I was reading an InfoWorld Blog on SOA (searchoriented architecture), and the effects technology is playing in the reduction of "global warming" and "carbon footprints". You may recall that in some of my earlier blogs, I mentioned how Texas based companies like Downstream Environmental have become a de facto standard of impassioned innovation in Biofuel services, that promotes a "Green" business structure.

In May, 2007, the City of Houston passed a City FOG Ordinance that is one of the toughest in the nation, requiring permits, and minimum maintenance standards for introducing pollutants into our water system. Downstream was a driving force behind the creation of the FOG Ordinance. Other Municipalities are taking notice the benefits of being more "Green", as is the case in Florida where Biodiesel is used for their Bus Fleet.

A great deal can still be done, and even with the FOG Ordinance that affects 15,000 restaurants, laundry mat & car washes, 85% or more than 12,750 of those retail locations did not have their Grease Traps cleaned, before the ordinance, and of the 3,000 retail locations that were cleaned; a majority of those were hauled off by unlicensed haulers. There are no records of the hauler disposing the grease trap contents in an approved site, meaning that there is grave concern that the contents was dumped in the open water system.

What does this mean to Houstonians? The State of Texas fines the City of Houston millions of dollars of tax payer money to pay for these fines each year. The same is true throughout Texas and other States in the United States.   

So how can Technology be used to mitigate this environmental impact, and use tax payer taxes more in line with the true intent of maintaining infrastructure?

Business wealth, is created when products require using less resources during the manufacturing, transportation and shipping process, and the reduction of paper. The more a city municipality or business is automated, and business processes optimized, the more efficient it will be, and the fewer resources, it will consume.

So, can IT help the City of Houston Become Green?

Yes, if the automated FOG Ordinance Compliance System tracks the number of service calls a retail locations has made over a given year, insuring that there are a minimum of 4 calls a year, and fines both the haulers and the retailers referenced in this article the greater chance that the process will be self correcting by driving out the illegal haulers; creating a mandatory fine for non-complainant retailers, and place into the process a system with life cycle accountability from acquisition of waste, through the disposal in permitted waste disposal sites.

Thus, anything that the city and businesses do that requires the fewest amount of resources and dollars, will help reduce the amount of fines the State of Texas imposes on Houston, in turn the fines the City imposes on Retailers, and you can call that "Green" no matter if you talking about saving the environment or putting more "Green" in the bank...both are great.