Ok, I didn’t actually clear this challenge with the Nobel Committee, but I think we could convince them.  Nobels were awarded early in the 20th century when German scientists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch made the sequential advances that made it possible to make synthetic nitrogen fertilizer from the nitrogen gas that makes up ~80% of the atmosphere.  Without their contributions we could not have improved the lives of billions of people, and we could never have fed the increase in world population that has occurred since their work.  Of course that comes with the environmental issues I’ve been discussing in my previous posts.  I’m not forgetting that there are changes that need to be made in the way we farm to make nitrogen use more efficient and to prevent water pollution issues.

The Carbon Footprint of Fertilizer Issue

The other thing that would be good to address is the “carbon footprint” of running Haber-Bosch.  For every pound of ammonia that is synthesized, about 3.7 pounds of carbon dioxide is generated (mainly through the use of natural gas to generate hydrogen). That means to fertilize an acre of corn at 120 pounds of nitrogen, there are carbon dioxide emissions that are the equivalent of ~20 gallons of diesel. That works out to 1.59 billion gallon equivalents for just the US corn crop - some serious carbon emissions (I’ve already posted about why Organic fertilizers are not the solution here).

Read more of this story »

Around 1300 c.e. the Yao and Zhuang people of Guangdong Province in Southern China faced a serious problem.  In the Longsheng area there was a growing population, but their mountainous surroundings gave them very little land that could be used for farming.  They needed more food and so they turned to technology for the solution.  What they did was to terrace their mountainsides even up to slopes of 45%. I’m sure that the method was perfected over the 400 years of building.  What they were able to do is still an impressive example of civil engineering, even today.  Using stones and mud they built terrace walls that stand firm even with the torrential downpours that are common in the area.  They used bamboo piping to distribute water to each paddy - some so narrow that they only have room for two rows of rice.  This production system has remained productive for centuries when many other contemporary farming societies around the world simply depleted one area and moved on to the next.  These terraces are called Longji, or the ”Dragon’s Spine” and they now extend over 66 square kilometers.  They are both beautiful and inspiring.

Read more of this story »

An enterprising and organized group of undergraduate and graduate students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have fitted an old sail boat with a spiffy set of hydrogen fuel cells and plan to run the boat from Manhattan to upstate New York later this month in a “green power” tour of sorts.

I love it when college students do this kind of stuff. Seriously. If I could have stayed in college forever, I would have. Believe me, I tried.

Read more of this story »

NComputing is also using a technical solution to green PC use. With distributed computing, nComputing systems draw less than five watts, using 90% less energy than a typical PC, and can be run by solar power or a battery.

Sungeeta Chowdry of the Acumen Fund spoke about the Ripple Effect Project, their collaboration with IDEO (represented by Sally Madsen) to create solutions for customer-centered, sustainable and affordable delivery of water.

They brought together twenty organizations (both for-profit and nonprofit) on the ground in India and East Africa, in addition to the nonprofit Gates foundation, the private company IDEO and the Acumen social venture fund, for a complex cross-sector collaboration. IDEO led a human-centered design process, which means rapid prototyping, speaking to potential users immediately, iterating while continuing to listen, and coming up with a fairly quick solution. The resulting projects are commercial water sales operations, with some unusual aspects such as government ownership of the land and/or equipment in some places.

So why is water sales a more effective and scalable solution than donated aid? Some of the answers are compliance and aligning incentives. Madsen and Chowdry explained that people aren’t always able to make the best health decisions. Using a standard business practice of customer segmentation, IDEO put together a set of behavior profiles, so on-the-ground organizations could talk about more than health, such as by emphasizing the status of buying clean water or following  government direction.

Read more of this story »

I’ve heard this conversation a number of times at the small-to-medium sized enterprises (SME) I work with:

Green Vendor: “So Mr. CEO, how many of my carbon neutral, biodegradable, BPA-free whoozamacallits would you like to purchase?”

CEO: “This seems like a great product and of course my company wants to protect the environment. So I will give this to my purchasing manager, and she’ll contact you in a few days.”

Of course what the CEO says is not what he thinks. All he hears is “Blah, blah and blah. More $. Blah blah and blah. Politically correct. Blah blah and blah. No budget and no time. Blah blah.”

