Innovations Journal - Technology/Governance/Globalization

innovations is an interesting new journal that strives to go beyond theory and into practical solutions for many of the same problems IE deals with.

One of its editors is Iqdal Quadir, best known for starting a for-profit company that uses microcredit to make cell phones widely available to the poor in Bangladesh. His company, GrameenPhone "has increased the country's GDP by a far greater amount than repeated infusions of foreign aid."

From their website: (entire issue is free for download)

Innovations is the only academic journal of its kind. The most widely read academic journals dealing with the interaction of technology and governance take a 30,000-foot view of both policy challenges and proposed policy solutions. Rarely do academic analyses of global policy challenges begin by looking at innovations. Rarely do practitioner-focused narratives seriously address innovations in their global context. Innovations does both.

The audience for Innovations is a broad community of change agents. The content in Innovations brings together accounts (narratives), accounting (indicators), and accountability (governance). Innovations will be of interest to public servants whose method is entrepreneurial, and entrepreneurs whose projects have a public conscience; innovators interested in analysis, and scholars interested in innovations.

Each issue of Innovations analyzes best local practices in a global context. Innovations is based on two simple premises. The first: while culture and economics do create significant differences among populations, creativity is a characteristic shared by people everywhere. The second: while many pressing societal challenges are global, their solutions are local. Innovations in one place can inform and inspire innovations elsewhere.

Brainiax

Finally, I always knew it but now it's official... now i know why all you international students have come here, except for Till ;D http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2105519,00.html

I=(P+1)AT

On a more personal note I would like to let you know that we increased the P in IPAT by one ! Her name is Lina Elisa.

Sustainable Carpet

The BBC has a very interesting audio interview here (or here) with Ray Anderson, the founder of Interface Corporation. Interface is a carpet company that has gained widespread attention for its innovative implementation of sustainability practices... which is especially interesting considering the dependence of the carpet industry on petrochemicals.

The interview talks about how their business decided to adopt sustainability principles along with their vision for the future where they could close the material cycle with their products. There's also a story on how one of their most successful products incorporates biomimicry, along with how dematerialization of their product led to some surprising LCA results.

Also...
Interface Sustainability Report

Dictionary of Sustainable Management

From their website:
"This Dictionary of Sustainable Management is an open dictionary for business leaders and students of sustainability and business-related terms. It is a project of the Presidio School of Management. The purpose of this effort is to help people better understand how sustainability concepts are creating new understandings in the worlds of business, government, and society.
The dictionary is open in that anyone can comment on any definition. Periodically, the creators of the dictionary may compound comments into new editions."

Again Complex System

Sorry (especially to Koen), I put down wrong web-link
The page that I wanted you guys to visit is,

http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/

And you can see the similation result of flying birds, which is based on Muti Agent Simulation (= a kind of complex system)

Want to know more about Cleaner Production in China?

Hey everybody, maybe some of you are interested in environmental issues in China.. Here I find a english website about Cleaner Production in China. It contains "a current and comprehensive information source on China's campaign to reduce pollution. Background information on Cleaner Production (CP) and CP tools (such as ISO14000), information on CP in China and links to many international sites"
Hope it could be useful! http://www.chinacp.com/

Game Set and Match II - Delft

On March 29-31 the TU Delft Hyperbody Research Group is hosting Game Set and Match II, a symposium that discusses the integration of architecture and digital technology. Many of the topics are highly creative/artistic and push back the borders of science fiction.

A few highlights from the schedule:

• Redefining Creativity in the Practice of Architecture
• Liquid Constructions
• Cooperative Buildings, Ambient Intelligence and the Disappearing Computer
• Developing an Articulated Vehicle - The H- Series
• Utilization of Advances in Material and Computer Science for Building Structures
• Theory and Applications of Biological Inspired Computer Aided Architectural Design
• Applications of Evolutionary Structural Optimisation Techniques to Architectural Structures
• PING GENIUS LOCI: Interfacing Architecture for a Networked Society

[via Interactive Architecture dot Org, an interesting resource for leading edge architectural/art projects]

Complexed?

If your brain get complexed enough and feel like flying into the sky,
Be a BOID !!!
After all, is IE complexed? If so, how?

Microbial Fuel Cell

Here is an interesting research done on microbial fuel cells http://www.usc.edu/research/private/docs/Nealson_FFEI.pdf

Green pages

Interesting website: http://www.eco-web.com/

It is amazing what they collected on this website!

h to the izzo

According to MIT Technology Review, "researchers at GE say they've come up with a prototype version of an easy-to-manufacture apparatus that they believe could lead to a commercial machine able to produce hydrogen via electrolysis for about $3 per kilogram -- a quantity roughly comparable to a gallon of gasoline -- down from today's $8 per kilogram. That could make it economically practical for future fuel-cell vehicles that run on hydrogen."

Lecture "The Day After Tomorrow" by Dr. Harm Jonker

In the movie "The Day after Tomorrow" the Earth tumbles into an ice age, and quite oddly, this is supposed to happen as a result of global warming. Severe storms raging over the Earth cause New York to freeze within a matter of hours. Are these scenarios realistic or are they purely a product of Hollywood imagination?In this lecture Dr. Jonker will focus on the physics underlying these controversial issues. After a brief introduction of the main issues in climate physics and a discussion on the spectacular climate change scenarios that underpin the movie plot, we will watch a cut-down version of the film (15min) that includes the most relevant scenes. Then he will address the fluid mechanics and thermodynamics of "super storms", which play a vital role in the film script.
Location: Aula Lecture Theater D; Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Date: Thursday March 23rd
Time: 16:00 - 17:00

The Gift

Want to give somebody a present but he or she seems to already have got everything? How about a climate neutral citizenship for a year? Got another wedding to go to and you dont want to add more to the pile of products for the happy couple? How about giving a climate neutral wedding?
These gifts as well as CO2 offsetting for your own activities and for companies and products to save energy are available at Climate Care.

