World Water Day: Why Plumbers Are Heroes

The old joke about the plumber's crack has gone dry. Especially on World Water Day.

But it's no joke: water and plumbing changes lives.

Here is a cool infographic I received from Able Skills, the UK-based construction training program on Why Plumbers Are Heroes (you can see an interactive version here):

 


As you can see from the infographic, clean water alone can reduce water-related deaths by 21 percent, improved sanitation alone can reduce such deaths by 37.5 percent, and simple hand-washing can reduce such deaths by 35 percent.

Today, according to UN-Water, "over 780 million people do not have access to improved sources of drinking water and 2.5 billion people are without improved sanitation."

2.5 billion. And we're well into the 21st Century, people.

Population growth, especially in cities, is driving increased water demand. Yet, even more startling is the fact that water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.

With the world population set to grow to 8 billion by 2025, water withdrawals are likely to increase by 50 percent in developing countries and by as much as 18 percent in already developed countries.

Not all of the water use is from the growth of our cities. In fact, only 8 percent of freshwater is tapped for domestic use. 70 percent of freshwater is used for irrigation and 25 percent goes to industrial uses.

Water for irrigation and food production constitutes one of the greatest pressures on freshwater resources, according to UN-Water.

The World Bank estimates economic losses from lack of sanitation cost up to 7 percent of GDP in some countries.

So, on this World Water Day, tell your plumber how much you appreciate how they've made your water safe to use and readily available. And think about how you can get involved in addressing the issue of access to clean water and sanitation.

Is the Sky Falling for Cleantech Investment?

As Henny Penny cried, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling."

And to look at the latest report on quarterly cleantech venture investment released last week by Cleantech Group, one might think the same is true for this sector.

"Measured by dollars invested, cleantech venture investment fell 14 percent compared to the previous quarter ($1.88 billion) and was off 25 percent from 2Q11 ($2.15 billion),” according to the Cleantech Group. “The number of deals recorded in 2Q12 was 155, compared to 197 in 1Q12. The tally may rise again once all investors have reported all deals."

But does it really mean the sky is falling?

“Despite headwinds facing the sector and global economic instability, we continue to observe top tier funds such as Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, NEA, and others actively investing into cleantech,” said Cleantech Group CEO Sheeraz Haji in a press release. 

“While some may be ducking ‘cleantech’ as a label in North America," Haji noted, "growth in technologies addressing resource and energy challenges remains strong and both corporate and investor interest remains high.”

"The dip in cleantech venture capital this year is not unexpected," Dallas Kachan of Kachan & Co., wrote in an email to me last week. "We forecasted a decrease in cleantech VC in 2012 due to a tightening in the investor fundraising climate, waning policy support in the developed world, perennial concerns about IRRs in cleantech and macro-economic turbulence and other factors.”

Another factor may be that investors who were dabbling in cleantech the past couple of years have fled the sector, which may have artificially inflated the numbers in previously quarters and years.

I've also been hearing from several investors and entrepreneurs with whom I speak to regularly, that there's still an overall belt-tightening in the investor world.

Other investors may not be convinced the sector will thrive without a carbon price, which we won't see any time before the November election -- if then!


The news isn't all grim, however, and venture capital is not the only money in the sector.

Increasingly, big companies are filling the gap from the venture community and those firms that are in it for the long haul are making follow-on investments. 

"The largest companies in the world are buying their way into clean technology markets," Kachan noted in the same email exchange, "supplementing the role of traditional private equity and evidencing a maturation of the cleantech sector. A decrease in venture is being made up for by a rise in corporate involvement in cleantech."

Still, there has been a shakeout in cleantech companies as subsidies get pulled and follow-on money ceases its flow.

"A lot of cleantech startups have been getting shaken out and will continue to do so," wrote Rob Day in his excellent take on the Cleantech Group findings.

Day also noted some positive news, however, that Limited Partners (LPs) "finally appear to be slowly getting   back into the habit of funding cleantech venture capital firms. So I think we'll see a pickup in deal flow in the second half of the year. But probably not enough to forestall the ongoing shakeout."

As Day and others have noted, deal counts may be more indicative than dollars when it comes to judging the overall health of investing in the sector.

The top two sub-sectors in terms of deal counts in the Cleantech Group report? Energy efficiency and water.

Why Can't Water Get No Respect?

Matt Damon with Water.org CamelBak Groove bottle 

We take it for granted, yet we can't live with out it. We are made of water -- more than 60 percent water.

But so is the clothing we wear and the food and drink we consume.

Think about it. A pair of stonewashed jeans takes roughly 500 gallons of water, including growing, dyeing and processing the cotton. A t-shirt? 700 gallons. The cup of coffee I'm drinking as I write this? 35 gallons. A pint of beer? 20 gallons. 


