Author: Charlotte Gill

The end of the energy grid could be upon us

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Pearl Street Station became the first central power station in the US when, in 1882, Thomas Edison plugged it in to serve 59 customers in Lower Manhattan. Powering 400 bulbs and charging $5 per kilowatt-hour, the station laid the groundwork for a sophisticated network of interconnected plants and presented the best solution yet to the issue of energy poverty: the grid.

Since then the grid has stood up to technological adjustments, rocketing demand and the whims of the private sector, though never in its 100-plus-year history has it been forced to confront the possibility that another model could supplant it. Electricity, not just for the average American but the global population, is an obsession, and any vulnerability in supply means billions – if not trillions – of dollars in losses.

With our reliance on electricity greater now than it has ever been, any threat to the grid is a threat to the population at large, and glaring inefficiencies warrant serious cause for concern. Electromagnetic pulses, cyber attacks, terrorism and natural disasters are among the threats cited by the Secure the Grid Coalition, though all pale in comparison with the rise of distributed power.

300m

Americans draw power from the grid

$900bn

Value of the US energy industry

2%

Share of GDP

500,000

Workers employed by US energy industry

Where rooftop solar panels and backup generators not long ago made up an almost imperceptible fraction of the energy mix, the consensus at last year’s DistribuTECH smart grid conference was that distributed energy resources (DERs) could make up a third of supply by the end of the decade. And with individuals and businesses able to produce their own power, the move off-grid means centralised generation will edge ever closer to what is known in the industry as “the death spiral”.

The situation in the energy market is often likened to that of IT, where more open client-server and networked computers emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, replacing mainframes. The Boston Consulting Group went so far as to say the grid’s days were numbered, and claimed the costs of supporting such a system were no longer sustainable.

“What is clear is that business as usual is no longer an option”, said the group’s report. “In most scenarios – even if this is delayed by a few years – the landscape is set to change dramatically, leaving only a very small role for utilities’ business models in their present form.”

Funding gap
Energy sales in the US are stagnant at best, and experts warn that, if things continue as they are, utilities will be without the revenues to maintain the grid’s many ageing and expensive components. Energy-saving devices and rooftop solar panels are but a taste of the measures adopted by consumers to reduce their footprints, though a penny saved here is a penny less for the US’ creaking grid infrastructure. Without major improvements, the grid will in no way be a “fast-acting energy-storage system that can respond dynamically to ever-changing demand and supply”, according to the founder and Director of the UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Centre, Rajit Gadh. A major study undertaken by the California Public Utilities Commission found distributed generation could cost the country’s non-solar users over $370m a year, as the pressures on the existing system continue to mount.

This is a system that’s essential not just to 300 million Americans, but also to the country’s continued economic prosperity. All in, the $900bn industry accounts for more than two percent of GDP and » employs half a million workers, according to Thomas Kuhn, President of the Edison Electric Institute, speaking at a Wall Street briefing last year.

“Most analyses seem to indicate that there is a need to upgrade transmission and distribution infrastructure, owing to both ageing assets, as well as the need to accommodate more renewable energy and distributed energy resources”, said John Banks, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Energy Security and Climate Initiative. “The investor owned utilities in the US are expected to spend about $100bn in annual capital expenditures in the coming years, with more and more dedicated to distribution.”

In 2012, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) said the US energy network needed $566bn of investment over the eight years up to 2020 in order to remain competitive. Going by 2012 figures, that leaves a funding gap of approximately $107bn. If that gap is not filled, the country can expect frequent capacity bottlenecks and service interruptions, and at no small cost. “Just like the roads we use every day, when there are bottlenecks or congestion in our electricity infrastructure, it affects everyone. And fewer disruptions mean real money to American businesses and households”, said the ASCE’s President, Andrew Herrmann.

The IEA’s inaugural Quadrennial Energy Review, published last April, touched on the all-important issues of modernisation, competitiveness, security and sustainability, and called for an immediate response to the looming infrastructure crisis. “Our current infrastructure is increasingly challenged by transformations in energy supply, markets, and patterns of end use; issues of ageing and capacity; impacts of climate change; and cyber and physical threats”, it said. “Affordable, clean, and secure energy and energy services are essential for improving US economic productivity, enhancing our quality of life, protecting our environment, and ensuring our nation’s security.”

ASCE’s 2013 report card, in which the US was awarded a D+, noted parts of the electrical distribution system were sorely in need of an update, with some being almost 140 years old. According to the report, permitting issues, weather patterns and inadequate maintenance have all contributed to the problem, although none has caused more consternation than distributed power.

Distributed power
“The right mix with more local energy production and storage is more energy efficient, environmentally superior and more secure”, said Chuck Manto, CEO of Instant Access Networks. “Security, reliability and economic drivers will force a new future energy system and market. Those who fail to embrace and establish distributed energy will diminish over time if they experience long-term prolonged outages of their overly centralised systems.”

The grid itself is made up of an interconnected network of independent generators. Flexible, efficient and modular, DERs are in many ways better suited to the times than a sprawling electricity grid, and the growth of solar and wind power – tenfold since 2000 – means the megatrend is not only more efficient but more sustainable.

Going by GE estimates, distributed power capacity will be almost 200GW by 2020, up from 142GW in 2012, equating to an average annual growth rate of 4.4 percent. Despite the focus on mature economies, demand for distributed power is at its highest in countries where per capita income levels are less, and the fragility of centralised systems has made local energy strategies appear more attractive.

Nowhere is the case for distributed power better made than in Morocco, where, between 1995 and 2011, the electrification rate rose from 18 to 98 percent. As of 2014, 12 million Moroccans in 35,600 villages had been connected to the grid, and 5,600 photovoltaic (PV) kits had been given to Moroccan consumers in 3,663 villages. In nearby Egypt, policymakers are toying with the idea of a mostly gas-based distributed system to address the country’s budgetary and political constraints, and much the same proposal has been put forward in Mexico, where 8,800km of gas pipelines have been proposed in place of centralised heavy fuels.

India, meanwhile, is weighing up the advantages of distributed power in electrifying hard-to-reach terrain. With some 10,000 villages in these areas, access to the grid is both a complicated and costly affair, whereas distributed power could more easily offer the villagers a route out of energy poverty. According to GE, the western state of Gujarat achieved 100 percent electrification in 2011 by doing just that, and the region is far better off socially and economically as a result.

“A grand transformation is underway”, said the GE report The Rise of Distributed Power. “A wave of decentralisation is sweeping across the globe and changing the way we live, work and play. The organisation of resources and people is moving away from centralised systems toward integrated networks that include both distributed and centralised elements. The rise of distributed power is being driven by the same forces that are propelling the broader decentralisation movement.”

More widely available, more efficient and less costly than it was only a decade ago, distributed power can more easily overcome the pressures of large capital projects and the costs tied to the continued upkeep of transmission and distribution lines. And, insofar as the risks associated with the building and installation of distributed power are less, decentralisation is an attractive proposition. The benefits include improved reliability and resilience, a smaller environmental impact, and more flexibility and diversity of supply. However, the economics of distributed power systems are not quite so black-and-white.

John Banks wrote in a 2011 report that distributed power system technologies were uncompetitive with central station fossil fuel generation, with a few exceptions. However, his cost comparisons failed to take into account the improved efficiency of distributed systems, nor did they account for externalities such as improved efficiency and job creation. And while little has been done to address what Banks called “market failures”, the situation in terms of renewables – and certainly in terms of price – has changed in the five years since he wrote his report.

142GW

2012

200GW

2020

4.4%

Average annual growth rate

The link with renewables
Distributed power is as much about renewables as it is decentralisation. “There are several interrelated drivers”, said Banks. “Policy support for renewables generally, but also specifically for DERs, has played a major role. For example, net metering has fostered significant deployment of rooftop solar PV. Second, and clearly related to policy, the costs of technologies have continued to drop, especially for wind and solar, and the costs are coming down at a time when we have witnessed the increased ‘customerisation’ of everything – and the electricity sector is part of this overall trend. Customers are demanding more choice and interactive management of their energy use, and DERs fit into this paradigm.”

In a country where there is little incentive to increase the supply of electricity, the added promise of energy efficiency is doing much to keep enthusiasm for distributed power high in the US. Over the years, renewables have become a mainstream component of the energy mix, and the small-scale, low-cost nature of distributed energy means utilities need not participate in their installation. Buoyed by the incentives offered for the installation of renewables, utility-scale, fossil-fuel-fired plants are being phased out – albeit gradually.

