Comments on: REACHing beyond the regulations of the day http://www.techforecasters.com/weblog/archives/reaching-beyond-the-regulations-of-the-day/ Read what our thought leaders are thinking, in our every-other-Friday TFI blog entries. Sign up with your favorite RSS Feed service and get an automated alert whenever there's a new posting to the TFI Weblog. Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:20:37 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Michael Kirschner http://www.techforecasters.com/weblog/archives/reaching-beyond-the-regulations-of-the-day/comment-page-1/#comment-19470 Michael Kirschner Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:22:31 +0000 http://www.techforecasters.com/weblog/?p=243#comment-19470 Dr. Srinivasan, Great question. Regulations and/or standards will define accountability. But assume that it's the responsibility of the manufacturer/brand owner of the product to disclose carbon footprint when sold to consumers at the retail level. If the regulation/standard requires consideration back to the mines then the manufacturer/brand owner will be responsible and accountable. If it only requires accounting to a certain number of levels back up the chain, the manufacturer/brand owner will be responsible for that. The manufacturer/brand owner defines the supply chain for their product; therefore they will have to insure that suppliers can account for carbon however standards and/or regulations require. Carbon footprints of comparable products will simply become another product parameter to design to, compete on, and to be responsible for - in that sense it is no different from any other technical parameter or function of your product. Dr. Srinivasan,

Great question. Regulations and/or standards will define accountability. But assume that it’s the responsibility of the manufacturer/brand owner of the product to disclose carbon footprint when sold to consumers at the retail level. If the regulation/standard requires consideration back to the mines then the manufacturer/brand owner will be responsible and accountable. If it only requires accounting to a certain number of levels back up the chain, the manufacturer/brand owner will be responsible for that. The manufacturer/brand owner defines the supply chain for their product; therefore they will have to insure that suppliers can account for carbon however standards and/or regulations require. Carbon footprints of comparable products will simply become another product parameter to design to, compete on, and to be responsible for – in that sense it is no different from any other technical parameter or function of your product.

]]> By: Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan http://www.techforecasters.com/weblog/archives/reaching-beyond-the-regulations-of-the-day/comment-page-1/#comment-19417 Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:42:08 +0000 http://www.techforecasters.com/weblog/?p=243#comment-19417 Michael, Question: Who is accountable for the carbon footprint of a product? Let us look at key stages for a product: raw materials, production, warehousing, transportation. Is the company delivering this product responsible for the carbon footprint of all 4 stages? or, is the company responsible only for those stages that it controls? I realize that my questions are simplistic, but I want to start somewhere. The general question is how is accountability determined? Thanks for your attention to this. Ramesh Michael,
Question: Who is accountable for the carbon footprint of a product? Let us look at key stages for a product: raw materials, production, warehousing, transportation. Is the company delivering this product responsible for the carbon footprint of all 4 stages? or, is the company responsible only for those stages that it controls? I realize that my questions are simplistic, but I want to start somewhere. The general question is how is accountability determined? Thanks for your attention to this.

Ramesh

]]> By: Stephen Greene http://www.techforecasters.com/weblog/archives/reaching-beyond-the-regulations-of-the-day/comment-page-1/#comment-19407 Stephen Greene Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:40:01 +0000 http://www.techforecasters.com/weblog/?p=243#comment-19407 You are exactly on target. I fully agree. The question businesses should ask is when and not if the company will be impacted. Stephen Greene You are exactly on target. I fully agree. The question businesses should ask is when and not if the company will be impacted.

Stephen Greene

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