Gil Friend of Natlogic is conducting a webinar on Carbon footprint and reduction. It is a 4 session series based upon how to measure a company’s carbon footprint and ways to reduce.
All the sessions are right in the middle of my vacation plan. However, if anybody is interested they should check it out.
It’s been 2.5 years since I arrived in Australia and now at last I am going back to visit my beloved country. It has been a fantastic experience in Australia. Now, I need to go back and witness the rapid growth which India is experiencing first hand.
I will be reaching India on Oct 15th and staying for 6 weeks. If anybody wishes to catch up, I will be in the city of Hyderabad and will travel to other cities in November. Please e-mail me or leave a blog comment.
I am not sure if I can blog at all while on vacation but if something interesting comes up and I find the time I will share it here.
Have fun!
The Victorian state in Australia wants to introduce smart metering to all households and businessess. The idea is that continous feedback combined with “peak pricing” or ”time of use pricing” will decrease consumption.
As we suggested a while ago, price feedbacks have worked in other parts of the world.
There is no reason a Woodstock-type metering system should not be combined with TOU (Time-of-Use) pricing. If the original scheme resulted in savings of 15%, combining that with TOU pricing as well an extensive education campaign should be able to achieve both additional conservation and load-shifting. If also combined with incentive programs to encourage the replacement of incandescent lighting and aging appliances, consumption could potentially be reduced by far more, and in a relatively short space of time.
The Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE) ordered some economic modelling to be conducted before the meters are rolled out across the state of Victoria. The NERA Economic Consulting cost-benefit analysis is out and it suggests that smart metering may increase consumption.
But a snapshot of energy consumption shows that while overall Victorian energy consumption would fall 0.54 per cent because of energy savings by the commercial and industry sectors, households would use more.
While household energy use would be reduced by almost 30 per cent on 12 critical peak days over summer, NERA modelling shows it would increase 1.5 per cent every other day over summer and by 2.1 per cent every day in winter.
A similar situation would occur in households across other states except NSW/ACT, where use would fall.
Since the meters will cost $585 million to install, can this money be used better somewhere else?.
Two things stand out. One, that energy consumption at peak times will come down. In the state of South Australia 20% of the state’s electricity capacity is used on 4-6 hottest days of the year. This reduction in peak consumption will decrease energy infrastructure costs. Two, a market solution may be a better solution. The above example of Woodstock was a market solution. If companies thing it will help their bottomline then they will be prepared to shell out the dough to install the meters.
Opportunities in India are growing and New Ventures India is conducting a Investor Forum in Mumbai on 16–17 November 2007 for Sustainability investments.
The New Ventures India Investor Forum is India’s premier event focusing on sustainable investment opportunities in sectors such as: Clean Technologies, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Green Building Materials, Water Technologies, Eco-tourism and Socially Responsible sectors.
This event will showcase business opportunities in:
1. Green products & technologies
2. Socially responsible businesses with high returns
3. Innovative business models in the sustainability space
At the Investor Forum you will have the opportunities:
1. To know market trends in energy & clean technology, innovative ways of doing business latest opportunities to maximize your profits.
2. To meet Indian & global investors, international experts on sustainable investments and Indian Green SMEs.
3. To engage in interesting, cutting-edge discussions on sustainable business with investors and other entrepreneurs in the sustainability space.
The New Ventures India Investor Forum is an opportunity for Sustainable SMEs to interact with Venture Capitalists, Banks and Financial Institutions and know more about the growing green investment opportunities in India.
I have interacted with the team in New Ventures India and considering that I will be in India during that time, I may be able to attend it.
This week I have the opportunity to host the Carnival of the Green. This is a weekly event which captures the ideas that the green blogosphere has to offer. For more, check this initial post at Tree Hugger.
Last week’s Carnival was hosted at Karavans and next week’s carnival (October 8th) is at Planet on a Plate.
For this week, here are the submissions.
Sara Goldstein writes about “How to choose better-quality clothes” at The Bargain Queen on Fashion and Beauty. She says, “As long as public nudity is outlawed, we all have to buy clothes. Here’s some tips on Reducing the amount of clothing you need, by buying better-quality things that will last way longer.”
GP at Fishcreekhouse submits a post on Yellowstone going Green by Horsewomen. Here she explains the work of Xanterra, a company in the United States which took over ownership of of hotels and restaurants in many state and national parks and its drive towards sustainability.
Julie Dunlap reviews the book Nature’s Engraver: A Life of Thomas Bewick which chronicles the life of Thomas Bewick who “elevated the craft of wood engraving to a fine art”.
Jimmy Atkinson presents How to Get a Green Education | OEDb posted at OEDb: Online Education Database. Atkinson talks about the “green state of mind” and suggests that “one solution to how to achieve a green education is to focus on educational sources that focus on the environment and social constructs within that environment.”
Beth Terry presents Wait! Are you sure that’s recyclable? at the Fake Plastic Fish. Beth talks about the do’s and dont’s of household recycling. A good pointer to help your council but do keep in mind that these “do’s and dont’s” change from council to council. So check with your council before you do the right thing.
Mel Rimmer writes about Green Cleaning at Bean Sprouts. Rimmer says, “The internet has lots of pages of green cleaning tips, but many of them are confused and the tips don’t work. This blog entry helps you sort the good ones from the rubbish.”
HairySwede informs that Stockholm Rated the Most Livable City in the World at A Swedish American in Sweden. In a world of urbanization, the greening of cities are paramount.
Mike crunches the sales data on the Prius at Hybrid Car Review. Prius is fast picking up and “1 in 10 cars sold by Toyota in the US is a Prius”. Mike questions that “When 2 out of every 100 cars being sold in the US is a Prius, can you really call hybrids a niche?”.
Ali Kriscenski explains with a lot of images the SIEEB Solar Energy-Efficient Building in Beijing at Inhabitat. Ali says that this building is “Designed to maximize passive solar capabilities and fitted with state-of-the-art active solar elements, the SIEEB is a dynamic energy-efficient oasis that optimizes its urban location with ecological considerations.”
John discusses the recent Climate Change meeting of 16 nations’ Climate Change Leadership at A DC Birding Blog. He suggests that “Bush’s intervention in this week’s talks at the U.N. is likely to waste the time of leaders who actually want to accomplish some concrete results to stem climate change.”
eltiorob presents Helpful sites to encourage eating seasonal, local foods posted at At Home | Living from MORE TH>N.
Holly Ord presents Hippie posted at Menstrual Poetry. She talks about the “natural alternatives to disposables”.
Leon Gettler presents The challenges of going green posted at Sox First. Leon questions: “How do you make companies and countries go green? the fundamental issue is coming up with a scheme that will provide incentives for the developing world to cut emissions. It’s all very well for the developed nations to talk about emissions reductions but in places like China and India it’s a different story altogether.”
Corbett Kroehler writes about how Hurricanes Can Have Positive Results at Corbett Kroehler Keyboard Culture Global Warming. Corbett details the example of building a next-generation home with so much environmental sensitivity that they call it the American Standard Green Envirohome.
Jon provides an invitation to Green Festival – Save the Environment at The DC Traveler – Washington DC travel & tourism information.
That’s the Carnival for this week. I have enjoyed presenting it and I hope you have enjoyed reading it.
If you want to make a submission to the next Carnival at Planet on a Plate or want to host one yourself; check out the details at Tree Hugger.