California’s climate change law and net zero energy goals mean renewables are set to make up one third of the state’s energy mix by 2020. The state has also set in motion plans to develop 12,000MW of distributed capacity by that time, and, in all likelihood, others will do the same as they, like California, look to reduce emissions by the cheapest method possible. According to GTM Research, the use of solar energy has more than tripled since 2010, and some 45,000 businesses and 600,000 individuals are using PV panels to their own ends.

Smart grid
Distributed power has problems of its own, of course, and the inconsistency of distributed supply – renewables in particular – means the grid will have an important part to play for some time yet. “There is no question that we are seeing the emergence of a more flexible distribution grid to accommodate more DERs and variable renewables”, said Banks. “The trends toward decentralisation, customer choice, and two-way flows of power and information will continue. The key, as-yet unanswered, questions are what role the utilities will play, especially vis-à-vis managing DERs and the relationships with third-party service providers, and the type of regulatory framework that will emerge to govern this transition.”

By far the most-talked about development for existing energy systems is the emergence of smart grid technology, which, according to BCG, will be among the main enablers of distributed power in the developed world. A GTM Research report forecasted the smart grid market will surpass the $400bn mark by 2020 and rack up an over-eight percent growth rate in each of the next five years. If only to acclimatise to this new landscape, utilities must make allowances for new sources of supply and invest not only in grid maintenance but, more importantly, grid infrastructure technology. “Energy would evolve from a commodity to value-added service”, said Rajit Gadh.

According to IBM, utilities are a necessary part of the energy landscape, though disruptive innovation is as much a part of the modern industry. The challenge for the energy market, therefore, is to find a balance between new and old systems, and utilities have an important part to play in reconciling the differences between the two. According to the Global Smart Grid Federation, “smart grids anticipate and respond to system disturbances in a self-healing manner, enable active consumer participation, accommodate all generation and storage options, enable new eco opportunities, optimise asset utilisation and efficient operation, and provide the power quality needed in a digital economy. The smart grid brings together the idea of grid modernisation and the closer integration of all actors in our electricity system”.

Despite what many assume, decentralised energy has not brought an end to the grid, but rather paved the way for a more efficient and modernised system. The smart grid is very much a product of our time, and here, as with distributed power, great strides can be taken to realise broad-based gains with regards to sustainability and reliability. The energy market of the future need not necessarily lie with decentralised solutions, but we should not assume on- and off-grid solutions are mutually exclusive. Surely the future lies not with any one, but a combination of decentralised and centralised systems: only when the two work hand-in-hand will the real transformation be made.

Could reinventing waste greatly reduce our carbon footprint?

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Reducing is insufficient. Recycling is mostly inefficient. We are now in desperate need of smarter ways to lessen humanity’s environmental impact, particularly as expanding populations drain the planet’s resources. In response to this crisis, a new movement has formed that takes a step beyond recycling, turning waste into something of value. This movement is gaining ground not only because of its environmental benefits, but also because it can save a significant amount of money while forming a central pillar of an organisation’s social responsibility. Both private companies and state organisations are starting to think outside the box and explore the countless ways they can use the waste they produce to their advantage.

Food fuel
“Food waste is the next frontier. It’s where recycling was 25 years ago with other materials, such as cans and bottles”, said David Hitchcock, Senior Vice President of Harvest Power, a leading start-up that turns organic waste into fuel. To tackle this escalating problem, an increasing number of organisations are exploring the latest, and arguably greatest, development in waste management: anaerobic digestion. The process involves combining food waste (which can include dinner scraps and used cooking oil) with biosolids (the nutrient-rich by-product of treated sewage) in order to produce biogas. Biogas is then combusted to generate electricity via degradation that is caused by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen. The remaining material also has a use: “The nutrient value of the original inputs is retained and turned into natural fertilisers or compost for the local community”, said Hitchcock.

9,000

Anaerobic digester plants in Germany

51%

Of all greenhouse gases come from livestock and their by-products

The happiest place on earth, Disney World (of course), implemented Harvest Power’s circular system in 2014 using selected restaurants and hotels located within its sprawling complex. At full capacity, the $30m facility, which is located in the Reedy Creek Improvement District, can process 120,000 tonnes of organic material per year, generating around 5.4MW of combined power and heat. Others in the US have also adopted the innovative approach in order to fulfil both their waste management and energy needs, such as the city of Sacramento and the state of Massachusetts, among many others. The scene in Europe, on the other hand, is far more mature, with 9,000 anaerobic digester plants in Germany alone, most of which recycle small-scale farm waste.

According to the Worldwatch Institute’s paper, Livestock and Climate Change, livestock and their by-products account for 51 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Although the petrochemical industry and transportation exhaust fumes often receive the brunt of the blame for ozone depletion, the methane produced by cows is far more harmful than CO2.

In order to build a society that is less destructive to its environment, this must be addressed urgently, and the first place to start is with food waste. “By tackling the interlocking challenges of food waste, we simultaneously unlock sustainable solutions”, said Hitchcock. Although a small piece of a very complex and politically charged puzzle, reusing food waste could have a dramatic effect on mankind’s struggle with its surroundings.

Imaginative endeavours
Aside from fuel, food waste is an increasingly popular choice for reinvention, with a growing number of companies exploring imaginative solutions. UK design company Reworked is turning used coffee grounds into furniture, jewellery, and, ironically, coffee machines. The process uses up to 70 percent of the waste product to create a hybrid material that is made completely from natural components. After teaming up with coffee machine manufacturer Sanremo, it has sold hundreds of the Verde model each year since its launch in 2013. Italian design company WhoMade, meanwhile, is repurposing food waste, such as peanut shells and carrot peels, as biodegradable and additive-free plates for dry food. In order to add a further layer of use, when the plates become wet, they can be composted and used as fertiliser.

Numerous academic institutions are also lending their expertise to various projects that are as surprising as they are intelligent. The University of East Anglia, for example, is researching how to turn agricultural by-products, including straw, sawdust and corncobs, into bioethanol.

“Our role was to identify naturally occurring yeasts that could ferment the sugars that are released from digested straw material”, said Dr Tom Clarke, the university’s lead researcher on the project. “We identified several potentially interesting strains that were able to tolerate the presence of sugar breakdown products (called furfurals) that are a by-product of straw processing. While [the] price of second-generation bioethanol struggles to compete with regular petrol, this research is important in preparing the groundwork for a time when oil becomes scarce.”

According to the university’s website, around 400 billion litres of the alcohol-based fuel could be produced from crop waste each year, and, as bioethanol mixes well with petrol, the potential for the automotive industry is huge.

Then there is a recent study by Coventry University, which has explored the use of waste construction by-products, such as recycled bricks, steel fibre, recycled crushed glass and cement by-pass dust, to make sustainable paving blocks. The results so far have found that compressed paving blocks can be successfully made from cement and waste materials – alluding to vast possibilities for the construction industry worldwide.

Making upgrades
‘Upcycling’ is a buzzword with growing traction. As opposed to recycling, which breaks down materials and turns them into something else, upcycling involves using the components of discarded items in a new way to create objects that are of practical or aesthetic use (and which are often of greater value than the original pieces). Examples include old television sets that have been turned into fish tanks, glass bottles that are transformed into light fixtures, or even roll-top bathtubs that become stylish sofas. This sustainable and cost-effective movement is making waves in the design world, with numerous industry players adopting upcycled inspiration. At the same time, television programmes and ideas shared on social media are captivating the imaginations of millions around the world.

Aside from the money-saving aspect, the idea of producing something from items that would otherwise be discarded has great appeal to those who have grown weary of a throwaway consumer culture. Moreover, the individuality of such pieces is a big shift away from monotonous, common trends, allowing individuals to be creative and unique. Upcycling is even inspiring new hobbies, classes and moneymaking enterprises, such as Remade in Britain and the US’ Hipcycle.org, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of vendors on Etsy.com.

Taking the next step in the movement are firms such as TerraCycle, a US-headquartered company dedicated to “eliminating the idea of waste” through the creation of new products from discarded materials. The company has a number of national programmes, which it calls ‘Brigades’, that collect non-recyclable items such as cigarettes, biscuit wrappers and used coffee capsules.

“The waste is collected through TerraCycle’s recycling fundraising programmes, which are free fundraisers that pay schools, charities and non-profits for every piece of waste they collect and return”, said Stephen Clark, TerraCycle’s Director of Client Service and Communications for Northern Europe.

