How should Yahoo! go carbon neutral?

Question

Yahoo! has announced it's going carbon neutral in 2007. We want to do our part to combat climate change. We're investing in greenhouse gas reduction projects around the world that will make our impact on the environment essentially neutral. To read more about what this means, visit Yahoo! for Good (link below). We want your ideas on how we can reach our goal. In what innovative or creative offset projects do you think we should invest?

Yahoo! for Good: http://brand.yahoo.com/forgood/environment/carbon_neutral.html

Answer 1

This is probably lame.. but add "think about the environment before printing this email" to the end of the yahoo signatures.

Answer 2

There is a simple way of reducing your carbon footprint. It is the same way Al Gore has reduced his. First create a sister company called "Yahoo green" or something like that. The purpose of Yahoo! green will be to sell carbon offsets. Determine what your carbon footprint is and then purchase carbon offsets from Yahoo! green. Don't change the way you operate, but do continue to sell the idea that we are destroying the planet if everybody else does not change. You can pollute all you want, but none of it counts, because you have eliminated your carbon footprint by purchasing carbon offsets from your own company. Best of all, the money stays with your own company! Genius! Oh and if any body wants to buy carbon offsets from me they are only $1 this week for 100 oz of carbon that you distribute by breathing. Just email me at [e-mail] I'll take credit cards.

Answer 3

Research living biological and organic mechanism to replace manufactured and artificial devices.

Answer 4

hey, why not invest in algores carbon chip industry?!  i heard you can even use them on mars!

i know, i know, i will be reported because i spoke my mind and because it does not agree with your mind.  sigh.

Answer 5

There will be a lot of good question on how we could change. The real answer is will never happen because we are live in the world of greed, power, fame, and mainly cooperated corruption. Ethic is the answer, but hey no body will change.

Answer 6

If you focus on increasing your profits (-11% tsk tsk), you could spend your own money (instead of the stockholders) to neutralize all the carbon you want.  

Until then, respect the bottom line of your company and turn a decent profit.  Beat Google.

What are you waiting for, an invitation?

Answer 7

I live in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada.

Recently, I emailed one of the mayoral candidates about commercial establishments like McDonald's, Burger King, restaurants, hotels.

He said that two-thirds of garbage that goes into landfills is generated by commercial establishments.

His answer was that these places are not required to recycle because it isn't in the law books, and also it was a provincial jurisdiction.

I don't know the laws or rules of USA, but I do know that these companies are all a part of our world.

We are asked to respect the 3 Rs, so should they.

Answer 8

Yahoo! at its core is a massive consumer of electricty (directly and indirectly).  The only realistic solution for generating mass quantities on no carbon, zero emissions electricity is nuclear power, not wind, solar or other "alternatives".  

So support nukes.  Or shutdown your webpages.  Either one.

Answer 9

Given that a single volcano produces more carbon in a year then all of mankind in recorded history perhaps you should look at ways of capping one and harnesing it's power.  It makes at least as much sense as using Al Gore's backyard mine to produce the zinc needed for fuel cells.

Answer 10

YAHOO !!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Thank you many many times over, thank you.

  

There are two approaches to this item that you have heard tooo much by now , the demand side and the supply side.

On the demand side if a big company like Yahoo purchased in large enough volumes to help bring the price down on more efficient computers like those make by Apple that use the Motorola chips [NOT the Intel chips] that would help other besides Yahoo. The force that yahoo could exert on the computer makers to make a more efficient  computer chips would help everyone.

      Since computers generate a lot of heat moving the computer(s) to someplace where it is just naturally colder would also reduce some of the energy requirements. I am certain there are several ways to achieve this from placing the computers in the basement  or moving as many as possible to colder areas of the country & placing them in basements or the naturally coldest place in the building.

  

    On the supply side if companies with power behind them like yahoo made big purchaces in photovoltaics this might also bring the cost down for others. Also with the power that a company like Yahoo can exert it might be able to bring about soem major advancement in photovoltaic technology

     Investment in other solar energy technologies like phase changing salt boilers, [ Using the sun and mirrors to melt a salt that is then used to boil the water for steam power generation. THis has the advantage in that the molten salt can be stored for some time after sunset to continue generating power ]

There is also the investment in the myriad of other methods of power generating like wind power and variants of that like tidal power ,and  geothermal and variants of that .

These are just very vague ideas on which I hope those at Yahoo are brain storming on.

I wish you the very best in your effort and I hope that this is a real effort and not just some publicity stunt. A large company like Yahoo could really put some force behind these ideas a lot more that a single individual could ever hope for.

Again Thank You many times over

and

YAHOO !!

Answer 11

' Carbon neutral ' ? Just what does that mean ? All life on earth is carbon-based just in case anyone forgot .

Answer 12

I think a good start would be to go solar on oall your building and offices. They make solar panels that are roofing and siding.  In the beginning it might be expensive ,but would pay you back over and over again. The sun shines naturally so why not use it. They also say by  using these panels it make cooling and heating  cost go down. Also these panels charge on overcast days. You can either use all your energy and whatever it don't supply will come out of the power company,or if you make more than you use the power company will buy it back. Also with a battery back up or propane generator, you would not have to worry if there is a black out. Several years back the eastern seaboard had one and it did not effect us because we live off the grid. Solar  is great and the sun is there even if its hiding behind it. Another thing that saves and is green energy user is the led lights. we have .4watt that light our bathroom at night. Also the compactflash light bulb. ex of them would be for 100 wattof light they use about 28 watt. I know we use the 60 watt of light but the use 13 watt of energy. That would save alot of energy. You add up all the little bits of ideas people give you and equals something. They also make a/c's and waterpumps etc. with there own solar panels too. Wind power is excellent to if you have the space and the hieght. That what i like about solar its compact. it looks flashy. like the mirrored building in the big city. My husband say water power. Get something like the pelton wheel which is a cool device. But for yahoo my friend i would start out like i said. You can get alot of power my friend.