Over 130 gallons of water to make a 2-liter bottle of soda (not sure if that counts making the bottle itself); and that hamburger adds another 630 gallons.


Pretty twisted, huh?

According to water.org, the average American uses 176 gallons of water per day compared to 5 gallons of water the average African family uses each day.


That five-minute shower my teenage son takes uses more water than the average person in a developing country slum uses for an entire day -- if they can get access.


Last night, water.org received the World Social Impact Award from the World Policy Institute at its 50th Anniversary celebration.

Those of us in the audience were grouped by issues and asked to get into dialogue with our table mates. I sat at one of the water tables.

We were led in our discussion by Sanjay Bhatnagar of WaterHealth International and Dr. Upmanu Lall, the Alan and Carol Silberstein Professor of Engineering at Columbia University and director of the Columbia Water Center.

Our table quickly came up with a critical question: Why can't water get no respect?

Water is the Rodney Dangerfield of natural resources. And yet it's critical to our lives and livelihoods; indeed, our very survival depends on it.

We didn't have any answers, other than the usual fact that water isn't priced appropriately and it is relatively abundant. Perhaps we need price signals like we have for oil that tell us how much our water actually costs, one of our group suggested.

Dr. Lall shared with us some research he's privy to concerning a technology that may solve the production of clean drinking water. But our group was pretty clear that access will continue to be an issue that we need to address.

And that's why organizations like water.org -- although they may be just a drop in the bucket of needs -- are so important and deserving of recognition.

Whole Foods Highlights Creative Solutions to Earth's Pressing Problems

By 2050, the earth will support roughly 9.3 billion people; but creative visionaries around the world are doing their part to secure future access to water, energy, food and living space.

In 1981, Canadian potter Burt Cohen hand-formed a ceramic water filter with local, low-cost materials. Today, the open source model is being used to purify water in over 13 countries, and is expanding its presence worldwide. And, in an effort to eliminate dilution as a water cleaning method, Oregon engineer Mark Owen combined nanotechnology and sunlight to create a low-impact filter that kills contaminants at the source.

Whole Foods is highlighting this and other sustainable innovations in an online series called "9.3," which profiles the radical ideas of creative conservationists. Check out the video:



First Solar was also featured in a recent episode on solar power innovations:



Great to see someone focusing attention on solutions and innovations.


(Disclosure: I hold a long position in First Solar, FSLR.)

Cities and the Global Water Crisis | Sustainable Cities Collective Audio

Last week for World Water Day (March 22nd, 2011), I participated in an exclusive webinar about how global cities are dealing with the challenge of managing their most essential resource.

Listen to the audio at Sustainable Cities Collective (length 01:01:06)

    or download here  

Panelists included

Dr. Paul Bowen is the Director of Strategic Business Initiatives, Water Technology and a Member of the Global Water Stewardship team for The Coca-Cola Company. In that role, he oversees water use efficiency programs for global manufacturing, including work with plants on water minimization, water reuse, and water conservation. Paul is a member of the 2010-2011 Board of Trustees for the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and previously was an Assistant Professor for the School of Civil Engineering & Environmental Science at the University of Oklahoma.

Larry Levine is a senior attorney in NRDC's Water Program, and works on a variety of issues pertaining to water quality in the Northeastern U.S., as well as at the national policy level. He focuses especially on promoting the use of “green infrastructure” as a sustainable solution to polluted urban runoff and raw sewage overflows. Larry was previously a litigation fellow at NRDC and a clinical fellow in environmental law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and is a graduate of Yale Law School and Tulane University.

Scott Edward Anderson is the founder of VerdeStrategy, a consulting and advisory firm focused on the cleantech, energy, and environment sectors, and the popular blog TheGreenSkeptic.com, as well as a frequent commentator on FOX Business Network. He has held management positions for large institutions, such as The Nature Conservancy, the world's most successful global conservation organization, and Ashoka, a social venture capital organization with operations in 72 countries worldwide, and has consulted with dozens of businesses and social entrepreneurs around the globe.

Richard McGill Murphy moderates the Sustainable Business Forum. Richard is a journalist and media consultant with 15 years of experience covering business, technology and international affairs. He writes for Fortune and BusinessWeek and serves as managing partner of Walled City Media LLC, a media strategy firm. Previously, he has worked as a top editor at Fortune Small Business and CNNMoney.com, and earlier served as editorial and program director at the Committee to Protect Journalists. He holds a bachelor’s degree in literature from Harvard and a doctorate in social anthropology from Oxford University.

Some good insights about water, water investing, water supply issues, environmental concerns, weather events, and the potential impacts of climate change.

Water Investing on the Brain

I've got water on the brain these days. Especially water investing opportunities. In part, because I'm moderating a panel on water investment this week.