“Instead of taking space in landfills or being incinerated, they are then made into an array of products, including backpacks, watering cans, waste bins, and even park benches. TerraCycle works with over 100 major brands, [including] the likes of Febreze, Capri Sun, Tang, Tassimo, BIC etc, in 21 countries, including the US, Canada, UK, Australia and Japan, across the globe to collect used packaging and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills. We repurpose this waste into new eco-friendly materials and products that are available online and through major retailers.”

Smart business
The damage society is inflicting on the world is reaching the point of no return. The depletion of raw materials, deforestation, the agricultural business, chemical pollutants and soaring energy consumption around the world are getting worse by the year, despite public awareness being greater than ever before. The need for absolute sustainability is urgent and has become the duty of both governments and corporations. Being sustainable reduces costs, portrays a positive image and requires a beneficial long-term outlook – all of which can contribute to the success of any type of organisation.

The concept of zero waste is one that can actually change the world. By creating circular systems, greater resilience is afforded, not only for the organisation itself, but also in terms of its host city and country. It enables people to harmonise with their environment through the consumption of fewer fossil fuels and the solution to one of the biggest problems of the 21st century: waste disposal. With imagination, technology and collective action, waste of any kind can be transformed. Humanity may still be at the early stages of this momentous transition, but it will certainly grow in fervour in the coming years, and, when it does, we can finally begin to undo the damage we have already done.

Making the most out of rubbish

Onion power
Gills Onions, the largest onion processer in the US, produces 300,000lbs of onion waste every day. Driven to become sustainable, the California-based company worked with various partners and spent years researching how to turn that waste into electricity. The outcome was the installation of two of FuelCell Energy’s DFC300 sub-megawatt power plants, which provide 100 percent of Gills Onions’ power requirements, including the energy required to run its anaerobic digesters. Three quarters of the plant’s onion waste is converted into carbon-neutral energy, while what remains is sold as cattle feed. As well as meeting the company’s zero waste goal and maximising its energy security with an on-site power generator, the process also saves an estimated $700,000 per year in power costs, in addition to the $400,000 previously spent on energy. According to the company’s website, the $10.8m spent on the system will be paid back in less than six years.

Heinz plastic
HJ Heinz Company is finding new ways to repurpose the stems, seeds and peel waste produced from the 200 million tonnes of tomatoes it uses each year for its world-famous ketchup. In 2012, Heinz began collaborating with Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, Nike and Procter & Gamble in order to develop an entirely plant-based bio-plastic made from tomato fibres. The material can be used in anything from packaging to car manufacturing, reducing the need for oil-based alternatives. Ford is hoping to use Heinz’s leftover dried tomato skins by converting them into pellets, which would then be then transformed into strong but lightweight wiring brackets and storage compartments within its vehicles. According to a press release published by Ford in 2014, if successful, the adoption of bioplastics in various vehicle components will significantly reduce the company’s use of petrochemicals and the environmental impact of its manufacturing process.

De-icing cheese
The US state of Wisconsin faced two problems each year: treacherous icy roads during winter and the disposal issue of its successful cheese industry. In an ingenious solution to both, Polk County authorities now use liquid cheese brine for snow and ice control. Not only does the process help local cheese producers, it is actually more effective than regular de-icing methods. “For some scientific reason cheese brine has a lower freeze point than manmade salt brine”, said Steve Warndahl, Polk County Highway Commissioner. Moreover, the mixture does not leave behind any residue when the snow thaws or is rinsed away. It even helps the salt stick to the roads better, saving the county thousands in reapplication measures. “The first year of cheese brine use saved Polk County $30,000”, said Warndahl, “[as] we bought much less of the more expensive product, like calcium chloride or magnesium chloride.”

Fruity leather
Every day, around 3,500kg of unsellable fruit and vegetables is discarded at Rotterdam’s biggest outdoor market. Vendors must pay for their rejected produce to be properly disposed of. This leads to illegal dumping in some cases, and a whole host of problems for the city’s authorities. Seeing an opportunity to help, a group of designers from the Willem de Kooning Academy started the Fruit Leather Rotterdam project to turn spoiled fruit into a leather-like material that can be used to make bags, clothing and even furniture. The process involves removing seeds, turning the fruit into a pulp, boiling the mixture to remove bacteria, and then finally drying it on a specialised surface. Not only does the resultant durable material make use of the city’s unsellable fruit and reduce illegal dumping, it also provides a non-animal option for leather goods – a big draw for vegans and non-vegans alike.

Beer by bread
A microbrewery in Belgium, the Brussels Beer Project, is using leftover bread from bakeries and supermarkets to produce a seven percent amber beer. Using a recipe that dates back 4,000 years to Mesopotamia, with a few tweaks, the Belgian brewers were inspired to tackle the city’s food waste problem – about 12 percent of which is bread. It took around a year to find the perfect balance of bread and barley, and the result is a unique-tasting beer called Babylone that is sold to local bars and cafés. According to the company, around 30 percent of the barley required for brewing one bottle of beer can be replaced by just one and a half slices of bread, which is dried and mashed into flour and then mixed with barley malt. Since starting the project, the brewers have teamed up with the NGO Atelier Groot Eiland, which organises the collection of unsold bread and prepares it for brewing on the group’s behalf.

Why business speak is hurting your business

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

In the need to get on-message about our three-dimensional organisational innovation and text-generation visionary paradigms, individual businesses or pro-active synergies are deploying specialised terms on platforms to connect with new networks and partnerships. Or rather, technology firms regularly rely on jargon or clichés when attempting to convey their ideas to a casual audience. And that is a problem.

The war for clarity in the English language has a long history. Most famously, George Orwell wrote his Politics and the English Language in 1946, in which he railed against what he saw as attempts to obscure the truth through the use of vague writing or dishonest and misleading phrases. Political language, he said, had come to consist “largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness”. While the political regimes and their apologists Orwell was decrying are long gone, within the tech world the use of euphemism and vagueness continues.

Disrupt, disrupt, disrupt
The cliché-riddled and jargon-loving world of technology firms (often start-ups) has been parodied in the popular HBO television series Silicon Valley. In one scene, as start-up firms are pitching their ideas to a panel of technology big wigs and venture capitalists, a montage plays of each unoriginal team reciting the same word: disrupt, disrupt, disrupt.

What exactly ‘data-driven’ means is unclear

The use of this clichéd term and others, however, might not just be jarring but also harmful to business. As John Egan, director of the digital finance Anthemis Group, recently wrote on Twitter: “Eliminate the word ‘#disrupt’ from your pitching lexicon. It’s become a synonym for ‘I don’t understand my market’.” Firms that insist on making light use of the term run the risk of showing themselves to be amateurs, attempting to insert a professional-sounding term into their business description where it is not really needed. While some major firms have genuinely disrupted embedded markets, such as taxi monopolies, merely adding a new product to a market with a slight edge on existing competitors is not disrupting anything: it’s how markets in capitalism work.

The continued use of ‘data-driven’ among many firms is also questionable. What exactly the phrase means is unclear, beyond telling your audience you are in tune with the 21st century. All firms make use of data but few are entirely data-driven. What is really meant is that firms are data informed. If a firm were to be truly data driven, it would be devoid of autonomous humans. But, of course, calling your firm “data informed” sounds less grand – or “forward looking”, as the jargoneers would say.

Business jargon in general is further damaging because it makes the audience less trusting of the speaker. According to Psyblog, reporting on a study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin: “Our minds process concrete statements more quickly, and we automatically associate quick and easy with true; we can create mental pictures of concrete statements more easily. When something is easier to picture, it’s easier to recall, so seems more true; when something is more easily pictured it seems more plausible, so it’s more readily believed.”

Specialised terms are for specialists
Technology and all specialised areas are prone to the use of jargon. The complex nature of the area sometimes requires specialised terms for use among the inducted. Those who work with actual technology – engineers and programmers, not in client- or public-facing roles – may be forgiven for using language unfriendly to a casual audience. Philosophers, when speaking to each other, know what the term dialectics means (although, being philosophers, that may not always be the case), and don’t feel the need to define it. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and speak in plain language, just that certain specialised terms exist within specialised circles.

Likewise, scientists may talk in a language incomprehensible to the non-scientist, but the complicated nature of the work might require it, with the assumption that their colleagues understand them. As with tech, problems arise when they attempt to communicate with the public, and so there are any number of scientists whose jobs are, or involve, promoting ideas to the public in clear language.

But, of course, it’s often the case that meaningless terms are used to give the appearance of specialisation and intelligence when nothing particularly special or intelligent is actually being said. As with the use of ‘data-driven’ and ‘disrupt’, words and phrases are used to dress up often-mundane (although not necessarily useless) ideas and concepts.

