They admit it themselves; “Bad at singing, good at money”. Since the Co-op bank makes the effort not to invest in unethical companies we thought we’d return the favour by giving their new YouTube effort some Al Write Now space (even if they’ve not enabled the small YouTube embeds which fit our theme).

What do you think? Good enough to go viral? Bad enough to go viral? It’s only had a few hundred watches so far.

It’s always nice to see companies take a step away from technology for ecological reasons – especially a business that makes its living in a high-tech field.

That’s why the story from the weekend that Google is to follow in Yahoo’s footsteps and introduce goats to their staff roll is welcome news.

Around 200 goats visit Google’s Mountain View headquarters and spend around a week there eating the grass and weeds, while fertilising the area as well. This service, provided by California Grazing, will replace the petrol-guzzling mowers that previously did the job.

In California it is a legal requirement for landowners to keep brush under control in order to limit the number of wild fires and the damage they can cause.

During World War I the White House made use of a similar tactic – with a herd of sheep allowed to graze the lawn – but sheep don’t have the same ability as goats to climb and reach the out of the way spots, nor do they have the same appetite for a lot of the weeds that goats are happy to munch on.

Everybody else may be complaining about the weather in Scotland, but for one IT company it’s the backbone of their business plan.

Inverness, normally famed for its Loch Ness monster and popular Highland Games festival, will soon be the home of a £20million eco-friendly data centre. The centre. which is backed by partners Microsoft, is part of a plan to regenerate Inverness Harbour and hopefully provide around 400 new jobs.

Alchemy Plus, which understands the normal costs involved in running a datacentre, plans to run the centre using hydroelectric and wind power schemes. Cooling, which normally is a major cost for datacentres, will not be a burden thanks to the cold Scottish weather. Alchemy Plus then plans to recycle the generated heat, piping it into nearby offices, shops and a hotel.

Although it is still only in the planning stages, Alchemy Plus and Microsoft hope to have the company up and running by the end of 2010.

This week is Global Entrepreneurship week, an entire week to promote the entrepreneurial spirit and celebrate the achievements of start-ups and their owners across the world. A major focus of this week has been ‘Clean and Green day‘, a day taken to focus on the environmental impacts of new businesses and what can be done to improve ‘greener’ business activities.

To coincide with green day, a major survey was undertaken by 48 of Ernst and Young’s entrepreneur of the year candidates asking them specific questions on their business approach to environmental issues.

More than 60% of those surveyed saw climate change as a vital strategic concern. Nearly half of them had budgeted at least US$1 million for investments to the company’s green activities and climate change investments over the next five years, with 6% of those surveyed expecting to spend close to $20 million during the same five year period.

So what are the reasons for companies taking such a stronger stance towards climate change and green business activities? Not all of this is down to a moral conscience with 67% seeing ‘green’ as an opportunity to enhance their company’s competitive position. Other reasons included brand enhancement, gaining new customers and enhancing efficiency.

For businesses that don’t see this as a priority, Lord Chris Smith, chairman on the UK’s environmental watchdog has some green advice. Last year the Environmental Agency fined 284 companies for not complying with government regulations and this year they are on the lookout for more rule-breakers.

Keen to promote positive reasons for greener business, Smith showed that shares of the top environmental performers in the oil and gas industry beat less environmentally conscience competitors by 12%.

It seems there is no choice for businesses now other than to go green. In order to meet government regulations and avoid hefty fines as well as compete with their eco-conscience competitors, companies must brand themselves as green making changes to their technology and daily business activities.

Picture from HubPages

The most recent issue of WebUser alerted me to a new search engine and online community, click4carbon, which aims to offset your carbon dioxide emissions.

The technology behind the searching is wholly Google’s (with permission) and the people behind click4carbon openly admit this, what differentiates this site from others is its focus on environmental issues.

Click4Carbon was started by Claire and John Russell from their home in England. Worried about global climate changes, they looked at ways that they could help the planet and as well as the usual ideas – recycling more, buying local produce – they came up with the idea of a green search engine. Both of them worked with computers all day, both of them used Google every day, both of them realised they weren’t alone in this way of life. Their intention is for the site to become the preferred search engine for environmentally conscious internet users.

The green search engine function isn’t unique but what sets this aside from sites like Carbon Neutral Search and Ecocho is that, as well as the search engine, the site offers an ‘ECOmmunity’ where users can get to know each other and shares tips on green lifestyles.

The website has understandably been on the receiving end of a lot of praise. Being carbon neutral itself keeps it away from claims of hypocrisy and functions such as its carbon calculator have been lauded, giving it a lot more than many search engines have to offer.

The more money the site makes, the more it helps the world. Partnered with the carbon free organisation, Plant A Tree Today Foundation, all revenues from click4carbon are used to promote and fund worldwide forestation projects.

Israeli Prof. Yonathan Zohar believes he has the answer to wide spread over fishing and the availability of fresh fish inland. He has developed self contained land based fish farms designed for the urban environment. His design came as a result of the reports of the overfishing of our seas and rivers and the world’s overconsumption of fish. According to Zohar his tanks work with the help of microbiology that allow the fish to live in symbiosis with microbes that take care of the waste produced by the fish.

According to Israeli Professor Yonathan Zohar part of the solid waste that is created by uneaten food or microbial byproducts is converted into methane and used as biofuel.

Zohar claims that these tanks, about the size of a child’s swimming pool, can be utilized anywhere in the world and in any environment. They can be put in a basement, backyard or roof even.

This could give an entirely new dimension to local food.

Although the idea and prototype seem sound, caring for a shoal of salmon is quite different than caring for a marine aquarium. At the moment Zohar is experimenting with seabream but it is doubtful whether this could be the answer to our tuna and cod problems.