Answer 13

Be wary of "greenhouse gas reduction projects". Are they reducing GHG emissions at the rate that Yahoo! is emitting?

Let's take an example:

There is a farmer in Iowa producing electricity using methane produced from cow manure. Obviously, someone is utilizing that elebricity, but it has to go over the transmission wires, which aren't 100% efficient. Even if Yahoo! "purchases" that electricity as an offset of its electrical usage, and even more to account for loss due to transmission, all they've accomplished is now the person who is actually using the electricity is now producing GHG. In other words, Yahoo! hasn't reduced the amount of GHG being emitted. Do we need research in how to produce methane from cow manure, or how to produce electricity from methane? No.

In order to be carbon neutral, you have to do conduct your business without emitting CO2 or CH4 (methane). Another way of saying it is, "Energy self-sufficient".

You first look at what Yahoo! does in terms of using energy.

When you switch on the light (or your computer), the electricity has to come from somewhere. When you cool or warm your office, the AC or furnace has to come on. When you pick up the phone (or use telecom of any kind, including VoIP), you're using electricity at each step along the way. When you flush the toilet, that sewage has to be treated somewhere. When you fly to a conference, that jet fuel has to be burned (and electricity to run the airport, etc.)

Let's cover the flying first, because I don't have a lot of answers in that area. Yahoo! could contribute to the research for jet fuel produced from renewable resources. In the mean time, book your flight on the next solar-powered, propeller plane you see. (OK, I had two ideas.)

Over what does Yahoo! have the most control? it's own facilities. Let's look for synergies. You have to cool computers, but heat the hot water. Why not use water-cooled components and a heat pump to turn 170 deg. water into 250 steam, then run an Ingersoll-Rand micro-turbine? Then heat the hot water as condensate for the steam cycle.

Obviously, there are plenty of ways to create electricity: solar or biofuels (e.g., diesel generator burning veg. oil or methane). Don't use batteries, use a fuel cell. Hook up the fuel cell to a turbine to utilize the heat (about 3000 deg. F). Put a compressor on the turbine to provide air conditioning. Use the hot water in a water-to-air heat exchanger in each office. Build a water processing plant on site, and run it from the renewably generated electricity. Put the biosolids (aka, manure) into a biodigester to generate methane and fertilizer. Make all the vehicles run on a fuel cell. As a migration path, buy biodiesel and ethanol. Better yet, grow oil seed and sugar crops, and make the biofuels yourself, using renewable energy at each step in the process. Grow food and open up a local restaurant  for employees and the public. Build a greenhouse, and pipe the CO2 exhaust into it (burning methane, even made from manure, creates CO2).

Invest in CO2 sequestering projects. There is a company that feeds the phytoplankton in order to help it take up more CO2.

Invest in ways to reduce the temperature at the poles. For example, shooting volcanic ash into the atmosphere will reduce the amount of sunshine hitting the polar ice caps.

Answer 14

Go and buy some "carbon offsets" from your buddy Al Gore.  He sells them, you know.

Answer 15

I almost hate to answer because of all the "Thumbs Down" on all the GOOD ideas that were given before me.

How should Yahoo! go carbon neutral?   Start by planting trees on all Yahoo! owned property and having live, green plants in all the hallways and offices.

Answer 16

i think taking the '!' off of yahoo might help

Answer 17

Yahoo should not bother with this.  It is a waste of effort and resources, just to make yourselves feel better.  

The climate has been going through cycles, warmer and cooler, since long before Yahoo (or the rest of modern society) ever existed.

Answer 18

Ok: according to " Safer Environment you can use less

Carbon Gas by recycling & we'd suggested that "!

Answer 19

I heard that there is a method to try to reduce heat in the city by lining the tops of buildings with plants.  That way, less heat is absorbed by the building.  As a result, less energy is needed to cool it down.  Also, more plants in the city can help cool down the air and help with the pollution.  

http://www.greenroofs.net/

Answer 20

Yahoo is a great internet search engine.  I believe Yahoo should research about carbon offsets along with focusing more on hydrogen based energy resources.  Try carrying out a greenhouse gas assessment to establish baseline CO2 emissions.  Identify cost effective ways to reduce CO2 emissions.  Identify global carbon offset schemes to balance remaining emissions like solar power, technology in general, forestry, and lightbulbs.  Finally, use carbon offsets to balance some or all remaining emissions.  Check out the link for more info  http://www.carbonneutral.com/

Answer 21

I have been thinking about all the controversy about global warming!  are we really causing it to happen? is it really happening? ect.  I draw one conclusion!   It's based on two thoughts... A. We are causing global warming or we are not!

B. We do what we can to fix it or not!

If we do what we can,and it is not something we caused or it does not really exist, We will still better our world, The only thing we can do is NOTHING!   So let's all get past the politics and the rhetoric and go make this a better world!

Answer 22

My idea is to cut down on the number of single car drivers on the road.  Vehicle owners are required to participate in a carpool program several times per month.  Using internet and cellular technology, drivers would alert a digital network of their planned route, time and place of departure.  The network would match this route with other commuters within a i.e. 2km radius with a similar departure time and destination.

To increase safety a background check could be done on users of the system, and routes and users would be logged on the network.

I believe that a semi mandatory carpool community program such as this would reduce the number of vehicles on the road significantly.

Answer 23

Produce a solar-powered cell phone.