Monthly Archives: October 2008

Emissions trade price tag: 2 latte’s a week

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reasury modelling released by the Federal Government today shows there would be a minimal reduction of growth under an emissions trading scheme.

But it also shows that households will spend around $5 a week extra on electricity and $2 a week on gas, and lower-income households will be more affected.

The modelling says annual growth would slow by 0.1 per cent and early action is key to keeping costs low.

It also says the introduction of a scheme would be likely to produce a one-off spike in inflation of around 1 to 1.5 per cent, but there would be minimal impacts on future levels of inflation.

via Emissions trade price tag: $7 a week – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Obama on Fatherhood and Life

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As I am entering Fatherhood I came across this speech by Barack Obama on the topic. In his speech he talks frankly about the importance of being a good example to children etc. He then recounts his answer to the question of “What does life mean to you?” from a child. His answer resonates well with the concept of World is Green.

I was answering questions at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin the other day and a young man raised his hand, and I figured he’d ask about college tuition or energy or maybe the war in Iraq. But instead he looked at me very seriously and he asked, “What does life mean to you?”

Now, I have to admit that I wasn’t quite prepared for that one. I think I stammered for a little bit, but then I stopped and gave it some thought, and I said this:

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me – how do I make my way in the world, and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want.

But now, my life revolves around my two little girls. And what I think about is what kind of world I’m leaving them. Are they living in a county where there’s a huge gap between a few who are wealthy and a whole bunch of people who are struggling every day? Are they living in a county that is still divided by race? A country where, because they’re girls, they don’t have as much opportunity as boys do? Are they living in a country where we are hated around the world because we don’t cooperate effectively with other nations? Are they living a world that is in grave danger because of what we’ve done to its climate?

And what I’ve realized is that life doesn’t count for much unless you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children – all of our children – a better world. Even if it’s difficult. Even if the work seems great. Even if we don’t get very far in our lifetime.

Introducing Greenedge Ethical

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Land is the basis of wealth, change, prosperity and environmental impact. Land is also the basis of connection for humans as it provides a home.

Building a home is fundamental to human existence. More importantly, living in a good community is critical to a satisfied life.

We know that construction is not eco friendly and a home or a house is a highly resource intensive activity in terms of energy, water, waste, land degradation etc.

How do we get both of these things together in a sustainable way.

Greenedge Ethical believes that it has found a way to do this. Starting with their pilot eco-village called Somerville they have now working towards a replicable model of eco-village where the the community is self sufficient in energy, water and manages its waste a sustainable way.

Greenedge is a Perth, Australia based company which will be raising $12m in a IPO closing November 12th on the Australian Stock Exchange. It will use this to create a market for eco villages, targeting the right customers and helping them build their homes in a sustainable community.

They are in a way property developers who have a ecological model of development. More importantly for me they make this happen with a business model in hand.

I talked to Alex Hyndman from Greenedge and he mentioned an interesting model where they license their model and knowledge with any interested property developer and helping them build an eco community.

I think these guys have a great opportunity to be successful here. If they can figure out a way to create their eco-villages faster, sustainable and at a reasonable cost to normal development model then they have a winning combination.

The 100,000 Hits

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In the next week I will be hitting the 100,000 hits mark for this version of World is Green. What does this mean?

In can be a small number for many of the bigger blogs but for me it is a good feeling. However, I have never actually worked for a number or statistics.

More importantly, what has been the purpose of this blog and what has been the benefits?

I started this blog to understand the greater world of business and sustainability. The blog has served its purpose and I have had a far better understanding than before.

Has it helped me professionally? No. Why?

I have had a tough time finding jobs in this field. No sustainability consultant would even talk to me. No corporations would discuss their opportunities with me. After applying for 10s of jobs, no interviews. Not a single interview. Its as if nobody in Australia would like to talk to me and discuss my skill sets.

My MBA, my blog, my publications, knowledge and more importantly the diverse experience – nothing made a difference. Why?

I am not sure about it. Sometimes you wonder whether these tools make any difference at all. I wrote today about my experience and success with the Tsunami Help Blog/Wiki. However, in this case it has been a totally different experience.

