So far, manufacturers used silicon to make solar panels, as this material was the most efficient at converting sunlight into electricity. However, organic photovoltaics (OPV) made from carbon and plastic, could be just as effective.

Flexible and efficient: The cells are so pliable they can effectively turn any surface into a solar array – from buildings, to vehicles or even clothing.

Organic photovoltaics do not require fixed installation points, as they can be made of compounds which are dissolved in ink. Thus, they can be printed on thin rolls of plastic, bend or curve around structures or even be incorporated into clothing.

As regards efficiency (percentage of sunlight turned into usable electricity), commercial solar photovoltaics typically covert 15-22% of sunlight into electricity, with organic solar cells remaining, thus far, at approximately half this rate. However, in April this year, researchers reached 15% in tests and this new study increased this percentage to 17%, with its authors arguing that up to 25% is possible.

With a 15% efficiency and a 20 year lifetime, organic solar cells could, accordingly, produce cheaper electricity, at a cost of not more than 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. (In 2017, the average cost of electricity in the US was 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.)

A wide range of applications – “Skyscrapers could soon generate their own power”

Highly flexible, organic photovoltaics offer numerous possibilities.

• They can be made semi-transparent and be incorporated into windows, generating power during daylight. According to the Science Mag “Skyscrapers could soon generate their own power”.
• According to Dr Alexander Colsmann, an expert on organic photovoltaics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, organic solar cells could “power mobile applications – camping gear, smart wearables or phone chargers, just to name a few – which have been only insufficiently addressed by classical solar cell technologies such as silicon.” They could also be used on the roofs of cars, in clothes and even in glasses, to charge your mobile phone when you are out and about.
• According to the University of Melbourne: “They can turn almost any surface into a solar array and provide a cheap and almost limitless energy supply … Organic Solar cells have the potential to perform dual environmental functions, like covering surfaces of lakes or other large expanses to water to help prevent evaporation while simultaneously generating energy. Another is as temporary covers on grain silos in central Australia, to prevent overheating while powering the fans that stop the grain from sweating”.

How far are organic photovoltaics from commercial production?

Not too far away, according to researchers. Dr Yongsheng Chen compares organic photovoltaics to organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), a technology that has been introduced recently and is widely used for high-end TVs. “These are already commercial, and they use a similar material to OPV,” says Dr Chen.

“The physical principle is the same, just a different direction, one is from solar to electricity, the other from electricity to light, the device and structure are similar.”

Other experts in the field were also impressed. “The development of such new materials with previously unthinkable properties allowed them to achieve the reported record efficiency and, in general, makes OPV technology much more promising,” said Dr Artem Bakulin, from Imperial College London.

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information at the links below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the articles meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following links:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/skyscrapers-could-soon-generate-their-own-power-thanks-see-through-solar-cells
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/features/making-any-surface-solar
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45132427

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This case study is based on the 2015 Sustainability Report by Hitachi published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate that CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly is achieved by identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment and stakeholders and by measuring, managing and changing.

Abstract

Operating in 140 countries and regions, Hitachi, working with a range of stakeholders, tries to meet the needs and address the challenges of a changing world, through innovative technology and cutting-edge research. In order to contribute to the creation of a prosperous society by driving innovation, utilizing its advanced technologies Hitachi took action to:

• reorganize R&D (Research & Development) to co-create solutions with customers
• reinforce global R&D
• collaborate with universities, research institutes and customers to pursue open innovation

The post Case study: How Hitachi tries to contribute to the creation of a prosperous society by driving innovation, utilizing its advanced technologies appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

This case study is based on the 2015 Sustainability Report by Enel published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate that CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly is achieved by identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment and stakeholders and by measuring, managing and changing. 

Enel is implementing a number of innovation projects across the globe, as ‘innovability’, the combination of innovation and sustainability in its products and services, is a key component of Enel’s business strategy and culture. In order to combine innovation and sustainability in energy-related projects, providing socially and environmentally responsible energy solutions, Enel took action to:

• realize already existing projects and launch new projects involving renewables
• develop new energy storage technologies
• build electric transport infrastructure
• innovate in the final uses of energy

The post Case study: Innovability: How Enel combines innovation and sustainability in energy-related projects appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

According to new research, based on a survey of 1,800 professionals, as well as on 40 case studies and many interviews and focus groups, a diverse workforce drives both innovation and market growth for companies  Tweet This!. The research focused on two sorts of diversity, inherent – referring to characteristics one is born with, like gender – and acquired – involving characteristics gained with experience, such as language skills.