The panel is a mix of private and public market experts, including Judson Hill of NGP Global Adaptation Partners, William Brennan of Summit Global, Kevin Brophy of Meidlinger Partners, and Karl Kyriss of Aqua America. 

You can register for the event, which takes place on Thursday, January 27th, 11:00-1:30 PM, in Philadelphia, here.

One of the topics of our conversation will be the perceived barriers to entry in water investing.

Many investors simply don't understand the water space and that keeps them out.  Some feel the barriers to entry are too high.  For example, here are three things commonly heard:

1.) "The water business is too fragmented to allow new technologies to scale."
2.) "Water is a highly conservative, public sphere" – even investor owned utilities seem to have that stigma – and "the sector lacks innovation and money."
3.) "Water technologies take too long to be adopted" in the sector (thus, water doesn't fit well into the typical VC model).

While water is a $500 billion/year industry, it garners a little over $120 milllion in venture capital funding, according to Global Water Intelligence.  This can only grow if investors are educated to reduce their fears of getting their feet wet in water investing.

And like the surge in energy interest over the past decade, I think interest and money will eventually flow into water and flood over time. (Pun intended.)

Increased awareness about water shortages and scarcity is driving innovation as everyone looks for ways to use water smarter and more efficiently.

Other innovations that seem poised for potential investment include desalination, water management devices, reuse and recycling, filtering, leakage sensor technologies, and agriculture.

Demand for clean water in developing countries is on the rise – and will be increased if climate change impacts snow pack, glacier-fed streams, and aquifer recharge.

Water is getting more expensive and is increasingly being seen as a valuable commodity rather than a cheap, easily dispensable resource. As a colleague in the space said to me a few weeks ago, most of this is being ignored by the investment community other than a handful of big players. 

And most of those are not based in the US, with the recent exception being some of the biggest names in the VC business: Khosla, Kleiner Perkins, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. 

Assuming others will try to catch their wave, Jud Hill may be right in saying that "Buckets, buckets of money" can be made in water," as he told a meeting of bankers and investors in Geneva last November.

The event is jointly presented by Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic and the Greater Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies, and sponsored and hosted by MorganLewis.

(Disclosure: I am a co-founder and board member of the Cleantech Alliance Mid-Atlantic, a business network for cleantech professionals.)

Related articles

• The Best Water Stock for 2011 (WTR, AWK, AWR, CWT, LAYN, TTEK, WTS, PHO, PIO) (247wallst.com)
• Money Flowing To Water Technologies, Slowly (triplepundit.com)
• Investing in Water, Food and Energy (prweb.com)
• MicroCap Investor ; Finding the best pure play stocks in biotechnology ... - FavStocks (news.google.com)
• US cleantech award goes to water purifying company (reuters.com)

Will "Peak Water" Provide Opportunities for Investors?

The phrase "Peak Water" was featured as one of the New York Times words that made the year for 2010.  But is it a useful concept and what does it mean for investors?

I've been thinking about the term peak water since a friend of mine asked if I'd seen it on the Times' words of the year list.  As described on that list, peak water is "like 'peak oil,' a theory that humans may have used the water easiest to obtain, and that scarcity may be on the rise."

Meena Palaniappan and Peter H. Gleick, of the Pacific Institute and authors of The World's Water 2008-2009, parse the phrase and find it wanting in this chapter (PDF) from their new book.

Ultimately, the authors point out, water and oil don't correlate as resources go.  The former is infinitely available globally and essential to life; the latter is a finite resource and one for which, despite our addiction to it, we can find or fabricate alternatives.

That said, the world's freshwater reserves are estimated at around 35 million cubic kilometers, according to Gleick and Palaniappan, with the majority of that being "locked up in glaciers and permanent snow cover, or deep groundwater inaccessible to humans."

And while the earth has an overall stock of 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water, almost 97 percent of it is salt water in the oceans. The authors point out that "the concept of running out of water at the global scale is of little practical utility. There are huge volumes of water -- many thousands of times the volumes humans appropriate for all purposes."

However, regional and local impacts of water use and scarcity can be huge and the disparity of access to freshwater can be great.  So, while the authors conclude that "the use of 'peak water' may be flawed in key ways," it may help to call attention to the need for recognizing the true value of water as a commodity rather than as a cheap resource.

For investors willing to get their toes in the water, so to speak, there may be opportunities trailing the "peak water" trend, as demand for clean, fresh water grows in developing countries and even in the US. 

Island nations and desert countries have already had to get more creative about how they access clean water, which has led to innovations in desalination, rainwater collection, water reuse, and treatment technologies. 

Agriculture and energy provide additional opportunities for investors, as both are large consumers of water.  Smart irrigation, filtration, and efficiency technologies will be key in these sectors, as both try to better manage and increase the productivity of this essential resource.

We've seen an increased interest among investors in clean energy technologies over the past decade, will water be next in line for growth? 

