Procurement with Purpose Newsletter No. 15 - May 16th 2023

Mark Perera and I started talking about doing a Procurement with Purpose book back in early 2020. At that point, the Paris Agreement was already in place, which proposed that keeping global warming to no more than 1.5°C required emissions to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. I remember Mark talking about the timescales and pointing out that there were 500 or so weeks and just 120 months until the 2030 ”deadline”. It just hit me the other day that those numbers are now 360 and 80. In fact, we are almost exactly one third of the way to 2030 from when we first started our discussions. And how are we doing?

Well, as regular readers will know, there is probably more disappointing news than good to report here most weeks. But there are rays of hope every so often, and there are some today.

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A recent survey of 1000 US consumers carried out for SAP highlights both some positive findings and some concerns for all of us interested in sustainability. More than half the survey (51%) said they have made an effort to buy from firms that practice sustainability during the past two years.  That is up from 36% in a similar survey a year ago. And 36% also represents the proportion who say they purchase from brands that practice ethical sourcing for their products.

However, it is concerning (although not surprising) that 64% of the sample said that inflation has affected their ability to buy sustainability, and 85% would prioritise that factor more if the cost barrier to doing do was lower. If you are struggling to feed your family, or keep your home warm,  then modern slavery in the supply chain or de-forestation in the Amazon does drop down the list of your concerns, I’m sure.

Other interesting findings include a high degree of scepticism about greenwashing, with half the sample believing that brands exaggerate claims of sustainability to misled us – and 34% are “not sure”.  But there is a strong appetite to know more about ESG and similar corporate initiatives, even though more than one in four consumers (28%) do not know where to find the information.

So, it’s worth having a look at the survey results here. And a key message for procurement is that in these challenging times economically, we need to focus hard on those purpose-led and sustainability actions that do not drive costs significantly. There are plenty of those that are cost neutral or can even bring cost reduction as well as the wider benefits. For instance, initiatives such as reducing energy use in our own and our suppliers’ operations, eliminating waste, stopping over-packaging, holding suppliers to account on human rights…  this doesn’t have to cost a fortune, or indeed anything in many cases - if we get it right. We can even save money as well as contributing to saving the plane t…

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One big success story of recent years has been wind power. Whilst the UK conservative government has implemented a wholly ridiculous ban on new onshore turbines, last week saw a new record as wind generated more electricity than any other energy source. As the BBC reported:

“Wind turbines have generated more electricity than gas for the first time in the UK. In the first three months of this year a third of the country's electricity came from wind farms, research from Imperial College London has shown. National Grid has also confirmed that April saw a record period of solar energy generation”.

Wind turbines provided 32.4% of Britain’s electricity in the first three months of the year, with gas the number two source at 31.7%.  However, electricity only accounts for 18% of UK energy use, a lower number than I realised. Use of petrol and diesel for vehicles is still huge, as is gas for domestic heating and oil/gas/coal for industrial use. (Although coal use is now the lowest it has been in the UK since 1757, when George II was king, according to Carbon Brief). 

So moving forwards in the UK will require more work around EVs, particularly charging points, and we have to hope someone invents a heat pump that is actually capable of heating our draughty, badly built housing stock through a British winter. But we should celebrate the success of wind, and of curse the cost of that form of generation has also dropped dramatically over the years.

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Talking about EVs and issues with batteries and charging, thanks to a friend and newsletter subscriber for pointing out this article on the RAC website.  Sweden is apparently going to build the world’s first permanent electrified, charging motorway. Three options are under discussion, reports say. The first option is to use a catenary system that uses overhead wires to provide power to vehicles on the road, which would be most suitable for buses or trams. I can’t really see how that would work for cars though.

The second option is to use an inductive system. Equipment is buried underneath the road which sends power to coils fitted to EVs as they travel. But that would need special coils to be fitted to EVs surely? The final option is where the new stretch of road would use conductive charging. This is where electricity is sent wirelessly to a metal plate on the EV. Again, that would presumably need some adaptation to the cars but sounds maybe the least difficult.

On reflection, I’m not convinced any of this really works as a major solution. It sounds more like an academic exercise than a practical solution to the charging problem – just build more charging points, people!

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The same friend has just completed a major project to install solar panels in the garden of his family home. I haven’t seen the finished work, but I don’t think we are just talking about one or two small unites here … his aim is to be self-sufficient and sell some back to the grid. And apparently you get a reasonable amount of power even when the sun isn’t shining, which I also didn’t know.  Now clearly not everyone has a large enough garden, or an extensive enough roof, to power a small village. But there could certainly be a lot more home-generated power. However, one of the problems has been battery storage. Homes must use the power generated straight away or sell it to the grid immediately unless they can store it.

So storage has become more popular, but cost and storage efficiency have been barriers to wider adoption. Now researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new lithium-air battery technology that they believe could end up being four times as efficient as current lithium-ion batteries.

This article from Homebuilding and Renovating website explains how the new batteries use a solid electrolyte rather than a liquid, which has safety benefits as well as greater efficiency. Less chance of bursting into flames apparently. The batteries also don’t require cobalt, which is expensive and also comes with some “purpose” issues in terms of human rights, the environment and conflicts in the DRC, where most cobalt is mined. So it all sounds almost too good to be true - let’s hope this development powers ahead!

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The AllMusic website highlighted the power of protest songs in this article. It features Gogol Bordello, who we’ve seen a couple of times at Reading Festival – they’re an amazing live band with their combination of eastern European Romani style music with punk and rock. Eugene Hütz, the founder and frontman, was born in Ukraine and he has been using music as a tool for change since Russia invaded Crimea, nine years ago. After the 2021 invasion, the band has toured and brought many musicians together, raising awareness and funds for the war in Ukraine. Last summer, Gogol Bordello visited a military base in Ukraine to perform some of their songs for the soldiers. After the performance, Ukraine's military band asked if they could continue to play some of Gogol Bordello's songs including "My Companjera" "Forces of Victory" "Pala Tute" "Suddenly" and "Teroborona," all written nine years ago. Here is one of those songs – and do check out the band if you haven’t before.