Is small-scale hydro the answer to India's clean energy needs?

In the western Himalayas, the entire village of Hamal is powered by a small hydroelectric plant on the edge of the Shalvi river. It produces enough power to light up 100 homes at a time, ending the village’s once-endemic power cuts.

Small hydro projects, producing up to 25MW, have the potential to transform India’s rural communities and are being driven by companies such as Vaishnavi Consultants, which completed the Hamal project in 2014.

The Indian government has said that by the end of March 2017 it hopes privately owned small hydro will be adding 7,000MW to the national grid, enough to power more than a million lightbulbs, although there is little indication as to whether they are on track.

For private companies that invest in small hydro, government subsidies and the growing demand for clean energy ensures a steady income. But after millions of dollars of investment, these plants, even at full capacity, can produce only a fraction of India’s total energy needs, so are they worthwhile?

Full post from The Guardian

Sustainable materials

Materials influence every aspect of the energy system; therefore, as well as developing new materials for energy generation, materials scientists should engage in public debate about the limitations of future innovations and the conservation of existing materials.

The term ‘sustainable development’ is used to reflect the concern that we should meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. However, the word ‘sustainable’ is difficult to define precisely and can indicate many different aspirations about economic well-being, social equity and environmental harm. This rightly reflects a broad human agenda, but the actions required to address these three targets are in some cases unrelated, and in others incompatible. A particular problem created by the conflation of economic and environmental intentions of sustainable development occurs when actions to reduce environmental harm are reported per unit of economic or physical output. If output grows faster than the reduction in harm per unit of output, the total environmental harm grows, and it is the absolute physical effects that will challenge future generations. In this context, this Comment article discusses the environmental concerns of sustainable materials and addresses two questions. First, can new materials be developed that support a more sustainable future? Second, what is the role of existing materials within a more sustainable future?

Read the comment from Nature Reviews - Materials

From Paris to Dubai, how can cities be more sustainable?

As we undergo the Fourth Industrial Revolution, companies are uniquely positioned to partner with governments to address some of the world's greatest challenges.

Urbanization continues to spread globally, with 70% of the world’s population expected to live in cities by 2030. This trend brings with it the urgent need for more efficient use of energy, cleaner energy generation and cost effective energy storage. While the public sector must lead, it should work closely with the private sector to rapidly implement best practice policies, programs and projects that will improve urban efficiency and sustainability.

Buildings are responsible for up to a third of greenhouse gas emissions globally. The most cost-effective time to reduce energy consumption in buildings is before construction, as today’s integrated designs and off-the-shelf building technologies can yield up to a 50 percent reduction in energy use and positive returns on investments. For existing buildings, energy efficiency retrofits using these same principles can deliver 15-40 percent savings on energy costs, paying for themselves over time.

Best practices for improving building energy efficiency in cities include: 1) adopting and enforcing building codes and appliance standards; 2) setting reduction targets and adopting sustainable construction and leasing policies; 3) establishing retrofit programs for public and private sector buildings; 4) introducing certification, benchmarking and transparency programs; 5) accepting innovative financial models and programs; and 6) coordinating efforts with local utilities. While results are promising, very few cities globally have implemented a comprehensive set of these elements.

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Poo power: fuel, lampshades, paper and other useful things made from waste:

Poo. It’s a dirty word, and in some parts of the world, a taboo. But everyone does it – the average person alone produces 72.5kg of faecal matter annually. Some of it gets treated, some of it is left to float around, but nearly all of it has an economic value.

Last year, the UK’s first bus powered by human poo hit the roads of Bristol and in January this year, the Janicki Omniprocessor, a machine that turns human poo into water was revealed. Janicki Bioenergy, the company behind the machine, is soon to ship a processor to Dakar, Senegal, where it will produce 10,800 litres of water.

Here are some other examples of how waste is being integrated into sustainable, circular design and production with environmental and social benefits.

Stools made from stools
Poo to the slaughter
Let cow poo provide the power
Writing on rhino poo
Run your vehicle on panda poo


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Tech doing good: 10 inspiring stories on TechRepublic in 2014

This year, TechRepublic published a lot of stories about companies that use technology to solve real problems. This includes stories about technology's positive effects on the conservation efforts, technological advancements in medicine, and the increasing awareness and education about women in STEM fields. Here are 10 stories we published this year that focused on businesses and organizations using technology for the good of the world.

1. How Jane Goodall Institute uses digital mapping to save chimp habitats in Africa, empower children in the US

2. PowerToFly connects women around the world to tech companies that need talent

3. Hack the gender: Womens hackathon aims to show young women a future in tech

4. Technologists and conservationists are teaming up to stop Africa's elephant crisis

5. How an Atlanta education startup is inspiring early learning in tech and coding

6. Significance Labs is building apps to improve the lives of low-income Americans

7. How recycled solar powered phones could save rainforests and change how the tech industry tackles climate change

8. With Ushahidi's global innovation engine, Africa has joined the tech revolution

9. Business as a force for good: How benefit corps are rewriting the rules of the corporate world

10. How social media rerouted over 400,000 pounds of food waste in a year

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McKinsey on Sustainability & Resource Productivity

In the coming decades, demand for resources
is set to continue to rise precipitously even as
supply constraints multiply, posing challenges
for economic growth, the environment, and
social well-being. Yet many of these challenges
could be overcome if organizations were to
adopt existing technologies and approaches—and
invest in developing new ones—that improve
resource productivity and increase sustainability.

In launching McKinsey on Sustainability &
Resource Productivity, our goal is to serve as
a catalyst for action, presenting insights and
approaches that organizations can use to seize
the opportunity to transform how they manage
resources and drive sustainable growth.

Download the issue (3.3MB)