Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy to be Focus of U.S.-Russia Collaboration
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
“President Medvedev and I agreed to expand trade and commerce even further,” said President Obama after a bilateral meeting with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev in Washington on June 24. “We agreed to deepen our collaboration on energy efficiency and clean energy technologies.”
Of particular significance will be the development of a pilot project to cut electric power losses and reduce levels of carbon emissions. The project will utilize innovative smart grid technologies to achieve these goals. Russian and U.S. cities will run projects in parallel and share the best practices and technical information.
Smart grid technologies use advanced developments in information technology to enhance the reliability, efficiency and security of electric power distribution.
President Medvedev said that Skolkovo, a Moscow region town, is emerging as a Russian Silicon Valley, a center for innovative developments in energy and telecommunications, biotechnology and nuclear technology. The president had visited Silicon Valley in California earlier in the week and was deeply impressed with what he saw there.
He was equally impressed by the interest displayed by leading U.S. businessmen to work together with Russia. Intel and Cisco are already involved at development in Skolkovo. The town also has an advanced business management school that opened in 2006.
Read more at ecofactory.com.
Tags: electricity distribution, information technology, smart grids
Posted in information technology, sustainable development | 1 Comment »
The Digital Divide can lead to no Good
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
Digital divide is a term used to signify the difference between different sections of people, or countries, in their ability to use modern digital technologies such as the computer, mobile phone and the Internet. Poor countries are more concerned with basics such as food and healthcare and they are not able to attend to “luxuries” like IT literacy. Even in developed countries, certain sections of the population are digitally illiterate and this leads to a digital divide between different sections.
What are the problems of digital divide? The major problem is that the digitally illiterate people are denied access to knowledge and information that are available to the digitally proficient. Lack of access to knowledge and information leads to missed opportunities for education and earning. The result will be an aggravation of existing wealth disparities.
The world’s, and individual countries’, economic development depends in a major way on the distribution of wealth. If people don’t have purchasing power, there will be no buyers for most of the goods and services produced; production of goods and services will not expand and the economy will stagnate. Purchasing power is created by distributing the wealth of the country as widely as possible.
There is also the issue that high inequality of wealth can lead to civil unrest and wastage of human resources. The world cannot hope to achieve stability so long as large sections of it are underdeveloped.
The issue is complicated by the fact that earth’s existing resources cannot support a living standard that is similar to the living standards in developed nations for all the world’s people.
Digital divide thus have implications beyond just an inability to use computers and the mobile phone. Projects such as Evoke are seeking to spread digital literacy in African countries that are seriously affected by the divide.
Tags: digital divide, economic progress, information technology, social tensions
Posted in education delivery, information delivery, information technology, sustainable development | No Comments »
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
The New Delhi, India headquartered TERI’s stated objective is to deal with the huge problems that humankind is likely to face owing to (i) Depletion of earth’s non-renewable energy resources and (ii) Pollution caused by existing ways of using the energy resources.
Over the years since its establishment in 1974, TERI’s objectives have got enhanced to cover environment and sustainable development. TERI also expanded its operations to North America, Europe and several countries in Asia including Japan, Malaysia and Gulf countries. The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) is an annual event that focuses on sustainable development while pursuing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
DSDS was successful in attracting leaders from government, industry, research and academia and civil society. Buoyed by its success, TERI has now established the World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF). WSDF will seek to carry the DSDS message to other countries of the world and to evaluate worldwide developments towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
The TERI University established in 1998 is a research-oriented institution of higher learning with programs leading to Masters and PhD level degrees.
TERI’s research projects extend over several areas, including Energy-Environment Policy and Technology Development, Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology, Regulatory Studies and Governance, Resources and Global Security, Social Transformation, Sustainable Development Outreach and more.
Read more at the TERI website.
Tags: depletion of energy resources, pollution from energy use practices, sustainable development
Posted in energy generation, environment, renewable energy, sustainable development | No Comments »
Encouraging Biotech Research Students
Monday, May 17th, 2010
The University of Waikato in New Zealand recently held a poster contest for biotech student researchers. The theme of the contest was sustainable bioeconomy, indicating the importance attached both to sustainability as well as economic significance of the research programs.
The first prize winner was Ho Ying Yuen who was researching combining polymer with beeswax to use as a controlled release for drug delivery in animals. Pratik Trivedi was another winner who focused on researching the ageing of white bryony plant seeds. The plant is a hardy environmental weed whose seeds can lie dormant in the ground for a long time.
Both the above prize winners are students of Waikato University while another winner, Jamaine Fraser, works at Scion in Rotorua. She researched the design of marae seating using engineered biocomposite plastic.
There were 24 competitors whose research areas ranged from developing bioplastics to ageing wine. One of them had recently won an award at NZBio for his research into micro-organisms that could open the way to a sustainable way of turning woody waste into biofuel. His poster was about a “Wood Digesting Machine.”
Professor Doug Sutton, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University, opened the event by saying a key challenge in moving to a bioeconomy was to ensure that biotechnology developments were sustainable, taking into account economic, environmental, ethical/social and cultural perspectives.
Read the full report at Waikato University website.
Tags: bioeconomy, biotechnology, sustainable development
Posted in biotechnology, sustainable development | No Comments »
Nanotechnology and Climate Change
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Climate change is a major concern for the world. The change is attributed to global warming caused by carbon emissions, caused mainly by human activities. A survey by Environmental Protection Agency of USA estimates carbon emissions from the electric power generation sector at 34%, transport sector at 28%, industries at 20%, residential & commercial properties at 11% and agriculture at 7% in the country.
