Former President Clinton Concludes CGI Asia Meeting and Announces Impact of Commitments

Commitments unveiled at first (and possibly last) CGI Asia have estimated value of US$185 million, to impact more than 10 million lives

HONG KONG: Former President Clinton concluded the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Asia meeting today, highlighting examples of CGI members’ Commitments to Action that will positively impact lives across the globe.

“I am truly impressed by our Clinton Global Initiative members and the new commitments announced this week that will bring real, measurable change to millions lives in Asia and across the world,” said President Clinton. “CGI Asia members have made commitments worth an estimated total value of US$185 million, to positively impact more than 10 million lives.”

Examples of the impact CGI Asia commitments will have once fully implemented include:

An estimated 715,000 children will benefit from better education opportunities.

Over 260,000 adults will learn new job skills.

Of these, nearly 26,000 are teachers and 8,000 are health care workers who will benefit from new training.

Over 250,000 girls and women will be empowered with better opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.

Nearly 24,000 hectares of forest land will be protected by empowering local residents to manage their own natural resources.

The equivalent of more than 40,000 tons of CO2 emissions will be cut.

Over 700,000 people will better learn to cope with environmental stress and natural disasters.

More than 3.5 million people will gain greater access to health services.

Half a million people will now have safe drinking water, and 400,000 children will benefit from better nutrition.

Following the successful conclusion of the first day of the CGI Asia meeting, President Clinton was joined at a Gala Dinner by the Honorable Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, internationally acclaimed actor Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li, founder of the ONE Foundation, and other CGI Asia members for a special evening of music and conversation to celebrate giving and inspire Commitments to Action.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd addressed the CGI Asia meeting by video.

“We need new ideas to confront and solve the myriad of challenges which lie ahead of us this century,” said Prime Minister Rudd. “I look forward to working with all those gathered at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting to move our world forward towards a new chapter in human history.”

CGI participants focused on the three main CGI Asia topics: education, energy & climate change and public health. The program also acknowledged the current economic climate with a plenary session on coping with the financial crisis.

Established in 2005 as a project of the non-partisan William J. Clinton Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The CGI community includes: CGI University, a forum to engage college students in global citizenship; CGI Asia, the first in a series of regional CGI meetings; and, MyCommitment.org, an online portal where anyone can commit to helping improve lives.

Information on the Clinton Global Initiative and all CGI member commitments can be found at www.clintonglobalinitiative.org

From CGI Press Release via Ogilvy.

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Technosphere: A Model For Buildings Of The Future

New Cybertecture design in Dubai that imitates nature to be presented in Hong Kong

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

# # #

UltraFuture is a global thinktank and brain trust. Collaborating with visionary thinkers and doers to create and facilitate world-changing events, media and projects on the leading-edge of technology and culture. UltraFuture is headquartered in Hong Kong. With advisors and associates based in Tokyo, San Francisco, Shanghai, London, New York, Buenos Aires and the Middle East, UltraFuture offers a unique global platform for communication and collaboration.

Integrated, Sustainable Platform for Coastal Communities

Energy Island Presents Integrated, Sustainable Platform for Coastal Communities:
US China GreenTech Summit: November 13, Shanghai.

SHANGHAI, Nov. 10 - Energy Island, a sustainable and self-sufficient platform design for island and coastal communities, will be presented at the US China GreenTech Summit in Shanghai, November 13th. Energy Island is supported by a consortium of leading engineering, consulting and planning organizations including: Parsons Brinckerhoff, Noble Denton, Halcrow, the University of Southhampton and UltraFuture. Energy island is led by engineer and architect Dominic Michaelis, CEO, and architect Alex Michaelis, Managing Director.

The presentation will be part of the Utilities Panel on November 13th, which includes executives from IBM, PG&E. David Harris, managing director of thinktank and consultancy UltraFuture, will present Energy Island and participate in the panel on behalf of the consortium.

Renewable Energy
Energy Island utilizes proven technologies to harness all forms of renewable energy available at sea. At the heart of system is an open-cycle Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant, which is aided by solar, wind, sea current and wave energy converters. Energy Island has developed innovative designs and technologies that allow the integration of these energy sources into custom-designed systems that produce between 1MW and 250MW net power output.

Large-scale Fresh Water Production
In addition to being a non-polluting source of reliable energy, Energy Islands address a number of other immediate environmental and social challenges. One of the most beneficial by-products of the open-cycle OTEC process is mass desalinization of seawater; for every megawatt of energy produced by the OTEC process, 1.2 million liters of freshwater are produced. This freshwater can be utilized in the local communities and also can be shipped by tanker to areas in need.

The modular design of Energy Island allows them to be joined together to create larger community/utilities platforms. Energy Islands can be designed to accommodate aquaculture, greenhouses and mariculture pens for food production. Residential, research or tourism facilities can also be built on the islands.

Energy Island will also be presented this December 13th at the UltraFuture Conference in Hong Kong (www.ultrafutureworld.com).

