Cleantech, Sustainability and Women

Retiring Intel Chairman Craig Barrett formally left his post Wednesday at the company's annual shareholder meeting.

Stepping into his shoes is Jane E. Shaw, a longtime board member and the first woman to assume the position in Intel's 41-year history.

A day later, another crowd gathered at the company's Santa Clara, Calif., headquarters to discuss cleantech, corporate responsibility and the advantages women can bring to these arenas at the West Coast Summit of the Women's Network for a Sustainable Future.

The event featured an all-star panel of female executives from the information technology, transportation, finance and nonprofit sectors who reflected on the sustainability opportunities offered by emerging technologies, as well as its limitations.

The West Coast Summit of the Women's Network for a Sustainable Future

Several speakers pointed to the role IT can play in addressing climate change. In what is called the "2 Percent, 98 Percent" rule, IT generates 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but can use its expertise to benefit the other 98 percent of emissions sources.

Intel, for example, analyzed industries with heavy carbon footprints, identifying the transportation and construction industries as sectors with large opportunities to reduce impacts, according to speaker Lorie Wigle, general manager of Intel's Eco-Technology Program office. Using technology to model the footprint of a building before construction can help architects design smarter, more efficient structures.

Hewlett Packard is helping the publishing industry reduce waste and environmental impacts through technologies such as digital print on demand. Bonnie Nixon, a panelist and director of environmental sustainability at HP, estimates as much as 70 percent of magazines, books and newspapers are never read, leading to mountains of wasted resources.

Meanwhile, United Parcel Service uses technology to identify procedures that make its delivery business more efficient, such as eliminating left-hand turns for drivers, which has generated significant fuel savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

WNSF Panelists Lorie Wigle, Intel; Bonnie Nixon, HP; and Mary Dent, SVB Financial

With the economic downturn, many people are looking for something positive to talk about, noted Margaret Bruce, western regional director of The Climate Group. Despite a lot of optimism about the potential of cleantech, she warned against placing what may possibly be unrealistic expectations on the extent to which it will cure all of the world's environmental ills.

"That's a tall order for a young industry," she said.

So what do women bring to the table when it comes to advancing sustainability?

Panelist Nancy Parmer of UPS called women "multidimensional and multi-generational, so they understand that what we do today impacts the future."

About 60 percent of the sustainability committee at UPS are women, she said.

Stay tuned for a post on the keynote speech from Mary Nichols, one of the state's first environmental lawyers and chair of the California Air Resources Board, which is charged with implementing The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the country's first climate change law.