Mitra Ardron - passionate about scaling clean technologies to meet human needs. http://mitra.biz/ 2025-11-13T00:00:00.000Z 2010-01-25T18:29:16.000Z 2011-09-19T05:59:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/1-test Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This is a test, when it is complete something meaningfull should appear here.</p>

<p>This is a test, when it is complete something meaningfull should appear here.</p> 2010-01-25T19:08:19.000Z 2010-04-03T04:56:43.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/4-vortec-turbine-legal-ip Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Vortex turbine needs help with writing a restrictive licence of a patent so that the technology can be made available to (poor) people who need it, while the inventor (not Vortex Turbine) can be fairly compensated if the technology is used on a large commercial scale.</p>

<p>Vortex turbine needs help with writing a restrictive licence of a patent so that the technology can be made available to (poor) people who need it, while the inventor (not Vortex Turbine) can be fairly compensated if the technology is used on a large commercial scale.</p> 2010-01-25T19:11:52.000Z 2010-04-03T04:57:13.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/5-urban-ecological-systems-legal-non-profit-australian Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Urban Ecological Systems has developed a world-class integrated agricultural system integrating advanced aquaculture and horticulture that can scale up to feed cities without destroying the ecosystem in the process.</p><p>To facilitate access to the technology for those in developing countries it is looking to create a foundation that would own the rights to small scale versions of the technology.</p><p>They need legal assistance with creating an appropriate legal structure to hold these rights, and receive and manage grants to support this development.</p>

<p>Urban Ecological Systems has developed a world-class integrated agricultural system integrating advanced aquaculture and horticulture that can scale up to feed cities without destroying the ecosystem in the process.</p><p>To facilitate access to the technology for those in developing countries it is looking to create a foundation that would own the rights to small scale versions of the technology.</p><p>They need legal assistance with creating an appropriate legal structure to hold these rights, and receive and manage grants to support this development.</p> 2010-01-25T19:16:58.000Z 2010-04-03T04:58:25.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/7-mario-india-wind-turbine-virtual-wind-tunnel-testing Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Mario and his team are developing a low-cost micro-wind turbine suitable for deployment in rural situations in developing countries.</p><p>Funds have been secured to cover most of the costs of finishing the design and protoyping.</p><p>In order to complete testing, Mario needs access to someone with experience with virtual wind tunnel testing. Preferably using the Pro-E software.</p>

<p>Mario and his team are developing a low-cost micro-wind turbine suitable for deployment in rural situations in developing countries.</p><p>Funds have been secured to cover most of the costs of finishing the design and protoyping.</p><p>In order to complete testing, Mario needs access to someone with experience with virtual wind tunnel testing. Preferably using the Pro-E software.</p> 2010-01-25T20:22:01.000Z 2010-04-03T04:59:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/8-team-relocates-to-san-francisco Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Natural Innovation's founder and core team have relocated to San Francisco. Mitra Ardron arrived from Byron Bay (Australia) and brings his expertise in commercialising green innovations. Amy Belanger has moved to San Francisco after most recently working with Green America in Washington DC. She brings expertise in nonprofit development, green business marketing, mass communications, and public relations.</p>

<p>Natural Innovation's founder and core team have relocated to San Francisco. Mitra Ardron arrived from Byron Bay (Australia) and brings his expertise in commercialising green innovations. Amy Belanger has moved to San Francisco after most recently working with Green America in Washington DC. She brings expertise in nonprofit development, green business marketing, mass communications, and public relations.</p> 2010-01-26T19:03:41.000Z 2010-08-05T08:00:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/11-innovatorsinvolvement Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>If you've come up with an invention or innovation in the area of clean technology, and if you are more concerned with impact on people and the planet, than on financial reward, then we may be able to help you.</p>

<br /> <p>We are interested in ideas that provide renewable energy, reduce emissions, clean water, reduce waste and pollution, increase food production sustainably. We are especially looking for ideas that help people raise themselves out of poverty.  <br /> <br /> First please read our <a href="?id=12" target="_self" title="Innovator Guidelines">Innovator Guidelines</a> for the kind of ideas we work with, and then you can <a href="index.php/about-us/contact" target="_self" title="contact us">contact us</a>.</p><p> </p> 2023-03-13T00:00:00.000Z 2023-03-13T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/12-innovatorguidelines Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>These guidelines are intended to help you understand what kind of innovations and enterprises we are interested in, if your idea fits these guidelines we might be able to help you. If so then please <a href="/?alias=contact">contact us</a>. </p>

<p><strong>Topic Areas</strong> </p><p> We are particularly interested in the following areas: </p><ul> <li>Energy - renewable energy, especially we are interested in distributed sources (solar, small wind, hydro etc), biofuels - but not where they displace food production. </li> <li>Emissions reduction - reducing emissions from industrial processes etc</li> <li>Waste and Toxicity reduction / Circular Economy</li> <li>Water - cleaning water for drinking, or cleaning up waste water for reduced environmental impact</li> <li>Regenerative Agriculture and Sustainable Food Production, especially in areas of famine or poverty or to feed cities.</li> <li>Materials - especially made from natural materials, or waste</li> <li>Anything else which improves the environment, especially if it reduces poverty. </li> </ul><p> <strong>Where in the world.</strong> </p><p> Our geographical focus is SE Asia, Pacific, or Australian companies with an international focus. We can work with innovators anywhere in the world if the idea is right. Most of the people we are working with now are either based in developing countries, or are working on innovations where the intended market is in developing countries. </p><p> <strong>Stage of development</strong> </p><p> Often people come to us when they have had the idea and spent a fair amount of time, and often money, on trying it out in various ways. It needs to be more than just an idea, you need to have put the necessary work into figuring out whether its got some viability. But if the innovation is sound, we will work with people that everyone else is saying are "too early". </p><p> For an idea to be able to scale then there needs to be the potential for it to be viable in its market, i.e. it has to be able to be produced, distributed and sold at a price its market can pay. There is a lot that can be done to reduce costs, at all stages, but if the idea is going to always need subsidising then it cannot scale enough to make an impact, and we will probably not be interested. </p><p> <strong>Not interested in ...</strong> </p><p> There are a few areas we are unlikely to be interested in, at least not without a serious amount of evidence that you have something viable. These include: So called "Free energy" or "Zero Point" or other pseudo-science; Most ideas centered around the Blockchain (there is almost always a simpler way to achieve the goal); Most solutions that are just an app with no significant change to the underlying system. </p><p> <strong>What's next ...</strong> </p><p> <a href="/?alias=contact">Contact us</a>, tell us a bit about your idea, what stage it is at, and its potential impact on the environment and/or poverty. </p> 2010-01-26T19:34:03.000Z 2010-12-06T10:06:38.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/13-technicalinvolved Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Most of the ideas that approach us are not yet complete technically, by matching your skills, and an innovators needs, there is a potential to make a big difference and remove the next blockage on the route to a successful invention.</p>

<br /> <p>We can deal with various levels of commitment, from those wanting to drop everything and work alongside an innovator in a developing country, to people happy to lend their skills for small projects they can do alongside their day-job or as a university project.</p><p>We are interested in hearing both from individuals, and from organisations (such as chapters of Engineers Without Borders, or student associations etc).</p><p>At this point we are also building capacity, so that we have a range of skills that can be made available. Specific skills that we think will be needed include:</p><ul><li>Rapid Prototyping</li><li>CNC machining</li><li>Engineers of all descriptions - including electronic, mechanical, electrical.</li><li>People who understand "Design for Manufacture"</li><li>3D modellers - skilled in Autocad or similar software.</li></ul><p><strong>Some of the innovators have made specific requests - which are listed below. </strong></p><p>{module 23}</p><p><strong>(<a href="index.php/requests" target="_self" title="all requests">see all - not just technical - requests</a>)</strong></p> 2010-01-26T21:54:38.000Z 2010-04-03T05:05:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/14-otherinvolved Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>There are lots of opportunities for people with other skills to get involved, especially if you have legal, web design, or administrative skills.</p>

<br /> <p>In particular there are current needs for:</p><p>{module 24}</p> 2010-01-26T22:07:18.000Z 2011-05-03T01:35:22.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/15-foundationinvolvement Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> </p><p>We are looking to partner with foundations interested in supporting the completion of specific innovations, or our work in general. We are also looking for sources of larger debt finance to support deployment for example through working capital for manufacture, or micro-finance for the end-users. We are putting together a small fund that will have a low-overhead way to support innovators with smaller requirements.</p>

<br /> <p>Some current examples include:</p><p>{module 25}</p><p>--</p> 2010-01-26T22:17:37.000Z 2010-04-03T05:06:14.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/16-deploymentinvolvement Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>We are looking to partner with Aid and Development groups, that are familiary with deployment of appropriate technologies in different cultures.</p>

<p>We are looking to partner with Aid and Development groups, that are familiary with deployment of appropriate technologies in different cultures.</p> 2010-02-02T01:33:53.000Z 2010-12-20T22:15:38.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/17-vortex Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>{module Vortec images|xhtml} Some clever people have developed a hydro system that can work on low (~1m) heads of water through use of a novel vortex to speed up flow. Proofs of concept have been built, in Austria and Switzerland and funds sourced for the first deployment in Indonesia, but it needs people to champion and prove it in developing country environments.  There is an approximate requirement of US$60k to build a 40kw system with a three-year payback, and another US$20-40k to complete testing and selection of alternators, and train villagers in their construction, but more importantly it needs an engineer with a passion to create a workable solution.</p>

<br /> <p>Problem</p><p>Many countries have significant flowing water resources, but they are in smaller rivers, with small drops (or “head”). Most hydro solutions require a head of at least 2-3m.</p><h2>Solution</h2><br /> <p>The innovation creates a basin into which a portion of the river flow is diverted, entering the basin at a tangent. It works with low-head (as little as 0.5m, though 1-1.5 is preferable). As the water enters the basin it swirls and is sucked out the bottom like the drain on a bath. The speed in the vortex allows for more efficient capturing of the energy.</p><h2>Market</h2><br /> <p>This innovation would initially be deployed across Bali, where there is abundant flowing water, but a relatively poor electricity infrastructure. Once proven this innovation has potential application across the developing and developed world.</p><h2>Financials</h2><br /> <p>It is estimated that a 5m³/sec flow through a 1.5m head could generate 40kw for a capital cost of about US$60k. In Bali – where the engineers are based – such situations are common and a generator would pay back its capital cost in 3 years.</p><p>This innovation needs about US$60k to build the first system, and potentially another US$40k to assist deployment. After that point it should be financeable through micro-credit lenders.</p><h2>Progress So far</h2><br /> <p>The system was invented in Austria &amp; one instance has been built there. Frederick Stimmel developed the idea and localised it to a Balinese context, including building a couple of partial prototypes. Currently (dec10) funds and a site have been secured for the first live system and its waiting for planning permission. However Frederick has moved back to Scotland so this project really needs someone else to pick it up.</p><h2>Challenges</h2> <br/><p>The biggest challenge of this innovation, is also its greatest strength, once deployed successfully in one location it will be possible for any village to copy it.</p><p>In Bali, water has significant spiritual significance, and the team will need to sensitivity to avoid resistance.</p><p> Update: 2025 - it took 15 years, but someone finally put a turbine in the well - which apparantly (I haven't seen it) is working.</p> 2010-02-02T05:30:39.000Z 2010-03-21T01:12:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/18-microwind Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The innovator is developing a low-cost vertical axis small (~1kw) wind turbine suitable for Indian markets. He needs help to speed up the process of simulation; rapid prototyping; wind-tunnel testing; tooling up, and working capital to produce the first batches including for example sourcing the first batch of appropriate wind-capable alternators.</p>

<br /> <h2>Problem</h2><br /> <p>Rural developing country villages are electrifying, but mostly through fossil fuel infrastructure.</p><p>Small wind is easy to deploy, since the buildings they sit on and power connections already exist, but existing modern solution are expensive which gives small wind a bad reputation as costs per kwh are high.</p><p>Achieving venture capital returns on a small market leads to high margines, and higher prices than needed.</p><p>Small wind doesn’t need to be expensive, as the solutions are well understood. By designing a turbine from scratch, using well understood methodologies, components and materials it is possible to dramatically reduce the cost.</p><h2>Market</h2><br /> <p>The initial target market is rural Indian villages, there are enough with good wind profiles to ensure a substantial market.</p><p>Once tested and deployed, the market will be expanded to other developing countries. <br /> There are also potential developed country markets using similar high-volume approaches to that Mitra took with Solar PV in Australia.</p><h2>Financials</h2><br /> <p>The costing for the turbine will be determined once the testing is complete and an optimum alternator selected, however it is anticipated that the price can be set at a point that will ensure short term payback in Indian villages, and therefore be micro-credit financeable.</p><p>The costs to complete development have been sourced, however working capital costs, estimated currently at US$200,000 to allow volume purchase of components are needed.</p><h2>Team</h2><br /> <p>The lead innovator has both developed and developing country renewable energy expertise including deploying new renewable innovations.  He is located near Puttaparthi in India, and has tapped into the skills of the significant expat community around that area, and the university. Significant pro-bono skills and other resources including a 1000 m2 manufacturing facility, have already been committed to the project.</p><h2>Progress</h2><br /> <p>The design has been completed, and is currently being tested in a virtual wind tunnel, once completed a prototype will be built using a 3D-printer and tested in a real wind-tunnel. Moulds will be constructed from that prototype. An optimum source for generators is being selected.</p><h2>Challenges</h2><br /> <p>The biggest challenge is reducing the cost to the point where it is affordable to the target market. In part this requires purchasing components at sufficient volumes. It also requires taking slim margins, making it unattractive to VC finance.</p> 2010-02-16T20:04:26.000Z 2010-03-21T00:31:53.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/19-front Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Natural Innovation supports the development of clean technologies that have the potential for a significant impact on the environment and poverty, and have a viable business model, but cannot be financed by traditional means by virtue of being based in, or marketed to, developing countries, or the technology is in the public domain.</p><p><strong>THIS WEBSITE IS STILL VERY MUCH UNDER DEVELOPMENT = PLEASE EXCUSE ANYTHING ODD</strong></p>

<p>Natural Innovation supports the development of clean technologies that have the potential for a significant impact on the environment and poverty, and have a viable business model, but cannot be financed by traditional means by virtue of being based in, or marketed to, developing countries, or the technology is in the public domain.</p><p><strong>THIS WEBSITE IS STILL VERY MUCH UNDER DEVELOPMENT = PLEASE EXCUSE ANYTHING ODD</strong></p> 2010-02-22T00:00:40.000Z 2011-09-13T01:26:19.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/20-urbanecologicalsystems1 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/ues%20nutrient%20flow%20300px.jpg" border="0" alt="nutrient flow in UES system" /></p><p>Urban Ecological Systems (Australia) have developed scalable, commercially viable integrated aquaculture/horticulture systems.</p><p>Mitra helped UES to develop its business plan and raise finance including introducing them to their major investor. We also introduced them to Sunvention with whom they explored installing an energy system.</p><p>UES's as part of a venture called Green Camel built a 4,000 m² farm in Sydney which now supplies Coles with organic greens.</p>

<h2>Problem</h2><p>The worlds food production systems are at a crisis point. The increased population to 9 billion is projected to double food demand over the next few decades. Industrial agriculture is destroying the environment, long transport distances cause considerable emissions. Fisheries are in decline, while meat production is another major carbon emitter.</p><p>Integrating aquaculture (fish) with horticulture is an ancient system but most “aquaponics” systems are designed for small scale, and are not efficient or cost-effective.</p><h2>Solution</h2><p>Urban Ecological Systems have a system that allows for organic production, at low cost, and high efficiencies – in terms of energy, water and land usage, at commercial scales (a minimum of 3,000m²).</p><p>Natural Innovation has been working with UES since late 2008. We helped them develop their financial modeling, create a business plan, update their web site, and after the Global Financial Crisis made it impossible to raise capital, we helped them shift their strategy and secure their first commercial customer. We also introduced them to Sunvention with whom they explored integrating a solar heating system (the Sunvention technology wasn't really ready for commercialization).</p><h2>Update 2021</h2><p>Urban Ecological Systems rebranded as <a href="https://www.bluesmartfarms.com/">Blue Farms</a> and are interested in working with greenhouse partners, to create similar venture, anywhere in the world.</p> 2010-05-20T23:35:34.000Z 2011-11-15T01:35:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/22-aboutinnovators Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Natural Innovation .org works with innovators who have great ideas that have a potential to scale to have a significant impact on poverty or the environment. Most of the innovations we work with are focused on developing countries, and many of the innovators are based there.</p><p>We incubate these innovators to help them bring the idea to realisation. We link innovators with resources - including grants; volunteers (especially technical); finance and strategic partners.</p><p>Some of the innovators and innovations we are working on appear here, (some others are still in stealth)</p><p>In addition we work on projects that can change the landscape for support and funding for such innovators. For example addressing licensing issues, or developing component technologies that multiple innovators need.</p>

<p>Natural Innovation .org works with innovators who have great ideas that have a potential to scale to have a significant impact on poverty or the environment. Most of the innovations we work with are focused on developing countries, and many of the innovators are based there.</p><p>We incubate these innovators to help them bring the idea to realisation. We link innovators with resources - including grants; volunteers (especially technical); finance and strategic partners.</p><p>Some of the innovators and innovations we are working on appear here, (some others are still in stealth)</p><p>In addition we work on projects that can change the landscape for support and funding for such innovators. For example addressing licensing issues, or developing component technologies that multiple innovators need.</p> 2010-05-21T00:13:24.000Z 2012-03-10T02:18:30.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/23-aboutgetinvolved Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Our mission is all about getting people involved, we have quite a small core team, but work with individuals and organisations who share our goal of seeing technology used to alleviate poverty, reduce emissions, and improve the environment.</p><p>Our strength is the strength of <a href="index.php/partners">our partners</a>, and we are looking for people to collaborate with in a number of different areas including: grants; investments (high risk, PRI, and market rate debt);  volunteers (business &amp; technical); and strategic partners especially those deploying technology in developing countries.</p><p><a class="readon" href="index.php/partners">Read more...</a></p>

<p>Our mission is all about getting people involved, we have quite a small core team, but work with individuals and organisations who share our goal of seeing technology used to alleviate poverty, reduce emissions, and improve the environment.</p><p>Our strength is the strength of <a href="index.php/partners">our partners</a>, and we are looking for people to collaborate with in a number of different areas including: grants; investments (high risk, PRI, and market rate debt);  volunteers (business &amp; technical); and strategic partners especially those deploying technology in developing countries.</p><p><a class="readon" href="index.php/partners">Read more...</a></p> 2010-06-27T19:13:27.000Z 2011-09-28T22:32:54.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/24-sunvention Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="http://www.sunvention.com/" target="_blank" title="Sunvention">Sunvention</a>, is a Research &amp; Development laboratory that has developed a range of technologies and expertise in overlapping fields of greenhouse solar capture; stirling engines; and optics for photovoltaics &amp; daylighting etc. We are particularly excited by the potential of the <a href="http://www.sunvention.com/sv/produkte2.html" target="_blank">SunPulse Water</a>, a solar pump that is 3x as efficient as Photovoltaic pumps.</p><p>Natural Innovation helped Sunvention to document their technologies and focus their business and raised an emergency loan for them. This helped them raise substantial finance from a Swiss foundation. In addition, we mediated a relationship between Sunvention and Urban Ecological Systems, another of our incubatees.

<p>Their technologies have applications in the developed world but more importantly have a huge potential for impact in the developing world, where design choices leading to ease of construction and maintenance, lower cost materials for example lead to broad applicability.</p><p>This is a company to watch - they have a number of other technologies in the pipeline, including solar thermal off-grid systems, and water treatment.</p> <p><b>Update 2024:</b> Sunvention could never really focus on one product and take it all the way to commercial viability. They built a test field at Tamara Ecovillage, but the last I heard, they are no longer connected to it. Sunvention - the company - died and was reborn a couple more times - BR Solar which developed some stirling engines, then <a href="https://www.sun-orbit.de">Sun Orbit</a> which I believe still exists but as far as I can tell does not have any products in the market. </p><p>I believe the solutions they invented had significant potential and wish them well, but without an ability to take any of them all the way through to market, the impact is unfortunately not going to happen. </p><p>I have not been in touch for a few years - please contact them directly if interested.</p> 2010-07-31T09:38:38.000Z 2010-08-14T03:53:42.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/26-brewsterkahle Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>B<img class="teamimage" src="/images/brewsterkahle200w235h.jpg" border="0" alt="Brewster Kahle" />rewster Kahle is the founder and Digital Librarian at the <a href="http://www.archive.org">Internet Archive</a>. Brewster is widely recognized for his ability to grow a technology-driven non-profit to scale, and to have relevance and impact through drawing on the worlds of business, technology and government.</p>

<p>B<img class="teamimage" src="/images/brewsterkahle200w235h.jpg" border="0" alt="Brewster Kahle" />rewster Kahle is the founder and Digital Librarian at the <a href="http://www.archive.org">Internet Archive</a>. Brewster is widely recognized for his ability to grow a technology-driven non-profit to scale, and to have relevance and impact through drawing on the worlds of business, technology and government.</p> 2010-07-31T09:46:46.000Z 2010-08-14T03:51:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/27-davidwyatt Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="teamimage" src="/images/davidwyatt129w152h.jpg" border="0" />David Wyatt is the former chair of <a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au">Papyrus Australia</a> (PPY.AX).</p><p>David brings a background with taking several companies, including Papyrus to stock exchange listings, and with the challenge of maintaining social and environmental relevance while simultaneously satisfying investors.</p>

<p><img class="teamimage" src="/images/davidwyatt129w152h.jpg" border="0" />David Wyatt is the former chair of <a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au">Papyrus Australia</a> (PPY.AX).</p><p>David brings a background with taking several companies, including Papyrus to stock exchange listings, and with the challenge of maintaining social and environmental relevance while simultaneously satisfying investors.</p> 2010-08-02T09:27:21.000Z 2011-05-01T02:52:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/28-barefootpower Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/rotation/barefoot%20263x263.jpg" border="0" alt="lighting up studying" title="lighting up studying" /></p><p>Barefoot Power is a social for-profit enterprise that assists poor people in developing countries to access affordable renewable energy and efficient lighting.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><p>Globally, the kerosene market is represented by 1.5 billion people, who spend USD $10-30 billion/year on kerosene. Initially, sales are made for cash in market segments where payback periods are 3-6 months. Programs are being developed with MFIs to sell larger lighting systems via energy loans.</p><p>By transitioning millions of people to renewable lighting, fewer people will suffer burns and respiratory illness by displacing harmful kerosene, education outcomes will increase with better room lighting levels, and disposable income will increase as the poor spend less on kerosene.</p><p>Their are a number of companies developing products in the small solar lighting space, but we have been impressed by the quality of Barefoot Power's products - for example reasonably sturdy products, with appropriately sized panels and batteries to meet the needs in rural areas.<br /> <br /> We've also been impressed by Barefoot Power's business model, which is the key to scaling the solution. The Barefoot Power business model leverages the strengths of slim margins, willingness to offer supplier credit to assist in scaling up business, innovative methods to monetize carbon emission reductions, and a proven ability to mobilize finance, grants, the microfinance industry and their entrepreneurs.</p> 2010-08-05T07:40:27.000Z 2011-04-24T21:42:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/29-consultingni Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Natural Innovation’s Executive Director, Mitra Ardron is available for consulting to companies or organisations that are working with Clean Technologies.</p><p>The fee for these services support the work of Natural Innovation .org.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><h2>Areas of expertise</h2><br /> <p>Mitra has been involved – as a consultant, principal, or senior staff at more than 20 start-ups, and has seen both failures and successes including acquisition; stock exchange listing; and rapid – industry changing – growth. He has worked across most areas of Cleantech, including Energy, Food & Materials.</p><p>Along with his involvement in the early days of Internet commercialisation this experience has led to an understanding of rapid growth in an environment where technology risk is expected, and where the social and environmental impacts may be a crucial factor in success.</p><p>The breath of Mitra’s experience is valuable in cost-effectively assisting in rapidly achieving results, and where applicable can lead to more in-depth consulting by specialists.</p><p>Mitra has lived and worked in the US; UK; Australia; India & Russia.</p><h2>Investment Assessment</h2><br /> <p>Mitra advises investors on the viability, or otherwise of a potential investment. Typically this involves reviewing documentation provided by the potential partner and material available publically over the web, or by discrete inquiries through my extensive network of contacts.</p><p>Reviews may be quick and informal – a once off read through a paper and a comment such as a pointer to an obvious weakness; or can be thorough with in-depth reports; and can if applicable involve integrating, or commenting on reports by domain experts. Mitra is used to working both completely independently of the investees, or participating in meetings alongside the investors.</p><p>Areas typically covered include the technology; team; market; timelines; financials etc.</p><h2>Technology Assessment</h2><br /> <p>In particular, and not just for investors, Mitra is frequently called on to review technology proposals – for example during assessing potential Joint Ventures.</p><p>Mitra maintains an extensive network of technical contacts, which coupled with his own breadth of experience, may remove the need to locate and engage a specialist. Mitra can help you understand whether the line “This problem is trivial” is accurate, or is where the bulk of their time and your money will be spent.</p><p>Mitra is particularly good at looking at new ideas with an open-mind, in a way that picks out the gems from the rubbish, especially in “fringe” areas.</p><h2>Strategic Planning</h2><br /> <p>Mitra assists organisations with strategic planning, helping bring a fresh, yet experienced, perspective that has frequently proved valuable either in identifying minor tweaks, or major redesigns or in bringing teams together around a common path forward.</p><h2>Social Venture Development</h2><br /> <p>From creating Green Businesses, to building non-profits Mitra has a particular interest in helping bridge the gap between high impact, and financial success for example Mitra led a project that changed Australia’s solar industry through very large scale community group purchases that made solar accessible to all homeowners.</p><h2>Finance Raising</h2><br /> <p>Mitra can help a company see itself through the lens of an investor, and understand where its weak areas are, and look at how to fix or mitigate them.</p><h2>Business Plans and Presentations</h2><br /> <p>A good business plan is an essential tool to any finance (or grant) raising, or strategic relationships. Writing a business plan, and developing accompanying presentations, does not have to be a lengthy process and Mitra frequently reviews existing plans, assists in developing new ones, or writes them from scratch.</p><h2>Spreadsheets & Financial Planning</h2><br /> <p>Mitra is an Excel wizard, and can help you develop the models that both accurately represent your business or technology, and then clearly present numbers that help explain it to others.</p><h2>Costs</h2><br /> <p>Our charges will depend on the work to be carried out and the impact of the organisation. In some cases payment can be in the form of equity, or be contingent on future success.</p><p>All consulting comes with a simple satisfaction guarantee. If its not worth it, then you don’t pay for it!</p><p> </p> 2010-08-05T08:30:47.000Z 2011-05-01T22:59:29.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/30-opportunityues Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>UES has just completed a sale of its first commercial scale integrated organic horticulture &amp; aquaculture system which will be built in Sydney. The deal involves a AUD $3.5m (US$2.75) investment.</p><p>Having secured this sale, UES has completed its transition from being an R&amp;D company to being a trading company.</p><p>It is currently raising an additional AUD $750,000 (US$685k) in capital, principally for international marketing and increasing its capacity to service sales. UES is only accepting investment from either current UES Ltd investors, international or sophisticated investors; ie those investors who understand the risks and have the means to make significant investments and who meet the ASIC definition for ‘sophisticated Investor’.</p>

<p>UES has just completed a sale of its first commercial scale integrated organic horticulture &amp; aquaculture system which will be built in Sydney. The deal involves a AUD $3.5m (US$2.75) investment.</p><p>Having secured this sale, UES has completed its transition from being an R&amp;D company to being a trading company.</p><p>It is currently raising an additional AUD $750,000 (US$685k) in capital, principally for international marketing and increasing its capacity to service sales. UES is only accepting investment from either current UES Ltd investors, international or sophisticated investors; ie those investors who understand the risks and have the means to make significant investments and who meet the ASIC definition for ‘sophisticated Investor’.</p> 2010-08-09T09:52:29.000Z 2011-05-01T22:59:20.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/32-investmentsunvention Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="index.php/innovators/24-sunvention">Sunvention</a> have developed a number of solar technologies, and we have been impressed by both the humanitarian and commercial potentials of them.</p><p>Sunvention has recently secured an investment that provides for the funding of the core company, and to bring a number of products into manufacture.</p><p>They are currently seeking an investment to allow for the <a href="index.php/innovators/33-sunpulsewater" title="SunPulse Water - solar thermal water pumping">SunPulse Water</a> - its ground-breaking solar thermal pump - to be spun off as a seperate company, with enough resources to ensure the SunPulse Water reaches as many people as possible.</p><p>Sunvention’s founders are committed to a purchase which ensures that both the humanitarian and commercial aspects of their inventions are realised. For example this would also be a good opportunity for a non-profit that was focused on the provision of water.</p><p>Please <a href="index.php/about-us/contact" target="_self" title="contact us">contact us</a> for more information.</p><p> </p>

<p><a href="index.php/innovators/24-sunvention">Sunvention</a> have developed a number of solar technologies, and we have been impressed by both the humanitarian and commercial potentials of them.</p><p>Sunvention has recently secured an investment that provides for the funding of the core company, and to bring a number of products into manufacture.</p><p>They are currently seeking an investment to allow for the <a href="index.php/innovators/33-sunpulsewater" title="SunPulse Water - solar thermal water pumping">SunPulse Water</a> - its ground-breaking solar thermal pump - to be spun off as a seperate company, with enough resources to ensure the SunPulse Water reaches as many people as possible.</p><p>Sunvention’s founders are committed to a purchase which ensures that both the humanitarian and commercial aspects of their inventions are realised. For example this would also be a good opportunity for a non-profit that was focused on the provision of water.</p><p>Please <a href="index.php/about-us/contact" target="_self" title="contact us">contact us</a> for more information.</p><p> </p> 2010-08-12T01:46:19.000Z 2011-05-01T02:52:35.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/33-sunpulsewater Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/sunvention/sunpulse water 090728_5379_clip_500x423.jpg" border="0" alt="Sunvention pump at Tamera test site" title="Sunvention pump at Tamera test site" style="border: 0pt none;" /> Sunvention have developed an integrated solar thermal water pump, possibly the first cost-effective solution to village-scale pumping in sunbelt countries.</p>

<br /> <h2>Problem</h2><br /> <p>Much of the world's rural poor lack access to water, and part of this is a lack of cost-effective pumping.</p><p>The World Bank set a “maximum water cost target” of 6 US cents/m3 as benchmark for pumping systems in order to be economically employed in sunbelt countries. Gasoline powered pumps figure in the relevant World Bank Study at 8.58 US cents/m3, while photovoltaic systems are estimated at US 8.4 cents/m3.</p><h2>Solution</h2><br /> <p>Sunvention have developed an integrated solar thermal pump. It uses a collector, steered in two axis, and coupled directly to a slow-speed atmospheric pressure Stirling engine, which can be coupled directly to a pump – or other requirement for mechanical power.</p><p>The system is designed for manufacture in developing countries, using locally available, non-toxic, recyclable, materials and appropriate techniques.</p><table border="1" cellspacing="0" align="right"><br /> <tbody><tr><th>Head<br /> meters (feet)</th><th>Volume per day<br /> Litres (Gallons)</th><br /> </tr><tr><td>Field Irrigation</td><td>400,000 l (100,000 g)</td></tr><tr><td>10m (33 ft)</td><td>80,000 l (21,000 g)</td></tr><tr><td>50m (165 ft)</td><td>17,000 l (4,500 g)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p>The pump, starts working at sunrise, and with 8 hours of sun, can pump significant volumes.</p><p>Buffering systems can extend usage to 24-hours.</p><p>It is estimated the pump could be produced for about US$1,250 and sold of US$2,500.</p><h2>Market</h2><br /> <p>TÜV labs recently assessed the system at a cost of US 2.4c/m3 making it the first village scale pump that we are aware of that meets the World Bank target.</p><p>There are 20 million diesel pumps (typically of this capacity) in India alone. Reaching even 0.1% of this market per year, would generate US$ 25m/year gross profit.</p><p>Additional markets include any off-grid pumping application in sunny regions. Air pumping for fish-farms; off-grid mechanical requirements (milling, grinding, compressing etc)</p><h2><img src="/images/sunvention/sunpulse water jk pumping stripe550w215h.jpg" border="0" alt="SunPulse Water pumping" title="SunPulse Water pumping" /></h2><br /> <h2>Status</h2><br /> <p>The Sunpulse water pre-production prototype is complete and discussions are under way with possible manufacturing partners.</p><h2><img src="/images/sunvention/sunpulsewater driving india marc ii markup2.jpg" border="0" alt="SunPulse Water driving India Mark II pump" title="SunPulse Water driving India Mark II pump" width="200" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" />Technology details</h2><br /> <p>At the front of the pump is a solar collector; this reflects sunlight towards the middle where it heats up the front of a Stirling Engine.</p><p>Sunvention’s unique design of Stirling engine uses air at atmospheric pressure as the working fluid, and pulses at a slow 30-60 times per minute.</p><p>The pump can be attached to a rotary pump, or as shown, connected to a hydraulic cylinder.</p><p>The other end of the hydraulic hose is connected to a hydraulic cylinder attached in this case to an India Mark II Water Pump.</p><p><img src="data:image/png;base64,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" border="0" style="position: absolute; visibility: visible; color: transparent; margin: 0px; border: medium none; z-index: 2147483647; left: 228px; top: -10px;" /></p> 2010-08-14T03:06:28.000Z 2010-08-14T03:44:17.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/34-lilistiefel Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="teamimage" src="/images/lilistiefelheadshot200w235h.jpg" border="0" alt="Lili Stiefel" align="left" />Lili Stiefel created the Stiefel Family Foundation with her mother, Marie, in the spring of 2007. She first became interested in renewable energy long ago in college, where she managed the school’s solar car team with more enthusiasm than competence. A master’s thesis on radical Islam persuaded her of the importance of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and promoting renewable energy in any way possible. To this end, she relocated the foundation’s headquarters (and herself) from DC to San Francisco in the winter of 2008 and broadened its mission from a straight grant-making organization to a hybrid non-profit/for-profit institution. The foundation now makes seed-stage investments in renewable energy startups and has pledged to use the profits (if any) to supplement its grant-making endeavors.</p>

<p><img class="teamimage" src="/images/lilistiefelheadshot200w235h.jpg" border="0" alt="Lili Stiefel" align="left" />Lili Stiefel created the Stiefel Family Foundation with her mother, Marie, in the spring of 2007. She first became interested in renewable energy long ago in college, where she managed the school’s solar car team with more enthusiasm than competence. A master’s thesis on radical Islam persuaded her of the importance of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and promoting renewable energy in any way possible. To this end, she relocated the foundation’s headquarters (and herself) from DC to San Francisco in the winter of 2008 and broadened its mission from a straight grant-making organization to a hybrid non-profit/for-profit institution. The foundation now makes seed-stage investments in renewable energy startups and has pledged to use the profits (if any) to supplement its grant-making endeavors.</p> 2010-10-22T12:35:33.000Z 2010-11-05T17:35:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/35-solar-power-villages Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This article on Sunvention's Solar Power Villages is also available as a <a href="images/sunvention%20solar%20power%20village.usletter.email.pdf" title="Solar Power Village article">PDF article</a></p><h3><img src="/images/sunvention/solarvillage.jpg" border="0" width="150" align="right" />Autonomous power for villages</h3><br /> <p>Sunvention have developed a collection of technologies for meeting the food and energy needs of eco-villages and developing country villages.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><h2>Problem</h2><br /> <p>Whether creating a sustainable community or eco-village in a developed country, or meeting the needs of remote villages in developing countries there are two overlapping challenges.</p><ul><li>supplying the energy needs of the community which includes collecting energy, storing the energy for use and then converting it to the desired form.</li><li>creating a sustainable food supply especially when the sites selected are often not ideal for year-round organic growing in fields in the open-air. </li></ul><p>Greenhouses provide part of the solution to food growing, allowing climate control and protection from pests, however this creates another demand for energy.</p><h2>Solution</h2><br /> <p>Developed over many years by Jürgen Kleinwächter &amp; his team at Sunvention, the Solar Power Village solution is designed as part of meeting both these challenges. Each solution is unique, it depends on the climate, diet, the size of the community being served etc, and picks from components that include:</p><li>Envelope Power Greenhouses – that incorporate solar thermal collection of heat into the framework of the greenhouse.</li><li>Heat storage solutions such as tanks of vegetable oil at 200°C</li><li>Generators that turn this stored heat into mechanical power, or electricity</li><li>The waste heat from the generators warms the greenhouse at night.</li><li>Round the clock community cooking solutions based on this hot-oil and Scheffler mirrors</li><li>Stand alone solar thermal water pumping</li><p>A fully working version of this system has been installed at the Tamara eco-village in Portugal, incorporating all these elements in a 130 m2 greenhouse, with a 1500 W electric generator, and hot oil storage sufficient for 28 kWh of electricity.</p><p>Developments in the pipeline that are designed to integrate into this framework. include:</p><ul><li>A system that allows for burning of low-quality biomass, and production of high-heat for ceramics or industrial processes; solar cooling and water purification.</li><li>Integrating aquaculture with organic horticulture through our partner Urban Ecological Systems including scaling to larger systems (500+ people) at very high efficiency.</li><li>Achieving a high degree of water efficiency through collecting condensation.</li></ul><h2>Market</h2><br /> <p>Solar Power Villages are suitable for two key market segments.</p><ol><br /> <li>Eco Villages and Sustainable Communities that are looking to increase their independence from grid power and industrialised food systems. </li><li>Developing country villages with similar requirements.</li></ol><br /> <p>While there are other solutions available, there is nothing that integrates food growing with energy collection, storage &amp; conversion. For example: the cheaper Chinese solar greenhouses require an energy source to be effective; low-tech aquaponics systems are notoriously prone to failure and most off-grid energy systems usually rely on expensive batteries to provide reliability.</p><p>Sunvention is committed to this technology being available to the people most in need, so proceeds from supply of Solar Power Villages in the developed world help bring similar solutions to the developing world.</p><h2><img src="/images/sunvention/sunray2ingreenhouse.jpg" border="0" width="150" style="float: right;" />Technology Details - Envelope Greenhouse</h2><br /> <p>To collect significant amounts of solar energy – whether for thermal or photovoltaic use – requires covering significant areas with collectors. These collectors, along with the precision mechanisms used to track the sun, need to be protected from extreme weather including wind, rain, snow and sandstorms. The materials used, for example stronger frames, add significantly to the capital cost, which is the most significant factor in economic efficiency of a solar power station.</p><p>In order to create the best conditions for growth, modern greenhouses, in sunny countries, waste significant amounts of energy for cooling during the day, and for heating at night.</p><p>Sunvention’s systems are installed underneath the Greenhouse’s roof, replacing shading systems. The protection of this roof allows for a lightweight, material-saving construction.</p><p>Direct radiation is stored as heat for use to heat the greenhouse at night. Any excess heat is converted into electricity. This reduces the thermal load, allowing for a reduction in cooling costs for the greenhouse.</p><p>The remaining diffuse light allows for optimal plant growth.</p><p>These systems improve the economics for both solar power stations, and greenhouses while allowing for the use of the same area for both activities.</p><p>The Envelope Power Greenhouse consists of a number of components which could be licensed separately, along with the knowledge and systems integration expertise to construct complete systems.</p><h3><img src="/images/sunvention/epg 150w100h.jpg" border="0" align="right" />Fluoropolymer Envelope</h3><br /> <p>Fluoropolymers have a lifetime of approximately 30 years, and are transparent to UV radiation which improves both the color and aroma of the food produced, and has a disinfecting effect, reducing the use of pesticides.</p><p>In contrast, Polyethylene (PE) films need replacing every 3-5 years, and glass has a higher capital cost and fragility, and needs stronger structures.</p><h3><img src="/images/sunvention/sunray ii.png" border="0" width="150" style="float: left; border: 0; margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 12px;" />Sunray II – Linear focusing Fresnel lens concentrator</h3><br /> <p>Fresnel lenses, inside the greenhouse envelope are used to concentrate direct radiation onto a collector pipe, while allowing diffuse sunlight to reach the plants beneath.</p><p>The collector pipe can heat water or oil, and can carry photovoltaics.</p><h3>Solar Magnet Tracker</h3><br /> <p>Accurately tracking the sun in two axis (up-down, and east-west) is necessary for solar concentrator systems, and can improve the power of non-concentrator systems by roughly 20-35%.</p><h3><img src="/images/sunvention/scheffler%20tamara%203%20clip.jpg" border="0" width="150" style="float: right;" /></h3><br /> <p>Sunvention has developed a robust and effective controller for tracking. The system is self-learning and easy to fit to diverse tracking systems including uni-axial, bi-axial, and 1½ axis trackers such as the Sunray II.</p><h3>Hot oil or water systems</h3><br /> <p>In addition to the solar collection, a hot-oil or hot-water system is used to store the heat for use at night to heat the greenhouse, or for use in other systems such as the SunPulse Electric, or the Solar Cooking systems.</p><h3>Scheffler Mirrors</h3><br /> <p>Large, easily manufactured mirrors focus light onto a secondary mirror that is used to heat the food.</p><h2>Technology Details - Stirling Engines &amp; Cooking</h2><br /> <p><img src="/images/sunvention/sunpulse%20electric%203.jpg" border="0" width="150" align="left" style="float: left; border: 0; margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 12px;" />Converting heat into power (electricity or movement) is the basis of most energy sources. Most solutions are expensive and/or use a lot of water.</p><p>The Stirling engine is a heat engine in which one side is heated, and the other cooled and a working gas is displaced from side to side in order to gain mechanical energy from its expansion and contraction as it alternately heats and cools.</p><p>The principle of the Stirling engine has been known since the nineteenth century. However commercialisation has focused on high-speeds, high-pressures and exotic &amp;/or expensive working gases like helium.</p><p>Sunvention has taken on this principle and perfected it through a simplified robust construction that can be built by machine-building companies in developing countries, and maintained locally, and is optimized for using lower temperature, solar generated, heat sources and uses air as the working gas.</p><p>A number of specific products have been completed, and an expertise developed in creating solutions to specific problems.</p><h2>SunPulse Electric</h2><br /> <p>This engine is designed for :</p><ul><li>24-hour operation, using a stored fluid. </li><li>Operate at moderate temperatures (100-200°C, 212-400°F) allowing for the use of inexpensive, long-lived materials.</li><li>Decentralized application that can be built cheaply in developing countries, be largely maintenance free, and locally maintainable.</li><li>1.5kW-electrical capacity.</li></ul><h2><img src="/images/sunvention/sunpulsepond_smaller.jpg" border="0" width="150" style="float: left; border: 0; margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 12px;" />SunPulse Water</h2><br /> <table border="1" cellspacing="0" align="right"><br /> <tbody><tr><th>Head<br /> meters (feet)</th><th>Volume per day<br /> Litres (Gallons)</th><br /> </tr><tr><td>Field Irrigation</td><td>400,000 l (100,000 g)</td></tr><tr><td>10m (33 ft)</td><td>80,000 l (21,000 g)</td></tr><tr><td>50m (165 ft)</td><td>17,000 l (4,500 g)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p>This engine consists of an integrated solar-collector with a low-temperature, low-speed Stirling engine, directly driving a pump or other need for mechanical power.</p><p>The pump, starts working at sunrise, and with 8 hours of sun, the SunPulse Water delivers as shown.TÜV labs recently analyzed the product as producing water at €0.02/m3, less than a third of the cost of Photovoltaic solar pumps.</p><p>Buffering systems can be used to enable 24-hour use.</p><h2><img src="/images/sunvention/sunfire%20solaroven.jpg" border="0" width="150" align="right" style="float: right;" />SunFire Solar Cooking Systems</h2><br /> <p>Vegetable oil or thermal oil is heated with a solar system such as a SunRay. This oil is stored and pumped from the insulated reservoir into a double-walled stove system. Temperatures of about 220°C (428°F) offer excellent cooking characteristics for frying, cooking or baking.</p><p>The system can easily be constructed in developing countries, where it has application within village structures that lack fuel and biomass.</p><p> </p> 2010-12-20T18:13:52.000Z 2011-05-01T03:26:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/39-indonesia-ramp-inotek Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/rampindonesia.gif" border="0" alt="Ramp Indonesia" title="Ramp Indonesia" />There are very few people really supporting innovation in developing countries, but Patrick Maloney of <a href="http://www.lemelson.org/" target="_blank" title="lemelson foundation">Lemelson Foundation</a> introduced me to two of their grant recipients. I got the opportunity while I was in Indonesia to visit Ramp Indonesia's course at Bogor Agricultural College, just outside Jakarta, where teams of students from across Indonesia were given a "boot-camp" on becoming entrepreneurs. I was impressed by the work they were doing to try and ensure that innovations saw the light of day.  The "winners" at the boot camp were destined for more intensive mentoring by Inotek, and Inotek's Andy Pradjaputra showed me through some of their past successes including a bicycle powered rice threshing machine.</p><p> </p>

<br /> <p>The track I followed (and I don't speak Indonesian) was principally agricultural machinery - while there was another track focused on food processing. Obviously these were engineering students so the quality was varied, some examples illustrate the challenges of supporting innovation:</p><p> </p><ul><li>For example there was a tendency of some of the innovations to focus on the machine rather than the problem. For example chicken eggs in Indonesian incubators had a low rate of successful hatching, and one team had designed a machine to turn the eggs, the advisor asked wisely whether it be easier to move the infrared light than to turn each of the eggs in the incubator? </li><li>Another issue was over-engineering, rather than designing to the budget of the farmer. For example a very well designed machine to evenly disperse fish feed into ponds, had clearly not addressed the budget, or necessary payback time for the farmers. </li></ul><p>I think the program has great potential, and all the staff I met were dedicated and highly competent, though I suggested that it might work better if it worked with blended teams including business students along with engineers as trying to turn engineers into entrepreneurs may just be frustrating for all concerned. <br /> <br /> See: <a href="http://www.ramp-indonesia.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=40&amp;Itemid=31" target="_blank" title="ramp-indonesia">Ramp Indonesia</a> (English or Indonesian) and <a href="http://web.ipb.ac.id/~lramp/" target="_blank" title="Ramp-IPB">Ramp-IPB</a> (Indonesian only)</p><p> </p> 2010-12-25T17:53:51.000Z 2011-05-01T03:50:58.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/40-oxygen Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Horst Wagner &amp; Sunvention have developed a heat or pressure-driven oxygen producer allowing wet biomass to be used as fuel, and for high quality process heat in a cottage industry context. The image shows a pipe melted in low quality pellets burning in oxygen</p>

<br /> <h2>Challenge</h2><br /> <p>Much of the world's rural poor lack access to fuel, in many cases low-quality (wet) biomass is available, while drier biomass is unavailable, or environmentally damaging to collect. Incomplete combustion, especially of poor-quality fuel, causes serious health problems from smoke inhalation, especially for the young.</p><p>High temperature combustion such as that required during the production of ceramics, or metalworking, require fans which use a lot of energy.</p><h2>Solution</h2><br /> <p>Horst Wagner has, in conjunction with Sunvention, developed an approach to use Oxygen to significantly improve the combustion of biomass, or even waste products, and significantly reduce emissions during combustion.</p><p>The use of selective filters makes it possible to separate Oxygen out of air with the use of very little energy. Air is pumped through the Solar Oxygen producer and the separated oxygen can be stored in balloon tanks.</p><p>Sunvention’s SunPulse Stirling engines can be used to pump the air, with heat supplied either from sunlight, or from the biomass burning.</p><p>The oxygen provides efficient burning, including in cases where ignition would be impossible, for example with damp leaves; sawdust; low-quality pellets.</p><h2><img class="storyimage" src="/images/sunvention/oxygen use 150w100h.jpg" border="0" alt="white hot flame from wood and oxygen" style="float: left;" />Market</h2><br /> <p>There are two primary markets.</p><ol><br /> <li>Rural villages with access to poor quality biomass, such as crop residues; grass; animal waste.</li><li>Small-scale high temperature combustion requirements such as ceramics or metalworking, with the potential to create cottage industries.</li></ol><br /> <p>Assessments of the size of each of these markets are still to be completed.</p><p> </p><h2>Development Status</h2><br /> <p>The system has been proven; it has been shown that Oxygen can be generated and stored, and that both a variety of biomass can be burned and high temperatures achieved. The next steps are:</p><ul><li>to build a suitably sized unit as a Pre-Production Prototype</li><li>to couple it to a variety of inexpensive compressors including the SunPulse Water.</li><li>to adapt one or more standard cooking stoves to use the design.</li></ul><p>This will require about 8 months and about €75,000 or €50,000 and an engineering intern.</p><p>After this the generator could move to manufacture while the stoves were field tested Further work would involve investigating the integration into for example village-scale ceramic kilns.</p><p>This project, or at least the stove adaptations, could also be made open-source if this was felt to be the most appropriate way to reach scale.</p><p><img src="data:image/png;base64,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" border="0" style="position: absolute; visibility: visible; color: transparent; margin: 0px; border: medium none; z-index: 2147483647; left: 564px; top: -10px;" /></p> 2011-01-12T07:24:27.000Z 2011-04-06T01:41:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/43-socialventures Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Many people engaged in the development sector, especially outside of California, seem unfamiliar with the concept of a Social Venture, so I thought I'd outline the concept and how I see it working best.</p><p>Charity doesn’t scale to meet the needs of billions, and corporate greed cannot be satisfied by the poorest of the poor, which is why basic human needs remain unmet despite the existence of (technical) solutions.<br /> <br /> Between these two models lies the emerging area of Social Ventures.</p>

<br /> <p>A Social Venture operates like a business, but is driven by a mission rather than only by profit.   Social Ventures range from Non-profits with a business activity, through to Corporations acting responsibility, and it is somewhere in the middle – where the sweet spot exists for bringing new technology to the poor</p><p>In my ideal model, a company may raise a combination of grants and/or project-specific investment to develop an idea, prototype and commercialise it, and bring it to manufacture.</p><p>However ongoing sales of the product would be commercially viable, i.e. they could be manufactured and moved through sales channels to customers on basis that allows everyone along the chain to be compensated, and does not require ongoing subsidies.</p><p>The customer either has a price they can afford, or a suitable credit facility is setup with payback periods that allow the customer to pay off the loan in a reasonable period – typically from saved expenditure for example on water or fuel, or by increased productivity.</p><p>Partners – manufacturing, distribution, sales, investment, financing – may themselves be non-profits or commercial, and in many cases social venture partners exist in each of these categories, although there is still a key gap in finding investment or grants for early stage technology development that has an impact, rather than profit potential.</p><p>Budding Social Ventures might also like to check out the <a href="http://www.the-hub.net/" target="_blank" title="The Hub">Hub</a>, a growing network of co-work places that has been a great source of ideas and colleagues during my development of Natural Innovation.</p> 2011-02-18T09:00:31.000Z 2011-05-01T03:23:08.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/45-investmentbarefootpower2 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="index.php/innovators/28-barefootpower">Barefoot Power</a> - who are successfully proving that you can scale a solution when you get the product, the price and the business model right are raising more investment (debt and equity) here's the news from founder Stewart:</p><p><br />

<br /> </p><div class="quote"><br /> <p>Barefoot Power has opened a data room online for due diligence, for an expected close of equity in April/May of $3.5-5 million. Our Order Book has soared higher than expected, from $1 million in June to $3 million now, which is finally nearing a profitable scale for the company, but we are $0.5-1 million short of working capital to fulfill this order in total, so debt and some equity will be closed faster, to meet this demand. In late January, we shipped our 200,000th lighting kit, which means by April, 1 million people will finally be enjoying the benefits of our lighting systems, a milestone we set in 2005 to hit in 2010, and now complete. We forecast that the 2nd million people will take less than 12 months to reach, so it's an exciting time! Recent news stories by the Australian Financial Review, New York Times and BBC Radio are on the News section of our website (<a href="http://www.barefootpower.com/news.html" target="_blank">http://www.barefootpower.com/news.html</a>), and we are featured in next weeks' Business Review Weekly and on Feb 25th in The Australian newspaper. This local coverage adds to good wins internationally last year.<br /> <br /> If you require further information and data, please do not hesitate to contact Barefoot on <a href="mailto:info@barefootpower.com">info@barefootpower.com</a>. <br /> More documents and answers to questions will be added in the months to come.</p></div> 2011-02-19T10:54:15.000Z 2013-08-20T16:00:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/46-lumeter Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Lumeter Networks was a company I created to solve the problem of how to scale energy access. It provided PAYG (Pay As You Go) technology to solar manufacturers and suppliers, across much of the developing world, but especially Africa.</p>

<p><img style="float:left" src="/images/fosera_shs.jpg" alt="Fosera Solar Home System"/>Lumeter set out to solve a problem, as John Fay - one of our first customers said. "If I go out to a village with a truck full of solar lights, everyone will buy one - for $10-20 each, but its not really what they are looking for. If I go with a solar home system with 4 lights, and phone charging, everyone wants one, but only maybe 10% can afford the $200 they cost. But if they can pay for the solar home system at $2 a week for 2 years, then everyone can afford it since that is what they already spend on kerosene, batteries, and phone charging."</p><p>Lumeter built technology that could be embedded into solar home systems, <img style="float:right" src="/images/OMv4.png" alt="OM circuit board"/> and would only turn the SHS on when the customer keyed in a payment code. We integrated with phone companies so that these codes could be generated from mobile money payments, and a backup system that worked via SMS with local kiosks / bodegas. We built a SaaS management tool that we integrated with payment providers and phone companies in each country. This allowed distributors of these systems, like John's company Vitalite, to manage their customers. </p><p>We sold the company to <a href="https://plugintheworld.com/">Mobisol</a> in 2017 who continued the program until it was merged into their main platform in 2021. </p><p>The system enabled lighting and phone charging to be brought to tens of thousands of poor, rural, customers. </p> 2011-04-29T01:02:13.000Z 2011-05-01T04:39:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/48-indercomar Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I<img class="teamimage" src="/images/inder_comar108x127.jpg" border="0" alt="Inder Comar" />nder Comar is an Intellectual Property lawyer with Comar Law. He has been working pro-bono with Natural Innovation on the project to produce a generic Humanitarian License.</p><p>Comar Law specializes in cutting edge legal areas where strategic thinking, creativity and professionalism are necessities. With a focus on employment, intellectual property, internet and civil and human rights cases.  <a href="http://www.comarlaw.com" target="_blank">www.comarlaw.com</a></p>

<p>I<img class="teamimage" src="/images/inder_comar108x127.jpg" border="0" alt="Inder Comar" />nder Comar is an Intellectual Property lawyer with Comar Law. He has been working pro-bono with Natural Innovation on the project to produce a generic Humanitarian License.</p><p>Comar Law specializes in cutting edge legal areas where strategic thinking, creativity and professionalism are necessities. With a focus on employment, intellectual property, internet and civil and human rights cases.  <a href="http://www.comarlaw.com" target="_blank">www.comarlaw.com</a></p> 2011-04-29T01:19:36.000Z 2011-04-29T01:32:55.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/49-comarlaw Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storyleadvert" src="/images/inder_comar108x127.jpg" border="0" alt="Inder Comar" style="border: 0pt none;" />Comar Law specializes in cutting edge legal areas where strategic thinking, creativity and professionalism are necessities. With a focus on employment, intellectual property, internet and civil and human rights cases.</p><p> </p>

<br /> <p> </p><p>Inder Comar of Comar Law has been providing pro-bono assistance to Natural Innovation's Humanitarian License project.  Comar Law</p> 2011-01-12T06:21:22.000Z 2011-05-01T03:29:03.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/50-newsletter0311 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storyleadvert" src="/images/newsletter_march11.gif" border="0" />After the positive feedback from the first newsletter, the second is available <a href="?id=212" title="Equinox - March 2011 newsletter">here</a>.</p>

<p><img class="storyleadvert" src="/images/newsletter_march11.gif" border="0" />After the positive feedback from the first newsletter, the second is available <a href="?id=212" title="Equinox - March 2011 newsletter">here</a>.</p> 2011-05-01T03:57:06.000Z 2011-05-01T05:09:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/51-selcolabs Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Many technologies make it out of the lab and into production, but fail to be accepted by the rural poor for whom they were intended. We are very happy to partner with SELCO Labs who have experience in bridging that last mile and in supporting the critical feedback process that needs to be incorporated into the design of products for the Bottom Of The Pyramid.</p>

<br /> <h3><strong>SELCO Labs:</strong></h3><br /> <p><strong>Improving Life for the Rural Poor</strong><strong> by Developing Rural Technologies, Decentralized Clean Energy and Entrepreneurs</strong></p><h3>The Challenge: Innovating for Rural Areas</h3><br /> <p>There is a critical need for technological innovation targeting India’s rural areas which includes people living in remote locations with incomes below $4/day.  While significant research efforts focus on development of technologies that improve quality of life, such as better agriculture methods and clean energy, few of these advancements successfully traverse the “last mile” of dissemination into markets serving the rural poor.  <em>SELCO Incubation Lab seeks to bridge this “last mile” implementation gap.</em></p><h3>Main Objectives of SELCO Incubation Lab</h3><br /> <ul><li>To develop affordable technological innovations and next-generation improvements for products and energy technologies that enhance livelihood of, or quality of life for, low-income rural customers.</li><li>To incubate entrepreneurs who are technologically inclined and are interested in creating small enterprises at various scales for their innovations, independently owned but with guidance from SELCO’s lab.</li><li>To provide performance testing and consumer research services to third parties who have developed products for rural areas but lack the means, networks, or field presence for effective dissemination.</li></ul><ul></ul><h3>Our Approach</h3><br /> <p><img class="storyimage" src="/images/selcolabs1.jpg" border="0" alt="Selco Labs testing" title="Selco Labs testing" />The Incubation Lab’s approach leverages the existing strengths of SELCO*, its parent organization.  Specific strategies include:</p><ul><li>Location of the lab in the village of Ujire (southern Karnataka) enables the lab to develop products within the rural context intended for use.  The highly visited nearby Dharmasthala temple can be a product demonstration site.</li><li>Electrical and Mechanical Lab Facilities are shared with the SDM Institute of Technology which houses the lab.  The lab collaborates with the university in many ways, such as hosting university students to help with technical projects, thus supporting the lab while developing students’ skills.</li><li>Cross-fertilization of expertise with SELCO’s Energy Service Centers is accomplished via a rotational program that brings the most experienced SELCO technicians onsite.  This allows the lab to draw new product ideas from the field, while sharing new products for dissemination. </li><li>Partnerships with local NGOs enable the Incubation Lab to draw from the large networks of low-income rural consumers for new product demos.</li></ul><ul></ul><h3>Serving Your Needs</h3><br /> <p>Consider working with SELCO Incubation Lab if you are:</p><ul><li>A company or organization with an innovation for the rural poor. The lab can help further develop your product, through iterations of consumer market research and product prototyping.  Alternately, the lab can perform testing to evaluate and document the performance of your product in the context of the rural poor.</li><li>A rural entrepreneur, or interested in starting a small enterprise in a rural area. We offer technical and business support to help you develop and launch products for your independent enterprise.</li><li>A potential employee.  We continue to look for talented individuals with a technical or business background, who are adaptive and willing to push up their sleeves and get their hands dirty for this pivotal and exciting work.</li></ul><ul></ul> 2011-05-01T04:26:55.000Z 2011-05-01T04:45:58.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/52-martinfisher Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="teamimage" src="/images/martinfisher136x159.jpg" border="0" alt="Martin Fisher" title="Martin Fisher" />Martin Fisher is the co-founder and CEO of <a href="http://www.kickstart.org/" target="_blank">KickStart</a>. KickStart works with the design, development and most importantly distribution of products that enable people to escape poverty in East Africa. It is not enough just to design a product that people like. Poor people have little money to waste, so even the most useful product has to be introduced into a supply chain. Martin brings his expertise in that process, and with using technology and tools to alleviate poverty in Africa.</p>

<p><img class="teamimage" src="/images/martinfisher136x159.jpg" border="0" alt="Martin Fisher" title="Martin Fisher" />Martin Fisher is the co-founder and CEO of <a href="http://www.kickstart.org/" target="_blank">KickStart</a>. KickStart works with the design, development and most importantly distribution of products that enable people to escape poverty in East Africa. It is not enough just to design a product that people like. Poor people have little money to waste, so even the most useful product has to be introduced into a supply chain. Martin brings his expertise in that process, and with using technology and tools to alleviate poverty in Africa.</p> 2011-05-01T04:52:35.000Z 2011-05-15T00:49:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/53-harita Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/harita.jpg" border="0" alt="Harita Resources" title="Harita Resources" /></p><p>Natural Innovation is partnering with Harita who have expertise in bringing products to manufacture in India. They will help the innovators that we are working with to select appropriate manufacturers and act as the eyes and ears at the factory to make sure that promises of quality, and delivery times are met.</p><p> </p>

<br /> <p>Once a product has been designed and refined, it has to be made. Its manufacture needs to be consistent, and needs to smoothly scale from the first test run, up to the thousands, or tens of thousands of items that will be needed if it is to have an impact on poverty and sustainability.</p><p> </p><p>They are not only comfortable with manufacture across a wide variety of technology and scale, but have the personal commitment to sustainability and poverty alleviation that comes from a total of over 40 years living and working in India.</p><p><a href="http://www.harita-resources.com" target="_blank">www.harita-resources.com</a></p><p> </p><p><img src="data:image/png;base64,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" border="0" style="position: absolute; visibility: visible; color: transparent; margin: 0px; border: medium none; z-index: 2147483647; left: 297px; top: -11px;" /></p><p> </p> 2011-05-03T00:50:15.000Z 2012-03-18T19:54:55.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/54-supportingnaturalinnovation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>After spending eighteen months incubators innovators - big and small - in taking the next step with the their innovation, it is time for Natural Innovation itself to ask for support to take our work to the next stage.</p><p>The intention is to create a small core team, and leverage the expertise of a strong network of supporters so that we can help a larger number of innovators each year.</p><p>Incubation will take the form of direct mentoring by our core team; support from our partners; and financial support. We are looking for some funding for the core team, and later to put together a small fund that will invest in the innovators alongside the mentoring and in-kind support from our partners.</p><p>Please <a href="index.php/home/contact?view=message&amp;layout=message&amp;pf=1">contact us</a> if you might be able to help and I will send you a longer proposal.</p>

<p>After spending eighteen months incubators innovators - big and small - in taking the next step with the their innovation, it is time for Natural Innovation itself to ask for support to take our work to the next stage.</p><p>The intention is to create a small core team, and leverage the expertise of a strong network of supporters so that we can help a larger number of innovators each year.</p><p>Incubation will take the form of direct mentoring by our core team; support from our partners; and financial support. We are looking for some funding for the core team, and later to put together a small fund that will invest in the innovators alongside the mentoring and in-kind support from our partners.</p><p>Please <a href="index.php/home/contact?view=message&amp;layout=message&amp;pf=1">contact us</a> if you might be able to help and I will send you a longer proposal.</p> 2011-05-15T00:42:17.000Z 2011-05-15T00:59:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/58-villgro Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/logos/villgro.png" border="0" alt="Villgro logo" title="Villgro logo" />Villgro identifies and supports rural social innovation in India through a number of programs including a small fund; a mentoring program and an emerging distribution channel.</p><p>We have been impressed by their team and incubatees and have been participating in Villgro's first "Pre Incubation Program" where Mitra is mentoring Cleanstar, a vertically integrated biofuels startup.</p><p><a href="http://www.villgro.org">www.villgro.org</a></p>

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/logos/villgro.png" border="0" alt="Villgro logo" title="Villgro logo" />Villgro identifies and supports rural social innovation in India through a number of programs including a small fund; a mentoring program and an emerging distribution channel.</p><p>We have been impressed by their team and incubatees and have been participating in Villgro's first "Pre Incubation Program" where Mitra is mentoring Cleanstar, a vertically integrated biofuels startup.</p><p><a href="http://www.villgro.org">www.villgro.org</a></p> 2011-05-15T02:01:12.000Z 2011-09-29T23:55:39.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/59-reallocate Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/Creallocate/realocate-logo_on_white_100x43.png" border="0" />Pairing professionals with problems and giving them the infrastructure to execute.</p><p>What happens when you put highly skilled professionals face-to-face with real world issues and give them the resources to make a change?</p><p>Reallocate is a non-profit organization that leverages a volunteer network of high-level technologists, designers, and innovative thinkers to holistically solve real-world problems.  Reallocate gives experts the structure and means to identify and address issues faced in developing and disenfranchised parts of the world.</p><p>By dynamically assembling teams of world changers, and giving them resources through strategic partnerships and funding, Reallocate is capable of assessing a wide range of problems and executing innovative and effective solutions.</p><p>Natural Innovation is looking forward to collaborating with Reallocate to match engineers up with problems of our Innovators, and in taking some of Reallocate's solutions to scale</p>

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/Creallocate/realocate-logo_on_white_100x43.png" border="0" />Pairing professionals with problems and giving them the infrastructure to execute.</p><p>What happens when you put highly skilled professionals face-to-face with real world issues and give them the resources to make a change?</p><p>Reallocate is a non-profit organization that leverages a volunteer network of high-level technologists, designers, and innovative thinkers to holistically solve real-world problems.  Reallocate gives experts the structure and means to identify and address issues faced in developing and disenfranchised parts of the world.</p><p>By dynamically assembling teams of world changers, and giving them resources through strategic partnerships and funding, Reallocate is capable of assessing a wide range of problems and executing innovative and effective solutions.</p><p>Natural Innovation is looking forward to collaborating with Reallocate to match engineers up with problems of our Innovators, and in taking some of Reallocate's solutions to scale</p> 2011-05-20T21:55:11.000Z 2011-09-12T23:22:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/60-cleanstar Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="http://www.cleanstar.in/" target="_blank" title="Cleanstar Energy">Cleanstar Energy</a> is developing a business model to grow the use of sustainable bio-fuels in India. They are combining oil-seed growth as a complement to existing farm activity, with waste oil processing into an economically viable vertically integrated business with benefits to rural farmers; urban waste management and energy sustainability.</p><p>Natural Innovation mentrored them through their business planning as part of Villgro's Pre Incubation Program as they prepared to raise finance. They are now raising money in the Indian market.</p><p> </p>

<p><a href="http://www.cleanstar.in/" target="_blank" title="Cleanstar Energy">Cleanstar Energy</a> is developing a business model to grow the use of sustainable bio-fuels in India. They are combining oil-seed growth as a complement to existing farm activity, with waste oil processing into an economically viable vertically integrated business with benefits to rural farmers; urban waste management and energy sustainability.</p><p>Natural Innovation mentrored them through their business planning as part of Villgro's Pre Incubation Program as they prepared to raise finance. They are now raising money in the Indian market.</p><p> </p> 2011-05-24T04:30:47.000Z 2011-05-24T05:10:22.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/61-mikenorth Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="teamimage" src="/images/people/mikenorth108x127.jpg" border="0" alt="Mike North" title="Mike North" />Dr. North holds bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in engineering with focuses on mechanical design, rapid prototyping, and nanotechnology.  He’s published in a half dozen major scientific journals, including the journal <em>Nature</em>; and continues to speak internationally on design and innovation.  Mike masterminded builds on the Discovery Channel show <em>Prototype This!, </em>where he led teams of crack inventors, scientists, builders, and engineers to create never before seen spectacles of engineering.  Inventions ranged from an omni-directionally driving stilt lifting traffic busting truck to a 30-foot tall waterslide simulator to cutting-edge lifesaving fire fighting equipment.  Currently Mike is bringing innovation to the toy industry as Chief Technology Officer at Nukotoys, Inc.; runs his own design consultancy, North Design Labs, LLC; and is founder and director of <a href="http://reallocate.org/">reallocate.org</a>, a non-profit that uses expertise in the developed world to solve real world problems in developing countries.</p>

<p><img class="teamimage" src="/images/people/mikenorth108x127.jpg" border="0" alt="Mike North" title="Mike North" />Dr. North holds bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in engineering with focuses on mechanical design, rapid prototyping, and nanotechnology.  He’s published in a half dozen major scientific journals, including the journal <em>Nature</em>; and continues to speak internationally on design and innovation.  Mike masterminded builds on the Discovery Channel show <em>Prototype This!, </em>where he led teams of crack inventors, scientists, builders, and engineers to create never before seen spectacles of engineering.  Inventions ranged from an omni-directionally driving stilt lifting traffic busting truck to a 30-foot tall waterslide simulator to cutting-edge lifesaving fire fighting equipment.  Currently Mike is bringing innovation to the toy industry as Chief Technology Officer at Nukotoys, Inc.; runs his own design consultancy, North Design Labs, LLC; and is founder and director of <a href="http://reallocate.org/">reallocate.org</a>, a non-profit that uses expertise in the developed world to solve real world problems in developing countries.</p> 2011-07-20T19:06:29.000Z 2012-03-18T19:49:57.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/62-supportnaturalinnovation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>For nearly two years I've been looking into the question of how to further sustainable and scalable technologies that can solve the challenges of the billion+ people who lack access to clean water, power, sanitation, and food. In the process of creating Natural Innovation .org, I've discovered just what a challenge inventors and innovators face: caught in the gap – efforts are too risky for philanthropists yet offer too little profit for Venture Capital. Too much money is needed to source from friends and family, yet rarely are resources there to access substantial grant or investment programs.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><p>During the past two years, Natural Innovation's contributions have already led to some successes. For instance, a small loan and mentoring to <a href="index.php/projects/24-sunvention" target="_blank">Sunvention</a> helped this start-up avoid bankruptcy and leverage over €1m in funding so that their solar thermal pump has a chance to reach the market by the end of 2011.  Several other earlier stage innovators have been significantly helped by my team’s mentoring and support; assistance with strategy and business planning; introductions to partners; and more. By reaching into my own pocket and building team resources, Natural Innovation has been able to take it this far.</p><!--<br /> <p>An executive summary and further information on collaborators, innovations, finances, etc are available at <br /> <a href="index.php/component/content/article/62#docs" mce_href="index.php/component/content/article/62#docs">http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/component/content/article/62</a> <br /> Please login with username: <i>fundraising</i> and password: <i>friend</i></p>--><br /> <p>I am now reaching out to you because it is time to systematize and scale this approach to impact the important innovations that are looking for help. In Natural Innovation, I've put together a stellar team of <a href="index.php/partners">collaborators</a> to help with everything from engineering to working with manufacturers; to market testing and distribution. With your help, we can touch several million people, changing their lives for the better.</p><p><strong>I'm looking for 10 people to step up and join Brewster Kahle &amp; Mary Austin joining our Founders Circle and commit $25,000 to Natural Innovation.org.  Would you join us?</strong></p><p>Your support would allow formation of a three-person core team for Natural Innovation, allowing one person to be in the field, actively helping the incubatees to be ready for funding, while the other is in the US securing project funding and resources. This increased capacity will allow us to identify and assist additional innovations that show enormous potential for scalability. <br /> <br /> I'd like to ask you to join the "Founders Circle" today! Contributions of any amount are always welcome. If you would like more information about ways you can become involved in the vital work that Natural Innovation does please contact me at mitra@mitra.biz.</p><table style="width: 80%;" border="0"><br /> <tbody><tr><td><p>Sincerely,</p><p><img src="/images/graphics/signature_ardron_100x100.jpg" border="0" alt="signature" title="signature" /></p><p>Mitra Ardron</p><p>Founder &amp; Executive Director<br /> Natural Innovation.org</p></td><td><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"> <input name="cmd" type="hidden" value="_s-xclick" /> <input name="hosted_button_id" type="hidden" value="F3FWEFEBRGZSL" /> <input alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" name="submit" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" type="image" /> <img src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" border="0" width="1" height="1" /> </form></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p> </p><p><a name="docs"></a></p> 2011-07-28T23:06:07.000Z 2011-09-13T02:28:31.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/63-humanitarianlicense Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Natural Innovation has been looking at the tricky issue of licensing, when their are needs to be met, but very different business environments netween developing and western countries. We have been developing a standardised license to allow humanitarian licensing of technologies, from for-profits to non-profits and social ventures.</p><p> </p>

<pdf-link href="/files/Plain English Guide to the Humanitarian License 24jul11.pdf" title="Plain English Guide to Humanitarian License"></pdf-link> <pdf-link href="/files/Humanitarian License (Jul. 24, 2011 DRAFT).pdf" title="Humanitarian License draft"></pdf-link> <h2>Challenge</h2> <p>The developing world needs every tool it can get to alleviate poverty in ways that do not increase carbon emissions or further damage fragile environments.</p> <p>Western technologies often require considerable localisation both technically and in terms of business models, and this does not usually form part of the companies business plan.</p> <h2>Solution</h2> <p>Natural Innovation, is developing a standardised Humanitarian License to reduce the overhead of a for-profit Western company or University licensing a technology to a social venture.</p> <p>It is intended to fill the same place for patents and Intellectual Property as the Creative Commons license fills for copyright.</p> <h2>Examples</h2> <p>Natural Innovation is working with a company that has a solar cooling technology and is developing cooling products with it for western markets. They have offered to license this technology for application in developing countries, and provide components at cost. While their team are doing this from their own personal conviction, the company will also benefit both in terms of PR and HR from this philanthropy.</p> <p>Natural Innovation helped a company secured an emergency loan from a foundation. A humanitarian license was used to ensure that even in the event of bankruptcy or acquisition the IP could be licensed to a non-profit for such application.</p> <h2>Collaboration</h2> <p>Natural Innovation has been collaborating with <a href="/?id=48">Inder Comar</a> of <a href="/?id=49"">Comar Law</a> on this license. As the project grows we will develop relationships with other lawyers, especially in different jurisdictions or with complementary expertise. The license will be open-sourced to ensure maximum availability. We are particularly interested in finding other companies and NGO's interested in trying out the license and sharing their experience or improvements.</p> <h2>Strategy and plan</h2> <p>As of May 2011 a draft has been produced, both in English and legalese and trialed with two projects.</p> <p>Feedback from discussions with other potential users have identified some gaps that will be addressed.</p> <p>The next step is to locate suitable examples and trial with them.</p> <p>In parallel to this, we will develop a standardized “boiler-plate” license where different parts can be selected depending on need.</p> <p>It may also be time to make more people aware of the license and to solicit further trials and improvements.</p> <h2>Finance</h2> <p>Natural Innovation is looking to raise $100,000 to develop this license further and to enable efficient coordination and integration of the experience that will be generated from its early applications.</p> 2011-09-12T22:59:31.000Z 2011-10-05T03:15:20.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/64-williamjamesfoundation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storylead" src="/images/logos/wjfnewheader-2.jpg" border="0" style="float: right; border: 0pt none;" />William James Foundation runs business plan competitions for Social Entrepreneurs, many of whom are from Developing Countries.  A single entry to WJF can place a Social Enterprise into a number of competitions.</p><p>Natural Innovation is an outreach partner, and we encourage and support our incubatees to apply to WJF.</p><p>Mitra Ardron has been a Judge in this competition for the last few years, and concurs with Ian Fisk's (WJF's executive director) conclusions that the extensive feedback that entrants receive is at least as valuable as the kudos that comes from winning or reaching the finals.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><p>The William James Foundation's Sustainable Business Plan Competition offers a total of $150,000 worth of services &amp; cash to the best new for-profit plans with social and/or environmental goals.</p><p><strong>Entrants</strong> can be any age or anywhere in the world, but must be starting or growing for-profit companies that are either pre-revenue, or are within five years of their first revenues. All entrants who are accepted into the competition receive an average of 20 pages of feedback a round. Deadline for 5-8 page summaries is Oct. 12. Visit <a href="http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org/howtoenter" target="_blank">www.williamjamesfoundation.org/howtoenter</a> for more information on entering or contact executive director Ian Fisk at <a href="mailto:ian.fisk@williamjamesfoundation.org" target="_blank">ian.fisk@williamjamesfoundation.org</a> with any questions. Please <a href="contact">contact us</a> before you apply and we'll give you a code for a discount off the entrance fee.</p><p>The William James Foundation is looking for experienced individuals who have built, managed, studied, or invested in multiple bottom line companies to serve as <strong>reading judges</strong> for our competition. Reading judges are given three to five summaries to evaluate over the course of the entire month of November. This usually takes five or six hours in total. Visit <a href="http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org/judging" target="_blank">www.williamjamesfoundation.org/judging</a> for more information or contact executive director Ian Fisk at <a href="mailto:ian.fisk@williamjamesfoundation.org" target="_blank">ian.fisk@williamjamesfoundation.org</a> with any questions. This is a great way to learn about and support the next generation of sustainable entrepreneurs. Please <a href="contact">let us know</a> if you are enquiring about being a judge.</p> 2011-09-17T01:45:07.000Z 2011-09-28T20:35:16.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/65-wherevertheneed Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img class="storyleadvert" src="/images/Pwtn/wtn_yellow.jpg" border="0" alt="Wherever the Need toilet" title="Wherever the Need toilet" style="float: right; border: 0pt none;" />Over 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation, more than twice the number lacking power or water. Wherever The Need is looking for commercially viable models for slum sanitation. Natural Innovation is exploring ways to help reduce the cost and increase the safety in their materials safety.</p><p> </p>

<br /> <p>While in the UK in June 2011 I was introduced to David Crosweller of <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.uk/" target="_blank">Wherever the Need</a> (WTN) who filled me in on their project to create a viable business model for sanitation so that micro-enterprises could run slum toilets in areas that neither municipalities nor Aid dollars are likely to reach for a long time. David explained that in India, poor people will not spend money to use a toilet so the models adopted by Sanergy in Kenya are less likely to work.</p><p>Instead WTN is looking to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of compost and fertilizer to cover the construction and operating costs of slum toilets. In August I visited Paramasivan who runs the <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.in/" target="_blank">indian office of WTN</a> and spent a day touring their trials in the slums of Cuddalore. The cultural challenges, from poverty, cast, unclear land ownership etc are huge, and often lead to sub-optimum solutions such as individual stalls spaced out around an area rather than a single block.</p><p>Natural Innovation hopes to help WTN through it's collaboration with ReAllocate to source mechanical engineering talent to solve specific challenges of safe waste handling, and chemical engineers to improve the cost effectiveness of turning liquid waste into fertilizer. WTN are also looking for an engineer to work with them to reduce the construction costs.</p> 2011-09-29T22:22:33.000Z 2011-09-29T23:52:14.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/66-unreasonable Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The third annual Unreasonable Institute will unite 25 exceptional, early-stage entrepreneurs for 6 weeks in the summer of 2012 in the beautiful, entrepreneurial city of Boulder, Colorado.  Over the course of these 6 weeks, chosen entrepreneurs will live and work with <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMVzFsYm5SdmNuTXYv" target="_blank">50 world-class mentors</a> and portfolio managers from over <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMWEJoY25SdVpYSnpMdyUzRCUzRC8%3D" target="_blank">20 impact investment funds</a>. They'll pitch ventures to hundreds of potential partners and funders, gain access to legal and design support services, and receive unprecedented levels of media exposure.</p><p>Natural Innovation has enjoyed interacting with last year's fellows, several of which have, in our opinion, the chance to make a globally significant impact. Since Unreasonable's short term intensive program is a great complement to our longer term mentoring, Natural Innovation has partnered with Unreasonable to explore ways we can support each other.</p>

<br /> <p>"The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man." George Bernard Shaw</p><p>Unreasonable Institute is on the search for 25 of the world's most passionate and hungry early stage entrepreneurs in the world: those resolved, regardless of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, regardless of the skepticism of those closest to them, and regardless of the very real risks of failure, to tackle the world's greatest social and environmental problems.</p><p> </p><p>If I know you, and you are applying, please <a href="contact" target="_blank">let me know first</a> and I'll tell the Unreasonable people to look out for your application in the big pile!</p><p>For more information,</p><ul><li><a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdk1qQXhNaTFwYm5OMGFYUjFkR1V2Lw%3D%3D" target="_blank">Read the complete overview of the 2012 Institute</a></li><li><a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmRHVnpkR2x0YjI1cFlXeHpMdyUzRCUzRC8%3D" href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmRHVnpkR2x0YjI1cFlXeHpMdyUzRCUzRC8%3D" target="_blank">See what past Fellows have to say about their experience</a></li><li><strong><a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdllYQndiSGslM0Qv" target="_blank" style="color: #62a7dc;">click here to apply! </a></strong> </li></ul><p>Applications close November 10th, 2011.</p><p> </p> 2011-12-24T05:37:58.000Z 2011-12-24T06:45:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/68-thanksforsupport Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Thank you for your support of Natural Innovation .org, it is this support that enables us to help innovators solve pressing problems around the world.</p><p>If you haven't already done so, please <a href="index.php/home/newsletter/user">Subscribe</a> to the newsletter so we can keep you up to date.</p><p> </p>

<p>Thank you for your support of Natural Innovation .org, it is this support that enables us to help innovators solve pressing problems around the world.</p><p>If you haven't already done so, please <a href="index.php/home/newsletter/user">Subscribe</a> to the newsletter so we can keep you up to date.</p><p> </p> 2012-01-03T08:20:45.000Z 2012-01-03T08:30:51.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/69-uvaquastar Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>UV Aquastar has designed simple, affordable devices that treat water with ultra-violet light, killing pathogens and enabling people to take control of supplying their own safe drinking water. A mobile (bottle or stirrer) and a spigot integrated into water dispensers can be powered by battery, solar panel or grid.<br />

<br /> </p><p>A billion people lack access to safe drinking water leading to 1.6m deaths/year (WHO). While many potential solutions exist, they are either unaffordable; large scale, risking re-contamination; degrade over time, often without indication; or add toxics such as chlorine often leaving a bad taste.</p><p>UV Aquastar's goal is affordable, effective, water treatment that empowers families to take control of their drinking water across the developing world.</p><p>UV Aquastar will supply three products, the mUV (a float/stirrer); the UV Aquastore (a bottle) and the UV Spigot, a simple, affordable spigot that fits into common water dispensers in people’s homes. All three can be powered by a small battery or solar panel &amp; treat water with ultra-violet light, killing pathogens and enabling safe drinking water for the billion+ that lack it.</p><p>The developing world market for water purifiers is in the billions of dollars. Around 884 million are using unimproved water sources. UV Aquastar believes that the problem of drinking water needs addressing at the scale of the problem. Their target is to reach sales of 2 million by the end of Year 3, touching 10 million people, and saving 16,000 lives per year.</p><p><img class="storyimage" src="/images/Puvaquastar/muvandbottle185.jpg" border="0" alt="mUV and Aquastar" title="mUV and Aquastar" />This project has that rare combination, a potential to have very high impact, while simultaneously generating a good financial return. To really take this project to scale quickly, UV Aquastar is looking to raise a bit over $2m.</p><p>Kurt Kuhlmann and Dan Matthews bring decades of experience designing products, with particular focus on developing countries,</p><p>Natural Innovation is helping UV Aquastar with business planning; finance raising; and relationships</p> 2012-02-15T01:12:21.000Z 2012-02-15T01:22:57.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/70-bfiideaindex Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Two of the projects we've been working with are now listed in this year's Buckminster Fuller ideas index.</p><h4>MinVayu - low cost wind for the underserved</h4><br /> <p>Is training village mechanics to assemble and install wind turbines, while designing a low cost turbine optimised for places with low wind.</p><p>Listing on <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/3177">Idea index</a> <a href="http://www.minvayu.org">Minvayu.org</a></p><h4>UV Aquastar - affordable drinking water</h4><br /> <p>Have a low-cost drinking water device using ultraviolet.</p><p>Listing on <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/3217">Idea Index</a>.</p>

<p>Two of the projects we've been working with are now listed in this year's Buckminster Fuller ideas index.</p><h4>MinVayu - low cost wind for the underserved</h4><br /> <p>Is training village mechanics to assemble and install wind turbines, while designing a low cost turbine optimised for places with low wind.</p><p>Listing on <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/3177">Idea index</a> <a href="http://www.minvayu.org">Minvayu.org</a></p><h4>UV Aquastar - affordable drinking water</h4><br /> <p>Have a low-cost drinking water device using ultraviolet.</p><p>Listing on <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/3217">Idea Index</a>.</p> 2012-01-02T18:43:40.000Z 2012-01-02T18:43:40.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/71-newsletter-delayed-by-cyclone-thane Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="https://597d93dcb1-custmedia.vresp.com/b2ea91cb0b/Auroville_Cyclone.jpg" border="0" alt="cyclone weather map" title="cyclone weather map" width="108" height="114" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />I'm a bit delayed sending off this newsletter, I'm sitting in Auroville in Southern India recovering from Cyclone Thane - it took out thousands of trees - 70% of the forest here, there was one across the road every ten meters or so, and of course that took out power, and phone lines, no electricity means no water since the pumps won't run, and of course no internet. Its day 4 now, mobile phones are back on and most places have water, roads are open to motorbikes, and some to cars, and one or two places with generators, solar or wind, have power &amp;/or internet. I'm here to work with MinVayu (see below), a tree took out their workshop which will be a bit of a set-back, but they will recover, and we'll do our best to help.</p>

<p><img src="https://597d93dcb1-custmedia.vresp.com/b2ea91cb0b/Auroville_Cyclone.jpg" border="0" alt="cyclone weather map" title="cyclone weather map" width="108" height="114" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />I'm a bit delayed sending off this newsletter, I'm sitting in Auroville in Southern India recovering from Cyclone Thane - it took out thousands of trees - 70% of the forest here, there was one across the road every ten meters or so, and of course that took out power, and phone lines, no electricity means no water since the pumps won't run, and of course no internet. Its day 4 now, mobile phones are back on and most places have water, roads are open to motorbikes, and some to cars, and one or two places with generators, solar or wind, have power &amp;/or internet. I'm here to work with MinVayu (see below), a tree took out their workshop which will be a bit of a set-back, but they will recover, and we'll do our best to help.</p> 2011-12-23T18:47:14.000Z 2012-03-18T19:54:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/72-support-natural-innovation-org Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>For two years now, I've been looking into the question of how to further sustainable and scalable technologies that can solve the challenges of the billion+ people who lack access to clean water, power, sanitation, and food. In the process of creating Natural Innovation .org, I've discovered just what a challenge inventors and innovators face.</p><p>During the past two years, Natural Innovation's contributions have already led to some successes. By reaching into my own pocket and building team resources, Natural Innovation has been able to take it this far.</p><p>I am now reaching out to you because it is time to systematize and scale this approach to impact the important innovations that are looking for help. With your help, we can touch several million people, changing their lives for the better.</p><p>Please consider <a href="index.php/component/content/article/62">contributing</a> during this holiday season to allow us to identify and assist additional innovations that show enormous potential for scalability.</p>

<p>For two years now, I've been looking into the question of how to further sustainable and scalable technologies that can solve the challenges of the billion+ people who lack access to clean water, power, sanitation, and food. In the process of creating Natural Innovation .org, I've discovered just what a challenge inventors and innovators face.</p><p>During the past two years, Natural Innovation's contributions have already led to some successes. By reaching into my own pocket and building team resources, Natural Innovation has been able to take it this far.</p><p>I am now reaching out to you because it is time to systematize and scale this approach to impact the important innovations that are looking for help. With your help, we can touch several million people, changing their lives for the better.</p><p>Please consider <a href="index.php/component/content/article/62">contributing</a> during this holiday season to allow us to identify and assist additional innovations that show enormous potential for scalability.</p> 2011-12-24T18:49:15.000Z 2012-02-24T18:57:21.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/73-uv-aquastar-affordable-water-treatment Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/Puvaquastar/spigot185.jpg" border="0" alt="cyclone weather map" title="cyclone weather map" width="185" height="157" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />UV Aquastar has designed simple, affordable devices that treat water with ultra-violet light, killing pathogens and enabling people to take control of supplying their own safe drinking water. A mobile (bottle or stirrer) and a spigot integrated into water dispensers can be powered by battery, solar panel or grid.<br />

<br /> </p><p>A billion people lack access to safe drinking water leading to 1.6m deaths/year (WHO). While many potential solutions exist, they are either unaffordable; large scale, risking re-contamination; degrade over time, often without indication; or add toxics such as chlorine often leaving a bad taste.</p><p>UV Aquastar's goal is affordable, effective, water treatment that empowers families to take control of their drinking water across the developing world.</p><p>UV Aquastar will supply three products, the mUV (a float/stirrer); the Aquastar (a bottle) and the UV Spigot, a simple, affordable spigot that fits into common water dispensers in people’s homes. All three can be powered by a small battery or solar panel &amp; treat water with ultra-violet light, killing pathogens and enabling safe drinking water for the billion+ that lack it.</p><p>The developing world market for water purifiers is in the billions of dollars. Around 884 million are using unimproved water sources. UV Aquastar believes that the problem of drinking water needs addressing at the scale of the problem. Their target is to reach sales of 2 million by the end of Year 3, touching 10 million people, and saving 16,000 lives per year.</p><p>This project has that rare combination, a potential to have very high impact, while simultaneously generating a good financial return. To really take this project to scale quickly, UV Aquastar is looking to raise a bit over $2m.</p><p>Kurt Kuhlmann and Dan Matthews bring decades of experience designing products, with particular focus on developing countries,</p><p>Natural Innovation is helping UV Aquastar with business planning; finance raising; and relationships</p> 2011-12-31T18:50:49.000Z 2012-02-24T18:56:31.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/74-minvayu-small-wind-for-the-underserved Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/Pminga/windturbine.jpg" border="0" alt="MinVayu turbine" title="MinVayu turbinet" width="185" height="138" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />The MinVayu project announced in the last newsletter, is moving along well, although its been set back by losing its workshop in Cyclone Thane, and Mitra will be with them in India until the end of January to help move it along. They've added new people to the team in India, and training of local mechanics is continuing.<br />

<br /> </p><p>They are raising $350,000 to enable them to hire a team, and bring the first low-cost, low-wind, turbine to the Indian market, enabling access to power Their business plan, which we helped developed, just made it into the second round of the William James Foundation competition, and has attracted serious attention from two groups of investors.</p><p>We are glad to add Mike Sontag to the Natural Innovation team. He is contributing his time as the lead engineer on the MinVayu project.</p><p>Solidworks have become a sponsor of Natural Innovation, generously donating three places of their leading design program, this will allow us to produce a 3D model of the MinVayu turbine. The model will be used to predict how the turbine will perform, for example under strong</p><p>Mike is proficient in Solidworks, and we look forward to sharing some of his designs on the website and in future newsletters.</p><p>Rural wind turbines have to be lifted above tree height to generate useful power, and an 18 meter tower contributes about 1/3 of the total cost of a system. We are exploring potential ways to reduce this cost, principally through needing less steel, and are also considering bamboo for areas where that is common and cheap.</p><p>We are still looking for engineering volunteers for this project, especially an electro-mechanics engineer to help with the generator design, and a structural engineer to analyse the stresses on the blades and the towers.</p> 2012-02-24T18:51:43.000Z 2012-03-18T19:15:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/75-live-works-space-in-san-francisco-area Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Since I'm spending half my time in the SF bay area, I'm looking to create a shared space, probably in Berkeley, where a few (5-9) world-changers &amp; social-entrepreneurs can live together and support each other. We are exploring both purchasing and renting. If you might be interested in such a space then take a look at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/135056813269945/">facebook group</a>, its private so you'll need to request access on that page.</p><p> </p>

<p>Since I'm spending half my time in the SF bay area, I'm looking to create a shared space, probably in Berkeley, where a few (5-9) world-changers &amp; social-entrepreneurs can live together and support each other. We are exploring both purchasing and renting. If you might be interested in such a space then take a look at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/135056813269945/">facebook group</a>, its private so you'll need to request access on that page.</p><p> </p> 2012-01-03T18:54:20.000Z 2012-01-03T18:54:20.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/76-engineering-collaborators Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I was at the IEEE "Global Humanitarian Conference" in October, to broaden collaboration with engineering organisations. The conference showed the broad interest among some skilled engineers, but it also showed both the lack of grounding in the realities of developing world, not only among the audience, but also many of the speakers. Matching skilled engineers with projects is particularly relevant for the highly skilled, but often busy, engineers who cannot take a year to participate in a capacity building placement with a developing country organisation. At the conference we spent time with Engineering For Change, and have also attended the BERC conference, and spoken to EWB Australia.</p><p>At the moment we are looking for engineering volunteers to work with Mike on the MinVayu project, we need people with structural; mechanical; electo-mechanical; power electronics skills.</p>

<p>I was at the IEEE "Global Humanitarian Conference" in October, to broaden collaboration with engineering organisations. The conference showed the broad interest among some skilled engineers, but it also showed both the lack of grounding in the realities of developing world, not only among the audience, but also many of the speakers. Matching skilled engineers with projects is particularly relevant for the highly skilled, but often busy, engineers who cannot take a year to participate in a capacity building placement with a developing country organisation. At the conference we spent time with Engineering For Change, and have also attended the BERC conference, and spoken to EWB Australia.</p><p>At the moment we are looking for engineering volunteers to work with Mike on the MinVayu project, we need people with structural; mechanical; electo-mechanical; power electronics skills.</p> 2011-09-24T19:02:53.000Z 2012-02-24T19:04:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/77-new-project-minvayu-small-wind-for-the-underserved Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/Pminga/img_0247_185w122h.jpg" border="0" alt="MinVayu class and turbine" width="185" height="122" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" /></p><p>The highlight of the last few months has been working with <a href="http://www.minvayu.org/">MinVayu</a>. MinVayu's founder, Jorge Ayarza is an US/Ecuadorian wind expert, based in Auroville India who has come up with an interesting analysis.</p><p>Jorge believes that by designing a small (350W-1kW) turbine for the low-winds of India, and by training local mechanics that he has a scalable, affordable, solution to providing wind power to under-served rural communities. I spent a month with Jorge, helping to refine his business model and in particular to integrate the learnings from the pilot run of the training workshops.</p><p>A rural community education center in nearby village is now powered by a turbine constructed during the workshop, and is performing well. However we believe that by thinking about the whole system rather than just the turbine we can make some substantial improvements and drop the overall system cost another 35% which would make wind cheaper than solar in many even low wind locations.</p><p>The opportunity presented by a system that is cheaper than current Solar Home Systems is substantial with the potential to create a business that meets the magic target of being both highly profitable and having a high impact.</p>

<p><img src="/images/Pminga/img_0247_185w122h.jpg" border="0" alt="MinVayu class and turbine" width="185" height="122" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" /></p><p>The highlight of the last few months has been working with <a href="http://www.minvayu.org/">MinVayu</a>. MinVayu's founder, Jorge Ayarza is an US/Ecuadorian wind expert, based in Auroville India who has come up with an interesting analysis.</p><p>Jorge believes that by designing a small (350W-1kW) turbine for the low-winds of India, and by training local mechanics that he has a scalable, affordable, solution to providing wind power to under-served rural communities. I spent a month with Jorge, helping to refine his business model and in particular to integrate the learnings from the pilot run of the training workshops.</p><p>A rural community education center in nearby village is now powered by a turbine constructed during the workshop, and is performing well. However we believe that by thinking about the whole system rather than just the turbine we can make some substantial improvements and drop the overall system cost another 35% which would make wind cheaper than solar in many even low wind locations.</p><p>The opportunity presented by a system that is cheaper than current Solar Home Systems is substantial with the potential to create a business that meets the magic target of being both highly profitable and having a high impact.</p> 2011-09-24T19:04:24.000Z 2011-09-24T19:04:24.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/78-new-project-wherever-the-need Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/Pwtn/wtn_yellow_105w185h.jpg" border="0" alt="Wherever the Need toilet" title="Wherever the Need toilet" width="105" height="185" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />Over 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation, more than twice the number lacking power or water.</p><p>While in the UK in June I was introduced to David Crosweller of <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.uk" target="_blank">Wherever The Need</a> (WTN) who filled me in on their project to create a viable business model for sanitation so that micro-enterprises could run slum toilets in areas that neither municipalities nor Aid dollars are likedly to reach for a long time.</p><p>David explained that in India, poor people will not spend money to use a toilet so the models adopted by Sanergy in Kenya are less likely to work. Instead WTN is looking to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of compost and fertilizer to cover the construction and operating costs of slum toilets.</p><p>In August I visited Paramasivan who runs the <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.in/" target="_blank">indian office of WTN</a> and spent a day touring their trials in the slums of Cuddalore. The cultural challenges, from poverty, cast, unclear land ownership etc are huge, and often lead to sub-optimum solutions such as individual stalls spaced out around an area rather than a single block.</p><p>Natural Innovation hopes to help WTN through it's collaboration with ReAllocate to source mechanical engineering talent to solve specific challenges of safe waste handling, and chemical engineers to improve the cost effectiveness of turning liquid waste into fertilizer. WTN are also looking for an engineer to work with them to reduce the construction costs.</p>

<p><img src="/images/Pwtn/wtn_yellow_105w185h.jpg" border="0" alt="Wherever the Need toilet" title="Wherever the Need toilet" width="105" height="185" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />Over 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation, more than twice the number lacking power or water.</p><p>While in the UK in June I was introduced to David Crosweller of <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.uk" target="_blank">Wherever The Need</a> (WTN) who filled me in on their project to create a viable business model for sanitation so that micro-enterprises could run slum toilets in areas that neither municipalities nor Aid dollars are likedly to reach for a long time.</p><p>David explained that in India, poor people will not spend money to use a toilet so the models adopted by Sanergy in Kenya are less likely to work. Instead WTN is looking to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of compost and fertilizer to cover the construction and operating costs of slum toilets.</p><p>In August I visited Paramasivan who runs the <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.in/" target="_blank">indian office of WTN</a> and spent a day touring their trials in the slums of Cuddalore. The cultural challenges, from poverty, cast, unclear land ownership etc are huge, and often lead to sub-optimum solutions such as individual stalls spaced out around an area rather than a single block.</p><p>Natural Innovation hopes to help WTN through it's collaboration with ReAllocate to source mechanical engineering talent to solve specific challenges of safe waste handling, and chemical engineers to improve the cost effectiveness of turning liquid waste into fertilizer. WTN are also looking for an engineer to work with them to reduce the construction costs.</p> 2011-09-24T19:06:01.000Z 2011-09-24T19:06:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/79-humanitarian-license Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The first public draft of Natural Innovation's "Humanitarian License" is now available on the <a href="humanitarianlicense">web site</a>. Both a plain English and a legalese version are available. Written by Mitra &amp; San Francisco based Intellectual Property (IP) attorney <a href="index.php/partners/otherpartners/49-comarlaw" target="_blank" title="Inder Comar - Intellectual Property Law">Inder Comar</a>.</p><p>The license is intended to help facilitate technology being made available to non-profits for humanitarian purposes, for example for developing country applications where the IP owner has little intention of doing business.</p><p>At this time we would be grateful for feedback, especially from any potential users of the license (IP owners, or licensees or attorneys) so that the license can be adapted into an even more useful set of templates.</p>

<p>The first public draft of Natural Innovation's "Humanitarian License" is now available on the <a href="humanitarianlicense">web site</a>. Both a plain English and a legalese version are available. Written by Mitra &amp; San Francisco based Intellectual Property (IP) attorney <a href="index.php/partners/otherpartners/49-comarlaw" target="_blank" title="Inder Comar - Intellectual Property Law">Inder Comar</a>.</p><p>The license is intended to help facilitate technology being made available to non-profits for humanitarian purposes, for example for developing country applications where the IP owner has little intention of doing business.</p><p>At this time we would be grateful for feedback, especially from any potential users of the license (IP owners, or licensees or attorneys) so that the license can be adapted into an even more useful set of templates.</p> 2011-09-24T19:07:05.000Z 2011-09-24T19:07:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/80-the-funding-gap Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>As part of Natural Innovation's mission to improve the climate for technology innovation, Mitra has been trying to get the message out that the Social Entrepreneurship / Impact Investment space needs to address the serious gap between the mostly late-stage, risk averse, investors with high minimum amounts and the mostly early stage entrepreneurs, needing small amounts of money and lots of help.</p><p>This gap is particularly evident when an entrepreneur is in a developing country, where US$200,000 will fund a team of 10 for a year, and all the prototyping and development. But to US based investors, $200k is too small to be worth the cost of the due-diligence! At the recent SoCap conference, this gap was finally being recognised and talked about by investors, while incubators like Natural Innovation met with entrepreneurs and those few funders who understand to explore possible solutions.</p><p><a href="http://socialcapitalmarkets.net/" target="_blank">SoCap</a> has rapidly become the conference to pay attention to for the sector we work in. I found both <a href="http://www.investorscircle.net/" target="_blank">Investors Circle</a> and <a href="http://www.cleantechopen.com" target="_blank">Cleantech Open</a> interesting and valuable, however Investors Circle is in practice only available to US entrepreneurs and we also heard from two companies that the venture capital investors they met throught their pitches at Cleantech Open had tried to get them to drop their social missions and just focus on profitable western markets.</p>

<p>As part of Natural Innovation's mission to improve the climate for technology innovation, Mitra has been trying to get the message out that the Social Entrepreneurship / Impact Investment space needs to address the serious gap between the mostly late-stage, risk averse, investors with high minimum amounts and the mostly early stage entrepreneurs, needing small amounts of money and lots of help.</p><p>This gap is particularly evident when an entrepreneur is in a developing country, where US$200,000 will fund a team of 10 for a year, and all the prototyping and development. But to US based investors, $200k is too small to be worth the cost of the due-diligence! At the recent SoCap conference, this gap was finally being recognised and talked about by investors, while incubators like Natural Innovation met with entrepreneurs and those few funders who understand to explore possible solutions.</p><p><a href="http://socialcapitalmarkets.net/" target="_blank">SoCap</a> has rapidly become the conference to pay attention to for the sector we work in. I found both <a href="http://www.investorscircle.net/" target="_blank">Investors Circle</a> and <a href="http://www.cleantechopen.com" target="_blank">Cleantech Open</a> interesting and valuable, however Investors Circle is in practice only available to US entrepreneurs and we also heard from two companies that the venture capital investors they met throught their pitches at Cleantech Open had tried to get them to drop their social missions and just focus on profitable western markets.</p> 2011-09-24T19:08:12.000Z 2011-09-24T19:08:12.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/81-the-joys-of-sharing Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/newsletter/snakelizard264w173h.jpg" border="0" alt="Snake and Lizard" width="185" height="121" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" />I'm a big fan of <a href="http://www.shareable.net" target="_blank">shareable.net</a>, whose lively blog shows how many ways we can improve our lives by sharing.</p><p>During my recent trip to India I discovered a new angle on it. While riding an electric scooter down a track barely wide enough for the bike, a guy steps into the road brandishing a wickedly sharp looking knife. I might have been scared except that no self-respecting bandit would have been wearing a large nappy like dhoti, and the ancient toothless grin looked friendly. We had no language in common but it seemed he just wanted a ride, and I guess waving his knife and grinning worked pretty well at getting me to stop!</p><p>I wish I'd had my camera, but later that week I snapped this different way of sharing - a lizard and a mildly venomous snake both trying to invite the other for dinner.</p>

<p><img src="/images/newsletter/snakelizard264w173h.jpg" border="0" alt="Snake and Lizard" width="185" height="121" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" />I'm a big fan of <a href="http://www.shareable.net" target="_blank">shareable.net</a>, whose lively blog shows how many ways we can improve our lives by sharing.</p><p>During my recent trip to India I discovered a new angle on it. While riding an electric scooter down a track barely wide enough for the bike, a guy steps into the road brandishing a wickedly sharp looking knife. I might have been scared except that no self-respecting bandit would have been wearing a large nappy like dhoti, and the ancient toothless grin looked friendly. We had no language in common but it seemed he just wanted a ride, and I guess waving his knife and grinning worked pretty well at getting me to stop!</p><p>I wish I'd had my camera, but later that week I snapped this different way of sharing - a lizard and a mildly venomous snake both trying to invite the other for dinner.</p> 2011-09-24T19:09:10.000Z 2011-09-24T19:09:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/82-new-partner-reallocate Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/Creallocate/realocate-logo_on_white_100x43.png" border="0" alt="ReAllocate logo" title="reallocate logo" style="margin: 5px; float: right; border: 0pt none;" />Natural Innovation would like to announce it's partnership with <a href="http://www.reallocate.org" target="_blank">ReAllocate</a>, a new NGO that is coordinating pro-bono engineers to work on humanitarian projects.</p><p>Unlike other excellent organizations such as <a href="http://www.ewb.org.au/" target="_blank">Engineers Without Borders</a>, it focuses on the short-term individual or team "consulting" projects, and on working with NGOs to solve specific humanitarian problems. ReAllocate's access to engineers is a natural complement for Natural Innovations focus on taking innovations to commercial viability.</p><p> </p>

<p><img src="/images/Creallocate/realocate-logo_on_white_100x43.png" border="0" alt="ReAllocate logo" title="reallocate logo" style="margin: 5px; float: right; border: 0pt none;" />Natural Innovation would like to announce it's partnership with <a href="http://www.reallocate.org" target="_blank">ReAllocate</a>, a new NGO that is coordinating pro-bono engineers to work on humanitarian projects.</p><p>Unlike other excellent organizations such as <a href="http://www.ewb.org.au/" target="_blank">Engineers Without Borders</a>, it focuses on the short-term individual or team "consulting" projects, and on working with NGOs to solve specific humanitarian problems. ReAllocate's access to engineers is a natural complement for Natural Innovations focus on taking innovations to commercial viability.</p><p> </p> 2011-09-24T19:10:09.000Z 2012-02-24T19:52:26.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/83-new-partner-william-james-foundation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/logos/wjfnewheader200x30.jpg" border="0" />We are also announcing our partnership with <a href="http://williamjamesfoundation.org" target="_blank">William James Foundation</a>. WJF runs a set of business plan competitions for for-profit social entrepreneurs.</p><p>One of the strong points of the WJF competition is the extensive feedback received from judges, including Mitra. We have also been exploring ways to enable a longer term incubation by Natural Innovation to complement the short term advice from judges.</p><p>As an "outreach partner" of WJF, our mentees and network have access to discounts on the entry fee, hurry up and ask me for the code, as applications are due on October 15th.</p><p><a href="index.php/partners/innovationsupport/64-williamjamesfoundation">More...</a></p>

<p><img src="/images/logos/wjfnewheader200x30.jpg" border="0" />We are also announcing our partnership with <a href="http://williamjamesfoundation.org" target="_blank">William James Foundation</a>. WJF runs a set of business plan competitions for for-profit social entrepreneurs.</p><p>One of the strong points of the WJF competition is the extensive feedback received from judges, including Mitra. We have also been exploring ways to enable a longer term incubation by Natural Innovation to complement the short term advice from judges.</p><p>As an "outreach partner" of WJF, our mentees and network have access to discounts on the entry fee, hurry up and ask me for the code, as applications are due on October 15th.</p><p><a href="index.php/partners/innovationsupport/64-williamjamesfoundation">More...</a></p> 2011-09-24T19:11:09.000Z 2011-09-24T19:11:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/84-new-partner-unreasonable-institute Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/logos/unreasonable_100w92h.png" border="0" alt="Unreasonable logo" width="100" height="92" style="margin: 5px; float: right; border: 0pt none;" /></p><p>The third annual Unreasonable Institute will unite 25 exceptional, early-stage entrepreneurs for 6 weeks in the summer of 2012 in the beautiful, entrepreneurial city of Boulder, Colorado. Over the course of these 6 weeks, chosen entrepreneurs will live and work with <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMVzFsYm5SdmNuTXYv" target="_blank">50 world-class mentors</a> and portfolio managers from over <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMWEJoY25SdVpYSnpMdyUzRCUzRC8%3D" target="_blank">20 impact investment funds</a>. They'll pitch ventures to hundreds of potential partners and funders, gain access to legal and design support services, and receive unprecedented levels of media exposure.</p><p>Natural Innovation has enjoyed interacting with last year's fellows, several of which have, in our opinion, the chance to make a globally significant impact. Since Unreasonable's short term intensive program is a great complement to our longer term mentoring, Natural Innovation has partnered with Unreasonable to explore ways we can support each other.</p><p><a href="index.php/partners/innovationsupport/66-unreasonable" target="_blank">More...</a></p>

<p><img src="/images/logos/unreasonable_100w92h.png" border="0" alt="Unreasonable logo" width="100" height="92" style="margin: 5px; float: right; border: 0pt none;" /></p><p>The third annual Unreasonable Institute will unite 25 exceptional, early-stage entrepreneurs for 6 weeks in the summer of 2012 in the beautiful, entrepreneurial city of Boulder, Colorado. Over the course of these 6 weeks, chosen entrepreneurs will live and work with <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMVzFsYm5SdmNuTXYv" target="_blank">50 world-class mentors</a> and portfolio managers from over <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMWEJoY25SdVpYSnpMdyUzRCUzRC8%3D" target="_blank">20 impact investment funds</a>. They'll pitch ventures to hundreds of potential partners and funders, gain access to legal and design support services, and receive unprecedented levels of media exposure.</p><p>Natural Innovation has enjoyed interacting with last year's fellows, several of which have, in our opinion, the chance to make a globally significant impact. Since Unreasonable's short term intensive program is a great complement to our longer term mentoring, Natural Innovation has partnered with Unreasonable to explore ways we can support each other.</p><p><a href="index.php/partners/innovationsupport/66-unreasonable" target="_blank">More...</a></p> 2011-03-24T19:14:15.000Z 2011-03-24T19:14:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/85-sunvention-investment-sourced Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/sunvention/greenhouse_external185x130.jpg" border="0" alt="Sunvention greenhouse and sunpulse water" width="185" height="130" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />I spent the latter part of 2010 in southern Germany with Sunvention. In early January, Sunvention, was able to come to agreement with a prominent Swiss Foundation to become a majority owner of Sunvention.</p><p>The Foundation's main mission is to bring technologies to poor villages in developing countries, and this alignment with Sunvention's core purpose will allow Sunvention to focus on products with the highest humanitarian impact.</p><p>Sunvention plans to complete development of some key products and bring them to market in 2011. These products include: SunPulse Water, a solar thermal pump; SunPulse Electric - an off-grid power system; and the SunRay - a heat collection systems for greenhouses;</p><p>Sunvention's team has come back together, and production has commenced at their Indonesian partner - ATMI. Distribution will begin initially in India and Indonesia.</p><p>Sunvention are still very interested in an investor for the SunPulse Water which has the potential to be commercially viable and have a significant impact.</p><p>Their website should be up soon;</p><p>Please contact me if you are interested in investing.</p><p> </p>

<p><img src="/images/sunvention/greenhouse_external185x130.jpg" border="0" alt="Sunvention greenhouse and sunpulse water" width="185" height="130" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />I spent the latter part of 2010 in southern Germany with Sunvention. In early January, Sunvention, was able to come to agreement with a prominent Swiss Foundation to become a majority owner of Sunvention.</p><p>The Foundation's main mission is to bring technologies to poor villages in developing countries, and this alignment with Sunvention's core purpose will allow Sunvention to focus on products with the highest humanitarian impact.</p><p>Sunvention plans to complete development of some key products and bring them to market in 2011. These products include: SunPulse Water, a solar thermal pump; SunPulse Electric - an off-grid power system; and the SunRay - a heat collection systems for greenhouses;</p><p>Sunvention's team has come back together, and production has commenced at their Indonesian partner - ATMI. Distribution will begin initially in India and Indonesia.</p><p>Sunvention are still very interested in an investor for the SunPulse Water which has the potential to be commercially viable and have a significant impact.</p><p>Their website should be up soon;</p><p>Please contact me if you are interested in investing.</p><p> </p> 2011-03-24T19:15:47.000Z 2011-03-24T19:15:47.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/86-the-last-mile-bridging-the-distribution-gap Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>One of the biggest challenges of getting technology into the hands of the people who need it is the distribution. It would be naive to think that all is needed is the right "product". Marketing to the bottom of the pyramid is hard - and despite the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131467506/mitra" target="_blank">book</a> I have yet to find anyone making a "Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid". I do believe however that in order to scale, we need business models that make technical solutions affordable to villages, and that allow a supply chain that can operate without continual donations.</p><p>This last quarter, I've spent most of the time in India meeting with Social Ventures (NGO's and companies) working to bring technology to rural poor. I talked with seven groups in different states and with different approaches. Most expressed an interest in Sunvention's SunPulse Water and in New World Machine's solar cooling.</p><p>It was particularly good to speak with NGO's working effectively like a business, but motivated by impact rather than profit, and I look forward to an effective network that can ease the transition from lab to field.</p>

<p>One of the biggest challenges of getting technology into the hands of the people who need it is the distribution. It would be naive to think that all is needed is the right "product". Marketing to the bottom of the pyramid is hard - and despite the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131467506/mitra" target="_blank">book</a> I have yet to find anyone making a "Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid". I do believe however that in order to scale, we need business models that make technical solutions affordable to villages, and that allow a supply chain that can operate without continual donations.</p><p>This last quarter, I've spent most of the time in India meeting with Social Ventures (NGO's and companies) working to bring technology to rural poor. I talked with seven groups in different states and with different approaches. Most expressed an interest in Sunvention's SunPulse Water and in New World Machine's solar cooling.</p><p>It was particularly good to speak with NGO's working effectively like a business, but motivated by impact rather than profit, and I look forward to an effective network that can ease the transition from lab to field.</p> 2011-03-24T19:17:00.000Z 2011-03-24T19:17:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/87-new-project-onefridge Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The most exciting new project I'm working on is "OneFridge".</p><p>A Byron based company, New World Machines, is developing a technology that offers significant advantages over existing solar cooling machines. The company is collaborating with an Austrian professor and will commercialise the technology for the global market. The technology has relevance to a number of fields, particularly solar air conditioning and refrigeration.</p><p>The Absorption chiller allows up to a 30x reduction in size compared with existing chillers, and also achieves a dramatic reduction in cost, making solar cooling both affordable and practical.</p><p>All involved are highly motivated to see their innovation benefit the poor, and New World Machines have created a not for profit project, OneFridge, to achieve this aim.</p><p>My focus is on helping to develop OneFridge and assist the team in reaching their humanitarian aims. We are working together to put in place a Humanitarian License (see below) for the technology and will then look at formulating initial humanitarian applications for the technology.</p><div><br /> <p>Several of the distribution partners I have been talking to in India have identified rural cold-chain as the most pressing issue. In hot areas, unscrupulous traders can offer a few Rupees per kilo knowing that the farmer has little choice since their product will go bad otherwise. A rural cool store shifts the balance, allowing a farmer to wait for the next trader, or for a village to aggregate produce and rent a truck to market themselves.</p></div><br /> <p>A non-profit structure is being established, and we are looking for potential donors or others wishing to be involved. A web site will be up soon.</p>

<p>The most exciting new project I'm working on is "OneFridge".</p><p>A Byron based company, New World Machines, is developing a technology that offers significant advantages over existing solar cooling machines. The company is collaborating with an Austrian professor and will commercialise the technology for the global market. The technology has relevance to a number of fields, particularly solar air conditioning and refrigeration.</p><p>The Absorption chiller allows up to a 30x reduction in size compared with existing chillers, and also achieves a dramatic reduction in cost, making solar cooling both affordable and practical.</p><p>All involved are highly motivated to see their innovation benefit the poor, and New World Machines have created a not for profit project, OneFridge, to achieve this aim.</p><p>My focus is on helping to develop OneFridge and assist the team in reaching their humanitarian aims. We are working together to put in place a Humanitarian License (see below) for the technology and will then look at formulating initial humanitarian applications for the technology.</p><div><br /> <p>Several of the distribution partners I have been talking to in India have identified rural cold-chain as the most pressing issue. In hot areas, unscrupulous traders can offer a few Rupees per kilo knowing that the farmer has little choice since their product will go bad otherwise. A rural cool store shifts the balance, allowing a farmer to wait for the next trader, or for a village to aggregate produce and rent a truck to market themselves.</p></div><br /> <p>A non-profit structure is being established, and we are looking for potential donors or others wishing to be involved. A web site will be up soon.</p> 2011-03-24T19:18:11.000Z 2011-03-24T19:18:11.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/88-new-project-humanitarian-licenses Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I've been working on an idea for a simple licensing agreement that for-profit developers of technology can use to allow their inventions to be used for humanitarian purposes. It is intended for use when Open-Source is not appropriate because of the need to protect the investors interests, but where a separate developing country market could be addressed by a non-profit.</p><p>I've had assistance from <a href="http://www.comarlaw.com" target="_blank">Inder Comar</a> a San Francisco based IP attorney in producing a draft and discussions with some other pro-bono attorneys and I hope that we can produce something that is, to patents, what Creative Commons is to copyright, i.e. an easy to use template that encourages material to be more freely available.</p>

<p>I've been working on an idea for a simple licensing agreement that for-profit developers of technology can use to allow their inventions to be used for humanitarian purposes. It is intended for use when Open-Source is not appropriate because of the need to protect the investors interests, but where a separate developing country market could be addressed by a non-profit.</p><p>I've had assistance from <a href="http://www.comarlaw.com" target="_blank">Inder Comar</a> a San Francisco based IP attorney in producing a draft and discussions with some other pro-bono attorneys and I hope that we can produce something that is, to patents, what Creative Commons is to copyright, i.e. an easy to use template that encourages material to be more freely available.</p> 2011-03-24T19:19:29.000Z 2011-03-24T19:19:29.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/89-urban-ecological-systems-planning-position Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/ues%20nutrient%20flow%20300px.jpg" border="0" alt="UES logo" title="bali" width="100" height="75" align="right" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" /><a href="http://www.urbanecologicalsystems.com" target="_blank">Urban Ecological Systems</a> a company I helped raise several million dollars just before starting Natural Innovaftion .org have received planning permission for their state of the art integrated organic horticulture &amp; aquaculture plant to be built near Sydney. This site is funded, but they are still looking for investment in the core company.</p>

<p><img src="/images/ues%20nutrient%20flow%20300px.jpg" border="0" alt="UES logo" title="bali" width="100" height="75" align="right" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" /><a href="http://www.urbanecologicalsystems.com" target="_blank">Urban Ecological Systems</a> a company I helped raise several million dollars just before starting Natural Innovaftion .org have received planning permission for their state of the art integrated organic horticulture &amp; aquaculture plant to be built near Sydney. This site is funded, but they are still looking for investment in the core company.</p> 2011-03-24T19:20:53.000Z 2011-03-24T19:20:53.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/90-rural-wind-installation-network Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I've been helping an Indian based Ecuadorian - Jorge Ayarza to develop his idea to train a network of village mechanics to build, install and maintain small wind turbines. He's using an open-source design, and will supply key components where it helps reduce costs. {<a href="index.php/innovators/46-jorgeayarza" target="_blank">More</a>}</p>

<p>I've been helping an Indian based Ecuadorian - Jorge Ayarza to develop his idea to train a network of village mechanics to build, install and maintain small wind turbines. He's using an open-source design, and will supply key components where it helps reduce costs. {<a href="index.php/innovators/46-jorgeayarza" target="_blank">More</a>}</p> 2011-03-24T19:21:50.000Z 2011-03-24T19:21:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/91-mentoring Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I've been involved in a number of mentoring programs over the year and most recently with <a href="http://www.villgro.org/" target="_blank">Villgro</a>, who have an interesting take on it, where they pair an experienced mentor, with a business student. This allows a small amount of the mentors time to leverage a lot of the students time. Both the innovator, and the student gain experience from this. {<a href="/?id=3069&alias=villgro-pip">More</a>}</p>

<p>I've been involved in a number of mentoring programs over the year and most recently with <a href="http://www.villgro.org/" target="_blank">Villgro</a>, who have an interesting take on it, where they pair an experienced mentor, with a business student. This allows a small amount of the mentors time to leverage a lot of the students time. Both the innovator, and the student gain experience from this. {<a href="/?id=3069&alias=villgro-pip">More</a>}</p> 2010-12-24T19:38:09.000Z 2012-02-24T19:43:08.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/92-introduction-to-natural-innovation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I've been on a quest - that started with asking once again, how I could be most effective in making a difference. So here is the story so far ...</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I started the journey of creating the Natural Innovation Foundation in November 2009 during a trip to check out some technologies for UES and for a new investment fund I was advising. During the trip, a realisation crystalized that the technologies with the highest potential to impact our planet, and in particularly the billions without adequate supplies of food, clean water &amp; energy were not going to be funded by classical philanthropy because it was averse to risk, especially technical risk, nor would it be funded by venture capital because there was unlikely to be sufficient return because of the poverty of the customers, and in many cases the difficulty of protecting the Intellectual Property. <br /> <br /> So I transformed my consultancy, Natural Innovations, to focus on supporting clean technology innovations with high potential impact.</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">For me personally, its been a challenging 15 months, during which I've only been home (Byron Bay, Australia) for about 8 weeks. This will be the first time in over ten years I'm not home for the solstice / xmas / new-years holiday. But I've enjoyed living in many places, ten countries in all, including reasonably long stints in India, Indonesia, Germany, Portugal, and the US. I really want to thank the people who have opened their homes and hearts to me, especially Brewster &amp; Mary in San Francisco; Rachel, Rob &amp; Johnny in Bali; Nikhil, Tanmayo, Freeman &amp; Mario in India; Wendelin &amp; Khabira in Freiburg &amp; everyone else who lent me a bed along the way.</p>

<p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I've been on a quest - that started with asking once again, how I could be most effective in making a difference. So here is the story so far ...</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I started the journey of creating the Natural Innovation Foundation in November 2009 during a trip to check out some technologies for UES and for a new investment fund I was advising. During the trip, a realisation crystalized that the technologies with the highest potential to impact our planet, and in particularly the billions without adequate supplies of food, clean water &amp; energy were not going to be funded by classical philanthropy because it was averse to risk, especially technical risk, nor would it be funded by venture capital because there was unlikely to be sufficient return because of the poverty of the customers, and in many cases the difficulty of protecting the Intellectual Property. <br /> <br /> So I transformed my consultancy, Natural Innovations, to focus on supporting clean technology innovations with high potential impact.</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">For me personally, its been a challenging 15 months, during which I've only been home (Byron Bay, Australia) for about 8 weeks. This will be the first time in over ten years I'm not home for the solstice / xmas / new-years holiday. But I've enjoyed living in many places, ten countries in all, including reasonably long stints in India, Indonesia, Germany, Portugal, and the US. I really want to thank the people who have opened their homes and hearts to me, especially Brewster &amp; Mary in San Francisco; Rachel, Rob &amp; Johnny in Bali; Nikhil, Tanmayo, Freeman &amp; Mario in India; Wendelin &amp; Khabira in Freiburg &amp; everyone else who lent me a bed along the way.</p> 2010-12-24T19:39:38.000Z 2012-02-24T19:42:56.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/93-project-sunvention Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I <img src="/images/sunvention/sunpulse%20water%20jk%20pumping%20stripe%20400w156h.jpg" border="0" alt="SunPulse Water" width="200" height="78" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" />first came across Sunvention when I was looking for some technology for UES to improve energy efficiency in their greenhouses. We traveled to Tamera in Portugal and met Jürgen Kleinwächter there. Apart from it being appropriate to UES, it was clear to me that this was the most impressive set of under-exploited technologies in terms of its potential impact in developing countries. Since June I've been helping Jürgen to go through a serious restructure caused by the internal problems of its majority investor. We've been exploring the opportunities both for commercial funding, and also for reorganizing Sunvention as a Social Venture, focused on how to maximise its impact, rather than generate a return. I came out to Germany after SoCap and am still here. At this time, we are still looking for investors or donors that might be interested either in the core venture, or in specific projects. <br /> <br /> As just one example - they have developed and tested the SunPulse Water, a solar thermal water pump. It will be affordable to millions of farmers who couldn't afford the running cost of comparable diesel pumps, or the capital cost of photovoltaics. It is expected to cost about 1/3 of the price of either, per liter pumped, overall. Because of delays raising finance, I've just postponed a trip to India to talk to potential distributors, one of which has indicated a likely demand for 50,000 (over €50m) in their state alone. Sunvention is currently looking for ten sites to purchase and test these pumps in a variety of environments. <a href="index.php/innovators/33-sunpulsewater" target="_blank">{More} </a><br /> <br /> Many organisations have done interesting work improving the combustion efficiency of stoves to reduce the amount of wood required and the health impact of smoke. Sunvention has an interesting alternative approach, using a simple <a href="index.php/innovators/40-oxygen">oxygen generator</a> to allow the burning of even really low quality biomass such as crop residues, grass clippings etc. I'm hoping to help Sunvention raise some finance to complete some prototypes, and to open-source this project.<br /> <br /> I'm interested in talking to anyone interested from either a philanthropic or investment perspective.</p>

<p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I <img src="/images/sunvention/sunpulse%20water%20jk%20pumping%20stripe%20400w156h.jpg" border="0" alt="SunPulse Water" width="200" height="78" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" />first came across Sunvention when I was looking for some technology for UES to improve energy efficiency in their greenhouses. We traveled to Tamera in Portugal and met Jürgen Kleinwächter there. Apart from it being appropriate to UES, it was clear to me that this was the most impressive set of under-exploited technologies in terms of its potential impact in developing countries. Since June I've been helping Jürgen to go through a serious restructure caused by the internal problems of its majority investor. We've been exploring the opportunities both for commercial funding, and also for reorganizing Sunvention as a Social Venture, focused on how to maximise its impact, rather than generate a return. I came out to Germany after SoCap and am still here. At this time, we are still looking for investors or donors that might be interested either in the core venture, or in specific projects. <br /> <br /> As just one example - they have developed and tested the SunPulse Water, a solar thermal water pump. It will be affordable to millions of farmers who couldn't afford the running cost of comparable diesel pumps, or the capital cost of photovoltaics. It is expected to cost about 1/3 of the price of either, per liter pumped, overall. Because of delays raising finance, I've just postponed a trip to India to talk to potential distributors, one of which has indicated a likely demand for 50,000 (over €50m) in their state alone. Sunvention is currently looking for ten sites to purchase and test these pumps in a variety of environments. <a href="index.php/innovators/33-sunpulsewater" target="_blank">{More} </a><br /> <br /> Many organisations have done interesting work improving the combustion efficiency of stoves to reduce the amount of wood required and the health impact of smoke. Sunvention has an interesting alternative approach, using a simple <a href="index.php/innovators/40-oxygen">oxygen generator</a> to allow the burning of even really low quality biomass such as crop residues, grass clippings etc. I'm hoping to help Sunvention raise some finance to complete some prototypes, and to open-source this project.<br /> <br /> I'm interested in talking to anyone interested from either a philanthropic or investment perspective.</p> 2010-12-24T19:41:10.000Z 2012-02-24T19:42:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/94-social-ventures Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>During my time in San Francisco I joined the <a href="http://bayarea.the-hub.net/" target="_blank" title="The Bay Area Hub">"Hub"</a> and really grew to appreciate the Social Entreprenurs who used its shared working space. It deepened my commitment to the space between charities and businesses.</p><p style="font-size: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">Charity doesn’t scale to meet the needs of billions, and corporate greed cannot be satisfied by the poorest of the poor, which is why basic human needs remain unmet despite the existence of (technical) solutions, and <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Scaling">scaling solutions</a> is one of my passions.<br /> <br /> Between these two models lies the emerging area of Social Ventures, where an entity operates like a business, but is driven by a mission rather than only by profit. Social Ventures range from Charities with a business activity, through to Corporations acting responsibility.</p><p>It is somewhere in the middle where I believe my ideal model lies, organisations where the mission is crucial to the organisation, and not just an add-on, and where finance is only required to get it going e.g. to for example to create and bring to market a technology, but where the solutions can be provided on a commercially viable basis, because the cost has been dropped to a point where the poor can afford it. <br /> <br /> Since I'm focused on the early stages of technology, the question is where the funding will come from, and what the equivalent of venture capital is, in the area of impact investing. I led a session at the excellent SoCap conference on this topic, where I was also <a href="index.php/about-us/news/38-socap10" target="_blank" title="Uptake video">interviewed for the Uptake</a>.</p>

<p>During my time in San Francisco I joined the <a href="http://bayarea.the-hub.net/" target="_blank" title="The Bay Area Hub">"Hub"</a> and really grew to appreciate the Social Entreprenurs who used its shared working space. It deepened my commitment to the space between charities and businesses.</p><p style="font-size: 10px; margin-top: 0px;">Charity doesn’t scale to meet the needs of billions, and corporate greed cannot be satisfied by the poorest of the poor, which is why basic human needs remain unmet despite the existence of (technical) solutions, and <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Scaling">scaling solutions</a> is one of my passions.<br /> <br /> Between these two models lies the emerging area of Social Ventures, where an entity operates like a business, but is driven by a mission rather than only by profit. Social Ventures range from Charities with a business activity, through to Corporations acting responsibility.</p><p>It is somewhere in the middle where I believe my ideal model lies, organisations where the mission is crucial to the organisation, and not just an add-on, and where finance is only required to get it going e.g. to for example to create and bring to market a technology, but where the solutions can be provided on a commercially viable basis, because the cost has been dropped to a point where the poor can afford it. <br /> <br /> Since I'm focused on the early stages of technology, the question is where the funding will come from, and what the equivalent of venture capital is, in the area of impact investing. I led a session at the excellent SoCap conference on this topic, where I was also <a href="index.php/about-us/news/38-socap10" target="_blank" title="Uptake video">interviewed for the Uptake</a>.</p> 2010-12-24T19:43:46.000Z 2010-12-24T19:43:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/95-trip-indonesia Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>In August I spent a month in Indonesia, principally Bali, getting to know the culture and the wonderful people. I had the pleasure of staying at Rachel, Rob &amp; Johnny's home overlooking a valley just outside Ubud. Its hard to imagine a more perfect place for me, with the peace of nature, other social entrepreneurs and close to town. Though I'd come to Bali with a main interest being the highly promising <a href="index.php/innovators/17-vortex" target="_blank" title="Vortex Turbines">Vortex hydro-power</a> technology it wasn't really happening, so I spent my time working out of "Kafe" &amp; getting to know the people pushing the envelope of sustainable innovation.</p><p>There are very few people really supporting innovation in developing countries, in Indonesia a notable exception are <a href="index.php/about-us/partners/12-innovationsupport/39-indonesia-ramp-inotek" target="_blank" title="Ram and Inotek">Ramp and Inotek</a> whose course and mentorship program for young innovators I got to visit</p>

<p>In August I spent a month in Indonesia, principally Bali, getting to know the culture and the wonderful people. I had the pleasure of staying at Rachel, Rob &amp; Johnny's home overlooking a valley just outside Ubud. Its hard to imagine a more perfect place for me, with the peace of nature, other social entrepreneurs and close to town. Though I'd come to Bali with a main interest being the highly promising <a href="index.php/innovators/17-vortex" target="_blank" title="Vortex Turbines">Vortex hydro-power</a> technology it wasn't really happening, so I spent my time working out of "Kafe" &amp; getting to know the people pushing the envelope of sustainable innovation.</p><p>There are very few people really supporting innovation in developing countries, in Indonesia a notable exception are <a href="index.php/about-us/partners/12-innovationsupport/39-indonesia-ramp-inotek" target="_blank" title="Ram and Inotek">Ramp and Inotek</a> whose course and mentorship program for young innovators I got to visit</p> 2010-12-24T19:45:52.000Z 2010-12-24T19:45:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/97-trip-intentional-communties-auroville-a-tamera Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>As I lived most of my life in intentional communities, I always enjoy it when I have a good reason to visit one. This year I've had the pleasure of staying at two eco-villages, both of which have a substantial amount of renewable energy activity.</p><p><img src="/images/earth_training.jpg" border="0" alt="Earth building" width="100" height="67" align="right" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" />The first was Auroville in India, a planned community of about 2000 people (though they've always planned for many more) with a blend of Tamil's and westerners. I visited people working on building &amp; distributing clean technologies to rural India, including solar; wind; stoves; earth-building and in saw new developments in LED street lighting and ruggedised electric scooters. I particularly appreciated at Auroville the importance of spirituality or connection to the divine without there being any one dogma. {<a href="/?id=3062&alias=auroville" target="_blank" title="Auroville">More</a>}</p><p><img src="/images/greenhouse_external100w70h.jpg" border="0" width="100" height="70" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" />I also spent a few weeks with the Solar Village team at Tamera, a very different community of about 200 people in Portugal, it is much more intense and intellectual, and is researching all kinds of technology for food and energy, with a focus on autonomous communities and developing countries. They will be looking for interns in the spring to work on technologies for communities or developing countries. {<a href="http://www.tamera.org/index.php?id=225" target="_blank" title="Tamera">More</a>}</p><p>I look forward to returning to both of these communities.</p><p> </p>

<p>As I lived most of my life in intentional communities, I always enjoy it when I have a good reason to visit one. This year I've had the pleasure of staying at two eco-villages, both of which have a substantial amount of renewable energy activity.</p><p><img src="/images/earth_training.jpg" border="0" alt="Earth building" width="100" height="67" align="right" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" />The first was Auroville in India, a planned community of about 2000 people (though they've always planned for many more) with a blend of Tamil's and westerners. I visited people working on building &amp; distributing clean technologies to rural India, including solar; wind; stoves; earth-building and in saw new developments in LED street lighting and ruggedised electric scooters. I particularly appreciated at Auroville the importance of spirituality or connection to the divine without there being any one dogma. {<a href="/?id=3062&alias=auroville" target="_blank" title="Auroville">More</a>}</p><p><img src="/images/greenhouse_external100w70h.jpg" border="0" width="100" height="70" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" />I also spent a few weeks with the Solar Village team at Tamera, a very different community of about 200 people in Portugal, it is much more intense and intellectual, and is researching all kinds of technology for food and energy, with a focus on autonomous communities and developing countries. They will be looking for interns in the spring to work on technologies for communities or developing countries. {<a href="http://www.tamera.org/index.php?id=225" target="_blank" title="Tamera">More</a>}</p><p>I look forward to returning to both of these communities.</p><p> </p> 2015-02-02T08:00:00.000Z 2015-02-02T23:59:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/98-amrutdhara-indiegogo Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I've been an advisor to Amrutdhara since they started work on their alternative to plastic bottles as a solution to clean water. If you've spent any time in India you'll know how much of a problem both access to clean water, AND the pervasive litter from plastic water bottles is.</p><p>The basic idea is simple - a water ATM, supplying clean drinking water after depositing a couple of coins, its the social engineering that will make this work - a supply chain to bring bulk water to public spaces and small stores instead of bottles.</p><p>Now they've got their indiegogo campaign up and running, a small amount goes a long way in India so if you can help then please do. <br /> <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/amrutdhara-clean-water-refill-stations-in-india" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/amrutdhara-clean-water-refill-stations-in-india</a></p>

<p>I've been an advisor to Amrutdhara since they started work on their alternative to plastic bottles as a solution to clean water. If you've spent any time in India you'll know how much of a problem both access to clean water, AND the pervasive litter from plastic water bottles is.</p><p>The basic idea is simple - a water ATM, supplying clean drinking water after depositing a couple of coins, its the social engineering that will make this work - a supply chain to bring bulk water to public spaces and small stores instead of bottles.</p><p>Now they've got their indiegogo campaign up and running, a small amount goes a long way in India so if you can help then please do. <br /> <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/amrutdhara-clean-water-refill-stations-in-india" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/amrutdhara-clean-water-refill-stations-in-india</a></p> 2010-12-21T00:00:00.000Z 2010-12-21T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/209-solstice2010-imagesstoriesparimalwinterjpg Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<div style="background-color:#ffffff;font-size:100%;font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, Kalimati, sans-serif;color:#101010;text-align:center"><table style="text-align: left; margin: auto; width: 600px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- OT: outer table--> <tbody><!--OT--><tr><!--OT 2--><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!--OT 3 main bit to split 3 ways--><td width="370" valign="top"><!-- OT 3.1--> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- Main left--> <tbody><tr><!-- Main left 1--><td height="40" valign="top"><h1>Mitra Ardron, Natural Innovation</h1></td></tr><tr><!-- Main left 2--><td><h3 style="margin-top:25px;color:#996600;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.3em;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin:bottom:10px;text-align:left;border-bottom:6px solid #4c6900;">Solstice 2010/2011 newsletter<br /> - from Freiburg Germany</h3><table border="0"><!-- Story L1--> <tbody><tr><td style="text-align:justify"><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;"><em><img src="images/parimal_winter.jpg" border="0" alt="Mitra Ardron" title="Mitra Ardron" width="120" height="120" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 10px;" /></em>Hi, and welcome to my first newsletter, both the first newsletter I've sent out, and the first time using this newsletter software, so please let me know if there are any problems, and of course if you don't want to receive any more of these see the Unsubscribe link at the bottom.</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I've been on a quest - that started with asking once again, how I could be most effective in making a difference. So here is the story so far ...</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I started the journey of creating Natural Innovation.org in November 2009 during a trip to check out some technologies for UES and for a new investment fund I was advising. During the trip, a realisation crystalized that the technologies with the highest potential to impact our planet, and in particularly the billions without adequate supplies of food, clean water &amp; energy were not going to be funded by classical philanthropy because it was averse to risk, especially technical risk, nor would it be funded by venture capital because there was unlikely to be sufficient return because of the poverty of the customers, and in many cases the difficulty of protecting the Intellectual Property. <br /> <br /> So I transformed my consultancy, Natural Innovations, to focus on supporting clean technology innovations with high potential impact.</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">For me personally, its been a challenging 15 months, during which I've only been home (Byron Bay, Australia) for about 8 weeks. This will be the first time in over ten years I'm not home for the solstice / xmas / new-years holiday. But I've enjoyed living in many places, ten countries in all, including reasonably long stints in India, Indonesia, Germany, Portugal, and the US.  I really want to thank the people who have opened their homes and hearts to me, especially Brewster &amp; Mary in San Francisco; Rachel, Rob &amp; Johnny in Bali; Nikhil, Tanmayo, Freeman &amp; Mario in India; Wendelin &amp; Khabira in Freiburg &amp; everyone else who lent me a bed along the way.</p></td></tr><tr><td align="right"><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- Story L1--></td></tr><tr style="line-height: 0px;"><!--Story R-1/2 seperator --><td style="line-height: 0px;"><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></td></tr><tr><!-- Main left 2--><td><h3 style="margin-top:25px;color:#996600;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.3em;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin:bottom:10px;text-align:left;border-bottom:6px solid #4c6900;">Sunvention</h3><table border="0"><!-- Story L1--> <tbody><tr><td style="text-align:justify"><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I <img src="images/sunvention/sunpulse%20water%20jk%20pumping%20stripe%20400w156h.jpg" border="0" alt="SunPulse Water" width="200" height="78" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" />first came across Sunvention when I was looking for some technology for UES to improve energy efficiency in their greenhouses. We traveled to Tamera in Portugal and met Jürgen Kleinwächter there. Apart from it being appropriate to UES, it was clear to me that this was the most impressive set of under-exploited technologies in terms of its potential impact in developing countries. Since June I've been helping Jürgen to go through a serious restructure caused by the internal problems of its majority investor. We've been exploring the opportunities both for commercial funding, and also for reorganizing Sunvention as a Social Venture, focused on how to maximise its impact, rather than generate a return. I came out to Germany after SoCap and am still here. At this time, we are still looking for investors or donors that might be interested either in the core venture, or in specific projects. <br /> <br /> As just one example - they have developed and tested the SunPulse Water, a solar thermal water pump. It will be affordable to millions of farmers who couldn't afford the running cost of comparable diesel pumps, or the capital cost of photovoltaics. It is expected to cost about 1/3 of the price of either, per liter pumped, overall. Because of delays raising finance, I've just postponed a trip to India to talk to potential distributors, one of which has indicated a likely demand for 50,000 (over €50m) in their state alone. Sunvention is currently looking for ten sites to purchase and test these pumps in a variety of environments. <a href="index.php/innovators/33-sunpulsewater" target="_blank">{More} </a><br /> <br /> Many organisations have done interesting work improving the combustion efficiency of stoves to reduce the amount of wood required and the health impact of smoke. Sunvention has an interesting alternative approach, using a simple <a href="index.php/innovators/40-oxygen">oxygen generator</a> to allow the burning of even really low quality biomass such as crop residues, grass clippings etc. I'm hoping to help Sunvention raise some finance to complete some prototypes, and to open-source this project.<br /> <br /> I'm interested in talking to anyone interested from either a philanthropic or investment perspective.</p></td></tr><tr><td align="right"><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- Story L1--></td></tr><tr style="line-height: 0px;"><!--Story R-1/2 seperator --><td style="line-height: 0px;"><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></td></tr><tr><!-- Main left 4 --><td><h3 style="margin-top:25px;color:#996600;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.3em;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin:bottom:10px;text-align:left;border-bottom:6px solid #4c6900;">Social Ventures</h3><table border="0"><!--split Main left 4 into 2 cols --> <tbody><tr><td style="text-align:justify" width="47%" valign="top"><p style="font-size: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">During my time in San Francisco I joined the <a href="http://bayarea.the-hub.net/" target="_blank" title="The Bay Area Hub">"Hub"</a> and really grew to appreciate the Social Entreprenurs who used its shared working space. It deepened my commitment to the space between charities and businesses.</p><p style=style="font-size: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">Charity doesn’t scale to meet the needs of billions, and corporate greed cannot be satisfied by the poorest of the poor, which is why basic human needs remain unmet despite the existence of (technical) solutions, and <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Scaling">scaling solutions</a> is one of my passions.<br /> <br /> Between these two models lies the emerging area of Social Ventures, where an entity operates like a business, but is driven by a mission rather than only by profit.   Social Ventures range from Charities with a business activity, through to Corporations acting responsibility.</p><p style="font-size: 1em; margin-top: 0px;"> </p></td><td style="line-height: 0px;"><img src="images/vert-separator.png" border="0" height="100%" /></td><td style="text-align:justify" width="47%" valign="top"><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">It is somewhere in the middle where I believe my ideal model lies, organisations where the mission is crucial to the organisation, and not just an add-on, and where finance is only required to get it going e.g. to for example to create and bring to market a technology, but where the solutions can be provided on a commercially viable basis, because the cost has been dropped to a point where the poor can afford it. <br /> <br /> Since I'm focused on the early stages of technology, the question is where the funding will come from, and what the equivalent of venture capital is, in the area of impact investing. I led a session at the excellent SoCap conference on this topic, where I was also <a href="index.php/about-us/news/38-socap10" target="_blank" title="Uptake video">interviewed for the Uptake</a>.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><!--split Main left 4 into 2 cols --></td></tr><tr style="line-height: 0px;"><!--Story R-1/2 seperator --><td style="line-height: 0px;"><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></td></tr><tr><!-- Main left 5--><td><h3 style="margin-top:25px;color:#996600;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.3em;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin:bottom:10px;text-align:left;border-bottom:6px solid #4c6900;">OneFridge Project - affordable cooling in developing countries</h3><table border="0"><!-- Story L1--> <tbody><tr><td style="text-align:justify"><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I recently saw an exciting device that when you heat it up - for example in a fire, or with solar, it stores not heat, but cold, which can be released any time.</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">The clever people behind it would like to make it as widely available as possible. I'll be working with them to raise some funds to apply the concept to solving serious issues with refrigeration, especially for medical purposes, in developing countries.  I'll write more on my website as it develops, or get in touch if you might be interested in funding it.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><!--split Main left 4 into 2 cols --></td></tr></tbody></table><!-- Main left --></td><td width="20"><br /> </td><!-- OT3.2 --><td width="210" valign="top"><!-- OT3.3 --> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- Main right --> <tbody><tr style="line-height: 0px;"><!-- Main right 1--><td style="line-height: 0px;align:center;"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!--Main right 1/2 seperator --><td style="text-align:justify"><img src="/images/mitra%20bald%2075w78h.jpg" border="0" alt="Winter retreat" width="75" height="78" align="right" style="float: right;" /><br /> </td></tr><tr><!-- Main right 2--><td><h3 style="margin-top:25px;color:#996600;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.3em;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin:bottom:10px;text-align:left;border-bottom:6px solid #4c6900;">Indonesia</h3><table border="0"><!--Story R1 --> <tbody><tr><td style="text-align:justify"><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;"><img src="images/bali.jpg" border="0" alt="bali" title="bali" width="100" height="83" align="right" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" />In August I spent a month in Indonesia, principally Bali, getting to know the culture and the wonderful people. I had the pleasure of staying at Rachel, Rob &amp; Johnny's home overlooking a valley just outside Ubud. Its hard to imagine a more perfect place for me, with the peace of nature,  other social entrepreneurs and close to town. Though I'd come to Bali with a main interest being the highly promising <a href="index.php/innovators/17-vortex" target="_blank" title="Vortex Turbines">Vortex hydro-power</a> technology it wasn't really happening, so I spent my time working out of "Kafe" &amp; getting to know the people pushing the envelope of sustainable innovation.</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">There are very few people really supporting innovation in developing countries, in Indonesia a notable exception are <a href="index.php/about-us/partners/12-innovationsupport/39-indonesia-ramp-inotek" target="_blank" title="Ram and Inotek">Ramp and Inotek</a> whose course and mentorship program for young innovators I got to visit</p></td></tr><tr><!--End of story blank --><td style="text-align:justify"><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- end of Story R1 --></td></tr><tr style="line-height: 0px;"><!--Story R-1/2 seperator --><td style="line-height: 0px;"><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></td></tr><tr><!-- Main right 4--><td><h3 style="margin-top:25px;color:#996600;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.3em;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin:bottom:10px;text-align:left;border-bottom:6px solid #4c6900;">Urban Ecological Systems</h3><table border="0"><!--Story R2 --> <tbody><tr><td style="text-align:justify"><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;"><img src="images/ues%20nutrient%20flow%20300px.jpg" border="0" alt="UES logo" title="bali" width="100" height="75" align="right" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" />Sometimes things take a long time, and a highlight this year was seeing Urban Ecological Systems get the investment, from someone I introduced to them in the middle of 2009, for their first commercial system to be built near Sydney. Its a multi-million dollar project, and is a huge vote of confidence in their technology.  They are still looking for investment into the core company, let me know if you are interested.</p></td></tr><tr><!--End of story blank --><td style="text-align:justify"><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- end of Story R2 --></td></tr><tr style="line-height: 0px;"><!--Story R-1/2 seperator --><td style="line-height: 0px;"><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></td></tr><tr><!-- Main right 2--><td><h3 style="margin-top:25px;color:#996600;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.3em;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin:bottom:10px;text-align:left;border-bottom:6px solid #4c6900;">Tamera and Auroville</h3><table border="0"><!--Story R1 --> <tbody><tr><td style="text-align:justify"><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">As I lived most of my life in intentional communities, I always enjoy it when I have a good reason to visit one. This year I've had the pleasure of staying at two eco-villages, both of which have a substantial amount of renewable energy activity.</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;"><img src="images/earth_training.jpg" border="0" alt="Earth building" width="100" height="67" align="right" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" />The first was Auroville in India, a planned community of about 2000 people (though they've always planned for many more) with a blend of Tamil's and westerners. I visited people working on building &amp; distributing clean technologies to rural India, including solar; wind; stoves; earth-building and in saw new developments in LED street lighting and ruggedised electric scooters. I particularly appreciated at Auroville the importance of spirituality or connection to the divine without there being any one dogma. {<a href="/?id=3062&alias=auroville" target="_blank" title="Auroville">More</a>}</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;"><img src="images/greenhouse_external100w70h.jpg" border="0" width="100" height="70" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" />I also spent a few weeks with the Solar Village team at Tamera, a very different community of about 200 people in Portugal, it is much more intense and intellectual, and is researching all kinds of technology for food and energy, with a focus on autonomous communities and developing countries. They will be looking for interns in the spring to work on technologies for communities or developing countries. {<a href="http://www.tamera.org/index.php?id=225" target="_blank" title="Tamera">More</a>}</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">I look forward to returning to both of these communities.</p></td></tr><tr><!--End of story blank --><td style="text-align:justify"><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table><!-- end of Story R1 --></td></tr><tr style="line-height: 0px;"><!--Story R-1/2 seperator --><td style="line-height: 0px;"><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></td></tr><tr><!-- Main right 2--><td><h3 style="margin-top:25px;color:#996600;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.3em;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin:bottom:10px;text-align:left;border-bottom:6px solid #4c6900;">Keep in Touch</h3><table border="0"><!--Story R1 --> <tbody><tr><td style="text-align:justify"><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">If you want to keep in touch with what I'm doing, I write an occasional <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Mitra's Blog">informal blog</a> on my activities and clean technology in general, and also am expanding the <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation">Natural Innovation website</a> focused on technology for developing countries. You can also find me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron" target="_blank">facebook</a>.</p><p style="font-size:1em;margin-top:0px;">For personal contacts, email is best mitra@mitra.biz. Skype reaches me pretty much anywhere and my id is mitra_earth; or you can call +1-510-984-2639, both these are usually forwarded to a local mobile.</p></td></tr><tr><!--End of story blank --><td style="text-align:justify"><img src="/images/venn110x104.gif" border="0" width="110" height="104" style="border: 0; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; float: right;" /></td></tr></tbody></table><!-- end of Story R1 --></td></tr></tbody></table><!-- end of Main right--></td><!-- OT3.3 --></tr><!-- OT3 --> <tr><!-- OT4 seperator --><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!-- OT5 unsubscribe --><td style="font-size:1em;color:#000000;margin:auto;text-align:center;" colspan="3"></td></tr></tbody></table><!-- outer table--></div>

2011-03-21T00:00:00.000Z 2011-03-21T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/212-equinoxmarch2011 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<table style="text-align: left; margin: auto; width: 600px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- OT: outer table--> <tbody><!--OT--><tr><!--OT 2--><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><img src="/images/mitra_200x200.jpg" border="0" alt="Mitra bald in India" width="100" height="100" style="float: left; border: 0pt none;" /><br /> <h1>Mitra Ardron, Natural Innovation .org</h1></td></tr><tr><!--OT 3 main bit to split 3 ways--><td width="370" valign="top"><!-- OT 3.1--><div class="mainleft"><!-- Main left--> <!-- Main left 1--> <!-- Main left 2--><h3>Equinox March 2011 newsletter<br /> - from Byron Bay, Australia</h3><p>Thanks for the feedback on my <a href="index.php/about-us/newsletter/archive/view/listid-3-byronpersonal/mailid-9-solstice2010-imagesstoriesparimalwinterjpg" target="_blank" title="First Newsletter">first newsletter</a>, and the encouragement to produce these regularly.</p><p>Of course if you don't want to receive any more of these see the Unsubscribe link at the bottom.</p><p>My travels to bridge the gap between innovation and developing countries have continued. So far I've been on the road for 18 months, with only two brief one month trips back home to Australia.</p><p>I'll be in San Francisco from April 23rd for a month or so.</p><h3>Sunvention - funded and delivering products soon</h3><p><img src="images/sunvention/greenhouse_external185x130.jpg" border="0" alt="Sunvention greenhouse and sunpulse water" width="185" height="130" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />I spent the latter part of 2010 in southern Germany with Sunvention. In early January, Sunvention, was able to come to agreement with a prominent Swiss Foundation to become a majority owner of Sunvention.</p><p>The Foundation's main mission is to bring technologies to poor villages in developing countries, and this alignment with Sunvention's core purpose will allow Sunvention to focus on products with the highest humanitarian impact.</p><p>Sunvention plans to complete development of some key products and bring them to market in 2011. These products include: SunPulse Water, a solar thermal pump; SunPulse Electric - an off-grid power system; and the SunRay - a heat collection systems for greenhouses;</p><p>Sunvention's team has come back together, and production has commenced at their Indonesian partner - ATMI. Distribution will begin initially in India and Indonesia.</p><p>Sunvention are still very interested in an investor for the SunPulse Water which has the potential to be commercially viable and have a significant impact.</p><p>Their website should be up soon;</p><p>Please contact me if you are interested in investing.</p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>The last mile - bridging the distribution gap</h3><!-- Story L1--> <!--Story R-1/2 seperator --></div><p>One of the biggest challenges of getting technology into the hands of the people who need it is the distribution. It would be naive to think that all is needed is the right "product". Marketing to the bottom of the pyramid is hard - and despite the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131467506/mitra" target="_blank">book</a> I have yet to find anyone making a "Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid". I do believe however that in order to scale, we need business models that make technical solutions affordable to villages, and that allow a supply chain that can operate without continual donations.</p><p>This last quarter, I've spent most of the time in India meeting with Social Ventures  (NGO's and companies) working to bring technology to rural poor.  I talked with seven groups in different states and with different approaches.  Most expressed an interest in Sunvention's SunPulse Water and in New World Machine's solar cooling.</p><p>It was particularly good to speak with NGO's working effectively like a business, but motivated by impact rather than profit, and I look forward to an effective network that can ease the transition from lab to field.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /> <!-- Main left 5--><h3>OneFridge Project - affordable cooling in developing countries</h3><p>The most exciting new project I'm working on is "OneFridge".</p><p>A Byron based company, New World Machines, is developing a technology that offers significant advantages over existing solar cooling machines.  The company is collaborating with an Austrian professor and will commercialise the technology for the global market.  The technology has relevance to a number of fields, particularly solar air conditioning and refrigeration.</p><p>The Absorption chiller allows up to a 30x reduction in size compared with existing chillers, and also achieves a dramatic reduction in cost, making solar cooling both affordable and practical.</p><p>All involved are highly motivated to see their innovation benefit the poor, and New World Machines have created a not for profit project, OneFridge, to achieve this aim.</p><p>My focus is on helping to develop OneFridge and assist the team in reaching their humanitarian aims.  We are working together to put in place a Humanitarian License (see below) for the technology and will then look at formulating initial humanitarian applications for the technology.</p><div><p>Several of the distribution partners I have been talking to in India have identified rural cold-chain as the most pressing issue. In hot areas, unscrupulous traders can offer a few Rupees per kilo knowing that the farmer has little choice since their product will go bad otherwise. A rural cool store shifts the balance, allowing a farmer to wait for the next trader, or for a village to aggregate produce and rent a truck to market themselves.</p></div><p>A non-profit structure is being established, and we are looking for potential donors or others wishing to be involved.  A web site will be up soon.</p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>Humanitarian Licenses</h3><p>I've been working on an idea for a simple licensing agreement that for-profit developers of technology can use to allow their inventions to be used for humanitarian purposes.  It is intended for use when Open-Source is not appropriate because of the need to protect the investors interests, but where a separate developing country market could be addressed by a non-profit.</p><p>I've had assistance from <a href="http://www.comarlaw.com" target="_blank">Inder Comar</a> a San Francisco based IP attorney in producing a draft and discussions with some other pro-bono attorneys and I hope that we can produce something that is, to patents, what Creative Commons is to copyright, i.e. an easy to use template that encourages material to be more freely available.</p><h3>Support this work</h3><p>Almost all the work done in the last eighteen months so far has been at my own expense, any money lent, donated or invested has gone directly to the innovators.</p><p>I'm hoping to find one or two donors who agree with me that supporting technology to get out of the lab and into people's hands is important.</p><p>If anyone reading this can help - for example by recommending this work to a foundation, or nominating for an award, fellowship or prize, then I'd love to hear from you!</p></td><td width="20"><!--gap between left and right columns--><br /> </td><!-- OT3.2 --><td width="210" valign="top"><!-- OT3.3 --><div class="mainright"><!--Main right 1/2 seperator --> <!-- Main right 2--> <!-- Main right 4--><h2>In Brief</h2><h3>Urban Ecological Systems</h3><!--Story R2 --><p><img src="images/ues%20nutrient%20flow%20300px.jpg" border="0" alt="UES logo" title="bali" width="100" height="75" align="right" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" /><a href="http://www.urbanecologicalsystems.com" target="_blank">Urban Ecological Systems</a> have received planning permission for their state of the art integrated organic horticulture &amp; aquaculture plant to be built near Sydney. This site is funded, but they are still looking for investment in the core company.</p><!--End of story blank --> <!--Story R-1/2 seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Buckminster Fuller Challenge Semi-finalist</h3><p><img src="images/sunvention/solarvillage_en_100x68.jpg" border="0" alt="solar power villages" width="100" height="68" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border: 0pt none; float: right;" />I'm proud that an entry I authored for Sunvention has been chosen as a <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/2011Semi_Finalist_SolarPowerVillages" target="_blank">semi-finalist</a> for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge.</p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>Rural wind installation network</h3><p>I've been helping an Indian based Ecuadorian - Jorge Ayarza to develop his idea to train a network of village mechanics to build, install and maintain small wind turbines. He's using an open-source design, and will supply key components where it helps reduce costs. {<a href="index.php/innovators/46-jorgeayarza" target="_blank">More</a>}</p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>Mentoring</h3><p>I've been involved in a number of mentoring programs over the year and most recently with <a <href="http://www.villgro.org/" target="_blank">Villgro</a>, who have an interesting take on it, where they pair an experienced mentor, with a business student. This allows a small amount of the mentors time to leverage a lot of the students time. Both the innovator, and the student gain experience from this. {<a href="/?id=3069&alias=villgro-pip">More</a>}</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Interns and Volunteers</h3><p>There are some opportunities for technical and business interns or volunteers in Australia, or India, or possibly to get involved remotely.</p><h3>Next Few Months</h3><p>I'm in Byron till April 23rd then in San Francisco for Investors Circle (2-4 May) and in Europe from begining of June for about a month. After that India is looking likely or else back to US.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Thanks</h3><p>Thanks to the people who opened their houses and hearts to me this quarter, Joss &amp; Anita and the crew at Pitchandikulam, Annette, Nikhil &amp; Tanmayo, Rut, and the Gondies, and all those I met on the dance floor.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Keep in Touch</h3>If you want to keep in touch with what I'm doing, I write an occasional <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Mitra's Blog">informal blog</a> on my activities and clean technology in general, and also am expanding the <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation">Natural Innovation website</a> focused on technology for developing countries. You can also find me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron" target="_blank">facebook</a> and <a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/mitraardron">LinkedIn</a>.<p>For personal contacts, email is best mitra@mitra.biz. Skype reaches me pretty much anywhere and my id is mitra_earth; or you can call +1-510-984-2639, both these are usually forwarded to a local mobile. For the next month, my Australian mobile is +61-414-648-722.</p><!--End of story blank --> <img src="/images/venn110x104.gif" border="0" width="110" height="104" style="border: 0; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 40px;" /> <!-- end of Main right--></div></td><!-- OT3.3 --></tr><!-- OT3 --> <tr><!-- OT4 seperator --><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!-- OT5 unsubscribe --><td style="font-size:1em;color:#000000;margin:auto;text-align:center;" colspan="3"></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p>