Key findings include:

• Companies with 2-D diversity (i.e. companies whose leaders showed no less than three inherent and three acquired diversity characteristics) outperformed and out-innovated the competition. Employees from these companies were 45 percent more likely to report that their company’s market share increased during the preceding year and 70 more likely to report that their company captured a new market.

• When at least one member of any team shares common characteristics with the end user, the whole team better understands the user: a team with a member who shares the same ethnicity with a client was found to be 152 percent more likely, compared to other teams, to understand that client.

• Creating a “speak up” culture is key to fostering innovation, as, according to the research, in such a culture employees were “3.5 times as likely to contribute their full innovative potential”.

References:

This article was compiled using a Harvard Business Review article. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the article’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the link below:

https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation

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Contrary to what many executives still believe, research shows, according to a Harvard Business Review article, that incorporating sustainability into corporate strategy bears many advantages regarding a company’s performance. Key among these, are the following:

• Becoming more competitive through stakeholder engagement. Open, systematic dialogue with a company’s stakeholders (an inextricable part of any sustainability strategy) enables a company to foresee and be better prepared to deal with changes (economic, regulatory or other) as they occur and ensures smooth operation. According to a study of the gold mining industry (to take one example), stakeholder engagement significantly affects a company’s ability to turn gold into shareholder capital.

• Managing risks more effectively. In a study on climate change and corporations, with 8,000 supplier companies reporting on climate risk, 72% of respondents said that climate change was a source of risks that significantly affected their operations, profits or costs. Water scarcity is a similar source of risk. To address such risks, Mars, Unilever, and Nespresso invested in Rainforest Alliance certification to ensure, through sustainable farming, their uninterrupted, long-term supply of agricultural products.

• Promoting innovation. After finding out that U.S. households spend 3% of electricity budgets annually on heating water to wash clothes, Procter & Gamble launched, in 2005, a new line of cold-water detergents requiring 50% less energy compared to warm water washing.

• Enhancing financial performance and attracting investors. After reviewing the academic literature on business performance and sustainability, Arabesque and University of Oxford found that:
  • good ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards decreased the cost of capital (according to 90% of 200 studies reviewed)
  • good ESG (environmental, social and governance) practices improved operational performance (according to 88% of the studies)
  • stock price performance was positively connected with good sustainability practices (according to 80% of the studies)
• Moreover, in a survey of over 200 institutional investors by EY in 2015, 59.1% of respondents considered companies’ nonfinancial disclosures as important, in their investment decisions (an increase from 34.8% in 2014).

• Creating customer loyalty. A number of studies show that today’s consumers, expecting companies to show that they care about their social and environmental impacts, increasingly turn to brands characterized by social and environmental responsibility. According to Unilever, its “brands with purpose” grow at double the rate as others in their portfolio.

• Attracting and retaining employees. Corporate sustainability initiatives offer employees a sense of purpose, make them feel valued stakeholders and increase engagement. According to a study, employee loyalty was 38% better in companies with solid sustainability strategies and programmes in place, compared to companies with poor sustainability performance.

References:

This article was compiled using the “The Comprehensive Business Case for Sustainability” Harvard Business Review article. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the article’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the links below:

https://hbr.org/2016/10/the-comprehensive-business-case-for-sustainability

Michel Porter and Mark Kramer https://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value

https://www.scribd.com/document/290146926/The-Good-the-Bad-and-the-Successful-How-Corporate-Social-Responsibility-Leads-to-Competitive-Advantage-and-Organizational-Transformation

http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/csr_guide.pdf

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.2180/abstract

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-011-1063-y

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This case study is based on the 2016 Sustainable Development Report by the Hellenic Cables Group. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing. 