The big companies have the resources to be more strategic in their decisions to go green. Not so for the SMEs. The vendors that I have seen succeed are the ones that have the ability to translate the benefits of the products they offer into the language that the businessperson wants to hear.

What we have here is a failure to communicate.

The sellers are not speaking in the terms that the mainstream executives want to hear. They talk enviro-talk. The executives are still evaluating purchasing decisions based on the only values they have – financial – and regardless of whether that is right or wrong, it is what it is.

Read more of this story »

After a  White House announcement last April regarding the provision of $777 million to fund 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC’s) advancing innovation in clean energy technology, the Department of Energy (DOE) recognized the completion of the funding process last Thursday. The investment represents a much-needed show of governmental support for the research and development of the numerous energy breakthroughs necessary to transition the U.S from dirty to clean energy.

Among the list of 46, 31 centers are affiliated with universities, twelve are DOE national laboratories, two are non-profit organizations, and one is a corporate research laboratory. In total, the DOE has awarded $377 million in funding this year, with $277 million coming from the economic stimulus package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -ARRA) and the additional $100 million provided by the DOE’s FY2009 budget.

Read more of this story »

Last Wednesday, the Senate passed the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3183), appropriating $34.3 billion in energy spending for FY2010. Although the bill made good on Obama’s campaign promise to shut down Nevada’s Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility and funds numerous Army Corps of Engineers’ water initiatives, the bill is shockingly silent with regard to Obama’s energy education program RE-ENERGYSE.

A recent article by TIME’s Bryan Walsh also calls attention to Congress’s stinginess with Obama’s Energy Secretary, Steven Chu’s proposed “energy innovation hubs,” to which the House appropriated $35 million of $280 million he suggested. This allotment is enough to pay for one hub, not the eight R&D centers called for in Chu’s proposal.

Read more of this story »

Two Kenyan students have invented a device that allows bicycle riders to charge their phones as they pedal.

Deemed a “dynamo-powered smart charger”, the device should make it more economical for the 17.5 million Kenyans who use mobile phones to charge them. Even more impressive, the environmentally-friendly phone charger was originally built from scraps retrieved from a junkyard.

Read more of this story »

A Spanish company called Turtle Airships is working on plans to build a luxurious solar-powered blimp which can take passengers from New York to Paris.

Perhaps the only thing cooler than being powered by lightweight photovoltaic cells, this airship is also designed to rest on land or water.

Read more of this story »

What he does “for fun” is use these same storytelling techniques to record history and facilitate conversation on the very real and complex issues of our day – struggles that have become storytelling lore but have real implications for inspiring change. He calls this experimental effort The Dilemmas Project, a multi-media platform for engaging citizen participation around the ongoing dilemmas ordinary people are facing every day.

Read more of this story »

In 2009 it is expected that 1 billion cell phones will be sold worldwide.  Asia Pacific will increase its uptake from 1 in 4 to 1 in 3.  The New York Times recently reported that India adds more cellphone connections than any place in the world with 15.6 million added in March alone.

Cell phones are a hidden indicator of emerging market performance.  They open new markets by reducing distances and by increasing access to information.  This in turn stimulates efficiencies in productivity and amplifies commerce which improves local economies.  Increased wealth creates independence and leads to a more educated population which in turn, drives market-driven policy making and other reforms.

In 2005, the Grameen Foundation set the stage for emerging market cell phone adoption and launched the the “Village Phone” business in rural Bangladesh, publishing a how-to manual and setting up micro-finance loans to villagers in towns that had no access to telecommunications.   Four years later, entrepreneurs have finally caught on and despite the downturn, the last 6 months has shed light on a few innovative initiatives that have been announced in a variety of sectors around the world.

In February, the Gates Foundation in partnership with a worldwide consortium of mobile industries teamed up to announce the Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) initiative.  With a goal of supplying 20 million people with mobile financial services by 2012, this program will enable those in developing countries to carry out mobile banking from their phones in order to protect and grow their money.

Several new projects in the area of HIV/AIDS education have also been announced recently.  Several providers are developing text messaging services to deliver HIV/AIDS health management services (medication regimens, appointments, advice/consultations).   And Project Masiluleke, borne of the social incubator Pop!Tech, will begin its first phase with 1,000,000 broadcast text messages to the general South African public on both HIV/AIDS and TB for a year. Metropolitan Life, an insurance company in South Africa has partnered with CellBook to provide an information booklet on HIV/AIDS that can be downloaded onto the cellphone.