<table style="text-align: left; margin: auto; width: 600px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- OT: outer table--> <tbody><!--OT--><tr><!--OT 2--><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><img src="/images/mitra_200x200.jpg" border="0" alt="Mitra bald in India" width="100" height="100" style="float: left; border: 0pt none;" /><br /> <h1>Mitra Ardron, Natural Innovation .org</h1></td></tr><tr><!--OT 3 main bit to split 3 ways--><td width="370" valign="top"><!-- OT 3.1--><div class="mainleft"><!-- Main left--> <!-- Main left 1--> <!-- Main left 2--><h3>Equinox March 2011 newsletter<br /> - from Byron Bay, Australia</h3><p>Thanks for the feedback on my <a href="index.php/about-us/newsletter/archive/view/listid-3-byronpersonal/mailid-9-solstice2010-imagesstoriesparimalwinterjpg" target="_blank" title="First Newsletter">first newsletter</a>, and the encouragement to produce these regularly.</p><p>Of course if you don't want to receive any more of these see the Unsubscribe link at the bottom.</p><p>My travels to bridge the gap between innovation and developing countries have continued. So far I've been on the road for 18 months, with only two brief one month trips back home to Australia.</p><p>I'll be in San Francisco from April 23rd for a month or so.</p><h3>Sunvention - funded and delivering products soon</h3><p><img src="images/sunvention/greenhouse_external185x130.jpg" border="0" alt="Sunvention greenhouse and sunpulse water" width="185" height="130" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />I spent the latter part of 2010 in southern Germany with Sunvention. In early January, Sunvention, was able to come to agreement with a prominent Swiss Foundation to become a majority owner of Sunvention.</p><p>The Foundation's main mission is to bring technologies to poor villages in developing countries, and this alignment with Sunvention's core purpose will allow Sunvention to focus on products with the highest humanitarian impact.</p><p>Sunvention plans to complete development of some key products and bring them to market in 2011. These products include: SunPulse Water, a solar thermal pump; SunPulse Electric - an off-grid power system; and the SunRay - a heat collection systems for greenhouses;</p><p>Sunvention's team has come back together, and production has commenced at their Indonesian partner - ATMI. Distribution will begin initially in India and Indonesia.</p><p>Sunvention are still very interested in an investor for the SunPulse Water which has the potential to be commercially viable and have a significant impact.</p><p>Their website should be up soon;</p><p>Please contact me if you are interested in investing.</p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>The last mile - bridging the distribution gap</h3><!-- Story L1--> <!--Story R-1/2 seperator --></div><p>One of the biggest challenges of getting technology into the hands of the people who need it is the distribution. It would be naive to think that all is needed is the right "product". Marketing to the bottom of the pyramid is hard - and despite the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131467506/mitra" target="_blank">book</a> I have yet to find anyone making a "Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid". I do believe however that in order to scale, we need business models that make technical solutions affordable to villages, and that allow a supply chain that can operate without continual donations.</p><p>This last quarter, I've spent most of the time in India meeting with Social Ventures  (NGO's and companies) working to bring technology to rural poor.  I talked with seven groups in different states and with different approaches.  Most expressed an interest in Sunvention's SunPulse Water and in New World Machine's solar cooling.</p><p>It was particularly good to speak with NGO's working effectively like a business, but motivated by impact rather than profit, and I look forward to an effective network that can ease the transition from lab to field.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /> <!-- Main left 5--><h3>OneFridge Project - affordable cooling in developing countries</h3><p>The most exciting new project I'm working on is "OneFridge".</p><p>A Byron based company, New World Machines, is developing a technology that offers significant advantages over existing solar cooling machines.  The company is collaborating with an Austrian professor and will commercialise the technology for the global market.  The technology has relevance to a number of fields, particularly solar air conditioning and refrigeration.</p><p>The Absorption chiller allows up to a 30x reduction in size compared with existing chillers, and also achieves a dramatic reduction in cost, making solar cooling both affordable and practical.</p><p>All involved are highly motivated to see their innovation benefit the poor, and New World Machines have created a not for profit project, OneFridge, to achieve this aim.</p><p>My focus is on helping to develop OneFridge and assist the team in reaching their humanitarian aims.  We are working together to put in place a Humanitarian License (see below) for the technology and will then look at formulating initial humanitarian applications for the technology.</p><div><p>Several of the distribution partners I have been talking to in India have identified rural cold-chain as the most pressing issue. In hot areas, unscrupulous traders can offer a few Rupees per kilo knowing that the farmer has little choice since their product will go bad otherwise. A rural cool store shifts the balance, allowing a farmer to wait for the next trader, or for a village to aggregate produce and rent a truck to market themselves.</p></div><p>A non-profit structure is being established, and we are looking for potential donors or others wishing to be involved.  A web site will be up soon.</p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>Humanitarian Licenses</h3><p>I've been working on an idea for a simple licensing agreement that for-profit developers of technology can use to allow their inventions to be used for humanitarian purposes.  It is intended for use when Open-Source is not appropriate because of the need to protect the investors interests, but where a separate developing country market could be addressed by a non-profit.</p><p>I've had assistance from <a href="http://www.comarlaw.com" target="_blank">Inder Comar</a> a San Francisco based IP attorney in producing a draft and discussions with some other pro-bono attorneys and I hope that we can produce something that is, to patents, what Creative Commons is to copyright, i.e. an easy to use template that encourages material to be more freely available.</p><h3>Support this work</h3><p>Almost all the work done in the last eighteen months so far has been at my own expense, any money lent, donated or invested has gone directly to the innovators.</p><p>I'm hoping to find one or two donors who agree with me that supporting technology to get out of the lab and into people's hands is important.</p><p>If anyone reading this can help - for example by recommending this work to a foundation, or nominating for an award, fellowship or prize, then I'd love to hear from you!</p></td><td width="20"><!--gap between left and right columns--><br /> </td><!-- OT3.2 --><td width="210" valign="top"><!-- OT3.3 --><div class="mainright"><!--Main right 1/2 seperator --> <!-- Main right 2--> <!-- Main right 4--><h2>In Brief</h2><h3>Urban Ecological Systems</h3><!--Story R2 --><p><img src="images/ues%20nutrient%20flow%20300px.jpg" border="0" alt="UES logo" title="bali" width="100" height="75" align="right" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;" /><a href="http://www.urbanecologicalsystems.com" target="_blank">Urban Ecological Systems</a> have received planning permission for their state of the art integrated organic horticulture &amp; aquaculture plant to be built near Sydney. This site is funded, but they are still looking for investment in the core company.</p><!--End of story blank --> <!--Story R-1/2 seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Buckminster Fuller Challenge Semi-finalist</h3><p><img src="images/sunvention/solarvillage_en_100x68.jpg" border="0" alt="solar power villages" width="100" height="68" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; border: 0pt none; float: right;" />I'm proud that an entry I authored for Sunvention has been chosen as a <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/2011Semi_Finalist_SolarPowerVillages" target="_blank">semi-finalist</a> for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge.</p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>Rural wind installation network</h3><p>I've been helping an Indian based Ecuadorian - Jorge Ayarza to develop his idea to train a network of village mechanics to build, install and maintain small wind turbines. He's using an open-source design, and will supply key components where it helps reduce costs. {<a href="index.php/innovators/46-jorgeayarza" target="_blank">More</a>}</p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>Mentoring</h3><p>I've been involved in a number of mentoring programs over the year and most recently with <a <href="http://www.villgro.org/" target="_blank">Villgro</a>, who have an interesting take on it, where they pair an experienced mentor, with a business student. This allows a small amount of the mentors time to leverage a lot of the students time. Both the innovator, and the student gain experience from this. {<a href="/?id=3069&alias=villgro-pip">More</a>}</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Interns and Volunteers</h3><p>There are some opportunities for technical and business interns or volunteers in Australia, or India, or possibly to get involved remotely.</p><h3>Next Few Months</h3><p>I'm in Byron till April 23rd then in San Francisco for Investors Circle (2-4 May) and in Europe from begining of June for about a month. After that India is looking likely or else back to US.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Thanks</h3><p>Thanks to the people who opened their houses and hearts to me this quarter, Joss &amp; Anita and the crew at Pitchandikulam, Annette, Nikhil &amp; Tanmayo, Rut, and the Gondies, and all those I met on the dance floor.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Keep in Touch</h3>If you want to keep in touch with what I'm doing, I write an occasional <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Mitra's Blog">informal blog</a> on my activities and clean technology in general, and also am expanding the <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation">Natural Innovation website</a> focused on technology for developing countries. You can also find me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron" target="_blank">facebook</a> and <a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/mitraardron">LinkedIn</a>.<p>For personal contacts, email is best mitra@mitra.biz. Skype reaches me pretty much anywhere and my id is mitra_earth; or you can call +1-510-984-2639, both these are usually forwarded to a local mobile. For the next month, my Australian mobile is +61-414-648-722.</p><!--End of story blank --> <img src="/images/venn110x104.gif" border="0" width="110" height="104" style="border: 0; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 40px;" /> <!-- end of Main right--></div></td><!-- OT3.3 --></tr><!-- OT3 --> <tr><!-- OT4 seperator --><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!-- OT5 unsubscribe --><td style="font-size:1em;color:#000000;margin:auto;text-align:center;" colspan="3"></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> 2011-09-21T00:00:00.000Z 2011-09-21T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/213-newsletter0911 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<div style="background-color:#ffffff;"><table style="text-align: left; margin: auto; width: 600px; height: 2712px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- OT: outer table--> <tbody><!--OT--> <tr><!--OT 2--><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><img src="/images/mitra_200x200.jpg" border="0" alt="Mitra bald in India" width="100" height="100" style="float: left; border: 0pt none;" /><br /> <h1>Mitra Ardron, Natural Innovation .org</h1></td></tr><tr><!--OT 3 main bit to split 3 ways--><td width="370" valign="top"><!-- OT 3.1--><div class="mainleft"><!-- Main left--> <!-- Main left 1--> <!-- Main left 2--><h3>Equinox September 2011 newsletter<br /> - from San Francisco</h3><div class="mainleft">I know it sounds like a confession, but its been six months since my last newsletter. My excuse is that I've been spending a lot of time with incubates and potential incubatees, in Germany, India and the UK and the rest of the time in the USA working on organisational development as I figure out how to scale Natural Innovation to multiple people, serving more incubatees simultaneously.<p>We expect to have our tax exemption in the next six months. As Natural Innovation takes this next big step to becoming a fully operational non-profit organization, I hope you will consider supporting the work that we do. As many of you know, I have been carrying out this work over the past two years largely with my own resources and through the support of a few generous donors. <span> </span>I am excited to see the organization come to fruition and expand the scope of the projects and impact we have in the rural, impoverished areas of the world. I sincerely hope we can count on your support as we move into this next, exciting phase.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>MinVayu - small wind for the underserved</h3><p><img src="images/Pminga/img_0247_185w122h.jpg" border="0" alt="MinVayu class and turbine" width="185" height="122" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" /></p><p>The highlight of the last few months has been working with <a href="http://www.minvayu.org/">MinVayu</a>. MinVayu's founder, Jorge Ayarza is an US/Ecuadorian wind expert, based in Auroville India who has come up with an interesting analysis.</p><p>Jorge believes that by designing a small (350W-1kW) turbine for the low-winds of India, and by training local mechanics that he has a scalable, affordable, solution to providing wind power to under-served rural communities. I spent a month with Jorge, helping to refine his business model and in particular to integrate the learnings from the pilot run of the training workshops.</p><p>A rural community education center in nearby village is now powered by a turbine constructed during the workshop, and is performing well. However we believe that by thinking about the whole system rather than just the turbine we can make some substantial improvements and drop the overall system cost another 35% which would make wind cheaper than solar in many even low wind locations.</p><p>The opportunity presented by a system that is cheaper than current Solar Home Systems is substantial with the potential to create a business that meets the magic target of being both highly profitable and having a high impact.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Wherever The Need</h3><p><img src="images/Pwtn/wtn_yellow_105w185h.jpg" border="0" alt="Wherever the Need toilet" title="Wherever the Need toilet" width="105" height="185" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />Over 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation, more than twice the number lacking power or water.</p><p>While in the UK in June I was introduced to David Crosweller of <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.uk" target="_blank">Wherever The Need</a> (WTN) who filled me in on their project to create a viable business model for sanitation so that micro-enterprises could run slum toilets in areas that neither municipalities nor Aid dollars are likedly to reach for a long time.</p><p>David explained that in India, poor people will not spend money to use a toilet so the models adopted by Sanergy in Kenya are less likely to work. Instead WTN is looking to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of compost and fertilizer to cover the construction and operating costs of slum toilets.</p><p>In August I visited Paramasivan who runs the <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.in/" target="_blank">indian office of WTN</a> and spent a day touring their trials in the slums of Cuddalore. The cultural challenges, from poverty, cast, unclear land ownership etc are huge, and often lead to sub-optimum solutions such as individual stalls spaced out around an area rather than a single block.</p><p>Natural Innovation hopes to help WTN through it's collaboration with ReAllocate to source mechanical engineering talent to solve specific challenges of safe waste handling, and chemical engineers to improve the cost effectiveness of turning liquid waste into fertilizer. WTN are also looking for an engineer to work with them to reduce the construction costs.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /> <!-- Main left 5--><h3>Humanitarian License</h3><p>The first public draft of Natural Innovation's "Humanitarian License" is now available on the <a href="humanitarianlicense">web site</a>. Both a plain English and a legalese version are available. Written by Mitra &amp; San Francisco based Intellectual Property (IP) attorney <a href="index.php/partners/otherpartners/49-comarlaw" target="_blank" title="Inder Comar - Intellectual Property Law">Inder Comar</a>.</p><p>The license is intended to help facilitate technology being made available to non-profits for humanitarian purposes, for example for developing country applications where the IP owner has little intention of doing business.</p><p>At this time we would be grateful for feedback, especially from any potential users of the license (IP owners, or licensees or attorneys) so that the license can be adapted into an even more useful set of templates.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>The funding gap</h3><p>As part of Natural Innovation's mission to improve the climate for technology innovation, Mitra has been trying to get the message out that the Social Entrepreneurship / Impact Investment space needs to address the serious gap between the mostly late-stage, risk averse, investors with high minimum amounts and the mostly early stage entrepreneurs, needing small amounts of money and lots of help.</p><p>This gap is particularly evident when an entrepreneur is in a developing country, where US$200,000 will fund a team of 10 for a year, and all the prototyping and development. But to US based investors, $200k is too small to be worth the cost of the due-diligence!  At the recent SoCap conference, this gap was finally being recognised and talked about by investors, while incubators like Natural Innovation met with entrepreneurs and those few funders who understand to explore possible solutions.</p><p><a href="http://socialcapitalmarkets.net/" target="_blank">SoCap</a> has rapidly become the conference to pay attention to for the sector we work in. I found both <a href="http://www.investorscircle.net/" target="_blank">Investors Circle</a> and <a href="http://www.cleantechopen.com" target="_blank">Cleantech Open</a> interesting and valuable, however Investors Circle is in practice only available to US entrepreneurs and we also heard from two companies that the venture capital investors they met throught their pitches at Cleantech Open had tried to get them to drop their social missions and just focus on profitable western markets.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>The joys of sharing</h3><p><img src="images/newsletter/snakelizard264w173h.jpg" border="0" alt="Snake and Lizard" width="185" height="121" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" />I'm a big fan of <a href="http://www.shareable.net" target="_blank">shareable.net</a>, whose lively blog shows how many ways we can improve our lives by sharing.</p><p>During my recent trip to India I discovered a new angle on it. While riding an electric scooter down a track barely wide enough for the bike, a guy steps into the road brandishing a wickedly sharp looking knife.  I might have been scared except that no self-respecting bandit would have been wearing a large nappy like dhoti, and the ancient toothless grin looked friendly.  We had no language in common but it seemed he just wanted a ride, and I guess waving his knife and grinning worked pretty well at getting me to stop!</p><p>I wish I'd had my camera, but later that week I snapped this different way of sharing - a lizard and a mildly venomous snake both trying to invite the other for dinner.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Support this work</h3>We are currently in the process of filing for our tax exempt status. If you would like to join us in helping to alleviate poverty through incubating sustainable innovators in the developing world, please contact me at <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">mitra@mitra.biz</a> or by phone at +1-510-984-2639.</div></div></td><td width="20"><!--gap between left and right columns--><br /> </td><!-- OT3.2 --><td width="210" valign="top"><!-- OT3.3 --><div class="mainright"><!--Main right 1/2 seperator --> <!-- Main right 2--> <!-- Main right 4--><h2>In Brief</h2><p>We would like to highlight some of Natural Innovation's newest partners.</p><h3>ReAllocate</h3><!--Story R2 --><p><img src="images/Creallocate/realocate-logo_on_white_100x43.png" border="0" alt="ReAllocate logo" title="reallocate logo" style="margin: 5px; float: right; border: 0pt none;" />Natural Innovation would like to announce it's partnership with <a href="http://www.reallocate.org" target="_blank">ReAllocate</a>, a new NGO that is coordinating pro-bono engineers to work on humanitarian projects.</p><p>Unlike other excellent organizations such as <a href="http://www.ewb.org.au/" target="_blank">Engineers Without Borders</a>, it focuses on the short-term individual or team "consulting" projects, and on working with NGOs to solve specific humanitarian problems. ReAllocate's access to engineers is a natural complement for Natural Innovations focus on taking innovations to commercial viability.</p><!--End of story blank --> <!--Story R-1/2 seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>William James Foundation</h3><p><img src="images/logos/wjfnewheader200x30.jpg" border="0" />We are also announcing our partnership with <a href="http://williamjamesfoundation.org" target="_blank">William James Foundation</a>. WJF runs a set of business plan competitions for for-profit social entrepreneurs.</p><p>One of the strong points of the WJF competition is the extensive feedback received from judges, including Mitra. We have also been exploring ways to enable a longer term incubation by Natural Innovation to complement the short term advice from judges.</p><p>As an "outreach partner" of WJF, our mentees and network have access to discounts on the entry fee, hurry up and ask me for the code, as applications are due on October 15th.</p><p><a href="index.php/partners/innovationsupport/64-williamjamesfoundation">More...</a></p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>Unreasonable Institute</h3><p><img src="images/logos/unreasonable_100w92h.png" border="0" alt="Unreasonable logo" width="100" height="92" style="margin: 5px; float: right; border: 0pt none;" /></p><p>The third annual Unreasonable Institute will unite 25 exceptional, early-stage entrepreneurs for 6 weeks in the summer of 2012 in the beautiful, entrepreneurial city of Boulder, Colorado.  Over the course of these 6 weeks, chosen entrepreneurs will live and work with <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMVzFsYm5SdmNuTXYv" target="_blank">50 world-class mentors</a> and portfolio managers from over <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMWEJoY25SdVpYSnpMdyUzRCUzRC8%3D" target="_blank">20 impact investment funds</a>. They'll pitch ventures to hundreds of potential partners and funders, gain access to legal and design support services, and receive unprecedented levels of media exposure.</p><p>Natural Innovation has enjoyed interacting with last year's fellows, several of which have, in our opinion, the chance to make a globally significant impact. Since Unreasonable's short term intensive program is a great complement to our longer term mentoring, Natural Innovation has partnered with Unreasonable to explore ways we can support each other.</p><p><a href="index.php/partners/innovationsupport/66-unreasonable" target="_blank">More...</a></p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Interns and Volunteers</h3><p>We are looking for a few interns at the moment, ideal applicants would have: some engineering or technical background; some business experience; and experience working in a developing country; but of course internships are a way to pick up the skills you are missing. We need people both for our core operations, both developing the eco-system for innovation, and to support innovators, both in San Francisco and potentially in India. Get in touch...</p><h3>Next Few Months</h3><p>I'm planning to be in San Francisco till the end of November, hopefully I'll get home to Australia for December and then probably back to India to work with a couple of our projects.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Thanks</h3><p>Thanks to all the people who opened their houses and hearts to me this last six months, especially: Brewster &amp; Mary; Joss &amp; Anita; Annette; Dominique &amp; the Gondies;</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Keep in Touch</h3>If you want to keep in touch with what I'm doing, see the <a>Natural Innovation website</a>, and I also write an occasional <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Mitra's Blog">informal blog</a> on my activities and clean technology in general. You can also find me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron" target="_blank">facebook</a> and <a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/mitraardron">LinkedIn</a>.<p>For personal contacts, email is best mitra@mitra.biz. Skype reaches me pretty much anywhere and my id is mitra_earth; or you can call +1-510-984-2639, both these are usually forwarded to a local mobile. Until early December, my US mobile is +1-510-423-1767.</p><!--End of story blank --> <img src="/images/venn110x104.gif" border="0" width="110" height="104" style="border: 0; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 40px;" /> <!-- end of Main right--></div></td><!-- OT3.3 --></tr><!-- OT3 --> <tr><!-- OT4 seperator --><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!-- OT5 unsubscribe --><td style="font-size:0.8em;color:#000000;margin:auto;text-align:center;" colspan="3"></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

<div style="background-color:#ffffff;"><table style="text-align: left; margin: auto; width: 600px; height: 2712px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- OT: outer table--> <tbody><!--OT--> <tr><!--OT 2--><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><img src="/images/mitra_200x200.jpg" border="0" alt="Mitra bald in India" width="100" height="100" style="float: left; border: 0pt none;" /><br /> <h1>Mitra Ardron, Natural Innovation .org</h1></td></tr><tr><!--OT 3 main bit to split 3 ways--><td width="370" valign="top"><!-- OT 3.1--><div class="mainleft"><!-- Main left--> <!-- Main left 1--> <!-- Main left 2--><h3>Equinox September 2011 newsletter<br /> - from San Francisco</h3><div class="mainleft">I know it sounds like a confession, but its been six months since my last newsletter. My excuse is that I've been spending a lot of time with incubates and potential incubatees, in Germany, India and the UK and the rest of the time in the USA working on organisational development as I figure out how to scale Natural Innovation to multiple people, serving more incubatees simultaneously.<p>We expect to have our tax exemption in the next six months. As Natural Innovation takes this next big step to becoming a fully operational non-profit organization, I hope you will consider supporting the work that we do. As many of you know, I have been carrying out this work over the past two years largely with my own resources and through the support of a few generous donors. <span> </span>I am excited to see the organization come to fruition and expand the scope of the projects and impact we have in the rural, impoverished areas of the world. I sincerely hope we can count on your support as we move into this next, exciting phase.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>MinVayu - small wind for the underserved</h3><p><img src="images/Pminga/img_0247_185w122h.jpg" border="0" alt="MinVayu class and turbine" width="185" height="122" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" /></p><p>The highlight of the last few months has been working with <a href="http://www.minvayu.org/">MinVayu</a>. MinVayu's founder, Jorge Ayarza is an US/Ecuadorian wind expert, based in Auroville India who has come up with an interesting analysis.</p><p>Jorge believes that by designing a small (350W-1kW) turbine for the low-winds of India, and by training local mechanics that he has a scalable, affordable, solution to providing wind power to under-served rural communities. I spent a month with Jorge, helping to refine his business model and in particular to integrate the learnings from the pilot run of the training workshops.</p><p>A rural community education center in nearby village is now powered by a turbine constructed during the workshop, and is performing well. However we believe that by thinking about the whole system rather than just the turbine we can make some substantial improvements and drop the overall system cost another 35% which would make wind cheaper than solar in many even low wind locations.</p><p>The opportunity presented by a system that is cheaper than current Solar Home Systems is substantial with the potential to create a business that meets the magic target of being both highly profitable and having a high impact.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Wherever The Need</h3><p><img src="images/Pwtn/wtn_yellow_105w185h.jpg" border="0" alt="Wherever the Need toilet" title="Wherever the Need toilet" width="105" height="185" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />Over 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation, more than twice the number lacking power or water.</p><p>While in the UK in June I was introduced to David Crosweller of <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.uk" target="_blank">Wherever The Need</a> (WTN) who filled me in on their project to create a viable business model for sanitation so that micro-enterprises could run slum toilets in areas that neither municipalities nor Aid dollars are likedly to reach for a long time.</p><p>David explained that in India, poor people will not spend money to use a toilet so the models adopted by Sanergy in Kenya are less likely to work. Instead WTN is looking to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of compost and fertilizer to cover the construction and operating costs of slum toilets.</p><p>In August I visited Paramasivan who runs the <a href="http://www.wherevertheneed.org.in/" target="_blank">indian office of WTN</a> and spent a day touring their trials in the slums of Cuddalore. The cultural challenges, from poverty, cast, unclear land ownership etc are huge, and often lead to sub-optimum solutions such as individual stalls spaced out around an area rather than a single block.</p><p>Natural Innovation hopes to help WTN through it's collaboration with ReAllocate to source mechanical engineering talent to solve specific challenges of safe waste handling, and chemical engineers to improve the cost effectiveness of turning liquid waste into fertilizer. WTN are also looking for an engineer to work with them to reduce the construction costs.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /> <!-- Main left 5--><h3>Humanitarian License</h3><p>The first public draft of Natural Innovation's "Humanitarian License" is now available on the <a href="humanitarianlicense">web site</a>. Both a plain English and a legalese version are available. Written by Mitra &amp; San Francisco based Intellectual Property (IP) attorney <a href="index.php/partners/otherpartners/49-comarlaw" target="_blank" title="Inder Comar - Intellectual Property Law">Inder Comar</a>.</p><p>The license is intended to help facilitate technology being made available to non-profits for humanitarian purposes, for example for developing country applications where the IP owner has little intention of doing business.</p><p>At this time we would be grateful for feedback, especially from any potential users of the license (IP owners, or licensees or attorneys) so that the license can be adapted into an even more useful set of templates.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>The funding gap</h3><p>As part of Natural Innovation's mission to improve the climate for technology innovation, Mitra has been trying to get the message out that the Social Entrepreneurship / Impact Investment space needs to address the serious gap between the mostly late-stage, risk averse, investors with high minimum amounts and the mostly early stage entrepreneurs, needing small amounts of money and lots of help.</p><p>This gap is particularly evident when an entrepreneur is in a developing country, where US$200,000 will fund a team of 10 for a year, and all the prototyping and development. But to US based investors, $200k is too small to be worth the cost of the due-diligence!  At the recent SoCap conference, this gap was finally being recognised and talked about by investors, while incubators like Natural Innovation met with entrepreneurs and those few funders who understand to explore possible solutions.</p><p><a href="http://socialcapitalmarkets.net/" target="_blank">SoCap</a> has rapidly become the conference to pay attention to for the sector we work in. I found both <a href="http://www.investorscircle.net/" target="_blank">Investors Circle</a> and <a href="http://www.cleantechopen.com" target="_blank">Cleantech Open</a> interesting and valuable, however Investors Circle is in practice only available to US entrepreneurs and we also heard from two companies that the venture capital investors they met throught their pitches at Cleantech Open had tried to get them to drop their social missions and just focus on profitable western markets.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>The joys of sharing</h3><p><img src="images/newsletter/snakelizard264w173h.jpg" border="0" alt="Snake and Lizard" width="185" height="121" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" />I'm a big fan of <a href="http://www.shareable.net" target="_blank">shareable.net</a>, whose lively blog shows how many ways we can improve our lives by sharing.</p><p>During my recent trip to India I discovered a new angle on it. While riding an electric scooter down a track barely wide enough for the bike, a guy steps into the road brandishing a wickedly sharp looking knife.  I might have been scared except that no self-respecting bandit would have been wearing a large nappy like dhoti, and the ancient toothless grin looked friendly.  We had no language in common but it seemed he just wanted a ride, and I guess waving his knife and grinning worked pretty well at getting me to stop!</p><p>I wish I'd had my camera, but later that week I snapped this different way of sharing - a lizard and a mildly venomous snake both trying to invite the other for dinner.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Support this work</h3>We are currently in the process of filing for our tax exempt status. If you would like to join us in helping to alleviate poverty through incubating sustainable innovators in the developing world, please contact me at <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">mitra@mitra.biz</a> or by phone at +1-510-984-2639.</div></div></td><td width="20"><!--gap between left and right columns--><br /> </td><!-- OT3.2 --><td width="210" valign="top"><!-- OT3.3 --><div class="mainright"><!--Main right 1/2 seperator --> <!-- Main right 2--> <!-- Main right 4--><h2>In Brief</h2><p>We would like to highlight some of Natural Innovation's newest partners.</p><h3>ReAllocate</h3><!--Story R2 --><p><img src="images/Creallocate/realocate-logo_on_white_100x43.png" border="0" alt="ReAllocate logo" title="reallocate logo" style="margin: 5px; float: right; border: 0pt none;" />Natural Innovation would like to announce it's partnership with <a href="http://www.reallocate.org" target="_blank">ReAllocate</a>, a new NGO that is coordinating pro-bono engineers to work on humanitarian projects.</p><p>Unlike other excellent organizations such as <a href="http://www.ewb.org.au/" target="_blank">Engineers Without Borders</a>, it focuses on the short-term individual or team "consulting" projects, and on working with NGOs to solve specific humanitarian problems. ReAllocate's access to engineers is a natural complement for Natural Innovations focus on taking innovations to commercial viability.</p><!--End of story blank --> <!--Story R-1/2 seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>William James Foundation</h3><p><img src="images/logos/wjfnewheader200x30.jpg" border="0" />We are also announcing our partnership with <a href="http://williamjamesfoundation.org" target="_blank">William James Foundation</a>. WJF runs a set of business plan competitions for for-profit social entrepreneurs.</p><p>One of the strong points of the WJF competition is the extensive feedback received from judges, including Mitra. We have also been exploring ways to enable a longer term incubation by Natural Innovation to complement the short term advice from judges.</p><p>As an "outreach partner" of WJF, our mentees and network have access to discounts on the entry fee, hurry up and ask me for the code, as applications are due on October 15th.</p><p><a href="index.php/partners/innovationsupport/64-williamjamesfoundation">More...</a></p><p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /></p><h3>Unreasonable Institute</h3><p><img src="images/logos/unreasonable_100w92h.png" border="0" alt="Unreasonable logo" width="100" height="92" style="margin: 5px; float: right; border: 0pt none;" /></p><p>The third annual Unreasonable Institute will unite 25 exceptional, early-stage entrepreneurs for 6 weeks in the summer of 2012 in the beautiful, entrepreneurial city of Boulder, Colorado.  Over the course of these 6 weeks, chosen entrepreneurs will live and work with <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMVzFsYm5SdmNuTXYv" target="_blank">50 world-class mentors</a> and portfolio managers from over <a href="http://unreasona.sendloop.com/l/ODV6L3J2L3R6Ly9hSFIwY0RvdkwzVnVjbVZoYzI5dVlXSnNaV2x1YzNScGRIVjBaUzV2Y21jdmIzVnlMWEJoY25SdVpYSnpMdyUzRCUzRC8%3D" target="_blank">20 impact investment funds</a>. They'll pitch ventures to hundreds of potential partners and funders, gain access to legal and design support services, and receive unprecedented levels of media exposure.</p><p>Natural Innovation has enjoyed interacting with last year's fellows, several of which have, in our opinion, the chance to make a globally significant impact. Since Unreasonable's short term intensive program is a great complement to our longer term mentoring, Natural Innovation has partnered with Unreasonable to explore ways we can support each other.</p><p><a href="index.php/partners/innovationsupport/66-unreasonable" target="_blank">More...</a></p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Interns and Volunteers</h3><p>We are looking for a few interns at the moment, ideal applicants would have: some engineering or technical background; some business experience; and experience working in a developing country; but of course internships are a way to pick up the skills you are missing. We need people both for our core operations, both developing the eco-system for innovation, and to support innovators, both in San Francisco and potentially in India. Get in touch...</p><h3>Next Few Months</h3><p>I'm planning to be in San Francisco till the end of November, hopefully I'll get home to Australia for December and then probably back to India to work with a couple of our projects.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Thanks</h3><p>Thanks to all the people who opened their houses and hearts to me this last six months, especially: Brewster &amp; Mary; Joss &amp; Anita; Annette; Dominique &amp; the Gondies;</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Keep in Touch</h3>If you want to keep in touch with what I'm doing, see the <a>Natural Innovation website</a>, and I also write an occasional <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Mitra's Blog">informal blog</a> on my activities and clean technology in general. You can also find me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron" target="_blank">facebook</a> and <a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/mitraardron">LinkedIn</a>.<p>For personal contacts, email is best mitra@mitra.biz. Skype reaches me pretty much anywhere and my id is mitra_earth; or you can call +1-510-984-2639, both these are usually forwarded to a local mobile. Until early December, my US mobile is +1-510-423-1767.</p><!--End of story blank --> <img src="/images/venn110x104.gif" border="0" width="110" height="104" style="border: 0; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 40px;" /> <!-- end of Main right--></div></td><!-- OT3.3 --></tr><!-- OT3 --> <tr><!-- OT4 seperator --><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!-- OT5 unsubscribe --><td style="font-size:0.8em;color:#000000;margin:auto;text-align:center;" colspan="3"></td></tr></tbody></table></div> 2012-12-31T00:00:00.000Z 2012-12-31T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/214-newsletter1211 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<div style="background-color:#ffffff;"><table style="text-align: left; margin: auto; width: 600px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- OT: outer table--> <tbody><!--OT--> <tr><!--OT 2--><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><img src="/images/mitra_200x200.jpg" border="0" alt="Mitra bald in India" width="100" height="100" style="float: left; border: 0pt none;" /><br /> <h1>Mitra Ardron, Natural Innovation .org</h1></td></tr><tr><!--OT 3 main bit to split 3 ways--><td width="370" valign="top"><!-- OT 3.1--><div class="mainleft"><!-- Main left--> <!-- Main left 1--> <!-- Main left 2--><h3>Equinox September 2011 newsletter<br /> - from post-cyclone Southern India</h3><p><img src="https://597d93dcb1-custmedia.vresp.com/b2ea91cb0b/Auroville_Cyclone.jpg" border="0" alt="cyclone weather map" title="cyclone weather map" width="108" height="114" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />I'm a bit delayed sending off this newsletter, I'm sitting in Auroville in Southern India recovering from Cyclone Thane - it took out thousands of trees - 70% of the forest here, there was one across the road every ten meters or so, and of course that took out power, and phone lines, no electricity means no water since the pumps won't run, and of course no internet. Its day 4 now, mobile phones are back on and most places have water, roads are open to motorbikes, and some to cars, and one or two places with generators, solar or wind, have power &amp;/or internet. I'm here to work with MinVayu (see below), a tree took out their workshop which will be a bit of a set-back, but they will recover, and we'll do our best to help.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Support Natural Innovation</h3><p>For two years now, I've been looking into the question of how to further sustainable and scalable technologies that can solve the challenges of the billion+ people who lack access to clean water, power, sanitation, and food. In the process of creating Natural Innovation .org, I've discovered just what a challenge inventors and innovators face.</p><p>During the past two years, Natural Innovation's contributions have already led to some successes. By reaching into my own pocket and building team resources, Natural Innovation has been able to take it this far.</p><p>I am now reaching out to you because it is time to systematize and scale this approach to impact the important innovations that are looking for help. With your help, we can touch several million people, changing their lives for the better.</p><p>Please consider <a href="index.php/component/content/article/62">contributing</a> during this holiday season to allow us to identify and assist additional innovations that show enormous potential for scalability.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>UV Aquastar - affordable water treatment</h3><p><img src="images/Puvaquastar/spigot185.jpg" border="0" alt="cyclone weather map" title="cyclone weather map" width="185" height="157" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />UV Aquastar has designed simple, affordable devices that treat water with ultra-violet light, killing pathogens and enabling people to take control of supplying their own safe drinking water. A mobile (bottle or stirrer) and a spigot integrated into water dispensers can be powered by battery, solar panel or grid.</p><p>A billion people lack access to safe drinking water leading to 1.6m deaths/year (WHO). While many potential solutions exist, they are either unaffordable; large scale, risking re-contamination; degrade over time, often without indication; or add toxics such as chlorine often leaving a bad taste.</p><p>UV Aquastar's goal is affordable, effective, water treatment that empowers families to take control of their drinking water across the developing world.</p><p>UV Aquastar will supply three products, the mUV (a float/stirrer); the Aquastar (a bottle) and the UV Spigot, a simple, affordable spigot that fits into common water dispensers in people’s homes. All three can be powered by a small battery or solar panel &amp; treat water with ultra-violet light, killing pathogens and enabling safe drinking water for the billion+ that lack it.</p><p>The developing world market for water purifiers is in the billions of dollars. Around 884 million are using unimproved water sources. UV Aquastar believes that the problem of drinking water needs addressing at the scale of the problem. Their target is to reach sales of 2 million by the end of Year 3, touching 10 million people, and saving 16,000 lives per year.</p><p>This project has that rare combination, a potential to have very high impact, while simultaneously generating a good financial return. To really take this project to scale quickly, UV Aquastar is looking to raise a bit over $2m.</p><p>Kurt Kuhlmann and Dan Matthews bring decades of experience designing products, with particular focus on developing countries,</p><p>Natural Innovation is helping UV Aquastar with business planning; finance raising; and relationships</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>MinVayu - small wind for the underserved</h3><p><img src="images/Pminga/windturbine.jpg" border="0" alt="MinVayu turbine" title="MinVayu turbinet" width="185" height="138" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />The MinVayu project announced in the last newsletter, is moving along well, although its been set back by losing its workshop in Cyclone Thane, and Mitra will be with them in India until the end of January to help move it along. They've added new people to the team in India, and training of local mechanics is continuing.</p><p>They are raising $350,000 to enable them to hire a team, and bring the first low-cost, low-wind, turbine to the Indian market, enabling access to power Their business plan, which we helped developed, just made it into the second round of the William James Foundation competition, and has attracted serious attention from two groups of investors.</p><p>We are glad to add Mike Sontag to the Natural Innovation team. He is contributing his time as the lead engineer on the MinVayu project.</p><p>Solidworks have become a sponsor of Natural Innovation, generously donating three places of their leading design program, this will allow us to produce a 3D model of the MinVayu turbine. The model will be used to predict how the turbine will perform, for example under strong winds.</p><p>Mike is proficient in Solidworks, and we look forward to sharing some of his designs on the website and in future newsletters.</p><p>Rural wind turbines have to be lifted above tree height to generate useful power, and an 18 meter tower contributes about 1/3 of the total cost of a system. We are exploring potential ways to reduce this cost, principally through needing less steel, and are also considering bamboo for areas where that is common and cheap.</p><p>We are still looking for engineering volunteers for this project, especially an electro-mechanics engineer to help with the generator design, and a structural engineer to analyse the stresses on the blades and the towers.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /> <!-- Main left 5--><h3>Signing off</h3><p>I hope the stories told here, in previous newsletters, and on the website will encourage you to support us financially to reach these goals</p><p>I hope you had a rejuvenating holiday season, wherever you are and whatever you celebrate.</p><p>Feel free to contact me at <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">mitra@mitra.biz</a> or by phone at +1-510-984-2639.</p></div></td><td width="20"><!--gap between left and right columns--><br /> </td><!-- OT3.2 --><td width="210" valign="top"><!-- OT3.3 --><div class="mainright"><!--Main right 1/2 seperator --> <!-- Main right 2--> <!-- Main right 4--> <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&amp;hosted_button_id=F3FWEFEBRGZSL"><p> </p></a><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&amp;hosted_button_id=F3FWEFEBRGZSL"><img src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" border="0" /></a></p><p> </p><h2>In Brief</h2><h3>Caktilika</h3><!--Story R2 --><p>As solar panels &amp; turbines get cheaper, the cost of the electronics becomes more significant. As we tried to source a reliable, affordable inverter for MinVayu we discovered there is no such product on the market. In addition, MinVayu, and other renewable energy suppliers we talked to, wanted a way that poor customers could pay for their power as they used it, since they lacked sufficient savings. Out of this requirement, Caktilika was born, a project to design and build an affordable, reliable, vendor neutral, Pay-As-You-Go inverter.</p><p>Natural Innovation is looking for investors for this project, or alternatively philanthropic money in which case the design will be open-sourced.</p><!--Story R-seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Live-Work space in Berkeley</h3><p>Since I'm spending half my time in the SF bay area, I'm looking to create a shared space, probably in Berkeley, where a few (5-9) world-changers &amp; social-entrepreneurs can live together and support each other. We are exploring both purchasing and renting. If you might be interested in such a space then take a look at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/135056813269945/" target="_blank">facebook group</a>, its private so you'll need to request access on that page.</p><!--Story R-seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Engineering collaborators</h3><p>I was at the IEEE "Global Humanitarian Conference" in October, to broaden collaboration with engineering organisations. The conference showed the broad interest among some skilled engineers, but it also showed both the lack of grounding in the realities of developing world, not only among the audience, but also many of the speakers. Matching skilled engineers with projects is particularly relevant for the highly skilled, but often busy, engineers who cannot take a year to participate in a capacity building placement with a developing country organisation. At the conference we spent time with Engineering For Change, and have also attended the BERC conference, and spoken to EWB Australia.</p><p>At the moment we are looking for engineering volunteers to work with Mike on the MinVayu project, we need people with structural; mechanical; electo-mechanical; power electronics skills.</p><!--Story R-seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Other volunteers</h3><p>We are looking for one or more interns at the moment, ideal applicants would have: some engineering or technical background; some business experience; and experience working in a developing country; but of course internships are a way to pick up the skills you are missing.</p><p>We need people both for our core operations, both developing the eco-system for innovation, and to support innovators, both in San Francisco and potentially in India. Get in touch...</p><h3>Next Few Months</h3><p>I'm in Auroville, southern India, here to work with MinVayu, a tree took out their workshop which will be a bit of a set-back. I'm also going to talk with other current &amp; potential partners, both of Natural Innovation &amp; for UV Aquastar. My plan is to be back in San Francisco from the start of February.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Thanks</h3><p>Thanks to all the people who opened their houses and hearts to me this last quater, especially: Brewster &amp; Mary; Jaqueline; Napier; Bob, Shomace, Anabel &amp; Carolyn; Destiny, Phoenix, Gabe, Ross, Andrew at Raw Mama &amp; the Gondies;</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Keep in Touch</h3>If you want to keep in touch with what I'm doing, see the <a>Natural Innovation website</a>, and I also write an occasional <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Mitra's Blog">informal blog</a> on my activities and clean technology in general. You can also find me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron" target="_blank">facebook</a> and <a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/mitraardron">LinkedIn</a>.<p>For personal contacts, email is best mitra@mitra.biz. Skype reaches me pretty much anywhere and my id is mitra_earth; or you can call +1-510-984-2639, both these are usually forwarded to a local mobile. My Indian mobile is +91-8698-962-678, until the end of January, then my US mobile is +1-510-423-1767.</p><!--End of story blank --> <img src="/images/venn110x104.gif" border="0" width="110" height="104" style="border: 0; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 40px;" /> <!-- end of Main right--></div></td><!-- OT3.3 --></tr><!-- OT3 --> <tr><!-- OT4 seperator --><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!-- OT5 unsubscribe --><td style="font-size:0.8em;color:#000000;margin:auto;text-align:center;" colspan="3"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p><img src="data:image/png;base64,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" border="0" style="position: absolute; visibility: visible; color: transparent; margin: 0px; border: medium none; z-index: 2147483647; left: 285px; top: 1588px;" /></p>

<div style="background-color:#ffffff;"><table style="text-align: left; margin: auto; width: 600px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><!-- OT: outer table--> <tbody><!--OT--> <tr><!--OT 2--><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><img src="/images/mitra_200x200.jpg" border="0" alt="Mitra bald in India" width="100" height="100" style="float: left; border: 0pt none;" /><br /> <h1>Mitra Ardron, Natural Innovation .org</h1></td></tr><tr><!--OT 3 main bit to split 3 ways--><td width="370" valign="top"><!-- OT 3.1--><div class="mainleft"><!-- Main left--> <!-- Main left 1--> <!-- Main left 2--><h3>Equinox September 2011 newsletter<br /> - from post-cyclone Southern India</h3><p><img src="https://597d93dcb1-custmedia.vresp.com/b2ea91cb0b/Auroville_Cyclone.jpg" border="0" alt="cyclone weather map" title="cyclone weather map" width="108" height="114" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />I'm a bit delayed sending off this newsletter, I'm sitting in Auroville in Southern India recovering from Cyclone Thane - it took out thousands of trees - 70% of the forest here, there was one across the road every ten meters or so, and of course that took out power, and phone lines, no electricity means no water since the pumps won't run, and of course no internet. Its day 4 now, mobile phones are back on and most places have water, roads are open to motorbikes, and some to cars, and one or two places with generators, solar or wind, have power &amp;/or internet. I'm here to work with MinVayu (see below), a tree took out their workshop which will be a bit of a set-back, but they will recover, and we'll do our best to help.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Support Natural Innovation</h3><p>For two years now, I've been looking into the question of how to further sustainable and scalable technologies that can solve the challenges of the billion+ people who lack access to clean water, power, sanitation, and food. In the process of creating Natural Innovation .org, I've discovered just what a challenge inventors and innovators face.</p><p>During the past two years, Natural Innovation's contributions have already led to some successes. By reaching into my own pocket and building team resources, Natural Innovation has been able to take it this far.</p><p>I am now reaching out to you because it is time to systematize and scale this approach to impact the important innovations that are looking for help. With your help, we can touch several million people, changing their lives for the better.</p><p>Please consider <a href="index.php/component/content/article/62">contributing</a> during this holiday season to allow us to identify and assist additional innovations that show enormous potential for scalability.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>UV Aquastar - affordable water treatment</h3><p><img src="images/Puvaquastar/spigot185.jpg" border="0" alt="cyclone weather map" title="cyclone weather map" width="185" height="157" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />UV Aquastar has designed simple, affordable devices that treat water with ultra-violet light, killing pathogens and enabling people to take control of supplying their own safe drinking water. A mobile (bottle or stirrer) and a spigot integrated into water dispensers can be powered by battery, solar panel or grid.</p><p>A billion people lack access to safe drinking water leading to 1.6m deaths/year (WHO). While many potential solutions exist, they are either unaffordable; large scale, risking re-contamination; degrade over time, often without indication; or add toxics such as chlorine often leaving a bad taste.</p><p>UV Aquastar's goal is affordable, effective, water treatment that empowers families to take control of their drinking water across the developing world.</p><p>UV Aquastar will supply three products, the mUV (a float/stirrer); the Aquastar (a bottle) and the UV Spigot, a simple, affordable spigot that fits into common water dispensers in people’s homes. All three can be powered by a small battery or solar panel &amp; treat water with ultra-violet light, killing pathogens and enabling safe drinking water for the billion+ that lack it.</p><p>The developing world market for water purifiers is in the billions of dollars. Around 884 million are using unimproved water sources. UV Aquastar believes that the problem of drinking water needs addressing at the scale of the problem. Their target is to reach sales of 2 million by the end of Year 3, touching 10 million people, and saving 16,000 lives per year.</p><p>This project has that rare combination, a potential to have very high impact, while simultaneously generating a good financial return. To really take this project to scale quickly, UV Aquastar is looking to raise a bit over $2m.</p><p>Kurt Kuhlmann and Dan Matthews bring decades of experience designing products, with particular focus on developing countries,</p><p>Natural Innovation is helping UV Aquastar with business planning; finance raising; and relationships</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>MinVayu - small wind for the underserved</h3><p><img src="images/Pminga/windturbine.jpg" border="0" alt="MinVayu turbine" title="MinVayu turbinet" width="185" height="138" style="float: right; margin: 10px; border: 0pt none;" />The MinVayu project announced in the last newsletter, is moving along well, although its been set back by losing its workshop in Cyclone Thane, and Mitra will be with them in India until the end of January to help move it along. They've added new people to the team in India, and training of local mechanics is continuing.</p><p>They are raising $350,000 to enable them to hire a team, and bring the first low-cost, low-wind, turbine to the Indian market, enabling access to power Their business plan, which we helped developed, just made it into the second round of the William James Foundation competition, and has attracted serious attention from two groups of investors.</p><p>We are glad to add Mike Sontag to the Natural Innovation team. He is contributing his time as the lead engineer on the MinVayu project.</p><p>Solidworks have become a sponsor of Natural Innovation, generously donating three places of their leading design program, this will allow us to produce a 3D model of the MinVayu turbine. The model will be used to predict how the turbine will perform, for example under strong winds.</p><p>Mike is proficient in Solidworks, and we look forward to sharing some of his designs on the website and in future newsletters.</p><p>Rural wind turbines have to be lifted above tree height to generate useful power, and an 18 meter tower contributes about 1/3 of the total cost of a system. We are exploring potential ways to reduce this cost, principally through needing less steel, and are also considering bamboo for areas where that is common and cheap.</p><p>We are still looking for engineering volunteers for this project, especially an electro-mechanics engineer to help with the generator design, and a structural engineer to analyse the stresses on the blades and the towers.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /> <!-- Main left 5--><h3>Signing off</h3><p>I hope the stories told here, in previous newsletters, and on the website will encourage you to support us financially to reach these goals</p><p>I hope you had a rejuvenating holiday season, wherever you are and whatever you celebrate.</p><p>Feel free to contact me at <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">mitra@mitra.biz</a> or by phone at +1-510-984-2639.</p></div></td><td width="20"><!--gap between left and right columns--><br /> </td><!-- OT3.2 --><td width="210" valign="top"><!-- OT3.3 --><div class="mainright"><!--Main right 1/2 seperator --> <!-- Main right 2--> <!-- Main right 4--> <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&amp;hosted_button_id=F3FWEFEBRGZSL"><p> </p></a><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&amp;hosted_button_id=F3FWEFEBRGZSL"><img src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" border="0" /></a></p><p> </p><h2>In Brief</h2><h3>Caktilika</h3><!--Story R2 --><p>As solar panels &amp; turbines get cheaper, the cost of the electronics becomes more significant. As we tried to source a reliable, affordable inverter for MinVayu we discovered there is no such product on the market. In addition, MinVayu, and other renewable energy suppliers we talked to, wanted a way that poor customers could pay for their power as they used it, since they lacked sufficient savings. Out of this requirement, Caktilika was born, a project to design and build an affordable, reliable, vendor neutral, Pay-As-You-Go inverter.</p><p>Natural Innovation is looking for investors for this project, or alternatively philanthropic money in which case the design will be open-sourced.</p><!--Story R-seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Live-Work space in Berkeley</h3><p>Since I'm spending half my time in the SF bay area, I'm looking to create a shared space, probably in Berkeley, where a few (5-9) world-changers &amp; social-entrepreneurs can live together and support each other. We are exploring both purchasing and renting. If you might be interested in such a space then take a look at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/135056813269945/" target="_blank">facebook group</a>, its private so you'll need to request access on that page.</p><!--Story R-seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Engineering collaborators</h3><p>I was at the IEEE "Global Humanitarian Conference" in October, to broaden collaboration with engineering organisations. The conference showed the broad interest among some skilled engineers, but it also showed both the lack of grounding in the realities of developing world, not only among the audience, but also many of the speakers. Matching skilled engineers with projects is particularly relevant for the highly skilled, but often busy, engineers who cannot take a year to participate in a capacity building placement with a developing country organisation. At the conference we spent time with Engineering For Change, and have also attended the BERC conference, and spoken to EWB Australia.</p><p>At the moment we are looking for engineering volunteers to work with Mike on the MinVayu project, we need people with structural; mechanical; electo-mechanical; power electronics skills.</p><!--Story R-seperator --> <img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Other volunteers</h3><p>We are looking for one or more interns at the moment, ideal applicants would have: some engineering or technical background; some business experience; and experience working in a developing country; but of course internships are a way to pick up the skills you are missing.</p><p>We need people both for our core operations, both developing the eco-system for innovation, and to support innovators, both in San Francisco and potentially in India. Get in touch...</p><h3>Next Few Months</h3><p>I'm in Auroville, southern India, here to work with MinVayu, a tree took out their workshop which will be a bit of a set-back. I'm also going to talk with other current &amp; potential partners, both of Natural Innovation &amp; for UV Aquastar. My plan is to be back in San Francisco from the start of February.</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Thanks</h3><p>Thanks to all the people who opened their houses and hearts to me this last quater, especially: Brewster &amp; Mary; Jaqueline; Napier; Bob, Shomace, Anabel &amp; Carolyn; Destiny, Phoenix, Gabe, Ross, Andrew at Raw Mama &amp; the Gondies;</p><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><img src="images/hori-separator.png" border="0" width="100%" /><h3>Keep in Touch</h3>If you want to keep in touch with what I'm doing, see the <a>Natural Innovation website</a>, and I also write an occasional <a href="/?id=3055&alias=scaling" target="_blank" title="Mitra's Blog">informal blog</a> on my activities and clean technology in general. You can also find me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron" target="_blank">facebook</a> and <a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/mitraardron">LinkedIn</a>.<p>For personal contacts, email is best mitra@mitra.biz. Skype reaches me pretty much anywhere and my id is mitra_earth; or you can call +1-510-984-2639, both these are usually forwarded to a local mobile. My Indian mobile is +91-8698-962-678, until the end of January, then my US mobile is +1-510-423-1767.</p><!--End of story blank --> <img src="/images/venn110x104.gif" border="0" width="110" height="104" style="border: 0; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 40px;" /> <!-- end of Main right--></div></td><!-- OT3.3 --></tr><!-- OT3 --> <tr><!-- OT4 seperator --><td colspan="3" height="30"><br /> </td></tr><tr><!-- OT5 unsubscribe --><td style="font-size:0.8em;color:#000000;margin:auto;text-align:center;" colspan="3"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p><img src="data:image/png;base64,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" border="0" style="position: absolute; visibility: visible; color: transparent; margin: 0px; border: medium none; z-index: 2147483647; left: 285px; top: 1588px;" /></p> 2014-01-22T00:00:00.000Z 2014-01-22T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/215-ed4idfeb Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><strong>Engineers and Designers for International Development</strong></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">How many of us have traveled to other countries? As a tourist? For work? What about for aid work? </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">This month we'll learn from people who've been overseas about what it's like to see the world from within another culture and community and not as an outsider looking in. We'll get live updates from the Philippines as they attempt to recover from a disaster that has wiped out their major industry for the next decade. And we'll learn about the growth of hacker/maker communities as part of a movement of empowerment around the world. As we consider what others are doing for themselves we can contemplate the need to do the same here, and discuss how we experience international development through the lens of local and global communities.</span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"> </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">As designers and engineers we have tremendous talents and assets to make a difference in the lives of others. Each month we will get together to meet, speak and dine with one another. Whether you are leading international development projects or looking to get involved we will give you the opportunity to speak up and be heard amongst like-minded individuals. </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><br style="margin:0px;padding:0px" /></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><strong>Come by the TechShop on <span style="margin-right:2px"> </span><span style="margin-right:2px"> </span>Feb 6th at 7pm,</strong> to discover the hidden world of altruists around you. Arrive 30 mins early to receive a tour of the space. You can also sign up for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1377100755885622/" target="_blank">Facebook event</a> and RSVP via <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/engineers-and-designers-for-international-development-tickets-10159598633">eventbrite</a>.<br /> <br /> </div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Agenda</span></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">We will be holding an unconference style event. In the first 30mins we will have several speakers give short 5mins talks about their experience designing for international development. </span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">After the talks those who want to stand up and describe the projects that they are working on can do so, and then the group will open up to casual discussion.</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">Food will be provided and everyone is encouraged to mingle. White boards are available for brainstorming and collaborating on <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoGXjHowMzZCdE1hbmx4QjhkdzFKMGlwVmQwVlZMcEE#gid=0" target="_blank">active projects</a>.</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><br style="margin:0px;padding:0px" /></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">Special thanks to the TechShop for letting us host this event. TechShop is a community-based workshop and prototyping studio on a mission to democratize access to the tools of innovation. It's packed with cutting edge machinery and computers loaded with design software. They teach Design Software, Electronics, Laser Cutting, CNC, Machining, Metal Work, Welding, Woodwork, Textiles, Fabrication, 3D Printing <a href="http://www.techshop.ws/take_classes.html?storeId=4" target="_blank">and more ... </a></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Projects To Assist</span></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="https://reallocate.crowdhoster.com/3d-printing-in-uganda--4" target="_blank">3D Printers in Uganda</a>, locals are using 3D printers to make cases for small solar products. This team is teaching the community to use 3D printers and supporting their product design efforts. Click on the link above to donate. </span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">Engineers Without Borders has been getting a lot of potential projects since our last meeting. Anyone interested in becoming a project manager for one of their many projects should contact Kachina, <a href="mailto:kachina@alum.mit.edu">kachina@alum.mit.edu</a>, or Pat Coyle, <a href="mailto:pat@coyles.com">pat@coyles.com</a>.</span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><a href="http://www.wcuavc.com/home.html" target="_blank">Wildlife Conservation UAV Challenge</a>, competition open to students, hobbyists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to create the best UAV solution for ending poaching and save endangered species from extinction and habitat destruction. There's now a small team working on this. Looking for someone with experience engineering controls. Contact Dan Clark, <a href="mailto:dan_caman@yahoo.com">dan_caman@yahoo.com</a></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">The <a href="http://globalchallenge.mit.edu/">MIT IDEAS Global Challenge</a> is an annual competition that encourages students and their collaborators use their knowledge to tackle quality of life issues around the world, and come up with innovation solutions to community problems. Throughout the competition cycle teams look for mentors to help them think through key challenges and opportunities. If you're interested in getting involved, <a href="http://globalchallenge.mit.edu/teams">check out this year's teams</a> and consider <a href="http://globalchallenge.mit.edu/help/offer">posting an offer to help</a>. Or contact <a href="mailto:globalchallenge@mit.edu">globalchallenge@mit.edu</a> directly.</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">Engineers Without Borders has been getting a lot of potential projects since our last meeting. Anyone interested</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">Are you working on a project that you would like to promote? Email Kachina at, <a href="mailto:kachina@alum.mit.edu" target="_blank">kachina@alum.mit.edu</a> to be included in our next newsletter. In the meantime, look through and add yourself to our <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoGXjHowMzZCdE1hbmx4QjhkdzFKMGlwVmQwVlZMcEE#gid=0" target="_blank">list of active projects</a>.</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Job Opportunities</span></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://catapultdesign.org/job/product-industrial-designer/" target="_blank">Product Industrial Designer</a> | Catapult Designs</span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><ul style="margin:0px 0px 0px 1.5em;padding:0px;list-style:none"><li style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">Submit resume with portfolio to </span><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="mailto:jobs@catapultdesign.org" target="_blank" title="mailto:jobs@catapultdesign.org" style="color:#3366cc;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dashed">jobs@catapultdesign.org</a></span><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"> </span></li></ul></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><ul style="margin:0px 0px 0px 1.5em;padding:0px;list-style:none"><li style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">with “Product Designer – [YOUR NAME]” in the subject line.</span></li></ul></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><ul style="margin:0px 0px 0px 1.5em;padding:0px;list-style:none"><li style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><br style="margin:0px;padding:0px" /></li></ul></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Additional Resources</span></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/381807521873298/">Engineers and Designers for International Development Facebook Group</a></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://www.ewb-sfp.org" target="_blank">Engineers Without Borders SF</a></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><a href="http://www.ewb-sfp.org/atdt" target="_blank">Appropriate Technology Design Team</a></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://reallocate.org/" target="_blank">Reallocate</a></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://www.techshop.ws/" target="_blank">TechShop</a></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><a href="https://www.engineeringforchange.org/home" target="_blank">Engineering 4 Change</a> (archived webinars can be found <a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFC2D8180DF11AAAA" target="_blank">here</a>)</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://makezine.com/" target="_blank">Make Magazine</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 30px 0px 29px; border-left: 6px solid #ffffff; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 3px 0px;"><br /> </span></span></div></span></div>

<div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><strong>Engineers and Designers for International Development</strong></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">How many of us have traveled to other countries? As a tourist? For work? What about for aid work? </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">This month we'll learn from people who've been overseas about what it's like to see the world from within another culture and community and not as an outsider looking in. We'll get live updates from the Philippines as they attempt to recover from a disaster that has wiped out their major industry for the next decade. And we'll learn about the growth of hacker/maker communities as part of a movement of empowerment around the world. As we consider what others are doing for themselves we can contemplate the need to do the same here, and discuss how we experience international development through the lens of local and global communities.</span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"> </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">As designers and engineers we have tremendous talents and assets to make a difference in the lives of others. Each month we will get together to meet, speak and dine with one another. Whether you are leading international development projects or looking to get involved we will give you the opportunity to speak up and be heard amongst like-minded individuals. </span></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><br style="margin:0px;padding:0px" /></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><strong>Come by the TechShop on <span style="margin-right:2px"> </span><span style="margin-right:2px"> </span>Feb 6th at 7pm,</strong> to discover the hidden world of altruists around you. Arrive 30 mins early to receive a tour of the space. You can also sign up for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1377100755885622/" target="_blank">Facebook event</a> and RSVP via <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/engineers-and-designers-for-international-development-tickets-10159598633">eventbrite</a>.<br /> <br /> </div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Agenda</span></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">We will be holding an unconference style event. In the first 30mins we will have several speakers give short 5mins talks about their experience designing for international development. </span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">After the talks those who want to stand up and describe the projects that they are working on can do so, and then the group will open up to casual discussion.</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">Food will be provided and everyone is encouraged to mingle. White boards are available for brainstorming and collaborating on <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoGXjHowMzZCdE1hbmx4QjhkdzFKMGlwVmQwVlZMcEE#gid=0" target="_blank">active projects</a>.</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><br style="margin:0px;padding:0px" /></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">Special thanks to the TechShop for letting us host this event. TechShop is a community-based workshop and prototyping studio on a mission to democratize access to the tools of innovation. It's packed with cutting edge machinery and computers loaded with design software. They teach Design Software, Electronics, Laser Cutting, CNC, Machining, Metal Work, Welding, Woodwork, Textiles, Fabrication, 3D Printing <a href="http://www.techshop.ws/take_classes.html?storeId=4" target="_blank">and more ... </a></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Projects To Assist</span></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="https://reallocate.crowdhoster.com/3d-printing-in-uganda--4" target="_blank">3D Printers in Uganda</a>, locals are using 3D printers to make cases for small solar products. This team is teaching the community to use 3D printers and supporting their product design efforts. Click on the link above to donate. </span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">Engineers Without Borders has been getting a lot of potential projects since our last meeting. Anyone interested in becoming a project manager for one of their many projects should contact Kachina, <a href="mailto:kachina@alum.mit.edu">kachina@alum.mit.edu</a>, or Pat Coyle, <a href="mailto:pat@coyles.com">pat@coyles.com</a>.</span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><br /> </span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><a href="http://www.wcuavc.com/home.html" target="_blank">Wildlife Conservation UAV Challenge</a>, competition open to students, hobbyists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to create the best UAV solution for ending poaching and save endangered species from extinction and habitat destruction. There's now a small team working on this. Looking for someone with experience engineering controls. Contact Dan Clark, <a href="mailto:dan_caman@yahoo.com">dan_caman@yahoo.com</a></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">The <a href="http://globalchallenge.mit.edu/">MIT IDEAS Global Challenge</a> is an annual competition that encourages students and their collaborators use their knowledge to tackle quality of life issues around the world, and come up with innovation solutions to community problems. Throughout the competition cycle teams look for mentors to help them think through key challenges and opportunities. If you're interested in getting involved, <a href="http://globalchallenge.mit.edu/teams">check out this year's teams</a> and consider <a href="http://globalchallenge.mit.edu/help/offer">posting an offer to help</a>. Or contact <a href="mailto:globalchallenge@mit.edu">globalchallenge@mit.edu</a> directly.</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">Engineers Without Borders has been getting a lot of potential projects since our last meeting. Anyone interested</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px">Are you working on a project that you would like to promote? Email Kachina at, <a href="mailto:kachina@alum.mit.edu" target="_blank">kachina@alum.mit.edu</a> to be included in our next newsletter. In the meantime, look through and add yourself to our <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoGXjHowMzZCdE1hbmx4QjhkdzFKMGlwVmQwVlZMcEE#gid=0" target="_blank">list of active projects</a>.</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Job Opportunities</span></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://catapultdesign.org/job/product-industrial-designer/" target="_blank">Product Industrial Designer</a> | Catapult Designs</span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><ul style="margin:0px 0px 0px 1.5em;padding:0px;list-style:none"><li style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">Submit resume with portfolio to </span><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="mailto:jobs@catapultdesign.org" target="_blank" title="mailto:jobs@catapultdesign.org" style="color:#3366cc;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dashed">jobs@catapultdesign.org</a></span><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"> </span></li></ul></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><ul style="margin:0px 0px 0px 1.5em;padding:0px;list-style:none"><li style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px">with “Product Designer – [YOUR NAME]” in the subject line.</span></li></ul></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><ul style="margin:0px 0px 0px 1.5em;padding:0px;list-style:none"><li style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><br style="margin:0px;padding:0px" /></li></ul></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Additional Resources</span></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/381807521873298/">Engineers and Designers for International Development Facebook Group</a></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://www.ewb-sfp.org" target="_blank">Engineers Without Borders SF</a></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><a href="http://www.ewb-sfp.org/atdt" target="_blank">Appropriate Technology Design Team</a></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://reallocate.org/" target="_blank">Reallocate</a></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://www.techshop.ws/" target="_blank">TechShop</a></span></div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><a href="https://www.engineeringforchange.org/home" target="_blank">Engineering 4 Change</a> (archived webinars can be found <a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFC2D8180DF11AAAA" target="_blank">here</a>)</div><div style="font-size:14px;margin:0px;padding:0px 30px 0px 29px;border-left-width:6px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:3px 0px"><a href="http://makezine.com/" target="_blank">Make Magazine</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 30px 0px 29px; border-left: 6px solid #ffffff; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 3px 0px;"><br /> </span></span></div></span></div> 2014-05-01T00:00:00.000Z 2014-05-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/217-ed4idmay2014 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<div lang="x-unicode"><div dir="ltr"><div><strong>Engineers and Designers for International Development, 5/13 7pm - 10pm</strong></div>There are so many events that I'm excited about this month including our regular gathering. First starting on the same day as our next meetup, there's <a href="http://makercon.com/" target="_blank">MakerCon</a> on May 13-14th. Then there's <a href="http://makerfaire.com/" target="_blank">Maker Faire</a> later that weekend, May 17-18th. And if that's not enough there's <a href="http://solidcon.com/solid2014" target="_blank">SolidCon</a>, May 21-22nd. So it's quite a month for hardware enthusiasts and startups!<br /> <br /> If any of you have been wondering why this group got started, I would say that it was born out of conversations about how to get tech-savvy individuals like yourselves to think about how your skills can be repurposed for social good. Essentially, how to find and engage in projects with a purpose. For me that boils down into this idea of active altruism. So this month we're going to move past talking about what we could do and get hands-on on specific projects. <br /> <br /> Here's a list of some of the projects we're going to discuss. <br /> <br /> <strong>Open Source Beehives</strong>, started by the folks from Open Tech Collaborative (spiraling off from the Open Ecology team), is set on creating a intelligent, simple-to-assemble beehive to fight hive colony collapse disorder.<br /> <strong>e-NABLE</strong>, a global distributed team of designers and fabricators creating a low-cost 3D printed prosthetic<br /> <strong>Solar Flower</strong>, DIY solar concentrator and wind turbine design <br /> <strong>Communitaire</strong>, creating and connecting makerspaces and resources around the world.<br /> <strong>GitHacker</strong>, site designed to enable remote collaboration on open source hardware<br /> <br /> Drones, drones, and more drones! There's a variety of topics here from using drones for agricultural processes, conservation, detection of land mines ... which I'd love to discuss some more. And if we're lucky, we'll hear more from the teams that were awarded with prizes at our first meetup. We'll start having more regular meetings to actually do some engineering and move some of these open source designs forward.<br /> <br /> If it's not obvious already, I'm really passionate about open source hardware and remote collaboration. I'll be encouraging all attendees and members of this community to share their interest and expertise so that we can match you up with a project to work on. If you have any projects that you would like to work on or recommend please contact me directly. <br /> <br /> As designers and engineers we have tremendous talents and assets to make a difference in the lives of others. Each month we will get together to meet, speak and dine with one another. Whether you are leading international development projects or looking to get involved we will give you the opportunity to speak up, be heard and get involved.<br /> <br /> <strong>Come by the TechShop on May 13th at 7pm</strong>, to discover the a world of open source hardware. Arrive 30 mins early to receive a tour of the space - just drop by the front desk. You can also sign up for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/381807521873298/">Facebook</a> event and RSVP via <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/engineers-and-designers-for-international-development-tickets-11497837341">eventbrite</a>.<br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Agenda</span><br /> We will be holding an unconference style event. In the first 30mins we will have several speakers give short 5mins talks about their experience designing for international development. After the talks those who want to stand up and describe the projects that they are working on can do so, and then the group will open up to casual discussion. <br /> <br /> Special thanks to the <a href="http://techshop.ws/" target="_blank">TechShop</a> for letting us host this event. Techshop is a community-based workshop and prototyping studio on a mission to democratize access to the tools of innovation. It's packed with cutting edge machinery and computers loaded with design software. They teach Design Software, Electronics, Laser Cutting, CNC, Machining, Metal Work, Welding, Woodwork, Textiles, Fabrication, 3D Printing and more ... <br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Additional Resources<br /> </span><a href="http://www.ewb-sfp.org/" target="_blank">Engineers Without Borders SF</a><br /> <a href="http://www.ewb-sfp.org/atdt" target="_blank">Appropriate Technology Design Team</a><div><a href="http://reallocate.org/" target="_blank">Reallocate</a><br /> <a href="https://www.engineeringforchange.org/home" target="_blank">Engineering 4 Change</a> (archived webinars can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/engineeringforchange" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /> <a href="http://makezine.com/" target="_blank">Make Magazine</a></div></div></div>

<div lang="x-unicode"><div dir="ltr"><div><strong>Engineers and Designers for International Development, 5/13 7pm - 10pm</strong></div>There are so many events that I'm excited about this month including our regular gathering. First starting on the same day as our next meetup, there's <a href="http://makercon.com/" target="_blank">MakerCon</a> on May 13-14th. Then there's <a href="http://makerfaire.com/" target="_blank">Maker Faire</a> later that weekend, May 17-18th. And if that's not enough there's <a href="http://solidcon.com/solid2014" target="_blank">SolidCon</a>, May 21-22nd. So it's quite a month for hardware enthusiasts and startups!<br /> <br /> If any of you have been wondering why this group got started, I would say that it was born out of conversations about how to get tech-savvy individuals like yourselves to think about how your skills can be repurposed for social good. Essentially, how to find and engage in projects with a purpose. For me that boils down into this idea of active altruism. So this month we're going to move past talking about what we could do and get hands-on on specific projects. <br /> <br /> Here's a list of some of the projects we're going to discuss. <br /> <br /> <strong>Open Source Beehives</strong>, started by the folks from Open Tech Collaborative (spiraling off from the Open Ecology team), is set on creating a intelligent, simple-to-assemble beehive to fight hive colony collapse disorder.<br /> <strong>e-NABLE</strong>, a global distributed team of designers and fabricators creating a low-cost 3D printed prosthetic<br /> <strong>Solar Flower</strong>, DIY solar concentrator and wind turbine design <br /> <strong>Communitaire</strong>, creating and connecting makerspaces and resources around the world.<br /> <strong>GitHacker</strong>, site designed to enable remote collaboration on open source hardware<br /> <br /> Drones, drones, and more drones! There's a variety of topics here from using drones for agricultural processes, conservation, detection of land mines ... which I'd love to discuss some more. And if we're lucky, we'll hear more from the teams that were awarded with prizes at our first meetup. We'll start having more regular meetings to actually do some engineering and move some of these open source designs forward.<br /> <br /> If it's not obvious already, I'm really passionate about open source hardware and remote collaboration. I'll be encouraging all attendees and members of this community to share their interest and expertise so that we can match you up with a project to work on. If you have any projects that you would like to work on or recommend please contact me directly. <br /> <br /> As designers and engineers we have tremendous talents and assets to make a difference in the lives of others. Each month we will get together to meet, speak and dine with one another. Whether you are leading international development projects or looking to get involved we will give you the opportunity to speak up, be heard and get involved.<br /> <br /> <strong>Come by the TechShop on May 13th at 7pm</strong>, to discover the a world of open source hardware. Arrive 30 mins early to receive a tour of the space - just drop by the front desk. You can also sign up for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/381807521873298/">Facebook</a> event and RSVP via <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/engineers-and-designers-for-international-development-tickets-11497837341">eventbrite</a>.<br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Agenda</span><br /> We will be holding an unconference style event. In the first 30mins we will have several speakers give short 5mins talks about their experience designing for international development. After the talks those who want to stand up and describe the projects that they are working on can do so, and then the group will open up to casual discussion. <br /> <br /> Special thanks to the <a href="http://techshop.ws/" target="_blank">TechShop</a> for letting us host this event. Techshop is a community-based workshop and prototyping studio on a mission to democratize access to the tools of innovation. It's packed with cutting edge machinery and computers loaded with design software. They teach Design Software, Electronics, Laser Cutting, CNC, Machining, Metal Work, Welding, Woodwork, Textiles, Fabrication, 3D Printing and more ... <br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Additional Resources<br /> </span><a href="http://www.ewb-sfp.org/" target="_blank">Engineers Without Borders SF</a><br /> <a href="http://www.ewb-sfp.org/atdt" target="_blank">Appropriate Technology Design Team</a><div><a href="http://reallocate.org/" target="_blank">Reallocate</a><br /> <a href="https://www.engineeringforchange.org/home" target="_blank">Engineering 4 Change</a> (archived webinars can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/engineeringforchange" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /> <a href="http://makezine.com/" target="_blank">Make Magazine</a></div></div></div> 2014-06-01T00:00:00.000Z 2014-06-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/218-ed4idjun2014 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<div><br /> <div dir="ltr"><p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px"><span style="color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Welcome to a new series of hardware hack days inspired by </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/381807521873298/" target="_blank" style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Engineers and Designers for International Development</a><span style="color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> community. We partner with an open source hardware group to study their prototypes, and work on open issues with a small team of engineers with academic/professional partners to see tangible progress with their designs.</span></p><p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px"><a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/e/hardware-hack-days-prosthetic-redesign-tickets-11785752503" target="_blank">Event link here</a></p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">The event will last all day - including brainstorming, hardware hacking, breakfast, lunch and yoga. Progress will be documented and shared with online community.</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">For attendees we will provide discounted TechShop classes, please contact <a href="mailto:kachina@alum.mit.edu" target="_blank">kachina@alum.mit.edu</a> for coupons. Additional coupon purchases allowed. Encouraged use before event. Look at available classes here: <a href="http://techshop.ws/class_types.html" target="_blank" title="TechShop Class List" style="color:#0f90ba;text-decoration:none">http://techshop.ws/class_types.html</a></p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Our first partner is e-NABLE and we will be exploring open source prosthetic designs. The schedule will included:</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">9am - 10am: Introductions over breakfast</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">10am - 11am: History of project, discussion of open issues and feature requests</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">11am - noon: Split into groups, everyone has a chance to speak up to volunteer their skills. There will be refreshers on CAD modeling and 3D printing.</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">noon - 1pm: Break for Yoga and handstands in Yerba Buena park (opt)</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">1pm - 5pm: Hardware hacking, research, creating presentations</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">5pm - 6pm: Any teams that formed present what they worked on (informal), submit documented summary</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">6pm - 8pm: Teams encouraged to document and submit their findings. This ensures that all innovation is captured and shared with the community (open source).</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">8pm - 10pm: Socialize!</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">TECHSHOP CLASSES</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">June 8th: 10am 3D Printing: Type A Machines SBU</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">12:30pm Autodesk Inventor 2013 - Basics</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">More TechShop classes are available, and coupons apply to most. Please contact directly to get discounted class coupons.</p></div></div><p> </p><div style="max-height:1px"><img src="https://mailfoogae.appspot.com/t?sender=aa2FjaGluYS5nb3NzZWxpbkBnbWFpbC5jb20%3D&amp;type=zerocontent&amp;guid=708cb968-4d5b-4942-8caa-7033085939f5" border="0" style="width: 0px; max-height: 0px;" /><span style="color: #ffffff; font-size: xx-small;">ᐧ</span></div>

<div><br /> <div dir="ltr"><p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px"><span style="color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Welcome to a new series of hardware hack days inspired by </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/381807521873298/" target="_blank" style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Engineers and Designers for International Development</a><span style="color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> community. We partner with an open source hardware group to study their prototypes, and work on open issues with a small team of engineers with academic/professional partners to see tangible progress with their designs.</span></p><p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px"><a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/e/hardware-hack-days-prosthetic-redesign-tickets-11785752503" target="_blank">Event link here</a></p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">The event will last all day - including brainstorming, hardware hacking, breakfast, lunch and yoga. Progress will be documented and shared with online community.</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">For attendees we will provide discounted TechShop classes, please contact <a href="mailto:kachina@alum.mit.edu" target="_blank">kachina@alum.mit.edu</a> for coupons. Additional coupon purchases allowed. Encouraged use before event. Look at available classes here: <a href="http://techshop.ws/class_types.html" target="_blank" title="TechShop Class List" style="color:#0f90ba;text-decoration:none">http://techshop.ws/class_types.html</a></p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Our first partner is e-NABLE and we will be exploring open source prosthetic designs. The schedule will included:</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">9am - 10am: Introductions over breakfast</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">10am - 11am: History of project, discussion of open issues and feature requests</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">11am - noon: Split into groups, everyone has a chance to speak up to volunteer their skills. There will be refreshers on CAD modeling and 3D printing.</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">noon - 1pm: Break for Yoga and handstands in Yerba Buena park (opt)</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">1pm - 5pm: Hardware hacking, research, creating presentations</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">5pm - 6pm: Any teams that formed present what they worked on (informal), submit documented summary</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">6pm - 8pm: Teams encouraged to document and submit their findings. This ensures that all innovation is captured and shared with the community (open source).</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">8pm - 10pm: Socialize!</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">TECHSHOP CLASSES</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">June 8th: 10am 3D Printing: Type A Machines SBU</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">12:30pm Autodesk Inventor 2013 - Basics</p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </p><p style="font-size:13px;margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 8px;color:#666666;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">More TechShop classes are available, and coupons apply to most. Please contact directly to get discounted class coupons.</p></div></div><p> </p><div style="max-height:1px"><img src="https://mailfoogae.appspot.com/t?sender=aa2FjaGluYS5nb3NzZWxpbkBnbWFpbC5jb20%3D&amp;type=zerocontent&amp;guid=708cb968-4d5b-4942-8caa-7033085939f5" border="0" style="width: 0px; max-height: 0px;" /><span style="color: #ffffff; font-size: xx-small;">ᐧ</span></div> 2014-06-21T00:00:00.000Z 2014-06-21T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/219-ed4idjun2014b Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Look at that this month's ED4ID is only a few days away!</p><p>Thursday June 26th, 7pm-10pm at Techshop.</p><p>We apologize to everyone for the short notice. If you haven't noticed I got swept away with planning our first tangible hardware hack day which happened at the weekend, and Mitra was away most of the last couple of weeks.</p><p>Yes, it's rather last minute but we want to keep this evening get together going as we continue to expand out event offerings. So please show up and let us know how you like these new developments. We'll be meeting next Thurs June 26th 7-10pm at TechShop SF. The event will proceed as usual with an un-conference style discussion (contact me if you want to stand up and speak!)</p><p>Before we continue please consider filling out the community survey!<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IMaNyM-53BbdB-CxzXMZGRj6ZOcfVyQnzOO4-4Sk8sw/"><br /> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IMaNyM-53BbdB-CxzXMZGRj6ZOcfVyQnzOO4-4Sk8sw/</a></p><p>A few events and projects worth noting:</p><p>First, e-NABLE did an amazing job of bringing prototypes and problem statements to our first hardware hack day last Saturday. The result is that we have more questions than answers and the next adventure is pulling together a regular team to explore specific design solutions. If you are interested in learning more about that check out our document of results (otherwise known as investigations into the unknown) <a href="https://hackpad.com/eNABLEED4ID-Design-Research-Team-qvsDUpFID7X">eNABLE/ED4ID Design Research Team</a> hackpad.</p><p>Our next hardware hack day will happen in another two weeks (I know nose to the grindstone!), and will be focused around embedding sensors in an open source design of beehives, so that we can keep track of the health of hives as we fight to understand and alleviate colony collapse disorder. This time I highly recommend that attendees take advantage of the coupons we can offer to you for learning how to use arduinos. One of the improvements we would like to bring to our hardware hack days are more introductory lessons but for that to happen you have to show interest! Anyways, announcements soon, take note!</p><p>A few more projects on our radar are in (or about to enter) the crowd-fundraising stage.</p><p>Rainforest Connection, is an organization that repurposes old android phones to solar powered devices that send out calls for help when they detect the sound of chainsaws. The messages are sent out via text and are used to alert teams of volunteers who can then determine the source and protect the forests. They're going to be launching a crowd-funding campaign in the next few weeks, and if you would like to support I will be assisting in their outreach efforts. Contact me or Topher White, <a href="mailto:topher@rfcx.org">topher@rfcx.org</a>, or Dave Grenell, <a href="mailto:davegrenell@gmail.com">davegrenell@gmail.com</a>.<a href="https://rfcx.org/"><br /> https://rfcx.org/</a></p><p>Another campaign that I'm following is the Ocean Cleanup campaign that is taking a project to automate collection of plastics in the trash gyres to the next level, I throughly support the activities of this team and hope you will too!<a href="http://www.theoceancleanup.com/"><br /> http://www.theoceancleanup.com/</a></p><p>Woah, do you see how they are 25% to a $2M goal! Amazing :)</p><p>That's about it for other projects right now, but there's still plenty to do with our organization.</p><p>As we're organizing Hardware Hack days every two weeks there are opportunities to support fundraising and prepping educational resources. We're doing a website re-design at the moment and building a platform for you to connect to projects. A rails developer and graphic designer would be much appreciated.</p><p>A few opportunities to motivate us:</p><p>There is an Ashoka Changemakers competition for <a href="http://www.changemakers.com/packardempathy/blog/ashoka-changemakers-and-packard-foundation-launch-online%20">Building Vibrant Communities: Activating Empathy to Create Change</a> - which I think is a perfect opportunity for our group (except for the fact that we need to partner with a community in the South Bay and I don't know who that could be ... )</p><p>... and there's a <a href="http://bayareamakers.startupweekend.org/">Bay Area Maker Startup Weekend</a> on July 11th that I think would be the perfect opportunity to test out how our software platform can effectively connect experts to work on engineering/maker projects over a weekend. It would both be a time to develop our custom platform and test existing solutions within a small community.</p><p>That and we have official representation at FabLab10 in Barcelona first week of July.</p><p>We're growing! and it's super exciting ^.^</p><p>If you've made it this far, please take the community survey:<br /> <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IMaNyM-53BbdB-CxzXMZGRj6ZOcfVyQnzOO4-4Sk8sw/">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IMaNyM-53BbdB-CxzXMZGRj6ZOcfVyQnzOO4-4Sk8sw/</a></p><p>I'm very excited to read your responses!</p><p>best,<br /> Kachina</p>

<p>Look at that this month's ED4ID is only a few days away!</p><p>Thursday June 26th, 7pm-10pm at Techshop.</p><p>We apologize to everyone for the short notice. If you haven't noticed I got swept away with planning our first tangible hardware hack day which happened at the weekend, and Mitra was away most of the last couple of weeks.</p><p>Yes, it's rather last minute but we want to keep this evening get together going as we continue to expand out event offerings. So please show up and let us know how you like these new developments. We'll be meeting next Thurs June 26th 7-10pm at TechShop SF. The event will proceed as usual with an un-conference style discussion (contact me if you want to stand up and speak!)</p><p>Before we continue please consider filling out the community survey!<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IMaNyM-53BbdB-CxzXMZGRj6ZOcfVyQnzOO4-4Sk8sw/"><br /> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IMaNyM-53BbdB-CxzXMZGRj6ZOcfVyQnzOO4-4Sk8sw/</a></p><p>A few events and projects worth noting:</p><p>First, e-NABLE did an amazing job of bringing prototypes and problem statements to our first hardware hack day last Saturday. The result is that we have more questions than answers and the next adventure is pulling together a regular team to explore specific design solutions. If you are interested in learning more about that check out our document of results (otherwise known as investigations into the unknown) <a href="https://hackpad.com/eNABLEED4ID-Design-Research-Team-qvsDUpFID7X">eNABLE/ED4ID Design Research Team</a> hackpad.</p><p>Our next hardware hack day will happen in another two weeks (I know nose to the grindstone!), and will be focused around embedding sensors in an open source design of beehives, so that we can keep track of the health of hives as we fight to understand and alleviate colony collapse disorder. This time I highly recommend that attendees take advantage of the coupons we can offer to you for learning how to use arduinos. One of the improvements we would like to bring to our hardware hack days are more introductory lessons but for that to happen you have to show interest! Anyways, announcements soon, take note!</p><p>A few more projects on our radar are in (or about to enter) the crowd-fundraising stage.</p><p>Rainforest Connection, is an organization that repurposes old android phones to solar powered devices that send out calls for help when they detect the sound of chainsaws. The messages are sent out via text and are used to alert teams of volunteers who can then determine the source and protect the forests. They're going to be launching a crowd-funding campaign in the next few weeks, and if you would like to support I will be assisting in their outreach efforts. Contact me or Topher White, <a href="mailto:topher@rfcx.org">topher@rfcx.org</a>, or Dave Grenell, <a href="mailto:davegrenell@gmail.com">davegrenell@gmail.com</a>.<a href="https://rfcx.org/"><br /> https://rfcx.org/</a></p><p>Another campaign that I'm following is the Ocean Cleanup campaign that is taking a project to automate collection of plastics in the trash gyres to the next level, I throughly support the activities of this team and hope you will too!<a href="http://www.theoceancleanup.com/"><br /> http://www.theoceancleanup.com/</a></p><p>Woah, do you see how they are 25% to a $2M goal! Amazing :)</p><p>That's about it for other projects right now, but there's still plenty to do with our organization.</p><p>As we're organizing Hardware Hack days every two weeks there are opportunities to support fundraising and prepping educational resources. We're doing a website re-design at the moment and building a platform for you to connect to projects. A rails developer and graphic designer would be much appreciated.</p><p>A few opportunities to motivate us:</p><p>There is an Ashoka Changemakers competition for <a href="http://www.changemakers.com/packardempathy/blog/ashoka-changemakers-and-packard-foundation-launch-online%20">Building Vibrant Communities: Activating Empathy to Create Change</a> - which I think is a perfect opportunity for our group (except for the fact that we need to partner with a community in the South Bay and I don't know who that could be ... )</p><p>... and there's a <a href="http://bayareamakers.startupweekend.org/">Bay Area Maker Startup Weekend</a> on July 11th that I think would be the perfect opportunity to test out how our software platform can effectively connect experts to work on engineering/maker projects over a weekend. It would both be a time to develop our custom platform and test existing solutions within a small community.</p><p>That and we have official representation at FabLab10 in Barcelona first week of July.</p><p>We're growing! and it's super exciting ^.^</p><p>If you've made it this far, please take the community survey:<br /> <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IMaNyM-53BbdB-CxzXMZGRj6ZOcfVyQnzOO4-4Sk8sw/">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IMaNyM-53BbdB-CxzXMZGRj6ZOcfVyQnzOO4-4Sk8sw/</a></p><p>I'm very excited to read your responses!</p><p>best,<br /> Kachina</p> 1998-09-24T08:00:29.000Z 1998-09-24T08:00:29.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2785-the_ecology_of Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<P>The "ecology of memes" refers to the concept that Memes, or ideas, <br /> are much like Genes (or viruses) in how they spread and replicate, <br /> in summary that they:</p> <UL> <LI> Replicate - copied from host to host (human brains)</LI> <LI> That as they replicate they mutate and change</LI> <LI> That they breed - combine with other memes.</LI> <LI> That natural selection and evolution naturally produce memes <br /> that live well and spread widely through their human hosts.</LI> </UL> Personally I'm fascinated by this because of its relevance to how <br /> key concepts - like recycling - spread through a population and become <br /> well established.&nbsp; It seems that Memes have a number of characteristics <br /> that influence how widely they proliferate. Including: <br /> <UL> <LI> Infectiousness: How easily they spread from one person to another, <br /> adaptations for this include:</LI> <UL> <LI> Transmissability: How easy it is to communicate an idea - <br /> This includes such things as</LI> <UL> <LI> Compressability: Can the idea be communicated in a few <br /> words (or bytes), this includes</LI> <UL> <LI> Symbology: Does the meme use understood symbols, or does <br /> it require communication in longhand.</LI> <LI> Incrementality: Does the meme easily build upon component <br /> memes that the recipient already has, or do those memes <br /> have to be as well.</LI> </UL> </UL> <LI> Understandability: How easy it is for the recipient to receive <br /> it. This includes things such as</LI> <UL> <LI> Simplicity: complex memes are harder to understand</LI> </UL> </UL> <LI> Memorability: How long is it likely to stay within a carrier, <br /> this includes:</LI> <UL> <LI> many of the same things as Infectiousness, especially Symbology <br /> and Incrementality.</LI> <LI> Refreshability: Does the meme refresh itself in memory because <br /> it is triggered by other things in the environment.</LI> <LI> Teaming: Does the meme naturally build teams of people who <br /> continue to communicate it to each other</LI> <LI> Feelings: Does the meme interact with human emotions</LI> </UL> <LI> Immortality: Does the meme outlast individual carriers.</LI> <UL> <LI> Independence from originator.</LI> <LI> Adaptability:</LI> <LI> Integrety&nbsp; - the opposite</LI> <LI> Assimilatability - assimilating other memes</LI> <LI> Exclusivity - excluding other ideas</LI> <LI> Parasitology - attach to other memes, so carried by them, <br /> this includes the concept of memes banding together into cultures <br /> or societies.</LI> <LI> Crutch - make itself crucial to another meme which will then <br /> support it.</LI> <LI> Symbiosis - finding another meme which it can support</LI> </UL> </UL><p> Of course, the summary above doesn't do justice to the idea, and I'm <br /> no expert. So below are some useful links.</p><ul><li>Richard Dawkins coined the idea, back in '93 or thereabouts in a paper "Dawkins R. 1993. Viruses of the Mind. P. 13-27, in: Dennett and his Critics, Blackwell Publishers." If there is an online version, I'd love a reference.</li><li><a href="http://jom-emit.cfpm.org/">The Journal of Memetics</a> - subtitle "Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission" has pages of <a href="http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit/overview.html">Overview/History</a>, <a href="http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit/links.html">Links</a>, the <a href="http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit/memetics/about.html">Memetics Mailing list</a>,</li><li>and a <a href="http://jom-emit.cfpm.org/online.html">good list of papers</a>,in which the following papers caught my eye, though I haven't read them yet (24Sept98), feel to ask me for comments on which were good at a later date.</li><li>Adam Westoby developed the idea into a long paper: <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/ecointen.htm">The Ecology of Intentions: How to make Memes and Influence People: Culturology</a></li><li><a href="http://www.davidbrin.com/newmemewar1.html">The New Style of War -- a Struggle among Memes</a>: David Brin .</li><li><a href="http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Cultural/Memetics/metamem.txt">Memes Meta-Memes and Politics</a> By H. Keith Henson</li></ul>

<P>The "ecology of memes" refers to the concept that Memes, or ideas, <br /> are much like Genes (or viruses) in how they spread and replicate, <br /> in summary that they:</p> <UL> <LI> Replicate - copied from host to host (human brains)</LI> <LI> That as they replicate they mutate and change</LI> <LI> That they breed - combine with other memes.</LI> <LI> That natural selection and evolution naturally produce memes <br /> that live well and spread widely through their human hosts.</LI> </UL> Personally I'm fascinated by this because of its relevance to how <br /> key concepts - like recycling - spread through a population and become <br /> well established.&nbsp; It seems that Memes have a number of characteristics <br /> that influence how widely they proliferate. Including: <br /> <UL> <LI> Infectiousness: How easily they spread from one person to another, <br /> adaptations for this include:</LI> <UL> <LI> Transmissability: How easy it is to communicate an idea - <br /> This includes such things as</LI> <UL> <LI> Compressability: Can the idea be communicated in a few <br /> words (or bytes), this includes</LI> <UL> <LI> Symbology: Does the meme use understood symbols, or does <br /> it require communication in longhand.</LI> <LI> Incrementality: Does the meme easily build upon component <br /> memes that the recipient already has, or do those memes <br /> have to be as well.</LI> </UL> </UL> <LI> Understandability: How easy it is for the recipient to receive <br /> it. This includes things such as</LI> <UL> <LI> Simplicity: complex memes are harder to understand</LI> </UL> </UL> <LI> Memorability: How long is it likely to stay within a carrier, <br /> this includes:</LI> <UL> <LI> many of the same things as Infectiousness, especially Symbology <br /> and Incrementality.</LI> <LI> Refreshability: Does the meme refresh itself in memory because <br /> it is triggered by other things in the environment.</LI> <LI> Teaming: Does the meme naturally build teams of people who <br /> continue to communicate it to each other</LI> <LI> Feelings: Does the meme interact with human emotions</LI> </UL> <LI> Immortality: Does the meme outlast individual carriers.</LI> <UL> <LI> Independence from originator.</LI> <LI> Adaptability:</LI> <LI> Integrety&nbsp; - the opposite</LI> <LI> Assimilatability - assimilating other memes</LI> <LI> Exclusivity - excluding other ideas</LI> <LI> Parasitology - attach to other memes, so carried by them, <br /> this includes the concept of memes banding together into cultures <br /> or societies.</LI> <LI> Crutch - make itself crucial to another meme which will then <br /> support it.</LI> <LI> Symbiosis - finding another meme which it can support</LI> </UL> </UL><p> Of course, the summary above doesn't do justice to the idea, and I'm <br /> no expert. So below are some useful links.</p><ul><li>Richard Dawkins coined the idea, back in '93 or thereabouts in a paper "Dawkins R. 1993. Viruses of the Mind. P. 13-27, in: Dennett and his Critics, Blackwell Publishers." If there is an online version, I'd love a reference.</li><li><a href="http://jom-emit.cfpm.org/">The Journal of Memetics</a> - subtitle "Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission" has pages of <a href="http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit/overview.html">Overview/History</a>, <a href="http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit/links.html">Links</a>, the <a href="http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit/memetics/about.html">Memetics Mailing list</a>,</li><li>and a <a href="http://jom-emit.cfpm.org/online.html">good list of papers</a>,in which the following papers caught my eye, though I haven't read them yet (24Sept98), feel to ask me for comments on which were good at a later date.</li><li>Adam Westoby developed the idea into a long paper: <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/ecointen.htm">The Ecology of Intentions: How to make Memes and Influence People: Culturology</a></li><li><a href="http://www.davidbrin.com/newmemewar1.html">The New Style of War -- a Struggle among Memes</a>: David Brin .</li><li><a href="http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Cultural/Memetics/metamem.txt">Memes Meta-Memes and Politics</a> By H. Keith Henson</li></ul> 2003-01-21T21:35:46.000Z 2003-01-21T21:35:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2786-us_whitehouse_p Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is amazing, from the whitehouse's own press site, Helen is apparantly one of the most senior press core reporters. Read it through to the last sentence ! (P.S. I've copied the text here just in case it disappears from whitehouse.gov)<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030106-1.html#2">http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030106-1.html#2</a>"

This is amazing, from the whitehouse's own press site, Helen is apparantly one of the most senior press core reporters. Read it through to the last sentence ! (P.S. I've copied the text here just in case it disappears from whitehouse.gov)<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030106-1.html#2">http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030106-1.html#2</a>" 2003-01-21T19:53:03.000Z 2003-01-21T19:53:03.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2787-rocky_mountain Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I reconnected with Amory Lovins in Brisbane in November, apart from being a great speaker, RMI has got to be the leading thinkers on re-engineering industry to dramatically reduce its inputs.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.rmi.org">http://www.rmi.org</a>"

I reconnected with Amory Lovins in Brisbane in November, apart from being a great speaker, RMI has got to be the leading thinkers on re-engineering industry to dramatically reduce its inputs.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.rmi.org">http://www.rmi.org</a>" 2003-01-21T19:51:01.000Z 2003-01-21T19:51:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2788-ocean_arks_conn Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I connected with these people at Bioneers Oct 2002, it would be interesting to see if some of their waste reuse technology could be used here in Australia.</p> <p>Update: They closed somewhere around 2011 so this is the archived link <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110809133935/http://www.oceanarks.org/">www.oceanarks.org</a> </p>

<p>I connected with these people at Bioneers Oct 2002, it would be interesting to see if some of their waste reuse technology could be used here in Australia.</p> <p>Update: They closed somewhere around 2011 so this is the archived link <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110809133935/http://www.oceanarks.org/">www.oceanarks.org</a> </p> 2003-01-21T19:40:01.000Z 2003-01-21T19:40:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2789-business_allian Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I connected with this group at the Oct 2003 SVN conference, they are building local networks of businesses that support local economies. Something like this would be great to get going in Byron Shire.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.livingeconomies.org">http://www.livingeconomies.org</a>"

I connected with this group at the Oct 2003 SVN conference, they are building local networks of businesses that support local economies. Something like this would be great to get going in Byron Shire.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.livingeconomies.org">http://www.livingeconomies.org</a>" 2003-01-21T19:37:45.000Z 2003-01-21T19:37:45.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2790-bioneers_" Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An annual conference for the environment movement - many business as well as non-profit people. I attended the Oct 2002 conference and was impressed by the focus on positive - things we can do, rather than negative - what &quot;they&quot; are doing.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.bioneers.org">http://www.bioneers.org</a>"

An annual conference for the environment movement - many business as well as non-profit people. I attended the Oct 2002 conference and was impressed by the focus on positive - things we can do, rather than negative - what &quot;they&quot; are doing.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.bioneers.org">http://www.bioneers.org</a>" 2003-01-21T19:30:29.000Z 2003-01-21T19:30:29.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2791-750_byron_women Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

750 women bared all for peace in Federal, a small village just outside Byron, sending a strong message to Australia's government. <br /> <br /> See the stories on the <a href=http://www.abc.net.au/northcoast/stories/s780236.htm>ABC</a> and <a href=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/09/1044725666049.html>Sydney Morning Herald</a>.

750 women bared all for peace in Federal, a small village just outside Byron, sending a strong message to Australia's government. <br /> <br /> See the stories on the <a href=http://www.abc.net.au/northcoast/stories/s780236.htm>ABC</a> and <a href=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/09/1044725666049.html>Sydney Morning Herald</a>. 2003-01-21T18:34:34.000Z 2003-01-21T18:34:34.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2792-electricity_in Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An interesting paper on suggestions from Egyptian relics that electricity was in use long before we thought. <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.carre-shinob.com/Default.asp?N=254&amp;H=0.235">http://www.carre-shinob.com/Default.asp?N=254&amp;H=0.235</a>"

An interesting paper on suggestions from Egyptian relics that electricity was in use long before we thought. <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.carre-shinob.com/Default.asp?N=254&amp;H=0.235">http://www.carre-shinob.com/Default.asp?N=254&amp;H=0.235</a>" 2003-01-28T14:42:24.000Z 2003-01-28T14:42:24.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2793-letter_to_the_e Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Among the &quot;Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics&quot; that the RTA presented at Ocean Shores recently, there was one good point, that the noisy trucks are bringing you your box of Corn Flakes. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As you make your next purchase, remember that, due to the RTA's shoddy engineering, your breakfast has kept people awake all along the few thousand kilometers journey its taken from grower to table. Instead consider buying most food from local producers, in locally owned stores, or directly from the growers at the new Farmers Market (Butler Street reserve Thursdays 8-11am).<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Apart from helping your neighbors get more sleep, their are other advantages from buying locally. For a start more of our dollars would circulate locally - strengthening our local economy rather than Sydney's. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Also, until the supermarkets agree to label all the Frankenfoods on our shelves, you have to assume that anything containing Corn (or Soya or Vegetable Oil) probably contains Genetically Modified organisms. Both Santos and Fundies try to be GMO free.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Also consider going Organic, the increase in price (avoidable by shopping locally at the markets) is well worth keeping chemicals out of our bodies and environment, and the increased minerals and nutrients. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> For the sake of our environment, local economy, health and a good night's sleep buy local, organic and GMO free from locally owned stores or the markets.

Among the &quot;Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics&quot; that the RTA presented at Ocean Shores recently, there was one good point, that the noisy trucks are bringing you your box of Corn Flakes. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As you make your next purchase, remember that, due to the RTA's shoddy engineering, your breakfast has kept people awake all along the few thousand kilometers journey its taken from grower to table. Instead consider buying most food from local producers, in locally owned stores, or directly from the growers at the new Farmers Market (Butler Street reserve Thursdays 8-11am).<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Apart from helping your neighbors get more sleep, their are other advantages from buying locally. For a start more of our dollars would circulate locally - strengthening our local economy rather than Sydney's. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Also, until the supermarkets agree to label all the Frankenfoods on our shelves, you have to assume that anything containing Corn (or Soya or Vegetable Oil) probably contains Genetically Modified organisms. Both Santos and Fundies try to be GMO free.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Also consider going Organic, the increase in price (avoidable by shopping locally at the markets) is well worth keeping chemicals out of our bodies and environment, and the increased minerals and nutrients. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> For the sake of our environment, local economy, health and a good night's sleep buy local, organic and GMO free from locally owned stores or the markets. 2003-02-02T15:32:44.000Z 2003-02-02T15:32:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2794-some_antiwar_li Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Sadaam Hussein is an evil unelected dictator (of course he was when the US was supplying him with weapons of mass destruction), but killing hundred's of thousands of innocent civilians in any attempt to unseat him is still murder and terrorism at its worst.</p><p>Here are some ways to let your elected representatives know what we think about this.</p><ul><b>Local (Byron)</b><li>Tell Larry Anthony what you think of his support of the war.</li> <br /> </ul><ul><b>National (Australia)</b><br /> <li>The ABC is conducting a poll, let them know what you think. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/poll1/vote/">www.abc.net.au/news/poll1/vote/</a></li><li>Tell John Howard ... <a href="http://www.pm.gov.au/your_feedback/feedback.htm">www.pm.gov.au/your_feedback/feedback.htm</a> or better call 02-6277-7700</li></ul>

<p>Sadaam Hussein is an evil unelected dictator (of course he was when the US was supplying him with weapons of mass destruction), but killing hundred's of thousands of innocent civilians in any attempt to unseat him is still murder and terrorism at its worst.</p><p>Here are some ways to let your elected representatives know what we think about this.</p><ul><b>Local (Byron)</b><li>Tell Larry Anthony what you think of his support of the war.</li> <br /> </ul><ul><b>National (Australia)</b><br /> <li>The ABC is conducting a poll, let them know what you think. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/poll1/vote/">www.abc.net.au/news/poll1/vote/</a></li><li>Tell John Howard ... <a href="http://www.pm.gov.au/your_feedback/feedback.htm">www.pm.gov.au/your_feedback/feedback.htm</a> or better call 02-6277-7700</li></ul> 2003-02-13T20:31:10.000Z 2003-02-13T20:31:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2795-privacy_and_jun Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Australian companies frequently have a cavalier attitude to your privacy, buying and selling your private information - of course they have lots of &quot;PR speak&quot; ways of claiming they aren't violating your privacy because they are acting within the letter of the law. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> For some details of particularly bad companies click More ...

Australian companies frequently have a cavalier attitude to your privacy, buying and selling your private information - of course they have lots of &quot;PR speak&quot; ways of claiming they aren't violating your privacy because they are acting within the letter of the law. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> For some details of particularly bad companies click More ... 2003-02-17T00:43:27.000Z 2003-02-17T00:43:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2796 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I've just returned from California where I was attending three environment conferences. Most of California also has to deal with water shortages - just like Byron Shire - popular areas have been over-developed, and so of course run into problems in dry years. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But... several councils there seem to have a much better way of dealing with water shortages than our 'Level x' restrictions and consequent arguing over who is, or is not, using a hose. To put it simply they presume that every resident of the county has an entitlement to a certain amount of water at a fair price. Water up to that amount - say 100 litres per day - is priced reasonably, as a basic need, but once you go over 100 litres per person per day you pay on a sliding scale, for example twice as much per litre above 100 litres, four times as much per litre above 200 litres and so on. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The system really seems to work - and it provides a direct financial incentive to people to install water saving devices, or shower with a friend. It also allows people to make choices, for example under our system it is perfectly legal at teh moment for me to take multiple baths and run many washloads but my vegies are dying because I'm not allowed to use my water efficient irrigation system. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> If it was applied at teh same level to approved tourist beds, then it would support those tourist establishments that act responsibly while penalising those that couldn't care less about the shortage. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Just an idea ..... Mitra

I've just returned from California where I was attending three environment conferences. Most of California also has to deal with water shortages - just like Byron Shire - popular areas have been over-developed, and so of course run into problems in dry years. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But... several councils there seem to have a much better way of dealing with water shortages than our 'Level x' restrictions and consequent arguing over who is, or is not, using a hose. To put it simply they presume that every resident of the county has an entitlement to a certain amount of water at a fair price. Water up to that amount - say 100 litres per day - is priced reasonably, as a basic need, but once you go over 100 litres per person per day you pay on a sliding scale, for example twice as much per litre above 100 litres, four times as much per litre above 200 litres and so on. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The system really seems to work - and it provides a direct financial incentive to people to install water saving devices, or shower with a friend. It also allows people to make choices, for example under our system it is perfectly legal at teh moment for me to take multiple baths and run many washloads but my vegies are dying because I'm not allowed to use my water efficient irrigation system. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> If it was applied at teh same level to approved tourist beds, then it would support those tourist establishments that act responsibly while penalising those that couldn't care less about the shortage. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Just an idea ..... Mitra 2003-02-25T15:04:36.000Z 2003-02-25T15:04:36.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2797-101_ways_to_sto Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This excellent guide from Guy Dauncey (an old house-mate) gives an compendium of different ways (by email, phone, with your organization etc) to stop the war, with all the URL's, fax and phone numbers you need. <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.earthfuture.com">http://www.earthfuture.com</a>"

This excellent guide from Guy Dauncey (an old house-mate) gives an compendium of different ways (by email, phone, with your organization etc) to stop the war, with all the URL's, fax and phone numbers you need. <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.earthfuture.com">http://www.earthfuture.com</a>" 2003-03-08T16:35:39.000Z 2003-03-08T16:35:39.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2798-details_of_us_v Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

As expected the US is buying security council votes. This article from AP News covers - country by country - how its being done. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;u=/ap/20030305/ap_to_po/un_dollar_diplomacy_5">http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;u=/ap/20030305/ap_to_po/un_dollar_diplomacy_5</a>"

As expected the US is buying security council votes. This article from AP News covers - country by country - how its being done. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;u=/ap/20030305/ap_to_po/un_dollar_diplomacy_5">http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;u=/ap/20030305/ap_to_po/un_dollar_diplomacy_5</a>" 2003-03-05T18:41:20.000Z 2003-03-05T18:41:20.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2799-resignation_let Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is one of the most elequant statements I've seen, by a twenty year career diplomat who believes that convincing people of the wisdom of the presidents position no longer coincides with upholding the interests of the American people.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://truthout.org/docs_03/030103A.shtml">http://truthout.org/docs_03/030103A.shtml</a>"

This is one of the most elequant statements I've seen, by a twenty year career diplomat who believes that convincing people of the wisdom of the presidents position no longer coincides with upholding the interests of the American people.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://truthout.org/docs_03/030103A.shtml">http://truthout.org/docs_03/030103A.shtml</a>" 2003-03-13T16:08:46.000Z 2003-03-13T16:08:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2800-why_hydrogen_wo Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

On January 30, 2003, President Bush announced a US $1.7 billion FreedomCAR and Fuel Initiative that by 2020 would, &quot;reverse America's growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology needed for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells - a way to power cars, trucks, homes and businesses that produces no pollution and no greenhouse gases.&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Wrong. The hydrogen fuel program does not reverse the U.S.'s dependence on foreign oil. It does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nor does it reduce pollution. Why?<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> First, the primary sources of today's hydrogen are fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) and as by-products from petrochemical processes. In other words, fuel cell companies are getting their hydrogen from the oil and gas industry. More oil and gas will be needed in order for hydrogen to be stripped out of them.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Secondly, stripping hydrogen out of water is energy intensive. Massive amounts of new coal-fired and nuclear electricity will be required to separate hydrogen from water. That means more oil and gas and coal will be needed, not less, to achieve President Bush's clean hydrogen fuel goal.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> So, while no pollution is generated in the urban areas by the cars burning hydrogen fuel, whole new rural areas will be polluted from new coal-fired, oil and gas-fired, and nuclear-powered electricity plants. This sounds like a scenario right out of Vice President Dick Cheney's National Energy Policy that he negotiated secretly with ENRON and other oil, coal and gas companies. In fact, it will take almost as much BTU-energy to separate, prepare, and store hydrogen from water, as the actual energy that will be generated by the hydrogen fuel. (see the full text ...) <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://evworld.com/databases/storybuilder.cfm?storyid=494&amp;subcookie=1">http://evworld.com/databases/storybuilder.cfm?storyid=494&amp;subcookie=1</a>"

On January 30, 2003, President Bush announced a US $1.7 billion FreedomCAR and Fuel Initiative that by 2020 would, &quot;reverse America's growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology needed for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells - a way to power cars, trucks, homes and businesses that produces no pollution and no greenhouse gases.&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Wrong. The hydrogen fuel program does not reverse the U.S.'s dependence on foreign oil. It does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nor does it reduce pollution. Why?<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> First, the primary sources of today's hydrogen are fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) and as by-products from petrochemical processes. In other words, fuel cell companies are getting their hydrogen from the oil and gas industry. More oil and gas will be needed in order for hydrogen to be stripped out of them.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Secondly, stripping hydrogen out of water is energy intensive. Massive amounts of new coal-fired and nuclear electricity will be required to separate hydrogen from water. That means more oil and gas and coal will be needed, not less, to achieve President Bush's clean hydrogen fuel goal.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> So, while no pollution is generated in the urban areas by the cars burning hydrogen fuel, whole new rural areas will be polluted from new coal-fired, oil and gas-fired, and nuclear-powered electricity plants. This sounds like a scenario right out of Vice President Dick Cheney's National Energy Policy that he negotiated secretly with ENRON and other oil, coal and gas companies. In fact, it will take almost as much BTU-energy to separate, prepare, and store hydrogen from water, as the actual energy that will be generated by the hydrogen fuel. (see the full text ...) <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://evworld.com/databases/storybuilder.cfm?storyid=494&amp;subcookie=1">http://evworld.com/databases/storybuilder.cfm?storyid=494&amp;subcookie=1</a>" 2003-03-17T00:28:14.000Z 2003-03-17T00:28:14.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2801-the_pentagons_n Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

scariest thing I've seen in a long time, justifies war as a means to extend globalisation, from an adviser to the US Secretary of Defense.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;That is why the public debate about this war has been so important: It forces Americans to come to terms with I believe is the new security paradigm that shapes this age, namely, Disconnectedness defines danger. Saddam Hussein�s outlaw regime is dangerously disconnected from the globalizing world, from its rule sets, its norms, and all the ties that bind countries together in mutually assured dependence.&quot; T. Barnet, US Naval War College.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets/ThePentagonsNewMap.htm">http://www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets/ThePentagonsNewMap.htm</a>"

scariest thing I've seen in a long time, justifies war as a means to extend globalisation, from an adviser to the US Secretary of Defense.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;That is why the public debate about this war has been so important: It forces Americans to come to terms with I believe is the new security paradigm that shapes this age, namely, Disconnectedness defines danger. Saddam Hussein�s outlaw regime is dangerously disconnected from the globalizing world, from its rule sets, its norms, and all the ties that bind countries together in mutually assured dependence.&quot; T. Barnet, US Naval War College.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets/ThePentagonsNewMap.htm">http://www.nwc.navy.mil/newrulesets/ThePentagonsNewMap.htm</a>" 2003-03-25T12:55:17.000Z 2003-03-25T12:55:17.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2802-a_line_by_line Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070213192448/http://presentdanger.irc-online.org/pdf/reports/PRiraqspresp.pdf" title="Annotate critique"></pdf-link><p>By Stephen Zunes</p><p><a href="mailto:zunes@usfca.edu">Stephen Zunes</a> is an associate professor of politics and chair of the Peace &amp; Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. He is Middle East editor for the <a href="http://www.fpif.org/">Foreign Policy in Focus Project</a> and author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage: 2002), which can be ordered from FPIF at the <a href="http://www.irc-online.org/">Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC)</a>.</p><p>An Annotated Critique: President George W. Bush’s March 17 Address; Preparing the Nation for War</p><p>a transcript of President George W. Bush's address to the nation on Monday, March 17, announcing his readiness to order a U.S. invasion of Iraq followed by an analysis highlighting some of the lies and misleading statements in the speech. Such an overview is necessary since the Democratic Party leadership in Congress, which has pledged to support the president in the event of war, declined to take their traditional opportunity to offer a formal response. The Green Party, which opposes the war, was not given the opportunity by the networks to respond.</p>

<pdf-link href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070213192448/http://presentdanger.irc-online.org/pdf/reports/PRiraqspresp.pdf" title="Annotate critique"></pdf-link><p>By Stephen Zunes</p><p><a href="mailto:zunes@usfca.edu">Stephen Zunes</a> is an associate professor of politics and chair of the Peace &amp; Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. He is Middle East editor for the <a href="http://www.fpif.org/">Foreign Policy in Focus Project</a> and author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage: 2002), which can be ordered from FPIF at the <a href="http://www.irc-online.org/">Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC)</a>.</p><p>An Annotated Critique: President George W. Bush’s March 17 Address; Preparing the Nation for War</p><p>a transcript of President George W. Bush's address to the nation on Monday, March 17, announcing his readiness to order a U.S. invasion of Iraq followed by an analysis highlighting some of the lies and misleading statements in the speech. Such an overview is necessary since the Democratic Party leadership in Congress, which has pledged to support the president in the event of war, declined to take their traditional opportunity to offer a formal response. The Green Party, which opposes the war, was not given the opportunity by the networks to respond.</p> 2003-04-05T18:21:46.000Z 2003-04-05T18:21:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2803-cheap_space_tra Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is an interesting thought-experiment on using Legrange points and Gravity wells to get around the solar system on the cheap. Quite a long, well reasoned paper with enough math to back it up. <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXV4/exit.html">http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXV4/exit.html</a>"

This is an interesting thought-experiment on using Legrange points and Gravity wells to get around the solar system on the cheap. Quite a long, well reasoned paper with enough math to back it up. <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXV4/exit.html">http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXV4/exit.html</a>" 2003-04-01T18:43:04.000Z 2003-04-01T18:43:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2804-bush_blair_lips Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A video of Bush lip sync-ing with Blair, sounds korny, but its very well done.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.zen15631.zen.co.uk/bb.mpg">http://www.zen15631.zen.co.uk/bb.mpg</a>"

A video of Bush lip sync-ing with Blair, sounds korny, but its very well done.<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.zen15631.zen.co.uk/bb.mpg">http://www.zen15631.zen.co.uk/bb.mpg</a>" 2003-06-02T00:45:10.000Z 2003-06-02T00:45:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2805-byron_community Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

In 2003 I worked on a project to apply Knowledge Management principles in a Community context to several Sustainable Development sectors locally. Essentially the idea was to build up, or work with some Communities of Practice that will exchange information and ideas and learn together. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.byronkm.com ">http://www.byronkm.com </a>"

In 2003 I worked on a project to apply Knowledge Management principles in a Community context to several Sustainable Development sectors locally. Essentially the idea was to build up, or work with some Communities of Practice that will exchange information and ideas and learn together. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.byronkm.com ">http://www.byronkm.com </a>" 2003-12-08T02:58:07.000Z 2003-12-08T02:58:07.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2806-you_loved_the_m Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Great marketing ....<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.themeatrix.com/canada">http://www.themeatrix.com/canada</a>"

Great marketing ....<br /> <br /> See "<a href="http://www.themeatrix.com/canada">http://www.themeatrix.com/canada</a>" 2004-08-13T18:11:06.000Z 2011-07-03T04:23:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2807-introducing Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Hi, and welcome to my website - a place where I've collected writings both current and past.</p><p>I work at the interfaces of Sustainability, Community and Technology.</p><p>I'm passionate about sustainability at scale; about taking solutions to those less able to afford it; and in particular in developing countries. Currently that means supporting Innovators working in, and for, developing countries through Natural Innovation .org.</p><p>In the past that has included building a solar company that pioneered large scale community purchasing in Australia, and co-founding the Association for Progressive Communications.</p>

<p>Hi, and welcome to my website - a place where I've collected writings both current and past.</p><p>I work at the interfaces of Sustainability, Community and Technology.</p><p>I'm passionate about sustainability at scale; about taking solutions to those less able to afford it; and in particular in developing countries. Currently that means supporting Innovators working in, and for, developing countries through Natural Innovation .org.</p><p>In the past that has included building a solar company that pioneered large scale community purchasing in Australia, and co-founding the Association for Progressive Communications.</p> 2004-08-13T19:25:44.000Z 2011-07-03T04:09:42.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2808-introducing-natural-innovation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Natural Innovation is a company that will work in the areas of creating TBL businesses, especially local to our base in Byron Bay. Currently the only full-time person is Mitra, with help from many friends and colleagues. As more projects become available I'd love to expand it. There is more on the company at www.naturalinnovation.org</p>

<p>Natural Innovation is a company that will work in the areas of creating TBL businesses, especially local to our base in Byron Bay. Currently the only full-time person is Mitra, with help from many friends and colleagues. As more projects become available I'd love to expand it. There is more on the company at www.naturalinnovation.org</p> 2003-11-01T00:00:00.000Z 2003-11-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2809-papyrus Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Papyrus is making paper from banana trees, using no chemicals, no water and minimal power.

<p> Banana trees are a massive, underutilized waste stream and Papyrus is attempting to make paper from it.</p><p>I was acting CEO of Papyrus from November 2003 till shortly before they listed on the ASX in 2004, assisting the founder/inventor with the process of organising the business - business plans, contracts, investments, publicity etc etc.</p><p>See <a href="https://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au">papyrusaustralia.com.au</a></p> 2004-08-13T19:37:02.000Z 2004-08-13T19:37:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2810-otherpower_home Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

If you love tinkering around in a shed, and are interested in sustainability then you'll love this low-tech site. Lots of how-to's and they are also a source for parts for energy-tinkerers (LED's, Magnets etc etc). <br /> <br /> http://www.otherpower.com/<blockquote>We are a group of alternative energy enthusiasts who want to spread the message that It's EASY to make your own power FROM SCRATCH! Otherpower.com's headquarters is located in a remote part of the Northern Colorado mountains, 15 miles past the nearest power pole or phone line. All of our houses and shops run on only solar, wind, water and generator power...not because we are trying to make some sort of political or environmental statement, but because these are the only options available. And we refuse to move to town.</blockquote><br /> <br />

If you love tinkering around in a shed, and are interested in sustainability then you'll love this low-tech site. Lots of how-to's and they are also a source for parts for energy-tinkerers (LED's, Magnets etc etc). <br /> <br /> http://www.otherpower.com/<blockquote>We are a group of alternative energy enthusiasts who want to spread the message that It's EASY to make your own power FROM SCRATCH! Otherpower.com's headquarters is located in a remote part of the Northern Colorado mountains, 15 miles past the nearest power pole or phone line. All of our houses and shops run on only solar, wind, water and generator power...not because we are trying to make some sort of political or environmental statement, but because these are the only options available. And we refuse to move to town.</blockquote><br /> <br /> 2004-08-16T22:17:23.000Z 2004-08-16T22:17:23.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2811-why_were_here_b Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I came across this new magazine that covers an issue that is close to my heart, that of doing well by doing good, i.e. running a successful business that also cares about its environment and community. <br /> <blockquote><p>I have been on the road a ton lately and it's given me the opportunity to talk about Worthwhile to a host of new groups and people. In introducing the concept of the magazine (and of course this site), I typically offer up 3 sentences of general intro: <br /> <br /> 1. Worthwhile is a new business lifestyle magazine for people who want their careers to mean more than a paycheck. <br /> <br /> 2. So, we offer ideas and role models for professionals and executives to inject more meaning, passion and fulfillment into their worklives. <br /> <br /> 3. Increasingly, smart companies know that to gain the loyalty of their employees and customers they have to appeal to that deeper need instead of just financial results, so they are going back to -- and expressing -- their core values in a passionate way.</p><p>What often comes next is a discussion of how things are changing in workplaces all around America. People so often tell me how they are taking control over their own worklives (and by extension their lives), either by standing up for something at their offices or bailing out to join or start their own organization that matches their values. And at the most senior levels of companies, I hear repeatedly about new ways of thinking, about caring about doing well by doing good (yes, some of it is lip-service, but I'm inspired about how much is real). If you haven't seen what is going on at companies like<a href="http://www.ifsia.com/flash/flash_C.html"> Interface,</a> <a href="http://www.seventhgeneration.com/">Seventh Generation</a>, <a href="http://www.clifbar.com/">Clif Bar,</a> and, yes, huge companies like <a href="http://www.gapinc.com/">Gap Inc.</a> and <a href="http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/">H-P</a>, then you're not paying attention.</p><p>The next generation of business leaders is developing right now. They have heart and soul as well as brains. They wear their values on their chests and talk about ideas that were seen 10 years ago as "the soft stuff." They know how to make money AND lead with inspiration fueled by core values.</p><p>I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be part of creating the magazine that brings it front and center.</p> [<a href="http://www.worthwhilemag.com/">Worthwhile</a>]</blockquote>

I came across this new magazine that covers an issue that is close to my heart, that of doing well by doing good, i.e. running a successful business that also cares about its environment and community. <br /> <blockquote><p>I have been on the road a ton lately and it's given me the opportunity to talk about Worthwhile to a host of new groups and people. In introducing the concept of the magazine (and of course this site), I typically offer up 3 sentences of general intro: <br /> <br /> 1. Worthwhile is a new business lifestyle magazine for people who want their careers to mean more than a paycheck. <br /> <br /> 2. So, we offer ideas and role models for professionals and executives to inject more meaning, passion and fulfillment into their worklives. <br /> <br /> 3. Increasingly, smart companies know that to gain the loyalty of their employees and customers they have to appeal to that deeper need instead of just financial results, so they are going back to -- and expressing -- their core values in a passionate way.</p><p>What often comes next is a discussion of how things are changing in workplaces all around America. People so often tell me how they are taking control over their own worklives (and by extension their lives), either by standing up for something at their offices or bailing out to join or start their own organization that matches their values. And at the most senior levels of companies, I hear repeatedly about new ways of thinking, about caring about doing well by doing good (yes, some of it is lip-service, but I'm inspired about how much is real). If you haven't seen what is going on at companies like<a href="http://www.ifsia.com/flash/flash_C.html"> Interface,</a> <a href="http://www.seventhgeneration.com/">Seventh Generation</a>, <a href="http://www.clifbar.com/">Clif Bar,</a> and, yes, huge companies like <a href="http://www.gapinc.com/">Gap Inc.</a> and <a href="http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/">H-P</a>, then you're not paying attention.</p><p>The next generation of business leaders is developing right now. They have heart and soul as well as brains. They wear their values on their chests and talk about ideas that were seen 10 years ago as "the soft stuff." They know how to make money AND lead with inspiration fueled by core values.</p><p>I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be part of creating the magazine that brings it front and center.</p> [<a href="http://www.worthwhilemag.com/">Worthwhile</a>]</blockquote> 2004-08-16T22:43:40.000Z 2004-08-16T22:43:40.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2812-world_events_sp Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

At least in the US, VC funding seems to have caught on to Clean Technologies being the next big thing. (Mercury News is Silicon Valley's daily paper). See the full article.<br /> <blockquote><br /> <a title="MercuryNews.com | 08/15/2004 | World events spark interest in solar cell energy start-ups" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/9406911.htm?1c">MercuryNews.com | 08/15/2004 | World events spark interest in solar cell energy start-ups</a><br /> <br /> After years of shying away from funding solar cell energy start-ups because of high costs, venture capitalists are almost tripping over themselves to sign up the most promising companies, many of them in Silicon Valley.<br /> <br /> Breakthroughs in solar technology, favorable policy proposals by Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, disgust about dependence on foreign sources of oil, and skyrocketing demand for energy worldwide are all playing a role.<br /> </blockquote><br />

At least in the US, VC funding seems to have caught on to Clean Technologies being the next big thing. (Mercury News is Silicon Valley's daily paper). See the full article.<br /> <blockquote><br /> <a title="MercuryNews.com | 08/15/2004 | World events spark interest in solar cell energy start-ups" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/9406911.htm?1c">MercuryNews.com | 08/15/2004 | World events spark interest in solar cell energy start-ups</a><br /> <br /> After years of shying away from funding solar cell energy start-ups because of high costs, venture capitalists are almost tripping over themselves to sign up the most promising companies, many of them in Silicon Valley.<br /> <br /> Breakthroughs in solar technology, favorable policy proposals by Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, disgust about dependence on foreign sources of oil, and skyrocketing demand for energy worldwide are all playing a role.<br /> </blockquote><br /> 2004-08-19T18:05:46.000Z 2004-08-19T18:05:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2813-software_compan Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

If you've ever tried to manage programmers, you'll recognize the truths in this short article that compares a team of programmers to a beehive. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/kjc/cool/Card.on.Software.html">Card.on.Software.html</a>

If you've ever tried to manage programmers, you'll recognize the truths in this short article that compares a team of programmers to a beehive. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/kjc/cool/Card.on.Software.html">Card.on.Software.html</a> 2004-08-22T22:48:53.000Z 2004-08-22T22:48:53.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2814-tensegrity_geod Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I've been fascinated by Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic domes for a long time. I live in an area which grows a lot of bamboo, and its often used for construction projects, but a big challenge is the jointing. I've been realizing that tensegrity - Buckie's system of balancing compressive and tensional forces, might provide a solution as in a typical tensegrity structure the struts don't join.</p><p>Unsuprisingly, this isn't a new idea, and the links before are some of the best I found.</p><p><b>First, a few examples of what can be done</b></p><p>A nice collection of pictures of different styles of <a href="http://bambus.rwth-aachen.de/eng/PDF-Files/Modern%20bamboo%20architecture.pdf">modern bamboo architecture</a>.</p><p>Pictures of a plan by Michael McDonough to build a <a href="http://www.michaelmcdonough.com/Bamboo/bamboobridge.htm">tensegrity bamboo bridge</a> in Mendocino - its unclear if it ever got built.</p><p>An article on <a href="http://www.tropical-treehouse.com/bamboomimicry.html">biomimicry and bamboo</a> and his amazing "<a href="http://tropical-treehouse.com/the%20hooch.html">hooch</a>" treehouse.</p><p>And now some of the techniques and math's needed</p><p>Here's an interesting <a href="http://www.shelter-systems.com/diamond-dome1.html">tent from Shelter Systems</a> using the skin of the tent as the tension part. There are also pictures of one way of joining the poles.</p><p>There is some descriptions which help with the math here, especially <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/mt/marksomers/Fig15.7.html">this diagram</a></p><p>A simple <a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/domecalc.html">calculator</a> and the <a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/formula.html">formula</a> for Geodesic structs.</p><p>This is the best page I've seen for calculations and complete instructions for a<a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/bamboo.html"> bamboo dome</a></p><p>And getting to the simple end of things, here are complete instructions for building a <a href="http://yakko.bme.virginia.edu/lab/tensegrity_coffee_table.htm">tensegrity coffee table</a>,</p><p><b>Directions</b></p><p>I'm unsure where this leads, I have an intuition that there are some lessons here for sustainability. Bamboo is an abundant natural resource, and there should be a way to use tensegrity, or geodesics or something to use it in an efficient way for many uses where currently plastic, or metal are used. At the very least, I think I'm going to give the coffee table a go, using bamboo instead of copper pipe, and I have some ideas that might make the dome instructions above a little less labor intensive.</p>

<p>I've been fascinated by Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic domes for a long time. I live in an area which grows a lot of bamboo, and its often used for construction projects, but a big challenge is the jointing. I've been realizing that tensegrity - Buckie's system of balancing compressive and tensional forces, might provide a solution as in a typical tensegrity structure the struts don't join.</p><p>Unsuprisingly, this isn't a new idea, and the links before are some of the best I found.</p><p><b>First, a few examples of what can be done</b></p><p>A nice collection of pictures of different styles of <a href="http://bambus.rwth-aachen.de/eng/PDF-Files/Modern%20bamboo%20architecture.pdf">modern bamboo architecture</a>.</p><p>Pictures of a plan by Michael McDonough to build a <a href="http://www.michaelmcdonough.com/Bamboo/bamboobridge.htm">tensegrity bamboo bridge</a> in Mendocino - its unclear if it ever got built.</p><p>An article on <a href="http://www.tropical-treehouse.com/bamboomimicry.html">biomimicry and bamboo</a> and his amazing "<a href="http://tropical-treehouse.com/the%20hooch.html">hooch</a>" treehouse.</p><p>And now some of the techniques and math's needed</p><p>Here's an interesting <a href="http://www.shelter-systems.com/diamond-dome1.html">tent from Shelter Systems</a> using the skin of the tent as the tension part. There are also pictures of one way of joining the poles.</p><p>There is some descriptions which help with the math here, especially <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/mt/marksomers/Fig15.7.html">this diagram</a></p><p>A simple <a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/domecalc.html">calculator</a> and the <a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/formula.html">formula</a> for Geodesic structs.</p><p>This is the best page I've seen for calculations and complete instructions for a<a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/bamboo.html"> bamboo dome</a></p><p>And getting to the simple end of things, here are complete instructions for building a <a href="http://yakko.bme.virginia.edu/lab/tensegrity_coffee_table.htm">tensegrity coffee table</a>,</p><p><b>Directions</b></p><p>I'm unsure where this leads, I have an intuition that there are some lessons here for sustainability. Bamboo is an abundant natural resource, and there should be a way to use tensegrity, or geodesics or something to use it in an efficient way for many uses where currently plastic, or metal are used. At the very least, I think I'm going to give the coffee table a go, using bamboo instead of copper pipe, and I have some ideas that might make the dome instructions above a little less labor intensive.</p> 2004-08-29T10:45:36.000Z 2010-09-16T22:23:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2815-instructions-for-making-a-bamboo-geodesic-dome Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>While exploring the <a href="/blog/archives/2004/08/tensegrity_geod.html">Geodesics, Bamboo and Tensegrity</a> I realized that the <a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/bamboo.html">Bamboo Dome</a> instructions, reputedly done by Buckminster Fuller, could be adapted for continuous poles. Attached are detailed instructions for anyone who wants to give it a go, I'm sure there are probably easier ways to do this, and comments are welcome!</p><div id="a000060more"><div id="more"><div class="boxright"><br /> <h3>Required</h3><br /> <h4>Tools</h4><br /> <ul><li>Gloves (or bandaids)</li><li>Drill</li><li>Loppers or saw</li><li>Tape measure</li><li>Knife (for marking)</li></ul><h4>Materials</h4><br /> <ul><li>Cable ties, variety of sizes</li><li>5 Bamboo poles, 11'</li><li>5 Bamboo poles 13'</li><li>1 Bamboo pole 20'</li><li>(or two * 12')</li><li>1 rope 22'</li><li>20 eyelets (see directions)</li><li>5 velcro tidies (optional)</li><li>Tent pegs (optional)</li><li>more twine</li></ul></div><br /> <h4>Planning</h4><br /> <p>First, decide on the size of your dome, I picked one that would be about 6 meters circumference, which works out about 1.2m high. Divide the circumference by 20 to get the unit used for measurement. This comes to 30cm, (or 1 foot (1')). All measurements below are in terms of this unit, I think the instructions would scale to a larger or smaller dome, though I haven't tried it. The Buckminster Fuller instructions use adequate measurements, but I found that rough measurements worked fine with this medium.</p><p><strong>Safety precautions</strong>: Bamboo is sharp, especially when cut, wear gardening gloves or you'll need the band-aids. Also, watch out for eyes, and use common sense!</p><h4>Cut the poles</h4><br /> <p>First, I cut the bamboo poles from a thicket, I picked young shoots, the ones which still had smooth sides, and hadn't put out any branches, the ones I used were about 1cm across. I used big loppers which is MUCH easier than using a trimming saw. The easiest way is to cut a few, select the longer ones for the 13' and shorter ones for 12' and 11'. If possible, cut them about 1-2' above the ground, as the bottom part doesn't seem to be very flexible. You'll end up with polls which vary from two stiff at one end, to two flimsy at the other.</p><p>It works best if the thin end is cut about 1cm past one of the bamboo nodes, otherwise it has a tendency to split.</p><h4>Initial layout and preperation</h4><br /> <p>Cut a 1-unit, in my case 1' measuring stick. This makes life much easier than using a tape-measure for every measurement. Use the knife to mark each pole in 1' lengths from the wide end.</p><p>Use the drill to open up any holes which are not hollow</p><p>Thread the eyelets onto the rope and tie them in at 1' intervals. Tie the rope into a 20' loop, if you have tent-pegs then peg it out roughly.</p><p> </p><div class="boxright" style="width: 280px; text-align: center;"><a href="/images/dome1.jpg"><img src="/images/dome1.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="235" height="227" /></a><br /> Stage 1: short poles</div><br /> <h4>Stage 1: Shorter poles</h4><br /> <p>Starting with the small poles fit the thicker end into an eyelet, then fit the narrow end 9' further around the rope clockwise. Go one eyelet counter-clockwise, fit another thick end, and again the narrow end goes 9' further clockwise. For each poll ensure that the thick end goes Outside the polls it costs and the thin end goes inside. Repeat until you've got all 5 short polls installed.</p><p> </p><p>This step is fiddly, and works better with two people, although I managed it on my own. Expect some of the sticks to come out and need putting back, also expect some of the thin ends to split. In this case, I found I could just tie it into the rope.</p><p> </p><p>At this point, if you have a helper, then have that person hold the mesh of poles up into the lower part of a dome. If you are on your own, then you can use a 15' loop of twine with Velcro cable-tidys every 3' to hold them in position.</p><p> </p><p>Fasten cable ties at each of the joints, start with the places where two poles close to each other cross over 1' above the rim, then where the poles meet 3' another poll 3' up from that point. At this point you can remove the cable-tidys or your helper and it should stand by itself.</p><div class="boxright" style="width: 280px; text-align: center;"><a href="/images/dome2.jpg"><img src="/images/dome2.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 2" width="235" height="227" /></a><br /> Stage 2: long poles</div><br /> <h4>Stage 2: Longer polls</h4><br /> <p>Start fixing the long poles, note how each pole starts with the thick-end goes clockwise around the circle, going up outside the other polls, and coming back down with the thinner half inside the other polls to end up 7' anti-clockwise from where it started.</p><p>Add all 5 polls, and expect that it will be almost impossible to keep them all in their joints, that is OK at this stage.</p><p>Start fixing them, starting off with a 1' pentagon at the top, and then working down, each joint should be obvious, though the bamboo will probably need persuading to join at the right mark. Note that all the lengths are 1' except the next before the last which is 2'.</p><div class="boxright" style="width: 280px; text-align: center;"><a href="/images/dome3.jpg"><img src="/images/dome3.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 3" width="235" height="227" /></a><br /> Stage 3: outer ring</div><br /> <h4>Stage 3: Base circle</h4><br /> <p>Thread the remaining 20' pole (or two * 11' poles) around the circle, joining half way across the 2' lengths.</p><p>If everything is correct now, you should have 6 pentagons, and 10 hexagons</p><h4>Next steps and variations.</h4><br /> <p>I'm thinking of building a bigger one, approximately 4 times this size, i.e. about 4.5 meters high, for this I'll use poles around twice the length, from a larger species of bamboo, and then overlap and join pairs of poles at the middle (i.e. in the center pole).</p><p>Another variation is to start at the first horizontal ring, to make what is called a 3/8th dome. This means starting with poles 4' shorter. This could be easier when scaling up, as the poles don't have to be as flexible, but the disadvantage is that the dome is not as high for its width.</p><p>I'm wondering about distortions, and whether on a larger dome, the poles can be pushed apart in places to create a bigger entrance, and whether this will compromise the strength</p><p>I'm planning on using the first test-dome as a trellis for beans, peas and tomatoes</p><p>And finally a few photos of the dome, after it had sat for a while in my vegie patch. Click for a full-scale file (1mb each)<br /> <a href="/images/dome4.jpg"><img src="/images/dome4w100.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="100" height="75" /></a> <a href="/images/dome5.jpg"><img src="/images/dome5w100.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="100" height="75" /></a> <a href="/images/dome6.jpg"><img src="/images/dome6w100.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="100" height="75" /></a> <a href="/images/dome7.jpg"><img src="/images/dome7w100.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="100" height="75" /></a></p><h3 id="comments">Comments before ported to Joomla</h3><div id="c39"><br /> <p>I make some model of the bamboo dome by using the chord factor of A. Pugh : S=25, M=31, L=32, <br /> and the chord factors of Fuller ; 26, 31, 32.</p><p>But I seem that the sphere is never perfect , and swells in the pentagonal area. Please have you some suggestions ?<br /> Do you use chord factors in your method ?<br /> Thank you, biagio di carlo<br /> <a href="http://www.biagiodicarlo.com">http://www.biagiodicarlo.com</a></p></div><br /> <p class="posted">Posted by: bdc <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://profile.typekey.com/bambusto"><img src="/images/nav-commenters.gif" border="0" alt="[TypeKey Profile Page]" /></a> at June 28, 2005 5:09 AM</p><div id="c41"><br /> <p>I don't know about A.Pugh, my intuition - which turned out to be ok - was that the chord factors were close enough to 1:1:1 that for a woven dome I could build it and the stresses would ensure that the bamboo found a reasonable shape. You'll notice if you click on the photos that the joints are just cable-ties, so the bamboo can adjust itself. The result of course is a imperfect dome, which is usually fine for the kind of applications I see this dome being used for.</p><p>The only instructions I found using chord factors for bamboo domes involved LOTS of joining and fiddling, and seemed to take away the best thing about bamboo which is its strength over long distances, and its flexibility. If you know of some good instructions please post the URL in a comment.</p><p>- Mitra</p></div><br /> <p class="posted">Posted by: Mitra <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://profile.typekey.com/mitra_earth"><img src="/images/nav-commenters.gif" border="0" alt="[TypeKey Profile Page]" /></a> at June 28, 2005 9:07 AM</p><div id="c58"><br /> <p>I did my bamboodome and was astonished as I was able to climb on it even after having left it under sun and rain for two years! Bamboo is a wonderful material!<br /> I used the instructions from the desertdome page. I had no problems with chord factors.<br /> See the building phases on www.blog1.de/bamboodome</p></div><br /> <p class="posted">Posted by: <a href="http://www.blog1.de/bamboodome">F@O</a> <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://profile.typekey.com/giulioneri"><img src="/images/nav-commenters.gif" border="0" alt="[TypeKey Profile Page]" /></a> at December 21, 2007 7:46 PM</p><div id="c59"><br /> <p>What country did you do this in?</p><p>I'm glad someone tried the Domebook instructions. I looked at both domebook 2 and <a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/bamboo.html">http://www.desertdomes.com/bamboo.html</a> before I came up with my idea, it seemed a crazy idea to take something naturally long and flexible, and treat it like something short and rigid! Which is why I came up with the bending idea. I ran into the author of domebook2 recently but I forgot to ask him if he'd ever tried this technique!</p><p>The other bamboo domes I like are Marti's <a href="http://www.wizdomes.ws/">http://www.wizdomes.ws/</a> he uses plastic pipes to join the ends, its a simple and obvious idea, but there are a lot of challenges to it that Marti has worked out. We constructed one at a festival, about 10 or 12m diameter and covered with the skin of a retired hot-air-balloon.</p></div><br /> <p class="posted">Posted by: Mitra <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://profile.typekey.com/mitra_earth"><img src="/images/nav-commenters.gif" border="0" alt="[TypeKey Profile Page]" /></a> at December 28, 2007 11:24 AM</p></div><br /> </div>

<p>While exploring the <a href="/blog/archives/2004/08/tensegrity_geod.html">Geodesics, Bamboo and Tensegrity</a> I realized that the <a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/bamboo.html">Bamboo Dome</a> instructions, reputedly done by Buckminster Fuller, could be adapted for continuous poles. Attached are detailed instructions for anyone who wants to give it a go, I'm sure there are probably easier ways to do this, and comments are welcome!</p><div id="a000060more"><div id="more"><div class="boxright"><br /> <h3>Required</h3><br /> <h4>Tools</h4><br /> <ul><li>Gloves (or bandaids)</li><li>Drill</li><li>Loppers or saw</li><li>Tape measure</li><li>Knife (for marking)</li></ul><h4>Materials</h4><br /> <ul><li>Cable ties, variety of sizes</li><li>5 Bamboo poles, 11'</li><li>5 Bamboo poles 13'</li><li>1 Bamboo pole 20'</li><li>(or two * 12')</li><li>1 rope 22'</li><li>20 eyelets (see directions)</li><li>5 velcro tidies (optional)</li><li>Tent pegs (optional)</li><li>more twine</li></ul></div><br /> <h4>Planning</h4><br /> <p>First, decide on the size of your dome, I picked one that would be about 6 meters circumference, which works out about 1.2m high. Divide the circumference by 20 to get the unit used for measurement. This comes to 30cm, (or 1 foot (1')). All measurements below are in terms of this unit, I think the instructions would scale to a larger or smaller dome, though I haven't tried it. The Buckminster Fuller instructions use adequate measurements, but I found that rough measurements worked fine with this medium.</p><p><strong>Safety precautions</strong>: Bamboo is sharp, especially when cut, wear gardening gloves or you'll need the band-aids. Also, watch out for eyes, and use common sense!</p><h4>Cut the poles</h4><br /> <p>First, I cut the bamboo poles from a thicket, I picked young shoots, the ones which still had smooth sides, and hadn't put out any branches, the ones I used were about 1cm across. I used big loppers which is MUCH easier than using a trimming saw. The easiest way is to cut a few, select the longer ones for the 13' and shorter ones for 12' and 11'. If possible, cut them about 1-2' above the ground, as the bottom part doesn't seem to be very flexible. You'll end up with polls which vary from two stiff at one end, to two flimsy at the other.</p><p>It works best if the thin end is cut about 1cm past one of the bamboo nodes, otherwise it has a tendency to split.</p><h4>Initial layout and preperation</h4><br /> <p>Cut a 1-unit, in my case 1' measuring stick. This makes life much easier than using a tape-measure for every measurement. Use the knife to mark each pole in 1' lengths from the wide end.</p><p>Use the drill to open up any holes which are not hollow</p><p>Thread the eyelets onto the rope and tie them in at 1' intervals. Tie the rope into a 20' loop, if you have tent-pegs then peg it out roughly.</p><p> </p><div class="boxright" style="width: 280px; text-align: center;"><a href="/images/dome1.jpg"><img src="/images/dome1.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="235" height="227" /></a><br /> Stage 1: short poles</div><br /> <h4>Stage 1: Shorter poles</h4><br /> <p>Starting with the small poles fit the thicker end into an eyelet, then fit the narrow end 9' further around the rope clockwise. Go one eyelet counter-clockwise, fit another thick end, and again the narrow end goes 9' further clockwise. For each poll ensure that the thick end goes Outside the polls it costs and the thin end goes inside. Repeat until you've got all 5 short polls installed.</p><p> </p><p>This step is fiddly, and works better with two people, although I managed it on my own. Expect some of the sticks to come out and need putting back, also expect some of the thin ends to split. In this case, I found I could just tie it into the rope.</p><p> </p><p>At this point, if you have a helper, then have that person hold the mesh of poles up into the lower part of a dome. If you are on your own, then you can use a 15' loop of twine with Velcro cable-tidys every 3' to hold them in position.</p><p> </p><p>Fasten cable ties at each of the joints, start with the places where two poles close to each other cross over 1' above the rim, then where the poles meet 3' another poll 3' up from that point. At this point you can remove the cable-tidys or your helper and it should stand by itself.</p><div class="boxright" style="width: 280px; text-align: center;"><a href="/images/dome2.jpg"><img src="/images/dome2.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 2" width="235" height="227" /></a><br /> Stage 2: long poles</div><br /> <h4>Stage 2: Longer polls</h4><br /> <p>Start fixing the long poles, note how each pole starts with the thick-end goes clockwise around the circle, going up outside the other polls, and coming back down with the thinner half inside the other polls to end up 7' anti-clockwise from where it started.</p><p>Add all 5 polls, and expect that it will be almost impossible to keep them all in their joints, that is OK at this stage.</p><p>Start fixing them, starting off with a 1' pentagon at the top, and then working down, each joint should be obvious, though the bamboo will probably need persuading to join at the right mark. Note that all the lengths are 1' except the next before the last which is 2'.</p><div class="boxright" style="width: 280px; text-align: center;"><a href="/images/dome3.jpg"><img src="/images/dome3.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 3" width="235" height="227" /></a><br /> Stage 3: outer ring</div><br /> <h4>Stage 3: Base circle</h4><br /> <p>Thread the remaining 20' pole (or two * 11' poles) around the circle, joining half way across the 2' lengths.</p><p>If everything is correct now, you should have 6 pentagons, and 10 hexagons</p><h4>Next steps and variations.</h4><br /> <p>I'm thinking of building a bigger one, approximately 4 times this size, i.e. about 4.5 meters high, for this I'll use poles around twice the length, from a larger species of bamboo, and then overlap and join pairs of poles at the middle (i.e. in the center pole).</p><p>Another variation is to start at the first horizontal ring, to make what is called a 3/8th dome. This means starting with poles 4' shorter. This could be easier when scaling up, as the poles don't have to be as flexible, but the disadvantage is that the dome is not as high for its width.</p><p>I'm wondering about distortions, and whether on a larger dome, the poles can be pushed apart in places to create a bigger entrance, and whether this will compromise the strength</p><p>I'm planning on using the first test-dome as a trellis for beans, peas and tomatoes</p><p>And finally a few photos of the dome, after it had sat for a while in my vegie patch. Click for a full-scale file (1mb each)<br /> <a href="/images/dome4.jpg"><img src="/images/dome4w100.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="100" height="75" /></a> <a href="/images/dome5.jpg"><img src="/images/dome5w100.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="100" height="75" /></a> <a href="/images/dome6.jpg"><img src="/images/dome6w100.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="100" height="75" /></a> <a href="/images/dome7.jpg"><img src="/images/dome7w100.jpg" border="0" alt="stage 1" width="100" height="75" /></a></p><h3 id="comments">Comments before ported to Joomla</h3><div id="c39"><br /> <p>I make some model of the bamboo dome by using the chord factor of A. Pugh : S=25, M=31, L=32, <br /> and the chord factors of Fuller ; 26, 31, 32.</p><p>But I seem that the sphere is never perfect , and swells in the pentagonal area. Please have you some suggestions ?<br /> Do you use chord factors in your method ?<br /> Thank you, biagio di carlo<br /> <a href="http://www.biagiodicarlo.com">http://www.biagiodicarlo.com</a></p></div><br /> <p class="posted">Posted by: bdc <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://profile.typekey.com/bambusto"><img src="/images/nav-commenters.gif" border="0" alt="[TypeKey Profile Page]" /></a> at June 28, 2005 5:09 AM</p><div id="c41"><br /> <p>I don't know about A.Pugh, my intuition - which turned out to be ok - was that the chord factors were close enough to 1:1:1 that for a woven dome I could build it and the stresses would ensure that the bamboo found a reasonable shape. You'll notice if you click on the photos that the joints are just cable-ties, so the bamboo can adjust itself. The result of course is a imperfect dome, which is usually fine for the kind of applications I see this dome being used for.</p><p>The only instructions I found using chord factors for bamboo domes involved LOTS of joining and fiddling, and seemed to take away the best thing about bamboo which is its strength over long distances, and its flexibility. If you know of some good instructions please post the URL in a comment.</p><p>- Mitra</p></div><br /> <p class="posted">Posted by: Mitra <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://profile.typekey.com/mitra_earth"><img src="/images/nav-commenters.gif" border="0" alt="[TypeKey Profile Page]" /></a> at June 28, 2005 9:07 AM</p><div id="c58"><br /> <p>I did my bamboodome and was astonished as I was able to climb on it even after having left it under sun and rain for two years! Bamboo is a wonderful material!<br /> I used the instructions from the desertdome page. I had no problems with chord factors.<br /> See the building phases on www.blog1.de/bamboodome</p></div><br /> <p class="posted">Posted by: <a href="http://www.blog1.de/bamboodome">F@O</a> <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://profile.typekey.com/giulioneri"><img src="/images/nav-commenters.gif" border="0" alt="[TypeKey Profile Page]" /></a> at December 21, 2007 7:46 PM</p><div id="c59"><br /> <p>What country did you do this in?</p><p>I'm glad someone tried the Domebook instructions. I looked at both domebook 2 and <a href="http://www.desertdomes.com/bamboo.html">http://www.desertdomes.com/bamboo.html</a> before I came up with my idea, it seemed a crazy idea to take something naturally long and flexible, and treat it like something short and rigid! Which is why I came up with the bending idea. I ran into the author of domebook2 recently but I forgot to ask him if he'd ever tried this technique!</p><p>The other bamboo domes I like are Marti's <a href="http://www.wizdomes.ws/">http://www.wizdomes.ws/</a> he uses plastic pipes to join the ends, its a simple and obvious idea, but there are a lot of challenges to it that Marti has worked out. We constructed one at a festival, about 10 or 12m diameter and covered with the skin of a retired hot-air-balloon.</p></div><br /> <p class="posted">Posted by: Mitra <a class="commenter-profile" href="http://profile.typekey.com/mitra_earth"><img src="/images/nav-commenters.gif" border="0" alt="[TypeKey Profile Page]" /></a> at December 28, 2007 11:24 AM</p></div><br /> </div> 2004-08-30T08:04:28.000Z 2011-10-10T17:21:08.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2816-the-political-compass-or-why-the-us-democracy-isnt Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/cached/NewPoliticalCompassV73.pdf" title="Political Compass" src="/images/politicalcompass_thumb.gif" style="img{width:160px;}"></pdf-link>As we approach US and Australian elections, its useful to look at the differences. As countries all over the world have shown, a multi-party system allows a much larger proportion of the population to feel that they have somebody in the government who represents them, and it usually requires a prospective leader to draw together a coalition among a number of different parties in order to form a government. They at least have to consider other points of views to avoid their voter base abandoning them to a third-party. Both the major parties in the US are afraid of such a system, because such a system would show, by the votes that would move to third parties, that they represented very few of the electorate, rather than the companies that have bought their election. As a result neither party, when in power, does anything to change a system which guarantees that a vote for a minor party won't even be counted for the purposes of determining the "least-worst" candidate. The work of <a href="http://www.culturalcreatives.org">Paul Ray</a>'s "Political Compass" (<a href="/cached/NewPoliticalCompassV73.pdf">cached</a>) is a useful reminder at this time of the election, that when you analyze the US public's views on different issues and that most people are essentially forced to choose between two parties, neither of which represent their views on most issues. In Australia, whether I agree with the result or not, we at least have a system where most people feel they have someone to vote for, and most people not only vote (its compulsory here) but consider the issues before doing so.

