early adopter of natural gas for its waste collection vehicles and is buil-ding a biofuel facility to eventually use the was-te itself to generate re-newable natural gas. As of October 2012, the city had 55 operating CNG vehicles.
But the economic benefits can often go overlooked“Initially the trucks
are about 20 percent more expensi-ve than the diesel garbage trucks but the gas is so cheap that the return on investment is quick,” adds Costanzo. “The savings over time are quite sig-nificant.”
The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) is also looking to get into natu-ral gas — adding 25 compressed natu-ral gas vehicles to their transit fleet
in the spring of 2014.“The oldest buses in the RDN Trans-
it fl eet will be replaced by low emissi-on CNG buses which will contribute to a better environment,” says Daniel Pearce, Manager of Transit Operations for the region.
Pearce also points to the social va-lue, noting that the new CNG buses and fueling technology will add to the region’s knowledge base while ope-ning up the Nanaimo and the surroun-ding region to new collaboration opp-ortunities.
“Other municipalities within the RDN could benefi t by having access to CNG fuelling infrastructure,” adds Pearce.
BC Transit is looking to replace about 35 per cent of its fl eet — nearly 1000 buses — over the next fi ve years as part of their move towards natural gas.
Andrew SeAle
Andrew SeAle
eNVIRON-MeNTAL STABI-LITY eNSUReS
LONGeVITY
eNVIRON-
3TIP
Ruth
Mills
Natural gas is 23 times cleaner than diesel or gasoline and it has approx-imately 9 percent less particulate emissions.
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