The future of well-designed social innovation programs should take a look at the realities and economics of what is driving health and welfare in emerging markets.  Cell phones are a truly universal technology platform that will provide critical resources to populations of all class and trade.  Hopefully, the iPhone Labs aren’t the only place smart developers are spending their time in.

image credit: marceloconsultario on creative commons

The 2009 Sustainability Conference kicked off last night in Monterey, CA with opening remarks from among others, Owen Rogers, Partner and Experience Design Lead of IDEO.   A self-described non-expert in sustainability none-the-less first laid out five principals on branding then asked whether sustainability could be a brand?

Whether there is sound reasoning or “the answer” to how brands can change the world to positive effect is not the point.  Owen, Duke Stump, Chief Architect of North Star Manifesto, and a few others’ who spoke, gave the audience hope that indeed this conference will bear out its reputation for evolving the discussion on how brands can effect positive change in the world.

Much has happened in the last year, for better and worse.  And while Jez Frampton, Group CEO of Interbrand spoke of the ever-present adoption barrior that marketers need to make it easier for consumers to choose more sustainable products, Duke Stump pointed out that there are still indicators that change is in the works.  He cited that volunteering is up and crime is down in NYC.  He noted that the Acumen Fund, a global venture fund using entrepreneurial solutions to end global poverty, received 700 applications for 10 internships.   And he proposed the analogy of “brand as bonfire” – a mechanism for engaging conversations and developing relationships.

There are four solid days of workshops and speakers lined up for this year’s sold-out conference.  And there are architects, investors, scientists, technology experts and of course, lots and lots of marketers here to discuss how branding can change the world.  Sustainability is the current platform for evolving this discussion on more responsible products, consumer behaviors and operating mechanisms.  Stay tuned for more…

I say this not because there was a lack of enthusiasm in the air-absolutely the opposite-rather I say it because a more zoomed-out perspective on cleantech has begun to crystallize, and with that everyone from VC’s to the entrepreneurs bootstrapping their way through the battlefields of innovation has recognized the value of niches within the ‘ecosystem’ of cleantech.

This, of course, is a fitting metaphor for the area of innovation hoping to save us from ourselves. The area of innovation slated to reinvigorate our intuitions about what it means to work alongside nature as opposed to taking it for granted. At the same time, the principles of business and innovation surrounding growth of capital via monetization requires these innovations to return deep profits for those invested. Here’s how that duality played out in real-time:

Read more of this story »

Jiangqiao Bamboo and Wood hails from China’s Jiangxi province, where bamboo resources are plentiful. Though the company began as a flooring company, they are now diversifying their production to include the latest in green design: bamboo keyboards.

In recent years, bamboo - a rapidly regenerating material - has gained popularity as a sturdy, sustainable alternative to wood flooring. Currently, China produces 200,000 cubic meters annually of bamboo plywood.

However, the history of bamboo’s use as an interior and even exterior material goes back way before sustainable buildings became trendy. Native to much of South and Southwest China, bamboo was first used to make paper, calligraphy brushes, and musical instruments thousands of years ago. For well over a century, it has been crafted into a range of household articles including chairs, baskets, mats, cutlery, and cabinets.

Bamboo - which is actually a grass - can be harvested after only four to six years of growth, much shorter than the 30-60 years required for comparable wood species. Replanting is not necessary, as bamboo regenerates on its own; and the speed at which it does so means it offers excellent erosion control.

Jiangqiao, which began manufacturing the green keyboards last October, has already received orders for 40,000 finished units, and is China’s sole producer of bamboo keyboards.

Read more of this story »

In some cases, technology’s contribution to greening the earth has been largely accidental.  Most of us use our automobiles for only a few things; grocery shopping, going to work, going to visit friends, comparison shopping, and visiting places of amusement.

Read more of this story »

Some people feel that advertising is garbage. London based Curb advertises with garbage. And sea water. And snow.

Calling themselves “The Natural Media Company,” Curb create advertising based on natural elements, the most recent being for the London Aquarium utilizing “sea tagging,” which is using sea water and a stencil to create temporary ads on the sidewalk. Sea water evaporates more slowly then water, but being a completely natural substance, no permit is needed to do it.

