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March 2008
Problem #6: Overfishing
While doing my blog research, I ran across these jewels from CNN about the problems we will face in the future as a people. Being kind to your planet is an answer to much of these problems as you will see.
The background: Overfishing is depleting wild ocean fish stocks and threatening the $158 billion commercial fishing industry.
The solution: Hawaii startup Kona Blue is pioneering deepwater aquaculture to farm ocean fish. Although many companies grow freshwater tilapia and catfish, few have succeeded in farming flavorful deep-sea fish like yellowtail tuna and swordfish. Privately held Kona Blue raises a yellowtail-like fish off the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii - half a mile out to sea and 30 feet down.
Marine biologists Dale Sarver and Neil Anthony Sims raise Hawaiian amberjack, a native species that is called kampachi in Japan. Unlike most fish farms, Kona fish are raised in a controlled environment from hatch until harvest. The fish, called Kona Kampachi, retails for about $20 a pound.
The payoff: Former Horizon Organic chairman Tom McCloskey, now Kona Blue’s chairman, says sales will reach $8 million to $10 million in 2007, up from just $2 million last year. Kona Blue is sold at select Whole Foods stores and served at the tables of top restaurants like the French Laundry in California’s Napa Valley.
The opportunity: Kona Blue does not yet have any direct competitors employing its fish-farming techniques, though a couple of companies are gearing up their operations.
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Problem #5: Dirty Water
While doing my blog research, I ran across these jewels from CNN about the problems we will face in the future as a people. Being kind to your planet is an answer to much of these problems as you will see.
The background: More than a billion people lack access to drinkable water. Nearly 5,000 children die each day from waterborne diseases like diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid.
The solution: WaterHealth International, based in Lake Forest, Calif., sells miniature water-treatment plants to the developing world. WaterHealth locates a source - a nearby river or well - and builds a delivery system to get the water to its garage-size WaterHealth Centre. There, water is piped through filters and a 15-pound ultraviolet disinfection device that removes all but .01 percent of bacteria and viruses.
The system has no moving parts, and the UV lamp needs just 60 watts of power, which can be supplied by a car battery. Installation costs a 6,000-person village about $10 per person.
The payoff: WaterHealth operates more than 500 systems in Asia, Africa, and Central America, delivering water to an estimated 500,000 people. The privately held company won’t disclose its revenue, but its typical installation brings in as much as $50,000. WaterHealth expects to turn a profit next year.
The opportunity: WaterHealth estimates that there are about 2 billion people without access to clean water or whose water supplies could be improved with filtering.
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Problem #4: Dirty Air
While doing my blog research, I ran across these jewels from CNN about the problems we will face in the future as a people. Being kind to your planet is an answer to much of these problems as you will see.
The background: Three billion households worldwide depend on wood and charcoal to prepare food, but a person cooking over an open fire that’s burning wood or kerosene inhales the equivalent of the smoke from two packs of cigarettes a day. Respiratory infections are the leading cause of death in children under the age of 5 and kill 1.6 million people overall each year.
The solution: Sun Ovens International, based in Elburn, Ill., sells a family-size solar oven for $259 that’s used in 130 countries. A much larger solar cooker, including a trailer and a set of pots and pans, sells for $10,500 and is designed for schools, hospitals, and orphanages. The solar oven uses mirrors to redirect the sun’s rays into an insulated box.
The ovens have been popular in Haiti; the United States and Canadian militaries will use them for humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, and they’ll soon be available in Uganda and Nepal.
The payoff: Sun Ovens has sold about 32,000 of its family-size ovens and 260 institutional units. Last year it generated $720,000 in revenue.
The opportunity: Sun’s CEO estimates there’s a worldwide market for more than 300 million family-size solar ovens, which would generate at least $75 million in revenue annually.
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Problem #3: Hunger and Malnutrition
While doing my blog research, I ran across these jewels from CNN about the problems we will face in the future as a people. Being kind to your planet is an answer to much of these problems as you will see.
The background: More than 850 million people live in a state of hunger.
The solution: Nutriset, a private French company, has a hit on its hands. Plumpy’nut, its patented nutritional supplement, was distributed to an estimated 500,000 children last year - double the number in 2005 and up from just 120,000 in 2004. One 3-ounce packet delivers 500 calories. Plumpy’nut is a thick brown paste made from ground peanuts, sugar, and powdered milk, fortified with vitamins and minerals. Plumpy’nut isn’t perishable and travels easily.