This issue within academia was highlighted by the Sokal Affair: in an attempt to prove how many social science and humanities texts were allowing nonsensical use of jargon, acclaimed maths and physics professor Alan Sokal published an article, “Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity”, in the postmodern academic journal Social Text in 1996. The article made use of opaque language to describe physics as a social and linguistic construct. He soon revealed that his text, through the use of contorted phrases, was total bunk and its submission a hoax – suggesting the editors had failed to properly read or comprehend his writing. Since then, academia seems to have been pushing back against the use of such language, with editorials in education magazines regularly criticising academics who use it.

To ask engineers, when speaking to one another about highly complex matters, to tone down their language would be unfair. But technology firms, on the business side, have a duty to communicate their purpose and messages clearly, devoid of buzzwords and clichés. Such language also permeates other areas of business – such as “actioned” or “blue sky thinking” – but tech, perhaps due its reliance upon the work of people who justifiably speak in their own lexicon, is more prone to it than others.

In the same way that there has been a push back against esoteric language in academia, so too should it be fought against in technology. Orwell told his readers that clear writing (and by extension communication) should expunge all “prefabricated phrases, needless repetitions, and humbug and vagueness generally”. Although Orwell himself was the first to admit he might make the mistakes he warned against, tech firms really should try to heed his advice.

Carnival Corporation banks on a sustainable future

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

There are nearly 50,000 global ocean-going maritime (or commercial) vessels, and the maritime industry is responsible for three to four percent of global CO2 emissions, with much of that attributable to the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO). However, for perspective, with roughly 300 cruise ships in the world, the cruise industry represents less than one percent (0.6 percent) of the nearly 50,000 maritime vessels.

Cruise ships are a small part of the overall maritime industry, but cruise companies such as Carnival Corporation have consistently demonstrated industry leadership for environmental and sustainability practices. The latest example is Carnival’s decision to launch four LNG-powered next-generation cruise ships for Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises. This is a significant development, as the company will be the first to use LNG in ports and on the open sea. Once completed, the transition will lead to a considerable reduction in emissions and demonstrate to others, both in the cruise industry and overall maritime industry, that LNG is a viable alternative.

“Compared to HFO, LNG greatly reduces air emissions: nitrogen oxides by up to 80 percent and particulate matter by around 85 percent”, said Strang. “Because LNG doesn’t contain sulphur, these emissions are eliminated completely. Greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, too. With HFO or [machine gas oil (MGO)], you still have issues with particulate matter. With HFO, you would still have to install our ECO-Exhaust Gas Cleaning technology.”

Extending its commitment to the world’s cleanest-known fossil fuel means the world’s largest travel and leisure company has set in motion the adoption of low-carbon alternative fuels: proof, if ever it were needed, that not all cruise operators are contributing equally to the issue of climate change.

Switching from marine diesel to LNG

0

Sulphur dioxide emissions

95-100%

Reduction in particulate matter

85%

Reduction in nitrogen oxides

25%

Reduction in carbon emissions

With 10 global brands – including Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line and Princess Cruises – operating a fleet of 100 ships, and with another 17 scheduled for delivery between 2016 and 2022, more than 277,000 people are aboard Carnival Corporation ships at any given time, which makes it one of the largest vacation companies worldwide. Headquartered in Miami and Southampton, UK, the company is notable not just for its size, but also for its unerring commitment to sustainability. According to the company’s website: “Environmental conservation is not only essential to the cruise experience, it is vital to our business. We therefore have a vested interest in protecting our world’s marine and atmospheric resources for present and future generations. By investing in new technologies that use energy more effectively and continuing to share best practices, we are defining pathways to create a greener and more sustainable planet.”

Regulatory framework
However, the transition to LNG is no easy task, and the demands – technical or otherwise – associated with its implementation make it something of a milestone both for Carnival and the wider cruise industry. While it’s true LNG has been in use for half a century on tanker ships, more recently for four-stroke engines, and soon for two-stroke engines, a series of obstacles have until recently kept it from the cruise industry.

“Because of the new regulations recently adopted by the International Maritime Organisation, there is a greater push in the industry today to build ships that can utilise cleaner burning fuel, such as LNG-powered ships”, said Strang. “The European Union is investing heavily in infrastructure that allows for the use of cleaner fuels, and so in the industry today there is a greater incentive than before to develop LNG-powered ships. Up until this point, there have been various technical issues that have kept the industry from developing this technology to the extent we are today. Additionally, previously, a lot of areas lacked the infrastructure to make this technology feasible. However, today we see this changing, with gas bunkering facilities and terminals being developed, particularly in Europe, which allow the industry to commit to developing this technology.”

As a result, LNG is now seen as a viable alternative to HFO and MGO, and, according to Det Norske Veritas (the world’s leading classification society for the maritime industry), the 59 LNG-fuelled ships in operation as of March 2015 will have increased to 1,000 by 2020. With much of LNG’s availability already concentrated in Europe, the continent’s leadership in this area looks set only to increase in the coming years, as the 2014/94/EU directive comes into force. This directive sets out a programme for the building of alternative fuel infrastructure – not only related to LNG – and asks that member states submit their plans on this point by November.

Mediterranean ports in particular have taken heart from this directive, and many are proactively looking into the development of LNG-bunkering facilities in the not-too-distant future. “Also, LNG is traded at a discount to HFO and MGO”, said Strang. “The European Union has made it very clear that in 2020 you will have to utilise 0.5 percent low sulphur fuel in European waters. All of these benefits heavily weigh in favour of LNG over other solutions.”

Meanwhile, in the US, the LNG-bunkering process is just getting started, and low natural gas prices there will likely boost sales of LNG bunker fuel in North American ports. The Asia Pacific is quite another story: whereas China and South Korea have invested heavily in developing LNG as a bunker fuel, no sulphur emissions regulations are slated to enter into effect before 2020. As a result, demand for LNG will likely struggle to get off the ground until stricter regulatory parameters come into force.

Strang said: “There is an increasing regulatory demand for clean emissions, which requires cleaner fuels, and LNG is very much in that bracket. That, together with the new safety regulations for ships using gases as fuels, and the developing infrastructure for LNG, was a tipping point, and we decided it was the right time to begin the transition to LNG by building the world’s first LNG-powered cruise ships. Also, because we are currently designing a new series of vessels, it is a good time across the board to make a choice to transition to LNG-powered ships – in effect providing a degree of future proofing.”

With zero emissions of sulphur dioxides, a 95 to 100 percent reduction in particulate matter, an 85 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides and a 25 percent carbon emissions reduction on marine diesel, LNG is the cleanest fuel known to the cruise industry. However, the benefits are far from exclusive to environmental matters; the fuel is not only cleaner but also safer than the alternatives.

First, the resource is regulated by the International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low Flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code), which is designed to minimise the risk to the ship, its crew and passengers, and the environment. The code also contains mandatory provisions for the arrangement, installation, control and monitoring of machinery, equipment and systems using low-flashpoint fuels, LNG among them.

Looking at LNG’s safety record, the risks posed to employees directly involved in the handling and maintenance of the fuel are less than with alternatives, and less still after taking into account Carnival’s LNG-focused training and specific certification. For one, while a great deal of energy is stored in LNG, it cannot be released fast enough to cause an explosion. Further, methane mixed with air is not explosive when in a confined space, and LNG’s self-ignition temperature is very high indeed at 580°C (as opposed to 250°C for diesel).

The Carnival Corporation ship Seabourn Odyssey in Sydney Harbor
The Carnival Corporation ship Seabourn Odyssey in Sydney Harbor

LNG technology
Sustainability and safety aside, the adoption of LNG is not all plain sailing, and the costs and technological demands associated with it have tested – and will continue to test – Carnival over the course of its development. Natural gas is turned into liquid by cooling it to -162°C, which in effect shrinks its volume by a factor of 600 and allows it to be transported both efficiently and safely.

“LNG is odourless, nontoxic and non-corrosive, and it is considered the world’s cleanest-burning fossil fuel”, said Strang. “The fuel will be stored in type C tanks – at pressures of up to around four bar – with a combined volume of around 3,500 cubic metres. The tanks are located in their own hold spaces; the engine room spaces will be inherently safe, with double-wall pipes used for gas lines and gas control valves located in their own safe spaces. On Carnival Corporation’s new vessels, LNG will be used to power dual-fuel, medium-speed, four-stroke engines to power the ship in port and at sea.”

While the technology appears relatively simple when broken down into its sum parts, there are additional costs associated with the building of LNG-propelled ships. However, the cost of installing exhaust gas cleaning systems on conventional ships, in order to meet environmental requirements, means switching to LNG isn’t as expensive as it may at first appear.