<pdf-link href="/cached/NewPoliticalCompassV73.pdf" title="Political Compass" src="/images/politicalcompass_thumb.gif" style="img{width:160px;}"></pdf-link>As we approach US and Australian elections, its useful to look at the differences. As countries all over the world have shown, a multi-party system allows a much larger proportion of the population to feel that they have somebody in the government who represents them, and it usually requires a prospective leader to draw together a coalition among a number of different parties in order to form a government. They at least have to consider other points of views to avoid their voter base abandoning them to a third-party. Both the major parties in the US are afraid of such a system, because such a system would show, by the votes that would move to third parties, that they represented very few of the electorate, rather than the companies that have bought their election. As a result neither party, when in power, does anything to change a system which guarantees that a vote for a minor party won't even be counted for the purposes of determining the "least-worst" candidate. The work of <a href="http://www.culturalcreatives.org">Paul Ray</a>'s "Political Compass" (<a href="/cached/NewPoliticalCompassV73.pdf">cached</a>) is a useful reminder at this time of the election, that when you analyze the US public's views on different issues and that most people are essentially forced to choose between two parties, neither of which represent their views on most issues. In Australia, whether I agree with the result or not, we at least have a system where most people feel they have someone to vote for, and most people not only vote (its compulsory here) but consider the issues before doing so. 2004-09-02T18:35:18.000Z 2004-09-02T18:35:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2817-unelectric_poti Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is an interesting design, for a pot-in-a-pot refrigerator, while its pitched for an African context, I could see this providing a potential solution to reduce power usage, especially in off-grid situations. It might also provide a better solution, functionally, and environmentally than polystyrene boxes for example for market stalls.<br /> <br /> <Blockquote><br /> <img align=right src="http://www.worldchanging.com/images/potinpot.jpg" /><br /> Mohammed Bah Abba's Pot-in-Pot is one of my favourite design innovations ever. Without electrical refrigeration, until now Northern Nigeria's poor agricultural population has had no access to food preservation: <br /> <br /> "The device owes its cooling powers to a simple law of thermodynamics. When moisture comes into contact with dry air, it evaporates, causing an immediate drop in temperature. When the water in the sand between the two pots evaporates, the inner pot is kept cool, preserving the goods inside."<br /> <br /> Clearly 'high-tech' is a matter of perspective. Aside from the benefits to subsistence farmers, the Pot-in-Pot has initiated a cascade of positive effects: <br /> <br /> "Abba's project has brought about major changes for many Nigerians: eggplants can last for 27 days rather than three, African spinach can be kept for 12 days instead of spoiling after one day, while tomatoes and peppers stay fresh for three weeks. Food hygiene standards and overall health are improving.<br /> <br /> "The Pot-in-Pot's flow-on benefits for Northern Nigeria are widespread, helping to slow the rural exodus to the cities. Farmers no longer need to sell their produce in a hurry. Business is growing, and the revival of the local pottery industry is also helping to reduce the region's high unemployment.<br /> <br /> "The Pot-in-Pot is also a step forward for women in the region, as young girls are free to attend school, instead of hawking food every day. Already, village primary schools report an increase in the number of girls enrolled."<br /> <br /> http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000461.html<br /> </blockquote><br />

This is an interesting design, for a pot-in-a-pot refrigerator, while its pitched for an African context, I could see this providing a potential solution to reduce power usage, especially in off-grid situations. It might also provide a better solution, functionally, and environmentally than polystyrene boxes for example for market stalls.<br /> <br /> <Blockquote><br /> <img align=right src="http://www.worldchanging.com/images/potinpot.jpg" /><br /> Mohammed Bah Abba's Pot-in-Pot is one of my favourite design innovations ever. Without electrical refrigeration, until now Northern Nigeria's poor agricultural population has had no access to food preservation: <br /> <br /> "The device owes its cooling powers to a simple law of thermodynamics. When moisture comes into contact with dry air, it evaporates, causing an immediate drop in temperature. When the water in the sand between the two pots evaporates, the inner pot is kept cool, preserving the goods inside."<br /> <br /> Clearly 'high-tech' is a matter of perspective. Aside from the benefits to subsistence farmers, the Pot-in-Pot has initiated a cascade of positive effects: <br /> <br /> "Abba's project has brought about major changes for many Nigerians: eggplants can last for 27 days rather than three, African spinach can be kept for 12 days instead of spoiling after one day, while tomatoes and peppers stay fresh for three weeks. Food hygiene standards and overall health are improving.<br /> <br /> "The Pot-in-Pot's flow-on benefits for Northern Nigeria are widespread, helping to slow the rural exodus to the cities. Farmers no longer need to sell their produce in a hurry. Business is growing, and the revival of the local pottery industry is also helping to reduce the region's high unemployment.<br /> <br /> "The Pot-in-Pot is also a step forward for women in the region, as young girls are free to attend school, instead of hawking food every day. Already, village primary schools report an increase in the number of girls enrolled."<br /> <br /> http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000461.html<br /> </blockquote><br /> 2004-09-08T08:28:54.000Z 2004-09-08T08:28:54.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2818-byron_sustainab Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Last Tuesday we had the first meeting of a group being tentatively called the Byron sustainable ventures network. We brought together 17 people over food and conversation. The participants came from 13 businesses committed to being economically successful while retaining a commitment to the environment and community. The businesses ranged from publishing to body-care, marketing to bags, and organic food through consulting. We talked informally, and as a group, about the challenges and dilemma's common to businesses trying to "do good" while staying solvent, something that will be familiar to anyone trying to do this, but remains a mystery to most environmentalists, and most business people.<br /> <br /> Everyone was really keen to get together again soon, one comment summed it up. "I've never related to the business networking that goes on here, the Chamber of Commerce, and that sort of thing, but this gives me a chance to talk with people who actually care about the stuff I do".<br /> <br /> <br /> I'd be interested in hearing from other businesses in the Byron area who are as passionate about sustainability as they are about making money, and also from anyone who has a similar group of businesses in their own area.

Last Tuesday we had the first meeting of a group being tentatively called the Byron sustainable ventures network. We brought together 17 people over food and conversation. The participants came from 13 businesses committed to being economically successful while retaining a commitment to the environment and community. The businesses ranged from publishing to body-care, marketing to bags, and organic food through consulting. We talked informally, and as a group, about the challenges and dilemma's common to businesses trying to "do good" while staying solvent, something that will be familiar to anyone trying to do this, but remains a mystery to most environmentalists, and most business people.<br /> <br /> Everyone was really keen to get together again soon, one comment summed it up. "I've never related to the business networking that goes on here, the Chamber of Commerce, and that sort of thing, but this gives me a chance to talk with people who actually care about the stuff I do".<br /> <br /> <br /> I'd be interested in hearing from other businesses in the Byron area who are as passionate about sustainability as they are about making money, and also from anyone who has a similar group of businesses in their own area. 2004-09-10T18:25:54.000Z 2004-09-10T18:25:54.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2819-heading_to_the Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I'm heading over to the US from mid October to mid November, I'd love to hear from people interested in these topics, and any friends who are around.</p><p>The places I'm going to be - and why you might be interested in being there:<br /> <table class="simple"><tr><th>What</th><th>Where</th><th>When</th><th>Comments</th></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.longnow.org/10klibrary/Seminars.htm">Paul Hawken at Long Now</a></td><td>Fort Mason, SF</td><td>15th evening</td><td>Paul is always interesting, and the Long Now format encourages outside the box thinking.</td></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.bioneers.org">Bioneers</a></td><td>San Rafael (near San Francisco)</td><td>October<br>15-17</td><td>Gathering of ~3000 people focussed on solutions to sustainability, a gathering of some of the most interesting people in this field</td></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.solarpower2004.com/"Solar Power Conference</a></td><td>San Francisco</td><td>18-21</td><td>Sounds interesting, will drop in and out</td></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.svn.org">Social Venture Network</a></td><td>Tucson, AZ</td><td>28 - 31</td><td>An inspiring community of leaders in business and social entrepreneurship committed to building a just and sustainable world through business.</td></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.greenfestivals.com/article.php?list=type&type=28">Green Festival</a></td><td>San Francisco</td><td>November<br>6 - 7</td><td>Largest showcase of Green products</td></tr></table></p><p>See the full listing for additional places and social events</p><p>I'll be staying at Brewster Kahle and Mary Austin's, but email is the best way to reach me</p>

<p>I'm heading over to the US from mid October to mid November, I'd love to hear from people interested in these topics, and any friends who are around.</p><p>The places I'm going to be - and why you might be interested in being there:<br /> <table class="simple"><tr><th>What</th><th>Where</th><th>When</th><th>Comments</th></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.longnow.org/10klibrary/Seminars.htm">Paul Hawken at Long Now</a></td><td>Fort Mason, SF</td><td>15th evening</td><td>Paul is always interesting, and the Long Now format encourages outside the box thinking.</td></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.bioneers.org">Bioneers</a></td><td>San Rafael (near San Francisco)</td><td>October<br>15-17</td><td>Gathering of ~3000 people focussed on solutions to sustainability, a gathering of some of the most interesting people in this field</td></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.solarpower2004.com/"Solar Power Conference</a></td><td>San Francisco</td><td>18-21</td><td>Sounds interesting, will drop in and out</td></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.svn.org">Social Venture Network</a></td><td>Tucson, AZ</td><td>28 - 31</td><td>An inspiring community of leaders in business and social entrepreneurship committed to building a just and sustainable world through business.</td></tr><tr><td><a target="_blank" href="http://www.greenfestivals.com/article.php?list=type&type=28">Green Festival</a></td><td>San Francisco</td><td>November<br>6 - 7</td><td>Largest showcase of Green products</td></tr></table></p><p>See the full listing for additional places and social events</p><p>I'll be staying at Brewster Kahle and Mary Austin's, but email is the best way to reach me</p> 2004-09-17T12:30:04.000Z 2004-09-17T12:30:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2820-can_we_live_wit Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An old friend - Guy Dauncey - has an interesting <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.com/article.asp?ID=1009">article</a> in Yes magazine showing how the US could reduce its oil consumption for car transport by up to 97%. <br /> <br /> <br /> Americans are addicted to the joys of the open road. But the joys come at too high a price and we&rsquo;re about to hit bottom. We can get around without oil. Here&rsquo;s the 12-step program to do it.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> If you were a redwood tree with a lifespan of 600 years, and you started life as a seedling in the year 1700, you would be able to live for 200 years in a world without oil, witness the beginning, middle and end of the Age of Oil, and still have 200 years to observe how humans fare in a world without oil (assuming you survive the timber companies). <br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> What we have here is a series of changes that produce incredible results. We reduced our need for car-based trips by 50 percent and used EVs for half the remaining trips. For the remaining 25 percent of our trips, we used hybrid EVs that are 85 percent more efficent than today&rsquo;s cars for half of them and smart cars, which are 90 percent more efficient than today&rsquo;s cars, for the other half. Altogether, these steps reduced our liquid fuel needs by 97 percent.<br /> </blockquote>

An old friend - Guy Dauncey - has an interesting <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.com/article.asp?ID=1009">article</a> in Yes magazine showing how the US could reduce its oil consumption for car transport by up to 97%. <br /> <br /> <br /> Americans are addicted to the joys of the open road. But the joys come at too high a price and we&rsquo;re about to hit bottom. We can get around without oil. Here&rsquo;s the 12-step program to do it.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> If you were a redwood tree with a lifespan of 600 years, and you started life as a seedling in the year 1700, you would be able to live for 200 years in a world without oil, witness the beginning, middle and end of the Age of Oil, and still have 200 years to observe how humans fare in a world without oil (assuming you survive the timber companies). <br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> What we have here is a series of changes that produce incredible results. We reduced our need for car-based trips by 50 percent and used EVs for half the remaining trips. For the remaining 25 percent of our trips, we used hybrid EVs that are 85 percent more efficent than today&rsquo;s cars for half of them and smart cars, which are 90 percent more efficient than today&rsquo;s cars, for the other half. Altogether, these steps reduced our liquid fuel needs by 97 percent.<br /> </blockquote> 2004-09-23T16:49:44.000Z 2004-09-23T16:49:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2821-treehugger_thin Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="http://www.treehugger.com/files/chairthink.jpg" align="right">I'm a big fan of Bill McDonough's approach as described in his book Cradle to Cradle. Here's a product that is claimed to follow those principles.<br /> <p><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2004/09/think_office_ch.php">Treehugger: Think Office Chair</a></p><blockquote><br /> The Think chair should make us all do just that. Created in collaboration with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (the fathers of "Cradle-to-Cradle" design and other smarties, this task seat was designed to make a dent in the mid-priced ergonomic seating market, but also to raise the bar for eco-conscious design. Ergonomically, it's an overachiever, "intuitively" knowing how your spine needs to move. But more importantly, it's manufactured from 41% recycled materials and entirely from materials deemed by MBDC as safe to the environment. At the end if its (presumably long) lifecycle, it's 99% recyclable and can supposedly be disassembled in five minutes. One helluva "sitting machine", as its manufacturer, Steelcase, calls it. Especially when specified in hot pink upholstery. At $620, its cheaper--and more intelligent--than, say, that Eames Aluminum Group chair you've been coveting. <br /> </blockquote><div class=boxright><br /> <p>Forget about office chairs, try a <a href="http://www.thebeanbagchairoutlet.com/">bean bag chair</a>. Our <a href="http://www.thebeanbagchairoutlet.com/tie_dye_bean_bag_chairs.htm">bean<br /> bag chairs</a> come in a variety of fabrics, and some have removable covers for<br /> ease of care. Find a <a href="http://www.bestinbeds.com/bean-bag-beds.html">bean<br /> bag</a> that is right for you at TheBeanbagChairOutlet.com.</p></div>

<img src="http://www.treehugger.com/files/chairthink.jpg" align="right">I'm a big fan of Bill McDonough's approach as described in his book Cradle to Cradle. Here's a product that is claimed to follow those principles.<br /> <p><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2004/09/think_office_ch.php">Treehugger: Think Office Chair</a></p><blockquote><br /> The Think chair should make us all do just that. Created in collaboration with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (the fathers of "Cradle-to-Cradle" design and other smarties, this task seat was designed to make a dent in the mid-priced ergonomic seating market, but also to raise the bar for eco-conscious design. Ergonomically, it's an overachiever, "intuitively" knowing how your spine needs to move. But more importantly, it's manufactured from 41% recycled materials and entirely from materials deemed by MBDC as safe to the environment. At the end if its (presumably long) lifecycle, it's 99% recyclable and can supposedly be disassembled in five minutes. One helluva "sitting machine", as its manufacturer, Steelcase, calls it. Especially when specified in hot pink upholstery. At $620, its cheaper--and more intelligent--than, say, that Eames Aluminum Group chair you've been coveting. <br /> </blockquote><div class=boxright><br /> <p>Forget about office chairs, try a <a href="http://www.thebeanbagchairoutlet.com/">bean bag chair</a>. Our <a href="http://www.thebeanbagchairoutlet.com/tie_dye_bean_bag_chairs.htm">bean<br /> bag chairs</a> come in a variety of fabrics, and some have removable covers for<br /> ease of care. Find a <a href="http://www.bestinbeds.com/bean-bag-beds.html">bean<br /> bag</a> that is right for you at TheBeanbagChairOutlet.com.</p></div> 2004-09-26T22:39:46.000Z 2004-09-26T22:39:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2822-ecovillage_and Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I've lived in intentional communities most of my adult life, and highly recommend it as a life-style for people who value community more than privacy. <br /> <br /> These links were on my old web-page, and I've checked they all still work and added a few extras.<br />

I've lived in intentional communities most of my adult life, and highly recommend it as a life-style for people who value community more than privacy. <br /> <br /> These links were on my old web-page, and I've checked they all still work and added a few extras.<br /> 2004-09-30T18:40:11.000Z 2004-09-30T18:40:11.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2823-calearth_forum Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img align=right src="http://www.calearth.org/cvillage/036s.gif" /> This site has some interesting ideas, and images of houses built with basically sandbags filled with earth & cement. They sell plans, and have examples from small emergency shelters through to a 3-bedroom house. <br /> <br /> <blockquote><a href="http://www.calearth.org/cvillage/cvillage.htm">Cal-Earth Forum</a> (The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture) is at the cutting edge of Earth Art and Ceramic Architecture technologies today. Founded and directed by the internationally renowned architect and author Nader Khalili in 1986, it is a non-profit foundation dedicated to research and educating the public on environmentally oriented arts and architecture. It's scope spans technical innovations published by NASA for lunar base construction, to design and development of housing for the world's homeless for the United Nations. It's philosophy is based on the equilibrium of the natural elements of earth, water, air, and fire, and their Unity at the service of the arts and humanity.</blockquote>

<img align=right src="http://www.calearth.org/cvillage/036s.gif" /> This site has some interesting ideas, and images of houses built with basically sandbags filled with earth & cement. They sell plans, and have examples from small emergency shelters through to a 3-bedroom house. <br /> <br /> <blockquote><a href="http://www.calearth.org/cvillage/cvillage.htm">Cal-Earth Forum</a> (The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture) is at the cutting edge of Earth Art and Ceramic Architecture technologies today. Founded and directed by the internationally renowned architect and author Nader Khalili in 1986, it is a non-profit foundation dedicated to research and educating the public on environmentally oriented arts and architecture. It's scope spans technical innovations published by NASA for lunar base construction, to design and development of housing for the world's homeless for the United Nations. It's philosophy is based on the equilibrium of the natural elements of earth, water, air, and fire, and their Unity at the service of the arts and humanity.</blockquote> 2004-10-05T20:24:39.000Z 2004-10-05T20:24:39.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2824-age_article_on Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Why am I not surprised about this article from the Age?</p><blockquote> <br /> <p><a href="http://alt-e.blogspot.com/2004/10/australias-pm-conspired-against.html">Australia's PM Conspired against Alternative Energy Investment?</a>:</p> <p>Australia's "The Age" newspaper alleges that the Australian Federal Government and fossil-fuel industry executives discussed ways to stifle growing investment in renewable energy projects at a secret meeting earlier this year.</p> <p>Prime Minister John Howard called the meeting on May 6, five weeks before releasing the energy white paper on June 14.</p> <p>The white paper favours massive investment in research to make fossil fuels cleaner, at the expense of schemes boosting growth in renewable energy.</p> <p>Mr Howard called together the fossil-fuel-based Lower Emissions Technology Advisory Group to seek advice on ways to avoid extending the mandatory renewable energy targets scheme.</p> <p>The Government has touted the scheme as a key plank in achieving its Kyoto Protocol target to hold greenhouse emissions at 108 per cent of 1990 levels.</p> <p>The Government continues to refuse to ratify the protocol, despite Russia's decision last week to ratify and bring the protocol into legal effect.</p> <p>Russia's move further isolates the United States and Australia.</p> <p>Most countries, including big emitters India and China, support the protocol.</p> The mandatory renewables target is the only legally enforceable measure among Australia's otherwise voluntary policies to encourage lower emissions. <p>But according to minutes taken by Rio Tinto's acting chairman, Sam Walsh, the Industry and Resources Minister, Ian Macfarlane, told the May 6 meeting the scheme had worked too well.</p> <p>The scheme requires power companies and large consumers to source an extra 9500 gigawatt hours of electricity from renewable sources by 2010. The 9500 kilowatt-hours target amounts to less than 1 per cent of projected electricity generation in 2010.</p> <p>Mr Macfarlane said "investment in renewables was running ahead of the original planning", and was generating renewable energy certificates ahead of original projections.</p> <p>The Government-commissioned Tambling review, tabled last January, warned that unless the scheme was extended beyond 2010, investment in renewable energy generation would stall after 2007 and Australia would be locked out of technical advances that would reduce costs.</p> <p>The review panel recommended doubling the target to 20,000 megawatt hours by 2020.</p> <p>It said the economic cost would be 0.08 per cent of GDP, but consumers were willing to pay more for clean power.</p> <p>But Mr Howard told the May 6 meeting that a $1.5 billion low-emission energy fund was more attractive, as extending the renewables scheme would cost industry $1.7 billion.</p> <p>The industry representatives agreed with the Government's idea, which was similar to a fund set up by the United States Department of Energy.</p> <p>The Prime Minister said the mandatory target had been a burden on industry, but "it was not credible to ignore" the Tambling review.</p> <p>He said there was a real need to propose credible alternatives that would pass "the pub test".</p> <p>Mr Macfarlane supported a levy on all consumers over 10 to 15 years to create the new $1.5 billion technology fund.</p> <p>The white paper released five weeks later, however, proposed that the Government provide $500 million, with the rest from industry on a two-for-one dollar basis.</p> <p>The minister closed the meeting stressing the need for "absolute" confidentiality to avoid a "huge outcry" from the renewable energy industry.<br /> <br/><br /> </p> <p>Australian elections are being held on October 9th.<br /> <br/><br /> </p> <p><br /> <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/02/1096527990014.html?oneclick=true">The Age Article on PM John Howard and Alternative Energy in Australia</a><br /> <br/><br /> </p></blockquote><br /> <p>(Via <a href="http://alt-e.blogspot.com">Alternative Energy Blog - Alternative-Energy-News.com</a>.)</p>

<p>Why am I not surprised about this article from the Age?</p><blockquote> <br /> <p><a href="http://alt-e.blogspot.com/2004/10/australias-pm-conspired-against.html">Australia's PM Conspired against Alternative Energy Investment?</a>:</p> <p>Australia's "The Age" newspaper alleges that the Australian Federal Government and fossil-fuel industry executives discussed ways to stifle growing investment in renewable energy projects at a secret meeting earlier this year.</p> <p>Prime Minister John Howard called the meeting on May 6, five weeks before releasing the energy white paper on June 14.</p> <p>The white paper favours massive investment in research to make fossil fuels cleaner, at the expense of schemes boosting growth in renewable energy.</p> <p>Mr Howard called together the fossil-fuel-based Lower Emissions Technology Advisory Group to seek advice on ways to avoid extending the mandatory renewable energy targets scheme.</p> <p>The Government has touted the scheme as a key plank in achieving its Kyoto Protocol target to hold greenhouse emissions at 108 per cent of 1990 levels.</p> <p>The Government continues to refuse to ratify the protocol, despite Russia's decision last week to ratify and bring the protocol into legal effect.</p> <p>Russia's move further isolates the United States and Australia.</p> <p>Most countries, including big emitters India and China, support the protocol.</p> The mandatory renewables target is the only legally enforceable measure among Australia's otherwise voluntary policies to encourage lower emissions. <p>But according to minutes taken by Rio Tinto's acting chairman, Sam Walsh, the Industry and Resources Minister, Ian Macfarlane, told the May 6 meeting the scheme had worked too well.</p> <p>The scheme requires power companies and large consumers to source an extra 9500 gigawatt hours of electricity from renewable sources by 2010. The 9500 kilowatt-hours target amounts to less than 1 per cent of projected electricity generation in 2010.</p> <p>Mr Macfarlane said "investment in renewables was running ahead of the original planning", and was generating renewable energy certificates ahead of original projections.</p> <p>The Government-commissioned Tambling review, tabled last January, warned that unless the scheme was extended beyond 2010, investment in renewable energy generation would stall after 2007 and Australia would be locked out of technical advances that would reduce costs.</p> <p>The review panel recommended doubling the target to 20,000 megawatt hours by 2020.</p> <p>It said the economic cost would be 0.08 per cent of GDP, but consumers were willing to pay more for clean power.</p> <p>But Mr Howard told the May 6 meeting that a $1.5 billion low-emission energy fund was more attractive, as extending the renewables scheme would cost industry $1.7 billion.</p> <p>The industry representatives agreed with the Government's idea, which was similar to a fund set up by the United States Department of Energy.</p> <p>The Prime Minister said the mandatory target had been a burden on industry, but "it was not credible to ignore" the Tambling review.</p> <p>He said there was a real need to propose credible alternatives that would pass "the pub test".</p> <p>Mr Macfarlane supported a levy on all consumers over 10 to 15 years to create the new $1.5 billion technology fund.</p> <p>The white paper released five weeks later, however, proposed that the Government provide $500 million, with the rest from industry on a two-for-one dollar basis.</p> <p>The minister closed the meeting stressing the need for "absolute" confidentiality to avoid a "huge outcry" from the renewable energy industry.<br /> <br/><br /> </p> <p>Australian elections are being held on October 9th.<br /> <br/><br /> </p> <p><br /> <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/02/1096527990014.html?oneclick=true">The Age Article on PM John Howard and Alternative Energy in Australia</a><br /> <br/><br /> </p></blockquote><br /> <p>(Via <a href="http://alt-e.blogspot.com">Alternative Energy Blog - Alternative-Energy-News.com</a>.)</p> 2004-10-08T10:36:37.000Z 2004-10-08T10:36:37.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2825-money_reform_li Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

While I'm far from convinced that reforming the money system will make a huge difference, I have some very smart friends who think otherwise. I used to be involved with LETS, introducing it to the UK back in about 1985. If you are interested in this topic check out some of these resources.<br /> <br /> Bernard Lietaer's book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0712683992/mitra">The future of money</a>" is worth a read, no home page so <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Bernard%20Lietaer%22">Google him.</a><br /> <br /> The book includes a game I wrote for demonstrating how community currencies work. The game is <a href="/lets-pretend.htm">here</a>.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.declan.de">Declan</a> and <a href="http://www.margritkennedy.de/">Margrit Kennedy</a> are the other thinkers I find worthwhile on this topic. Declan's <a href="http://www.declan.de/links.htm">links</a> page has some useful stuff, much of which is in German, and Margrit has an easy to read and follow book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0865713197/mitra">Interest and Inflation Free Money</a>"<br /> <br /> There are also useful links on Transaction.net<br />

While I'm far from convinced that reforming the money system will make a huge difference, I have some very smart friends who think otherwise. I used to be involved with LETS, introducing it to the UK back in about 1985. If you are interested in this topic check out some of these resources.<br /> <br /> Bernard Lietaer's book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0712683992/mitra">The future of money</a>" is worth a read, no home page so <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Bernard%20Lietaer%22">Google him.</a><br /> <br /> The book includes a game I wrote for demonstrating how community currencies work. The game is <a href="/lets-pretend.htm">here</a>.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.declan.de">Declan</a> and <a href="http://www.margritkennedy.de/">Margrit Kennedy</a> are the other thinkers I find worthwhile on this topic. Declan's <a href="http://www.declan.de/links.htm">links</a> page has some useful stuff, much of which is in German, and Margrit has an easy to read and follow book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0865713197/mitra">Interest and Inflation Free Money</a>"<br /> <br /> There are also useful links on Transaction.net<br /> 2004-10-05T20:36:54.000Z 2004-10-05T20:36:54.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2826-stirling_engine Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I've been taking a look again at the materials on Stirling Engines, and read a useful article in the Jan-Mar 1999 issue of <a href="http://www.ata.org.au">ATA</a>'s magazine with a good collection of links that I thought might be useful to others.</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.stirlingengine.com">American Stirling Company - some toys and learning amterial</a></li><li><a href="http://members.aol.com/tstirlingo/index.htm">The Stirling Outlet - mostly kits</a><br /> <li><a href="http://www.sunpower.com">SunPower focus on a variant of the engine using free pistons</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stirling-tech.com">Stirling Technology inc</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stirlingenergy.com/">Stirling Energy Systems - solar dish systems</a></li></ul><p><i>Note only 40% of the links worked, and I'm not sure if that relates to the transience of the web, or of Stirling Engine companies</i></p>

<p>I've been taking a look again at the materials on Stirling Engines, and read a useful article in the Jan-Mar 1999 issue of <a href="http://www.ata.org.au">ATA</a>'s magazine with a good collection of links that I thought might be useful to others.</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.stirlingengine.com">American Stirling Company - some toys and learning amterial</a></li><li><a href="http://members.aol.com/tstirlingo/index.htm">The Stirling Outlet - mostly kits</a><br /> <li><a href="http://www.sunpower.com">SunPower focus on a variant of the engine using free pistons</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stirling-tech.com">Stirling Technology inc</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stirlingenergy.com/">Stirling Energy Systems - solar dish systems</a></li></ul><p><i>Note only 40% of the links worked, and I'm not sure if that relates to the transience of the web, or of Stirling Engine companies</i></p> 2004-10-08T21:16:21.000Z 2004-10-08T21:16:21.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2827-wangari_maathai Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Wangari Mathaai has been one of my heroes for a long time, I heard her speak in at the TOES conference in 1985, and she, along with other speakers at the same conference like Jose Lutzenburger, inspired me to spend the bulk of my adult life working on projects with a purpose. She richly deserves the prize and hopefully brings it back to the levels of prestige it once had before some highly dubious awards to war-mongers.</p>

<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=25566">K B C (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation): "Prof. Wangari Mathaai wins Nobel Prize</a></p> <p>Caption: Kenya&rsquo;s environmental campaigner and Environment Asst. Minister Prof Wangari Maathai (pictured) has won the 100 Million shillings worth Nobel Peace Prize, she is the first African woman to be awarded the prestigious prize since its inauguration 1901<br /> </p> <p>Kenya&rsquo;s environmental campaigner and Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Prof. Wangari Maathai has won the Nobel Peace Prize.</p> <p>Prof. Mathaai is the first African woman to be awarded the prestigious prize since it was first handed out in 1901.</p> <p>Prof. Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement won the over 100 million shillings worth prize from a record field of 194 candidates among them US President George W. Bush, British Premier Tony Blair and Pope John Paul II. </p> <p>I have been called by the Norwegian ambassador to inform me that I have won the Nobel award," Maathai, 64, a veteran environmentalist, said. "I am very excited. I really don't know what to say."</p> <p>Named after Swedish philanthropist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, the prize will be officialy presented in Oslo on December 10.</p> <p>Prof. Maathai the Kenya-based Non-governmental Organisation- NGO the Green Belt Movement, comprised mainly of women, is said to have so far planted between 25-30 million trees across Africa.</p> <p>She is the 12th woman Nobel winner. The 2003 prize also went to a woman, Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi.</p> <p>Born in 1940, Prof. Maathai says that tree plantings slow desertification, preserve forest habitats for wildlife and provide a source of fuel, building materials and food for future generations.<br /> "</p></blockquote> 2004-11-05T05:51:32.000Z 2004-11-05T05:51:32.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2828-emminem_video Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Eminem has a really powerful video out, it illustrates the anger in minority communities at this time. And everyone is watching it</p><content-video archiveitem="Mosh2" file="GNN_Mosh_bb2_512kb.mp4"></content-video><p>The Internet Archive</a> reported over a million downloads. (that comes out to about 50 terrabytes of downloads which must be some kind of a record for independant media).</p>

<p>Eminem has a really powerful video out, it illustrates the anger in minority communities at this time. And everyone is watching it</p><content-video archiveitem="Mosh2" file="GNN_Mosh_bb2_512kb.mp4"></content-video><p>The Internet Archive</a> reported over a million downloads. (that comes out to about 50 terrabytes of downloads which must be some kind of a record for independant media).</p> 2004-11-09T13:45:51.000Z 2004-11-09T13:45:51.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2829-sarah_mclachlan Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Sarah McLachlan has a powerful video out, that graphically compares costs of luxurys in the US versus basic human needs in developing countries. Nice music too!</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20041109155929/http://www.worldonfire.ca/">www.worldonfire.ca</a></p>

<p>Sarah McLachlan has a powerful video out, that graphically compares costs of luxurys in the US versus basic human needs in developing countries. Nice music too!</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20041109155929/http://www.worldonfire.ca/">www.worldonfire.ca</a></p> 2004-11-25T20:28:56.000Z 2004-11-25T20:28:56.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2830-strawjet Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I came across the <a href="http://www.greeninventor.org/strawjet_sum2.html">Strawjet</a> machine at the excellent <a href="http://www.bioneers.org">Bioneers</a> conference. The machine binds straw into ropes, which are then encapsulated in papercrete. <br /> <br /> <blockquote>Currently ASET is focused on finding synergistic solutions to two problems, the need for low cost energy efficient, housing free from environmental toxins, and the need to find better uses for agricultural by products such as straw left over after the harvest of grains. In much of the world, wood is in short supply and forests are threatened. Traditional alternatives such as Adobe which does utilize some straw, are labor intensive and do not stand up well in earthquake prone regions. Straw bale construction is also labor intensive, and requires as significant amount of wood to create rigid load bearing walls. Both construction techniques require wood or some other structural material to hold up the roof. With this in mind David Ward set out to find a solution.<br /> <br /> Ten years of research and head scratching led to the building of the first prototype of a harvester that could bind straw into a cable, the first stage on the way to a useful product.<br /> <br /> In late 2001 with the success of the first prototype, David began constructing the current Strawjet prototype, and a the same time gathering the human resources to form the Ashland School of Environmental Technology. By December of 2002, the Strawjet had been completed and field-tested at the Oregon State University Agricultural Experiment Station, and ASET had been established as a non-profit corporation.<br /> <br /> We believe that the combination of a teaching/ learning environment, and a invention incubator producing real world technologies that contribute to the planet's health is a powerful and cost effective cooperation. </blockquote>

I came across the <a href="http://www.greeninventor.org/strawjet_sum2.html">Strawjet</a> machine at the excellent <a href="http://www.bioneers.org">Bioneers</a> conference. The machine binds straw into ropes, which are then encapsulated in papercrete. <br /> <br /> <blockquote>Currently ASET is focused on finding synergistic solutions to two problems, the need for low cost energy efficient, housing free from environmental toxins, and the need to find better uses for agricultural by products such as straw left over after the harvest of grains. In much of the world, wood is in short supply and forests are threatened. Traditional alternatives such as Adobe which does utilize some straw, are labor intensive and do not stand up well in earthquake prone regions. Straw bale construction is also labor intensive, and requires as significant amount of wood to create rigid load bearing walls. Both construction techniques require wood or some other structural material to hold up the roof. With this in mind David Ward set out to find a solution.<br /> <br /> Ten years of research and head scratching led to the building of the first prototype of a harvester that could bind straw into a cable, the first stage on the way to a useful product.<br /> <br /> In late 2001 with the success of the first prototype, David began constructing the current Strawjet prototype, and a the same time gathering the human resources to form the Ashland School of Environmental Technology. By December of 2002, the Strawjet had been completed and field-tested at the Oregon State University Agricultural Experiment Station, and ASET had been established as a non-profit corporation.<br /> <br /> We believe that the combination of a teaching/ learning environment, and a invention incubator producing real world technologies that contribute to the planet's health is a powerful and cost effective cooperation. </blockquote> 2004-12-03T09:06:59.000Z 2004-12-03T09:06:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2831-red_terras_show Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>These are some of the items I plan to talk about on Red Terra's show today. I might not get around to all of them, or might add a few, so check back in a few hours for an update. Or email <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">me</a> if I mentioned something not listed here (or call on 02-6684-8096). I know most of the people here and can probably help make connections for people locally (Byron Shire).</p><p><a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au/">Papyrus</a>: Paper from Banana trees, using no chemicals or water</p><p><br /> Highlights of the <a href="http://www.bioneers.org">Bioneers Conference</a>:</p><ul><li>Amory Lovins -<a href="http://www.oilendgame.org/">Oil End Game</a> - how to get off oil before it runs out, using today's technologies.</li><li>Paul Kamets <a href="http://www.fungi.com">Fungi Perfecti</a> - Mushrooms and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580085792/mitra">book - "Healing the planet through gardening"</a></li><li>Jane Benyus - Biomimicry <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060533226/mitra">(book)</a> and <a href="http://www.biomimicry.org">Website</a></li></ul><p><br /> <a href="http://www.svn.org">Social Venture Network</a> - a network of business people who care about the environment and society, or email <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">me</a> about local contacts. Highlights:</p><ul><li>John Perkins - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576753018/mitra">Confessions of an Economic Hit man (book)</a> and <a href="http://www.dreamchange.org/">website</a></li><li>Gary Erickson - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0787973653/mitra">Raising the Bar - the story of Clif Bar Inc</a></li><li>John Stauber - <a href="http://www.disinfopedia.org">Disinfopedia</a> - a wiki building information about corporate and government malfeasance and book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585422762/mitra">Weapons of Mass Deception</a>"<li><br /> </ul><p><br /> <a href="http://www.greenfestivals.org">Green Festival</a> - 50'000 people at a trade fare. Highlights:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.greenglass.org">Green Glass</a> - turning wine bottles into glasses</a> - I'm working on this one and looking for a partner with experience running a small factory.</li><li><a href="http://jadefootwear.com">Jade Planet</a> - Recycled Shoes and Treetap bags</li></ul>

<p>These are some of the items I plan to talk about on Red Terra's show today. I might not get around to all of them, or might add a few, so check back in a few hours for an update. Or email <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">me</a> if I mentioned something not listed here (or call on 02-6684-8096). I know most of the people here and can probably help make connections for people locally (Byron Shire).</p><p><a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au/">Papyrus</a>: Paper from Banana trees, using no chemicals or water</p><p><br /> Highlights of the <a href="http://www.bioneers.org">Bioneers Conference</a>:</p><ul><li>Amory Lovins -<a href="http://www.oilendgame.org/">Oil End Game</a> - how to get off oil before it runs out, using today's technologies.</li><li>Paul Kamets <a href="http://www.fungi.com">Fungi Perfecti</a> - Mushrooms and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580085792/mitra">book - "Healing the planet through gardening"</a></li><li>Jane Benyus - Biomimicry <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060533226/mitra">(book)</a> and <a href="http://www.biomimicry.org">Website</a></li></ul><p><br /> <a href="http://www.svn.org">Social Venture Network</a> - a network of business people who care about the environment and society, or email <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">me</a> about local contacts. Highlights:</p><ul><li>John Perkins - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576753018/mitra">Confessions of an Economic Hit man (book)</a> and <a href="http://www.dreamchange.org/">website</a></li><li>Gary Erickson - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0787973653/mitra">Raising the Bar - the story of Clif Bar Inc</a></li><li>John Stauber - <a href="http://www.disinfopedia.org">Disinfopedia</a> - a wiki building information about corporate and government malfeasance and book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585422762/mitra">Weapons of Mass Deception</a>"<li><br /> </ul><p><br /> <a href="http://www.greenfestivals.org">Green Festival</a> - 50'000 people at a trade fare. Highlights:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.greenglass.org">Green Glass</a> - turning wine bottles into glasses</a> - I'm working on this one and looking for a partner with experience running a small factory.</li><li><a href="http://jadefootwear.com">Jade Planet</a> - Recycled Shoes and Treetap bags</li></ul> 2004-12-05T10:37:37.000Z 2004-12-05T10:37:37.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2832-election_fraud Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The debate over the US's stolen election goes on, rather than keep posting about it, on a Blog that is basically about a different topic - i.e. Sustainability and Sustainable Businesses, I suggest that if you are interested in this topic you check any of the sites listed below.</p><p>From my own perspective, having been in the US at that time, the election was clearly fixed, while no single event tipped the scale, the combination of factors such as lines up to 10 hours long to vote (in democratic neighborhoods of course), machine counting irregularities and many others were enough to tip Bush over the line. But anyway we'll never know for sure, because as Jimmy Carter said</p><blockquote>"some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida." Most significant, he said, were requirements that a nonpartisan electoral commission or official organize and conduct the electoral process and that voting procedures be uniform for all citizens.<br/>(Source <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/28/politics/main645964.shtml">AP NewsWire</a>)</blockquote><br /> <p>Of course, even in a fair election, it would still be influenced by the over US$4bn of <strike>bribes</strike> campaign contributions that were made, that's around US$35 per vote cast. That dwarfs the corruption in any other country.</p><p>And even if the election wasn't bought, the choice was between two multi-millionaires who both supported the war on Iraq and the Patriot Act (the police state legislation), in a system which effectively rules out any third party.</p><p>Some sites that are continuing to document the process of questionning the election include:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.redefeatbush.com/">Redefeatbush.com</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stolenelection2004.com">Stolenelection2004.com</a></li><li><a href="http://stolenelection.blogspot.com">stolenelection.blogspot.com</a>: (especially good for other links)</li><li><a href="http://democrats.com/">democrats.com</a></li><li><a href="http://blackboxvoting.org/">Blackboxvoting.org</a>: Pounding the beat to get the facts and records</li></ul><p> I've also pulled all my old material and links into the Extended version of this article to avoid it cluttering up my Blog.</p>

<p>The debate over the US's stolen election goes on, rather than keep posting about it, on a Blog that is basically about a different topic - i.e. Sustainability and Sustainable Businesses, I suggest that if you are interested in this topic you check any of the sites listed below.</p><p>From my own perspective, having been in the US at that time, the election was clearly fixed, while no single event tipped the scale, the combination of factors such as lines up to 10 hours long to vote (in democratic neighborhoods of course), machine counting irregularities and many others were enough to tip Bush over the line. But anyway we'll never know for sure, because as Jimmy Carter said</p><blockquote>"some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida." Most significant, he said, were requirements that a nonpartisan electoral commission or official organize and conduct the electoral process and that voting procedures be uniform for all citizens.<br/>(Source <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/28/politics/main645964.shtml">AP NewsWire</a>)</blockquote><br /> <p>Of course, even in a fair election, it would still be influenced by the over US$4bn of <strike>bribes</strike> campaign contributions that were made, that's around US$35 per vote cast. That dwarfs the corruption in any other country.</p><p>And even if the election wasn't bought, the choice was between two multi-millionaires who both supported the war on Iraq and the Patriot Act (the police state legislation), in a system which effectively rules out any third party.</p><p>Some sites that are continuing to document the process of questionning the election include:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.redefeatbush.com/">Redefeatbush.com</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stolenelection2004.com">Stolenelection2004.com</a></li><li><a href="http://stolenelection.blogspot.com">stolenelection.blogspot.com</a>: (especially good for other links)</li><li><a href="http://democrats.com/">democrats.com</a></li><li><a href="http://blackboxvoting.org/">Blackboxvoting.org</a>: Pounding the beat to get the facts and records</li></ul><p> I've also pulled all my old material and links into the Extended version of this article to avoid it cluttering up my Blog.</p> 2004-12-22T16:46:22.000Z 2004-12-22T16:46:22.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2833-a_return_to_the Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>From: <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001706.html">WorldChanging: A Return to the Age of Sail?</a>: December 08, 2004</p><p><img src="http://skysails.info/uploads/pics/bild2_05.jpg" width=200 align=right>&#65532;Wind power is not a new concept. Windmills have been around for centuries, and wind-powered sailboats have been around for even longer -- since 3200 bce, or even earlier. The advent of engine-powered shipping relegated wind-powered boats to hobbyists, tourists and adventurers. But if the German company SkySails is right, we may soon see a return to shipping powered by the wind.</p><p>The notion is straightforward: a large parasail-type kite on a tow cable can add significant power to a standard diesel engine ship when lofted to 500 meters or so in the air. How much power? SkySails claims that a cargo ship can increase speed for a given fuel consumption by at least 10%, and often more; conversely, a sail-enabled ship can run at its standard speed but cut fuel consumption by as much as one-half. technology is more efficient at capturing wind power than standard sails, takes up less shipboard space, and supposedly does not require additional crew. Navigational software linked to real-time weather data routes for optimal wind speed and travel time. The design has won a number of German innovation awards, but has not yet been field-tested in its full configuration (at least as far as I can tell); SkySails proposes that the design would work not just for commercial vessels, but for ships of all types.</p><p>If SkySails works, the benefits are more than reduced fuel cost or shipping time. The SkySails site claims that "the toxic emission volume of the world trade fleet equals that of the United States." A system (such as SkySails) which can cut fuel consumption and reduce travel time would in turn reduce those emissions.</p><p>While there is something superficially absurd about massive cargo ships being pulled along by kites, upon reflection the notion makes sense. It's a novel form of "hybrid" power, taking advantage of strengths of diverse propulsion systems: the consistency of diesel engines and the free availability and startling strength of wind power. While SkySails still needs to demonstrate that their system works as claimed, we will undoubtedly see more of these "situational hybrid" power generation systems in years to come."</p>

<p>From: <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001706.html">WorldChanging: A Return to the Age of Sail?</a>: December 08, 2004</p><p><img src="http://skysails.info/uploads/pics/bild2_05.jpg" width=200 align=right>&#65532;Wind power is not a new concept. Windmills have been around for centuries, and wind-powered sailboats have been around for even longer -- since 3200 bce, or even earlier. The advent of engine-powered shipping relegated wind-powered boats to hobbyists, tourists and adventurers. But if the German company SkySails is right, we may soon see a return to shipping powered by the wind.</p><p>The notion is straightforward: a large parasail-type kite on a tow cable can add significant power to a standard diesel engine ship when lofted to 500 meters or so in the air. How much power? SkySails claims that a cargo ship can increase speed for a given fuel consumption by at least 10%, and often more; conversely, a sail-enabled ship can run at its standard speed but cut fuel consumption by as much as one-half. technology is more efficient at capturing wind power than standard sails, takes up less shipboard space, and supposedly does not require additional crew. Navigational software linked to real-time weather data routes for optimal wind speed and travel time. The design has won a number of German innovation awards, but has not yet been field-tested in its full configuration (at least as far as I can tell); SkySails proposes that the design would work not just for commercial vessels, but for ships of all types.</p><p>If SkySails works, the benefits are more than reduced fuel cost or shipping time. The SkySails site claims that "the toxic emission volume of the world trade fleet equals that of the United States." A system (such as SkySails) which can cut fuel consumption and reduce travel time would in turn reduce those emissions.</p><p>While there is something superficially absurd about massive cargo ships being pulled along by kites, upon reflection the notion makes sense. It's a novel form of "hybrid" power, taking advantage of strengths of diverse propulsion systems: the consistency of diesel engines and the free availability and startling strength of wind power. While SkySails still needs to demonstrate that their system works as claimed, we will undoubtedly see more of these "situational hybrid" power generation systems in years to come."</p> 2004-12-22T17:26:19.000Z 2004-12-22T17:26:19.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2834-flexible_solar Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6802">New Scientist</a> reported on 18th Dec 2004</a><br /> <br /> <blockquote><b>Pliable solar cells are on a roll</b><br /> <br /> Imagine wearing a jacket or rucksack that charges up your mobile phone while you take a walk. Or a tent whose flysheet charges batteries all day so campers can have light all night. Or a roll-out plastic sheet you can place on a car's rear window shelf to power a child's DVD player.<br /> <br /> Such applications could soon become a reality thanks to a light, flexible solar panel that is a little thicker than photographic film and can easily be applied to everyday fabrics. The thin, bendy solar panels, which could be on the market within three years, are the fruit of a three-nation European Union research project called H-Alpha Solar (H-AS). (<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6802">more</a>)</blockquote><br /> <br /> More discussion of progress in this area happened on the <a href="http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding">Greenbuilding</a> list, and I've excerpted it ....

<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6802">New Scientist</a> reported on 18th Dec 2004</a><br /> <br /> <blockquote><b>Pliable solar cells are on a roll</b><br /> <br /> Imagine wearing a jacket or rucksack that charges up your mobile phone while you take a walk. Or a tent whose flysheet charges batteries all day so campers can have light all night. Or a roll-out plastic sheet you can place on a car's rear window shelf to power a child's DVD player.<br /> <br /> Such applications could soon become a reality thanks to a light, flexible solar panel that is a little thicker than photographic film and can easily be applied to everyday fabrics. The thin, bendy solar panels, which could be on the market within three years, are the fruit of a three-nation European Union research project called H-Alpha Solar (H-AS). (<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6802">more</a>)</blockquote><br /> <br /> More discussion of progress in this area happened on the <a href="http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding">Greenbuilding</a> list, and I've excerpted it .... 2004-12-22T17:36:10.000Z 2004-12-22T17:36:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2835-electric_bikes Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I have been participating in a discussion on <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greenleap">Greenleap</a> about Electric Bikes, and the necessity to change restrictive legislation in Australia that currently limits them to 200w. <br /> <br /> The posts are excerpted here, with full posts available below.<br /> <br /> <b>Alan Parker</b>: <br /> <blockquote>Power assisted bicycles (petrol and electric battery powered) are <br /> available on in Japan the EU, the USA and Canada. Unfortunately, the <br /> safest electric bicycles cannot be purchased in Australia because of <br /> road rules that result in restriction of free trade by preventing <br /> Australians from buying the safest electric power assisted bicycles <br /> (Parker 2004 A). Even so there is scope for using power assisted <br /> bicycles to substitute for many short single occupant car trips of less <br /> than 10 km and they would use between one twentieth and one sixtieth of <br /> the fuel used by cars per km. In 2004 the combined production of <br /> electric power assisted bicycles in China, Japan and Taiwan is expected <br /> to reach four million and many of these will be sold in Japan the EU, <br /> the USA and Canada. Power assisted bicycles both have great potential <br /> as access modes to public transport in low density areas of Australia's <br /> capital cities <br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> However, it will be necessary to change <br /> the existing legislation for electric bicycles by lifting <br /> maximum power output from 200 to 250 watts for able bodied <br /> people and for electric bicycles with a power output of 500 <br /> watts to be available to the elderly, the lame and those <br /> who are partially disabled with arthritis.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> <b>Mitra</b>: <br /> <blockquote>Alan's advocacy of electric bikes as a highly appropriate transport mechanism, especially in cities, is excellent. His comment is also important that the newer bikes have progressed a long way from the initial entries in this field, and the better ones allow motor and pedals to both provide energy, unlike some of the "toy" bikes, that are electric only, and have less range and less speed than even a moderately fit human-powered bike.<br /> <br /> However I would like to suggest that he doesn't go far enough in his suggestions. Even 250 watts is pretty anaemic for a transportation device, especially if their are hills involved, and the range needs to be higher to enable people to get to AND back from their destination. ....</blockquote><br /> <br /> Alan Parker:<br /> <blockquote>I agree with Mitra that in the hilly suburbs of Sydney and Brisbane 250 watts in not much of a boost for electric power assisted bicycles ( E-PABs) although it is adequate in the flat areas of cities if you are able bodied. In my email I did not want advocate the 750 watt new US regulation because of the known opposition by the road Authorities in Australia and stuff up made in the drafting of Australian road rules a few years ago. So I settled on the 250 watts which is now law in within the EU and Japan. The other problem with 750 watts without a performance and safety based standard it would allow Segways to mow down pedestrians at 20 km per hour on shared footways. I know some freeway freaks who want to legalize Segways in Australia.</blockquote><br /> <br /> Full posts are here ....

I have been participating in a discussion on <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greenleap">Greenleap</a> about Electric Bikes, and the necessity to change restrictive legislation in Australia that currently limits them to 200w. <br /> <br /> The posts are excerpted here, with full posts available below.<br /> <br /> <b>Alan Parker</b>: <br /> <blockquote>Power assisted bicycles (petrol and electric battery powered) are <br /> available on in Japan the EU, the USA and Canada. Unfortunately, the <br /> safest electric bicycles cannot be purchased in Australia because of <br /> road rules that result in restriction of free trade by preventing <br /> Australians from buying the safest electric power assisted bicycles <br /> (Parker 2004 A). Even so there is scope for using power assisted <br /> bicycles to substitute for many short single occupant car trips of less <br /> than 10 km and they would use between one twentieth and one sixtieth of <br /> the fuel used by cars per km. In 2004 the combined production of <br /> electric power assisted bicycles in China, Japan and Taiwan is expected <br /> to reach four million and many of these will be sold in Japan the EU, <br /> the USA and Canada. Power assisted bicycles both have great potential <br /> as access modes to public transport in low density areas of Australia's <br /> capital cities <br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> However, it will be necessary to change <br /> the existing legislation for electric bicycles by lifting <br /> maximum power output from 200 to 250 watts for able bodied <br /> people and for electric bicycles with a power output of 500 <br /> watts to be available to the elderly, the lame and those <br /> who are partially disabled with arthritis.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> <b>Mitra</b>: <br /> <blockquote>Alan's advocacy of electric bikes as a highly appropriate transport mechanism, especially in cities, is excellent. His comment is also important that the newer bikes have progressed a long way from the initial entries in this field, and the better ones allow motor and pedals to both provide energy, unlike some of the "toy" bikes, that are electric only, and have less range and less speed than even a moderately fit human-powered bike.<br /> <br /> However I would like to suggest that he doesn't go far enough in his suggestions. Even 250 watts is pretty anaemic for a transportation device, especially if their are hills involved, and the range needs to be higher to enable people to get to AND back from their destination. ....</blockquote><br /> <br /> Alan Parker:<br /> <blockquote>I agree with Mitra that in the hilly suburbs of Sydney and Brisbane 250 watts in not much of a boost for electric power assisted bicycles ( E-PABs) although it is adequate in the flat areas of cities if you are able bodied. In my email I did not want advocate the 750 watt new US regulation because of the known opposition by the road Authorities in Australia and stuff up made in the drafting of Australian road rules a few years ago. So I settled on the 250 watts which is now law in within the EU and Japan. The other problem with 750 watts without a performance and safety based standard it would allow Segways to mow down pedestrians at 20 km per hour on shared footways. I know some freeway freaks who want to legalize Segways in Australia.</blockquote><br /> <br /> Full posts are here .... 2004-12-24T21:21:57.000Z 2004-12-24T21:21:57.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2836-harvard_gazette Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I enjoyed this piece about an innovative mayor of a troubled city.</p><p><a href="http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/03.11/01-mockus.html">Harvard Gazette: Academic turns city into a social experiment</a>: "Mockus, who had no political experience, ran for mayor of Bogot&aacute;; he was successful mainly because people in Colombia's capital city saw him as an honest guy. With an educator's inventiveness, Mockus turned Bogot&aacute; into a social experiment just as the city was choked with violence, lawless traffic, corruption, and gangs of street children who mugged and stole. It was a city perceived by some to be on the verge of chaos."</p>

<p>I enjoyed this piece about an innovative mayor of a troubled city.</p><p><a href="http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/03.11/01-mockus.html">Harvard Gazette: Academic turns city into a social experiment</a>: "Mockus, who had no political experience, ran for mayor of Bogot&aacute;; he was successful mainly because people in Colombia's capital city saw him as an honest guy. With an educator's inventiveness, Mockus turned Bogot&aacute; into a social experiment just as the city was choked with violence, lawless traffic, corruption, and gangs of street children who mugged and stole. It was a city perceived by some to be on the verge of chaos."</p> 2004-12-26T18:11:08.000Z 2004-12-26T18:11:08.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2837-desperado_days Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This essay was interesting, if we don't understand the adversary's motivations it is hard to predict their actions. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&#38;name=News&#38;file=article&#38;sid=403&#38;mode=thread&#38;order=0&#38;thold=">Alternative Press Review: Desperado Days</a><br /> <blockquote>Occasionally, we need to step back from the facile criticism of the Bush Administration and think deeper about why it does what it does. It is fun to merely label it insane and delusional and idiotic, for Mr. Bush, in particular, deserves most of those labels.<br /> <br /> However, many of us believe that Mr. Bush is just the figurehead for a larger Design and Policy, and he, himself, has acknowledged as much. The &#8220;others&#8221; responsible for the administration's actions could, too, be idiotic and delusional, but they may not be insane.<br /> <br /> We must acknowledge that it is very dangerous not to understand what drives our adversary.<br /> <br /> Apart from pure avarice and ego, the actions of the Bush Administration have the appearance of incredible desperateness. It is that desperateness &#8211; their desperado-like, passionate, furious recklessness &#8211; which must cause us to ask, does the Bush Administration know something that we do not know? What do they know that makes them act like desperadoes?<br /> <br /> Perhaps the better question is, do we know anything that the Bush Administration does not know?<br /> <br /> Separating, for the moment, &#8220;knowledge&#8221; from the will or reason to act on that knowledge, we must assume that everything that is known to those of us outside the corridors of power is equally known to them inside the corridors of power. Logically, we should also assume (based on their access to money, sources and data that we cannot ever have) that those who walk the corridors of power have available to them more information than we can ever hope to have.<br /> <br /> If, as Shakespeare wrote, the world is a stage, then we sit in a darkened theater watching a dimly lit performance where, at best, we see the silhouettes of the actors brushing against the curtain. Those in the Administration, however, act on the other side of the curtain. They can clearly see the unfolding drama that we can only guess at.<br /> <br /> So what do we know about our world and the Administration's way of dealing with it? <br /> <br /> ...</blockquote><br /> <br />

This essay was interesting, if we don't understand the adversary's motivations it is hard to predict their actions. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&#38;name=News&#38;file=article&#38;sid=403&#38;mode=thread&#38;order=0&#38;thold=">Alternative Press Review: Desperado Days</a><br /> <blockquote>Occasionally, we need to step back from the facile criticism of the Bush Administration and think deeper about why it does what it does. It is fun to merely label it insane and delusional and idiotic, for Mr. Bush, in particular, deserves most of those labels.<br /> <br /> However, many of us believe that Mr. Bush is just the figurehead for a larger Design and Policy, and he, himself, has acknowledged as much. The &#8220;others&#8221; responsible for the administration's actions could, too, be idiotic and delusional, but they may not be insane.<br /> <br /> We must acknowledge that it is very dangerous not to understand what drives our adversary.<br /> <br /> Apart from pure avarice and ego, the actions of the Bush Administration have the appearance of incredible desperateness. It is that desperateness &#8211; their desperado-like, passionate, furious recklessness &#8211; which must cause us to ask, does the Bush Administration know something that we do not know? What do they know that makes them act like desperadoes?<br /> <br /> Perhaps the better question is, do we know anything that the Bush Administration does not know?<br /> <br /> Separating, for the moment, &#8220;knowledge&#8221; from the will or reason to act on that knowledge, we must assume that everything that is known to those of us outside the corridors of power is equally known to them inside the corridors of power. Logically, we should also assume (based on their access to money, sources and data that we cannot ever have) that those who walk the corridors of power have available to them more information than we can ever hope to have.<br /> <br /> If, as Shakespeare wrote, the world is a stage, then we sit in a darkened theater watching a dimly lit performance where, at best, we see the silhouettes of the actors brushing against the curtain. Those in the Administration, however, act on the other side of the curtain. They can clearly see the unfolding drama that we can only guess at.<br /> <br /> So what do we know about our world and the Administration's way of dealing with it? <br /> <br /> ...</blockquote><br /> <br /> 2005-01-11T11:09:30.000Z 2005-01-11T11:09:30.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2838-an_indian_villa Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/2005010700592001.jpg" border="0" height="350" width="266" alt="street full of cookers" align="right" /><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/07/stories/2005010700592000.htm">TIRUPATI, JAN. 6.</a> Here is a bright little village in Andhra Pradesh that is all solar and smoke-free &mdash; the first of its kind in the country.<br /> <br /> Bysanivaripalle, 125 km northwest of Tirupati, has 36 families. Their main means of livelihood is sericulture (silk cocoons). The eco-conscious residents of the electrified village went in for the first biogas plant in the region two decades ago. The officials of the Non-Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NEDCAP) did not need to put in much effort to motivate them to go solar.<br /> <br /> Intersol, an Austrian non-governmental organisation, sponsored the provision of "Sk-14" cookers here last year. Gadhia Solar, a Valsad-based environmental body that imports, supplies and installs them, executed the job. It is the single largest cluster of cookers that Gadhia Solar has installed anywhere. A group of schoolchildren from Austria visited the village last year to witness the project."</p>

<p><img src="/images/2005010700592001.jpg" border="0" height="350" width="266" alt="street full of cookers" align="right" /><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/07/stories/2005010700592000.htm">TIRUPATI, JAN. 6.</a> Here is a bright little village in Andhra Pradesh that is all solar and smoke-free &mdash; the first of its kind in the country.<br /> <br /> Bysanivaripalle, 125 km northwest of Tirupati, has 36 families. Their main means of livelihood is sericulture (silk cocoons). The eco-conscious residents of the electrified village went in for the first biogas plant in the region two decades ago. The officials of the Non-Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NEDCAP) did not need to put in much effort to motivate them to go solar.<br /> <br /> Intersol, an Austrian non-governmental organisation, sponsored the provision of "Sk-14" cookers here last year. Gadhia Solar, a Valsad-based environmental body that imports, supplies and installs them, executed the job. It is the single largest cluster of cookers that Gadhia Solar has installed anywhere. A group of schoolchildren from Austria visited the village last year to witness the project."</p> 2005-01-12T11:05:50.000Z 2005-01-12T11:05:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2839-organic_crc_rej Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

(From <a href="http://www.bfa.com.au">Organic Advantage</a> Jan 2005)<br /> <br /> The Organic industry has been unsuccessful in achieving a government sponsored Organic Co-operative Research Centre grant from the latest bid process for CRCs. This is a backward step for food and farming science in Australia.<br /> <br /> Biological Farmers of Australia Co-op (BFA) was committed to a 7 year $210,000 investment in the proposed Organic Co-operative Research Centre were it to be successful. Other sponsors included Coles Supermarkets as well as industry players including Organic Crop Protectants and Universities and Departments of Agriculture across the country.<br /> <br /> "The collaboration would have been an excellent move forward for innovative modern biologically based agricultural research of benefit to both the farming community and the broader environment. Particularly it would have assisted in growing the organic industry, which continues to show demand in the marketplace domestically and internationally, whilst being limited by supply and science based understanding of organic production practices&#8240; noted Dr Andrew Monk, CEO of BFA.<br /> <br /> "This multi-disciplinary, nationally based grouping of researchers would have overseen the commissioning of independent research in fields such as nutrition and food quality as well as integrated, biologically oriented sustainable farming systems, enabling Australia to capitalise on its natural advantages as well as finding solutions to some of our ongoing environmental challenges.<br /> <br /> "At a time when the EU is delving further into this type of research*, this is clearly a backward step for Australia. There is a growing trend in both agricultural policy, as well as food policy more generally internationally, toward support for organic food and farming systems. There is a need for a long term approach of support for this industry, it is not something that can be turned on over night. We are talking a profound and fundamental change in the way we do science research and the way we practice and support our food and farming systems in Australia", said Monk.<br /> <br /> Co-operative Research Centres are usually industry or "issue" specific networks of researchers, supported by industry and matching government funding, which assists in multi-disciplinary research of benefit to the industry and other stakeholders.<br /> <br /> The BFA, which via its subsidiary Australian Certified Organic Pty Ltd (ACO) collects more than half the voluntary organic industry levies and membership fees, will now seek other avenues to ensure that industry members' levies are equaled by government supported grants to progress the interests of the industry and in turn the Australian environment.<br /> <br /> R&D in organics will be featured in the Next Edition of the Australian Organic Journal.

(From <a href="http://www.bfa.com.au">Organic Advantage</a> Jan 2005)<br /> <br /> The Organic industry has been unsuccessful in achieving a government sponsored Organic Co-operative Research Centre grant from the latest bid process for CRCs. This is a backward step for food and farming science in Australia.<br /> <br /> Biological Farmers of Australia Co-op (BFA) was committed to a 7 year $210,000 investment in the proposed Organic Co-operative Research Centre were it to be successful. Other sponsors included Coles Supermarkets as well as industry players including Organic Crop Protectants and Universities and Departments of Agriculture across the country.<br /> <br /> "The collaboration would have been an excellent move forward for innovative modern biologically based agricultural research of benefit to both the farming community and the broader environment. Particularly it would have assisted in growing the organic industry, which continues to show demand in the marketplace domestically and internationally, whilst being limited by supply and science based understanding of organic production practices&#8240; noted Dr Andrew Monk, CEO of BFA.<br /> <br /> "This multi-disciplinary, nationally based grouping of researchers would have overseen the commissioning of independent research in fields such as nutrition and food quality as well as integrated, biologically oriented sustainable farming systems, enabling Australia to capitalise on its natural advantages as well as finding solutions to some of our ongoing environmental challenges.<br /> <br /> "At a time when the EU is delving further into this type of research*, this is clearly a backward step for Australia. There is a growing trend in both agricultural policy, as well as food policy more generally internationally, toward support for organic food and farming systems. There is a need for a long term approach of support for this industry, it is not something that can be turned on over night. We are talking a profound and fundamental change in the way we do science research and the way we practice and support our food and farming systems in Australia", said Monk.<br /> <br /> Co-operative Research Centres are usually industry or "issue" specific networks of researchers, supported by industry and matching government funding, which assists in multi-disciplinary research of benefit to the industry and other stakeholders.<br /> <br /> The BFA, which via its subsidiary Australian Certified Organic Pty Ltd (ACO) collects more than half the voluntary organic industry levies and membership fees, will now seek other avenues to ensure that industry members' levies are equaled by government supported grants to progress the interests of the industry and in turn the Australian environment.<br /> <br /> R&D in organics will be featured in the Next Edition of the Australian Organic Journal. 2005-01-16T08:45:59.000Z 2005-01-16T08:45:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2840-tsunami_mangrov Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This interesting article on the relationship between the damage caused by the Tsunami, and the destruction of coastal mangroves for shrimps, is interesting and has some interesting numbers on the relative economic benefits from shrimping, and damages from the tsunami.<br /> <br /> Devinder Sharma via Simpolicies list<br /> <br /> <blockquote>The magnitude of the disaster was only exacerbated by the neoliberal economic policies that pushed economic<br /> growth at the expense of human life...<br /> <br /> Since the 1960s, the Asian sea-coast region has been plundered by the large<br /> industrialised shrimp firms that brought environmentally-unfriendly<br /> aquaculture to its sea shores. Shrimp cultivation, rising to over 8 billion<br /> tonnes a year in the year 2000, had already played havoc with the fragile<br /> eco-systems....<br /> <br /> The expansion of shrimp farming was at the cost of tropical mangroves --<br /> amongst the world's most important ecosystems. Each acre of mangrove forest<br /> destroyed results in an estimated 676 pounds loss in marine harvest.<br /> Mangrove swamps have been nature's protection for the coastal regions from<br /> the large waves, weathering the impact of cyclones, and serving as a nursery<br /> for three-fourth of the commercial fish species that spend part of their<br /> life cycle in the mangrove swamps. Mangroves in any case were one of the<br /> world's most threatened habitats but instead of replanting the mangrove<br /> swamps, faulty economic policies only hastened its disappearance. Despite<br /> warning by ecologists and environmentalists, the World Bank turned a deaf<br /> ear. <br /> ...<br /> <br /> Let us now look at the comparative advantage of protecting environment and<br /> thereby reducing the havoc from the growth-oriented market economy. Having<br /> grown tenfold in the last 15 years, shrimp farming is now a $9 billion<br /> industry. It is estimated that shrimp consumption in North America, Japan<br /> and Western Europe has increased by 300 per cent within the last ten years.<br /> The massive wave of destruction caused by the Dec 26 tsunami in 11 Asian<br /> countries alone has surpassed the economic gain that the shrimp industry<br /> claims to have harvested by several times. With over 1,50,000 people dead,<br /> the staggering social and economic loss will take some time to be<br /> ascertained. <br /> </blockquote><br /> (read the full article)

This interesting article on the relationship between the damage caused by the Tsunami, and the destruction of coastal mangroves for shrimps, is interesting and has some interesting numbers on the relative economic benefits from shrimping, and damages from the tsunami.<br /> <br /> Devinder Sharma via Simpolicies list<br /> <br /> <blockquote>The magnitude of the disaster was only exacerbated by the neoliberal economic policies that pushed economic<br /> growth at the expense of human life...<br /> <br /> Since the 1960s, the Asian sea-coast region has been plundered by the large<br /> industrialised shrimp firms that brought environmentally-unfriendly<br /> aquaculture to its sea shores. Shrimp cultivation, rising to over 8 billion<br /> tonnes a year in the year 2000, had already played havoc with the fragile<br /> eco-systems....<br /> <br /> The expansion of shrimp farming was at the cost of tropical mangroves --<br /> amongst the world's most important ecosystems. Each acre of mangrove forest<br /> destroyed results in an estimated 676 pounds loss in marine harvest.<br /> Mangrove swamps have been nature's protection for the coastal regions from<br /> the large waves, weathering the impact of cyclones, and serving as a nursery<br /> for three-fourth of the commercial fish species that spend part of their<br /> life cycle in the mangrove swamps. Mangroves in any case were one of the<br /> world's most threatened habitats but instead of replanting the mangrove<br /> swamps, faulty economic policies only hastened its disappearance. Despite<br /> warning by ecologists and environmentalists, the World Bank turned a deaf<br /> ear. <br /> ...<br /> <br /> Let us now look at the comparative advantage of protecting environment and<br /> thereby reducing the havoc from the growth-oriented market economy. Having<br /> grown tenfold in the last 15 years, shrimp farming is now a $9 billion<br /> industry. It is estimated that shrimp consumption in North America, Japan<br /> and Western Europe has increased by 300 per cent within the last ten years.<br /> The massive wave of destruction caused by the Dec 26 tsunami in 11 Asian<br /> countries alone has surpassed the economic gain that the shrimp industry<br /> claims to have harvested by several times. With over 1,50,000 people dead,<br /> the staggering social and economic loss will take some time to be<br /> ascertained. <br /> </blockquote><br /> (read the full article) 2005-02-07T17:59:05.000Z 2005-02-07T17:59:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2841-1000_things_mad Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<a href="http://www.bambus.de/infos/1000/indexx.php">Bambus</a> <img src="/images/0090_dach.jpg" border="0" height="80" width="80" alt="0090_dach.jpg" align="right" /> is collecting information - and pictures - of a 1000 things made out of bamboo. They've got a nice collection already, and room for more (only thing they are missing is an RSS feed!)

<a href="http://www.bambus.de/infos/1000/indexx.php">Bambus</a> <img src="/images/0090_dach.jpg" border="0" height="80" width="80" alt="0090_dach.jpg" align="right" /> is collecting information - and pictures - of a 1000 things made out of bamboo. They've got a nice collection already, and room for more (only thing they are missing is an RSS feed!) 2005-02-09T09:16:24.000Z 2005-02-09T09:16:24.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2842-environmental_b Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Based in Bali, the <a href="http://bamboocentral.org">Environmental Bamboo Foundation</a> is focussed on finding solutions to the diminishing tropical forest resources using Bamboo.<br /> <br /> The web site has lots of resources, for example on the <a href="http://bamboocentral.org/pharmacopoeia.html">medicinal uses</a> and a really good <a href="http://bamboocentral.org/links.html">Links</a> page.<br /> <br />

Based in Bali, the <a href="http://bamboocentral.org">Environmental Bamboo Foundation</a> is focussed on finding solutions to the diminishing tropical forest resources using Bamboo.<br /> <br /> The web site has lots of resources, for example on the <a href="http://bamboocentral.org/pharmacopoeia.html">medicinal uses</a> and a really good <a href="http://bamboocentral.org/links.html">Links</a> page.<br /> <br /> 2005-02-10T14:38:02.000Z 2005-02-10T14:38:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2843-resources_for_m Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I found a really useful set of resources at <a href="http://www.sustainablevillage.com/servlet/display/microenterprise/">Sustainable Village</a> for developing Micro Enterprises in developing countries.<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Very small businesses called microenterprises are built on dreams and hard work, but the assistance they need is often in short supply. Nowhere is this more apparent than in parts of the world where equipment, transportation and reliable electricity and telecommunications can be hard to come by. This web site was created to serve as a tool to foster new opportunities for rural entrepreneurs.<br /> <br /> Complementing the partnership between microenterprises and their supporting organizations, our mission is to forge new connections that will enable businesses to locate the resources they need, increase their customer base and expand their efforts into new places and markets. Using the power of the Internet, we can link your organization to people ready to help. If you need design plans for a piece of equipment or simply a book, we can find it. If you want to expand into new markets, we'll make the introductions and minimize your risk. If you're creating a product, we'll explore offering it to the world via our business-to-business network, web sites and consumer catalogs.<br /> <br /> Whether you'd like to become a Sustainable Village microenterprise partner, are seeking new connections to like-minded organizations and efforts, or are simply looking for ideas, please contact us. We'd like to learn more about your work so we can share your experiences and wisdom with our global audience.</blockquote><br /> <br /> If you know of other useful resources in this area, please add them as comments.

I found a really useful set of resources at <a href="http://www.sustainablevillage.com/servlet/display/microenterprise/">Sustainable Village</a> for developing Micro Enterprises in developing countries.<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Very small businesses called microenterprises are built on dreams and hard work, but the assistance they need is often in short supply. Nowhere is this more apparent than in parts of the world where equipment, transportation and reliable electricity and telecommunications can be hard to come by. This web site was created to serve as a tool to foster new opportunities for rural entrepreneurs.<br /> <br /> Complementing the partnership between microenterprises and their supporting organizations, our mission is to forge new connections that will enable businesses to locate the resources they need, increase their customer base and expand their efforts into new places and markets. Using the power of the Internet, we can link your organization to people ready to help. If you need design plans for a piece of equipment or simply a book, we can find it. If you want to expand into new markets, we'll make the introductions and minimize your risk. If you're creating a product, we'll explore offering it to the world via our business-to-business network, web sites and consumer catalogs.<br /> <br /> Whether you'd like to become a Sustainable Village microenterprise partner, are seeking new connections to like-minded organizations and efforts, or are simply looking for ideas, please contact us. We'd like to learn more about your work so we can share your experiences and wisdom with our global audience.</blockquote><br /> <br /> If you know of other useful resources in this area, please add them as comments. 2005-02-22T09:09:02.000Z 2005-02-22T09:09:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2844-peak_oil_prepar Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Peak Oil Information Night<br /> <br /> Saturday 26th February.<br /> Talk: 7pm to 9-9.30 pm.<br /> Venue: Ambaji Wellness centre, Shala Hall.<br /> 6 Marvel St, Byron Bay<br /> <br /> <br /> Peak Oil- Preparing for Energy Decent<br /> <br /> Energy availability is set to start declining inside a decade with the onset<br /> of the peak in global oil production and soon after the peak in global gas<br /> production. Global oil production may already be at maximum capacity,<br /> levelling off before the inevitable rapid decline. Our whole way of life in<br /> the modern, industrial/post industrial Western world is reliant on cheap,<br /> abundant oil and gas. Is the war in Iraq related to securing the last of the<br /> abundant hydrocarbon energy reserves? Why is an event of this importance not<br /> widely understood? What about alternative energy sources? The realities of<br /> peak oil are starting to emerge into mainstream media and policy making<br /> circles. Find out the facts on energy availability, how energy decent will<br /> effect your life, what you can do about it and the prospects for Byron Shire<br /> and beyond. A list of information sources and resources will be available at<br /> the talk.<br /> <br /> Tim Winton is founder of The Permaforest Trust, a not-for-profit<br /> sustainability education centre at Barkers Vale, on the North Coast of NSW.<br /> www.permaforesttrust.org.au

Peak Oil Information Night<br /> <br /> Saturday 26th February.<br /> Talk: 7pm to 9-9.30 pm.<br /> Venue: Ambaji Wellness centre, Shala Hall.<br /> 6 Marvel St, Byron Bay<br /> <br /> <br /> Peak Oil- Preparing for Energy Decent<br /> <br /> Energy availability is set to start declining inside a decade with the onset<br /> of the peak in global oil production and soon after the peak in global gas<br /> production. Global oil production may already be at maximum capacity,<br /> levelling off before the inevitable rapid decline. Our whole way of life in<br /> the modern, industrial/post industrial Western world is reliant on cheap,<br /> abundant oil and gas. Is the war in Iraq related to securing the last of the<br /> abundant hydrocarbon energy reserves? Why is an event of this importance not<br /> widely understood? What about alternative energy sources? The realities of<br /> peak oil are starting to emerge into mainstream media and policy making<br /> circles. Find out the facts on energy availability, how energy decent will<br /> effect your life, what you can do about it and the prospects for Byron Shire<br /> and beyond. A list of information sources and resources will be available at<br /> the talk.<br /> <br /> Tim Winton is founder of The Permaforest Trust, a not-for-profit<br /> sustainability education centre at Barkers Vale, on the North Coast of NSW.<br /> www.permaforesttrust.org.au 2005-02-24T14:47:30.000Z 2005-02-24T14:47:30.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2845-social_and_envi Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The SET competition, is a prize for a business plan for a new social or environmental technology. The idea is to bring together innovators with business students to look at how to commercialise technologies. <br /> <br /> I think this is a great idea, as many innovations never get off the ground because of the lack of business skills of the inventors. <br /> <br /> This is the first year of the prize, with full plans due March 31st 2005. <br /> <br /> See <a href="http://www.set-info.com">www.set-info.com</a> for more info.<br /> <br /> (Full Disclosure - I'm a volunteer advisor to the competition).

The SET competition, is a prize for a business plan for a new social or environmental technology. The idea is to bring together innovators with business students to look at how to commercialise technologies. <br /> <br /> I think this is a great idea, as many innovations never get off the ground because of the lack of business skills of the inventors. <br /> <br /> This is the first year of the prize, with full plans due March 31st 2005. <br /> <br /> See <a href="http://www.set-info.com">www.set-info.com</a> for more info.<br /> <br /> (Full Disclosure - I'm a volunteer advisor to the competition). 2005-03-13T09:20:08.000Z 2005-03-13T09:20:08.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2846-zopa_peer_to_pe Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I just came across an interesting new banking institution called <a href="http://www.zopa.com/">Zopa</a>. <br /> <br /> Zopa matches borrowers and lenders for direct lending between them. It charges 1% flat fee on the loan, and provides the credit protection / debt collection etc services. <br /> <br /> Given the lack of innovation and inefficiencies in the banking sector it wouldn't surprise me to see this take off.<br /> <br /> Currently its for UK residents only. <br />

I just came across an interesting new banking institution called <a href="http://www.zopa.com/">Zopa</a>. <br /> <br /> Zopa matches borrowers and lenders for direct lending between them. It charges 1% flat fee on the loan, and provides the credit protection / debt collection etc services. <br /> <br /> Given the lack of innovation and inefficiencies in the banking sector it wouldn't surprise me to see this take off.<br /> <br /> Currently its for UK residents only. <br /> 2005-03-16T12:27:05.000Z 2005-03-16T12:27:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2847-couthored_paper Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/ijccr_mitra_final.pdf" title="Self guarrantee paper"></pdf-link><p>I've just co-authored a paper in the <a href="http://www.le.ac.uk/ulmc/ijccr">International Journal of Community Currency Research</a> with Bernard Lietaer of the <a href="http://www.accessfoundation.org">Access Foundation</a> on Complementary Currencies. It was a privilege to work with Bernard on this, he's one of the leading thinkers in this field.</p><p><blockquote>The WAT system, as used in Japan, allows for businesses to issue their own tickets (IOU&rsquo;s) which can circulate as a complementary currency within a community. This paper proposes a variation on that model, where the issuer of a ticket can offer a guarantee, in the form of some goods or services. The difference in value, along with a reasonable acceptance that the issuer is capable of delivering the service or goods, allows for a higher degree of confidence in the ticket, and therefore a greater liquidity. </blockquote></p><p>The game I developed to demonstrate complementary currencies back in 1985 is still <a href="/lets-pretend.htm">available online</a>.</p>

<pdf-link href="/files/ijccr_mitra_final.pdf" title="Self guarrantee paper"></pdf-link><p>I've just co-authored a paper in the <a href="http://www.le.ac.uk/ulmc/ijccr">International Journal of Community Currency Research</a> with Bernard Lietaer of the <a href="http://www.accessfoundation.org">Access Foundation</a> on Complementary Currencies. It was a privilege to work with Bernard on this, he's one of the leading thinkers in this field.</p><p><blockquote>The WAT system, as used in Japan, allows for businesses to issue their own tickets (IOU&rsquo;s) which can circulate as a complementary currency within a community. This paper proposes a variation on that model, where the issuer of a ticket can offer a guarantee, in the form of some goods or services. The difference in value, along with a reasonable acceptance that the issuer is capable of delivering the service or goods, allows for a higher degree of confidence in the ticket, and therefore a greater liquidity. </blockquote></p><p>The game I developed to demonstrate complementary currencies back in 1985 is still <a href="/lets-pretend.htm">available online</a>.</p> 2005-03-16T13:57:26.000Z 2005-03-16T13:57:26.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2848-easybeinggreen Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="http://www.easybeinggreen.net/cms/websites/publicsite/images/logo.gif" width="204" height="104" align="right"> At the Sustainable Living Fair in melbourne in Feb 2005, i was impressed by "<a href="http://www.easybeinggreen.net">easybeinggreen</a>", they have a plan to see 70% of Australian homes reduce energy consumption by 30% in 10 years.<br /> <br /> Two things impressed me about the effort<br /> <br /> 1: Scale, reducing emissions by a few percent is a step in the right direction, but isn't going to keep carbon below 400ppm, and temperature gain below 2 degrees. We urgently need bold attempts that are at the right scale to make substantial difference to our emissions, i.e. reduce consumption by 30% then get the remaining 70% from mostly renewable sources etc. <br /> <br /> Related to this, i like the thought they've put into doing things efficiently at scale, for example Nic Frances, described to me the cost-savings from using a cherry-picker to put plumbers onto roofs rather than spending a couple of days building scaffolding and another taking it down. <br /> <br /> 2: Consumer impact focus, too many people expect people to just do the right thing, with unsurprisingly small take-up. Easybeinggreen have thought through the disruption - everything is done by a multi-discipline team over one or two days. They've also thought through the costing, working with more progressive banks (e.g. ANZ) so that the capital cost is added to existing mortgages, at which point energy savings approximate increased payments.<br /> <br /> I hope they can scale their idea beyond their current Melbourne base, and achieve the impacts we desperately need.

<img src="http://www.easybeinggreen.net/cms/websites/publicsite/images/logo.gif" width="204" height="104" align="right"> At the Sustainable Living Fair in melbourne in Feb 2005, i was impressed by "<a href="http://www.easybeinggreen.net">easybeinggreen</a>", they have a plan to see 70% of Australian homes reduce energy consumption by 30% in 10 years.<br /> <br /> Two things impressed me about the effort<br /> <br /> 1: Scale, reducing emissions by a few percent is a step in the right direction, but isn't going to keep carbon below 400ppm, and temperature gain below 2 degrees. We urgently need bold attempts that are at the right scale to make substantial difference to our emissions, i.e. reduce consumption by 30% then get the remaining 70% from mostly renewable sources etc. <br /> <br /> Related to this, i like the thought they've put into doing things efficiently at scale, for example Nic Frances, described to me the cost-savings from using a cherry-picker to put plumbers onto roofs rather than spending a couple of days building scaffolding and another taking it down. <br /> <br /> 2: Consumer impact focus, too many people expect people to just do the right thing, with unsurprisingly small take-up. Easybeinggreen have thought through the disruption - everything is done by a multi-discipline team over one or two days. They've also thought through the costing, working with more progressive banks (e.g. ANZ) so that the capital cost is added to existing mortgages, at which point energy savings approximate increased payments.<br /> <br /> I hope they can scale their idea beyond their current Melbourne base, and achieve the impacts we desperately need. 2005-03-29T08:21:25.000Z 2005-03-29T08:21:25.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2849-bamboo_shortage Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img align=right src="http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20050328/thumb.sge.bsk41.280305201830.photo00.photo.default-380x284.jpg">Many people don't realise that many species of Bamboo flower in synchrony world-wide and then die, with implications not only for the humans who depend on them:</p><blockquote>AP - Giant pandas in western China could be at risk of starvation because the bamboo plants that they eat are beginning to die off in a cycle that happens about every 60 years, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.</blockquote><br /> <br /> <p>(Via <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestrated/*http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/china_threatened_pandas">Yahoo)</p>

<p><img align=right src="http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20050328/thumb.sge.bsk41.280305201830.photo00.photo.default-380x284.jpg">Many people don't realise that many species of Bamboo flower in synchrony world-wide and then die, with implications not only for the humans who depend on them:</p><blockquote>AP - Giant pandas in western China could be at risk of starvation because the bamboo plants that they eat are beginning to die off in a cycle that happens about every 60 years, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.</blockquote><br /> <br /> <p>(Via <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/highestrated/*http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/china_threatened_pandas">Yahoo)</p> 2005-03-29T08:47:33.000Z 2005-03-29T08:47:33.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2850-flying_wind_tur Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This is an interesting potential solution to two problems of wind generators - the resistance to the visual impact, and the increase in wind-speed (and therefore efficiency) with height above ground.</p><blockquote><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/flying_windmill_1.php">Flying Windmills</a>: <img align="right" width=200 src="http://www.treehugger.com/files/flyingwindmill2.jpg">"Here is a possible answer to the questions raised in Saturday's :: Where will the turbines be - 30,000 feet up in the jetstream where the wind is strong and steady. Tethered windmills will rise like helicopters when power is put into them, and then stay up like autogyros spinning in the wind, generating power and sending it down the tether.<br /> <br /> <br /> The designers, Sky Windpower Corporation, envision clusters with as many as 600 units, generating as much as 12,000 megawatts, far more than your typical nuclear plant. They point out that such systems could easily generate enough power to produce hydrogen through electrolysis.<br /> <br /> <br /> Worried about airplances being diced and sliced instead of birds? The designers point out that there already are lots of tethered balloons that pilots have learned to avoid- along the US/ Mexican border looking for drug smugglers.<br /> <br /> <br /> This treehugger is more worried about one of them breaking down and falling- The designers suggest that they be placed near cities but also over uninhabited areas- that's a bit of a contradiction in most of North America- there is almost always somebody down there. :: <a href="http://www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm">Sky Windpower Corporation</a> thanks to :: <a href="http://www.urban-renaissance.org/urbanren/index.cfm?DSP=content&amp;ContentID=12633">Lawrence Solomon</a> by [LA]"<br /> <br /> (Via <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/">Treehugger</a>.)</blockquote>

<p>This is an interesting potential solution to two problems of wind generators - the resistance to the visual impact, and the increase in wind-speed (and therefore efficiency) with height above ground.</p><blockquote><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/flying_windmill_1.php">Flying Windmills</a>: <img align="right" width=200 src="http://www.treehugger.com/files/flyingwindmill2.jpg">"Here is a possible answer to the questions raised in Saturday's :: Where will the turbines be - 30,000 feet up in the jetstream where the wind is strong and steady. Tethered windmills will rise like helicopters when power is put into them, and then stay up like autogyros spinning in the wind, generating power and sending it down the tether.<br /> <br /> <br /> The designers, Sky Windpower Corporation, envision clusters with as many as 600 units, generating as much as 12,000 megawatts, far more than your typical nuclear plant. They point out that such systems could easily generate enough power to produce hydrogen through electrolysis.<br /> <br /> <br /> Worried about airplances being diced and sliced instead of birds? The designers point out that there already are lots of tethered balloons that pilots have learned to avoid- along the US/ Mexican border looking for drug smugglers.<br /> <br /> <br /> This treehugger is more worried about one of them breaking down and falling- The designers suggest that they be placed near cities but also over uninhabited areas- that's a bit of a contradiction in most of North America- there is almost always somebody down there. :: <a href="http://www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm">Sky Windpower Corporation</a> thanks to :: <a href="http://www.urban-renaissance.org/urbanren/index.cfm?DSP=content&amp;ContentID=12633">Lawrence Solomon</a> by [LA]"<br /> <br /> (Via <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/">Treehugger</a>.)</blockquote> 2005-04-01T20:38:59.000Z 2005-04-01T20:38:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2851-toshibas_new_on Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img align=right src="http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/imgdat/img2905.jpg"> Toshiba has announced what sounds like a big advance in Battery technology with a Lithium Ion battery that recharges to 80% of capacity in a minute; only loses 1% of its capacity after 1000 cycles; among other attributes that make it particularly suitable for hybrid vehicles.<br /> <br /> The <a href="http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm">press release</a> is unusually informative, with some neat charts for comparing it with other batteries. <br /> <br /> I think the potential for a fast recharge has been overlooked in most of the reports on this battery. Sure its great for regenerative braking, but it also eliminates a lot of the range arguments against pure electric cars. At a sweep it creates the potential for doubling the range, since one could assume recharging at the destination (an unreasonable assumption if a recharge takes a few hours). Similarly, for long journeys a one or two minute break every hour is not an unreasonable expectation. <br /> <br /> The gains compound, i.e. if a car (or scooter or bike) only has to travel one hour between recharges, then the mass of batteries to be carried can be reduced, which means less energy needed to carry the batteries around, and so on. <br /> <br /> I'd love to get a set of these for my electrified pushbike, it would make it practical for a LOT more uses than currently. <br />

<img align=right src="http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/imgdat/img2905.jpg"> Toshiba has announced what sounds like a big advance in Battery technology with a Lithium Ion battery that recharges to 80% of capacity in a minute; only loses 1% of its capacity after 1000 cycles; among other attributes that make it particularly suitable for hybrid vehicles.<br /> <br /> The <a href="http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm">press release</a> is unusually informative, with some neat charts for comparing it with other batteries. <br /> <br /> I think the potential for a fast recharge has been overlooked in most of the reports on this battery. Sure its great for regenerative braking, but it also eliminates a lot of the range arguments against pure electric cars. At a sweep it creates the potential for doubling the range, since one could assume recharging at the destination (an unreasonable assumption if a recharge takes a few hours). Similarly, for long journeys a one or two minute break every hour is not an unreasonable expectation. <br /> <br /> The gains compound, i.e. if a car (or scooter or bike) only has to travel one hour between recharges, then the mass of batteries to be carried can be reduced, which means less energy needed to carry the batteries around, and so on. <br /> <br /> I'd love to get a set of these for my electrified pushbike, it would make it practical for a LOT more uses than currently. <br /> 2005-04-01T20:57:36.000Z 2005-04-01T20:57:36.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2852-transmaterial Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="http://web.archive.org/web/20041223061553/http://transstudio.com/pdf/transmaterial.pdf" title="Transmaterial" src="/images/transmaterial-bookpicture.jpg" style="img{width:125px;}"></pdf-link><p>This resource has an amazing collection of new materials, many of which have an environmental/sustainability angle, they show how thinking outside the box has given us a lot of different tools for solving problems.</p><blockquote><a href="http://www.transstudio.com/">Transmaterial</a> is a catalog of materials, products and processes that are redefining our physical environment. Edited by Blaine Brownell, the project started as a <em>product of the week</em> newsletter sponsored by the Seattle based architecture firm <a href="http://www.nbbj.com/">NBBJ</a>. This incredibly comprehensive guide is as beautiful as it is informative.</blockquote>The entire PDF is downloadable.</p>

<pdf-link href="http://web.archive.org/web/20041223061553/http://transstudio.com/pdf/transmaterial.pdf" title="Transmaterial" src="/images/transmaterial-bookpicture.jpg" style="img{width:125px;}"></pdf-link><p>This resource has an amazing collection of new materials, many of which have an environmental/sustainability angle, they show how thinking outside the box has given us a lot of different tools for solving problems.</p><blockquote><a href="http://www.transstudio.com/">Transmaterial</a> is a catalog of materials, products and processes that are redefining our physical environment. Edited by Blaine Brownell, the project started as a <em>product of the week</em> newsletter sponsored by the Seattle based architecture firm <a href="http://www.nbbj.com/">NBBJ</a>. This incredibly comprehensive guide is as beautiful as it is informative.</blockquote>The entire PDF is downloadable.</p> 2005-04-04T09:44:59.000Z 2005-04-04T09:44:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2853-a_summary_from Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I had heard that the Exeter Climate conference called by Tony Blair had made some scarey predictions of the magnitude of climate change to be expected, and the magnitude of emission reductions needed to prevent the worst of them (its too late to prevent a significant amount). This article by Michael McCarthy gives a good summary, and this paragraph gives a flavor.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> We were taken aback. The opening day brought disclosure of two major new threats to the world. The first concerned Antarctica, with a warning from the British Antarctic Survey (the body whose scientists discovered the ozone hole) that, perhaps because of rising temperatures, the vast ice sheet covering the western side of the continent may be starting to break up. Were it to collapse into the sea, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise global sea levels by more than 16 feet. Goodbye London; goodbye Bangladesh.<br /> <br /> Only four years ago the IPCC TAR said it was safe for probably 1,000 years, certainly until the end of this century; last week Professor Chris Rapley, the BAS director, said that judgement would now have to be revised.<br /> <br /> </blockquote>

I had heard that the Exeter Climate conference called by Tony Blair had made some scarey predictions of the magnitude of climate change to be expected, and the magnitude of emission reductions needed to prevent the worst of them (its too late to prevent a significant amount). This article by Michael McCarthy gives a good summary, and this paragraph gives a flavor.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> We were taken aback. The opening day brought disclosure of two major new threats to the world. The first concerned Antarctica, with a warning from the British Antarctic Survey (the body whose scientists discovered the ozone hole) that, perhaps because of rising temperatures, the vast ice sheet covering the western side of the continent may be starting to break up. Were it to collapse into the sea, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise global sea levels by more than 16 feet. Goodbye London; goodbye Bangladesh.<br /> <br /> Only four years ago the IPCC TAR said it was safe for probably 1,000 years, certainly until the end of this century; last week Professor Chris Rapley, the BAS director, said that judgement would now have to be revised.<br /> <br /> </blockquote> 2005-04-08T09:35:32.000Z 2005-04-08T09:35:32.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2854-radio_interview Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

These are the links for the topics I'm planning to talk about on Red Terra's show this morning, I might not get a chance to get to all of them ...<br /> <br /> Feel free to email me mitra@mitra.biz about any of the items below.<br /> <br /> <b>Campaign against the mega-concert venue in Tyagarah</b>, <a href="http://www.tyagarah.org">www.tyagarah.org</a>. Will a much-expanded blues festival, and multiple other large multi-day partying events really enhance our community?<br /> <br /> <b>Downshifting Downunder</b> - <a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au">www.downshifting.net.au</a><br /> Downshifters are people who make a voluntary, long-term change in their lifestyle that involves accepting significantly less income and consuming less. Motives may be varied and include those relating to personal life and those based on principle.<br /> Downshifting Downunder is a new organisation, coming together to catalyze and co-ordinate a downshifting movement in Australia that will significantly impact sustainability and social capital.<br /> <br /> <b>Natures Child Wholesale</b> - <a href="http://www.natureschild.com">www.natureschild.com</a><br /> Natural and Organic Baby products, collaborating with an Indian anti-sweatshop pro-fairtrade NGO to create organic products.<br /> <br /> <b>Papyrus Australia</b> - <a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au">www.papyrusaustralia.com.au</a><br /> Paper from Banana waste - I worked with them last year and they just listed on the stock exchange. <br /> <br /> <b>Byron Sustainable Venture Network</b><br /> A network of businesses in the Byron area involved with sustainability and environmentally friendly products. (talk to me about this).<br /> <br /> <h4>Trip to the US ... two conferences</h4><br /> <br /> <b>Environdesign9 </b>- <a href="http://www.environdesign.com">www.environdesign.com</a><br /> Sustainable design of products and buildings etc.<br /> <br /> <b>Social Venture Network</b> - <a href="http://www.svn.org">www.svn.org</a>. <br /> SVN has been promoting new models and leadership for socially and environmentally sustainable business since 1987.

These are the links for the topics I'm planning to talk about on Red Terra's show this morning, I might not get a chance to get to all of them ...<br /> <br /> Feel free to email me mitra@mitra.biz about any of the items below.<br /> <br /> <b>Campaign against the mega-concert venue in Tyagarah</b>, <a href="http://www.tyagarah.org">www.tyagarah.org</a>. Will a much-expanded blues festival, and multiple other large multi-day partying events really enhance our community?<br /> <br /> <b>Downshifting Downunder</b> - <a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au">www.downshifting.net.au</a><br /> Downshifters are people who make a voluntary, long-term change in their lifestyle that involves accepting significantly less income and consuming less. Motives may be varied and include those relating to personal life and those based on principle.<br /> Downshifting Downunder is a new organisation, coming together to catalyze and co-ordinate a downshifting movement in Australia that will significantly impact sustainability and social capital.<br /> <br /> <b>Natures Child Wholesale</b> - <a href="http://www.natureschild.com">www.natureschild.com</a><br /> Natural and Organic Baby products, collaborating with an Indian anti-sweatshop pro-fairtrade NGO to create organic products.<br /> <br /> <b>Papyrus Australia</b> - <a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au">www.papyrusaustralia.com.au</a><br /> Paper from Banana waste - I worked with them last year and they just listed on the stock exchange. <br /> <br /> <b>Byron Sustainable Venture Network</b><br /> A network of businesses in the Byron area involved with sustainability and environmentally friendly products. (talk to me about this).<br /> <br /> <h4>Trip to the US ... two conferences</h4><br /> <br /> <b>Environdesign9 </b>- <a href="http://www.environdesign.com">www.environdesign.com</a><br /> Sustainable design of products and buildings etc.<br /> <br /> <b>Social Venture Network</b> - <a href="http://www.svn.org">www.svn.org</a>. <br /> SVN has been promoting new models and leadership for socially and environmentally sustainable business since 1987. 2005-04-10T18:56:08.000Z 2005-04-10T18:56:08.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2855-declaration_of Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img align=right src="http://www.natlogic.com/images/DeclarationThumbnail.jpg" width=150>Gil Friend has come up with a declaration to challenge sustainable business leaders to do even better. His <a href="http://www.declarationofleadership.com">poster</a> summarises simply and clearly a worthwhile set of practices for businesses. He's promising the <a href="http://www.natlogic.com/news/events/commonwealth.html">audio of the talk</a> where it was introduced soon, and the story behind the poster is on <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002549.html">WorldChanging.com</a>

<img align=right src="http://www.natlogic.com/images/DeclarationThumbnail.jpg" width=150>Gil Friend has come up with a declaration to challenge sustainable business leaders to do even better. His <a href="http://www.declarationofleadership.com">poster</a> summarises simply and clearly a worthwhile set of practices for businesses. He's promising the <a href="http://www.natlogic.com/news/events/commonwealth.html">audio of the talk</a> where it was introduced soon, and the story behind the poster is on <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002549.html">WorldChanging.com</a> 2005-04-11T08:51:24.000Z 2005-04-11T08:51:24.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2856-off_to_san_fran Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I'm off travelling to San Francisco, and then to the <a href="http://www.environdesign.com">Environdesign</a> conference in New York, then Boston and then back to New York for the <a href="http://www.svn.org">Social Venture Network</a>, followed by a couple of weeks back in San Francisco and then home (Byron Bay) via Taipei.<br /> <br /> Full details, dates etc in my "<a href="/contact.htm">contacts</a>" page.<br /> <br /> I'd be happy to hear from people doing stuff I might be interested in. I'm especially interested at the moment in Fair Trade for non-food items; Green Building; Downshifting and Voluntary Simplicity, and any interesting technologies ready to try out in Australia. <br />

I'm off travelling to San Francisco, and then to the <a href="http://www.environdesign.com">Environdesign</a> conference in New York, then Boston and then back to New York for the <a href="http://www.svn.org">Social Venture Network</a>, followed by a couple of weeks back in San Francisco and then home (Byron Bay) via Taipei.<br /> <br /> Full details, dates etc in my "<a href="/contact.htm">contacts</a>" page.<br /> <br /> I'd be happy to hear from people doing stuff I might be interested in. I'm especially interested at the moment in Fair Trade for non-food items; Green Building; Downshifting and Voluntary Simplicity, and any interesting technologies ready to try out in Australia. <br /> 2005-04-15T08:51:43.000Z 2005-04-15T08:51:43.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2857-papyrus_austral_1 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Papyrus Australia has developed a process to make paper out of Banana waste using no chemicals or water and minimal power. Costs are projected to be similar or lower than making wood-pulp based paper. With ~100 million tonnes of banana waste worldwide each year, this project has a huge potential both economically, and in terms of its sustainability impact. <br /> <br /> Papyrus has gone public today (14th April), with a listing on the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) with code "PPY". (<a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asx/research/chartsSearchResult.jsp?asxCode=PPY&TimeFrame=D6&compare=index&indices=XJO">Chart</a>)<br /> <br /> In my opinion, this company offers a huge opportunity, but is also a high risk investment. The technology is world-beating, a fundamentally different way of making paper, but it has to be scaled up to a commercial scale, which all the consultants and experts think can be done, but it will inevitably have challenges. The company also has to develop a management team with the necessary business skills to run an operation with the majority of its market in developing countries. It also has to face the challenges of retaining an ethical and sustainability commitment while being listed on a stock exchange. <br /> <br /> See: <a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com">www.papyrusaustralia.com</a>.<br /> <br /> Disclaimer: I was part of Papyrus's management team until August 2004, and still have a fair number of shares in this company.

Papyrus Australia has developed a process to make paper out of Banana waste using no chemicals or water and minimal power. Costs are projected to be similar or lower than making wood-pulp based paper. With ~100 million tonnes of banana waste worldwide each year, this project has a huge potential both economically, and in terms of its sustainability impact. <br /> <br /> Papyrus has gone public today (14th April), with a listing on the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) with code "PPY". (<a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asx/research/chartsSearchResult.jsp?asxCode=PPY&TimeFrame=D6&compare=index&indices=XJO">Chart</a>)<br /> <br /> In my opinion, this company offers a huge opportunity, but is also a high risk investment. The technology is world-beating, a fundamentally different way of making paper, but it has to be scaled up to a commercial scale, which all the consultants and experts think can be done, but it will inevitably have challenges. The company also has to develop a management team with the necessary business skills to run an operation with the majority of its market in developing countries. It also has to face the challenges of retaining an ethical and sustainability commitment while being listed on a stock exchange. <br /> <br /> See: <a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com">www.papyrusaustralia.com</a>.<br /> <br /> Disclaimer: I was part of Papyrus's management team until August 2004, and still have a fair number of shares in this company. 2005-04-15T08:55:12.000Z 2005-04-15T08:55:12.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2858-water_filter_fr Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/ClayPotFilter_final_web.pdf" title="Instructions" src="/images/ClayPotFilter.jpg" style="img{width:125px;}"></pdf-link><p>An Australian scientist has developed a new water filtration system, an invention that potentially will benefit millions of people in developing countries and would enable anyone in the world to drink water safely.</p><p>The ABC ran a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050418130309/http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1339270.htm">story</a>, or download the directions for making it and some photos.</p><p>I particularly liked it because it showed an innovative use of available materials to create a low-tech cheap solution to a pervasive problem.</p>

<pdf-link href="/files/ClayPotFilter_final_web.pdf" title="Instructions" src="/images/ClayPotFilter.jpg" style="img{width:125px;}"></pdf-link><p>An Australian scientist has developed a new water filtration system, an invention that potentially will benefit millions of people in developing countries and would enable anyone in the world to drink water safely.</p><p>The ABC ran a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050418130309/http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1339270.htm">story</a>, or download the directions for making it and some photos.</p><p>I particularly liked it because it showed an innovative use of available materials to create a low-tech cheap solution to a pervasive problem.</p> 2005-04-16T06:02:17.000Z 2005-04-16T06:02:17.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2859-smh_papyrus_lis Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The Papyrus float made the press, in a fairly ordinary, and a decidedly <a href="#strange">strange</a>, story. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Papyrus-Australia-makes-ASX-debuts/2005/04/15/1113509918090.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a> (Apr 15)<br /> <blockquote>Papyrus Australia Ltd made its debut on the Australian Stock Exchange on Friday on the back of a new process to make paper from banana plants.<br /> <br /> <br /> The stock was trading at 17 cents by 1330 AEST in a tough day for Australian equities, after earlier launching a $4 million initial public offer at 20 cents per share.<br /> <br /> <br /> Papyrus said its technology produces a fibre mat from the trunks of banana plants using no external water or chemicals and minimal energy.<br /> <br /> <br /> Funds from the raising will be used to build a full-scale, commercial manufacturing facility in north Queensland, close to extensive banana plantations, during the next two years to showcase the technology.<br /> <br /> <br /> "As the process should favourably compare both economically and environmentally with existing paper producers, the company believes that expressions of interest created from showcasing the technology will allow Papyrus to establish and formalise strategic alliances to fully exploit commercial opportunities with suitable partners," chairman David Wyatt said in the company's prospectus.</blockquote><br /> <br /> Pretty much the same story ran in <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/050415/3/tzbe.html">Asia Pulse</a><br /> <br /> <a name="strange"></a>This one ... also from the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/Diary-of-a-Day-Trader/Rodney-has-em-rocking/2005/04/15/1113509926620.html">Herald</a>, was a little stranger<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Yogi, our senior chartist, was excited by the prospect of a Papyrus Australia float this week.<br /> <br /> <br /> "You wouldn't read about it, Bone!" he said, reading about it. "It says here that Papyrus has the scientific know-how to convert banana plant fibre into raw paper or banana ply paper!"<br /> <br /> <br /> I nodded, although I couldn't see it myself. If it's so good, why didn't the ancient Egyptians choose banana skins to write on?<br /> <br /> <br /> Yogi read on: "The banana tree is an alternative fibre source and the company's technology converts a renewable agricultural waste product - the banana tree trunk - into raw paper."<br /> <br /> <br /> Well, you can imagine the withering sounds of approbation from our ethical investment consultant, Emeritus Professor Valerie Carr-Edwards.<br /> <br /> <br /> "Quite right, too - it's about time we turned to bananas!" she quipped. "The Kyoto Protocol explicitly states that banana-based writing paper should be adopted by the developed world forthwith!"<br /> <br /> <br /> "What about all these banana republics?" asked FastCash. "Are they supposed to use banana skins too?"<br /> <br /> <br /> "Of course not! One can't expect the poorer nations to adopt our standards of environmental protection!"<br /> <br /> <br /> "So you reckon a banana republic like, say, Equatorial Guinea should be allowed to write on bark for 100 years, say, before they switch to bananas?"<br /> <br /> <br /> Val threw up her hands and stormed out.</blockquote>

The Papyrus float made the press, in a fairly ordinary, and a decidedly <a href="#strange">strange</a>, story. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Papyrus-Australia-makes-ASX-debuts/2005/04/15/1113509918090.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a> (Apr 15)<br /> <blockquote>Papyrus Australia Ltd made its debut on the Australian Stock Exchange on Friday on the back of a new process to make paper from banana plants.<br /> <br /> <br /> The stock was trading at 17 cents by 1330 AEST in a tough day for Australian equities, after earlier launching a $4 million initial public offer at 20 cents per share.<br /> <br /> <br /> Papyrus said its technology produces a fibre mat from the trunks of banana plants using no external water or chemicals and minimal energy.<br /> <br /> <br /> Funds from the raising will be used to build a full-scale, commercial manufacturing facility in north Queensland, close to extensive banana plantations, during the next two years to showcase the technology.<br /> <br /> <br /> "As the process should favourably compare both economically and environmentally with existing paper producers, the company believes that expressions of interest created from showcasing the technology will allow Papyrus to establish and formalise strategic alliances to fully exploit commercial opportunities with suitable partners," chairman David Wyatt said in the company's prospectus.</blockquote><br /> <br /> Pretty much the same story ran in <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/050415/3/tzbe.html">Asia Pulse</a><br /> <br /> <a name="strange"></a>This one ... also from the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/Diary-of-a-Day-Trader/Rodney-has-em-rocking/2005/04/15/1113509926620.html">Herald</a>, was a little stranger<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Yogi, our senior chartist, was excited by the prospect of a Papyrus Australia float this week.<br /> <br /> <br /> "You wouldn't read about it, Bone!" he said, reading about it. "It says here that Papyrus has the scientific know-how to convert banana plant fibre into raw paper or banana ply paper!"<br /> <br /> <br /> I nodded, although I couldn't see it myself. If it's so good, why didn't the ancient Egyptians choose banana skins to write on?<br /> <br /> <br /> Yogi read on: "The banana tree is an alternative fibre source and the company's technology converts a renewable agricultural waste product - the banana tree trunk - into raw paper."<br /> <br /> <br /> Well, you can imagine the withering sounds of approbation from our ethical investment consultant, Emeritus Professor Valerie Carr-Edwards.<br /> <br /> <br /> "Quite right, too - it's about time we turned to bananas!" she quipped. "The Kyoto Protocol explicitly states that banana-based writing paper should be adopted by the developed world forthwith!"<br /> <br /> <br /> "What about all these banana republics?" asked FastCash. "Are they supposed to use banana skins too?"<br /> <br /> <br /> "Of course not! One can't expect the poorer nations to adopt our standards of environmental protection!"<br /> <br /> <br /> "So you reckon a banana republic like, say, Equatorial Guinea should be allowed to write on bark for 100 years, say, before they switch to bananas?"<br /> <br /> <br /> Val threw up her hands and stormed out.</blockquote> 2005-04-27T05:07:06.000Z 2005-04-27T05:07:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2860-life_after_the Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Pictures/Graph1.gif" align=right width="200" />"<a href="http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/">Life after the Oil Crash</a>" has a good explanation of what Peak Oil means, and its effects, with lots of useful references to back up the statements.<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon. This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society. Rather, it is the scientific conclusion of the best paid, most widely-respected geologists, physicists, and investment bankers in the world. These are rational, professional, conservative individuals who are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon known as global &ldquo;Peak Oil.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> "Are We 'Running Out'? I Thought There Was 40 Years of the Stuff Left"<br /> <br /> Oil will not just "run out" because all oil production follows a bell curve. This is true whether we're talking about an individual field, a country, or on the planet as a whole. <br /> <br /> Oil is increasingly plentiful on the upslope of the bell curve, increasingly scarce and expensive on the down slope. The peak of the curve coincides with the point at which the endowment of oil has been 50 percent depleted. Once the peak is passed, oil production begins to go down while cost begins to go up.<br /> <br /> In practical and considerably oversimplified terms, this means that if 2000 was the year of global Peak Oil, worldwide oil production in the year 2020 will be the same as it was in 1980. However, the world&rsquo;s population in 2020 will be both much larger (approximately twice) and much more industrialized (oil-dependent) than it was in 1980. Consequently, worldwide demand for oil will outpace worldwide production of oil by a significant margin. As a result, the price will skyrocket, oil-dependant economies will crumble, and resource wars will explode.</blockquote>

<img src="http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Pictures/Graph1.gif" align=right width="200" />"<a href="http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/">Life after the Oil Crash</a>" has a good explanation of what Peak Oil means, and its effects, with lots of useful references to back up the statements.<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon. This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society. Rather, it is the scientific conclusion of the best paid, most widely-respected geologists, physicists, and investment bankers in the world. These are rational, professional, conservative individuals who are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon known as global &ldquo;Peak Oil.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> "Are We 'Running Out'? I Thought There Was 40 Years of the Stuff Left"<br /> <br /> Oil will not just "run out" because all oil production follows a bell curve. This is true whether we're talking about an individual field, a country, or on the planet as a whole. <br /> <br /> Oil is increasingly plentiful on the upslope of the bell curve, increasingly scarce and expensive on the down slope. The peak of the curve coincides with the point at which the endowment of oil has been 50 percent depleted. Once the peak is passed, oil production begins to go down while cost begins to go up.<br /> <br /> In practical and considerably oversimplified terms, this means that if 2000 was the year of global Peak Oil, worldwide oil production in the year 2020 will be the same as it was in 1980. However, the world&rsquo;s population in 2020 will be both much larger (approximately twice) and much more industrialized (oil-dependent) than it was in 1980. Consequently, worldwide demand for oil will outpace worldwide production of oil by a significant margin. As a result, the price will skyrocket, oil-dependant economies will crumble, and resource wars will explode.</blockquote> 2005-05-04T10:31:28.000Z 2005-05-04T10:31:28.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2861-sustainable_com Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>A friend of mine - Graham Meltzer - has a book out on Cohousing, since Graham is a photographer I expect the book will be visually interesting as well as informative and look forward to a chance to get my hands on it.</p><blockquote><img src="http://www.grahammeltzer.com/cohousing/Book/Cover.jpg" align="right" width="150">This book explores the link between &lsquo;sustainability&rsquo; and &lsquo;community&rsquo;. It is based on a 10-year study of cohousing, a popular new type of planned residential community that addresses pressing environmental and social needs. It uses data (including 120 photographs, 50 diagrams and 30 tables) from twelve cohousing developments in Canada, the US, New Zealand, Australia and Japan &#8211; concrete examples of successful sustainable communities.<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> The book is scholarly and authoritative, yet accessible to a broad intelligent readership as an illustrated account of a fascinating cultural phenomenon. It will be valuable to students of architecture, planning, sociology, community psychology and environmental studies as well as architects, planners and other professionals. It should prompt local authorities and developers to envisage and implement genuinely sustainable urban development proposals.&#160;<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> Sustainable Community &#8211; Learning from the cohousing model provides in-depth and insightful information for participants in the cohousing, ecovillage, sustainability and communities movements. It is well known that such activists face a scarcity of literature from which to draw ideas and inspiration. This book will help fill that void.<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> &ldquo;If this book encourages more people to explore innovative ways of sharing living space, it will have made a real contribution to a better future.&rdquo; Professor Ian Lowe AO<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> Dr Graham Meltzer is considered the world&rsquo;s leading expert on cohousing. He is an architect, scholar and commercial photographer who consults, researches and lectures in environmental and social architecture, housing and communalism."<br /> </blockquote><p><br /> Details about the book, including some excerpts,&#160;are available&#160;at <http://www.grahammeltzer.com/cohousing/index.htm>www.grahammeltzer.com/cohousing/index.htm<br /> </p>

<p>A friend of mine - Graham Meltzer - has a book out on Cohousing, since Graham is a photographer I expect the book will be visually interesting as well as informative and look forward to a chance to get my hands on it.</p><blockquote><img src="http://www.grahammeltzer.com/cohousing/Book/Cover.jpg" align="right" width="150">This book explores the link between &lsquo;sustainability&rsquo; and &lsquo;community&rsquo;. It is based on a 10-year study of cohousing, a popular new type of planned residential community that addresses pressing environmental and social needs. It uses data (including 120 photographs, 50 diagrams and 30 tables) from twelve cohousing developments in Canada, the US, New Zealand, Australia and Japan &#8211; concrete examples of successful sustainable communities.<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> The book is scholarly and authoritative, yet accessible to a broad intelligent readership as an illustrated account of a fascinating cultural phenomenon. It will be valuable to students of architecture, planning, sociology, community psychology and environmental studies as well as architects, planners and other professionals. It should prompt local authorities and developers to envisage and implement genuinely sustainable urban development proposals.&#160;<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> Sustainable Community &#8211; Learning from the cohousing model provides in-depth and insightful information for participants in the cohousing, ecovillage, sustainability and communities movements. It is well known that such activists face a scarcity of literature from which to draw ideas and inspiration. This book will help fill that void.<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> &ldquo;If this book encourages more people to explore innovative ways of sharing living space, it will have made a real contribution to a better future.&rdquo; Professor Ian Lowe AO<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> Dr Graham Meltzer is considered the world&rsquo;s leading expert on cohousing. He is an architect, scholar and commercial photographer who consults, researches and lectures in environmental and social architecture, housing and communalism."<br /> </blockquote><p><br /> Details about the book, including some excerpts,&#160;are available&#160;at <http://www.grahammeltzer.com/cohousing/index.htm>www.grahammeltzer.com/cohousing/index.htm<br /> </p> 2005-05-10T03:29:45.000Z 2005-05-10T03:29:45.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2862-paper_compariso Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

While trying to green your business, it is challenging to get the information needed. Search engines are great for searching for companies sites, but lousy for comparing environmental claims. <br /> <br /> I'd like to see more tools like this one from Celery Design, which compares different papers from different suppliers. I'd love to see a similar table for Australia. <br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> <br /> Most graphics professionals are searching for a few simple things in a paper &#173; the highest quality, the easiest functionality, and the lowest price. The goal of this guide is to help you add one more critical consideration to the decision making process: the environmental impact of the paper you specify.<br /> <br /> Through your paper choices, you are directly connected to the preservation or the degradation of land, water, air, and the creatures that dwell therein. Paper reps and printers provide guidance on finding the best quality, functionality and price, but often can't help when it comes to preserving the environment. This guide fills that information gap and points you to the very best recycled and tree free papers on the market today. You will discover that most of these papers are also very competitive in terms of quality, functionality, and price.<br /> <br /> The recycled and tree-free papers listed here generate fewer toxins and impact the environment far less than typical virgin wood, chlorine-bleached papers. There are options here in nearly every grade, format and price category. We encourage you to contact the paper manufacturers for samples, pricing, and ordering information, and work with your clients and printers to specify these papers. We developed this guide as an easy-to-use, practical tool that makes it simple to change old paper-buying habits. Use it and share it with your friends. With the right information and a bit of initiative, each of us can reach a higher standard for our graphics projects.<br /> </blockquote><br /> Check out the <a href="http://www.celerydesign.com/paper/matrix.html">guide and table</a>. Looks like they've done some design for some other progressive companies as well. <br />

While trying to green your business, it is challenging to get the information needed. Search engines are great for searching for companies sites, but lousy for comparing environmental claims. <br /> <br /> I'd like to see more tools like this one from Celery Design, which compares different papers from different suppliers. I'd love to see a similar table for Australia. <br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> <br /> Most graphics professionals are searching for a few simple things in a paper &#173; the highest quality, the easiest functionality, and the lowest price. The goal of this guide is to help you add one more critical consideration to the decision making process: the environmental impact of the paper you specify.<br /> <br /> Through your paper choices, you are directly connected to the preservation or the degradation of land, water, air, and the creatures that dwell therein. Paper reps and printers provide guidance on finding the best quality, functionality and price, but often can't help when it comes to preserving the environment. This guide fills that information gap and points you to the very best recycled and tree free papers on the market today. You will discover that most of these papers are also very competitive in terms of quality, functionality, and price.<br /> <br /> The recycled and tree-free papers listed here generate fewer toxins and impact the environment far less than typical virgin wood, chlorine-bleached papers. There are options here in nearly every grade, format and price category. We encourage you to contact the paper manufacturers for samples, pricing, and ordering information, and work with your clients and printers to specify these papers. We developed this guide as an easy-to-use, practical tool that makes it simple to change old paper-buying habits. Use it and share it with your friends. With the right information and a bit of initiative, each of us can reach a higher standard for our graphics projects.<br /> </blockquote><br /> Check out the <a href="http://www.celerydesign.com/paper/matrix.html">guide and table</a>. Looks like they've done some design for some other progressive companies as well. <br /> 2005-05-10T09:12:08.000Z 2005-05-10T09:12:08.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2863-ge_ecomaginatio Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

GE is planning to announce its new focus ...<br /> <br /> Joel Makower, has been working on this behind the scenes, and <a href="http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2005/05/ecomagination_i.html">blogs about it</a>, here's a short extract ....<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> Ecomagination, says Immelt, aims to "focus our unique energy, technology, manufacturing, and infrastructure capabilities to develop tomorrow's solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology."<br /> <br /> By almost any measure, it's a bold move. For GE, the fifth-largest U.S. company, it represents a strategic shift that could catalyze competition among some of the world's largest companies to accelerate the emerging clean-tech economy.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> <br /> This is a big deal, although GE has a LONGGGGG way to go since it is still in the <a href="http://www.gepower.com/businesses/ge_nuclear/en/index.htm">nuclear power business</a>, and it was until 1992 in the nuclear weapons business leading to a <a href="http://www.fair.org/extra/best-of-extra/ge-boycott.html">major boycott</a> that was the subject of the film "Deadly Deception".<br /> <br /> I believe companies can change dramatically, especially when they get new leadership, Immelt was appointed in 2001. A statement about their new-found commitment to CSR, appeared in <a href="http://www.ge.com/en/company/investor/ge_social_responsibility_and_citizenship.htm">Fortune</a> recently. I think the jury is out, but its important to give companies a chance to change, and to prove that this is not just big-company green-washing.<br />

GE is planning to announce its new focus ...<br /> <br /> Joel Makower, has been working on this behind the scenes, and <a href="http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2005/05/ecomagination_i.html">blogs about it</a>, here's a short extract ....<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> Ecomagination, says Immelt, aims to "focus our unique energy, technology, manufacturing, and infrastructure capabilities to develop tomorrow's solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology."<br /> <br /> By almost any measure, it's a bold move. For GE, the fifth-largest U.S. company, it represents a strategic shift that could catalyze competition among some of the world's largest companies to accelerate the emerging clean-tech economy.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> <br /> This is a big deal, although GE has a LONGGGGG way to go since it is still in the <a href="http://www.gepower.com/businesses/ge_nuclear/en/index.htm">nuclear power business</a>, and it was until 1992 in the nuclear weapons business leading to a <a href="http://www.fair.org/extra/best-of-extra/ge-boycott.html">major boycott</a> that was the subject of the film "Deadly Deception".<br /> <br /> I believe companies can change dramatically, especially when they get new leadership, Immelt was appointed in 2001. A statement about their new-found commitment to CSR, appeared in <a href="http://www.ge.com/en/company/investor/ge_social_responsibility_and_citizenship.htm">Fortune</a> recently. I think the jury is out, but its important to give companies a chance to change, and to prove that this is not just big-company green-washing.<br /> 2005-05-12T17:05:22.000Z 2005-05-12T17:05:22.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2864-the_earth_is_fl Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img align=right src="http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:zHKxgpnOdpAJ:www.openseas.com/pig-gifs.htg/pigflys.gif" width=150> A long time ago, Friends of the Earth had a T-shirt that said, "Pigs can fly, The Earth is Flat, and Nuclear Power is Safe". <br /> <br /> Now, once again we are being asked to consider Nuclear Power as a cheap, safe way to stop us cooking the planet through Global Warming. Have we forgotten the long and hard road to put an end to this crazy idea.<br /> <br /> Before the nuclear industry claims it is safe, and the cheapest way to counter global-warming, I'd suggest that we ask them whether ....<br /> <br /> a) Everyone who mines Uranium for the west has health coverage, i.e. what exactly is being done about all the people who have been damaged by the mining process, typically in countries (or parts of countries) where life can be treated as cheap.<br /> <br /> b) how exactly do they plan on on looking after the waste, and has the cost of looking after it until it is no longer dangerous been factored into the cost. <br /> <br /> c) who is providing an insurance policy on the potential damage should one of the reactors fail, and are they still hiding behind US legislation which limits their liability (I forget the name of this)<br /> <br /> Then, and only then, should we even start to consider claims of safety and cheapness for nuclear power.<br /> <br /> (I'd appreciate links to the issues behind each of these points).<br /> <br /> The only safe Nuclear Power is 93 million miles away, the sun, so lets figure out how to harness that.

<img align=right src="http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:zHKxgpnOdpAJ:www.openseas.com/pig-gifs.htg/pigflys.gif" width=150> A long time ago, Friends of the Earth had a T-shirt that said, "Pigs can fly, The Earth is Flat, and Nuclear Power is Safe". <br /> <br /> Now, once again we are being asked to consider Nuclear Power as a cheap, safe way to stop us cooking the planet through Global Warming. Have we forgotten the long and hard road to put an end to this crazy idea.<br /> <br /> Before the nuclear industry claims it is safe, and the cheapest way to counter global-warming, I'd suggest that we ask them whether ....<br /> <br /> a) Everyone who mines Uranium for the west has health coverage, i.e. what exactly is being done about all the people who have been damaged by the mining process, typically in countries (or parts of countries) where life can be treated as cheap.<br /> <br /> b) how exactly do they plan on on looking after the waste, and has the cost of looking after it until it is no longer dangerous been factored into the cost. <br /> <br /> c) who is providing an insurance policy on the potential damage should one of the reactors fail, and are they still hiding behind US legislation which limits their liability (I forget the name of this)<br /> <br /> Then, and only then, should we even start to consider claims of safety and cheapness for nuclear power.<br /> <br /> (I'd appreciate links to the issues behind each of these points).<br /> <br /> The only safe Nuclear Power is 93 million miles away, the sun, so lets figure out how to harness that. 2005-05-13T11:15:36.000Z 2005-05-13T11:15:36.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2865-peak_oil_panel Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="http://www.peakoil.org"><img align=right width=150 src="http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:UCudAYZltT8J:www.peakoil.org/images/peak_oil_small.jpg"></a>Tim Winton has put together a panel to discuss the impact of Peak Oil on the Northern Rivers. For those of you who missed his talk - at Ambaji, this is a topic that is not to be ignored.</p><p>A recent poll of oil industry executives showed over half believed we have hit peak oil already or will do in the next couple of years. So this isn't just some environmentalist scare story.</p><p>Hopefully I'll see you at the talk</p><p>(Any questions etc, please email Tim directly, winton@nor.com.au</p><blockquote><br /> The Permaforest Trust is presenting a community information night:<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> "Preparing for Peak Oil in the Northern Rivers", 7:00 pm Thursday May 19th<br /> Byron Bay Community and Cultural Centre, 69 Jonson St Byron Bay, NSW.<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> Tim Winton, The Permaforest Trust will be joined by:<br/><br /> Jan Barham- Mayor Byron Shire<br/><br /> Nyck Jeans - Host 'Head to Head' on Bay FM<br/><br /> Dr. Liz Elliot, Anti Globalization Activist and Local GP<br/><br /> Sarah West, Environmental Scientist with GeoLINK<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> Find out the facts on energy availability, how energy descent will affect<br /> your life, what you can do about it, and the prospects for Byron Shire and<br /> beyond. How can the Northern Rivers as a community approach the<br /> 'energy/culture' transition in a positive and proactive way.</blockquote><br /> <br />

<p><a href="http://www.peakoil.org"><img align=right width=150 src="http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:UCudAYZltT8J:www.peakoil.org/images/peak_oil_small.jpg"></a>Tim Winton has put together a panel to discuss the impact of Peak Oil on the Northern Rivers. For those of you who missed his talk - at Ambaji, this is a topic that is not to be ignored.</p><p>A recent poll of oil industry executives showed over half believed we have hit peak oil already or will do in the next couple of years. So this isn't just some environmentalist scare story.</p><p>Hopefully I'll see you at the talk</p><p>(Any questions etc, please email Tim directly, winton@nor.com.au</p><blockquote><br /> The Permaforest Trust is presenting a community information night:<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> "Preparing for Peak Oil in the Northern Rivers", 7:00 pm Thursday May 19th<br /> Byron Bay Community and Cultural Centre, 69 Jonson St Byron Bay, NSW.<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> Tim Winton, The Permaforest Trust will be joined by:<br/><br /> Jan Barham- Mayor Byron Shire<br/><br /> Nyck Jeans - Host 'Head to Head' on Bay FM<br/><br /> Dr. Liz Elliot, Anti Globalization Activist and Local GP<br/><br /> Sarah West, Environmental Scientist with GeoLINK<br /> </blockquote><blockquote><br /> Find out the facts on energy availability, how energy descent will affect<br /> your life, what you can do about it, and the prospects for Byron Shire and<br /> beyond. How can the Northern Rivers as a community approach the<br /> 'energy/culture' transition in a positive and proactive way.</blockquote><br /> <br /> 2005-05-14T14:15:41.000Z 2005-05-14T14:15:41.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2866-storewars_the_a Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<br /> <p>See <a href="http://www.StoreWars.org">Store Wars</a></p><p>Join the adventures of Cuke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Cannoli, Chewbroccoli and the rest of the Organic Rebels fighting against Darth Tader and the Dark Side of the Farm. And if you like the movie, pass it on!</p>

<br /> <p>See <a href="http://www.StoreWars.org">Store Wars</a></p><p>Join the adventures of Cuke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Cannoli, Chewbroccoli and the rest of the Organic Rebels fighting against Darth Tader and the Dark Side of the Farm. And if you like the movie, pass it on!</p> 2005-05-23T09:28:02.000Z 2005-05-23T09:28:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2867-climate_change Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

In this article by George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 10th May 2005, he tracks in detail the mistakes behind David Bellamy's climate change denial.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> For the past three weeks, a set of figures has been working a hole in my mind. On April 16th, New Scientist published a letter from the famous botanist David Bellamy. Many of the world&rsquo;s glaciers, he claimed, &ldquo;are not shrinking but in fact are growing. ... 555 of all the 625 glaciers under observation by the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Zurich, Switzerland, have been growing since 1980.&rdquo;(1) His letter was instantly taken up by climate change deniers. And it began to worry me. What if Bellamy was right?<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> So last week I telephoned the World Glacier Monitoring Service and read out Bellamy&rsquo;s letter. I don&rsquo;t think the response would have been published in Nature, but it had the scientific virtue of clarity. &ldquo;This is complete bullshit.&rdquo;(3) A few hours later, they sent me an email.<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> It is hard to convey just how selective you have to be to dismiss the evidence for climate change. You must climb over a mountain of evidence to pick up a crumb: a crumb which then disintegrates in your palm. You must ignore an entire canon of science, the statements of the world&rsquo;s most eminent scientific institutions, and thousands of papers published in the foremost scientific journals. You must, if you are David Bellamy, embrace instead the claims of an eccentric former architect, which are based on what appears to be a non-existent data set. And you must do all this while calling yourself a scientist.<br /> </blockquote><br />

In this article by George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 10th May 2005, he tracks in detail the mistakes behind David Bellamy's climate change denial.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> For the past three weeks, a set of figures has been working a hole in my mind. On April 16th, New Scientist published a letter from the famous botanist David Bellamy. Many of the world&rsquo;s glaciers, he claimed, &ldquo;are not shrinking but in fact are growing. ... 555 of all the 625 glaciers under observation by the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Zurich, Switzerland, have been growing since 1980.&rdquo;(1) His letter was instantly taken up by climate change deniers. And it began to worry me. What if Bellamy was right?<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> So last week I telephoned the World Glacier Monitoring Service and read out Bellamy&rsquo;s letter. I don&rsquo;t think the response would have been published in Nature, but it had the scientific virtue of clarity. &ldquo;This is complete bullshit.&rdquo;(3) A few hours later, they sent me an email.<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> It is hard to convey just how selective you have to be to dismiss the evidence for climate change. You must climb over a mountain of evidence to pick up a crumb: a crumb which then disintegrates in your palm. You must ignore an entire canon of science, the statements of the world&rsquo;s most eminent scientific institutions, and thousands of papers published in the foremost scientific journals. You must, if you are David Bellamy, embrace instead the claims of an eccentric former architect, which are based on what appears to be a non-existent data set. And you must do all this while calling yourself a scientist.<br /> </blockquote><br /> 2005-05-23T09:32:58.000Z 2005-05-23T09:32:58.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2868-a_device_that_c Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

From <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1359511.htm">ABC's Innovations program</a> 9 May 2005 <br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> A renewable energy device that captures vibration to produce electricity is making moves towards commercialisation.<br /> <br /> The Kinetic Energy Cell is an Australian invention that generates electricity from the movement of cars, trucks, ships, even people and looks set to replace or complement small conventional batteries for a range of every day applications and enable the reliable powering of new technologies.<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> The project actually began in an attempt to create a replacement for the lithium batteries that actually go into keyless entry systems for automobiles. This is normally the little black tag that you have attached to your key &#8211; press the button and it opens a car door. In an attempt to remove or reduce the number of lithium batteries which become a pollutant in the environment when they get to their expiry, we looked at harvesting the amount of energy that you can provide by simply walking to your vehicle or for example, it could be either in your pocket or in a lady&rsquo;s handbag and the idea was that we could generate power only over a distance of ten metres and that would be acceptable to a motorist. So the application was all about generating enough power to be able to trigger the system. Of course, if we walked for longer than that you&rsquo;d be generating excess power which we could store in the super capacitor and in a small capacitor. The application required to power a very short burst or a very short transmission of radio frequency energy which could actually trigger the receiver in the car, so it&rsquo;s a device which began ideally suited to what we call small burst transmissions. We&rsquo;ve continued to look for applications like that &#8211; and the e-tag application is a classic example of it.<br /> </blockquote>

From <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1359511.htm">ABC's Innovations program</a> 9 May 2005 <br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> A renewable energy device that captures vibration to produce electricity is making moves towards commercialisation.<br /> <br /> The Kinetic Energy Cell is an Australian invention that generates electricity from the movement of cars, trucks, ships, even people and looks set to replace or complement small conventional batteries for a range of every day applications and enable the reliable powering of new technologies.<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> The project actually began in an attempt to create a replacement for the lithium batteries that actually go into keyless entry systems for automobiles. This is normally the little black tag that you have attached to your key &#8211; press the button and it opens a car door. In an attempt to remove or reduce the number of lithium batteries which become a pollutant in the environment when they get to their expiry, we looked at harvesting the amount of energy that you can provide by simply walking to your vehicle or for example, it could be either in your pocket or in a lady&rsquo;s handbag and the idea was that we could generate power only over a distance of ten metres and that would be acceptable to a motorist. So the application was all about generating enough power to be able to trigger the system. Of course, if we walked for longer than that you&rsquo;d be generating excess power which we could store in the super capacitor and in a small capacitor. The application required to power a very short burst or a very short transmission of radio frequency energy which could actually trigger the receiver in the car, so it&rsquo;s a device which began ideally suited to what we call small burst transmissions. We&rsquo;ve continued to look for applications like that &#8211; and the e-tag application is a classic example of it.<br /> </blockquote> 2005-05-29T14:09:16.000Z 2005-05-29T14:09:16.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2869-uk_comparison_o Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The myth keeps floating around that disposable nappies (diapers) are really no more environmentally harmful than washables. Most recently the British Environment Agency has done a <a href="http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/yourenv/857406/1072214/">report</a> on it. <br /> <br /> As usual, the research left something to be desired, and the Women's Environment Network - who have done much pioneering work in women's health and environment issues - have written a <a href="http://www.wen.org.uk/general_pages/Newsitems/ms_LCA19.5.05.htm">rebuttal</a>.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> The lifecycle analysis (LCA) for the Environment Agency has taken four years and cost more than &pound;200,000 and concludes there is &ldquo;no significant difference between any of the environmental impacts&rdquo;. But the conclusion is based on poor quality data and misses the point of its own findings.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;This lifecycle analysis is a wasted opportunity to put the long-standing debate about nappies and the environment to rest,&rdquo; says WEN&rsquo;s Ann Link. &ldquo;It says what most other LCAs have: that both systems use similar amounts of energy but the disposable system uses more materials and puts more into landfill. But it has missed the point of its own findings. Even in its current flawed state it shows that parents who use cloth nappies can save waste confident in the knowledge that washing them will cause no more global warming than disposable nappies.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;The biggest impacts it identifies are all to do with energy production and use - abiotic resource depletion (fossil fuel use), global warming and acidification - yet if parents use 24 nappies and follow manufacturers' instructions to wash at 60oC using an A rated washing machine they will have approximately 24% less impact on global warming than the report says.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Read the rest of the <a href="http://www.wen.org.uk/general_pages/Newsitems/ms_LCA19.5.05.htm">article</a> which includes detailed tables and footnotes.<br /> <br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> Full Disclosure: I am a partner in a business that wholesales organic and natural baby products, including both washable nappies (diapers) and the best of the disposables. (<a href="http://www.natureschild.com">www.natureschild.com</a>)

The myth keeps floating around that disposable nappies (diapers) are really no more environmentally harmful than washables. Most recently the British Environment Agency has done a <a href="http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/yourenv/857406/1072214/">report</a> on it. <br /> <br /> As usual, the research left something to be desired, and the Women's Environment Network - who have done much pioneering work in women's health and environment issues - have written a <a href="http://www.wen.org.uk/general_pages/Newsitems/ms_LCA19.5.05.htm">rebuttal</a>.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> The lifecycle analysis (LCA) for the Environment Agency has taken four years and cost more than &pound;200,000 and concludes there is &ldquo;no significant difference between any of the environmental impacts&rdquo;. But the conclusion is based on poor quality data and misses the point of its own findings.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;This lifecycle analysis is a wasted opportunity to put the long-standing debate about nappies and the environment to rest,&rdquo; says WEN&rsquo;s Ann Link. &ldquo;It says what most other LCAs have: that both systems use similar amounts of energy but the disposable system uses more materials and puts more into landfill. But it has missed the point of its own findings. Even in its current flawed state it shows that parents who use cloth nappies can save waste confident in the knowledge that washing them will cause no more global warming than disposable nappies.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;The biggest impacts it identifies are all to do with energy production and use - abiotic resource depletion (fossil fuel use), global warming and acidification - yet if parents use 24 nappies and follow manufacturers' instructions to wash at 60oC using an A rated washing machine they will have approximately 24% less impact on global warming than the report says.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Read the rest of the <a href="http://www.wen.org.uk/general_pages/Newsitems/ms_LCA19.5.05.htm">article</a> which includes detailed tables and footnotes.<br /> <br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> Full Disclosure: I am a partner in a business that wholesales organic and natural baby products, including both washable nappies (diapers) and the best of the disposables. (<a href="http://www.natureschild.com">www.natureschild.com</a>) 2005-06-04T15:42:13.000Z 2005-06-04T15:42:13.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2870-regional_climat Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Along with about 120 others, I attended the regional climate change forum today (3rd June), at Southern Cross University.<br /> <br /> Most of the presentations were great, but not new - i.e. repeats of the significant impact of climate change in terms of temperature and rainfall, presented with some quite detailed models and figures. And predictions that with pessimistic scenarios show up to 5-6 degrees rise by 2050.<br /> <br /> However some of the presentations - by Rous Water, and DIPNR left me worried at the preparedness and planning of our government officials. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately, like the Peak Oil and David Suzuki talks recently, the day concluded only with a sense of urgency and importance and with very little discussion of solutions and actions, both in order to reduce the change, and in order to reduce the impact of the change. <br /> <br /> Personally I'm a techno optimist, which means that I believe there are technical and administrative solutions that would allow us to reduce our emissions by the 50% or more needed. However I'm a politico-pessimist, which means that I think it highly unlikely that the powers-that-be in Washington, Sydney and Canberra will take actions on the scale needed. <br /> <br /> Hopefully here in Byron we can start a conversation on what we can do to reduce our impact on climate and set a good example. We have a council that could potentially back such actions, although the reaction by so-called environmentalists to recent proposals for a wind turbine in the area do not bode well for a willingness to take action ourselves. <br /> <br /> See the full report for me detail on the presentations and my worries generated by them.<br /> <br /> (p.s. if any of the presenters are reading this, please email me the presentations or their URL's, and I'll post them for people to draw their own conclusions.)<br />

Along with about 120 others, I attended the regional climate change forum today (3rd June), at Southern Cross University.<br /> <br /> Most of the presentations were great, but not new - i.e. repeats of the significant impact of climate change in terms of temperature and rainfall, presented with some quite detailed models and figures. And predictions that with pessimistic scenarios show up to 5-6 degrees rise by 2050.<br /> <br /> However some of the presentations - by Rous Water, and DIPNR left me worried at the preparedness and planning of our government officials. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately, like the Peak Oil and David Suzuki talks recently, the day concluded only with a sense of urgency and importance and with very little discussion of solutions and actions, both in order to reduce the change, and in order to reduce the impact of the change. <br /> <br /> Personally I'm a techno optimist, which means that I believe there are technical and administrative solutions that would allow us to reduce our emissions by the 50% or more needed. However I'm a politico-pessimist, which means that I think it highly unlikely that the powers-that-be in Washington, Sydney and Canberra will take actions on the scale needed. <br /> <br /> Hopefully here in Byron we can start a conversation on what we can do to reduce our impact on climate and set a good example. We have a council that could potentially back such actions, although the reaction by so-called environmentalists to recent proposals for a wind turbine in the area do not bode well for a willingness to take action ourselves. <br /> <br /> See the full report for me detail on the presentations and my worries generated by them.<br /> <br /> (p.s. if any of the presenters are reading this, please email me the presentations or their URL's, and I'll post them for people to draw their own conclusions.)<br /> 2005-06-08T10:47:34.000Z 2005-06-08T10:47:34.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2871-visualizing_pea Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/see-peak-oil-02.jpg" border="0" height="175" width="240" alt="see-peak-oil-02.jpg" align="right" /> I picked this image up on <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/see_peak_oil_fo.php">Treehugger</a>, who got it from the <a href="http://theoildrum.blogspot.com/2005/06/picture-of-depletion.html">Oil Drum</a> website devoted to peak oil. I think it really helps us envision what it means for the oil to be running out.</p><p>Here is a picture the Abqaiq oilfield in Saudi Arabia. It's a transversal slice obtained from an instrument that measures fluid densities. The blue area is water that has been injected into the field to push the oil back to the top, the red area is the gas cap of the field... and the green zone is the actual oil.</p>

<p><img src="/images/see-peak-oil-02.jpg" border="0" height="175" width="240" alt="see-peak-oil-02.jpg" align="right" /> I picked this image up on <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/see_peak_oil_fo.php">Treehugger</a>, who got it from the <a href="http://theoildrum.blogspot.com/2005/06/picture-of-depletion.html">Oil Drum</a> website devoted to peak oil. I think it really helps us envision what it means for the oil to be running out.</p><p>Here is a picture the Abqaiq oilfield in Saudi Arabia. It's a transversal slice obtained from an instrument that measures fluid densities. The blue area is water that has been injected into the field to push the oil back to the top, the red area is the gas cap of the field... and the green zone is the actual oil.</p> 2005-06-08T23:04:02.000Z 2005-06-08T23:04:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2872-the_governator Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Lets hope Gov. Schwarzenegger can back this pledge up with actions.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> SAN FRANCISCO &mdash; Vowing to lead the world's response to global warming, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday announced a series of ambitious targets for cutting California's greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% over the next half-century, but provided few details on how the state could achieve such dramatic reductions.<br /> <br /> In a speech before hundreds of business and environmental leaders at the United Nations World Environment Day conference in San Francisco, Schwarzenegger signed an executive order that outlined bold goals for slashing industrial releases of carbon dioxide and the other heat-trapping gases that climate scientists now link to rising temperatures and sea levels.<br /> <br /> "As of today, California is going to be the leader in the fight against global warming," Schwarzenegger said, adding, "I say the debate is over. We know the science, we see the threat, and the time for action is now."<br /> <br /> Under the executive order, by 2010 California would reduce its greenhouse gases to 2000 levels, or about 11% less than they would be without taking action. By 2020, California would reduce the emissions to 1990 levels, or about 25%. By 2050, the state would reduce the emissions to 80% below 1990 levels.<br /> </blockquote><br />

Lets hope Gov. Schwarzenegger can back this pledge up with actions.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> SAN FRANCISCO &mdash; Vowing to lead the world's response to global warming, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday announced a series of ambitious targets for cutting California's greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% over the next half-century, but provided few details on how the state could achieve such dramatic reductions.<br /> <br /> In a speech before hundreds of business and environmental leaders at the United Nations World Environment Day conference in San Francisco, Schwarzenegger signed an executive order that outlined bold goals for slashing industrial releases of carbon dioxide and the other heat-trapping gases that climate scientists now link to rising temperatures and sea levels.<br /> <br /> "As of today, California is going to be the leader in the fight against global warming," Schwarzenegger said, adding, "I say the debate is over. We know the science, we see the threat, and the time for action is now."<br /> <br /> Under the executive order, by 2010 California would reduce its greenhouse gases to 2000 levels, or about 11% less than they would be without taking action. By 2020, California would reduce the emissions to 1990 levels, or about 25%. By 2050, the state would reduce the emissions to 80% below 1990 levels.<br /> </blockquote><br /> 2005-06-15T21:53:07.000Z 2005-06-15T21:53:07.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2873-organic_expo_sy Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The <a href="http://www.organicexpo.com.au/">Organic Expo</a> is Australia&rsquo;s first major expo, created for both the public and trade, highlighting the excellent certified organic and environmentally friendly products and services (collectively known as eco-ganics) now available.<br /> <br /> I'm looking forward to it, as it is time for a national show that highlights the range of products available here, rather than mixing them into shows with less-eco products.<br /> <br /> I'll be there, with <a href="http://www.natureschild.com.au">Nature's Child Wholesale</a> in our first public outing, come by our stand.<br />

The <a href="http://www.organicexpo.com.au/">Organic Expo</a> is Australia&rsquo;s first major expo, created for both the public and trade, highlighting the excellent certified organic and environmentally friendly products and services (collectively known as eco-ganics) now available.<br /> <br /> I'm looking forward to it, as it is time for a national show that highlights the range of products available here, rather than mixing them into shows with less-eco products.<br /> <br /> I'll be there, with <a href="http://www.natureschild.com.au">Nature's Child Wholesale</a> in our first public outing, come by our stand.<br /> 2005-06-17T18:54:01.000Z 2005-06-17T18:54:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2874-slash_greenhous Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

(Disclaimer: Climate Friendly used to be clients of mine, and are participants in the Byron Sustainable Ventures Network that I founded)<br /> <br /> <img src="/images/CF_logoReg109by134.jpg" border="0" height="134" width="109" alt="CF_logoReg109by134.jpg" align="right" />What do corporate banking giant HSBC, the world&rsquo;s largest carpet <br /> manufacturer Interface and leading mobile phone company O2 have in common? <br /> They&rsquo;re leading the business world in environmental responsibility by <br /> neutralising the damage their operations do to the climate.<br /> <br /> Now other companies can do the same, with the help of a new Australian <br /> company, <a href="http://www.climatefriendly.com">climate friendly</a>.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;We all know that carbon dioxide emissions from our homes, businesses, flying<br /> cars are slowly raising the world&rsquo;s temperature,&rdquo; says climate friendly <br /> director Madeleine Lyons. &ldquo;That global warming has led to more floods, <br /> droughts and other extreme weather events, and the endangering of species including <br /> polar bears, coral reefs and butterflies.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> &ldquo;A lot of companies say they care about climate change, but they don&rsquo;t know <br /> what to do about it. Instead of waiting for governments to cut Australia&rsquo;s <br /> growing greenhouse emissions, they can take the matter into their own <br /> hands.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Using calculators designed by former CSIRO scientist Joel Fleming, climate <br /> friendly measures how much greenhouse gas a business emits every year and <br /> invests in clean energy projects on their behalf. The green investments &#8211; <br /> including wind farms and shower head exchange programs &#8211; save as much <br /> greenhouse gas as the sponsor company is emitting, effectively neutralising <br /> any overall damage to the climate.<br />

(Disclaimer: Climate Friendly used to be clients of mine, and are participants in the Byron Sustainable Ventures Network that I founded)<br /> <br /> <img src="/images/CF_logoReg109by134.jpg" border="0" height="134" width="109" alt="CF_logoReg109by134.jpg" align="right" />What do corporate banking giant HSBC, the world&rsquo;s largest carpet <br /> manufacturer Interface and leading mobile phone company O2 have in common? <br /> They&rsquo;re leading the business world in environmental responsibility by <br /> neutralising the damage their operations do to the climate.<br /> <br /> Now other companies can do the same, with the help of a new Australian <br /> company, <a href="http://www.climatefriendly.com">climate friendly</a>.<br /> <br /> &ldquo;We all know that carbon dioxide emissions from our homes, businesses, flying<br /> cars are slowly raising the world&rsquo;s temperature,&rdquo; says climate friendly <br /> director Madeleine Lyons. &ldquo;That global warming has led to more floods, <br /> droughts and other extreme weather events, and the endangering of species including <br /> polar bears, coral reefs and butterflies.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> &ldquo;A lot of companies say they care about climate change, but they don&rsquo;t know <br /> what to do about it. Instead of waiting for governments to cut Australia&rsquo;s <br /> growing greenhouse emissions, they can take the matter into their own <br /> hands.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Using calculators designed by former CSIRO scientist Joel Fleming, climate <br /> friendly measures how much greenhouse gas a business emits every year and <br /> invests in clean energy projects on their behalf. The green investments &#8211; <br /> including wind farms and shower head exchange programs &#8211; save as much <br /> greenhouse gas as the sponsor company is emitting, effectively neutralising <br /> any overall damage to the climate.<br /> 2005-06-19T11:44:55.000Z 2005-06-19T11:44:55.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2875-downshifting_do Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I'm co-convenor of a new Australian organisation "<a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au">Downshifting Downunder</a>". <br /> <br /> In the last decade at least 20% of the Australian population have downshifted, that is, they have voluntarily decided to change their lives in ways that mean they earn less and consume less.<br /> <br /> However, most downshifters think they are the only ones. The organisation's role is to help catalyse and co-ordinate a movement among Australian downshifters, and to share information that shows consumption is not the only way to happiness.<br /> <br /> We are organising a <a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au/archives/2005/03/sydney_conferen.html">conference</a> on July 23rd in Sydney. With a number of interesting speakers including Clive Hamilton, <a href="http://nceph.anu.edu.au/Staff_Students/staff_pages/eckersley.php">Richard Eckersley</a>, <a href="http://sites.uws.edu.au/research/SERG/stuartpage.htm">Stuart Hill</a>, <a href="http://www.unfoldingfutures.net/">Richard & Maria MagGuire</a>, and Byron Shire locals <a href="http://www.byronchild.com/arts-alok.htm">Kali Wendor</a>f and <a href="http://www.ruthostrow.com/">Ruth Ostrow</a>. Early registration ends July 12th. <br /> <br /> Check out Downshifting Downunder's website for more information including a <a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au/archives/2005/06/a_cartoonist_vi.html">series</a> on the theme from political Cartoonist Sean Leahey.<br />

I'm co-convenor of a new Australian organisation "<a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au">Downshifting Downunder</a>". <br /> <br /> In the last decade at least 20% of the Australian population have downshifted, that is, they have voluntarily decided to change their lives in ways that mean they earn less and consume less.<br /> <br /> However, most downshifters think they are the only ones. The organisation's role is to help catalyse and co-ordinate a movement among Australian downshifters, and to share information that shows consumption is not the only way to happiness.<br /> <br /> We are organising a <a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au/archives/2005/03/sydney_conferen.html">conference</a> on July 23rd in Sydney. With a number of interesting speakers including Clive Hamilton, <a href="http://nceph.anu.edu.au/Staff_Students/staff_pages/eckersley.php">Richard Eckersley</a>, <a href="http://sites.uws.edu.au/research/SERG/stuartpage.htm">Stuart Hill</a>, <a href="http://www.unfoldingfutures.net/">Richard & Maria MagGuire</a>, and Byron Shire locals <a href="http://www.byronchild.com/arts-alok.htm">Kali Wendor</a>f and <a href="http://www.ruthostrow.com/">Ruth Ostrow</a>. Early registration ends July 12th. <br /> <br /> Check out Downshifting Downunder's website for more information including a <a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au/archives/2005/06/a_cartoonist_vi.html">series</a> on the theme from political Cartoonist Sean Leahey.<br /> 2005-06-24T11:43:38.000Z 2005-06-24T11:43:38.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2876-recommended_act Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Global Warming is real, its coming and its likely to hit us a lot harder than is being let on.</p><p>Be careful about the reports, scientists are not certain what exactly is going to happen but what they almost all agree is the increase in uncertainty. In other words, we are participating in a global experiment, where the complex interactions of oceans, winds, sun, atmosphere etc lead to changes to our shire that are hard to predict. As a result we have to plan and act based on a reduction in our knowledge of what will happen.</p><p>Take for example rainfall, the average annual rainfall might stay very similar, but if its distribution is uncertain then I personally have to plan on the likelihood of being flooded in longer & more often by bigger storms, and have to install larger raintanks to last through longer droughts.</p><p>I'm what is called a "techno-optimist" but unfortunately, while there are solutions to Global Warming, the chance of either our national or state governments paying more than lip service to it is low, and the chance of the US doing so <a href="http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2417">soon enough</a> to set a good example to China and India is vanishingly small. So we have to figure out how to deal with the pretty drastic consequences.</p><p>When (not if) the <a href="http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2470">antarctic ice-cap melts</a>, sea-level is likely to rise around 5 meters, add another 7 meters when the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3922579.stm">Greenland glaciers melt</a>. 12 meters of sea-level rise puts most of Byron, all of Brunswick and much of Open Shores under water (check the excellent topographical maps at your newsagents), check the estuaries as well, Mullumbimby is below the 10m contour. Also, its not just the contour line, since these refer to average high water mark, not the level that storm surges will raise it to. While predictions currently put the sea-level rise from Greenland could take <a href="http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2370">several hundred years</a>, these predictions are revised closer each year. And the Antarctic seems to be melting <a href="http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2471">faster than anyone predicted</a> with now a <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/?id=710322005">1 in 20 chance</a> of a complete melt in the next 200 years.</p><p>Over the same time period, we are running out of oil, and prices will probably rise dramatically (2 or 3 times) in the next few years. This will not just impact personal transport, but boost the price of anything that has to move a long distance.</p> <br /> <br /> <p>So what can we do about it. I've grouped my answer into actions you can take to prevent it, what you should do if you agree with me that its almost inevitable, and what you should be asking politicians (including our council) to do.</p><h4>Personal actions to reduce your contribution to global warming</h4><br /> <p>The time for personal action is now. The longer we delay these actions, the worse will global warming will be.</p><ul><li>Switch from coal to clean energy. for your home or business. You can do this at <a href="http://www.climatefriendly.com">www.climatefriendly.com</p> or with green power. </li><li>Drive a smaller car, for less miles, car-share etc. Switch to a diesel car and run it on biodiesel - it will be available soon from <a href="http://www.northcoastbiodiesel.com/">North Coast Biodiesels</a>. This will help reduce the impact of peak oil related price rises as well. </li><li>Buy as much as possible locally, especially food from the Organic Farmers market.</li><li>If you own land, look into turning some of it into carbon-sequestering forest. There are likely to be opportunities to get paid to do this.</li><li>Install solar hot-water, and consider solar-electricity (its currently more expensive, but that could change).</li><li>Offset the remainder of your emissions, i.e. pay someone else to turn CO2 into carbon. Local business <a href="http://www.climatefriendly.com">Climate Friendly</a> is leading the way.</li><li>At every opportunity, encourage your politicians to take it seriously - council, government departments, state and national politicians. Write letters, sign petitions, let them know that you care about this issue and will be voting <a href="http://greens.org.au/hotissues/climatechange">Green</a> if they don't pay attention. The federal government in particular needs to break ranks with their masters in Washington and ratify Kyoto. NSW Labor in particular needs to be upgrading railways not roads.</li></ul><h4>Businesses too have responsibilities and options</h4><br /> <ul><li>Take the same actions as individuals, i.e. reduce transport, and offset emissions.</li><li>Reduce your dependence on products from longer distances, and find local outlets for your products.</li></ul><h4>Personal actions to deal with the consequences.</h4><br /> <p>Unless the politicians and industry get their act together - which is unlikely, you are going to have to deal with the consequences. Luckily many of the options for helping reduce your personal impact, are also good options for coping with price rises from peak-oil. Especially smaller, diesel cars and generating your own power.</p><ul><li>Seriuosly consider selling any property below 10m contour line, don't forget, you have to sell not just before the sea-level rises, but before the fear of it depresses prices.</li><li>Buy a diesel car - and run it on biodiesel.</li> <br /> <li>Buy a water tank - Rous Water isn't taking global warming seriously and planning for the range of possible rainfalls, so expect shortages if the rainfall turns out on the low side. <br /> </ul><h4>And lastly what you could be asking our local council to do.</h4><br /> <p>Apart from encouraging the council to take all the actions recommended for businesses and individuals, and letting them know you support paying more rates if it costs more. I would suggest a couple of political actions be recommended.</p><ul><li>Take all the actions a business is recommended to do above (buy local, offset carbon, use biodiesel).</li><li>Require realtors to notify people of the potential risk of substantial coastline changes, and require such notification before any property sale. Make it clear to state and federal governments that this is prudent "full-disclosure" given their failure to act.</li><li>Copy the trend of mayors in the US, another country with a head-in-the-sand government. In the US local mayors started coming together to support meeting Kyoto targets locally, the trend spread and recently the US Conference of Mayors unanimously <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/13/AR2005061301734.html">passed a resolution</a> requiring their cities to try and meet Kyoto targets.</li></ul>

<p>Global Warming is real, its coming and its likely to hit us a lot harder than is being let on.</p><p>Be careful about the reports, scientists are not certain what exactly is going to happen but what they almost all agree is the increase in uncertainty. In other words, we are participating in a global experiment, where the complex interactions of oceans, winds, sun, atmosphere etc lead to changes to our shire that are hard to predict. As a result we have to plan and act based on a reduction in our knowledge of what will happen.</p><p>Take for example rainfall, the average annual rainfall might stay very similar, but if its distribution is uncertain then I personally have to plan on the likelihood of being flooded in longer & more often by bigger storms, and have to install larger raintanks to last through longer droughts.</p><p>I'm what is called a "techno-optimist" but unfortunately, while there are solutions to Global Warming, the chance of either our national or state governments paying more than lip service to it is low, and the chance of the US doing so <a href="http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2417">soon enough</a> to set a good example to China and India is vanishingly small. So we have to figure out how to deal with the pretty drastic consequences.</p><p>When (not if) the <a href="http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2470">antarctic ice-cap melts</a>, sea-level is likely to rise around 5 meters, add another 7 meters when the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3922579.stm">Greenland glaciers melt</a>. 12 meters of sea-level rise puts most of Byron, all of Brunswick and much of Open Shores under water (check the excellent topographical maps at your newsagents), check the estuaries as well, Mullumbimby is below the 10m contour. Also, its not just the contour line, since these refer to average high water mark, not the level that storm surges will raise it to. While predictions currently put the sea-level rise from Greenland could take <a href="http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2370">several hundred years</a>, these predictions are revised closer each year. And the Antarctic seems to be melting <a href="http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2471">faster than anyone predicted</a> with now a <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/?id=710322005">1 in 20 chance</a> of a complete melt in the next 200 years.</p><p>Over the same time period, we are running out of oil, and prices will probably rise dramatically (2 or 3 times) in the next few years. This will not just impact personal transport, but boost the price of anything that has to move a long distance.</p> <br /> <br /> <p>So what can we do about it. I've grouped my answer into actions you can take to prevent it, what you should do if you agree with me that its almost inevitable, and what you should be asking politicians (including our council) to do.</p><h4>Personal actions to reduce your contribution to global warming</h4><br /> <p>The time for personal action is now. The longer we delay these actions, the worse will global warming will be.</p><ul><li>Switch from coal to clean energy. for your home or business. You can do this at <a href="http://www.climatefriendly.com">www.climatefriendly.com</p> or with green power. </li><li>Drive a smaller car, for less miles, car-share etc. Switch to a diesel car and run it on biodiesel - it will be available soon from <a href="http://www.northcoastbiodiesel.com/">North Coast Biodiesels</a>. This will help reduce the impact of peak oil related price rises as well. </li><li>Buy as much as possible locally, especially food from the Organic Farmers market.</li><li>If you own land, look into turning some of it into carbon-sequestering forest. There are likely to be opportunities to get paid to do this.</li><li>Install solar hot-water, and consider solar-electricity (its currently more expensive, but that could change).</li><li>Offset the remainder of your emissions, i.e. pay someone else to turn CO2 into carbon. Local business <a href="http://www.climatefriendly.com">Climate Friendly</a> is leading the way.</li><li>At every opportunity, encourage your politicians to take it seriously - council, government departments, state and national politicians. Write letters, sign petitions, let them know that you care about this issue and will be voting <a href="http://greens.org.au/hotissues/climatechange">Green</a> if they don't pay attention. The federal government in particular needs to break ranks with their masters in Washington and ratify Kyoto. NSW Labor in particular needs to be upgrading railways not roads.</li></ul><h4>Businesses too have responsibilities and options</h4><br /> <ul><li>Take the same actions as individuals, i.e. reduce transport, and offset emissions.</li><li>Reduce your dependence on products from longer distances, and find local outlets for your products.</li></ul><h4>Personal actions to deal with the consequences.</h4><br /> <p>Unless the politicians and industry get their act together - which is unlikely, you are going to have to deal with the consequences. Luckily many of the options for helping reduce your personal impact, are also good options for coping with price rises from peak-oil. Especially smaller, diesel cars and generating your own power.</p><ul><li>Seriuosly consider selling any property below 10m contour line, don't forget, you have to sell not just before the sea-level rises, but before the fear of it depresses prices.</li><li>Buy a diesel car - and run it on biodiesel.</li> <br /> <li>Buy a water tank - Rous Water isn't taking global warming seriously and planning for the range of possible rainfalls, so expect shortages if the rainfall turns out on the low side. <br /> </ul><h4>And lastly what you could be asking our local council to do.</h4><br /> <p>Apart from encouraging the council to take all the actions recommended for businesses and individuals, and letting them know you support paying more rates if it costs more. I would suggest a couple of political actions be recommended.</p><ul><li>Take all the actions a business is recommended to do above (buy local, offset carbon, use biodiesel).</li><li>Require realtors to notify people of the potential risk of substantial coastline changes, and require such notification before any property sale. Make it clear to state and federal governments that this is prudent "full-disclosure" given their failure to act.</li><li>Copy the trend of mayors in the US, another country with a head-in-the-sand government. In the US local mayors started coming together to support meeting Kyoto targets locally, the trend spread and recently the US Conference of Mayors unanimously <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/13/AR2005061301734.html">passed a resolution</a> requiring their cities to try and meet Kyoto targets.</li></ul> 2005-06-28T23:15:20.000Z 2005-06-28T23:15:20.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2877-cornbased_plast Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I think this is important, as non-petroleum based and other renewable products start passing non-renewables then suddenly the demand starts to rise, which kicks in economies of scale that make the price difference even higher. This article is one of the first I've seen with that potential.</p><p><br /> From the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-grain26jun26,0,4198107.story?track=tothtml">LA times</a> via <a href="http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2714598">Ezra Klein</a>, via <a href="http://sustainablog.blogspot.com/2005/06/corn-based-plastic-much-cheaper.html">Sustainablog</a> news that <a href="http://www.natureworksllc.com/corporate/nw_pack_home.asp">Cargill's corn-based plastic</a> has dropped in price:</p><blockquote><br /> <p>When Cargill launched its factory in 2002, its pellets were far more expensive than equivalent material made from oil. Wild Oats Markets, an early customer, paid 50% more for takeout containers made from the bio-plastic.</p><p><br /> But over the last two years, the Cargill plant has gotten more efficient &mdash; and oil prices have soared.</p><p><br /> The result: The "corn-tainers" in the deli now cost Wild Oats 5% less than traditional plastic, Wild Oats spokeswoman Sonja Tuitele said.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2714598">discussion</a> developing on this is interesting, too. Yes, the process is not oil-free, as the fertilizer used to grow the corn is still petroleum-based. But there's considerably less oil that goes into this process vs. traditional plastics. I think commenter Allen K. brings up an interesting parallel as he compares this to biodiesel (and he doesn't seem impressed by either), but not necessarily in the sense he means. I have to wonder if these kinds of products will only build the myth that we can farm our way out of the consequences of peak oil. Not likely, and not without starving a lot of people. I don't see why, though, the waste biomass from corn farming and other forms of agriculture couldn't be devoted to these kinds of developments.</p></blockquote><br /> <p>I'd be interested in hearing about any other examples of renewables coming out cheaper than non-renewables even without counting the externalities</p>

<p>I think this is important, as non-petroleum based and other renewable products start passing non-renewables then suddenly the demand starts to rise, which kicks in economies of scale that make the price difference even higher. This article is one of the first I've seen with that potential.</p><p><br /> From the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-grain26jun26,0,4198107.story?track=tothtml">LA times</a> via <a href="http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2714598">Ezra Klein</a>, via <a href="http://sustainablog.blogspot.com/2005/06/corn-based-plastic-much-cheaper.html">Sustainablog</a> news that <a href="http://www.natureworksllc.com/corporate/nw_pack_home.asp">Cargill's corn-based plastic</a> has dropped in price:</p><blockquote><br /> <p>When Cargill launched its factory in 2002, its pellets were far more expensive than equivalent material made from oil. Wild Oats Markets, an early customer, paid 50% more for takeout containers made from the bio-plastic.</p><p><br /> But over the last two years, the Cargill plant has gotten more efficient &mdash; and oil prices have soared.</p><p><br /> The result: The "corn-tainers" in the deli now cost Wild Oats 5% less than traditional plastic, Wild Oats spokeswoman Sonja Tuitele said.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2714598">discussion</a> developing on this is interesting, too. Yes, the process is not oil-free, as the fertilizer used to grow the corn is still petroleum-based. But there's considerably less oil that goes into this process vs. traditional plastics. I think commenter Allen K. brings up an interesting parallel as he compares this to biodiesel (and he doesn't seem impressed by either), but not necessarily in the sense he means. I have to wonder if these kinds of products will only build the myth that we can farm our way out of the consequences of peak oil. Not likely, and not without starving a lot of people. I don't see why, though, the waste biomass from corn farming and other forms of agriculture couldn't be devoted to these kinds of developments.</p></blockquote><br /> <p>I'd be interested in hearing about any other examples of renewables coming out cheaper than non-renewables even without counting the externalities</p> 2005-07-09T16:23:59.000Z 2005-07-09T16:23:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2878-roundup_toxic_a Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A new study shows what should probably have been expected - i.e. Roundup is pretty nasty stuff even in much lower doses than recommended. Monsanto has been caught <a href="http://www.ghchealth.com/forum/about667.html">suppressing studies</a> on the danger of GM foods and <a href="http://corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11787">bribing Indonesians</a> to bypass their controls. So it should hardly come as a surprise that another of Monsanto's products is more toxic than they say.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> From <a href="http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/pregnancy060305.cfm">organicconsumers.org</a><br /> <br /> I think this study just released from a French university finally allows us to understand the Roundup toxicity problem. As you read this you will find that the Roundup formulation is actually much more toxic than glyphosate. When you read that the main ingredient of Roundup, glyphosate, has been studied you are getting a small part of the picture. I quote from below "Surprisingly, Roundup is always more toxic than its active ingredient." I hope this study and the attached references can help us to be assured that there is more to the Roundup issue than we are hearing about.<br /> <br /> To view the entire study (and I suggest you do) go to http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/7728/7728.html You can read this as a web document or print it out as a pdf. I have pasted in the conclusions and references below Thank you, Thomas Wittman<br /> <br /> Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 6, June 2005<br /> <br /> Differential Effects of Glyphosate and Roundup on Human Placental Cells<br /> and Aromatase<br /> <br /> By: Sophie Richard, Safa Moslemi, Herbert Sipahutar, Nora Benachour, and Gilles-Eric Seralini<br /> <br /> Laboratoire de Biochimie et Biologie Moleculaire, USC-INCRA, Universit&eacute; de Caen, Caen, France<br /> <br /> Abstract<br /> <br /> Roundup is a glyphosate-based herbicide used worldwide, including on most genetically modified plants that have been designed to tolerate it.<br /> <br /> Its residues may thus enter the food chain, and glyphosate is found as a contaminant in rivers. Some agricultural workers using glyphosate have pregnancy problems, but its mechanism of action in mammals is questioned. Here we show that glyphosate is toxic to human placental JEG3 cells within 18 hr with concentrations lower than those found with agricultural use, and this effect increases with concentration and time or in the presence of Roundup adjuvants. Surprisingly, Roundup is always more toxic than its active ingredient. We tested the effects of glyphosate and Roundup at lower nontoxic concentrations on aromatase, the enzyme responsible for estrogen synthesis. The glyphosate-based herbicide disrupts aromatase activity and mRNA levels and interacts with the active site of the purified enzyme, but the effects of glyphosate are facilitated by the Roundup formulation in microsomes or in cell culture. We conclude that endocrine and toxic effects of Roundup, not just glyphosate, can be observed in mammals. We suggest that the presence of Roundup adjuvants enhances glyphosate bioavailability and/or bioaccumulation. Key words: adjuvants, aromatase, endocrine disruption, glyphosate, herbicide, human JEG3 cells, placenta, reductase, Roundup, xenobiotic. Environ Health Perspect 113:716-720 (2005). doi:10.1289/ehp.7728 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 25 February 2005]<br /> <br /> Conclusion<br /> <br /> Our studies show that glyphosate acts as a disruptor of mammalian cytochrome P450 aromatase activity from concentrations 100 times lower than the recommended use in agriculture; this is noticeable on human placental cells after only 18 hr, and it can also affect aromatase gene expression. It also partially disrupts the ubiquitous reductase activity but at higher concentrations. Its effects are allowed and amplified by at least 0.02% of the adjuvants present in Roundup, known to facilitate cell penetration, and this should be carefully taken into account in pesticide evaluation. The dilution of glyphosate in Roundup formulation may multiply its endocrine effect. Roundup may be thus considered as a potential endocrine disruptor. Moreover, at higher doses still below the classical agricultural dilutions, its toxicity on placental cells could induce some reproduction problems.<br /> </blockquote>

A new study shows what should probably have been expected - i.e. Roundup is pretty nasty stuff even in much lower doses than recommended. Monsanto has been caught <a href="http://www.ghchealth.com/forum/about667.html">suppressing studies</a> on the danger of GM foods and <a href="http://corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11787">bribing Indonesians</a> to bypass their controls. So it should hardly come as a surprise that another of Monsanto's products is more toxic than they say.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> From <a href="http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/pregnancy060305.cfm">organicconsumers.org</a><br /> <br /> I think this study just released from a French university finally allows us to understand the Roundup toxicity problem. As you read this you will find that the Roundup formulation is actually much more toxic than glyphosate. When you read that the main ingredient of Roundup, glyphosate, has been studied you are getting a small part of the picture. I quote from below "Surprisingly, Roundup is always more toxic than its active ingredient." I hope this study and the attached references can help us to be assured that there is more to the Roundup issue than we are hearing about.<br /> <br /> To view the entire study (and I suggest you do) go to http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/7728/7728.html You can read this as a web document or print it out as a pdf. I have pasted in the conclusions and references below Thank you, Thomas Wittman<br /> <br /> Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 6, June 2005<br /> <br /> Differential Effects of Glyphosate and Roundup on Human Placental Cells<br /> and Aromatase<br /> <br /> By: Sophie Richard, Safa Moslemi, Herbert Sipahutar, Nora Benachour, and Gilles-Eric Seralini<br /> <br /> Laboratoire de Biochimie et Biologie Moleculaire, USC-INCRA, Universit&eacute; de Caen, Caen, France<br /> <br /> Abstract<br /> <br /> Roundup is a glyphosate-based herbicide used worldwide, including on most genetically modified plants that have been designed to tolerate it.<br /> <br /> Its residues may thus enter the food chain, and glyphosate is found as a contaminant in rivers. Some agricultural workers using glyphosate have pregnancy problems, but its mechanism of action in mammals is questioned. Here we show that glyphosate is toxic to human placental JEG3 cells within 18 hr with concentrations lower than those found with agricultural use, and this effect increases with concentration and time or in the presence of Roundup adjuvants. Surprisingly, Roundup is always more toxic than its active ingredient. We tested the effects of glyphosate and Roundup at lower nontoxic concentrations on aromatase, the enzyme responsible for estrogen synthesis. The glyphosate-based herbicide disrupts aromatase activity and mRNA levels and interacts with the active site of the purified enzyme, but the effects of glyphosate are facilitated by the Roundup formulation in microsomes or in cell culture. We conclude that endocrine and toxic effects of Roundup, not just glyphosate, can be observed in mammals. We suggest that the presence of Roundup adjuvants enhances glyphosate bioavailability and/or bioaccumulation. Key words: adjuvants, aromatase, endocrine disruption, glyphosate, herbicide, human JEG3 cells, placenta, reductase, Roundup, xenobiotic. Environ Health Perspect 113:716-720 (2005). doi:10.1289/ehp.7728 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 25 February 2005]<br /> <br /> Conclusion<br /> <br /> Our studies show that glyphosate acts as a disruptor of mammalian cytochrome P450 aromatase activity from concentrations 100 times lower than the recommended use in agriculture; this is noticeable on human placental cells after only 18 hr, and it can also affect aromatase gene expression. It also partially disrupts the ubiquitous reductase activity but at higher concentrations. Its effects are allowed and amplified by at least 0.02% of the adjuvants present in Roundup, known to facilitate cell penetration, and this should be carefully taken into account in pesticide evaluation. The dilution of glyphosate in Roundup formulation may multiply its endocrine effect. Roundup may be thus considered as a potential endocrine disruptor. Moreover, at higher doses still below the classical agricultural dilutions, its toxicity on placental cells could induce some reproduction problems.<br /> </blockquote> 2005-08-10T22:34:32.000Z 2005-08-10T22:34:32.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2879 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Thursday 25th August 7pm<br /> Byron Bay Community Center<br /> <br /> The Byron Sustainable Ventures Network, in conjunction with Friends of the Earth are presenting an information evening on Climate Change at the Byron Bay Community Center on Thursday 25th August at 7pm. Friends of the Earth will highlight the inequity of climate change impacts across the globe while the Byron Sustainable Venture Network will share actions that local businesses can and are taking to mitigate their impact on the environment. <br /> <br /> Climate Change is the most significant environmental issue facing us over the next decade, with major impacts that will be felt worldwide, and not just by those who are creating most of the greenhouse gas pollution. this forum will follow up on Tim Winton&rsquo;s recent Peak Oil forum, by looking at one of the specific impacts of climate change, and by addressing the responsibility of businesses to do their part in reducing the impact and scale of climate change. <br />

Thursday 25th August 7pm<br /> Byron Bay Community Center<br /> <br /> The Byron Sustainable Ventures Network, in conjunction with Friends of the Earth are presenting an information evening on Climate Change at the Byron Bay Community Center on Thursday 25th August at 7pm. Friends of the Earth will highlight the inequity of climate change impacts across the globe while the Byron Sustainable Venture Network will share actions that local businesses can and are taking to mitigate their impact on the environment. <br /> <br /> Climate Change is the most significant environmental issue facing us over the next decade, with major impacts that will be felt worldwide, and not just by those who are creating most of the greenhouse gas pollution. this forum will follow up on Tim Winton&rsquo;s recent Peak Oil forum, by looking at one of the specific impacts of climate change, and by addressing the responsibility of businesses to do their part in reducing the impact and scale of climate change. <br /> 2005-08-11T11:05:04.000Z 2005-08-11T11:05:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2880-ten_things_a_bu Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<br /> <br /> The Byron Sustainable Ventures Network is a network of local business-owners which was started about a year ago by Mitra Ardron of Natural Innovation. The people that make up the network believe that business has a duty to care for the environment and the communities we are part of. The network has been gathering monthly to support each other in balancing the challenges of keeping our businesses environmentally, socially and economically healthy. <br /> <br /> Here are some suggestions and examples of ways to make your business more sustainable. <br /> <br /> <b>1. Consider your raw materials. Could you use recycled or reclaimed materials? </b>Slingfings uses reclaimed and recycled fabrics. ReGenesis collects and transmutes green waste into live soil or &lsquo;humus&rsquo; for replenishment of the land.<br /> <br />

<br /> <br /> The Byron Sustainable Ventures Network is a network of local business-owners which was started about a year ago by Mitra Ardron of Natural Innovation. The people that make up the network believe that business has a duty to care for the environment and the communities we are part of. The network has been gathering monthly to support each other in balancing the challenges of keeping our businesses environmentally, socially and economically healthy. <br /> <br /> Here are some suggestions and examples of ways to make your business more sustainable. <br /> <br /> <b>1. Consider your raw materials. Could you use recycled or reclaimed materials? </b>Slingfings uses reclaimed and recycled fabrics. ReGenesis collects and transmutes green waste into live soil or &lsquo;humus&rsquo; for replenishment of the land.<br /> <br /> 2005-08-26T11:50:13.000Z 2005-08-26T11:50:13.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2881-new_york_times Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img align="right" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/08/18/magazine/21oil.1.184.jpg">This article in the New York Times, is an in depth look at whether the Saudis can, or can't match oil demand - i.e. whether Peak Oil is real or not.</p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/magazine/21OIL.html">www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/magazine/21OIL.html</a></p><blockquote>As Aref al-Ali, my escort from Saudi Aramco, the giant state-owned oil company, pointed out, ''One mistake at Ras Tanura today, and the price of oil will go up.'' This has turned the port into a fortress; its entrances have an array of gates and bomb barriers to prevent terrorists from cutting off the black oxygen that the modern world depends on. Yet the problem is far greater than the brief havoc that could be wrought by a speeding zealot with 50 pounds of TNT in the trunk of his car. Concerns are being voiced by some oil experts that Saudi Arabia and other producers may, in the near future, be unable to meet rising world demand. The producers are not running out of oil, not yet, but their decades-old reservoirs are not as full and geologically spry as they used to be, and they may be incapable of producing, on a daily basis, the increasing volumes of oil that the world requires. ''One thing is clear,'' warns Chevron, the second-largest American oil company, in a series of new advertisements, ''the era of easy oil is over.''</blockquote><br /> <br />

<p><img align="right" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/08/18/magazine/21oil.1.184.jpg">This article in the New York Times, is an in depth look at whether the Saudis can, or can't match oil demand - i.e. whether Peak Oil is real or not.</p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/magazine/21OIL.html">www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/magazine/21OIL.html</a></p><blockquote>As Aref al-Ali, my escort from Saudi Aramco, the giant state-owned oil company, pointed out, ''One mistake at Ras Tanura today, and the price of oil will go up.'' This has turned the port into a fortress; its entrances have an array of gates and bomb barriers to prevent terrorists from cutting off the black oxygen that the modern world depends on. Yet the problem is far greater than the brief havoc that could be wrought by a speeding zealot with 50 pounds of TNT in the trunk of his car. Concerns are being voiced by some oil experts that Saudi Arabia and other producers may, in the near future, be unable to meet rising world demand. The producers are not running out of oil, not yet, but their decades-old reservoirs are not as full and geologically spry as they used to be, and they may be incapable of producing, on a daily basis, the increasing volumes of oil that the world requires. ''One thing is clear,'' warns Chevron, the second-largest American oil company, in a series of new advertisements, ''the era of easy oil is over.''</blockquote><br /> <br /> 2005-09-01T12:26:30.000Z 2005-09-01T12:26:30.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2882-first_issue_of Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The first issue of Downshifting Downunder's newsletter "Simpler Richer Living" is available on DD's <a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au">website</a>.