Do employers actually read blogs in Australia? Do they search for you on google? Do they respect the diverse experience and a masters degree? Does my being an Indian in Australia not helping me?

What is the point of the 100,000 mark?

The Visionary Shai Agassi

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Better Place has come to Australia. After blogging about it yesterday I have been thinking a lot about the vision of Shai Agassi.

Imagine the audacity of his idea. Shai was tipped to take over as the CEO of SAP. That by itself would be a big deal at his age however, what he has set about doing now is unprecedented.

Traditionally you would expect that infrastructure like charging stations, and electric cars by car companies gain traction slowly and over a period of time it would settle down. Many different companies will participate in the process and some would fail. New technologies would be created, new models tried and after several business models have failed the entire industry settles on one or two models.

Shai is trying to turn things around. He has raised $200 million to start this project. He has devised a business model based on the highly successful mobile phone model where the cars will be provided at a subsidized low cost or even free and customers subscribe to use “miles” rather than minutes.

He is convincing entire countries to take up his idea. His home country of Israel was the first and then Denmark. And the third in my backyard of Australia. Australia has very few ventures of this kind and innovative capability happening. This can make a huge difference to the psyche of entrepreneurs here.

One person with a vision and belief in himself is going around changing the face of transportation. I respect Shai for his audacity of vision and his ability to take it forward.

You only need a few unreasonable people to create change and Shai is one of them.

How can I be part of this?

What’s happening with Adelaide Green Drinks?

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It’s been 4 months since I launched Adelaide Green Drinks. In those 4 months our attendance went from 20+ to 3!

Nothing to brag about. I am trying to understand what’s happening here. Why is it not picking up in Adelaide. Is it me? Is it the city? Is it marketing?

I thought it can grow organically through word of mouth. A slow build up but a sure one. We have a slow build down to death!

Now the SBpractices guys are starting Adelaide Sustainability Drinks in November here. It will be interesting to see how they fare. My guess is it will do good.

I think people in Adelaide will respond to a professional organization trying to do this. Why come to a meetup organised by a guy called “Suhit” and who works in a government department and is young! Cannot be true.

Well, that is my analysis and I could be wrong. Time will tell.

Remembering Tsunami Help Blog/Wiki

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Irene Wu is the Yahoo! Fellow in Residence, supported by Georgetown’s Yahoo! International Values, Communications, Technology, and Global Internet Fellowship Fund.

She called today from Washington to interview me about my role in Tsunami Help Blog and Wiki. It was great speaking to her and I would like to thank her for helping me remember some of the best days of my life.

In December 2004, I was in Hyderabad at my parents place. I resigned from my job in Deeshaa and was waiting for the student visa for Australia. Dina Mehta contacted me about the Tsunami Help Blog.

Sitting in Hyderabad, having no disaster recovery experience and no way to contribute to the Tsunami hit places in India or otherwise, I had this unique opportunity to contribute.

The Blog and Wiki became very famous in a short while all due to the speed of information. The blog played a critical role in collating and updating information.

We decided to start a Wiki to provide static information like donor places, emergency contact numbers, hospital information, etc.

That experience made me realise the power of the human spirit and the capability of the Internet and these new tools to create change. From then my life has not been the same.

I continue to believe in the power of the human spirit, the need for people to come together for a social cause, and the power of technology to make this happen.

That experience has changed my life and it has never been the same. Thinking about it, I yearn to be part of social causes which I can contribute.

Blogging, Twitter, Diigo, Wikis, Instant Messengers, Skype, and all the other wonderful tools are right out there for us to exploit their power.

Indian, Japanese Agreement on Climate Change

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Industry body CII signed an agreement on climate change with Japans business associations – Nippon Keidanren and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The agreement sought to combine complementary strengths of both the countries in various technologies, resources and practices that could lead to climate change mitigation benefits for the entire world, CII said in a statement.

The co-operation agreement includes energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean conventional energy technologies among various others, it said.

via Indian, Japanese industries to fight climate change-Developmental Issues-Earth-The Times of India

Better Place in Australia

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Better Place is the idea of sustainable services for transport created by Shai Agassi. I received a mail from Better Place that they will be launching in Australia their services with a partnership with Macquarie Capital Group and AGL. Macquarie will help in raising $1Billion and AGL will provide the renewable energy.