Another water based innovation is what they call H2Show, where a waterfall is somehow able to be manipulated to display words, logos, and images, and even accept text messages to display different words.

Crop carving, once the province of aliens and pranksters, is now being put to use in  a smart way, as in their Shredded Wheat logo carved out of, yes, a wheat field.

In the clearest example of green marketing I’ve heard of,

Read more of this story »

There was no such moment, or crisis, that transformed my life of power suits, lattes, or gotta-have-it-all-now mindset.  Instead, my sustainable journey (which very much continues to this day as an evolving journey) resulted from a growing understanding about the issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, both through personal experience and by learning of these changes from other organizations or individuals.

One such organization that serves as a compass for my endeavors is the Worldwatch Institute, a nonprofit organization that produces the authoritative State of the World book series as well as numerous other books and resources to build an ecologically sustainable society that meets human needs. Each year, a new State of the World book is not only jam-packed with interdisciplinary research and analysis that a non-scientific mind (like mine) could comprehend, but organized in such a way to make it both practical and powerful for anyone searching for ways to express a vision for how to live on a planet without destroying it or exploiting its inhabitants.

Each year, the State of the World book series focuses on a particular theme which might address energy, community, food and agriculture, population, health, trade policies and natural resource use, just to name a few.  For 2008, their State of the World: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy provides both a timely analysis of how our “free trade” global economy has gone astray and insights into the powerful movements afoot, including localization, a triple bottom line approach to business, microfinance, and the low-carbon economy.

Read more of this story »

Van Jones is a rising star in the green economy.  As the founding President of Green for All, he is a doer.  As the author of  “The Green Collar Economy” he is a spokesperson and advocate.  But he is actually much more than that. He’s actually Innovation 3.0.

Nancy Pelosi calls him a “magnificent disrupter”.   If she means that he eloquently navigates new paths (job creation) and connects new ideas (environmental consideration) to age-old issues (populations in poverty), then she is right.

In a recent interview with David Gottfriend, CEO of Regenerative Ventures, Van spoke of the need to revision the way we do things.  He spoke of soul level redemption.  And he spoke of the need for human recovery.    Listening to him you can’t help but be caught up in his articulate passion and belief that there is a better way out of this mess we’re in.

Read more of this story »

Today Alex Bogusky, Chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky is set to speak at SXSW on the topic of bike sharing.   CPB is one of the three founding partners of B-cycle, a concept which has been quietly gaining support in cities around the U.S. and which has been launched, under another company, to a degree of success in Paris.

The question is, can it succeed here?  The opportunities for success and a few challenges follow…

The right backers.

Announced as the brainchild of Humana, Trek and Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, B-cycle has hit the ground spinning.  Their web site alone shows how the creativity of an advertising agency can be a powerful partner in establishing immediate appeal with a target audience.  As a world-class ad agency, they will have done a thorough job researching their prospect segments to create a plan that addresses the B-cycle adoption drivers (e.g. is the docking station next to a coffee shop?) vs. simply crafting a utopian concept.

Trek, the bike that Lance Armstrong rides and therefore the default supporter of LiveStrong, has also built a solid reputation over the years for supporting programs that bring the benefits of cycling to a broader audience beyond the elite riders that many of their specialty bike lines appeal to.  They have deep pockets and bring a sincere open-minded passion for creating access to the sport.

And with Humana, a health insurance provider, as the third partner, the effort to bring B-cycle to market takes the tone of a citizen effort vs. a commercial effort.   An important cue in the endeavor to address such lofty issues as human health and the environment.

Together these three make a powerful force – not the least is their combined resourcefulness in developing health advocacy, attracting attention and navigating the tricky waters of a totally new consumer concept.

Read more of this story »

People love to talk about themselves.  They also love to talk about the things they love (and hate for that matter).   Using Facebook or Ning or any other social network to initiate research on your product using this format has tremendous potential because it: 1) requires a long list…this means patterns will emerge; 2) it also means that people will be forced to think beyond the top well-published “issues”, they’ll be forced to think about the emotions and situations which cause them to love or hate - this leads to real usable insightful information;   and 3) besides yet another reason to publish a personal opinion, who doesn’t love participating in the trendiest thing out there?

Now, 25 Random Things about Me…….

image credit: Creative Commons by Cristina&David