The first issue of Downshifting Downunder's newsletter "Simpler Richer Living" is available on DD's <a href="http://www.downshifting.net.au">website</a>. 2005-11-15T07:10:31.000Z 2005-11-15T07:10:31.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2883-new_lithium_ion Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

There is some interesting buzz around another fast recharging Lithium Ion battery, such as that announced by Toshiba in March.<br /> <br /> This time its from <a href="http://www.a123systems.com/html/home.html">A123</a> who have got products under way with Black and Decker etc. <br /> <br /> The Wall Street Journal has an article on them.<br /> <br /> (Thanks to ETList and <a href="http://tyler.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/11/4/1344757.html">Clean Break</a> who are also running the story.)<br /> <br /> <blockquote>A new generation of rechargeable batteries&mdash;delivering far more power than their predecessors&mdash;is energizing the power-tool industry and generating widespread interest in applications in everything from vacuum cleaners to ride-on lawn mowers to hybrid cars.<br /> <br /> The new lithium-ion batteries&mdash;powering a host of products already on the market and envisioned for others on the drawing board&mdash;are made possible by technical breakthroughs in lightweight lithium-ion cells, introduced in rechargeables in the 1990s but until recently deemed too volatile for safe high-power use.<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> For hybrid electric/gasoline cars, manufacturers have adopted nickel-metal-hydride batteries because they weigh less than lead batteries. A123 believes its lithium-ion batteries could pack the same punch as nickel-metal-hydride at 20% of the weight.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <br />

There is some interesting buzz around another fast recharging Lithium Ion battery, such as that announced by Toshiba in March.<br /> <br /> This time its from <a href="http://www.a123systems.com/html/home.html">A123</a> who have got products under way with Black and Decker etc. <br /> <br /> The Wall Street Journal has an article on them.<br /> <br /> (Thanks to ETList and <a href="http://tyler.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/11/4/1344757.html">Clean Break</a> who are also running the story.)<br /> <br /> <blockquote>A new generation of rechargeable batteries&mdash;delivering far more power than their predecessors&mdash;is energizing the power-tool industry and generating widespread interest in applications in everything from vacuum cleaners to ride-on lawn mowers to hybrid cars.<br /> <br /> The new lithium-ion batteries&mdash;powering a host of products already on the market and envisioned for others on the drawing board&mdash;are made possible by technical breakthroughs in lightweight lithium-ion cells, introduced in rechargeables in the 1990s but until recently deemed too volatile for safe high-power use.<br /> <br /> ...<br /> <br /> For hybrid electric/gasoline cars, manufacturers have adopted nickel-metal-hydride batteries because they weigh less than lead batteries. A123 believes its lithium-ion batteries could pack the same punch as nickel-metal-hydride at 20% of the weight.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> 2005-11-16T16:39:11.000Z 2005-11-16T16:39:11.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2884-back_from_a_wor Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Hi readers ... a couple of people have commented on the long gap in postings here. I'm just back in Australia from a crazy round-the-world green business trip, once I catch up on the backlog of "urgent" actions, I'll post some highlights and interesting items I came across here. In the meantime ... just a quick overview of the trip, and some of the topics I want to write up as soon as I get some time.<br /> <br /> <h4>India</h4><br /> <ul><li>checking whether a factory making organic nappies for one of my businesses are doing so in an appropriately ethical way</li><li>exploring possibilities for small scale sewing projects hooked into Community Economic Development projects.</li><li>sourcing tins in a way that helps the struggles of oppressed metalworkers.</li></ul><h4>Italy</h4><br /> <ul><li>Meeting with a client about a documentary she's making</li><li>Attending the <a href="http://www.svneurope.com">European Social Venture Network</a> conference - a gathering of Green businesses, investors, and consultants</li></ul><h4>Bulgaria</h4><br /> <ul><li>Attending the annual conference of the <a href="http://www.apc.org">Association for Progressive Communications</a>, which I co-founded in 1988</li></ul><h4>Austria</h4><br /> <ul><li>Meeting with clients making plastic out of hemp</li></ul><h4>England and Scotland</h4><br /> <ul><li>Visiting and reconnecting with the Eco-village, Community and Living Machine at <a href="http://www.findhorn.org">Findhorn</a> after a 16 year gap</li><li>Reconnecting with old friends involved with sustainability consulting to large businesses, and with green building</li> <br /> </ul><h4>U.S.</h4><br /> <ul><li>Attending the US Social Venture Network conference</li><li>Attending the Green Fair in San Francisco</li><li>Sourcing organics from Costa Rica for Australian clients</li><li>Looking for finance for an Australian client</li><li>Finding US outlets for organic foods from Australian clients</li><li>Sourcing Australian Raw materials for US companies</li><li>Discussing the problems of bureaucracy within the fair trade labeling system</li><li>Introducing the <a href="http://www.whycfm.org/">Community Friendly Movement</a> (Indian) and <a href="http://www.tip2change.org/">Tip2Change</a> to US Media and Fair Trade companies</li><li>Researching alternatives and opportunities in early stage funding of sustainability and cleantech companies</li></ul><p>Now back to the backlog pile.</p>

Hi readers ... a couple of people have commented on the long gap in postings here. I'm just back in Australia from a crazy round-the-world green business trip, once I catch up on the backlog of "urgent" actions, I'll post some highlights and interesting items I came across here. In the meantime ... just a quick overview of the trip, and some of the topics I want to write up as soon as I get some time.<br /> <br /> <h4>India</h4><br /> <ul><li>checking whether a factory making organic nappies for one of my businesses are doing so in an appropriately ethical way</li><li>exploring possibilities for small scale sewing projects hooked into Community Economic Development projects.</li><li>sourcing tins in a way that helps the struggles of oppressed metalworkers.</li></ul><h4>Italy</h4><br /> <ul><li>Meeting with a client about a documentary she's making</li><li>Attending the <a href="http://www.svneurope.com">European Social Venture Network</a> conference - a gathering of Green businesses, investors, and consultants</li></ul><h4>Bulgaria</h4><br /> <ul><li>Attending the annual conference of the <a href="http://www.apc.org">Association for Progressive Communications</a>, which I co-founded in 1988</li></ul><h4>Austria</h4><br /> <ul><li>Meeting with clients making plastic out of hemp</li></ul><h4>England and Scotland</h4><br /> <ul><li>Visiting and reconnecting with the Eco-village, Community and Living Machine at <a href="http://www.findhorn.org">Findhorn</a> after a 16 year gap</li><li>Reconnecting with old friends involved with sustainability consulting to large businesses, and with green building</li> <br /> </ul><h4>U.S.</h4><br /> <ul><li>Attending the US Social Venture Network conference</li><li>Attending the Green Fair in San Francisco</li><li>Sourcing organics from Costa Rica for Australian clients</li><li>Looking for finance for an Australian client</li><li>Finding US outlets for organic foods from Australian clients</li><li>Sourcing Australian Raw materials for US companies</li><li>Discussing the problems of bureaucracy within the fair trade labeling system</li><li>Introducing the <a href="http://www.whycfm.org/">Community Friendly Movement</a> (Indian) and <a href="http://www.tip2change.org/">Tip2Change</a> to US Media and Fair Trade companies</li><li>Researching alternatives and opportunities in early stage funding of sustainability and cleantech companies</li></ul><p>Now back to the backlog pile.</p> 2005-11-24T21:17:26.000Z 2005-11-24T21:17:26.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2885-papyrus_awarded Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060221120307/http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au/ASX%20release%2024%20nov05.pdf" title="Papyrus company statement"></pdf-link><p>Congratulations to Papyrus Australia, who had their banana paper technology ruled "novel and inventive" by the Australian Patent Office, which may lead to acquiring patent protection globally. Papyrus's stock surged up 29.63% to 0.35 (<a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asx/markets/EquitySearchResults.jsp?method=get&amp;template=F1001&amp;ASXCodes=ppy%20ppyo">latest</a>) on the news (<a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asx/research/ChartsSearchAndResults.jsp?postback=true&amp;asxCode=PPY&amp;compare=index&amp;indices=XSO&amp;compareCode=&amp;TimeFrame=D12&amp;chart.x=43&amp;chart.y=11&amp;chart=Create+chart">graph</a>).</p><p>I want to publicly congratulate the Patent Attorney, <a href="http://www.pof.com.au/view_materials_attorney.php?staff_id=40">Greg Bartlett</a> of POF, he was one of the very few patent attorneys I've met who really understood the technology (and I have two patents in my name!)</p><p>On Yahoo its saying "A company official told Reuters the development provides it with an option to pursue a joint-venture agreement, licencing of the product or go for an outright sale." Hopefully they won't go the latter route as I fear it could cause the loss of the sustainability values that were a core part of my reason for working with them.</p><p>Full Disclosure: I was acting CEO of Papyrus most of last year, I have no ongoing inside information.</p>

<pdf-link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060221120307/http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au/ASX%20release%2024%20nov05.pdf" title="Papyrus company statement"></pdf-link><p>Congratulations to Papyrus Australia, who had their banana paper technology ruled "novel and inventive" by the Australian Patent Office, which may lead to acquiring patent protection globally. Papyrus's stock surged up 29.63% to 0.35 (<a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asx/markets/EquitySearchResults.jsp?method=get&amp;template=F1001&amp;ASXCodes=ppy%20ppyo">latest</a>) on the news (<a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asx/research/ChartsSearchAndResults.jsp?postback=true&amp;asxCode=PPY&amp;compare=index&amp;indices=XSO&amp;compareCode=&amp;TimeFrame=D12&amp;chart.x=43&amp;chart.y=11&amp;chart=Create+chart">graph</a>).</p><p>I want to publicly congratulate the Patent Attorney, <a href="http://www.pof.com.au/view_materials_attorney.php?staff_id=40">Greg Bartlett</a> of POF, he was one of the very few patent attorneys I've met who really understood the technology (and I have two patents in my name!)</p><p>On Yahoo its saying "A company official told Reuters the development provides it with an option to pursue a joint-venture agreement, licencing of the product or go for an outright sale." Hopefully they won't go the latter route as I fear it could cause the loss of the sustainability values that were a core part of my reason for working with them.</p><p>Full Disclosure: I was acting CEO of Papyrus most of last year, I have no ongoing inside information.</p> 2005-11-25T07:27:11.000Z 2005-11-25T07:27:11.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2886-survey_on_consu Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Neil Tappenden, who I met at the European Social Ventures Network conference in Italy last month sent me the following short survey (5 mins max). It would help him with his latest project to get some responses. You can take the <a href="<a href=http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=402031544581">survey</a>, or read more...</p>

<p>Neil Tappenden, who I met at the European Social Ventures Network conference in Italy last month sent me the following short survey (5 mins max). It would help him with his latest project to get some responses. You can take the <a href="<a href=http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=402031544581">survey</a>, or read more...</p> 2005-12-05T07:30:27.000Z 2005-12-05T07:30:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2887-cleantech_inves Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Last week, I attended the <a href="http://www.cleantechforum.com">Cleantech Finance and Investment Forum</a> in Melbourne. <br /> <br /> At this conference were representatives from pension funds, investors, venture capital, local government and the renewable energy industry.<br /> <br /> A couple of points stood out.<br /> <br /> Contrary to what the government is saying about backing emissions reduction, speaker after speaker talked about moving their investment offshore - mostly to Europe - because of the lack of government support here. The most interesting example was <a href="http://www.viridisenergy.com/">Viridis Energy</a> with investments so far in four countries in Wind, Hydro and Waste to Energy.<br /> <br /> Specifically:<br /> <br /> <ul><li>the lack of signing Kyoto means that the carbon credit trading system doesn't bring them the ability to sell their credits on the international market.</li><li>The failure to raise the <a href="http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/markets/mret/">Mandatory Renewable Energy Targets</a>, which are set at the absurdly low level of 2% by 2010. Essentially both the investors, and the industry were saying that this in effect puts a cap on the renewable energy industry in Australia, so it was safer to take funds offshore.</li></ul>The US and Canadian companies, in particular Wal van Lierop of Vancouver based <a href="http://www.chrysalix.com/">Chrysalix Energy</a> spent much of his presentation on looking at how they look for the big opportunities - the places where a technology is about to make the leap from niche to mass market. In contrast Saxon Hill of Sydney based <a href="http://www.cvcsi.com.au/">CVC Sustainable Investments</a> concentrated on how they minimise the risk and avoid making bad investments. <br /> <br /> This was not an isolated difference, it was mirrored in the discussion between Nicholas Parker of US/Canadian Cleantech Venture Network and John Brakey of Australia's Macquarie Funds Management, and illustrates why there is so little investment in early stage technologies in Australia as compared to the US. It also illustrated why US and Canadian VC's were at the conference, i.e. there are many opportunities in Australia to snap up a bargain because of the lack of local money chasing those bargains. The principle concern for Australians should be that early stage investors would typically require that the companies they are investing in relocate to the US rather than continue development in Australia.<br /> <br /> As we move to an energy constrained future, it is important for investment to be occurring in both core technologies and also in projects using these, with both of these moving offshore it means Australia will be more dependent on dwindling fossil fuels rather than less. <br /> <br />

Last week, I attended the <a href="http://www.cleantechforum.com">Cleantech Finance and Investment Forum</a> in Melbourne. <br /> <br /> At this conference were representatives from pension funds, investors, venture capital, local government and the renewable energy industry.<br /> <br /> A couple of points stood out.<br /> <br /> Contrary to what the government is saying about backing emissions reduction, speaker after speaker talked about moving their investment offshore - mostly to Europe - because of the lack of government support here. The most interesting example was <a href="http://www.viridisenergy.com/">Viridis Energy</a> with investments so far in four countries in Wind, Hydro and Waste to Energy.<br /> <br /> Specifically:<br /> <br /> <ul><li>the lack of signing Kyoto means that the carbon credit trading system doesn't bring them the ability to sell their credits on the international market.</li><li>The failure to raise the <a href="http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/markets/mret/">Mandatory Renewable Energy Targets</a>, which are set at the absurdly low level of 2% by 2010. Essentially both the investors, and the industry were saying that this in effect puts a cap on the renewable energy industry in Australia, so it was safer to take funds offshore.</li></ul>The US and Canadian companies, in particular Wal van Lierop of Vancouver based <a href="http://www.chrysalix.com/">Chrysalix Energy</a> spent much of his presentation on looking at how they look for the big opportunities - the places where a technology is about to make the leap from niche to mass market. In contrast Saxon Hill of Sydney based <a href="http://www.cvcsi.com.au/">CVC Sustainable Investments</a> concentrated on how they minimise the risk and avoid making bad investments. <br /> <br /> This was not an isolated difference, it was mirrored in the discussion between Nicholas Parker of US/Canadian Cleantech Venture Network and John Brakey of Australia's Macquarie Funds Management, and illustrates why there is so little investment in early stage technologies in Australia as compared to the US. It also illustrated why US and Canadian VC's were at the conference, i.e. there are many opportunities in Australia to snap up a bargain because of the lack of local money chasing those bargains. The principle concern for Australians should be that early stage investors would typically require that the companies they are investing in relocate to the US rather than continue development in Australia.<br /> <br /> As we move to an energy constrained future, it is important for investment to be occurring in both core technologies and also in projects using these, with both of these moving offshore it means Australia will be more dependent on dwindling fossil fuels rather than less. <br /> <br /> 2005-12-16T16:32:09.000Z 2005-12-16T16:32:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2888-hurricane_and_o Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I recently received a link to this Flash multimedia presentation. It has a powerful set of images.<br /> <br /> Crank up the volume, and if it doesn't make you angry....<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.bushflash.com/swf/It_Makes_Me_Wonder.swf">It Makes Me Wonder</a>

I recently received a link to this Flash multimedia presentation. It has a powerful set of images.<br /> <br /> Crank up the volume, and if it doesn't make you angry....<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.bushflash.com/swf/It_Makes_Me_Wonder.swf">It Makes Me Wonder</a> 2005-12-28T06:57:15.000Z 2005-12-28T06:57:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2889-new_year Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

As we pass through the time of the Solstice (summer or winter depending on your location) and the festivals of Christmas and New Year, its a good time to reflect.<br /> <br /> What gives me hope or worry at this time of year, as I reflect on the things that matter to me.<br /> <br /> I believe that business has the ability to create the change we need in the planet. However it needs to be given the right incentives and motivations to do so. I gain hope that despite the lack of action from the US and Australian governments, that substantial investment, even from fairly conservative investors such as pension funds, is flowing into clean technologies such as renewable energy. <br /> <br /> It worries me that the short term perspective of votes (and in the US bribes) from the old dirty industries will lead governments to plow money, resources and subsidies into green washing ideas such as "clean coal" and nuclear power.<br /> <br /> It gives me hope that ordinary people outside the cities seem less and less concerned about the national origin or race of someone. It gives me worry that racism has bubbled to the surface in Australian cities, and will be used to pit communities against each other rather than focussing on the real problems of greed, and inequality.<br /> <br /> It worries me that Johnny Howard still can't tell the difference between a refugee and a terrorist, incarcerating the former, and creating many more of the latter through continued participation in the illegal occupation of Iraq.<br /> <br /> It gives me hope that locally we have a council that is prepared to fight for a green shire, it worries me that it puts so many barriers in the way of green concepts like wind turbines that it sends a clear signal to green businesses to go elsewhere.<br /> <br /> It worries me that the RTA has once again succeeded in driving a wedge between the two halves of the shire, so they fight each other rather than fighting the whole concept of building more roads rather than rail or moving freight to the inland corridor.<br /> <br /> It worries me that our whole economy is based around getting people to buy stuff they don't need and which don't make them any happier. It gives me hope to see an increasing number of people realising that more stuff does not equal more happiness, and choosing to step off the rat-race and find more fulfilling occupation. <br /> <br /> Just a few ideas, and I wish everyone who reads this a year in which their own projects bring them, and our planet and community closer to wholeness.

As we pass through the time of the Solstice (summer or winter depending on your location) and the festivals of Christmas and New Year, its a good time to reflect.<br /> <br /> What gives me hope or worry at this time of year, as I reflect on the things that matter to me.<br /> <br /> I believe that business has the ability to create the change we need in the planet. However it needs to be given the right incentives and motivations to do so. I gain hope that despite the lack of action from the US and Australian governments, that substantial investment, even from fairly conservative investors such as pension funds, is flowing into clean technologies such as renewable energy. <br /> <br /> It worries me that the short term perspective of votes (and in the US bribes) from the old dirty industries will lead governments to plow money, resources and subsidies into green washing ideas such as "clean coal" and nuclear power.<br /> <br /> It gives me hope that ordinary people outside the cities seem less and less concerned about the national origin or race of someone. It gives me worry that racism has bubbled to the surface in Australian cities, and will be used to pit communities against each other rather than focussing on the real problems of greed, and inequality.<br /> <br /> It worries me that Johnny Howard still can't tell the difference between a refugee and a terrorist, incarcerating the former, and creating many more of the latter through continued participation in the illegal occupation of Iraq.<br /> <br /> It gives me hope that locally we have a council that is prepared to fight for a green shire, it worries me that it puts so many barriers in the way of green concepts like wind turbines that it sends a clear signal to green businesses to go elsewhere.<br /> <br /> It worries me that the RTA has once again succeeded in driving a wedge between the two halves of the shire, so they fight each other rather than fighting the whole concept of building more roads rather than rail or moving freight to the inland corridor.<br /> <br /> It worries me that our whole economy is based around getting people to buy stuff they don't need and which don't make them any happier. It gives me hope to see an increasing number of people realising that more stuff does not equal more happiness, and choosing to step off the rat-race and find more fulfilling occupation. <br /> <br /> Just a few ideas, and I wish everyone who reads this a year in which their own projects bring them, and our planet and community closer to wholeness. 2006-01-13T09:22:44.000Z 2006-01-13T09:22:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2890-corporate_accou Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Recently Kellogg Brown and Root was controversially awarded a contract to upgrade the Bangalow Sewage works, leading to a flurry of letters in the local press, and an explanation of the legal reasons behind the decision by Councillor Tom Tabart. <br /> <br /> The following letter was submitted to the paper, and is posted here with links to the references made. <br /> <br /> I'd like to thank Cr Tom Tabart in his letter about the <a href="http://www.disinfopedia.org/index.php?title=Kellogg_Brown_and_Root">Kellogg Brown and Root</a> (Halliburton) contract for the Bangalow Sewage works, for reminding us once again that our councillors are also stuck within a system not of their making with rules that they have to follow.<br /> <br /> I'd like to encourage council to explore the choices available for widening the parameters they can use in choosing contractors. I know that as a private business it is considered normal for me to consider the ethics of my suppliers - whether individuals or companies. In KBR's case it should have been possible for council to consider the fact that KBR had <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3312015.stm">overcharged governments</a> in the US, Bosnia and Iraq, and that this makes them an inappropriate supplier to any government anywhere in the world. <br /> <br /> Council could start the process by requesting any potential supplier to provide details of any issues relevant to their ethics when bidding on any contract, specifically lists of any environmental violations they, or a related company (e.g. Haliburton) have been charged with or convicted for anywhere in the world. Add to that anything relating to fraud, corruption, and to foreshadow potential legal action, details of any legal actions between the company and its customers or governments. <br /> <br /> Such a request for information, while minimally impacting small, local businesses would give council a wealth of material on which to make a decision. After all, if companies can use their experience worldwide as part of their claims while tendering for a contract, why shouldn't they also be held responsible for their crimes worldwide. <br /> <br /> Local authorities worldwide are taking the lead from their national governments, who are frequently owned by these same corporations, for example Wayne, Pennsyslvania in the US has a "<a href="http://www.newrules.org/gov/wayne.html">Corporate Accountability Ordinance</a>" which prevents companies doing businesses with the town if they have more three or more significant violations over the past 15 years. And in case we think this is not effective, in 1996 <a href="http://www.fas.org/asmp/library/handbook/6activism.html">Motorola</a> stopped selling components to make land-mines largely because many local governments stopped purchasing from them for ethical reasons.<br /> <br /> I'd also like to take this opportunity to encourage local businesses, small or large, that care about sustainability and ethics to join us in the <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/byronsvn">Byron Sustainable Ventures Network</a>, where we actively explore ways in which we can steer our businesses in directions that benefit the planet and our communities.<br />

Recently Kellogg Brown and Root was controversially awarded a contract to upgrade the Bangalow Sewage works, leading to a flurry of letters in the local press, and an explanation of the legal reasons behind the decision by Councillor Tom Tabart. <br /> <br /> The following letter was submitted to the paper, and is posted here with links to the references made. <br /> <br /> I'd like to thank Cr Tom Tabart in his letter about the <a href="http://www.disinfopedia.org/index.php?title=Kellogg_Brown_and_Root">Kellogg Brown and Root</a> (Halliburton) contract for the Bangalow Sewage works, for reminding us once again that our councillors are also stuck within a system not of their making with rules that they have to follow.<br /> <br /> I'd like to encourage council to explore the choices available for widening the parameters they can use in choosing contractors. I know that as a private business it is considered normal for me to consider the ethics of my suppliers - whether individuals or companies. In KBR's case it should have been possible for council to consider the fact that KBR had <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3312015.stm">overcharged governments</a> in the US, Bosnia and Iraq, and that this makes them an inappropriate supplier to any government anywhere in the world. <br /> <br /> Council could start the process by requesting any potential supplier to provide details of any issues relevant to their ethics when bidding on any contract, specifically lists of any environmental violations they, or a related company (e.g. Haliburton) have been charged with or convicted for anywhere in the world. Add to that anything relating to fraud, corruption, and to foreshadow potential legal action, details of any legal actions between the company and its customers or governments. <br /> <br /> Such a request for information, while minimally impacting small, local businesses would give council a wealth of material on which to make a decision. After all, if companies can use their experience worldwide as part of their claims while tendering for a contract, why shouldn't they also be held responsible for their crimes worldwide. <br /> <br /> Local authorities worldwide are taking the lead from their national governments, who are frequently owned by these same corporations, for example Wayne, Pennsyslvania in the US has a "<a href="http://www.newrules.org/gov/wayne.html">Corporate Accountability Ordinance</a>" which prevents companies doing businesses with the town if they have more three or more significant violations over the past 15 years. And in case we think this is not effective, in 1996 <a href="http://www.fas.org/asmp/library/handbook/6activism.html">Motorola</a> stopped selling components to make land-mines largely because many local governments stopped purchasing from them for ethical reasons.<br /> <br /> I'd also like to take this opportunity to encourage local businesses, small or large, that care about sustainability and ethics to join us in the <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/byronsvn">Byron Sustainable Ventures Network</a>, where we actively explore ways in which we can steer our businesses in directions that benefit the planet and our communities.<br /> 2006-01-25T15:31:03.000Z 2006-01-25T15:31:03.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2891-kbr_accused_of Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Following up on the story about Kellogg, Brown and Root, it appears that testimony to the US senate has accused them of knowingly supplying water contaminated with sewage to the US occupation in Iraq. I wonder if this effects their competency to be upgrading oru local sewage plan? Would they tell us if it was failing?</p><p>From <a href="http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2006/01/24/?source=rss#4">Grist</a></p><blockquote>Former employees of a subsidiary of Halliburton, the big military-services contractor once helmed by Vice President Dick Cheney, say the company exposed thousands of American troops and Iraqi civilians to sewage-laced water. Testifying yesterday before Senate Democrats, whistle-blower and water-quality expert Ben Carter said he informed his Halliburton superiors last year that the water it was supplying to Camp Junction City in Ramadi was contaminated by coliform bacteria and other microorganisms. Carter said the water sickened residents, who routinely used it to shower, shave, and brush their teeth. Halliburton didn't act, says Carter, but did instruct him not to tell the military its water needed treatment. "They told me it was none of my concern and to keep my mouth shut," says Carter, who resigned over the matter. Halliburton denies the allegations.</blockquote><br /> <br /> <p>Sources:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=6309">The Guardian</a>, Julian Borger, 24 Jan 2006</li><li><a href="http://www.grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=6312">Reuters</a>, Vicki Allen, 23 Jan 2006</li><li><a href="http://www.grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=6311">ABC News</a>, Julianne Donofrio, 23 Jan 2006</li></ul>

<p>Following up on the story about Kellogg, Brown and Root, it appears that testimony to the US senate has accused them of knowingly supplying water contaminated with sewage to the US occupation in Iraq. I wonder if this effects their competency to be upgrading oru local sewage plan? Would they tell us if it was failing?</p><p>From <a href="http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2006/01/24/?source=rss#4">Grist</a></p><blockquote>Former employees of a subsidiary of Halliburton, the big military-services contractor once helmed by Vice President Dick Cheney, say the company exposed thousands of American troops and Iraqi civilians to sewage-laced water. Testifying yesterday before Senate Democrats, whistle-blower and water-quality expert Ben Carter said he informed his Halliburton superiors last year that the water it was supplying to Camp Junction City in Ramadi was contaminated by coliform bacteria and other microorganisms. Carter said the water sickened residents, who routinely used it to shower, shave, and brush their teeth. Halliburton didn't act, says Carter, but did instruct him not to tell the military its water needed treatment. "They told me it was none of my concern and to keep my mouth shut," says Carter, who resigned over the matter. Halliburton denies the allegations.</blockquote><br /> <br /> <p>Sources:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=6309">The Guardian</a>, Julian Borger, 24 Jan 2006</li><li><a href="http://www.grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=6312">Reuters</a>, Vicki Allen, 23 Jan 2006</li><li><a href="http://www.grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=6311">ABC News</a>, Julianne Donofrio, 23 Jan 2006</li></ul> 2006-02-25T16:50:55.000Z 2006-02-25T16:50:55.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2892-south_african_s Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

south African researchers have <a href="http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&amp;click_id=116&amp;art_id=vn20060211110132138C184427">announced</a> a breakthrough in solar technology - this continues the trend of announcements of solar panels based on regular industrial processes rather than on growing silicon crystals.<br /> <br /> The other's I know about are <a href="/blog/archives/2004/12/flexible_solar.html">Konarka's</a> (that I blogged about in 2004) and Nanosolar.<br /> <br /> In all three cases, the panels are not likely to be as efficient, as measured in watts per square meter, but are much more efficient in watts per dollar.<br /> <br /> These sort of announcements are why I'm optimistic that solar will become the energy source of choice as we move to a peak-oil / carbon-emissions constrained world. <br /> <br /> I've seen numbers that show that if even a tiny fraction of the nuclear research budget was moved to solar, then we could be producing more energy from solar before the equivalent amount of nuclear power stations could be brought online. <br /> <br /> Of course, nuclear power is a really bad idea for lots of other reasons, but since solar can't be used to make bombs we can expect that the nuclear option will be being pushed for a long time. <br /> <br />

south African researchers have <a href="http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&amp;click_id=116&amp;art_id=vn20060211110132138C184427">announced</a> a breakthrough in solar technology - this continues the trend of announcements of solar panels based on regular industrial processes rather than on growing silicon crystals.<br /> <br /> The other's I know about are <a href="/blog/archives/2004/12/flexible_solar.html">Konarka's</a> (that I blogged about in 2004) and Nanosolar.<br /> <br /> In all three cases, the panels are not likely to be as efficient, as measured in watts per square meter, but are much more efficient in watts per dollar.<br /> <br /> These sort of announcements are why I'm optimistic that solar will become the energy source of choice as we move to a peak-oil / carbon-emissions constrained world. <br /> <br /> I've seen numbers that show that if even a tiny fraction of the nuclear research budget was moved to solar, then we could be producing more energy from solar before the equivalent amount of nuclear power stations could be brought online. <br /> <br /> Of course, nuclear power is a really bad idea for lots of other reasons, but since solar can't be used to make bombs we can expect that the nuclear option will be being pushed for a long time. <br /> <br /> 2006-03-01T14:25:18.000Z 2006-03-01T14:25:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2893-past_the_peak_h Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I recently received (via Ken Gebser on the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/ic-info">IC-Info</a> mailing list) a copy of an article about Willits California, a town which - like Byron Shire - has more than its share of smart, progressive downshifters. <br /> <br /> <blockquote>A boyish 37-year-old with a Ph.D. in biology, Dr. Jason Bradford only relocated to Willits from Davis with his wife, Kristin, a medical doctor, and their two children last August. Initially interested in energy issues while studying climate change in the Andes several years ago, Bradford didn't really know what he was getting into when he decided to sponsor several screenings of The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream just two months after arriving in town. Hosting a film that proclaims human civilization is going to run out of oil and is therefore doomed doesn't usually guarantee a visit from the welcome wagon. But then again, Willits isn't most towns. Bradford's initial invitation to view the film has blossomed into a popular movement that aims to, in the words of one member, "reinvent the town."</blockquote><br /> <br /> The rest of the article is available here on <a href="http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/08.10.05/willits-0532.html">Metroactive</a>.<br />

I recently received (via Ken Gebser on the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/ic-info">IC-Info</a> mailing list) a copy of an article about Willits California, a town which - like Byron Shire - has more than its share of smart, progressive downshifters. <br /> <br /> <blockquote>A boyish 37-year-old with a Ph.D. in biology, Dr. Jason Bradford only relocated to Willits from Davis with his wife, Kristin, a medical doctor, and their two children last August. Initially interested in energy issues while studying climate change in the Andes several years ago, Bradford didn't really know what he was getting into when he decided to sponsor several screenings of The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream just two months after arriving in town. Hosting a film that proclaims human civilization is going to run out of oil and is therefore doomed doesn't usually guarantee a visit from the welcome wagon. But then again, Willits isn't most towns. Bradford's initial invitation to view the film has blossomed into a popular movement that aims to, in the words of one member, "reinvent the town."</blockquote><br /> <br /> The rest of the article is available here on <a href="http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/08.10.05/willits-0532.html">Metroactive</a>.<br /> 2006-03-01T14:36:56.000Z 2006-03-01T14:36:56.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2894-freecycle_byron Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/freecycle_logo.jpg" border="0" height="107" width="360" alt="freecycle_logo.jpg" align="right" />I've been a fan of Freecycle for a while, now Laura Doe has set up a local chapter and announced it yesterday ....<br /> <br /> <blockquote>WAIT ----- DON'T THROW IT OUT!<br /> <br /> If you no longer love your stuff, set it FREE!!<br /> <br /> Byron Bay Freecycle&trade; lets people "recycle" things no longer used, but too good to throw out. The goal is to find a good home for things otherwise headed for the landfill.<br /> <br /> One person's trash is another person's treasure!<br /> <br /> Join the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/byron_bay_freecycle/">Byron Bay Freecycle&trade; Network</a><br /> <br /> FREE & OPEN TO ALL, 24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR<br /> <br /> For more details about the worldwide Freecycle&trade; organisation see <a href="http://www.freecycle.org">www.freecycle.org</a></blockquote><br />

<img src="/images/freecycle_logo.jpg" border="0" height="107" width="360" alt="freecycle_logo.jpg" align="right" />I've been a fan of Freecycle for a while, now Laura Doe has set up a local chapter and announced it yesterday ....<br /> <br /> <blockquote>WAIT ----- DON'T THROW IT OUT!<br /> <br /> If you no longer love your stuff, set it FREE!!<br /> <br /> Byron Bay Freecycle&trade; lets people "recycle" things no longer used, but too good to throw out. The goal is to find a good home for things otherwise headed for the landfill.<br /> <br /> One person's trash is another person's treasure!<br /> <br /> Join the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/byron_bay_freecycle/">Byron Bay Freecycle&trade; Network</a><br /> <br /> FREE & OPEN TO ALL, 24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR<br /> <br /> For more details about the worldwide Freecycle&trade; organisation see <a href="http://www.freecycle.org">www.freecycle.org</a></blockquote><br /> 2006-03-01T14:42:02.000Z 2006-03-01T14:42:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2895-screening_and_p Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Kali Wendorf sent me this announcement for an BayFM fundraiser. Danielle, Jude, Helena, Catriona are all well worth listening to.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.byronchild.com/">byronchild</a> magazine presents two special Australian screenings of The Future of Food, a brilliant must-see documentary which examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat. The screenings are fundraisers for the Byron Bay High School and BayFM. The film, produced by Deborah Koons Garcia, is a chilling investigation into the Genetically Modified Organisms and foods that have quietly filled the grocery store shelves, and the multinational corporations that are seeking to control the world&rsquo;s food system. <br /> <br /> The first screening on March 23rd, 7:30 pm, will be at the Byron Bay High School as a fundraiser for their five-year environmental plan. Tickets are on sale at the school. The second screening, on March 29th, a fundraiser for the local community radio station, Bay FM, will be followed by a panel discussion with Catriona MacMillan, co-founder of OTACnet; Helena Norberg-Hodge, founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture; Jude Fanton, director of Seed Savers and Danielle Leonard, manager of Regenesis Farm. It will be held at the Community Centre at 7:00 pm.<br /> <br /> Date: March 23rd<br /> Time: 7:30 pm<br /> Place: The Byron Bay High School, Multi-purpose Centre, Broken Head Road<br /> For more information: (02) 6684 4353<br /> Tickets: $12 for adults, $6 for children<br /> on sale at the Byron Bay High School<br /> <br /> Date: March 29th<br /> Time: 7:00 pm<br /> Place: The Byron Bay Community Centre, main auditorium<br /> For more information: (02) 6684 4353<br /> Tickets: $15, $12 for subscribers<br /> on sale at Bay FM<br />

Kali Wendorf sent me this announcement for an BayFM fundraiser. Danielle, Jude, Helena, Catriona are all well worth listening to.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.byronchild.com/">byronchild</a> magazine presents two special Australian screenings of The Future of Food, a brilliant must-see documentary which examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat. The screenings are fundraisers for the Byron Bay High School and BayFM. The film, produced by Deborah Koons Garcia, is a chilling investigation into the Genetically Modified Organisms and foods that have quietly filled the grocery store shelves, and the multinational corporations that are seeking to control the world&rsquo;s food system. <br /> <br /> The first screening on March 23rd, 7:30 pm, will be at the Byron Bay High School as a fundraiser for their five-year environmental plan. Tickets are on sale at the school. The second screening, on March 29th, a fundraiser for the local community radio station, Bay FM, will be followed by a panel discussion with Catriona MacMillan, co-founder of OTACnet; Helena Norberg-Hodge, founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture; Jude Fanton, director of Seed Savers and Danielle Leonard, manager of Regenesis Farm. It will be held at the Community Centre at 7:00 pm.<br /> <br /> Date: March 23rd<br /> Time: 7:30 pm<br /> Place: The Byron Bay High School, Multi-purpose Centre, Broken Head Road<br /> For more information: (02) 6684 4353<br /> Tickets: $12 for adults, $6 for children<br /> on sale at the Byron Bay High School<br /> <br /> Date: March 29th<br /> Time: 7:00 pm<br /> Place: The Byron Bay Community Centre, main auditorium<br /> For more information: (02) 6684 4353<br /> Tickets: $15, $12 for subscribers<br /> on sale at Bay FM<br /> 2006-03-01T15:33:13.000Z 2006-03-01T15:33:13.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2896-presentation_to Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/20060228_Ordinary_Agenda ethics.pdf " title="Agenda item"></pdf-link><p>Yesterday I addressed Byron Shire Council, where the Green mayor - Jan Barham - had proposed an ( <a href="/files/20060228_Ordinary_Agenda ethics.pdf">agenda item for the motion</a>) the creation of an ethical purchasing policy, after the bad publicity generated by awarding a sewage upgrade contract to Kellogg Brown and Root.</p><p>The motion was passed 8:1 after much debate with only Cr Tucker objecting.</p><p>My address, with links to the sources of the material I quote, follows ....</p>

<pdf-link href="/files/20060228_Ordinary_Agenda ethics.pdf " title="Agenda item"></pdf-link><p>Yesterday I addressed Byron Shire Council, where the Green mayor - Jan Barham - had proposed an ( <a href="/files/20060228_Ordinary_Agenda ethics.pdf">agenda item for the motion</a>) the creation of an ethical purchasing policy, after the bad publicity generated by awarding a sewage upgrade contract to Kellogg Brown and Root.</p><p>The motion was passed 8:1 after much debate with only Cr Tucker objecting.</p><p>My address, with links to the sources of the material I quote, follows ....</p> 2006-03-15T09:09:10.000Z 2006-03-15T09:09:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2897-future_of_food Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="http://www.thefutureoffood.com/FOFDVDProdImage.jpg" height=150 align=right>I attended this presentation, and would highly recommend either catching a screening local to you, or getting hold of the DVD. I understand that Byron Child have the screening rights to the DVD in Australia, and also copies for sale, and can be reached via their website <a href="http://www.byronchild.com">www.byronchild.com</a>. For US readers you can go directly to their website <a href="http://www.thefutureoffood.com">www.thefutureoffood.com</a></p>byronchild magazine and Bay FM Community Radio presents the Australian screening of<br /> The Future of Food<br /> <br /> The Future of Food, a brilliant must-see documentary by Deborah Koons Garcia, is a chilling investigation into the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and foods that have quietly filled the grocery store shelves, and the multinational corporations that are seeking to control the world&rsquo;s food system.<br /> <br /> <br /> byronchild magazine and Bay FM presents the Northern Rivers premiere of<br /> The Future of Food, followed by a panel discussion.<br /> When: March 29th, 7 pm sharp, doors open at 6:15<br /> Where: Byron Community and Cultural Centre<br /> <br /> A Bay FM fundraiser, the screening is followed by a panel discussion, facilitated by Nyck Jeans. Panellists are: Catriona Macmillan, co-founder of OTACnet; Helena Norberg-Hodge, founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture; Jude Fanton, director of Seed Savers and Danielle Leonard, manager of Regenesis Farm.<br /> <br /> <br />

<p><img src="http://www.thefutureoffood.com/FOFDVDProdImage.jpg" height=150 align=right>I attended this presentation, and would highly recommend either catching a screening local to you, or getting hold of the DVD. I understand that Byron Child have the screening rights to the DVD in Australia, and also copies for sale, and can be reached via their website <a href="http://www.byronchild.com">www.byronchild.com</a>. For US readers you can go directly to their website <a href="http://www.thefutureoffood.com">www.thefutureoffood.com</a></p>byronchild magazine and Bay FM Community Radio presents the Australian screening of<br /> The Future of Food<br /> <br /> The Future of Food, a brilliant must-see documentary by Deborah Koons Garcia, is a chilling investigation into the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and foods that have quietly filled the grocery store shelves, and the multinational corporations that are seeking to control the world&rsquo;s food system.<br /> <br /> <br /> byronchild magazine and Bay FM presents the Northern Rivers premiere of<br /> The Future of Food, followed by a panel discussion.<br /> When: March 29th, 7 pm sharp, doors open at 6:15<br /> Where: Byron Community and Cultural Centre<br /> <br /> A Bay FM fundraiser, the screening is followed by a panel discussion, facilitated by Nyck Jeans. Panellists are: Catriona Macmillan, co-founder of OTACnet; Helena Norberg-Hodge, founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture; Jude Fanton, director of Seed Savers and Danielle Leonard, manager of Regenesis Farm.<br /> <br /> <br /> 2006-03-27T08:16:00.000Z 2006-03-27T08:16:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2898-resources_relat Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>In February I addressed Byron Shire Council on the topic of developing an Ethical Purchasing Policy - the text of the pitch is <a href="/blog/archives/2006/03/presentation_to.html">here</a>. Council voted to develop a policy, and this page is some resources that might be helpful in that process</p><p>This post contains a list of resources related to ethical purchasing, especially by local governments. I will update it from time to time as I hear of any more.<br /> </p>

<p>In February I addressed Byron Shire Council on the topic of developing an Ethical Purchasing Policy - the text of the pitch is <a href="/blog/archives/2006/03/presentation_to.html">here</a>. Council voted to develop a policy, and this page is some resources that might be helpful in that process</p><p>This post contains a list of resources related to ethical purchasing, especially by local governments. I will update it from time to time as I hear of any more.<br /> </p> 2006-04-04T08:55:09.000Z 2006-04-04T08:55:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2899-can_we_still_av Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

James Hansen is one of the world's leading climate scientists, and is director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. <br /> <br /> He has recently attracted attention for criticising the Bush administration for suppressing scientific information that it didn't like. There is an interesting <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/science/earth/29climate.html?ex=1144209600&amp;en=ff734441a8594d35&amp;ei=5070">article from the NYTimes</a> on this controversy.<br /> <br /> I recently read the text of one of the talks that caused the controversy, its got some pretty convincing graphs to show just how close we are to the Tipping point at which we can no longer avoid irreversible side effects. Check it out <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/newschool_text_and_slides.pdf">here</a>.

James Hansen is one of the world's leading climate scientists, and is director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. <br /> <br /> He has recently attracted attention for criticising the Bush administration for suppressing scientific information that it didn't like. There is an interesting <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/science/earth/29climate.html?ex=1144209600&amp;en=ff734441a8594d35&amp;ei=5070">article from the NYTimes</a> on this controversy.<br /> <br /> I recently read the text of one of the talks that caused the controversy, its got some pretty convincing graphs to show just how close we are to the Tipping point at which we can no longer avoid irreversible side effects. Check it out <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/newschool_text_and_slides.pdf">here</a>. 2006-04-04T09:18:04.000Z 2006-04-04T09:18:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2900-the_meatrix2 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/home-moopheus.gif" border="0" height="48" width="33" alt="home-moopheus.gif" align="right" />Once again, those crazy cartoonists have produced a hit.</p><p>If you loved the Meatrix, check out the sequel <a href="http://www.themeatrix2.com/">Meatrix 2</a></p>

<p><img src="/images/home-moopheus.gif" border="0" height="48" width="33" alt="home-moopheus.gif" align="right" />Once again, those crazy cartoonists have produced a hit.</p><p>If you loved the Meatrix, check out the sequel <a href="http://www.themeatrix2.com/">Meatrix 2</a></p> 2006-04-05T09:07:40.000Z 2006-04-05T09:07:40.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2901-_time_magazine Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/20060403_107.jpg" border="0" height="138" width="107" alt="20060403_107.jpg" align="right" /><br /> Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - Time Magazine<br /> <br /> <i>Polar Ice Caps Are Melting Faster Than Ever... More And More Land Is <br /> Being Devastated By Drought... Rising Waters Are Drowning Low-Lying <br /> Communities... By Any Measure, Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point<br /> </i><br /> <p><br /> The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame. Why the crisis hit <br /> so soon--and what we can do about it<br /> By JEFFREY KLUGER<br /> </p><p><br /> No one can say exactly what it looks like when a planet takes ill, but it probably looks a lot like Earth. Never mind what you've heard about global warming as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us.<br /> </p><p><br /> It certainly looked that way last week as the atmospheric bomb that was <br /> Cyclone Larry--a Category 5 storm with wind bursts that reached 180 m.p.h.-<br /> -exploded through northeastern Australia. It certainly looked that way last <br /> year as curtains of fire and dust turned the skies of Indonesia orange, <br /> thanks to drought-fueled blazes sweeping the island nation. It certainly looks <br /> that way as sections of ice the size of small states calve from the <br /> disintegrating Arctic and Antarctic. And it certainly looks that way as the <br /> sodden wreckage of New Orleans continues to molder, while the waters of <br /> the Atlantic gather themselves for a new hurricane season just two months <br /> away. Disasters have always been with us and surely always will be. But <br /> when they hit this hard and come this fast--when the emergency becomes <br /> commonplace--something has gone grievously wrong. That something is <br /> global warming.<br /> </p><p><br /> Read the rest of the story on <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176980,00.html">Time Magazine's site</a> or below.<br /> </p>

<img src="/images/20060403_107.jpg" border="0" height="138" width="107" alt="20060403_107.jpg" align="right" /><br /> Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - Time Magazine<br /> <br /> <i>Polar Ice Caps Are Melting Faster Than Ever... More And More Land Is <br /> Being Devastated By Drought... Rising Waters Are Drowning Low-Lying <br /> Communities... By Any Measure, Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point<br /> </i><br /> <p><br /> The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame. Why the crisis hit <br /> so soon--and what we can do about it<br /> By JEFFREY KLUGER<br /> </p><p><br /> No one can say exactly what it looks like when a planet takes ill, but it probably looks a lot like Earth. Never mind what you've heard about global warming as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us.<br /> </p><p><br /> It certainly looked that way last week as the atmospheric bomb that was <br /> Cyclone Larry--a Category 5 storm with wind bursts that reached 180 m.p.h.-<br /> -exploded through northeastern Australia. It certainly looked that way last <br /> year as curtains of fire and dust turned the skies of Indonesia orange, <br /> thanks to drought-fueled blazes sweeping the island nation. It certainly looks <br /> that way as sections of ice the size of small states calve from the <br /> disintegrating Arctic and Antarctic. And it certainly looks that way as the <br /> sodden wreckage of New Orleans continues to molder, while the waters of <br /> the Atlantic gather themselves for a new hurricane season just two months <br /> away. Disasters have always been with us and surely always will be. But <br /> when they hit this hard and come this fast--when the emergency becomes <br /> commonplace--something has gone grievously wrong. That something is <br /> global warming.<br /> </p><p><br /> Read the rest of the story on <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176980,00.html">Time Magazine's site</a> or below.<br /> </p> 2006-04-05T18:03:32.000Z 2006-04-05T18:03:32.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2902-biodiesel_avail Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><br /> There are only 5 outlets in Australia where biodiesel is available to the general public, and one of them just opened up in Byron Bay TODAY<br /> </p><p><br /> Many of us have met Simeon and Anthony Michaels. For the last 2 years Anthony has been supplying fresh cooking oil to restaurants in the Northern Rivers. He has also been collecting the used cooking oil and sending it down to Newcastle to be manufactured into Biodiesel.<br /> </p><p> <br /> Today Anthony has &ldquo;closed the loop&rdquo; on his eco-system by bringing the biodiesel &#160;back up to Byron to be sold locally &#8211; congratulations Ants on your opening day.<br /> </p>

<p><br /> There are only 5 outlets in Australia where biodiesel is available to the general public, and one of them just opened up in Byron Bay TODAY<br /> </p><p><br /> Many of us have met Simeon and Anthony Michaels. For the last 2 years Anthony has been supplying fresh cooking oil to restaurants in the Northern Rivers. He has also been collecting the used cooking oil and sending it down to Newcastle to be manufactured into Biodiesel.<br /> </p><p> <br /> Today Anthony has &ldquo;closed the loop&rdquo; on his eco-system by bringing the biodiesel &#160;back up to Byron to be sold locally &#8211; congratulations Ants on your opening day.<br /> </p> 2006-04-12T17:35:26.000Z 2006-04-12T17:35:26.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2903-dirty_dozen_acc Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="http://web.archive.org/web/20061007181426/http://www.tai.org.au/WhatsNew_Files/WhatsNew/CC%20in%20Adelaide%20Final.pdf" title="Speech via Wayback"></pdf-link><p>From <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/dirty-dozen-accused-over-fossil-fuels/2006/02/20/1140284009877.html"><!-- http://web.archive.org/web/20190417053951/https://www.theage.com.au/national/dirty-dozen-accused-over-fossil-fuels-20060221-ge1srz.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true -->The Age</a>:</p><p>Twelve of Australia's leading political, business and media figures have been accused of conspiring to mislead the public about climate change.</p><p><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20061007181426/http://www.tai.org.au/WhatsNew_Files/WhatsNew/CC%20in%20Adelaide%20Final.pdf">Speaking</a> at the Australia-New Zealand Climate Change and Business Conference yesterday, Dr Clive Hamilton dubbed the group - including Prime Minister John Howard, businessman Hugh Morgan and The Australian's editor-in-chief, Chris Mitchell - "the dirty dozen". </p><p> Dr Hamilton is the executive director of the Australia Institute and was invited to the conference in Adelaide to deliver a speech titled "The state of the debate over climate change in Australia". </p><p>Nominating 11 men and one woman, Dr Hamilton accused the group of doing "more than all others over the past decade to prevent any effective action to reduce Australia's burgeoning greenhouse gas emissions". </p><p>"I hope that in 50 years' time as Australians swelter in debilitating heatwaves, battle fierce bushfires, fight over dwindling water resources, lament the loss of unique species and tell stories recalling the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef, they will be reminded of the names of those who refused to act in the face of overwhelming evidence of what lay ahead."</p>

<pdf-link href="http://web.archive.org/web/20061007181426/http://www.tai.org.au/WhatsNew_Files/WhatsNew/CC%20in%20Adelaide%20Final.pdf" title="Speech via Wayback"></pdf-link><p>From <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/dirty-dozen-accused-over-fossil-fuels/2006/02/20/1140284009877.html"><!-- http://web.archive.org/web/20190417053951/https://www.theage.com.au/national/dirty-dozen-accused-over-fossil-fuels-20060221-ge1srz.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true -->The Age</a>:</p><p>Twelve of Australia's leading political, business and media figures have been accused of conspiring to mislead the public about climate change.</p><p><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20061007181426/http://www.tai.org.au/WhatsNew_Files/WhatsNew/CC%20in%20Adelaide%20Final.pdf">Speaking</a> at the Australia-New Zealand Climate Change and Business Conference yesterday, Dr Clive Hamilton dubbed the group - including Prime Minister John Howard, businessman Hugh Morgan and The Australian's editor-in-chief, Chris Mitchell - "the dirty dozen". </p><p> Dr Hamilton is the executive director of the Australia Institute and was invited to the conference in Adelaide to deliver a speech titled "The state of the debate over climate change in Australia". </p><p>Nominating 11 men and one woman, Dr Hamilton accused the group of doing "more than all others over the past decade to prevent any effective action to reduce Australia's burgeoning greenhouse gas emissions". </p><p>"I hope that in 50 years' time as Australians swelter in debilitating heatwaves, battle fierce bushfires, fight over dwindling water resources, lament the loss of unique species and tell stories recalling the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef, they will be reminded of the names of those who refused to act in the face of overwhelming evidence of what lay ahead."</p> 2006-04-19T09:59:45.000Z 2006-04-19T09:59:45.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2904-renewus_a_clima Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Could this kick off a movement to do something about Climate Change?</p><p>From <a href="http://www.makower.com">Joel Makower</a></p><p><img src="/images/futureflix_mcfuel.jpg" border="0" height="230" width="274" alt="futureflix_mcfuel.jpg" align="right" /><br /> I thought you'd be interested in this just-released 4-minute <br /> flash movie on climate that I produced -- a project of Stonyfield <br /> Farm, the yogurt folks, and two nonprofits. It's just been <br /> launched -- promoted 10 million yogurt lids, millions of e-<br /> mails, etc.<br /> </p><p><br /> Go to <a href="http://www.renewus.org">www.renewus.org</a> to view it.<br /> </p><p><br /> It's a "documentary" from the future -- 2056, to be exact. It tells <br /> what happens in 2006 -- "the year that everything changed" -- <br /> when people came together on the Internet to take action on <br /> climate change. You'll see fun references to McDonald's, Ford, <br /> even Martha Stewart.<br /> </p>

<p>Could this kick off a movement to do something about Climate Change?</p><p>From <a href="http://www.makower.com">Joel Makower</a></p><p><img src="/images/futureflix_mcfuel.jpg" border="0" height="230" width="274" alt="futureflix_mcfuel.jpg" align="right" /><br /> I thought you'd be interested in this just-released 4-minute <br /> flash movie on climate that I produced -- a project of Stonyfield <br /> Farm, the yogurt folks, and two nonprofits. It's just been <br /> launched -- promoted 10 million yogurt lids, millions of e-<br /> mails, etc.<br /> </p><p><br /> Go to <a href="http://www.renewus.org">www.renewus.org</a> to view it.<br /> </p><p><br /> It's a "documentary" from the future -- 2056, to be exact. It tells <br /> what happens in 2006 -- "the year that everything changed" -- <br /> when people came together on the Internet to take action on <br /> climate change. You'll see fun references to McDonald's, Ford, <br /> even Martha Stewart.<br /> </p> 2006-04-23T14:47:06.000Z 2006-04-23T14:47:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2905-chernobyls_20th Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Its ironic that 20 years after Chernobyl should have taught us the danger of nuclear power, the industry is trying to convince the world to give it another chance. Claims have been made on Australian radio recently giving absurdly low numbers for the toll of the accident. The British Guardian newspaper has a more realistic estimate, and the whole story is <a href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1759370,00.html?gusrc=rss">worth reading.</a></p><blockquote><br /> A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency and seven other United Nations bodies estimated 4,000 people would die as a result of Chernobyl. The report was greeted by relief and disbelief. Many studies from the World Health Organisation, independent scientists and campaign groups had predicted a far more catastrophic impact. In response, a group of disbelievers, led by the European Green party, commissioned their own study, The Other Chernobyl Report, or Torch, which estimated a toll of between 30,000 and 60,000 premature deaths. Last week the international Greenpeace campaign group released another study by 50 scientists claiming 200,000 lives would be lost, nearly half from cancers.</blockquote>

<p>Its ironic that 20 years after Chernobyl should have taught us the danger of nuclear power, the industry is trying to convince the world to give it another chance. Claims have been made on Australian radio recently giving absurdly low numbers for the toll of the accident. The British Guardian newspaper has a more realistic estimate, and the whole story is <a href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1759370,00.html?gusrc=rss">worth reading.</a></p><blockquote><br /> A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency and seven other United Nations bodies estimated 4,000 people would die as a result of Chernobyl. The report was greeted by relief and disbelief. Many studies from the World Health Organisation, independent scientists and campaign groups had predicted a far more catastrophic impact. In response, a group of disbelievers, led by the European Green party, commissioned their own study, The Other Chernobyl Report, or Torch, which estimated a toll of between 30,000 and 60,000 premature deaths. Last week the international Greenpeace campaign group released another study by 50 scientists claiming 200,000 lives would be lost, nearly half from cancers.</blockquote> 2006-05-10T22:53:41.000Z 2006-05-10T22:53:41.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2906-egyptian_democr Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/alaa.jpg" border="0" height="90" width="52" alt="alaa.jpg" align="right" />Last october I went to Bulgaria for the annual conference of the <a href="http://www.apc.org">Association for Progressive Communications</a>, an organisation I co-founded in the late 80's. While there I met an <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egyptian</a> blogger, Alaa Abd El-Fatah. Who impressed me as a voice of moderation in a part of the world full of extremism. <br /> <br /> Alaa was arrested at a demonstration in Cairo on May 7th, 2006, alongside a<br /> group of his colleagues. He was demonstrating peacefully along with other activists<br /> against attempts to reduce the independence of the judiciary in <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egypt</a>. He is being held in an infamous Torah prison. The incident is summarised on <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">freealaa.blogspot.com</a> .....<br /> <br /> Alaa is a secular democracy activist, and a tireless advocate of freedom, free speech and human rights. He organizes demonstrations and engages in protests against all kinds of injustices in Egypt and is the winner of the international Best of the Blogs award from Reporters Without Borders last December.<br /> <br /> Alaa was arrested while protesting to support <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egypt</a>&rsquo;s Judges fight for independence. 2 weeks earlier he had organized a &ldquo;National Unity&rdquo; protest to show solidarity with <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egypt</a>&rsquo;s Christians who suffered a sectarian attack on 3 churches on Good Friday. Before that he was one of the few voices that urged calm and peaceful dialogue while the cartoon crisis was hitting its peak. He is a desperately needed voice of moderation and democracy in <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egypt</a>, and one of the few flickers of hope in a country whose future seems mire between the crushing rule of the regime and the fanaticism of the Islamist opposition.<br /> <br /> I would urge anyone who values freedom of speech to protest to their local embassy - which you can find <a href="http://www.learn4good.com/travel/egypt_embassies.htm">here</a>.<br />

<img src="/images/alaa.jpg" border="0" height="90" width="52" alt="alaa.jpg" align="right" />Last october I went to Bulgaria for the annual conference of the <a href="http://www.apc.org">Association for Progressive Communications</a>, an organisation I co-founded in the late 80's. While there I met an <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egyptian</a> blogger, Alaa Abd El-Fatah. Who impressed me as a voice of moderation in a part of the world full of extremism. <br /> <br /> Alaa was arrested at a demonstration in Cairo on May 7th, 2006, alongside a<br /> group of his colleagues. He was demonstrating peacefully along with other activists<br /> against attempts to reduce the independence of the judiciary in <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egypt</a>. He is being held in an infamous Torah prison. The incident is summarised on <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">freealaa.blogspot.com</a> .....<br /> <br /> Alaa is a secular democracy activist, and a tireless advocate of freedom, free speech and human rights. He organizes demonstrations and engages in protests against all kinds of injustices in Egypt and is the winner of the international Best of the Blogs award from Reporters Without Borders last December.<br /> <br /> Alaa was arrested while protesting to support <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egypt</a>&rsquo;s Judges fight for independence. 2 weeks earlier he had organized a &ldquo;National Unity&rdquo; protest to show solidarity with <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egypt</a>&rsquo;s Christians who suffered a sectarian attack on 3 churches on Good Friday. Before that he was one of the few voices that urged calm and peaceful dialogue while the cartoon crisis was hitting its peak. He is a desperately needed voice of moderation and democracy in <a href="http://freealaa.blogspot.com/">Egypt</a>, and one of the few flickers of hope in a country whose future seems mire between the crushing rule of the regime and the fanaticism of the Islamist opposition.<br /> <br /> I would urge anyone who values freedom of speech to protest to their local embassy - which you can find <a href="http://www.learn4good.com/travel/egypt_embassies.htm">here</a>.<br /> 2006-05-20T09:41:28.000Z 2006-05-20T09:41:28.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2907-gores_spoof_sta Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>If you haven't seen it already, Al Gore did a fun spoof of the State of the Union address, my favorite bit was the about the unforseen consequences of beating Global Warming. "Rogue glaciers have taken upper Maine". </p><content-video torrent="/video/SNL-Al-Gore-5-14-06.torrent" file="SNL-Al-Gore-5-14-06.m4v"></content-video>

<p>If you haven't seen it already, Al Gore did a fun spoof of the State of the Union address, my favorite bit was the about the unforseen consequences of beating Global Warming. "Rogue glaciers have taken upper Maine". </p><content-video torrent="/video/SNL-Al-Gore-5-14-06.torrent" file="SNL-Al-Gore-5-14-06.m4v"></content-video> 2006-05-22T09:43:28.000Z 2006-05-22T09:43:28.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2908-how_cuba_surviv Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I found this article fascinating, and wonder what lessons it holds for Australia and the US - will we work to overcome the challenge of climate change and peak oil, will we be too late and successfully adapt to the changes they bring, or will we descend ungracefully.<br /> <br /> ------<br /> <br /> By Megan Quinn From Permaculture Activist<br /> <br /> &#160;&#160;&#160; In Brief: "Try to image an airplane suddenly losing its engines.<br /> It was really a crash"... A crash that put Cuba into a state of shock.<br /> There were frequent blackouts in its oil-fed electric power grid, up<br /> to 16 hours per day. The average daily caloric intake in Cuba dropped<br /> by a third... So Cubans started to grow local organic produce out of<br /> necessity, developed bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers as<br /> petrochemical substitutes, and incorporated more fruits and vegetables<br /> into their diets. Since they couldn't fuel their aging cars, they<br /> walked, biked, rode buses, and carpooled.<br />

I found this article fascinating, and wonder what lessons it holds for Australia and the US - will we work to overcome the challenge of climate change and peak oil, will we be too late and successfully adapt to the changes they bring, or will we descend ungracefully.<br /> <br /> ------<br /> <br /> By Megan Quinn From Permaculture Activist<br /> <br /> &#160;&#160;&#160; In Brief: "Try to image an airplane suddenly losing its engines.<br /> It was really a crash"... A crash that put Cuba into a state of shock.<br /> There were frequent blackouts in its oil-fed electric power grid, up<br /> to 16 hours per day. The average daily caloric intake in Cuba dropped<br /> by a third... So Cubans started to grow local organic produce out of<br /> necessity, developed bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers as<br /> petrochemical substitutes, and incorporated more fruits and vegetables<br /> into their diets. Since they couldn't fuel their aging cars, they<br /> walked, biked, rode buses, and carpooled.<br /> 2006-05-21T08:32:15.000Z 2006-05-21T08:32:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2909-papyrus_wins_12 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/0,1658,5155396,00.jpg" border="0" height="177" width="145" alt="0,1658,5155396,00.jpg" align="right" />(<a href="http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19172046%255E913,00.html">Advertiser 18may06</a>) PAPYRUS Australia has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to commercialise its paper-making technology.<br /> The money, from a Federal Government Commercial Ready grant, would be used to build a demonstration plant in Queensland.<br /> <br /> The Adelaide-based company expects the plant, able to produce 20,000 tonnes of paper per year from banana ply, would be ready by May next year.<br /> <br /> The company plans to sell the paper-making technology, rather than produce the paper commercially.<br /> <br /> Papyrus managing director Ramy Azer would not reveal how much a 20,000 tonne plant would cost, but said with paper costing about $1000 a tonne to buy, but only about $150 per tonne to produce with the Papyrus technology, investors would be looking at a good return on investment.<br /> <br /> (Full Disclosure: I was acting CEO of Papyrus most of 2004, I have no ongoing inside information.)

<img src="/images/0,1658,5155396,00.jpg" border="0" height="177" width="145" alt="0,1658,5155396,00.jpg" align="right" />(<a href="http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19172046%255E913,00.html">Advertiser 18may06</a>) PAPYRUS Australia has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to commercialise its paper-making technology.<br /> The money, from a Federal Government Commercial Ready grant, would be used to build a demonstration plant in Queensland.<br /> <br /> The Adelaide-based company expects the plant, able to produce 20,000 tonnes of paper per year from banana ply, would be ready by May next year.<br /> <br /> The company plans to sell the paper-making technology, rather than produce the paper commercially.<br /> <br /> Papyrus managing director Ramy Azer would not reveal how much a 20,000 tonne plant would cost, but said with paper costing about $1000 a tonne to buy, but only about $150 per tonne to produce with the Papyrus technology, investors would be looking at a good return on investment.<br /> <br /> (Full Disclosure: I was acting CEO of Papyrus most of 2004, I have no ongoing inside information.) 2006-05-21T08:47:27.000Z 2006-05-21T08:47:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2910-chicago_climate Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/ccx-square-01.gif" border="0" height="115" width="144" alt="ccx-square-01.gif" align="right" />I've been interested in the idea of private climate exchanges for a while, i.e. creating a market for carbon credits independent of governments such as those of Australia and the US that don't seem to care about Global Climate Change. This article from <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/05/chicago_climate.php">Treehugger</a> covers the Chicago Climate Exchange, and the reasoning behind it.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> A growing group of companies, including DuPont, Dow, Ford, Bayer and numerous city governments (see the impressive list here) have signed on to a legally binding contract to reduce their emissions, and trade their right to pollute on a free market exhange based in Chicago - the CCX.<br /> </blockquote>

<img src="/images/ccx-square-01.gif" border="0" height="115" width="144" alt="ccx-square-01.gif" align="right" />I've been interested in the idea of private climate exchanges for a while, i.e. creating a market for carbon credits independent of governments such as those of Australia and the US that don't seem to care about Global Climate Change. This article from <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/05/chicago_climate.php">Treehugger</a> covers the Chicago Climate Exchange, and the reasoning behind it.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> A growing group of companies, including DuPont, Dow, Ford, Bayer and numerous city governments (see the impressive list here) have signed on to a legally binding contract to reduce their emissions, and trade their right to pollute on a free market exhange based in Chicago - the CCX.<br /> </blockquote> 2006-05-23T09:11:54.000Z 2006-05-23T09:11:54.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2911-nuclear_power_n Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

(this post is a summary, and a draft, I'm looking for the references to back it up).<br /> <br /> With the recent call by John Howard and others to reopen the nuclear debate, it is worth addressing why Nuclear is not a good idea. <br /> <br /> It boils down to three areas.<br /> 1: It won't solve Climate Change<br /> 2: Its not safe<br /> 3: Even if both the above were true, its not economic<br /> <br />

(this post is a summary, and a draft, I'm looking for the references to back it up).<br /> <br /> With the recent call by John Howard and others to reopen the nuclear debate, it is worth addressing why Nuclear is not a good idea. <br /> <br /> It boils down to three areas.<br /> 1: It won't solve Climate Change<br /> 2: Its not safe<br /> 3: Even if both the above were true, its not economic<br /> <br /> 2006-06-04T12:14:06.000Z 2006-06-04T12:14:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2912-rolling_stone_e Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I thought this topic was over , but <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0601-34.htm">Rolling Stone</a> has published a comprehensive and well referenced article on exactly how the US presidential election of 2004 was rigged. <br /> <br /> Anyone with any sense who was present in the US on election day knew that something was phoney, but this article brings all the evidence together in one place, and makes it totally clear that Bush is not the elected president.

I thought this topic was over , but <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0601-34.htm">Rolling Stone</a> has published a comprehensive and well referenced article on exactly how the US presidential election of 2004 was rigged. <br /> <br /> Anyone with any sense who was present in the US on election day knew that something was phoney, but this article brings all the evidence together in one place, and makes it totally clear that Bush is not the elected president. 2006-06-21T16:14:53.000Z 2006-06-21T16:14:53.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2913-amory_lovins_nu Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/E05-14_NukePwrEcon.jpg" border="0" height="269" width="451" alt="E05-14_NukePwrEcon.jpg" align="right" />Amory Lovins documents a dramatic and little-known development: worldwide, efficient use of electricity plus decentralized low- or no-carbon electric generation are already at least twice as big as nuclear power and growing an order of magnitude faster, simply because they cost far less. New nuclear plants not only can't compete with central coal and gas plants, but also can't compete by hopelessly wide margins with these cheaper decentralized alternatives. Nuclear investments would only reduce and retard the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, because they'd save far less carbon per dollar and provide less new electricity per year. These differences, once hypothetical, are now richly confirmed by actual market behavior. <br /> <br /> Read the very detailed paper, or its abstract, which can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid171.php#E05-14">RMI's site</a>.<br /> <br />

<img src="/images/E05-14_NukePwrEcon.jpg" border="0" height="269" width="451" alt="E05-14_NukePwrEcon.jpg" align="right" />Amory Lovins documents a dramatic and little-known development: worldwide, efficient use of electricity plus decentralized low- or no-carbon electric generation are already at least twice as big as nuclear power and growing an order of magnitude faster, simply because they cost far less. New nuclear plants not only can't compete with central coal and gas plants, but also can't compete by hopelessly wide margins with these cheaper decentralized alternatives. Nuclear investments would only reduce and retard the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, because they'd save far less carbon per dollar and provide less new electricity per year. These differences, once hypothetical, are now richly confirmed by actual market behavior. <br /> <br /> Read the very detailed paper, or its abstract, which can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid171.php#E05-14">RMI's site</a>.<br /> <br /> 2006-07-02T11:50:29.000Z 2006-07-02T11:50:29.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2914-nanosolar_gets Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I've been suggesting for a while that we will see massive leaps in solar efficiency (as measured in Watts/$, not Watts/square-meter). <br /> <br /> Nanosolar's announcement of US$100m to build a fabrication plant, and states "It figures that making its panels will cost as little as 10% of what it costs to turn out current panels, eventually putting them within financial reach for lots more consumers."<br /> <br /> Solar is already cheaper than Nuclear, even without taking into account all the externalities (i.e. what you or me pay rather than the utility running the plant!) and breakthroughs like this make it even more likely that we can transition to greener future and beat Global warming. <br /> <br /> Read the full article from <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2006/tc20060626_804634.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_science">Business Week</a>.<br />

I've been suggesting for a while that we will see massive leaps in solar efficiency (as measured in Watts/$, not Watts/square-meter). <br /> <br /> Nanosolar's announcement of US$100m to build a fabrication plant, and states "It figures that making its panels will cost as little as 10% of what it costs to turn out current panels, eventually putting them within financial reach for lots more consumers."<br /> <br /> Solar is already cheaper than Nuclear, even without taking into account all the externalities (i.e. what you or me pay rather than the utility running the plant!) and breakthroughs like this make it even more likely that we can transition to greener future and beat Global warming. <br /> <br /> Read the full article from <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2006/tc20060626_804634.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_science">Business Week</a>.<br /> 2006-07-03T00:12:55.000Z 2006-07-03T00:12:55.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2915-why_nuclear_pow Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060618132852/http://www.feasta.org/documents/energy/nuclear_power.pdf" title="Feasta PDF"></pdf-link><p>David Fleming has written a clear 12 page article on why Nuclear power can't meet our energy needs. Its focussed on the lack of any feasible fuel to do so over any reasonable volume / time period. He also gives some useful material on how the nuclear fuel cycle works, and the various wastes produced at different parts of the cycle.</p><p>In summary, and each statement is backed up and referenced in the article.</p><p><p><ol><li>Nuclear energy could sustain its present minor contribution of some 21/2percent of global final energy demand for about 75 years, but only by postponing indefinitely the expenditure of energy that would be needed to deal with its waste.</li><li>Each stage in the nuclear life-cycle, other than fission itself, produces carbon dioxide.</li><li>The depletion problem facing nuclear power is as pressing as the depletion problem facing oil and gas. </li><li>The depletion of uranium becomes apparent when nuclear power is considered as a major source of energy. For instance, if required to provide all the electricity used worldwide; while clearing up the new waste it produced; it could (notionally) do so for about six years before it ran out of usable rich uranium ore. and thorium reactors, do not offer solutions in the short/medium term.</li><li>The overall climate impact of the nuclear industry, including its use of halogenated compounds with a global warming potential many times that of carbon dioxide, needs to be researched urgently.</li><li>The option that a nation such as the United Kingdom has of building and fuelling a nuclear energy system on a substantial and useful scale is removed if many other nations attempt to do the same thing. </li><li>The response must be to develop a programme of &ldquo;Lean Energy&rdquo;. Lean Energy consists of: (1) energy conservation and efficiency; (2) structural change to build local energy systems; and (3) renewable energy; all within (4) a framework, such as tradable energy quotas (TEQs), leading to deep reductions in energy demand. </li><li>That response should be developed at all speed, free of the false promise and distraction of nuclear energy. </li></ol></p><p><i>Note updates and related work on Tradeable Energy Quotas (TEQs) were published up until 2011) and available on the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210207134302/http://www.theleaneconomyconnection.net/downloads.html">Wayback Machine</a></i></p>

<pdf-link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060618132852/http://www.feasta.org/documents/energy/nuclear_power.pdf" title="Feasta PDF"></pdf-link><p>David Fleming has written a clear 12 page article on why Nuclear power can't meet our energy needs. Its focussed on the lack of any feasible fuel to do so over any reasonable volume / time period. He also gives some useful material on how the nuclear fuel cycle works, and the various wastes produced at different parts of the cycle.</p><p>In summary, and each statement is backed up and referenced in the article.</p><p><p><ol><li>Nuclear energy could sustain its present minor contribution of some 21/2percent of global final energy demand for about 75 years, but only by postponing indefinitely the expenditure of energy that would be needed to deal with its waste.</li><li>Each stage in the nuclear life-cycle, other than fission itself, produces carbon dioxide.</li><li>The depletion problem facing nuclear power is as pressing as the depletion problem facing oil and gas. </li><li>The depletion of uranium becomes apparent when nuclear power is considered as a major source of energy. For instance, if required to provide all the electricity used worldwide; while clearing up the new waste it produced; it could (notionally) do so for about six years before it ran out of usable rich uranium ore. and thorium reactors, do not offer solutions in the short/medium term.</li><li>The overall climate impact of the nuclear industry, including its use of halogenated compounds with a global warming potential many times that of carbon dioxide, needs to be researched urgently.</li><li>The option that a nation such as the United Kingdom has of building and fuelling a nuclear energy system on a substantial and useful scale is removed if many other nations attempt to do the same thing. </li><li>The response must be to develop a programme of &ldquo;Lean Energy&rdquo;. Lean Energy consists of: (1) energy conservation and efficiency; (2) structural change to build local energy systems; and (3) renewable energy; all within (4) a framework, such as tradable energy quotas (TEQs), leading to deep reductions in energy demand. </li><li>That response should be developed at all speed, free of the false promise and distraction of nuclear energy. </li></ol></p><p><i>Note updates and related work on Tradeable Energy Quotas (TEQs) were published up until 2011) and available on the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210207134302/http://www.theleaneconomyconnection.net/downloads.html">Wayback Machine</a></i></p> 2006-07-26T00:00:00.000Z 2006-07-26T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2916-greenpeace_uk_ad Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Just caught this TV ad from Greenpeace UK

<p> <content-video src="/video/gasguzzler480.m4v"></content-video><!-- was http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/gasguzzler/gasguzzler320.mov - wayback cant (as of jan2022) play flash"--> </p> 2006-07-27T09:10:57.000Z 2006-07-27T09:10:57.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2917-swipecard_plan Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

There is an interesting article about accounting for carbon in last week's Guardian. I think the scheme has significant weaknesses but is worth reading.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> David Adam, environment correspondent<br /> Wednesday July 19, 2006<br /> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1823853,00.html">The Guardian</a><br /> <br /> A radical plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions by rationing the carbon use of individuals is being drawn up by government officials. The scheme could force consumers to carry a swipe card that records their personal carbon allocation, with points knocked off each time they buy petrol or tickets for a flight.<br /> <br /> Under the scheme, all UK citizens from the Queen down would be allocated an identical annual carbon allowance, stored as points on an electronic card similar to Air Miles or supermarket loyalty cards. Points would be deducted at point of sale for every purchase of non-renewable energy. People who did not use their full allocation, such as families who do not own a car, would be able to sell their surplus carbon points into a central bank.<br /> <br /> Article continues<br /> High energy users could then buy them - motorists who had used their allocation would still be able to buy petrol, with the carbon points drawn from the bank and the cost added to their fuel bills. To reduce total UK emissions, the overall number of points would shrink each year.<br /> <br /> David Miliband, the environment secretary, is keen to set up a pilot scheme to test the idea, and has asked officials from four government departments to report on how it could be done.<br /> <br /> The move marks the first serious step towards state-enforced limits on the carbon use of individuals, which scientists say may be necessary in the fight against climate change. It extends the principle of carbon trading - already in place between heavy polluters such as power companies and steel makers - to consumers, with heavy carbon users forced to buy unused allowances from people with greener lifestyles.<br /> <br /> The principle was included in the government's review of energy policies, which said a new cross-departmental group "will examine what new policy options, such as tradable personal carbon allowances, could be deployed to stimulate local action". Mr Miliband will announce more details in a speech tonight to the Audit Commission. He will say: "It is easy to dismiss the idea as too complex administratively or too much of a burden for citizens. But in the long term there may be potential to make a system work effectively and in a way that is arguably more equitable, more empowering and more effective than the traditional tools of information, tax and regulation."<br /> <br /> Colin Challen, Labour chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on climate change, which has called for carbon rationing, said: "It will inevitably have to be introduced so that consumers, along with other sectors, take responsibility for what they do." But setting up a local pilot scheme could have problems - not least how to stop people driving elsewhere to fill up. Mr Challen said: "An island like the Isle of Wight would be an obvious place for a pilot scheme, though I'm not sure how happy they would be with that."<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1823853,00.html">http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1823853,00.html</a><br /> <br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> The weaknesses as I see it are that it only applies to fuel, and not to other carbon-generating energies (like coal fired electricity) and imposes an extra level of bureaucracy that could much more easily be dealt with through a carbon tax, matched with a financial allowance - that would work out financially identical to trading unused credits. <br />

There is an interesting article about accounting for carbon in last week's Guardian. I think the scheme has significant weaknesses but is worth reading.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> <br /> David Adam, environment correspondent<br /> Wednesday July 19, 2006<br /> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1823853,00.html">The Guardian</a><br /> <br /> A radical plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions by rationing the carbon use of individuals is being drawn up by government officials. The scheme could force consumers to carry a swipe card that records their personal carbon allocation, with points knocked off each time they buy petrol or tickets for a flight.<br /> <br /> Under the scheme, all UK citizens from the Queen down would be allocated an identical annual carbon allowance, stored as points on an electronic card similar to Air Miles or supermarket loyalty cards. Points would be deducted at point of sale for every purchase of non-renewable energy. People who did not use their full allocation, such as families who do not own a car, would be able to sell their surplus carbon points into a central bank.<br /> <br /> Article continues<br /> High energy users could then buy them - motorists who had used their allocation would still be able to buy petrol, with the carbon points drawn from the bank and the cost added to their fuel bills. To reduce total UK emissions, the overall number of points would shrink each year.<br /> <br /> David Miliband, the environment secretary, is keen to set up a pilot scheme to test the idea, and has asked officials from four government departments to report on how it could be done.<br /> <br /> The move marks the first serious step towards state-enforced limits on the carbon use of individuals, which scientists say may be necessary in the fight against climate change. It extends the principle of carbon trading - already in place between heavy polluters such as power companies and steel makers - to consumers, with heavy carbon users forced to buy unused allowances from people with greener lifestyles.<br /> <br /> The principle was included in the government's review of energy policies, which said a new cross-departmental group "will examine what new policy options, such as tradable personal carbon allowances, could be deployed to stimulate local action". Mr Miliband will announce more details in a speech tonight to the Audit Commission. He will say: "It is easy to dismiss the idea as too complex administratively or too much of a burden for citizens. But in the long term there may be potential to make a system work effectively and in a way that is arguably more equitable, more empowering and more effective than the traditional tools of information, tax and regulation."<br /> <br /> Colin Challen, Labour chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on climate change, which has called for carbon rationing, said: "It will inevitably have to be introduced so that consumers, along with other sectors, take responsibility for what they do." But setting up a local pilot scheme could have problems - not least how to stop people driving elsewhere to fill up. Mr Challen said: "An island like the Isle of Wight would be an obvious place for a pilot scheme, though I'm not sure how happy they would be with that."<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1823853,00.html">http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1823853,00.html</a><br /> <br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> The weaknesses as I see it are that it only applies to fuel, and not to other carbon-generating energies (like coal fired electricity) and imposes an extra level of bureaucracy that could much more easily be dealt with through a carbon tax, matched with a financial allowance - that would work out financially identical to trading unused credits. <br /> 2006-07-28T10:38:03.000Z 2006-07-28T10:38:03.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2918-labor_once_agai Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Isn't it about time we had an opposition party in Australia? <br /> <br /> Labor is once again moving to join the Liberals in opposition to our environment, by moving under Beazley's insistence to support new uranium mines.<br /> <br /> The arguments against Nuclear Power - and for Renewables as the solution to climate change and peak oil - are strong, and well documented on this blog. <br /> <br /> In marginal, progressive seats, local members - such as our own Justine Elliot often express views supportive of what their electorate are demanding. But with the party discipline that Labor imposes it doesn't really make much difference what our local federal or state member's personal views are since they won't cross the floor to back them. <br /> <br /> So its a good time to let your local member know that whatever they think, you will work against their re-election if Labor drops its opposition to Uranium mines.<br /> <br /> Take the chance, on those rare occasions when you see them out and about in the constituency, to let them know how you feel.

Isn't it about time we had an opposition party in Australia? <br /> <br /> Labor is once again moving to join the Liberals in opposition to our environment, by moving under Beazley's insistence to support new uranium mines.<br /> <br /> The arguments against Nuclear Power - and for Renewables as the solution to climate change and peak oil - are strong, and well documented on this blog. <br /> <br /> In marginal, progressive seats, local members - such as our own Justine Elliot often express views supportive of what their electorate are demanding. But with the party discipline that Labor imposes it doesn't really make much difference what our local federal or state member's personal views are since they won't cross the floor to back them. <br /> <br /> So its a good time to let your local member know that whatever they think, you will work against their re-election if Labor drops its opposition to Uranium mines.<br /> <br /> Take the chance, on those rare occasions when you see them out and about in the constituency, to let them know how you feel. 2006-07-29T16:01:44.000Z 2006-07-29T16:01:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2919-zelfo_plastic_f Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/peanutchair2.jpg" border="0" height="128" width="115" alt="peanutchair2.jpg" align="right" />Zelfo Australia is a new company I am on its board. It is making plastic from plants - and I don't mean plants+resin, I mean 100% plants. Here's their press release, or check out the <a href="http://www.zelfoaustralia.com">website</a> for many more pictures.<br /> <br /> A new sustainable industry is being built in the Northern Rivers. As oil prices skyrocket, alternatives have been sought and solutions dreamt about for some time. A new company, Zelfo Australia has the answer. <br /> <br /> And it is a new material made from 100% plants, including industrial hemp and sugar cane that uses no glues or resins and is 100% biodegradable. Made from plants a new super-strong aesthetic material will be produced to suit various markets. Products <br /> that have been made from Zelfo include a Georgio Armani bowl, an award winning chair and stool as well as musical instruments, jewellery and other products that are traditional made from wood, fibre glass, glass and some plastics. <br /> <br /> This new industry is looking to work with established designers, manufacturers and builders to produce alternatives to their existing products. &ldquo;We do not foresee our products making wood or plastics redundant just yet,&rdquo; states Managing Director <br /> Paul Benhaim &ldquo;we see Zelfo products being attractive to designers and business&rsquo; wanting strong, quality eco-friendly replicable ranges with that &lsquo;handmade&rsquo; feel.&rdquo; <br /> The commercial factory will be powered by green energy, recycle as much of its water as possible, and emit no toxic wastes. &ldquo;Integrity and ethical authenticity is a key foundation to our business,&rdquo; states Paul Benhaim, &ldquo;Quality without Qualms and Strength with Sustainability are our mottos.&rdquo; <br /> <br /> Raw materials that may be used include sugar cane, hemp, jute, flax, waste paper and textile scraps. <br /> <br /> What is your vision for a Zelfo future? <br />

<img src="/images/peanutchair2.jpg" border="0" height="128" width="115" alt="peanutchair2.jpg" align="right" />Zelfo Australia is a new company I am on its board. It is making plastic from plants - and I don't mean plants+resin, I mean 100% plants. Here's their press release, or check out the <a href="http://www.zelfoaustralia.com">website</a> for many more pictures.<br /> <br /> A new sustainable industry is being built in the Northern Rivers. As oil prices skyrocket, alternatives have been sought and solutions dreamt about for some time. A new company, Zelfo Australia has the answer. <br /> <br /> And it is a new material made from 100% plants, including industrial hemp and sugar cane that uses no glues or resins and is 100% biodegradable. Made from plants a new super-strong aesthetic material will be produced to suit various markets. Products <br /> that have been made from Zelfo include a Georgio Armani bowl, an award winning chair and stool as well as musical instruments, jewellery and other products that are traditional made from wood, fibre glass, glass and some plastics. <br /> <br /> This new industry is looking to work with established designers, manufacturers and builders to produce alternatives to their existing products. &ldquo;We do not foresee our products making wood or plastics redundant just yet,&rdquo; states Managing Director <br /> Paul Benhaim &ldquo;we see Zelfo products being attractive to designers and business&rsquo; wanting strong, quality eco-friendly replicable ranges with that &lsquo;handmade&rsquo; feel.&rdquo; <br /> The commercial factory will be powered by green energy, recycle as much of its water as possible, and emit no toxic wastes. &ldquo;Integrity and ethical authenticity is a key foundation to our business,&rdquo; states Paul Benhaim, &ldquo;Quality without Qualms and Strength with Sustainability are our mottos.&rdquo; <br /> <br /> Raw materials that may be used include sugar cane, hemp, jute, flax, waste paper and textile scraps. <br /> <br /> What is your vision for a Zelfo future? <br /> 2006-08-20T22:40:00.000Z 2006-08-20T22:40:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2920-greening_the_de Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I just caught this flash presentation on <a href="http://207.21.197.146/per/permaculture.swf">Greening the Desert</a>. The story of Geoff Lawton's Jordan project, where they got a flat, arid desert to produce food on about 1/5 the water normally used. Its impressive and shows how some of the planet's worst resource conflicts are more easily sovled by more intelligent use of the resources available, than by stealing them from your neighbors.<br /> <br /> Its just a few minutes long and 1Mb or so, so check it out.

I just caught this flash presentation on <a href="http://207.21.197.146/per/permaculture.swf">Greening the Desert</a>. The story of Geoff Lawton's Jordan project, where they got a flat, arid desert to produce food on about 1/5 the water normally used. Its impressive and shows how some of the planet's worst resource conflicts are more easily sovled by more intelligent use of the resources available, than by stealing them from your neighbors.<br /> <br /> Its just a few minutes long and 1Mb or so, so check it out. 2006-09-08T19:10:16.000Z 2006-09-08T19:10:16.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2921-new_evidence_es Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

For a long time I've been worried by people's perception that Roundup is safe, and its overuse in "Landcare" activities in Australia - not surprising since the training colleges essentially only teach how to regenerate bush using chemicals .. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm">Project Censored</a> does a good job of uncovering stories that didn't get the media attention they enjoyed, here is there latest on this.<br /> <br /> New studies from both sides of the Atlantic reveal that Roundup, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, poses serious human health threats. More than 75 percent of genetically modified (GM) crops are engineered to tolerate the absorption of Roundup&mdash;it eliminates all plants that are not GM. Monsanto Inc., the major engineer of GM crops, is also the producer of Roundup. Thus, while Roundup was formulated as a weapon against weeds, it has become a prevalent ingredient in most of our food crops.<br /> <br /> Three recent studies show that Roundup, which is used by farmers and home gardeners, is not the safe product we have been led to trust.<br /> <br /> A group of scientists led by biochemist Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini from the University of Caen in France found that human placental cells are very sensitive to Roundup at concentrations lower than those currently used in agricultural application.<br /> <br />

For a long time I've been worried by people's perception that Roundup is safe, and its overuse in "Landcare" activities in Australia - not surprising since the training colleges essentially only teach how to regenerate bush using chemicals .. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm">Project Censored</a> does a good job of uncovering stories that didn't get the media attention they enjoyed, here is there latest on this.<br /> <br /> New studies from both sides of the Atlantic reveal that Roundup, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, poses serious human health threats. More than 75 percent of genetically modified (GM) crops are engineered to tolerate the absorption of Roundup&mdash;it eliminates all plants that are not GM. Monsanto Inc., the major engineer of GM crops, is also the producer of Roundup. Thus, while Roundup was formulated as a weapon against weeds, it has become a prevalent ingredient in most of our food crops.<br /> <br /> Three recent studies show that Roundup, which is used by farmers and home gardeners, is not the safe product we have been led to trust.<br /> <br /> A group of scientists led by biochemist Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini from the University of Caen in France found that human placental cells are very sensitive to Roundup at concentrations lower than those currently used in agricultural application.<br /> <br /> 2006-09-24T00:00:00.000Z 2006-09-24T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2922-al_gores_follow Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Al Gore gave a <a href="https://www.law.nyu.edu/news/GORE_CLIMATE_SPEECH">really important speech</a> on 18th September at NYU. In it he goes beyond the message of crisis in "An Inconvenient Truth" and makes suggestions for what should be done about it. In particular, he calls for a freeze on Carbon Emission levels (we need to bring them down, so a freeze is a good start). We need bold suggestions, and the longer we leave taking action the tougher those proposals will need to be.Read the <a href="https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/Gore%20Speech%209.18.06.pdf">transcript</a>, and of course don't miss "An Inconvenient Truth" when it screens near you.

Al Gore gave a <a href="https://www.law.nyu.edu/news/GORE_CLIMATE_SPEECH">really important speech</a> on 18th September at NYU. In it he goes beyond the message of crisis in "An Inconvenient Truth" and makes suggestions for what should be done about it. In particular, he calls for a freeze on Carbon Emission levels (we need to bring them down, so a freeze is a good start). We need bold suggestions, and the longer we leave taking action the tougher those proposals will need to be.Read the <a href="https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/Gore%20Speech%209.18.06.pdf">transcript</a>, and of course don't miss "An Inconvenient Truth" when it screens near you. 2006-09-26T23:06:00.000Z 2006-09-26T23:06:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2923-boron_water_hyd Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I've been predicting for a while that once there is the demand - created by proper pricing of oil, that techno-fixes will emerge to the shared problem of global-warming and peak-oil.<br /> <br /> Hydrogen has been pitched as part of the solution (along with renewable energy to make it), but the problem is carrying enough of it safely.<br /> <br /> Though its too soon to tell, this advance is the sort of out-of-the-box thinking we need. The idea is simple - instead of carrying hydrogen, you carry water, plus something that can be used to make the water into hydrogen, then you use renewably-generated energy to turn that something back into a re-usable form. This <a href="http://www.israel21c.com/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El1425&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Technology&">announcement</a> uses Boron as the carrier, if Boron doesn't work then someone else will come up with an alternative. <br /> <br /> The basic reaction is simple: <br /> <br /> Water + Boron -> Boron-oxide + Hydrogen;<br /> Hydrogen + Oxygen = Mobile Power + Water;<br /> Boron-Oxide + Electricity = Boron;<br /> <br /> The energy density sounds pretty good - 40 lbs Boron + 12 gallons of water being equivalent to 10 gallons of petrol. They are expecting a prototype in 2009, which is a bit long away, but this - or some alternative carrier - sounds to me like a promising alternative.<br />

I've been predicting for a while that once there is the demand - created by proper pricing of oil, that techno-fixes will emerge to the shared problem of global-warming and peak-oil.<br /> <br /> Hydrogen has been pitched as part of the solution (along with renewable energy to make it), but the problem is carrying enough of it safely.<br /> <br /> Though its too soon to tell, this advance is the sort of out-of-the-box thinking we need. The idea is simple - instead of carrying hydrogen, you carry water, plus something that can be used to make the water into hydrogen, then you use renewably-generated energy to turn that something back into a re-usable form. This <a href="http://www.israel21c.com/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El1425&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Technology&">announcement</a> uses Boron as the carrier, if Boron doesn't work then someone else will come up with an alternative. <br /> <br /> The basic reaction is simple: <br /> <br /> Water + Boron -> Boron-oxide + Hydrogen;<br /> Hydrogen + Oxygen = Mobile Power + Water;<br /> Boron-Oxide + Electricity = Boron;<br /> <br /> The energy density sounds pretty good - 40 lbs Boron + 12 gallons of water being equivalent to 10 gallons of petrol. They are expecting a prototype in 2009, which is a bit long away, but this - or some alternative carrier - sounds to me like a promising alternative.<br /> 2006-10-02T20:43:29.000Z 2006-10-02T20:43:29.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2924-australian_hite Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

(Disclosure: I'm working with Zelfo on Business Development issues.)<br /> <br /> High strength, cost-effective and aesthetic material launched.<br /> <br /> A German designed eco-factory powered by bio-diesel and solar energy arrives in one of Australia&rsquo;s favourite country towns. This new factory produces high quality musical instruments, light shades, homeware, furniture and other products from &lsquo;Zelfo&rsquo;. <br /> <br /> Zelfo is a biodegradable material produced from plant fibres and waste including hemp and sugar-cane.<br /> <br /> No toxic chemicals, resins or glues are used in the production of this mouldable material.<br />

(Disclosure: I'm working with Zelfo on Business Development issues.)<br /> <br /> High strength, cost-effective and aesthetic material launched.<br /> <br /> A German designed eco-factory powered by bio-diesel and solar energy arrives in one of Australia&rsquo;s favourite country towns. This new factory produces high quality musical instruments, light shades, homeware, furniture and other products from &lsquo;Zelfo&rsquo;. <br /> <br /> Zelfo is a biodegradable material produced from plant fibres and waste including hemp and sugar-cane.<br /> <br /> No toxic chemicals, resins or glues are used in the production of this mouldable material.<br /> 2006-11-03T05:03:20.000Z 2006-11-03T05:03:20.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2925-green_building Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/cc1.jpg" border="0" height="266" width="300" alt="cc1.jpg" align="right" />I'm interested in the concept of affordable housing, not just the "subsidised housing that is what is usually called Affordable in Australia, but ways to get the cost down, so that the real cost is lower. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.containercity.com/">Container City</a> is an interesting project in London uses recyclable containers for homes. I've seen this before in disaster relief, and as a theory, but not as a practical project with attractive homes. <br /> <br /> (Thanks to Ruben Anderson from Vancouver City's sustainability group, for pointing this out to me.)

<img src="/images/cc1.jpg" border="0" height="266" width="300" alt="cc1.jpg" align="right" />I'm interested in the concept of affordable housing, not just the "subsidised housing that is what is usually called Affordable in Australia, but ways to get the cost down, so that the real cost is lower. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.containercity.com/">Container City</a> is an interesting project in London uses recyclable containers for homes. I've seen this before in disaster relief, and as a theory, but not as a practical project with attractive homes. <br /> <br /> (Thanks to Ruben Anderson from Vancouver City's sustainability group, for pointing this out to me.) 2006-11-05T04:15:32.000Z 2006-11-05T04:15:32.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2926-15_minute_aaaaa Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/gp-battery.jpg" border="0" height="120" width="115" alt="gp-battery.jpg" align="right" />I believe that rapid recharging of batteries is likely to be a key issue in transitioning to non-fossil-fuels for transport. I've posted previously on this (see below). Now (according to <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/11/new_nimh_batter.php#perma">TreeHugger</a>) GP has launched a charger that charges their NiMH batteries (AA and AAA) in 15 minutes.<br /> <br /> That post also alerted me to the site <a href="http://www.greenbatteries.com/">GreenBatteries.com</a>.<br /> <br /> Previous posts on this topic:<ul><li><a href="/blog/archives/2005/11/new_lithium_ion.html">New Lithium Ion batteries from A123</a>, Nov 2005</li><li><a href="/blog/archives/2005/04/toshibas_new_on.html">Toshiba's new one-minute recharge battery</a>, Apr 2005</li></ul>

<img src="/images/gp-battery.jpg" border="0" height="120" width="115" alt="gp-battery.jpg" align="right" />I believe that rapid recharging of batteries is likely to be a key issue in transitioning to non-fossil-fuels for transport. I've posted previously on this (see below). Now (according to <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/11/new_nimh_batter.php#perma">TreeHugger</a>) GP has launched a charger that charges their NiMH batteries (AA and AAA) in 15 minutes.<br /> <br /> That post also alerted me to the site <a href="http://www.greenbatteries.com/">GreenBatteries.com</a>.<br /> <br /> Previous posts on this topic:<ul><li><a href="/blog/archives/2005/11/new_lithium_ion.html">New Lithium Ion batteries from A123</a>, Nov 2005</li><li><a href="/blog/archives/2005/04/toshibas_new_on.html">Toshiba's new one-minute recharge battery</a>, Apr 2005</li></ul> 2006-11-18T10:13:54.000Z 2014-09-22T20:55:37.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2927-a-stern-warning-on-climate-and-a-word-about-wedges Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100104191227/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/stern_review_report.htm" target="new" src="http://www.makower.com/blogpix/sternreview.jpg"></pdf-link><p>I was about to post on the Stern report, one of a set of dominos falling over climate change. However Joel Makower beat me to it, and also wrote up climate wedges, an important concept that is worth understanding - especially in terms of their size.</p><p><a href="http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2006/11/a_stern_warning.html">A Stern Warning on Climate (and a Word about Wedges)</a>: "</p><div><br /> <p>It's been a week since the <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100104191227/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/stern_review_report.htm" target="new">Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change</a> was unleashed upon the world, and the report has become a lightning rod on both sides of the climate change issue. For advocates of climate action -- that is, most people -- it was a call to arms, a sobering reality check about what will happen if we don't take bold action, fast.</p><p>For the small number of non-believers, it was just another alarmist, sky-is-falling plea, no more credible than those that came before it. Bjorn Lomborg, author of the controversial anti-environmental-movement screed, 'The Skeptical Environmentalist,' reviewing the report in The Wall Street Journal, complained that 'Its fear-mongering arguments have been sensationalized, which is ultimately only likely to make the world worse off.' And so it goes.</p><p>For the uninitiated, the Stern Review was commissioned by the British government last July. It was carried out by Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the U.K.'s Government Economic Service and former World Bank Chief Economist. In essence, Stern's team took climate models and number-crunched them into economic models.</p><p>The Review (<a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100104191227/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/stern_review_report.htm" target="new">download the full report here</a>) focuses on the impacts and risks arising from uncontrolled climate change, and on the costs and opportunities associated with action to tackle it. It found that all countries will be affected by climate change, 'but it is the poorest countries that will suffer earliest and most.'</p><blockquote><em>Unabated climate change risks raising average temperatures by over 5°C from pre-industrial levels. Such changes would transform the physical geography of our planet, as well as the human geography -- how and where we live our lives.</em></blockquote><br /> <p>The Review calculated that the dangers of unabated climate change would be equivalent to at least 5% of global gross domestic product each year, and as high as 20% of GDP. That's far more severe than any previous calculation and reflects numbers that are nothing short of a global economic depression. In contrast, stabilizing greenhouse gases at manageable levels would cost about 1% of GDP.</p><p>The full 700-page tome is not likely to be read by many mere mortals, but I recommend at least its executive summary -- as well as any of several well-done analyses (such as <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005210.html" target="new">Alan AtKisson's on Worldchanging</a>, or the <a href="http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8100260" target="new">review by The Economist</a>). It will likely be a topic of conversation for some time, and professionals dealing with climate change issues would be wise to be conversant about its key points.</p><p><strong>Whither Wedges?</strong><br /> <img src="http://www.makower.com/blogpix/stabilizationwedges.jpg" border="0" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="right" />Another topic of growing discussion is that of 'stabilization wedges,' the notion promulgated by Princeton scientists Robert Socolow and Stephen Pacala that climate emissions can be stabilized by a series of bold actions over the next fifty years. Their original paper (<a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~cmi/resources/CMI_Resources_new_files/Wedges%20ppr%20in%20Science.pdf" target="new">download - PDF</a>) is more than two years old, but it has been gaining currency over the past several months, culminating, perhaps, in a well-written piece in September's Scientific American (<a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&amp;colID=1&amp;articleID=0009E49D-D132-14E5-913283414B7F0000" target="new">downloadable for a fee</a>). I've heard it discussed several times at this fall's conference circuit, as well as in more casual conversations with colleagues and clients, and have been integrating it into my own speeches and presentations about business and the environment.</p><p>Socolow and Pacala argue that stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations will require reducing emissions by 7 billion tons a year by 2054. To make this more understandable, they identified 15 potential 'wedges,' each of which could handle one billion tons of the total. Thus, it will take seven such 'wedges' to accomplish their goal.</p><p>The wedges are sobering in their scale and scope. Here are just five examples of things we must do worldwide, each of which, when phased in over the next fifty years, will prevent the release of 25 billion tons of carbon:</p><p> </p><li> Double the fuel economy of 2 billion cars worldwide from 30 mpg to 60 mpg</li><li> Cut electricity use in all homes, offices, and stores by 25 percent</li><li> Replace 1,400 large coal-fired power plants with gas-fired plants</li><li> Increase solar power 700-fold to displace coal</li><li> Increase wind power 80-fold to produce hydrogen for cars<br /> <p> </p><p>Keep in mind that this isn't an either/or proposition. We'd have to do ALL these things -- plus two more -- to keep greenhouse gas levels stable in check below 550 parts per million, double pre-industrial levels.</p><p>Like the Stern Review, it's another sobering reality check on the challenges ahead. Increasingly, companies are not merely going to be asked what they're doing on climate change, or to simply disclose the full complement of their climate footprint. They'll be asked, 'Are you doing enough to truly stem the worst effects of climate change?'</p><p>And increasingly, companies will find that they better have an answer, and that it better be good.</p><p>(Via <a href="http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/">Joel Makower: Two Steps Forward</a>.)</p></li></div>

<pdf-link href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100104191227/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/stern_review_report.htm" target="new" src="http://www.makower.com/blogpix/sternreview.jpg"></pdf-link><p>I was about to post on the Stern report, one of a set of dominos falling over climate change. However Joel Makower beat me to it, and also wrote up climate wedges, an important concept that is worth understanding - especially in terms of their size.</p><p><a href="http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2006/11/a_stern_warning.html">A Stern Warning on Climate (and a Word about Wedges)</a>: "</p><div><br /> <p>It's been a week since the <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100104191227/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/stern_review_report.htm" target="new">Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change</a> was unleashed upon the world, and the report has become a lightning rod on both sides of the climate change issue. For advocates of climate action -- that is, most people -- it was a call to arms, a sobering reality check about what will happen if we don't take bold action, fast.</p><p>For the small number of non-believers, it was just another alarmist, sky-is-falling plea, no more credible than those that came before it. Bjorn Lomborg, author of the controversial anti-environmental-movement screed, 'The Skeptical Environmentalist,' reviewing the report in The Wall Street Journal, complained that 'Its fear-mongering arguments have been sensationalized, which is ultimately only likely to make the world worse off.' And so it goes.</p><p>For the uninitiated, the Stern Review was commissioned by the British government last July. It was carried out by Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the U.K.'s Government Economic Service and former World Bank Chief Economist. In essence, Stern's team took climate models and number-crunched them into economic models.</p><p>The Review (<a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100104191227/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/stern_review_report.htm" target="new">download the full report here</a>) focuses on the impacts and risks arising from uncontrolled climate change, and on the costs and opportunities associated with action to tackle it. It found that all countries will be affected by climate change, 'but it is the poorest countries that will suffer earliest and most.'</p><blockquote><em>Unabated climate change risks raising average temperatures by over 5°C from pre-industrial levels. Such changes would transform the physical geography of our planet, as well as the human geography -- how and where we live our lives.</em></blockquote><br /> <p>The Review calculated that the dangers of unabated climate change would be equivalent to at least 5% of global gross domestic product each year, and as high as 20% of GDP. That's far more severe than any previous calculation and reflects numbers that are nothing short of a global economic depression. In contrast, stabilizing greenhouse gases at manageable levels would cost about 1% of GDP.</p><p>The full 700-page tome is not likely to be read by many mere mortals, but I recommend at least its executive summary -- as well as any of several well-done analyses (such as <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005210.html" target="new">Alan AtKisson's on Worldchanging</a>, or the <a href="http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8100260" target="new">review by The Economist</a>). It will likely be a topic of conversation for some time, and professionals dealing with climate change issues would be wise to be conversant about its key points.</p><p><strong>Whither Wedges?</strong><br /> <img src="http://www.makower.com/blogpix/stabilizationwedges.jpg" border="0" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="right" />Another topic of growing discussion is that of 'stabilization wedges,' the notion promulgated by Princeton scientists Robert Socolow and Stephen Pacala that climate emissions can be stabilized by a series of bold actions over the next fifty years. Their original paper (<a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~cmi/resources/CMI_Resources_new_files/Wedges%20ppr%20in%20Science.pdf" target="new">download - PDF</a>) is more than two years old, but it has been gaining currency over the past several months, culminating, perhaps, in a well-written piece in September's Scientific American (<a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&amp;colID=1&amp;articleID=0009E49D-D132-14E5-913283414B7F0000" target="new">downloadable for a fee</a>). I've heard it discussed several times at this fall's conference circuit, as well as in more casual conversations with colleagues and clients, and have been integrating it into my own speeches and presentations about business and the environment.</p><p>Socolow and Pacala argue that stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations will require reducing emissions by 7 billion tons a year by 2054. To make this more understandable, they identified 15 potential 'wedges,' each of which could handle one billion tons of the total. Thus, it will take seven such 'wedges' to accomplish their goal.</p><p>The wedges are sobering in their scale and scope. Here are just five examples of things we must do worldwide, each of which, when phased in over the next fifty years, will prevent the release of 25 billion tons of carbon:</p><p> </p><li> Double the fuel economy of 2 billion cars worldwide from 30 mpg to 60 mpg</li><li> Cut electricity use in all homes, offices, and stores by 25 percent</li><li> Replace 1,400 large coal-fired power plants with gas-fired plants</li><li> Increase solar power 700-fold to displace coal</li><li> Increase wind power 80-fold to produce hydrogen for cars<br /> <p> </p><p>Keep in mind that this isn't an either/or proposition. We'd have to do ALL these things -- plus two more -- to keep greenhouse gas levels stable in check below 550 parts per million, double pre-industrial levels.</p><p>Like the Stern Review, it's another sobering reality check on the challenges ahead. Increasingly, companies are not merely going to be asked what they're doing on climate change, or to simply disclose the full complement of their climate footprint. They'll be asked, 'Are you doing enough to truly stem the worst effects of climate change?'</p><p>And increasingly, companies will find that they better have an answer, and that it better be good.</p><p>(Via <a href="http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/">Joel Makower: Two Steps Forward</a>.)</p></li></div> 2006-12-08T18:24:15.000Z 2006-12-08T18:24:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2928-building_sector Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The building industry seems to have really come together to show that strong targets can be set across an entire industry<br /> <br /> From their press release......<br /> <br /> Santa Fe (December 1, 2006) - recognizing that the Building Sector is<br /> responsible for almost half of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually,<br /> key leaders in this Sector have banded together to confront the<br /> global-warming crisis. Last week, the American Institute of Architects<br /> (AIA), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), American Society of Heating,<br /> Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Architecture 2030 and<br /> about 20 other leaders attended a special meeting at the 2006 Greenbuild<br /> International Conference and Expo, a conference presented annually by the<br /> USGBC. According to Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chairman of<br /> USGBC, "Eliminating the built environment's negative contribution to climate<br /> change is not just a strategic priority, it's our collective responsibility<br /> to generations to come. Science tells us we have 3650 days to meet that<br /> goal, and urgent action is required."<br /> <br /> During the meeting, the group reached a consensus on three critical issues<br /> facing the Building Sector as it works to bring energy consumption and GHG<br /> emissions in this sector under control: the need for a common goal, the<br /> definition of this goal and a baseline to measure progress against. "The<br /> building industry is coming together around the common goal of Architecture<br /> 2030's targets for reductions in energy use. The organizations and<br /> individuals in this meeting need to reach out to the entire industry,<br /> encouraging them all to work together in achieving these targets.", said<br /> R.K. Stewart, President-elect of AIA.<br /> <br /> In a show of solidarity and commitment, these leaders have adopted 'The 2030<br /> Challenge' targets. The 2030 Challenge, a global initiative officially<br /> launched by Architecture 2030 in January 2006, calls for all new buildings<br /> and major renovations to reduce their fossil-fuel GHG-emitting energy<br /> consumption by 50 percent immediately, increasing this reduction to 60% in<br /> 2010, 70% in 2015, 80% in 2020, 90% in 2025, and finally, that all new<br /> buildings would be carbon neutral by the year 2030. Terry Townsend,<br /> President of ASHRAE, stated that, "ASHRAE is committed to developing the<br /> tools needed to accomplish the Architecture 2030 challenge."<br /> Building Sector Unites to Confront Global Climate Change (p2)

The building industry seems to have really come together to show that strong targets can be set across an entire industry<br /> <br /> From their press release......<br /> <br /> Santa Fe (December 1, 2006) - recognizing that the Building Sector is<br /> responsible for almost half of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually,<br /> key leaders in this Sector have banded together to confront the<br /> global-warming crisis. Last week, the American Institute of Architects<br /> (AIA), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), American Society of Heating,<br /> Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Architecture 2030 and<br /> about 20 other leaders attended a special meeting at the 2006 Greenbuild<br /> International Conference and Expo, a conference presented annually by the<br /> USGBC. According to Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chairman of<br /> USGBC, "Eliminating the built environment's negative contribution to climate<br /> change is not just a strategic priority, it's our collective responsibility<br /> to generations to come. Science tells us we have 3650 days to meet that<br /> goal, and urgent action is required."<br /> <br /> During the meeting, the group reached a consensus on three critical issues<br /> facing the Building Sector as it works to bring energy consumption and GHG<br /> emissions in this sector under control: the need for a common goal, the<br /> definition of this goal and a baseline to measure progress against. "The<br /> building industry is coming together around the common goal of Architecture<br /> 2030's targets for reductions in energy use. The organizations and<br /> individuals in this meeting need to reach out to the entire industry,<br /> encouraging them all to work together in achieving these targets.", said<br /> R.K. Stewart, President-elect of AIA.<br /> <br /> In a show of solidarity and commitment, these leaders have adopted 'The 2030<br /> Challenge' targets. The 2030 Challenge, a global initiative officially<br /> launched by Architecture 2030 in January 2006, calls for all new buildings<br /> and major renovations to reduce their fossil-fuel GHG-emitting energy<br /> consumption by 50 percent immediately, increasing this reduction to 60% in<br /> 2010, 70% in 2015, 80% in 2020, 90% in 2025, and finally, that all new<br /> buildings would be carbon neutral by the year 2030. Terry Townsend,<br /> President of ASHRAE, stated that, "ASHRAE is committed to developing the<br /> tools needed to accomplish the Architecture 2030 challenge."<br /> Building Sector Unites to Confront Global Climate Change (p2) 2006-12-14T13:19:03.000Z 2006-12-14T13:19:03.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2929-can_renewable_e Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Can renewable energy replace coal?<br /> <br /> Recent months have seen a new push from the coal and nuclear industries to discredit renewable energy. The common criticism is that renewable energy cannot provide &lsquo;baseload&rsquo; power and therefore cannot replace coal-fired power stations. Greenpeace energy campaigner Mark Wakeham tackles the renewables sceptics (who not so long ago were climate sceptics) and answers some common questions.

Can renewable energy replace coal?<br /> <br /> Recent months have seen a new push from the coal and nuclear industries to discredit renewable energy. The common criticism is that renewable energy cannot provide &lsquo;baseload&rsquo; power and therefore cannot replace coal-fired power stations. Greenpeace energy campaigner Mark Wakeham tackles the renewables sceptics (who not so long ago were climate sceptics) and answers some common questions. 2006-12-17T13:18:28.000Z 2006-12-17T13:18:28.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2930-building_the_ch Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Gil Friend has a <a href="http://www.igreenbuild.com/_coreModules/content/contentDisplay.aspx?contentID=2658">good article</a> on the 2030 Climate Change challenge that I blogged about <a href="/blog/archives/2006/12/building_sector.html">previously</a>. <br />

Gil Friend has a <a href="http://www.igreenbuild.com/_coreModules/content/contentDisplay.aspx?contentID=2658">good article</a> on the 2030 Climate Change challenge that I blogged about <a href="/blog/archives/2006/12/building_sector.html">previously</a>. <br /> 2006-12-20T12:50:41.000Z 2006-12-20T12:50:41.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2931-satish_kumar_on Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Thanks to Sally McKinnon at Ethos Foundation for pointing me at this.<br /> <br /> In his November/December 2006 Resurgence editorial "A Far Cry from Christmas" Satish Kumar suggests that as Christmas approaches we are&#160;continue to see rampant consumption and little spirit, peace or relationship. Satish writes:<br /> <br /> "By all means let us replace fossil fuel with bio-fuel where appropriate, but we have to do more than that - we have to replace our quantitative consumerism with a qualitative lifestyle. We need to move away from more and global to less and local; from accumulation of unnecessary clutter to enjoyment of the good things in life like art, music, friendship and free time. We need to shift from waste to frugality, from consuming to making, from illusion to imagination, from desire to delight and from consumption of natural resources to an appreciation of the natural world. If we do that then Christmas will again be an occasion of great celebration rather than an excuse for more consumption. And then again the secular and the sacred, the material and the spiritual will be recognised as being two sides of the same coin."<br />

Thanks to Sally McKinnon at Ethos Foundation for pointing me at this.<br /> <br /> In his November/December 2006 Resurgence editorial "A Far Cry from Christmas" Satish Kumar suggests that as Christmas approaches we are&#160;continue to see rampant consumption and little spirit, peace or relationship. Satish writes:<br /> <br /> "By all means let us replace fossil fuel with bio-fuel where appropriate, but we have to do more than that - we have to replace our quantitative consumerism with a qualitative lifestyle. We need to move away from more and global to less and local; from accumulation of unnecessary clutter to enjoyment of the good things in life like art, music, friendship and free time. We need to shift from waste to frugality, from consuming to making, from illusion to imagination, from desire to delight and from consumption of natural resources to an appreciation of the natural world. If we do that then Christmas will again be an occasion of great celebration rather than an excuse for more consumption. And then again the secular and the sacred, the material and the spiritual will be recognised as being two sides of the same coin."<br /> 2007-01-09T17:59:09.000Z 2007-01-09T17:59:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2932-where_might_we Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

One question I'm asked is where we might get the energy, below are a few links to some of the significant technologies I see coming along. I plan on updating this post as technology develops.<br /> <br /> <h4>Overview</h4><br /> This <a href="http://www.ases.org/climatechange/">paper</a> from the Australian Solar Energy Society shows how a variety of renewables can meet the needs for a 60-80% reduction by 2050. The <a href="http://www.ases.org/climatechange/toc/exec-summary.pdf">executive summary</a> is a quick relevant read. In particular it points to over half the savings coming from Energy Efficiency.<br /> <br /> <h4>Solar</h4><br /> <br /> The big improvements in Solar come not from efficiency (watts per square meter) but from cost-efficiency, (watts per dollar). Typically this means low cost devices that take advantage of the large area available on homes. Interesting examples include. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1645237.htm">Roof tiles</a> combining solar hot water, with solar electricity to reduce overall costs - status: research project.<br /> <br /> <a href="/blog/archives/2006/07/nanosolar_gets.html">Nanosolar announceed</a> 100m funding and costs as low as 10% of current.<br /> <br /> <h4>Wind</h4><br /> <br /> For wind there are huge economies of scale in building large, high, windmills in ideal spots, and we are seeing a lot of this in the UK and the US. <br /> <br /> An interesting area is, as for Solar, domestic wind generators. The plus side is that the windmill is competing with the retail, rather than wholesale, cost of power. The minus side is that winds near houses are usually turbulent, and noise and vibration issues are significant. A number of companies have formed to address it. Some interesting ones include:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.skystreamenergy.com/skystream/">Skystream</a>: Tower mounted (35-110 feet), 3 blades with an unusual shape. (Jan 07) In production.<br /> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.aerotecture.com">Aerotecture</a>: This is a vertical or horizontally mounted turbine using a unique combination of rotor and aerofoil to allow starting at low speeds, and low noise/vibration. (Jan 07) Still in pre-production.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://mag-wind.com/">Mag Wind</a>: An interesting shaped windmill on magnetic bearings, though there are some <a href="http://blogs.onenw.org/jon/archives/2003/01/27/wind-power-for-urban-buildings/">questions</a> about their claims?<br />

One question I'm asked is where we might get the energy, below are a few links to some of the significant technologies I see coming along. I plan on updating this post as technology develops.<br /> <br /> <h4>Overview</h4><br /> This <a href="http://www.ases.org/climatechange/">paper</a> from the Australian Solar Energy Society shows how a variety of renewables can meet the needs for a 60-80% reduction by 2050. The <a href="http://www.ases.org/climatechange/toc/exec-summary.pdf">executive summary</a> is a quick relevant read. In particular it points to over half the savings coming from Energy Efficiency.<br /> <br /> <h4>Solar</h4><br /> <br /> The big improvements in Solar come not from efficiency (watts per square meter) but from cost-efficiency, (watts per dollar). Typically this means low cost devices that take advantage of the large area available on homes. Interesting examples include. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1645237.htm">Roof tiles</a> combining solar hot water, with solar electricity to reduce overall costs - status: research project.<br /> <br /> <a href="/blog/archives/2006/07/nanosolar_gets.html">Nanosolar announceed</a> 100m funding and costs as low as 10% of current.<br /> <br /> <h4>Wind</h4><br /> <br /> For wind there are huge economies of scale in building large, high, windmills in ideal spots, and we are seeing a lot of this in the UK and the US. <br /> <br /> An interesting area is, as for Solar, domestic wind generators. The plus side is that the windmill is competing with the retail, rather than wholesale, cost of power. The minus side is that winds near houses are usually turbulent, and noise and vibration issues are significant. A number of companies have formed to address it. Some interesting ones include:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.skystreamenergy.com/skystream/">Skystream</a>: Tower mounted (35-110 feet), 3 blades with an unusual shape. (Jan 07) In production.<br /> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.aerotecture.com">Aerotecture</a>: This is a vertical or horizontally mounted turbine using a unique combination of rotor and aerofoil to allow starting at low speeds, and low noise/vibration. (Jan 07) Still in pre-production.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://mag-wind.com/">Mag Wind</a>: An interesting shaped windmill on magnetic bearings, though there are some <a href="http://blogs.onenw.org/jon/archives/2003/01/27/wind-power-for-urban-buildings/">questions</a> about their claims?<br /> 2007-01-12T17:08:11.000Z 2007-01-12T17:08:11.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2933-la_times_invest Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/ethicalbusiness/story/0,,1988496,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12">Guardian</a> is reporting that Bill and Melinda Gates are reconsidering how their foundation invests its money after the LA times found that much of the income of the foundation comes from investments that cause some of the very problems the foundation is supposed to be fixing! <br /> <br /> Its about time this kind of scrutiny is applied, Any investor that is investing blindly of the ethics of their investments should be being held responsible for the crimes and misdemeanours of the companies they invest in. This in particular applies to the investments of foundations that are supposed to be doing good!<br /> <br /> Hopefully Bill and Melinda's prompt reconsideration of this will cause other foundations to review their own practices.<br /> <br /> Even better would be to remove the wall that is often erected between the investments of the endowment and the philanthropic side and start actively considering how their investments can be used to drive positive change, for example at this time investing a foundation's assets in renewable energy will drive the move towards climate neutrality far quicker than donating the typical 5% return (over inflation) that the investments generate.<br /> <br /> And ... as many studies have shown, ethical investments are consistently delivering as good returns as unethical or neutral investments, so there is no need for a sacrifice to be taken in the amount available for donations.<br /> <br /> - Mitra<br /> (Read on for the full story from the guardian)

The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/ethicalbusiness/story/0,,1988496,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12">Guardian</a> is reporting that Bill and Melinda Gates are reconsidering how their foundation invests its money after the LA times found that much of the income of the foundation comes from investments that cause some of the very problems the foundation is supposed to be fixing! <br /> <br /> Its about time this kind of scrutiny is applied, Any investor that is investing blindly of the ethics of their investments should be being held responsible for the crimes and misdemeanours of the companies they invest in. This in particular applies to the investments of foundations that are supposed to be doing good!<br /> <br /> Hopefully Bill and Melinda's prompt reconsideration of this will cause other foundations to review their own practices.<br /> <br /> Even better would be to remove the wall that is often erected between the investments of the endowment and the philanthropic side and start actively considering how their investments can be used to drive positive change, for example at this time investing a foundation's assets in renewable energy will drive the move towards climate neutrality far quicker than donating the typical 5% return (over inflation) that the investments generate.<br /> <br /> And ... as many studies have shown, ethical investments are consistently delivering as good returns as unethical or neutral investments, so there is no need for a sacrifice to be taken in the amount available for donations.<br /> <br /> - Mitra<br /> (Read on for the full story from the guardian) 2007-01-27T07:50:12.000Z 2007-01-27T07:50:12.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2935-half_of_energy Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/_42496907_global_elec_gen_416gr.gif" border="0" height="315" width="416" alt="_42496907_global_elec_gen_416gr.gif" align="right" />Greenpeace has a new report showing how we could get 50% of our energy from renewables by 2050, thus halving our emissions rather than the massive growth that would come from not making any changes.<br /> <br /> The BBC has a good <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6298467.stm">summary</a>, or you can get the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/25_01_07_energy_revolution_report.pdf">full report.</a>

<img src="/images/_42496907_global_elec_gen_416gr.gif" border="0" height="315" width="416" alt="_42496907_global_elec_gen_416gr.gif" align="right" />Greenpeace has a new report showing how we could get 50% of our energy from renewables by 2050, thus halving our emissions rather than the massive growth that would come from not making any changes.<br /> <br /> The BBC has a good <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6298467.stm">summary</a>, or you can get the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/25_01_07_energy_revolution_report.pdf">full report.</a> 2007-01-28T08:51:34.000Z 2007-01-28T08:51:34.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2936-naus_legally_en Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I'm interested in how businesses can be more responsible, and one of the challenges is the presumption that a corporation acts ONLY for the benefit of its shareholders. In many jurisdictions, directors can get sued if they look after the environment in a way that detracts from shareholders value. <br /> <br /> I found this interesting piece on <a href="http://nylawline.typepad.com/greencounsel/2007/01/nau_a_legally_e.html">Green Counsel</a>, about clothing company Nau.... <br /> <br /> Corporate attorney Robert Hinkley influenced Nau's founders. Hinkley incorporated the work of management expert W. Edwards Deming and systems theorist Peter Senge to develop new ideas pertaining to the notion of a corporation as citizen. Deming had written that "most of the time it's the system that causes the problem, not the people in the system." He combined this idea with the insight of Senge, who said that to change any system you should "look to make the smallest change possible that will generate the biggest effect." From these theories, Hinkley created a code for corporate citizenship. In only 28 words, it stated that henceforth the "duty of directors shall be to make money for shareholders but not at the expense of the environment, human rights, public health and safety, dignity of employees, and the welfare of the community in which a company operates." Nau chose to follow Hinkley's guidance and include similar language in its corporate bylaws.<br /> <br /> Get the full article from <a href="http://nylawline.typepad.com/greencounsel/2007/01/nau_a_legally_e.html">Green Counsel</a> or there is also material on <a href="http://www.grist.org/comments/interactivist/2007/01/22/brody/">Grist</a>.