So what is better place?

Better Place is a game changing business model to redraw the concept of transportation. Moving transportation into the area of mobility services.

From their website:

t’s simple. The car has evolved. Gas guzzlers have gone the way of the dinosaur—there’s a reason they call it “fossil fuel.” In their place we have electric versions of our favorite makes and models being developed by established car companies.

And the evolution of the car means the evolution of the entire transportation model. When we eliminate the dependence on oil, we eliminate the environmental and economic damage that came with it.

The good news is we’re evolving into something very familiar. The Better Place business model is one most of us already experience every day—with our mobile phones.

Think of it like this: we pay mobile providers for minute-by-minute access to cell towers connected together in cellular networks. Truth is, we pay comparatively little—or next to nothing—for the phones themselves. After all, what you’re really buying is air time, not a box with buttons.

The same model works for transportation. Just replace the phone with an electric car, replace the cell towers with battery recharge stations, and replace the cellular networks with an electric recharge grid. Now you’re buying miles, not minutes.

When you think of it in those terms, suddenly a seemingly revolutionary business model becomes something a lot more proven—and more than a little appealing.

Why pay for an addictive, expensive and harmful substance like oil when you can simply pay for transportation as a sustainable service? Why produce pollution when you can bring your emissions to zero and produce economic advantage as the only by-product? The proposition sells itself.

• Drivers pay to access a network of charging spots and conveniently located battery exchange stations powered by renewable energy.
• Drivers pay for the miles they drive.
• Cars are made much more affordable—even free in some markets—by the business model’s financial and environmental incentives to add drivers into the network.
• Better Place operates the electric recharge grid that brings it all together.

This is transportation as a sustainable service, with drivers as subscribers, and Better Place as a true “mobility operator.”

The concept is game changing because of its vision and the determination of Shai Agassi to make it happen. An idea like this is in a classic chicken and egg strategy issue and Shai is using this venture backed money, his ability to convince high profile companies and governments and sheer will power to create the infrastructure and then sell the product.

I am excited that this is coming to Australia. With Australia’s high urban concentration, high reliance on cars, one of the highest per capital greenhouse gas emissions and multiple opportunities in renewable energy (solar, geothermal, wind etc) it is well suited to this environment.

What is more interesting is the whole idea of selling electric vehicles as a subscription service. The whole world is moving towards this. In fact, the idea behind TechNovus, the company I started is to sell a computer as a subscription service.

I have been using a quote from Druker in my email signature for a while – “The only way to predict the future is to create it”. And this is what Better Place is all about.

Australia does not have many innovative business models happening. This is a great bet by Shai and his partners. What is going to happen? I am going to follow this.

Open Source and Sustainability, What do they have in Common?

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Reading today through my Google Reader I came across Matt Asay’s posts on open source. It struck me that there is a great deal of commonality between open source business models and sustainability business models.

Open Source started out as an ideal, a concept of creating software which is free to share and free to modify. Over the years many companies have tried to build a business around open source. RedHat comes to mind as a successful company. IBM redefined their business around opensource. Sun is going opensource. Cisco has a lot of opensource software in their hardware. SugarCRM is another success story. Ubuntu is coming up but still not a viable business.

Sustainability has been a concept and ideal for a long time and in the past few years it has taken a bigger stage. Climate change has increased the focus but sustainability is more than only CO2 emissions.

So, what does it take to make a business out of opensource or sustainability? In one simple word, Value!

Both need to provide value to customers or end users to make sense. Ideals and concepts by itself will not sell a product. Customers do not buy products/services for their ideals but for the value they provide to their business.

Open Source provides a cost effective alternative to properietary software. It brings in more flexibility for a organization to modify the software to reach their business goals. And, you can have multiple vendors supporting the software solution. For example, Oracle provides cheaper support for RedHat Linux than RedHat itself, go figure!

Sustainability provides a new strategic lens for companies to cut costs, create new revenue options and improve their image. It provides a way for companies to create new products, manage their processes better and reach new target markets for their products.

In the current financial crisis facing the world, both open source and sustainability will make a great combination as strategic tools to create a better organization.