Is it me, or wasn’t it just the other day that we ushered in a new century? It feels like just yesterday when we donned our silly Year 2000 party hats and tooted excitedly as we looked to the future. I remember too that we also had a fair amount of concern that the Y2K bug would cause a worldwide financial crash. Well, we may not have had the crash at the beginning of the decade but it came none the less, albeit at the end of the decade. Also, it was not caused by a computer glitch, but by mankind’s greed, mass debit and dubious financial practices.

The world has changed a lot since 2000. As we tiptoe into this new decade the new global concern will be centred mainly on Energy and Carbon. Mark my words: ‘Being green and more sustainable will be the dominant philosophy of the decade’.

Politicians may grand stand but the burning questions are: 
- Will we have enough Energy to go around? 
- Will alternative Energy sources generate enough power? 
- Will I be able to afford them? 
- Will an ETS / carbon tax help or hinder the economy? 
- Can we keep polluting the biosphere with burnt fossil fuels and will sea levels rise flooding much of our landmass over the next few decades?

Who knows what the answers are – no, yes, maybe, all of the above? Regardless of which camp you currently sit in, the fact remains that sceptics and environmentalist do agree on these three points: 
1. Natural resources are being consumed at an unsustainable rate. 
2. The cost of energy will skyrocket as these resources diminish. 
3. Doing something to stem CO2 emissions has to be better than doing nothing at all.

This has thrown up a few more questions that homeowners, business owners and government bodies are now asking themselves: 
- Will it be cost-effective long term to keep paying for power from the grid as prices rise? 
- Or will I save money by installing renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind spires on my building. 
- Can these products pay for themselves and save me money?

Answer to all of the above is a resounding yes!  And the case for acquiring renewable power sources such as solar panels is mounting, when you consider all of the following: 
- government rebates and incentives are currently worth several thousand dollars; 
- 0% interest Green Loans are widely available; 
- good gains can be had from the increasing feed-in tariffs (NSW currently leads Australia with a 60 cents per kilowatt hour gross feed-in tariff, however some European countries pay 5 times the going rate for green power that is fed back into the grid.); 
- solar and wind product prices are becoming more affordable as competition heats up between manufacturers; 
- probable tax incentives for green initiatives or a tax on pollution / carbon taxes. 
- energy companies are set to double the retail cost of power over the next 3 years or so.

So, yes it will pay to be green. It is not an immediate result, but the benefits are to be had over many years as the price for fossil derived power continues to rise.

Don’t see red – go green

Being green feels good, if you don’t believe me try it. Nowadays it’s even trendy and cool to be green. In fact there is a growing proportion of the population – every day mums and dads – who are now environmentally concerned, and they have a name: the Green Army. And, what is now becoming evident is that this Green Army is prepared to vote with their feet and wallets as they try to “minimise their carbon footprint”, and that is some serious buying power.

To this end companies and manufactures are being forced to look at how they and their products impact the planet. Smart businesses have found that as they look to reduce emissions they can actually reduce running costs. I mean, who would have thought that lower emissions = cost savings!

Simply put, progressive businesses are finding that by saving or creating energy, greening their supply chain or simply using more environmentally friendly components in the production of their products and packaging, they gain Green Army support thus get increased sales. Greener products = increased sales, wow there’s another thought!

Businesses that green up their act are gaining a competitive edge – a green edge if you will – which is a win for the consumer, a win for the environment and a win for business. It then stands to reason, that as the growing Green Army shows their preference for supporting green firms, more firms will green up their act. It makes fiscal sense to become greener and those firms that don’t green up their act, I predict, will die out much like the dinosaur did.

Thus, business and private individuals are realising that is fast becoming a case of go green or go into the red.

I challenge you to make a positive difference to the planet and your pocket this decade by being greening up your area of influence.  At home, at work and when you purchase products, ask yourself: “What can you do in 2010 to be greener, for the planet and for future generations?”

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More information about this topic in our energy section

Sean Cochrane is a Director at All Saferitten by Sean Cochrane

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