I'm interested in how businesses can be more responsible, and one of the challenges is the presumption that a corporation acts ONLY for the benefit of its shareholders. In many jurisdictions, directors can get sued if they look after the environment in a way that detracts from shareholders value. <br /> <br /> I found this interesting piece on <a href="http://nylawline.typepad.com/greencounsel/2007/01/nau_a_legally_e.html">Green Counsel</a>, about clothing company Nau.... <br /> <br /> Corporate attorney Robert Hinkley influenced Nau's founders. Hinkley incorporated the work of management expert W. Edwards Deming and systems theorist Peter Senge to develop new ideas pertaining to the notion of a corporation as citizen. Deming had written that "most of the time it's the system that causes the problem, not the people in the system." He combined this idea with the insight of Senge, who said that to change any system you should "look to make the smallest change possible that will generate the biggest effect." From these theories, Hinkley created a code for corporate citizenship. In only 28 words, it stated that henceforth the "duty of directors shall be to make money for shareholders but not at the expense of the environment, human rights, public health and safety, dignity of employees, and the welfare of the community in which a company operates." Nau chose to follow Hinkley's guidance and include similar language in its corporate bylaws.<br /> <br /> Get the full article from <a href="http://nylawline.typepad.com/greencounsel/2007/01/nau_a_legally_e.html">Green Counsel</a> or there is also material on <a href="http://www.grist.org/comments/interactivist/2007/01/22/brody/">Grist</a>. 2007-02-01T13:21:34.000Z 2007-02-01T13:21:34.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2937-chernobyl_photo Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/chernobylmap.jpg" border="0" height="165" width="248" alt="chernobylmap.jpg" align="right" />If you ever doubted that nuclear power was a bad idea, take a look at this <a href="http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chernobyl-land-of-the-wolves/author.html">photo diary</a> of someone who claimed to bike through the area. (though a lot of <a href="http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/chernobyl_trip/">poetic licence</a> was clearly used, the pictures are still supposedly real), as presumably are a <a href="http://hem.bredband.net/b572399/Tjernobyl/inresatilltjernobyl.htm">swedish </a> account.<br /> <br /> When I was a kid, we had to clean up the mess from one game before being allowed to play another. <br /> <br /> Maybe the nuclear industry should be asked to clean up the area, and the tailings sites near many mines and then find safe storage for the existing nuclear waste, before we even consider their requests to build more of their dangerous toys.<br /> <br /> Come to think of it, we could do the same for the gold industry, and other industries where the participants create new companies for each venture, and avoid the responsibility for the mistakes repeatedly made in their industry.<br /> <br /> - Mitra<br />

<img src="/images/chernobylmap.jpg" border="0" height="165" width="248" alt="chernobylmap.jpg" align="right" />If you ever doubted that nuclear power was a bad idea, take a look at this <a href="http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chernobyl-land-of-the-wolves/author.html">photo diary</a> of someone who claimed to bike through the area. (though a lot of <a href="http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/chernobyl_trip/">poetic licence</a> was clearly used, the pictures are still supposedly real), as presumably are a <a href="http://hem.bredband.net/b572399/Tjernobyl/inresatilltjernobyl.htm">swedish </a> account.<br /> <br /> When I was a kid, we had to clean up the mess from one game before being allowed to play another. <br /> <br /> Maybe the nuclear industry should be asked to clean up the area, and the tailings sites near many mines and then find safe storage for the existing nuclear waste, before we even consider their requests to build more of their dangerous toys.<br /> <br /> Come to think of it, we could do the same for the gold industry, and other industries where the participants create new companies for each venture, and avoid the responsibility for the mistakes repeatedly made in their industry.<br /> <br /> - Mitra<br /> 2007-02-01T18:41:19.000Z 2007-02-01T18:41:19.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2938-byron_bay_meet_the_candidates Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

stephanie Long, climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth asked me to pass this on, I think this is an excellent opportunity to pressure the candidates on climate issues, and to discourage them from the non-answers like carbon sequestration and nuclear power.<br /> <br /> Invitation to a meet-the-candidates forum<br /> <br /> for the March State election<br /> <br /> *Date:* Saturday, March 10, 2007<br /> <br /> *Time: * Speakers to arrive at 1.30pm for light refreshments & to meet informally<br /> <br /> Public meeting, 2pm to 4pm<br /> <br /> *Venue:* Byron Bay High School auditorium<br /> <br /> *Donation:* We will ask everyone attending to make a donation to go to Byron Bay High School or to North Coast Climate Action Group (NCCAG)<br /> <br /> NCCAG believes that Global Warming and Climate Change are the most serious issues facing the entire population of our planet and threaten our very existence. We believe climate change policy and action should be beyond party politics and should head all political and public agendas. The purpose of the forum is for political candidates to outline how they will act to deal with Climate Change and for voters to put questions and discussion points to them. We anticipate the forum will proceed as follows.<br /> <br /> 1. Brief overview and introduction of speakers &#8211; Adrian Gattenhof<br /> <br /> 2. A ten minute review of the recent Kyoto negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya, and their relevance to Australia &#8211; Stephanie Long<br /> <br /> 3. A Byron Bay High student on local initiatives and innovations<br /> <br /> 4. Each candidate will be invited to speak for around 15 minutes on what they will do, if elected, to address the issue of Global Warming. Candidates will speak in alphabetical order; John Bailey &#8211; Greens, Melanie Doriean &#8211; ALP, Don Page, MP, National Party.<br /> <br /> 5. Panel discussion among the candidates and Stephanie Long with opportunity to question each other, together with questions and discussion points from audience.<br /> <br /> The candidates are welcome to distribute election material at the forum.<br />

stephanie Long, climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth asked me to pass this on, I think this is an excellent opportunity to pressure the candidates on climate issues, and to discourage them from the non-answers like carbon sequestration and nuclear power.<br /> <br /> Invitation to a meet-the-candidates forum<br /> <br /> for the March State election<br /> <br /> *Date:* Saturday, March 10, 2007<br /> <br /> *Time: * Speakers to arrive at 1.30pm for light refreshments & to meet informally<br /> <br /> Public meeting, 2pm to 4pm<br /> <br /> *Venue:* Byron Bay High School auditorium<br /> <br /> *Donation:* We will ask everyone attending to make a donation to go to Byron Bay High School or to North Coast Climate Action Group (NCCAG)<br /> <br /> NCCAG believes that Global Warming and Climate Change are the most serious issues facing the entire population of our planet and threaten our very existence. We believe climate change policy and action should be beyond party politics and should head all political and public agendas. The purpose of the forum is for political candidates to outline how they will act to deal with Climate Change and for voters to put questions and discussion points to them. We anticipate the forum will proceed as follows.<br /> <br /> 1. Brief overview and introduction of speakers &#8211; Adrian Gattenhof<br /> <br /> 2. A ten minute review of the recent Kyoto negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya, and their relevance to Australia &#8211; Stephanie Long<br /> <br /> 3. A Byron Bay High student on local initiatives and innovations<br /> <br /> 4. Each candidate will be invited to speak for around 15 minutes on what they will do, if elected, to address the issue of Global Warming. Candidates will speak in alphabetical order; John Bailey &#8211; Greens, Melanie Doriean &#8211; ALP, Don Page, MP, National Party.<br /> <br /> 5. Panel discussion among the candidates and Stephanie Long with opportunity to question each other, together with questions and discussion points from audience.<br /> <br /> The candidates are welcome to distribute election material at the forum.<br /> 2007-02-22T22:09:52.000Z 2007-02-22T22:09:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2939-a_sustainabilit Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/urgency-turns-into-emergency/2007/02/18/1171733612659.html">Melbourne Age</a> reported on the Victorian Convergence on the Global Sustainability Emergency which unfortunately I was unable to attend. I believe that the last few paragraphs on the implications for business of "wildcards" are particularly relevant.<br /> <br /> A state of emergency on global sustainability should be declared, writes Stephen McGrail.<br /> <br /> LAST week a group of sustainability advocates met to discuss the possibility of declaring a formal "state of emergency". {I was invited, but unable to attend} Now, you may dismiss these advocates as loonies, but the Victorian Convergence on the Global Sustainability Emergency provides insight into what the future might hold &#732; to those willing to pay close attention.<br /> <br /> The group reviewed the many inconvenient and interconnected truths &#732; such as climate change, the water crisis, threats to biodiversity, pressures on biological systems, peaking of conventional oil supplies and increasing socio-economic inequality &#732; and concluded that they add up to a sustainability emergency. On its own, this provides useful insight into the consensus-view of activists. But this should be taken one giant step further.<br /> <br /> Suppose for a moment that these activists, thinkers and scientists were successful. Suppose they managed to get our political leaders to declare a formal "state of emergency". What then? Hold this moment in your mind. What changes can you imagine flowing on and what would be their impact?<br /> <br /> ...<br />

The <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/urgency-turns-into-emergency/2007/02/18/1171733612659.html">Melbourne Age</a> reported on the Victorian Convergence on the Global Sustainability Emergency which unfortunately I was unable to attend. I believe that the last few paragraphs on the implications for business of "wildcards" are particularly relevant.<br /> <br /> A state of emergency on global sustainability should be declared, writes Stephen McGrail.<br /> <br /> LAST week a group of sustainability advocates met to discuss the possibility of declaring a formal "state of emergency". {I was invited, but unable to attend} Now, you may dismiss these advocates as loonies, but the Victorian Convergence on the Global Sustainability Emergency provides insight into what the future might hold &#732; to those willing to pay close attention.<br /> <br /> The group reviewed the many inconvenient and interconnected truths &#732; such as climate change, the water crisis, threats to biodiversity, pressures on biological systems, peaking of conventional oil supplies and increasing socio-economic inequality &#732; and concluded that they add up to a sustainability emergency. On its own, this provides useful insight into the consensus-view of activists. But this should be taken one giant step further.<br /> <br /> Suppose for a moment that these activists, thinkers and scientists were successful. Suppose they managed to get our political leaders to declare a formal "state of emergency". What then? Hold this moment in your mind. What changes can you imagine flowing on and what would be their impact?<br /> <br /> ...<br /> 2007-02-25T08:41:03.000Z 2010-11-07T12:41:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2940-the-best-solar-power-ad-video Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><br /> <content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lFJc4xuFPcc?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB"></content-video><br /> </p><p>(via <a href="http://www.treehugger.com">Treehugger</a>)</p>

<p><br /> <content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lFJc4xuFPcc?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB"></content-video><br /> </p><p>(via <a href="http://www.treehugger.com">Treehugger</a>)</p> 2007-03-01T19:53:44.000Z 2007-03-01T19:53:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2941-jim_hansen_pres Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Jim Hansen is head of the US NASA Goddard Institute's climate research. Of course, given the efforts of the Bush administration to silence him, I presume in this article that he is speaking as a private citizen, its a good (and reasonably brief) summary of current thinking.<br /> <br /> (via <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greenleap">Greenleap</a>)<br /> <br />

Jim Hansen is head of the US NASA Goddard Institute's climate research. Of course, given the efforts of the Bush administration to silence him, I presume in this article that he is speaking as a private citizen, its a good (and reasonably brief) summary of current thinking.<br /> <br /> (via <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greenleap">Greenleap</a>)<br /> <br /> 2007-03-05T19:30:09.000Z 2007-03-05T19:30:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2942-new_zealand_to Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This press release came from <a href="http://www.beyondzeroemissions.org">Beyond Zero Emissions</a>,<br /> <br /> Prime Minister Helen Clarke is setting the direction for a realigning of<br /> the NZ economy to Carbon Neutrality. New Zealand is taking the lead to<br /> be the first country to be net zero emissions across all sectors..<br /> <br /> The New Zealand Government is in the process of developing a <a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0703/S00037.htm">series of<br /> targets</a>, the first of which is that 6 of it's 34 own agencies will be<br /> Carbon neutral by 2012.<br /> <br /> "New Zealand is targeting all key sectors of their economy and are going<br /> to reduce their emissions to near zero emissions and then offset the<br /> rest, at the same time the Australian government, representing some of<br /> the biggest polluting industries in the world such as BHP and Rio Tinto,<br /> can't even agree to the 108% increase on 1990 levels. that we would be<br /> bound to under the Kyoto agreement, which is the biggest concession<br /> given to any industrialised country." said Matthew Wright Beyond Zero<br /> Emissions Campaigner.<br /> <br /> (Read on, and check the references at the end).<br />

This press release came from <a href="http://www.beyondzeroemissions.org">Beyond Zero Emissions</a>,<br /> <br /> Prime Minister Helen Clarke is setting the direction for a realigning of<br /> the NZ economy to Carbon Neutrality. New Zealand is taking the lead to<br /> be the first country to be net zero emissions across all sectors..<br /> <br /> The New Zealand Government is in the process of developing a <a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0703/S00037.htm">series of<br /> targets</a>, the first of which is that 6 of it's 34 own agencies will be<br /> Carbon neutral by 2012.<br /> <br /> "New Zealand is targeting all key sectors of their economy and are going<br /> to reduce their emissions to near zero emissions and then offset the<br /> rest, at the same time the Australian government, representing some of<br /> the biggest polluting industries in the world such as BHP and Rio Tinto,<br /> can't even agree to the 108% increase on 1990 levels. that we would be<br /> bound to under the Kyoto agreement, which is the biggest concession<br /> given to any industrialised country." said Matthew Wright Beyond Zero<br /> Emissions Campaigner.<br /> <br /> (Read on, and check the references at the end).<br /> 2007-03-15T14:27:50.000Z 2007-03-15T14:27:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2943-comparing_nsw_p Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<a href="http://voteclimate.org.au/?q=NSW07-Policy-At-A-Glance-Online"><img src="/images/VCPAAGsml.jpg" border="0" height="115" width="175" alt="VCPAAGsml.jpg" align="right" /></a>Vote Climate has done a side-by-side comparison of the platforms of the various parties vying for power in the NSW election.<br /> <br /> It does a pretty good job, though could be improved (see below).<br /> <br /> Its noticeable how similar, and how poor both Liberals and Labors policies are. This was born out at the recent candidates meeting, where local candidates Don Page (Nationals, sitting); Melanie Dorien (Labor) and John Bailey (Greens) told us their policies. John was excellent as should be expected from the Greens, Don clearly knows a fair bit about the issue, but of course it should be pointed out that the National Party doesn't share his understanding, nor is it likely to come out with what Don is advocating, and Don votes with the party. Don also refused to be drawn on actual targets prior to their (late) announcement by the shadow environment minister. Labor's policies were similar, which is really poor since you would - if you hadn't experienced many years of their government - expect them to be siding with people rather than profits. I was particularly disappointed in Labors dismal targets and Melanie's lack of understanding of the need for targets that drive policy.<br /> <br /> I addressed the meeting on both the need for strong targets that will solve the problem (20% by 2020 is basically heading us for runaway climate change), and for a stable playing field that ensures businesses can invest in energy & carbon-saving measures on the expectation of decent Minimum Renewable Energy Targets (MRETs) and even better a carbon tax. <br /> <br /> There were three ways I think this comparison could be extended ...<br /> <ol><br /> <li>Add the Nationals as distinct from Liberals, though they vote as a team in parliament.</li><li>Uranium as far as I know only has two significant uses - nuclear power, and nuclear bombs. Since labor supports expanded mining, but opposes nuclear power one is left wondering whether they would like to see the uranium used in bombs?</li><li>It needs the specific numbers on targets, and also shorter (end of the parliamentary term) and longer term (2050) targets both for emission reductions and MRETs.</li><li>It needs to draw attention that both Coalition and Labor support privatisation of the electricity industry, a disastrous move as it removes many of the opportunities to push non-financial outcomes. Selling off a massive publicly owned infrastructure is certainly something that should be a question for voters, not the subject of backroom deals.</li></ol><br /> <br /> See the full table at <a href="http://voteclimate.org.au/?q=NSW07-Policy-At-A-Glance-Online">voteclimate.org.au/?q=NSW07-Policy-At-A-Glance-Online</a>.<br />

<a href="http://voteclimate.org.au/?q=NSW07-Policy-At-A-Glance-Online"><img src="/images/VCPAAGsml.jpg" border="0" height="115" width="175" alt="VCPAAGsml.jpg" align="right" /></a>Vote Climate has done a side-by-side comparison of the platforms of the various parties vying for power in the NSW election.<br /> <br /> It does a pretty good job, though could be improved (see below).<br /> <br /> Its noticeable how similar, and how poor both Liberals and Labors policies are. This was born out at the recent candidates meeting, where local candidates Don Page (Nationals, sitting); Melanie Dorien (Labor) and John Bailey (Greens) told us their policies. John was excellent as should be expected from the Greens, Don clearly knows a fair bit about the issue, but of course it should be pointed out that the National Party doesn't share his understanding, nor is it likely to come out with what Don is advocating, and Don votes with the party. Don also refused to be drawn on actual targets prior to their (late) announcement by the shadow environment minister. Labor's policies were similar, which is really poor since you would - if you hadn't experienced many years of their government - expect them to be siding with people rather than profits. I was particularly disappointed in Labors dismal targets and Melanie's lack of understanding of the need for targets that drive policy.<br /> <br /> I addressed the meeting on both the need for strong targets that will solve the problem (20% by 2020 is basically heading us for runaway climate change), and for a stable playing field that ensures businesses can invest in energy & carbon-saving measures on the expectation of decent Minimum Renewable Energy Targets (MRETs) and even better a carbon tax. <br /> <br /> There were three ways I think this comparison could be extended ...<br /> <ol><br /> <li>Add the Nationals as distinct from Liberals, though they vote as a team in parliament.</li><li>Uranium as far as I know only has two significant uses - nuclear power, and nuclear bombs. Since labor supports expanded mining, but opposes nuclear power one is left wondering whether they would like to see the uranium used in bombs?</li><li>It needs the specific numbers on targets, and also shorter (end of the parliamentary term) and longer term (2050) targets both for emission reductions and MRETs.</li><li>It needs to draw attention that both Coalition and Labor support privatisation of the electricity industry, a disastrous move as it removes many of the opportunities to push non-financial outcomes. Selling off a massive publicly owned infrastructure is certainly something that should be a question for voters, not the subject of backroom deals.</li></ol><br /> <br /> See the full table at <a href="http://voteclimate.org.au/?q=NSW07-Policy-At-A-Glance-Online">voteclimate.org.au/?q=NSW07-Policy-At-A-Glance-Online</a>.<br /> 2007-03-25T15:00:25.000Z 2007-03-25T15:00:25.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2944-gores_recommend Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Gore recently testified to the US house and senate, and made some serious recommendations .</p>

<p>There is an article about them on <a href="http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2007/03/22/gore/index.html?source=muck">Grist</a>.</p><p>They are serious recommendations getting to 90% reduction by 2050 (the sort of numbers the labor party should be talking about if they want to be a serious OPPOSITION). A summary of the recommendations are below, and there is an archived <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150424032223/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo7rmajxxnc">video</a> of his opening statement. <!--</p><content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo7rmajxxnc"></content-video>--> <ul><li>An immediate "carbon freeze" that would cap U.S. CO2 emissions at current levels, followed by a program to generate 90% reductions by 2050.</li><li>Start a long-term tax shift to reduce payroll taxes and increase taxes on CO2 emissions.</li><li>Put aside a portion of carbon tax revenues to help low-income people make the transition.</li><li>Create a strong international treaty by working toward "de facto compliance with Kyoto" and moving up the start date for Kyoto's successor from 2012 to 2010.</li><li>Implement a moratorium on construction of new coal-fired power plants that are not compatible with carbon capture and sequestration.</li><li>Create an "ELECTRANET" -- a smart electricity grid that allows individuals and businesses to feed power back in at prevailing market rates.</li><li>Raise CAFE standards.</li><li>Set a date for a ban on incandescent light bulbs.</li><li>Create "Connie Mae," a carbon-neutral mortgage association, to help defray the upfront costs of energy-efficient building.</li><li>Have the SEC (US equivalent of ASIC) require disclosure of carbon emissions in corporate reporting, as a relevant "material risk."</li></ul> 2007-04-03T19:40:24.000Z 2007-04-03T19:40:24.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2945-brisbanes_clima Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCCWR/plans_and_strategies/documents/CLIMATE_CHANGE_ENERGY_TASKFORCE_REPORT.PDF?xml=/BCC:PDFHITXML:1275869355:svDocNum=2" title="Taskforce report"></pdf-link><p>I've just finished reading the excellent Final Report of Brisbane council's Climate and Energy Taskforce.</p><p>There is a longer summary on <a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/27506.html">Energy Bulletin</a> or you can get the 70-ish page <a href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCCWR/plans_and_strategies/documents/CLIMATE_CHANGE_ENERGY_TASKFORCE_REPORT.PDF?xml=/BCC:PDFHITXML:1275869355:svDocNum=2">report</a>.<br /> <br /> The report does a pretty good job of showing the wide range of impacts and a comprehensive set of recommendations. My only (minor) criticism is that it doesn't do a great job of dealing with the challenge of planning in an unknown environment. Governments typically like to study something rather than take action, and no amount of studying will reduce the uncertainty that rely on other people's actions.<br />

<pdf-link href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCCWR/plans_and_strategies/documents/CLIMATE_CHANGE_ENERGY_TASKFORCE_REPORT.PDF?xml=/BCC:PDFHITXML:1275869355:svDocNum=2" title="Taskforce report"></pdf-link><p>I've just finished reading the excellent Final Report of Brisbane council's Climate and Energy Taskforce.</p><p>There is a longer summary on <a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/27506.html">Energy Bulletin</a> or you can get the 70-ish page <a href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCCWR/plans_and_strategies/documents/CLIMATE_CHANGE_ENERGY_TASKFORCE_REPORT.PDF?xml=/BCC:PDFHITXML:1275869355:svDocNum=2">report</a>.<br /> <br /> The report does a pretty good job of showing the wide range of impacts and a comprehensive set of recommendations. My only (minor) criticism is that it doesn't do a great job of dealing with the challenge of planning in an unknown environment. Governments typically like to study something rather than take action, and no amount of studying will reduce the uncertainty that rely on other people's actions.<br /> 2007-04-03T19:43:41.000Z 2007-04-03T19:43:41.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2946-correspondance Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I recently corresponded with the staff of our local federal Labor MP about Labor's lack of a climate change policy, and my decision as a result of it to neither preference Labor nor Liberals at the recent state election. <br /> <br /> I've attached the correspondance ...

I recently corresponded with the staff of our local federal Labor MP about Labor's lack of a climate change policy, and my decision as a result of it to neither preference Labor nor Liberals at the recent state election. <br /> <br /> I've attached the correspondance ... 2007-04-13T08:30:32.000Z 2007-04-13T08:30:32.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2947-ipcc_report_wat Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Some of the biggest polluters - the US, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia (and presumably Australia) flexed a lot of muscle to water down the recent IPCC report. In particular to the crucial "summary for policy makers" which is all that most non-climate scientists are likely to read.</p><p>Kevin Grandia has done an excellent job of comparing a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070831185125/http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/index.php/csw/details/ipcc_wg2_spm_scientists_draft/">leaked version</a>, with the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070407233135/http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM6avr07.pdf">officially released version</a> to show just what key statements were taken out.</p><p>His story is on <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/ipcc-summary-report-culled-and-its-the-deniers-who-claim-censorship">Desmogblog</a>, it contains significant differences such as ... </p><p>BEFORE: Ongoing water security problems are very likely to increase in southern and eastern Australia, and parts of eastern New Zealand.</p><p>FTER: Freshwater availability in Central, South, East and Southeast Asia particularly in large river basins is projected to decrease due to climate change which, along with population growth and increasing demand arising from higher standards of living, could adversely affect more than a billion people by the 2050s.</p><p>Now ... I wonder who would gain from the report no longer saying that water problems are going to increase here in Australia?</p><p>Lisa Stiffler at Seattle Post Intelligencer also did a more detailed <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/environment/archives/113754.asp">comparison</a> of the implications for North America (but no longer online or in Wayback).</p>

<p>Some of the biggest polluters - the US, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia (and presumably Australia) flexed a lot of muscle to water down the recent IPCC report. In particular to the crucial "summary for policy makers" which is all that most non-climate scientists are likely to read.</p><p>Kevin Grandia has done an excellent job of comparing a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070831185125/http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/index.php/csw/details/ipcc_wg2_spm_scientists_draft/">leaked version</a>, with the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070407233135/http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM6avr07.pdf">officially released version</a> to show just what key statements were taken out.</p><p>His story is on <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/ipcc-summary-report-culled-and-its-the-deniers-who-claim-censorship">Desmogblog</a>, it contains significant differences such as ... </p><p>BEFORE: Ongoing water security problems are very likely to increase in southern and eastern Australia, and parts of eastern New Zealand.</p><p>FTER: Freshwater availability in Central, South, East and Southeast Asia particularly in large river basins is projected to decrease due to climate change which, along with population growth and increasing demand arising from higher standards of living, could adversely affect more than a billion people by the 2050s.</p><p>Now ... I wonder who would gain from the report no longer saying that water problems are going to increase here in Australia?</p><p>Lisa Stiffler at Seattle Post Intelligencer also did a more detailed <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/environment/archives/113754.asp">comparison</a> of the implications for North America (but no longer online or in Wayback).</p> 2007-04-25T09:24:14.000Z 2007-04-25T09:24:14.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2948-running_a_car_o Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I posted this in response in a Care2 forum to the common question from the non-scientist as to whether you can really run a car on water. Since I've been asked this question I thought I'd post it here as well.<br /> <br /> Can a car run on water? <br /> <br /> Its a good question, and it isn't surprising that non-scientists find it confusing.<br /> <br /> Using cheap electricity to turn water into hydrogen and oxygen and recombining them into electricity at the place you want it (e.g. in a running car) is the basis of the so-called 'Hydrogen Economy'.<br /> <br /> But .... its also the basis of a lot of scams by people either deluding you, or deluding themselves. Most (though not all) of the "run your car on water" projects are essentially variations of this.<br /> <br />

I posted this in response in a Care2 forum to the common question from the non-scientist as to whether you can really run a car on water. Since I've been asked this question I thought I'd post it here as well.<br /> <br /> Can a car run on water? <br /> <br /> Its a good question, and it isn't surprising that non-scientists find it confusing.<br /> <br /> Using cheap electricity to turn water into hydrogen and oxygen and recombining them into electricity at the place you want it (e.g. in a running car) is the basis of the so-called 'Hydrogen Economy'.<br /> <br /> But .... its also the basis of a lot of scams by people either deluding you, or deluding themselves. Most (though not all) of the "run your car on water" projects are essentially variations of this.<br /> <br /> 2007-04-29T13:18:04.000Z 2007-04-29T13:18:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2949-alp_goes_dirty Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Kevin Rudd has just done what what John Howard has failed to do for years - convince many environmentalists not to support Labor at the coming federal election. <br /> <br /> By ending Labor's "No New Uranium Mines" policy he has opened up Australia to the toxic waste that mining causes and to being responsible for the un-handlable radioactive waste that will be the end product of the mines. Not forgetting of course that portion that makes its way into the hands of terrorists (inside or outside governments).<br /> <br /> I sent the following letter to key decision makers earlier this month after seeing David Bradbury's hard fitting documentary "Hard Rain". I encourage everyone to take a look at this movie when they get a chance. <br />

Kevin Rudd has just done what what John Howard has failed to do for years - convince many environmentalists not to support Labor at the coming federal election. <br /> <br /> By ending Labor's "No New Uranium Mines" policy he has opened up Australia to the toxic waste that mining causes and to being responsible for the un-handlable radioactive waste that will be the end product of the mines. Not forgetting of course that portion that makes its way into the hands of terrorists (inside or outside governments).<br /> <br /> I sent the following letter to key decision makers earlier this month after seeing David Bradbury's hard fitting documentary "Hard Rain". I encourage everyone to take a look at this movie when they get a chance. <br /> 2007-05-21T13:08:46.000Z 2007-05-21T13:08:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2950-green_business Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Joel Makower has a good article on his blog about the Green Business bubble, and draws the conclusion that its real, not just another quick hype that will be deflated as quick as it went. <br /> <br /> Read more on Joel's <a href="http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2007/05/is_there_a_gree.html">blog</a>. <br /> <br />

Joel Makower has a good article on his blog about the Green Business bubble, and draws the conclusion that its real, not just another quick hype that will be deflated as quick as it went. <br /> <br /> Read more on Joel's <a href="http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2007/05/is_there_a_gree.html">blog</a>. <br /> <br /> 2007-05-23T11:56:43.000Z 2007-05-23T11:56:43.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2951-zelfo_on_prime Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Zelfo - (which I'm a director of) had some recent publicity on TV news, when they presented a bowl made out of council's waste paper to the mayor. <br /> <br /> Nice publicity (though don't rely on the facts in the dialogue, after all its TV!)<br /> <br /> <content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/enb2Tc9zfHw"></content-video>

Zelfo - (which I'm a director of) had some recent publicity on TV news, when they presented a bowl made out of council's waste paper to the mayor. <br /> <br /> Nice publicity (though don't rely on the facts in the dialogue, after all its TV!)<br /> <br /> <content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/enb2Tc9zfHw"></content-video> 2007-05-25T18:52:28.000Z 2007-05-25T18:52:28.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2952-a_carbon_neutra Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

From: <a href="http://www.dea.org.au/node/161">Doctors for the Environment Australia</a> via GreenLeap<br /> <br /> By Professor Peter Newman, Murdoch University<br /> 1 May 2007<br /> <br /> Carbon neutral is becoming the policy for innovative companies, individuals and even football teams. Can it be applied to a country? What would it mean for Australia?<br /> <br /> I have recently returned from a 6 month study trip which coincided with the remarkable increase in global awareness on climate change due largely to Al Gore and the Stern Report. Of course there was considerable work over 20-30 years by NGO&rsquo;s, scientists and European politicians that laid the foundation for this awareness. Nevertheless the world tipped into carbon politics over the past 6 months.<br /> <br /> <h4>The changed world.</h4><br /> <br /> The political climate has not only made greenhouse central to elections it has led to a bidding war between cities and states as to who can promise the most reductions and mandate the most renewables. In the US the biggest state, California, and the biggest city, New York, are both promising the most: California will reduce greenhouse gas by 25% by 2020 and New York 30% by 2030. Both were very popular politically and both have come from Republicans. The Democrat Congress have a series of Bills that are poised to restore global leadership for the US on climate change.<br /> <br /> However there is little doubt that Europe has gone beyond the US and actually has begun the global greenhouse transition. The UK Climate Change Bill now presents what seems to me the next big agenda: Carbon Neutral.

From: <a href="http://www.dea.org.au/node/161">Doctors for the Environment Australia</a> via GreenLeap<br /> <br /> By Professor Peter Newman, Murdoch University<br /> 1 May 2007<br /> <br /> Carbon neutral is becoming the policy for innovative companies, individuals and even football teams. Can it be applied to a country? What would it mean for Australia?<br /> <br /> I have recently returned from a 6 month study trip which coincided with the remarkable increase in global awareness on climate change due largely to Al Gore and the Stern Report. Of course there was considerable work over 20-30 years by NGO&rsquo;s, scientists and European politicians that laid the foundation for this awareness. Nevertheless the world tipped into carbon politics over the past 6 months.<br /> <br /> <h4>The changed world.</h4><br /> <br /> The political climate has not only made greenhouse central to elections it has led to a bidding war between cities and states as to who can promise the most reductions and mandate the most renewables. In the US the biggest state, California, and the biggest city, New York, are both promising the most: California will reduce greenhouse gas by 25% by 2020 and New York 30% by 2030. Both were very popular politically and both have come from Republicans. The Democrat Congress have a series of Bills that are poised to restore global leadership for the US on climate change.<br /> <br /> However there is little doubt that Europe has gone beyond the US and actually has begun the global greenhouse transition. The UK Climate Change Bill now presents what seems to me the next big agenda: Carbon Neutral. 2007-05-25T19:00:47.000Z 2007-05-25T19:00:47.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2953-solar_power_set Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This report by Worldwatch, and the Travis Bradford of the Prometheus Institute has an interesting look at the growth in supply, and reduction in cost, of Solar Photovoltaic.<br /> <br /> (via greenleap)<br /> <br /> The solar industry is poised for a rapid decline in costs that will make it a mainstream power option in the next few years, according to a new assessment by the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Prometheus Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<br /> <br /> Global production of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, has risen sixfold since 2000 and grew 41 percent in 2006 alone. Although grid-connected solar capacity still provides less than 1 percent of the world's electricity, it increased nearly 50 percent in 2006, to 5,000 megawatts, propelled by booming markets in Germany and Japan. Spain is likely to join the big leagues in 2007, and the United States soon thereafter.<br />

This report by Worldwatch, and the Travis Bradford of the Prometheus Institute has an interesting look at the growth in supply, and reduction in cost, of Solar Photovoltaic.<br /> <br /> (via greenleap)<br /> <br /> The solar industry is poised for a rapid decline in costs that will make it a mainstream power option in the next few years, according to a new assessment by the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Prometheus Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<br /> <br /> Global production of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, has risen sixfold since 2000 and grew 41 percent in 2006 alone. Although grid-connected solar capacity still provides less than 1 percent of the world's electricity, it increased nearly 50 percent in 2006, to 5,000 megawatts, propelled by booming markets in Germany and Japan. Spain is likely to join the big leagues in 2007, and the United States soon thereafter.<br /> 2007-06-01T09:16:28.000Z 2007-06-01T09:16:28.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2954-prime_ministers Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The Prime Ministers Climate Change Task force reported yesterday.<br /> <br /> Essentially it reported what everyone expected, i.e. it admits that we can't deny that climate change exists, and is important but it tells Howard, "don't do too much, and not without more study, and don't set any targets, and don't do it until several years from now. <br /> <br /> With a task force stacked with hand-picked bureaucrats, and mining, energy people the only thing surprising is that Howard will take a few days to respond officially! <br /> <br /> Given that taking action later is going to mean a much more drastic cut, this response is very very dangerous. <br /> <br /> Even more dangerous is that the most serious money being spent on this issue is going to be a massive advertising campaign - which Howard denied existed in parliament a few days ago - to convince us that his government is doing something on the issue, and that turning the lights off is going to make a huge difference.<br /> <br /> Peter Hartcher in the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2007/05/31/1180205424567.html">SMH</a> put it well...<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> Unfortunately, the report seems designed to help Howard not in dealing with the environmental threat to civilisation but in beating back the political threat to the Government.<br /> <br /> The report gives the Government licence to procrastinate for another few years. While it does propose the essential policy tools for dealing with global warming - an emissions trading system and targets for cutting emissions - it suggests that Australia take four years in getting around to it.<br /> <br /> This is all designed to allow Howard to commit in principle to fixing the problem, but without committing to any specifics before the federal election. Why? To give him licence to portray Kevin Rudd, with his target of cutting emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, as an environmental fundamentalist who will wreak economic devastation.<br /> <br /> And the report endorses a general posture of cautious followership. Rather than leading the world in the design of good policy, it will allow Australia to continue to function at the level of the world's lowest common denominator.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <br />

The Prime Ministers Climate Change Task force reported yesterday.<br /> <br /> Essentially it reported what everyone expected, i.e. it admits that we can't deny that climate change exists, and is important but it tells Howard, "don't do too much, and not without more study, and don't set any targets, and don't do it until several years from now. <br /> <br /> With a task force stacked with hand-picked bureaucrats, and mining, energy people the only thing surprising is that Howard will take a few days to respond officially! <br /> <br /> Given that taking action later is going to mean a much more drastic cut, this response is very very dangerous. <br /> <br /> Even more dangerous is that the most serious money being spent on this issue is going to be a massive advertising campaign - which Howard denied existed in parliament a few days ago - to convince us that his government is doing something on the issue, and that turning the lights off is going to make a huge difference.<br /> <br /> Peter Hartcher in the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2007/05/31/1180205424567.html">SMH</a> put it well...<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> Unfortunately, the report seems designed to help Howard not in dealing with the environmental threat to civilisation but in beating back the political threat to the Government.<br /> <br /> The report gives the Government licence to procrastinate for another few years. While it does propose the essential policy tools for dealing with global warming - an emissions trading system and targets for cutting emissions - it suggests that Australia take four years in getting around to it.<br /> <br /> This is all designed to allow Howard to commit in principle to fixing the problem, but without committing to any specifics before the federal election. Why? To give him licence to portray Kevin Rudd, with his target of cutting emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, as an environmental fundamentalist who will wreak economic devastation.<br /> <br /> And the report endorses a general posture of cautious followership. Rather than leading the world in the design of good policy, it will allow Australia to continue to function at the level of the world's lowest common denominator.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <br /> 2007-06-06T14:20:55.000Z 2007-06-06T14:20:55.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2955-comparison_of_s Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>There is a good summary of the PM's task force's recommendations, and a comparison of these with the state schemes on the site of <a href="http://www.bdw.com/frameit.asp?page=/publications/publications-alert.asp?id=72">Blake Dawson Waldron lawyers</a>.</p><p>In key aspects the proposals from the States are better for the environment, and I believe better for business as they provide more certainty than the vagueness in the PM's proposal.</p><p>A quick summary (with my comments in brackets) is:</p><table><br /> <tr><th>Item</th><th>PM's (Federal)</th><th>State</th><th>My comments</th></tr><tr><td>Targets</td><td>Aspirational</td><td>60% by 2050</td><td>Aspirational targets essentially mean no-targets, and minimal movement if past history is to be repeated. 60% by 2050 is inadequate to prevent dangerous levels of warming, but better than nothing).</td></tr><tr><td>Timeline</td><td>2012</td><td>2010</td><td>The scheme needs to start, as early as possible, as it will cost less and is more predictable to businesses who are currently planning based on extreme uncertainty. 2012 puts it outside the term of the NEXT government, so is essentially a meaningless promise.</td></tr><tr><td>Inclusions</td><td>Broad: all energy, industrial and fugitive emissions from the beginning (except those from agriculture and land use).</td><td>Narrow: stationary energy sources and fugitive emissions from gas pipelines.</td><td>The one area the PM's report is better, i.e. it covers mobile sources, both exclude agriculture which means no impact on the major emitters - bovine posteriors</td></tr></table><br /> <p>Otherwise they are broadly equivalent.</p>

<p>There is a good summary of the PM's task force's recommendations, and a comparison of these with the state schemes on the site of <a href="http://www.bdw.com/frameit.asp?page=/publications/publications-alert.asp?id=72">Blake Dawson Waldron lawyers</a>.</p><p>In key aspects the proposals from the States are better for the environment, and I believe better for business as they provide more certainty than the vagueness in the PM's proposal.</p><p>A quick summary (with my comments in brackets) is:</p><table><br /> <tr><th>Item</th><th>PM's (Federal)</th><th>State</th><th>My comments</th></tr><tr><td>Targets</td><td>Aspirational</td><td>60% by 2050</td><td>Aspirational targets essentially mean no-targets, and minimal movement if past history is to be repeated. 60% by 2050 is inadequate to prevent dangerous levels of warming, but better than nothing).</td></tr><tr><td>Timeline</td><td>2012</td><td>2010</td><td>The scheme needs to start, as early as possible, as it will cost less and is more predictable to businesses who are currently planning based on extreme uncertainty. 2012 puts it outside the term of the NEXT government, so is essentially a meaningless promise.</td></tr><tr><td>Inclusions</td><td>Broad: all energy, industrial and fugitive emissions from the beginning (except those from agriculture and land use).</td><td>Narrow: stationary energy sources and fugitive emissions from gas pipelines.</td><td>The one area the PM's report is better, i.e. it covers mobile sources, both exclude agriculture which means no impact on the major emitters - bovine posteriors</td></tr></table><br /> <p>Otherwise they are broadly equivalent.</p> 2007-06-26T00:00:00.000Z 2007-06-26T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2956-cleantech-gets-its-place-under-the-sun Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The article I wrote below. after attending the Cleantech conference, appeared in the May 2007 issue of Ethical Investor.

</p><p> But after attending the 3rd Cleantech shindig. Mitra Ardron thinks the best deals are getting away. </p><p> Most pitch-fest presentations were strong and interesting; particularly MicroFlow, Anzode’s Zinc and Biopower. </p><p> Last month’s 3rd AustralAsian Cleantech Forum brought about 230 fund managers, investors and investees, regulators and consultants together in Melbourne to review the sector, its growth and prospects. But did they get what they were looking for? </p><p> The opening session set a theme for the conference as a whole. Gerry Morvell from the Australian Greenhouse Office attempted to convince the audience of the Federal Government’s commitment to the issue, and of the relevance of its Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. But as other speakers showed, drastic emission reductions are not only possible, but profitable. </p><p> Theo Theophaneous, the Victorian minister for Industry, was better received based on recent Victorian proposals for clear, if inadequate, targets of 60% cuts in emissions, by 2050. Theophaneous also made the important statement that environmental challenges bring both costs and opportunities, which the Victorian government is keen to take advantage of. Of course, politics is politics. Theophaneous concluded that renewables could not meet all of Australia’s needs, and that so-called “Clean Coal” (in particular gasification of brown coal) will need to pick up the difference, and save at least 30% of the emissions. </p><p> This point was challenged by Terry Tamminen – advisor to California’s Governor Schwarzenegger, who questioned what would happen to the 70% remaining emissions. Tamminen as the architect of the Governator’s environment policy was clearly keen that California would take advantage of the mobility of industries seeking a regional Government that is more favourable to renewables. </p><p> Then Clint Wilder from Clean Edge, pointed out that 10% of US venture capital investment now goes to cleantech (up from 1% in 1997) and that in 2004 the US had 115,000 jobs in clean energy compared with 80,000 in coal. And he hypothesised that with the automation of most mines combined with even a modest move to renewables, a similar change in the green vs brown jobs balance would emerge in Australia. </p><p> To read on get the full article. <pdf-link href="/press/200705_ethicalinvestor.pdf"></pdf-link> </p> 2007-06-28T18:18:04.000Z 2007-06-28T18:18:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2957-origin_energy_c Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<br /> I just received an interesting call from Origin Energy<br /> <br /> I had filled in the form on Origin Energy's website about switching to their green power, basically based on their <a href="http://www.origin.com.au/home/template.php?pageid=1544&amp;os=true">100% claim on the website</a>, and that I had heard their products were the "best" green power on the market. <br /> <br /> The sales person who called offered me a special offer of $1/week, but the only choice - since i was in NSW - was 10% wind and 90% EXISTING hydro, i.e. not something which adds to our renewable energy supplies at all, i.e. my subscribing to Green Power would make almost no difference at all. This is despite the salesperson claiming it was 100% greenpower (which doesn't match the website which says that product is 10% greenpower, and also offers the 100% products in NSW.<br /> <br /> When I challenged the salesperson they suddenly found it very hard to hear me on my mobile, despite the line sounding fine to me, wonder if they were on commission?<br /> <br /> I have sent a copy of this to Origin and will add their explanation here if I get a response.

<br /> I just received an interesting call from Origin Energy<br /> <br /> I had filled in the form on Origin Energy's website about switching to their green power, basically based on their <a href="http://www.origin.com.au/home/template.php?pageid=1544&amp;os=true">100% claim on the website</a>, and that I had heard their products were the "best" green power on the market. <br /> <br /> The sales person who called offered me a special offer of $1/week, but the only choice - since i was in NSW - was 10% wind and 90% EXISTING hydro, i.e. not something which adds to our renewable energy supplies at all, i.e. my subscribing to Green Power would make almost no difference at all. This is despite the salesperson claiming it was 100% greenpower (which doesn't match the website which says that product is 10% greenpower, and also offers the 100% products in NSW.<br /> <br /> When I challenged the salesperson they suddenly found it very hard to hear me on my mobile, despite the line sounding fine to me, wonder if they were on commission?<br /> <br /> I have sent a copy of this to Origin and will add their explanation here if I get a response. 2007-07-14T18:33:11.000Z 2007-07-14T18:33:11.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2958-the_great_globa Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The "documentary" Great Global Warming Swindle aired this week. I'm still waiting to see it, but the interviews with its director were enough to convince me it was rubbish. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately this comes at a bad time, just when everyone had got into line about finally doing something - or at least in the case of Coalition and Laour at least pretending to do something.<br /> <br /> The ABC who aired the documentary, have now published a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/features/globalwarmingswindle/">blow by blow explanation</a> of why it was bunk. <br /> <br /> The following post from Greenleap has links to other sources of the information needed to provide factual analysis of the documentary, and some background on the previously misleading activities of its producer.<br /> <br /> <br /> <blockquote>The ABC swindle<br /> <br /> The ABC's screening of 'The Great Global Warming Swindle', a BBC show<br /> which presents falsified and discredited scientific claims as scientific<br /> fact, has caused a considerable debate. The ATA (Alternative Technology<br /> Association of Australia) has grave concerns about some of the claims made<br /> in the program, and would advise readers to seek out some of the many<br /> critical pieces which de-bunk the program.<br /> <br /> Below is a selection of the many critiques which have been published to<br /> dis-credit the claims made in the program.<br /> <br /> Critiques:<br /> A comprehensive response was put together by the Australian Science Media<br /> Centre in the lead up to the film's Australian airing. Entitled 'The Great<br /> Global Warming Swindle: Scientists Respond' the website includes personal<br /> comment, general rebukes and has a host of links to other relevant<br /> websites <a href="http://www.aussmc.org/Global_Warming_Swindle.php">(more)</a><br /> <br /> The so-called 'scientific data' presented in the film is widely<br /> discredited, with the film-makers even admitting that some of the data was<br /> altered to support their claims. A detailed critique is provided by David<br /> Jones, Andrew Watkins, Karl Braganza and Michael Coughlan from the UK's<br /> National Climate Centre and Bureau of Meteorology. <a href="http://www.amos.org.au/BAMOS_GGWS_SUBMISSION_final.htm">(more)</a><br /> <br /> <br /> George Monbiot provided significant critique in an article in the Guardian<br /> in March this year. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2032575,00.html">(more)</a><br /> <br /> <br /> Carl Wunsch, a leading US climate scientist who appeared in the program<br /> under false pretences has had his views presented in an article in the<br /> Guardian newspaper. He believes that the film was 'grossly distorted' and<br /> 'as close to pure propaganda as anything since World War Two', and is<br /> contemplating legal action over his appearance in the show. <a href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2031455,00.html">(more)</a><br /> <br /> <br /> Martin Durkin, the film-make himself, has appeared before the Independent<br /> Television Commission in the UK in the past for misleading the public. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2032575,00.html">(more)</a><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </blockquote>

The "documentary" Great Global Warming Swindle aired this week. I'm still waiting to see it, but the interviews with its director were enough to convince me it was rubbish. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately this comes at a bad time, just when everyone had got into line about finally doing something - or at least in the case of Coalition and Laour at least pretending to do something.<br /> <br /> The ABC who aired the documentary, have now published a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/features/globalwarmingswindle/">blow by blow explanation</a> of why it was bunk. <br /> <br /> The following post from Greenleap has links to other sources of the information needed to provide factual analysis of the documentary, and some background on the previously misleading activities of its producer.<br /> <br /> <br /> <blockquote>The ABC swindle<br /> <br /> The ABC's screening of 'The Great Global Warming Swindle', a BBC show<br /> which presents falsified and discredited scientific claims as scientific<br /> fact, has caused a considerable debate. The ATA (Alternative Technology<br /> Association of Australia) has grave concerns about some of the claims made<br /> in the program, and would advise readers to seek out some of the many<br /> critical pieces which de-bunk the program.<br /> <br /> Below is a selection of the many critiques which have been published to<br /> dis-credit the claims made in the program.<br /> <br /> Critiques:<br /> A comprehensive response was put together by the Australian Science Media<br /> Centre in the lead up to the film's Australian airing. Entitled 'The Great<br /> Global Warming Swindle: Scientists Respond' the website includes personal<br /> comment, general rebukes and has a host of links to other relevant<br /> websites <a href="http://www.aussmc.org/Global_Warming_Swindle.php">(more)</a><br /> <br /> The so-called 'scientific data' presented in the film is widely<br /> discredited, with the film-makers even admitting that some of the data was<br /> altered to support their claims. A detailed critique is provided by David<br /> Jones, Andrew Watkins, Karl Braganza and Michael Coughlan from the UK's<br /> National Climate Centre and Bureau of Meteorology. <a href="http://www.amos.org.au/BAMOS_GGWS_SUBMISSION_final.htm">(more)</a><br /> <br /> <br /> George Monbiot provided significant critique in an article in the Guardian<br /> in March this year. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2032575,00.html">(more)</a><br /> <br /> <br /> Carl Wunsch, a leading US climate scientist who appeared in the program<br /> under false pretences has had his views presented in an article in the<br /> Guardian newspaper. He believes that the film was 'grossly distorted' and<br /> 'as close to pure propaganda as anything since World War Two', and is<br /> contemplating legal action over his appearance in the show. <a href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2031455,00.html">(more)</a><br /> <br /> <br /> Martin Durkin, the film-make himself, has appeared before the Independent<br /> Television Commission in the UK in the past for misleading the public. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2032575,00.html">(more)</a><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </blockquote> 2007-08-14T08:44:37.000Z 2007-08-14T08:44:37.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2959-the_first_five Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

by Kathleen Battke & Declan Kennedy<br /> <br /> <a href="/images/Gaia University Graduation 2.jpg"><img src="/images/Gaia University Graduation 2_tn.jpg" border="0" height="128" width="111" alt="Gaia University Graduation 2_tn.jpg" align="right" /></a>Innovative education for sustainability, peace and development &#8211; that is the thematic core of the projects that the first finalists &#8211; three women and two men &#8211; worked on in order to reach their goal. <a href="http://www.gaiauniversity.org">Gaia University</a> (GU) granted one Graduate Diplomas, two Master Degrees and two Post-Graduate Diploma at the Eco-village Lebensgarten Steyerberg in Northern Germany. 40 guests from the immediate region and from abroad attended the celebration.<br />

by Kathleen Battke & Declan Kennedy<br /> <br /> <a href="/images/Gaia University Graduation 2.jpg"><img src="/images/Gaia University Graduation 2_tn.jpg" border="0" height="128" width="111" alt="Gaia University Graduation 2_tn.jpg" align="right" /></a>Innovative education for sustainability, peace and development &#8211; that is the thematic core of the projects that the first finalists &#8211; three women and two men &#8211; worked on in order to reach their goal. <a href="http://www.gaiauniversity.org">Gaia University</a> (GU) granted one Graduate Diplomas, two Master Degrees and two Post-Graduate Diploma at the Eco-village Lebensgarten Steyerberg in Northern Germany. 40 guests from the immediate region and from abroad attended the celebration.<br /> 2007-09-07T09:14:50.000Z 2007-09-07T09:14:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2960-pretty_much_eve Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Pretty much every industry these days has to start looking at the sustainability implications of their industry, and competitors are starting to use this as a differentiating factor ... this one from the Action Sports Industry. <br /> <br /> I've attached their brochure (oops will do when my blog gets fixed), it would be nice if they'd used more of the space to actually talk about the environmentally produced products, rather than repeating hints for homes and businesses which I'm sure everyone has seen by now ... but its a start, I know some of the exhibitors (Comet Skateboard; Guakaki Mate and New Leaf Paper) and they are definitely committed to doing the right thing<br /> <br /> From ASEC ...<br /> <br /> The mission of the &ldquo;ASEC Green Room&rdquo; is to showcase the environmental efforts of the action sports industry and inspire, educate and empower people to make informed, conscious decisions that will change their world. Some of the most influential brands in the world along with a number of natural product companies have joined forces with ASEC with the goal to motivate people to integrate the environment into their decision making and provide business solutions that will empower them to succeed. The Green Room will also feature free natural/organic product sampling, seminars, an eco mini ramp, music, art, and the first annual &lsquo;Green for Green&rsquo; poker tournament!<br /> <br /> ASEC is uniting the Action Sports Industry &#8211; brought together by the shared understanding that our cooperation will improve our collective environmental impact, expand industry participation, and provide a better way of educating a broad audience about the positive opportunities and solutions that the Action Sports industry provides to address the issues of pollution, social division and global warming. ASEC will operate as a resource, authority and educator for the Action Sports industry and community as it works to improve its collective impact on the environment as a way to improve quality of life and resolve the complex environmental challenges facing our world today. <br /> <br /> ASEC was founded as a not-for-profit in 2002 by Frank Scura, Bob Burnquist, Jen O&rsquo;Brien and Damon Way, and now includes a vast membership base that includes individuals, retailers, manufacturers and athletes. For more information, check out www.asecaction.org<br />

Pretty much every industry these days has to start looking at the sustainability implications of their industry, and competitors are starting to use this as a differentiating factor ... this one from the Action Sports Industry. <br /> <br /> I've attached their brochure (oops will do when my blog gets fixed), it would be nice if they'd used more of the space to actually talk about the environmentally produced products, rather than repeating hints for homes and businesses which I'm sure everyone has seen by now ... but its a start, I know some of the exhibitors (Comet Skateboard; Guakaki Mate and New Leaf Paper) and they are definitely committed to doing the right thing<br /> <br /> From ASEC ...<br /> <br /> The mission of the &ldquo;ASEC Green Room&rdquo; is to showcase the environmental efforts of the action sports industry and inspire, educate and empower people to make informed, conscious decisions that will change their world. Some of the most influential brands in the world along with a number of natural product companies have joined forces with ASEC with the goal to motivate people to integrate the environment into their decision making and provide business solutions that will empower them to succeed. The Green Room will also feature free natural/organic product sampling, seminars, an eco mini ramp, music, art, and the first annual &lsquo;Green for Green&rsquo; poker tournament!<br /> <br /> ASEC is uniting the Action Sports Industry &#8211; brought together by the shared understanding that our cooperation will improve our collective environmental impact, expand industry participation, and provide a better way of educating a broad audience about the positive opportunities and solutions that the Action Sports industry provides to address the issues of pollution, social division and global warming. ASEC will operate as a resource, authority and educator for the Action Sports industry and community as it works to improve its collective impact on the environment as a way to improve quality of life and resolve the complex environmental challenges facing our world today. <br /> <br /> ASEC was founded as a not-for-profit in 2002 by Frank Scura, Bob Burnquist, Jen O&rsquo;Brien and Damon Way, and now includes a vast membership base that includes individuals, retailers, manufacturers and athletes. For more information, check out www.asecaction.org<br /> 2007-12-18T06:29:52.000Z 2007-12-18T06:29:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2961-australias_carb Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The other day, while sharing a coffee (chai in my case) at the market, Alok, a normally progressive friend, put the case that Australia, because of its long distances, and coal-based energy needed a high carbon budget. <br /> <br /> Every country makes an argument that it needs more of the world's share of carbon emissions, and I'm sure each has its own argument - and is good at challenging the others. Good enough for China and the US to impede progress as each waits for the other to move first. <br /> <br /> So why should Australia get more than its share?

The other day, while sharing a coffee (chai in my case) at the market, Alok, a normally progressive friend, put the case that Australia, because of its long distances, and coal-based energy needed a high carbon budget. <br /> <br /> Every country makes an argument that it needs more of the world's share of carbon emissions, and I'm sure each has its own argument - and is good at challenging the others. Good enough for China and the US to impede progress as each waits for the other to move first. <br /> <br /> So why should Australia get more than its share? 2008-02-03T16:19:49.000Z 2008-02-03T16:19:49.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2962-solar_neighbour Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I've been quiet lately because I've had my head down in a new startup. <br /> <br /> We are called Beyond Building, and are tackling the issue of the affordability of Green Building and Renewable Energy. In essence we don't believe that sustainability will scale until people stop asking the question "Can I afford to be Green". <br /> <br /> Our first program is called Solar Neighbourhoods. We help community activists gather 50 people in a neighbourhood, and then install solar photovoltaic systems. The key thing is the price point, it is $495 (rising to 895 on Feb 15th) for a 1kW system (after federal government rebates and Renewable Energy Credits. We've had a great response - most people who have tried have had no problem finding enough neighbours. <br /> <br /> We get the price down through a combination of volume buying, short supply chains (dealing directly with both factories and custmers) and installing 50 at a time. <br /> <br /> The program is just expanding to developers, and sponsors (employers, energy utilities etc). <br /> <br /> More information at <a href="http://www.beyondbuildingenergy.com">www.beyondbuildingenergy.com</a><br />

I've been quiet lately because I've had my head down in a new startup. <br /> <br /> We are called Beyond Building, and are tackling the issue of the affordability of Green Building and Renewable Energy. In essence we don't believe that sustainability will scale until people stop asking the question "Can I afford to be Green". <br /> <br /> Our first program is called Solar Neighbourhoods. We help community activists gather 50 people in a neighbourhood, and then install solar photovoltaic systems. The key thing is the price point, it is $495 (rising to 895 on Feb 15th) for a 1kW system (after federal government rebates and Renewable Energy Credits. We've had a great response - most people who have tried have had no problem finding enough neighbours. <br /> <br /> We get the price down through a combination of volume buying, short supply chains (dealing directly with both factories and custmers) and installing 50 at a time. <br /> <br /> The program is just expanding to developers, and sponsors (employers, energy utilities etc). <br /> <br /> More information at <a href="http://www.beyondbuildingenergy.com">www.beyondbuildingenergy.com</a><br /> 2008-03-02T09:02:01.000Z 2008-03-02T09:02:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2963-at_what_cost_of Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/02/22/solar_power_economics/index.html">Salon</a> has an article that asks when solar power makes sense, quoting papers by Wheeler and Borenstein. "figuring out the carbon dioxide price point at which a particular renewable source of energy becomes cost-competitive with a fossil-fuel energy source is critical. If it's $600 per ton, forget about it. If it's $30, full speed ahead." <br /> <br /> The thing missing from the article is the cost-curves of the different technologies. If you look at CURRENT cost of the technology, and CURRENT price of carbon then much of renewable energy is uncompetitive.<br /> <br /> The trick is to watch the cost-curve, what is the price decline in the technology. For example large-scale Wind is currently cheaper than distributed Solar. BUT wind is only decreasing in cost slowly, while solar is decreasing quickly (both through changes in technology, and volumes of production.<br /> <br /> With Ross Garnault (Australian equivalent of the Stern report) calling for cuts of 70-90% by 2050; and other scientific studies saying zero emissions is the only way to avoid dangerous climate change, we could be estimating that carbon gets very expensive indeed.<br /> <br /> The question then becomes at what point in the future does it become competitive presuming massive production volumes of whatever the technology is.

<a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/02/22/solar_power_economics/index.html">Salon</a> has an article that asks when solar power makes sense, quoting papers by Wheeler and Borenstein. "figuring out the carbon dioxide price point at which a particular renewable source of energy becomes cost-competitive with a fossil-fuel energy source is critical. If it's $600 per ton, forget about it. If it's $30, full speed ahead." <br /> <br /> The thing missing from the article is the cost-curves of the different technologies. If you look at CURRENT cost of the technology, and CURRENT price of carbon then much of renewable energy is uncompetitive.<br /> <br /> The trick is to watch the cost-curve, what is the price decline in the technology. For example large-scale Wind is currently cheaper than distributed Solar. BUT wind is only decreasing in cost slowly, while solar is decreasing quickly (both through changes in technology, and volumes of production.<br /> <br /> With Ross Garnault (Australian equivalent of the Stern report) calling for cuts of 70-90% by 2050; and other scientific studies saying zero emissions is the only way to avoid dangerous climate change, we could be estimating that carbon gets very expensive indeed.<br /> <br /> The question then becomes at what point in the future does it become competitive presuming massive production volumes of whatever the technology is. 2008-03-02T09:57:24.000Z 2008-03-02T09:57:24.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2964-central_station Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is fun, and shows the power of a simple idea replicated by a lot of people.<content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwMj3PJDxuo" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20231212093352/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo" cached="/cached/Frozen Grand Central [jwMj3PJDxuo].mp4"></content-video>

This is fun, and shows the power of a simple idea replicated by a lot of people.<content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwMj3PJDxuo" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20231212093352/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo" cached="/cached/Frozen Grand Central [jwMj3PJDxuo].mp4"></content-video> 2008-03-02T10:19:20.000Z 2008-03-02T10:19:20.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2965-zero_emissions Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

In one of the other posts I refered to the case being made for Zero Emissions. The article I was refering to is in <a href="http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13395-only-zero-emissions-can-prevent-a-warmer-planet.html">New Scientist</a>, but I'll post it below in case it expires. <br /> <br /> From a business perspective you have to start asking the question, "What is the trend in targets", e.g. what do we expect the 2050 target to be <b>IN 2050</b>.<br /> <br /> If we extrapolate from firmer policy to proposals i.e. last years (business as usual) to Labor (50% by 2050) to Ross Garnault (70-90% reduction by 2050) to new Scientist (100% reduction) then a prudent business would have to presume that the tougher targets are going to come into place sooner or later. <br /> <br /> I think this means that businesses should be looking at planning for a zero-carbon-emissions world, because it will come sooner or later, and being ahead of the curve is likely to bring opportunities, while being behind the curve gets expensive - especially at the carbon prices likely to be needed to get emissions down quickly. <br /> <br />

In one of the other posts I refered to the case being made for Zero Emissions. The article I was refering to is in <a href="http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13395-only-zero-emissions-can-prevent-a-warmer-planet.html">New Scientist</a>, but I'll post it below in case it expires. <br /> <br /> From a business perspective you have to start asking the question, "What is the trend in targets", e.g. what do we expect the 2050 target to be <b>IN 2050</b>.<br /> <br /> If we extrapolate from firmer policy to proposals i.e. last years (business as usual) to Labor (50% by 2050) to Ross Garnault (70-90% reduction by 2050) to new Scientist (100% reduction) then a prudent business would have to presume that the tougher targets are going to come into place sooner or later. <br /> <br /> I think this means that businesses should be looking at planning for a zero-carbon-emissions world, because it will come sooner or later, and being ahead of the curve is likely to bring opportunities, while being behind the curve gets expensive - especially at the carbon prices likely to be needed to get emissions down quickly. <br /> <br /> 2008-03-09T21:49:59.000Z 2008-03-09T21:49:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2966-masdar_city_abu Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This video is worth watching, it sets a vision for a sustainable city in a desert - its got some impressive goals, and one that sets a line that other city-scale developments would do well to match.</p><p><content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AbNMc_Wyg_w"></content-video></p>

<p>This video is worth watching, it sets a vision for a sustainable city in a desert - its got some impressive goals, and one that sets a line that other city-scale developments would do well to match.</p><p><content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AbNMc_Wyg_w"></content-video></p> 2008-03-24T14:28:40.000Z 2008-03-24T14:28:40.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2967-kiva_small_loan Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="http://kiva.s3.amazonaws.com/img/w800/17044.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" src="http://kiva.s3.amazonaws.com/img/w450h360/17044.jpg" class="thumb" align="right" border="0" width="200" /></a>One of my investments just paid off, it was to a business called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&amp;amp;amp;action=about&amp;amp;amp;id=5284">Fotu Levi</a>. First the numbers - Amount invested, $25; Period of investment: 1 year; ROI 0%; Satisfaction: 100%.</p><p>I made the investment through <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kiva.org">www.kiva.org</a>, who match investors - of a variety of sizes, but mostly small, with micro-enterprises in developing countries.</p> <blockquote> Fotu is one of the few people that has the ability and the recipe for creating one of the oldest Samoan delicacies, traditional pudding. Because of the time, lack of knowledge and effort involved, this pudding is rarely made or sold any more. Fotu's business will attract locals who will love the pudding, and tourists who will be able to sample this delicious dish. Restaurants may also be interested in buying her pudding so they can offer this tradtional dish on their menu. Fotu is requesting a capital loan in the amount of $650.00 to purchase the ingredients that will help her to produce enough pudding to grow her business.<br /> </blockquote><p>I think this is an easy way to make a small contribution, that has a big impact. After all, the cost to me over a year must be about $1.50.</p><p>I'm going to double the money, and find something else to invest in - and encourage others to as well.</p>

<p><a href="http://kiva.s3.amazonaws.com/img/w800/17044.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" src="http://kiva.s3.amazonaws.com/img/w450h360/17044.jpg" class="thumb" align="right" border="0" width="200" /></a>One of my investments just paid off, it was to a business called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&amp;amp;amp;action=about&amp;amp;amp;id=5284">Fotu Levi</a>. First the numbers - Amount invested, $25; Period of investment: 1 year; ROI 0%; Satisfaction: 100%.</p><p>I made the investment through <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kiva.org">www.kiva.org</a>, who match investors - of a variety of sizes, but mostly small, with micro-enterprises in developing countries.</p> <blockquote> Fotu is one of the few people that has the ability and the recipe for creating one of the oldest Samoan delicacies, traditional pudding. Because of the time, lack of knowledge and effort involved, this pudding is rarely made or sold any more. Fotu's business will attract locals who will love the pudding, and tourists who will be able to sample this delicious dish. Restaurants may also be interested in buying her pudding so they can offer this tradtional dish on their menu. Fotu is requesting a capital loan in the amount of $650.00 to purchase the ingredients that will help her to produce enough pudding to grow her business.<br /> </blockquote><p>I think this is an easy way to make a small contribution, that has a big impact. After all, the cost to me over a year must be about $1.50.</p><p>I'm going to double the money, and find something else to invest in - and encourage others to as well.</p> 2008-03-24T20:04:32.000Z 2008-03-24T20:04:32.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2968-van_jones_its_n Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I like this one-minute inspiration from Van Jones and his pitch not to leave anyone behind as we deal with Climate Change</p><embed width="320" height="270" flashvars="autostart=false&amp;amp;file=http%3A%2F%2Foneminuteshift.com%2Fxspf%2Fnode%2F10021" src="http://oneminuteshift.com/sites/oneminuteshift.com/modules/contrib-pending/swftools/shared/caplayer/caplayer.swf" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>

<p>I like this one-minute inspiration from Van Jones and his pitch not to leave anyone behind as we deal with Climate Change</p><embed width="320" height="270" flashvars="autostart=false&amp;amp;file=http%3A%2F%2Foneminuteshift.com%2Fxspf%2Fnode%2F10021" src="http://oneminuteshift.com/sites/oneminuteshift.com/modules/contrib-pending/swftools/shared/caplayer/caplayer.swf" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/> 2008-03-24T20:07:38.000Z 2008-03-24T20:07:38.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2969-is_human_kind_l Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This 1 minute video - entitled Metaphormosis asks whether we, like the caterpillar, will devour our environment before changing into something beautiful</p><embed width="320" height="270" flashvars="autostart=false&amp;amp;file=http%3A%2F%2Foneminuteshift.com%2Fxspf%2Fnode%2F10036" src="http://oneminuteshift.com/sites/oneminuteshift.com/modules/contrib-pending/swftools/shared/caplayer/caplayer.swf" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>

<p>This 1 minute video - entitled Metaphormosis asks whether we, like the caterpillar, will devour our environment before changing into something beautiful</p><embed width="320" height="270" flashvars="autostart=false&amp;amp;file=http%3A%2F%2Foneminuteshift.com%2Fxspf%2Fnode%2F10036" src="http://oneminuteshift.com/sites/oneminuteshift.com/modules/contrib-pending/swftools/shared/caplayer/caplayer.swf" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/> 2008-04-01T12:01:01.000Z 2008-04-01T12:01:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2970-peak_music_and Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This article is to draw your attention to the twin challenges facing our culture, that of Peak Music, and Global Noise caused by the impact of Cumulative Emissions of Rhythm.<br /> <br /> All natural resources reach a peak, and music is not an exception, after approximately half of the talent has been used up it is predicted that annual production of music will decline. While experts argue as to when this peak will be reached, few now disagree with the overall hypothesis that music is, or will soon, be in decline. <br /> <br />

This article is to draw your attention to the twin challenges facing our culture, that of Peak Music, and Global Noise caused by the impact of Cumulative Emissions of Rhythm.<br /> <br /> All natural resources reach a peak, and music is not an exception, after approximately half of the talent has been used up it is predicted that annual production of music will decline. While experts argue as to when this peak will be reached, few now disagree with the overall hypothesis that music is, or will soon, be in decline. <br /> <br /> 2008-04-06T10:09:05.000Z 2008-04-06T10:09:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2971-australias_emis Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I heard Ross Garnaut speak at the excellent Solar Cities conference in Adelaide last month, so I wasn't totally surprised when a couple of days later <a href="http://www.garnautreview.org.au/CA25734E0016A131/pages/about">his proposals</a> for Emission Trading in Australia were released. <br /> <br /> However there is a huge difference - as we see with Queensland's Feed-In-Tariffs - between an announcement that looks great; and the implementation.<br /> <br /> The Federal Labor government started by minimising the report, which - prior to its release - it claimed was critically important. <br /> <br /> Since that time, the political jockeying has started. This is only to be expected, since it is cheaper to influence politicians than to fix the emissions problem. <br /> <br /> The Australian covered Ross Garnaut's <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23443997-5016654,00.html">call to ignore the political fixers</a>, and in particular not to grant free permits to the worst polluters - duh, first they trash they atmosphere then they want a free pass to keep doing it. These are the very people who need to be adjusting their industries, and if they can't find a way - as many of their competitors will - to find a solution that benefits their business then they could, and should, suffer "readjustment". The NSW government, that wants to sell off the state-owned electricity business are putting in their <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/430b-how-much-greenhouse-gas-cuts-will-cost-says-costa/2008/04/03/1206851105550.html">pitch for the money</a>.<br /> <br /> It is the employees of polluting businesses we should be looking to support (e.g. retrain) through the transition, rather than the businesses that we should be propping up. This is where we also have to watch for the fixers, the significant pot of money from auctioning permits needs to be used for this re-adjustment, to support the lower-income households likely to be effected by for example the necessary down turn of some industries. One of the first grabs for this money has been from Malcolm Turnbull (Opposition Treasury Spokesman) (<a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23436687-5014047,00.html">printed in the Australian</a>, and reported in the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/environment/climate-law-revenue-seen-as-way-to-cut-taxes/2008/03/25/1206207106165.html">Melbourne Age</a> )<br /> <br />

I heard Ross Garnaut speak at the excellent Solar Cities conference in Adelaide last month, so I wasn't totally surprised when a couple of days later <a href="http://www.garnautreview.org.au/CA25734E0016A131/pages/about">his proposals</a> for Emission Trading in Australia were released. <br /> <br /> However there is a huge difference - as we see with Queensland's Feed-In-Tariffs - between an announcement that looks great; and the implementation.<br /> <br /> The Federal Labor government started by minimising the report, which - prior to its release - it claimed was critically important. <br /> <br /> Since that time, the political jockeying has started. This is only to be expected, since it is cheaper to influence politicians than to fix the emissions problem. <br /> <br /> The Australian covered Ross Garnaut's <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23443997-5016654,00.html">call to ignore the political fixers</a>, and in particular not to grant free permits to the worst polluters - duh, first they trash they atmosphere then they want a free pass to keep doing it. These are the very people who need to be adjusting their industries, and if they can't find a way - as many of their competitors will - to find a solution that benefits their business then they could, and should, suffer "readjustment". The NSW government, that wants to sell off the state-owned electricity business are putting in their <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/430b-how-much-greenhouse-gas-cuts-will-cost-says-costa/2008/04/03/1206851105550.html">pitch for the money</a>.<br /> <br /> It is the employees of polluting businesses we should be looking to support (e.g. retrain) through the transition, rather than the businesses that we should be propping up. This is where we also have to watch for the fixers, the significant pot of money from auctioning permits needs to be used for this re-adjustment, to support the lower-income households likely to be effected by for example the necessary down turn of some industries. One of the first grabs for this money has been from Malcolm Turnbull (Opposition Treasury Spokesman) (<a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23436687-5014047,00.html">printed in the Australian</a>, and reported in the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/environment/climate-law-revenue-seen-as-way-to-cut-taxes/2008/03/25/1206207106165.html">Melbourne Age</a> )<br /> <br /> 2008-04-06T20:27:46.000Z 2008-04-06T20:27:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2972-queensland_feed Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

There is a controversy building in Queensland around proposals to introduce Feed-In Tariffs. <br /> <br /> Why should it be controversial, after all they've worked well in Germany and California to boost demand for solar and other renewables to get the volumes up to where they will be able to compete with Fossil Fuels (with all their hidden subsidies). <br /> <br /> The controversy revolves around the form of the tariff. South Australia, earlier this year adopted a feed-in tariff in name only - offering 44c/kwh but only on net metered power. This means that for 99% of residential installations there is no benefit at all, because they are never producing more power than the home uses.<br /> <br /> Queensland made an announcement on 11th March, that appeared to suggest it was going to be "Gross" metered, i.e. the owner of the solar system would be paid for ever kwh they generated, whether they consumed it themselves, or fed it back to the grid. Many organisations congratulated them for getting it right. But then the details emerged and Department of Mines and Energy are writing a "Net" metered Feed In Tariff after all.<br /> <br /> Queensland Conservation are one such group that is more than a little annoyed at this backtracking, and have <a href="http://www.qccqld.org.au/">published graphs</a> showing how most households will get no benefit.<br /> <br /> It remains to be seen whether Queensland's government will revise this to actually have some effect rather than be just greenwashing, and now is a good time to tell any Queensland politicians you know that a REAL feed-in tariff is needed to stimulate Renewables in Queensland.<br />

There is a controversy building in Queensland around proposals to introduce Feed-In Tariffs. <br /> <br /> Why should it be controversial, after all they've worked well in Germany and California to boost demand for solar and other renewables to get the volumes up to where they will be able to compete with Fossil Fuels (with all their hidden subsidies). <br /> <br /> The controversy revolves around the form of the tariff. South Australia, earlier this year adopted a feed-in tariff in name only - offering 44c/kwh but only on net metered power. This means that for 99% of residential installations there is no benefit at all, because they are never producing more power than the home uses.<br /> <br /> Queensland made an announcement on 11th March, that appeared to suggest it was going to be "Gross" metered, i.e. the owner of the solar system would be paid for ever kwh they generated, whether they consumed it themselves, or fed it back to the grid. Many organisations congratulated them for getting it right. But then the details emerged and Department of Mines and Energy are writing a "Net" metered Feed In Tariff after all.<br /> <br /> Queensland Conservation are one such group that is more than a little annoyed at this backtracking, and have <a href="http://www.qccqld.org.au/">published graphs</a> showing how most households will get no benefit.<br /> <br /> It remains to be seen whether Queensland's government will revise this to actually have some effect rather than be just greenwashing, and now is a good time to tell any Queensland politicians you know that a REAL feed-in tariff is needed to stimulate Renewables in Queensland.<br /> 2008-06-11T09:14:05.000Z 2008-06-11T09:14:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2973-rising_world_fo Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/20080605-tanout02.jpg" border="0" height="159" width="225" alt="20080605-tanout02.jpg" align="right" />I was forwarded this <a href="http://esthergarvi.com/2008/06/09/rising-world-food-prices-the-lost-treasures-of-eden/">post</a> from another blog . Once again it illustrates the need to think outside the box to solve the world's challenges. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.edenfoundation.org">Eden Foundation</a> seem to be doing this by introducing alternative food crops to areas where the crops they've depended on for generations are failing them. <br /> <br /> As climate change shifts the patterns of what grows where I believe it is going to be important that food is diverse so that we can adapt to unpredictable changes. <br />

<img src="/images/20080605-tanout02.jpg" border="0" height="159" width="225" alt="20080605-tanout02.jpg" align="right" />I was forwarded this <a href="http://esthergarvi.com/2008/06/09/rising-world-food-prices-the-lost-treasures-of-eden/">post</a> from another blog . Once again it illustrates the need to think outside the box to solve the world's challenges. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.edenfoundation.org">Eden Foundation</a> seem to be doing this by introducing alternative food crops to areas where the crops they've depended on for generations are failing them. <br /> <br /> As climate change shifts the patterns of what grows where I believe it is going to be important that food is diverse so that we can adapt to unpredictable changes. <br /> 2008-07-05T15:03:14.000Z 2008-07-05T15:03:14.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2974-aircar_close_to Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/aircar.jpg" border="0" height="216" width="283" alt="aircar.jpg" align="right" />It looks like the Compressed Air car has finally got close to production. The idea popped up a few years ago, but the performance figures really didn't make it look like a viable alternative that would appeal as broadly as needed to have an impact on the massive emissions from petrol-cars worldwide. <br /> <br /> Tata (India) has recently announced its close to production on the car, designed by MDI (France). <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/mar2007/bw20070319_949435.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5">Businessweek</a> and <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/go/7000/">Gizmag</a> both have (almost identical) articles on it, and Gizmag has some good pictures.<br /> <br /> Its performance figures - 110km/h (68mph); 200-300km range and either 3-4 hours on the built in compressor, or a couple of minutes at an adapted petrol station put it in the range where we don't require significant sacrifices to "go green". <br /> <br /> This is a welcome change from Tata's other announcement in 2006 of the <a href="http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2006/06/26/indias-model-t-tatas-2000-car-out-by-2008">Nano-Car</a> - cheap enough to encourage indian masses to move to LESS sustainable transport.<br /> <br /> Of course the biggest problem with getting is launched is likely to be the testing regime it will have to go through (designed for 1 tonne steel monsters) in order to be sold in "developed" countries, so I predict we'll see it mainly in developing countries for a while. <br /> <br /> (Other resources on <a href="http://www.futurecars.com/futurecars/air_cars1.html">Future Cars</a>)

<img src="/images/aircar.jpg" border="0" height="216" width="283" alt="aircar.jpg" align="right" />It looks like the Compressed Air car has finally got close to production. The idea popped up a few years ago, but the performance figures really didn't make it look like a viable alternative that would appeal as broadly as needed to have an impact on the massive emissions from petrol-cars worldwide. <br /> <br /> Tata (India) has recently announced its close to production on the car, designed by MDI (France). <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/mar2007/bw20070319_949435.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5">Businessweek</a> and <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/go/7000/">Gizmag</a> both have (almost identical) articles on it, and Gizmag has some good pictures.<br /> <br /> Its performance figures - 110km/h (68mph); 200-300km range and either 3-4 hours on the built in compressor, or a couple of minutes at an adapted petrol station put it in the range where we don't require significant sacrifices to "go green". <br /> <br /> This is a welcome change from Tata's other announcement in 2006 of the <a href="http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2006/06/26/indias-model-t-tatas-2000-car-out-by-2008">Nano-Car</a> - cheap enough to encourage indian masses to move to LESS sustainable transport.<br /> <br /> Of course the biggest problem with getting is launched is likely to be the testing regime it will have to go through (designed for 1 tonne steel monsters) in order to be sold in "developed" countries, so I predict we'll see it mainly in developing countries for a while. <br /> <br /> (Other resources on <a href="http://www.futurecars.com/futurecars/air_cars1.html">Future Cars</a>) 2008-07-05T16:06:29.000Z 2008-07-05T16:06:29.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2975-feed_in_tariffs Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

solar Feed-in-Tariffs (FiT's) are what has driven the solar expansion in Europe - especially Germany (and I believe in California). Here in Australia we are way behind the times.<br /> <br /> South Australia led the way in creating a FiT that would have no noticable impact, because it was designed so that almost nobody who installed solar would get any benefit from it. They are still trying to get <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/01/2290530.htm?section=business">positive media spin</a> on the scheme which officially started this week. <br /> <br /> Of course from the politicians perspective its great - something which makes it look like you are taking action, while costing nothing because according to <a href="http://www.qccqld.org.au/">Queensland Conservation Council</a> almost noone will be able to claim on it. So it should be a surprise that both <a href="/blog/archives/2008/04/queensland_feed.html">Queensland</a> and Victoria have copied the scheme.<br /> <br /> The ACT has now broken with the pack and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/03/2292901.htm">passed a scheme</a> that looks like it will make sense - paying 4x the price of power. Presuming all the details have been worked out so that its reliable enough to base funding on, I predict this will see a lot of renewable energy deployment happening in Canberra rather than elsewhere. (Hmmm - I wonder if a hot-air generator on top of parliament would qualify?)<br /> <br /> In other positive news, Rudd has passed an <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/rudd-locks-in-green-power-plan/2008/07/02/1214950888342.html">MRET target of 20%</a> by 2020, hopefully that will push up the price of Renewable Energy Credits to make up for the damage done by the same government to the Solar Rebate scheme. <br /> <br /> With the Garnaut review due on the fourth its a week to focus on how the changes in rules will change the landscape for renewables in Australia.<br /> <br />

solar Feed-in-Tariffs (FiT's) are what has driven the solar expansion in Europe - especially Germany (and I believe in California). Here in Australia we are way behind the times.<br /> <br /> South Australia led the way in creating a FiT that would have no noticable impact, because it was designed so that almost nobody who installed solar would get any benefit from it. They are still trying to get <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/01/2290530.htm?section=business">positive media spin</a> on the scheme which officially started this week. <br /> <br /> Of course from the politicians perspective its great - something which makes it look like you are taking action, while costing nothing because according to <a href="http://www.qccqld.org.au/">Queensland Conservation Council</a> almost noone will be able to claim on it. So it should be a surprise that both <a href="/blog/archives/2008/04/queensland_feed.html">Queensland</a> and Victoria have copied the scheme.<br /> <br /> The ACT has now broken with the pack and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/03/2292901.htm">passed a scheme</a> that looks like it will make sense - paying 4x the price of power. Presuming all the details have been worked out so that its reliable enough to base funding on, I predict this will see a lot of renewable energy deployment happening in Canberra rather than elsewhere. (Hmmm - I wonder if a hot-air generator on top of parliament would qualify?)<br /> <br /> In other positive news, Rudd has passed an <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/rudd-locks-in-green-power-plan/2008/07/02/1214950888342.html">MRET target of 20%</a> by 2020, hopefully that will push up the price of Renewable Energy Credits to make up for the damage done by the same government to the Solar Rebate scheme. <br /> <br /> With the Garnaut review due on the fourth its a week to focus on how the changes in rules will change the landscape for renewables in Australia.<br /> <br /> 2008-07-05T00:00:00.000Z 2008-07-05T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2976-garnautreportout Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The long awaited <a href="http://www.garnautreview.org.au">Garnaut report</a> is now out.

<pdf-link href="http://www.garnautreview.org.au/CA25734E0016A131/WebObj/Mediarelease_DraftReport_4July2008/$File/Media%20release_Draft%20Report_4%20July%202008.pdf"></pdf-link> <p> For a long time its imminence has been an excuse for the federal government not to act, now it may well be called "one of the inputs" as its recommendations are unlikely to match the preferred action of the government. </p><p> Like the Stern report Garnaut makes it clear that the costs of inaction outweigh the costs of taking action. Its main focus is the details of how an Emission Trading Scheme should be setup for Australia. </p><p> <blockquote>Early economic modelling results of readily measurable unmitigated climate change for middle of the road outcomes on temperatures and decline in rainfall indicate that climate change would wipe off around 4.8 per cent of Australia's projected GDP, around 5.4 per cent of projected household consumption, and 7.8 per cent from real wages by 2100.</blockquote> </p><p> From my perspective the key features of the report are:<ul> <li>Include all sources of emissions - including Petrol</li> <li>Auction permits for emissions</li> <li>Spend 50% of the proceeds on compensating low-income consumers</li> <li>Spend 30% on "structural adjustments" in particular on high-energy exporting industries (a poor exception in my opinion).</li> <li>Spend the remaining 20% on development and commercialization of Low Energy technologies.</li> </ul> </p><p> I think these are essentially a good recommendation - we need to see the price of energy intensive products go up, as that is the only thing that will shift consumption to low-energy products. </p><p> The impact on those least able to handle it can be handled through tax/social-security, which will still incentivise those within lower-income brackets who also take action to reduce their use of energy intensive products. </p><p> The one area I would differ is that there is a need to support Renewables that need short-medium term subsidies to get through the cost curve and have promise of low-cost - this particularly applies to Solar, but others also qualify. </p><p> Unfortunately most of the 20% is likely to be spent on so-called "Clean Coal" which is not clean, and is unlikely to be cost-effective compared to the cost that renewables will achieve even without the billions that will get thrown at the coal industry. </p><p> Garnaut recommends a two-year transition into the scheme, which of course industry will say is too short, while the environment will complain that we've already mucked around for 12 years of climate-deniers at the healm, and now need urgent action. </p> 2008-07-05T16:51:14.000Z 2008-07-05T16:51:14.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2977-garnaut_on_feed Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Garnaut's report includes a section on Feed-In-Tariffs. Garnaut correctly points out that it should be Gross. Despite the headline on the section it doesn't recommend a value, which is a pity. <br /> <br /> <blockquote>Key Point: There is a case for special feed-in tariffs for household electricity generation and co-generation. The case can be quantified by reference to timing and <br /> transmission considerations.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <blockquote>17.2.2 What should the value of a feed-in tariff be? <br /> There are two main ways by which feed-in tariffs can be paid&mdash;gross metering <br /> and net metering. Gross metering pays the embedded generator for all electricity <br /> it generates, while net metering pays for just the energy exported to the grid <br /> (gross generation minus local energy consumed).8 Feed-in tariffs in Spain and <br /> Germany, for example, are calculated on a gross-metering basis. In Australia, <br /> most feed-in tariff commitments have been based on the net quantity of energy <br /> exported to the grid. </blockquote><br /> <blockquote>For small embedded generation systems installed by households or firms <br /> that are consuming electricity throughout the day, it is likely that no exports <br /> to the grid will be possible. However, the benefits of embedded generation <br /> (lower transmission losses, deferred costs for network augmentation, and <br /> displacement of high-cost generation during peak periods) are present for every <br /> unit of electricity produced, not just the amount exported. A feed-in tariff based <br /> on gross metering is thus a more accurate means of pricing these benefits.9 <br /> </blockquote><br /> <blockquote><br /> note 9: Some argue that a gross-metered feed-in tariff is undesirable because, from a sustainability perspective, it does not encourage embedded generators to consume less electricity, whereas under a net-metered scheme profits can only be made by exporting more to the grid. This reasoning is erroneous because the incentives to consume should come through the retail tariff paid for electricity, not through the feed-in tariff system</blockquote>

Garnaut's report includes a section on Feed-In-Tariffs. Garnaut correctly points out that it should be Gross. Despite the headline on the section it doesn't recommend a value, which is a pity. <br /> <br /> <blockquote>Key Point: There is a case for special feed-in tariffs for household electricity generation and co-generation. The case can be quantified by reference to timing and <br /> transmission considerations.<br /> </blockquote><br /> <blockquote>17.2.2 What should the value of a feed-in tariff be? <br /> There are two main ways by which feed-in tariffs can be paid&mdash;gross metering <br /> and net metering. Gross metering pays the embedded generator for all electricity <br /> it generates, while net metering pays for just the energy exported to the grid <br /> (gross generation minus local energy consumed).8 Feed-in tariffs in Spain and <br /> Germany, for example, are calculated on a gross-metering basis. In Australia, <br /> most feed-in tariff commitments have been based on the net quantity of energy <br /> exported to the grid. </blockquote><br /> <blockquote>For small embedded generation systems installed by households or firms <br /> that are consuming electricity throughout the day, it is likely that no exports <br /> to the grid will be possible. However, the benefits of embedded generation <br /> (lower transmission losses, deferred costs for network augmentation, and <br /> displacement of high-cost generation during peak periods) are present for every <br /> unit of electricity produced, not just the amount exported. A feed-in tariff based <br /> on gross metering is thus a more accurate means of pricing these benefits.9 <br /> </blockquote><br /> <blockquote><br /> note 9: Some argue that a gross-metered feed-in tariff is undesirable because, from a sustainability perspective, it does not encourage embedded generators to consume less electricity, whereas under a net-metered scheme profits can only be made by exporting more to the grid. This reasoning is erroneous because the incentives to consume should come through the retail tariff paid for electricity, not through the feed-in tariff system</blockquote> 2008-07-20T23:08:52.000Z 2008-07-20T23:08:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2978-jockying_on_aus Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

With both the Garnault report and the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/emissions-trading-plan-unveiled/2008/07/16/1216162920114.html">government's outline</a> of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) now out, the jockying has begun.<br /> <br />

With both the Garnault report and the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/emissions-trading-plan-unveiled/2008/07/16/1216162920114.html">government's outline</a> of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) now out, the jockying has begun.<br /> <br /> 2008-07-20T23:17:52.000Z 2008-07-20T23:17:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2979-beyond_building Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/matthewshaun-Mcintyre.jpg" border="0" height="155" width="232" alt="matthewshaun-Mcintyre.jpg" align="right" />We've not been seeking a lot of publicity at Beyond Building, our Solar Neighbourhoods scheme has been so popular that we haven't needed it. <br /> <br /> But we couldn't keep it quiet as in the last couple of weeks, after months of dealing with compliance issues, we've started installing the first of the 600 or so houses in our shire that have signed up to put photovoltaics on the roof (that's about 5% of the houses).<br /> <br /> Our local paper, the <a href="http://www.echo.net.au/content/view/626/538/">Echo</a> covered it on the front page, and the regional daily also gave ran a <a href="http://www.northernstar.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3776335">story</a>. <br /> <br /> We had a good turnout to our celebration, and launched our newest version of the scheme - the <a href="http://www.beyondbuildingenergy.com/byronsolarshire.php">Byron Solar Shire</a> - where smaller groups who missed out the first time can come onboard as well.<br />

<img src="/images/matthewshaun-Mcintyre.jpg" border="0" height="155" width="232" alt="matthewshaun-Mcintyre.jpg" align="right" />We've not been seeking a lot of publicity at Beyond Building, our Solar Neighbourhoods scheme has been so popular that we haven't needed it. <br /> <br /> But we couldn't keep it quiet as in the last couple of weeks, after months of dealing with compliance issues, we've started installing the first of the 600 or so houses in our shire that have signed up to put photovoltaics on the roof (that's about 5% of the houses).<br /> <br /> Our local paper, the <a href="http://www.echo.net.au/content/view/626/538/">Echo</a> covered it on the front page, and the regional daily also gave ran a <a href="http://www.northernstar.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3776335">story</a>. <br /> <br /> We had a good turnout to our celebration, and launched our newest version of the scheme - the <a href="http://www.beyondbuildingenergy.com/byronsolarshire.php">Byron Solar Shire</a> - where smaller groups who missed out the first time can come onboard as well.<br /> 2008-07-20T23:29:00.000Z 2008-07-20T23:29:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2980-amory_lovins_on Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/16/amory_lovins_expanding_nuclear_power_makes">Here</a>'s one of the smartest engineers on the planet - Amory Lovins being interviewed b Amy Goodwin and explaining why nuclear doesn't make any sense. <br /> <br /> <br />

<a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/16/amory_lovins_expanding_nuclear_power_makes">Here</a>'s one of the smartest engineers on the planet - Amory Lovins being interviewed b Amy Goodwin and explaining why nuclear doesn't make any sense. <br /> <br /> <br /> 2008-07-21T22:39:52.000Z 2008-07-21T22:39:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2981-al_gores_call_t Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Al Gore made a <a href="http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/pages/304/">key speech</a> recently, summarised in the quote:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years </blockquote><br /> <br /> Neal Dikeman has a thoughtful critique of the speech on <a href="http://www.cleantechblog.com/2008/07/is-al-gore-nuts.html">CleanTechBlog</a> which concludes.<br /> <br /> <blockquote>I will leave you with one final note, and please remember, I am actually a proponent of the ideals in Al Gore&rsquo;s speech, I just prefer to get there in one piece. One theory on the effect of the history of the man on the moon driven space race that Mr. Gore challenges us to copy basically says that we pushed for a single high profile goal so fast and furious that we effectively skipped ahead and outran our infrastructure and capabilities to get a nonscalable shot at the moon in the target time frame. The theory goes on to suggest that&rsquo;s why after reaching the moon so fast we haven&rsquo;t progressed at the same rate in space since, and had we taken it slower, we would have gotten there a few years behind, but might be on Mars by know. Akin in a military campaign to outrunning your supply chain, and then getting your army surrounded and destroyed &#8211; or perhaps invading a country half way around the world, winning the war in weeks and forgetting to prepare for the peace. And just to show that I can deliver as many platitudes in one article as Mr. Gore, that&rsquo;s why you never get involved in a land war in Asia. Energy and environment are the two pillars of everything in our lives. Mr. Gore and I want the same thing, but he thinks we can&rsquo;t afford not to swing for the fences &#8211; I think we can&rsquo;t afford to mess it up.</blockquote><br /> <br /> Gristmill also has a good <a href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/7/17/175641/206">summary</a> of other responses to the speech.<br /> <br /> When I look at the speech carefully, I see a few important points.<br /> <br /> Firstly - its not talking about Carbon Neutral, i.e. its not calling for the US (and by implication Australia) to buy its way out of its mess by reducing other people's carbon intensity (e.g. by planting trees in the Amazon).<br /> <br /> Secondly - its talking about zero carbon, i.e. its skipping all the inadequate (Gas) or unlikely (so called "Clean Coal"). <br /> <br /> Sure, its setting an ambitious target, but that is what we need - in Australia as well as the US. <br /> <br /> Neal has some good points as well - for example he talks about 7 year lead-times on transmission lines, but I think that is entirely the point. If we are to crack the climate problem before it cracks us, we need to remove the barriers to moving at the speed necessary to make up for the decade of inaction by among others, Bush, Howard and Blair. We need to look at what stops us growing the solutions quickly. Why does it take 7 years to put a transmission line in place, maybe the very policies we have in place to stop inappropriate actions are going to stop us taking necessary actions. <br /> <br /> I'm glad that Gore has thrown down the challenge - even if we miss it by a bit then the step of thinking about it might throw up some huge ways forward. And we certainly won't get there with the tiny goals of the Australian government. (20% by 2020)

Al Gore made a <a href="http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/pages/304/">key speech</a> recently, summarised in the quote:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years </blockquote><br /> <br /> Neal Dikeman has a thoughtful critique of the speech on <a href="http://www.cleantechblog.com/2008/07/is-al-gore-nuts.html">CleanTechBlog</a> which concludes.<br /> <br /> <blockquote>I will leave you with one final note, and please remember, I am actually a proponent of the ideals in Al Gore&rsquo;s speech, I just prefer to get there in one piece. One theory on the effect of the history of the man on the moon driven space race that Mr. Gore challenges us to copy basically says that we pushed for a single high profile goal so fast and furious that we effectively skipped ahead and outran our infrastructure and capabilities to get a nonscalable shot at the moon in the target time frame. The theory goes on to suggest that&rsquo;s why after reaching the moon so fast we haven&rsquo;t progressed at the same rate in space since, and had we taken it slower, we would have gotten there a few years behind, but might be on Mars by know. Akin in a military campaign to outrunning your supply chain, and then getting your army surrounded and destroyed &#8211; or perhaps invading a country half way around the world, winning the war in weeks and forgetting to prepare for the peace. And just to show that I can deliver as many platitudes in one article as Mr. Gore, that&rsquo;s why you never get involved in a land war in Asia. Energy and environment are the two pillars of everything in our lives. Mr. Gore and I want the same thing, but he thinks we can&rsquo;t afford not to swing for the fences &#8211; I think we can&rsquo;t afford to mess it up.</blockquote><br /> <br /> Gristmill also has a good <a href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/7/17/175641/206">summary</a> of other responses to the speech.<br /> <br /> When I look at the speech carefully, I see a few important points.<br /> <br /> Firstly - its not talking about Carbon Neutral, i.e. its not calling for the US (and by implication Australia) to buy its way out of its mess by reducing other people's carbon intensity (e.g. by planting trees in the Amazon).<br /> <br /> Secondly - its talking about zero carbon, i.e. its skipping all the inadequate (Gas) or unlikely (so called "Clean Coal"). <br /> <br /> Sure, its setting an ambitious target, but that is what we need - in Australia as well as the US. <br /> <br /> Neal has some good points as well - for example he talks about 7 year lead-times on transmission lines, but I think that is entirely the point. If we are to crack the climate problem before it cracks us, we need to remove the barriers to moving at the speed necessary to make up for the decade of inaction by among others, Bush, Howard and Blair. We need to look at what stops us growing the solutions quickly. Why does it take 7 years to put a transmission line in place, maybe the very policies we have in place to stop inappropriate actions are going to stop us taking necessary actions. <br /> <br /> I'm glad that Gore has thrown down the challenge - even if we miss it by a bit then the step of thinking about it might throw up some huge ways forward. And we certainly won't get there with the tiny goals of the Australian government. (20% by 2020) 2008-07-27T00:00:00.000Z 2008-07-27T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2982-scream_crash_boom_2 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Paul Gilding has written a paper called Scream Crash Boom 2 - the Great Disruption"<pdf-link href="/files/Gilding letter - SCB 2 The Great Disruption.pdf"></pdf-link>

<p>It makes for interesting reading, and I agree with most of both the premises and conclusions. </p><p> Paul describes a system which is both Complex and Chaotic. Complex in that the density of connections between the components is high - everything depends on lots of other things - and Chaotic in that a small change in one place can have a big change in the final outcome. Paul alludes to this when he describes the drought -> food supply drop -> price rise -> political instability pathway on page 3. </p><p> However, what I think Paul misses, and what gives me a glimmer of hope is the essence of a Complex and Chaotic system, i.e. the difficulty of predicting the outcome. In nature you see two kinds of systems - systems which when perturbed move around and then settle down to an essentially similar state, and those which collapse, i.e. move to a significantly different state. </p><p> Paul describes the pessimists view of this, i.e. that the systems will collapse - this was essentially the view put out strongly at Y2K when supposedly a small problem in one place would cause an endless flow-on, with ultimate collapse of the whole systems. As we all know, we woke up on 1st Jan 2000 with the lights still on. </p><p> The optimistic view suggests that our complex systems adjust to failures, some entities fail, but others exploit the niches left by failures, and so on. We've seen that over the last decade in the changes brought on by the internet in every aspect of business and life. </p><p> I don't believe its an either/or choice. Whether you view things pessimistically or optimistically depends I believe on which bits of the status-quo you care about. From a self-interest perspect, I think this makes it a good time to look at both the resilience of your self (family, business, etc) and what niches to take advantage of as the system changes. While I'm far from a believer in the market solving everything I think many of those choices - will benefit the overall system, i.e. make the system as a whole more resilient, and better adapted to a low-CO2, low-Oil world. </p><p> The big question when I look at what benefits, and what loses is asking how much each element in the system is tied to that stability, and whether the risk-analysis takes into account the outlying possibilities - for example in interest rates, oil prices, government stability, inflation. </p><p> I don't necessarily think that a move to a more chaotic world (and I agree with Paul that a chaotic world is likely) would be a bad thing - our current world stability serves some of us, but it doesn't seem to serve the poor, nor the environment. Maybe a more chaotic world would settle down into a better paradigm, or maybe a worse one. </p><p> So for me the challenges are:<ol> <li>How do we convince governments and other powerful entities of the need to take action of a speed and scale commensurate with the problem.</li> <li>How do we ensure that out of the state of chaos as many actors as possible are looking for outcomes that benefit the planet as well as the actor.</li> <li>How do we create incentives to the actions we want - rather than the actions we don't - as Amory Lovins puts it "Tax Bads, not Goods"</li> </ol> </p><p> For example .... if we look at recent government choices - funding Clean Coal tries to perpetuate and keep the system stable, but is ultimately futile - Carbon Capture and Sequestration is unlikely to work at a cost that makes it a sensible choice, and will never capture enough of the emissions - while funding renewables moves us towards a lower-emission solution. </p><p> If you haven't already seen it, read Gore's call for the US to get off all carbon-based fuels in 10 years. I blogged about it, while its been criticised from both sides, I think as a bold goal it sets a target for how much, and how fast we need to do things, and that the disruptions from doing so are going to be much lower, and with a better final outcome, than the disruptions from insufficient action. </p> 2008-08-22T17:04:55.000Z 2008-08-22T17:04:55.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2983-lobbying_and_te Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Its been busy on the political front lately - as climate change becomes recognised as more important, the lobbying and jockying has started, and of course political point-scoring. <br /> <br /> Firstly there was the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/solar_rebate/index.htm">Senate enquiry into the Solar Rebate</a>, I made a <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/solar_rebate/submissions/sub88.pdf">submission</a> essentially arguing that the main issue was the kind of consistency that allows an industry to develop and invest. <br /> <br /> The committee holds meetings in regional capitals, and I was invited to testify along with a couple of our customers who had been hurt when the government means tested the rebate in the budget. I testified along the same lines, the testimony is <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S11165.pdf">here</a> - and our testimony starts on page 37.<br /> <br /> At almost the same time the Senate has an enquiry into Feed-in-Tariffs, essentially the economic engine that has driven expansion of Renewables in Europe. I've <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/renewable_energy/submissions/sub107.pdf">testified</a> that essentially they are a great idea IF they are structured correctly, and fairly useless if structured as they have been in Victoria; Queensland and South Australia.<br /> <br /> Minister of the Environment <a href="http://www.petergarrett.com.au/">Peter Garrett</a> also held a consultation on how to support Energy Efficiency and Emissions reduction for homeowners. I was pleasantly surprised how much he knew about the issues. The consultation involved about 30 people from industry, NGO's and Government, it would have been interesting to have more discussion but as it was there was just time for each of us to make a short presentation.

Its been busy on the political front lately - as climate change becomes recognised as more important, the lobbying and jockying has started, and of course political point-scoring. <br /> <br /> Firstly there was the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/solar_rebate/index.htm">Senate enquiry into the Solar Rebate</a>, I made a <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/solar_rebate/submissions/sub88.pdf">submission</a> essentially arguing that the main issue was the kind of consistency that allows an industry to develop and invest. <br /> <br /> The committee holds meetings in regional capitals, and I was invited to testify along with a couple of our customers who had been hurt when the government means tested the rebate in the budget. I testified along the same lines, the testimony is <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S11165.pdf">here</a> - and our testimony starts on page 37.<br /> <br /> At almost the same time the Senate has an enquiry into Feed-in-Tariffs, essentially the economic engine that has driven expansion of Renewables in Europe. I've <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/renewable_energy/submissions/sub107.pdf">testified</a> that essentially they are a great idea IF they are structured correctly, and fairly useless if structured as they have been in Victoria; Queensland and South Australia.<br /> <br /> Minister of the Environment <a href="http://www.petergarrett.com.au/">Peter Garrett</a> also held a consultation on how to support Energy Efficiency and Emissions reduction for homeowners. I was pleasantly surprised how much he knew about the issues. The consultation involved about 30 people from industry, NGO's and Government, it would have been interesting to have more discussion but as it was there was just time for each of us to make a short presentation. 2008-10-13T19:08:01.000Z 2008-10-13T19:08:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2984-quirky_recycled Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I enjoyed this <a href="http://www.intlistings.com/articles/2008/10-amazing-beautiful-houses-built-from-trash/">article</a> on houses built from trash. Its worth a look, in part because of the contrast with many of the other oversized houses on the site. <br /> <br /> <br />

I enjoyed this <a href="http://www.intlistings.com/articles/2008/10-amazing-beautiful-houses-built-from-trash/">article</a> on houses built from trash. Its worth a look, in part because of the contrast with many of the other oversized houses on the site. <br /> <br /> <br /> 2008-10-15T16:21:50.000Z 2008-10-15T16:21:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2985-contrasting_uk Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><br /> The guardian has an interesting <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/07/carbon.emissions.targets">story</a> on an upcoming report by the <a href="http://www.theccc.org.uk/">Climate Change Committee</a>.</p><p><br /> This committee was setup by an act of parliament to advise the government on the appropriate scale of cuts.</p><blockquote><br /> Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, the committee chairman, told the Guardian. "We have to almost totally decarbonise the power sector by 2030, well before 2050,"<br /> </blockquote><p><br /> This contrasts with the Garnaut report for Australia which talks about 10% by 2020.</p>

<p><br /> The guardian has an interesting <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/07/carbon.emissions.targets">story</a> on an upcoming report by the <a href="http://www.theccc.org.uk/">Climate Change Committee</a>.</p><p><br /> This committee was setup by an act of parliament to advise the government on the appropriate scale of cuts.</p><blockquote><br /> Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, the committee chairman, told the Guardian. "We have to almost totally decarbonise the power sector by 2030, well before 2050,"<br /> </blockquote><p><br /> This contrasts with the Garnaut report for Australia which talks about 10% by 2020.</p> 2008-10-29T15:38:25.000Z 2008-10-29T15:38:25.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2986-solar_powered_s Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Back in 2004 I <a href="/?id=2833">blogged</a> about a project by <a href="http://www.skysails.info/">SkySail</a> to add kites to ocean going cargo ships. <br /> <br /> Yesterday, the SMH carried a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/specials/environment/cargo-ships-to-sail-solar/2008/10/29/1224956046466.html">story</a> about a project by <a href="http://www.solarsailor.com/">Solar Sailor</a> (an Australian company that operates a boat in Sydney) adding fixed aluminum sails with PV onto ships. <br />

Back in 2004 I <a href="/?id=2833">blogged</a> about a project by <a href="http://www.skysails.info/">SkySail</a> to add kites to ocean going cargo ships. <br /> <br /> Yesterday, the SMH carried a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/specials/environment/cargo-ships-to-sail-solar/2008/10/29/1224956046466.html">story</a> about a project by <a href="http://www.solarsailor.com/">Solar Sailor</a> (an Australian company that operates a boat in Sydney) adding fixed aluminum sails with PV onto ships. <br /> 2008-10-29T15:47:30.000Z 2008-10-29T15:47:30.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2987-solar_rebate_ne Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The solar rebate continues to attract news coverage, here are a few of the stories...<br /> <br /> 22 Oct: SMH "<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/invest-in-solar-power-to-stop-prices-going-through-the-roof/2008/10/21/1224351253456.html">Solar power stops prices going through the roof</a>"<br /> With a mention of bulk buying and how cheap it is to get all your power from PV. <br /> <br /> 22 Oct: SMH <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/doubts-cast-over-solar-rebate/2008/10/21/1224351253405.html">Doubts cast over Solar Rebate</a><br /> About the uncertainty caused by the surge in demand for rebates.<br /> <br /> There was also an article (18th Oct) on funding being continued. <br />

The solar rebate continues to attract news coverage, here are a few of the stories...<br /> <br /> 22 Oct: SMH "<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/invest-in-solar-power-to-stop-prices-going-through-the-roof/2008/10/21/1224351253456.html">Solar power stops prices going through the roof</a>"<br /> With a mention of bulk buying and how cheap it is to get all your power from PV. <br /> <br /> 22 Oct: SMH <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/doubts-cast-over-solar-rebate/2008/10/21/1224351253405.html">Doubts cast over Solar Rebate</a><br /> About the uncertainty caused by the surge in demand for rebates.<br /> <br /> There was also an article (18th Oct) on funding being continued. <br /> 2008-10-29T16:29:41.000Z 2008-10-29T16:29:41.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2988-australian_gree Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An emerging trend we can expect is the Green party starting to be in powerful positions in Australia and New Zealand.<br /> <br /> SMH covered this <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/green-government-on-the-way-in-canberra-senator-20081027-59ti.html">story</a> about the greens holding the balance of power in the senate. (It shares this role with the right wing Family First party).<br /> <br /> ACT is currently in post-election negotiations, with Greens being the <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/poll-results-no-comfort-to-labor-or-liberals/1325259.aspx">king-maker</a>.<br /> <br /> New Zealand is about to go to the polls with <a href="http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/5099376/maori-party-king-maker-or-not/">predictions</a> being that the Greens and Maori parties will hold the balance of power. <br />

An emerging trend we can expect is the Green party starting to be in powerful positions in Australia and New Zealand.<br /> <br /> SMH covered this <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/green-government-on-the-way-in-canberra-senator-20081027-59ti.html">story</a> about the greens holding the balance of power in the senate. (It shares this role with the right wing Family First party).<br /> <br /> ACT is currently in post-election negotiations, with Greens being the <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/poll-results-no-comfort-to-labor-or-liberals/1325259.aspx">king-maker</a>.<br /> <br /> New Zealand is about to go to the polls with <a href="http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/5099376/maori-party-king-maker-or-not/">predictions</a> being that the Greens and Maori parties will hold the balance of power. <br /> 2008-10-30T09:39:50.000Z 2008-10-30T09:39:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2989-whaledreamers_o Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/WD eye 1 55k.jpg" border="0" height="111" width="150" alt="WD eye 1 55k.jpg" align="right" />Whaledreamers - made by friends of mine - is opening in cinemas across Australia. <br /> <br /> Its a powerful, true story of a supposedly extinct aboriginal tribe's reconnection with their heritage of calling the whales, and a gathering of indigenous elders from around the world on their ancestral land. <br /> <br /> With beautiful whale footage, and a message for our times about our reconnection with nature its recommended viewing. Its attracting rave reviews.<br /> <br /> See the website for cinema dates across Australia. <a href="http://www.whaledreamers.com">www.whaledreamers.com</a>

<img src="/images/WD eye 1 55k.jpg" border="0" height="111" width="150" alt="WD eye 1 55k.jpg" align="right" />Whaledreamers - made by friends of mine - is opening in cinemas across Australia. <br /> <br /> Its a powerful, true story of a supposedly extinct aboriginal tribe's reconnection with their heritage of calling the whales, and a gathering of indigenous elders from around the world on their ancestral land. <br /> <br /> With beautiful whale footage, and a message for our times about our reconnection with nature its recommended viewing. Its attracting rave reviews.<br /> <br /> See the website for cinema dates across Australia. <a href="http://www.whaledreamers.com">www.whaledreamers.com</a> 2008-11-12T17:37:05.000Z 2008-11-12T17:37:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2990-sustainability Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This article, by Kevin Wilhelm matches a lot of the thinking at Natural Innovation - i.e. that sustainability, done well improves, rather than detracts from a bottom line.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> In these uncertain economic times, companies often gravitate towards budget cuts and to scale back sustainability or &ldquo;green&rdquo; programs because of the notion that they take away from the bottom-line.<br /> <br /> In reality, this thinking is the exact opposite of what business leaders need to do. Sustainability may actually be the best defense against market volatility during uncertain economic times. <br /> </blockquote>

This article, by Kevin Wilhelm matches a lot of the thinking at Natural Innovation - i.e. that sustainability, done well improves, rather than detracts from a bottom line.<br /> <br /> <blockquote><br /> In these uncertain economic times, companies often gravitate towards budget cuts and to scale back sustainability or &ldquo;green&rdquo; programs because of the notion that they take away from the bottom-line.<br /> <br /> In reality, this thinking is the exact opposite of what business leaders need to do. Sustainability may actually be the best defense against market volatility during uncertain economic times. <br /> </blockquote> 2008-12-05T20:43:57.000Z 2008-12-05T20:43:57.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2991-michelins_activ Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is interesting - I heard Amory Lovins talk about doing pretty much this about 15 or so years ago as a necessary part of the hybrid car, and spoke to some engineers at GM about the electric wheels they were seeing about 3 or 4 years ago but interestingly it looks like its going to come from a tyre maker instead.<br /> <br /> ----------- <br /> <br /> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/core77/blog/~3/472667161/michelins_active_wheel_could_revolutionize_vehicle_design_11972.asp">Michelin's Active Wheel could revolutionize vehicle design</a>: "<p><img alt="0michelin-active-wheel_019.jpg" src="http://www.core77.com/images/0michelin-active-wheel_019.jpg" width="234" height="255" align="right" /></p><p>We naturally expect automotive innovation to come from the big automakers; but with America's Big Three on the ropes--not that they've been recently innovative anyway--it's nice to see a company like Michelin, previously thought of as just a tire maker, taking up the slack. The new Michelin Active Wheel could potentially usher in a new future for vehicle design, where innovation comes from multiple sectors, including 'mere' suppliers.</p><p>So what is it? Read on:</p><blockquote>...The transformation is truly revolutionary--no more engine under the front or rear bonnet, no more traditional suspension system, and no more gearbox or transmission shaft thanks to the Michelin Active Wheel. That's because all essential components have been integrated into the wheel itself. Cars equipped with this integrated solution deliver an array of unique advantages. In a sense, the Michelin Active Wheel is an intelligent wheel capable of propelling cars without gasoline, while ensuring suspension and braking functions and providing unrivalled road handling and comfort.<br /> <br /> <p><img alt="0venturi-volage18.jpg" src="http://www.core77.com/images/0venturi-volage18.jpg" width="234" height="175" align="left" /></p><p>The Michelin Active Wheel inaugurates a new era in road transportation in which a car's road, safety, energy and environmental performance achieve unprecedented levels. This is because of a miniature drive engine and an electrical suspension system incorporated into the wheel. These technologies developed by Michelin have made it possible to completely rethink the car.</blockquote></p><p>via <A HREF="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/01/michelin-partners-with-chinese-firm-to-create-active-wheel-syste/" >autoblog</A></p><a href="http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/michelins_active_wheel_could_revolutionize_vehicle_design_11972.asp">(more...)</a><br /> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/core77/blog?a=cCZ2FD"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/core77/blog?i=cCZ2FD" border="0"></img></a></p>"</p><p>(Via <a href="http://www.core77.com/blog/">core77.com's design blog</a>.)</p>

This is interesting - I heard Amory Lovins talk about doing pretty much this about 15 or so years ago as a necessary part of the hybrid car, and spoke to some engineers at GM about the electric wheels they were seeing about 3 or 4 years ago but interestingly it looks like its going to come from a tyre maker instead.<br /> <br /> ----------- <br /> <br /> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/core77/blog/~3/472667161/michelins_active_wheel_could_revolutionize_vehicle_design_11972.asp">Michelin's Active Wheel could revolutionize vehicle design</a>: "<p><img alt="0michelin-active-wheel_019.jpg" src="http://www.core77.com/images/0michelin-active-wheel_019.jpg" width="234" height="255" align="right" /></p><p>We naturally expect automotive innovation to come from the big automakers; but with America's Big Three on the ropes--not that they've been recently innovative anyway--it's nice to see a company like Michelin, previously thought of as just a tire maker, taking up the slack. The new Michelin Active Wheel could potentially usher in a new future for vehicle design, where innovation comes from multiple sectors, including 'mere' suppliers.</p><p>So what is it? Read on:</p><blockquote>...The transformation is truly revolutionary--no more engine under the front or rear bonnet, no more traditional suspension system, and no more gearbox or transmission shaft thanks to the Michelin Active Wheel. That's because all essential components have been integrated into the wheel itself. Cars equipped with this integrated solution deliver an array of unique advantages. In a sense, the Michelin Active Wheel is an intelligent wheel capable of propelling cars without gasoline, while ensuring suspension and braking functions and providing unrivalled road handling and comfort.<br /> <br /> <p><img alt="0venturi-volage18.jpg" src="http://www.core77.com/images/0venturi-volage18.jpg" width="234" height="175" align="left" /></p><p>The Michelin Active Wheel inaugurates a new era in road transportation in which a car's road, safety, energy and environmental performance achieve unprecedented levels. This is because of a miniature drive engine and an electrical suspension system incorporated into the wheel. These technologies developed by Michelin have made it possible to completely rethink the car.</blockquote></p><p>via <A HREF="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/01/michelin-partners-with-chinese-firm-to-create-active-wheel-syste/" >autoblog</A></p><a href="http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/michelins_active_wheel_could_revolutionize_vehicle_design_11972.asp">(more...)</a><br /> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/core77/blog?a=cCZ2FD"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/core77/blog?i=cCZ2FD" border="0"></img></a></p>"</p><p>(Via <a href="http://www.core77.com/blog/">core77.com's design blog</a>.)</p> 2008-12-05T20:46:18.000Z 2008-12-05T20:46:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2992-wind_belt Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<a href="http://www.humdingerwind.com/">Humdinger Wind</a> has an interesting alternative to turbines, using the old concept of fluttering belts, as used in the grass-plate trumpet we all knew as kids. <br /> <br /> The numbers don't quite seem to add up to me, but its a valuable addition to the three-rotating-blades idea. <br />

<a href="http://www.humdingerwind.com/">Humdinger Wind</a> has an interesting alternative to turbines, using the old concept of fluttering belts, as used in the grass-plate trumpet we all knew as kids. <br /> <br /> The numbers don't quite seem to add up to me, but its a valuable addition to the three-rotating-blades idea. <br /> 2008-12-05T20:54:42.000Z 2008-12-05T20:54:42.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2993-byron_green_dri Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Over the last year, I've been to "Green Drinks" evenings in San Francisco; Melbourne and Brisbane they were a great way to meet and catch up with and network with like-minded people.<br /> <br /> I thought it would be great to have an evening like this closer to home.<br /> <br /> The intention is to open it up to anyone who works in the sustainability sector - whether that is in business, non-profits or government.<br /> <br /> The idea is simple ... - no agenda, no programme, no RSVPs, come when you like, leave when you like, just people with a shared work who you might like to talk to.<br /> <br /> We'll make sure there is a table for you to leave leaflets, business cards or whatever, but thats all the organised part.<br /> <br /> We held our first evening last night (4th Dec) at the Poinciana cafe in Mullumbimby, with about 40 people there, and there was a general consensus to do them regularly, so they'll be on a regular basis from the end of January. <br /> <br /> I've created a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35490483639">group</a> on facebook to announce future events at so please sign up there if you want to come along,<br /> <br /> Or if you aren't in this area, you can find the <a href="http://www.greendrinks.org/">Green Drinks</a> event in your own area.<br /> <br />

Over the last year, I've been to "Green Drinks" evenings in San Francisco; Melbourne and Brisbane they were a great way to meet and catch up with and network with like-minded people.<br /> <br /> I thought it would be great to have an evening like this closer to home.<br /> <br /> The intention is to open it up to anyone who works in the sustainability sector - whether that is in business, non-profits or government.<br /> <br /> The idea is simple ... - no agenda, no programme, no RSVPs, come when you like, leave when you like, just people with a shared work who you might like to talk to.<br /> <br /> We'll make sure there is a table for you to leave leaflets, business cards or whatever, but thats all the organised part.<br /> <br /> We held our first evening last night (4th Dec) at the Poinciana cafe in Mullumbimby, with about 40 people there, and there was a general consensus to do them regularly, so they'll be on a regular basis from the end of January. <br /> <br /> I've created a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35490483639">group</a> on facebook to announce future events at so please sign up there if you want to come along,<br /> <br /> Or if you aren't in this area, you can find the <a href="http://www.greendrinks.org/">Green Drinks</a> event in your own area.<br /> <br /> 2008-12-19T10:34:00.000Z 2008-12-19T10:34:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2994-australian_carb Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I attended the Australian federal government's briefing on its "Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme" in Brisbane yesterday. <br /> <br /> The one-line summary .... inadequate goals (450ppm); targets that push the burden of meeting the goal onto the next government (5% by 2020) and measures unlikely to even achieve those targets. <br /> <br /> The government chose to send someone to explain WHAT is in the CPRS, but no-one to explain WHY. He gave a clear explanation of how it works, and responded well to those questions, but was clearly not authorised to discuss why the scheme is so poor. <br /> <br /> I've attempted to analyse the CPRS below, but please note that the actual white paper is several hundred pages long, so this is based on a fast read of the 77 page printed "summary". <br /> <br />

I attended the Australian federal government's briefing on its "Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme" in Brisbane yesterday. <br /> <br /> The one-line summary .... inadequate goals (450ppm); targets that push the burden of meeting the goal onto the next government (5% by 2020) and measures unlikely to even achieve those targets. <br /> <br /> The government chose to send someone to explain WHAT is in the CPRS, but no-one to explain WHY. He gave a clear explanation of how it works, and responded well to those questions, but was clearly not authorised to discuss why the scheme is so poor. <br /> <br /> I've attempted to analyse the CPRS below, but please note that the actual white paper is several hundred pages long, so this is based on a fast read of the 77 page printed "summary". <br /> <br /> 2008-12-20T09:52:54.000Z 2008-12-20T09:52:54.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2995-ecofont_printin Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/ecofont_voorbeeld_klein.jpg" border="0" height="60" width="266" alt="ecofont_voorbeeld_klein.jpg" align="right" />This is an interesting out-of-the-box idea, how much of a letter can you remove without impairing legibility. In the process you save ink.<br /> <br /> The font is free to download from <a href="http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html">Sprang</a>, though I haven't yet figured out how to embed in a webpage or word document so that people without the font can read it. <br /> <br /> (Thanks to <a href="http://www.floov.net/index.php?id=en&amp;sec=100&amp;sub=162&amp;pag=0">Floov</a>)<br />

<img src="/images/ecofont_voorbeeld_klein.jpg" border="0" height="60" width="266" alt="ecofont_voorbeeld_klein.jpg" align="right" />This is an interesting out-of-the-box idea, how much of a letter can you remove without impairing legibility. In the process you save ink.<br /> <br /> The font is free to download from <a href="http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html">Sprang</a>, though I haven't yet figured out how to embed in a webpage or word document so that people without the font can read it. <br /> <br /> (Thanks to <a href="http://www.floov.net/index.php?id=en&amp;sec=100&amp;sub=162&amp;pag=0">Floov</a>)<br /> 2009-01-04T08:35:22.000Z 2009-01-04T08:35:22.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2996-australias_perc Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

As I mentioned in my recent post on Australia's "Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme", Rudd has taken the unusual step of talking about how good Australia's per-capita cuts are, i.e. using Australia's projected population growth.<br /> <br /> Of course this only makes sense if you believe that a growing population is an independent uncontrollable factor, rather than just another reflection of government policy. But - according to "The Age" the numbers aren't even correct, and they also rightly point out that on a per-capita basis Australians emit more than 2.5 times as much as Europeans. <br /> <br /> <br />

As I mentioned in my recent post on Australia's "Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme", Rudd has taken the unusual step of talking about how good Australia's per-capita cuts are, i.e. using Australia's projected population growth.<br /> <br /> Of course this only makes sense if you believe that a growing population is an independent uncontrollable factor, rather than just another reflection of government policy. But - according to "The Age" the numbers aren't even correct, and they also rightly point out that on a per-capita basis Australians emit more than 2.5 times as much as Europeans. <br /> <br /> <br /> 2009-01-05T11:35:11.000Z 2009-01-05T11:35:11.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2997 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Following on from my own analysis of the government's inadequate CPRS, here is the commentary from the <a href="http://cleanenergycouncil.org.au/news/showarticle.php?id=174">Clean Energy Council</a> calling for the need for a Renewable Energy Target since the capped rate is too low to drive investment in renewables, (disclaimer: I'm on the PV Directorate of the Clean Energy Council, but we had nothing to do with writing this). <br /> <br /> I'll update this posting if I find other useful analysis.<br />

Following on from my own analysis of the government's inadequate CPRS, here is the commentary from the <a href="http://cleanenergycouncil.org.au/news/showarticle.php?id=174">Clean Energy Council</a> calling for the need for a Renewable Energy Target since the capped rate is too low to drive investment in renewables, (disclaimer: I'm on the PV Directorate of the Clean Energy Council, but we had nothing to do with writing this). <br /> <br /> I'll update this posting if I find other useful analysis.<br /> 2009-01-05T11:43:26.000Z 2009-01-05T11:43:26.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2998-renewable_energ Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The government has released a new Renewable Energy Target of 20% by 2020. This is a big step forward from the old 2% target, although still a long way from enough to tackle climate change, and a long way below what is achievable. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.climatechange.gov.au/renewabletarget">Draft RET legistlation</a><br /> <br /> The Clean Energy Council has <a href="http://cleanenergycouncil.org.au/news/showarticle.php?id=175">responded</a>, with some concern at the details. <br /> <br /> One area of concern is that there is a multiplier on RECS for small units, if those RECS are counted into the total target it has the potential to reduce the total target especially if distributed generation becomes more common than utility-scale generation. <br /> <br /> However since the overall effect when combined with removing the PV rebate will triple the out-of-pocket cost to customers, so we should expect a big drop in PV sales next year.<br />

The government has released a new Renewable Energy Target of 20% by 2020. This is a big step forward from the old 2% target, although still a long way from enough to tackle climate change, and a long way below what is achievable. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.climatechange.gov.au/renewabletarget">Draft RET legistlation</a><br /> <br /> The Clean Energy Council has <a href="http://cleanenergycouncil.org.au/news/showarticle.php?id=175">responded</a>, with some concern at the details. <br /> <br /> One area of concern is that there is a multiplier on RECS for small units, if those RECS are counted into the total target it has the potential to reduce the total target especially if distributed generation becomes more common than utility-scale generation. <br /> <br /> However since the overall effect when combined with removing the PV rebate will triple the out-of-pocket cost to customers, so we should expect a big drop in PV sales next year.<br /> 2009-01-10T13:47:10.000Z 2009-01-10T13:47:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/2999-toshiba_fastrec Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/s9_Tailwind_M.jpg" border="0" height="267" width="356" alt="s9_Tailwind_M.jpg" align="right" />For a while now I've been commenting that battery recharge time will be as important as capacity and power-to-weight ratio. This is particularly important for electric bikes and cars where a larger capacity battery also means more weight to carry around. <br /> <br /> Toshiba have just <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&amp;newsId=20090107005384&amp;newsLang=en">announced at CES</a> that their batteries are being supplied to bike manufacturer Cannondale for its Schwinn Tailwind bike. <br /> <br /> Toshiba says this bike should be able to go 20-30 miles on a single charge, but more importantly recharge in 5 minutes, i.e. if you achieve 30mph and take a 5 minute break every hour your range is unlimited.<br /> <br /> For this recharge-ability to be achieved I hope that Cannondale design the battery for easy removal, so that for example it can be pulled out and recharged at a cafe. <br /> <br /> See <a href="/files/080924_SCiB_PressRerease.pdf">Toshiba's press release</a><br /> <br /> I notice however on <a href="http://www.schwinnelectricbikes.com/Bikes/Tailwind.aspx">Schwinn's site</a> that they only claim "charges in less than 30 minutes" which suggests they might not have incorporated a powerful enough charger to take advantage of the battery's capabilities. <br /> <br /> According to <a href="http://envirofuel.com.au/2009/01/08/new-schwinn-fast-charging-electric-bicycle/">Envirofuel</a> the bike can be charged with "commercial chargers" in 5 mins. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately at this point its not available in Australia as the motor is 250W which is above Australia's absurd 200W limit. <br /> <br /> See previous posts on the topic ...<ul><li><a href="/blog/archives/2006/11/15_minute_aaaaa.html">15 minute AA/AAA battery charger from GP</a> - Nov 2006</li><li><a href="/blog/archives/2005/04/toshibas_new_on.html">Toshiba's new one minute recharge battery</a> - Apr 2005</li><li><a href="/blog/archives/2005/11/new_lithium_ion.html">New Lithium Ion Batteries from A123</a> - Nov 2005</li></ul>

<img src="/images/s9_Tailwind_M.jpg" border="0" height="267" width="356" alt="s9_Tailwind_M.jpg" align="right" />For a while now I've been commenting that battery recharge time will be as important as capacity and power-to-weight ratio. This is particularly important for electric bikes and cars where a larger capacity battery also means more weight to carry around. <br /> <br /> Toshiba have just <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&amp;newsId=20090107005384&amp;newsLang=en">announced at CES</a> that their batteries are being supplied to bike manufacturer Cannondale for its Schwinn Tailwind bike. <br /> <br /> Toshiba says this bike should be able to go 20-30 miles on a single charge, but more importantly recharge in 5 minutes, i.e. if you achieve 30mph and take a 5 minute break every hour your range is unlimited.<br /> <br /> For this recharge-ability to be achieved I hope that Cannondale design the battery for easy removal, so that for example it can be pulled out and recharged at a cafe. <br /> <br /> See <a href="/files/080924_SCiB_PressRerease.pdf">Toshiba's press release</a><br /> <br /> I notice however on <a href="http://www.schwinnelectricbikes.com/Bikes/Tailwind.aspx">Schwinn's site</a> that they only claim "charges in less than 30 minutes" which suggests they might not have incorporated a powerful enough charger to take advantage of the battery's capabilities. <br /> <br /> According to <a href="http://envirofuel.com.au/2009/01/08/new-schwinn-fast-charging-electric-bicycle/">Envirofuel</a> the bike can be charged with "commercial chargers" in 5 mins. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately at this point its not available in Australia as the motor is 250W which is above Australia's absurd 200W limit. <br /> <br /> See previous posts on the topic ...<ul><li><a href="/blog/archives/2006/11/15_minute_aaaaa.html">15 minute AA/AAA battery charger from GP</a> - Nov 2006</li><li><a href="/blog/archives/2005/04/toshibas_new_on.html">Toshiba's new one minute recharge battery</a> - Apr 2005</li><li><a href="/blog/archives/2005/11/new_lithium_ion.html">New Lithium Ion Batteries from A123</a> - Nov 2005</li></ul> 2009-01-18T17:51:40.000Z 2009-01-18T17:51:40.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3000-carbon_negative Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

There are a number of stories around about Carbon Negative cements.<br /> <br /> Its an area that is worth paying attention to, as cement production causes about 5% of world CO2 emissions. Novacem's product is based on Magnesium Silicates and supposedly absorbs 0.6 tonnes of carbon per tonne of cement. <br /> <br /> The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/31/cement-carbon-emissions">Guardian</a> has a good story on Novacem's product, and explains some of the numbers.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.tececo.com/">TecEco</a> in Tasmania seems to have a similar product, based on Magnesia. Unfortunately it has been hard to figure out what TecEco really have, check the website to see what I mean. I questioned one of his diagrams because they appeared to be missing the overall CO2 budget, and received a lecture and numbers in weird units, that could either have been just obscure or designed to hide the overall numbers.<br /> <br /> Another alternative is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hempcrete">Hempcrete</a> - a concrete made of Hemp and Lime. Apparently this is nothing new, and there are sixth century bridges in France built using this technique. (I need a reliable source for this!).

There are a number of stories around about Carbon Negative cements.<br /> <br /> Its an area that is worth paying attention to, as cement production causes about 5% of world CO2 emissions. Novacem's product is based on Magnesium Silicates and supposedly absorbs 0.6 tonnes of carbon per tonne of cement. <br /> <br /> The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/31/cement-carbon-emissions">Guardian</a> has a good story on Novacem's product, and explains some of the numbers.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.tececo.com/">TecEco</a> in Tasmania seems to have a similar product, based on Magnesia. Unfortunately it has been hard to figure out what TecEco really have, check the website to see what I mean. I questioned one of his diagrams because they appeared to be missing the overall CO2 budget, and received a lecture and numbers in weird units, that could either have been just obscure or designed to hide the overall numbers.<br /> <br /> Another alternative is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hempcrete">Hempcrete</a> - a concrete made of Hemp and Lime. Apparently this is nothing new, and there are sixth century bridges in France built using this technique. (I need a reliable source for this!). 2009-01-24T13:18:03.000Z 2009-01-24T13:18:03.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3001-population_and Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/population-australias-big-threat-20090123-7ord.html?page=-1">Age</a> has another story on population based on a new book. This is important because the increase in population is being used as an excuse for the miniscule cuts being targeted for Australia's emissions by 2020. <br /> <br /> See the <a href="/blog/archives/2009/01/australias_perc.html">previous article</a> on Australia's high per-capita emissions or my <a href="/blog/archives/2008/12/australian_carb.html">analysis of the CPRS</a>.<br /> <br />

The <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/population-australias-big-threat-20090123-7ord.html?page=-1">Age</a> has another story on population based on a new book. This is important because the increase in population is being used as an excuse for the miniscule cuts being targeted for Australia's emissions by 2020. <br /> <br /> See the <a href="/blog/archives/2009/01/australias_perc.html">previous article</a> on Australia's high per-capita emissions or my <a href="/blog/archives/2008/12/australian_carb.html">analysis of the CPRS</a>.<br /> <br /> 2009-03-09T17:31:26.000Z 2009-03-09T17:31:26.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3002-van_jones_just Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Update: This story is now confirmed - or at least partly, Van will join the Council on Environmental Quality, which coordinates President Obama's climate, energy and other <br /> environmental policy initiatives with federal agencies. - the NYTIMES has the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/03/10/10greenwire-authoractivist-tapped-as -green-jobs-adviser-10055.html?pagewanted=print">story</a>) and here is <a href="/files/vanjones_movingup.txt">Van's take on it</a>, where he denies being the czar of anything!</p><p>This story is just breaking - and not yet confirmed, but it sounds like <a href="http://www.vanjones.net/">Van Jones</a> has been given the job he deserves, making sure that the stimulus money gets used to create Green Jobs.</p><p>I first met Van a few years ago through the <a href="http://www.svn.org">SVN</a> and I still use his famous table of how to reach poor people with the green message.</p><table><tr><td>&nbsp;</td><th>Connects with Rich people</th><th>Connects with Poor people</th></tr><tr><th>Problem orientation</th><td>Drowning Polar Bears</td><td>Drowning Los Orleans</td></tr><tr><th>Solution oriented</th><td>Solar panels</td><td>Jobs installing Solar Panels</td></tr></table><br /> <p>Congratulations Van, you deserve it.</p><blockquote><a href="http://greendig.net/van-jones-green-jobs-czar/">Van Jones just confirmed as Obama&rsquo;s Green Jobs Czar via GreenDig.net</a>:<br><br /> By Karl Burkart &#149; March 7, 2009 </br><br /> I don&rsquo;t have all the details yet, but I have to post it up. I just received texts from two people close to Van Jones and the word is in&#8230;he was just confirmed yesterday as the &lsquo;Green Czar&rsquo; overseeing the allocation of green jobs money in the stimulus bill, with a likely focus on energy retrofits.<br /> </p><p><br /> This was first suggested/predicted in the blogosphere back in October by David Anderson of Green Options Media, who said that Van, equipped with years of grass roots experience in community development has built &lsquo;a credible case for the win-win-win green collar economy of the future.&rsquo;<br /> </p><p><br /> I&rsquo;ve been following Van closely and posting frequently with the anticipation that there might be a significant role for him in D.C. Van is in some ways a controversial pick, but though his work has largely been in the nonprofit world, he has a pro"</blockquote><br />

<p>Update: This story is now confirmed - or at least partly, Van will join the Council on Environmental Quality, which coordinates President Obama's climate, energy and other <br /> environmental policy initiatives with federal agencies. - the NYTIMES has the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/03/10/10greenwire-authoractivist-tapped-as -green-jobs-adviser-10055.html?pagewanted=print">story</a>) and here is <a href="/files/vanjones_movingup.txt">Van's take on it</a>, where he denies being the czar of anything!</p><p>This story is just breaking - and not yet confirmed, but it sounds like <a href="http://www.vanjones.net/">Van Jones</a> has been given the job he deserves, making sure that the stimulus money gets used to create Green Jobs.</p><p>I first met Van a few years ago through the <a href="http://www.svn.org">SVN</a> and I still use his famous table of how to reach poor people with the green message.</p><table><tr><td>&nbsp;</td><th>Connects with Rich people</th><th>Connects with Poor people</th></tr><tr><th>Problem orientation</th><td>Drowning Polar Bears</td><td>Drowning Los Orleans</td></tr><tr><th>Solution oriented</th><td>Solar panels</td><td>Jobs installing Solar Panels</td></tr></table><br /> <p>Congratulations Van, you deserve it.</p><blockquote><a href="http://greendig.net/van-jones-green-jobs-czar/">Van Jones just confirmed as Obama&rsquo;s Green Jobs Czar via GreenDig.net</a>:<br><br /> By Karl Burkart &#149; March 7, 2009 </br><br /> I don&rsquo;t have all the details yet, but I have to post it up. I just received texts from two people close to Van Jones and the word is in&#8230;he was just confirmed yesterday as the &lsquo;Green Czar&rsquo; overseeing the allocation of green jobs money in the stimulus bill, with a likely focus on energy retrofits.<br /> </p><p><br /> This was first suggested/predicted in the blogosphere back in October by David Anderson of Green Options Media, who said that Van, equipped with years of grass roots experience in community development has built &lsquo;a credible case for the win-win-win green collar economy of the future.&rsquo;<br /> </p><p><br /> I&rsquo;ve been following Van closely and posting frequently with the anticipation that there might be a significant role for him in D.C. Van is in some ways a controversial pick, but though his work has largely been in the nonprofit world, he has a pro"</blockquote><br /> 2009-04-09T15:57:12.000Z 2009-04-09T15:57:12.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3003-should_companie Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>As the financial crisis deepens, it becomes a big question as to whether sustainability programs should be cut. At Natural Innovation we've long believed that sustainability is an opportunity, i.e. that aligning a companies financial bottom line with their ecological and social bottom lines will benefit all three, and its interesting to see the debate shift in that direction now.</p><p>Some recent coverage included the Australian: <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25017783-5001942,00.html">Companies must not put green projects on hold: investors.</a></p><blockquote>IT would be easy for troubled companies to put their green schemes on hold while they deal with effects of the financial crisis, but investors have warned directors that such a move would be short-sighted and could cost them more in the long run.</blockquote><br /> <p>And also by the Age: <a href="http://business.theage.com.au/business/shining-a-light-on-sustainability-of-sustainability-20090128-7s1w.html">Shining a light on sustainability of sustainability</a></p><blockquote>THE view that sustainability and corporate responsibility are only important during "the good times" would suggest we are entering a "sustainability downturn". But there are many reasons to think the opposite may be true. Alongside the possibility that the triple bottom line will be separated, via an economic focus that takes precedence over environmental and social concerns, is the potential for it to be further integrated by today's economic issues.</blockquote><br />

<p>As the financial crisis deepens, it becomes a big question as to whether sustainability programs should be cut. At Natural Innovation we've long believed that sustainability is an opportunity, i.e. that aligning a companies financial bottom line with their ecological and social bottom lines will benefit all three, and its interesting to see the debate shift in that direction now.</p><p>Some recent coverage included the Australian: <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25017783-5001942,00.html">Companies must not put green projects on hold: investors.</a></p><blockquote>IT would be easy for troubled companies to put their green schemes on hold while they deal with effects of the financial crisis, but investors have warned directors that such a move would be short-sighted and could cost them more in the long run.</blockquote><br /> <p>And also by the Age: <a href="http://business.theage.com.au/business/shining-a-light-on-sustainability-of-sustainability-20090128-7s1w.html">Shining a light on sustainability of sustainability</a></p><blockquote>THE view that sustainability and corporate responsibility are only important during "the good times" would suggest we are entering a "sustainability downturn". But there are many reasons to think the opposite may be true. Alongside the possibility that the triple bottom line will be separated, via an economic focus that takes precedence over environmental and social concerns, is the potential for it to be further integrated by today's economic issues.</blockquote><br /> 2009-04-09T16:28:37.000Z 2009-04-09T16:28:37.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3004-queensland_subs Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Queensland has set an impressive target on solar hot water, putting together a scheme that provides systems, fully installed to homeowners for $500 ($100 for pensioners)</p><p>Its to be hoped its done better than previous efforts, there are some really good people in Queensland government, committed to sustainability, but as their is a pretty bad track-record in Queensland of great ideas ending up looking less than great by the time they get through the layers of drafting.</p><p>Their was a Solar PV bulk-buy a few years ago, for a 1000 systems, but the amount of bureaucracy built into the project meant that the company I was working with would have had to add $500 to $1000 to its price to handle it, i.e. the bulk purchase would have costed MORE than our standard price. Also by bulking it up in one go, rather than allowing competing tenderers to carve it up, it prevented smaller companies from participating as you had to take all 1000 (from Fraser Island to Gold Coast - about 400km)</p><p>Then there was a solar feed-in-tarif, that as announced promised a Gross Feed-In-Tariff, that would have boosted solar installations in Queensland, but got converted by the Department of Mines and Energy into a Net Feed-In which does almost nothing. <a href="/blog/archives/2008/04/queensland_feed.html">See what I wrote at the time.</a>, and what the government's <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/report-finds-solar-power-policy-flawed-20090403-9rmm.html">own report</a> says. This is even more significant now that the Federal government has halved the support for solar PV from $8000 for a 1kw system to about $4000</p><p>The current scheme promises 200,000 systems (about twice the current install rate of 90,000 a year, largely driven by replacing old broken systems).</p><p>Its received flack from existing manufacturers, though that is often misplaced as we've seen with Solar PV, and there are a lot of inefficiencies in the current sales-pipeline.</p><p>A more valid criticism is that pre-announcing the scheme in effect puts all current installations on hold, as consumers wait for the scheme to start. This story has been picked up by the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,27574,25299453-3102,00.html">Courier Mail</a>, and isn't helped by there being rumors in the press, and election promises, but nothing that I can find on Queensland government websites to clarify things.</p><p>To confuse things, from the customer point of view, there is a separate rebate of $400 in <a href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:CITY_SMART::pc=PC_5017">Brisbane</a>, a current $750 state rebate, and a $1600 <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/renewable/solarhotwater/index.html">federal rebate</a>, and almost none of the web sites covering this line them all up or are up to date.</p><p>I would suggest the best way to tackle this would be to post a target price, pool the customers, and allow tenders from companies that can meet that price. Then - and most importantly - keep the bureaucracy down to a minimum, unlike last time.</p><p>This could still be done as a tender, just allow losing tenderers to match the winner's price, which would allow companies with for example a narrower geographic reach to participate.</p>

<p>Queensland has set an impressive target on solar hot water, putting together a scheme that provides systems, fully installed to homeowners for $500 ($100 for pensioners)</p><p>Its to be hoped its done better than previous efforts, there are some really good people in Queensland government, committed to sustainability, but as their is a pretty bad track-record in Queensland of great ideas ending up looking less than great by the time they get through the layers of drafting.</p><p>Their was a Solar PV bulk-buy a few years ago, for a 1000 systems, but the amount of bureaucracy built into the project meant that the company I was working with would have had to add $500 to $1000 to its price to handle it, i.e. the bulk purchase would have costed MORE than our standard price. Also by bulking it up in one go, rather than allowing competing tenderers to carve it up, it prevented smaller companies from participating as you had to take all 1000 (from Fraser Island to Gold Coast - about 400km)</p><p>Then there was a solar feed-in-tarif, that as announced promised a Gross Feed-In-Tariff, that would have boosted solar installations in Queensland, but got converted by the Department of Mines and Energy into a Net Feed-In which does almost nothing. <a href="/blog/archives/2008/04/queensland_feed.html">See what I wrote at the time.</a>, and what the government's <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/report-finds-solar-power-policy-flawed-20090403-9rmm.html">own report</a> says. This is even more significant now that the Federal government has halved the support for solar PV from $8000 for a 1kw system to about $4000</p><p>The current scheme promises 200,000 systems (about twice the current install rate of 90,000 a year, largely driven by replacing old broken systems).</p><p>Its received flack from existing manufacturers, though that is often misplaced as we've seen with Solar PV, and there are a lot of inefficiencies in the current sales-pipeline.</p><p>A more valid criticism is that pre-announcing the scheme in effect puts all current installations on hold, as consumers wait for the scheme to start. This story has been picked up by the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,27574,25299453-3102,00.html">Courier Mail</a>, and isn't helped by there being rumors in the press, and election promises, but nothing that I can find on Queensland government websites to clarify things.</p><p>To confuse things, from the customer point of view, there is a separate rebate of $400 in <a href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:CITY_SMART::pc=PC_5017">Brisbane</a>, a current $750 state rebate, and a $1600 <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/renewable/solarhotwater/index.html">federal rebate</a>, and almost none of the web sites covering this line them all up or are up to date.</p><p>I would suggest the best way to tackle this would be to post a target price, pool the customers, and allow tenders from companies that can meet that price. Then - and most importantly - keep the bureaucracy down to a minimum, unlike last time.</p><p>This could still be done as a tender, just allow losing tenderers to match the winner's price, which would allow companies with for example a narrower geographic reach to participate.</p> 2009-05-24T15:07:53.000Z 2009-05-24T15:07:53.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3005-green_loan_chan Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>In the budget Rudd announced that the Green Loan program would now be smaller, but interest free <br /> see <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25446113-5013871,00.html>Australian</a>, the problem is still that they have to repaid much faster than the payback time of the improvement (energy efficiency, or renewable energy), but at least they've made the unnecessary energy audit free - I say unnecessary because at the home level the key is making the improvements cookie-cutter and cheap, and the typical $150 cost of an audit is unlikely to be repaid through improvements, and any energy/efficiency improvement is still going to require a certified installer to assess its viability.</p><p>See also: <a href="http://www.gmagazine.com.au/news/1313/green-loans-75000-households">G Magazine</a>; and <a href="http://www.gmagazine.com.au/news/1313/green-loans-75000-households">Sydney Morning Herald</a>;

<p>In the budget Rudd announced that the Green Loan program would now be smaller, but interest free <br /> see <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25446113-5013871,00.html>Australian</a>, the problem is still that they have to repaid much faster than the payback time of the improvement (energy efficiency, or renewable energy), but at least they've made the unnecessary energy audit free - I say unnecessary because at the home level the key is making the improvements cookie-cutter and cheap, and the typical $150 cost of an audit is unlikely to be repaid through improvements, and any energy/efficiency improvement is still going to require a certified installer to assess its viability.</p><p>See also: <a href="http://www.gmagazine.com.au/news/1313/green-loans-75000-households">G Magazine</a>; and <a href="http://www.gmagazine.com.au/news/1313/green-loans-75000-households">Sydney Morning Herald</a>; 2009-05-24T15:08:13.000Z 2009-05-24T15:08:13.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3006-bali_bamboo_and Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I'm just back from a vacation in Bali, while I was there I spent some time talking to people running interesting projects, and as usual its interesting to see the perspective of people working in a totally different environment.<br /> <br /> <p>One interesting thread was the use of bamboo - several projects are working to show that Bamboo can be a high-end material, not just something used by those who can't afford wood.</p> <p>I visited the "Heart of School" building at the <a href="http://www.greenschool.org">Green School</a> - 2000 sq meters, and 20 meters high, designed by "<a href="http://www.ptbambu.com/">PT Bambu</a>", watch the time-lapse of its construction.</p> <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSIcFpg70p8" cached="/cached/Heart of School Time Lapse.mp4"></content-video> <p>I also visited <a href="http://www.indobamboo.com/">Indo Bamboo</a> who are also working on making bamboo into a high-end material.</p><p>Conversations with local (balinese and expat) permaculture and development professionals varied significantly from their western counterparts. In particular the emphasis on local materials was key, given that local wages are about US$2-5 per day, Imported materials incur a duty of 50-100% which in many ways it reminds me of working with Brazil 20 years ago, where a duty supposedly imposed to foster local development created real hold-ups for anyone wanting to use computers. It makes components of a project which would already be expensive into unaffordable.</p><p>I was particularly impressed by some work to use low-head hydro, which would be particularly appropriate in Bali.</p><p>Some key requirements that need to be met include: low-cost water storage and filtration; fuel-efficient stoves and micro-credit.</p>

I'm just back from a vacation in Bali, while I was there I spent some time talking to people running interesting projects, and as usual its interesting to see the perspective of people working in a totally different environment.<br /> <br /> <p>One interesting thread was the use of bamboo - several projects are working to show that Bamboo can be a high-end material, not just something used by those who can't afford wood.</p> <p>I visited the "Heart of School" building at the <a href="http://www.greenschool.org">Green School</a> - 2000 sq meters, and 20 meters high, designed by "<a href="http://www.ptbambu.com/">PT Bambu</a>", watch the time-lapse of its construction.</p> <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSIcFpg70p8" cached="/cached/Heart of School Time Lapse.mp4"></content-video> <p>I also visited <a href="http://www.indobamboo.com/">Indo Bamboo</a> who are also working on making bamboo into a high-end material.</p><p>Conversations with local (balinese and expat) permaculture and development professionals varied significantly from their western counterparts. In particular the emphasis on local materials was key, given that local wages are about US$2-5 per day, Imported materials incur a duty of 50-100% which in many ways it reminds me of working with Brazil 20 years ago, where a duty supposedly imposed to foster local development created real hold-ups for anyone wanting to use computers. It makes components of a project which would already be expensive into unaffordable.</p><p>I was particularly impressed by some work to use low-head hydro, which would be particularly appropriate in Bali.</p><p>Some key requirements that need to be met include: low-cost water storage and filtration; fuel-efficient stoves and micro-credit.</p> 2009-05-24T15:22:47.000Z 2009-05-24T15:22:47.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3007-papyrus_banana Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com">Papyrus Australia</a> (ASX:PPY) had some coverage recently of a banana harvester it developed and has recently filed patents on. A key input to Papyrus's process of turning banana waste into paper is a supply of banana trunks, which are cut each year after fruiting, and a harvester improves the chances of getting long-enough high quality raw materials.</p><p>See <a href="http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-business/papyrus-lodge-patents-for-tree-harvester-20090506-aurg.html">coverage</a>; <a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au/news/announcements/ASX_Release_5_May_09_Successful_development_of_novel_mechanical_banana_harvester.pdf">ASX release</a></p><p><i>Disclaimer: I was acting CEO of Papyrus in 2005 before it listed.</i></p>

<p><a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com">Papyrus Australia</a> (ASX:PPY) had some coverage recently of a banana harvester it developed and has recently filed patents on. A key input to Papyrus's process of turning banana waste into paper is a supply of banana trunks, which are cut each year after fruiting, and a harvester improves the chances of getting long-enough high quality raw materials.</p><p>See <a href="http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-business/papyrus-lodge-patents-for-tree-harvester-20090506-aurg.html">coverage</a>; <a href="http://www.papyrusaustralia.com.au/news/announcements/ASX_Release_5_May_09_Successful_development_of_novel_mechanical_banana_harvester.pdf">ASX release</a></p><p><i>Disclaimer: I was acting CEO of Papyrus in 2005 before it listed.</i></p> 2009-05-24T15:39:13.000Z 2009-05-24T15:39:13.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3008-ets_delayed_imp Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>While I was away, the long awaited Emissions trading Scheme - the so-called "Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme" was delayed for another year, and a number of changes made to it.</p><p>I've <a href="/blog/fastsearch.html?tag=CPRS">blogged</a> before on the significant flaws in CPRS, and why it won't reduce emissions by even 5% which won't keep CO2 levels to 450ppm which wouldn't keep temperature rise to 2 degrees, which wouldn't stop dangerous change ...</p><p>The trouble with the changes is that they look good, while failing to commit the government to actually make significant changes. Rather than analyse it myself, I'd suggest looking at David Spratt's (Code Red) <a href="http://newmatilda.com/2009/05/05/sweethearts">article</a>, and Ian Lowe's (ACF) <a href="http://newmatilda.com/2009/05/07/why-acf-behind-rudd-emissions-trading">response</a>.</p><p>I respect both of these environmental leaders, and their are Pro's and Con's of passing a scheme - i.e. its a terrible scheme, but its arguably better than nothing. I suggest the focus of attention should be on the deficiencies in the scheme, rather than the position of any organisation on it.</p>

<p>While I was away, the long awaited Emissions trading Scheme - the so-called "Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme" was delayed for another year, and a number of changes made to it.</p><p>I've <a href="/blog/fastsearch.html?tag=CPRS">blogged</a> before on the significant flaws in CPRS, and why it won't reduce emissions by even 5% which won't keep CO2 levels to 450ppm which wouldn't keep temperature rise to 2 degrees, which wouldn't stop dangerous change ...</p><p>The trouble with the changes is that they look good, while failing to commit the government to actually make significant changes. Rather than analyse it myself, I'd suggest looking at David Spratt's (Code Red) <a href="http://newmatilda.com/2009/05/05/sweethearts">article</a>, and Ian Lowe's (ACF) <a href="http://newmatilda.com/2009/05/07/why-acf-behind-rudd-emissions-trading">response</a>.</p><p>I respect both of these environmental leaders, and their are Pro's and Con's of passing a scheme - i.e. its a terrible scheme, but its arguably better than nothing. I suggest the focus of attention should be on the deficiencies in the scheme, rather than the position of any organisation on it.</p> 2009-05-24T16:03:44.000Z 2009-05-24T16:03:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3009-electric_cars_a Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<img src="/images/betterplacebatteryswap2.jpg" border="0" height="216" width="250" alt="betterplacebatteryswap2.jpg" align="right" /><br /> <p><a href="http://www.betterplace.com/">Better Place</a> has been promoting the idea of Battery Swapping as a way to get around the range problem with electric cars.</p><p><br /> Last week a roll-out starting 2012 was <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/battery-stations-to-drive-rise-of-electric-car-20090513-b3am.html?page=-1">announced</a>.</p><p><br /> Earth2Tech has some good <a href="http://earth2tech.com/2009/05/13/photos-better-places-battery-swap-station/">photos</a> of the technology.</p>

<img src="/images/betterplacebatteryswap2.jpg" border="0" height="216" width="250" alt="betterplacebatteryswap2.jpg" align="right" /><br /> <p><a href="http://www.betterplace.com/">Better Place</a> has been promoting the idea of Battery Swapping as a way to get around the range problem with electric cars.</p><p><br /> Last week a roll-out starting 2012 was <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/battery-stations-to-drive-rise-of-electric-car-20090513-b3am.html?page=-1">announced</a>.</p><p><br /> Earth2Tech has some good <a href="http://earth2tech.com/2009/05/13/photos-better-places-battery-swap-station/">photos</a> of the technology.</p> 2009-05-24T16:10:47.000Z 2009-05-24T16:10:47.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3010-budget_round_up Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This year's budget and the submission to parliament of the CPRS didn't really have any surprises.</p><p>The Green Party rightly <a href="http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=28&amp;ContentID=141241">criticised</a> it as not being green enough, and even the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/china-slams-rudds-climate-uturn-20090515-b64x.html">Chinese</a> got into the criticism.</p><p>ABC <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/12/2568509.htm">says</a> that it funnels $4.5b to clean energy, but <a href="http://www.edelivering.com/lt/t_go.php?i=783&amp;e=NDYwODg=&amp;l=-http--business.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/few-green-winners-save-for-cleancoal-solar-camps-20090512-b1yj.html">closer inspection</a> reveals that the bulk ($2.4b) will be wasted on so-called "Clean Coal".</p><p>At least the solar power rebates haven't been axed just yet, as recommended by the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/ineffective-solar-rebates-should-go-report-20090513-b3ei.html">Wilkins report</a>, but that creates the strange anomaly with the industry rushing to get as many rebates pre-approved as possible because no-one knows just how long the scheme will last.</p><p>Unfortunately petrol is being <a href="http://www.edelivering.com/lt/t_go.php?i=783&amp;e=NDYwODg=&amp;l=-http--www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25470960-5017019,00.html">kept out</a> of the scheme till 2014, which means that we won't see the necessary reductions in consumption, nor the pricing pressure towards public transport, and of course any change in 2014 will be at the whim of the next government.</p><p>The bills for the CPRS have been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/historic-emissions-trading-scheme-bills-tabled-20090514-b3uz.html">introduced to the house</a> which at least will give some certainty - uncertainty being the biggest barrier to investment (except for a shortage of money ! ), the worst part is that the fixed price of $10/tonne for the first year means that almost nothing will happen as industry will find it cheaper to pay the penalty than to reduce costs - something closer to<a href="http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=815628"> $60/tonne</a> is going to be needed according to at least one Australian power retailer.</p><p>Of course, as expected the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/polluters-to-get-125-billion-in-carbon-handouts-20090519-bec1.html">big polluters</a> will get most (up to 95%) of their permits for free (an extra $1bn bringing it to $12.5bn), creating little incentive for structural change to the economy.</p>

<p>This year's budget and the submission to parliament of the CPRS didn't really have any surprises.</p><p>The Green Party rightly <a href="http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=28&amp;ContentID=141241">criticised</a> it as not being green enough, and even the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/china-slams-rudds-climate-uturn-20090515-b64x.html">Chinese</a> got into the criticism.</p><p>ABC <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/12/2568509.htm">says</a> that it funnels $4.5b to clean energy, but <a href="http://www.edelivering.com/lt/t_go.php?i=783&amp;e=NDYwODg=&amp;l=-http--business.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/few-green-winners-save-for-cleancoal-solar-camps-20090512-b1yj.html">closer inspection</a> reveals that the bulk ($2.4b) will be wasted on so-called "Clean Coal".</p><p>At least the solar power rebates haven't been axed just yet, as recommended by the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/ineffective-solar-rebates-should-go-report-20090513-b3ei.html">Wilkins report</a>, but that creates the strange anomaly with the industry rushing to get as many rebates pre-approved as possible because no-one knows just how long the scheme will last.</p><p>Unfortunately petrol is being <a href="http://www.edelivering.com/lt/t_go.php?i=783&amp;e=NDYwODg=&amp;l=-http--www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25470960-5017019,00.html">kept out</a> of the scheme till 2014, which means that we won't see the necessary reductions in consumption, nor the pricing pressure towards public transport, and of course any change in 2014 will be at the whim of the next government.</p><p>The bills for the CPRS have been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/historic-emissions-trading-scheme-bills-tabled-20090514-b3uz.html">introduced to the house</a> which at least will give some certainty - uncertainty being the biggest barrier to investment (except for a shortage of money ! ), the worst part is that the fixed price of $10/tonne for the first year means that almost nothing will happen as industry will find it cheaper to pay the penalty than to reduce costs - something closer to<a href="http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=815628"> $60/tonne</a> is going to be needed according to at least one Australian power retailer.</p><p>Of course, as expected the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/polluters-to-get-125-billion-in-carbon-handouts-20090519-bec1.html">big polluters</a> will get most (up to 95%) of their permits for free (an extra $1bn bringing it to $12.5bn), creating little incentive for structural change to the economy.</p> 2009-05-24T16:31:31.000Z 2009-05-24T16:31:31.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3011-storms_the_cost Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>As storms batter the North coast of NSW, you have to ask whether its got anything to do with climate change - after all we seem to get 1 in 10 year storms every year now. Winds reached 133km/h on Thursday morning, and significant parts of the region are still without power.</p><p>Insurance companies are starting to <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/insurer-blames-climate-change-20090521-bh7b.html">re-assess their ris</a>k based on climate change, with specific reference to these storms.</p><p>As the big polluters complain about costs, and job losses, they neglect of course the cost of doing nothing, and the jobs that will be created in a new green economy.</p>

<p>As storms batter the North coast of NSW, you have to ask whether its got anything to do with climate change - after all we seem to get 1 in 10 year storms every year now. Winds reached 133km/h on Thursday morning, and significant parts of the region are still without power.</p><p>Insurance companies are starting to <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/insurer-blames-climate-change-20090521-bh7b.html">re-assess their ris</a>k based on climate change, with specific reference to these storms.</p><p>As the big polluters complain about costs, and job losses, they neglect of course the cost of doing nothing, and the jobs that will be created in a new green economy.</p> 2009-06-16T18:28:40.000Z 2009-06-16T18:28:40.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3012-end_to_solar_re Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The federal government's solar photovoltaic (electricity) rebate came to a sudden end with an <a href="/files/Media Release 09.06.09-1.pdf">announcement</a> on June 9th - there was no notice, and this was the first that the companies working to sell Solar PV knew.</p><p>Of course, the writing was on the wall, the government had announced the system would be brought to an end, but had promised to keep it going until the expanded Solar Credits (RECS multiplier) scheme came into effect, which was expected around August or September</p><p>I haven't seen the official figures, however, I understand that in May there were 30,000 applications for the rebate, that is $240 million in one month for a scheme budgeted at $150m per year, over 5 years!</p><p>Eighteen months ago, (November 2007) we launched Beyond Building Energy, with a product priced at $499 (after rebates and RECS), when most competitors were priced at about $5,000. We did this by engineering the business model to a model based on volume.</p><p>When putting the model together I believed that there was a market for green products IF the price was right, i.e. the pent-up demand to live a sustainable life is there, but people believe they can't afford to. The demand proved that, in my street 50% of the houses installed solar, in the nearest town (Mullumbimby) it was 10%.</p><p>I guessed BBE had up to a year's lead. The rest of the industry said BBE couldn't possibly be able to supply at that rate - but gradually they came around to believe it was possible, and then to copy it. Which is how so many systems were sold last month. In that last month the systems were being sold by several companies (including BBE) for as low as zero, so of course there was no limit to demand.</p> <br /> <p>What now?</p><p>The rebate has been replaced by a solar credit scheme, which gives 5x the number of RECS, this works out at about $5,000 for a 1Kw system in this area, but bigger systems are also supported. There are problems with the model, firstly the total support is $4,000 per kw less than currently, and secondly that the RECS price fluctuates, so with the multiplier it could mean a substantial difference in out-of-pocket cost between application and installation. The good thing is that the wait - often a couple of months for DEWHA to first approve the application, and then another delay after installation should be one, since companies can create the RECS themselves.</p><p>Each of the competitors is likely to announce new pricing soon. I heard BBE announce on the local radio that they would now supply a 1.5kw system for about $2,500. At current electricity rates this should repay in about 7 years, so its still a good deal, though not as good as before. I don't know if that will be the final price, and there isn't one on BBE's website. The only competitor I've seen pricing for is <a href="http://www.rezeko.com">Rezeko</a> who are pricing at from $2,999 for 1kw. I haven't seen prices on any of the competitors sites yet (e.g. <a href="http://www.nickelenergy.com.au">Nickel</a> or <a href="http://www.ausenergy.com.au">AusEnergy</a>)</p>

<p>The federal government's solar photovoltaic (electricity) rebate came to a sudden end with an <a href="/files/Media Release 09.06.09-1.pdf">announcement</a> on June 9th - there was no notice, and this was the first that the companies working to sell Solar PV knew.</p><p>Of course, the writing was on the wall, the government had announced the system would be brought to an end, but had promised to keep it going until the expanded Solar Credits (RECS multiplier) scheme came into effect, which was expected around August or September</p><p>I haven't seen the official figures, however, I understand that in May there were 30,000 applications for the rebate, that is $240 million in one month for a scheme budgeted at $150m per year, over 5 years!</p><p>Eighteen months ago, (November 2007) we launched Beyond Building Energy, with a product priced at $499 (after rebates and RECS), when most competitors were priced at about $5,000. We did this by engineering the business model to a model based on volume.</p><p>When putting the model together I believed that there was a market for green products IF the price was right, i.e. the pent-up demand to live a sustainable life is there, but people believe they can't afford to. The demand proved that, in my street 50% of the houses installed solar, in the nearest town (Mullumbimby) it was 10%.</p><p>I guessed BBE had up to a year's lead. The rest of the industry said BBE couldn't possibly be able to supply at that rate - but gradually they came around to believe it was possible, and then to copy it. Which is how so many systems were sold last month. In that last month the systems were being sold by several companies (including BBE) for as low as zero, so of course there was no limit to demand.</p> <br /> <p>What now?</p><p>The rebate has been replaced by a solar credit scheme, which gives 5x the number of RECS, this works out at about $5,000 for a 1Kw system in this area, but bigger systems are also supported. There are problems with the model, firstly the total support is $4,000 per kw less than currently, and secondly that the RECS price fluctuates, so with the multiplier it could mean a substantial difference in out-of-pocket cost between application and installation. The good thing is that the wait - often a couple of months for DEWHA to first approve the application, and then another delay after installation should be one, since companies can create the RECS themselves.</p><p>Each of the competitors is likely to announce new pricing soon. I heard BBE announce on the local radio that they would now supply a 1.5kw system for about $2,500. At current electricity rates this should repay in about 7 years, so its still a good deal, though not as good as before. I don't know if that will be the final price, and there isn't one on BBE's website. The only competitor I've seen pricing for is <a href="http://www.rezeko.com">Rezeko</a> who are pricing at from $2,999 for 1kw. I haven't seen prices on any of the competitors sites yet (e.g. <a href="http://www.nickelenergy.com.au">Nickel</a> or <a href="http://www.ausenergy.com.au">AusEnergy</a>)</p> 2009-07-20T00:00:00.000Z 2009-07-20T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3013-christine_milne_spee Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I've been wondering whether or not to support the government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) - its inadequate, but isn't something better than nothing ? This <a href="http://christine-milne.greensmps.org.au/content/speech/a-different-world-speech-national-press-club">speech</a> by Greens Senator, Christine Milne is worth a read. It really holds up what we could be doing and gives a powerful argument why not to back the CPRS.

