|
Continued from previous page
A Challenge in the Classroom
For Tom Arnold, WG'05, the connection from his
Wharton education to his career in alternative ener
gy couldnt have been more direct.
Arnold was one of 40 students who were challenged by
Professor Karl Ulrich in his "Problem Solving, Design, and
System Improvement" course in Fall 2004 to launch a via
ble business that would create a way for everyday drivers to
compensate for the environmental damage they cause every
time they turn on their ignition. Their deadline? Six weeks.
Their budget? $5,000.
Within the timeframe, the students developed a busi
ness called TerraPass.
Here s how it works: Consumers go to the TerraPass
website (www.terrapass.com) and use a calculator there to
measure how much COŠ÷ their vehicles dump into the en
vironment each year. The calculator accounts for vehicle
make, model and year, as well as how much it is driven.
Airline trips, can also be calculated.
Once a consumer has measured their carbon footprint,
they can buy a TerraPass, which is used to fund the same
amount of renewable energy projects as they are currently re
sponsible for polluting. TerraPass is leveraging one renew
able natural resource consumer guilt to finance others.
The projects result in verified reductions in greenhouse
gas pollution. And these reductions counterbalance your
own emissions, explains Arnold. An average driver emits
10,000 pounds in carbon dioxide in an average year. A
TerraPass to offset those emissions costs between $39.95
and $49.95 per year.
In its first year, TerraPass grew to four full time
employees and raised $500,000 in startup capital.
The company has signed up 16,500 members
and taken the equivalent of almost 6,000 cars off the road by
funding nine clean energy projects.
It's a great start, said Arnold, but he has some big goals:
"I want to see a million members."
The Greening of Detroit
Ann Manning, WG 87, manager of Sustainable Business
Strategies at Ford Motor Company, worked with Arnold
and TerraPass to create a unique partnership dubbed
Greener Miles. This program allows Ford owners to go on
line (www.terrapass.com/ford) and estimate their annual
emissions from driving, and then offset them by purchasing a
TerraPass that in turn will fund emission reducing projects.
Manning has also set up similar offset programs for
some of their factories.
She said she keeps her focus simple: Hybrid cars.
Alternative fuels. Efficient engines. They re all crucial steps
in addressing climate change and global warming. Manning
said there s another important step as well: better driving.
Think about it, she said. Can you make a bigger
impact with a few thousand hybrid vehicles, or with a 1
mpg gain on millions of vehicles sold each year around
the world?
This is exactly what Manning is thinking about. Her
position at Ford is to innovate, market, create, and promote
new strategies and initiatives that will keep the company
driving toward the future.
Nearly seven years ago, Ford launched an initiative to
address issues of climate change and human rights, recog
nizing these items are an important piece of their business
|