For more information, please contact:
Nick Fabrizio, Production Manager of UltraFuture World Limited
Tel: +86 1581 5588774 or nick.fabrizio@ultrafutureworld.com

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25 US Cities To Get Their Own Solar Power Potential Maps

There are a couple of online utilities that help you calculate the solar potential of your building, and one of the coolest ones is the San Francisco Solar Map. Developed by C2HM Hill for the city and county of San Francisco, the map allows you to enter in your address, and estimate the size and cost of putting a solar PV system on your roof.

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Berlin Announces World’s Largest Electric Car Infrastructure

Electricity provider RWE will install 500 power-points, where electric cars can charge up. Daimler AG and Smart are partnering in the project, which aims to have 100 electric Smart Cars on the streets of Berlin by the end of 2009.

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US China Green Tech Summit

US China Green Tech Summit November 12-14, 2008, Shanghai, China.

China and the US face major energy challenges that threaten global security, long-term economic competitiveness and the environment. Thousands of companies and billions of dollars are furiously racing at the problem on both sides of the Pacific. Social, cultural and governmental differences put an ocean of distance between the challenges and solutions developing on both shores. US | China Green Tech Summit in Shanghai brings together leaders – at the highest level – to help China and the U.S. run towards the solutions together.

This information comes from the Bay Area Council website. As the event approaches, UltraFuture will continue to post information and updates on the Green Tech Summit.

The US China Green Tech Summit is a gathering of the highest-level U.S. And Chinese business leaders working on renewable and clean energy. This program aims to be the most important green tech initiative to date between China and the U.S. This event is being organized by the business communities of Shanghai and the San Silicon Valley Bay Area of California. Both regions are rapidly emerging as global centers for green tech development and investment.

GreenTech in China
China presents an opportunity to sell and produce a vast range of green tech products and services. Those include green building technologies that reduce energy use; processes to convert waste into biofuels; better wind turbines; solar power technology; “smart” street lights; water filtration systems; and software for energy companies to help manage operations more efficiently.

Already, venture capitalists are increasing their clean-tech bets in China, from $7 million in 2004 to $222 million in 2007, according to VentureOne and Ernst & Young. In that same period, venture funding for clean-tech deals in the United States soared from $522 million to $884 million. China itself invested a staggering $12 billion in renewable in 2007. Growth looks assured. China has set a target of increasing energy production from low-carbon technologies from 8 percent in 2006 to 15 percent by 2020, while investing an average of $33 billion in these technologies for the next 12 years. Businesses that move into this growing sector face tough challenges – including making clean technology affordable in the lower-income Chinese market – but many feel that the opportunities in China are too great to ignore.

China presents lucrative opportunities for cleantech, both as a manufacturing centre and as a market. Government policy is driving much of the growth in the sector. Beijing’s commitment to 15 percent of total energy consumption coming from renewable sources by 2020, prompted Greenpeace to say that the law could help China become “an international clean energy powerhouse.” The World Wildlife Fund said, “recent moves by the central government showed a determination to explore sustainable development and to achieve that target through real action.”

Although China ratified the Kyoto Protocol in August 2002, its status as a developing country exempts it from meeting the protocol’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. China can, however, provide carbon credits to developed countries under the protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM allows developed countries to fulfill their emission reduction requirements by investing in clean energy projects in developing countries, where carbon credits generally cost much less.

Analysis conducted by William Brent, Clean-Technology Practice Head, Weber Shadwick

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Backing greens with greenbacks

May 8th 2008
From The Economist print edition

It takes patience and guts to invest in the environment

Illustration by Satoshi Kambayashi

AL GORE does not just make films about climate change. His fund-management firm, Generation Investment Management, has just raised $683m for a ‘climate solutions’ fund. The hope is that environmental principles and shrewd investing can produce strong profits.

But could the combination of soapbox movies and warm air form a bubble instead? Certainly, the valuations that have been attached to some green shares have brought back memories of the dotcom era. As yet, though, the sector has not created the household names, the Netscapes and the eBays, that were seen as ‘must buys’ for your average day trader.

Indeed, so far this year, environmental investors must be feeling green with nausea. The Impax ET50 index of leading environmental shares peaked at 286 at the end of 2007 and then plunged by nearly a quarter in January; even after a recovery, it is still down 10% on the year.

If events in the industry do resemble those of the late 1990s, the better analogy may be telecoms, not dotcoms. Most green companies are not a matter of a couple of geeks and a website. Just as telecom companies laid down billions of dollars worth of fibre-optic cables, environmental companies require large amounts of capital - for building a wind farm or a tidal barrage - or the patience to invest in new technologies, such as cellulosic ethanol or thin-film solar panels.

This means that the shares are likely to be volatile. The returns are highly uncertain, because the big profits (if any) are many years away. News events such as technological breakthroughs or changes in government policy will have a much bigger impact on valuations.

Two years ago, for example, biofuels were favoured investments because of the Bush administration’s drive for energy independence, and its provision of subsidies for ethanol production. But doubts about the green credentials of biofuel use, and the knock-on effects on food prices, have caused investors to become disillusioned. Hopes are now pinned on the ’second generation’ of biofuels that will be created from non-food crops grown on marginal land, but the technology is years away from perfection.