<p> <i>Incrementalism is worse than useless in the face of the climate crisis. Just as you can't be a little bit pregnant, you can't stop climate change by doing 5% of what is necessary. Or even 25 %. If we trigger tipping points, the heating process will gather its own momentum and there will be nothing we can do to stop it. Doing too little to avoid those tipping points is functionally equivalent to doing nothing.</i> </p> <content-video src="http://www.vimeo.com/5282859" cached="/cached/Senator Christine Milne - Press Club Address June 2009 [5282859].mp4" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/http://www.vimeo.com/5282859"></content-video> 2009-08-08T20:11:51.000Z 2010-11-07T12:20:43.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3014-the-good-life Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I've been telling this story for years without realising it came from my friend Mark Albion. Now Free Range Studios (Story of Stuff, Meatrix) have made a short animated film of it.</p><p><br /> <content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/McvCJley78A&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"></content-video><br /> </p>

<p>I've been telling this story for years without realising it came from my friend Mark Albion. Now Free Range Studios (Story of Stuff, Meatrix) have made a short animated film of it.</p><p><br /> <content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/McvCJley78A&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"></content-video><br /> </p> 2009-08-16T18:17:36.000Z 2010-07-15T10:04:21.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3015-flaws-in-uk-study-of-nutritional-advantages-of-organic-food Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>A recent study-of-studys. supposedly showed organic food was no more nutritious than chemical-food. At the time it was known that the study was specific to nutrition and ignored contamination from pesticide residue etc, but more information is surfacing on the other flaws in the study-of-studys. For example ... The Soil Association in the UK also pointed out yesterday that the FSA left out a more rigorous report commissioned by the European Union that found a range of “nutritionally desirable compounds” like antioxidants, vitamins, and glycosinolates were present in greater amounts in organic crops, while the amount of “nutritionally undesirable compounds” like mycotoxins, glycoalkaloids, cadmium and nickel were present in lower amounts by comparison in organic crops. There is a more detailed article <a href="http://civileats.com/2009/07/30/organic-versus-conventional-food-uk-report-flawed/">here</a>.</p>

<p>A recent study-of-studys. supposedly showed organic food was no more nutritious than chemical-food. At the time it was known that the study was specific to nutrition and ignored contamination from pesticide residue etc, but more information is surfacing on the other flaws in the study-of-studys. For example ... The Soil Association in the UK also pointed out yesterday that the FSA left out a more rigorous report commissioned by the European Union that found a range of “nutritionally desirable compounds” like antioxidants, vitamins, and glycosinolates were present in greater amounts in organic crops, while the amount of “nutritionally undesirable compounds” like mycotoxins, glycoalkaloids, cadmium and nickel were present in lower amounts by comparison in organic crops. There is a more detailed article <a href="http://civileats.com/2009/07/30/organic-versus-conventional-food-uk-report-flawed/">here</a>.</p> 2009-09-22T10:52:23.000Z 2010-11-07T12:34:40.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3016-bambuild-bamboo-workshops-in-byron Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="/images/bambuild flyer portrait small final tnail.jpg"><img src="/images/bambuild flyer portrait small final tnail.jpg" border="0" align="right" /></a>The newly created BambooStone foundation is holding a series of workshops on bamboo in Byron that will cover harvesting; treating; architecture; and building. They look really interesting, bamboo is one of the miracle plants that is still under-utilised largely I believe because of its perception as a "poor-persons" resource. Check out the full schedule at <a href="http://byronbambuild.posterous.com">byronbambuild.posterous.com</a></p>

<p><a href="/images/bambuild flyer portrait small final tnail.jpg"><img src="/images/bambuild flyer portrait small final tnail.jpg" border="0" align="right" /></a>The newly created BambooStone foundation is holding a series of workshops on bamboo in Byron that will cover harvesting; treating; architecture; and building. They look really interesting, bamboo is one of the miracle plants that is still under-utilised largely I believe because of its perception as a "poor-persons" resource. Check out the full schedule at <a href="http://byronbambuild.posterous.com">byronbambuild.posterous.com</a></p> 2009-12-28T07:58:10.000Z 2010-11-07T12:12:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3017-cost-comparison-of-cfl-incandescent-and-led Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/lightingcomparisom.gif" border="0" alt="lightingcomparisom.gif" width="300" align="right" />Based on an idea and spreadsheet I found at <a href="http://blog.mapawatt.com/2009/10/03/best-lighting-cost-comparison-incandescent-cfl-led/">mapawatt</a>, I've put together a <a href="/files/Lighting cost analysis.xls">spreadsheet</a> that tracks the cost curves for Incandescent, CFL and LED so you can see at what point you would break even. Based on a set of assumptions (that I got from Mapawatt), it shows (at 4 hours/day usage) LED's beat Incandescent after 4 years, but CFL's are better than all of them from year 1, it takes 30 years for LED's to beat CFL's but then need replacing after year 35. Obviously this depends on assumptions about inflation in electricity prices, so I've added a second tab, where I assume electricity inflates at 7% more than general inflation. This isn't unreasonable, for example NSW in Australia just authorised 60% over next 4 years, but its highly speculative how this will change over the longer term (i.e. over the life of an LED bulb).</p><p> </p>

<p><img src="/images/lightingcomparisom.gif" border="0" alt="lightingcomparisom.gif" width="300" align="right" />Based on an idea and spreadsheet I found at <a href="http://blog.mapawatt.com/2009/10/03/best-lighting-cost-comparison-incandescent-cfl-led/">mapawatt</a>, I've put together a <a href="/files/Lighting cost analysis.xls">spreadsheet</a> that tracks the cost curves for Incandescent, CFL and LED so you can see at what point you would break even. Based on a set of assumptions (that I got from Mapawatt), it shows (at 4 hours/day usage) LED's beat Incandescent after 4 years, but CFL's are better than all of them from year 1, it takes 30 years for LED's to beat CFL's but then need replacing after year 35. Obviously this depends on assumptions about inflation in electricity prices, so I've added a second tab, where I assume electricity inflates at 7% more than general inflation. This isn't unreasonable, for example NSW in Australia just authorised 60% over next 4 years, but its highly speculative how this will change over the longer term (i.e. over the life of an LED bulb).</p><p> </p> 2010-07-13T09:47:19.000Z 2024-08-06T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3019-gaiauniversity Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I was on the <a href=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029061811/https://gaiauniversity.org/advisory-board/"> initial advisory board</a> for <a href="https://gaiauniversity.org/advisory-board/" target="_blank" title="Gaia University">Gaia University</a>, which delivers degree level education in permaculture, eco-villages and eco-social regeneration. Their courses are delivered online and through affiliated training partners all over the world.</p>

<p>I was on the <a href=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029061811/https://gaiauniversity.org/advisory-board/"> initial advisory board</a> for <a href="https://gaiauniversity.org/advisory-board/" target="_blank" title="Gaia University">Gaia University</a>, which delivers degree level education in permaculture, eco-villages and eco-social regeneration. Their courses are delivered online and through affiliated training partners all over the world.</p> 2010-07-15T09:02:28.000Z 2013-08-20T04:22:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3020-urbanecologicalsystems Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><img src="/images/ues%20logo.jpg" border="0" alt="UES logo" width="146" height="55" style="float: right; border: 0;" />From late 2008 thru to the end of 2009 I've helped the team at Urban Ecological Systems who developed the first commercially viable integrated organic urban horticulture / aquaculture systems. I helped them develop the business, and find a joint venture partner to put upwards of $5m into the project. I consulted occasionally with them over the next few years, and in 2013 the first farm, 5,000 sq meters in size (1 acre) opened near Sydney, a second is nearing completion (2020) in China. UES is now branded as <a href="http://www.bluesmartfarms.com">Blue Farms</a><!--https://web.archive.org/web/20201029063604/https://www.bluesmartfarms.com/-->. (<a href="/files/UES - Mitra Ardron recommendation.pdf">Recommendation letter</a>)</p>

<p><img src="/images/ues%20logo.jpg" border="0" alt="UES logo" width="146" height="55" style="float: right; border: 0;" />From late 2008 thru to the end of 2009 I've helped the team at Urban Ecological Systems who developed the first commercially viable integrated organic urban horticulture / aquaculture systems. I helped them develop the business, and find a joint venture partner to put upwards of $5m into the project. I consulted occasionally with them over the next few years, and in 2013 the first farm, 5,000 sq meters in size (1 acre) opened near Sydney, a second is nearing completion (2020) in China. UES is now branded as <a href="http://www.bluesmartfarms.com">Blue Farms</a><!--https://web.archive.org/web/20201029063604/https://www.bluesmartfarms.com/-->. (<a href="/files/UES - Mitra Ardron recommendation.pdf">Recommendation letter</a>)</p> 2010-07-15T09:12:26.000Z 2013-08-20T04:23:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3021-tsca Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>In Australia I live in Tyagarah, an area between Byron Bay, Mullumbimby and Brunswick Head, and was active with the Tyagarah Sustainable Community Alliance which works to protect and enhance the environment and community of Tyagarah, <a href="http://www.tyagarah.org" target="_blank" title="TSCA">www.tyagarah.org</a><!--https://web.archive.org/web/20190919205907/http://www.tyagarah.org/--></p>

<p>In Australia I live in Tyagarah, an area between Byron Bay, Mullumbimby and Brunswick Head, and was active with the Tyagarah Sustainable Community Alliance which works to protect and enhance the environment and community of Tyagarah, <a href="http://www.tyagarah.org" target="_blank" title="TSCA">www.tyagarah.org</a><!--https://web.archive.org/web/20190919205907/http://www.tyagarah.org/--></p> 2010-07-15T09:27:14.000Z 2010-08-13T09:02:31.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3022-claimstofame Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This is a collection of things I'm responsible for, and also some of the arguments I lost. Many of them won't mean anything unless you were around at the time ....</p>

<p>In 1985, I started <strong>GreenNet</strong>, Britain's 4th ISP (when it was actually X.25 not TCP that we all used), it focussed on the non-profit sector It grew at 15% per month - i.e. doubling in size every six months, and is still around today - unlike its 3 predecessors. </p><p> From there, I co-founded, with people from IGC - especially Mark Graham - the <a href="http://apc.org"><strong>Association for Progressive Communications,</strong></a> which pioneered the Internet in much of the developing world. The name was <a href="https://petergabriel.com/news/peter-congratulates-apc/">dreamed up</a> in a hotel bedroom with among other people Peter Gabriel who helped with funding and publicity. </p><p> There is an interesting perspective on this in Peter Willett's paper <a href="http://w.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0911/msg00032.html" target="_blank">lecture</a> "Who really created the internet" and in Frederik Noronha &amp; Karen Higgs <a href="http://www.apc.org/en/news/internet-radically-different-place-because-apc" target="_blank" title="APC history article">article</a> </p><p> For a long time I was CTO at <strong>Pandora Systems</strong> one of the first ISP's in San Francisco, and a pioneer of making the internet, which untill then had been an academic and military playground, available for commercial and general public use. </p><p> I was the lead technical person at Pandora, advising the creation of <strong>Sovam</strong> - Russia's first ISP, and for the first time making the Internet available for commercial use in Russia. At that time a third of the Soviet Unions international data flowed through the PC on my desk to the net, (on a 9600 baud leased line). At this time there were only about 21 international phone lines into Russia, and during the coup against Gorbachev we were the only working link into Russia, so that Nato had to call us (by phone!) to get email through to Yeltsin, holed up in the Moscow white house. (see John Quaterman's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20020825162309/http://www.mids.org/pay/mn/911/sfmt.html">history</a>). </p><p>I have a tenuous claim to co-inventing the <strong>URL</strong>, with Brewster Kahle (WAIS), Dean Tribble (Xanadu) and Bob Schumaker (AMIX) at a meeting at Hackers in October 1991. Of course credit with actually using the idea goes to Tim Berners-Lee who Brewster shared the idea with at an IETF meeting, and who needed something like this for his new system called the World Wide Web (note Tim has more recently told me that they were already working on the URL independently of our group). <a href="uri/wals.html">More docs ...</a></p><p>Apart from the original team in Minneapolis, I wrote most of the patches and additions to the open-source <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol)"><strong>Gopher</strong></a> server and unix client, in essence making it usable for commercial applications. While doing this, I was responsible for making sure that the IETF expanded its concept of <strong>Mime types</strong> from an email only perspective to work with systems such as Gopher and the Web at a time when there was real likelihood of Gopher and the Web moving to their own system of types.</p><p>I built <strong>AOL's first gateway to the internet</strong>, linking them to Gopher and WAIS (this was pre WWW), this project, original a side-project of the education group at AOL (the rest of AOL didn't believe in the internet at that time) evolved into the <strong>biggest cache</strong> on the net, 36 Gbytes - a huge amount for the time, and handled around 10% of AOL's total traffic.</p><p>As a contractor to <strong>WAIS Inc</strong>, I was the lead architect for <strong>CMP's TechNet</strong>, the <strong>first magazine publisher</strong> to put all its magazines onto the net and one that hit a million hits a day in the first week.</p><p>At <strong>Worlds Inc</strong>, I designed the technology for <strong>Worlds Chat</strong>, the first 3D avatar chat on the net, and also later at <strong>Paragraph International</strong> put together the technology for <strong>People Space</strong> in Japan</p><p>I was co-author of the Moving Worlds proposal, which became <strong>VRML2.0</strong>, and was then renamed VRML 97 when it was approved by ISO. Despite the attempt by SGI to claim all the credit, this was really the work of six individuals. Gavin Bell (now <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Andresen">Gavin Andresen</a> of Bitcoin) and Rick Carey from SGI, Yasuaki Honda and Kouichi Matusda and Rodger Lee at Sony and myself. There is a historical archive of the papers that I still have copies of <a href="vrml/vrml2/mw_history.html">here</a>. The spec morphed into X3D, and the VRML2 spec also became part of the MPEG4 scene description language and was later surplanted by OpenGL.</p><p>My own interest, was community online, so I co-authored with Bob Rockwell and others at Blaxxun and Yasuaki Honda and others at Sony, the <strong>Living Worlds</strong> specification for multi-user shared worlds, I wrote most of the technical aspects of the paper and in particular came up with the Zones / Objects / State concept, and the term MuTech (pronounced Mew-tech) which has gone into the language to apply to the technology that links multi-user systems. I'm told this is becoming part of MPEG4 multi-user worlds requirements.</p><p>In particular -- a tiny sideline in VRML2.0, but something that was learned from the mistakes of HTML, was to make sure that all URL's were multi-value fields allowing for pointing to multiple sources for textures. This was later exploited in the <strong>UML standard</strong> which I wrote the technical parts of with Chris Marrin, and which allowed textures and other files to be shipped as libraries, so that worlds would load much quicker. </p><p> I was heavily involved in Internet Standardisation for a long time, I'm credited in the RFCs (the documents that define the Internet) for being part of the <a href="papers/rfc1736.htm">URL</a>, and <a href="papers/rfc2616.htm">HTTP</a> and the <a href="papers/rfc1862.htm">Internet Architecture Board meeting 1994</a> and I co-authored the RFC on the mime-type <a href="papers/rfc2077.htm">model/</a> (the first new primary mime type accepted) </p><p> <i>I should say of course, that almost all of these achievements are due to the quality of the teams I've worked with. If I've missed your name from something, please <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">email me</a></i>. </p> 2010-07-15T10:51:15.000Z 2010-07-15T10:51:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3023-blogging-again Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>After a long absence from the blogosphere, and a move to Joomla which took a long time, I've started blogging again.</p><p>Currently I'm on a trip to India, Indonesia and Australia, checking out innovators that we've been working with, and some other people doing great stuff.  I'll post more as individual posts.</p>

<p>After a long absence from the blogosphere, and a move to Joomla which took a long time, I've started blogging again.</p><p>Currently I'm on a trip to India, Indonesia and Australia, checking out innovators that we've been working with, and some other people doing great stuff.  I'll post more as individual posts.</p> 2010-07-15T00:00:00.000Z 2010-07-15T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3024-resume Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Lots of experience in sustainability, management, IT, renewables, cleantech and so on - details in my resume. <pdf-link href="/files/mitra%20ardron%20-%20resume.pdf" target="_self" title="Mitra Ardron's resume"></pdf-link>.</p>

<p></p> 2010-07-15T11:21:07.000Z 2010-12-15T15:21:11.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3025-press Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I've received a fair amount of press coverage over the years, on some projects more than others, and less in recent years as most of the time now I prefer to take a backseat and mentor the true innovators to get coverage for themselves.</p><p>Here is a list and some articles - including some written by me.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><h2>2003-present: Sustainability</h2><br /> <ul><li>Interviewed for "Uptake", Oct 2010, <a href="?catid=27/3058-socap10" target="_self" title="Uptake video">report on SoCap10 conference on social ventures</a></li><li>Interviewed by NTN, June 1010, for <a href="?catid=27/3060-dtninternet" target="_self" title="Videos of future of IT">href="Future of ICT 2020" for Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs</a>.</li><li>Cleantech investor, July 2009 <a href="/press/cleantechinvestor_may09.pdf">Cleantech fate Turns on Policy.</a>></li><li>Byron Shire Echo, July 2008, <a href="/press/20080701_echo_A_ray_of_sunshine.pdf">A ray of Sunshine</a>, article about Beyond Building</li><li>Byron Shire Echo, June 2008, <a href="/press/20080624_echo_put_a_solar_panel_on_your_roof.pdf">Put a solar panel on your roof</a>, article about Beyond Building</li><li>Ethical Investor, Apr 2008, <a href="/press/200804_ethicalinvestor.pdf">"View from the Frontline"</a>, an article by Mitra about the Cleantech forum</li><li>Ethical Investor, May 2007, <a href="/press/200705_ethicalinvestor.pdf">"Cleantech gets its place under the sun"</a>, an article by Mitra</li><li>Byron Shire Echo, June 2007, <a href="/press/20070612_echo_coolbyron.pdf">Byron Cool Business competition</a></li><li>Byron Shire Echo, June 2007, <a href="/press/20070605_echo_egg.pdf">Using your EGG to comprehend nature</a>, a school sustainability project.</li><li>Byron Shire Echo, Feb 2007, <a href="/press/20070213_echo_coolbizannoune.pdf">Announcement of Cool Business competition</a></li><li>Byron Shire Echo, Mar 2006, <a href="/press/20060307_echo_ethicalpurchasing.pdf">Councillors find a tender awareness of ethics</a>: Lobbying council to adopt an ethical purchasing policy</li><li>Byron Shire Echo, Jan 2006, <a href="/press/20060117_echo_kbr.pdf">What to do with KBR</a>: Letter to the editor about ethical purchasing</li><li>Byron Shire Echo, Aug 2005, <a href="/press/20050816_echo_bsvnclimate.pdf">Learn more about climate change</a>: BSVN event about climate change</li><li>Northern Star, July 2004, winner of <a href="http://www.northernriversacc.com.au/nrbia/nrbia_main.htm">Northern Rivers Business Innovation Award</a> for Best New Technology for Papyrus</li><li><a href="http://www.echonews.com/1027/">Northern Rivers Echo: More Power to a Clever Idea - 8 July 2004</a></li><li>and a number of other papers ran a <a href="http://www.scu.edu.au/news/media.php?item_id=389&amp;action=show_item&amp;type=M">SCU press release</a> e.g. <a href="http://www.labonline.com.au/science/latest_news/article.asp?id=6087">Labonline</a></li><li>Byron Shire Echo, <a href="/press/20031203_echo_brainstrust.pdf">Brains Trust Opens for Business - Dec 2, 2003</a></li><li>Byron Shire Echo, <a href="/press/20031028_echo_kminsurance.pdf">Survey on Community Insurance needs - Oct 28 2003</a></li><li>Byron Shire Echo, <a href="/press/20031021_echo_peterharper.pdf">Alt Tech Head Speaks (about Peter Harper talk) - Oct 21, 2003</a></li><li>Byron Shire Echo, <a href="http://www.echo.net.au/archives/17_32/pdf/p07.pdf">The Cornflake Facts (letter about eating closer to home and connection to raod noise)- Jan 7, 2003</a></li></ul><h2>Before 1998: mostly VRML</h2><br /> <ul><li><a href="/press/199806_atinternet.html">@Internet - VRML still not ready for prime time - Jun '98</a> </li><li><a href="/press/199806_cnet.htm">CNET - VRML not quite ready for real world - Jun '98</a> </li><li><a href="/press/199702_winmag.htm">WinMag - VRML gets closer to reality - Feb '97</a> </li><li><a href="/press/vrml2_se.htm">New Media - VRML 2.0 Spec Now Set in Stone - Oct '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/paragrap.htm">NewsBytes - Paragraph 3-D Online Service To Launch In Japan - Oct '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/nw_09_vr.htm">Netscapeworld - VRML update - Sept '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/199609_netscapeworld.htm">Netscapeworld - VRML 2.0 Update: What are the issues, and where do we go from here? </a> </li><li><a href="/press/199609_vrmlsite.htm">VRMLSite - The Most Influentual People inVRML - Sept '96 </a> </li><li><a href="/press/231.htm">Web Interactive: Shared 3D Social Worlds on the Web and Internet - Aug '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/nw_08_si.htm">NetscapeWorld - SigGraph special report - Aug '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/press_vrml_199608_cyberedge.tif">Cyberedge - 3D Design and Virtual Humans - Aug '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/top.htm">VRMLSite - The most influential people in VRML - Aug '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/article3.htm">EETimes - Net comes alive in 3D - July '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/press_vrml_19960729_connect.tif">Connect - VRML a gift for retailers - July '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/article_.htm">Computer Retail Week - VRML technology will enable 3D Games, Apps for Holidays - July 96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/virtual_.txt">VR News: Virtual Humans Conference - June '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/article1.htm">Interactive Age - Big changes in the 3D World, VRML a new standard - June 96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/0_4_1696.htm">CNet - VRML not quite ready for real world - June '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/events.htm">VRML World - Events - May '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/960415vr.htm">VRML World - Moving Worlds officially adopted as VRML2.0 - April '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/960429v1.htm">VRML World - ParaGraph and Corel link up on VRML - April '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/article2.htm">EETimes - Upstart VRML group sees big time support - Feb '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/vrml_new.htm">VRML News - Jan. 96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/hotlink1.htm">VRML World - Hotlinks Forum - Jan '96</a> </li><li><a href="/press/509b137b.htm">@Internet-LAN Times - Virtual reality: Future of the Internet? - Sept '95</a> </li><li><a href="/press/issue16.htm">The Tessellation Times - Aug '95</a> </li><li><a href="/press/tracey.htm">Construct - VR: Theory, Practice &amp; Promise - July '95</a> </li><li><a href="/press/blackbu1.htm">VRML World - VRML at Conferences and Seminars - July '95</a> </li><li><a href="/press/xclusive.htm">VRML World - VRML RFP's due Jan 31st - Dec '95</a> </li></ul><p>See also rfcs1862, 2077, 2616, 2068, 1945, 1736</p><p> </p> 2010-07-15T11:36:57.000Z 2011-04-24T21:03:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3026-publicspeaking Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Mitra is a confident public speaker, and has presented papers, or sat on panels at many conferences, with audiences as large as 2000.</p><p>Some of the presentations - and in some cases the presentation materials - are listed below:</p>

<br /> <ul><li>Mini Bar Camp, Bangalore India July 2010: Natural Innovation - some technologies we are working on <a href="/images/ni.jaaga.handout.em.pdf" title="Powerpoint NI Jaaga">Handouts</a></li><li>Deshpande Foundation, Hubli India July 2010: Talk to Deshpande Fellows on Social Entrepreneurship - focus on scaling, and breaking rules. <a href="/images/ni deshpande part1.handout.em.pdf" title="Deshpande part 1">Part 1: Natural Innovation (handouts)</a> <a href="/images/ni deshpande part2.pptx.em.pdf" title="Deshpande part 2">Part 2: Social Entrepreneurship (slides)</a></li><li>Hub San Francisco June 2010: Speaker in debate on urban agriculture, how and whether it makes sense</li><li>Greener Minds, San Francisco June 2010: Co-led panel on developing technologies and products in emerging markets</li><li>Future of Money, San Francisco, April 2010: Speaker on the bridging the finance gap for developing country technologies</li><li>Hub Berkeley Feb 2010: Speaker on panel on developing country technologies</li><li>Greenfest Brisbane June 2009: Turning your green idea into a sustainable success <a href="/presentations/greenfest presentation.pdf">PDF of slides</a></li><li>Pitchclub Brisbane April 2009: (competitive pitching for Zeo - winner)</li><li>Screenworks: Web Futures Seminar - December 2004: New Directions - blogs, rss and social networks, <a href="/presentations/screenworks.pdf">PDF of slides</a></li><li>ACE (Adult Community Education) IT Trainers intensive, September 2004: IT training requirements in today's world <a href="/presentations/ace_it_day.pdf">PDF of Slides</a>; <a href="/presentations/ace_it_day_links.wiki">Links</a></li><li>ACE (Adult Community Education) IT Trainers day, July 2004: IT training requirements in today's world <a href="/presentations/ace_it_training.pdf">PDF of slides</a>; <a href="/presentations/ace_it_training.rtf">RTF</a></li><li><a href="http://itira.cqu.edu.au/2003/">Information Technologies in Rural Areas</a>, December 2003: <a href="/presentations/mitra_200312_itira.ppt.pdf">Byron Knowledge Management Project</a> (<a href="/presentations/itira_paper.doc">published paper</a>)</li><li><a href="http://www.ala.asn.au/conf/2003/">Adult Learning Australia</a>, November 2003: <a href="/presentations/mitra_200311_ala.ppt.pdf">Byron Knowledge Management Project</a> (<a href="/files/ala_paper.pdf">peer reviewed paper</a>)</li><li>Adult Community Education NSW, August 2003: <a href="/presentations/km_200307_sydney.htm">Byron Knowledge Management Project</a> (<a href="/presentations/km_200307_sydney_handout.doc">handout</a>)</li><li><a href="http://www.ccnr.net">CCNR</a> June 2002: <a href="/presentations/ccnr2002.htm">Open Source Content Management Systems for Community Networks</a>.</li><li><a href="http://www.fdis.org/">Frontiers in Distributed Information Systems (FDIS)</a> June 99: <a href="http://www.fdis.org/99/mitra.htm">Community Software - history, current state and challenges</a> (<a href="/presentations/fdis99_mitra_community.htm">cache</a>)</li><li><a href="http://www.ccon.org/conf97">Avatars Oct 97</a> : Several panels on Living Worlds and other topics</li><li>Australian Internet World Aug 97: Tutorial on Living Worlds</li><li><a href="http://www.fdis.org/">Frontiers in Distributed Information Systems</a> June 97: Multi User Interaction in VRML 2.0</li><li><a href="http://www.siggraph.org/s97/conference/panels/t1015a.html">Siggraph Aug 97</a>: Presented the case for VRML in debate with Java3D, SGI, Microsoft before an audience of about 2000</li><li><a href="http://www.listserv.acm.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9702c&L=chi-announcements&F=&S=&P=338">VRML Feb 97</a>: Panels chair for the conference & Chaired panel on Living Worlds</li><li>Toronto Internet World Jan 97: Panelist on multi-user VRML.</li><li>World Makers Jan 97: Panelist on "<a href="/presentations/wm_babel.htm">Tour of Babel - language divergence</a>"; <a href="/presentations/wm_big.htm">Big Persistent Worlds</a>;  <a href="/presentations/wm_multi.htm">Multi-user</a></li><li><a href="http://www.ccon.org/events/conf96.html">Earth To Avatars Oct 96</a>: Avatar Standards Track panelist, presenting Living Worlds</li><li>SigGraph Aug 96: BOF Panelist on VRML binary format, and future of VRML and <a href="/presentations/siggraph_multiuser.htm">multi-user</a></li><li><a href="/press/events.htm">Web Interactive July 96</a>: <a href="/presentations/webinteractive.htm">Tutorial on VRML2.0</a> and several panels including <a href="/presentations/WSI-author.pdf">Authoring</a></li><li><a href="http://www.isoc.org/inet96/inet96">ISOC - INET 96</a>: <a href="vrml/vrml2/inet96.htm">VRML2.0/Moving Worlds: Adding Behaviors and Multiuser to VRML</a></li><li>Virtual Humans June 96: <a href="/presentations/vhuman.htm">Avatars on the Net</a></li><li>Uniforum 96: <a href="/presentations/uniforum.html">VRML2.0, and multiuser 3D Worlds.</a></li><li>VRML 95: Moving Worlds - adding behaviors to VRML</li><li>San Diego Behaviors Symposium 95: Presented papers on adding behaviors to VRML, and led sub-group on merging different event driven proposals</li><li>Verge meeting 95: Presented Worlds Chat</li><li>VR World 95: Presented Worlds Inc multi user worlds</li><li>WWW2 94 - Chicago: Presented URL's, URN's, URC's and resolution mechanisms</li><li>Gopher 94: Presented AOL Gateway, led session on Quality control</li><li>Gopher 93: Presented problems with Gopher+, and led session on moving to Mime types</li><li>International Communications Association, New Orleans 88: <a href="apchistory/apc_ica_1988.pdf">Why the Association for Progressive Communications is different</a>. </li></ul><p><img src="data:image/png;base64,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" border="0" style="position: absolute; visibility: visible; color: transparent; margin: 0px; border: medium none; z-index: 2147483647; left: 148px; top: 96px;" /></p> 2010-07-15T11:50:35.000Z 2010-11-07T13:09:03.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3027-standards Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I worked with, and on internet standards committees from 1990 till 1997, through times at Pandora, WAIS, Worlds Inc, Paragraph and SGI. I no longer do this work with the internet, but would be interested in similar work with sustainability standards.</p><p>In particular some highlights have been:</p>

<br /> <ul><li>I was heavily involved in early internet standardisation. I'm credited in the RFCs (the documents that define the Internet) for being part of the <a href="/papers/rfc1736.htm">URL</a>, and <a href="/papers/rfc2616.htm">HTTP</a> and the <a href="/papers/rfc1862.htm">Internet Architecture Board meeting 1994</a> and I co-authored the RFC on the mime-type <a href="/papers/rfc2077.htm">model/</a> (the first new primary mime type accepted) </li><li>I have a tenuous claim to co-inventing the <strong>URL</strong>, with Brewster Kahle, Bob Tribble and Bob Schumaker at a meeting at the "Hackers Conference" in October 1991. Of course credit with actually using the idea goes to Tim Berners-Lee who Brewster shared the idea with at an IETF meeting, and who needed something like this for his new system called the World Wide Web. <a href="/uri/wals.html">More docs ...</a></li><li>I was co-author of the Moving Worlds proposal, which became <strong>VRML2.0</strong>, and was then renamed VRML 97 when it was approved by ISO. Despite the attempt by SGI to claim all the credit, this was really mostly the work of a few individuals: Gavin Bell, Rick Carey and Chris Marrin from SGI; Yasuaki Honda and Kouichi Matusda and Rodger Lee at Sony and myself. There is a historical archive of the papers I still have copies of <a href="/vrml/vrml2/mw_history.html">here</a>, the spec more recently morphed into X3D, and the VRML2 spec also became part of the MPEG4 scene description language.</li><li>My own interest, was creating community online, so I co-authored with Bob Rockwell and others at Blaxxun and Honda-san and others at Sony, the <strong>Living Worlds</strong> specification for multi-user shared worlds, I wrote most of the technical aspects of the paper and in particular came up with the Zones / Objects / State concept, and the term MuTech (pronounced Mew-tech) which has gone into the language to apply to the technology that links multi-user systems. I'm told this is becoming part of MPEG4 multi-user environment requirements, although I have not stayed connected with this work. </li><li>In particular -- a tiny sideline in VRML2.0, but something that was learned from the mistakes of HTML, was to make sure that all URL's were multi-value fields allowing for pointing to multiple sources for textures. This was later exploited in the <strong>UML standard</strong> which I wrote the technical parts of with Chris Marrin, and which allowed textures and other files to be shipped as libraries, so that 3D environments would load much quicke</li></ul><p> </p> 2010-07-15T11:55:10.000Z 2010-07-15T11:55:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3028-projectsandclients Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This page has moved to <a href="?catid=35,16&sort=-created">Past Projects and Clients</a>

This page has moved to <a href="?catid=35,16&sort=-created">Past Projects and Clients</a> 2010-07-15T12:19:37.000Z 2010-11-07T13:33:14.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3030-games Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Games and similar activities provide a valuable and fun way to help groups work together. This article gathers together some ideas from different places. I'd welcome comments and suggestions sent to me at mitra@mitra.biz<!-- <img src="/images/mmb.gif" mce_src="/images/mmb.gif" border="0" /> -->, if you are looking at a printout you might want to get the latest version at www.mitra.biz/games.shtml</p>

<div class="boxright" style="float:right; border:1px solid"><br /> <h4>Some other games sites I like:</h4><br /> <ul><li><br /> <h4><a href="http://www.group-games.com/">www.group-games.com</a></h4><br /> </li></ul></div><br /> <p>These games seem to pass around the circuit of conferences and gatherings, mutating as they go, there origins are obscured, but I want to express a thank you, to Robin Clayfield, Gary Norfolk, Navanita and Prakash from whom I learned many of these activities. (I'll add contact info for these people later</p><h2>Why Games</h2><br /> <p>There are many good reasons for games, and its important to pick games that help to achieve the goals you are trying to achieve. Here are some of the possible reasons.</p><ul><li>Getting to know each other - finding out about each other, everything from names, to personal historys.</li><li>Bonding and building trust - helping a group to work better together, by becoming friends as well as colleagues. Learning to trust each other. </li><li>Conflict Resolution - helping to resolve conflict in a group, for example by allowing it to be played out, or for the protagonists to see the humanity of their opponents.</li><li>Revision / Checkin - finding out how someone is at the moment, or going over things we did previously. (For example at the beginning of a meeting).</li><li>Left Brain - Right Brain balancing, this can be useful when the group is about to embark on some activity needing creativity. </li><li>Pushing Limits - growth through testing what our own, and each other's limits are in a safe environment.</li><li>Relaxation or Energizing - changing the energy level of the group, relaxing after hard work or waking up a sleepy group.</li><li>Problem Solving - Getting at problems from a different angle. </li><li>Teaching Skills - for example debating / interviewing skills, or leadership skills.</li><li>Grouping People - simple games to pick groups of people randomly. </li><li>Healing / Therapy - working through personal problems and traumas.</li><li>Catharsis / Release / Laugh / Discharge - Games that let off emotions such as anger and frustration in a relatively safe manner.</li><li>Level Playing Field / Deflating Egos - helping serious people take themselves less seriously, helping dominant people see the value of others. </li><li>Breaking Boredom - Creating a break away from, for example a monotous session of information sharing and decision making.</li><li>And last and most important of all, just plain having FUN ! </li></ul><h2>Taking Care</h2><br /> <p>All of us have boundaries, and limitations, in areas such as physical abilities, psychological strengths and weaknesses, emotional and sexual limits. The most interesting games and activities happen when we are playing close to, and just beyond those boundaries. If things are too easy, the game is probably going to be uninteresting and boring, but push the boundaries too far, and people are going to freak out, or even leave. Unfortunately people's boundaries (especially emotional and sexual ones) are usually not written on signs over their heads, and anyway the rewarding experiences for most people are when we test and push just beyond those boundaries. In addition different people in the group are likely to have their limits in different places.</p><p>Which games are appropriate will depend a lot on the audience, develop a good intuition for what is appropriate, and work up from the easier games to the more challenging ones - keeping your fingers on the vibes of the group. I find it really helpful to have an assistant part of whose roll is to keep their eyes on the pulse of the group, check out who is perhaps uncomfortable. Make it clear to people at the beginning of the session that it is totally OK to step out and not participate in anything they feel uncomfortable with, and in particular to feel OK about verbalising any problems they have with touch they consider innappropriate. Help people to understand that you respect their limitations, and that they should respect that other people may not have the same limitations. Its also helpful to design some games so that people can hold back and then jump in when they realise it is not as hard as they thought.</p><p>More problematic are moral and religious limitations where an individual objects to behaviour in others. For example while many people will have boundaries about how much of their own bodies they expose, boundaries which can easily be respected, strict muslims, christians and some indigenous cultures may have problems with other people's nudity.</p><p>It can be quite hard to get a serious action oriented group to play together, and so it is especially important to go easy on boundary issues on the first session, rather than creating potential resistance to trying things again.</p><h2>Games</h2><br /> <p><a href="?catid=34">Browse games</a>.</p><p><img src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABYAAAAUCAYAAACJfM0wAAAABHNCSVQICAgIfAhkiAAAAAlwSFlzAAAK8AAACvABQqw0mAAAAB90RVh0U29mdHdhcmUATWFjcm9tZWRpYSBGaXJld29ya3MgOLVo0ngAAAAWdEVYdENyZWF0aW9uIFRpbWUAMDQvMDQvMDhrK9wWAAACLklEQVQ4jbXUP0wTcRQH8O/9ekdjkT8CUqpee00bRyNNmSRSV0PcJJoQg2i6ODTExEUHg04OaNSppqtCjQ4ukDSKSuLUwcm4NNZcQYsIGtD+u/f7MZSWXltqo/Ul7/JL7u7z3r3fLye53e5xj8ejoYWRSCSSstfr1YLBYHcr4XA4rMmMMciy3EoXjDHIjDEoivL/4fefrP1P3nYEvqzLajOIo8fQz5/cfH3cnVttCM8udQaODBxQFx44Ye9h4HxvdGWtgMlbSXV2SQoMHf0RNcGSJJlmvPLdos7fdyIWL+D5myx+ZwwUDAIRh2EU1wYRFItA6FwvIjdcGJr4qFYakiSBlTavlABwsJth7mUWmSyBOAfnAkQE4gKccxBx/MoYmHmcxuH+NgAwGQ03j3NeRjjnoGqcC/zcIgghAMBkNISJuKlbEy4EaKdoKerC5nNMxQdlgVx+t0siKhYQovwV1rbdtyoNxlhxxoqilBMA0uuES6Pt6NqP2hHsoDarhJuXD2F5NV/uuJR1T4XLzvTJ25/VyHUnzgzba0YkKq6pdB4T00m47EyvPhU1M54asy3ee5o55bvwQQWAr/PHMBfbQGhGrykCANqARZ8asy3+ccYjg/K3kcF9UQAYvrJ29dmrDUxHlnOxu72P+rpYrq5eFU39K649TCF0tnPB0WdtCt2z48rQHIp+8XTHu9ET7alm0aY6fnFHjda98a/w3wZjDJLP5xv3+/1aK+F4PJ7cBm32CUNiyI2GAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" border="0" style="position: absolute; visibility: visible; color: transparent; margin: 0px; border: medium none; z-index: 2147483647; left: 934px; top: 27px;" /></p> 2010-07-15T00:00:00.000Z 2012-11-24T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3033-intentional_communit Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I wrote this document years ago to help people understand how to produce a legal agreement for their community, but since then I’ve realized how useful it is for any community in formation as its about helping to understand what your common vision is, and more importantly the details that will make or break a community.</p>

<h1>Intentional Communities Agreements<br /> - a plain English guide</h1> <h2>These agreements cover the following areas.</h2> <ul> <li>How to use this document</li> <li>Vision</li><li>Sharing</li> <li><a href=\"#common\">What common facilities we have, and how they are organized</a>.</li> <li><a href=\"#expenses\">How expenses and work is shared around</a>.</li> <li><a href=\"#allow\">What we can and cannot do on the land</a>.</li> <li><a href=\"#join\">How new members get to join the community, and old ones leave (also covers death and bankruptcy).</a></li> <li><a href=\"#decisions\">How we make decisions, including how we change our agreements</a>.</li> <li><a href=\"#not_keeping_agreements\">What rights does the community have over members who do not keep their side of agreements</a>.</li> <li><a href=\"#end\">What happens if the community closes</a>.</li> <li><a href=\"#legal\">What is the legal structure</a></li> </ul> <h2>Translations</h2><br /> <ul><li><a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20090715150815/http://jurkiewiczowie.webpark.pl/translations/communities_plain.html\">Polish</a></li></ul><p>Latest version is at: <a href=\"/communities_plain.htm\">www.mitra.biz/communities_plain.htm</a></p><p>last updated by <a href=\"//\">Mitra</a> &lt;mitra@mitra.biz&gt; on 21 November, 2012</p><p><strong>Disclaimer: This is a draft, and I'm not a lawyer, so I can't give you legal advice!</strong></p> <h2>How to use this document</h2><br /> <p>I wrote this document years ago to help people understand how to produce a legal agreement for their community, but since then I’ve realized how useful it is for any community in formation as its about helping to understand what your common vision is, and more importantly the details that will make or break a community.</p> <h3>Why</h3><br /> <p>I produced this after reading legal documents for several communities and noticing recurring problems.</p> <h4>For new communities</h4><br /> <ol><br /> <li>People starting communities often think they have a shared vision, when in reality there are gaping unspoken holes.</li></ol><br /> <h4>For existing (and new) communities</h4><br /> <ol><br /> <li>Many people on existing communities don't understand the legal agreements they have, or think they are different from what they really are.</li><li>The legal agreements often don't match what the community would like them to be.</li><li>People feel disempowered from working with agreements they don't understand.</li><li>Communities without clear, understood agreements, had much bigger fights, because they couldn't refer to a common agreement. Attempting to put together an agreement AFTER things had broken down, inevitably failed. </li><li>That while legal documents, and choices for structure, differed widely, the topics agreements covered, or needed to cover, were common.</li></ol><br /> <h3>Process for new communities or those without agreements</h3><br /> <p>My basic premise is that, producing community legal agreements that everyone is committed to, should follow something like this process:</p><ol><br /> <li>Figure out what your common vision for the community is - there are lots of ways of doing this, and I do not cover them here, other than some pointers.</li><li>Figure out what you are Sharing – see the notes below for a fun way of doing this. If you can agree on this …</li><li>Work through these questions, figure out answers you can all agree with, figure out what other questions you need answering.</li><li>Write up these answers clearly, in PLAIN ENGLISH</li><li>Take the result to a lawyer who understands community law (most do not!), ask them to put a collection of documents together that follow your plain English draft, make sure they tell you - and don't leave it to you to figure out - anywhere that your plain English draft doesn't match what they have produced. The lawyer should advice you of the appropriate legal structure, some notes on the choices are at the bottom.</li><li>Make sure that everyone who joins the community reads the Plain English agreements, and gets independent advice that the Plain English version matches the legal one. Typically the way this works is that after the first person has asked a lawyer to do the review, that others can use the same lawyer much cheaper. </li></ol><br /> <h3>Process for communities with agreements</h3><br /> <p>Communities that already have legal agreements should follow a slightly different process.</p><ol><br /> <li>Someone familiar with legal docs, should work through the legal documents, take each clause, and put a note into this framework of what the document says (in Plain English) and a reference number. (I can send you a couple of examples if you email me).</li><li>Work through the plain English version with the rest of the community, and check if its what you really want.</li><li>If it isn't, then go back to your lawyer and ask them how to change your agreements to match what you really want.</li></ol><br /> <p> </p><hr width=\"100%\" size=\"2\" /><br /> <h2>Vision</h2><br /> <p>Establishing a common vision for the community is crucial, there are many techniques that are great for this, but this document is not the place to go into them. The vision should cover the Objectives for the community - for example, \"To live simply in harmony with the earth\", or \"To live the principles of xxx (spiritual practice)\". Its really good to get a simple statement of these into one of the documents everyone signs so that there can be no question that everyone is on board to the basic vision.</p> <h2>Sharing</h2><br /> <p>Then I suggest figuring out what it is you want to share, again there are ways and techniques form boring surveys, to brainstorms, to a fabulous line-exercise that Robin Clayfield taught me.</p><p>In Robin’s game you imagine a line across the room from “Totally Shared” to “Totally personal” and as the facilitator calls out different words you move to the point in the room that relates to how much you want to share that activity. Its interesting to see if you always end up with the same people, or if everyone wants to share some things and not others.\_ Seeing the diversity helps understand how to create social or physical structures that support that diversity of needs.</p><p>Useful sharing concepts to discuss include:</p><ul><li>Food growing; cooking; buying; eating;</li><li>Children: parenting; schooling; playing; childcare; </li><li>Land: Caring; projects; regeneration</li><li>Political action; Spirituality; Celebration; Music &amp; Dance; Sexuality</li></ul><p> </p> <h2>What common facilities we have, and how they are organized.</h2><br /> <p>The next set of questions cover common facilities, define what things are to be owned commonly, and how decisions are made about those common assets. For example this might include a common house, laundry, water and electricity supply etc</p><ul><li>Also think about items that are shared between just some of the members, for example a shared water tank or sewage disposal system.</li></ul><p> </p> <h2>How expenses and work is shared around.</h2><br /> <p>In this section we define the rules about how expenses and work are shared, some questions to answer are:</p><ul><li>Is work and expenses split per-share, per-shareholder or per-person on the land, or as a percentage of income?</li><li>What about members who are absent, are they responsible for example for there tenants to do community work, or to pay a levy instead.</li><li>Are expenses covered by some form of income, for example many communities have a guest business that covers most community expenses. If there is a surplus of income over expenditure is it distributed, or held for the next year.</li><li>What expenses are split, and what the responsibilities of the members individually </li><li>How is this decided on an ongoing basis, e.g. what percentage of members have to approve an expenditure.</li><li>Any practical stuff relating to making budgets, keeping accounts, and having them audited</li><li>Can the community charge a member for tasks that are their responsibility but that they don't carry out (e.g. mowing a lawn).</li><li>Think also about the expectations that each member can have over the group, for example there might be a requirement on the community to maintain the common land to a certain standard, in which case any member might be able to require that common funds were spent to mow the lawn, or remove a fire-hazard.</li></ul> <h2>What we can and cannot do on the land, and what needs permission.</h2><br /> <p>The issue of what can and cannot be done, and what requires permission is going to be an ongoing discussion in most communities, but it is important to have a baseline, a clearly understood set of guidelines which are subject to change from time to time, its also important for people to understand how they go about getting a \"variance\", i.e. permission to break the rules in a particular situation. Its also important to distinguish between what is permissable in one's own house or land, and what is permissable on common land/buildings.</p><p>There are some things that are probably going to be common to all communities and that its just good to have clearly stated in writing so that action can be taken when someone breaks the guidelines, specific examples are:</p><ul><li>No physical violence or sexual abuse</li><li>No disposal of toxic substances</li><li>No guns</li></ul><p>But other topics are likely to cause debate - some things to make sure to cover are:</p><ul><li>Animals - probably distinguishing between: Pets that are disturbing to wildlife (cats, dogs); other pets (e.g. birds); animals raised for slaughter (beef etc); other animals (chickens etc); </li><li>Noise - are there quiet days, is it absolute or only when someone complains; <br /> <ul><li>Some communities say that an individual cannot object to any noisy activity (e.g. a party) that is approved by the community. </li><li>Some communities say Sundays are a quiet day where any noise that is objected to must be stopped. </li><li>Think about how this applies to kids.</li></ul></li><li>Kids - what restrictions are placed on them?</li><li>Fences - many communities don't allow people to fence in their personal land, with or without fences how much of the land is private to a member, and over what parts is their a right of use and/or access over. For example, does one member have a right to walk past another's house to take a shortcut to theirs, or have a picnic in another's orchard etc. </li><li>Chemical usage - is the place purely organic, or just discouraging toxic use. </li><li>Car usage - can people drive to their own units, or must they park in a common area, or for example can drive to the unit but then must return the car to a common parking area?</li><li>Typically this section should also cover rights that go with shares, e.g. for an individual to build at a specified location, and occupy that space with their family. </li><li>Using the common land for commercial or non-commercial activity, e.g. establishing orchards, </li><li>Fires - what precautions / notification is required before lighting fires.</li><li>Diet</li><li> - is the community vegetarian, vegan, does this apply only to the common land/buildings or to people's personal lots, what about smoke from barbecues on personal lots etc.</li><li>Drugs - a key area of disagreement within communities. Consider personal occasional use v. regular use v. abuse; Use on private land/buildings v. common land/buildings. Remember that one person's recreational substance is another's dangerous drug. Think of the spectrum Coffee; Sugar; Alcohol; Marijuana; Ecstasy; Mushrooms; Assorted other white powders. Where do you draw the line? For example a middle-ground position might be to say no usage of any illegal substances on common land, recreational usage on people's own land/buildings is people's own responsibility, abuse is a community issue. </li><li>Renting one's space - is this allowed short-term and/or long-term. Does the community have to agree up-front, or does it have the power of veto over a guest. Does this power of veto extend to lovers, kids, parents. Is there a short-term/long-term limit on the population of any personal land. What about extra dwelling units on a land (e.g. caravans, tents)</li><li>Is illegal activity of a member something the community gets involved with, or is it the member's own responsibility.</li><li>How much say does the community have over an individuals construction of their dwelling? Colors, size, style, energy saving, etc</li><li>Think about rights that individuals have over common land, for example the right to gather firewood balanced against the need for wild areas. </li><li>Consider cases of necessary utilities, specific items that may need including would be: <br /> <ul><li>whether a member can build their sewage or grey water disposal area on common land, </li><li>whether they can sling cables across the land or need to put them underground. </li><li>whether they can put an access road / path across common land to their own land.</li></ul></li><li>Think about leasing issues regarding common land, for example members might be allowed to use common lands for commercial activities, with a lease where some money goes back to the community. </li><li>Consider fire management, both of the common land and individual areas. </li></ul><p>This section should also cover people's responsibilities e.g.</p><ul><li>Maintaining liability insurance for their site (otherwise the community may be responsible for actions of an individual).</li><li>Maintaining ones personal land - mowing grass, clearing weeds etc.</li><li>Removing rubbish and junk, </li><li>Screening laundry? </li></ul> <h2>New and departing members</h2> <h3>How new members get to join the community, and old ones leave.</h3><br /> <p>It seems that the issue of people leaving communities and transferring their shares causes more controversy than almost anything else since the needs of the person leaving, to get their investment returned in a timely fashion, can be the opposite of the needs of those remaining - to have a neighbor who shares their vision. Achieving a balance between these two requirements is our goal.</p> <h3>Questions to answer include:</h3><br /> <ul><li>What, if any, are the requirements for membership - does someone have to be on a particular spiritual path, be ecologically aware etc, is this an absolute requirement, or just a guideline that can be overridden by the membership process, think about what happens if for example one person meets the criteria, but their partner doesn't. Make sure to check with legal advice as to what you can and cannot say here, for example in some countries it might be illegal to require that members are from a particular religion. </li><li>What is the process by which new members are chosen, for example this might include: <br /> <ul><li>what percentage of the members have to approve of someone new, typically this might be from 75% or so at an MO to 100% at somewhere like Dharmananda</li><li>whether there is an integration period before a second vote, typically these range from 3 months (Mevlana, Gondwana, most MO's) to a year or more (Dharmananda)</li><li>If there is an integration period, are there sponsors responsible for helping the newcomer integrate. </li><li>Is the selection process open, or by secret ballot, can anyone vote or just members who are currently resident and not in the process of leaving?</li></ul></li><li>Money: When someone joins, how much money do they have to bring, when they leave how much do they get. Does money change hands between the person leaving and the person joining or with the community or both. Some example answers that I've seen: <br /> <ul><li>The amount is determined by the market (i.e. the seller fixes a price), essentially someone leaving sells their shares to the person coming in. This is typical of an MO</li><li>Or ... the amount is determined by agreement - or failing that an appraiser, and the community sells the shares on behalf of the person leaving. This works where shares are equal, or easily, valued, for example a co-owned house. </li><li>Or ... the amount is fixed, doesn't rise with inflation, this was often the case with Land Trusts (does anyone do these now?)</li><li>Or ... there is a fixed buy-in, but you don't get anything back when you leave. </li></ul></li><li>What happens if someone dies, gets married, or goes bankrupt or otherwise passes on the rights to their shares. <br /> <ul><li>Most communities seem to choose that the person receiving the rights has to go through the same process of acceptance. If not accepted then the shares are usually treated as if the person had chosen to leave. </li></ul></li><li>Is it one share per member, or can someone own multiple shares, is there a minimum on dividing shares. </li><li>Does a share for sale have to be offered to other members first. </li><li>What are the timelines. This can often be the trickiest part, the community wants long timelines so they can choose someone new, the person leaving wants short timelines so that they can move on. Complicating matters is the undesirability of having someone at the community who would really rather have left.</li></ul> <h2>How we make decisions, including how we change our agreements.</h2><br /> <p>Ask yourself how you want to make decisions, some of the choices are:</p><ul><li>Do you want to have everyone involved in decision-making, or do you want to elect directors and have them make decisions. Having directors reduces the amount of time spent in potentially boring meetings, but it tends to distance people from the decisions made. If you choose to have directors, what decisions can they make on their own, and which have to come back to the whole community.</li><li>Do you want to vote, or use consensus, or strive for consensus with a voting fallback. Consensus will ensure people are more likely to support the decision made, but it has also been seen to lead to interminable meetings, and the opportunity for one stubborn person to block any decision, or for example to block any proposal made by someone they don't like. There has been much written on the pro's and con's of consensus, so read some more about this, and discuss it with people who've tried it in a community like yours before making your decision. <br /> <ul><li>One community I'm familiar with decides by consensus at a meeting, and if consensus cannot be reached pushes it back to the next meeting where a vote can be taken, this means that anyone who wants a quick decision needs to make sure it is acceptable to everyone.</li><li>If you are voting, what percentage have to approve a decision? 51%, 80% ?</li></ul></li><li>Who gets to participate in decision making, members, long-term guests, partners, kids? If decisions are by votes, then is it one per person, or one per shareholding? </li><li>What is the quorum, i.e. how many people / shares have to be at a meeting for it to be able to make decisions. </li><li>Does formal notice have to be given before a meeting, or only for certain kinds of decisions.</li><li>What is the meeting process - a talking stick going around, or something informal (with a chairperson), or what? </li><li>How about absent members, can they vote by post (this has the disadvantage that the motion cannot be changed to try and achieve compromise) or via a proxy?</li><li>Often people who owe money to the community can't vote, often people who are not resident can't vote on new members, often people who have given notice of leaving can't vote on certain decisions (like approving new members).</li><li>What agreements can be changed simply in a meeting, and what decisions require 100% (i.e. no objections), it is important to get this clear as it will effect what agreements end up in \"Articles of Association\" or things like that, and which are simply \"By-Laws\" or \"Understandings\".</li><li>How flexible are you about making exceptions, i.e. case by case decisions that don’t change the rules but wouldn’t otherwise be allowed. Sometimes permanent – sometimes temporary. </li><li> </li></ul> <h2>What rights does the community have over members who do not keep their side of agreements.</h2><br /> <p>There is no point in having agreements, if there is not a clear understanding of the consequences of not keeping them. Sooner or later there will be somebody who decides they can ignore the agreements because there is nothing the community can do about it. Having it clear will also make for less resentment if the consequences are carried out.</p><ul><li>Typically the main sanctions are financial. For example if someone doesn't maintain their area, then the community can do the work and bill the member. Or if someone doesn't participate in agreed shared work, then they could be billed. </li><li>Typically if a member owed money then a high rate of interest is charged to encourage them not to treat the community as the easiest credit. </li><li>What happens if someone is billed as a result, and then doesn't pay. The ultimate sanction on most communities where people have an investment is forfeiture of that investment. For example some communities have a Lien over the shares of a member for any money they owe, and in a case of a persistent default (with appropriate notices etc) can sell that members shares. </li><li>In cases where there is no investment, it might be appropriate for the community to have the right to ask someone to leave. It is notoriously difficult to get a decision to expel someone, so be careful of what level of agreement you require to expel someone. Some communities say all but 2 members (presuming the one being expelled, and his or her partner), others say 2/3 or some number like that. </li><li>Typically something in the agreements makes the individual responsible for any illegal action they take on their own land or common land.</li><li>Often the community can ask non-members to leave with a much simpler process, thus making it easier to accept non-members to be on the land.</li><li>Typically there should be a mediation clause, so that there is a way to push through a disagreement without resorting to courts, often there will also be an arbitration clause so that if it does end up going to court the process is quicker and cheaper. </li></ul> <h2>What happens if the community closes</h2><br /> <p>What happens if the community closes, typically the the company (or other legal structure) will be wound up, and whatever assets are left will be distributed in some way to be decided. Often communities make it clear that people (not the community) own their own buildings, and have the right to remove them, this means that in the case of bankruptcy a liquidator would have to negotiate with each member to purchase their houses.</p><p>Decide how a decision would be made to close the community, it could be forced - for example by bankruptcy - but otherwise it would typically take 100% of the members to make this decision.</p> <h2>Legal Structures.</h2><br /> <p>There a number of legal structures, and planning instruments that can be chosen, a very brief overview is below, just so that you don't miss an option inadvertently. The basic idea is to take the answers to questions above and ask a lawyer what legal structure you should have. If a lawyer is reading this, and wants to disagree with my Pro's and Con's below I'd appreciate hearing from you! Most legal structures come with a base set of assumptions, and then ways that you can work around them with side-agreements etc to get what you really want.</p> <h3>Partnership:</h3><br /> <p>The simplest structure.<br /> <strong>Pro: </strong>Simple<br /> <strong>Con: </strong>Hard to deal with almost any detail, like for example inheritance. No limited liability.</p> <h3>Tenants in Common</h3><br /> <p><strong>Pro:</strong> Commonly used especially for simple two-unit setups,<br /> <strong>Con: </strong>but has notable disadvantages, in particular \"66G\" (a clause of some act that a lawyer should be familiar with) says that if one of the tenants can't obtain the price they want for selling their shares, then they can put the entire community on the market. Apparently this is really hard to get around.</p> <h3>Company</h3><br /> <p><strong>Pro: </strong>The biggest pro is flexibility, its possible to turn a company into almost any structure you want. For example our MO is a company, each member is a shareholder, the shares give the right to build and occupy a house, the directors have almost no power which devolves to the member's meeting. The common house etc are assets of the company. Company finances are totally separate from members.<br /> <strong>Con: </strong>Its hard to get a mortgage on the individual shares/blocks.</p> <h3>Coop</h3><br /> <p><strong>Pro: </strong>the default is closer to what you probably want than a company<br /> <strong>Con: </strong>its really hard to vary the default, for example to give different shares, different voting power based on investment.</p> <h3>Trust / Foundation</h3><br /> <p><strong>Pro:</strong> This is typically used usually to take the land out of the speculative real-estate market<br /> <strong>Con: </strong>It makes it hard for a departing member to get a value out that allows them to buy into somewhere else, creating a poverty trap where some people want to leave, but can't afford to.</p> <h3>Community Title</h3><br /> <p>This is based on structures for Apartments.<br /> <strong>Pro: </strong>You have freehold title to your own part of the community, which is usually mortgage-able.<br /> <strong>Con: </strong>Its unclear whether a community can control who an individual sells to.</p> <h2>Some other Resources</h2><br /> <ul><li><a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20060928215112/http://www.ic.org/nica/Legal/Legal1.htm\">Archive of NICA's list of resources includes many I haven't listed here.</a></li></ul>" 1997-07-08T12:50:03.000Z 2010-11-07T13:37:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3034-letspretend Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Back in 1985-87 noone in England had heard of LETS, or any other community currency system. I had visited the original LETSystem in Canada, and rewritten the software for Michael Linton's first release and was giving workshops on LETS around England. People's understanding of money is really ingrained into the pshyche and it was really tough trying to get people to understand what it was all about, Michael's game, LETSplay, was too complicated and abstract for mere mortals to understand, so I dreamt up the following game which was published later, translated into German, in Bernard Lietaer's 2001 book "The Future of Money" . </p>

<br /> <p> </p><h2>Summary</h2><br /> <p>The basic goals are:</p><ul><li> to illustrate how money works,</li><li> and by comparisom how LETS (or other community currencies) work.</li><li> To get participants at a worksop out of their seats and interacting with each other.</li></ul><p>It does this by in turn simulating: Barter; Money and Bank loans;  Syphoning of money from a community; and LETS.</p><h2>Stage 1 illustrates Barter, the most primitive of exchange systems.</h2><br /> <ul><li> Hand out the cards, and pencils</li><li> Ask the participants to write down on the card, skills they have, or stuff they'd be prepared to barter. <br /> <ul><li> In this stage, as in all of the rest, I found it worked best to pull one or two people out of the audience and use them as an example before getting everyone to do it.</li><li> Be prepared to use this stage to deal with people's self-negating beliefs that they have nothing to offer to the community.</li></ul></li><li> Get the participants to wander around the room, introducing themselves, and looking at each other's cards for things they might be interested in Bartering.</li><li> After a few minutes get the people to sit down, and ask what transactions occured.</li><li> Typically there will be a few transactions, but few will be able to find matches where each has something the other needs.</li></ul><h2>Stage 2 illustrates Money and Bank loans</h2><br /> <ul><li> Stick up a sheet of paper on a wall and label it "Classifieds"</li><li> Pick one of the participants from the audience,</li><li> Pretend to be a bank, and loan him several coins.</li><li> Ask him what he's looking for - things or services, write it on the board.</li><li> If someone in the audience can meet that need, then: <br /> <ul><li> the first participant should "buy" the good/service from the second,</li><li> the request should be deleted from the board</li><li> repeat the process by this person writing down what they need.</li></ul></li><li> At this point its usefull to draw the audience's attention to the fact that while there is only one unit of money circulating, several transactions have occurred. Its also usefull to explain how governements use control of this "money-supply" to control how fast goods and services circulate.</li><li> Make several more loans, and allow the audience to interact among themselves.</li><li> Encourage the audience to use the "Classifieds" board to post hard to find things they want.</li></ul><h2>Stage 3 illustrates chain-stores and other ways money is drained</h2><br /> <ul><li> Pull one of the audience aside,</li><li> Ask him or her to pretend to be a shop</li><li> The characteristics of a shop is that it always has whatever someone asks it for</li><li> The shopkeeper should be meeting people's needs, while accumulating a collection of money.</li><li> Very quickly as the money supply dries up the flow of other transactions will dry up as well.</li><li> Stop the game, get the audience to sit down, and ask the audience if they've noticed what has happened, if not then point it out.</li><li> Find participant one - from the previous stage - ask them to repay the loan. Presuming they can't, reposess their chair (Excuse for gratuitous theatre!)</li></ul><h2>Stage 4 illustrates community currencies.</h2><br /> <ul><li> Stick some more paper on the wall.</li><li> Label the sheet "accounts" draw four columns, and label them "From", "To", "Amount", "Good/Service"</li><li> Find a volunteer, ask them for something they are looking for, and find a match in the audience.</li><li> Write up a trade on the board - they go in the From column, the match goes in the To column, negotiate an amount (this works fine if the currency is "dollars" but needs a little explaining if it is "hours".</li><li> Draw attention to what this means, that the first person owes a debt to the <strong>community</strong> not to the other person, and that the other person is in credit.</li><li> Ask the first person what they have to offer, and the second what they are looking for, let them record both these trades themselves.</li><li> Throw it open to the audience to all participate.</li><li> That's it, now stop the game and move on to discussion.</li></ul><h2>What you need</h2><br /> <ul><li> Enough 4 * 3 cards for each participant.</li><li> Enough pencils for each participant.</li><li> Some large sheets of paper, or a whiteboard</li><li> Markers for the paper (or whiteboard), make sure they are dry-erase markers in case you use a whiteboard.</li><li> A chair to stand on, and a loud voice to shout over the rabble.</li><li> A supply of pennies or other small coins, maybe as many as there are participants.</li></ul> 2010-07-15T12:55:36.000Z 2010-11-07T13:39:03.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3035-ijccrselfguarrantee Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/ijccr_mitra_final.pdf" title="IJCCR paper"></pdf-link> <p>A paper exploring an idea of people issuing their own "Currency" that I co-wrote with Bernard Lietaer.</p>

<p> With so many local small businesses in trouble maybe its time to dust off a paper I wrote 8 years ago with Bernard Lietaer (the community currency pioneer who developed the ECU, the predecessor to the Euro). Basic idea is that people issue personal notes that can be redeemed either in cash or in discounted goods and services. So for example my favorite masseur could borrow say $80 off me, and either repay me with $80 cash or $100 worth of massage, and the cafe I frequent could similarly repay me with $80 cash OR $100 in chais when it re-opened. Those notes are tradable, its just that everyone along the chain signs them and is willing to take them back (because they believe the guarantee is good). The idea is decentralizing, there is no coordinating body, no fees, and noone needs permission to do this, and its non-exploitative - you can always repay the loan at face value in cash with no interest. </p><p> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238094616_Complementary_Currency_Innovation_Self-guarantee_in_peer-to-peer_currencies">Research Gate</a> </p> 2010-07-15T13:08:56.000Z 2010-11-07T15:19:51.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3036-vrml Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>A collection of writings about VRML,  the first 3D standard on the internet, now superceeded by X3D and proprietrary languages.</p><p><img src="/images/vrml64x6.gif" border="0" width="64" height="64" align="right" /></p><p><a href="?id=3037" target="_self" title="moving worlds">VRM2.0</a>: a history and collection of proposals</p><p><a href="/vrml/vrmlplus/index.htm">VRML+</a>: (multi-user - written before VRML2.0)</p><p><a href="?id=3040">Patent</a> - Shared 3D Worlds</p><p><a href="/vrml/lw/index.htm">Living Worlds</a>: (multi-user - written after VRML2.0) tutorial and avatars</p><p> </p>

<p>A collection of writings about VRML,  the first 3D standard on the internet, now superceeded by X3D and proprietrary languages.</p><p><img src="/images/vrml64x6.gif" border="0" width="64" height="64" align="right" /></p><p><a href="?id=3037" target="_self" title="moving worlds">VRM2.0</a>: a history and collection of proposals</p><p><a href="/vrml/vrmlplus/index.htm">VRML+</a>: (multi-user - written before VRML2.0)</p><p><a href="?id=3040">Patent</a> - Shared 3D Worlds</p><p><a href="/vrml/lw/index.htm">Living Worlds</a>: (multi-user - written after VRML2.0) tutorial and avatars</p><p> </p> 2010-07-15T13:23:46.000Z 2014-08-09T15:56:42.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3037-movingworlds Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This document chronicles Mitra's recollection of the history of Moving Worlds, as it evolved into VRML2.0 and now the ISO standard VRML 97, it collects together an archive of some of the documents, and earlier versions of proposals, and may be of interest to anyone interested in the evolution of a standard.</p><p>The most important thing that I suggest noting from this chronology, is how both giving and receiving criticism led to proposals being revised to incorporate the criticism, and eventually the proposals being merged into what has become a widely accepted standard.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><p>Of course, history always has several versions - I'll be happy to incorporate, or link to, comments or recollections that any other participant has about the process, especially if they differ from my own perspective. Chris Marrin (then at SGI) published an <a href="/vrml/vrml2/marrin_history.htm">article</a> on the history in WebSmith in November '96. Rodger Lea (at Sony) has a more descriptive <a href="http://rodger.global-linguist.com/a-short-history-of-vrml-2-0/">version</a> of the process.</p><p>I'd appreciate copies of any of the papers I'm missing - especially the early SDSC, Sony, SGI and Microsoft proposals, and critiques by those people of each other, and my proposals. Please send them to me, <a href="//">Mitra</a>, at <strong>mitra at mitra.biz</strong> . Contacts for other key people in the process are at the <a href="#bottom">bottom</a>.</p><table border="0"><br /> <tbody><tr><td>15 Jun '95 and onwards</td><td>Sony published papers on their Virtual Society, covering the same areas (<em>does anyone have the first draft)</em></td></tr><tr><td>10 July '95</td><td>San Diego Super Computer center (SDSC), published papers on <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sdsc_vrbs.html">Virtual Reality Behavior System</a> (VRBS) its <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sdsc_vrbs_proto.html">protocol</a>, and on using <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sdsc_vrbs_pbs.html">Perl as a language for it</a>, and a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sdsc_vrbs_protocol.html">detailed protocol specification</a>.</td></tr><tr><td>Aug - Sept '95</td><td>While Chief Network Architect at Worlds Inc, and a member of the 10 person standards group, the VAG, or VRML Architecture Group, I authored and published a number of papers on adding behaviors to VRML that were originally intended to become part of VRML+ but which were seperated out because they did not relate to the multi-user core of VRML+.</td></tr><tr><td>16 Aug 95</td><td>A proposal to support <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-urn-19950816.html">URN</a>'s, and to make the url field an MFString. The latter becme part of VRML2.0, while the former is only just (Apr '98) being integrated.</td></tr><tr><td>15 Sept '95</td><td>A proposal by Tom Meyer and myself called "<a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-interface.html">Interfaces</a>",  this formed the basis of a proposal by Gavin for <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-prototypes.html">Prototypes</a>, which became Prototypes in VRML2.0.</td></tr><tr><td>21 Sept '95</td><td>A proposal for <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-sharedstate.html">SharedState</a>, this was a LOT simpler than Living Worlds, and if something like it had been incorported into VRML2.0 it would have simplified multi-user a lot.</td></tr><tr><td>21 Sept '95</td><td>A proposal for <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-trigger.html">Sensors, Triggers and Connections</a> - Similar concepts, but different concepts to, Sensors, Scripts and ROUTES.</td></tr><tr><td height="57">Sept through Oct</td><td height="57">Discussions, and criticisms of each others papers led to realisations that the underlying core was common, examples of the back and forth include those below, notice how each paper critiques the parts of the other proposals not liked, and incorporates the parts liked</td></tr><tr><td>4 Oct 95</td><td><a href="/vrml/vrml2/sony_behascri_4oct95.html">Sony's approach to behavior and scripting aspects of VRML: an Object-Oriented perspective</a></td></tr><tr><td>5 Oct 95</td><td><a href="/vrml/vrml2/sony_comments_5oct95.html">Sony comments on Interface proposal and Sensor Trigger proposal</a></td></tr><tr><td>5 Oct 95</td><td><a href="/vrml/vrml2/sony_evrml1_5oct95.html">An update of Sony's proposal for extensions to VRML1.0</a></td></tr><tr><td>9 Oct 95</td><td>A detailed <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-behavior-contrast.html">critique</a> of the SDSC, and Sony proposals and comparisom of those with my proposal, and a new version of my <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-behaviors-951009.html">paper</a> incorporating some good ideas.</td></tr><tr><td>20 Oct 95</td><td>I authored a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sony%2Bsdsc%2Bmitra.html">first draft of a paper</a> drawing out the similarities and differences between our proposals. By this time I had left Worlds Inc, and was in the process of forming WorldMaker.</td></tr><tr><td>Oct 95</td><td>Gavin Bell from SGI publishes a behavior proposal based on data-flow techniques, an <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_simple0_annotated.pdf">early annotated version</a>, and a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_simple_01.pdf">slightly later version</a>.</td></tr><tr><td>23 Oct '95</td><td>The VAG (which Gavin and myself are members of) produces a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-1.0-23oct95.html">clarification of VRML1.0</a> that tidies up some outstanding issues.</td></tr><tr><td>24 Oct '95</td><td>The VAG produces (but does not publish) the first draft of VRML1.1</td></tr><tr><td>25 Oct '95</td><td>A new version of my <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-behaviors-25oct95.html">behaviors</a>, and <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-api-25oct95.html">API</a> papers, incorporating good ideas from Sony and SSC</td></tr><tr><td>30 Oct '95</td><td>Behaviors symposium at SDSC. Sony, SDSC, and myself proposed a common paper based on the event-driven model. Here is a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-behaviors-workshop.html">Report</a> and <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sdsc_people.html">Attendees list</a></td></tr><tr><td>1 Nov 95</td><td>Gavin of SGI writes a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_contrast_1nov95.pdf">critique</a> of the joint proposal of SDSC, Sony and myself.</td></tr><tr><td>12 Nov 95</td><td>Through November, Sony and SDSC I authored a common behaviors proposal.This proposal was largely based on defining an API between the browser and an external interpreter (of any language). several drafts including this for the <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-api.html">API</a>. <em>The API didn't change, but other parts of this draft have been overwritten by later versions on 2Dec95</em></td></tr><tr><td>13 Nov '95</td><td><a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-sgi-comments.html">Critique</a> of SGI's proposal, which is still data-flow oriented, and response to SGI's critique of an earlier version. This focusses on the differences between data-flow and events, and in particular how this effects dynamic worlds (worlds where nodes are added and deleted at run time).</td></tr><tr><td>14 Nov '95</td><td><a href="/vrml/vrml2/sony_commentsSGI_16nov95.html">Sony comments on SGI's comparisom paper</a></td></tr><tr><td>24 Nov '95</td><td>SGI is persuaded that an event-driven model is better, they re-author their <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_24nov95.html">paper</a> in this form and we then start to work on integrating the approaches.</td></tr><tr><td>26 Nov '95</td><td>A <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-sgi-comments-22nov95.html">critique</a> of SGI's first event-driven paper.</td></tr><tr><td>1 Dec '95</td><td>Another version of SGI's  <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_1Dec95.html">paper</a> (and a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_diff.txt">diff</a>)</td></tr><tr><td>1 Dec '95</td><td>A draft of a proposal for "<a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-frames.html">Frames and Leaves</a>", this proposal was key because it removed the remembered state of VRML1.0. This draft is interesting because it contains both agreed upon portions, and arguments between Gavin and myself on whether Leaf (later renamed Shape) was needed.</td></tr><tr><td>4 Dec '95</td><td>The <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-behaviors.html">last draft</a> of the Sony,SDSC,Mitra proposal, before merging with SGI's.</td></tr><tr><td>4 Dec '95.</td><td>A group at Microsoft circulates their own proposal, called "ActiveVRML" I don't have the original paper, but here are parts <a href="/vrml/vrml2/activevrml_pg1to28.tif">one</a> and <a href="/vrml/vrml2/activevrml_pg29toend.tif">two</a> of scans of a paper about AVRML, a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/activevrml_letter.pdf">letter</a>, an <a href="/vrml/vrml2/activevrml_briefintro_dec95.html">introduction</a> and the <a href="/vrml/vrml2/activevrml_reference_14dec95.html">reference manual</a>. and <a href="/vrml/vrml2/activevrml_langinteg_12dec95.html">language integration</a>, <a href="/vrml/vrml2/activevrml_white_dec95.html">white paper</a>,</td></tr><tr><td>6 Dec '95</td><td>I produce a short <a href="/vrml/vrml2/rbml-response-6dec95.html">critique</a> of the Microsoft proposal</td></tr><tr><td>11 Dec '95.</td><td>A <a href="/vrml/vrml2/behaviors/behaviors.html">common paper</a> is co-authored by Gavin Bell and others of SGI, myself, and Kouichi Matusda and others from Sony.</td></tr><tr><td>12 Dec '95</td><td>We put together a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/activevrml_comparison_12dec95.pdf">comparison</a> of our proposal with Active Worlds.</td></tr><tr><td>16 Dec '95</td><td>Second draft of <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-1.1.html">VRML1.1</a> produced, this has many of the non-behavior extensions that became  VRML2.0, including Prototyping. However this was never released, the VAG realized it would need to change from standards maker, to referee of the standards process.</td></tr><tr><td>VRML 95, Dec '95</td><td>The paper is presented at the VRML'95 conference in San Diego by Gavin Bell and myself.</td></tr><tr><td>day after VRML95, Dec '95</td><td>Microsoft holds a briefing on RBML - now renamed ActiveVRML in San Francisco, most of the key VRML people are there, and most leave more bewildered than when they arrived.</td></tr><tr><td>4 Jan 96</td><td>Because of the Microsoft version, the VAG puts out a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/rfp.htm">RFP</a> for anyone to submit proposals.</td></tr><tr><td>Jan 96</td><td>SGI devotes technical writing and other resources to cleaning up the proposal for formal submittal, Sony and myself are involved in the editing, and in bringing other companies concerns into the process.</td></tr><tr><td height="41">15 Jan 96</td><td height="41">A <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_design_15jan96.html">design document</a> explains the "Why" of Moving Worlds and some <a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960202/examples.html">examples</a>.</td></tr><tr><td height="41">26 Jan 96</td><td height="41">SGI puts up a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_reqforcomments_26jan96.htm">page to solicit comments</a> - whose marketing people then claimed most of the credit!</td></tr><tr><td height="41">30 Jan 96</td><td height="41">A discussion (Mitra and Sony) and explanation of how <a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960202/multiuser.html">multiuser worlds</a> could work in Moving Worlds.</td></tr><tr><td height="41">31 Jan 96</td><td height="41">SGI produces a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960202/overview_main.html">overview</a> of Moving Worlds, with a <a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960202/summary.html">summary</a> and <a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960202/nodechanges.html">list of change</a>s.</td></tr><tr><td height="41">Feb 2nd, 96</td><td height="41">The Moving Worlds paper is formally submitted for consideration for VRML2.0 by SGI, and here is the <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sgi_announce.html">announcement</a> and the version submitted in <a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960202/spec_full.html">full</a> and in <a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960202/spec_main.html"> parts</a> (without graphics)</td></tr><tr><td>Feb 8, '96</td><td>All the VRML companies are invited to sign on to the Moving Worlds process - the <a href="/vrml/vrml2/press_vrml_19960208_sgitakingcredit.tif">invitation</a>.and another <a href="/vrml/vrml2/press_vrml_sgi2others.tif">version of the invitation</a>,</td></tr><tr><td>Feb 12-13th 96</td><td><a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960202/worlds-release.html">Press release </a>and coverage in the <a href="/vrml/vrml2/press_vrml_199602_wsj.tif">Wall Street Journal</a>,</td></tr><tr><td>Mar 1st '96</td><td>Sony does their own <a href="/vrml/vrml2/press_vrml_sony.tif">press release</a>, correctly giving credit.</td></tr><tr><td>Mar '96</td><td><p>VRML2.0 wins the vote on www-vrml, receiving 80% of the vote against other proposals from <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sun_holoweb.pdf">Sun: "Holoweb"</a> *, <a href="/vrml/vrml2/ibmjapan_vrml2.pdf">IBM</a>*, Microsoft, Apple "<a href="/vrml/vrml2/apple_outofthisworld.pdf">Out of this World</a>"*, and <a href="/vrml/vrml2/gmd_dynamic_worlds.html_2feb96.html">GMD</a>.See the <a href="/vrml/vrml2/voting_results.html">voting results</a>.(<a href="http://www.web3d.org/vag/polling/Results.html">orig</a>)<br /> <span>* I would appreciate text versions of these to replace the scans.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td height="20">Mar '96</td><td height="20">Press coverage in <a href="/press/press_vrml_199603_multimediaworld.jfx">MultiMedia World</a>, <a href="/press/press_vrml_199606_interactiveage.jfx">Interactive Age</a>, <a href="/press/press_vrml_19960729_connect.tif">Connect</a></td></tr><tr><td height="20">Most of 96</td><td height="20">SGI edits the document in response to feedback.</td></tr><tr><td>20th May '96</td><td>SGI edits <a href="/cached/www.web3d.org/technicalinfo/specifications/vrml2.0/DRAFT2b">Draft 2b</a> of the spec</td></tr><tr><td>24 June 96</td><td>Presentation to<a href="/vrml/vrml2/inet96.htm"> INET 96</a> (the annual conference of the internet society).</td></tr><tr><td>8 July 96</td><td>Sony leads the work on the Java reference for VRML2.0 including this <a href="/vrml/vrml2/sony_javareference_8jul96.html">draft 3</a></td></tr><tr><td>15th Jul 96</td><td>An updated version of the <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-urn-19960715.html">URN</a> spec</td></tr><tr><td>17th July 96</td><td>Draft3 (no copy seems to exist any more) and <a href="/cached/www.web3d.org/technicalinfo/specifications/vrml2.0/FINAL/draft2b_to_3.html">differences from draft 2b</a></td></tr><tr><td>4th Aug, 96</td><td>Here is <a href="/vrml/vrml2/19960804/index.htm">one version</a> of the full spec and the <a href="/cached/www.web3d.org/technicalinfo/specifications/vrml2.0/FINAL/draft2b_to_3.html">changes from Draft 2b</a></td></tr><tr><td>5th Dec 96</td><td>A <a href="/vrml/vrml2/interfac.gif">diagram</a> I did of interfaces in VRML2 between different components</td></tr><tr><td>Dec '96</td><td><p>Final version published, not all issues were addressed, and I outline some key problems <a href="/vrml/vrml2/mw_outstanding.htm">here</a>.</p></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>As part of the ISO standardisation process the standard was renamed VRML97 and some cosmetic changes requested by ISO incorporated.</td></tr><tr><td>19th June 98</td><td>An integration of URN's into the <a href="/vrml/vrml2/vrml-urn-uml-19980619.htm">Universal Media Framework</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p>I cannot find any version of the final VRML95 document. If there is a version around I would appreciate it.<br /> <p><a name="bottom"></a> Contact Info for authors and others....</p><ul><li>Mitra Internet Consulting <br /> <ul><li> Mitra, now doing business consulting and development for Sustainability Businesses mitra@mitra.biz /blog, or http://www.naturalinnovation.org </li></ul></li><li>Sony <br /> <ul><li>Yasuaki Honda, working on home networking and IEEE1394 from product implentation and technical research level. honda@arch.sony.co.jp</li><li>Kouichi Matsuda (Kou1 Ma2da), working on Community Place, development of shared 3D environments, matsuda@arch.sony.co.jp, http://www.so-net.ne.jp/paw </li><li>Rodger Lee, now heading up the operating systems lab for Sony, rodger@arch.sel.sony.com</li></ul></li><li>Silicon Graphics <br /> <ul><li>Gavin Bell - gavin@acm.org</li><li>Rikk Carey - rikk@best.com</li><li>Chris Marin now consulting to Sony, chris@marrin.com</li></ul></li></ul> 2010-07-15T13:34:03.000Z 2010-11-07T15:21:30.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3038-uri Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>While I was at Pandora Systems (not the streaming music company!), I was involved in adding an information layer to the internet. It seems strange now, but in those days there was a strong push to keep commerce off the nascent InterNet, which at the time was mostly academic, and we were heavily involved in the early introduction of businesses to the internet.</p>

<p>The product that we built was based in part on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol)">Gopher</a> system. I was the main external developer on Gopher contributing a regular stream of patches to the open-source system maintained by Paul Lindner at the University of Minnesota, and we further enhanced it, and combined it with Caucus and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_(email_client)">Pine</a>, as a commercial product.</p><p>Along the way, I became a key contributor and co-author on many of the standards that defined, and still define, the internet.</p><ul><li><b>October 1991</b>: a group of us from early internet platforms: Gopher, WAIS, Xanadu and AMIX, met to discuss a common identifier that could be used across platforms. Our proposal was known as <a href=/?alias=wals>WALS (Wide Area Lookup System </a>.</li><li>Tim Berners Lee had some parallel work going on for his emerging Web Server, and the standards for the URL and HTTP and Gopher all moved to the IETF where they were known as <b>"RFCs"</b>.</li><li><b>July 1993</b>: Originally if you wanted to move data on the net for a particular application, you either had to, according to <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1341#appendix-F">RFC1341 F.1</a> make the specification public, or use Content-Type: <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1521#section-7.4.1">application/octet-stream</a> which told you nothing about the contents. The problem was that early Web and Gopher servers were often holding files in proprietary formats like Microsoft Word and needed to communicate what they were sending, so that clients could make intelligent decisions about what to open them with. A split was threatened where the Web would split away from the IANA registration mechanism used for mail. I brokered a deal where they would continue to use the Mime types as controlled by IANA, while IANA would agree to register proprietrary formats such as "application/msword" (with the first batch registered in July 1993 by Paul Lindner of the Gopher team), note that <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1521">RFC1521</a> still required the publication of a specification, but that clause was effectively ignored.</li><li><b>Nov 1993</b>: A group of us met at the IETF meeting in Houston to collaborate on defining what an architecture for locators for internet resources should look like.</li><li><b>Feb 1994</b>: <a href="/uri/draft-ietf-uri-urn2urc-00.txt">URN2URC</a>, a proposal for how to turn a name of a document (URN) into a its metadata and location (URC). URCs never gained much traction.</li><li><b>July 1994 - April 1995</b>: I co-authored the <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-uri-resource-names/02/">second</a> and more so the <a href="/uri/draft-ietf-uri-resource-names-03.txt">third</a> draft specification for the URN, and though this never became a standard, the syntax we proposed "urn:<name scheme>:<scheme dependent id>" was what was eventually standardised.</li><li><b>Feb 1995</b>: the requirements document for Internet Resource Locators <a href="/papers/rfc1736.htm">RFC1736</a> - was the conclusion of the work started in Nov 1993.</li><li><b>Sept 1994</b>: I collaborated with Chris Weider and Karen Sollins on a major proposal for an <a href="/uri/IIIA.html">Integrated Internet Information Architecture</a> which proposed how a variety of services could be integrated into the internet, it was ahead of its time in an internet defined by protocols, rather than APIs, but was a core thought piece for...</li><li><b>Oct 1994</b>: the Internet Architect Board's <a href="/files/rfc1862.txt.pdf">Workshop on Internet Information Infrastructure</a>,</li><li><b>March 1995 - May 1996</b>: As part of the <b>HTTP</b> Working group, I was a significant contributor to the standardisation of HTTP v1.0 as noted in drafts <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v10-spec-00.txt">0</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v10-spec-01.txt">1</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v10-spec-02.txt">2</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v10-spec-03.txt">3</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v10-spec-04.txt">4</a>, and finally the HTTP v1.0 specification: <a href="https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1945.txt">RFC1945</a></li><li><b>May 1996 - Jan 1997</b>: We started work on HTTP 1.1 as soon as HTTP 1.0 was done, and I was actively involved through drafts: <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v11-spec-00.txt">0</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v11-spec-01.txt">1</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v11-spec-2.txt">2</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v11-spec-03.txt">3</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v11-spec-04.txt">4</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v11-spec-05.txt">5</a>, <a href="https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-http-v11-spec-00.txt">6</a>, and finally <a href="https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2068.txt">RFC 2068</a> and its update <a href="https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt">RFC 2616</a> which is essentially what most of you still use now to access the web.</li><li><b>Oct 95 - Jan 1997</b>: As 3D on the net became more common, none of the existing top-level Content-Types (Audio, Image, Message, Application, Multipart, Text or Video) were appropriate, so we defined the top level mime type "model/*" as way for web servers and mail clients to say "this is 3D" this was defined in 1997 and was the only top-level mime type defined since the original set. <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2077/">RFC2077</a>.</li></ul> 2010-07-29T08:24:07.000Z 2010-10-31T19:04:19.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3039-the-global-summit-ii-humanity-uniting-for-a-sustainable-future Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>UPDATE - I'm not going to make it back to the US in time for this - so won't be speaking. Still looks like a good conference. </p><hr/> <p>I'm going to be speaking at the <a href="http://www.theglobalsummit.org/" target="_BLANK">Global Summit</a> in San Francisco (November 8-10) - I'll be talking about our work at Natural Innovation, and about some of the amazing innovators we are working with.</p><p>There is more information on the link above, but if you <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/664181585/TGSPIE/1114091429" target="_BLANK">register</a> using this <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/664181585/TGSPIE/1114091429" target="_BLANK">link</a>, then the summit will make a contribution to Natural Innovation Foundation</p>

<p>UPDATE - I'm not going to make it back to the US in time for this - so won't be speaking. Still looks like a good conference. </p><hr/> <p>I'm going to be speaking at the <a href="http://www.theglobalsummit.org/" target="_BLANK">Global Summit</a> in San Francisco (November 8-10) - I'll be talking about our work at Natural Innovation, and about some of the amazing innovators we are working with.</p><p>There is more information on the link above, but if you <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/664181585/TGSPIE/1114091429" target="_BLANK">register</a> using this <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/664181585/TGSPIE/1114091429" target="_BLANK">link</a>, then the summit will make a contribution to Natural Innovation Foundation</p> 2010-08-01T07:37:44.000Z 2010-11-07T15:22:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3040-us-patent-6219045-shared-3d-worlds Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/patent_6219045_worlds_shared3d.pdf" title="Worlds Chat patent"></pdf-link> <p>I am listed as a co-author on US Patent # 6219045 that covers the first shared 3D virtual environment on the net. "Scalable Virtual World Chat Client-Server System".</p><p>Our team broke new ground at a time when shared 3D environments only worked on high-end machines, on big bandwidth pipes, and were not therefore available to average consumers.</p><p>Please note that this patent has been quite controversial, I am not claiming that the team invented all the material that the then-management of Worlds Inc claimed in the patent.</p>

<pdf-link href="/files/patent_6219045_worlds_shared3d.pdf" title="Worlds Chat patent"></pdf-link> <p>I am listed as a co-author on US Patent # 6219045 that covers the first shared 3D virtual environment on the net. "Scalable Virtual World Chat Client-Server System".</p><p>Our team broke new ground at a time when shared 3D environments only worked on high-end machines, on big bandwidth pipes, and were not therefore available to average consumers.</p><p>Please note that this patent has been quite controversial, I am not claiming that the team invented all the material that the then-management of Worlds Inc claimed in the patent.</p> 2010-08-01T07:39:14.000Z 2010-11-07T14:57:07.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3041-patentpeer2peer Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/patent_09883064_flycode_peer2peer.pdf" title="Flycode patent"></pdf-link> <p>I was the inventor of the techniques covered by <a href="/files/patent_09883064_flycode_peer2peer.pdf" title="Flycode patent">US Patent # 09883064</a> for peer to peer file sharing which we developed at Flycode in 2000 where I was CTO.</p><p>There were two key innovations - the first was to use file hashing so that files could be found even when named differently on different peers - while this seems obvious now, it was a new thing at the time.</p><p>The other key innovation - which wasn't covered very well in the patent - was a technique for swarming based on splitting the file up and accessing parts from different servers - this is essentially what BitTorrent does now.</p><p>The patent was acquired when Flycode went under.</p>

<pdf-link href="/files/patent_09883064_flycode_peer2peer.pdf" title="Flycode patent"></pdf-link> <p>I was the inventor of the techniques covered by <a href="/files/patent_09883064_flycode_peer2peer.pdf" title="Flycode patent">US Patent # 09883064</a> for peer to peer file sharing which we developed at Flycode in 2000 where I was CTO.</p><p>There were two key innovations - the first was to use file hashing so that files could be found even when named differently on different peers - while this seems obvious now, it was a new thing at the time.</p><p>The other key innovation - which wasn't covered very well in the patent - was a technique for swarming based on splitting the file up and accessing parts from different servers - this is essentially what BitTorrent does now.</p><p>The patent was acquired when Flycode went under.</p> 2023-11-09T00:00:00.000Z 2023-11-09T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3042-contact Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> <i class="fa-solid fa-download mitra-socalmedia"></i> Download: <a href="https://www.mitra.biz/MitraArdron.vcf">Save to Contacts<a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-whatsapp mitra-socalmedia"></i> Whatsapp: <a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=15104231767">+15104231767</a><br/> <i class="fa-solid fa-phone mitra-socalmedia"></i> Phone: <a href="tel:+61491082515">+61491082515</a> only when in Australia<br/> <i class="fa-solid fa-envelope mitra-socalmedia"></i> Email: <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">mitra@mitra.biz</a><br/> <i class="fa-solid fa-link mitra-socialmedia"></i> Work: <a href="https://www.naturalinnovation.org">www.naturalinnovation.org</a><br/> <i class="fa-solid fa-link mitra-socialmedia"></i> Personal: <a href="https://www.mitra.biz">www.mitra.biz</a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-linkedin mitra-socialmedia"></i> LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitraardron/">mitraardron</a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-square-facebook mitra-socialmedia"></i> Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron">Mitraardron</a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-github mitra-socialmedia"></i> Github: <a href="https://www.github.com/mitra42/">mitra42</a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-mastodon mitra-socialmedia"></i> Mastodon: <a href="https://social.coop/@mitra">social.coop/@mitra</a><br/> </p>

<p> <i class="fa-solid fa-download mitra-socalmedia"></i> Download: <a href="https://www.mitra.biz/MitraArdron.vcf">Save to Contacts<a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-whatsapp mitra-socalmedia"></i> Whatsapp: <a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=15104231767">+15104231767</a><br/> <i class="fa-solid fa-phone mitra-socalmedia"></i> Phone: <a href="tel:+61491082515">+61491082515</a> only when in Australia<br/> <i class="fa-solid fa-envelope mitra-socalmedia"></i> Email: <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">mitra@mitra.biz</a><br/> <i class="fa-solid fa-link mitra-socialmedia"></i> Work: <a href="https://www.naturalinnovation.org">www.naturalinnovation.org</a><br/> <i class="fa-solid fa-link mitra-socialmedia"></i> Personal: <a href="https://www.mitra.biz">www.mitra.biz</a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-linkedin mitra-socialmedia"></i> LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitraardron/">mitraardron</a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-square-facebook mitra-socialmedia"></i> Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron">Mitraardron</a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-github mitra-socialmedia"></i> Github: <a href="https://www.github.com/mitra42/">mitra42</a><br/> <i class="fa-brands fa-mastodon mitra-socialmedia"></i> Mastodon: <a href="https://social.coop/@mitra">social.coop/@mitra</a><br/> </p> 2024-08-14T00:00:00.000Z 2024-08-14T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3043-consulting Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Mitra Ardron is available for consulting to companies or organisations that are working with Clean Technologies or sustainable solutions to poverty.</p> <p>The fee for these services supports the work of Natural Innovation .org where he is Executive Director.</p>

<h2>Areas of expertise</h2> <p>Mitra has been involved – as a consultant, principal, or senior staff at more than 20 start-ups, and has seen both failures and successes including acquisition; stock exchange listing; and rapid – industry changing – growth. He has worked across most areas of Cleantech, including Energy, Food &amp; Materials.</p><p>Along with his involvement in the early days of Internet commercialisation, this experience has led to an understanding of rapid growth in an environment where technology risk is expected, and where the social and environmental impacts may be a crucial factor in success.</p> <p>The breath of Mitra’'s experience is valuable in cost-effectively assisting in rapidly achieving results, and where applicable can lead to more in-depth consulting by specialists.</p> <p>Mitra has lived and worked in the US; UK; Australia; India &amp; Russia and often travels in SE Asia.</p> <h2>Investment or Grant Assessment</h2> <p>Mitra advises investors on the viability, or otherwise of a potential investment. Typically this involves reviewing documentation provided by the potential partner and material available publically over the web, or by discrete inquiries through my extensive network of contacts.</p> <p>Mitra's key value add is bridging hard-tech development to business, and in particular to impact and emerging markets</p> <p>Reviews may be quick and informal – a once off read through a paper and a comment such as a pointer to an obvious weakness; or can be thorough with in-depth reports; and can if applicable involve integrating, or commenting on reports by domain experts. Mitra is used to working both completely independently of the investees, or participating in meetings alongside the investors.</p> <h2>Technology Assessment</h2> <p>In particular, and not just for investors, Mitra is frequently called on to review technology proposals – for example during assessing potential Joint Ventures or investments.</p> <p>Mitra maintains an extensive network of technical contacts, which coupled with his own breadth of experience, may remove the need to locate and engage a specialist. Mitra can help you understand whether the line “This problem is trivial” is accurate, or is whether it points at a major cost and time problem.</p> <p>Mitra is particularly good at looking at new ideas with an open-mind, in a way that picks out the gems from the rubbish, especially in “fringe” areas.</p> <h2>Strategic Planning</h2> <p>Mitra assists organisations with strategic planning, helping bring a fresh, yet experienced, perspective that has frequently proved valuable either in identifying minor tweaks, or major redesigns or in bringing teams together around a common path forward.</p> <h2>Social Venture Development</h2> <p>From creating Green Businesses, to building non-profits Mitra has a particular interest in helping bridge the gap between high impact, and financial success. For example: Mitra led a project that changed Australia’s solar industry through very large scale community group purchases that made solar accessible to any homeowner.</p> <h2>Finance Raising</h2><p>Mitra can help a company see itself through the lens of an investor, and understand where it's weak areas are, and look at how to fix or mitigate them. He generally does <b>not</b> raise company on behalf of companies.</p> <h2>Business Plans and Presentations</h2><p>A good business plan and/or pitch-deck is an essential tool to any finance (or grant) raising, or strategic relationships - many companies are let down by presenting themselves poorly. Writing a business plan, and developing accompanying presentations, does not have to be a lengthy process and Mitra frequently reviews existing plans, assists in developing new ones, or writes them from scratch.</p> <h2>Spreadsheets &amp; Financial Planning</h2> <p>Mitra is an Excel wizard, and can help you develop, or refine, the models that both accurately represent your business or technology, and then clearly present numbers that help explain it to others.</p> <h2>Costs</h2> <p>We are always trying to balance creating as much impact as possible, with funding Natural Innovation's impact. Our charges will depend on the work to be carried out and the impact of the organisation we are helping. In some cases payment can be in the form of equity, or be contingent on future success.</p><p>All consulting comes with a simple satisfaction guarantee. If the work is not worth at least the fee charged, then you don’t pay for it!</p> 2010-08-01T01:16:26.000Z 2010-10-17T20:39:17.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3044-travelhintsphones Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This year is a year of being on the road, between Australia, US, and a number of developing countries.</p><p>People often ask me about working effectively while overseas so I thought I'd write up some tips - starting with phone use.</p>

<br /> <p>If you are in the US pick a network that uses GSM - e.g. T-mobile, or ATT but not Verizon<span class="625105115-31072010"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> .  I</span></span>f its too late for that get a cheap phone when you get to the country, or borrow a friend's "last-year" phone.</p><div>Unlock your phone before you travel - ideally when you sign up for your plan - for example Optus in Australia did this for me immediately when I told them I needed to use a different SIM when I traveled.  Don't wait till you have to spend an hour on hold on an international call to get it unlocked.</div><br /> <p>Many companies - e.g. T-Mobile allow you to shift your monthly costs to a minimum while you travel, retaining your number - unfortunately it doesn't go to voicemail when you do this.</p><div>Buy a local pre-paid SIM in each country - they are cheap, e.g. in Indonesia it just cost me about $4 to get a local one. If possible get the person who sells it to you to install it. If not go to the website and use translate.google.com or translate.bing.com to figure out the instructions.</div><div>Sometimes you'll get it all configured and it still doesn't work - this seems to be because it takes a while before the system recognizes new phones - I've seen from instant (Indonesia); 2 hours (T-mobile) to about 6-hours (Germany:Aldi)</div><div>Don't necessarily expect data to work - in Indonesia I was unable to find anyone who got it to work. In Germany I had to search for instructions.</div><div><br /> <div>Do not turn your phone on in a new country with a SIM from back home, take the SIM out first - this is important, as once your home country thinks you are overseas they'll often start charging you a forwarding call for every call that goes to voicemail (once for forwarding to the foreign country, and once for forwarding back to your voicemail).</div><div>If you ignore this - and use your home SIM to "roam" be prepared for monster bills - in particular make sure to turn "Data Roaming" off in your preferences - recently I heard of a friend with a $3,000 bill from Optus for just her phone picking up email a few times, and checking google maps.</div><br /> <br /> Setup a Skype-In number, and setup Skype forwarding to your mobile, and give out the Skype-In number, and put it on your home voicemail. Incoming calls are cheap - cost me about 0.07c/minute + local mobile minutes, which is much cheaper than roaming. <br /> <br /> Call out with Skype from anywhere you have wireless coverage. <span class="625105115-31072010"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="625105115-31072010"> </span></div><div>Hope this is helpful.</div><div>Some country specific hints. I was using an unlocked (not jailbroken) iPhone for all these.</div><br /> <ul><li>India - reputedly need a borrowed address to get a SIM (I borrowed a SIM from a friend)</li><li>Indonesia - get them at phone stores anywhere, Simpatico was recommended; but insist the shopkeeper installs it. Instructions are in Bahasa so you won't guess it right, and at least one of the ones i bought even the shopkeeper couldn't configure it!  You could put more credit on it at the same places, but the credit went a surprisingly long way.</li><li>Germany - reputedly hard to get without an address but I had no problem buying a card at Aldi; instructions in German, but translating website worked. It took about 6 hours from registration to activation. Data was tricky - if your phone make isn't listed (e.g. iPhones) then set APN=internet.eplus.de username=eplus password=internet</li><li>USA - I found Tmobile had good rates for month-to-month use with no contracts and data worked fine. Took a couple of hours before from registration to active. </li></ul><p>Lisa Petrides of Iskme travelling from the USA, recommends the international data plan from ATT ($20 for 2Mb) works fine and data worked everywhere; if you are only in town for a few days.</p><p> </p> 2003-11-01T09:48:46.000Z 2010-11-07T13:39:24.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3045-kmcommunity Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/ala_paper.pdf" title="Communities of Practice in Adult Learning"></pdf-link> <p>In 2003, I co-authored a paper on Community Knowledge Management with Jim Nichols, it was part of a project for ACE (Adult Community Education) looking at how education has to change to match different needs for vocational education in a rapidly changing world.</p>

<pdf-link href="/files/ala_paper.pdf" title="Communities of Practice in Adult Learning"></pdf-link> <p>In 2003, I co-authored a paper on Community Knowledge Management with Jim Nichols, it was part of a project for ACE (Adult Community Education) looking at how education has to change to match different needs for vocational education in a rapidly changing world.</p> 1991-10-22T03:49:26.000Z 2010-08-18T09:06:17.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3046-wals Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>A record of one of the first discussions - 21st October 1991 - to come up with a common identifier (URL) for everything on the internet.</p><p>We were at the Hackers conference and trying to come up with an identifier, that could be used across multiple information systems to refer to documents on other systems. Until that time, identifiers were internal to specific system, i.e. a WAIS search could only refer to documents that were accessable from WAIS servers, not from Lexus or Gopher, and so on.</p><p> </p>

<br /> <p> </p><p>This document, is the first record I can find of discussions of URLs. The four of us:</p><ul><li>Dean Tribble then at Xanadu,</li><li>Brewster Kahle, inventor of WAIS, then at Thinking Machines, and now Founder &amp; Digital Librarian of the <a href="http://www.archive.org">Internet Archive</a>, </li><li>Bob Schumaker then at AMiX, now at Fujitsu Cultural Technologies</li><li><a href="//">Mitra Ardron</a>, then at Pandora, and main external developer on Gopher</li></ul><p>had met at the Hackers conference in Tahoe (note this is the old use of the word Hackers - meaning people who push technology to its limits, not people who break into systems!),</p><p>The WALS (Wide Area Location Server) server described here was basically a URN resolver, that used a URL as a URN. The clever part was that the WALS server could either locate, or retrieve the document, allowing it to also be a proxy server.</p><p>Nothing much came of the WALS server, it was ahead of its time, but matched much of the disscussion of how to implement URNs. However Brewster took these ideas to IETF in Boston, where they were described over beers to Tim Berners Lee who was looking for something like this for WWW. The rest, as they say, is history.</p><p><em>March 2009: I was emailing with Tim Berners-Lee recently, who corrected our memory of history... Thanks, Mitra to the pointer to the WALS document. I would point out that /uri/wals.html is wrong in saying: </em></p><p><em>"However Brewster took these ideas to IETF in Boston, where they were described over beers to Tim Berners Lee who was looking for something like this for WWW. The rest, as they say, is history. " </em></p><p><em>The UDI (Universal Document Identifier) design was in September or October 1990. The scheme was there in the original UDI design for WWW, in the fall of 1990. I coded up http: and ftp: and news: immediately, as I needed to be able to incorporate a bulk of stuff which I used day to day. The news: engine was just an NNTP client which converted to HTML, very small layer. Not a brilliant news reader but allowed you to make hypertext links to any article or group which I thought was cute at the time, as it was the same hypertext model but very different distribution protocol. Gopher was similar. Wais: had to go through a gateway, of course as there was more code than one could just throw in. The prefix and the colon were taken from the VMS disk name (etc), the // was taken from Apollo domain (which later influenced MS to produce their \\\\ in windows SMB). All to make things feel familiar to people who had been using workstations. </em></p><p><em>Yes, Brewster, I remember you having suggesting an email-address-like system. It must have been in Boston in 1992. I think had we talked in 1990 I would have ben receptive to it, but in 92 it seemed to me like something which would fragment the web, if people started to fork off different URI syntaxes. When you wrote it up, were you aware of URI, and felt they could be improved on, or not aware of them? </em></p><p><em>On the question of order, I thought what you proposed was something like chapter1.mytutotrail.tutorials.sales@acme.com in which the order was consistently increasing left to right. And course then to be consistent you need the scheme name on the right hand side, which you do. But the WALS document has examples like /pub/foo@think.com :ftp where the path is most significant first. </em></p><p><em>In a way, it would have been good to have http:com/acme/tutorials/mytutorial/chap1 (or chap1.mytutotial.tutorial.acme.com:http) and make the browser figure out where domain name ends and path begins, so as to be able to move that point with time. But anyway. </em></p><p><em>Ah, those days :) </em></p><p><em>"Oh yes, my friend we're older but no wiser, as in our hearts the dreams are still the same". :) I hope wisdom and dreams are not totally incompatible! </em></p><p><em>Tim </em></p><p><em>So it looks like the WALS and URI were developed seperately at around the same time - not aware of each other. </em></p><p>For the curious and rushed, skip to the <a href="#BNF">BNF</a> and <a href="#Examples">examples</a> to see just how close they were to the final version.</p><p>Bob' s version of this is archived from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20010815103633/http://www.io.com/~cobblers/urls.html"> http://www.io.com/~cobblers/URLS.html</a></p><p>- Mitra &lt;<a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">mitra@mitra.biz</a>&gt;</p><p> </p><hr /><br /> <pre>bob, tribble, brewster, <br /> <br /> Dean: Here's my interpretation of the last slide. I tried to capture things<br /> that we talked about at various places on the slide. Don't shoot me<br /> if I'm wrong :-) I'll be writing up something like a proposal RSN.<br /> <br /> Mitra: - this looks good, it seems to cover what we are talking<br /> about, some additional notes. <br /> <br /> Mitra: Some pseudo-code which I hope makes some things clearer, note<br /> I'm not suggesting things have to be done this way, only that this is<br /> one way to do it, and may clarify intentions to some people. <br /> <br /> external locate(Identifier) -&gt; Identifier<br /> # the returned identifier presumably has more location information.<br /> { locatelocal(Identifier)# Can we locate this in our rule-base<br /> if sufficient(Identifier) # If we can locate it exactly<br /> then return(Identifier)# Then we have the answer<br /> else if Host=wheretoask(Identifier) # Otherwise who might know<br /> then Host!locate(Identifier)# Ask that WALS server<br /> else return Identifier # Cant tell you anything more<br /> }<br /> <br /> local locatelocal(Identifier) -&gt; Identifier <br /> # Mitra: This is a simple subset of locate which wont ask another server,<br /> its needed to save fetch having to traverse a tree of WALS servers once<br /> to find the document and then to fetch it<br /> { if can find Identifier in its rule-base<br /> (see below for example rule-base)<br /> then transform Identifier by rule and recurse<br /> else return Identifier<br /> }<br /> local sufficient(Identifier) -&gt; Boolean<br /> # Mitra: I've added this, its needed below to know when to ask other hosts<br /> {Return true if if this identifier contains sufficient location<br /> information to retrieve the document<br /> }<br /> <br /> local wheretoask(Identifier) -&gt; WALS-server | NULL <br /> # Mitra: Again a rule based function to figure out which WALS server to<br /> ask about this Identifier. This could be part of locatelocal,<br /> {return the name of another WALS server to ask about this Identifier<br /> typically returns the host portion of the location<br /> if not possible to ask anyone else about this then return NULL<br /> }<br /> <br /> <br /> external fetch(Identifier) -&gt; doc<br /> # get the contents of the document corresponding to the identifier.<br /> {locatelocal(Identifier) ; Find as much as we can locally<br /> if Host=wheretoask(Identifier) ; Figure out who to ask about it<br /> then return Host!fetch(Identifier) ; ask that host for the document<br /> else return NULL <br /> }<br /> <br /> store(doc, &lt;Identifier&gt;)=&gt; &lt;Identifier&gt;<br /> <br /> # Dean: Register the document at some new location. The operation here is<br /> clearly bogus, but something like that needs to be available. (For<br /> instance a Xanadu server could claim that it stores a particular<br /> document, and supply the navigation information.<br /> <br /> <a name="BNF"></a><strong>BNF</strong><br /> Mitra: I've re-written the BNF from Dean's description, I think my version<br /> is the same, but just more precise if my memory of BNF is still<br /> intact, Dean - please check and see that this is what you meant. <br /> Explanation:<br /> "," means the character comma <br /> [xxx] means none or one occurances of xxx (the [] is for grouping<br /> [xxx]* means none or more occurances of x<br /> [xxx]+means one or more occurances of xxx<br /> [a-z]means any of the letters a thru z<br /> <br /> &lt;Identifier&gt;::= &lt;GID&gt; [ "," &lt;Location&gt; ]*<br /> # Mitra: Note the , is repeated for multiple locations, also that it is not <br /> # anticipated that multiple Locations will be supported by early<br /> # implimentations<br /> <br /> &lt;Location&gt;::= [[ &lt;LocalID&gt; ":" ] &lt;Server&gt; @ ] &lt;SiteAddress&gt;<br /> <br /> # Mitra, note that if there is no LocalId the : is ommited, ditto the @<br /> <br /> Mitra: Please check I have the next group is correct, what we allow here will <br /> ensure whether we have an Identifier we can parse from right to left<br /> &lt;SiteAddress&gt;::= &lt;a standard internet site&gt;<br /> &lt;a standard internet site&gt; ::= [ &lt;site part&gt; "." ]+ &lt;site part&gt;<br /> &lt;site part&gt; ::= &lt;alphanumeric&gt;+# Is this sufficient?<br /> <br /> &lt;GID&gt;::= &lt;SubGID&gt; ":" &lt;Naming convention&gt;<br /> <br /> Dean: renamed DB to Server so that we remember that the servers could do<br /> anything to retrieve the document once they are supplied with the<br /> localID. FTP is an example.<br /> Mitra: Do we want to keep this as restrictive as below, or is Server <br /> anything but ":"<br /> &lt;Server&gt;::= &lt;alphanumberic&gt;+<br /> &lt;alphanumeric&gt;::= [a-zA-Z0-9]<br /> <br /> Mitra: The SubGID can be anything, it is bounded by the known,<br /> parsable, pattern on the right of it.<br /> <br /> &lt;SubGID&gt;::= &lt;any printing ascii character&gt;+<br /> <br /> Mitra: I'm not sure what LocalID can be, we need to be able to find<br /> the "," on the left of it, so I'm not sure what we allow - maybe<br /> anything but ","<br /> <br /> Dean:<br /> <a name="Examples"></a><br /> <strong>Examples of GIDs:</strong><br /> &lt;hash&gt;&lt;docID&gt;&lt;backendID&gt;:xanadu<br /> docID:lexus<br /> locdocID:db@think.com:wais<br /> /pub/foo@think.com:ftp<br /> <br /> Mitra: I've taken out the {} - where they intended? <br /> <br /> Dean:<br /> <br /> An example of ftp:<br /> locate(/pub/foo@think.com:ftp) returns either:<br /> <br /> /pub/foo@think.com:ftp, /pub/foo@think.com:myFTP@localhost<br /> <br /> to invoke a local server "myFTP" with the LocalID: /pub/foo@think.com, or<br /> <br /> /pub/foo@think.com:ftp, /pub/foo:ftp@think.com<br /> <br /> to call WALS at think.com and have it run an ftp server there.<br /> <br /> Dean: Note that the mapping from &lt;Server&gt; names to the actual servers is<br /> create from a configuration file when the local WALS starts up. In<br /> the example above, myFTP is just the name provided that somehow<br /> identifies the process that will perform FTP.<br /> <br /> An example of lexus:<br /> locate(doc39:lexus) returns doc39:lexus, doc39:lexus@mead.com<br /> <br /> Dean: Among other things, the locate service can apply heuristics to the GID<br /> to figure out who to call for more information. It could also call<br /> some directory service to find out more information.<br /> <br /> Dean: I came up with a new way to point out some of the properties of this<br /> scheme. The Global IDs a uninterpreted bytes to WALS, whereas the<br /> location information is uninterpreted bytes to servers using WALS. So<br /> when storing a reference to an external document, Xanadu would store<br /> the location information without trying to parse it, and would simply<br /> hand that information back to WALS when it wanted the document.<br /> <br /> Dean: Great stuff!<br /> Mitra: Second that! <br /> </pre><br /> <p> </p> 1994-02-20T03:59:57.000Z 1994-02-20T03:59:57.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3047-urn2urc Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pre id="line1">draft-ietf-uri-urn2urc-00.txt URI working group<br /> Expires 16 October 1994 19 Feb 94<br /> <br /> URN to URC resolution scenario<br /> ==============================<br /> <br /> Abstract<br /> ========<br /> <br /> This document is intended to address the issue of URN to URC resolution<br /> at a level between the IIIR Vision document [clw/peterd:1] and the<br /> various standards documents such as the URL specification. [timb].<br /> This document is also intended to act as some pointers for people who<br /> might want to implement URNs in information systems they are building.<br />

<br /> Status of this Memo<br /> ===================<br /> This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are<br /> working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force<br /> (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other<br /> groups may also distribute working documents as<br /> Internet-Drafts.<br /> <br /> Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six<br /> months. Internet-Drafts may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted<br /> by other documents at any time. It is not appropriate to use<br /> Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other<br /> than as a ``working draft'' or ``work in progress.''<br /> <br /> To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check<br /> the 1id-abstracts.txt listing contained in the Internet-Drafts<br /> Shadow Directories on ds.internic.net, nic.nordu.net,<br /> ftp.isi.edu, or munnari.oz.au.<br /> <br /> <br /> Sample URC<br /> ==========<br /> Title: URN to URC resolution scenario<br /> Version: 0.3<br /> URN: Unknown - how about &lt;urn:ietf/pandora/mitra:urn2urc&gt;<br /> URL: ftp://pandora.sf.ca.us/pub/mitra/urn2urc-04.txt<br /> URL: ftp://ftp.isi.edu/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-uri-urn-00.txt<br /> Format: Text/plain <br /> Cost: 0<br /> Date: 19 Feb 93<br /> Comment: This version has had minor changes since 0.3<br /> <br /> <br /> Note<br /> ====<br /> <br /> {Throughout the document, I've tried to identify places where discussion<br /> is still going on that may affect this proposal, and indicate with<br /> '{' and '}' }. <br /> <br /> The first version was written prior to IETF Houston - the discussion has <br /> moved along a bit since then, but it isnt worth updating this document<br /> until more choices are clarified.<br /> <br /> Acronym Soup<br /> ============<br /> <br /> I've avoided defining any new acronyms in this document. The following<br /> acronyms will be used.<br /> <br /> URI Uniform Resource Identifier: Any of URN, URL, URC etc<br /> URN Uniform Resource Name: A persistant, location independent<br /> identifier for an object.<br /> URL Uniform Resource Location: The address of an object, contains<br /> enough information to identify a protocol and retrieve the object.<br /> URC Uniform Resource Characteristics: Any combination of one or more<br /> URN's or URLs with meta information. The set of information in<br /> a URC is not defined. In some documents this is referred to as<br /> URT or URM. [mm]<br /> Id Authority That part of a URN which identifiers the authority<br /> that issued the URN. In documents written prior to it becoming<br /> a hierarchical entity, [clw/peterd:2] it is usually split into<br /> two parts "Naming Authority" and "Publisher Id"<br /> IIIR Integration of Internet Information Retrieval.<br /> <br /> General scenario<br /> ================<br /> <br /> The general scenario described here might proceed as follows, although<br /> this document is not constrained by the scenario it is usefull to articulate<br /> it so that we can check that what we are proposing makes sense.<br /> <br /> 1) A client program, running on a users workstation, receives a<br /> hypertext document, menu, or search result etc containing a number of<br /> URNs.<br /> <br /> 2) The user selects one of the URNs<br /> <br /> 3) The client locates, a URN-&gt;URC resolution service.<br /> <br /> 4) The client contacts the URN-&gt;URC resolution service, and<br /> retrieves a number of URLs for this document, along with meta<br /> information about those URLs (e.g. cost and format) and about the URN<br /> itself.<br /> <br /> 5) The user, or the client, pick the "best" URL<br /> <br /> 6) The client either retrieves the URL itself (e.g. via its access<br /> library) or if the URL is for a access method it doesnt speak, via a<br /> gateway service.<br /> <br /> 7) The client either displays the object, or if its in a format it doesnt<br /> handle, launches an appropriate viewer.<br /> <br /> Technical detail for each step<br /> ==============================<br /> <br /> 1) The client program receives the URNs <br /> <br /> The URNs are embedded in an object, or other data structure, the client<br /> needs a way to locate and extract those URNs. <br /> <br /> The current proposal is that in<br /> text they are always of the form &lt;urn:xxx/yyy:ABC123456&gt; where:<br /> <br /> xxx/yyy is a hierarchical identifier (read left to right) for the ID<br /> authority. {Note other proposals are to use one or more ":" as seperators<br /> for the hierarchy, or to reverse it to look like a FQDN}<br /> <br /> ABC123456 is an opaque string assigned by the ID authority.<br /> <br /> For more information on URNs see the current version of the URN<br /> document [clw/peterd:2]<br /> <br /> <br /> 2) The user selects one of those URNs.<br /> <br /> For this to be meaningfull their must be enough meta-information with<br /> the URN for the user to make a selection. Depending on the protocol,<br /> this might be outside the standardisation process, (e.g. a<br /> textual description in a mail message. Or it might be part of another<br /> protocol (e.g. the title in gopher or html). Or it might be that the<br /> URN is received embedded in a URC<br /> <br /> 3) The client locates a URN-&gt;URC resolution service. <br /> <br /> The URN needs to contain enough information within it to locate the<br /> resolution service. The client can extract the ID Authority from the<br /> URN in the example above this would be xxx/yyy, this is reversed and<br /> ".urn" appended to form a FQDN of yyy.xxx.urn<br /> <br /> { If other punctuation schemes are adopted, then the process will<br /> change, but the principle remain the same. Ditto if we adopt a<br /> different top-level domain. This does have implications for the<br /> character set allowed in the ID Authority part of a URN, it either has<br /> to be those characters allowed in a FQDN, or an escaping scheme<br /> chosen}<br /> <br /> This FQDN, can be passed to the DNS which can resolve it to an address,<br /> while this might involve several network accesses to traverse the<br /> hierarchy, the standard caching and UDP parts of DNS make this an<br /> efficient process. Typically this requires just a call to<br /> "gethostbyname" which returns a IP address.<br /> <br /> There have been some concerns raised about not increasing the load on<br /> the fragile DNS system and software. Note also that in this scheme the<br /> DNS needs no records changed or added, and only ID authorities are<br /> registered - not documents. Total increased load on DNS for any<br /> transaction is going to be of a similar order as the load for any<br /> document retrieval etc.<br /> <br /> 4) The client contacts the URN-&gt;URC service.<br /> <br /> If we are to avoid mucking with the DNS, then the URN-&gt;URC service is<br /> going to have to be on a registered port, talking a known protocol.<br /> <br /> Currently the proposal is to use a subset of the whois++ protocol, but<br /> sitting on a different port. The simplest query is of the form:<br /> <br /> Client-&gt;Server: Template=URC;URN="urn:xxx/yyy:ABCD123456"<br /> <br /> Server-&gt;Client: URN: urn:xxx/yyy:ABCD123456<br /> Author: Mitra &lt;mitra@path.net&gt;<br /> URL: gopher://path.net/00/papers/mitra/urn2urc<br /> Format: Text/plain<br /> URL: ftp://path.net/pub/docs/urn2urc.ps<br /> Format: Application/postscript<br /> <br /> Decisions are needed about what the minimum set of queries for<br /> URN-&gt;URC resolution are, also whether the returned information is in<br /> whois++ format, or is in URC format, however we define that.<br /> <br /> However this is defined, it is going to be a subset of the evolving<br /> whois++, and is going to have to be an extendable protocol, in the<br /> sense that we are going to want to add more functionality to URN<br /> servers as time goes by. Therefore, URN-&gt;URC servers should fail<br /> gracefully if a client requests a function they dont support, and<br /> clients should behave gracefully if the server doesnt support a<br /> feature they request. Crashing because you see an unrecognised field,<br /> or request is NOT conformance with this standard. See the whois++<br /> document [peterd:3]<br /> <br /> {Note: Whois++ needs to add a statement that order can not be arbitrarily<br /> rearranged in templates}<br /> <br /> 5) The user, or client chooses the "best" URL<br /> <br /> In some cases the URC will contain enough information to pick the<br /> document without further input from the user. For instance, in the<br /> above case, if the client doesnt support Postscript, then it might<br /> automatically select the "Text/plain" version.<br /> <br /> <br /> In most cases, the client is going to have to present some kind of<br /> menu, or dialog box to a user for him or her to make that decision. This<br /> means that the meta-information in a template should ideally be<br /> interpretable by the computer, and should if possible be<br /> human-readable. <br /> <br /> <br /> It would be usefull to enable experimentation at this time, before<br /> agreement on these fields is reached. So for now, template fields<br /> shall consist of any registered mime field (e.g. Content type) or any<br /> IAFA template field. If these are insufficient then select a field<br /> from the report of the "non-existant" Data Elements Working Group<br /> [NEDEWG]. If other fields are needed, prepend them with "X-".<br /> <br /> It is hoped that the URI group, or some other WG can gradually standardize<br /> the contents of most of these fields. However in the shifting world of<br /> information systems this will never be a complete task, so clients<br /> should never choke on an element they dont recognize.<br /> <br /> <br /> 6) The client retrieves the URL - <br /> <br /> The URL theoretically contains enough information for a client to<br /> retrieve it. There are three possibilities for what a well-behaved<br /> client might do:<br /> a) The client is clever enough to understand the protocol, and passes<br /> the URL to its access library.<br /> b) The client knows about the protocol, but cannot handle it itself,<br /> in which case it can pass the URL to a gateway that it knows handles this<br /> protocol.<br /> c) The client has never heard of the protocol, in which case it should<br /> hand the URL to its default gateway, and hope for the best.<br /> <br /> Of course, accessing this URL involves DNS lookup and other network<br /> functionality, but this is a well understood problem.<br /> <br /> <br /> 7) The client displays the object<br /> <br /> The client now has an object - file, menu etc. By virtue of the<br /> earlier steps, it also should have enough information to know what to<br /> do with it. Typically this will involve either displaying the object<br /> itself, or checking in some configuration table for an appropriate<br /> application (e.g. xv) to pass the object to.<br /> <br /> <br /> Conclusion<br /> ==========<br /> <br /> Hopefully, this document has outlined a scenario and some ways to<br /> achieve, it - I believe the scenario is generic enough to fit many<br /> people's needs, if not then lets outline alternative scenarios and<br /> determine if the techniques above are sufficient for handling it.<br /> <br /> <br /> Other docs<br /> ==========<br /> {I'd appreciate URL's etc where these are missing}<br /> <br /> X-Ref: peterd:3<br /> Description: Whois++ protocol spec<br /> Author: ??<br /> Title: ??<br /> URL: ??<br /> <br /> <br /> X-Ref: timbl<br /> Title: Unifrom Resource Locators<br /> Author: Tim Berners-Lee &lt;timbl@info.cern.ch&gt;<br /> Date: March 93<br /> URL: ftp://cnri.reston.va.us/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-uri-url-03.txt<br /> <br /> X-Ref: NEESNWG <br /> Description: Report of the "non-existant" Element Set Names Working Group<br /> Title: ??<br /> URL: ??<br /> <br /> X-Ref: clw/peterd:1<br /> Author: Chris Weider &lt;clw@merit.edu&gt;<br /> Author: Peter Deutsch &lt;peterd@bunyip.com&gt;<br /> Title: A Vision of an Integrated Information Service<br /> Date: Oct 93<br /> URL: ftp://cnri.reston.va.us/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-iiir-vision-00.txt<br /> <br /> X-Ref: clw/peterd:2<br /> Author: Chris Weider &lt;clw@merit.edu&gt;<br /> Author: Peter Deutsch &lt;peterd@bunyip.com&gt;<br /> Title: Uniform Resource Names<br /> URL: ftp://cnri.reston.va.us/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-uri-resource-names-01.txt<br /> <br /> X-Ref: mm<br /> Author: Michael Mealing &lt;oit.gatech.edu&gt;<br /> Title: Uniform Resource Identifiers: The Grand Menagerie<br /> URL: http://www.gatech.edu/urm.paper<br /> Date: July 93<br /> </pre> 1994-09-04T07:57:26.000Z 2010-08-18T08:50:36.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3048-iiia Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Chris Weider, Bunyip Information Systems, Inc.<br /> Mitra, Pandora Systems Inc <br /> Karen Sollins, MIT</p><h2>Introduction</h2><br /> <p>We have been working on Information Architecture issues for a few years now, and have worked on protocol specifications and enhancements for a number of the current widely used Internet information systems. We believe that widely varying retrieval requirements, security requirements, search and support techniques, caching and charging requirements mean that a single system cannot be implemented which will satisfy every user's information needs. In addition, as more and more communities use the Internet to store their information and transport their communications, we will need to allow them to transition gracefully from their current methods to new methods which utilize the full power of the Net. We cannot require them to rewrite their data to deliver it over Internet information tools because in many cases they have already developed tools and protocols analogous to those in use on the Internet.; we must provide them with an information architecture which allows them to use tools with which they are comfortable while integrating them into the current information mesh.</p><p>Therefore, we have decided to focus our attention on an information model, and a generic functional model for an Internet information architecture, rather than attempt to either a) kludge an existing protocol to provide everything for everyone or b) design such a system from scratch, which would be a waste of time.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><p>We have (along with Karen Sollins, Larry Masinter, Michael Mealling, and several others) been developing a generic functional model for such an architecture. It is still in the early stages of development, but is firmly based on what has been learned in the deployment of the current set of tools, and on the practical work that Karen has been doing in her Information Mesh project.</p><h2>The approach</h2><br /> <p>A brief overview of our approach is as follows: we start off with a basic object oriented information model, where an object is not exactly analogous to the existing notions of 'document', 'file', etc., but is slightly more generic. We have identified a number of functional 'modules' in the architecture which mediate interaction with the objects, these modules cover such functionality as retrieval, resource-discovery, URN-&gt;URL lookup, viewing, transformations, security and charging etc. We do not envision each module being realized in a single monolithic system; rather, we merely specify the functional and interface requirements for such a module. The</p><p>intention is that modules would be usable across different information systems, for example a charging module might be used by both gopher and WWW. Seperating out modules allows the seperate development of modules, and their integration into a wide variety of information systems. As in the current Internet White Pages work, we wish to allow many different approaches to be taken to the implementation of the functionality, subject only to the constraint that those protocols which implement parts of the architecture must be able to interoperate, through the common interfaces.</p><h2>Suggested process</h2><br /> <p>Our goal, if such an approach is adopted by the IAB workshop participants, is to fully articulate such an architecture, picking the appropriate modules, and then to define the functional and interface requirements of these modules. Since some modules are going to be local, whereas others will be accessed across the network we will then need to start building new protocols to its requirements, and determining how existing protocols realize such an architecture. We fully intend to work in the IETF tradition of using existing successful practice as a touchstone for the validity and usefulness of our work. If we can develop such an architecture, then we have a framework which will serve to tie together the resources on the Internet into a single system, no matter how large it grows or how long it lasts.</p><h2>A simple example</h2><br /> <p>The diagram below, shows a model of the way a few modules might link together in a manner analogous to the functionality of a WWW browser searching a resource discovery service, and then retrieving a file, its only enhancement over the existing functionality is to look up the URN returned by the WAIS server, at a resolution service, before retrieving the document via Gopher. Should this be all that is needed, then little would be gained by our approach, as compared to minor enhancements to existing tools such as Mosaic.</p><p><img src="/uri/IIIA1.gif" border="0" alt="IIIA" width="507" height="399" /></p><h2>Complicating the issue</h2><br /> <p>The value of modularity comes into play when we look at how to add all the extra functionality that is going to be desired. For example should someone design a caching module then the only part that needs changing in the diagram above should be the Retrieval module in order to take advantage of the new caching functionality.</p><p><img src="/uri/IIIA2.gif" border="0" alt="IIIA" width="342" height="102" /></p><h2>Modules</h2><br /> <p>Our criteria for identifying a seperate module are that it should contain logically distinct functions. From a practical point of view the intention is that a developer should be able to build a module that conforms to the the functionality and interface described, and have that easily integrated by a client or server developer. As a first pass we have identified the following modules as being required. We welcome debate as to what modules are missing, or should be subdivided, and the functionality of those modules.</p><ul><li> Retrieval </li><li> Gateways</li><li> URN resolution</li><li> Definitions server</li><li> Updates</li><li> Service location</li><li> Caching and replication</li><li> Security and Authentication</li><li> Payments, Charging and Accounting</li><li> Translation</li><li> Presentation</li><li> Searching and Indexing </li></ul><h2>Functionality</h2><br /> <p>For each module we've attempted to define the functions required, again we encourage debate on these functions, at this stage there are obviously things that have been left out. The intention is to capture the generic concepts that each module handles internally, while obscuring things specific to any particular implementation of the module. This is not always easy and some relaxation of this principle might be needed in order to have a system that allows us to get the most out of any application.</p><p>The actual interface to these modules is likely to take several forms, for example some modules may be incorporated as libraries, linked into applications, others may be accessable over the network, in which case we will recommend a protocol below. In some cases, for example on Macintoshes, then some propriatrary method such as Apple Events, or RPCs may be used. It is hoped that this will have minimal effect on the actual modules.</p><p>In order to reduce the number of functions required below, two principles apply in all cases.</p><p>1) For any function, there needs to be the ability to ask for meta-information about that function, with a return value being the cost, estimated time, authentication etc. for that particular operation.</p><p>2) Most functions take a URI as an argument, this could be either a URN or a URL. In the case of a URN, the function may need to call a resolution module to obtain the URL.</p><h2>Modules</h2><br /> <h3>Retrieval</h3><br /> <p>This module manages retrieval of objects using protocols that are understood by this application</p><p>It is likely to call the following modules: Caching, URN resolution, Payments.</p><p>The only function we can currently envision for it is Retrieve(URI) -&gt; Object.</p><h3>Presentation</h3><br /> <p>The presentation module, handles the display of an object to the user, it selects an appropriate viewer, if neccessary calling other modules to locate and or retrieve one.</p><p>The only function it handles is:</p><p>Display(OBJECT, Parameters)</p><p>The functionality of the Presentation module will obviously have to be enhanced; this basic function assumes that the entire object has been retrieved onto a local machine; the use of firewalls and the existence of small data pipes may necessitate a negotiated fragment presentation scheme.</p><h3>Searching</h3><br /> <p>This module is used for database searching and resource discovery, very different techniques might be hidden under the same interface. It would handle the following functions.</p><p>Search(URI to search, How to order, URC to search for) -&gt; List of URI's</p><h3>URN Resolution</h3><br /> <p>A URN resolver is used to look up information about a URN or URL, returning a URC.</p><p>The functions required are:</p><p>Resolve(URN, fields) -&gt; URC, where fields specifies the meta-information to be returned. For example this might specify just to return a list of URLs.</p><h3>Gateways</h3><br /> <p>A gateway module typically runs in a server, where it accepts requests in one protocol, and then calls a Retrieve module that can speak the protocol required to actually fetch the object.</p><p>The function defined for it is, as for the Retrieve module, Retrieve(URI)-&gt; Object, however the call is going to arrive in some other protocol (e.g. gopher) in which the results will need returning.</p><h3>Update Module</h3><br /> <p>As the volume of material increases it becomes crucial to have consistency around objects and pointers to the metainformation. Hand edited URN-&gt;URC resolvers for example are going to get seriously out-of-date. This module allows the controlled update of material.</p><p>Functions might be:</p><p>register(URN,URL) register that there is a new copy of a URN available</p><p>add(URL,OBJECT) create a new URL, with a particular body</p><p>delete(URN,URL) tell the URN2URC resolvers to forget about this URL</p><h3>Definitions Server</h3><br /> <p>This is a new concept, but fills in a gap where applications need to find out about new things, for example if an application sees a new Content-Type, it is going to want to find out what the content-type is, what viewers can handle it, where it might get a viewer for it. It replaces the functionality currently in hand-configured and distributed "config" files.</p><p>Functions might be (this needs much more discussion and work).</p><p>Define(URL-prefix) -&gt; Gateway</p><p>Define(Content-Type) -&gt; List of viewers and translaters.</p><h3>Service Location</h3><br /> <p>This is used to find local or remote modules, for example find a URN2URC resolver.</p><p>A typical function might be.</p><p>Locate(Service) -&gt; URL of the service.</p><p>Although URL's may not be sufficient to describe a service's location.</p><p>There is a Service Location WG at the IETF, which will need liasing with, however initial discussions indicate that the Service Location Protocol will solve the problem of finding local resources, but not help to find remote resources since it is broadcast oriented. This is an example of where a single functional and interface definition might allow two very different internal systems to be accessed by the same applications.</p><h3>Caching &amp; Replication</h3><br /> <p>This module, or modules will handle the process of cache management, simple modules might just make a copy of everything retrieved, while more complex modules might use sophisticated algorithms to manage the caches, decide what to replicate etc. In addition, the caching mechanism may also wish to partcipate in a cooperative distributed cache by announcing a local URL for the new copy of the resource. This would allow regions of the Net which have a large number of users behind a relatively thin pipe (Australia, for example) to use their user's machines as a local cache without having to decide what to retrieve. Such a function will also need a lot of support from the security and charging modules. The caching and replication server should support the following functions:</p><p>Retrieve(URI,Fragment) -&gt; OBJECT # return a cached, or remote copy of a file (keep a copy)</p><p>Store(URI,OBJECT) # Keep this object in case anyone else wants it</p><p>Tellmeabout(URI)-&gt;URI # Get more meta-information about a particular cached object</p><h3>Security &amp; Authentication</h3><br /> <p>This module is going to be called by most of the other modules to authenticate actions requested. The interface will need to be able to handle different security models underneath, from ticket granting systems such as Kerberos, to public/private key based systems such as RSA or PGP.</p><p>The interface for this should be at a high enough level to hide these differences, for example "give me a key" is not the kind of functionality we are looking for, that would be a function internal to the security module. Functions we might want could be.</p><p>AuthenticateAssertions(URC) -&gt; Boolean # Checks the assertions (e.g. authorship) in a URC</p><p>IsThis(URL,URN) -&gt; Boolean # Checks that a URL is really an example of a URN</p><p>SecureRetrieve(URI) -&gt; Object # Obtains an object in a secure fashion</p><p>SignThis(URN,URL) # Creates a signature for a URL and stores it on a URN</p><p>Encrypt (OBJECT, Parameters) # Encrypt an object using some scheme</p><h3>Payments, Charging &amp; Accounting</h3><br /> <p>As with security, it is neccessary to hide a variety of different schemes under a common interface. Payments system seem to come under two fairly different classes, either digital cash based - where a token that has value is passed around, or cheque based - where an IOU is passed around. The commonality of these can be expressed with the following functions.</p><p>ObtainToken(Value) -&gt; Token # Where the Token may be a cheque or cash</p><p>Pay(Token, Person) # Pay the token to the person</p><p>Cash(Token) # Handle a received token</p><p>Validate(Token) # Establish validity of a token, without changing it.</p><p>There is a second type of charging which may or may not need to happen at this layer; for example, the cost of retrieving the data (as opposed to paying for access to the data). In today's networks, retrieval costs are already built into the flat line charges, but that may not be the case in the future. In addition, we need an intelligent metric service which will determine which of a set of given URLs point to the 'closest' server.</p><h3>Translation</h3><br /> <p>In many cases, a desired resource may not be presentable on the current system because a) the necessary viewers have not been installed or b) the data type is not supported on the current system. Therefore, a client should be able to ask for a translation from a format it can not handle to one that it can. The function would look something like:</p><p>Translate(object, inputformat, outputformat)</p><h2>Protocol</h2><br /> <p>We have deliberately not specified protocols above, the functionality and modularity of the interfaces should be independent of the method that modules use to inter-communicate, especially since much of the communication is likely to be within a single computer, where it makes lots of sense to use direct library calls or similar means to intercommunicate.</p><p>However - it makes a lot of sense to specify a common protocol to be used between modules where they traverse a network.</p><p>Ideally it would make a lot of sense to be able to do this all on a single port, with a gatekeeper routing calls to appropriate modules that may or may not be seperate executables. This enables us to avoid using a dozen different ports for what might be a single program in some cases.</p><p>One approach to this would have been to use RPC, however unless we used DCE this would be vendor specific. Its also terrible to debug. The ideal protocol is going to allow the semantics of a function call, i.e. the ability to specify a function (or verb) and arguments. This rules out using variants of common protocols such as Gopher and Whois++ both of which are specialised for particular tasks. The best candidates would appear to be either Prospero or HTTP, both could be easily extended to handle additional verbs and objects.</p><p> </p><p>Prospero's main advantage is its use of UDP (actually ARDP for reliability), this gives large performance improvements, especially for the kinds of small interactions many of these calls are going to be. In ARDP lack of a response can be caused by either a failure of the network, or a failure of the server, both of which are cause for retransmission</p><p> </p><p>HTTP's advantage is that it is easy to debug via telnet, and easy to implement within existing frameworks.</p><p> </p><p>This topic is a good one for further debate, whichever protocol is chosen we recommend a simple translation between the functional definitions, and the online protocol, so that simple extensions of functionality automatically define the way these functions are communicated over the wire. For example a Retrieval might be</p><p> </p><p>RETRIEVE urn:path.net:mitra12345</p><p>in either Prospero or HTTP.</p><p> </p> 2010-10-05T17:25:46.000Z 2010-11-07T12:25:24.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3055-scaling Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I'm in a session on scaling at SoCap10 and taught a class at Deshpande Center for Social Innovation in India a few months ago partly on the topic, and it prompted me to write my own thoughts on scaling in social enterprises. <br /> <br /> I'm passionate about scale and have taken two very different organisations rapidly to very large scale. <br /> <br /> One question I like to ask the innovators I'm supporting is "<strong>if you can solve the problem for a few people, why can't you solve it for all who need the solution</strong>", what would that look like and how would you get to that scale.</p><p> </p>

<br /> <p>For example while creating the solar company we designed our business processes around a company doing over $10m per year. As a result we knocked 30% off the install cost - and with the fixed subsidies available at the time, knocked 90% off the cost to the consumer. <br /> <br /> With that thinking goes some assumptions and questions.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Should you scale it, or should you get others to scale it?</strong> In 1985 I created a NGO in the UK (GreenNet) that provided IT support, web access etc. In 1989, along with our US partner (IGC) we took it global as the "Association for Progressive Communications" (www.apc.org) and its now in about 40 countries. We did this by supporting other organisations to adopt our model and to build capacity to become equal partners.</p><p><strong>In what form do you scale?</strong></p><ul><li>Think about <strong>micro-franchising</strong> - meaning getting local people to run a replicable, preferably profitable, business. It means you don't have to scale staff and overheads.</li><li>Think about <strong>cooperative-franchising</strong> - meaning supporting other organisations to join you as equals in a common business model - This was effectively how APC worked - the core group is owned & controlled by the member organisations.</li></ul><p><strong>How will you finance its scale? </strong>You can't solve a problem in a developing country at scale if you are dependent on western donations for every item you ship; every case you handle - if you can get the business model right then it may be able to scale without finance except perhaps to go into new areas, or you might need different forms of finance, e.g. inventory finance rather than equity.  We had a lot of problems convincing a financier that our solar company - less than a year old - to give us inventory finance for a $20m order book. <br /> <br /> <strong>What will you need to change?</strong> For each of the different subsectors; cultural contexts; climates; legal environments? The more it needs customising, the more expensive it will be, the less it is customisable the harder to work in different contexts. <br /> <br /> <strong>Question assumptions! </strong>The people working in the area now will have learned something, and have much to teach you BUT they haven't solved the problem (otherwise you wouldn't be needed) so which of their assumptions are wrong, or at least partially wrong, and how can you do it differently.<br /> <br /> <strong>What's the process of planning it? </strong>One thing I suggest is to go back to your business plan and think through what would it look like if it was a factor of ten bigger (in terms of impact) and then a factor of hundred.  It might not be as different as you think, for example with one organisation we went through this process it required just adding one more layer, i.e. instead of the three layers they planned they would have a state-based organisation dealing with regional reps who worked for them; one entrepreneur per village who then had staff to collect the micro-payments. This level scaled to millions. <br /> <br /> <strong>Be flexible! </strong>Of course, your actual route to scale will be different from the planned route, but you need to be thinking scale all along, and adapt as you learn.   The challenge for most businesses is to figure out how to learn quickly from your mistakes, because you can't learn from them unless you admit them.</p> 2010-07-17T08:00:00.000Z 2010-11-23T15:08:19.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3056-jaagabangalore Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/images/ni.jaaga.handout.em.pdf" title="Powerpoint NI Jaaga"></pdf-link> <p>I gave a talk to a mini bar camp, held at the Jaaga center in Bangalore, co-founded by my friend Freeman Murray. Most of the participants were IT techies, so I focused on the technologies we are looking at.</p>

<br /> <p><a href="http://www.jaaga.in/" target="_blank" title="Jaaga">Jaaga</a> is interesting, an arts, culture and tech center right in the middle of Bangalore and built in just a few days out of pallet rack.</p> 2010-07-08T08:00:00.000Z 2010-07-08T08:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3057-deshpande Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I spent a very interesting day at the <a href="http://www.deshpandefoundation.org/blog/tag/deshpande-center-for-social-entrepreneurship/" target="_blank" title="Deshpande Center for Social Entrepreneurship">Deshpande Center for Social Entrepreneurship</a> in Hubli, India, including a guest lecture on Scaling and Breaking Rules.</p>

<pdf-link href="/images/ni%20deshpande%20part1.handout.em.pdf" title="Deshpande part 1 Natural Innovation"></pdf-link> <pdf-link href="/images/ni%20deshpande%20part2.pptx.em.pdf" title="Deshpande part 2 Social Entrepreneurship"></pdf-link> <p>After being met off an overnight train, I was whisked straight to one of the social enterprises they support; the <a href="http://www.akshayapatra.org/tapf-Hubli" target="_blank" title="Akshaya Patra kitchen">Akshaya Patra kitchen</a>. Its run by Hare Krishna monks and feeds around 190,000 school children each day as part of a government lunch program. They feed up to 1m kids across India, mostly through centralised kitchens like this one, but also from decentralised ones.</p><p> </p><p>This kitchen had an interesting gravity feed system where ingredients - principally rice &amp; veg are taken up to the roof - I think through an archimedies screw type arrangment - and then fed down through gravity through steam rice cookers etc to the lower floor where its batched up for the vans. The decentralised kitchens might be good for a distributed solar setup, but reliability of course would be key.</p><p>The rest of the Deshpande foundation was equally interesting, especially the <a href="http://www.deshpandefoundation.org/Work/DFP/index.php" target="_blank" title="Deshpande Fellows program">Fellows program</a> that takes 23-28 year olds, and for 6 months (or is it a year?) teaches them the business skills to become Social Entrepreneurs, in their own organisations or elsewhere. There is also an international exchange program with students from the US doing social entrepreneurship programs.</p><p>I met a couple of their Fellows program graduates and was impressed how far they had come given where they had started.</p><p>At very short notice I gave a guest lecture to the students, the first part on Natural Innovation adn the second part on Social Entrepreneurship with a focus on "Getting to Scale" and "Breaking the Rules"</p><p><a href="/images/ni%20deshpande%20part1.handout.em.pdf" title="Deshpande part 1">Part 1: Natural Innovation (handouts)</a> <a href="/images/ni%20deshpande%20part2.pptx.em.pdf" title="Deshpande part 2">Part 2: Social Entrepreneurship (slides)</a></p> 2010-12-09T10:45:23.000Z 2011-04-24T21:36:49.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3058-socap10 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Several clips of an interview at SoCap10 with me appear in this video by the Uptake explaining Social Capital and Social Ventures.</p><content-video torrent="/video/uptake blip video.torrent" file="uptake blip video.mp4"></content-video>

<br /> <p>From the <a href="http://theuptake.org/2010/10/11/social-capitaldoing-good-and-making-money/" mce_href="http://theuptake.org/2010/10/11/social-capitaldoing-good-and-making-money/">Uptake's site</a><br mce_bogus="1"></p><p><br /> </p><p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">There are some problems that neither pure capitalism nor charity can solve. Social capital is a new way of looking at solving those problems. This month, people from all over the world came to SOCAP10 in San Francisco to talk about social capital, and put their money where their mouths are.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">Over the next several days we’ll be posting stories about companies that have what is called a “triple bottom line” — where they measure results not just in profit, but also in the business impact on people and the planet.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">Our first video focuses on just what the social capital movement is about. We talk with people who run social capital companies such as Firefox maker Mozilla, people who are seeking funding for their businesses, and journalists who are covering the social capital movement.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">Related Links – Learn more about the people and companies in the video:</p><ul style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;"><br /> <li><a href="undefined/" mce_href="undefined/">Mitra Ardron – Natural Innovation</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.thehub.net" mce_href="http://www.thehub.net">Alex Denny – Hub DC</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/" mce_href="http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/">Mark Surman – Mozilla Foundation</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.socialk.com" mce_href="http://www.socialk.com">Rob Thomas – Social K Retirement Plans</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.jointhehoop.com" mce_href="http://www.jointhehoop.com">Patrick Donohue – The Hoop Fund</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.grittv.org/" mce_href="http://www.grittv.org/">Laura Flanders – Grit TV</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.yansa.org/about/who-we-are/" mce_href="http://www.yansa.org/about/who-we-are/">Sergio Oceransky- The Yansa Group</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://sfpublicpress.org/blogs/michael-stoll" mce_href="http://sfpublicpress.org/blogs/michael-stoll">Michael Stoll – San Francisco Public Press</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.foundersspace.com/featured/darian-rodriguez-heyman/" mce_href="http://www.foundersspace.com/featured/darian-rodriguez-heyman/">Darian Rodriguez Heyman – Code Green Agency</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.biocharengineering.com/" mce_href="http://www.biocharengineering.com/">Lopa Brunjes – Biochar Engineering</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li><li><a href="http://www.socialcapitalmarkets.net/" mce_href="http://www.socialcapitalmarkets.net/">Kevin Jones- SOCAP10</a><br mce_bogus="1"></li></ul> 2010-12-10T08:15:12.000Z 2010-12-12T16:49:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3059-units Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Its annoying to see supposedly technical sites like <a href="http://gigaom.com" title="gigaom">GigaOm</a> post articles with obvious, and significant, poor use of units.</p><p>In a recent - and otherwise good - article on <a href="http://gigaom.com/cleantech/ge-zigbee-beats-wi-fi-for-low-energy-homes" title="zigbee v wi-fi">Zigbee versus WiFi</a>, they state "ZigBee systems consumed just 0.39 watts over 24 hours, compared to Wi-Fi’s 0.87 watts over the same time"</p><p>While the relative saving of 55% is interesting, the statement of actual consumption is meaningless, and can be read two different ways - its either a consumption of 0.39 watts, or its 0.39 watt-hours/day that is a factor of 24 difference.</p><p>When the editors of technical sites can't pick up things like this, its hard to expect mainstream media to get it right.</p><p>I've commented on that site, and would encourage readers to similarly comment on obvious numeric errors until the editors learn the difference between a watt and a watt-hour.</p>

<p>Its annoying to see supposedly technical sites like <a href="http://gigaom.com" title="gigaom">GigaOm</a> post articles with obvious, and significant, poor use of units.</p><p>In a recent - and otherwise good - article on <a href="http://gigaom.com/cleantech/ge-zigbee-beats-wi-fi-for-low-energy-homes" title="zigbee v wi-fi">Zigbee versus WiFi</a>, they state "ZigBee systems consumed just 0.39 watts over 24 hours, compared to Wi-Fi’s 0.87 watts over the same time"</p><p>While the relative saving of 55% is interesting, the statement of actual consumption is meaningless, and can be read two different ways - its either a consumption of 0.39 watts, or its 0.39 watt-hours/day that is a factor of 24 difference.</p><p>When the editors of technical sites can't pick up things like this, its hard to expect mainstream media to get it right.</p><p>I've commented on that site, and would encourage readers to similarly comment on obvious numeric errors until the editors learn the difference between a watt and a watt-hour.</p> 2010-12-15T15:01:20.000Z 2010-12-15T15:15:35.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3060-dtninternet Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Daniel Erasmus of DTN put together an interesting collection of interviews with internet pioneers for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. (I'm interviewed in it)</p>

<br /> <p> </p><p>You can find the videos here.</p><ul><li><a href="http://dtn.net/files/futureofit/compilations/questionscompilation.mov">Questions</a></li><li><a href="http://dtn.net/files/futureofit/compilations/scenario1compilation.mov">Scenario 1: Efficient ICT</a></li><li><a href="http://dtn.net/files/futureofit/compilations/scenario2compilation.mov">Scenario 2: Big is Beautiful</a></li><li><a href="http://dtn.net/files/futureofit/compilations/scenario3compilation.mov">Scenario 3: Internet Islands</a></li><li><a href="http://dtn.net/files/futureofit/compilations/scenario4compilation.mov">Scenario 4: New Frontiers</a></li></ul><p>Its got a good mix of early pioneers (Vince Cerf, Izumi Aizu, Tim O'Reilley, Brewster Kahle) and some newcomers.</p><p>If you are looking for my contributions they are in the questions (9m18s and 9m52s) and Scenario 1 (6m48s, 11m18s) and Scenario 4 (2m17s 9m45s), but it makes much more sense if you listen to it through as Daniel does a great job of cut and pasting related comments together.</p><p> </p> 2010-12-15T20:37:39.000Z 2010-12-15T20:37:39.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3061-error-page Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Sorry that page doesn't exist - or doesn't exist any more.</p><p>This isn't entirely surprising since its been through a major redesign including moving to Joomla.</p><p>Hopefully you can find what you are looking for through the menus , or search on this site.</p><p>- Mitra</p><p> </p>

<p>Sorry that page doesn't exist - or doesn't exist any more.</p><p>This isn't entirely surprising since its been through a major redesign including moving to Joomla.</p><p>Hopefully you can find what you are looking for through the menus , or search on this site.</p><p>- Mitra</p><p> </p> 2010-12-17T19:56:24.000Z 2010-12-17T20:11:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3062-auroville Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I spent an interesting and enjoyable week at Auroville in July 2010 meeting with renewable energy teams, and exploring probably the largest, long running alternative community project.  This video that I found on YouTube (thanks Remy) gives a good taste of it.</p><p> </p><div class="w480h289"><br /> <content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SxstZFC8Vms?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB"></content-video><br /> </div><br /> <p><br />

<br /> I'd also suggest looking at <a href="http://www.green.aurovilleportal.org/" target="_blank">Auroville's Green Portal</a> and their <a href="http://www.auroville.org" target="_blank">main visitors site</a>.</p> 2011-01-02T21:54:29.000Z 2011-05-20T00:13:33.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3063-travelhintstop Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This is an outline of some hints I'd like to write.</p><p> </p><p>Figure out how you meet each of your basic needs ... and by that I include.</p><ul><li>Healthy, nutritious food </li><li>Exercise</li><li>Intellectual stimulation</li><li>Romance / Love etc</li><li>Company</li><li>Sleep</li><li>Safety</li><li>Communication <br /> <ul><li>Internet where I'm staying</li><li>Ethernet cable</li><li>Dongles for bank accounts</li><li>Thumbdrive</li></ul></li></ul><p>How to pack light (needs photo - amazon links</p><p>Less stuff, more money, i.e take a LOT less stuff, and be willing to buy the few things you really need but forgot to take.</p><p>Clothes - lightweight; easy to wash and dry (e.g. I take nothing that can't be washed with colors, i.e. no whites) - nothing needing ironing, or special washing or drying - everything can be either machine or hand washed and machine or air dried.   Ring things out in a towel</p><p>Sleep aids (eye cover; ear-plugs)</p><p>Power adapters - (photo)</p><p> </p>

<p>This is an outline of some hints I'd like to write.</p><p> </p><p>Figure out how you meet each of your basic needs ... and by that I include.</p><ul><li>Healthy, nutritious food </li><li>Exercise</li><li>Intellectual stimulation</li><li>Romance / Love etc</li><li>Company</li><li>Sleep</li><li>Safety</li><li>Communication <br /> <ul><li>Internet where I'm staying</li><li>Ethernet cable</li><li>Dongles for bank accounts</li><li>Thumbdrive</li></ul></li></ul><p>How to pack light (needs photo - amazon links</p><p>Less stuff, more money, i.e take a LOT less stuff, and be willing to buy the few things you really need but forgot to take.</p><p>Clothes - lightweight; easy to wash and dry (e.g. I take nothing that can't be washed with colors, i.e. no whites) - nothing needing ironing, or special washing or drying - everything can be either machine or hand washed and machine or air dried.   Ring things out in a towel</p><p>Sleep aids (eye cover; ear-plugs)</p><p>Power adapters - (photo)</p><p> </p> 2011-01-04T22:15:32.000Z 2011-01-04T22:26:51.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3064-sustainableeconomieslawcenter Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>This cute little cartoon from my friends at the Sustainable Economies Law Center explains where they see the new economy emerging between the Personal and the Commercial, and goes into the legal grey area it creates.</p><p> </p><div class="w480h289"><br /> <content-video src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LVUXiUkfQCs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB"></content-video><br /> </div><br /> <p> </p>

<br /> <p>Hope you enjoy it</p> 2011-01-12T06:34:25.000Z 2011-04-04T09:49:35.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3065-newsletter0111 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="?id=209">Newsetter January 2011 has been moved</a></p>

<p><a href="?id=209">Newsetter January 2011 has been moved</a></p> 2011-01-12T06:37:27.000Z 2011-03-26T02:06:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3066-india2011 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Mitra is back in India again, continuing to figure better ways to get tehnology into the hands of the people who need it most. And ... its not just "them", it won't matter how much "we" improve our sustainability in the West, if the South follows the only model it knows to get out of poverty - coal, oil and over-consumption.</p><p><br />

<br /> This trip is primarily about meeting with people: NGO's; companies; and individuals; with experience in distributing technology to the (especially rural) poor. I've got meetings lined up in Delhi (11-12 Jan); Pune (13-14); Mumbai (15 &amp; maybe 16); Mangalore (17) Puttaparthi 18 Bangalore 19-20 Chennai 21-22 Auroville 23-29 (though those dates are tentative, and especially the later ones are likely to shift back a day or so).</p><p>In particular I'm discussing the <a href="?id=33" target="niorg" title="SunPulse Water">SunPulse Water</a> the amazing solar thermal water pump from <a href="?id=24" target="niorg" title="Sunvention">Sunvention</a>.</p><p>If I should be talking to you - or someone else - then I'd love to hear - you can email me on mitra@mitra.biz.</p> 2011-02-09T08:45:08.000Z 2011-03-26T02:05:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3067-bureaucrap Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I'm currently in India, spending some time at Auroville, where there is a lot of sustainability and renewable innovation. One of the questions of interest to me is how good ideas can diffuse into 'normal' rural life.  Money - to be specific, the cost of sustainable technologies and the front-loading is one issue which I've talked about elsewhere, and another is the suitability of technologies to the rural situation - i.e. how maintainable is it, can it survive long periods of 40°C and 100% humidity etc. <br /> <br /> Another issue - and one that is new to me, though I shouldn't be surprised - is the internal problem of over proscriptive, rather than results based regulation, especially where access to subsidies is concerned.  To give an example:  I visited a training college, some of their courses are subsidised, for example their electronics course, but in order to get the subsidy it has to follow the government syllabus that probably hasn't been revised in twenty years. So the college has to struggle between providing a relevant course, and a compliant (subsidised) course.</p><p><br />

