Oscar Goes Green

Oscar goes green this year.

"This year, the Academy, the Oscar telecast producer Laura Ziskin and the entire production team endeavored to select supplies and services with a sensitivity toward reducing the threats we face from global warming, species extinction, deforestation, toxic waste, and hazardous chemicals in our water and food. With guidance and assistance from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-partisan environmental and advocacy organization, we learned that it was easy (and often cost effective) to make simple changes to reduce Oscar's ecological footprint" via Oscar.com

The Al Gore & Leonardo DiCaprio presidential announcement bit was funny. And Inconvenient Truth wins! And Melissa Etheridge(original song for Inconvenient Truth) wins!

Back To School

Back to school I go. I am now a student at IIT Stuart School of Business with every intention of arming myself with a MBA in Environment & Enterprise Sustainability.

This is the only business school around here that has a strong environment focus. The school is located in downtown Chicago, which is perfect. Chicago is an environment conscious city. The Mayor's office promotes and supports many green initiatives. Green roofing is big here. I believe Stuart has in the past worked with the Mayor's office on green projects.

I now have an excuse to head over to this very vibrant city every week. In the hope that I can change businesses, make them a little greener and make the world a little better. Wish me luck!

Political Economy Of Defecation

This is a video produced by CSEIndia.org. Several people in India were asked as to where their drinking water came from and where their waste went to.

I have lived in India for several years and in several places. Thinking about it, I have no idea where the waste went to. In fact, I have no idea where it goes today!

This kind of disconnect is not right.

Green Search Engine

A search engine to feed your green environmentally conscious needs.

Green MBA graduates from Dominican University of California used Google's Co-op program to create this customized search engine. The engine for now uses about 4000 handpicked green websites to deliver results.

I think it is a brilliant idea, but definitely a work in progress. I tried searching for "Live Earth tickets". The results were not entirely relevant. Expanding Green Maven's search list is essential to deliver better results. With so many greenwashing scams out there, expanding that list will indeed be a delicate balancing act. Kudos & Best wishes to the Green Maven team!

Via: Conscious Choice

PS:
You probably have already heard about Al Gore & Kevin Wall's Live Earth initiative. A concert to raise global awareness on global warming. On 07/07/07, 7 concerts across 7 continents

Live Earth will use the global reach of music to engage people on a mass scale to combat our climate crisis. Live Earth will bring together more than 150 of the world’s top musicians for 24-hours of music from 7 concerts across all 7 continents. Live Earth will bring together an audience of more than 2 billion at the concerts and through television, radio, film, and the Internet. That audience, and the proceeds from the event, will create the foundation for a new, multi-year global effort to combat the climate crisis led by Vice President Al Gore. Kevin Wall, Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8, is producing Live Earth.

All Live Earth venues will be designed and constructed by a groundbreaking team of sustainability engineers and advisors directed by John Picard. This greening team will address the environmental and energy management concerns of each concert site, as well as the operations of sponsors, partners, and other Live Earth affiliates.

Each venue will not only be designed to maintain a minimum environmental impact, but will showcase the latest state-of-the-art energy efficiency, on-site power generation, and sustainable facilities management practices.

Al Gore is fast becoming a super star! As I said before, "Run Gore Run"

A Giant Vacuum Cleaner

Imagine a giant vacuum cleaner for the atmosphere. Al Gore Friday helped announce a project to spur innovation in combating gases that contribute to global warming.

The British billionaire Richard Branson and Al Gore, the former vice president, aimed for just that on Friday when they announced a $25 million prize to meet possibly the biggest challenge faced by humankind: to reduce the planet’s warming gases that have collected in the atmosphere since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution(via NY Times)

I have always wondered about such a giant vacuum cleaner. Suck the excess amounts of green house gases out of the atmosphere. I now have 25 million reasons to wonder and dream about it some more!

Present day sequestration ideas all run the risk of leakage that could have disastrous results. What we need is permanence.The NY Times article mentions a study by Klaus Lackner, a professor at Columbia University.