Related articles

• Is the US Already Past The Point of Peak Water? (treehugger.com)
• Cyprus facing up to life after 'peak water' (cnn.com)
• Peak Oil? Why not Peak Water By William Bowles (dandelionsalad.wordpress.com)

Is Water the Next Carbon? from Harvard Business Review

Andrew Winston and Will Sarni ask Is Water the Next Carbon? in last week's Harvard Business Review blog.  Here's how they opened their post:

We all take water for granted. Even though water is critical for human life, ecosystems and as a major process or product input for industry, it's a resource that very few of us think actively about managing. And of all environmental issues, it's the least debatable; when there's no more water in a region, you don't need scientists to tell you.

Companies need to develop strategies for managing this important resource as water stress becomes the norm in many regions of the world. As a starting point, some organizations are now conducting "water footprints" to figure out where in the value chain their businesses are vulnerable.

Doesn't this sound familiar? Haven't we been down this road before with energy and carbon emissions? It's very easy to describe water as 'the next carbon', and many have, but it's not really the same.

It's worth reading both for what the authors point out as the differences between carbon and water, and for the opportunities inherent in the increasing constraints on this most valuable resource.

Related articles

• Is Water the Next Carbon? (blogs.hbr.org)
• Innovation in Managing Water (blogs.hbr.org)
• What is the Carbon Disclosure Project? (triplepundit.com)
• Carbon capture project leaking into their land, couple says. (theglobeandmail.com)

Veolia Trying to Accelerate Cleantech Solutions

Philippe Martin of Veolia Environnement

I sat down last week with Philippe Martin and Robert Bozza of Veolia (NYSE:VE) at the Cleantech Forum New York last week to learn more about the company's Innovation Accelerator.

Veolia Environnement is a multinational French company with origins in the national water company established by Napoleon III.

You may remember them as part of Vivendi, from which they spun off in 2000, later being renamed Veolia.

Veolia operates utility and public transportation businesses -- everything from drinking water to waste management services; from heating and air conditioning to rail and road passenger transportation systems.

The company had $49.8 billion in revenue last year and operates in 74 countries with 313,000 employees worldwide.
 
Philippe Martin, senior vice president for research and innovation, explains that the company faces environmental challenges in the field every day and needs the most relevant and innovative technologies. They are constantly searching for new innovations from within and, now, with its innovation accelerator, outside the company.

"We have the ability as an operating company to deploy technology and help companies scale their technology and get to market," Martin says. "We are focused on incubation and acceleration."

Robert Bozza heads up the Veolia Innovation Accelerator (VIA). The accelerator funnels creative solutions into a network of sorts to which Veolia will lend its expertise and deployment capabilities.

And the company promises to move innovation quickly through the incubation period – to accelerate the technologies to market.

"We have made a 1-4-12 promise," Martin and Bozza explain. "Review a company's application in one week. Perform technical analysis of the technology in four weeks. And sign an agreement with the company within 12 weeks. It is designed to move fast and be more efficient than a corporate fund."

While not a fund, VIA can invest in a participating company's technology. "We think this is more efficient than a fund," says Martin. "We are not in the business of creating solutions, only deploying the best."

Thus far, they have 150 applicants under review, each falling within one scope of the company's focus areas: water, waste, and energy. Some have come through traditional routes, such as through venture capital or other investors, but they are also finding great response to the accelerator's web application.

"We're seeing about 50/50 from investors and the web," Martin explains. "Before there were too many channels into the company. Now there is one funnel."

And the companies are coming from both sides of the pond.

One such company is California-based NanoH2O, which provides membranes that leverage nanotechnology to improve desalination. NanoH2O is partnering with Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies to jointly explore new regions for seawater desalination plants in the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Australia.

"Working with Veolia," said Jeff Green, founder and CEO of NanoH2O, "will accelerate the adoption of NanoH2O's nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes worldwide to change the fundamental economics of desalination."

Once selected, companies can enter into joint research projects with Veolia or its subsidiaries (such as with NanoH2O) or use the company to deploy their technology in the field.

And what about intellectual property?

"While there may be some shared IP in joint research projects, it is otherwise IP retained by company/entrepreneur," Martin asserted. "We are not a technology company, so we are not going to be a competitor."

"New technology leverages our strengths," added Bozza.

Currently, Veolia is looking for companies with an emphasis on biotech applied to their core businesses (water, waste, energy, transport), sensors – which are going to be very important, energy conservation and efficiency; and real-time water quality monitoring solutions.

The companies selected will be announced at the Cleantech Group's San Francisco Forum next March.

Green Skeptic Friday LinkFest - 09/24/10

I think it's Friday...been a crazy week: one day I'm at the Clinton Global Initiative and the next I'm sitting in a 2nd Grader's chair hearing about how they roll in elementary school these days. Whew!