<br /> A former staff person of the college told me how, on another occasion, they had to buy old-fashioned drafting tables and typewriters, just to sit in a store room, because having them was a requirement for another course - even though none of the students had the slightest interest in learning how to use out-dated technology.</p><p><br /> It seems to me that if India ever wants to develop then its bureaucrats have to learn flexibility - and not just the kind of flexibility that accompanies a handful of cash changing hands. It needs to be open to solutions that are better than those in minimum standards.<br /> <br /> By the way ... this is not to pick on India - Australia has its own places where out-dated and protectionist standards prevent progress, for example in the area of inverters or solar hot water heaters, leading to over-priced and/or out-dated equipment being the only choices.  Australia is also prone to proscriptive regulation, i.e. where it tells you how to do something, rather than the results to be achieved.</p><p>---</p><p>Since writing the above I've spoken to two sets of teachers here in India, one dealing with high school 10-17 and another with slightly younger kids. Both had similar reactions, i.e. that the education system - while reaching more kids - is seriously broken. As one put it - I'm forced to teach these children using rote learning, they are essentially learning to parrot material that they don't understand, in fact, they often don't even understand the words they are using never mind the concepts.  They can repeat back to me exactly what I've said, but if I ask even the most basic question they can't answer. She also complained that there was little she could do because the Tamil Nadu high school curriculum effectively required her to teach this way. All that she could do was supplement the curriculum as far as possible.</p><p>Maybe it is intentional, maybe an un-creative population is one less likely to question the injustice and poverty that they live under. For example another teacher said .... their idea of creativity is that the teacher draws something on the board and the kids all copy it.  Yet another vocational teacher commented on how they'd asked the kids to design a logo for a project and every single one drew a version of the school logo with minor changes to words, color or shape.  He said - these kids have never had to make a decision in their life, their father told them to go to school, now he's telling them to take this course.</p><p>So far, all those I've spoken to have been western educated, (some indian ethnically, some european or australian).</p><p> </p> 2011-02-13T02:31:20.000Z 2011-02-13T04:08:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3068-sunventionbfi Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>UPDATED: Sunvention's Solar Power Villages proposal has made it to the <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/2011Semi_Finalist_SolarPowerVillages" target="_blank">semi-finalists</a>.</p><p> </p><p><p>I'm proud that Sunvention has made it into the list of contenders for this year's Buckminster Fuller Challenge. This challenge, based on the concepts of Bucky Fuller, is looking for out-of-the box and practical solutions to today's practical problems.</p><p>Some extracts and images from a much longer entry (that I co-authored) have been posted by the Buckminster Fuller Institute online on <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/2308" target="_blank">challenge.bfi.org</a></p><p>It would of course be great to get comments on the site.</p><p> </p>

<p>UPDATED: Sunvention's Solar Power Villages proposal has made it to the <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/2011Semi_Finalist_SolarPowerVillages" target="_blank">semi-finalists</a>.</p><p> </p><p><p>I'm proud that Sunvention has made it into the list of contenders for this year's Buckminster Fuller Challenge. This challenge, based on the concepts of Bucky Fuller, is looking for out-of-the box and practical solutions to today's practical problems.</p><p>Some extracts and images from a much longer entry (that I co-authored) have been posted by the Buckminster Fuller Institute online on <a href="http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/2308" target="_blank">challenge.bfi.org</a></p><p>It would of course be great to get comments on the site.</p><p> </p> 2011-03-07T10:30:57.000Z 2011-03-07T10:30:57.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3069-villgro-pip Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I spent an interesting day with the new "Pre Incubation Program". A mentoring program put together by Villgro in Chennai to effectively leverage the help of experienced mentors to entrepreneurs, through the help of recent MBA graduates.</p><p><br />

<br /> Villgro focuses on products and services for the rural poor, with a focus on supporting innovation and entrepreneurship to address poverty. They have programs including a small fund, and a small but growing network of village shops and distributors.</p><p>I had contacted them previously because they are one of about only seven or eight Social Ventures (for-profit or non-profit) that understand technology and rural India, and a number of the innovators I'm working with are looking for effective ways to bridge the gap to the poor.</p><p>On this occasion Villgro asked me to participate as a mentor in their new "Pre-Incubation-Program".</p><p>Four entrepreneurs/innovators had been selected, with ideas that are good, but where the business model and/or business plan is not yet ready for presenting for funding. The ideas were diverse</p><ul><li>vertically integrated bio-fuels</li><li>revitalising millet production, processing and marketing.</li><li>tissue culture for rare and medicinal plant propogation</li><li>a water harvesting technique to reduce salination</li></ul><p> </p><p>and the mentors backgrounds reflected this.  Each of these entrepreneurs has access to call their mentors over the three months of the program, and to work with a full-time business student to implement the work recommended - which typically involves upgrading the business plan, or the financial models.</p><p>Over the next three months I'll be mentoring the entrepreneur behind the first of the ideas above, and will write more when I know what they are comfortable to share publicly.</p><p> </p> 2011-03-17T05:33:46.000Z 2011-03-19T06:48:45.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3070-potassiumiodide Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I just landed back in Australia, and Marshal Rubinstein, co-founder with me of the OneFridge project is getting Potassium Iodide tablets made and shipped to Japan as it is supposedly the best protection against radiation danger. We have heard they are very hard to get (even in the San Francisco bay area) at the moment, and the ones available are being sold at high prices by profiteers.</p><p>There are a number of challenges we are working on - both here and in Japan, and help would be useful with a couple of the points in our brief below relating to Import regulations and Distribution.</p><p>We could also potentially use a manufacturer in Japan and ship all the 150kg or what is left of it.</p><p>Below is a fact sheet - I'm updating this as things change - as often as hourly as its a rapidly moving project.</p><p> </p>

<br /> <p><strong>POTASSIUM IODIDE SUPPLY PROJECT BRIEFING SHEET.</strong></p><p><strong>* Iodine ...</strong><br /> Radioactive iodine is taken up by the thyroid and causes damage. The best way to prevent is to fill the thyroid with non-radioactive iodine. Recommended dosage is 130mg (65mg for kids), and easiest source of this is Potassium Iodide. You can get it from food (e.g. kelp), but supposedly not quickly enough to fill the thyroid. We have info on this, but we aren't experts - just going on recommendations such as those at the <a href="http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/ki.asp">CDC site. </a></p><p>In brief - but check the site!</p><ul><li>To be effective it needs to be taken at the time of radiation exposure, or ideally shortly before, so every day counts.</li><li>Dosage for adults is 130mg per day, so for example if their is radioactive exposure for 25 days then 130mg * 25 days = 3.25g required.</li><li>Potassium Iodide has negative effects as well - so its best not to take it UNLESS significant exposure is likely. </li><li>Ideally it should be supervised by a doctor. </li></ul><h3>There are six issues.</h3><br /> <p><strong>1: Supply of the raw material.</strong><br /> We appear to have sourced the last 150kg of potassium iodide available in Australia, still trying to find more, it does NOT appear that the supply has dried up because other people are making it, it appears that is the total quantity sitting around, but there may be more and we are still looking.  This is enough for 90,000 people for 12 days.</p><p>Information provided to us suggests that large stockpiling companies in the US are manufacturing at full capacity but have been told not to sell to anyone.</p><p>2: <strong>Manufacture</strong><br /> We have a compounding chemist making up tablets. Working three shifts he can do about 75 bottles * 200 tablets a day. (Each bottle would last 1 person for 50 days; 2 for 25; 3 for 16 or 4 for 12 - and 12 might be enough days to get over the worst of any fallout)  - we've got the first few days production made and shipped. He has found a manufacture who can make 2000 bottles per day starting on 23rd March so that will take 23 days.</p><p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><strong>3: Export regulations in Australia</strong><br /> Therapeutic Goods Administration puts tough regulations on compounding chemists (at the request of the drug industry with who they compete with). Each bottle has to be labeled with the recipient customer - which is taking time especially since we don't have the names of the recipients. We are talking to a senator's office to lean on the TGA if needed.</span> This problem is solved.</p><p><strong>4: Shipping</strong><br /> We have space in humanitarian flights to Japan, and TNT (couriers) are being very helpful with this and the paperwork required, but they are under the constraints of import/export regs. BUT we understand flights could be stopped if too much radiation gets into the upper atmosphere or Tokyo and that could be any day, so every day counts.</p><p><strong>5: Import regulations in Japan</strong><br /> Japan requires an import permit unless we ship each bottle separately which gets very expensive (individual consignment notes take time and therefore $$$ at TNT, and we need names etc). Japanese bureaucracy does not seem to have sped up, and it could take several days to get a license - more if of course some of the necessary staff have evacuated. We could use someone well connected to lean on the process in culturally appropriate ways. <br /> Looks like we have a doctor in Japan who will get an import license tomorrow (Friday 18th).<br /> Import regs might be even harder if we were shipping 150kg of white powder and manufacturing in Japan if that were possible.</p><p><strong>6: Distribution</strong><br /> We are working with a multinational hotel (I'll put their name here as soon as they give their ok!) who have been great. They are funding the first few hundred bottles for their staff and guests. They may have other ways to get it out there. We could use other ways to distribute - but need to avoid profiteers. We might need to be able to recover costs depending on how we source them so ideally people who for example want 1000 doses for their staff and can cover/recover the costs as needed.</p><p><strong>7: Funding </strong></p><p>Current cost is $60 per bottle of 200 tabs + shipping, cost should drop to $20 for 100 tablets with a larger manufacturer. And also if we can ship in quantity and reduce paperwork. So maximum $20*45,000 = $900,000 (1AU$ ~ 1US$).</p><p>We need about $150,000 as a deposit for the manufacture.</p><p>This should be recoverable through some distribution channels - we just want to avoid profiteering.</p><p>We currently need donations, or someone willing to guarantee the amount so we can manufacture before we source the distribution channel.</p><p>Note that we are doing this project as individuals - pro-bono , putting other projects on hold - help appreciated. We will arrange for donations to be paid directly to the manufacturer. To keep the administration load down we are looking for minimum amounts of $1000 (to cover 40 bottles i.e. potentially saving 40 lives).</p><p> </p> 2011-04-04T08:00:00.000Z 2011-04-04T10:33:35.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3071-newsletter2 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/about-us/newsletterarchive/archive/view/listid-3-byronpersonal/mailid-12-equinoxmarch2011" target="_blank" title="March 2011 Equinox Newsletter"><img class="storylead" src="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/?id=212" border="0" alt="mar 2011 equinox newsletter" title="newsletter" style="float: right; border: 0pt none;" /></a></p><p>I've just sent out my second newsletter, and you can read it <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/?id=212" title="Solstice Newsletter">here</a>.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/about-us/newsletterarchive/archive/view/listid-3-byronpersonal/mailid-12-equinoxmarch2011" target="_blank" title="March 2011 Equinox Newsletter"><img class="storylead" src="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/?id=212" border="0" alt="mar 2011 equinox newsletter" title="newsletter" style="float: right; border: 0pt none;" /></a></p><p>I've just sent out my second newsletter, and you can read it <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/?id=212" title="Solstice Newsletter">here</a>.</p> 2011-04-19T01:09:49.000Z 2011-04-19T01:15:04.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3072-schoolsofappropriatetechnology Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Over a long breakfast with <a href="http://www.appropedia.org/User:Chriswaterguy/Chris_Watkins" target="_blank">Chris Watkins</a> of <a href="http://www.appropedia.org" target="_blank">Appropedia</a> recently, I realised that there are several distinct schools of Clean/Appropriate technology where different sets of assumptions drive optimisation for different outcomes. I found it helpful to think these through in the table below. I believe that if we understand the different ways of thinking then it helps to look at how to build on each other's work without expecting that "improvements" we need will necessarily translate back to a different set of assumptions.</p>

<br /> <p>In the table below I've tried to capture the essence of each "school" and list a few people I know who work in that way. Obviously its more of a continuum than a set of seperate schools, so I admit up-front that there is some gross over-generalisation in the comments and critiques below. Comments and discussion are welcome.</p><table style="width: 100%;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"><br /> <tbody><tr><td valign="top">School</td><td valign="top">People</td><td valign="top">Notes, Challenges &amp; Critiques</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Collapse<br /> Peak Oil<br /> (usually Western)<br /> <br /> </td><td valign="top">Marcin<br /> Post Carbon Institute<br /> Some transitioners</td><td valign="top">* Based on idea that oil will run out, and civilisation collapse and we need to be able to survive in a post-industrial world.<br /> * Graceful collapse is unlikely unless all your neighbour are also thriving<br /> * Makes things more difficult than need be, because won't rely on external oil, or other resources<br /> * Might be good for developing world, except may not be designed for price</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Customise and Adapt<br /> (Developing World &amp; Hobbyist)</td><td valign="top">Steven Lee (x AIDG)<br /> Catapult<br /> Most hobbyists<br /> Mouhsine Serrar &amp; most Stove</td><td valign="top">* Based on the idea that technology has to be customized and adapted to cultural and individual needs<br /> * Tends to rely on a high level of (western) expertise - often voluntary.<br /> * Doesn't scale to large populations because of shortage of above<br /> * Doesn't get cost benefits of large volumes because each customised<br /> * Most effective when focuses on training &amp; enterprise development in developing countries<br /> </td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Base of the Pyramid</td><td valign="top">Paul Polak<br /> IDE<br /> Martin Fisher - Kickstart</td><td valign="top">* Work with the absolute poorest (&lt;$3/day)<br /> * Solutions optimised for low cost of labor, higher cost of capital<br /> * Very hard to find solutions that the market can afford, so often rely on subsidies of each unit.<br /> * Very hard to source investment as hard to make a profit</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Scale</td><td valign="top">Mitra - Natural Innovation</td><td valign="top"><br /> <p>* Focus on innovations that can scale<br /> * May be open-source or proprietary but must scale without per-unit subsidy. <br /> * Focus on developing world (low capital cost, higher labor) <br /> * Look to balance local input with mass production to get costs down<br /> * Difficult to justify customising each installation<br /> * May not work in a post-collapse economy.</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Western cleantech</td><td valign="top">Cleantech Forum</td><td valign="top">* Use VC for large scale solutions for developed world<br /> * Western technology often doesn't translate well to low capital / high-labor <br /> * Relies of large government subsidies to balance those given to fossil fuels and nuclear<br /> * Tends to support large centralised rather than decentralised<br /> * Decentralised tend to have a high cost of ownership and be based on personal commitment to environment rather than economics.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p>Within these schools there are also two approaches to licensing which I find are also important. I'm working on a third option (Humanitarian Licenses) which I will write up on another occasion</p><table style="width: 100%;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"><br /> <tbody><tr><td valign="top">Open Source</td><td valign="top">Marcin,<br /> Chris Watkins (Appropedia)</td><td valign="top">* Makes it easier for people to build for themselves<br /> * Allows for people to build on each other's design<br /> * Almost impossible to raise investment, as hard to generate a return.<br /> * Improvement is incremental because of above<br /> * Often designs aren't finished to the point where others less technical can use them.</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Proprietrary</td><td valign="top">UES<br /> Sunvention</td><td valign="top">* Raise investment to develop large improvements to technology<br /> * Don't allow others to build and adapt on the technology.</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Humanitarian</td><td valign="top">Natural Innovation's Humanitarian License</td><td valign="top">* Proprietrary in the west, but free license in developing countries.</td></tr></tbody></table> 2011-05-20T00:03:13.000Z 2011-05-20T00:03:13.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3073-100percentrenewable Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>There was a question on Quora recently <a href="http://www.quora.com/Can-anyone-imagine-a-future-powered-by-100-renewable-energy">"Can anyone imagine a future powered by 100% renewable energy"</a>.</p><p>It has been interesting to me that parallel efforts are showing that this is very much possible: There are papers in the UK and Australia on exactly this topic - looking at the cost and feasibility.</p><ul><li>UK: <a href="http://www.zerocarbonbritain.com/" target="_blank">www.zerocarbonbritain.com</a></li><li>Australia: <a href="http://www.beyondzeroemissions.org/" target="_blank">www.beyondzeroemissions.org</a></li></ul><p>In the US there is also a really good report <a href="http://www.gigatonthrowdown.org/" target="_blank">www.gigatonthrowdown.org</a> which looks at how ten sectors could achieve 1 GTonne emission cut each - which is almost the same answer.</p><p>In fact by some analysis would be cheaper (even without the cost of dealing with climate change) than coal, natural gas and of course cheaper than nuclear.</p><p>Of course - we still need to make this work in developing countries - which is what <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org" target="_blank">Natural Innovation</a> is all about.</p><p> </p>

<p>There was a question on Quora recently <a href="http://www.quora.com/Can-anyone-imagine-a-future-powered-by-100-renewable-energy">"Can anyone imagine a future powered by 100% renewable energy"</a>.</p><p>It has been interesting to me that parallel efforts are showing that this is very much possible: There are papers in the UK and Australia on exactly this topic - looking at the cost and feasibility.</p><ul><li>UK: <a href="http://www.zerocarbonbritain.com/" target="_blank">www.zerocarbonbritain.com</a></li><li>Australia: <a href="http://www.beyondzeroemissions.org/" target="_blank">www.beyondzeroemissions.org</a></li></ul><p>In the US there is also a really good report <a href="http://www.gigatonthrowdown.org/" target="_blank">www.gigatonthrowdown.org</a> which looks at how ten sectors could achieve 1 GTonne emission cut each - which is almost the same answer.</p><p>In fact by some analysis would be cheaper (even without the cost of dealing with climate change) than coal, natural gas and of course cheaper than nuclear.</p><p>Of course - we still need to make this work in developing countries - which is what <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org" target="_blank">Natural Innovation</a> is all about.</p><p> </p> 2011-05-24T18:33:46.000Z 2011-07-03T04:44:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3074-apchistory Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<h3>Including GreenNet and IGC (PeaceNet, EcoNet etc) materials</h3><br /> <p>I was the founder of <a href="http://www.gn.apc.org">GreenNet</a>, England's fourth ISP in 1985. It pioneered the use of email by the Environment, Peace and Social Justice movements at a time when few businesses were communicating electronically.</p><p>In 1987, together with Mark Graham of IGC, we co-founded the <a href="http://www.apc.org">Association for Progressive Communications (APC)</a> to spread our model of nationally operated non-profit networks to other countries.</p><p>This is a collection of material from those times.</p>

<br /> <p> </p><div class="boxright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 20px; width: 19em; border: 2px solid #abc063;"><br /> <h4>Other APC history links</h4><br /> <ul><li><a href="http://www.apc.org">APC main site</a></li><li><a href="ITES_history_PAN1.doc">Pavel's chronology of Environmental work</a></li></ul></div><br /> <p>I'd appreciate any more documents or links to add to it, and links to alternative versions of this history. Email them to <a href="mailto:mitra@mitra.biz">mitra@mitra.biz</a>.</p><p>- Mitra</p><ul><li>1985 <br /> <ul><li>Mitra was volunteering with a number of organisations including Greenpeace while consulting to companies on their use of email, the possibilities were obvious, and in May 1985 a BBS was setup in the hallway of his flat to link environmental groups.</li><li>July 85: Mitra visited San Francisco to research other organisations working in this field, during the trip he met Mark Graham who with a group of other people was discussing creating PeaceNet, and with (name?) at the Farallones Institute who were running EcoNet on some donated space on Tymnet. </li><li>Late 85: PeaceNet went live on the Ontyme system of Tymnet<!--gn_furtherinformation.pdf--></li></ul></li><li>1986 <br /> <ul><li>Jan 86: GreenNet moved - along with Mitra to Mackeson Road</li><li>early 86: Mitra negotiated a deal with GeoNet allowing for GreenNet to be moved from the BBS to their system. </li><li>1 Sept 86: PeaceNet went online on its own unix machine<!--gn_furtherinformation.pdf--></li><li>October 86: GreenNet was brought under the non-profit Earthlife umbrella, and moves into 10 Belgrave Square, London between the Libyan and German embassies. </li></ul></li><!-- 27 Nov 86 to US --><br /> <li>1987 <br /> <ul><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_87_earthlife.pdf">gn_press_87_earthlife.pdf</a>: 87: Earthlife magazine article on GreenNet</li><li>Early 87: Earthlife runs out of money. GreenNet spun out again and moved back to Mackeson Rd, bringing Jeremey Mortimer as technical director</li><li>July 87: EcoNet was brought together with PeaceNet and called Institute for Global Communications (IGC)<!--gn_furtherinformation.pdf--></li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_appleconcourse.pdf">gn_appleconcourse.pdf</a>: 87?: GreenNet worked with a team at Findhorn to develop a graphic interface to the conferences for an online service for Apple Computers. This is the brochure.</li><li>87: Disscussions with IGC deepened as we tried to figure out how to better support our users and in particular their need for cheap international communications and information sharing.</li><li>Early 87: We were introduced to Peter Gabriel and Steven Van Zandt who had raised money through a concert in Japan to support computer networking for Peace. Unfortunately by that time they had already committed to work with the United Nations University for Peace on the project, who had selected an unworkable technology, but discussions on collaboration continued.</li><!-- 6 Mar 87 to US --> <!-- 17 Jul 87 to US --><br /> <li>July 87: Mitra and Mark travelled to New York to meet with Peter Gabriel, Steven Van Zandt (Musicians for Peace), Hart Perry (video producer), Danny Schechter (the news dissector), and Buddy Roberts (Costa Rica), at the meeting, in Peter's hotel room, the name "Association for Progressive Communications" was decided on.</li><li>In the end the UNUFP program got the bulk of the money (US$50,000 if I remember right) and didn't produce anything usable with it.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_hurricaneirene_jul87.pdf">costarica_hurricaneirene_jul87.pdf</a>: July 87: Announcement of Hurricane Irene showing</li><li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_inforpeace_87.pdf">costarica_inforpeace_87.pdf</a>: 87, longer announcement of July event</li><li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_ufp_87.pdf">costarica_ufp_87.pdf</a>:87, article about the concert and Global Computer Network</li><li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_emails_aug87.pdf">costarica_emails_aug87.pdf</a>: August 1987: copy of some email between Mark and Mario of UNUFP (United Nations University For Peace) trying to work out some details of the memo of understanding to the joint project. </li><li>October 87: GreenNet moved into Underwood Street, sharing space with Friends of the Earth, who became one of its largest customers<!--gn_furtherinformation.pdf--></li><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_87_homeonet_quickstart.pdf">igc_87_homeonet_quickstart.pdf</a>: Oct 87: Homeonet quick start guide for "non-computer-nerds"</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_rates.pdf">gn_rates.pdf</a> ~Oct 87: GreenNet's tarif's, notice how storage charged at UKP10/Mb/month, and connection at UKP5.40/hr.</li><!--underwood street, goe2 addresses only--><br /> <li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_objectives_nov87.pdf">costarica_objectives_nov87.pdf</a>: Nov 87, Definition of Objectives of GCN</li><li> </li><li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_ufpconcepts_87.pdf">costarica_ufpconcepts_87.pdf</a>: 87, Concepts of University for Peace</li><li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_upgcn_intro_87q.pdf">costarica_upgcn_intro_87q.pdf</a>: 78? introduction to UPGCN</li><li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_upgcn_presentation.pdf">costarica_upgcn_presentation.pdf</a>: 87? A presentation on the UPGCN and the technology, IBM mainframes and "Golden Gate PC" that they were proposing to use to implement it. The technology turned out to be completely unworkable as predicted by IGC and GreenNet.</li><li>November 87: Scott Weikart came to GreenNet bringing a suitccase sized hard disk loaded with the IGC software which was installed on a donated Plexus minicomputer and in November 87 <!--see gn_furtherinformation.pdf--> the conferences were networked between IGC and GN</li><li>gn_conferenceguide <a href="/apchistory/gn_conferenceguide1.pdf">1</a> <a href="/apchistory/gn_conferenceguide2.pdf">2</a> <a href="/apchistory/gn_conferenceguide3.pdf">3</a>: 87? An annotated guide to the conferences on GreenNet after networking with IGC, 3 versions at different times.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_conferencesupport.pdf">gn_conferencesupport.pdf</a>: A leaflet promoting GreenNet's services in connection with conferences and events</li><li><a href="https://archive.org/details/HurricaneIrene">Concert video (including Mark and Mitra)</a>: Xmas 87: Ted Turner gave us an hour of prime-time on the US cable TV network "TBS" for a broadcast of the Hurricane Irene video which showcased IGC and GreenNet and ended with contact information for PeaceNet</li><!-- date in Linkup article)--> <br /> </ul></li><li>1988 <br /> <ul><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_econet_qkref.pdf">igc_econet_qkref.pdf</a>: 88: EcoNet quick reference card</li><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_econet_leaflet.pdf">igc_econet_leaflet.pdf</a> 88?: EcoNet brochure<!--sacramento st--></li><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_econet_leaflet2.pdf">igc_econet_leaflet2.pdf</a> 88?: Another EcoNet brochure<!--sacramento st--></li><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_peacenet_leaflet.pdf">igc_peacenet_leaflet.pdf</a> 88?: PeaceNet brochure</li><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_conferenceleaflet.pdf">igc_conferenceleaflet.pdf</a>: 88?: IGC Leaflet on using conferences</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_jan88_independant.pdf">gn_press_jan88_independant.pdf</a>: Jan 88: Article in the Independant</li><li><a href="/apchistory/costarica_response_feb88.pdf">costarica_response_feb88.pdf</a>: Feb 88, Response to enquiries after the TV showing, telling people to contact the APC via PeaceNet</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_ica_1988.pdf">apc_ica_1988.pdf</a>: May 88: A short paper on the APC presented to the International Communications Association conference by Mitra Ardron and Debbie Miller.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_may88_linkup.pdf">gn_press_may88_linkup.pdf</a>: May 88: Article in LinkUp magazine</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_summer88_risk.pdf">gn_press_summer88_risk.pdf</a>: Summer 88: Article in Howard Jone's Risk magazine on GN support from Greenpeace</li><li><a href="/apchistory/brazil_fondgaia_jun88.pdf">brazil_fondgaia_jun88.pdf</a> June 88: Enquiry from Fondacaeo Gaia to join GreenNet</li><li><a href="/apchistory/brazil_proposal_jul88.pdf">brazil_proposal_jul88.pdf</a> July 88: IBASE proposal ready to send to UNDP for funding</li><li>July 88: Geoff visited Brazil to lay the ground work</li><li><a href="/apchistory/brazil_report_aug88.pdf">brazil_report_aug88.pdf</a>: Aug 88: UNDP commentary on the proposal, includes a description of some other brazilian networking initiatives</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_databases.pdf">gn_databases.pdf</a>: Aug 88: GreenNet leaflet calling for databases to be hosted at GreenNet</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_nan.pdf">gn_nan.pdf</a>: Sept 88: A leaflet promoting GreenNet to a North Atlantic Network conference. It was during this conference that we recruited Viv Kendon who became GreenNet's director after Mitra left.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_convoy.pdf">gn_convoy.pdf</a>: Sept 88: The story of GreenNet's involvement in coordinating rapid response to an accident involving a nuclear missile transporter which place during GN's participation in a NAN conference.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_sept88_macarthurgrant.pdf">gn_sept88_macarthurgrant.pdf</a>: Sept 88: Part of a proposal to MacArthur for GreenNet, including participation in the "International Expansion Program", funded for US$25,000</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_igc_funding_proposal.pdf">apc_igc_funding_proposal.pdf</a>: Sept 88: IGC funding proposal for the "International Computer Network"</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_oct88_grnteacher.pdf">gn_press_oct88_grnteacher.pdf</a>: Oct 88: Green Teacher article on GreenNet</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_oct88_freepress.pdf">gn_press_oct88_freepress.pdf</a>: Oct 88: Article in "Free Press"</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_oct88_greenparty.pdf">gn_press_oct88_greenparty.pdf</a>: Oct 88: Article in Green Party magazine</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_nov88_computertalk.pdf">gn_press_nov88_computertalk.pdf</a>: Nov 88: Article in Computer Talk - quotes Peter Gabriel</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_nov88_computerweekly.pdf">gn_press_nov88_computerweekly.pdf</a>: Nov 88: Article in Computer Weekly - quoting Peter Gabriel</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_leaflet.pdf">gn_leaflet.pdf</a>: ~88: GreenNet's leaflet</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_leaflet.pdf">gn_leaflet2.pdf</a>: ~88: A slightly later leaflet from GreenNet</li><li>gn_whatis <a href="/apchistory/gn_whatis1.pdf">gn_whatis1.pdf</a> or <a href="/apchistory/gn_whatis2.pdf">gn_whatis2.pdf</a>: ~88: More information about GreenNet - two slightly different versions - this evolved in '89 into <a href="/apchistory/gn_furtherinformation.pdf">gn_furtherinformation.pdf</a></li><!-- after Nov 87, GN, IGC ~ Canada, Sweden, Brazil, Nic--><br /> <li><a href="/apchistory/gn_usercomments.pdf">gn_usercomments.pdf</a>: ~88: One page of comments from GreenNet's users and from Gen John Singlaub</li><!-- 1 Oct 88 to US --> <!-- 7-9 Oct 88 visit to Web --><br /> <li>October 88, Mitra Ardron moved from GreenNet to work on the APC, starting a year on the road</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_oct88_coordjobdesc.pdf">gn_oct88_coordjobdesc.pdf</a>: Oct 88: Job Description for coordinate for GreenNet to replace Mitra who was moving on to the APC</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_oct88_techpriorities.pdf">apc_oct88_techpriorities.pdf</a>: Oct 88: Definition of technical priorities (Mitra)</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_oct88_intlpriorities.pdf">apc_oct88_intlpriorities.pdf</a>: Oct 88: Definition of International priorities (Joanne. Scott), note how at this point the name was "on hold" and IGC at this time was refering to the APC with words like "The international project".</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_oct88_budget_xls.pdf">apc_oct88_budget_xls.pdf</a>: Oct 88: APC budget</li><li><a href="/apchistory/brazil_phase2_dec88.pdf">brazil_phase2_dec88.pdf</a>: Dec 88: Carlos's request for information for a funding application to join the APC</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_88_orgsmembers.pdf">apc_88_orgsmembers.pdf</a>: 88 ?: A list of organisations on APC nets and the member accounts</li><li>apc_88_techspec.pdf: 88 ?: A technical specification for APC software, and hardware and interconnections.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_dec88_organisations.pdf">apc_dec88_organisations.pdf</a>: Dec 88: A list of organisations with accounts on APC networks</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_proposal.pdf">apc_proposal.pdf</a>: end of 88 ?: This is an interesting document with my (Mitra's) thinking on the APC, its structure and priorities. In particular note how I am proposing here that the APC needs to be a seperate organisation, and of the need to sign the constitution BEFORE bringing on board the emerging networks, as I would worry that it would cause a lot of delays if it wasn't signed first.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_growth.pdf">gn_growth.pdf</a>: Dec 88: Graph of GreenNet's exponential growth from Apr 86 - Dec 88</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_services.pdf">gn_services.pdf</a>: 88 ?: One page sheet about GreenNet's Services, notice how we still give GeoNet and Dialcom email addresses</li><!--After conferences, Underwood St, GN, IGC --> <!--22 Dec 88 to US--> <br /> </ul></li><li>1989 <br /> <ul><li>Jan 89: SFMT launched, provided email between Russia and the US, operating over IGC's system via X.25 and later running its own machine through the assistance of Pandora</li><li><a href="/apchistory/sfmt_feb89_nyt.pdf">sfmt_feb89_nyt.pdf</a>: Feb 89: New York Times front page article on SFMT</li><li>sfmt_leaflet_eng.pdf: 89?: SFMT brochure - <a href="/apchistory/sfmt_leaflet_eng.pdf">english</a> - <a href="/apchistory/sfmt_leaflet_russ.pdf">russian</a></li><li><a href="/apchistory/sfmt_mar89_rates.pdf">sfmt_mar89_rates.pdf</a>: Mar 89: SFMT rate card.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_jan89_budget.pdf">gn_jan89_budget.pdf</a>: Jan 89: GreenNet Budget</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_jan89_intlbudget_xls.pdf">apc_jan89_intlbudget_xls.pdf</a>: Jan 89: International Budget spreadsheet</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_jan89_intlbudget.pdf">apc_jan89_intlbudget.pdf</a>: Jan 89: International Budget for 6 months, for funding proposals etc</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_jan89_cashflow.pdf">gn_jan89_cashflow.pdf</a>: Jan 89: GreenNet cash flow</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_jan89_intlworksheet_xls.pdf">apc_jan89_intlworksheet_xls.pdf</a>: Jan 89: International Worksheet, includes list of hardware to be bought, staff etc</li><li>Feb 89, Mitra went to Canada for three months to help the Web integrate their systems, and organisation into the APC</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_popularcomputerweekly_feb89.pdf">gn_press_popularcomputerweekly_feb89.pdf</a>: Feb 89: Long article in Popular Computer Weekly</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_setup_notes_1mar89.pdf">apc_setup_notes_1mar89.pdf</a>: Mar 89: Notes for people condsidering setting up APC nodes (Mitra)</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_mar89_independant.pdf">gn_press_mar89_independant.pdf</a>: Mar 89: Long article in Independant</li><li><a href="/apchistory/sovam_guardian_mar89.pdf">sovam_guardian_mar89.pdf</a>: Mar 89: Article on SFMT in the Guardian</li><li>April 89: Web Networks comes online - Phillippines, Nicaragua, Brazil, Sweden, Kenya, Costa Rica in the pipeline.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_apr89_netmap.pdf">apc_apr89_netmap.pdf</a>: Apr 89: A description of the net, and a map showing technologies being used, and planned, to expand the net.</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_may89_spiegel.pdf">gn_press_may89_spiegel.pdf</a>: May 89: Spiegel article on GreenNet (photos of Mitra, Viv, Jeremey and Udo Schacht who later started Comlink</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_may89_undp_proposal.pdf">apc_may89_undp_proposal.pdf</a>: May 89: Proposal to UNDP for funding. I know we didn't get all this funding, but I'm pretty sure we got some financial help, and I know we got a lot of in-kind assistance from UNDP.</li><!-- 9 Jun 89 to US --><br /> <li>Jeremey Mortimer went from GreenNet to help create PeaceNet Sweden which launched in January 1989</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_furtherinformation.pdf">gn_furtherinformation.pdf</a>: April 89: A 12 page handout with more information about GreenNet and the APC, including graph of number of users; lists of organisations and conferences; APC diagram; history; tech specs</li><!--GN, IGC, Brazil, Canada, Sweden--><br /> <li>Scott Weikart and Joanne Scott went from IGC to Nicaragua to help create Nicarao which joined the APC in June 1989</li><!--apc_whowhatwhere.pdf--><br /> <li>Steve Fram went from IGC to Brazil to help IBase create Alternex which launched on 18th July 1989</li><li>Mitra and Mark Graham left the APC to start Pandora Systems<!--before gn_news_july89--> (<a href="/apchistory/pandora_systems_videotex.pdf">pandora_systems_videotex.pdf</a>)</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_news_july89.pdf">gn_news_july89.pdf</a>: July 89: GreenNet newsletter, including first mobile phone connection</li><li>August 89, Param left GreenNet, eventually landing at Pegasus in Australia</li><li><a href="/apchistory/brazil_report_sept89.pdf">brazil_report_sept89.pdf</a>: Sept 89: A report by Alternex on their progress</li><li>Mike (the wind) Jensen went from the Web to help create Pegasus in Australia which launched on 1st September 1989</li><li><a href="/apchistory/brazil_brochure_89.pdf">brazil_brochure_89.pdf</a>: 89: Alternex brochure</li><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_press_dec89_im.pdf">gn_press_dec89_im.pdf</a>: Dec 89: small article in EEC's I'M magazine (notice how they use the Dialcom address!)</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_late89_news.pdf">apc_late89_news.pdf</a>: Late 89: A newsletter detailing the new members, the second page lists all the staff in all 7 countries, note that Mark Graham is still listed. </li></ul></li><li>1990 <br /> <ul><a href="/apchistory/apc_gateway.pdf">apc_gateway.pdf</a>: June 90: In the early days of email each system was an island, providers had the strange idea that their customers only wanted to talk to each other, and used this as a way to ensure that you had to join their service. IGC and GreeNet were among the first non-academic email services to be gatewayed to just about any other email service, in some cases without the other service's knowledge! This list shows the connectivity, and the charges we had to make to cover the costs. Note on the top of page 2 the list of APC networks<br /> <li>Chasque Uruguay; Comlink Germany; GlasNet Russia; Nicarao Nicaragua; NordNet Sweden;</li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_90_brochure.pdf">apc_90_brochure.pdf</a>: 90 ?: The APC brochure</li><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_spring90_netnews.pdf">igc_spring90_netnews.pdf</a>: Spring 90: IGC's Netnews magazine, announces conflictnet</li></ul></li><li>1991 <br /> <ul><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_confguide.pdf">igc_confguide.pdf</a>: July 91: IGC's conference guide</li><li>1990 or 1991?: GreenNet moved to Bevenden Street</li><li><a href="The_Technologies_of_Peace_and_War_The_Fu.pdf">The Technologies of Peace and War</a> - Howard Frederick to the Boston Computer Soceity's Computers and Social Change Conference</li></ul></li><li>1992 <br /> <ul><li><a href="/apchistory/gn_news_winter92.pdf">gn_news_winter92.pdf</a>: End of 92: A newsletter listing some new conferences, participation in TOES 92, and announcing 9600 baud dial-in access and databases coming online. </li><li><a href="Global_Communication_and_International_R.pdf">Global Communication & International Relations</a> - Howard Frederick (book)</li><!--Bevenden St, 9600 baud, pre Dec 9 92 --> <br /> </ul></li><li>1993 <br /> <ul><li><a href="/apchistory/Computer_Networks_and_the_Emergence_of_Glob.pdf">Computer Networks and the Emergency of Global Civil Society</a> - Howard Fredericks in Global Networks - Computers and International Communication</li></ul></li><li>1994 <br /> <ul><li><a href="/apchistory/igc_quickref.pdf">igc_quickref.pdf</a>: March 94: IGC quick reference<!--de bloom st--></li><li><a href="/apchistory/apc_harvard_study.pdf">apc_harvard_study.pdf (14MB)</a>: Feb 94: A harvard case study on the APC. It has some errors relating to the early history</li></ul></li><li>2005 <br /> <ul><li><a href="/apchistory/Gnprez.pdf">Gnprez</a>: And scrolling forward to October 2005, a tongue in cheek presentation</li><li><a href="/apchistory/Do you remember.pdf">Do you remember</a>: A collection of front pages, pulled from archive.org</li></ul></li></ul> 2011-07-20T18:40:05.000Z 2011-07-20T19:04:26.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3076-fundraising Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>If you've had a chance to read my <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/about-us/newsletterarchive/archive">newsletters</a> you'll know that for almost two years I've been looking at the question of how to support the development of technologies that sustainably and scalably solve the challenges of the billion+ people who lack access to clean water, power, sanitation, and food. In the process I've discovered just what a challenge inventors and innovators face, caught in the gap - too risky for philanthropists, too little profit for Venture Capital; too much money needed to source from friends and family, but too little to access most grant or investment programs. I have discovered that money is only one of three components that are needed, the others are mentoring and connections to partners that together help the innovator to take their innovation from the workshop to the challenges of a developing country market. <br /> <br /> I have had some successes already in the last two years - a small loan and mentoring to <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/innovators/24-sunvention" target="_blank">Sunvention</a> helped them avoid bankruptcy and secure over €1m in funding that will enable their <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/innovators/33-sunpulsewater" target="_blank">solar thermal pump</a> to reach the market by the end of 2011. Several other earlier stage innovators have been significantly helped by the mentoring and support; assistance with strategy and business planning; introductions to partners; and so on. <br /> <br /> It is now time to systematize and scale this work as there are a number of innovations that are looking for help. I've put together a stellar team of <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/partners" target="_blank">collaborators</a> to help with everything from engineering to working with manufacturers; to market testing and distribution. Now I need YOUR help. So far, I've funded all this from my own resources, but those only stretch so far.</p><p>I'm looking for 10 people to step up and join ..... in committing $25,000 to Natural Innovation.org. Securing $250k would allow me to bring another person into the core team, allowing one person to be in the field, actively helping the incubatees to be ready for funding, while the other is in the US securing project funding and resources.</p><p><br /> I'd like to ask you to contribute, and join our "Founders Circle", if $25,000 is too much then maybe you can contribute a smaller amount, and recommend someone else we could approach?</p><p><a name="docs"></a></p><p> </p>

<p>If you've had a chance to read my <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/about-us/newsletterarchive/archive">newsletters</a> you'll know that for almost two years I've been looking at the question of how to support the development of technologies that sustainably and scalably solve the challenges of the billion+ people who lack access to clean water, power, sanitation, and food. In the process I've discovered just what a challenge inventors and innovators face, caught in the gap - too risky for philanthropists, too little profit for Venture Capital; too much money needed to source from friends and family, but too little to access most grant or investment programs. I have discovered that money is only one of three components that are needed, the others are mentoring and connections to partners that together help the innovator to take their innovation from the workshop to the challenges of a developing country market. <br /> <br /> I have had some successes already in the last two years - a small loan and mentoring to <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/innovators/24-sunvention" target="_blank">Sunvention</a> helped them avoid bankruptcy and secure over €1m in funding that will enable their <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/innovators/33-sunpulsewater" target="_blank">solar thermal pump</a> to reach the market by the end of 2011. Several other earlier stage innovators have been significantly helped by the mentoring and support; assistance with strategy and business planning; introductions to partners; and so on. <br /> <br /> It is now time to systematize and scale this work as there are a number of innovations that are looking for help. I've put together a stellar team of <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/index.php/partners" target="_blank">collaborators</a> to help with everything from engineering to working with manufacturers; to market testing and distribution. Now I need YOUR help. So far, I've funded all this from my own resources, but those only stretch so far.</p><p>I'm looking for 10 people to step up and join ..... in committing $25,000 to Natural Innovation.org. Securing $250k would allow me to bring another person into the core team, allowing one person to be in the field, actively helping the incubatees to be ready for funding, while the other is in the US securing project funding and resources.</p><p><br /> I'd like to ask you to contribute, and join our "Founders Circle", if $25,000 is too much then maybe you can contribute a smaller amount, and recommend someone else we could approach?</p><p><a name="docs"></a></p><p> </p> 2011-08-03T19:34:06.000Z 2011-08-03T19:39:14.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3077-a-typical-day-in-auroville Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Its my second day in Auroville, jet-lag has kicked in, and I wake at 4am, tired but not able to sleep. I read for a while and around 4:30 the first birds start calling, followed by the frogs and crickets. Finally I give in to the inevitable, and grab a shower  - its cold, and just dribbles out the shower-head, but I'm not complaining.  A short walk across the farmyard, past the cows rattling their buckets to my rented electric scooter - which I've left charging in the barn, and then a drive through the forest to the bakery in the village.   The chocolate croissants look like they have been made for westerners, but at this time of the morning its only indians buying.<br /> <br /> </p>

<br /> <p>As I set off back through the village an older indian woman, in a sari, with a tattered shopping back steps into the road; smiles and holds out her arm, palm down, in the gesture that both asks for a ride, and sets the expectation that I'll stop. She climbs on, side-saddle, and about 5 minutes later says something in Tamil which I presume means that she wants to get down as we've just passed her turning. <br /> <br /> This morning I have a breakfast meeting with Jorge - an Ecuadorian wind engineer. He's brought mango's and bananas - green, but sweet, so the serious conversation has to wait.  <br /> <br /> We get a lot done, completing a write up of the technical plan, and finally mid-morning, after some Ecuadorian coffee, we come to an insight that clears a big challenge with pricing his training so that it is affordable to the village mechanics who will take it; will support the project; and that it represents the value that each mechanic will get from learning a new business. <br /> <br /> I'm invited to stay for a vegetarian lunch with his community. We are sitting on mats, in the kitchen, about a dozen people, (Ecuador, Portugal, Spain, Italy, India, Germany, UK) so the language shifts back and forth between spanish &amp; english. <br /> <br /> In the afternoon we work on the financials, challenging in 35°C (95°F) on 5 hours sleep, and then I meet with an electronics engineer, to talk about how we might design an open-source modular charge controller.  I don't have any plans for the evening, so I head into the village again to "Kofi Bar" for a Dosa &amp; French Fries. <br /> <br /> As I eat, I chat with the permaculture activist owner. He wants to bring together social entrepreneurs in the area - both inside Auroville, and outside it (like him) to share their challenges and solutions. <br /> <br /> So, just a typical day in a place that blends east and west fairly smoothly.<br /> <br /> </p><p> </p> 2011-08-21T05:19:37.000Z 2012-03-03T22:13:48.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3078-internationalauroville Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Last night I went to a party in Auroville, southern india. Outdoors - lit by christmas lights strung between trees, with a dirt floor and cast concrete tables with inlaid mosaic.</p><p>My neighbours over the Middle Eastern dinner were a couple of Australians and she was studying how people relate, or don't, to their national identity. She talked about a couple she'd met, she French/German born in India; he Mexican/Canadian; their kids in theory could have five passports at birth. (Two more than me).</p><p>So I looked around - I was sitting with an Ecuadorian; German; South African &amp; Faroe Islander (part of Denmark). The musicians were a Portuguese couple playing West African Kora and Imbira (harp and thumb piano); <br /> <br />

<br /> <br /> About half the party were Indian - mostly Tamils - Indian nationality itself is complex; people identify with the state their family is from. So many are quadri-lingal (the state of their family; their residence; English &amp; Hindi).<br /> <br /> Among the other people I knew well at the party were 4 African nationalities; 6 European &amp; 1 South American. I'm sure I could have counted many more if I'd known the nationality of  more of the people there, but then I wonder how much each of these people identifies with their country of birth? <br /> <br /> We danced on a dirt floor; listening the approaching thunder and lightning of a monsoon storm. Just as I was thinking that I couldn't be further from home, the DJ put on Wild Marmalade, a high energy didgeridoo band from back home in Byron Bay, I know the musicians, have danced to them at many small gigs in village halls. Yes - I identified through them with Byron; identified to a sense of place; to people I know - though not to its location as part of Australia.</p><p>I don't know where the DJ got their music, but he obviously liked the band, and played several tracks, so by the time its first few drops arrived we were so hot from dancing we didn't care.</p><p> </p> 2011-11-03T03:12:24.000Z 2012-03-03T22:12:47.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3079-solargridparity Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Solar industry celebrates grid parity ... <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-07/solar-industry-celebrates-grid-parity/2875592" target="_blank">via ABC</a></p><p>The [Australian] Photovoltaic Association says the drop in cost of producing power from solar panels has made solar power competitive with coal-generated grid power.</p><p>Solar power generated by photovoltaic cells on Australian rooftops has become so cheap and efficient that they now produce electricity for the same price that is charged by the electricity grid.</p>

<br /> <p>Australia is one of the first countries in the world for such solar power to reach what is known as 'grid parity'.</p><p> </p><p>In a time of rising electricity prices, it means even without solar subsidies it makes good economic sense to install the panels on your house.</p><p>Across the country, governments of all persuasions are abandoning schemes to pay people for the power their rooftop solar cells generate.</p><p>Despite controversy over feed-in tariffs - which have been blamed for Australia's rapidly rising electricity costs - rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are now generating electricity for the same price and sometimes cheaper than can be bought from the grid.</p><p>In effect, this makes solar competitive with coal, even without subsidies, according to Photovoltaic Association spokeswoman Dr Muriel Watt.</p><p>"It's competitive with coal if you add what you need to do to bring the coal-fired electricity to where you want to use it," she said.</p><p>"So it's coal plus the network. I think it's a really good investment and that's just looking at it from the price of electricity now."</p><p>Mr Watt says the growth in the market will mean a continuing decrease in solar production costs.</p><p>"We've seen rapid reductions in costs of production and now that's being reflected in prices as well, as we've seen a whole lot of new production come on stream," he said.</p><p>"Australia also has the high dollar, so that's made prices in Australia even cheaper than they are in other places, and our electricity prices have gone up significantly in the last five years."</p><p>Australian sunlight is stronger than it is in other parts of the world, making PV panels here more effective.</p><p>Mr Watt says grid parity is solar's coming of age and governments now need to rethink their whole power-pricing models</p><p>"It's been the holy grail of the industry to reach it," he said.</p><p>Mr Watt believes home-generated power should be worth a higher, competitive price given that it is already on the doorstep and does not require the huge cost of poles and power lines.</p> 2012-01-03T07:48:31.000Z 2012-01-03T07:53:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3080-avcyclone Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Just a short post ... to say that I'm in Auroville, in Southern India. I arrived a few hours before Cyclone Thane, which took out 70% of the trees, there was one down every 10 meters on the road, and that took out power; water; internet; phone (fixed &amp; mobile). Many farms lost their crops, and the project we are supporting here - low cost wind turbines for rural poor - lost its workshop and one turbine when a tree came through it.</p> <p>If you feel to help ... please donate here (UPDATED AS NO LONGER RELEVANT), I'll pass that on to help them rebuild.</p> <p>There is more about the damage to Auroville <a href="http://hosted-p0.vresp.com/371706/b2ea91cb0b/ARCHIVE">here</a>. </p><p>I have limited internet acces / laptop charge, so may be slow responding to email.</p>

<p>Just a short post ... to say that I'm in Auroville, in Southern India. I arrived a few hours before Cyclone Thane, which took out 70% of the trees, there was one down every 10 meters on the road, and that took out power; water; internet; phone (fixed &amp; mobile). Many farms lost their crops, and the project we are supporting here - low cost wind turbines for rural poor - lost its workshop and one turbine when a tree came through it.</p> <p>If you feel to help ... please donate here (UPDATED AS NO LONGER RELEVANT), I'll pass that on to help them rebuild.</p> <p>There is more about the damage to Auroville <a href="http://hosted-p0.vresp.com/371706/b2ea91cb0b/ARCHIVE">here</a>. </p><p>I have limited internet acces / laptop charge, so may be slow responding to email.</p> 2012-01-13T08:00:00.000Z 2012-03-03T22:15:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3081-citizensoftheworld Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Who would believe its only two weeks since Cyclone Thane took out 70% of the trees, roads, power, water, phone, and Internet and trapped most of us wherever we spent the night for 36 hours.</p><p>They must have power on in the village now because I wake up at 5:30 to amplified chanting from the village temple a couple of km away. We still haven't got power back, but at least Steffen (German) borrowed a generator yesterday to pump water, so I can wash clothes as I take a shower.</p><p>With the pumping oddities, I don't trust the water yet so breakfast, with my neighbors (Indian / French couple) is porridge &amp; hot tea. First stop of the day is the Town Hall, where Min (indian), a colleague on the wind turbine project works. He's got power and more important Internet, so I can setup logistics for tomorrows meetings in Chennai. The net drops out mid-morning so I head over to the workshop where Jorge (Ecuadorean) is teaching a 5 day seminar on renewable energy to a class including participants from Nepal, Belgiam, India, and Canada.<br />

<br /> </p><p>Lunch, noodles &amp; Indian veg, is with an Indian solar engineer, comparing notes on inverter models and prices, and I meet afterwards with an Austrian sustainability consultant to compare notes on costs and yield of urban agriculture between Oakland &amp; Indian cities.</p><p>The net still isn't back up, so I head to the next village, to buy petrol for the clunky motorbike I've been renting, and to beg time in a Spanish friend's office where they design solar street lights. He's got both a generator and his net is working :-)</p><p>Pick up a couple of returning school-kid hitchhikers (Tamil), and dodge the rest of them, hay wagons, buses, trucks and cows for my next meeting in the industrial zone with a French sanitation expert to discuss UV Aquastar's war treatment device, and his use of Effective Micro organisms.</p><p>Work is over for the day and I head to a concert by a French flutist. Before dinner of south Indian dosa and pumpkin soup with an English teacher of collaborative games. We both head to an improv theatre show by the kids with unsurprisingly a cyclone theme. After the show, I sit with friends, (A Faroe Islander &amp; her Egyptian partner &amp; their baby; French &amp; Danish) to listen to music by a Portuguese Didge player, and others I don't know on bamboo &amp; steel flutes, and space-drum.</p><p>So what are we … are we the nationalities of our birth, or citizens of an ever more inter-connected world, enjoying sharing the differences of our upbringing.</p><p>Enough for today, I've got to be up early for a 4 hour taxi ride to Chennai. So I fall asleep to the sound of next door's generator accompanied by frogs, and crickets.</p><p> </p> 2012-03-03T22:16:07.000Z 2012-03-03T22:16:07.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3082-of-cyclones-and-bulls Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>A story of how a little thing like a cyclone bring us into the moment.</p><p>December 28th I went to India to spend some time with a project we are helping there that trains village mechanics to make wind turbines. The plan was to sit around with the founder and the CEO I'd helped find and work on the business plan.</p><p>I noticed as we flew that the plane's track didn't go direct from Singapore to Chennai but flew north all around the Bay of Bengal, to avoid a storm, but we landed fine in some rain, and as we drove south a few hours the rain disappeared. <br />

<br /> </p><p>I arrived at Auroville, picked up a motorbike, and met some friends for dinner. I was told there was a cyclone warning, but not to worry as this happened several times a year, but that plans tomorrow might be disrupted a little.</p><p>Four hours later the light rain intensifies for about 5 hours it rained non-stop, there don't seem to be measurements but I heard 50cm (20"). Then 5 hours of wind from one direction, up to 140 km/h (90mph) - the wind blew straight through where I was trying to sleep as it only had mosquito nets. All around I could hear trees falling. Twice during the night people arrived looking for shelter as their places were in even worse condition. The bottom story was concrete but the bamboo walls of the room on top blew away and they evacuated with their baby.</p><p>Early morning we are "woken" (we weren't really sleeping, just huddled on the floor listening) by someone needing help - a tree had fallen on the cowshed which had fallen on the bull. It was lying in a weird position with hits eyes rolled back in its head, and we worked with hand-saws to cut the tree as we watched for wind-blown branches and bits of flying roofing. Amazingly it was alive, and started bucking wildly as we finished the job, making it even more hazardous.</p><p>Around this time the wind changed direction - so we knew we were half way - 5 more hours of wind, another 5 of rain and it was done. But .. the orchard was gone, the padi (rice and other grain) crop flattened, water everywhere, I was most worried as I waded through puddles in the farm about infecting a bad cut on my toe, but you have to stay focused so we started pushing trees back up and propping them with branches.</p><p>The roads of course were impassable, trees down every 10 meters or so, it took till midday the next day to clear the trees (with hand-saws) so I could ride the motorbike into town with someone who had a flight to catch. 70% of the forest had fallen and it looked like a game of pick-up-sticks. Almost all the power poles had fallen, so there was no power for pumping water, or internet, or phones, and it took weeks to get the power back to everyone.</p><p>A trip like this brings me back to the reality of working in and for sustainable poverty alleviation, I learned what it means to have no toilet, no power, to be really unsure about water quality, to be out of touch with the world.</p><p>It also teaches you about the incredible personal resilience of people - very few were complaining, people first got on with fixing immediate problems and then got back to life, I'd sit with farm workers and someone would ask them how they were doing, they'd talk about the tree that flattened their house and then get back to work. Within a few days we had found where we could access clean water, power to charge laptops and phones and so on.</p><p> </p> 2012-05-10T15:16:35.000Z 2012-05-10T15:16:35.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3083-beliefinclimatechange Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Anyone intelligent believes in anthropogenic climate change <br /> <br /> A strong statement, which you might think was overstating the issue? <br /> <br /> I'm not going to try and give you the science - because if you are reading this website I'm presuming you are intelligent enough to understand that when &gt;95% of the scientists in a field agree then its probably true, and at least it makes sense for the rest of us to act as if it was true and leave the dissension to the remaining 5% to try and convince their colleagues. <br /> <br /> So what about the Republicans in the US Congress, aren't they educated.  Well I dare say there are a few who don't believe evolution or science, or I should rephrase that - a "belief" in evolution isn't required since there is science to back it up. The belief is in the creationist myth, and while I love myths - whether its biblical or greek or nordic, I'll leave it to the reader as to whether a belief in their literal truth qualifies you as intelligent. <br /> <br /> My strong suspicion is that most of them are educated, and convinced by evolution and climate science, but when someone is offering you a large bribe to deny reality, and when your career depends on both taking the bribe, and aligning with whatever the polls say about your electorate then it just becomes another lie to spout for the media. <br /> <br /> So what about the oil companies, the ones who pay the bribes. I've had a number of (off the record) conversations with fairly senior oil company executives over the years - not one of them denied the science of global warming, and their only question about Peak Oil was when, rather than if. They'd tell me of the amount of money they were spending to adapt to climate change &amp; peak oil, which they not only know is happening but know will hit us hard BECAUSE of the bribes their bosses are paying to politicians.   Remember a company has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders, and staff bonuses are tied to profits, and its very easy to then consider that narrow interest, and bribe a politician to extend the amount of time you have to make money off of destroying the atmosphere.<br /> <br /> So who is left … unfortunately with a public that gets its news more and more from TV like Fox News, who are also driven not by educating their viewers, but by the adverts bought by many of the same people above (the ones who believe in climate change, but don't want anyone else to). <br /> <br /> And so the cycle goes on …. companies buy the media to convince the masses, and buy politicians who also listen to the masses. Don't we wish the most polluting country in the world was a democracy with a free press. <br /> <br /> </p>

<p>Anyone intelligent believes in anthropogenic climate change <br /> <br /> A strong statement, which you might think was overstating the issue? <br /> <br /> I'm not going to try and give you the science - because if you are reading this website I'm presuming you are intelligent enough to understand that when &gt;95% of the scientists in a field agree then its probably true, and at least it makes sense for the rest of us to act as if it was true and leave the dissension to the remaining 5% to try and convince their colleagues. <br /> <br /> So what about the Republicans in the US Congress, aren't they educated.  Well I dare say there are a few who don't believe evolution or science, or I should rephrase that - a "belief" in evolution isn't required since there is science to back it up. The belief is in the creationist myth, and while I love myths - whether its biblical or greek or nordic, I'll leave it to the reader as to whether a belief in their literal truth qualifies you as intelligent. <br /> <br /> My strong suspicion is that most of them are educated, and convinced by evolution and climate science, but when someone is offering you a large bribe to deny reality, and when your career depends on both taking the bribe, and aligning with whatever the polls say about your electorate then it just becomes another lie to spout for the media. <br /> <br /> So what about the oil companies, the ones who pay the bribes. I've had a number of (off the record) conversations with fairly senior oil company executives over the years - not one of them denied the science of global warming, and their only question about Peak Oil was when, rather than if. They'd tell me of the amount of money they were spending to adapt to climate change &amp; peak oil, which they not only know is happening but know will hit us hard BECAUSE of the bribes their bosses are paying to politicians.   Remember a company has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders, and staff bonuses are tied to profits, and its very easy to then consider that narrow interest, and bribe a politician to extend the amount of time you have to make money off of destroying the atmosphere.<br /> <br /> So who is left … unfortunately with a public that gets its news more and more from TV like Fox News, who are also driven not by educating their viewers, but by the adverts bought by many of the same people above (the ones who believe in climate change, but don't want anyone else to). <br /> <br /> And so the cycle goes on …. companies buy the media to convince the masses, and buy politicians who also listen to the masses. Don't we wish the most polluting country in the world was a democracy with a free press. <br /> <br /> </p> 2010-07-13T09:39:05.000Z 2010-07-13T09:39:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3084-naturalinnovationfoundation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I am the Executive Director of Natural Innovation .org</p> <p>Natural Innovation's mission is to support, mentor and sometimes angel invest in early stage, hard-tech enabled, social innovators, especially in S.E.Asia. </p><p> I started NI because of the critical need for business advice and access to finance for those, who typically self-identify as engineers or inventors rather than entrepreneurs and are working on the technology aspects of solving critical problems for the bottom billion. </p><p> <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/" target="_self" title="Natural Innovation Foundation">www.naturalinnovation.org</a> </p>

<p>I am the Executive Director of Natural Innovation .org</p> <p>Natural Innovation's mission is to support, mentor and sometimes angel invest in early stage, hard-tech enabled, social innovators, especially in S.E.Asia. </p><p> I started NI because of the critical need for business advice and access to finance for those, who typically self-identify as engineers or inventors rather than entrepreneurs and are working on the technology aspects of solving critical problems for the bottom billion. </p><p> <a href="http://www.naturalinnovation.org/" target="_self" title="Natural Innovation Foundation">www.naturalinnovation.org</a> </p> 2014-09-21T08:00:00.000Z 2014-09-21T21:47:39.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3085-fixcapitalism Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>One clear contrast between the Climate March and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative">Clinton Global Initiative</a> is that CGI see’s enlightened capitalism as the answer - companies acting responsibly, working with NGO’s to solve problems, while one of the dominant meme’s at the march was that capitalism has been unable to solve the issue of climate, so capitalism is the problem that should be thrown out. You don’t need to apply a old-left/marxist analysis to come to that conclusion. Capitalism, US style, has given<span> us a world where anything can be bought and sold, including the health of our children and grandchildren, AND government itself. I think the question for the CEO’s of major companies at CGI should be not - what good companies can do, but whether responsible companies can change the rules so that government doesn’t act only in the interests of their short term profits. </span></p><div><br /> <p>Funnily enough, probably the best solution to climate change would be capitalist/market-based, i.e. to put a price on carbon. Given how long this has been avoided its going to have to be a pretty steep price now, and the chances of that happening in our corporatocracy is unlikely, hence the reasonable calls of marchers to get rid of capitalism.</p><p>Of course the chances of it being replaced by something better aren't high - but you can understand the logic when capitalism - especially US style - is clearly broken if it can't fix climate change.</p></div>

<p>One clear contrast between the Climate March and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative">Clinton Global Initiative</a> is that CGI see’s enlightened capitalism as the answer - companies acting responsibly, working with NGO’s to solve problems, while one of the dominant meme’s at the march was that capitalism has been unable to solve the issue of climate, so capitalism is the problem that should be thrown out. You don’t need to apply a old-left/marxist analysis to come to that conclusion. Capitalism, US style, has given<span> us a world where anything can be bought and sold, including the health of our children and grandchildren, AND government itself. I think the question for the CEO’s of major companies at CGI should be not - what good companies can do, but whether responsible companies can change the rules so that government doesn’t act only in the interests of their short term profits. </span></p><div><br /> <p>Funnily enough, probably the best solution to climate change would be capitalist/market-based, i.e. to put a price on carbon. Given how long this has been avoided its going to have to be a pretty steep price now, and the chances of that happening in our corporatocracy is unlikely, hence the reasonable calls of marchers to get rid of capitalism.</p><p>Of course the chances of it being replaced by something better aren't high - but you can understand the logic when capitalism - especially US style - is clearly broken if it can't fix climate change.</p></div> 2014-09-27T23:15:22.000Z 2014-09-27T23:15:22.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3086-dumblongform Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<div></div><div>I’m wondering if we have entered a self-fulfilling prophecy and race to the bottom as web interfaces reverse the trend and head from information rich to information poor ?   The spiral-down scenario goes something like this ...</div><br /> <ul><li>Statistics say more people on mobile </li><li>Bad designers can’t design two UI so they dumb down for small screens of phones<br /> either an app, or the ghastly “long form” websites. </li><li>User’s no longer experience a better experience on bigger screens so don’t use them,<br /> or switch to competitors with more productive interfaces. </li><li>Repeat and spiral </li></ul><p>I can’t think of any website that I use that was improved by moving to the “long form”, and plenty that have gone from good to awful, and I can only think of one site (Flipboard) whose experience is better on the mobile version than their own, or their closest competitor in a tradition website</p>

<div></div><div>I’m wondering if we have entered a self-fulfilling prophecy and race to the bottom as web interfaces reverse the trend and head from information rich to information poor ?   The spiral-down scenario goes something like this ...</div><br /> <ul><li>Statistics say more people on mobile </li><li>Bad designers can’t design two UI so they dumb down for small screens of phones<br /> either an app, or the ghastly “long form” websites. </li><li>User’s no longer experience a better experience on bigger screens so don’t use them,<br /> or switch to competitors with more productive interfaces. </li><li>Repeat and spiral </li></ul><p>I can’t think of any website that I use that was improved by moving to the “long form”, and plenty that have gone from good to awful, and I can only think of one site (Flipboard) whose experience is better on the mobile version than their own, or their closest competitor in a tradition website</p> 2014-10-30T08:00:00.000Z 2014-10-30T16:00:34.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3087-academicengagement Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<div>Is it worth engaging with academia?   This week I sent off a denial of a request for an interview to a PhD candidate reviewing companies in our space. They only asked for half an hour of my time, (but these calls usually go at least an hour). My reasoning was three-fold:</div><div></div><div>1: I don’t think I’ve ever been sent a copy of the results of the research.</div><div>2: It will be presented at a conference which because of its paper submission process will only have academic presenters and almost only academic attendees.</div><div>3: Its going to be published behind an academic paywall, only visible to academics.</div><div></div><div>I looked at the last year’s conference, and none of the presentations were cutting edge, there were ideas presented as new that I personally new were being done by multiple practitioners, and studies of practitioners by academics, but none of the leading edge people in the field.</div><div></div><div>I’ve given feedback several times, on how to improve the process, and even sat on a program committee once (only once, given the pressure to include rubbish in the program) but academics need the publishing brownie points so there is no real interest in actually having interesting leading edge material at conferences.  (By the way, I’m not talking about  *my* material, I just want conferences to go to where I learn something from the other leading edge people).</div><div></div><div>So what do we do - continue to engage with a broken academic process, or disengage and remove the appearance of credibility?</div><div></div><div>I’m not sure - we all lose when academic knowledge and practitioner knowledge circulate in two completely separate communities, but academia seems to have no interest in actually being state of the art any more.</div>

<div>Is it worth engaging with academia?   This week I sent off a denial of a request for an interview to a PhD candidate reviewing companies in our space. They only asked for half an hour of my time, (but these calls usually go at least an hour). My reasoning was three-fold:</div><div></div><div>1: I don’t think I’ve ever been sent a copy of the results of the research.</div><div>2: It will be presented at a conference which because of its paper submission process will only have academic presenters and almost only academic attendees.</div><div>3: Its going to be published behind an academic paywall, only visible to academics.</div><div></div><div>I looked at the last year’s conference, and none of the presentations were cutting edge, there were ideas presented as new that I personally new were being done by multiple practitioners, and studies of practitioners by academics, but none of the leading edge people in the field.</div><div></div><div>I’ve given feedback several times, on how to improve the process, and even sat on a program committee once (only once, given the pressure to include rubbish in the program) but academics need the publishing brownie points so there is no real interest in actually having interesting leading edge material at conferences.  (By the way, I’m not talking about  *my* material, I just want conferences to go to where I learn something from the other leading edge people).</div><div></div><div>So what do we do - continue to engage with a broken academic process, or disengage and remove the appearance of credibility?</div><div></div><div>I’m not sure - we all lose when academic knowledge and practitioner knowledge circulate in two completely separate communities, but academia seems to have no interest in actually being state of the art any more.</div> 2002-03-27T03:24:45.000Z 2002-03-27T03:24:45.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3201-animals Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>person in middle says animal, person pointed &amp; neighbors, or everyone to make the animal, count down from 5 if don't make it your out. Rabbit (ears &amp; teeth); Elephant (trunk &amp; ears), Popcorn - arms corns banging heads; Frog (everyone crouch); Stork (one-leg &amp; beak); hot dog (2 buns); Double cheeseburger (5 people); dogs + lampost;<br /> </p>

<p><br /> <UL><br /> <LI>person in middle says animal, </LI><br /> <LI>person pointed &amp; neighbors, or everyone to make the animal, </LI><br /> <LI>count down from 5 if don't make it your out. </LI><br /> <LI>Rabbit (one person ears &amp; teeth); </LI><br /> <LI>Elephant (trunk; neighbors are&nbsp;ears), </LI><br /> <LI>Popcorn - arms as popcorn maker; corns banging heads; </LI><br /> <LI>Frog (everyone crouch); </LI><br /> <LI>Stork (one-leg &amp; beak); </LI><br /> <LI>hot dog (neighbors are 2 buns); </LI><br /> <LI>Double cheeseburger (5 people(bread: cheese: burger: cheese: roll); </LI><br /> <LI>dogs + lampost;<BR></LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-15T04:48:42.000Z 2002-03-15T04:48:42.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3202-back_to_back Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Touch backs together and explore ways to interact, bending stretching etc.</p>

<p><br /> <P>Touch backs together and explore ways to interact, <br /> bending stretching etc.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-03-15T04:45:49.000Z 2002-03-15T04:45:49.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3203-beach_ball Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Hold arms like a beachball, walk around bumping and rolling off each other like a beachball.</p>

<p><br /> Hold arms like a beachball, walk around bumping and <br /> rolling off each other like a beachball.<br /> <P>&nbsp;</P></p> </div></div> 2002-03-15T04:29:15.000Z 2002-03-15T04:29:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3204-blindfold_lead Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Lead someone (who is blindfold) around the room</p>

<p>This is a fun, simple trust game, the leader can very speed, height, go around obstacles etc, the follower has to trust and relax. Best way to lead is by the leader holding a hand under one of the followers hands.</p> </div></div> 2002-03-27T03:29:16.000Z 2002-03-27T03:29:16.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3205-car_crash Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Drive; Shout; Apologise; Hug</p>

<p><br /> <UL><br /> <LI>Participants pretend to be driving a car or bike (chaotic driving such as <br /> in italy ...)</LI><br /> <LI>When they bump into someone they start shouting at each other - any <br /> language or gibberish </LI><br /> <LI>When they feel catharted enough then switch to apologising </LI><br /> <LI>Then hug, </LI><br /> <LI>Get back on bike or in car and drive off to the next <br /> crash.</LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-27T03:54:02.000Z 2002-03-27T03:54:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3206-directors_emotion_game Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Pair interacting; Show cards to switch emotions</p>

<p><br /> <UL><br /> <LI>Two or three people (actors)&nbsp;interact in a setting (e.g. waiter &amp; <br /> customer in &nbsp;a cafe). </LI><br /> <LI>For each person, a director shows them cards with emotions written on <br /> them, </LI><br /> <LI>The actor immediately switches to that emotion.</LI><br /> <LI>As a variation, use the Osho Zen Tarot cards to pick random emotions, this <br /> works well for people with a good personal-growth <br /> vocabulary.</LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-15T04:33:54.000Z 2002-03-15T04:33:54.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3207-emotional_volume_control Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Half the group walk forward in a line, increasing an emotion - e.g. anger, love, fear.</p>

<p><br /> <P>Half the group walk forward in a line towards the other half, increasing an <br /> emotion - e.g. anger, love, fear. from very subtle almost indetectable, to gross <br /> and totally over the top. </P><br /> <P>This game is particularly good at getting people to show a full range from <br /> subtle to extremes of emotion. </P></p> </div></div> 2002-03-15T04:39:34.000Z 2002-03-15T04:39:34.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3208-finger_dance Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Close eyes, touch fingers, move together</p>

<p>A simple basic contact dance exercise, dance together just with fingertips and closed eyes. Feel the contact</p> </div></div> 2002-03-27T04:06:47.000Z 2002-03-27T04:06:47.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3209-freeze_and_change Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Two acting; at ding freeze; new player changes scene</p>

<p><br /> <UL><br /> <LI>Two people start in a defined scenario (verbal and movement)</LI><br /> <LI>At a ding the actors freeze</LI><br /> <LI>The next free jumps in, taps one on the shoulder and continues&nbsp;with a <br /> completely different scenario inspired by the position they are in.</LI><br /> <LI>Note it sometimes works best in the new new player dings the bell to <br /> freeze the scene.</LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-15T04:31:42.000Z 2002-03-15T04:31:42.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3210-grading_lines Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Grade lines by age, height, distance from home</p>

<p>There are lots of variations on this, essentially two or more teams try and get themselves into order. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Variations can involve people being blindfold (especially fun for visual things like height or age), or not being able to speak.</p> </div></div> 2002-03-27T04:16:01.000Z 2002-03-27T04:16:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3212-loves_me_hates_me Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>One loves, other hates; switch on ding</p>

<p><br /> <UL><br /> <LI>Two people in a defined scenario</LI><br /> <LI>One expressing love, or lust, the other hate or dislike or discust.</LI><br /> <LI>At ding they swap roles.</LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-27T03:38:02.000Z 2002-03-27T03:38:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3213-machine_game Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Group ~6, told machine to be, rest guess</p>

<p><UL><LI>Teams of about 6<LI>Moderator gives the team a machine to make<LI>The team huddle for a couple of minutes then make the <br /> machine -<LI>At a ding they start animating the machine and making <br /> the noises<LI>Other players try and guess what the machine <br /> is</LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-16T04:51:56.000Z 2002-03-16T04:51:56.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3214-name_action Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Each person moves towards the middle of the circle, saying their name and doing an action. The rest of the group then repeat the name and action. This helps learn names, and also its great to hear your own name and action repeated back.</p>

<p><br /> Each person moves towards the middle of the circle, <br /> saying their name and doing an action. The rest of the group then repeat the <br /> name and action. This helps learn names, and also its great to hear your own <br /> name and action repeated back.<br /> <P>&nbsp;</P></p> </div></div> 2002-03-27T03:19:32.000Z 2002-03-27T03:19:32.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3215-name_switch Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Walk around; Shake hands, say name, then become that name. Keep going till you get your own name back. <br /> </p>

<p><br /> <UL><br /> <LI>Everyone starts walking around the room</LI><br /> <LI>When they meet someone they introduce themselves by saying their name</LI><br /> <LI>They then move on, but now introduce themselves using the name they just <br /> heard.</LI><br /> <LI>At some point ding the bell, and people keep going until they get their <br /> own name back.</LI><br /> <LI>(Funny thing is there is always someone missing a name due to a <br /> mistake)</LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-15T04:47:50.000Z 2002-03-15T04:47:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3216-object_to_fall_over Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>One person forms an object, the other approaches eyes closed and falls over it, rolling off somehow.</p>

<p><br /> One person forms an object, the other approaches eyes <br /> closed and falls over it, rolling off somehow.</p> </div></div> 2002-03-16T04:55:33.000Z 2002-03-16T04:55:33.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3217-pass_the_clap_or_wave_or_squee Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>One person claps, then the next to the right (left in the northern hemisphere!) and then to their right, and so on. Once the clap gets all the way around keep it going but say &quot;Faster&quot;. Keep it going faster and faster until the clap zips around the circle almost instantaneously.</p>

<p><br /> <P>One person claps, then the next to the right (left in the northern <br /> hemisphere!) and then to their right, and so on. Once the clap gets all the way <br /> around keep it going but say "Faster". Keep it going faster and faster until the <br /> clap zips around the circle almost instantaneously.</P><br /> <P>Variations include: <br ><br >Adding a second clap in the same direction, or in the other direction. <br ><br >Using a hand squeeze instead of a clap (watch for it getting lost). <br ><br >Doing <br /> it as a wave (raise arms slowly up and down once, person on right starts just <br /> after you.)</P></p> </div></div> 2002-03-27T03:15:07.000Z 2002-03-27T03:15:07.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3218-permission_to_walk Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Catch eyes; They say walk; Walk towards them; they catch. ...</p>

<p><br /> <UL><br /> <LI>Catch the eyes of someone across the circle</LI><br /> <LI>They say walk</LI><br /> <LI>You start walking towards them</LI><br /> <LI>Before you get there, they have to catch someone else's eyes and get <br /> permission</LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-27T03:10:00.000Z 2002-03-27T03:10:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3219-relating_to_stories Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Tell a story - those who relate join and show how</p>

<p><br /> <P>The idea of this game is to show how similar people's <br /> stories can be.</P><br /> <UL><br /> <LI>One person tells a story</LI><br /> <LI>Anyone who feels they relate to it&nbsp; e.g. they have had a similar <br /> story, gets up and joins the person</LI><br /> <LI>When the first has finished their story, the others tell <br /> <STRONG>briefly</STRONG> about their story. </LI></UL></p> </div></div> 2002-03-15T04:37:01.000Z 2002-03-15T04:37:01.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3220-walk_stop_freeze_turn Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Walk in a circle, stop, turn or continue based on cues from other walkers</p>

<p><br /> <P>Walk in a circle, stop, turn or continue based on cues from other walkers</P><br /> <P>The goal here is that if the group is working well together it will be hard <br /> for observers to tell who initiated an action, and it will look rehearsed rather <br /> than improvised. </P></p> </div></div> 2002-03-16T05:01:12.000Z 2002-03-16T05:01:12.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3221-zoom_screech Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Think of the circle as a race-track, and a car going around, the energy passes in one direction by saying Zoom to a neighbor, it reverses direction by saying Screech. Each person must look at the person they are passing it to.</p>

<p><br /> <P>Think of the circle as a race-track, and a car going around, the energy <br /> passes in one direction by saying Zoom to a neighbor, it reverses direction by <br /> saying Screech. Each person must look at the person they are passing it to.</P><br /> <P>There are lots of variations on this.<br ><br >Zip / Zap / Oobla: Zip is the next person (in either direction), Zap is across the circle, Oobla is refusing it (the sender should then Zip or Zap it to someone else).<br ><br >Wubble Wubble: The person with the energy places two hands on either side of their ears and wiggles saying "Wubble Wubble Wubble". Their neighbors on either side wiggle just the hand nearest the person wubbling. Then the sender points both their hands at someone else who must immeately (with their neighbors) start wubbling.<br ><br ><br ><br ></P></p> </div></div> 2002-04-18T02:31:51.000Z 2002-04-18T02:31:51.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3222-crawling_with_rocks Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Add rocks onto someone crawling</p>

<p><br /> <P>One person crawls, the other adds symbolic rocks to <br /> their back, they change their crawl to handle the burden.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-04-18T02:30:59.000Z 2002-04-18T02:30:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3224-mirroring Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Mirror, switch on bell - move to not knowing who is leading</p>

<p><br /> <P>Pick partners, Select A and B, B mirrors whatever A does <br /> (can constrain e.g. to dance or movement). At Bell switch who is leading, idea <br /> is to get to point where you don't know who is leading and who <br /> following.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-04-18T02:28:39.000Z 2002-04-18T02:28:39.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3225-snapshot_walk Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Walk around with a partner, point them at something interesting, tap on shoulder they open eyes for a split-second. Then walk to next (Freeze Frame - same with moving target)</p>

<p> <P>Walk around with a partner, point them at something <br /> interesting, tap on shoulder they open eyes for a split-second. Then walk to <br /> next (Freeze Frame - same with moving target)</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T09:48:12.000Z 2002-05-23T09:48:12.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3226-2_or_3_on_1 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Two people massage the third, change after time</p>

<p><br /> <P>This technique again removes some of the issues brought <br /> up by one-on-one massage. Two or Three people work on one person, switching <br /> after maybe 5 or 10 minutes.</P><br /> <P>Variations: for contact dancers you can move to rolling the person over the <br /> massagers, the reciever should be totally passive while doing this. This can be <br /> good also for people who are large (recieving) or small (giving) since the large <br /> people have to surrender control and not try and take their own weight and small <br /> people can work with being in control of how they take the larger person's <br /> weight.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:30:59.000Z 2002-05-23T02:30:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3227-ask_refuse_persuade Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Ask someone for something, they refuse, you persuade, they still refuse - think like a kid asking for a lolly.</p>

<p> <P>Ask someone for something, they refuse, you persuade, <br /> they still refuse&nbsp; - play it out like&nbsp; a kid asking for a lolly that <br /> won't take know for an answer.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:38:15.000Z 2002-05-24T03:38:15.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3228-awayclose_or_equidistant Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Run around - close to one - away another</p>

<p><P>Move around the room, pick two partners, one to get <br /> close to, the other to keep away from - but don't tell them. Run around trying <br /> to get close to the first, and keep away from the second.</P><br /> <P>Variations:<br /> <UL> <br /> <li>Try and keep equidistant from the partners, or between them. <br /> <li>Pick one or two to relate to / copy, who aren't <br /> necessarily relating to you.</li></UL><br /> <P>Works well with "Extinction"</P><br /> <P></P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:25:30.000Z 2002-05-23T02:25:30.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3229-baking_bread_with_emotion Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Room divides into three - mixing table (sadness), fridge (lust), Oven (anger).</p>

<p><br /> Room divides into three - mixing table (sadness), <br /> fridge (lust), Oven (anger). The participants attempt to bake bread while moving <br /> around the imaginary kitchen, shwoing the emotion of that part of the kitchen.</p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:14:47.000Z 2002-05-24T03:14:47.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3230-balloon_creations Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Build creatures with balloons and felt pens</p>

<p> <P>Materials: Balloons, Felt pens, maybe string.</P> <P>Give a few balloons to groups of maybe 3 or 4 people, they then build a creature - in maybe 5 or 10 minutes - felt pens can also be used to color. Then show off &amp;/or judge the creations.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:35:48.000Z 2002-05-23T02:35:48.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3231-body_parts Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Left - ankles</p>

<p><br /> <P>Stand in a circle, Call out direction and body part - <br /> e.g. left ankle, place left hand on ankle of person on that side. Note when call <br /> right-ear&nbsp;that doesnt' mean you can let go of the left-ankle!</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T09:50:05.000Z 2002-05-23T09:50:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3232-body_parts_1 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Massage with different parts of the body - e.g. head, elbows</p>

<p><br /> <P>Experiment with using different parts of the body to <br /> give the massage, for example elbows, or the top of the head, or a foot.</P><br /> <P>This can be combined with other massage processes</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:44:49.000Z 2002-05-23T02:44:49.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3233-calling_name_across_the_room Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Pairs - blindfold finds way to sighted who is calling their name,

<P>People are paired up, and learn each others names, then split - one person blindfold. The other calls their name from across the room, they move towards their name, possibly meeting other people on the way.</P> <P>Variations: The person calling can move, can stay silent for a while, you can do this on the floor, crawling, or standing.</P> <p>You can also vary what is called, for example I've seen it done with names; with animal noises; or with paired words -e.g. Bread and Jam; King and Queen; Life and Death etc.</p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:09:38.000Z 2002-05-24T03:09:38.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3234-car_wash Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Imaginary car wash - person goes down line</p>

<p><br /> <P>Create two lines of people, as person moves down the <br /> middle they get "washed", the "car" joins hte end of one of the lines, and <br /> &nbsp;someone from the begininning of the line goes down the middle.</P><br /> <P>Variations include: massaging down the line, or people sitting with legs out <br /> making a bread machine.</P><br /> <P>&nbsp;</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T09:42:18.000Z 2002-05-23T09:42:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3235-circle Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Two circles - inner lying - feet to middle, outer standing, move around - each ding stop and work on someone till next ding.</p>

<p><br /> <P>This is a good massage to give people chance to work on <br /> several people, rather than focussed attention of one or two people. Arrange <br /> into two circles, middle circle lies down, outer circle walks around until ding, <br /> then does something to the person in front of them, at next ding move on until <br /> ding again.</P><br /> <P>Variation: 3 circles - one outside people lying, one inside. <br /> </P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:42:06.000Z 2002-05-23T02:42:06.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3236-dragons_tail Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Two lines of people, person at front has to catch tail at the rear of the other line.</p>

<p>Two lines of people, person at front has to catch tail at the rear of the <br /> other line.<br /> <P>&nbsp;</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:54:31.000Z 2002-05-23T02:54:31.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3237-explore_space_around_each_othe Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Pair - explore space, change on ding</p>

<p><br /> <P>In pairs, one moving other static, explore the space <br /> around each other, at the ding switch over.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:50:19.000Z 2002-05-24T03:50:19.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3238-extinction Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Pick a dependee - die 10 seconds after they do</p>

<p><br /> <P>Everyone picks a person that they are dependent on, when <br /> that person "dies" you wait 10 seconds and then "die".&nbsp; This illustrates <br /> the chain of dependency.</P><br /> <P>Variations: it would be more dramatic if you depended on two people, also <br /> more likely that everyone is in the chain.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:35:58.000Z 2002-05-24T03:35:58.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3239-falling_in_a_circle Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Close eyes, fall in tight circle</p>

<p><br /> <P>Form a tight circle around someone, all standing, middle <br /> shuts eyes and allows themselves to fall. Catch them and stand up to fall <br /> again.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T02:42:54.000Z 2002-05-24T02:42:54.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3240-finding_partners_3_noses Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Call out number and body part - 2 elbows, 3 noses at some point pause.</p>

<p><br /> <P>Call out a number and a body part - e.g. 2 noses, 3 <br /> elbows, 4 hips. People have to find that many people and connect those parts. <br /> Each time you call they have to find different people. At some point you stop <br /> and say - ok these are your partners for the next game.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T02:39:10.000Z 2002-05-24T02:39:10.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3241-finding_partners_animal_cards Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Give pairs or threes of same cards - make noise</p>

<p><br /> <P>Prepare images of animals - you can easily get them off <br /> the web. Hand out randomly, if you want two then make sure there are two of each <br /> card etc. People move around the room, close their eyes and start making the <br /> noise of their animal and then have to find their partners, when they find them <br /> they keep quiet to let the remaining players find their <br /> partners.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T08:52:18.000Z 2002-05-23T08:52:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3242-high_medium_low Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Three people - dancing around each other high,medium and low. As one changes others must</p>

<p><br /> <P>This is a simple dance to explore height issues, three <br /> people dancing - one low (floor) one high (standing) and one middle. Only one <br /> person can be in each level at a time, so if Low moves to High then High must <br /> move to Low - or move to Medium and displace the medium.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-17T05:35:09.000Z 2002-05-17T05:35:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3244-infections_emotions Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Say 4 people, each brings a new emotion into the scene and infects the others</p>

<p><br /> <P>Set up a scene with a few people in it - say 2-4. A new <br /> person joins the scene, and shows an emotion - the others gradually pick up the <br /> emotion until they are all doing it - the beauty is in picking it up slowly, and <br /> not all at the same time.&nbsp; When everyone is doing it, bring in a new person <br /> (one of the originals could leave at this point).</P><br /> <P>&nbsp;</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:34:02.000Z 2002-05-24T03:34:02.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3245-left_hand_drawing Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Sit in pairs - draw each other with left hand</p>

<p> <P>Sit in pairs and draw the other person but using only the left hand, this works best after cross-crawling style exercises to get the Right-Brain working.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:51:59.000Z 2002-05-23T02:51:59.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3246-move_freeze Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Variations on moving and freezing, individuals, pairs or groups.</p>

<p><br /> <P>There are lots of variations on the idea of changing <br /> between moving and stillness. Some ideas ...</P><br /> <P>Individuals - freeze at ding<BR>Pairs&nbsp;- one moving, one still - switch <br /> at ding<BR>Group - half moving,&nbsp;movers gives impulse to&nbsp;stationary who <br /> move off (can give impulse to a different person)<BR>Group - when one freezes <br /> everyone freezes. <BR>Group - when one freezes others join in a sculpture till <br /> all still<BR>Group - when one freezes others join them in same pose until the <br /> initiator starts moving again, this is nice in big groups because there can be <br /> several still groupings around the room. <BR></P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:47:20.000Z 2002-05-23T02:47:20.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3247-moving_different_body_parts Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Call parts to focus dance on</p>

<p><br /> <P>This is a good warm-up exercise, people dance and you <br /> call out a body part to focus the dance on - be creative, ankles, hips, navel, <br /> neck etc. Then start&nbsp; doing two at one - ankle and wrist.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T08:56:46.000Z 2002-05-23T08:56:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3248-passing_the_ball Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Pass an imaginary ball - between two or group

<P> Pass an imaginary ball - between two or group</P> <P>Several variations on this one</p> <p>Simplest is in Pairs , and passing an imaginary ball, dancing with it - changing its size, or shape and passing back.</P> <P>As a group, its a good exercise in non-verbal communication, when sitting in a circle, reach into the pocket, pull out something imaginary, play with it, then&nbsp;throw it to someone else.&nbsp; See if they pick up the idea. (Pick someone imaginative for first pass and then everyone will get it).</P> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:24:50.000Z 2002-05-24T03:24:50.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3249-revision_time_line Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Rope as timeline - add pieces of paper with things done</p>

<p><br /> <P>A good way to revise / remember what was done at the <br /> previous day/session.</P><br /> <P>Place a rope on the floor as a timeline</P><br /> <P>Give people pieces of paper, they write an activity that happened, or <br /> something learned, and place it on the rope in order. </P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:07:27.000Z 2002-05-24T03:07:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3250-rope_circle Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Everyone stands in circle, leave make circle smaller ...</p>

<p><br /> <P>Everyone in the group tries to stand in a circle of <br /> rope, then they step out and the circle is made smaller and try again until <br /> can't do it.&nbsp; (The trick is to put all the feet in the middle link arms and <br /> lean out.)</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T02:57:45.000Z 2002-05-23T02:57:45.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3251-sculptor_sculptee Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>One makes a sculpture out of the other</p>

<p><br /> <P>One sculpts the other person - who cooperates but <br /> doesn't help. Can sculpt to a theme, or emotion.</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-23T09:26:26.000Z 2002-05-23T09:26:26.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3252-seaweed Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>One stationary, other moves them like seaweed in the ocean</p>

<p><br /> <P>This is a good impulse dance, first person stands - feed <br /> as if a seaweed on the rock, eyes closed, the other is the ocean and can give <br /> impulses to move them.</P><br /> <P>Variations: the ocean can be more like contact dance, especially if you have <br /> two or better three as teh ocean. Eventually the "seaweed" can lose contact with <br /> the rock and with eyes closed allow themselves to be given contact-dance style <br /> impulses.</P><br /> <P>&nbsp;</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T02:55:09.000Z 2002-05-24T02:55:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3253-switch_places Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>5 people, 4 at corners - switch places without person in middle getting there first.</p>

<p><br /> <P>Four people stand in the corners, one in the middle - <br /> people at corners catch eye of someone else and switch places without the one in <br /> the middle getting there first.</P><br /> <P>Variations: Keep own score - 1 for switch with neighbor, 5 for across the <br /> middle.<BR>More people work, but not as well, and probably have to say can't <br /> switch with immediate neighbor</P></p> </div></div> 2002-05-24T03:12:05.000Z 2002-05-24T03:12:05.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3254-worms_to_the_noise Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Wiggle to the noise maker with eyes closed,</p>

<p><br /> <P>People spread around the room and lie down,&nbsp;and are <br /> told that when &nbsp;the music starts they should wiggle like worms to the <br /> music. Place a portable tape player somewhere near the middle of the room and <br /> start it playing.</P><br /> <P>Of course the fun part is that to all get to the music you have to make a big <br /> wiggly pile.</P><br /> <P>As a variation, you can ask people to dance, then close eyes, then get low, <br /> then move - low, but not necessarily as a work, towards where they think the <br /> center of the room is, usually people end up touching, but if not ask them to <br /> reach out and connect with two others. Then stand, keeping moving, often this <br /> morphs into a contact-dance. Then gradually move aparty.</P></p> </div></div> 2003-12-29T10:46:37.000Z 2003-12-29T10:46:37.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3255-gibberish Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Speaking in Gibberish - i.e. a made up language - allows for breaking away from thinking and also helps when working with other attributes - e.g. gestures. Some simple examples include: <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> A Gibberish presentation - e.g. describe a broom, how you use it, why you would want to buy it<br /> <br /> Hold a conversation with someone else in gibberish<br /> <br /> Three person story - A, B, C. A starts story in gibberish, B translates into english, C continues in gibberish, A translates etc<br /> </p>

</div></div> 2003-12-29T10:42:43.000Z 2003-12-29T10:42:43.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3257-warm_up_directive_options Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The core idea is to allow people to dance freely, but make suggestions as to what they focus attention on, its particularly good for breaking habits. Suggestions include:<br /> <br /> Verticality <br /> <br /> Spatial exploration - whole of physical space we are in<br /> <br /> Body Parts for a focus<br /> <br /> Speed and Acceleration<br /> <br /> Initiator - what part of the body initiates</p>

</div></div> 2003-12-29T10:48:44.000Z 2003-12-29T10:48:44.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3258-warm_up_talking Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>You often need a way to get people loosened up a couple of alternatives:<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Two minutes stream of consciousness, for example with one or two listeners.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Talk about an object, e.g a fire extinguisher, an exit, a piece of wood. Keep talking for a few minutes, find things to say about it, explore its textures etc</p>

</div></div> 2004-01-30T23:21:25.000Z 2004-01-30T23:21:25.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3260-wubble_wubble Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>In a circle - one person waggle hands + people on left and right do movement. Say &quot;wubblewubble....wubble&quot; Shoot energy to someone else (see longer description).</p>

<p><br /> <P>Sit in a circle, one person waggles hands by ears (think <br /> big flappy ears), person on right does same with left hand only person on left <br /> with right hand (wish i had a photo !).</P><br /> <P>Person in middle goes goes (fast) wubblewubblewubblewubblewubble (maybe for 1 <br /> second) then shoots the energy across the circle to someone else (e.g. point <br /> hands).</P><br /> <P>That person - and the people on left and right - pick up the movement.</P><br /> <P>Its fast and noisy ....</P><br /> <P>&nbsp;</P></p> </div></div> 2005-07-17T04:22:09.000Z 2005-07-17T04:22:09.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3262-knot_untangling Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Untangling a knot of people and hands</p>

<p>Participants in a circle, eyes closed&lt;br /&gt;Place both hands into the middle, grab hold of another (just one) hand. Make sure you've got a good grip.&lt;br /&gt;Open eyes, anyone still with a free hand raises it and grabs another free hand.&lt;br /&gt;Now untangle without letting go. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This can be easy, or take a surprisingly long time, I did this once with about 100 people and it took over an hour to get untangled, but noone wanted to stop, I think because they wanted to succeed. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;<br /> </p> </div></div> 2008-10-17T07:59:21.000Z 2008-10-17T07:59:21.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3263-have_you_ever Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>In a circle - "Have you ever ...." </p>

<p>Sit in a circle, one fewer chairs than people.</p> <p>Person in the middle says, "Have you ever ..." and adds something. The only rule is that it has to be something they have done, so for example, depending on the group it could be as harmless as "Have you ever - been to Sydney" or as risque as "Have you ever - made love on a beach." </p> <p>Everyone who has done this has to switch to another seat - and not the seat next to themselves.</p> <p>The person in the middle has to try and get to one of the seats first. </p> <p>The hidden rule - that you don't tell at first - is that if NOONE moves, then the person in the middle has to tell the story - this will hopefully be interesting since its something noone else has done. <br /> </p> </div></div> 2008-10-17T07:59:21.000Z 2008-10-17T07:59:21.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3265-stories_on_a_theme Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Tell a story based on a theme or question.</p>

This was a regular at the weekly dinner parties hosted by my friends Brewster and Mary. After the meal was well under way Brewster would ask a question ... typical questions would be something like. <ul> <li>Tell a story of witnessing a religious ritual in another country</li> <li>Tell a story of something you got away with. </li> <li>What was your favorite film and why</li> </ul> Go around the table - each person tells the story, or answers the question - very broad interpretation of the question is fine, you can pass - BUT come back to those people after you've been all around the table. </div></div> 2009-12-18T05:41:53.000Z 2009-12-18T05:41:53.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3266-3_chairs Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Simple physical impro exercise - <br /> 3 chairs facing the audience each with a person in it.<br /> People play with <br /> * standing or sitting<br /> * looking - e.g. at each other, straight ahead</p> <p>Clear precise movements,<br /> Sometimes a pattern emerges, or something not in the score which the facilitator can either allow or not as seems appropriate<br /> Ding a bell or a clap or something to signal 30 seconds to find an ending.</p>

</div></div> 2009-12-18T05:44:27.000Z 2009-12-18T05:44:27.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3267-al_wonder_-_theatre_of_the_ord Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Al Wonder was the 2nd impro teacher I studied with, and I highly recommend his workshops "<a href="http://www.theatreoftheordinary.com">Theatre of the Ordinary</a>"- mostly in Melbourne. He has a book out "The Wonder of Improvisation". He blend improvisation and physical theatre, and encourges each performer to find their own style. </p>

</div></div> 2009-12-18T05:57:52.000Z 2009-12-18T05:57:52.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3268-facing_placing_spacing_-_dots Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Two very similar impro games, work well with small or large groups.</p> <p>The groups start off stage (sides) and people come on and play with either: <br /> Facing; Placing; Spacing <br /> or Dots / Lines / Clumps (how they are grouped on stage). </p> <p>Simply come on stage, move to position, wait, at some point move again etc</p> <p>Sounds simple, but emergent behaviors are fun to watch. </p> <p>Make sure some of the group are witnesses, either cycling in and out of the work, or by splitting the group in two.</p>

</div></div> 2009-12-18T05:49:18.000Z 2009-12-18T05:49:18.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3270-parlour_games_for_modern_famil Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Myfanwy Jones & Spiri Tsintrziras have put together a comprehensive guide to all sorts of games - paper, cards, dice, guessing etc - all kinds of things to keep families or friends entertained without the "box".</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1921372990/mitra">Parlour Games for Modern Families</a></p>

</div></div> 2009-12-18T05:38:46.000Z 2009-12-18T05:38:46.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3271-yes_and_reminds_me_of Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Someone starts to tell a short story,<br /> At any point the next person interrupts with ...<br /> * Yes and ..... (expands the story, or a different aspect)<br /> * That reminds me of .... (and tells a related story)<br /> * No .... ( and corrects)</p> <p>This works either as an improvisation when the stories could be real or made up, or as a collective memory where participants in a group, or a family jump in with real stories. </p>

</div></div> 2018-10-01T00:00:00.000Z 2018-10-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3301-internetarchivedecentralization Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I led the decentralized web project at the <a href="http://www.archive.org">Internet Archive</a>. Its goal was to further a vision of a decentralized internet, and to bring the Archive's content to those beyond the reach of the current internet. </p>

<p>I developed the architecture, worked with decentralized web partners including GunDB, IPFS, WebTorrent, Wolk, ported the Internet Archive's UI to Javascript, and built a server that now sits at <a href="https://dweb.archive.org">dweb.archive.org</a></p><p>I then built a stripped down version of the Archive to run on tiny devices like Raspberry Pi's, See the <a href="https://archive.org/about/offline-archive/">project page</a></p> 2021-04-05T00:00:00.000Z 2021-04-05T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3302-foliawater Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Affordable Anti-viral and Anti-bacterial products

<p><a href="https://foliamaterials.com">Folia Materials</a> has developed a cost effective way to add metals to paper which has a number of applications from face-masks to packaging.</p><p><a href="https://foliawater.com">Folia Water</a> has turned this paper into an affordable anti-viral water filter, that costs about US$0.01/liter.</p><p>I am an investor, and have been on Folia's board for a while, helping them to grow and to pivot into face masks during the pandemic.</p><p> 2021-04-05T00:00:00.000Z 2021-04-05T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3303-ewbmoto Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Accessible Moto for Cambodia

<p><a href="https://ewb.org.au">EWB Australia</a> helps engineers volunteer on impactful projects.</p> <p>I was an advisor on a project to develop an <a href="https://ewb.org.au/project/projects-needing-support/">accessible Moto</a> - its a three wheeled vehicle built over the parts of an old motor scooter (or Moto).</p> <p>Cambodia's legacy of civil war has left it with a lot of disabled people, and this device will allow them to access places that are currently denied without expensive assistance.<p> <p>Apart from general technical help, I'm looking at costs and financial structures to see how can we structure its financing so that it is can reach a larger number of people.</p> <p>Update: Unfortunately the original design was not created with cost in mind, and while the moto appeared to be a useful vehicle, its cost made it unviable to reproduce even in small numbers.</p> 2021-04-05T00:00:00.000Z 2021-04-05T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3304-rocketman Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Efficient biomass heating

<p><a href="https://rocketmandesigns.com/">Rocketman Designs</a> have developed efficient stoves, reducing the fuel required, and the smoke produced from biomass heating.</p> <p>They are marketed in northern India as <a href="https://himalayanrocketstove.com">Himalayan Rocket Stoves</a>.</p> <p>Russel, the designer, is local to me, and I enjoy adding a different perspective to his new ideas, and testing out his latest design.</p> <p>I am also a small investor in the project.</p> 2021-08-20T00:00:00.000Z 2021-08-20T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3305-nymphea Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Nymphea's Ripple, an innovative non-toxic mosquito control

<!--TODO need archived version of this--> <p> Pranav at Nymphea developed a small device, Ripple, that sits in a pond and vibrates in a way that causes mosquito lava to drown. It could be a non-toxic solution for small ponds. A related device listens for a mosquito buzz to identify them and report the level of infection pressure. I was a mentor for Nymphea as part of the Tech2Impact cohort 2021. Pranav has made some prototypes but needs to build a team and raise some funds. </p> 2003-11-01T00:00:00.000Z 2003-11-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3306-academic_km Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/Academic_Knowledge_Management.pdf" title="Draft paper"></pdf-link><p>An early draft of a paper exploring the Academic processes through the prism of Knowledge Management.</p>

<pdf-link href="/files/Academic_Knowledge_Management.pdf" title="Draft paper"></pdf-link><p>An early draft of a paper exploring the Academic processes through the prism of Knowledge Management.</p> 2008-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 2008-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3307-beyondbuildingenergy Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Beyond Building Energy (BBE) was at one time the fastest growing solar company in Australia</p>

<p>In 2008 most solar businesses installed a couple of systems a week, and the biggest challenge to getting more systems on regular people's roofs was the price - around AU $14,000 for a 1kW system, which - even with roughly $9000 in rebates and Renewable Energy Credits" was well beyond most people's means. You could not grow this incrementally - which is why the subsidy was so high.</p> <p>"If we build a solar business that installed thousands of systems, could it get the costs down low enough that thousands of people would buy them ?"</p> <p>I was brought on to make it happen, first came a radical analysis of the supply chain, and a tough look at the common practices of the sector.</p> <p>For example, we found that most installations included at least $900 in quoting costs, since most homeowners got three competitive quotes (at a cost of $100 each), and only one in three went ahead and installed any system at all. Could we eliminate most of those costs by telling people the price up front (anathema to the industry), and taking a deposit that we would refund after the quote if site-specific factors meant we couldn not do a standard install at a standard price. We discovered only about one in ten sites needed any extra cost - for example to upgrade an electric board, or trim trees, and far more people paid that extra cost, then asked for their deposit to be refunded.</p> <p>Our biggest innovation was the "Solar Neighbourhood", we helped neighbourhood activists to gather people in their neighbourhood, and only went ahead when we had exactly 50 deposit-paying customers. We hired a community organizer to make this happen. This took customer acquisition costs to $100 per house, and around half of the people who signed up to be neighborhood activists got a full group of 50 together. Often the first person on the waiting list became the coordinator for the next group. </p> <p>Our supply chains were short - straight from the factory, in a shipping container, in many cases direct to the neighbourhood, cut out all the intermediaries, warehousing, double-handling and small scale transportation.</p> <p>Our result - a system that cost $9500 and had $9000 in rebates,</p> <p>I built a team of 13 people to develop this project, and took in AUD$10m in orders during the first year. After I left, the program made around AUD$50m in sales, with our Melbourne partner doing a similar number.</p> 2005-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 2005-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3308-zelfo Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Zelfo, now called Zeoform, is a plastic-like material made from waste fiber, mouldable workable it has potential.'

<p>I was an advisor and board member to one of early incarnations of the company, which included the financial modeling and business plan. I assisted the CEO, especially in working with investors, and engineering staff, and sorted out problems beyond the skills of the management team.</p> <p>It is still operating, see <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Zeoform">Zeoform</a></p> 2012-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3309-partners Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>We are a small team, and our strength comes through the network of other organisations and people also supporting technology for developing countries.</p>

<h4><a href="/?catid=7">Technical and Engineering</a></h4><p>Many innovators need access to skilled technical people, especially engineers in disciplines other than their own in order to complete their designs and prototypes and integrate them into existing infrastructure.</p><p>We are partnering with skilled engineers, and associations of engineers to help bring support where its needed.</p><p>Some of the skills we are hoping to locate include: Rapid prototyping; Simulation (especially a virtual windtunnel); CNC machining etc.</p><h4><a href="/?catid=11">Innovators and Innovations</a></h4><p>Natural Innovation .org works with innovators who have great ideas that have a potential to scale to have a significant impact on poverty or the environment. Most of the innovations we work with are focused on developing countries, and many of the innovators are based there.</p><p>We work with these innovators to help them bring the idea to realisation, by de-risking (for example creating a prototype, or testing a market) and then scaling.</p><p>We link innovators with resources - including grants; volunteers (especially technical); debt and strategic partners.</p><p>Some of the innovators and innovations we are working on appear here.</p><h4><a href="/?catid=12">Innovation Support</a></h4><p>There are not many other people or organisations actively supporting technology innovators in, or focused on, developing countries. Here are listed a few of those we have been in touch with.</p><h4><a href="/?catid=15">Projects</a></h4><p>Natural Innovation .org works with innovators who have great ideas that have a potential to scale to have a significant impact on poverty or the environment. Most of the innovations we work with are focused on developing countries, and many of the innovators are based there.</p><p>We incubate these innovators to help them bring the idea to realisation. We link innovators with resources - including grants; volunteers (especially technical); finance and strategic partners.</p><p>Some of the innovators and innovations we are working on appear here, (some others are still in stealth)</p><p>In addition we work on projects that can change the landscape for support and funding for such innovators. For example addressing licensing issues, or developing component technologies that multiple innovators need.</p> 2022-08-15T00:00:00.000Z 2022-08-15T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3310-restartblog Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>After a long gap, I've decided to restart this blog.</p>

<p>Please have patience as I find content I've posted elsewhere and bring it back here.</p> <p>The dates will mostly reflect when the content was originally written.</p> 2015-01-07T00:00:00.000Z 2015-01-07T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3311-burlapcrete Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

One of a family of interesting textile / concrete housing technologies

One of a family of interesting textile / concrete housing technologies 2015-01-09T00:00:00.000Z 2015-01-09T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3312-freemarketcongresscritters Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>President Obama the last hurdle stopping Keystone XL <a href="http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/president-obama-last-hurdle-stopping-keystone-xl">Vancouver Observer</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220816042908/https://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/president-obama-last-hurdle-stopping-keystone-xl"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> <p>Yesterday we saw two of America's great institutions at work i.e. the Koch brothers proved there is a Free Market in congress-critters and bought the election, and Congress did their employer's bidding and passed the Keystone pipeline, which - if built - practically guarantees we won't reduce global CO2 emissions significantly.</p> <p>Do we wonder why passing Keystone is a priority for Joni Ernst, enough for a minute of her 10 minute response to the State of the Union. Maybe it had something to do with $19m in bribes, oops I mean campaign contributions from the Koch Brothers. She's cheap at half the price since they stand to double their $100 billion fortune if it goes through.</p>

<p>President Obama the last hurdle stopping Keystone XL <a href="http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/president-obama-last-hurdle-stopping-keystone-xl">Vancouver Observer</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220816042908/https://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/president-obama-last-hurdle-stopping-keystone-xl"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> <p>Yesterday we saw two of America's great institutions at work i.e. the Koch brothers proved there is a Free Market in congress-critters and bought the election, and Congress did their employer's bidding and passed the Keystone pipeline, which - if built - practically guarantees we won't reduce global CO2 emissions significantly.</p> <p>Do we wonder why passing Keystone is a priority for Joni Ernst, enough for a minute of her 10 minute response to the State of the Union. Maybe it had something to do with $19m in bribes, oops I mean campaign contributions from the Koch Brothers. She's cheap at half the price since they stand to double their $100 billion fortune if it goes through.</p> 2015-01-16T00:00:00.000Z 2015-01-16T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3313-enabling_local_entre Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An article on our work at Lumeter in Business Fights Poverty

See article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160610061852/http://community.businessfightspoverty.org/profiles/blogs/mitra-ardron-enabling-local-entrepreneurs-to-offer-pay-as-you-go-"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> 2013-11-28T00:00:00.000Z 2013-11-28T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3314-the_five_myths_of_fr Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The five myths of frugal innovation A good article on the myths of Frugal Innovation. <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/weekend-life/the-five-myths-of-frugal-innovation/article5347708.ece?goback=.gde_7417611_member_5810160628303691776">read</a> </p>

<p>The five myths of frugal innovation A good article on the myths of Frugal Innovation. <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/weekend-life/the-five-myths-of-frugal-innovation/article5347708.ece?goback=.gde_7417611_member_5810160628303691776">read</a> </p> 2022-08-18T00:00:00.000Z 2022-08-18T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3315-listoflistsofsolutions Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I often hear about some list or other of "solutions". Of tools, or technologies, or successes. I thought it might be useful to create a meta-list of all the other lists. Suggestions for lists I've missed to mitra@mitra.biz please.

<p><ul> <li><a href="https://solutions.thischangeseverything.org/">This Changes Everything</a>. very little info on each and “long-form” interface makes very hard to navigate</li> <li><a href="https://uia.org/encyclopedia">The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential</a> Lots of material, comes from Union of International Associations, a big catalog of problems, not much about the solutions. Badly out of date (see the article on Solar for example).</li> <li><a href="https://www.bfi.org/challenge/">Buckminster Fuller Challenge Archive</a> This was a highly regarded competition that ran from 2008 to 2017, it was highly competitive so the winners and even finalists are often worthy of note.<br/> Disclaimer: I co-authored two of the semi-finalists, <a href="https://www.bfi.org/challenge/2011/solar-power-villages/">Solar Power Villages</a> and <a href="https://www.bfi.org/challenge/2012/minvayu/">Minvayu</a></li><li><a href="https://www.appropedia.org">Appropedia</a> A wiki for appropriate technology, there's a lot here.</li><li> <li><a href="https://www.techxlab.org/solutions">Tech X Lab</a> An organized catalog of products, and a few non-product solutions</li><li><a href="https://www.engineeringforchange.org">Engineering for Change</a>'s <a href="https://www.engineeringforchange.org/solutions/products">Solutions Library</a> Excellent catalog of solutions and products.</li><li><a href="https://thackara.com/handouts/people-doing-stuff-60-case-study-collections-these-activities-are-why-i-remain-hopeful/">John Thakara's Designing for life in practice: 60 Case Study Collections</a> A list of lists, with some overlap with here.</li><li><a href="https://vikalpsangam.org/article/category/casestudies/">Vikalp Sangam - Case Studies</a> Alternatives India's list of case studies</li></ul></p> <h4>Facebook groups</h4> <p> There are a number of facebook groups which, at times, get posts of solutions. These are mixed uo with whatever else the group is interested in, and most of them have a lot of rubbish (with good videos) mixed in with the gems. Some of the ones I find of value include:<ul><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/solarpunk">Solarpunk</a>: Art and the occasional pointer, often to the more innovative stuff, but also a fair bit of poor projects with good videos!</li></ul></p> <h4>Newsletters</h4> <p>In this fast moving world, websites have a hard job keeping up, and a number of people have a good eye, and share it in newsletters. Here are a few I like:<ul><li><a href="https://wellthatsinteresting.tech/">Well That's Interesting - Tech with Purpose</a> by Scott Stonham</li></ul></p> <h4>Slack Communities</h4> 2004-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 2004-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3316-nature_s_child_whole Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Developed, manufactured, and sold organic and natural baby products.

<p><br/> I was the co-founder and partner to Jannine Barron in adding a wholesale arm to her business. This involved developing plans and financials, raising the capital, organising fair trade manufacturing of organic cotton products in India, and creating organic personal care products, made in Australia. I also setup distributor and importing arrangements with a number of companies</p> 2003-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 2003-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3317-byroncommunityknowledgemanagementproject Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Exploring how communities learn in a modern world.

<p>I worked with the Ace Training Network (now Byron Community College) to develop an experimental service</p> <p>We merged online, and offline, networking across multiple sectors to explore how adult education might change.</p> <p>This included documenting the project and presenting at academic conferences</p> 2002-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 2002-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3318-netdeva Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

CTO of one of the first social networks

<p>I was CTO of Netdeva which was developing a social network, that allowed control of who could see what information about you, and was the first social network to use friends-of-friends connections that were permissioned..</p><p>I developed the specifications, and recruited and managed the outsoucing of the development to India</p> <p>The company failed, but the <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US7725525B2/">patent</a> was acquired by LinkedIn.</p> <p>The LinkedIn shares were distributed among the team, and investors, which - when Linked went public gave me my second exit.</p> 2020-07-22T00:00:00.000Z 2020-07-22T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3319-hausfatherpaper Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A new paper co-authored by my friend Zeke Hausfather with scientists from a number of institutions narrows the range of possible climate change - TLR "The researchers determined that there was less than a 5 percent chance of a temperature shift below two degrees, but a 6 to 18 percent chance of a higher temperature change than 4.5 degrees Celsius, or 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit."

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/climate/global-warming-temperature-range.html">New York Times</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221123095900/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/climate/global-warming-temperature-range.html?auth=login-email&referring_pv_id=PdVtExIwZvAes4jQ3_7VQdKU&login=email"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> 1998-12-29T00:00:00.000Z 1998-12-29T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3320-y2kmyths Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Starting out this research, I come with the belief that Y2K is a technical challenge, but that the paranoia around its effect on society as a whole is grossly over exaggerated and compounded by lots of hype and little technical substance in the literature -for example a recent flick through a pamphlet on an "Australian Perspective on Y2K" found a gross error in the quote of one of the Electrical Industry gurus much quoted in it, that called into question the rest of what he was saying.

<p>This is a first-draft, and was last updated on 29th December '98 - I'll update as we approach '00 </p><p> I believe that most businesses will handle Y2K for their critical systems and will experience hiccups because they've missed something minor. I think some businesses will totally screw it up, and go under, but it is my belief that our society is structured now so that a failure in one place is routed around, just like on the internet, i.e. that the suppliers, and customers of this business will find other sources of supply, and customers and the economy will reorganize around these failures. </p><p> As an individual or small business, should you worry? If you don't run time-dependent stuff like payrolls, then its unlikely that your own software is going to have problems. Your PC may very well be non-compliant, but so-what, many PC's have the date set wrong anyway judging by the amount of email I get sent from the future, or the distant past. </p><p> A couple of bits of advice. </p><ul> <li>Update your operating system. There may be good reasons not to update to Windows '98 - like the inability of Microsoft to release early versions of anything that are remotely bug-free, but at least upgrade to the latest version of '95 and add all the patches. Or Windows NT4.*. Obviously if you are running on Windows3.* or Windows for Workgroups, you are on your own!</li> <li>If you are worried then set the date to sometime in 2000, then reboot and see what happens does the machine remember the new date? Its going to be a good idea to install whatever patches are available to fix the problem anyway, but I haven't researched this since my laptop is (according to Compaq, who, on prior experience, I shouldn't believe about anything) Y2K complaint.</li> <li>Here is a tester for PC's - there's a demo version available as well. I haven't tried it yet,</li> </ul> <p> Having said that, I think its a good time to </p><ol> <li>look at how resilient your own economy is, how dependent you are on any one supplier, customer or employer.</li> <li>If you have software systems yourself, make sure that the mission-critical ones are complaint, and fix the non-mission-critical ones if its easy, or when they break.</li> </ol> <p>So .... some research on the Y2K sites ...<ul> <li><a href="http://www.year2000.com/">Peter de Jager's Web Site</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19981215000000*/http://www.year2000.com/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a>: A commercial entity, making its money by hyping Y2K. Contains a list of products/vendors of Y2K stuff, and some articles. Some of the articles seem pretty good, not technical, but addressing the issues that individual companies need to face. Others are scare-mongering, like the one by Lisa Marshall, which while pushing the need for collaboration makes lots of off-the-cuff assumptions, like the elevators not working.</li> <li><a href="https://www.garynorth.com/">Gary North</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19981212025153/https://www.garynorth.com/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/>(1998)</a> : The most publicized site, contains so many erroneous assumptions on its first page, that I didn't bother digging much deeper into it, but most places on his site that I went I found similar mistakes. In particular he fails to understand the distinction between "compliant" and "operating", and also presumes that any contact between a non-compliant and compliant computer corrupts the compliant one, this is B.S. most of what the two machines talk about isn't going to have anything to do with the date.</li> <li>Westergaard <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19981212034440/http://y2ktimebomb.com/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a>. Spotted an excellent article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19990224051048/http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/PP/RC/dm9840.htm"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> in here by Dick Mills, which illustrates the middle ground on the power industry, and why it will NOT fail.</li> <li>Ed Yourdon (Website gone) , supposedly a computer guru, and he does have a good resume, but I don't find anything substantive on his site.</li> <li>Australian Government <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19980630053803/http://www.y2k.gov.au/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> has a step by step guide for your business which may, or may not, be useful.</li> </ul> 2019-02-08T00:00:00.000Z 2019-02-08T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3321-statutelimitations Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

We have two important protections in the legal systems of most democracies, and in the US - one is the statute of limitations, which is much shorter than most of us would expect - only 6 years for murder in California and as little as 1 year for a misdemeanor. The other is the wiping of our criminal record, on reaching adulthood. The latter in particular saves many kids who got into trouble when they were too young to know better, or to stand up to their peers.

<p> But now we have the internet, social media, and persistent archives. In recent months we’ve had history revealed about people’s unsavoury pasts including: Ralph Northam (Virginia Governor) appearing in black-face or KKK uniform; Tulsi Gabbard, a democratic candidate for president who made many homophobic remarks and of course credible allegations of multiple sexual assaults by Brett Kavanaugh (US Supreme Court). I consider myself a progressive, and I find these actions and words as offensive as I suspect most people reading this do, if a friend behaved like this, then they’d be an ex-friend, if it was a politician then they wouldn’t get my vote any more than I’d vote for someone who openly boasted about “grabbing pussys”. But …. </p><p> What is the statute of limitations, on offensive behavior ? How much good does someone have to do to make up the offensive actions of their youth - actions they condemn or apologize for as adults, How far in their past, and how young did they have to be, before we forgive them their past sins? </p><p> I’m far from perfect, I grew up in a conservative, mostly white, town. I didn’t know any openly gay people in school though I was lucky enough to have a number of Vietnamese friends. I was interested in politics, so with the influence of friends, press, family, church etc my politics by the time I got to university were fairly conservative. Luckily there was no social media, because I probably expressed opinions that I would find offensive now. With the clumsiness of inexperience I probably also made mistakes with women, especially under the influence of alcohol, that I would also find offensive now though nothing Kavanaugh-esque. Luckily for me there was no social media at that time, and I never crossed any lines that would get me into trouble, so there is very little record of my stupidity. </p><p> Like most of my high school friends, exposure to people of other backgrounds, faiths, sexualities at university radically changed my thinking, and by the time I left university my politics had swung well over to the left/green and have remained there. So … if I was to run for office (and I won't), should I be judged on the work I’ve done over the last 30 years, or the offenses of my youth? And how should I judge people who have done things I find offensive a long time ago. </p><p> For me personally, I see a youthful mistake as an indicator to look deeper into someone’s character, if someone was homophobic or misogynistic when younger, has believably apologized, and has voted consistently in favor of human rights in the last decade or so then I’m inclined to believe their apology, on the other hand if, like Kavanaugh, their legal record is against women’s reproductive rights and they clearly lied (about their alcoholism) during their senate confirmation hearings, then I’m still going to judge them mostly on their recent behavior. </p><p> We know plenty about Kavanaugh from the hearings and his inappropriateness for the highest court of the US, but I don’t know enough about either Northam or Gabbard to make a judgement on them in either direction. I certainly think its a good time to start the conversation about what youthful offenses we can forgive people for, and how recent does that offensiveness have to be, and how much good do they need to have done since then for us to judge them on who they are now, rather than who they were then, for I bet there is not one of us who has a perfectly clean past. </p> 2020-05-26T00:00:00.000Z 2020-05-26T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3322-effectivealtruism Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

My experience is that when people use words like effective altruism, innovation or measurable, it is often just buzz words.

<p> Lets assume you want to get water to villages. </p><p> And lets say you notice that wells cost about $2500. </p><p> Is your altruism effective enough to notice who is building them for $2200? </p><p> Have you measured the return on impact well enough to know that $100 is the cost of the measurement, that it mostly collects meaningless numbers, and you could dig 5% more wells if you eliminated that? </p><p> Have you looked hard enough to notice that $100 is added to the cost per well, for writing different grant proposals to three different organizations, making videos of 3 minutes, 4 minutes and 5 minutes, if you are a funder have you considered a standardized application with other funders ? </p><p> Is it effective enough to notice that you are preferring those organizations who already have enough education to prepare a grant proposal; enough savings to fly to the conference where the donors hang out; and who speak good English; </p><p> Have you noticed that as many as half the wells, or solar panels or toilets sit there broken waiting for the next donor. </p><p> Are you measuring the right thing, would you notice if those $2000 wells fail in 5 years while $2500 wells might fail in 10 ? </p><p> Are you innovative enough to figure out that if you got the village to invest $1000, not only could you support twice as many villages but the village would be more likely to maintain it and use it, if they had skin in the game. Are you flexible enough to create a social enterprise rather than a charity, and to fund its overheads rather than expecting it to make a profit? </p><p> Are you effective enough to notice that you could be 10x more effective if instead of selling wells to villages, you focused resources of finding and supporting local entrepreneurs to build their own businesses doing so ? </p><p> Those wells are still going to fail, and instead of a plaque listing a donor in New York, would it be more effective if there someone local to complain to? So are you effective enough to realize that training local mechanics is part of the investment cost in the local entrepreneur ? Or maybe even training the mechanic to sell the wells ? </p><p> Is your thinking long term enough to finance the purchase of a machine that brings the well cost down from $2000 to $1500, even if it costs two or three years to pay back the cost of that machine (and therefore, its purchase couldn’t be funded locally at interest rates of 25-30% per year, even assuming the purchaser had land to put up as collateral) </p><p> Are you innovative enough to invest in someone developing a cheaper machine, or one that reduces the cost even further, or are you demanding certainty and measurability too much to consider them anything that pays off at scale, but in the long term. </p><p> Are you innovative enough to support the organizations that mentor and support those inventors and engineers, after all with the amount of leverage they generate, it is almost impossible to measure how much they impact the space. </p><p> And most importantly, in this context, is EA effective enough to really critique its own effectiveness ? </p><p> I've known about EA for a long time, but I'm not aware of the current state of EA, because as someone interested in scalable "altruistic" solutions it hasn't been "effective" for me to spend time engaging. I came to this conclusion because the limited contacts I had with EA showed a disturbing lack of ability to see the big picture such as described above, i.e. from my perspective it wasn't "effective" in solving problems just in applying band-aids. An EA member invited me to post this, which I'd sent them privately, I'm glad to see some introspection at EA so happy to share it in the hope it improves thinking about EA's own effectiveness. </p><p> See also: <ul><li> Posted to <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/yoJFbHjciKeXuxMsH/how-effective-is-your-altruism">EA's forum</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221205033116/https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/yoJFbHjciKeXuxMsH/how-effective-is-your-altruism"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> where there has been some (limited) discussion. </li><li> <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/deaths-of-effective-altruism/">Takedown</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240330015247/https://www.wired.com/story/deaths-of-effective-altruism/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> in Wired by </li><li> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kevin-starr-mulago_the-deaths-of-effective-altruism-activity-7179494310331998208-xSwL">Commentary</a> by Kevin Starr. </li></ul> </p> 2019-01-28T00:00:00.000Z 2019-01-28T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3323-patagoniasnomore Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An interesting article from Greenbiz on why impact investing won’t actually fund the winners.

<a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/why-were-not-creating-patagonias-tomorrow">via GreenBiz</a> 2017-05-14T00:00:00.000Z 2017-05-14T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3324-teslasolartiles Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Tesla's solar tiles are out - <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211002221621/https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/solar-roof/learn/why-solar-roof"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> but the info is noticeably missing any of the usual specs for solar (especially the WattPeak (Wp) rating).

<p> <img class="storylead" src="https://tesla-cdn.thron.com/delivery/public/image/tesla/1cb832af-ffc3-4cbc-93cb-6a1bf11d5398/bvlatuR/std/2880x1800/Solar-Roof-Value-Desktop-Global?quality=auto-medium&format=auto"/> The geek in me wants to love this, but the cynic looks on the absence of these numbers like I would on a Real-Estate ad that omitted the location. If we assumed they are similar to current poly or mono solar cells (and not the lower efficiency of thin-film solar) this would be approx 1kWp/m2. $42/sqft = $452/sq meter so that works out at $2.7/Wp. But since its unclear if the $42/sq ft includes installation this may or may not be a fair comparison. </p><p> For comparison - looking at Real Goods site today there are Canadian panels on there at 260W for $199 or $0.76/Wp. So the Tesla roof is at best 3.5x as expensive as regular solar panels. BUT thin-film efficiencies can be as low as 2x less than poly/mono so the tiles could be as much as 7x as expensive as solar panels. The tiles or panels aren’t the only cost of course, wiring, inverters, and optional batteries are likely to be the same as regular solar. Installation is a big unknown. Its basically re-roofing your house, which could be a LOT more expensive than attaching roofing frames, unless of course you are re-roofing anyway. </p><p> The solar industry has a bad habit of hiding the costs, look at any major supplier and see how hard it is to get costs without giving them your contact info and getting hounded by a salesperson. Simplifying that process was one thing we pioneered in Australia 10 years ago, and its a pity to see Tesla following the poor traditions of the industry and making hard facts so hard to get. </p> 2006-09-01T00:00:00.000Z 2006-09-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3325-scaleandspeed Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

How do we adapt our decision making processes to a fast moving world, where a late decision may be irrelevant, and an early one might be wrong.

<p> If we look at a few different current examples - and how they fail.<ul> <li><b>Western/White progressive groups</b>, are often based on endless discussion, striving for consensus and hearing even those voices that should really be talking to a therapist. Even if the final decision is good, it is often irrelevant because its too late, or because there all the "do-ers" have left and there is noone to implement it.</li><li><b>Indigenous</b> according to an Australian Aboriginal friend, systems of decision making are usually slow and/or based on elders and oral history. This means decisions are usually based on what used to be, giving incredible ability to deal with an event that happened once, a few generations back, but a very poor ability to adapt to rapid change, especially since the knowledge of that change is often in the young, and therefore not listened to, members of their community.</li><li>Mainstream business</b> is fast, command and control driven, but typically is driven by how to make a quick profit, rather than benefiting everyone, or thinking about the future. </li><li>Government</b> is often the worst of all, elected governments are stuck in a process that is both too slow - committees, parliaments etc and too short-term, bound by the next election cycle, and pretending to represent the population while really representing the donors. While the staff are covered by rules, processes, and lawyers, that prioritise "CYA" i.e. avoidance of getting into trouble so not making the obviouly correct decision because it is not what the procedures say.</li> </ul> <p>My questions are: <ul> <li>Can we match decision making to the speed of change before its too late</li> <li>Can we act at a scale appropriate to the size of the problem - especially relating to climate change.</li> <li>Can we learn from mistakes, and change bad decisions i.e. can we replace study before a decision, with honest feedback and course correction afterwards</li> <li>Can we project the possibilities forward?</li> <li>Can we focus on solutions, i.e. move from the despair to the empowerment</li> <li>Can we say YES as easily as we can say NO</li> <li>Can we act without all the facts, and then revise when we learn more?</li> <li>Can we stay centered - both personally and as organizations - in a chaotic environment?</li></ul></p> 2013-12-10T00:00:00.000Z 2013-12-10T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3326-frugalrichworld Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An article from the Financial Times on Frugal innovation in the west. (sorry for the paywall)

<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/50ff5e16-5772-11e3-b615-00144feabdc0">FT</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/0/https://www.ft.com/content/50ff5e16-5772-11e3-b615-00144feabdc0"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> 2014-02-20T00:00:00.000Z 2014-02-20T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3327-arizonadiscrimination Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I wonder if the Arizona senate has considered the results of its latest bill that allows businesses to refuse service based on their religious belief?

<p> Arizona Senate Passes Bill Allowing Discrimination On Basis Of Religious Freedom <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/20/arizona-religious-freedom-discrimination_n_4823334.html">Huff Post</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/0/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-religious-freedom-discrimination_n_4823334"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> </p><p> </p><p> For example - if your religion says “Thou shalt not kill", does that allow you to refuse service to anyone in a military uniform, Or could a belief against incarceration be used to justify refusing to serve on a jury that could lead to incarceration (never mind the death penalty), or a belief that its wrong to abuse children could be used to justify refusing service to Catholic priests, or Salvation Army officers or really any member of those religions. Or “Thou shalt not steal”, or something about Camels and Eyes of Needles could justify refusing service to anyone whose wealth is clearly achieved by taking from others. </p><p> The possibilities are endless and should be as scary for those who fail to live up to the ideals of the faith they profess as it should be to the intended victims of the bigots in the Arizona legislature. </p> 2012-10-22T00:00:00.000Z 2012-10-22T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3328-ghtcraytheon Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I hope I'm not the only person to see the double irony of a session at IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference of a session by Christian Missionaries two of whose day-jobs are at Raytheon Missile Systems!

<p> Firstly you'd expect that a program to explore technology for humanitarian purposes would see the conflict - money spent on military systems is money diverted from being spent to improve human lives, and lobbing missiles at people's only relevance to humanitarian technology is in its creation of more need in the world for that technology to fill. </p><p> Secondly you'd have to wonder at missile designers who profess a love of Christ, especially those doing humanitarian voluntary work, but who cannot see the conflict with their most basic commandment - Thou shall not Kill. Or maybe they think that the deaths caused by their day-job can be offset? </p><p> I hope someone in the audience asks this question - but then maybe anyone who sees the irony will probably be at one of the other sessions. (The panel on Social Ventures is in the same time-slot and looks like one of the better sessions of the conference). </p><p> I implore next year's program committee to send a strong message to any proposals from defence contractors, and military technologists that such development is counter to the whole principles that the conference is presumably setup to address. </p> 2021-10-25T00:00:00.000Z 2021-10-25T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3329-tndsalon Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

My friends Brewster Kahle & Mary Austin have been holding a salon over dinner, almost every Thursday for the last thirty years. I'm a regular attendee, and co-hosted it when we lived together in the 90's. Salon magazine wrote it up.

<p> <a href="https://thesalonhost.com/community-profile-internet-archives-30-year-running-thursday-night-dinner/">Salon</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211025104543/https://thesalonhost.com/community-profile-internet-archives-30-year-running-thursday-night-dinner/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> </p> 2022-12-07T00:00:00.000Z 2022-12-07T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3330-aliengibberish Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A simple gibberish game involving aliens and translators

2 aliens (costumes are optional) - two translators. Simple scenario - e.g. negotiation. Each alien speaks and is then translated, the other alien responds. Can then involve rest of room in pairs, as a alien cocktail party. 2014-03-04T00:00:00.000Z 2014-03-04T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3331-esmap2014 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I was a presenter at the 2014 ESMAP Knowledge Exchange Forum on Rethinking the Future of Energy. Duncan Clark presented powerfully that demand reduction is irrelevant if we keep increasing fossil fuel supply - it will all get burnt. And my friend Amory Lovins showed us how how we can afford to get off fossil fuels. I presented on Pay As You Go as part of the path to affordable distributed solar. How receptive the World Bank is remains to be seen as most of its money still goes to centralized fossils.

<a href="https://esmap.org/node/4092">ESMAP 2014</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150627234323/http://www.esmap.org/node/4092"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> <a href="https://esmap.org/sites/esmap.org/files/DocumentLibrary/Session%203%20-%20Mitra%20Ardron%20-%20World%20Bank%20ESMAP.pdf">My presentation</a> <a href="https://esmap.org/sites/esmap.org/files/DocumentLibrary/Session%203%20-%20Mitra%20Ardron%20-%20World%20Bank%20ESMAP.pdf"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> 2022-12-13T00:00:00.000Z 2022-12-13T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3332-debunkair2water Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Numerous devices are "invented" that extract water from air. Typically they neglect to mention the energy cost, or capital cost if energy capture is included.

<p> Most of these devices share one of two designs. </p><p> The first common design is electricity driving a compressor in a refrigeration circuit designed to optimise condensation. The power is usually the big cost for these devices, either through an energy source incorporated - typically solar - with high CapEx, or through attachment to an external source with poor OpEx, and of course sustainability implications if scaled. </p><p> The better design is some combination of heat, a small amount of power, and a dessicant. The desicant is moved alternately between moist cool air where it picks up moisture, and hot dry air where it releases it. When that secondary air is cooled back to atmospheric temperature the water condenses out. </p><p> The point is that these devices aren't new, many companies are doing it, it all comes down to the cost when you include those panels, and nothing I've seen so far (which isn't to say that it can't be done) has hit the affordability levels of around US0.01/liter needed to reach the median ability to pay of those currently without water access. </p><p> Many products compare their prices to bottled water, this is a marketing gimmick. <a href="https://www.globalproductprices.com/rankings/mineral_water_prices/">Bottled water costs</a> <!--https://web.archive.org/web/20230717023755/https://www.globalproductprices.com/rankings/mineral_water_prices/--> are between US20c-$2 in the parts of the world with water poverty, so devices to create water need to be 20x cheaper, not 20% cheaper than bottled to hit the USD1-2c per liter ability to pay. <p></p> If the devices can't hit those sort of cost targets, then they won't solve the problem of drinking water access, but may have a niche among campers, or remote (rich) settlements. </p><p> The lack of disclosure of energy costs by any of the devices I've seen is more than enough to suggest the number is poor. If you are a company reading this ready to share the real cost of your device (at the end of a supply chain that reaches the poor) and/or its energy cost then I'll be happy to add it to the details here, especially if it proves my assumptions wrong! </p><p> The other thing to watch out for is disclosure of the amount of water at different Relative Humidities. These devices do well when the air is moist, and that is usually the figures given for the amount of water that can be produced. But humid places usually have plenty of other water sources, and it is, in all cases I've come across, cheaper and more sustainable to treat dirty water, than to extract "pure" water from the air. In dry places, the performance is way, way below that claimed. </p><p> Some examples (this section needs adding to).<ul> <li> <img class="storyimagesmall" src="https://www.kumuluswater.com/assets/images/product/3.webp"/> <a href="https://www.kumuluswater.com/">Kumulus</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221205185153/https://www.kumuluswater.com/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kumulus.water"><i class="fa fa-facebook-official mitra-socialmedia"></i></a> looks like a standard compressor circuit with optional (undisclosed quantity) of solar panels. Product details say 20-30 liters/day, but there is no mention of energy or capital cost. I asked for numbers <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kumulus.water/posts/pfbid02somgBdKfn6kqBBYBxNNVD1TM3bnccZRkKEVSQ9Lwsbz4xGXLggTqwZ4x5mZuaUc3l?comment_id=1186198835320902">on FB Dec 2022</a> and they promised to disclose numbers "very soon".</a> <br/>Latest Update (Jul 2023): <a href=https://www.kumuluswater.com/faq">FAQ</a> says "So our pricing will depends on the country and the location of the site.but in general, our water will be 20 to 30% cheaper than bottled mineral water (calculation that includes machine acquisition and maintenance cost, electricity (or Energy Pack)" See above for why pricing at that level makes it irrelevant to water poverty. There is still no mention of energy cost. </li><li> <img class="storyimagesmall" src="/images/i-1-90690242-alphabetand8217s-moonshot-factory-is-open-sourcing-one-of-its-designs-for-clean-drinking-water.webp"> Alphabet (Google X) designed an interesting tech using a dessicant wheel - but they failed to commercialize it, probably because they couldn't hit the cost numbers needed to be meaningful, and last I heard (2021) had open-sourced the design but I have not heard of anyone picking it up. <a href=?id=3375>More</a> </li> </ul> </p> 1999-12-31T00:00:00.000Z 1999-12-31T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3333-flycode Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<ul> <li>Chief Technology Officer for Flycode - a Peer to Peer video and image sharing service, with built in DRM.</li> <li>Developed and managed an engineering team in India, for the startup in San Francisco, while based in Australia.</li> <li>Architected the system and wrote the specifications.</li> <li>Supported the developers, negotiated with technology partners, supported business development team with key customers, and acted as part of the core management team.</li> </ul>

Flycode was an innovative peer to peer system. </p><p> A key innovation was identifying files by their hash, rather than their metadata, this sounds obvious now but I believe we were the first. </p><p> This enabled swarming, since we knew any two files with the same hash were the same content we could pull parts of the file from different peers. </p><p> And we used our server to track who had requested which file, and was therefore a good candidate to get chunks from. </p><p> All of that is essentially what BitTorrent does now. Except that BitTorrent also allows for multiple trackers, hashes each segment of the file, and allows for a fallback to a seed on HTTP. </p><p> I'm the inventor on <a href="/files/patent_09883064_flycode_peer2peer.pdf">US Patent # 09883064</a>. </p> 2022-05-05T00:00:00.000Z 2022-05-05T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3334-managingasyouscale Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A couple of times recently I've come across a similar pattern of mismanagement. and realised that there is a pattern that I've seen in a number of startups over the years.

<p> A couple of times recently I've come across a similar pattern of mismanagement. and realised that there is a pattern that I've seen in a number of startups over the years. </p><p> In each case I've seen so-far the CEO or Executive Director (ED) was the founder of the organization or company, and it had grown quickly. </p><p> The pattern is that from the perspective of the staff, the ED alternates between being EITHER micro-managing, and overly critical of the work done, and decisions made, in their absence. OR unavailable to get approvals / advice / instructions, often because they are micromanaging something else. </p><p> This pattern of management can work while an organization is small enough that one person makes all the decisions, and where the rest of the team (staff or volunteers) are happy to just follow instructions. But ... as it grows it starts to fall apart, because it becomes impossible to delegate, i.e. to have other people in the team who can take responsibility for a more complex tax, or for a team. </p><p> One symptom is that such an organization will attract good people - impressed by the knowledge / skill / charisma of the founder, but will then leave when it becomes apparent they cannot get things done. </p><p> In a non-profit: Most volunteers hate wasting time that they have freely donated, and I've watched volunteers biting back the tears as their lovingly given work is discarded, because - in the absence of instructions - they made, what the ED considered to be, bad decisions. Sooner or later the good ones will leave. </p><p> In a startup company, the people who remain, are going to be those who are comfortable spinning their wheels spending time on research, or low priority stuff while the high priority stuff sits waiting for instructions or approval by the CEO. These will be people who aren't really attached to the future of the company, as long as they get paid, and are really not the staff you want in a startup ! </p><p> The solution, for the ED or CEO, has to be to learn how to trust their staff to make decisions, to trust the staff to know which decisions and tasks need approval or detailed instruction, and not to waste their time micro-managing. The ED/CEO also needs to recognize that decisions, are made and jobs are done, based on the information available at the time, and they need to support those decisions - even of they think they are the wrong decision - giving gentle feedback on how it could be done better next time, or on what decisions need approval and what don't. </p><p> Of course, this won't come easy to someone who knows more about the company or organization than anyone, and who are, or who think they are, smarter, or more skilled than even their senior staff and volunteers. This becomes self-fulfilling, because if the pattern has been happening for a while, they won't have managed to retain any smart or skilled people. </p><p> If anyone has seen this pattern described elsewhere, or knows a name for it, please pop it in the comments, and I'd also love to know how you solved this in your own organization (whether you were the founder, or one of the staff). </p> 2022-04-17T00:00:00.000Z 2022-04-17T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3335-fiveepicregenerationprojects Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is a great video about 5 epic regeneration projects

<content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpozw1CAxmU" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20230514222248/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpozw1CAxmU" cached="/cached/5 Most Epic Earth Healing Projects! [Tpozw1CAxmU].mp4"></content-video> 2021-09-09T00:00:00.000Z 2021-09-09T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3336-debunkwaterlight Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is recurring nonsense ... usually takes the form of a fancy video about a new device that makes light from seawater.

<p> I first saw the pattern in 2021 - Techxplore ran an article on <a href="https://waterlight.com.co">Waterlight</a> in Columbia, supposedly running for 45 days on a liter of water. </p><p> Of course, its not making electricity from salt water, its turning stored energy in a metal electrode into electricity. And that is a really inefficient process, which also generates e-waste since you can't recharge them outside of a refinery. </p><p> Waterlight morphed and now appear to be using Aluminium - which has all the same problems as Magnesium (its a poor store of energy). </p><p> Unfortunately the churnalists who run these stories, never give actual numbers (e.g. cost, or how much light) </p><p> In 2025 its doing the rounds again, so far on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/manvendrayadav_a-colombian-startup-just-solved-a-problem-activity-7361581080497283072-ak6s">LinkedIn</a>. But this time it says Copper & Magnesium - even though their website now says Aluminium - no matter, same problem. </p><p> The reason this matters, is that light is a massive enabler, but nonsense like this distracts from the people doing really important, and challenging, work of bringing light to the underserved - boring stuff, like PAYG enabled solar/battery/LED combinations. </p><p> 2021 <a href="https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-lamp-days-half-liter-salt.html">TechXplore</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221228045059/https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-lamp-days-half-liter-salt.html"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> 2025 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/manvendrayadav_a-colombian-startup-just-solved-a-problem-activity-7361581080497283072-ak6s">via LinkedIn - no link to orginal material</a> </p> 2021-11-29T00:00:00.000Z 2021-11-29T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3337-liquidnaturalclay Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Desert Control make some interesting claims about their solution for creating soil in the desert.

<p> Someone recently posted a link to this talk by Ole Morten Oleson in 2016 <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stc5MUIloP0" cached="/cached/From sand to soil in 7 hours ｜ Ole Morten Olesen ｜ TEDxArendal [stc5MUIloP0].mp4"></content-video> and a news report in 2018 <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK__aJFQJEs" cached="/cached/A new solution to turn the UAE deserts green [qK__aJFQJEs].mp4"></content-video> about their company Desert Control's solution using liquid nanoclay (sounded like a way to mix clay, water and sand) that allowed mixing clay into desert (sandy) soils for a 50% water saving. </p><p> There hasn't been much about it in the last few years, but they have a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@DesertControl_MEGA">YouTube channel"</a> with some recent (2022) videos. </p><p> Other videos include an explanation of how it works. <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-s1IIqoYFc" cached="/cached/Liquid Natural Clay LNC in desert sand： How does it work？ [_-s1IIqoYFc].mp4"></content-video> </p> <!-- Kristian Olesen and Ole Morten Oleson --> 2021-11-14T00:00:00.000Z 2021-11-14T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3338-rotatingkitegenerator Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A simple low-tech kite powered generator

<content-video src="/video/3338_kitegenerator_facebook.mp4"></content-video><!-- from facebook link--> <p> This looks like a clever idea, there have been a number of kite-power startups, (SkySails, Makani, Kite Power Systems, KiteKraft etc) though I don't think any of them have really got off-the-ground (pun intended), though I'm not sure why. </p><p> This idea looks really simple, I'm presuming it uses a simple rotary generator while some of the others have to convert a figure-of-eight flight path to rotation. I wonder what the smallest practical scale is? And how it competes with solar at those scales? For example would a 1kW system be practical and at what cost? </p> <p> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=610571589986669">Facebook video</a>; <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-59190335">BBC Scotland story</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230102062512/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-scotland-59190335"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a>; </p> 2021-12-25T00:00:00.000Z 2021-12-25T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3339-debunkwindwall Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Debunking the so called wind-wall.

<p> This generated a fair bit of media - typical churnalism: A <a href="https://joedoucet.com/index/#/windturbinewall/">nice web page</a> by the designers - Joe Doucet; churned by <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90687369/this-ingenious-wall-could-harness-enough-wind-power-to-cover-your-electric-bill">Fast Company in Oct 21</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221228055309/https://www.fastcompany.com/90687369/this-ingenious-wall-could-harness-enough-wind-power-to-cover-your-electric-bill"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> then churned by <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/a-new-wind-power-wall-could-produce-over-10000-kwh-a-year">Interesting Engineering Churn</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221228054556/https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/a-new-wind-power-wall-could-produce-over-10000-kwh-a-year"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> then shared twice in Facebook:Solarpunk on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/solarpunk/posts/2987001981550447/">Oct 21</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/solarpunk/posts/3035589593358352">Dec21</a>. </p><p> Unfortunately we won't get to a Solarpunk future, by ignoring numbers ... </p><p> The claim is repeated that it can generate 10,000 kWH/year which at a typical capacity factor of 4 hrs per day would be a 7kW turbine (365*4*7) which is just absurd. </p><p> Here's what a <a href="https://en.wind-turbine-models.com/turbines/1372-windspot-7.5kw">7.5kW wind turbine</a> looks like. Its got 6m blades, sweeping 30m2 at wind speeds of 12m/s, does anyone really think this 20m2 wall is more efficient than these kind of turbines. </p><p> And anyway, where would a house gets that kind of speed, for example Chicago, the "windy city" gets 3-4m/s average. Wind power typically goes up with the cube of wind speed, so 4m/s would be a ninth of the power of 12m/s. </p><p> If this wall generates 500W for 4 hours a day I'd be surprised... Especially since the designer has no figures at all on their web site, which - given its a power generation device - should be a good reason to treat it as a cool art project rather than power generation. </p> 2014-04-26T00:00:00.000Z 2014-04-26T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3340-buyingelectionsinindia Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The election is happening in India and I was sitting with a friend in a village on Thursday after the polls had closed.

<p> He was commenting that the villagers were angry, they hadn’t got their bribe money until the day before the election - while the next village got it the previous day. It was 200Rps ($3.30) per person, probably a lot less than the politician had paid since every hand it passed through en-route, and ever policeman who stopped the car carrying the cash would have taken a cut. </p><p> I wondered how such bribery could work, but he told me it was simple, that the whole village voted the same way. </p><p> This was confirmed by a friend in Bangalore, whose staff were off to vote for the second time that day. They live near the state border and were on both electoral roles. They had their instructions, in one village to vote BJP, in the other for Congress, political choice had no part in it, it was purely about the bribe. </p><p> Unfortunately its why the new anti-corruption party doesn’t stand a chance, since it doesn’t buy votes. </p> 2016-06-27T00:00:00.000Z 2016-06-27T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3341-respectingyourreligion Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Yes I will respect your right to believe anything you wish, any faith, any religion.

<p> But do not expect me to respect your beliefs if your religion, or your churches: <ul> <li>fail to respect those of other religion</li> <li>fail to respect women as equals</li> <li>fail to respect others whose sexuality is in line with their beliefs, not yours</li> <li>fail to respect those of other races</li> <li>fail to respect the reality of science</li> <li>fail to hold itself to the high standards it expects of others.</li> </ul> </p><p> Let me be clear, if your religion: <ul> <li>controls its women’s behavior more than its men,</li> <li>walls up its minorities in ghettos;</li> <li>preaches violence against those who don’t share your beliefs;</li> <li>covers up the immorality, even by your own professed standards, of your priests and leaders;</li> <li>creates rules that govern the private behavior of those who don’t share your beliefs;</li> <li>tells people who they cannot love</li> </ul> then it is not worthy of my respect. </p> 2017-07-25T00:00:00.000Z 2017-07-25T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3342-definingtheheron Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

def: Heron - a unit of depth, approx 1 foot.

<p> Over the weekend we defined a new unit of depth, the "Heron". </p><p> Imagine, a crew of 3 aboard a sailing vessel in the sacramento delta, almost out of site of land, moving at about 5 or 6 knots . </p> <ul> <li>Crew 1: "Is that a Heron I see"</li> <li>Crew 2: "Looks like it"</li> <li>Skipper: "That's not good, ... Ready to go about ... Going about"</li> <li>Boat: "Squelch" as keel embeds itself in the mud,</li> </ul> Luckily, we hit the mud after we'd turned and some enthusiastic rocking back and forth got us free, but from that time on, a "Heron" has become a unit of depth of about 1 foot. </p> 2017-07-10T00:00:00.000Z 2017-07-10T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3343-lumtertransitioned Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Lumeter has been integrated into Mobisol

<p> I started Lumeter in 2012, and this year we sold it to Mobisol, I just returned from a trip to Berlin to integrate our teams and technologies. </p><p> The Mobisol team is quite a bit larger than Lumeter's, despite having had sales in 44 countries, we were still only 5 full time people and several consultants, while Mobisol has extensive sales and development staff. </p><p> Its a really good combination - Mobisol focused mostly, on larger systems, while Lumeter was most often integrated into systems around 10-20W. We were active in far more countries than Mobisol, whose vertically integrated business model allowed them to achieve more sales, but in fewer places. Integrating the two brought our local partners to Mobisol, and connected them to our manufacturing partners - especially Fosera. </p><p> Jona and I will be moving on to other things - mostly because neither of us want to move to Berlin - but we will remain available to Mobisol as long as needed to ensure a successful transition for all - the staff; the suppliers; our on-ground partners and most importantly the beneficiaries who have Lumeter enabled solar systems. </p> 2019-04-14T00:00:00.000Z 2019-04-14T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3344-nanoflownotseawater Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Electric car (Nanoflow) that doesn't run on seawater.

<p> <a href="https://www.nanoflowcell.com/">Nanoflow</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230129065208/https://www.nanoflowcell.com/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> seems to have an interesting technology, but the article in <a href="http://sciencevibe.com/2019/01/17/this-electric-car-goes-236-mph-powered-by-seawater-no-charging-needed/">Sciencevibe</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230129064845/https://sciencevibe.com/2019/01/17/this-electric-car-goes-236-mph-powered-by-seawater-no-charging-needed/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> is pseudo-scientific BS. </p><p> The liquid isn't seawater, and it doesn't run on the liquid anyway. </p><p> And its also nonsense to say that it does not require charging, that's like saying your petrol car does not require charging. </p><p> It is refilled with a chemically produced liquid (they don't say what) and the car runs on the electricity used to make it into two parts that are then combined in the car to make electricity again. This is essentially the same process used for Hyrdrogen cars but they are claiming higher energy density (amount of energy stored in a certain mass of fuel), which is what makes it potentially interesting. </p><p> The churnalist who wrote the article should find a new career, but the technlogy looks worth keeping an eye on, though its got all the challenges of Hydrogen infrastructure, i.e. building out the fuel delivery pipeline. </p> 2015-09-23T00:00:00.000Z 2015-09-23T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3345-peter_gabriel_congra Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The Association for Progressive Communications, which I co-founded, and its longtime Executive Director Anriette Esterhuysen, just received EFF's prestigious pioneer award. We came up with the name during a meeting in Peter Gabriel's hotel room, along with Mark Graham; Danny Schechter, Hart Perry and Little Steven. Here is what Peter had to say:

<p> Congratulations to Association for Progressive Communications <http://apc.org/> (APC), on their Electronic Frontier Foundation <http://eff.org/> (EFF) 2015 Pioneer award. Executive Director Anriette Esterhuysen and the APC have been honored with this well-deserved award tonight for their decades-long work leveraging the Internet to support the causes of peace and justice, the environment, open source and access, and human and Internet rights, around the world. </p><p> I had a small part in the formation of the APC back 1986 when I suggested we should organise a concert to fund the creation of a global peace network and the University for Peace . I called up my old friend Little Stephen and we hustled a number of musicians to accompany us to a very cold stadium in Tokyo for the <a href="https://archive.org/details/HurricaneIrene">Hurricane Irene concert</a>. This concert was a catalyst for the formation of the APC, which it helped to fund and was initiated by Mark Graham, Mitra and Danny Schechter. </p><p> For the past several decades, APC and its members organizations have played a leading roll establishing the first internet service in many countries, creating and promoting the first Internet Rights Charter, and helping individual activists, NGOs, and UN organizations and events harness of the power of the Internet as a force for positive change in the world. </p> 2016-10-17T00:00:00.000Z 2016-10-17T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3346-the_soviet_internyet Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

How the soviets invented the internet, and why it didn't work.

<p> Back in the early 90's I was the CTO of Pandora Systems who were the technical side of Sovam - Russia's connection to the internet. The only accessible email connection ran through a computer on my desk. Such power :-) hit the wrong switch and I could disconnect an entire empire (of what was left of it). </p><p> This interesting article covers a period prior to this when the Soviet's tried, and failed, to network their nation. </p> <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-soviets-invented-the-internet-and-why-it-didn-t-work">How the Soviets invented the internet and why it didn't work</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230129072606/https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-soviets-invented-the-internet-and-why-it-didnt-work"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> </p> 2023-02-02T00:00:00.000Z 2023-02-02T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3347-fossilfuelsfundingbothparties Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Are we surprised by federal Labor's approval of more oil and gas exploration given that they took well over half a million dollars in bribes (oops, I think the official word is "donations") from the fossil fuel industry. Libs and Nats took about the same amount of money, most notably Adani funding the Nats campaign in Queensland.

<p> Lets be clear - these bribes were paid to ensure that Australia continues to be responsible for around 5% of world emissions through digging up and exporting fossil fuels. </p><p> <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/fossil-giants-tipped-funds-into-major-parties-but-then-the-climate-movement-fought-back/">Renew Economy</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230204214115/https://reneweconomy.com.au/fossil-giants-tipped-funds-into-major-parties-but-then-the-climate-movement-fought-back/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> 1999-08-01T00:00:00.000Z 1999-08-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3348-iculture Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Acting Chief Technology Officer for a portal for "Cultural Creatives" spun off by Utne Reader magazine.

