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April 29, 2008
Sustainable evolution: Are we developing too fast?
One of the interesting topics I've discussed recently is how our evolution and our ability to plan for the future as a species has not caught up with our development as a civilization.
In the past, humans had to hunt for food and live in shelters that were not permanent. In order to survive, it was essential that humans worked together and form communities. This was the way humans lived for tens of thousands of years. Wars, diseases, natural disasters, and limited accessible resources were the norm. It is perhaps these challenges that have brought people together and defined their communities, which are arguably an evolutionary trait that helped humans survive. With the development of new technologies, the industrialized world has been able to avoid most of these dangers.
And so we are among the first of a few generations that have not experience the challenges that humans were historically adapted for. Indeed, I feel fortunate to live in these times and to be living in an industrialized nation. I have not had to face imminent threats in my lifetime. But with fewer and fewer memories of the struggles that earlier generations endured, this notion of interdependence among people is thinning as well as the sense of community.
While nobody would advocate for intentional hardships, there is a need to plan for an uncertain future as civilization reaches the limits the of planet's resources and its capacity for renewal (some would argue we surpassed that a long time ago). According to various scenarios, the future climate will not be pleasant (if not harsh) and there will be a need to move away from the fossil fuel based economy that the world currently runs on.
Part of the solution is to restore the sense of community that has served humans so well in the past. By community, I do not mean a conspicuous gathering of people, but a general sense of shared responsibility. Along with the proper use of technology, humans will be able to collectively make better decisions for living sustainably.
So, is the world developing too fast? More likely we are simply not developing wisely. I don't know what policies will get us there, but some form of political leadership will be needed to evolve from our current pathway of development.
投稿者 econetworks : 06:26 PM | コメント (0) | トラックバック
April 10, 2008
This Week's Inspiration: Bamboo
One of the most inspiring plants out there is the bamboo. I'm excited about it for many reasons and I believe could be the solutions to many of our sustainability challenges. Considered a grass, the bamboo provides food, shelter, and many environmental benefits and is considered as one of the three treasures in Asian culture. There is huge diversity among bamboo plants. They come in various shapes, sizes, and colors.
The bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants and perhaps one that is ideal for removing CO2 from the air. It's been said that certain species can be heard growing! The shoot is used to many different cuisines. As a construction material, the world does not seem to get enough. Bamboo, when planted in the right way, can restore and maintain natural habitats.
The structure of the bamboo is also quite unique. What gives bamboo its resilience is its ability to be flexible and allows it to withstand considerable stress. For many years, have used this property in designing high tech materials and buildings. One recent example is Taipei 101, the world's tallest occupied building. During a recent visit, I learned the building's design was based on a bamboo shoot. With a flexible structure, the building is said to withstand earthquakes and typhoons.
In my recent trip to Japan, I purchased carbonized bamboo, which has traditionally been used to clean water by absorbing impurities. It turns out that as a charcoal, the material has enormous surface area for adsorbing organic and metal contaminants. This reminds me of my times in the chemistry lab when we used something similar - activated charcoal - to make certain chemical reactions go.
At the Earth Day fair in Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, I learned that carbonized plants (including bamboo) have other uses in food. They help to make rice and beer taste better!
What I find most inspiring about bamboo and other plants is that they have in the past provided sustainable solutions for low-energy but comfortable lifestyles. There are probably many other uses that I haven't read about but perhaps it's time to think about how these natural technologies can be reincorporated into our modern lifestyle.
投稿者 econetworks : 09:29 AM | コメント (0) | トラックバック
April 04, 2008
Wall Street Getting On Board Sustainability
Are big changes on the way? What does it mean when corporate America starts addressing environmental concerns? These questions were asked at the recent ECO:nomics conference that was the first of its kind to be organized by the Wall Street Journal.
Already, there is a major corporate push for reducing emissions. Last year, the US Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of major US corporations, released a Call to Action plan, which urged the US to support market based solutions for greenhouse gas reductions.
Going one step further, this conference could be a harbinger of a trend towards looking at the bigger problem of sustainability. With dwindling resources and growing demand for practically everything, corporations realize the need for better practices that are sustainable for the environment, which ultimately the economy depends on.
Revi Schlesinger at ClimateBiz writes:
The roster of corporate leaders at the conference -- which included heads of General
Electric, Wal-Mart, Duke Energy, Dow Chemical, Archer Daniels Midland and many more --
clearly articulated the pressing reality of eco-concerns and the imperative for business.
The speakers offered a clear commitment to rapidly address energy use (appropriate
enough, given it was the conference's focus), but also other challenges that could be
more broadly framed in the context of triple bottom line sustainability, and to
accelerate change by identifying new technologies and resources, developing new ideas,
working with new partners to share information and offering incentives.
Acting on these commitments will send a strong signal to the US government and the rest of the world that action is not only needed to reduce the ecological footprint, but will bring multiple economics returns. Because markets are in many cases the best system for distributing resources and technologies, a corporate push to promote sustainable practices may be what's needed to truly carry out the changes that are needed.
投稿者 econetworks : 11:24 PM | コメント (0) | トラックバック
Sustainability Review: Grid Cars
Danish Dong Transforming Transportation
Transportation powered by renewable energy would be the ultimate way to eliminate emissions from the transportation sector. While biofuels, like ethanol produced from sugar canes in Brazil, have some benefits in reducing CO2 emissions, popular fuels like corn-based ethanol are inefficient and are arguably harmful to the overall environment. By going completely electric, many of these problems can be avoided. In Europe, vehicles powered by solar and wind energy are becoming reality.
Denmark gets a significant share of its power from wind energy. As wind is an intermittent power source, there is often more energy being produced than is needed. Some of this excess power is sold to neighboring countries but this power could in principle be used to charge vehicles.
Now, Dong Energy A/S and Silicon-Valley based Project Better Place are getting together to build an electric car network throughout Denmark. They plan to have 20,000 recharging stations at parking lots and homes by 2011.
Andrew Williams at EcoGeek writes:
Vehicles are to be provided by Renault, using Nissan produced Li-ion batteries, and will have a 90-mile range between recharging. Batteries will use excess power from Dong's wind turbines, but revert back to coal-powered sources on calmer days. Even then, project organisers claim that CO2 emissions will still be around half of that associated with gasoline engines.
Because the grid is also powered by coal fired plants, there will be greenhouse gas emissions associated with the electricity produced.
For full details of the program, see original press release.
It will interesting to see if this Danish model can be replicated elsewhere around the world. While there are different types of renewable energy sources, factors such as urban density and structure are important factors in determining the viability of these projects.