Anyway, here are links to some stuff that caught my eye this week:

A new study says the rate of groundwater depletion has doubled since 1960, a rate that researchers from Utrecht University said is clearly unsustainable. You want to talk about a real crisis, we need to figure out how we're going to survive with less fresh water in our world: H2(n)O!

I don't know why, but I'm reminded of the Melvin Frank/Neil Simon comedy "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," especially the scene where Anne Bancroft wants her bath:



Actually, that's probably a good movie-tonic for our current recession!

I'm not going to be in Tianjin next week for the Eco-City Forum (bummed), Tom Friedman was there last week for the World Economic Forum. He is still stunned by China's progress as he notes in to reports from the front: "How can you compete with a country that is run like a company?" and "Aren't We Clever?"
 
Meanwhile, back home, there was some good news in cleantech investment this week as Greentech Media reported on Real Greentech IPOs, M&A and More than $100M in VC.
 
The Clinton Global Initiative sessions archive is up. You can catch much of the dialogue here: CGI Archive.

And finally, for those who missed it, here is the video of my spot on FOX Business with Stuart Varney and Governor Christine Todd Whitman: The Governor and The Green Skeptic.
 
Have a great weekend everyone!

Top 10 Reasons Israel is a Cleantech Leader

David Buimovitch/AFP/Getty Images

Here at The Green Skeptic we've been following the progress of cleantech in Israel for some time.

There are many reasons Israel has been an innovator, including, in part, because it has to be. Now, Sustainable World Capital's Shawn Lesser highlights the history of innovation, access to capital, scarce resources and other factors propelling cleantech today in Israel.

Here are the Top 10 Reasons Israel is a cleantech leader:

1. Israel is the Silicon Valley of water. Relative to its small size, Israel has devoted more resources to the development of waste water treatment and reclamation than any other country in the world. Seventy percent of its waste water is recycled, three times the figure of number two: Spain. Israel is the birthplace and world leader in drip irrigation, which has literally turned deserts into farmlands. The Israeli firm Netafim, a $500 million high-tech drip-irrigation giant, is a world leader in smart irrigation technology and has been credited with starting the drip irrigation revolution. Israel Newtech, which promotes Israeli clean energy and water technologies, has identified hundreds of water companies. It’s estimated that Israel’s water industry was valued at $1.4 billion in 2008 and could reach $2.5 billion by 2011.

2. Brain trust. Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to population in the world. Within its small borders is an enormous concentration of PhDs and engineers, bolstered in large part by the large immigration from the former Soviet Union. This concentration of minds in a relatively small geographical space creates a country-wide incubator where ideas are constantly tested in the coffee shops of Tel-Aviv and the hallways of universities. 

3. Necessity as the mother of innovation. Due to its location and terrain, Israel is a country that has had extremely limited natural resources since its inception. Israelis have therefore become experts at getting the most out of limited natural resources. Confronting adversity has trained Israelis to think outside of the box. “Israel is poor in natural resources and rich in brain capital. Clean energy bridges that gap. What Israel lacks in the ground it makes up with its people,” says David Anthony from 21 Ventures.

4. Leveraging tech expertise to cleantech. “Israel’s tech sector has flourished through the creation of core technology competencies that are world leading,” as Glen Schwaber, Partner at Israel Cleantech Ventures, wrote in his article “The Quest for Smarts.”

“Israel’s tech sector has flourished through the creation of core technology competencies that are world leading,” according to Schwaber. These include, but are not limited to digital printing, semiconductors, power electronics, optics and software. Over the last two decades, multiple billions of VC dollars have poured into Israeli companies in these sectors, market leaders have emerged, and many of the world’s largest multinationals have bought companies and set up shop in Israel as a result.” 

5. Capital. Just about every major US VC firm in Silicon Valley, from Battery Ventures to Greylock to USVP to Sequoia Capital, is prospecting across Israel for cleantech investments. All told, at least 40 venture funds, several of them American, manage more than $10 billion in Israel, with an increasing share of their allocations devoted to cleantech companies. 

6. The Better Place Factor. Better Place is Israel’s best known cleantech company, and it recently raised a further $350 million (see Better Place deal bested by Airtricity). Founded by Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi, the company is developing electric vehicle battery swapping infrastructure. 

7. The sun shines brightly over Israel. The solar radiation Israel receives is a driver of solar thermal companies. Siemens bought Israeli solar thermal pioneer Solel for $418 million, while BrightSource Energy has raised more than $160 million from investors, including U.S.-based VantagePoint Venture Partners, Google, BP’s investment arm, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase. Other notable solar thermal companies include Heliofocus, ZenithSolar, and AORA. 