It is both good and bad that there are so many competing solutions to the problem of climate change. When one technology falls out of favour, there is always another to take its place. Last year, much of the action was in solar; shares in First Solar, a company backed by the Walton family of Wal-Mart fame, rose nearly 800%. But solar shares have come off the boil and enthusiasm has switched back to wind; Iberdrola Renovables, a spin-off from the Spanish utility, raised €4.5 billion ($6.6 billion) in a float at the end of last year.

The danger is that a lot of money may be wasted as investors chase technologies that turn out, in the long run, to be too costly or impractical. For every observer who thinks the answer lies in renewable energy, there is another who believes in carbon capture. As Bruce Jenkyn-Jones of Impax, an environmental-finance group, says: “The key in this field is not to get too excited about anything.”

As a way of keeping their pulses steady, some investors have favoured more prosaic businesses, such as energy efficiency. But even these shares have taken a hit in recent months because of their links to the moribund construction industry; new houses may contain more insulation these days, but at the moment fewer of them are being built.

That example encapsulates the problem. Picking the winners in the environmental industry is astonishingly difficult. The chances are that, just as in many other fields, the pioneers will go bust and a second or third wave of companies will reap the profits.

Generation, which Mr Gore chairs, is trying to look ahead and has linked up with Kleiner Perkins, a venture-capital group, to help it spot the coming stars. Colin le Duc, the head of research at Generation, picks out three areas of interest; smart metering of users that allows utilities to adjust prices at different times of the day; solar thermal plants that use mirrors to heat water; and biomass as a stock for purposes other than fuel - such as turning wood into plastic.

Of course, no one knows whether those ideas will be more successful than anything else. When it comes to green investing, there is no black and white. Perhaps the best hope for the industry is that the oil price remains stubbornly high. While it does, alternative energy sources will look more affordable and investors will be willing to stump up the cash to develop the technologies involved. But they will need strong nerves and the patience to wait for a long time.

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Urbanization and Environmental Sustainability

Submitted by Crystal Davis on EarthTrends Mon, 2008-02-25 17:05.

Now home to half of the world’s people, cities are increasingly at the forefront of our most pressing environmental challenges. While the current pace of urbanization is not unique in human history, the sheer magnitude of urban growth–driven by massive demographic shifts in the developing world–is unprecedented, with vast implications for human well-being and the environment. However, where cities pose environmental problems, they also offer solutions. As hotspots of consumption, production, and waste generation, cities possess unparalleled potential to increase the energy efficiency and sustainability of society as a whole.

Global Urbanization Trends

Cities generate a disproportionate share of gross domestic product (GDP) and provide, on average, greater social and economic benefits to their inhabitants than do rural areas. As a result, increased urbanization often correlates to higher national incomes (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Economic and Social Welfare in Urban vs Rural Areas

Source: EarthTrends, 2008

Among industrialized nations, city dwellers already account for nearly three-quarters of the population and will grow in number by less than half a percent per year through 2030, while the rural population will actually decline (UN, 2008). Cities of the developing world, on the other hand, will absorb roughly 95 percent of the total population growth expected worldwide in the next two decades, a result of rural to urban migration, the transformation of rural settlements into urban places, and natural population increases (see Figure 2). All together, over 1.5 billion residents will be added to developing country cities by 2030, many of whom will be poor. Already, one of every three city dwellers lives in slum conditions (UN-Habitat, 2006).

At the global level, these demographic shifts define a remarkable urban transition. By 2030, five billion people (60 percent of the global population) will live in cities and four-fifths of these urban dwellers will be in the developing world. Megacities–those with more than ten million inhabitants–will continue to grow in size and number, albeit slowly, especially in developing countries. The most rapid growth will occur in cities with fewer than half a million residents, which collectively account for over half of the world’s urban dwellers.

Figure 2: Population Growth and Urbanization, 1950-2030

Source: EarthTrends, 2008

Environmental Challenges in an Urban Society: Local vs Global Issues

Along with the many social and economic benefits of Read more

Clean Energy Research Centre set up in Shanghai

16:27, March 17, 2008

The Xinao Group and Shanghai Communications University jointly set up the Clean Energy Research Centre that was officially established on the 16th. The research center will focus on the research and applications of clean alternative energy sources: dimethyl ether (DME). At the same time, Xinao Group will also build a DME fuel station on the Shanghai Communications University campus and provide free bus fuel, according to Xinhua Net.

DME is an important chemical raw material that can be used in chemical synthesis; and could also serve as a supplementary fuel for motor fuel and civilian gas. Because of its unique advantages, DME is an important clean energy, an alternative to diesel and liquefied petroleum gas for industrial and civilian fuels; and can effectively reduce environmental pollution and resolve environmental problems triggered by the development of the petrochemical industry.

In early 2007, the Xinao Group and Shanghai Communications University have reached a clean energy strategic cooperation agreement: by effectively integrating their own respective resource advantages, they can jointly create a new pattern of energy research, development, and application. In 2007, the Xinao Group built the world’s first commercial operation motor vehicle DME station in Shanghai.

From People’s Daily Online

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