This week the President was keen to praise the growing natural gas sector in the US. The amount of natural gas available has grown due to the technological advances allowing for ever greater yields. The president touted that some 600,000 jobs in natural gas extraction could be created. Whether or not that figure is attainable, the fact that more natural gas is available does allow firms to pursue green transportation options using liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG). The President has announced a proposal to offer tax incentives for companies to buy natural gas trucks.

Although it is unlikely an energy subsidy will make it through the Congress, the fact that LNG and CNG vehicles are a cleaner option to traditional diesel trucks should sway many companies. Pressure is being exerted by consumers everyday for greener supply chain options, whether that be recycled packaging, recyclable finished goods or reduced carbon emissions. Although there are some 13 million natural gas vehicles in the world, the US has been very slow to adopt and there are less than 300,000 natural gas vehicles currently on US roads.

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If there is one country that should be "green", then Ireland is it. And to that end, last week the Irish government announced a new environmentally-friendly public procurement policy. The government will change the procurement process so that more weight is given to so called "green tenders", specifically bids from vendors that are environmentally more sound.

The new policy will focus on eight priority areas: Construction, Energy, Transport, Food Services, Cleaning Products and Services, Paper, Uniforms and Textiles, and technology. The Irish government is hoping that by leading by example the policy can stimulate green procurement across the republic, and encourage innovation in developing products that focus on reduced environmental impact. Currently the government spends 14 billion Euros ($18.22 billion) annually and believes it can influence the market into providing green products for the consumer, as well as the government.

Read more about the green supply chain here.

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A new report from Freightwatch, entitled 2011 US Cargo Theft Report, finds that theft of cargo along the supply chain has increased to record levels. The level of cargo theft rose 8.3 percent in 2011, but the report says the actual value of each theft has decreased. In 2010 the average cost of a theft was $468,500, but this fell 31 percent to $319,000 in 2011.

The majority of cargo thefts, approximately 87 percent, are those which involve full trailers, rather than other incidents. The majority of cargo thefts involve containers of electronics and food/drink. However there are a number of technology solutions that can be employed to protect your cargo such as electronic seals that send an instant alert when broken, tracking devices that can be place in the load, and geo-fencing, where the carrier puts a virtual "fence" around the route that the cargo is scheduled to travel from pick-up to delivery.

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As companies look for a competitive advantage over their competitors in 2012, the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software will play an important part in helping win business. Many small and medium businesses do not currently use a CRM, but perhaps this should be the year when it is on their list of "must haves".

Although SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, and Salesforce.com are the leaders in the CRM field, small and medium businesses could look to open source CRM solutions to minimize the cost while achieving maximum benefits. Some of the leaders in the open source CRM market include SugarCRM, Compiere, Daffodil, and vTtiger.

For many companies the low cost of open source CRM solutions may be the primary draw, but open source also allows businesses to customize the product to their unique processes. The ability to download and try the product without having to negotiate price and support can be very attractive, and SugarCRM report that their product is downloaded over 500 times each day.

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