8. Kibbutz Pioneers. The foundation of Israel’s cleantech industry was laid with the beginning of the kibbutz (collective communities) movement at the start of the 20th century (see Israel’s cleantech kibbutzim pioneers). At that time, the land was mostly semi-arid, with a scarcity of water and pockmarked by mosquito infested swamps, so principles of sustainability and self-sufficiency were adopted from the outset so as to “make the desert bloom”. 

9. Home grown Israeli VC community. Israel has a vibrant local VC community which includes Israel Cleantech Ventures, AquaAgro and Terra Ventures—three firms dedicated to investing in Israel’s cleantech sector. Having a vibrant local VC community also draws foreign money.

10. Momentum. Israel is fast becoming the cleantech incubator to the world. In proportion to its population, it now has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world except the U.S., with 3,500 companies, mostly in hi-tech. Exciting new cleantech startups to keep an eye on, in our opinion, that haven’t been mentioned already include Bio Pure Technology, BioPetroClean, CellEra, Emefcy, Enstorage, Greenlet Technologies, GreenRoad, GreenSun Energy, IQ Wind, Linum, Panoramic Power, Phoebus Energy, SolarEdge, Takadu, Technospin, Transalgae and Variable Wind Solutions.

As Al Gore siad in a recent visit to Israel, “the people of Israel can lead the way to renewable energy. With its unique geographical position, and cleantech know how, Israel is a natural leader in the field.”

Cleantech could well become Israel’s biggest export market. Other countries should take note.

World Water Day: Stand Up for Water and Sanitation?

Today, March 22, 2010, is World Water Day, an attempt to raise awareness about the importance of clean water and the thousands of people who still do not have access to clean, healthy water resources.

World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.  Each year, it has a different sanctioned theme, determined by the UN Water Group.  This year's theme is "Clean Water for a Healthy World."

Clean water scarcity is a serious situation affecting more than 2.5 billion people.  Lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation leads to more deaths among children than malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB combined, according to the UN. 

In addition 4000 children under the age of five die every day from preventable water-related illnesses such as diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera and dysentery.

Serious stuff and in need of attention.  It's hard to believe that in the 21st century some parts of the world are without simple sanitation and access to water.  World Water Day is an attempt to shed light on this problem.

In one of the sillier actions associated with the "celebration" this year, a coalition led by the group End Water Poverty, along with Freshwater Action Network, and the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre has organized a Guinness World Record attempt to form the world's largest toilet queue.

To participate, you need to gather at least 25 people and have them wait on line to use the bathroom in a public place from 10 minutes up to 24 hours.

What seems like a joke from the days of Monty Python is actually a "serious" attempt to capture the imaginations of the caring public and the World Record.  (And you wonder why I'm a skeptic!)

(Did you know there was a record for longest toilet waiting line? The current record for an individual queue stands at over 868 people, according to organizars.)

Remember: don't cut in line and wash your hands after you go.
 

Clean Tech: Water, Water Everywhere; Time to Wade In?

Smarter minds than mine have been wading into water this week.

It's a part of the clean tech space that I've neglected thus far. Time to get a toe in the water and test it out.

Looking into TTEK, AMN, and CCC, thanks to @jmclarty.

Also taking a look at SWWC, AWK, and WTR.

I'm hoping the water is warm...

Wondering what ever happened to eMembrane, which had an interesting nanotech filtering technology.

And curious what's happening with Water Health International.

For another take on water and sanitation, check out Ashoka's Changemakers and Global Water Challenge competition, which just announced its winners: Tapping Local Innovation, the most innovative approaches to providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

(And you must check out India's Oscar-wiining director Shekhar Kapur, ("Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," who blogged on "Paani" (Water), his new film about the daily struggle for drinking water in the slums of Mumbai.)

(Disclosure: The author is an employee of Ashoka, but does not work directly for its Changemakers initiative. This post is for informational purposes only and is neither intended to be investment advice nor an offer, or the solicitation of any offer, to buy or sell any securities.)

Global Climate Change: Myanmar Satellite Images

Thanks to Paul Kedrosky @ Infectious Greed for these NASA satellite images that illustrate the impact of the Myanmar Cyclone. I hear death toll range of 22,000-66,000. And no early warning for many of these people.

In this day and age of technological advances, one would think major destruction of human life could be avoided through communication.

I know no single event can be tied to global warming, but we probably need to get used to these events happening more frequently with climate change.

As Paul said, "Jaw-dropping."

World Water Day: No Drop Left Behind

Water is one of the most precious resources on Earth. Clean drinking water is essential to human life -- but only 10 percent of global water use is for human consumption.

The other 90 percent is used for a combination of direct inputs to industry, agriculture, transportation, recreation, producing hydropower and cooling nuclear power plants, and sustaining the ecosystems upon which we depend.

Over the last century, according to the United Nations, water use increased sixfold, twice as fast as the population rate.