Lackner presents a more permanent method of CO2 disposal through neutralization in carbonate form. This could be accomplished by injecting CO2 into alkaline mineral rich layers of the Earth. When exposed to alkaline minerals, CO2 gas reacts with the alkaline mineral to form carbonates or bicarbonates

Lackner goes onto explain how this principle can be applied to power plants. I don't think anybody took him seriously before. That might change pretty soon, thanks to the prize tag!

Anyway, my little idea (possibly stupid) is this ....What if we all had a vacuum cleaner (as in the photograph) that uses Lackner's idea. It would have a filter made up of alkaline minerals. It would be sitting out in the sun (as in the photograph) when it is not being used indoors. It would use solar energy(somehow) to channel air through the filter and off goes the CO2!

CO2 cleaners are only a fix. Ultimately, we all have to start living on renewable energy. There is no other option.

PS: In case you are wondering, the orange in the photograph represents a warming planet :) The snow represents the desired state of cooling. The vacuum cleaner is of course the CO2 cleaner. Weird crazy abstract :)

Hariyali Express. Solar Technology Innovators

The World Economic Forum meeting in Davos last month was teeming with business and political leaders. Lost in all the glitz were the technology innovators. So it is Hariyali Express to the rescue!

Several companies were recognized as innovators. Five among them , for leading the way on solar energy technology. Let us take a look shall we?

1) ClimateWell. When you think of solar energy, salt is probably the last thing that comes to mind. ClimateWell's solar powered indoor climate system is all about hygroscopic salts and of course the Sun.

A chemical heat pump is based on the principles that water molecules bind more efficiently to certain hygroscopic salts than to other water molecules. As a consequence, when using two separate bowls – one containing water (evaporator), and the other containing hygroscopic salt (reactor) - in a confined space, water will evaporate to the salt that absorbs the water. When the confined space is in a state of vacuum the water transport will be so high that the water will start boiling in order to produce vapour at the same speed as it is absorbed by the salt. Such evaporation requires energy. If the energy is not supplied from outside the system it will be taken from the water itself, which as a consequence gets colder

ClimateWell uses this principle to cool. To heat, solar energy is provided to the absorption process. Simply Brilliant isn't it ? Check out the interview with CEO Per Olofsson here. The modular design makes this suitable for hotels and offices. Which is why I am surprised that ClimateWell's current business model is aimed at large scale installations and not individual homes. This would be a boon (if economically viable) for the Indian summer.


2) Flisom. I always wish electronic gadgets would come with device integrated solar cells. From the looks of it, it will become a reality. Flisom is involved in doing just that. They have developed a copper-indium-gallium-selenide brew that gets great light-to-electricity conversion efficiency. Even better, it can be etched on to extremely thin plastic, thinner than a sheet of paper! Cell phone surface could be a potential application. The high conversion efficiency means lesser material and hence lesser cost. CEO and founder Anil Sethi expects this to become a mass technology. Mr Jobs, you listening ?

3) Nanosolar. You probably have heard of them before. Nanosolar generated a lot of buzz when Google founders decided to invest in them. Their mission is simple, "A solar panel for every building". They have used Nanotechnology to achieve miniaturization, high conversion efficiency, durability and the ability to print solar cells into extremely thin rolls. Imagine rolls of toilet paper and now imagine rolls of solar cells! (very different uses, of course!)

Roll printing is much easier and faster when compared to conventional solar modules. Plus it provides for quick volume scalability. Makes solar energy more cost effective, scalable and an everyday technology. Find it hard to believe? Watch this CNN footage.

4) Seahorse Power Company.

Theirs is a solar powered trash compactor and is named BigBelly. I have mixed feelings about this product. On one hand it can compact trash and hold up to 6-8 times more than a regular trash bin. This essentially reduces the number of trips needed to pick up and clear trash, thus reducing diesel consumption. How many times have we seen trash overflow and wished the municipality would quickly clean up the mess.

On the other hand, compacted trash results in landfill mummification. Trash gets preserved for an eternity. I think these compactors should be deployed alongside recycle bins. Stuff that can be recycled should be recycled period

5) Advent Solar Inc. Again solar cells. The central idea again is ... go thin, use less material, higher conversion efficiency and be cost effective. Advent uses a proprietary back contact technology whereby all electrical contacts are on the back of the cell (unlike present day grid like solar cells). This allows for greater light absorption and better aesthetics.

