B.C. Ferries has announced it's converting its two Spirit-class vessels to liquid natural gas.
"Last fiscal year, we spent approximately $118 million on diesel fuel of which the two Spirit-class vessels consumed approximately 16 per cent," said Mark Wilson, vice-president of engineering. "The conversion of the two largest ships in the fleet along with the three new dualfuel Salish-class vessels currently under construction will go a long way to help with fare affordability for our customers as LNG costs significantly less than marine diesel."
LNG is also seen as a more environmentallyfriendly fuel choice, Wilson added.
"By utilizing LNG to fuel the Spirit-class vessels, we expect to reduce CO2 emission by 12,000 tonnes annually, which is the equivalent of taking approximately 2,500 vehicles off the road per year," he said.
B.C. Ferries awarded the contract for the work to Remontowa Ship Repair Yard S.A. of Gdansk, Poland. The total cost of the contract is $140 million. However up to $10 million will be offset by an agreement with FortisBC.
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For the third year in a row, Port Metro Vancouver has been ranked among Corporate Knights' Future 40 Responsible Corporate Leaders in Canada.
"It's fantastic to see our approach to sustainability being recognized once again," said Robin Silvester, PMV president and chief executive officer. "As a port authority, we always strive to facilitate Canada's trade in a manner that is sustainable, protects the environment and allows our neighbouring communities to thrive." The annual ranking takes into account 12 key performance indicators covering management of resources, employees and finances. It started in 2014 to evaluate the sustainability performance of organizations, offering information to empower markets to foster a better world.
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April is Earth Month and London Drugs is celebrating an almost 100 per cent waste diversion rate at its Delta stores.
With a focus on sustainability and recycling since the 1980s, in 2008 the company launched its What's the Green Deal?
program and began tracking all its waste disposal. Last year the Ladner and North Delta stores set a diversion rate of 96 per cent, higher than the 93 per cent chain-wide rate.
"Since we began our What's the Green Deal? program in 2008 we have worked continuously with our vendors and sustainability partners to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites. In 2015, we saw an increase in the amount of recyclables brought to London Drugs resulting in 11,533,262 pounds of waste diverted from the landfill," said Clint Mahlma, executive vice-president and chief operating officer.