Should the prevailing low-price climate endure, cruise companies will more quickly come around to the idea that LNG is a preferable fuel to traditional alternatives. As with so many elements in the transition to a low-carbon economy, price is perhaps the biggest incentive for slow-movers.

“Even with the current historic low prices of conventional fuels, we expect LNG will be delivered at a lower price than either MGO or HFO”, said Strang, “so transitioning to LNG provides a financial incentive as well as potential long-term savings.”

Tom Strang, Carnival Corporation’s Senior Vice President of Maritime Affairs
Tom Strang, Carnival Corporation’s Senior Vice President of Maritime Affairs

The future of LNG
Chief among the challenges is not financing, but infrastructure. “While worldwide there is plenty of gas, and there may be gas available where we want it, it is not available everywhere in liquid form”, said Strang. “We will need LNG available in specific locations and specific quantities, and this is particularly true today in South Florida, where natural gas is available, but not in liquid form or in the quantities that we will need. In addition, there are still a number of regulatory hurdles to overcome, as there are no internationally agreed rules for bunkering. Only by working together with all the stakeholders will we be able to overcome these.

“As mentioned, the main issue is ensuring we have LNG where we need it, and that there is an appropriate delivery chain. LNG, when it is liquefied, has a density that is about half that of conventional fuels, and therefore does require a larger tank volume than conventional fuel, so we will be designing the vessel to be able to operate for 14 days on the typical two-week bunkering operation. We are working with various potential suppliers to ensure these challenges are overcome and that opportunities are realised.”

Although there are obstacles standing in the way of LNG’s adoption, Carnival is optimistic others in the industry will come around to the resource. “I think that nearly everyone in the marine sector sees the advantages”, said Strang. “We are working with our stakeholders (ports, flag states, class societies, etc) and industry associations to ensure the benefits of changing over to LNG are fully clear to all. This is a true partnership approach.”

More important than the question of whether others will follow suit is whether the industry as a whole will recognise the benefits of LNG. Historically, the promise of reduced emissions and improved safety are enough to convince only the most forward thinking of companies, though the expectation is LNG will become more attractive as the years go on.

Asked whether LNG will become the dominant fuel of the future, Strang said: “Definitely in the long term. For new-build cruise ships, LNG probably will become the dominant fuel in the longer term. In the shorter term, initially and particularly for those vessels that are designed to operate predominantly on regular routes. The total share of LNG-driven cruise vessels will increase slowly, as it is mainly viable only for new builds and not easily applicable for existing vessels because the modification to LNG operation has additional technical challenges and may not be economically feasible. However, in the future, many cruise ship companies will start to look at LNG very seriously. Suppliers of LNG are receiving more inquiries than before and the demand for cleaner burning fuel is widespread.”

As the threat of climate change increases, so too will the industry’s attempts to keep a lid on emissions. An issue of this magnitude demands change and foresight. Though some may consider Carnival’s commitment to LNG a gamble, the reality is that the transition makes sound environmental and financial sense.

Mixed fortunes for Arctic oil

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

The great Arctic oil drive suffered a major setback this year when Shell called time on its Alaskan oil endeavour. Speaking in September about the decision, sources there said the reserves were “not sufficient to warrant further exploration,” despite the company having spent $7bn on offshore developments in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea. Essentially, the risks – financial or otherwise – associated with the project were too great for Shell to stomach.

“We hope this will provide a reality check to other companies considering the unpredictable proposition of Arctic drilling, and that investors will transition their funds instead towards low-carbon solutions,” wrote Alexander Shestakov, Director of WWF’s Global Arctic Programme. And as much as environmental groups looked on the announcement as proof producers were bowing to outside pressures, the reality was not so much the case.

While Shell’s failed approach work has made headlines around the globe, much less has been said about the many more successful projects

Rather than a death nail for Arctic oil, the Shell backslide is little more than a minor setback for a major industry.

According to a Eurasia Group report for the Wilson Centre, the Arctic is host to an estimated 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 90 billion barrels of oil, or 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13 percent of the oil. As much of a setback as Shell’s Burger J well was, it’s by no means enough to dampen the industry’s enthusiasm for what is the most underutilised pool of non-renewable resources left on the planet.

The brighter side of Arctic oil
While Shell’s failed approach work has made headlines around the globe, much less has been said about the many more successful projects. Hilcorp for example has plans to build a gravel island to act as a platform for five or more extraction wells. Located six or so miles off the coast of the Beaufort Sea, the 23-acre island would create a platform from which the company could produce 70,000 barrels of oil a day, or 80 million to 150 million barrels over a 15- to 20-year timeframe.

The proposal is still awaiting approval and will likely struggle to get off the ground before 2017. However, the plan is proof that there is opportunity enough to keep major players in the hunt.

More impressive than Hilcorp’s island expansion is the situation in Norway, where the government has ambitions to set in motion further Arctic drilling plans by the year 2017. “New acreage is a cornerstone for long-term activity,” said Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Tord Lien, speaking to Marketwatch. “It’s a good sign for the future petroleum activity in the high north that a broad selection of companies compete for new acreage in the Barents Sea.”

Participants in the latest funding round, according to Lien, included major names BP, Shell and Statoil, together with a string of lesser-known names – 26 in all. And while the territory is a relatively mature one, the emergence of the Norwegian Barents Sea as a hot new prospect has seen a string of new participants register an interest. The Goliat drilling platform, to name another, is the world’s largest offshore rig and the $8bn joint venture between Eni and Statoil is on course to draw 174 million barrels of Arctic oil out of the Barents.

True, the market for Arctic oil has suffered a setback in recent times, though observers would be wrong to assume producers are giving up on the opportunity. The Shell withdrawal has been labelled a major turning point for environmentalists, though critics mustn’t overlook the many more successful projects around the globe.

For more on the subject of Arctic oil, see this World Finance article. For a more comprehensive analysis of Arctic oil’s mixed fortunes, keep an eye out for the forthcoming issue of the magazine.

What’s mine is yours: the rise of alternative-energy retail

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Dr George Koutitas was working on smart grids as a post-doctorate scholar in Greece when an idea came to him.

“I was watching the TV news in my hometown in Greece and I saw a family that was living in cold and dark homes because they couldn’t afford to pay for electricity, so the utility cut off their supply. I really wanted to help this family, and I realised that there is no easy way for me to donate energy and give energy to a family of my choice.”

The fact it’s not easy to trade energy privately is a challenge waiting to be solved. It’s pretty easy to generate power in 2015. You no longer need a massive utility company to keep your own lights on. Wind turbines, solar panels and even hydroelectric systems are now within reach of homeowners. A problem not quite solved yet is what to do with an individual’s extra power, which is likely to become more of an issue as the technology improves.

Koutitas announced Gridmates in 2014. It’s a software platform for people to donate energy to those who can’t afford to pay their power bills

Traditionally, extra energy generated is sold back into the grid and the owner receives a subsidy for their contribution. Rates and regulations vary greatly from country to country, but you can at least guarantee some kind of discount – even if it is quite small. This is no longer the only option.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, solution is home storage. Giant batteries to store the extra power have been springing up from retailers recently. The Tesla Powerwall is probably the most aesthetically pleasing one announced, but it is hardly alone in the market. Bosch and Samsung are among some of the many companies currently selling this early wave of home batteries. They are available in a range of capacities, although their usefulness and value will vary depending on the local price of energy, how much you can generate, and your power consumption.

This is where Koutitas saw a missing link in the grid. People are more energy conscious today than ever before. Companies like Nest give people tremendous control over their power usage, and now people can create their power too.

“So imagine that every home can produce, manage and store electricity. What is missing? The ability to transact. The ability to give energy to someone else, either a friend or family member, or a person in need. That is exactly what we are focusing on.”

Koutitas announced Gridmates in 2014. It’s a software platform for people to donate energy to those who can’t afford to pay their power bills.

“Utilities and energy retailers already collaborate and share existing programs, but they are not designed to engage young people, they are not transparent, they are not dynamic. So there is a lack of a platform to connect givers of energy with people in need. That’s why we created Gridmates. You click, and give energy to someone else.”

It’s partnered with another charity, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, on its first big project. The Community First! Village is just outside of Austin, Texas. The village was designed by Mobile Loaves and Fishes to house 240 chronically homeless people in virtually at-cost accommodation. Electricity is now one less bill for them to worry about, as anyone who signs up to Gridmates gets partnered with the Community First! Village as their first grid-mate.