The study also indicated that carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere have increased 40% since the start of the industrial revolution. While CO2 is the major “greenhouse” gas that leads to global warming, other emissions such as methane also contribute their bit.
Greenhouse gases degrade quality of life by affecting many things from weather to our health. These gases damage the ozone layer that protects our earth from the many dangers to life and health originating from space (through which earth is moving).
With the increasing awareness of the dangers posed by global warming, governments all over the world are looking at ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The suggestions for doing it include :
- Reducing energy consumption by developing technologies that do not involve burning fossil fuels.
- Adopting technologies that use renewable energy and better technologies for energy storage.
- Separation, sequestration and conversion of emitted carbon into useful products.
Nanotechnology can help with these solutions. For example, it can develop high strength materials that help more efficient use of energy and nanocatalysts can improve fuel efficiency.
Read the detailed article on how nanotechnology can help with environmental issues at nanowerk.
Tags: energy efficiency solutions, energy storage solutions, nanomaterials, nanotech solutions for global warming
Posted in nano batteries, nanomaterials, nanotechnology, renewable energy, sustainable development | No Comments »
Biotechnology for World Health
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Pharmaceutical companies, like other businesses, are interested in returns for their shareholders and focus on profitable drugs and medicines. The improving health conditions in developed countries have made the profitability of many vaccines, for example, unattractive to these companies. Manufacture of these products for use in developing countries is just not profitable enough for the pharma companies.
Developing countries need effective drugs and vaccines at low costs, often for diseases that are unique to their particular regions. Affordable and rapid molecular diagnostic tests, recombinant and heat stable vaccines for tropical and other neglected diseases, new drug and vaccine delivery systems as well as a wider application of genomics are what biotechnology can offer to these countries.
As manufacturers in developed countries withdraw from the scene, it is public health intervention programs that try to fill the gap. However, a huge knowledge gap exists and developing countries by themselves may not be able to make a significant impact. Some hopeful signs are there in such countries as China, India and Brazil where biotechnology capacity and sophistication are increasing.
Hopes of achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through public interventions alone are dim. Biotechnology has a key role in achieving the goal of affordable healthcare. Local initiatives can help as when Cuba developed its own vaccine in response to an outbreak of meningitis B during the 1980s. The vaccine has been successful not only in curbing the epidemic but also in sustaining its impact till now.
For a real solution, however, closer collaboration between developed and developing countries, with adequate protection for intellectual property rights, is necessary. Read the report on this topic at Geneva Health Forum online news.
Tags: affordable drugs and vaccines, biotechnology, pharmaceutical business, world health goals
Posted in biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, business, intellectual property, sustainable development | No Comments »
Greenpeace Recognizes Climate Change Action by Companies
Friday, April 30th, 2010
Greenpeace has formulated a 100 point scale to measure climate change contributions by companies. It awards 50 points for “climate solutions”, 35 for lobbying and making public statements about climate change, and the remaining points for renewable energy use and setting emission targets.
Cisco received top award with 62 points for its telecommuting, green building design and energy management initiatives, among others. The company had also set a target for reducing emissions by 25 percent during the five year period from 2007 to 2012. The company’s executives were also present at United Nations’ Copenhagen climate negotiations last year.
Ericsson, who came second, had carried out a life-cycle analysis of IT solutions like phones and Internet communication comparing it to the traditional solution of driving to a physical workplace.
The third placed IBM provided a range of emission-cutting services, including smart grid software and supply chain carbon management. IBM also publicized the results of its congestion pricing project in Stockholm that had reduced traffic by 18 percent over a one year period.
Google scored for it public advocacy, particularly its CEO Eric Schmidt’s November 2008 speech calling for federal support for research and development, energy efficiency and broadband infrastructure. However, the company came in for criticism for not disclosing its emissions.
Read the news report at New York Times
Tags: climate change, corporate responsibility, greenpeace
Posted in corporate responsibility, environment, renewable energy, sustainable development | No Comments »
Biotechnology and the United Nations Organization
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Biotechnology is relevant for economic development, as it can contribute to increased food availability for people, more efficient use of energy, and to health and medicine. Economic development typically leads to global warming through various emissions from factories, transport vehicles and increased domestic consumption of various products. Biotechnology has the potential to help development with minimal impact on global warming.
The United Nations has various agencies that help support more equitable and sustainable development efforts. Many of these organizations find biotechnology relevant in their respective fields of operations. See this page for a list of UN Organizations to whom biotechnology is relevant. Biotechnology has thus become a focus area for UN and the organization is taking several initiatives with this focus.
A Biotechnology Forum is being established “to offer a neutral space for discussion, effective knowledge-sharing, and partnership-building among a broad range of public and private stakeholders.” The forum will keep member states current on developments in the life sciences, and on best practices and safety issues. A series of briefings and workshops are planned during May 2010 to December 2011.
The UN’s Biotechnology Inititative attempts “to identify priorities and mobilize efforts in the most relevant potential applications of biotechnology” for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the scheduled 2015. The immediate aim of the initiative is to produce a report on the “potential of existing and future contributions that the life sciences revolution could make to the achievement of the MDGs.”
Read more about the UN Initiative at its website.
Tags: biotech potential in different areas, biotechnology, united nations initiative
Posted in biotechnology, sustainable development | No Comments »