Abstract

Hellenic Cables provides international markets with an impressively wide range of high-quality products and solutions, developed in modern facilities by skilled and experienced personnel. The company strives, by expanding its product and services portfolio, to respond to ongoing market challenges, ensuring customer satisfaction, with social responsibility embedded into its vision as a core principle. In order to develop high-quality products, ensuring customer satisfaction, Hellenic Cables took action to:

• invest in research and development of new technologies by participating in European programmes
• offer high-quality products and solutions that meet customer expectations
• ensure the health and safety of end users/ customers
• focus on customer needs
• ensure responsible supply chain management

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2016 Sustainable Development Report Hellenic Cables identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, compliance, research and innovation, providing “turnkey” solutions. Among these, developing high-quality products and ensuring customer satisfaction stands out as a key material issue for Hellenic Cables.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups Hellenic Cables engages with:

To identify, assess, prioritize, effectively address and report on material issues, Hellenic Cables engages with the following stakeholder groups:  

What actions were taken by Hellenic Cables to develop high-quality products, ensuring customer satisfaction?

In its 2016 Sustainable Development Report Hellenic Cables reports that it took the following actions for developing high-quality products, ensuring customer satisfaction:

• Investing in research and development of new technologies by participating in European programmes
• Having prioritized the development of new, innovative, high-quality and environmentally-friendly products, while also providing added value services, Hellenic Cables is adequately informed on innovative research efforts. The company invests in research and development of new technologies, and participates in European programmes involving know-how transfer. Moreover, Hellenic Cables collaborates with internationally recognised academic institutions, highly reputable research centres and certified laboratories.

• Offering high-quality products and solutions that meet customer expectations
• Operating in a highly competitive environment, Hellenic Cables strives to manufacture high-quality products that correspond to customers’ needs, improving product quality standards when necessary. To this end, the company focuses on:
  • providing products and services that correspond to customers’ needs, and even exceed their expectations
  • observing customer needs
  • setting and constantly monitoring measurable quality goals

• Ensuring the health and safety of end users/ customers
• Hellenic Cables ensures the health and safety of end users and/or customers  Tweet This! throughout the product life cycle by:
  • establishing laboratories that perform quality controls during the entire production process, and providing global markets with new products on demand
  • employing adequately trained personnel
  • implementing the necessary controls to ensure compliance with standards during production, post-production and, if necessary, post-installation
  • carrying out compliance controls on materials that need to follow specific regulations (e.g. RoHS, REACH etc.)
  • performing all mandatory tests on all types of products, including aging trials to forecast a product’s behaviour over time
  • purchasing safe and environmentally friendly raw materials

• Focusing on customer needs
• Excellent service and customer satisfaction are key principles for Hellenic Cables. Despite operating in different continents, the company manages to maintain daily and personal contact with all customers. Hellenic Cables’ customer-oriented approach, combined with the provision of integrated products and solutions, enables the company to develop mutually trusting and beneficial relationships with customers. In addition, Hellenic Cables strives to ensure efficient complaint management, receiving, analysing, and evaluating complaints submitted, in order to take the necessary actions to improve products and solutions, while defining company goals related to customer satisfaction.

• Ensuring responsible supply chain management
• Hellenic Cables’ suppliers help the company achieve its business goals, ensuring competitive and responsible entrepreneurship. Additionally, the development and maintenance of a financially, environmentally and socially responsible supply chain, is an ongoing challenge for the company. Hellenic Cables is focused on:
  • a new Supplier Code of Conduct: within 2016, the company completed a new “Supplier Code of Conduct”, outlining the core compliance requirements for all suppliers and subcontractors
  • supplier assessment: Hellenic Cables evaluates supplies for compliance with company standards relating to transparency, dignity and meritocracy, also including environmental and social impacts

Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?

The GRI indicators/Standards addressed in this case are:

1) G4-PR1: Percentage of significant product and service categories for which health and safety impacts are assessed for improvement – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 416-1 Assessment of the health and safety impacts of product and service categories

2) G4-PR3: Type of product and service information required by the organization’s procedures for product and service information and labeling, and percentage of significant products and service categories subject to such information requirements– the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 417-1 Requirements for product and service information and labeling

References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Hellenic Cables, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

http://www.cablel.com/778/en/corporate-responsibility-and-sustainability-reports/ 

2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page

3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Hellenic Cables: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

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