What Effect Does Social Responsibility Have?
The Company periodically faces the dilemma of considering investment in a company that produces a promising environmental product, but whose other characteristics are not acceptable to our socially responsible standards. There are various degrees and subjective judgments concerning this theme. We tend towards avoiding companies with negative behavior at the expense of missing out on a promising product.
Companies West seeks long-term capital gains by investing mainly in emerging growth companies. We seek to identify those International companies and countries poised for the strongest growth. Screens include: having a safe and useful product, reducing impacts on the environment, treating its employees fairly, and having the integrity of a trusted neighbor.
BIOFUELS
MYTH: More energy goes into producing ethanol than it delivers as a fuel.
FACT: In terms of fossil energy, each gallon of ethanol produced from corn today delivers one third or more energy than is used to produce it.
- Ethanol has a positive energy balance – that is, the energy content of ethanol is greater than the fossil energy used to produce it – and this balance is constantly improving with new technologies.
- Over the last 20 years, the amount of energy needed to produce ethanol from corn has significantly decreased because of improved farming techniques, more efficient use of fertilizers and pesticides, higher-yielding crops, and more energy-efficient conversion technology.
- Most studies that claim a negative energy balance for ethanol fail to take into account the energy contained in the co-products.
This graph shows how much fossil energy is required to provide 1 BTU of each fuel at the pump. The graph does not reflect energy derived from solar or other renewable sources used in the production of ethanol.