The increase has led to water shortages around the globe. Experts from the International Water Management Institute now estimate that by 2025 over three quarters of the people on Earth will be affected by water scarcity.

Today, 40 percent of people globally (@ 2.8 billion) deal with some degree of water scarcity. Whether physical shortage or issue of access, shortages are increasing demand and competition for water. (Darfur is the poster example for what conflicts can arise from the perfect storm of water scarcity.)

March 22nd is World Water Day,a UN General Assembly designation to call attention to the issue of water scarcity and push for more sustainable management of the resource.

Clearly, global water use patterns are not sustainable. Some scientists claim that current water use rates will lead to such a shortage that there may not be enough water to produce the food needed by the world in 2050.

Not to mention the potential collapse of important ecosystems and the corresponding benefits, which may have a cascading effect on people and economies.

Integrated water resources management may help the situation, as some propose, but it is clear that we need a better method for calculating the true value of our fresh water resources.

The bottom line: No longer can we assume that past abundance of water is a guarantee for our future water returns.

Social Entrepreneurs: Global Water Challenge and Ashoka's Changemakers Announce Worldwide Search for Solutions to Water Issues

Global Water Challenge (GWC) and Ashoka's Changemakers have partnered to launch Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis, an online collaborative competition to discover and support entrepreneurs large and small who offer groundbreaking approaches to the most pressing water and sanitation challenges.

The Coca-Cola Company is contributing a lead grant of US$1 million to support the collaborative effort to find and fund truly innovative solutions that address the water crisis. This commitment and partnership were announced at the World Economic Forum at Davos today. The Forum has fostering Collaborative Innovation as one of its stated goals.

Most people do not think about water; they turn on a tap and clean water flows readily. But for more than 1.1 billion people around the world, access to safe water is a constant concern. Suitable sanitation facilities are in even shorter supply. A lack of basic bathroom facilities deprives 2.6 billion people of human privacy and dignity.

"We have both the resources and the will to live in a world in which everyone can drink clean water and use a safe toilet," said Paul Faeth, Executive Director of GWC. "This open source competition is unique in allowing social entrepreneurs working in the farthest corners of the world to connect with a dynamic community of experts and funders that can improve and expand the impact these entrepreneurs can have."

"Global Water Challenge seeks to make existing projects even stronger and connect local innovators with global investors who can bring solutions to scale. By partnering with Ashoka's Changemakers, Global Water Challenge has a platform to challenge the world's entrepreneurs to use their substantial talents to solve the world's water and sanitation crisis," says Charlie Brown, the executive director of Ashoka's Changemakers. Brown notes that the Changemakers Web site encourages collaboration and discussion to draw out and strengthen the most effective ideas.

Innovators can post their applications on the Ashoka's Changemakers Web site at www.changemakers.net now through March 26, 2008. During this time, applications will be available to anyone for review, comment and discussion.

Once the entry period has closed, a panel of judges, including Ian Callaghan, Director of the Microfinance Group at Morgan Stanley, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent on CNN, will select finalists and the global online community will vote for the winners. The winners will receive funds in recognition of their work.

About Global Water Challenge

Global Water Challenge (GWC) is a coalition of leading organizations, which have joined forces to catalyze transformational change in the water and sanitation sector. We believe that we have both the resources and the will to live in a world in which everyone can drink clean water, and use a safe toilet. Our mission is to generate a global movement to meet the urgent need for safe water and sanitation by spurring collective awareness and investment in innovation by corporate, public and nongovernmental actors. GWC focuses on collaborative learning, connecting leaders, and investing in sustainable, replicable, and scalable projects.

About Ashoka's Changemakers

Ashoka's Changemakers is building the world's first global online "open source" community that competes to surface the best social solutions to the world's most pressing issues. We focus on thematic, collaborative competitions, inviting innovators from around the world to profile and collaborate with a global community of investors, thought leaders and enthusiasts. To date Changemakers has launched 14 successful collaborative competitions and attracted more than 2,000 high-impact solutions from more than 125 countries. Changemakers builds on Ashoka's 26 year history identifying and selecting leading social entrepreneurs and its belief in "everyone a changemaker" global society.

Get involved by visiting Changemakers online (you must register to participate).

(Disclosure: I am an employee of Ashoka, although I do not work for the Changemakers.net initiative -- much as I admire the model. I am a shareholder in Coca-Cola through funds that I hold with Fidelity Investments.)

The Top 12 Hottest Environmental Issues

I'm a solutions guy and have started to swear off the moaning, groaning, and hand-wringing most greenies get mired in. (Did someone say Henny Penny?) Kevin Bryan of the Meridian Institute and I pushed hard to make the recent ELP/NJIT climate conference be focused on solutions. It was a great success and (almost) everyone felt hopeful coming out if it. I know I did.

But when a colleague asked me for a list of "the 12 hottest environmental, conservation and sustainability issues facing our planet today," I felt obliged to answer.