Charity isn’t the only use for new energy transaction platforms. The Netherlands is home to online start-up Vandebron, an online peer-to-peer energy marketplace that directly connects small-scale producers to energy buyers. The retailers are mostly farmers who have invested in solar or wind power to run their properties, but are producing more than they can use. Owners set a price, and sell their power on to others. The website looks a little like a dating site, with each producer given space on their page to post photos explain a little about who they are and how they generate energy. It’s very personal and friendly, which is surprising given that the concept of energy production is usually treated as quite an abstract idea by retailers. This isn’t an isolated programme. Piclo was launched by Open Utility in partnership with Good Energy to test the viability of a similar platform in the UK. Both are very early in development, but the prevalence of smart meters tracking an individual’s power usage allows virtually anyone to sign up as an energy retailer.

Koutitas said that he sees energy trading platforms becoming bigger in the future.

“The technology exists, but it’s an emerging business model. It currently works in areas and countries where the market is deregulated, so it’s a free energy market, and you can connect directly with producers of energy.”

Programmes like Vandebron are illegal where the energy market isn’t deregulated, so laws may have to change in some regions for plans like this to become possible. Another barrier is that power generation isn’t quite at the point where people can be self-sufficient in terms of generation; however the technology is improving quickly. Potentially investments in solar could be seen as a small source of income for households, like the few dollars a month a small savings account might generate in interest. Currently Gridmates provides a calculator on its website that gives an estimation of power generated, so users can elect to donate a percentage of the money saved from regular bills.

The sector is still young, but Koutitas is confident that it has a future in tandem with the grid.

“It’s a small asset, but what we see with Gridmates is that the orchestration, in order for this model to be more efficient, would be made by utilities, not by the individuals. So what we do with Gridmates is we build the platform in order to enable people, individuals or even commercial units, to find Gridmates to send power to friends, family or people in need.”

We will not see widespread usage and adoption of alternative-energy retail soon. While the platforms are useful for people who privately own a small solar or wind plant, the average home installation is not yet efficient enough for people to be running a DIY power plant. However this may not be the case for much longer and private solar panels could soon become a viable investment. It may be an answer to a problem that doesn’t exist yet, but people already see the potential in alternative-energy retail.

Five countries that are lesser-known renewables leaders

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Over the curse of the year, a great deal has been written about China’s status as a world-leading renewables investor. Likewise, India’s ambition to boost solar capacity 20-fold by the year 2022 has earned it respect among peers. Obama’s work on climate change will soon be the stuff of history textbooks, while Germany’s guarantee that renewables will make up an 80 percent share of the market – minimum – by 2100 is music to the ears of environmentalists.

[S]ome of the smaller and altogether more impressive countries have been excluded from the debate

However, with much of the renewables discussion centred on a handful of big-ticket names, some of the smaller and altogether more impressive countries have been excluded from the debate. And while renewables’ share of the market is less than a quarter in China and a modest 15 or so percent in India, those bordering on 100 percent have received nowhere near the same degree of lip service.

Here we take a look at some of the countries that have set about establishing renewables as the single most important – if not the only – source of energy.

Uruguay
Renewable energy makes up an impressive 55 percent of Uruguay’s energy mix; far and ahead of the 12 percent global average. What’s more, renewables are now responsible for near on 95 percent of the country’s electricity supply as a result of the government’s 25-year energy strategy.

The situation is far cry from the turn of century, when oil accounted for 27 percent of the country’s imports and construction on a new gas pipeline from Argentina was scheduled to begin. Contrast that with Uruguay’s biggest import item today (wind turbines) and the difference between then and now is stark.

The success of clean energy in Uruguay is due in large part to an accommodating public and private sector, and a decision taken by the country’s state utility to freeze energy prices for 20 years is a comfort for investors. Inflation-adjusted electricity prices are also lower today than they were in 2008, which goes to show that renewables need not come at the expense of higher prices for consumers.

At 15 percent of the country’s annual GDP – otherwise expressed as $7bn – Uruguay’s spending on renewables, according to The Guardian, is five times the average spend in Latin America.

Costa Rica
Costa Rica made headlines earlier this year when it was revealed the Central American nation had gone 75 straight days without using fossil fuels. However, the accomplishment was down to a prolonged stint of heavy rainfall, which proceeded to send Costa Rica’s hydroelectric plants into overdrive. Sure, the news was positive for those looking to lead the transition to 100 percent renewables, though Costa Rica’s model is one that few – if any – could replicate.

Even without consistent rainfall, Costa Rica’s energy mix is such that renewables are capable of generating 90 percent of capacity. “We don’t want this be a 75-day story, we want this to be a 365-day story,” said Monica Araya, executive director of the Costa Rica-based climate change think tank Nivela, speaking with Time.

Policymakers have named 2021 as the deadline for carbon neutrality, and the country’s hydropower capacity, coupled with its geothermal, solar and wind potential should go some way towards making it so. While its likely Costa Rica will become the first carbon neutral nation by that time, the unpredictability of renewable resources, namely rainfall, could set the country back a few years should a drought hit.

Ethiopia
Almost 80 percent of Ethiopia’s population lacks safe and reliable access to electricity, although the government’s strategy to tap indigenous energy resources together with investment in grid infrastructure should go some way towards boosting connectivity. With climate change-induced disasters forecast to increase in the coming years, diversification is the name of the game, and renewables have emerged as the go-to safeguard against the threat of flooding and drought.

Renewables have been gaining in stature not just in Ethiopia but throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and the challenges in terms of intermittency and inadequate investment are familiar to policymakers. Small-scale, distributed solar installations have been positioned as the go-to solution to the issues of climate change and connectivity.

The Eastern African Power Pool (EAPP) initiative, of which Ethiopia forms a major part, aims to expand the use of clean energy in the region, and doing so would make Ethiopia a major exporter of hydroelectricity. The country’s expertise in this area is well known, and a $1.8bn, 1.87MW Gibe III hydroelectric project, which entered into its operational phase earlier this year, is proof of its status on the regional energy stage.

Iceland
Iceland is the only country in the world to receive 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, although indigenous renewable resources last year made up 85 percent of primary energy use. Generally 70 to 80 percent of the whole stems from hydropower and the rest from geothermal, yet few – if any – nations are blessed with the same natural resources.

Iceland is the only country in the world to receive 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources

For one, Iceland’s precipitation, combined with its highlands and glaciers, mean its hydroelectric potential is vast, and the country’s stations last year generated 72 percent of total capacity. Geothermal facilities make up approximately 25 percent of total production, and the country has become something of a pioneer in this area. Nonetheless, experts believe that Iceland is using only 20 to 25 percent of its hydropower capacity and as little as 20 percent of its geothermal capacity, so there will likely be further improvements to come as time wears on.

Experts also estimate that the country has saved more than $8bn over the last three decades by making the switch to renewables. Reykjavik, for example, runs entirely on renewables, and the capital stands tall as an example to others on how best to make the transition.

Albania
Albania is home to barely 2.77 million people, yet the Balkan state is making big waves in the renewables sector precisely because there is incentive enough to set the transition in motion. In years past the country has been dangerously reliant on fossil fuel imports to feed its energy fix, and homegrown renewables are seen as a fitting solution to the issues at hand.

An important law passed back in 2013 stipulated that the country must derive at least 38 percent of its electricity from non-hydro renewables by 2020, and its passage has done much to ignite a fierce enthusiasm for clean energy throughout.

M&S: “there is a compelling business case” for sustainability

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

British-based retailer M&S has aspirations to be the world’s most sustainable major retailer. Having partnered with Collectively to this end, the company’s stated ambition is to protect the planet, by – among other things – sourcing responsibly, reducing waste and helping the communities in which it works.

The New Economy spoke to Mike Barry, Head of Sustainability at M&S, about the retailer’s ethical and environmental goals, not to mention his hopes and fears for COP21. 

There is a compelling business case for becoming more sustainable

What do you make of the Collectively.org initiative to connect people with organisations?
Collectively is a key initiative. It recognises that many companies are now working hard to improve the social and environmental impacts of their supply chains and operations but few are reaching out to engage with consumers to make their buying (use and disposal) habits more sustainable. Collectively brings business together to engage millennials globally in a joined up narrative about the need for more sustainable consumption and, crucially, frames the narrative positively by showing how mobility, food, fashion, design and technology can be transformed in the future so it is both better and more aspirational for the user as well as for people and planet.