Guide to saving what could be lonely planet

Troubled about having helped spread a casual attitude towards air travel that could trigger devastating climate change, the founders of the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet books are working together in urging tourists to fly less.
From next month, in all new editions of their guides warnings will appear about the impact of flying on global warming and alternative ways of reaching destinations are added. To read more on this click here.
On the website of the Rough Guide information about climate change is provided and you can calculate the CO2 emmisions of a flight you are considering to take online. With the Climate Care calculator you can calculate not only the CO2 emmisions of flights, but also of household and car travel and offsetting your carbon emmissions by supporting projects that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions is suggested. End of this year "The Rough Guide to Climate Change" will be published.

Future of solar power systems?

As more people seek to use renewable energy, some companies are trying to give photovoltaics a more competitive edge through the use of optics and mirrors to concentrate sunlight. Pyron Solar uses such a system and in a NREL test they were able to achieve a 37.3% conversion efficiency. Another such company is Energy Innovations, which has developed an interesting low-cost method for allowing a field of focusing mirrors to track the sun. More details can be found in an article by Wired Magazine

Flushable Diapers

gDiapers has created a new spin on the concept of disposable diapers. Instead of sending diapers to the landfill where they could pose a possible health hazard, they are flushed to the wastewater treatment facility. This allows for safer treatment of wastes and recovery of the various materials.

For the more adventurous, they claim that these biodegradable diapers can also be composted. The urine is an excellent source of nitrogen, and the diapers contain a super absorbing polymer that is also used in potting soils to increase water retention.

More specific details about the technology can be found here.

NREL energy publications

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a great resource of energy related publications. However, the page where you can search through their documents is a little hidden. Follow this shortcut to get there at once. Especially interesting stuff about H2 infrastructure.

Gardening in the 'Hood

Ask any American what comes to mind when they hear "South Central Los Angeles", and they'll say race riots, gangs, drugs, and poverty. However, in this same area, 350 immigrant families have worked for the past decade to create the largest community garden in the US (5.6 hectares), despite being sited in an industrialized area. Unfortunately, they've been making the news lately due to plans to convert the land into a warehouse for Walmart.

From an IE perspective, we often try to find solutions by examining system levels, and it sometimes feels like we're trying to put a patch onto a problem that's broken on so many different levels. Although these farmers are facing serious problems stemming from the political and economic realm, their past decade of work has shown that some really inspiring change can come from within society.

The satellite picture says it all: an island of green in a sea of concrete.

March 7 – Osiris Lunch lecture “Sustainable product design, second generation”

From the Osiris newsletter:
In the middle of the nineties the first wave of sustainable product design started in the Netherlands. But nowadays it has become quiet on the side of the policy makers. Product policy seems to be dead! Gladly there are people that don’t take no for an answer. Harry te Riele is writer of “Playing with Hyenas”, a report on the second generation product treatment. He is researcher and advisor for DRIFT, a research institute at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The lecture will be in English, admission is free.

Date: Tuesday, March 7th 2006
Time: 12.30 – 13.30
Location: room U, Industrial Design Engineering TU Delft, Landbergstraat 15
Lecturer: Harry te Riele

Energy data

For the interested people, this is a website with World Energy data in numerous versions in Excell sheets by the US Department Of Energy:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/energy.html
Might be useful for those who need it.

IE on Science Magazine website

A publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by the IE group at Yale (led by Tom Graedel) has been picked up by science magazine. Excerpt:
There are about 150 kilograms of copper in current use for each person in North America. The researchers then multiplied the copper used per person by total world population, using standard population estimates to project into the future. By the mid-21st century, if everyone in the world used copper at North American rates, every scrap of known copper ore would be mined

Youth Encounter on Sustainability

YES is a two-week international summer course for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students of all disciplines organized by ETH sustainability, along with Alliance for Global Sustainability partner institutions, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, and the University of Tokyo.

Two courses (each of 2 week duration) will be held in Braunwald, Switzerland, this year under the umbrella theme of "Living for 10 Billion People by 2050". Approximately 40 places are available in each course for upper level undergraduate and graduate students of all nationalities and academic disciplines. The courses will be held in English and aim to sensitize participants to the complex issues of sustainable development though course work, field trips, workshops, group work, discussions and practical learning experiences, combined with unique social and cultural activities. The courses will be held in English. Location: Braunwald, Switzerland. Dates: Session 1: July 08 to 23, 2006 / Session 2: August 12 to 27 2006.
Deadline for applications is March 31, 2006.

Are things actually getting better?

The recently released Human Security Report concluded that there has been an overall drop in armed conflicts. The results surprised many people as there is a perception that things have become worse since Sept. 11th. This article dives into the psychology of optimism & pessimism and seeks to understand how we use these outlooks to shape our action in the world. As IE seeks to bridge the gap between business and environment, we too find ourselves trying to make sense of positive and negative views on the state of the world.

A few excerpts:

"Unless you believe that the future can be better you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume there is no hope, you guarantee there will be no hope."

"We are more concerned about risks that may lead to losses than risks that lead to gains."

"Resilient people tend to have three things in common: they have a strong value system and ability to make meaning out of life; they are excellent improvisors and adaptors given life's events; and they are good are perceiving the reality accurately, for better or worse, in any given situation."