There you have it. Five companies taking us closer to a future when everything will hopefully be powered by the Sun. Imagine the day when you can walk out of a store buying a gallon of milk, gallon of solar paint, rolls of toilet papers and rolls of solar cells!

PS:
Curious about Hariyali Express? Head over here

iCertified. Numi Organic Tea

If you are a chai person, you should definitely give the iCertified Numi organic tea a try. In case you are wondering what iCertified is... head over here

I wouldn't recommend this as your wake up cup. This is more of a mid morning, trying to catch up on your office email kind of tea. No milk, no sugar just straight up.

Here is a little snippet from the Numi website.

Throughout India, chai stalls are a meeting place for provocative tea and conversation. From its homeland in China, cha has journeyed as chai, thé, and tea, recreating itself in every land. Numi's golden brewed, organic Chai fuses rich cultures in a complex and hearty Assam black tea. Indian cinnamon and mild green cardamom evoke a warm balance with the vitality of Chinese ginger. The peaked, sweet aroma of Turkish anise exhilarates memories. Reminisce in aged tradition with an inspiring cup of Golden Chai.

And now the story behind the company. Numi was started in 1999 by brother and sister Ahmed and Reem. The tea is organic and fair trade certified. The teabags are made with natural fiber and not with Nylon or other synthetic atrocities. The packaging contains upto 85% post consumer recycled content. They take that extra effort to green their operations where ever possible.

The tea tastes great and the company that makes them sound great. Hence my photograph and my little pitch :)

Disclaimer / Disclosure
I am NOT getting paid by any one to say all this. I am only vouching for the organic spiced Assam black tea version. It is not my intention to encourage rabid consumerism. I cannot be held liable/responsible for anything good, bad or otherwise that might happen by your purchase of this product.

Beyond Sustainability. Regeneration

Sustainability is Only Half the Solution, Regeneration is the Other Half. That is the subject of Carol Sanford's lecture at MIT. The lecture is available as streaming video from MIT World.

Here is the premise of her lecture. Imagine inhabiting Earth as a business. The success of any business lies in these basic principles. Income more than expenditure. Good rate of return on investment. When it comes to inhabiting Earth, are we following these basic business principles ? If the current rate of resource depletion is any indication, we are extremely bad at it.

Carol Sanders makes the point that if inhabiting Earth were to be a successful business, we need to think beyond sustainability and start thinking in terms of regeneration.

She talks about her experiences consulting for various Fortune 500 companies. Dupont's Titanium Dioxide business model, I thought was interesting. Listen to the entire lecture here

Unequivocal. Very Likely

"Unequivocal" and "Very Likely" are two terms that have been repeatedly popping up, the last two days. These are terms from IPCC's latest summary report on climate change. Btw..."Very likely" implies a greater than 90% chance.

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level
...

Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations

Here are the projections for future surface temperatures. The worst case scenario (A2) is the one in red. 4 degrees and upwards of temperature increase for almost all of India. Summers are horrible enough now. Imagine the future!


When 2500+ expert scientific reviewers, 800+ contributing authors, 450+ lead authors from 130+ countries over a period of 6 years come out with a report that says we are headed for trouble, the debate is over. It is time to listen and act.

Lights Out

Millions of homes across Europe switched off their lights today for 5 minutes. A campaign organized by French environmental group L'Alliance pour la Planète to raise awareness on global warming. Eiffel Tower and Rome's Colosseum joined in to give the planet a short respite.

It wasn't so dramatic here in the US. Partly because it was daylight, but mainly because the media ignored it. I did my little part and unplugged after work. Sitting in the dark strangely reminded me of my college days. Blackouts were frequent back then. Another excuse for me to chill out. Lazy days of yore :) Getting back to the point...

The lights out campaign was organized to coincide with release of IPCC's 4th report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) . The report is expected to call for urgent and decisive action. Developing countries like India are going to be the most seriously hit by climate change. Millions of people could become climate refugees. Sunderbans is already feeling the impact.

Makes me wonder.... Will we change in time ? Or are we headed towards permanent lights out ?