Why do you think consumers, particularly millennials, are so concerned about sustainability?
Millennials are growing up in an era when a lot of the predictions of the past about the unsustainable way we live are becoming a reality. From climate induced extreme weather events to the replacement of jobs by automation; from designer food to the sharing economy enabled by mobile and digital technology, millennials are growing up in a time of enormous change. They want to achieve their potential, be happy, well and connected, and they want help and reassurance tackling the challenges that might stop them coming to be.

What can you tell us about the ways in which M&S is embracing clean energy?
M&S uses 100 percent renewable electricity in its operations, with 40 percent coming from small-scale de-centralised generators like communities and farmers. Similarly its got a target to ensure that 50 percent of the gas it uses operationally is bio-gas. It’s encouraging its food manufacturers and farmers to use renewables too, and its M&S Energy business only uses renewable electricity for its 250,000 customers

I’d love to hear more about Plan A 2020. Can you tell us what it is and what inspired it?
Plan A (because there is no Plan B for the one planet we have) was launched in 2007. A 100-point environmental and social plan, it committed M&S to improve every aspect of its business. Updated twice, it has seen over 170 commitments completed successfully on issues as diverse as animal welfare, fish sourcing, social standards in supply chains, packaging reduction, installing renewables and healthy food. Today 66 percent of the three billion items M&S sells has a Plan A story to tell and by 2020 it will be 100 percent. Every time one of our customers uses their Sparks Reward card we donate 1p to charity. Every M&S store is fundraising, volunteering and tackling youth unemployment in the community it serves. All our coffee and tea is Fairtrade and 100 percent of our palm oil and 97 percent of our wood sustainably sourced.

Why, as a major retailer, is it important to be sustainable?
There is a compelling business case for becoming more sustainable. Put simply it delivers a strong business case, making us leaner (£160m net saving last year from less waste), and ensures we are one of the most trusted brands in the UK; motivating our people; making our supply chains more resilient; and preparing us for disruptive shifts as new circular, personalised and transparent business models disrupt the marketplace.

What advice would you give to other retailers who perhaps don’t see sustainability as a key priority?
We lead the Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) sustainability work with Unilever. Across its 400 members we see many examples of other retailers and manufacturers working hard on sustainability. To those who stand a little further back on the journey we would offer the re-assurance of a strong business case and the collective opportunities to share learning and experience.

Finally, what are your biggest hopes and fears for COP21?
We are very clear, climate change is happening. We can see its growing impact, particularly through more extreme weather events, across our global operations. These impacts will only grow in the future. COP21 gives us a chance to cost effectively tackle climate change before the worst of its impact on people and the economy occur. Encouragingly many of the solutions we need to significantly reduce carbon emissions exist today, we now need to deploy them and scale their use. Conversely, we should be clear that failure at COP21 will have profound, negative implications for our way of life, even more so for people living in some of the poorest parts of the world.

Read more about Collectively here.

Collectively: clean energy will prevail

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Although representatives at COP21 are yet to reach an international agreement, billionaires and governments have joined hands in to unveil a series of bold new initiatives aimed at boosting renewables’ share of the energy market. On the one side, a band of 20 countries – with the US, China and India at the helm – have pledged to double their renewables spending, while on the other Bill Gates and his billionaire kin have launched the Breakthrough Energy Coalition to make clean, reliable energy available to all.

Meanwhile, businesses across the globe are responding to the call for clean energy, and organisations like Collectively are proving instrumental to this end. The collective of academics, designers, campaigners and business minds plays an important role in encouraging companies to make a difference, and Collectively’s partners uncover, share and scale up ideas to secure a brighter future.

much of the stuff which millennials hold dearest – their phones, their iPads, the net as a whole – can clearly be powered by clean energy

The New Economy spoke to Collectively’s CEO Will Gardner about the organisation’s latest campaign and how its partners have embraced clean energy. 

Can you tell us a little about your We Got Power tool and what the findings say about changing attitudes to clean energy?
Two thirds of people in the UK think that clean energy is one of the top priorities of our time. However the same number also feel powerless to affect change. The idea of our campaign is to show people that they do have the power to make change happen, by demanding that organisations they care about make the switch to clean energy. We invite people to register their demand by pressing a button and sharing with their friends; and we communicate that demand to hundreds of companies, universities and sports clubs around the world, asking them to make a tangible new commitment to clean energy.

Why is a focus on clean energy particularly strong among millennials do you think?
Many millennials have a practical, can-do, ‘hack this’ attitude to problems and are impatient with the slow pace of change they see at government and corporate level. With their lives ahead of them, they’re the ones who will be most affected by climate change and pollution, and so they want action, now. And much of the stuff which millennials hold dearest – their phones, their iPads, the net as a whole – can clearly be powered by clean energy – whether it’s a solar panel recharging the mobile, or Google committing to #go100percent. The other thing that’s different about millennials is that they are more demanding of brands and companies to step forward. Two thirds of people (67 percent) are inclined to support organisations that are making a commitment to a clean energy future – and that increases to three-quarters of people aged 18-34. Organisations can earn the respect and loyalty of younger people by doing the right thing for the world.

Can you give us a few examples of how your partners have embraced clean energy?
Sure. They’re all on a journey but there are some great initiatives and bold commitments. For example, just last week Unilever made the bold announcement that it would be carbon positive by 2030. Beyond their own renewable energy commitments, M&S launched a fund for local community energy projects. BT is leading a key initiative called 100% Sport, which engages sports clubs and their fans in committing to a clean energy future.

How can people partner with brands to make sustainable living the “new normal”?
Firstly, by rewarding brands with their custom when they do the right thing. Secondly, by making it clear to brands that they simply don’t have the option to be unsustainable – our recent Fashion Takeback campaign showed how this was starting to happen, with the “old normal” (sweatshop labour) increasingly being seen as plain unacceptable. Brands have to invite their audiences into a dialogue on this. They need to stop asking ‘what’s my next product launch?’ – and start collaborating with their biggest fans in designing new solutions that are both desirable and sustainable. The biggest advances in sustainable living happen when brands think of their customers as citizens of the world, not fillers of a shopping bag.

Are brands beginning to recognise that there is a business as well as a moral case for sustainability?
Absolutely – in so many ways. Those who embrace sustainability consistently outperform the laggards in straight financial terms and those who cling to old unsustainable investments do worse than those embracing new innovative green ones.

Applying a strong sustainability focus saves/makes companies money through improved efficiency, cutting out waste and better supplier relationships (e.g. M&S and BT).

Sustainability disruptors like Tesla are seizing the markets of the future, and those who don’t are getting left behind – for example, AirBnB using the power of sharing to erode market shares of traditional hotel chains and tour companies. Finally, purpose-driven companies are more attractive to the best young recruits. Unilever is now the third most in-demand employer on LinkedIn, globally. This isn’t because everyone wants to work in consumer goods, it’s because of Unilever’s reputation as a purpose-driven business.

How big a factor is this realisation in driving change?
Increasingly we’re seeing CEOs of big companies move sustainability from a strategy footnote to an integral part of the business strategy. They can see the power of doing well by doing good. However they still have to prove the case to their shareholders.

Finally, what are your biggest hopes and fears for COP21?
Of course I’m hoping for a meaningful agreement. But I also hope and expect it will act as a great focus for non-official progress, with multinational companies, world cities and their mayors, and other sectors using it to make much bolder commitments and giving the renewable energy sector confidence to invest. My fear? – that wrangling over funding between developed and developing countries will detract attention from progress.

While representatives from over 190 countries gather in Paris to reach a shared agreement on climate change, The New Economy will be at the Sustainable Innovation Forum to expand on the role and responsibilities of business. Check back for video updates from the event as they happen.

Clean power key to emission reduction in poorer nations

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

A new report released December 7 by the Gigaton Coalition argues that renewable energy, together with energy efficiency activities, has an important part to play in narrowing the emissions gap in poorer countries. The voluntary framework, made up of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UNEP, took to analysing 6,000 renewables and energy efficiency projects in the hope that they might better understand and quantify renewables-linked emissions reductions.

“Renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) programs in developing countries make significant contributions towards closing the GHG emissions gap,” according to the report. “Developing countries are investing in renewable electricity generation, particularly through solar, wind, and hydropower, and tackling energy efficiency in a range of sectors, from lighting to industry. Insufficient data, however, has thwarted previous attempts to quantify these initiatives’ contribution toward meeting global mitigation goals.”