Here is my list, which was off the top of my head this afternoon, not necessarily in order of importance (other than climate change, which affects or exacerbates all of the others):

1. Climate Change (the uber issue).
2. Clean fresh water (for drinking, industry, energy, pharmaceuticals, technology).
3. Deforestation, especially in tropics.
4. Rising sea levels and warming ocean waters.
5. Collapsing fisheries and destructive fishing practices.
6. Energy (continued dependence on fossil fuels and switching to alternative resources).
7. Diminishing connection and access to nature among children ("Nature Deficit Disorder").
8. Poverty, terrorism and environmental refugees.
9. Maritime safety and pollution.
10. Biodiversity and ecosystem loss and degradation.
11. Agriculture and food security.
12. Global infectious diseases and vector-borne disease proliferation.

Surprising what remains from a little over a year ago -- and what's changed. Here's my last post on the subject, from Earth Day 2006: My 10 Thoughts for Earth Day.

Wish I could Plexo this so you could vote on each and move them up and down. But until then, I'd like to know what you think -- all of these are open for discussion.

Tell me what you think.

Innovation: Design for the Other 90 Percent

I'm looking forward to getting to New York to see the Cooper-Hewitt's "Design for the Other 90%" show, which runs through September 2007. The show features many of the design solutions, such as the Life Straw and others, that we've featured in the past in The Green Skeptic.

The brainchild of curator Cynthia E. Smith, Design for the Other 90% opened in May and will close on 23 September.

Here are some excerpts from the exhibition web site:

Of the world’s total population of 6.5 billion, 5.8 billion people, or 90%, have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted...Design for the Other 90% explores a growing movement among designers to design low-cost solutions for this “other 90%.”

...Designers, engineers, students and professors, architects, and social entrepreneurs from all over the globe are devising cost-effective ways to increase access to food and water, energy, education, healthcare, revenue-generating activities, and affordable transportation for those who most need them...

...More recently, designers are working directly with end users of their products, emphasizing co-creation to respond to their needs. Many of these projects employ market principles for income generation as a way out of poverty. Poor rural farmers become micro-entrepreneurs, while cottage industries emerge in more urban areas...

Some designs are patented to control the quality of their important breakthroughs, while others are open source in nature to allow for easier dissemination and adaptation, locally and internationally.

Encompassing a broad set of modern social and economic concerns, these design innovations often support responsible, sustainable economic policy. They help, rather than exploit, poorer economies; minimize environmental impact; increase social inclusion; improve healthcare at all levels; and advance the quality and accessibility of education.

...Design for the Other 90% demonstrates how design can be a dynamic force in saving and transforming lives, at home and around the world.

For more information, visit the Cooper-Hewitt web site: Design

Environment: Is Water the New Oil?

YaleGlobal Online this week features an article by Rohini Nilekani, chairperson of Arghyam, a charitable foundation that supports a safe and sustainable global water supply, on the future of a world facing increasingly scarce fresh water. This from the YaleGlobal intro:

Water is more vital for human life than oil – and environmentalists, corporations, communities and governments increasingly recognize its unequal distribution around the globe could lead to severe environmental degradation and intense conflicts in the years ahead.

Less than 3 percent of the world’s water is potable – and climate change is already rapidly diminishing the vast stores of freshwater stored in glaciers and polar ice. Nilekani suggests that individual awareness combined with some global leadership must focus on sustaining life on the planet rather than modern lifestyles – and could reduce waste, overpopulation and unsustainable practices. Otherwise, warns Nilekani, the conflicts over water will make the oil crisis “seem like the trailer of some horrible disaster movie.”

With water already in short supply for more than 20 percent of the world’s people, no person can afford to take freshwater for granted.

Read the full article: Is Water the Next Oil?

Global Climate Change: HSBC Backs $100m Climate Partnership

From the BBC Wednesday: HSBC is setting aside $100m (£50m) for an initiative to tackle climate change.

The funding by the UK's largest bank will help charities and environmental groups to research some of the global causes and effects of climate change.

The partnership will look at ways to protect the world's most important rivers and identify how cities can respond to environmental threats.

HSBC also said it would create "a green taskforce", to ensure climate awareness was central to its own business.

HSBC is the latest UK company to pledge changes to the way it operates in the face of calls for big business to do more to prioritise environmental concerns.

HSBC is teaming up with climate campaigners the Climate Group, environmental groups the Earthwatch Institute and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and the conservation charity WWF in a five-year partnership

"We believe we can tackle the causes and impacts of climate change," said HSBC chairman Stephen Green.

HSBC, which will spend $5m of the $100m on managing the project, said it would enable the four bodies to expand their climate-related research and undertake work in new countries such as China and India.

Read the full article in BBC: HSBC Climate