The payoff: Orders from big buyers like Unicef helped Nutriset’s sales topped $25 million in 2006, up from $6.5 million in 2001. Nutriset reinvests 80 percent of its profit - or about $2.5 million during the past year - into developing new products, and the firm is partnering with entrepreneurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Niger to produce Plumpy’nut locally.
The opportunity: With no direct competitors and so many hungry people on the planet, Nutriset’s future growth looks certain. Sometimes the best solution to a big problem is a small one.
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Problem #2: Oil Dependency
While doing my blog research, I ran across these jewels from CNN about the problems we will face in the future as a people. Being kind to your planet is an answer to much of these problems as you will see.
While doing my blog research, I ran across these jewels from CNN about the problems we will face in the future as a people. Being kind to your planet is an answer to much of these problems as you will see.
The background: Transportation is second only to electricity generation as a contributor to global warming. While manufacturers have dramatically cut exhaust emissions from standard cars, they’re only starting to do so for 18-wheelers and other commercial vehicles powered by diesel engines.
The solution: Westport Innovations has developed a conversion technology, called high-pressure direct injection (HPDI), that allows diesel engines to run on cleaner-burning liquid natural gas. Last year the EPA certified HPDI for commercial use.
The payoff: Starting this year, operators of 5,000 diesel trucks must convert to natural gas, and Westport, based in British Columbia, has the first-mover advantage.
The opportunity: Global diesel engine sales will hit $160 billion this year. Washington-based Energy Conversions is selling natural-gas retrofits for locomotive engines and power generators used in offshore drilling. And major diesel manufacturers are inventing new filters to meet tough new standards. Other companies, like California-based Clean Energy, are ramping up the infrastructure for LNG filling stations.
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Problem #1: Global Warming
While doing my blog research, I ran across these jewels from CNN about the problems we will face in the future as a people. Being kind to your planet is an answer to much of these problems as you will see.
The background: Carbon dioxide makes up nearly 80 percent of all greenhouse gases. More than a quarter of that CO2 comes from electrical power plants.
The solution: Wind power, thanks to recent breakthroughs in turbine and transmission technology; it’s also 70 percent cheaper than solar power. In May, Dublin-based Airtricity, the world’s fastest-growing wind developer, announced plans for a European supergrid - a network of 2,000 offshore wind turbines in the North Atlantic. The grid would initially supply 10,000 megawatts to 8 million homes.
The payoff: Founded just seven years ago, Airtricity is on track to bring in $657 million in revenue by 2010. The company operates 16 wind farms in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
The opportunity: Airtricity is already lobbying for government approvals. But there’s opportunity for other wind producers to start banding together, since scale is what’s needed most to lift wind out of the “alternative” market.
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A few Sites
I constantly refer to different “Go Green” sites. Recycling and the environment are pieces of information that should be shared. Here are a few of my favorites.
http://www.journaltimes.com/go_green/
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/
http://www.idealbite.com/
http://www.worldwatch.org/
http://www.treehugger.com
http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/gogreen/
http://www.gogreeninitiative.org/
http://www.howtogogreen.com/
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Green@ Work #10
Well I have given some tips about green building, green cars, even a green Christmas. Well somewhere that we all go pretty much daily, is work. Our friends at the Sierra Club offer the following tips:
Your Work Environment
Make it a habit to use nontoxic cleaning products. Brighten up your cubicle with plants, which absorb indoor pollution.
Make it a policy to buy furniture, carpeting, and paint that are free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and won’t off-gas toxic chemicals.
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Green@ Work #9
Well I have given some tips about green building, green cars, even a green Christmas. Well somewhere that we all go pretty much daily, is work. Our friends at the Sierra Club offer the following tips:
The Commute
Make it a habit to carpool, bike, or take transit to work, and/or telecommute when possible. If you need to drive occasionally, consider joining a car-sharing service like Zipcar and Flexcar instead of owning your own wheels.
Make it a policy to encourage telecommuting (a nice perk that’s also good for the planet!) and make it easy for employees to take alternative modes of transportation by subsidizing commuter checks, offering bike parking, or organizing a carpool board.
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