By extrapolating information from 6,000 renewables and efficiency projects, the Gigaton Coalition has established a formidable data set on which future decisions can be based

By extrapolating information from 6,000 renewables and efficiency projects, the Gigaton Coalition has established a formidable data set on which future decisions can be based. Looking at $730bn in renewables projects over the 2004-2014 period, the report states that these 42 projects could make a CO2 emissions saving of 1.7Gt per year by 2020. Nonetheless, the numbers are a matter of debate, and will continue to be so for as long as policymakers neglect the issues of data collection and methodology.

The Gigaton Coalition’s next step is to work alongside stakeholders and develop a framework to quantify the impact of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in developing countries. Writing in the report, Børge Brende, Minister of Foreign Affairs Norway, and Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Direcyor, wrote: “Our shared objective is clear: to become a driving force in promoting enhanced action for a sustainable low-carbon and climate resilient future.”

The report coincided with the unveiling of a new $5bn UN initiative to expand renewable energy capacity in Africa. Speaking at the unveiling, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the plan a triple-win in the fight against climate change and stressed that clean energy was important for ending extreme poverty.

While representatives from over 190 countries gather in Paris to reach a shared agreement on climate change, The New Economy will be at the Sustainable Innovation Forum to expand on the role and responsibilities of business. Check back for video updates from the event as they happen.

COP21 calls time on gas flaring

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 is a new global initiative that seeks to end the practice of gas flaring at all oil production sites. It has managed to gain significant momentum so far, with it being endorsed by various oil companies, governments and development organisation, including Royal Dutch Shell, Germany and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) to name a few.

When energy producers extract oil from the ground associated petroleum gas (APG) is produced in the process. Ideally, this valuable raw material would be retained and sold in order to support global energy demand. In most cases, however, the excess APG is simply burned off through gas flaring because in order to sell it requires large amounts of investment into infrastructure, so many companies simply opt-out.

Not only is gas flaring wasteful – with more than 145 billion cubic metres of gas destroyed every year by the practice that could otherwise be used to power millions of homes worldwide – but it is extremely harmful to the environment.

“The oil and gas industry has a responsibility to cut routine gas flaring to zero,” said Anita Marangoly George, World Bank Senior Director for Energy and Extractive Industries. “Ending routine gas flaring not only stops millions of tons of CO2 going into the atmosphere every year, it can contribute to improving the life of the people who live around gas flare sites. If converted to power, the flared gas can produce electricity to light up the African continent. So what are we waiting for?”

Watch this video to find out how gas flaring impacts local communities in Nigeria.

While representatives from over 190 countries gather in Paris to reach a shared agreement on climate change, The New Economy will be at the Sustainable Innovation Forum to expand on the role and responsibilities of business. Check back for video updates from the event as they happen.

Utrecht becomes one of the world’s best places to live

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

When most people think about a healthy living environment they don’t think of big cities. But Utrecht is challenging all that. In fact, the city offers one of the healthiest and most sustainable living environments in the world; home to cutting-edge innovations that not only improve the health of those who live there, but their overall quality of life too. And Utrecht actually shares this innovation and knowledge with other cities around the globe. Having such a fertile foundation, the city finds it easy to attract talented people from all over the world, with entrepreneurs, impressive start-ups and investments finding their way to Utrecht, helping the city to thrive. Having such strong underpinnings has assisted in cultivating an environment that encourages healthy competition, improves overall living standards, and has cemented the city as one of the best places in the world to live – and this is just the beginning.

50,000

Students

22,000

Employees

Brave new city
Of course it isn’t possible for there to be this sort of scientific and technological advancement without it affecting the way a society functions – and you can’t improve the functioning of a society without also improving the health and quality of life of the people who make it up. At Utrecht’s famous Science Park, world-leading research is being done in regenerative medicine and 3D-bioprinting, stem cells and organoids, cancer research and cure, One Health and One Medicine, early life and medical nutrition, serious and applied gaming, and smart sustainable cities.

Utrecht Science Park is ambitious in its sheer size and scale, as are the goals it sets itself. The facility spans more than 300 hectares, is home to 50,000 students and 22,000 employees – that’s roughly 21 percent of the entire population working in an area that takes up just three percent of the entire city.

Three high-quality knowledge institutes are the cornerstones of Utrecht Science Park: Utrecht University, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and the University Medical Center Utrecht conduct pioneering research in the areas of sciences, geosciences, social sciences, medicine and veterinary medicine. Together with leading research institutions, R&D companies and innovative start-ups they work tirelessly to ensure Utrecht continues to be a hub for healthy urban living.

So far, Utrecht Science Park has been highly influential in improving people’s health and general quality of life. So much so that the EU Commission’s regional competitiveness index for 2013 gave Utrecht, for the second time, the accolade of Europe’s most competitive region. The decision was based on how well the city performed in the areas of innovation, quality of institutions, infrastructure (including digital networks), and measures of health and human capital.

Leading by example
Utrecht has also become a leading centre of cancer research, diagnoses and treatment. The aim is to provide a personalised form of care, as cancer itself is a very heterogeneous disease, with multiple genetic variations. The availability of knowledge and expertise from the Hubrecht Institute, the University Medical Center Utrecht, Danone Nutricia Research and Utrecht University within a radius of 100 metres are the reasons the Princess Maxima Centre for Paediatric Oncology was established at Utrecht Science Park. By putting together all this expertise, care and research in one medical centre, the cure rate of children with cancer is estimated to increase from 75 to 95 percent.

A collaboration between two of these institutes, the Hubrecht Institute and the University Medical Center Utrecht, is in the process of creating an exciting new technology for the regeneration of tissue. The technology is based on a recent discovery by Hans Clevers, Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute. He found organs such as the gut contain stem cells that enable the constant regeneration of new tissue. His group developed a method of isolating the stem cells from different organs and growing them in a laboratory. The structures that are generated, so-called ‘organoids’, mimic the original tissue to a large degree. This discovery offers a promising new future in which it is possible to build new organs.

One Health
Many of the most deadly infectious diseases are those that can be transferred between humans and animals, known as ‘zoonoses’. A total of 75 percent of all new viruses come from animals and zoonotic diseases have been responsible for some of the world’s deadliest virus outbreaks, from the Spanish flu after the First World War, to the 2014 Ebola epidemic.

Research into such diseases is therefore of vital importance. Under the One Health programme, researchers at Utrecht Science Park are combining human and veterinary medicine in order to fight zoonoses. Such work is invaluable and, by collaborating on research in this manner, the chances of stopping future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases, including Ebola, Q fever, bird flu and rabies are dramatically increased. Among the organisations involved in One Health are the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Center, Artemis Research Institute for Wildlife Health, TNO Innovation for Life, and Wageningen University.

Utrecht Science Park isn’t just home to pioneering research, however. It is also where knowledge is put into practice, with a growing number of leading international companies finding their footing within its walls.

Health starts at home
The city isn’t just home to groundbreaking research; a big part of creating a healthy living environment is people taking steps to ensure they adopt a lifestyle that will enable them to live longer and more healthily. To assist people in doing that, local government, healthcare providers, businesses and educational establishments collaborate on various projects in order to establish a strong connection between primary care, welfare and prevention.

GPs in the Overvecht neighbourhood of Utrecht are working alongside physiotherapists, dietitians, podotherapists, local social-work teams and other healthcare professionals to give patients a more comprehensive care package. They also motivate their patients and provide them with the necessary tools to take greater responsibility for their own health.

One of these tools is called PAZIO, an eHealth platform that gives patients the opportunity to access various online care and welfare services. For example, patients can use the application to book appointments directly with their GP, request prescriptions, and start a dialogue with their GP.

Healthy gaming
One of the ways the city manages to cultivate an urban environment that fosters healthy living is through its burgeoning gaming industry, which has been instrumental in developing various applied games that can be used in people’s everyday lives.
The ‘Magic Table’, which can be used in every nursing home, is an interactive game for elderly people who suffer from severe dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Through animations, projected on a table with infrared sensors to detect movement of arms and hands, people can play and socialise.

Virtual Patient is a ‘serious game’ developed by Utrecht University that helps healthcare professionals communicate with individuals who suffer from a range of complex problems. The game gives caregivers the ability to practice conversing with clients who have multiple and complex issues before meeting with their clients.

With the help of incubators such as UtrechtInc, the city has a bright future ahead of it. So far, UtrechtInc has managed to inspire and encourage young, ambitious entrepreneurs to take their scientific knowledge and apply it to the real world.

Utrecht is already home to more than 400 exciting start-ups, working in areas from health and medtech to gaming and cleantech. With such a strong focus on entrepreneurship within its education system, along with the large amount of investment reaching Utrecht Science Park, the city will continue to be a world leader in creating innovative solutions for building healthy people, healthy minds and above all, healthy environments.