<p> Acting Chief Technology Officer for a portal for "Cultural Creatives" spun off by Utne Reader magazine. </p><p> Developed specifications for components; negotiated with potential suppliers such as Vignette; Assisted in recruiting a full-time replacement. </p> 1996-02-17T00:00:00.000Z 1996-02-17T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3349-paragraph Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Chief Network Technology Officer at a Russian/US networked 3D company

<p> Paragraph was a leader in 3D graphics with strong expertise at running on low end PCs. Gregory Slayton and I were "aquahired" from our nascent startup <a href="/?alias=worldnmaker">Worldmaker</a> and we were subsequently joined by several other former colleagues at Worlds Inc. </p><p> The team was based between Moscow and Silicon Valley, and I lived for most of a year in Moscow, where I led a team building a robust networking technology for low bandwidths. </p><p> Unlike most Silicon Valley companies, their technology far exceeded their image. Gregory Slayton and I worked to match their image to the reality - representing Paragraph at conferences and on standards bodies, and acting as an interface between the engineering team, the business team, and the clients. <p> In particular I supported the business team in negotiating the specifications for several multi-million dollar contracts for example with Disney, and with their eventual acquirer Silicon Graphics. </p><p> From a technical perspective highlights included: managing the transition from proprietrary one-off systems to being a leader in VRML, including being a leading partner in the development of "Living Worlds" for human animation in VRML. </p><p> One interesting aside - we had to figure out how to get 3D worlds with rich graphic content to users with small modems, the obvious solution was to ship CDs, but that led to the challenge of people sharing a 3D environment that might vary from client to client. So we developed a system where the CD updated all of its files on launch, so the all users were always running the current system. Such auto-update may have existed before, but I believe it was the first occurance in the 3D sector. </p><p> I was a frequent public speaker on behalf of Paragraph, including before audiences of 2000+. </p><p> Paragraph was acquired by Silicon Graphics in 1997 1997-09-30T00:00:00.000Z 1997-09-30T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3350-sgi Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Consultant to the VRML group at Silicon Graphics

<p> After Paragraph was acquired by SGI, I consulted to the SGI on the integration of Paragraph's engineers into SGI's similar sized team. This integration actually went well, considering most acquisitions do not, and we also had a language barrier to work with. I continued to work with SGI on the networking aspects, and on standards development including human animation in VRML. </p><p> I also represented SGI at a number of conferences including in Sydney in late 1997 which is how I ended up moving to Australia. </p> 1995-10-01T00:00:00.000Z 1995-10-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3351-worldmaker Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Founder and CTO of Worldmaker

<p> I left Worlds Inc, to form Worldmaker along with Worlds' senior VP Gregory Slayton. </p><p> Worldmaker's goal was to become a consultancy and eventually tool provider to the 3D space, and we were developing some server based networking technology that took a very different approach to Worlds. </p><p> At the time I was the lead author on the main contender for the VRML2.0 standard, and this work continued, in particular collaborating with Sony to integrate their competing proposal, and then to integrate a proposal from SGI. I put together an <a href="/vrml/vrml2/mw_history.html">archive</a> of this process, which illustrates how a collaborative standards process works can create something better than the sum of the parts. </p><p> Gregory and I also did some consulting with <a href="/?id=3350">Paragraph International<a/>, leading to an "aquahire" where we joined Paragraph. </p> 1994-10-01T00:00:00.000Z 1994-10-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3352-worlds Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Server team lead on World Chat and VRML+

<p> Worlds Inc built 3D multiuser, interactive worlds designed to work over an internet which most people used via dial-up modems. </p><p> I hired and led the server design team during the stages of crafting the architecture for the server that would be common to all World's products. </p><p> Most importantly, I architected Worlds Chat, the internet's first 3D chat system, in which users picked "avatars" and navigated a space station chatting with other users. It was voted "best Internet Application - 1995" by Internet magazine. </p><p> As part of the move towards VRML, a standard for 3D on the net, I designed the protocol and led the team to build the VRML+ client and server, designed to allow sharing 3D worlds on the then current 14.4 kbaud modems. </p><p> Worlds Inc's other projects included the Starbright Foundation's system linking kids in hostpitals, and projects with IBM and VISA. </p><p> While I was at Worlds, we invented a clever way to reduce bandwidth in a complex shared environment. Our novel approach involved sending updates less frequently for objects at a greater distance. Worlds filed a patent on this invention, however the patent made claims were over-broad, trying to claim the whole idea of reducing bandwidth in 3D spaces. I could not "under penalty of perjury" sign to say we had invented this, but Worlds went ahead and filed without my signature. </p> 2023-02-28T00:00:00.000Z 2023-02-28T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3353-5_reasons_why_much_o Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The Global South sees this conflict very differently from how we think they do.

<p> Personally the brutality of Putin's attack on the citizens of Ukraine appals me, but many westerners seems confused by the lack of worldwide support. The research in this article looks into Global South attitudes in more detail. In summary: </p><p> The Global South sees the Russia-Ukraine war through a lense of colonialism; It sees ongoing hypocracy (Iraq, Yemen, Israel, Afghanistan) - aren't those all evil invasions as well? And if the West doesn't care about their problems, why should they care about the West's. </p><p> I would add, China and Russia are seen as sending infrastructure, while the West sends weapons and debt. For example - Australia's aid budget is $5b pa, but even under Labor it is spending $10b EACH on multiple nuclear subs. The same cabinet minister is responsible for both programs! </p><p> <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/02/5-reasons-why-much-of-the-global-south-isnt-automatically-supporting-the-west-in-ukraine.html">Naked Capitalism.com</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230227232550/https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/02/5-reasons-why-much-of-the-global-south-isnt-automatically-supporting-the-west-in-ukraine.html"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> </p> 2023-04-03T00:00:00.000Z 2023-04-03T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3354-resilience_-_four_ki Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Resilience is defined as how well a system responds to unexpected shocks, and ends up in a positive state. BUT the question is what kinds of unexpected shocks. I would suggest that we should consider some very different kinds of shocks, and I believe the preparation for one kind of shock could be completely inappropriate for the others</p>

Resilience is defined as how well a system responds to unexpected shocks, and ends up in a positive state. But I believe it is more complex than that, and shocks tend to come in different forms, while "resilience" tends to be lumped together as if all kinds of preparation is equivalent. </p><p> There are many ways to analyse this. I'd suggest four axis: Timeline; Geography; System and Type of Shock. </p><p> <h4>The first three axis are fairly obvious.</h4> </p> <p>Timeline refers to when the resilient action occurs - either:<ul> <li>in Preparation, before a shock e.g. installing tanks</li> <li>Responding, during a shock e.g. supplying water in jerry cans to cutoff houses; </li> <li>Recovering, after the shock e.g. digging up and replacing broken pipes.</li> </ul></p><p> These lines are blurred, for example in order to Recover by fixing pipes, I might need to Prepare by purchasing spare pipes and junctions, and Respond by taping pipes and cutting off water. </p><p> Geography refers to where we are taking action - at the home level, within our community or neighbourhood; within our city or region. (typically the smallest level of government unit); nationally or internationally. </p><p> System refers to what you are trying to make more resilient. Is it the Basics e.g. water; energy; food; shelter; or your physical and mental health; or your community systems and coherence; or your security from physical or human threats. </p><p> And action could fit anywhere on each of those four axis, and in multiple places, so for example a good preparation for providing water for your community during the response phase of a sudden disaster might be installing some rainwater tanks in your neighborhood. </p> <h4>Types of Shocks:</h4> <p> The fourth axis is harder to think about. I would suggest that we should consider four very different kinds of shocks, and importantly I believe the preparation for one kind of shock could be completely inappropriate for the others .... </p><p> The first kind is the slow steady change, for example climate change where each year is slightly hotter than the previous and, dependant on location, either slightly drier or slightly wetter. Changes like this are, or should be, expected, and adaptation occurs for example by improving insulation, planting more drought tolerant species etc. </p><p> The second kind are sudden, large events, such as a flood or fire, that are typically short term and often localized. Preparation could be raising a house, or fire-retardant plantings; or stockpiling emergency provisions in a community container, or preparation could be community cohesion because Response typically needs to be community driven (since the mechanisms of government will also be failing and ineffective) it revolves around keeping people alive till help gets there; and Recovery could be rebuilding damaged assets working together to come back to a situation similar to that preceding the event. </p><p> The third kind of shock is the acceleration of change of all kinds. Whether that change impacts us positively or negatively will depend on how we adapt to it, and in particular how fast we adapt to it. We see this most obviously, but not only, in technology - electricity > telephone > internet > Social networking > AI. The development of each new technology is accelerated, by the previous. Accelerating changes in society are often enabled by those technologies e.g. Trump's insurrection was enabled by Social Media . Preparation may mean exercising the muscle of being able to adapt quickly. For example, how long will your organization take to adapt to the new AIs (ChatGPT etc), and by the time a decision is made, will the situation have changed drastically? </p><p> The fourth kind of shock is collapse, of ecosystems and/or society. A situation is created which probably won't return to normal. There is no point in stockpiling food if the world won't return to normal, and your household's ability to grow food won't help if there is no way to defend that food from hungry neighbours </p> <h4>Are we focused on the wrong kind of shocks?</h4> </p> Much of the conversation in alternative groups (including permaculture) seems to focus, possibly wrongly on this last, group of shocks. </p><p> The first set of doomsday predictions I remember was nuclear war, then came Y2K neither of which happened, then we had Peak Oil - which was forgotten as the world diversified off oil far faster than the doomsayers predicted, and now we have Energy Descent. </p><p> Yes - we need to reduce our dependence on energy, and in particular fossil fuels, but that is mostly to reduce the "slow and steady" and "sudden, large" shocks but the idea of a society locked into Energy Descent is IMHO just as fuzzy as the previous doom predictions. </p><p> In particular, much of Energy Descent is based on the flawed math of Odum who ignores how fast any particular energy technology returns the energy used to manufacture it. To simplify the math, an energy tech that returns 4x in 5 years, is actually better than one that returns 10x in 10 years, because that energy can be reinvested. We see this in the way solar or wind are now cheaper than coal. </p><p> In my opinion, we need to pay much more attention to the first three sets of shocks - incremental; short term disaster; and accelerating, all of which need us to build community rather than defensive walls. </p> <h4>Collapse through disinformation</h4> <p> The one exception to this, is the increasing likelihood of societal collapse driven by disinformation. As we saw in the Trump led attempted coup in 2020, or in the corporation led climate denial; or anti-science anti-vax thinking of the last few years, the potential is growing for fascists, racists, right-wingers and other nefarious actors to rapidly and widely spread (dis)information that causes people to act against their own best interests, and potentially to create societal collapse. </p><p> We have unfortunately, seen many in the alternative, progressive, spiritual and permaculture worlds go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy thinking. I don't trust most corporations, or government entities, to act in the public interest, or my interest - despite the many good people inside those institutions, but believing any nonsense that a random youTuber puts together over science, serious journalism or common sense only plays into the hands of those who for whatever reason seek to hasten a societal collapse. I am seriously worried about disinformation as a potential cause of collapse - either directly through revolution or indirectly through for example ignoring medical advice in a pandemic. Historically revolutions, unfortunately, usually led to the rule of those with the most weapons, and rarely, if ever, the desired outcomes of the revolutionists. </p><p> I am not sure how to prepare against disinformation driven shocks. Given the imbalance of social-media mass distribution of disinformation, versus the one on one effort needed to argue against it and the imperviousness of most conspiracy thinkers to logic, fact, or science. </p><p> <h4>Conclusion: </h4> I think we need to be much more deliberate about the kind of resilience preparation we doing. Think about each action on these four axis, and make sure all the other axis are covered. Pay particular attention to how disinformation and conspiracy thinking can divide our communities. </p> 2023-05-24T00:00:00.000Z 2023-05-24T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3355-can_impact_investment_innovate_or_scale Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<pdf-link href="/files/Pioneer Post - Should we admit that impact investment can't do innovation The Social Enterprise Magazine - Pioneers Post.pdf" title="Article in Pioneers Post"></pdf-link> <p><i> There is almost zero early-stage, innovation-friendly impact investing, says serial social entrepreneur Mitra Ardron. Should we just admit that all we can do is make impact investors feel good while applying band-aids instead of actually fixing the problems? </i></p><p> The world faces some big challenges, some of which are enumerated in the Sustainable Development Goals. These problems need solving at scale – typically between 1 and 3 billion people are affected by each of these issues. Many of these problems, especially in water, energy, sanitation and health, need innovation to develop new, affordable solutions or to adapt Western solutions to the specifics and budgets of developing countries (or emerging market or global South or pick-your-euphemism). </p><p> But impact investors seem to see innovation as another risk factor, rather than as something that offers potential for larger impact. As one well-known impact investor said to me, “I can do innovation, or I can do global South, but not in the same deal”. I disagree fundamentally with this premise – innovation is exactly what is needed to create scalable solutions in the South. </p><p> Please join the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mitraardron_should-we-admit-that-impact-investment-cant-activity-7066982379709480960-Wh86">conversation on LinkedIn</a> </p>

<p> I'm a former social entrepreneur and current mentor and investor in innovations that make the world a better place. I've seen many a promising impact company killed by the problems in the impact investing sector, and heard enough similar stories from other entrepreneurs, investors and mentors to draw some patterns. </p><p> The question I raise in this piece has been triggered by watching a company I've mentored and invested in. This company has a viable product, one that has the potential to solve the problem of access to clean water in many countries. It scales because it is affordable. They have proved the product works, have product-market fit, and a retail market in which they are currently demonstrating success. Unlike almost every other solution that delivers clean water at the point of consumption (pipes, kiosks, etc), this company will not need subsidies, because it was designed, from the start, to be delivered at US$0.20 for 20 litres. This is the kind of grocery staple pricing that most beneficiaries can afford. Its key advantage is using high-tech materials to keep costs down, and delivering through grocery retail channels (also known as FMCG) at every local shop. This is the kind of innovation we need. </p><p> I could list a dozen other similarly successful innovations in different fields, facing similar challenges. The challenge is that there is almost zero early- stage, innovation-friendly impact investing. </p><p> Most impact funds fall into three broad categories. <ul><li> Those who have moved so far up the food chain that they are comparable to mainstream VCs. Looking for big deals. Typically these will tell you that you are “too early” while bemoaning the lack of a pipeline to invest in. </li><li> Small funds whose sweet spot is a last-mile retailer, or someone making crafts for a US market. It is unlikely they will invest as they won't like the risk, and won't see the opportunity. But if they do, then they will probably offer a term sheet or capitalisation table that makes the next million un- raisable. </li><li> Funds that can do early-stage innovation, but have stunningly long processes, small ticket sizes, and geographic and often very specific niche sectors that exclude almost all the best potential investees. </li></ul> </p><p> Like many of the other companies I am aware of in impact innovation, around US$1m has been invested in my mentee from a number of early investors over their development cycle. But that money is likely to be completely wasted – because of the unavailability of the next roughly $1m needed to get it to profitability at scale.</p><p> At the moment they have, for example, spent seven months in the process of one of the few early-stage investors, a donor-advised fund, for them to finally come up with investment committee approval for an investment that covers around seven weeks of the company's runway. And, as a donor-advised fund, they still have to get it funded by their investors. Taking seven months to deliver just seven weeks more runway means that any company needs to be dealing with at least four investors in parallel at all times – which is clearly nonsensical if the CEO is to spend any time building their business. </p><p> In working in technology and innovation for change, I have to ask whether it would be better to focus instead on cleantech, climate, etc, because in those sectors the biggest risks are product, market and execution – all of which are addressable. In impact innovation, meanwhile, the biggest risk by far is the lack of investment. </p><p> Unfortunately, I don't think that honest, self-reflective conversation about our sector is happening anywhere – certainly not, from what I have seen, at conferences such as Socap. So should we just give up – and admit that all we can do is make impact investors feel good, while applying unscalable band-aids to problems we have no real intention of fixing? </p><p><b> So what’s the solution </b></p><p> If I was running a fund, what would I do differently? <ol> <li>Have due diligence (DD) that is proportional to the deal – a US$50k investment should take a week, not six months to assess. Currently the cost of DD precludes small investments for many funds, and dealing with all the parallel DDs for different potential investors eats up a substantial portion of a CEO’s time.</li> <li>Have innovators, risk-takers and entrepreneurs on the fund’s staff and/or engage consultants (like me) to assess what the risk really is. Importantly, those domain experts need to interact with the companies – a pitch is by necessity short, and the entrepreneur may very well have an answer to a reviewer's concern. Many investors unfortunately decline something they don't understand, which for an accountant, financier or banker includes most innovation or technology.</li> <li>Pro-actively choose companies with a potential to scale to millions of beneficiaries, even if the risk is high. Millions of people generating a small revenue per person can still generate better returns than a less ambitious, medium-risk/medium-return company.</li> <li>Be broad in the investment thesis – agnostic about sub-sector / geography of beachhead market / current stage / amount needed / founder demographics. The most interesting solutions are most likely outside the narrow intersections of multiple investment criteria.</li> <li>Be open-ended: prefer a later, successful exit than a rush to meet artificial timelines built into the compensation of the fund managers. I've seen several (profitable) companies killed by premature exits. Personally, I will not invest in closed-ended funds as I believe they are destined to deliver neither impact nor financial returns, because of this drive to an early exit.</li> <li>Partner with later-stage funds, and define milestones that trigger further investment, so that the CEO can focus on building a business rather than spending half their time looking for the next round.</li> </ol></p><p> And... while this wasn't intended as a pitch, if anyone is interested in investing in a great innovation, that could make a massive difference to people's lives, to stop it joining the pile of other impact innovators that we – the impact investment community – have failed, please let me know and I'll have them send you their deck. </p> 2023-06-06T00:00:00.000Z 2023-06-06T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3356-critique_imm_daggers Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> I have long been a critique of the way Impact Measurement is practiced. </p><p> Jesse Daggers has a good <a href="https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20230530/impact-measurement-creating-false-sense-of-hope">article in Pioneer Post</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230620032149/https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20230530/impact-measurement-creating-false-sense-of-hope"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> in particular focusing on numerics rather than qualitatively talking to the supposed beneficiaaries. </p><p> I have plenty more critiques in terms of how the biases in measurement change what gets done, and of the negative impact from all the associated costs to entrepreneurs. </p>

<p> This is what I posted on the comments on Jesse's <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jessdaggers_is-impact-measurement-creating-a-false-sense-activity-7069297686591459328-cmtQ">LinkedIn announcement</a> </p><p> Interesting article, and I agree with the points you make, in particular many entrepreneurs have complained to me that the things they are being asked to measure for IMM are largely irrelevant to their real business or impact. </p><p> However I would add two other key factors as important critiques of IMM as currently practiced. </p><ol> <li>IMM pushes investment towards things that are easily measurable, not towards those that create the greatest impact. So for example it devalues anything which has an indirect impact - like supporting SE's gets devalued because its hard to attribute impact, or development of improved affordable, scalable, solutions because their impact might be many years in the future.</li><li>IMM isn't measuring its own impact, i.e. the negative impacts from the costs, in time and money, imposed on small entrepreneurs to produce the IMM. It is bad enough that as much as 15% of investments or grants has to be diverted from creating impact to measuring it. When these businesses are marginally profitable at the best of times, this 15% extra costs may indeed be more than their profit.</li> </ol><p> When did you last see the impact report of an impact measurement consultancy, one that honestly assessed the own negative impact of the costs they impose on SEs. </p> 2023-06-21T00:00:00.000Z 2023-06-21T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3357-trompe_generator_debunked Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Watching Bill Mollison makes the Trompe Generator look like its free energy - which obviously is mythical - so I did a little research. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trompe">Wikipedia article</a> is quite good. The key thing to note is that it requires a head, same as any other kind of hydro. This head is missing in the way Bill draws it on the blackboard and while he mentions it, in his drawing, it looks like the water is coming back to the same level, which is of course impossible. That is why you don't see many of these around since electric generation was invented. In most cases it is easier, and more flexible, to replace all this complexity, with a small electric generator working off the same head but without the digging out of the air catching part.

<content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOKec6MHzBc" cached="/cached/Limitless Clean Fuel that can make Fossil Fuels Obsolete [XOKec6MHzBc].mp4"></content-video> 2023-04-19T00:00:00.000Z 2023-04-19T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3358-resource_limitations_on_renewables Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

There is a lot of material circulating recently that claims we cannot move to a renewable energy future because of resource limitations. While this is an area worthy of study there is also some dubious science being circulated, probably by people with something to gain from doubts about renewables leading to continuation of fossil fuels.

<p> A recent <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/dig/green-tinted-glasses/">article</a>, discussed for example in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/retrosuburbia/posts/6172441646182352>Retrosuburbia</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2040TheRegeneration/posts/1653350658442050">TheRegeneration</a> Facebook groups and on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/linda.woodrow/posts/pfbid0PTQdpfE48y3maPLJAMSHYNcuK8zdwv2UVcCurp2hvbShxp52KfhijyACFqF2fcful">Linda Woodrow's page</a> is both true and untrue. </p><p> First - in a field moving as rapidly as Renewable Energy, citing papers from 2016 is largely pointless, the speed of change means that by the time anything hits a physical book its probably out of date. </p><p> Remember, back in 2016 solar panels (factory gate price) were about $2.50 a watt, now they are $0.75. Cost drives purchase, driving investment, driving costs down more. https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2021/documenting-a-decade-of-cost-declines-for-pv-systems.html. </p><p> The reverse is also true - as long as coal or oil are produced, they will be consumed, low demand just lowers the price, and that increases demand in countries where they have little choice but to consume the cheapest source of energy. That is why Australia's target of 40% reduction by 2030 is largely irrelevant - its our exports, which account for close to 5% of world emissions, that are most in need of reduction. As long as coal and oil are produced at quantity they will be a major share of world energy consumption. </p><p> In addition, efficiency is improving in many areas - take the switch from incandescents to flourescents to LEDs as just one of many examples, and increasingly energy use is decoupled from GDP (standard disclaimer on how poor a measure that is) https://ourworldindata.org/energy-gdp-decoupling </p><p> The increasing requirements for materials, and effort to create renewables should be matched by reductions in those used in the fossil fuel sector (which is FAR more material intensive). For example there was a good podcast on ABC (or maybe NPR) about the capacity in the oil drilling industry to drill for geothermal. </p><p> In common with many other "academic"ish articles, this article makes the mistake of comparing past with future, that just doesn't work in an exponentially changing world, just think about predicting the speed of internet growth from the perspective of 1992 when the internet was growing very slowly in numeric terms, but was actually doubling every 6 months. </p><p> The good parts about the article ... .... while tech is moving quickly, but governments (including here in Australia) are mostly just moving less fast in the wrong direction (e.g. Labor still approving more coal mines); we are probably now at the point where climate collapse is locked in without massive tech improvements to allow carbon removal unless we can figure out how to scale the regen ag sector by orders of magnitude. </p><p> More importantly, everything else about the need to reduce our material consumption, and other ecological impacts is spot on - there are plenty of planetary impacts that could hit us as hard as climate change. Green Growth is a myth, I just see no evidence that the need to reduce those impacts will be driven by energy, or anything that suggests that "energy descent" is a real - if it happens it will be because its a future we choose, not one that is imposed by costs and availability. </p><p> More info: A detailed <a href="https://twitter.com/visaskn/status/1593944033218502657">debunk</a> of Simon Michaux; another <a href="https://twitter.com/AukeHoekstra/status/1594084375972712448">debunk</a>; </p> 2023-05-05T00:00:00.000Z 2023-05-05T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3359-individual_or_collective_action Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Climate activist Clever Hogan has a tweet and video about the relevance or otherwise of individual action.

<p> IMHO individual action is largely irrelevant unless its scaled to the point where most people are talking action - i.e. relevant individual action is the result of a systemic action to encourage large numbers of individuals to do something. Individual action is particularly relevant in Australia - our international emissions are several times our domestic emissions due to digging up and exporting fossil fuels to be burned elsewhere. Even reducing our emissions 40% is irrelevant when its only reducing those domestic emissions. And, of course, only a small fraction of those domestic emissions are under individual control. In fact, I think often the push to individual actions is intended to give the individual an illusion of doing something in order to distract them from questioning the evil actions of our governments in continuing to expand fossil fuel extraction. </p><p> Sure - we should all reduce our personal emissions, but lets not kid ourselves its having significant impact. </p><p> <a href="https://twitter.com/cloverhogan/status/1653119674136010752">Clever Hogan's tweet thread and video</a>; Discussion on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/PIL.PermacultureAustralia/posts/6085898044833490">Permaculture Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/218985553691974/posts/557791783144681">Evidence Based Permaculture</a> Facebook pages. 2023-08-07T00:00:00.000Z 2023-08-07T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3360-demand_or_supply_the_burning_question Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Duncan Clark wrote The Burning Question which switched my opinion on demand versus supply.

<p> In 2014, I was a presenter at the World Bank's ESMAP conference. One of the keynote presenters was Duncan Clark who wrote <a href="http://www.burningquestion.info/">The Burning Question</a>. </p><p> Duncan's argument, which I have come to agree with, is that demand for carbon is largely irrelevant, i.e. nothing we do to reduce our emissions, by burning less carbon, will make a difference. </p><p> His logic is that if we reduce our demand for carbon in the West, but keep digging it up and adding it to the market, then the only thing that happens is that the price (of coal, oil, gas) goes down until someone who is too poor to have the luxury of choice will buy it. </p><p> His argument - which I agree with, is that the only way to reduce emissions is to keep fossil fuels in the ground. </p><p> This is why Australia's emission targets are just blah-blah, because they only count what we consume (burn), while our exports are responsible for several times as many emissions. </p><p> As the planet heats up, actions by governments of all levels, to approve more fossil fuel infrastructure, should be seen as criminally negligent. </p> 2023-03-21T00:00:00.000Z 2023-03-21T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3361-water_futures_innovation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I'm wondering when we'll see some innovation in the water space around affordability, and in particular around safe water at the point of consumption ?

<p> I was at the Water Futures conference last month, and the main thing that jumped out to me was that while there was lots of research, there was very little actual innovation (though lots labeled as innovative) and (while there is lots of infrastructure funding) there is essentially no funding for innovation. Frankly the work on SDG6 feels like SDG7 (energy) was 20 years ago, before innovation drove down the cost to where the BoP could afford it, and I'm wondering who else is actually doing innovation , or funding innovation in the affordable water space ? </p><p> Expanding on the similarity to energy, proposals 20 years ago were mostly based on inappropriately applied western solutions. That changed when innovation, such as the PAYG technology we developed at Lumeter, drove the cost of distributed systems down to where people could afford them themselves, at which point adoption took off independent of subsidies. I'm an advisor to one of the companies in that space - Folia Water - and I'm wondering when we'll see a focus, & funding, move from delivery to drinkability, and a focus on affordability. </p><p> There may be lots of finance in water, but the amount in innovation is peanuts and often costs more, in time and consultants, to get than the funding covers, often the budget for studies is more than for actual innovation. Most innovative social enterprises I've mentored take of the order of 2m to break through to viability (one-time, not annually) but these companies will never be profitable enough to attract VC funding looking for unicorns (billion dollar exits). 2023-03-20T00:00:00.000Z 2023-03-20T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3362-effective_altruism_concept_versus_reality Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Interesting to look at Effective Altruism again at a time when EA is under such scrutiny.

<p> Singer is an interesting thinker, and this <a href="https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/get-involved/videos-books-and-essays/famine-affluence-and-morality-peter-singer">essay</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230814083038/https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/get-involved/videos-books-and-essays/famine-affluence-and-morality-peter-singer"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> of his is worth considering. </p><p> But I think there is a huge difference between the concept - to look at how we can do the most good and our duty to do so - and the detail, both in implementation and judgement. </p><p> For example on the judgement side; <ul> <li>How much is the childs life in front of me worth compared to the one across the world;</li> <li>How much more important is the thing I know I can affect (saving this child) versus the one that I only know statistically I can affect (taking into account all the divergences and inefficiencies between my donation and that child remotely).</li> <li>How important are human vs animal lives (I always found it weird that EA is so focused on animal lives).</li> <li>How important are future lives vs present lives e.g. existential risks (pandemics, nukes) </li> <li>Then on the implementation side, there are huge critiques of the inherent biases in the way EA programs are implemented, e.g. focusing on measurability when many important systemic changes are very hard to measure.</li> <li>And then at the broader ethical question you've got questions such as whether its ethical to defraud people in order to give the money away (SBF/FTX)?</li> </ul> </p> <!--https://www.facebook.com/groups/memetics.hacking/posts/6063641777013090/--> 2023-01-26T00:00:00.000Z 2023-01-26T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3363-debunk_algaecomputer Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Debunking some churnalism about a "green algae computer"

Another classic lousy churnalism <a href="https://gizmodo.com/computer-blue-green-algae-cyanobacteria-science-aa-1848923354">article from Gizmodo</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230814083904/https://gizmodo.com/computer-blue-green-algae-cyanobacteria-science-aa-1848923354"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> <p> "The computer, a microprocessor called the Arm Cortex-M0+, drew an average 1.05 microwatts, and an electrical current of 1.4 microamps, with a voltage of 0.72 V from the cyano-cube over the course of the experiment. For comparison, a standard AA battery starts out its life with 1.5V, that lessens with usage" </p><p> First the voltage is irrelevant - a Lithium cell has 4.2V for example, its a function of the cell chemistry not how much power its got. </p><p> For comparison, a really small button cell e.g. CR1025 holds 30mAh at a nominal 2V i.e. around 60mWH or enough to run this 1uW"computer" for 7&nbsp;years! By comparison this algae cell produced 1uW * ~200days or ~0.2mWH or 4mWH or about a 15th of the power put out by a Lithium button not much bigger than one of those screw heads. </p><p> Data Source: https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/lithiumcoin_appman.pdf </p> 2023-01-08T00:00:00.000Z 2023-01-08T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3364-debunk_solein Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Debunking some of the nonsense written recently about making food from "thin air".

<p> <a href="https://bigthink.com/health/protein-from-air">Big Think article</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230814084817/https://bigthink.com/health/protein-from-air/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> as found on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/techsingularity/?multi_permalinks=5890740494320096">Tech Singularity on Facebook</a> </p><p> Err - Big Think seems to have just churned Solein's press releases rather than asking any serious questions and then wrapped a deceptive headline on it. </p><p> This food doesn't come from "Thin Air", it uses vitamins and nutrients (which have to be made), and we don't know where they come from. That might not be a problem, but the other input that is certain is a LOT of energy, sure they could use renewable energy, but until we have sufficient renewable energy to power the whole planet, anything that uses energy has a carbon cost - in that renewable energy that would be diverted to power their process at scale would be replaced by fossil fuel energy that isn't getting retired. In particular they pull CO2 from the air, which currently takes somewhere around 10x the energy that was generated when that CO2 was created in fossil fuel burning. </p><p> Its very noticable that this obvious first question - what exactly is the energy consumption per kg - is not answered by Solein, and the places I've seen it asked there is a non-answer, which makes it obvious we wouldn't like the answer. </p><p> The only close answer I found was “Theoretically speaking, looking at our home country of Finland, if all the calories that Finns consume came from Solein, the entire food production of the nation would require 10% of the primary energy use of Finland and one-third of the electricity consumed today.” <a href="https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/solar-foods-solein-mb2694/">Solar Quotes</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230814085133/https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/solar-foods-solein-mb2694/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> </p><p> Solein may or may not be a solution, but we'll never know given the lack of numbers from the company, and the lack of questioning by the churnalists who seem to be just churning the company's press releases. </p> 2022-05-23T00:00:00.000Z 2022-05-23T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3365-nsw_flood_submission Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The NSW flood enquiry has extended the deadline to June 24th so please get your submission in. Even if you don't think it will make a difference, but it is important to create an official record of what happened.

<pdf-link href="/files/2022%20Submission%20to%20NSW%20Flood%20Enquiry.pdf" title="Submission to NSW flood enquiry"></pdf-link> <p> The link to mine is at the end, but since I'm sure you are too busy to read it here's a summary ... </p><p> Governments, of both parties, failed to take action on climate change. <ul> <li>The BOM failed to warn us the storm was coming</li> <li>The SES failed to rescue people - no staff, broken system</li> <li>Marine Rescue failed to rescue people, blocked by their insurance</li> <li>ADF helicopters failed to fly till days later</li> <li>Council & the Mayor failed to provide leadership</li> <li>Department of Community & Justice failed to open the evacuation center.</li> <li>Council's CRN (Community Resilience Network) failed to facilitate communications among those working on it</li> <li>The Army failed to rescue people - heck they couldn't even cross flooded causeways</li> <li>Telstra & the NBN failed to restore communications</li> </ul><p> The management systems designed to work in normal times failed (again) under a real disaster. </p><p> The Bureaucracy - the lawyers, insurers, administrators, rules, made sure that good people in all those roles couldn't do their jobs </p><p> Our community stepped up to do all those things <ul> <li>We ignored the divisions caused by Covid</li> <li>We ignored organisational boundaries and worked together</li> <li>Unequipped, Un-resourced, Un-insured, Un-lawyered and mostly Untrained we dropped everything to do it</li> </ul><p> Council, State, and Feds failed to resource, or even coordinate well, with that effort </p><p> In fact - in the middle of the disaster - they took away our main resource - Mullum Civic Hall </p><p> So we raised the money, we donated even when we were hurting ourselves, and some of us went into debt, found cleaning materials, tools,</p> <p> We worked with the agencies and governments when possible, but when they couldn't collaborate or in many cases even communicate ... <p><ul> <li>We took the risks the agencies were not allowed to</li> <li>We rescued people;</li> <li>We patched together access to properties</li> <li>We flew helicopter flights to evacuate and deliver emergency supplies</li> <li>We repaired appliances, furniture, tools</li> <li>We setup satellite dishes to connect to the Internet</li> <li>We built Radio networks to cutoff people</li> <li>We developed highly accurate maps (as the army was using tourist ones)</li> <li>We cleaned people's homes</li> <li>We counselled those traumatised</li> <li>We managed hundreds of spontaneous volunteers</li> <li>We emptied our closets, donated clothing, cleaning supplies, household goods</li> <li>We processed and distributed these donations</li> <li>We fed those without food or ability to cook it</li> <li>And many more little kindnesses to help a neighbor or stranger</li> </ul><p> So why would we expect a government & bureaucracy led enquiry to even acknowledge it failed, even less change things. </p><p> But at least we can get the tragedies, the losses, and the community's work to deal with them, on the record </p><p> You can get your own submission in <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/nsw-government/projects-and-initiatives/floodinquiry">here</a> </p><p> My much longer submission, detailing the specific failures mentioned above, is in the <a href="/files/2022%20Submission%20to%20NSW%20Flood%20Enquiry.pdf">pdf</a> above. </p><p> It will be months before the submissions get made public by the enquiry, by which time the various departments will probably be making excuses about why they haven't done anything to lead the recovery. But sometimes we need to speak truth, even if it will be ignored (again). </p> 2023-08-23T00:00:00.000Z 2023-08-23T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3366-rocks_dams_bureaucrap Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Rock dams are known to be one of the solutions to flooding and drought, so why do governments make it so hard.

<p> I was listening to a panel last week about the flood reconstruction at Lismore, one of the panelists was talking about how leaky rock dams could help - not just slowing the water with the dam but by encouraging spongy soils behind the dams, which hold a lot of water. </p><p> The problem he pointed out was that it took something like 20 permits and environmental assessments and bureaucrap, just the same as putting a concrete weir across the creek, so despite all the engineers knowing is was probably the best, and definitely the most cost-effective, solution, people just weren't going to do it, when the administrative BS was going to cost more in time and/or money than actually doing the job. </p><p> I make it a point whenever I hear a government bureaucrat talking about what they are, or we should, be doing for sustainability to ask them what proportion of their energy they spend getting the other bits of the bureaucracy out of the way of those actions! I've never yet had a satisfactory reply, or even a willingness to hear that the biggest barrier to the actions they recommend is another department of their own government. So I doubt we'll see it made any easier to build loose rock dams in the Lismore area. </p> <p> A good video from the UN <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2tYI7jUdU0" cached="/cached/Can rock dams reverse climate change？ [c2tYI7jUdU0].mp4"></content-video> </p> 2022-12-20T00:00:00.000Z 2022-12-20T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3367-debunking_bladeless_wind_turbines Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Every now and then the idea comes around of bladeless wind turbines - basically poles that vibrate in the wind. </p>

<p> Firstly, as always you should start with the real news, rather than after the churnalists have turned it over a few times, removed important parts and put innacurate headlines on to generate clicks. </p><p> Unfortunately <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GeckoGoldCoast/posts/pfbid02pdyWi895a33nRZLXrj8fVr9c3qDsBFCWSTbb3kHcNViwAEoDAvuP4jdy3MT5jwUhl">Gecko on FB</a> points to <a href="https://happyeconews.com/are-bladeless-wind-turbines-the-future-of-wind-energy/">Happy Eco News</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230604003137/https://happyeconews.com/are-bladeless-wind-turbines-the-future-of-wind-energy/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> which is obvious rubbish and churns <a href="https://greenerideal.com/guides/renewable-energy/bladeless-wind-turbines-the-future-of-wind-energy/">Greener Ideal</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221103150110/https://greenerideal.com/guides/renewable-energy/bladeless-wind-turbines-the-future-of-wind-energy/"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> which is churning something else that they don't give a reference to so we can't actually find the real news here. </p><p> The "danger" part can be ignored, because it is pretty much made up, if you want something dangerous to birds lets worry about big glass high-rise towers which kill FAR FAR more birds than turbines ever have. </p><p> And the efficiency points are also obvious BS <i>Wind-turbines are "only" 33%</i>, well that is double photovoltaics, and, what is the efficiency of coal (hint the generators are about 35-40% of turning heat to electricity, but first you've got to turn coal into heat + pollution). </p><p> And presumably the article doesn't mention the efficiency of bladeless turbines because are going to be far far less efficient than regular ones. (Small height, minimal sweep area etc) </p><p> Maybe whoever wrote this article can do some real research and find an actual news story about the blades rather than obvious rubbish, and then we can show why they won't work. In the absence of that, if you actually know something about this topic, and I've got something wrong please email me, and I will either correct this article or add your response verbatim. </p> 2023-06-06T00:00:00.000Z 2023-06-06T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3368-oral_submission_to_flood_enquiry Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I made this submission, on the broken disaster systems, to a public meeting as part of the NSW flood enquiry.

<p> Hi - I'm Mitra Ardron, I was a volunteer during the flood response, partly helping the Community Led HQ, but most significantly co-organizing the Repair Cafe where we had 30 vollies, collecting, fixing, and returning or re-gifting appliances, tools, furniture etc. </p><p> My first question is, can an enquiry, embedded in the government system, actually fix the broken systems. And lets be clear, pretty much every system involved in the flood enquiry broke. And they didn't break because they were designed wrong, they broke because they were rigid systems, systems unable to adapt to the disaster in front of them, because the disaster you've designed and practiced for is never the disaster you are facing. </p><p> Let me give a few examples <ul><li>The Marine Rescue weren't allowed up the river to perform rescues because their insurance only covered them to high water. </li><li>This building couldn't be opened as an official evac center because the DCJ couldn't get here - unsurprising in a flood event </li><li>The DCJ couldn't come the back way cos its not bitumened and insurance again ... </li><li>The Army reached causeways it couldn't cross because their rules said they needed an engineer to assess it first - lets hope they never get deployed anywhere they need to use their initiative. </li><li>The SES couldn't do rescues because their phone system wasn't functioning and they couldn't check the facebook group we'd set up to coordinate the tinnies. </li><li>Council's Community Resilience Network - setup for disasters - failed because there was no peer to peer connection. </li><li>There are several cases I'm aware of where people like Firies and Ambos etc had to remove their uniforms because the systems they were embedded in failed so they could only do the job they were trained for as a civilian. </li></ul> And the list goes on and on - I put in a 9 page submission filled with them </p><p> We had a bushfire convergence after the fires, many of the same kinds of problems were identified, and now we are doing the same thing again, as we will after the next one, because the problem isn't that the procedures, or rules are wrong, its that good people embedded into bad systems have to follow those rules. </p> 2022-02-20T00:00:00.000Z 2022-02-20T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3369-ice_stupa Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An interesting way to provide seasonal water storage,

<p>Water, from above, pressurized (just in the pipe). As it sprays out, it freezes and forms a cone around the pipe The ice lasts till dry season, when it melts and can be distributed. There is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10159625166919705">a nice video on Facebook.</a> but just search on "ice stupa" for plenty of info. 2019-09-10T00:00:00.000Z 2019-09-10T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3370-tedium_the_wires_barely_reach Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An article in <a href="https://tedium.co/2019/09/10/internet-global-expansion-challenges-history/" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20230829063933/https://tedium.co/2019/09/10/internet-global-expansion-challenges-history/">Tedium</a> discusses out work from the 80's and 90's in creating the APC, its relavance to activists when the internet was still hard to get on, and Peter Gabriel's role in it all.

(Read the full article, this is just the part that references our work) <p> How Peter Gabriel helped the internet gain its global reputation </p><p> Here’s a fun fact about the internet that you probably aren’t aware of, until you really think about it: Its global, online nature wasn’t a given for decades after its launch. In fact, it took a lot of time for the internet to reach many of the world’s developing nations. </p><p> And we arguably have Peter Gabriel to thank for fixing that situation. At the height of his success in 1986, the man whose voice launched a million boomboxes thought it would be a great idea to launch a charity event with the goal of funding a global peace network. </p><p> Not that anyone remembers Japan Aid, the festival Gabriel put on in the waning days of 1986. Part of the obscurity was by design: Gabriel and his fellow organizers chose not to accept sponsorship deals that would have put the show on television, out of the interest of integrity. </p><p> “Of all the charity events and causes in the eighties, this is perhaps the most obscure,” noted Collectors Music Reviews. “A video featuring some performances from the event was released in 1987 but quickly went out of print and the entire festival has lapsed into obscurity.” </p><p> So yes, the festival—featuring Lou Reed, Jackson Browne, and Howard Jones among numerous other acts—was no Live Aid. But it was a money-maker, and its fundraising helped launch an organization that has had a much broader impact than the actual show did. </p><p> (Also, let’s be fair: A Peter Gabriel concert in 1986 was probably a freaking treat.) </p><p> The Association for Progressive Communications (APC), a group that was literally named in Gabriel’s hotel room, brought together a few peace-oriented networks that were running active BBSes at a time when the technology was relatively rare, and helped offer email to far-flung parts of the world through Fidonet, a relay system that helped BBS systems support email using a series of nodes. (Fidonet worked like a series of waystations, passing messages from one BBS to the next.) </p><p> The approach was built from a number of disparate parts—a handful of advocacy-focused nongovernmental organizations getting their start around this time were launching with missions intended to help bring the world a little bit closer together. A total of seven networks joined the group at the time of its 1990 launch: The U.K.‘s GreenNet, the United States’ PeaceNet (also known as the Institute of Global Communications), Nicaragua’s Nicaro, Sweden’s NordNet, Canada’s Web, Brazil’s iBase, and Australia’s Pegasus. </p><p> In a <a href="/apchistory/apc_ica_1988.pdf">1987 paper</a>, APC cofounders Mitra Ardron of GreenNet and IGC’s Deborah L. Miller saw a lot of potential for the networks as a tool for citizen action—something enabled by digital communication offerings like those offered by their networks. </p><p> “Our commitment is to truly global communication—communication available to the social inventors, the grassroots activists, and the organizational leaders creating a future that works for everyone. That’s the difference that makes a difference,” they wrote. </p><p> (Not that it was cheap: According to the document, both networks at the time had an hourly fee for use that topped $10.) </p><p> Ultimately, the network grew and blossomed into something amazing to behold, and provided many developing nations their first online connections—among them Cuba, which received its first online connection via APC in 1990. </p><p> (Additionally, the network’s influence had impacts on other parts of internet culture—for example, the current director of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, Mark Graham, is an APC cofounder. Graham is featured in this video about the concert.) </p><p> In 2015, APC’s unsung work in combining the internet with activism worldwide helped the group win an Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award. </p><p> Gabriel was one of the first to applaud them—and he took as little credit as possible. “All the countries of the continent were supplying information to databases and we wanted people to access all the information stored in them. At that time there was not a single public library in Ethiopia.” </p> 2023-09-04T00:00:00.000Z 2023-09-04T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3371-andrew_forrest_humidity Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

An important pitch by Andrew Forrest of Fortescue for urgent business action - in summary Humidity rises 7% for every degree of warming At 35*, high humidity can kill you in just six hours, In many parts of the world - including much of the US, India, China, but also Austrralia and most of the. world's food bowls it becomes lethal at 1.5* temperature rise The chances of the world NOT warming 1.5* is around 1 in 50. Its time for businesses to pivot to solve this problem, it may already be too late. He calls for drastic action at the G20, APEC and BOAO

<p><pdf-link href ="https://cdn.fortescue.com/docs/default-source/announcements-and-reports/2599801.pdf" title="Andrew Forrest at BOAO on humidity" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20230904004918/https://cdn.fortescue.com/docs/default-source/announcements-and-reports/2599801.pdf?sfvrsn=11d660ea_6"></pdf-link> Unfortunately we won't see the necessary action from Australia whose criminal (Labor) governments are still approving more fossil fuel infrastructure as the planet boils.</p> <p>Thanks to <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/business-will-kill-your-children-was-andrew-forrests-climate-speech-really-that-loopy/">Renew Economy</a> for the pointer.</p> <p> <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kigyFOj7HUw" cached="/cached/Dr Andrew Forrest AO speaks at the Boao Forum Asia [kigyFOj7HUw].mp4" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20230904004833/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kigyFOj7HUw"></content-video> </p> 2023-09-19T00:00:00.000Z 2023-09-19T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3372-cost_of_impact_measurement Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

How much do we spend on impact measurement, and what else could we do with that money?

<p> I was at a conference recently and went to a session on impact measurement. The speakers were the consultant, and the client. I asked the client "How much had the impact measurement cost, and how much impact could they have achieved with that money". The cost was about USD 30k, and the consultant cleverly avoided answering the second half of the question. Later in the talk they let on that there were around 30 staff, earning USD 300 a month each. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ask how much impact would have been created by giving each of the staff three months extra salary, which is what the consulting process had cost. </p><p> As we approach Socap again, its worth keeping in mind the cost of impact measurement, and how much we lose when significant amounts are diverted away from creating impact to measuring it, not because the business needs the measurements but because the investors, or donors, and their investors or donors are demanding it all the way up the chain - often because they've been at some session at Socap or a similar conference where a consultant has told them they need more and better measurement without ever disclosing any impact measurement of their own activities. </p> <p> Discussions of this post happened on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Mitraardron/posts/pfbid02eHuomH2oR9CG7X2i22WVtodQuuwsiCDzMu4w2pXhsovXUydrskTrtCpP1sGQX19yl">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mitraardron_i-was-at-a-conference-recently-and-went-to-activity-7109868822546841600-9Tet">LinkedIn</a> </p> 2020-01-03T00:00:00.000Z 2020-01-03T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3373-vanishing_climate_safety_window Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A new scientific analysis of millions of possible climate futures found only a narrow window to keeping global warming to levels the international community has deemed safe.

<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/climate-change-model-warns-of-difficult-future" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20230929084203/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/climate-change-model-warns-of-difficult-future">National Geographic article</a> 2021-11-20T00:00:00.000Z 2021-11-20T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3374-ivermectin_meta_analysis Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This thorough meta-analyis stunned me,

<p> Wow - just wow - this is a meta-analysis of ivermectin studies, looks at all the studies, eliminates the many bad ones and the fraudulent ones, draws some conclusions and then whack - comes up with an amazing new theory that totally surprises me, and totally makes sense. </p><p> I'm going to spoil the surprise. Yes, Ivermectin works - but only when the target population has a high prevalance of worms. The study shows how the treatments for Covid pulls in a direction that allows worm growth, so knock out the worms and the covid treatment gets to work properly. </p><p> Its worth a read, because its a thorough work-through, takes a mound of disinformation and conspiracy nuttery, and digs down at the grain of truth within it. </p><p> My advice, .... when the Author says :"Skip to the Analysis", follow that advice, and keep going to "The Synthesis". </p><p> <a href="https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/ivermectin-much-more-than-you-wanted" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20230930094733/https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/ivermectin-much-more-than-you-wanted">Ivermectin much more than you wanted</a> </p> 2021-11-02T00:00:00.000Z 2021-11-02T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3375-alphabet_air_to_water Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Fast company has an article on an air to water device from Alphabet (Google X)

<p> Fast company has an article on an air to water device from Alphabet (Google X) <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90690242/alphabet-designed-a-low-cost-device-to-makes-drinking-water-from-air-now-its-open-sourced" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20231001071742/https://www.fastcompany.com/90690242/alphabet-designed-a-low-cost-device-to-makes-drinking-water-from-air-now-its-open-sourced">Alphabet designed a low-cost device to make drinking water from air. Now it’s open-sourced</a> Alphabet have <a href="https://x.company/blog/posts/sharing-project-h2e-with-the-world/" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20231001072437/https://x.company/blog/posts/sharing-project-h2e-with-the-world/">blogged about it</a>. </p><p> As atmospheric water harvesters go, its got some nice ideas - most of this class of device are energy guzzlers, I like that it runs on solar heat/ambient cooling only, and a dessicant wheel is a clever way to transfer moisture in. Doing the numbers .... 150ml/h/m2 means approx 600ml/day/m2 (solar capacity factor typically 4, could be as high as 5, but a high RH is often associated with a low capacity factor (lots of clouds)). So at 600ml/day, say 2 year payback means 440 liters of water needs to pay back the cost of the device. </p><p> If we ignore interest (which you shouldn't) that means you'd have to build a square meter device it for $4.40 to hit 0.01 per liter. That's not going to happen in part because there are two expense moving parts: the dessicant wheel, and the fan, and that's assuming you can use vaccum forming for a heat exchanger, which didn't work the last time I saw it tried (small holes at the welds allowed mixing of clean/dirty water) but it might be ok for this device as a small amount of mixing wouldn't hurt since all the water is clean. </p><p> My guess is that Google realized this wouldn't work financially even if it works physically and so open-sourced it. </p> 2021-11-12T00:00:00.000Z 2021-11-12T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3376-honest_net_zero Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This team has nailed it again

<content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FqXTCvDLeo" cached="/cached/honest_net_zero.mp4"></content-video> 2021-10-21T00:00:00.000Z 2021-10-21T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3377-byron_shire_climate_adaption_plan Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Council's climate adaptation plan is out, good, but could be improved.

<p>I just read through the Byron council's draft Climate Adaptation policy at https://ift.tt/3EaVDd6. There is an information session tonight 5-7 at the council chambers, which you have to register for; or you can also comment on that link. Generally its pretty good, but a couple of critiques .... </p><p> The first thing that jumps out, is that aboriginal fire management is relegated to a parenthesized reference on page 10 "The report states that sharing the traditional land (and fire) management practices of Aboriginal People could improve Australia’s resilience to natural disasters." that is the ONLY mention I could find of the significant potential impact of the resurrection of cultural burning by the Firesticks Alliance. On our own community, the conversation with Firesticks broke the impass between those involved with Bush Regeneration and those wanting to clear, or use cows, to control the fire risk. </p><p> The second thing that needs addressing is that council isn't just an actor in adaptation, it is a gatekeeper on actions by others. Other than access to finance, council is probably the biggest brake on sustainability adaptation by residents and landowners. This is largely because adaptation often requires innovation - especially to be affordable - and innovation means going outside the neat boxes that council's rules and planning constraints fit into. I have a list of sustainable innovation projects blocked by council, included on that list were many directly related to the area of Climate Adaptation: personally, I have a legal Grey Water system (I think the first legal one in the shire) but its completely useless because council made me put it so deep underground that its beyond the root zone of any of the trees. People tell me there is still zero overlap between legal grey water systems and those that benefit the environment. </p><p> A couple of other projects that I know that were essentially killed by council bureaucrap were: </p><ul> <li>Small (20kw) wind turbines on farms. The first, test project cost twice as much because of the reporting required by council, causing several others to abandon similar planned projects.</li> <li>Innovative aquaponics greenhouse - went to Sydney after the GM at the time said he couldn't even offer a preliminary opinion for 6 months.</li> <li>Shared rainwater tanks placed on the intersections of neighbouring lots, and because of economies of scale providing significantly more water storage for the same price. While rainwater tanks are subsidised there are so many conditions exclusions, that when combined with the cost and complexity of dealing with the DA process eating up most of the subsidy, we don't see nearly as much takeup as we should. </p><p> I've got a much longer list - though not so directly climate related. </p><p> This isn't intended as a "beat up on council" post, staff (here and at all levels of govt) are constrained by a stultifying bureaucracy that doesn't reward them for doing the right thing, and penalizes heavily for stepping outside guidelines, even to achieve a better outcome. </p><p> I raised this topic with our mayor, Michael Lyon recently, and he said that council's staff and procedures were much better now than the time period when most of my examples came from (late 2000's since I spent most of the 2010's working on sustainability in Asia and Africa). Anecdotally I've heard that not much has changed, but I'd love to hear from people who have run innovative sustainability or climate projects through council, and how it was - especially if it was blocked by council rules or cost-inflating bureaucracy. </p><p> One practical suggestion I've made before would be to have a sustainability officer in council who had a specific role to shepherd obviously positive projects through the maze of red tape. Another practical suggestion related to rainwater tanks would be to allow for a substantially lower connection and monthly fee, for properties that use below a certain amount of water, this alone could create a incentive for people to put in small tanks, for example 20k liters is enough for most of a careful household's needs, but require occasional topping up at the end of the dry season. Access to that connection for a top-up is so expensive, as is getting a water tanker out, that the incentive is just to save the cost of the rainwater tank and rely on the water main. </p><p> I'll post some of this in my submission - due 28th June - but happy to get feedback and commentary before. </p><p> 2021-10-24T00:00:00.000Z 2021-10-24T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3378-capital_compilation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Montage of footage from US Capitol siege, as shown during Trump impeachment hearing

<p> If you haven't seen this yet watch it ! Its the video compilation of Trump's attempted coup. It vividly shows what happens when you let conspiracy lies take over. </p><p> Apart from a very close call in Trump's attempt to end democracy and create a dictatorship, 480,000 people are dead in the US because he used more conspiracy lies to cover his ineptitude and inaction - lies so much a part of his process that half the speakers at the rally that insighted the insurrection were covid-deniers and anti-vaxxers. Those deaths will continue as long as we take anyone spreading conspiracy lies seriously - and not just deaths - for every death there are probable 10 people with serious long-term health issues - unable to exercise or work because of the damage to lungs, heart, kidney and brain. I personally know several people with long covid, and two who have died. </p><p> Watch the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2021/feb/09/democrats-play-montage-of-footage-from-capitol-siege-during-trump-impeachment-hearing-video">video</a> - and see what could happen in Australia if we continue to treat these delusions and lies as normal. </p> 2021-10-29T00:00:00.000Z 2021-10-29T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3379-facebook_meta Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Facebook is rebranding as Meta. I was heavily involved in the start of 3D on the Internet but skeptical now.

<p> It is hilarious that Facebook is rebranding as Meta. I was involved in the beginning of 3D on the internet, a nd even now it seems seriously premature, we are nowhere near a shared 3D environment, and it is not even clear that 3D is a desirable direction for the net. </p><p> The term "Metaverse" was coined by Neil Stevenson in 1992 in the book Snow Crash. The main commonality FB has with the Metaverse world is being a centralized monolithic and highly controlled environment! </p><p> In 1994 we launched a company based in large part on that book (seriously, we gave people the book and said it was our business plan). The first shared 3D environment on the Internet was World Chat (December 1994), which I was the lead back-end architect of. </p><p> I'm listed as an author on the <a href="https://www.mitra.biz/files/patent_6219045_worlds_shared3d.pdf">key patent: US6219045</a>. Although we did invent some new stuff, based around how to work in bandwidth and CPU constrained environments, in my opinion the patent significantly overreaches and claimed things we didn't invent. </p><p> I was co-author of the VRML2.0 standard for 3D on the net, and I was also part of the working group that developed the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19970520120559/http://www.livingworlds.com/draft_1/index.htm">Living Worlds standard</a> for 3D avatars in Feb 1997. </p><p> I got out of the space at the end of 1997 when I moved to Australia, Internet bandwidth and latency, machine speeds and graphics, and our human experience of using the net, wasn't ready for 3D then. </p><p> I'm not at all sure it is the right thing now, I'm really not at all convinced we want to put our head in goggles and navigate the net that way. </p><p> I guess Facebook, oops Meta, will find out! </p><p> 2023-10-12T00:00:00.000Z 2023-10-12T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3380-peter_gabriel Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Some circles take a long time to loop. In 1987 @Mark Graham and I had dinner with Peter Gabriel before one of his concerts, and the next day, in Peter's hotel room with Little Stevie, Hart Perry, Danny Schechter and Barry Roberts we named the organization Mark and I had co-founded - the "Association for Progressive Communications" or "APC" as it is more commonly known, which brought access to the internet in many countries with a focus on environmental and social justice. The APC is still going strong, and last night Mark and I were guests of Peter's for his show in San Francisco. </p><p> The highlight for me was Red Rain, I only got a crappy cellphone recording, but at the start of <content-video src="https://archive.org/details/HurricaneIrene"></content-video> is a clip from the amazing video work Hart did for Red Rain back in 1987. Their support was important in generating the attention to the fledgling APC, that brought in much of the initial funds and it was great to close the circle with Peter again last night at an powerful show with a great band. </p>

<p> Some circles take a long time to loop. In 1987 @Mark Graham and I had dinner with Peter Gabriel before one of his concerts, and the next day, in Peter's hotel room with Little Stevie, Hart Perry, Danny Schechter and Barry Roberts we named the organization Mark and I had co-founded - the "Association for Progressive Communications" or "APC" as it is more commonly known, which brought access to the internet in many countries with a focus on environmental and social justice. The APC is still going strong, and last night Mark and I were guests of Peter's for his show in San Francisco. </p><p> The highlight for me was Red Rain, I only got a crappy cellphone recording, but at the start of <content-video src="https://archive.org/details/HurricaneIrene"></content-video> is a clip from the amazing video work Hart did for Red Rain back in 1987. Their support was important in generating the attention to the fledgling APC, that brought in much of the initial funds and it was great to close the circle with Peter again last night at an powerful show with a great band. </p> 2021-10-29T00:00:00.000Z 2021-10-29T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3381-facebook_rebrands_meta Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Hilarious that Facebook is rebranding as Meta. I was involved in the beginning of 3D on the internet, and even now it seems seriously premature, we are nowhere near a shared 3D environment, and it is not even clear that 3D is a desirable direction for the net.

<p> The term "Metaverse" was coined by Neil Stevenson in 1992 in the book Snow Crash. The main commonality FB has with the Metaverse world is being a centralized monolithic and highly controlled environment ! </p><p> In 1994 we launched a company based in large part on that book (seriously, we gave people the book and said it was our business plan). </p><p> The first shared 3D environment on the Internet was World Chat (December 1994), which I was the lead back-end architect of, and I'm listed as an author on the <a href="https://www.mitra.biz/files/patent_6219045_worlds_shared3d.pdf">key patent</a> though in my opinion the patent's claims overreached and claimed things we didn't invent. </p><p> I was co-author of the VRML2.0 standard for 3D on the net, and I was also part of the working group that developed the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19970520120559/http://www.livingworlds.com/draft_1/index.htm">Living Worlds standard</a> for 3D avatars in Feb 1997. </p><p> I got out of the space at the end of 1997 when I moved to Australia, Internet bandwidth and latency, machine speeds and graphics, and our human experience of using the net, wasn't ready for 3D then, and I'm not at all sure it is the right thing now. </p> 2021-10-15T00:00:00.000Z 2021-10-15T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3382-due_diligence_data_rooms Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Due Diligence (DD) can be a time consuming part of raising money. </p><p> Here is how I try and both minimize the work involved, and improve how we look to a potential investor. This is worth doing ahead of time, but in any case once you start getting DD requests, prioritize it.

<p> First setup a place you can use to share documents from, personally I've used Dropbox for this. But Box, or Google Drive or whatever platform you prefer should work fine. </p><p> Create a top level folder - "Xxxx Due Diligence" where Xxxx is the name of the company, so that when it shows up in their Dropbox or Google Drive they will know whose DD it is ! </p><p> Get hold of a standard template, I like GSBI's, because it has an impact section and is fairly comprehensive. Rename this as "_ Xxx Due Diligence index". The "_" is important, so it sits at the top of the folder. </p><p> Methodologically find the appropriate documents, and put them in the drive.... Importantly - use names that reflect the section they refer to in the template and date e.g. "A2 A&R Bylaws signed.pdf" </p><p> Explain in the index anything odd.... one important thing is that anyone reviewing these does not think you are hiding anything. Its much better to disclose that an important document is missing, than to have the investor ask for it and you not be able to find it. </p><p> THEN ----- when I get a question that asks me for 5-10 questions I'll just attach the relevant files and respond in the questions with the file names. </p><p> If the list is a lot longer, then I send them a pointer to the DD directory and tell them "I believe all the questions are answered here, please let me know if I've missed anything". My experience is that people are really impressed that I have all this information together already. </p> 2021-08-27T00:00:00.000Z 2021-08-27T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3383-debunked_recycled_filament Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I've looked at several business plans proposing creating filament for 3D printers from recycled plastic.

<p> The problem is always that the cost of separating the plastic to the correct type and color, then extruding it, puts the price significantly above that of virgin filament, and the total market for filament isn't actually that big, so finding the subset willing to pay premium means adding shipping cost/emissions. </p><p> In addition the recycled fiber can be lower quality, since any impurity - from failure to separate properly - can cause a weakness. </p><p> Pretty soon people realize that if they've gone to all this effort to separate the plastic, they'd be better off making granules for injection moulding, which have an order-of-magnitude bigger market. </p> 2023-05-01T00:00:00.000Z 2023-05-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3384-thumbcircle Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A simple connecting warm up game in a circle

<p> Group connects in a circle. Each puts out both hands as fists with thumbs counter-clockwise. Grab the right thumb in the left fist. Grab the thumb of the person on your right in the right fist. Now you have a circle. </p><p> Pass a squeeze around, when you feel it, pass it on. Try a wave - move up and then person to your left moves up, and so on. </p> 2023-05-02T00:00:00.000Z 2023-05-02T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3385-mexicanwave Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Variations on the popular theme from soccer.

<ul> <li>Form a circle, can be tidy, or several people deep.</li> <li>Facilitator stands in the center.</li> <li>When he points at someone they start a wave, and move it around the circle. </li> <li>Try variations, like two waves chasing each other, </li> <li>Or waves in opposite directions. </li> </ul> 2023-05-02T00:00:00.000Z 2023-05-02T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3386-guruquestions Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

A simple improv game of Q&A.

<ul> <li>One or more volunteers sit on cushions at the front - typically crosslegged like a guru.</li> <li>The audience ask questions of a particular guru.</li> <li>Gurus respond - in character.</li> <li>(It helps if the 'gurus' are at least familiar with newage memes, so pick your audience.)</li> </ul> 2021-04-06T00:00:00.000Z 2021-04-06T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3387-chalmers_long_term_storage Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Chalmers University in Sweden have developed a novel system that uses light to change the isomer of a chemical, and then recovers that energy at a later date.

See the <!-- https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/chem/news/Pages/Emissions-free-energy-system-saves-heat-from-the-summer-sun-for-winter-.aspx --> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221127061751/https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/chem/news/Pages/Emissions-free-energy-system-saves-heat-from-the-summer-sun-for-winter-.aspx">university release</a>, or the 4 papers it links to for the details. </p><p> They say their target market is seasonal (collect in the summer, release in the winter). There are phase change materials that can do this already, but the ones I've heard of are either expensive, or have few cycle times / short lives. So its a worthwhile goal. </p><p> Questions I'd want answering .... </p><ul> <li>How many cycles - sounds good,the Indian article says 125 cycles with no change, which sounds good. Might even get the day/night storage.</ul> <li>Efficiency light->chemical->heat. No information, which is concerning</ul> <li>Efficiency electricity->heat->chemical->heat->electricity, is probably not going to be good if its only a 63*C temperature change.</ul> <li>Cost per kilojoule for the entire system, that's going to be the main concern.</ul> <li>Time to market - the article suggests 10 years, which suggests there is fundamental research needed, not just commercialization.</ul> </ul><p> Getting the system cost per kilojoule down will be crucial for this to work to store summer heat for the winter, and there is really no info anywhere to indicate if that is possible or likely. </p> <p>Update: There was an update from <a href="https://www.chalmers.se/en/current/news/k-converting-solar-energy-to-electricity-on-demand/" archive="https://web.archive.org/web/20231130020012/https://www.chalmers.se/en/current/news/k-converting-solar-energy-to-electricity-on-demand/">Chalmers in 2022</a> </p> 2023-12-18T00:00:00.000Z 2023-12-18T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3388-russian_internet_-_m Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Back in the early 90's I was the US technical lead on Russia's connection to the internet. Someone recently found the users manual from that service.

<p> Yes - back in the 90's the Soviet Union (before it disintegrated) was connected to the internet via a satellite connection that terminated on my desk. It wasn't a full TCP/IP link at that time, but store and forward email, shared databases and forums. For most people (other than government or military), it was the ONLY way to get online in the Soviet Union. </p><p> It might be hard to believe, but turning off one power switch, (or an incompetent phone technician in the basement) would have taken the entire country offline. </p><p> There are many stories to be told of those days, but this manual recently surfaced. </p><p> <a href="https://archive.org/details/sovam-teleport-usa-guide-to-services/mode/2up">Sovam Teleport USA - Guide to Services</a> </p> 2021-06-04T00:00:00.000Z 2021-06-04T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3389-swedish_system_for_t Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

There is some interesting PR about a Swedish system for energy storage, that raises some questions.

<p> First thoughts ... tracking the churnalism back through the chain, they seem to come from <a href="https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/chem/news/Pages/Emissions-free-energy-system-saves-heat-from-the-summer-sun-for-winter-.aspx" archive=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127061751/https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/chem/news/Pages/Emissions-free-energy-system-saves-heat-from-the-summer-sun-for-winter-.aspx"> Chalmers.se</a> which also has links to 4 papers which I haven't read. </p><p> They say their target market is winter-to-summer storage. There are phase change materials that can do this already, but the ones I've heard of are either expensive, or have few cycle times / short lives. So its a worthwhile goal. </p><p> Questions I'd want answering .... <ol> <li>How many cycles - sounds good,the Indian article says 125 cycles with no change, which sounds good. Might even get the day/night storage.</li> <li>Efficiency light->chemical->heat. No information, which is concerning</li> <li>Efficiency electricity->heat->chemical->heat->electricity, is probably not going to be good if its only a 63*C temperature change. </li> <li>Cost per kilojoule for the entire system, that's going to be the main concern. </li> <li>Time to market - the article suggests 10 years, which suggests there is fundamental research needed, not just commercialization.</li> </ol> </p><p> Getting the system cost per kilojoule down will be crucial for this to work to store summer heat for the winter, and there is really no info anywhere to indicate if that is possible or likely. </p> 2024-01-28T00:00:00.000Z 2024-01-28T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3390-debunking_-_pyrolysi Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> There are a lot of proposals around for Pyrolysis as a solution of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and in particular the plastic that we see spread all over the environment in many countries. </p><p> However there are few, if any, successful examples that I can find. </p><p> I've seen quite a good theoretical analysis from 2018 of why it can't work. via <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.10.038">Elsevier</a> or <a href="https://sci-hub.et-fine.com/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.10.038">SciHub</a> </p><p>

</p><p> Sections 1..4 of that article are important as it goes over the ways that pyrolysis has been made to look good, while - according to the authors - not having success cases. </p><p> Section 5 goes into the thermodynamic theory of why it can't work. In my experience these kind of analysis - even when accurate - often miss some alternate way of looking at the problem, but the analysis does raise questions that IMHO proponents should be prepared to answer. </p><p> In my own experience, when I've raised the issues with proponents I've got avoidance, which is why I've not helped or supported any projects in that space yet. </p><p> Note - this critique is not intended to reflect poorly on other gasification processes - such as All Power Labs, where pyrolysis is one part of a way of extracting energy from a specific, known, fuel (e.g. wood chips, or ag waste). </p><p> So the questions to ask - presuming the main feedstock is plastic or largely plastic MSW. </p><p> 1: How sorted does your waste have to be. e.g. all plastics, or just PET etc. </p><p> 2: What toxics are emitted by the process. </p><p> If the answer to 1 is "Not sorted" and 2 is "None" then: </p><p> 2b: Where do the toxics in the input - for example halogens in PVC etc and in plasticizers - end up in your system (a system diagram should exist to show this) </p><p> 3: What post-processing is needed before your output can be used as a fuel - and in what circumstances can it be used, what is the result of that combustion - e.g. just CO2 and Water, or what toxics. </p><p> 4: What is the complete energy balance - including not just energy supplied to maintain pyrolysis and obtained from the fuel. but also any sorting or preprocessing of input, and treatment of waste products. </p><p> If you are claiming a positive energy balance (i.e. Energy From Waste), is there any existing plant of your design which is running entirely on its output oil/gas? and if not why not? </p><p> Every time I've asked these kind of questions - since Akiniro Ito's nonsense in 2009 which while proposed as a fuel source for polluted islands produced far less diesel than required to operate the machine - I've been fobbed off with non-answers, so it hasn't surprised me that according to the authors of the paper there have been only failures in the space. </p><p> Please note - if anyone reading this is a promotor of pyrolysis for plastic or MSW to energy and wishes to answer these questions fully then I'll be happy to append your response here. </p><p> 2024-03-28T00:00:00.000Z 2024-03-28T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3391-creating_your_risk_a Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Every business, and especially every startup, should have a well though out risk analysis. </p><p> Here is how to put one together. </p>

<p> This is one of a series of <a href=/?metakey=mentoring>mentoring</a> articles I am writing. The intention is to demystify some of the questions and challenges impact startup founders face. Feel free to reuse it, but I would appreciate a credit and a link back. </p><p> I don't have a template for a risk analysis, though I have done it enough times I can freehand it. For me it is usually a Word or Google Doc put somewhere it is easy to update. It is important to distinguish between "risk analysis" and "risk mitigation/adaptation" though I use the same process for both. </p> <h4>The risk analysis - a set of risks and their likelyhood</h4> <p> Start with the questions, e.g.<br/> <b>What is the risk?</b> e.g. Alice quits.</br> <b>How likely is this?</b> 20% in next year, higher if we do not get funding by March.</br> <b>How severe is it?</b> Catastropic - nobody else can make the widget. </p><p> Note that since some of these risks relate to personnel, you might need both a private version, and one shared by the whole team. </p> <h4>Risk graph</h4> <p> Take the questions and plug them into a graph or a grid where one axis is likelihood and the other is severity. The ones you need to deal with first are obviously the high likelihood ones that have a severe impact. i.e. those at the top right of the graph. </p><p> For example you might not have to worry about the following two:<br/> It is highly likely the hardware store is out of ZZZ, but severity is low if I can switch suppliers.<br/> It is very severe impact if you get into a motorbike accident, but likelihood is low. </p> <h4>Risk Mitigation</h4> <p> Then for each of the risks, but especially the likely+severe quadrant ask each of the following questions: </p> For example if a high likelihood, high severity risk is that Alice quits.<br/> <b>How do I minimize the impact on the business?</b> Make sure someone else learns how to make YYY.<br/> <b>How do I reduce the likelihood?</b> Promise Alice a salary increase once we raise investment, make sure they are having fun at work.<br/> <b>How do I get advanced warning?</b> Do something social with Alice once a month and check in.<br/> </p><p> For likely + severe you might want to have a backup plan ready - e.g.:<br/> <b>What will I do if I get warning?</b> Start networking for a replacement, give Alice a bonus<br/> <b>What will I do if the event happens?</b> Advertise in these channels, bring on Bob as a part-time consultant.<br/> </p><p> That is about it - do not just put this plan on the shelf and forget about it, make a note to take a look every couple of months and update it. </p> 2024-04-15T00:00:00.000Z 2024-04-15T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3392-zebras_rather_than_u Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I was interviewed for the DevEx pro newsletter at the Impact Investment Summit "Asia Pacific" last month.

<p> Zebra investors. While social entrepreneurs might be like a herd of warrior elephants, some startups are more like zebras. That’s what entrepreneur-turned-mentor Mitra Ardron told my colleague Vince Chadwick at the Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific in Sydney last month. </p><p> Vince found Ardron, whose most recent startup Lumeter provided software for off-grid solar, looking unimpressed at the summit and asked him for his thoughts, which were basically: </p><ul><li> Too many investors at expensive conferences, rather than entrepreneurs telling those investors what problems they are experiencing.</li><li> Time-consuming due diligence imposed by investors, who may not even invest for long enough or at sufficient scale to let the founder focus on running their company before they have to start looking for funding elsewhere.</li><li> A gap between angel investors investing up to $200K or so, and larger impact funds whose $40K transaction costs mean they can't invest less than $2 million.</li></ul><p> The result? A tendency to look for one unicorn startup to invest an entire fund in. “It doesn’t work in impact,” Ardron told Vince. “I’ve never seen a 40x exit in impact [investing].” </p><p> “We're chasing the wrong models. So we're leaving on the table good, solid companies that could generate a solid, risk-adjusted return, but which don’t meet the unicorn model. We're more like zebras than unicorns.” </p> 2024-03-08T00:00:00.000Z 2024-03-08T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3393-mentoring_an_impact Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Impact Startups often make the mistake of thinking their only currency is cash - of which they have very little, and that they can't afford, in particular, good advice. </p><p> In reality, an impact startup has a number of alternative currencies, some, but not all of which, are also in limited supply. </p><h4> Equity </h4><p> The most obvious is equity in the business. By giving away a fraction of a percent in the business you allow participation in your success. </p><p> Downside: Its important to be cautious with equity, as its easy to throw it around and end up with a lot of small shareholders, who may have contributed very little. </p><h4> Meaningful experiences </h4><p> Many people crave meaningful experiences in their life, they want to be part of doing something good, and the impact you are doing gives them a good story to tell themselves and their friends. </p><p> Downside: People with otherwise meaningless lives can be draining and take up a lot of time. </p><h4> Recognition </h4><p> Just as a sponsor of a charity event gets recognition in return for cash, being involved with your project could bring tangible and intangible benefits to someone - for example being mentioned in your social media or their mentioning you.. </p><p> Downside: careful of being used for greenwashing, as someone else's bad reputation can reflect back on you. </p><h4> Experience and Career growth </h4><p> It can be hard to get useful experience. By working with your business, in a voluntary (or poorly paid) capacity, recent graduates (for example) can often step up to a level they wouldn't be trusted with in corporate life. This allows them to get both experience they can learn from, and something they can put on their resume. </h4><p> Downside: There is a reason that recent graduates aren't given responsible roles in corporates! Be careful who you trust with important roles, book learning is not the same as experience. Allow someone to grow into a role, so that you can eliminate those who don't learn quickly from their mistakes. </p><p> Use each of these currencies carefully and you can bootstrap the impact startup to the point where you do have cash to pay people. </p>

<p> Impact Startups often make the mistake of thinking their only currency is cash - of which they have very little, and that they can't afford, in particular, good advice. </p><p> In reality, an impact startup has a number of alternative currencies, some, but not all of which, are also in limited supply. </p><h4> Equity </h4><p> The most obvious is equity in the business. By giving away a fraction of a percent in the business you allow participation in your success. </p><p> Downside: Its important to be cautious with equity, as its easy to throw it around and end up with a lot of small shareholders, who may have contributed very little. </p><h4> Meaningful experiences </h4><p> Many people crave meaningful experiences in their life, they want to be part of doing something good, and the impact you are doing gives them a good story to tell themselves and their friends. </p><p> Downside: People with otherwise meaningless lives can be draining and take up a lot of time. </p><h4> Recognition </h4><p> Just as a sponsor of a charity event gets recognition in return for cash, being involved with your project could bring tangible and intangible benefits to someone - for example being mentioned in your social media or their mentioning you.. </p><p> Downside: careful of being used for greenwashing, as someone else's bad reputation can reflect back on you. </p><h4> Experience and Career growth </h4><p> It can be hard to get useful experience. By working with your business, in a voluntary (or poorly paid) capacity, recent graduates (for example) can often step up to a level they wouldn't be trusted with in corporate life. This allows them to get both experience they can learn from, and something they can put on their resume. </h4><p> Downside: There is a reason that recent graduates aren't given responsible roles in corporates! Be careful who you trust with important roles, book learning is not the same as experience. Allow someone to grow into a role, so that you can eliminate those who don't learn quickly from their mistakes. </p><p> Use each of these currencies carefully and you can bootstrap the impact startup to the point where you do have cash to pay people. </p> 2024-01-16T00:00:00.000Z 2024-01-16T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3394-thinking_about_risk Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Every business needs to think about risks, </p><p> It is important to distinguish between "risk analysis" and "risk mitigation/adaptation" though i use the same process, and the same document for both. </p><p> This is something that most small businesses should be able to do for themselves but, especially for complex businesses a consultant might be needed. </p><p> I use a text document rather than a formal template. (I've given sample answers to most questions). </p><p> <b>Start with the questions:</b> </p><ul><li> What is the risk? XXX quits </li><li> How likely is this? 20% in next year </li><li> How severe is it? Catastropic - cannot make YYY </li></ul><p> This is the core, you can plug these into a table where one axis is likelihood and the other is severity - the risks you need to deal with first are obviously the high likelihood, high severity ones. </p><p> For example, it might be highly likely that a supplier runs out of ZZZ, but severity is low if I can switch suppliers). Or it would be very severe impact if I got into a motor vehicle accident, but the likelihood is low. </p><p> Then for each of them, but especially the likely+severe quadrant, ask each of the following questions. </p><p> For example if a high likelihood, high severity, risk is that Alice quits. </p><p> How do I minimize the impact on the business? e.g. Make sure someone else learns how to make YYY. </p><p> How do I reduce the likelihood? e.g. Promise Alice a salary increase once we raise investment, make sure they are having fun at work. </p><p> How do I get advanced warning? e.g. Do something social with Alice once a month and check in. </p><p> For likely + severe what is your backup plan? </p><p> For example - what you will do if you get warning that Alice is thinking of leaving? e.g. start networking for a replacement, give Alice a bonus. </p><p> and what will you do if the event happens. e.g. Advertise in these channels, bring on Bob as a part-time consultant. </p><p> This is pretty much the core of risk analysis/adaptation and mitigation. Of course, it is only a useful exercise if you pay attention to the risks and focus on the high risk/high severity ones. </p><p>

<p> Every business needs to think about risks, </p><p> It is important to distinguish between "risk analysis" and "risk mitigation/adaptation" though i use the same process, and the same document for both. </p><p> This is something that most small businesses should be able to do for themselves but, especially for complex businesses a consultant might be needed. </p><p> I use a text document rather than a formal template. (I've given sample answers to most questions). </p><p> <b>Start with the questions:</b> </p><ul><li> What is the risk? XXX quits </li><li> How likely is this? 20% in next year </li><li> How severe is it? Catastropic - cannot make YYY </li></ul><p> This is the core, you can plug these into a table where one axis is likelihood and the other is severity - the risks you need to deal with first are obviously the high likelihood, high severity ones. </p><p> For example, it might be highly likely that a supplier runs out of ZZZ, but severity is low if I can switch suppliers). Or it would be very severe impact if I got into a motor vehicle accident, but the likelihood is low. </p><p> Then for each of them, but especially the likely+severe quadrant, ask each of the following questions. </p><p> For example if a high likelihood, high severity, risk is that Alice quits. </p><p> How do I minimize the impact on the business? e.g. Make sure someone else learns how to make YYY. </p><p> How do I reduce the likelihood? e.g. Promise Alice a salary increase once we raise investment, make sure they are having fun at work. </p><p> How do I get advanced warning? e.g. Do something social with Alice once a month and check in. </p><p> For likely + severe what is your backup plan? </p><p> For example - what you will do if you get warning that Alice is thinking of leaving? e.g. start networking for a replacement, give Alice a bonus. </p><p> and what will you do if the event happens. e.g. Advertise in these channels, bring on Bob as a part-time consultant. </p><p> This is pretty much the core of risk analysis/adaptation and mitigation. Of course, it is only a useful exercise if you pay attention to the risks and focus on the high risk/high severity ones. </p><p> 2024-07-19T00:00:00.000Z 2024-07-19T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3395-i_am_sustainable_stu Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>"I am Sustainable Studios" is a startup led by Sandy Tiu.</p> <p>Sandy is a leading expert in circularity for textiles in hospitality</p> <p>I have been mentoring Sandy and helping her with Recyrcle, a project to take hospitality sheets and towels and find ways to recycle them into yarn, and weave that yarn back into useful products for the hospitality sector</p>

<p>"I am Sustainable Studios" is a startup led by Sandy Tiu.</p> <p>Sandy is a leading expert in circularity for textiles in hospitality</p> <p>I have been mentoring Sandy and helping her with Recyrcle, a project to take hospitality sheets and towels and find ways to recycle them into yarn, and weave that yarn back into useful products for the hospitality sector</p> 2024-06-10T00:00:00.000Z 2024-06-10T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3396-ai_and_stock_trading Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Since 90% of trading is a zero-sum speculation and gambling, i.e. one gambler trying to predict what another gambler is going to do, then it could get interesting, because the AI's will be battling each other, trying to guess what the other AIs will do because their training data will be predominantly the behavior of other AIs. </p><p> It will remove any remaining pretence that the value of a company on the stock exchange has any relationship to reality. </p><p> What will be interesting will be when the AIs co-speculating start causing such wild fluctuations that it kills real companies when there value goes effectively to zero. </p><p> This, by the way, increases the reason we need something like a Tobin tax, i.e. a tax on the gambling transaction, not the profit, to remove the incentives for our economy being effectively a casino. </p>

<p> Since 90% of trading is a zero-sum speculation and gambling, i.e. one gambler trying to predict what another gambler is going to do, then it could get interesting, because the AI's will be battling each other, trying to guess what the other AIs will do because their training data will be predominantly the behavior of other AIs. </p><p> It will remove any remaining pretence that the value of a company on the stock exchange has any relationship to reality. </p><p> What will be interesting will be when the AIs co-speculating start causing such wild fluctuations that it kills real companies when there value goes effectively to zero. </p><p> This, by the way, increases the reason we need something like a Tobin tax, i.e. a tax on the gambling transaction, not the profit, to remove the incentives for our economy being effectively a casino. </p> 2024-08-01T00:00:00.000Z 2024-08-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3397-invention,_patents_a Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> I’ve been thinking a bit about the process of invention, and the question of who really invented something, from the perspective of my work on the decentralized internet around 2000-2002. </p><p> Who invented something is an interesting question, partly because there is a time-component to it, i.e. who had the idea first, and in these fast moving times some of the interactions between ideas, business and law - especially Intellectual Property Law interfere with what could be a straightforward concept. </p>

<p> Let’s say you have an idea, is that 100% your idea, or is it really a minor iteration based on some other concepts you’ve heard. </p><p> If you write it up and publish it online you could argue that it’s your idea. But the act of publishing now makes it ineligible for patenting, so if you work for a company they are going to want you to keep quiet so their (slow) patent lawyer can write up a patent. </p><p> But ideas usually have their “time”, if all the precursors were there for you to build your invention - then there is a very good chance that someone else came had the same "invention" and also has a patent lawyer working on it. </p><p> There is actually a very good chance that more than one person “invented” the same idea independently. </p><p> In that spirit - and conscious of the saying “Success has a many parents, while failure has none” let me look at my own work around the early decentralisation of the internet around 2000. </p><p> There are a few key inventions in decentralized file sharing. </p><p> First is the idea of having a place, where a bunch of files, can be downloaded. The first popular example of this was FTP which was ‘invented” in 1971, but only used by a significant number of people in the late 80’s. </p><p> The first step of decentralisation was searching for those files across multiple sites - enter Archive, from Alan Emtage at McGill University in 1990 and spun off into Bunyip. </p><p> But these both rely on servers for the files, which was problematic if you didn’t have a server, or these were files that servers didn’t want to host. </p><p> To solve this, someone invented the idea of keeping track of the clients who had recently searched for a file, and pointing new searchers at those clients as a possible source of the file - this was the tech behind Napster and a number of similar P2P file sharing tools, mostly used for sharing audio ripped from CDs. </p><p> The problem with this is that many files have similar names, and may not be the same file. At FlyCode, I invented the idea of finding those files by their hash instead of their name in 2000, the provisional patent was filed June 2000, and the full patent, <a href="/files/patent_09883064_flycode_peer2peer.pdf">US Patent # 09883064</a> in June 2001, and published in 2002. </p><p> These dates are important, Bittorrent was “invented” in 2001 by Bram Cohen, used hashes to identify files, i.e. only slightly later than us, and I have no reason to believe Bram got the idea from us (or vica-versa), because the idea had never been published. It was simply an idea that was “obvious” to people trying to solve that specific problem. So, who can claim they “invented” it? </p><p> We also "invented" the idea of swarming, i.e. of getting parts of the file from each of the clients, importantly getting more from the clients that respond quicker, and combining them and checking the hash, but Flycode ran out of money, and went into liquidation, before a patent could be filed. So whether we “invented” it or not, depends on your definition of “invention”. </p><p> The BitTorrent team also had the same idea, and again I have no reason to think we pinched it from them, or vica-versa. </p><p> BitTorrent took it one step further, and identified the parts of the file by their own hashes, and published a catalogue of the hashes as a “Torrent” file. </p><p> At some point - and I’m not sure if this originated with the Bittorrent people - the Distributed Hash Table was invented, allowing the finding of those Torrent files, without depending on a single server as a point of failure. </p><p> These components - hashes; swarming; and DHTs form the basis of most systems for accessing files in a distributed manner - whether it’s Bittorrent, Webtorrrent, IPFS or several others. </p><p> So did those systems infringe our Intellectual Property? or did they just build on the ideas that had preceeded them? </p><p> That patent got bought by a troll, a company that doesn't invent stuff itself, but buys patents so it can sue other companies who never knew they were infringing them. </p><p> Luckily, the troll probably never realized what they had, or couldn't figure out who to sue, and it is now abandoned, so the questions will never end up in the broken "justice" system. </p> 2024-08-09T00:00:00.000Z 2024-08-09T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3398-worstandbestoutcomes Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I like this tool for planning, to get past thinking about the worst possible outcome. Dave Pollard has a <a href="https://howtosavetheworld.ca/2020/08/22/whats-the-best-possible-outcome/">good writeup.</a>

I like this tool for planning, to get past thinking about the worst possible outcome. Dave Pollard has a <a href="https://howtosavetheworld.ca/2020/08/22/whats-the-best-possible-outcome/">good writeup.</a> 1994-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 1994-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3399-vrmlvag Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I was heavily involved in the VRML standardisation effort, this work spanned my time with four companies - <a href="#worldsinc">Worlds Inc</a>, WorldMaker, <a href="#paragraph">ParaGraph</a> and <a href="#sgi">Silicon Graphics</a> </p><ul> <li>Check out some of the technical proposals I wrote in my <a href="vrml/index.htm">VRML</a>directory.</li> <li> I co-authored the Moving Worlds proposal along with Sony and SGI. This proposal was adopted by an overwhelming majority of the VRML community, and became VRML2.0 and then when it was adopted by ISO for standardisation it became VRML97.</li> <li> Then I worked in collaboration with Blaxxun and Sony on the Living Worlds proposal for multi-user VRML worlds.</li> </ul>

<p>I was heavily involved in the VRML standardisation effort, this work spanned my time with four companies - <a href="#worldsinc">Worlds Inc</a>, WorldMaker, <a href="#paragraph">ParaGraph</a> and <a href="#sgi">Silicon Graphics</a> </p><ul> <li>Check out some of the technical proposals I wrote in my <a href="vrml/index.htm">VRML</a>directory.</li> <li> I co-authored the Moving Worlds proposal along with Sony and SGI. This proposal was adopted by an overwhelming majority of the VRML community, and became VRML2.0 and then when it was adopted by ISO for standardisation it became VRML97.</li> <li> Then I worked in collaboration with Blaxxun and Sony on the Living Worlds proposal for multi-user VRML worlds.</li> </ul> 1994-10-01T00:00:00.000Z 1994-10-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3400-wais Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>WAIS was, along with Gopher, the predecessor of the Web. WAIS Inc was the company set up by the original inventor of WAIS - Brewster Kahle. WAIS Inc commercialised the WAIS server and ported it to several platforms. Including the SCO Unix port which I did for them. They made a name for themselves in online publishing, and were aquired in early 95 by AOL. </p><p> CMP was the first publishing house to put all of its titles online. It had around 16 or 17 computer related titles, including Network World, Internet Business Report, Interactive Age, etc. I was the lead engineer with WAIS on this project in a crash 2-month project in late 1994 called Techweb.

<p>WAIS was, along with Gopher, the predecessor of the Web. WAIS Inc was the company set up by the original inventor of WAIS - Brewster Kahle. WAIS Inc commercialised the WAIS server and ported it to several platforms. Including the SCO Unix port which I did for them. They made a name for themselves in online publishing, and were aquired in early 95 by AOL. </p><p> CMP was the first publishing house to put all of its titles online. It had around 16 or 17 computer related titles, including Network World, Internet Business Report, Interactive Age, etc. I was the lead engineer with WAIS on this project in a crash 2-month project in late 1994 called Techweb. 1989-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 1989-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3401-pandora Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>In 1989, I co-founded Pandora Systems with Mark Graham. As VP Engineering, I was responsible for almost all development at Pandora. The focus of the company was on producing complete solutions, in particular around the areas of usage by average users as opposed to the focus of most systems on high-end users. Over six years we played a prominent part in the early development of the commercial internet, highlights included:</p> <ul><li> The main non-university developers of enhancements to the Gopher system (the predecessor of the WWW). Including a leading role in making sure that Gopher's standards were integrated with the rest of the internet. </li><li> Enhancing many public domain and commercial internet products to make them usable by average, rather than academic, users on low-bandwidth links, including for example: Tin, Mush, Less, Caucus, Pine, Prospero </li><li> In '87-'88 Pacific Bell created a network for K-12 called the Knowledge Network, we built the applications for this using our enhanced public domain products. </li><li> Building a multi-system offline newsreader - Messenger - that worked on Caucus, the Well, IGC etc and was optimized for poor network connections. </li></ul>

<p>In 1989, I co-founded Pandora Systems with Mark Graham. As VP Engineering, I was responsible for almost all development at Pandora. The focus of the company was on producing complete solutions, in particular around the areas of usage by average users as opposed to the focus of most systems on high-end users. Over six years we played a prominent part in the early development of the commercial internet, highlights included:</p> <ul><li> The main non-university developers of enhancements to the Gopher system (the predecessor of the WWW). Including a leading role in making sure that Gopher's standards were integrated with the rest of the internet. </li><li> Enhancing many public domain and commercial internet products to make them usable by average, rather than academic, users on low-bandwidth links, including for example: Tin, Mush, Less, Caucus, Pine, Prospero </li><li> In '87-'88 Pacific Bell created a network for K-12 called the Knowledge Network, we built the applications for this using our enhanced public domain products. </li><li> Building a multi-system offline newsreader - Messenger - that worked on Caucus, the Well, IGC etc and was optimized for poor network connections. </li></ul> 1993-09-01T00:00:00.000Z 1993-09-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3402-AOL Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>From Sept 93, through early 94, I designed and developed AOL's first gateway to the internet - which at the time meant Gopher and WAIS. It had to make the hostile internet look friendly and reliable to the average AOL user. This included: </p><ul> <li>Building what was, at the time, the biggest cache on the internet - with a 75% hit-rate.</li> <li>Building a classification system - similar to Yahoo, with Editor's choices and the rest of the net. </li> <li>Handling about 10% of AOL's then user-base.</li> <li>Educating AOL of the importance of the internet.</li> </ul>

<p>From Sept 93, through early 94, I designed and developed AOL's first gateway to the internet - which at the time meant Gopher and WAIS. It had to make the hostile internet look friendly and reliable to the average AOL user. This included: </p><ul> <li>Building what was, at the time, the biggest cache on the internet - with a 75% hit-rate.</li> <li>Building a classification system - similar to Yahoo, with Editor's choices and the rest of the net. </li> <li>Handling about 10% of AOL's then user-base.</li> <li>Educating AOL of the importance of the internet.</li> </ul> 1992-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 1992-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3403-ietf Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>The IETF is the body that set standards for the internet, its motto is "Rough Consensus and Working Code", its approach to standardisation was been a large part of the success of the internet, in making sure that products from different sources will interwork. I was active in the information retrieval working groups of the IETF for several years. This included:</p><ul> <li>Writing one of the drafts of the standard for the URL.</li> <li>being actively involved in the specification work for HTTP.</li> <li> leading the push to get the same content-type designator used in information retrieval as in mail (MIME) applications</li> <li> authoring the Internet-Draft for <a href="uri/draft-ietf-uri-urn2urc-00.txt">URN2URC scenarios</a></li> <li> co-authoring the Internet Draft of the <a href="uri/draft-ietf-uri-resource-names-03.txt">URN document</a> presented in November 94.</li> <li>co-authoring the 1994 Internet Architecture's Board discussion paper on <a href="uri/IIIA.html">Internet Information Architecture</a></li> </ul>

<p>The IETF is the body that set standards for the internet, its motto is "Rough Consensus and Working Code", its approach to standardisation was been a large part of the success of the internet, in making sure that products from different sources will interwork. I was active in the information retrieval working groups of the IETF for several years. This included:</p><ul> <li>Writing one of the drafts of the standard for the URL.</li> <li>being actively involved in the specification work for HTTP.</li> <li> leading the push to get the same content-type designator used in information retrieval as in mail (MIME) applications</li> <li> authoring the Internet-Draft for <a href="uri/draft-ietf-uri-urn2urc-00.txt">URN2URC scenarios</a></li> <li> co-authoring the Internet Draft of the <a href="uri/draft-ietf-uri-resource-names-03.txt">URN document</a> presented in November 94.</li> <li>co-authoring the 1994 Internet Architecture's Board discussion paper on <a href="uri/IIIA.html">Internet Information Architecture</a></li> </ul> 1990-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 1990-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3404-sovamorg Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961113015146/http://www.roline.ru/"><img src="/images/rrol.gif" border="0" alt="RROL" width="88" height="29" /></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961113015146/http://www.roline.ru/"><img src="/images/erol.gif" border="0" alt="EROL" width="88" height="29" /></a> Sovam Teleport was one of the main Internet and communications service providers in Russia, started in the mid 80's, long before it was fashionable (or safe). Since most of their users had low baudrate modems, on appalling phone lines, their dial-in services were based on Pandora's products. I was one of three Pandora consultants who worked with Sovam on a daily basis, including travelling to Moscow, assisting their work in bringing Russia into the telecommunications revolution. At one point a third of Russia's data traffic passed through the PC on my desk, and during the coup in which Gorbachev was deposed we were the only link into Russia that stayed functioning. </p>

<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961113015146/http://www.roline.ru/"><img src="/images/rrol.gif" border="0" alt="RROL" width="88" height="29" /></a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961113015146/http://www.roline.ru/"><img src="/images/erol.gif" border="0" alt="EROL" width="88" height="29" /></a> Sovam Teleport was one of the main Internet and communications service providers in Russia, started in the mid 80's, long before it was fashionable (or safe). Since most of their users had low baudrate modems, on appalling phone lines, their dial-in services were based on Pandora's products. I was one of three Pandora consultants who worked with Sovam on a daily basis, including travelling to Moscow, assisting their work in bringing Russia into the telecommunications revolution. At one point a third of Russia's data traffic passed through the PC on my desk, and during the coup in which Gorbachev was deposed we were the only link into Russia that stayed functioning. </p> 1989-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 1989-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3405-apc Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> I co-founded the APC in 1989 along with Greenet and IGC (PeaceNet and EcoNet) as an organisation that would identify candidate organizations who had the technical and political capabilities to support the progressive communities in their countries, and left GreenNet to be its first technical director. </p><p> I assisted the Web in Canada to migrate its users and information services to the APC's software, and fully integrate email and news with GreenNet and IGC. This methodology was then followed to bootstrap Alternex in Brazil, Pegasus in Australia, Nicarao in Nicaragua, and Nordnet in Sweden. </p><p> The APC is now recognized as the leading organization in this field with affiliates in around 30 countries, and was largely responsible for bringing much of Africa online in the '90s before shifting focus to be the peak body for internet human rights. See <a href="https://www.apc.org">www.apc.org</a> </p>

<p> I co-founded the APC in 1989 along with Greenet and IGC (PeaceNet and EcoNet) as an organisation that would identify candidate organizations who had the technical and political capabilities to support the progressive communities in their countries, and left GreenNet to be its first technical director. </p><p> I assisted the Web in Canada to migrate its users and information services to the APC's software, and fully integrate email and news with GreenNet and IGC. This methodology was then followed to bootstrap Alternex in Brazil, Pegasus in Australia, Nicarao in Nicaragua, and Nordnet in Sweden. </p><p> The APC is now recognized as the leading organization in this field with affiliates in around 30 countries, and was largely responsible for bringing much of Africa online in the '90s before shifting focus to be the peak body for internet human rights. See <a href="https://www.apc.org">www.apc.org</a> </p> 1985-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 1985-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3406-greennet Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> I founded GreenNet in 1984, England's fourth ISP at a time when the net was X.25 not TCP/IP. (the other three ISPs are long gone but GreenNet still exists). </p><p> GreenNet provided email and information services to the non-profit sector (Environment, Peace and Human Rights) in Britain and many neighbouring countries without affordable email. </p><p> We ran the first internet cafe in London. At a time when most email services were islands, we had the first british service where email could be sent to users on almost any other service. The network grew at 15% per month during my time running it. </p><p> GreenNet is based in London. <a href="https://www.gn.apc.org">www.gn.apc.org</a> </p><p>

<p> I founded GreenNet in 1984, England's fourth ISP at a time when the net was X.25 not TCP/IP. (the other three ISPs are long gone but GreenNet still exists). </p><p> GreenNet provided email and information services to the non-profit sector (Environment, Peace and Human Rights) in Britain and many neighbouring countries without affordable email. </p><p> We ran the first internet cafe in London. At a time when most email services were islands, we had the first british service where email could be sent to users on almost any other service. The network grew at 15% per month during my time running it. </p><p> GreenNet is based in London. <a href="https://www.gn.apc.org">www.gn.apc.org</a> </p><p> 2024-08-08T00:00:00.000Z 2024-08-08T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3407-askingtoughquestions Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I recently sold my ticket to Socap 2024 and a few people asked me why. I thought it worth responding publicly, as I would like to raise the question of where we ask the tough questions about our impact ecosystem, and how to make it work better.

<p> Most social entrepreneurs, will tell you (privately) that the Impact Investing space is pretty broken. If we are going to fix it, we need to be having the tough conversations. I need to focus limited money, and time, on places where tough conversations are happening, and unfortunately that is no longer at Socap - especially not on the program. </p><p> It is not surprising. I am told that most panels are “pay-to-play”, and people who have paid for sessions are not going to put anyone on “their” panel that contradicts their core message - so we aren’t seeing experienced entrepreneurs on the panels. </p><p> Socap used to be good - in the early days the program attracted the full spectrum of impact (SE, ESO, Investor), across all the sectors. Then, for many years, the program was poor, but the outside tables at Fort Mason allowed SEs to gather and talk with the investors and ESOs who could afford the ticket. At the new venue at Yuerba Buena, there is no such gathering space, making the conference far less interesting for those of us who do pay, since the experienced SEs are mostly not there. </p><p> In fact, almost all the experienced entrepreneurs at Socap are the few who, like me, have moved from being an entrepreneur to being an investor or ESO (Entrepreneur Support Organizations), and we - as those most likely to raise the tough questions - don’t get invited onto panels. </p><p> When I raised the issue of the lack of entrepreneurs on the measurement track to one of the organizers from Sorenson last year, they said "If you do not like the conference why do you come?" So this year I'm taking their advice and skipping it. </p><p> Some of the questions I think we should be asking are below but there is a much longer conversation on this <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mitraardron_i-recently-sold-my-ticket-to-socap-2024-and-activity-7227136276762701824-u2dh">post on LinkedIn</a> including the discussion of where - if anywhere - virtually or in person - people find honest, tough, discussion about the future of impact and impact investing. </p><p> If you are an impact fund that has paid a lot to have a panel, you are not going to ask questions like: </p><ul><li> Could the lack of pipeline be because no-one is investing in the valley of death between angels and funds ? </li><li> * Are unicorns, or even deca-corns, that pay off the entire fund with one exit a myth. </li><li> * Should we even be looking for exits in Social Enterprises? </li><li> * Will angels invest in the early SEs if there is no-one to fund the next round ? </li><li> * Could the shape of our pipe be the problem - that there we need to structure the finance to the shape of SEs, rather than structure SEs to fit the finance. </li><li> * Are closed-end funds at all relevant since they’ll likely have to force a premature exit, destroying both financial and impact return ?</p><p> </li></ul><p> If you are an impact measurement consultant who has paid a lot to have a panel you will not be asking: </p><ul><li> * Is the cost of impact measurement - often as much as a 15% tax of the revenue - making difficult sectors impossible ? </li><li> * Are we diverting resources from creating impact to produce reports that no-one reads.? </li><li> * Have we done an independent measure of our own Impact ? </li><li> * In fact you will probably make sure that the entire impact measurement track has zero entrepreneurs on it - as happened in 2023.</p><p> </li></ul><p> And if you are a certifying body (Organic, fair-trade, B-corp) that has paid a lot, you certainly will not be asking: </p><ul><li> * Does making certifications so expensive drive prevent the best, often small, SEs from being certified? </li><li> * Do lower standards, allowing corporates who miss-behave, but can afford the certifiers to dilute the standard to meaninglessness ? </p><p> </li></ul><p> There is, of-course, Socap-Open, but its a lot of work to put a panel together with a roughly 3% chance of it getting on the program. </p> 1994-01-01T00:00:00.000Z 1994-01-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3408-microtimes100 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Microtimes - the Silicon Valley industry magazine of the early 90's - named Mitra Ardron, Mark Graham, and Brewster Kahle in its list of the top 100 industry leaders and unsung heroes.

<p> Its on page 84, listed between Bill Gates and Andy Grove (Intel)! </p> <h4> Mark Graham, President; Mitra Technical Director; Pandora Systems. </h4><p> Both Graham and Mitra are longtime veterans of the online world: Graham previously cofounded the Institute for Global Communications and was the director of PeaceNet; Mitra was the founder and director of GreenNet in the UK and more recently worked on Internet applications such as Gopher and WAIS. At Pandora, they worked on a number of significant project during 1993, notable the network service for WIRE, the women’s online service and the WAIS and Gopher gateways for America Online’s Internet Center. They’ve also been working extensively to help develop the Internet in the former Soviet Union, providing a vital resource during a traumatic economic transition. </p><p> <a href="/microtimesissue100unse_81.pdf">Full issue.</a> </p> 2024-09-07T00:00:00.000Z 2024-09-07T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3409-eso_mapping Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I think the ESO space is roughly divided into 4 groups - supporting different kinds of entrepreneurs, and with different needs in terms of mentors and investment. Maybe we could create better company-ESO fit ?

<p> I’m heading to the ANDE conference in Bangkok, its a conference mostly for Enterprise Support Organizations (ESO) - I'm tring to map out the attendees </p><p> I think the ESO space is roughly divided into 4 groups - and welcome alternate perspectives. </p><ol><li> Micro: Support creating lots of small (1 person/family) enterprises - impact is employment creation. Most ESOs at Ande seem to be this group. </li><li> SGB: Support medium size businesses - stereotypical examples take a waste stream, &/or use a vulnerable workforce to create something beautiful to sell to rich people. Impact mostly in employment creation & rarely scales. </li><li> Impact: Support scalable businesses addressing a human need - e.g. water, food, sanitation, often the innovation is doing this at a cost affordable to the beneficiaries (in contrast to grant funded / subsidised non-profits), and the impact is in the service provided. Often the ESO’s are specialised, for example I support hard-tech innovation (materials, IoT, energy, circularity etc). I know others in Regen Ag; Ocean; Circular Economy; etc, but I’m not seeing them among ANDE attendees. These enterprises need highly skilled mentors who understand the space or technology the enterprise is working with. </li><li> Scaling: Those who scale the "Impact" enterprises at a later stage. “Unreasonable” for example used to support the "Impact" companies but now supports these later stage companies. Most impact funds are here. </li></ol> <p> This is, in no way, suggesting one group is more useful than the others, the level of impact of each business grows through these layers, but so do the amount of resources and finance required per business, so an incubator that might be able to support 100 "Micro" each hiring 2 people, might be able to only support 10 SGBs each of which is hiring 20 people, for a similar impact. </p><p> One of the problems we don’t seem to address in our space are the lack of fit - two examples. Many of the ESO’s in the SGB group take on "Impact" companies, which need specialised support and their staff and mentor pools do not have the skills to support them. I was introduced to one company well into a program designed for SGB (employment creators), and they said that I was the first Mentor that had actually understood their business and its challenges. </p><p> "Scaling" investors are always complaining about lack of pipeline, but that is because most of the funding is for "Micro" and "SGB" SMEs which rarely can scale to be "investable" for a fund, while there is very little funding for the scalable "Impact" companies especially not enough money to get them all the way to where the "Scaling" investors are looking for ($1m revenue / $2m investments etc). </p><p> I’m interested in meeting other ESOs and investors working with "Impact" enterprises. </p><p> I’m also interested in whether this categorisation makes sense, and if so where people think they fit on this categorization, or of course, if it doesn’t make sense I’m interested in other ways of mapping the space. </p> 2024-08-17T00:00:00.000Z 2024-08-17T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3410-cofounderdating Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Finding a co-founder is tough, and getting it wrong has a worse impact on your company than almost anything else. I liked this article on how Gloria Linn found her co-founder. <a href="https://review.firstround.com/the-founder-dating-playbook-heres-the-process-i-used-to-find-my-co-founder/">The Founder Dating Playbook – Here’s the Process I Used to Find My Co-Founder</a> <!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20240927124403/https://review.firstround.com/the-founder-dating-playbook-heres-the-process-i-used-to-find-my-co-founder/ -->

Finding a co-founder is tough, and getting it wrong has a worse impact on your company than almost anything else. I liked this article on how Gloria Linn found her co-founder. <a href="https://review.firstround.com/the-founder-dating-playbook-heres-the-process-i-used-to-find-my-co-founder/">The Founder Dating Playbook – Here’s the Process I Used to Find My Co-Founder</a> <!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20240927124403/https://review.firstround.com/the-founder-dating-playbook-heres-the-process-i-used-to-find-my-co-founder/ --> 2021-10-05T00:00:00.000Z 2021-10-05T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3411-scenarioplanning Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Scenario Planning is one of those things that sounds a lot more complex than it really is. </p><p> Here's a step by step walk through of a process, with examples to help clarify. </p>

<p>First identify the driving forces that differentiate between different scenarios e.g. </p> <ul> <li>Availability of investors</li> <li>Availability of grants</li> <li>Covid</li> </ul> <p>Then for each of these forces identify the uncertainties e.g.</p> <ol> <li>Will we find an investor <ul><li>uninvestable</li><li>quickly</li><li>takes time</li></ul></li> <li>Can we get matching grants</li> <li>How long will Covid restrict activity<ul> <li>Months</li><li>Year or more</li></ul></li></ol> <p>Then look at the key decisions we might make that affect these (don't have good examples here)</p> <p>Then where it makes sense:</p> <ul><li>EITHER: Grid (or Venn diagram) up combinations of the uncertainties as scenarios<ul> <li>e.g. Find an investor, BUT covid takes year or more</li> <li>Find investor BUT no matching funds, so underfunded.</li></ul> <li>OR: if its decision based, develop scenarios based on a tre of decisions and actions e.g.<ul> <li>Decide to crowd fund<ul> <li>Crowd funding fails</li> <li>Crowd funding succeeds</li> <li>Crowd funding oversubscribed (challenge of fulfilling cut-price orders)</li></ul></li> <li>Decide not to crowd fund<ul> <li>Find single investor as alternative</li> <li>Don't find an investor</li></ul></li></ul> <p>These scenarios should include</p> <ul><li>Worst possible scenario - get it on the table to understand, then move past it.</li> <li>Best Possible scenario.<ul> <li>Note "Possible" - need to be reasonably realistic</li> <li>Expand detail </li> <li>What facts, decisions or actions would influence whether that happens, </li> <li>How can we prepare to avoid risk or ensure a better outcome in this scenario. </li></ul></li><li>What are likely future or futures<ul> <li>Expand detail </li> <li>What facts, decisions or actions would influence whether that happens, </li> <li>How can we prepare to avoid risk or ensure a better outcome in this scenario. </li></ul></li><li>What other possible scenarios could occur but are less likely<ul> <li>How do we prevent unfavorable scenarios</li> <li>Could we make a favorable one more likely</li> <li>How do we prepare for less unlikely but possible scenarios.</li> <li>How do we get early warning of an unlikely scenario </li></ul></li></ul><p>Then going back to each uncertainty What can we do to<ul> <li>push resolution in direction that generates a more favorable scenario</li> <li>reduce the level of uncertainty</li></ul></p> 2024-09-19T00:00:00.000Z 2024-09-19T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3412-australiansafe Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Has Australia really lost the whole point of SAFE notes? As an angel investor, almost all the deals I’ve done in the US are on SAFE notes, but here in Australia there seems to be a huge disconnect with the point.

<p> SAFE’s have three main points <ol><li> Current investors get terms that are better than future investors by an agreed amount - the “discount” which is typically- 20% </li><li> We can postpone the valuation discussion till the next round - though a “valuation cap” makes sure we are on the same page </li><li> Its standard - so there is no need to have lawyers review, edit and fight over it. </li></ol> </p><p> This latter is critical, because it reduces transaction cost, enabling small investments to be made without the cost of lawyering eating up a substantial chunk of the ROI. </p><p> But in Australia - this last point is missing, </p><p> The <a href="https://investmentcouncil.com.au/AIC/Shared_Content/Smart-Suite/Smart-Library/Public/Smart-Library-View.aspx?resource=27"> Australian Investment Council’s Safe</a> even says …<br/> "Disclaimer: This document is intended to serve as a starting point only. It should be carefully considered and tailored to meet your specific commercial requirements and circumstances. This document, and any guidance note within this document, must not be relied on as legal advice and we recommend that you seek professional legal advice to ensure that this document is suitable for your specific situation." </p><p> Which is the opposite of Y-combinator's SAFE. </p><p> "This Safe is one of the forms available at http://ycombinator.com/documents and the Company and the Investor agree that neither one has modified the form, except to fill in blanks and bracketed terms." </p><p> I recently turned down an investment in a UNSW Founders backed social enterprise in part because they used the UNSW Founders version of the SAFE, which I’ve never seen before, the proposal had some weird stuff about repayments and for the size of the investment I might have made, it wasn’t worth having a lawyer figure out if it had been done right. </p><p> Uniquest at The University of Queensland uses a similarly <a href="https://ventures.uq.edu.au/files/51267/240321%20Simple%20Agreement%20for%20Future%20Equity%20-%20SAFE%20With%20UniQuest.pdf">unique version</a>. </p><p> Of course this has spawned a whole set of lawyers offering their service to put together a SAFE for you - completely missing the plot that they wouldn’t be needed if the standardised SAFE was used. Or maybe the lawyers have lobbied universities to make sure that they use SAFEs that need lawyering ? </p> 2021-03-06T00:00:00.000Z 2021-03-06T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3413-webforth Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

My final year project during university was a port of the obscure language Forth to the 68000, during Covid I picked the language back up again, and ported to the Web, and to the Arduino series - ESP8266 etc.

<p> <b>Update</b> - I am no longer working on this - but its posted, works, and is available if anyone wants to build on it. </p><p> webForth 0.1.0 is now released. The biggest change is Forth2012 compatibility. It now passes the Hayes test suite for Core, CorePlus and CoreExt and will gradually have the other extensions added. </p><p> The Arduino and ESP8266 versions are both there, so this can give you a Forth2012 system on a ESP8266. </p><p> The Node version has the File Extensions defined in Forth2012, so can run local files. I haven't yet implemented this on Arduino/ESP8266 as I don't currently have one with a SD-card reader, I'll get to it. </p><p> Next things I want to do * complete some of the almost complete Forth2012 extensions - especially Double Word and String support and a couple of bugs that stop it passing some of the other extension test suites. </p><p> * Focusing on ESP8266 add hardware capability - interrupts, pins etc. </p><p> </p><p> Its at https://github.com/mitra42/webforth and can also be tested at https://mitra.biz/forth/console.html , be patient with the latter as its compiling the Forth in your browser. </p> 2021-01-17T00:00:00.000Z 2021-01-17T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3414-pandemicdeaths Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> It has been about a year since we first realized Covid19 was going to be a big deal. Back then we were seeing around 2-5% mortality as hospital systems were overwhelmed, and there was a high likelihood that this was a virus everyone was going to catch. I looked around our intentional community, and seriously wondered which 2 or 3 of the members would be dead before the end of the year. </p><p> I've been pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect it would be possible to control the virus with social distancing while we waited for a vaccine. Nor did I expect that Australia - both the people, and the government - would put "We" before "Me" and keep the numbers low/ I mourn the two people I know who have died, celebrate the many friends who recovered and send wishes to the handful who are still sick months after their infection, but the numbers have been much lower than I'd originally feared. </p><p> But on the other hand - I didn't expect that I'd lose so many friends to mental health issues, having been infected by the Infodemic. </p>

<p> Conspiracy-Lies have spread through the rabbit holes faster than myxomatosis, and I've lost so many people to the infection. ...NAMES DELETED... the list goes on - people whose company I used to enjoy, but are now at that stage where - in the words of Alice in Wonderland they believe "Two impossible, (and mutually contradictory) things before Breakfast". </p><p> I check their Facebook feeds every now and again, and see if they are still infected. I wonder also how many more are asymptomatic - believing rubbish, but silent in public about it, at least they aren't infecting others. </p><p> I find myself taking care of my own sanity - the best protection - apart from a daily dose of science - is social media distancing, snooze, unfollow, or yes, unfriend. </p><p> How then to help the afflicted, Some may recover on their own, but I suspect many wont before living in a delusion causes other mental health issues. Intervening is tough - feeding the infected facts is like giving chicken soup to vegans, and in-person contact could involve the exchange of memes and while you think you are immune to most of it - Chemtrails, Gates, Pedovores, Plandemic, Trump, 5G, there are always new strains of the conspiracy-virus. around - watch out for the "Great Reset" or the highly infectious "Vaccine reaction" strains </p><p> Some of our most loved institutions have also fallen - Politics in the Pub was the first to go, its founder having to close it down after half his committee got infected, Mullum community garden & coop seems to be a cluster, and even our local media - both Echo and BayFM seem to have pockets of infection. I'm also worried how many of our friends will die when the virus finally gets here, because they will have made ill-informed choices based on infection by the anti-vax conspiracy lies. </p><p> I never thought that the infodemic would take out more of my friends than the Pandemic, and wonder whether we'll ever find a vaccine for it. </p> 2021-01-17T00:00:00.000Z 2021-01-17T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3415-watercremation Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Doing as deep a dive as possible on one of their sites, https://www.beatreecremation.com/ it looks like this probably a good process from the environmental perspective, but highly deceptively marketed. </p><p> Its far from water, its dissolving the body in a strong alkali, probably with a lot of heat (looking at hte kind vessels she's using). Dissolving in Alkali is really no different from dissolving in Acid, but her FAQ tries to make it clear its not acid. Its a pity - I want to like this, but the deceptive marketing means I don't trust its environmental claims. </p>

<p> Doing as deep a dive as possible on one of their sites, https://www.beatreecremation.com/ it looks like this probably a good process from the environmental perspective, but highly deceptively marketed. </p><p> Its far from water, its dissolving the body in a strong alkali, probably with a lot of heat (looking at hte kind vessels she's using). Dissolving in Alkali is really no different from dissolving in Acid, but her FAQ tries to make it clear its not acid. Its a pity - I want to like this, but the deceptive marketing means I don't trust its environmental claims. </p> 2024-12-20T00:00:00.000Z 2024-12-20T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3416-frugaliot Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Many problems in resource-constrained-environments, such as supporting regenerative agriculture, require affordable sensors. But current solutions are typically in the $200 range, aimed at western farmers.

<pdf-link href="/files/Frugal IoT Update December 2024.pdf" title="Frugal IoT December Update"></pdf-link> <p> I am working on an Open-Source project that will develop affordable solutions, and a framework that makes it easy for others to build their own solutions. </p><p> It is moving forward rapidly, Check out the </p> <ul> <li>Updates for <a href="/files/Frugal IoT Update December 2024.pdf">December 2024</a>, or <a href="/files/Frugal IoT Update March 2025.pdf">March 2025</a><li>or the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hOeTFgbbRpiKB_TN9R2a2KtBemCyeMDopw9q_b0-m2I">White Paper</a></li> <li>and <a href="https://github.com/mitra42/frugal-iot">GIT repository</a>.</li> </ul> 2024-12-24T00:00:00.000Z 2024-12-24T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3417-feebatesclimate Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This (half baked) idea is to tackle the problem of encouraging good climate actors and discouraging bad, at the country or state level, where reaching any kind of universal agreement is highly nlikely.

<p> The base idea was border tarifs, countries that took climate change seriously would apply a carbon tax at their border on those that didn't. </p><p> The challenge of course is that tarifs in one direction just generate counter-tarifs in the opposite direction, not much money changes hands </p><p> The slightly counter-intuitive idea is to make each countries own application of tarifs revenue neutral. </p><p> Lets say country (or state) A is trading with states B and C, and B is doing a good job on climate, while C isn't. So A applies a tarif to C and subsidises B. ideally for the same class of products. This encourages purchasers in A to purchase from B rather than C. The result is that A has engineered a transfer of value from C to B. </p><p> Now lets say you have a group of countries or states doing it. They would collectively be causing a transfer of value to countries both within, and outside the group that are doing the right thing. </p><p> The details, between states/countries need not be identical, for example A might decide to cross subsidize within the same sector (IT, manufacturing etc) while B might decide to make it across all products. Similarly A might base it on Paris-agreement compliance, which B includes fossil exports in its calculations, and C uses a per-capita measure. 

Two important things </p><p>a: each country wouldn’t benefit directly from the tarifs, it would only benefit from its good actors being rewarded by the other participants. </p><p>b: it doesn’t require every country to agree - even one country doing this on its own has an effect. </p><p> It’s probably a naive idea, but the current methodology of (unenforceable) promises based on the global consensus that includes fossil fool countries like Australia and Saudis & Kazaks certainly isn’t working. </p><p> </p> 2024-12-28T00:00:00.000Z 2024-12-28T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3418-magifarm Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Magi Farm uses Black Soldier Fly to turn food waste from the hospitality sector to chicken &amp; fish food. Their innovation is decentralizing part of the BSF life cycle.

<p> Food waste is a big issue, and hospitality is a significant source of it, especially in Bali where Magi Farm are based. </p><p> Ima and Soma from Magi have come up with a novel tweak on the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) process, which is a great way to turn food waste into protein. </p><p> By outsourcing the part of the life cycle of the BSF to the hotels, they reduce the space requirements, and more importantly the transport (financial and sustainability) costs of the food waste. </p><p> I have been mentoring Magi for a little over a year. In particular I have been supporting them to better understand the numbers in their business - both production numbers and financial. </p> 2025-03-14T00:00:00.000Z 2025-03-14T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3419-frugaliot-march2025 Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Frugal IoT project is moving ahead rapidly. Here's our quarterly update for March 2025

<pdf-link href="/files/Frugal IoT Update March 2025.pdf" title="Frugal IoT December Update"></pdf-link> <p> Moving rapidly forward, this quarter's highlights are:<ul> <li>The UI’s graphing capabilities were made usable.</li> <li>It works on mobiles.</li> <li>Ported to Sonoff and Lilygo devices.</li> <li>Successfully integrated into Kopernik’s in-house device.</li> <li>A set of physical prototypes were built and tested at Magi Farm in Indonesia.</li> <li>Over-The-Air updates now supported.</li> </ul> See also: the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hOeTFgbbRpiKB_TN9R2a2KtBemCyeMDopw9q_b0-m2I">White Paper</a></li> and <a href="https://github.com/mitra42/frugal-iot">GIT repository</a>.</li> </ul> 2019-07-01T00:00:00.000Z 2019-07-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3420-volkswagonconsequences Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Volkswagon has been caught cheating on emissions tests. What should the consequences be?

<p> Well lets ask the consequences. <p></p> On the monetary side : A huge fine to the company which maybe was as you say impact x probability but was still only a few month's profits. <p></p> But how about on the human, non monetary side - there's been a massive health impact on kids from breathing diesel fumes, while on VW's side, only one person went to jail (and that was just for 7 years - people regularly don more time than that in the US for possession of weed !), Their ex-CEO is still in court, but probably has expensive enough lawyers to get off lightly as well. <p></p> So, no, I won't be buying a VW in the forseeable future, because why would I buy a high tech piece of engineering from a company with a systematic culture of lying to the consumer about its quality - and if that culture wasn’t rotten from top to bottom then why isn’t VW itself suing every executive who knew, rather than doing plea-bargains to make sure the responsible parties are unpunished. I wouldn’t buy from an engineering company that fakes data any more than I'll bank again with Wells Fargo after it got caught several times stealing from customers. <p></p> What should the penalty be ... I'd suggest something that more than made up for the emission damage, how about recalling EVERY ONE of their polluting diesels and replacing them with an equivalent EV, and then being required to use all of their profits for the next 10 years to subsidize 50% of the cost of that cool EV VW bus so that its a better price than the diesel belching equivalent. That might be an appropriate punishment for their crimes. <p></p> And while we are at it - we could ask what the consequences be for a bank (Wells Fargo) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Fargo_cross-selling_scandal">caught cheating its customers multiple times</a>. </p> 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3421-anitech_-_data_suppo Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Anitech is a startup in the Philippines, developing IoT solutions for agriculture. I have been mentoring them for a little over a year, most recently in collaboration with Moonshot ventures.

<p> <a href="https://www.anihan.tech/">Anitech</a> is developing a package of services to support farmers, especially in the Philippines where they are based. It incorporates IoT sensors; actionable data analysis; and collaboration with Agronomists. </p> 2025-04-14T00:00:00.000Z 2025-04-14T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3422-debunking_vertical_f Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Vertical farms get a lot of hype, but they are not the solution to food security or food sustainability.

<p> Potential solutions with catchy videos get far more publicity than they should, and this is particularly the case with Vertical Farming. </p><p> The first problem with most articles that that the comparisons are almost always with open field, aka “dirt” farming, so while vertical farming may use 20x less water than dirt-farming, it doesn’t use 20x less than greenhouses. </p><p></p><p></p><p>If you’ve ever been to a modern greenhouse, they will often use many of the other techniques used for vertical farms - such as automated control of temperature and humidity, integrated pest management, massively reduced labor, and with all the other benefits - such as reducing runoff etc. So most of the benefits are not at all unique to vertical farms. </p><p></p><p>Where vertical farms lose out badly from a sustainability perspective is on energy, and so their PR usually goes to great lengths NOT to tell you how much energy they use, and in particular not to compare it to modern (horizontal) greenhouses which are usually very energy efficient after decades of optimisation. </p><p> To simplify the math, high density cropping uses around 40% of the direct sunlight that is available on any area. So lets say you stack 15 layers high as I’ve seen on vertical farms. So for every meter of floor area you have 15 m2 of crop. You need light equivalent to 15 * 40% = 600% of the incident light. Since you obviously can’t get that from direct sunlight since the plants are stacked, they replace it with LEDs. Lets assume those LEDs are 100% efficient (they aren’t) but generated by solar panels operating at 16% efficiency that would mean for every meter of floor, you need an area of solar panels of 15 * 40%/16% = 37.5m2 of solar per m2 of vertical farm. That of course is over 2.5x as big as building a greenhouse - i.e. replace every 37.5m2 of solar panels (glass on frames) plus 1m2 of vertical farm with 15m2 of greenhouse (glass on frames) and you’ll get better results financially and from the sustainability perspective. </p><p> This is why so many vertical farms are in trouble - it doesn’t live up to its promises, either from a business or sustainability perspective when compared to greenhouses. This of course is also why Vertical farm proponents deceptively compare themselves to dirt farming rather than state of the art greenhouses. </p><p> Hydroponic Vertical farms also have all the poor nutrient density issues of hydroponic greenhouses, the better (dutch, “moving gully”) systems use dirt instead of hydroponics, but that is much harder to achieve in a vertical environment. </p><p> Often this will be countered by the benefit of putting the vertical farms in cities, and supplying with energy from distant places, but, but you can put greenhouses in the urban fringe with many of the transport benefits, even more so with something like Bluesmartfarms.com’s integrated fish/plant (aquaponics) systems. </p> 2020-07-15T00:00:00.000Z 2020-07-15T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3423-a_potted_history_of Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

GreenNet, which I founded and first put online in summer 1985 is now thirty five years old. Here's a potted history, of the first few years, from my perspective.

This is a quick history of GreenNet, from memory ... its possible some of the dates are wrong, or the order is wrong, and of course as with all histories it is from my perspective and the relative importance of events probably differs from those of the other players. I don’t have original references for most of this, so I can't verify as much as I'd like. Also, apologies if I've mangled anyone's names! I also don't have email addresses for Jeremy or Cynthia or Viv to check my recollections with. Corrections or additions are welcome. </p><p></p> <ul><li> November 1984, I moved to London and was working as an IT consultant, while also helping groups voluntarily. At this time there were three distinct threads in the online communication world. There were the professional systems - at that point just British Telecom Gold, Cable & Wireless EasyLink and one other. These were hard to use, and very expensive, effectively being only available to businesses, there was also no linking between systems. There were the university systems which were interlinked, but unavailable to outsiders. Then there were the community bulleting board systems, these were also hard to use, not interconnected, and generally very low signal-to-noise ratio. I was sure there must be ways to do this properly and bring to the green movement the same kind of communications that government, military and business had. </li><li> July 1985, I went on a fact-finding trip to the US, during that trip apart from incidentally rewriting the first release of the LETS community currency software for Michael Linton up in Vancouver, I visited many groups in the San Francisco area. Among these were a group coming together called PeaceNet (including Mark Graham and Scott Weikart) who were designing their software and a group called EcoNet at the Farallones Institute who were using the Tymnet commercial system through some unofficial sponsorship. Both these groups had goals similar to mine, but their solutions weren't quite appropriate at that time to the British environment. This trip was partly funded by buying modems cheaply in the US and selling in the UK.</p><p></li><li>December 1985, I visited Hamburg to speak at the Chaos Computer Conference. While there I met people from GeoNet, a german commercial email provider. I was able to negotiate a deal to market their service in the UK in competition to BT and Easylink, as part of the deal I would be able to offer steeply discounted rates to non-profits. </p><p></li><li>January 1986, GreenNet was started, it was initially part of my consulting business - PlanetTree Communications - and funded by my consulting income, and commissions from GeoNet. It ran out of a tiny office in my house in Mackeson Rd. Greenpeace gave us a great letter of recommendation which helped with bringing other groups online.</p><p></li><li> Since many of the groups wanting to come online had no computers, I started a collaboration with Geoff Cohen where we purchased re-possessed computers and passed them on to non-profits at minimal markup, funding it by large markups to businesses. This became the Systems Exchange which eventually grew to about supply about 40% of the voluntary sector's computers.</p><p></li><li> mid 1986, GreenNet (still just me) moved in with Earthlife, a rainforest charity in Belgrave Square with a number of other divisions doing interesting work. We would provide communications to all of Earthlife's groups, and they would provide a charitable umbrella allowing us to receive grants. </p><p></li><li> Late 1986, We received our first grant from the Foundation for Gaia, Vita de Waal's foundation, for UKP 1000. </p><p></li><li> Late 1986, Earthlife ran into financial problems due to over-ambitious staff matched with an over-timid board, as it filed for bankruptcy most of the projects spun out at very short notice. These included GreenNet, Living Earth, Sustainability (John Elkington & Julia Hayles), Rural Investment Overseas, and the Ethnobotany Institute. As part of the spinout, Jeremy Mortimer - Earthlife's sysadmin - joined GreenNet. We moved back into Mackeson Rd while looking around for new premises.</p><p></li><li> We started collaborating closely with PeaceNet and EcoNet, including helping them to merge into IGC. We ran scripts that connected to both systems as terminal sessions and exchanged email in a very clunky fashion. </p><p></li><li> There was another group called Poptel, looking at working with Labor, the Unions and more of the left - which at that time was a quite distinct movement, from the greens which only overlapped a little. They were looking for a service to use, and the reduced rates from GeoNet, and the potential to exchange email with green organizations was attractive, so Poptel started a group on GeoNet. Rather than waste our energies competing we agreed to keep our focus on our own areas, and compete fairly in the few areas where we overlapped. </p><p></li><li> Early 1987: We received our second grant, for UKP 4000 (I think) from the Network Foundation, this was funnelled through Greenpeace.</p><p></li><li> Mid 1987 I think. We were discussing with some of the other Earthlife spin-offs, and a few other smaller groups about taking over a warehouse in the east end and refurbishing it as a mutually supportive environment. We had discussed with Friends of the Earth who were also looking for a place, but needed more space than we had available. Our project fell through at the same time as FoE found a warehouse too big for its needs. So we combined forces, and GreenNet, Systems Exchange and SERA took over space on the second floor of Underwood Street. This space gave us room to start having volunteers involved. Initially we provided many services to non-profits, including what I believe was the first internet-cafe in London where you could pay an hourly fee to access online resources.</p><p></li><li> We had a number of great volunteers join, Cynthia, Tim, Param, Nadia and started an intern program for volunteers willing to commit to 3 months during which we would train them as much as possible. Both Param and Cynthia ended up on staff, not sure about Tim. </p><p></li><li> Both IGC's software, and our cooperation with IGC progressed to the point where it made sense for us to migrate to their software, so Scott Weikart came out to GreenNet packing a loaded 10Mb disk which took up a whole 4U rack mount. He spent a few months with GreenNet setting it all up, and networking the conferences and email. I secured the donation of a Plexus minicomputer (a simple Unix box) from a supporter who was upgrading it.</p><p></li><li> We won the contact - through our friend Richard Elen - to host the software to network all of Apple's distributors in Britain, a graphical front-end was built on top of the notes and email software by the main contractors - a small company based in Findhorn. We hosted it successfully for a year or so until Apple hired some executive who instead of looking at the success of the service looked at our little Plexus mini-computer in an old warehouse, since he had sold mainframes to British Telecom for their Dialcom service he couldn't understand how we could run so much on so little. He canned the service, and it took him a year to finally get something else working on another provider.</p><p></li><li> We received funding for UKP 16,000 from Rowntree foundation based mostly on recommendations from a number of their grantees, this was the largest grant they made that year, and was in recognition that supporting GreenNet was the best way to support their other grantees. The money was specifically for expanding our reach to the Peace movement, and we used it to hire Viv Kendon.</p><p></li><li> PeaceNet's Mark Graham and I had been talking about our process of working together, and in particular identified the need to work to replicate what we were doing in other countries by collaborating with local organizations rather than expanding our own organizations into those countries. We had a particularly hard job selling this idea to the IGC board! </p><p></li><li> We were introduced to Peter Gabriel and Steve van Zandt who had held a concert in Tokyo to raise money for a worldwide network for peace, they decided to work with us. </p><p></li><li> Mid 1988, I flew to New York for discussions with Mark Graham, Peter Gabriel, Steve van Zandt, Danny Schechter, Buddy Roberts from Costa Rica, and video producer Hart Perry. At this meeting we came up with the name “Association for Progressive Communications” or APC. </p><p></li><li> Peter gave most of the money raised to the Costa Ricans who declined the offer of our software and spent it all without producing anything usable, Peter gave GreenNet UKP 10,000 I believe.</p><p></li><li> Peter Gabriel and Howard Jones dedicated the launch of their video Hurricane Irene to GreenNet, who had a spot on the video. This was a big-deal press event at Virgin Megastore. </p><p></li><li> At a peace conference in Sweden we met the people who later became PeaceNet Sweden, and signed up most of the North Atlantic Network as one of the first large international networks working mostly over our networked systems. </p><p></li><li> The Interdoc conference in Amsterdam was attended by both myself and Poptel. At the meeting we convinced quite a few of the Interdoc members that participating with IGC and GreenNet was the way to go, many joined as individual users on one of our systems, and eventually several became APC nodes, especially IBASE in Brazil and Web Networks in Canada.</p><p></li><li> December 1988, I went to IGC to get the APC off the ground, Viv Kendon took over while I was gone. I came back a couple of months later, handed GreenNet over to Viv and moved to the US to work on the APC. </p><p></li><li> From here of course, the history is Viv’s.<ul> 2025-04-28T00:00:00.000Z 2025-04-28T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3424-should_i_do_an_impac Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> As a mentor venture builder of impact startups - mostly technology driven, and mostly in SE Asia, I get asked this question all the time, and the answer isn’t easy. </p><p> Really the question should be, “Which, if any, accelerator/incubator program should I do?” </p><p> I’m assuming your enterprise is impact focussed, i.e. trying to make the world a better place. If not, then this is the wrong document for you ! </p><p> Quality of programs is hard to judge, the programs change over time, are very dependent on your luck in getting a good mentor, and the reported experiences of “good” or “bad” may depend more on whether the program was a good fit for the entrepreneur than on the quality of the program. </p><p> I thought it might be useful to map the space out, so that you can figure out whether any programs matches your needs. A well matched program, that you can take full advantage of can really be a boost, but if you can’t find a good match, I’d recommend NOT to do an accelerator, as there is a significant time &/or money &/or equity commitment in participating and it's usually not going to be worthwhile if the program/participant matching is wrong. </p>

<h4> Some Caveats: </h4><ul> <li>Any mapping is imperfect - there are bound to be programs that fall between the cracks. </li><li> Programs change and evolve. </li></ul><h4> Accelerator vs Incubator </h4><p> Firstly, I’m using the terms accelerator and incubator interchangeably, while people can probably give you different definitions for them, my experience is that they overlap enough that the nuances inside each term are more important than the difference between them. Which of these terms is used is really not an important part of the mapping I’m using, and I'll use the terms interchangeably below. </p><h4> Values alignment - Impact versus mainstream ? </h4><p> Most non-impact programs really do not understand the nuances of impact, they’ll try and talk you into making money then giving it away, or focusing on a valuable custom base before your target beneficiaries, and a lot of similar nonsense that comes from really not understanding what impact entrepreneurs are about. </p><p> The one exception would be highly sector specific programs, e.g. if you are developing a new material (for example from waste) and can get into the right materials accelerator then it's probably worth the effort. </p><h4> SME vs SGB vs “Startup” </h4><p> The most crucial distinction - is what kind of company they are working with SGB/SME/Startup - funnily enough this is often ignored by programs who think there is only one kind. <ul><li> <b>SME - “Small or Medium Enterprise”</b>. one to five people now, and success would be doubling in size. These kind of programs typically work with large numbers of tiny businesses - helping mom-and-pop stores, services etc, and often working with uneducated disadvantaged people. The Accelerator has to do a small amount of work for a lot of entrepreneurs, to create impact in the aggregate. Mentors are typically other small business owners. </li><li> <b>SGB - “Small Growing Business”</b>. For these businesses, the impact is usually in the number of (often disadvantaged) people they employ - they typically aren’t doing anything different from other businesses in the same sector, they need basic business skills and support working with the disadvantaged people (disabled, recidivist, youth) they employ, and help accessing the grants and government support available. The entrepreneurs are smarter, and/or better educated and able to absorb the basic business knowledge the program delivers. Mentors are typically other larger business owners. </li><li> <b>Startup</b> - (and other terms might be better). These are businesses that are doing something new - their businesses are more complicated, and their needs more varied. For example there may be considerations around Intellectual Property; Carbon or Biodiversity credits; Manufacturing; Product development etc. </li></ul><p> Since I work with the latter “Startup” category, much of the rest of this document will reflect my own biases and knowledge of that sector, though some of the points will be relevant to SGBs. (I’m assuming the SMEs aren’t reading this document!) </p><h4> Stage of the company </h4><p> Where is your company on the startup journey -different people use different stages, but for a new product solving an impact problem I’d use something like … </p><p> Idea -> POC (Proof of Concept/Problem-Solution Fit) -> MVP -> Product Trials (Product-market-fit) -> Scale-up/Growth; .</p><p> And what stage of company does the incubator work well for? Most impact accelerators won’t know what to do with you until you are at least at MVP. </p><p> By contrast most Silicon Valley style accelerators I’m aware of will only work well if you are earlier than that ! </p><p> The main mismatch here is that a big part of an accelerator’s job is to get you ready for the finance for the next stage i.e. “investment ready”, and often to pitch to their network. If the accelerator only has later stage funds (which includes pretty much all impact funds) and you really need an Angel to help you build a POC then there will be little value gained. </p><p> More on different perspectives on the lifecycle at …. https://www.openvc.app/blog/startup-lifecycle </p><h4> Growth or Unicorn </h4><p> Is your company planning on slow steady - even bootstrapped - growth, or looking to raise a lot of money and become a Unicorn or fail trying ? </p><p> Unfortunately in the Impact Investing space, especially in the US there is a massive mismatch between needs and funds. Most funds are looking for Unicorns - they use a term “We need an exit that pays off the fund”, even though almost nobody can name a successful Impact Unicorn, and many of the high paper valuations turned out to be failures or frauds (such as eFishery). </p><p> Most of Accelerators (including Impact Accelerators) seem focused on helping you pitch to this space, their programs are often 50% about creating a pitch and then presenting it, this leads to lots of disappointment and complaints of going through multiple accelerators with no investment. </p><p> The economic development accelerators (e.g. via the CDVCA) can be better at looking at a variety of sources of funds and may be appropriate for SMEs or SGBs. </p><p> But these economic development programs are rarely good for startups. If your startup is not planning on seeking VC-style Impact Investing, then you need to look really hard for an accelerator that is happy with that. </p><h4> What does the Accelerator cost - in money or equity </h4><p> Most accelerator programs are “free”, some because they are funded (like Miller Center), but most take an equity stake in your business. I’ve dealt with quite a few companies with an accelerator like “Y-combinator” on their cap table, but in many cases their own assessment was that the value received was far far less than the cost in equity. </p><h4> Investments and claw backs. </h4><p> Some programs invest in some or all of the cohort. In some cases they are quite onerous conditions, for example (last I heard) Antler Indonesia required you to match with a co-founder during the program in order to be considered for investment - former attendees tell me this is highly unlikely unless you are a SaaS non-impact startup based in Jakarta. </p><p> Many programs make very vague promises about future investment. Something that says “We may invest up to $x million” is almost entirely meaningless. If you can, ask around your network for people who completed the program, and find out whether there was really a follow-on investment, and if so on what terms. </p><p> Another thing to watch out for is some weird claw-back valuation tricks. The way it works is that the accelerator makes an investment in all, or some of the cohort, but then claws back some part of that investment to pay for the “services” provided. So for example - they might invest $100k for 10% of the equity. This sounds like a $1m post-money valuation, but they claw back $20k for the program. Any smart investor knows that the services weren’t worth even close to $20k. So its really $80k investment at a post-money valuation of $800k. </p><p> Many entrepreneurs are also aware of this, and just consider that it's better to get $80k at $800k valuation, than nothing and go along with the pretense, but don't expect investors to believe the higher number. </p><h4> In Person or Remote </h4><p> Most programs will have some combination of remote preparation, and an in-person intensive, but some are just in-person, or just remote. Both have their advantages. </p><p> In-person programs help build a cohort of peers who can be valuable advisors as you grow the company, often for years. They are also likely to give you much better connections to mentors, program providers and potentially investors. The amount of content is of course limited to what you can absorb in a one or two week program. And its biased towards those who can leave their community / business / family, making these programs often younger, whiter, and more male. </p><p> Remote programs can be better for absorbing more content over a longer period, this is especially good if the founders (and any existing team) lack business skills and need the curriculum to develop them. </p><h4> How much time is involved. </h4><p> It's important to get a clear understanding of what the program expects from you, over what period, and to ensure that matches with the time you have available - after running your business and personal/family commitments. </p><h4> What sector </h4><p> Make sure the program understands the dynamics of your sector. It is not worth trying to shoehorn yourself into the wrong program as the accelerator’s sector focus will determine what mentors they have, and what investors they can get you in front of. </p><p> If a program - especially a non-impact program - says it is sector agnostic, then ask for the breakdown of their recent cohorts - my guess is that you’ll find most participants are SaaS or similar - which means they probably don’t understand the dynamics of different businesses such as much longer product revision cycles. </p><h4> Venture Builders </h4><p> Much of the analysis above applies also to Venture Builders (such as myself) an. The main distinction is that a Venture Builder is a mentor that is with you for the long haul - and doesn’t disappear after the pitch day (which is what typically happens, no matter what the accelerator’s advertising says!). Some of us also have angel money to invest, though this is usually of significantly less value than the help. </p><p> Good venture builders understand your sector, stage, and the part of the world you are from, and the region you do business in if that is different. </p><p> Note that Venture Builders are an alternative, but also complementary to participating in the right Accelerator. </p><h4> Venture Labs </h4><p> Venture Labs are a completely different way of approaching this - the better ones are typically well resourced - in both skills and money, but take a large stake in the enterprise, and usually only get involved at the Idea phase. They are worthy of their own article, as choosing a Venture Lab is similar to choosing a co-founder. </p><h4> Conclusion </h4><p> Whether you should do an Accelerator or Incubator program depends mostly on whether you can find a really good match. A good match, that you are fully able to take advantage of may really help, but if you don’t then finding a Venture Builder or other mentors might be better. </p><h4> Thanks </h4><p> Thanks to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/massimilianohasan/">Massi Hasan</a> (Moonshot); <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianfisk/">Ian Fisk</a> (Mentor Capital Network) and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericnatanael/">Eric Natanale</a>; for their constructive critique. </p> 2021-03-23T00:00:00.000Z 2021-03-23T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3425-warka_water_tower_- Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

The Warka Water tower supposedly can harvest water from the air without electricity using condensation but ...

<p> I really want it to work, but this seems to be one of those classic innovations, where the sexy video/website outshines the people really solving clean water problems, without actually solving it. </p><p> I also have been unable to find any decent info about how it performs in practice, and in what climatic conditions. Typically, for this class of solutions, i f you are somewhere that this would work well - i.e. high humidity - then the chances are that there is surface water which will be cheaper to treat than to collect from humidity, and places with low humidity often don't have bamboo easily available. </p><p> Cost per liter of water is the most important factor in the accessibility of clean drinking water, in one of the articles, Warka estimate $1000/tower but even 125 litres per day, (its maximum) isn't very much, that is enough for the minimal needs of about 25 people, and the cost typically needs to be around 2c / liter (i.e. 10c per person per day). So if you could build one where it performed optimally then it might cost $40 per person which is about right, but all the other factors above make that sound an optimal, and unlikely to achieve, scenario. Which might explain why despite tonnes of publicity I've yet to hear of anything but prototypes being built. </p><p> Looking for further information but there precious little except that generated by their PR. <ul><li> <a href="https://warkawater.org/">WarkaWater.org</a> </li><li> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WarkaWater">FB group</a> </li><li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210216123349/https://returntonow.net/2020/11/10/bamboo-tower-produces-up-to-25-gallons-of-water-in-a-day-without-electricity/"> Return To Now article: Bamboo tower produces up to 2 gallons of water in a day without electricity (2020)</a> </li><li> <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/this-tower-pulls-drinking-water-out-of-thin-air-180950399"> Smithsonian: This tower pulls drinking water out of thin air (2014)</a> </li></ul> </p><p> Update: 2025: I've looked around, and still can't find any indications these are viable, or that any more than the first one, or maybe two have been built. </p> 2025-05-26T00:00:00.000Z 2025-05-26T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3426-hiring_questions_for Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds hiring hard - trying to figure out who the person is, when thy are nervous and you have limited time and a lot of people to go through. I thought these questions were useful, and might elicit incite-full answers. And its equally hard for the candidate.

<p> Here is a list of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201024201946/https://firstround.com/review/40-favorite-interview-questions-from-some-of-the-sharpest-folks-we-know/">potential questions to ask a candidate</a> </p><p> Or, from the candidates perspective there are a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201022201718/https://firstround.com/review/the-40-best-questions-to-ask-in-an-interview-how-to-go-deeper-than-whats-the-culture-like/">set of questions they might ask the company</a>, and I know if I was doing the interviewing I’d find them a good indication the candidate was actually thoughtful. </p> 2025-06-02T00:00:00.000Z 2025-06-02T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3427-salt_lamps_and_power Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

With all the supposed heealth benefits, do not forget that Salt lamps use a LOT of energy, because they are typically left on all day.

<p> The larger ones use 40W bulbs which is 40W*24H = 960Wh/day. Or about as much power as 1.5 solar panels just for that salt lamp. </p><p> That is about 1/15th of the total power usage of a average 4 person household. </p><p> Or ... given that, at this time of year we might have lights on for 3 hours and a typical LED light is 5W that's the equivalent having 64 lights going all evening. </p><p> Of course, this might be affordable to you ... Retail price is about 33c /day ($2/wk) but the question is whether running a salt lamp is affordable to the planet. </p> 2025-06-19T00:00:00.000Z 2025-06-19T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3428-repair_cafe_-_at_she Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Repairing stuff is one of the best ways to reduce waste and unneeded consumption. I am an active volunteer in Repair Cafe, Mullumbimby which is part of Shedding Community Workshop.

<p> Every Saturday afternoon volunteers gather in Shedding community workshop in Mullumbimby, and anyone in the community can bring in items needing repair. On a typical weekend there will be between 15-30 of us with a range of skills, and repairs will range from a pair of trousers needing a new zip, to a mower that won't start, a broken chair, a dehumidifier with a busted switch and so on. </p><p> Its offered on a by-donation basis, making it accessible ot anyone, and in particular works well for items that would cost less to replace than the $100 or so minimum to get a professional to look at. </p><p> During the massive 2020 floods we were particularly important to the community. The flooding had killed washing machines; furniture had been damaged by piling in heaps, power-tools had a fine mud deposit over their electronics, and so on. Around 30 people worked every day for about six weeks out of a school (closed by the flooding), to fix and return, or re-gift, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stuff. People walked in off the street, having lost everything, and walked out with working washing machines, beds, etc. All this stuff was destined for landfill, and after our crew with a couple of pickup trucks got overwhelmed, the local council had their own crew deliver stuff rather than having it picked up by the garbage truck and dumped. (This was in stark contrast to the neighboring city of Lismore that threatened repairers with arrest for diverting stuff from landfill!) </p><p> <img class="storyimagesmall" src="/images/repair_cafe_mixer.jpeg"/> <a href="https://www.repaircafe.org/en/visit/">Repair Cafes</a> are a worldwide phenomena and I encourage you to find one near you and join in. Its a lot of fun, you'll learn new skills, and the smile when someone walks out with the fixed mixer that their mother received at her wedding, is priceless. 2025-06-22T00:00:00.000Z 2025-06-22T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3429-interesting_technolo Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

This is an index of technologies I find interesting. Its still just a start, but I plan on updating it as I find cool stuff - and pulling from my archives and previous posts on here, or social media, so please check back.

<details> <summary><b>Water</b>: There are three key issues around water that I'm interested in - availability; treatment to drinking quality; waste water.</summary> <details> <summary><b>Drinking Water</b>: I am interested in how we can make drinking water accessible and affordable to the 2 billion who regularly drink dirty water.</summary> <!--TODO blog; notes tag; interesting note--> The 2 billion without clear water typically cannot afford western style solutions. In particular, treating water to drinking water standard costs about 10x treating to body contact quality. Affordable solutions include chlorination (with inherent toxicity); Ozone or UV - which require electricity; or filtering. The biggest problem with filters is that if they are small enough to catch viruses they clog quickly on the turbid water that is all most of the underserved have access to. So a combination of larger pores and silver is most interesting. <dl> <dt><a href="?id=3302">Folia Water</a></dt> <dd>Silver nano-treated anti-microbial water filters for truly affordable clean drinking water. There's a behavior change involved which is the challenge.</dd> <dt>Ceramic pot filters.</a></dt> <dd>I like these ceramic pot filters - they are porous and treated with silver. They were invented in Guatemala, but can be made regionally, and I am in touch with <a href="https://www.terrawaterindonesia.com/">Terra Water</a> in Indonesia. They are more expensive than Folia, but they are aspirational, so the behavior change is easier.</dd> </dl> <p> <b>Debunking</b>: <a href=?id=3429>so called "Air to Water"</a>; and specifically <a href=?id=3375>Alphabet (Google)'s abandoned project</a>; </p> </details><details> <summary><b>Water supply</b>: How do we ensure supply with a climate that is changing</summary> <p>As climate changes access to water changes - some places have too much, others too little, and seasonality changes. We need ways to collect it, store it, and reuse it, that do not further damage the environment. I am interested in how to do this in decentralized ways, with minimal energy usage. Some things that interest me: </p> <dl> <dt><a href="?id=3369">Water Stupa</a></dt> <dd>An interesting to freeze water in winter, and then collect as it melts during the year. </dd> <dt><a href="?id=33">Sunpulse</a></dt> <dd>This pump uses solar (thermal) energy to directly power a stirling engine. I have seen it drive a firehose from a 2-meter dish. Unfortunately they were not able to commercialize it.</dd> </dl> <p> <b>Debunking</b>: <a href=?id=3425>Warka water tower</a>; </p> </details><details> <summary><b>Waste Water</b>: Can we treat our waste water in ways that are more energy efficient, and not damaging to the environment.</summary> Waste water treatment takes a lot of energy; often causes harmful chemicals to enter the environment; often fails; and is typically unaffordable in resource-constrained countries, leading to contamination of drinking sources. I am interested in lower cost, especially natural solutions, that can be maintained with low-skill labor in resource constrained environments (typically developing countries). <dl> <dt><a href="?id=2788">Ocean Arks</a></dt> <dd>Defunct since about 2011, but a pioneer of integrating natural systems and wastewater</dd> <p><!-- Debunking --></p> </details> See <a href="?metakey=water">Water</a></details> <details> <summary><b><a href="?metakey=materials">Materials</a></b>: I am interested in materials that perform well both in their useful life and afterwards.</summary> <!--TODO blog; notes tag; interesting note--> <dl> <dt><a href="?id=3302">Folia Materials</a></dt><dd>Applying silver really cheaply to paper for anti-microbial and packaging applications.</dd> </dl> </details> 2025-06-23T00:00:00.000Z 2025-06-23T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3430-how_might_a_standard Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Anyone who has been around since the start of the internet will have noticed how it went from a system dominated by a few major walled gardens (AOL, Dialcom, Compuserve) to an interesting ecosystem with lots of startups, and then back to a ffew major walled gardens - both at the platform level (Facebook, Amazon etc) and at the application level (Uber, AirBn etc). Just as in the early days, these big players benefit from the “network effect” and intentionally keep others out. </p><p> We’ve seen attempts at cooperative alternatives fail dismally - mostly because no coop has the resources to compete with, for example Uber or AirBnB, across the whole stack. </p><p> One of the insights that I bring from my involvement in the early days of the internet was that decentralisation was not about a single monolithic system that happened to be spread around different computers (think BitCoin, or IPFS) it was about decentralised APIs that allowed for many competitors working on each piece of the puzzle to work together. </p><p> So …. As a design exercise I asked what would a stack look like for decentralised mobility services. This is just a thought piece, I’m not claiming any of the details are right, and I’m not planning on working on this. </p><p> </p>

<p> Drop down any of the lines for more details … </p><p> <details><summary> I open up my phone, and load the MyRide app. </summary> I’ve chosen the MyRide app, because I like the user experience, it has access to the same drivers and riders as any of the other apps because it implements the same interfaces. It’s free and they get a small cut from any service I use. </details><details>summary> MyRide access OpenStreetMaps. </summary> MyRide could also be using Google or Apple Maps, all of which offer the same API. </details><details>summary> It displays on the map the location of a Lime ebike for rent but its too far a walk. </summary> MyRide has access to a number o mobility service providers each with their own scooters, and can display them all on the same map. </details><details><summary> It shows a couple of private scooters through GetAround. </summary> GetAround allows people to advertise their personal scooters when not in use. They make money from a commission on the rental. </details><details><summary> MyRide displays a Bus route, but I don't have time to wait. </summary> MyRide is accessing the public schedules and live bus tracking the city offers. </details><details><summary> MyRide displays some rides available </summary> MyRide pings a registry to find out what driver matching services work in this town, then pings those services and gets some replies. It deduplicates the replies as some drivers are on multiple services. </details><details><summary> I review the reputation of the drivers. </summary> Each reply contains a list of reputation services and a token to use with each, so it queries them. </details><details><summary> Facebook says we don't have any mutual friends, and no-one I know has rated the driver. </summary> Social media is a powerful way to aggregate knowledge as I value my friends feedback, AI would make it easy to look for reputations, especially since the review could be made via MyRide and tagged to make it easier to search. </details><details><summary> WRA (WeRateAnyone) gives some of the drivers 5-stars, but my App knows that my ratings rarely match those of WRA so it ignores them. </summary> Rating the rating services is an important feature, it encourages integrity, and allows alignment of the ratings with my values. (e.g. I might care about safety more than cleanliness or vica-versa). </details><details><summary> I’m a subscriber to LyftRatings, but the app adjusts each of its ratings down a little because it notices Lyft consistently gives average drivers 4 stars. </summary> With rating-inflation (5 star being “average” while 4-star is awful) the various services need levelling against each other. </details><details><summary> Based on rating and distance MyRide’s AI recommends which car I should pick and on my confirmation sends a request. </summary> MyRide has learned from my past behaviour, and can usually predict what I would choose to do. </details><details><summary> The driver picks a service to respond under </summary> The driver, running the TaxiNow app, is signed into Uber and DriversUnited. She gets a ping via both, but the app preferences the DriversUnited one since she is a member of the coop and pays a yearly fee rather than a per-ride commission. </details><details><summary> The driver runs a similar reputation check, no problems from either the Police or PayPal so she accepts. </summary> Reputation services need to work both ways in a two-sided marketplace, and are powerful because they can be aggregated across applications. </details><details><summary> When the ride arrives my app confirms pickup to DriversUnited, and tracks all the usual things (route, ETA etc). </summary> This looks no different than todays’ apps, except the driver and I are using different apps, accessing a common tracker. </details><details><summary> At the end of the ride, I give the driver 3-stars (average) which the app sends to FB and LyftRatings. </summary> Again we would have a common APIs that could be used with multiple services. </details><details><summary> LyftRatings notices that being European I rate things low, so it adjusts my rating up to 4-stars. </summary> Ratings become useless if manipulatable, by noticing my behaviour LyftRatings can normalise my ratings and has an incentive to do so as it wants to be relevant. </details><details><summary> The drivers app sends payment info to my App and I make the payment via PayPal because their commission is lowest. </summary> Again, competing payment services - PayPal / Visa / Direct bank transfer - based on my preferences and those of the driver, and the advertised commission. </details><details><summary> PayPal adjusts my reputation accordingly. </summary> Reputation being integrated at each step. </details> <p> The key to all of this are common APIs - for rating, for maps, for requesting a service. Each of the components above - MyRide, LyftRatings, Paypal, make their money off a small commission seamlessly integrated into the price. Most importantly, each has competition and wins, not by creating the biggest monopoly - e.g. where both drivers and passengers both need to use the App with the most of the other. - but by service & price competition. </p> <p> The biggest downside of the above scenario is that it is somewhat chicken egg, and really needs micro-standardisation effort of a similar level to the IETF in the early 90s, and startups these days have lost the realisation that cooperating for a small share of a larger market is better than the winner-takes-all mentality pushed by investors. </p> 2025-06-23T00:00:00.000Z 2025-06-23T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3431-criteria Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Natural Innovation mentors and supports innovators who ideally: </p><ul><li> Are doing something new or innovative. </li><li> With a strong positive impact on our society or environment. </li><li> In either S.E.Asia or Australia (especially Northern NSW; Southern QLD). </li></ul><p> More on each of these criteria below.

</p><p> But lets start with what I don’t care about ! </p><ul><li> <b>Conformity</b>: Many innovators are themselves misfits - thinking outside the box is a great driver of innovation. </li><li> <b>Diversity</b>: I enjoy working with diversity - your age, race, sexuality, gender and faith (or otherwise) will not affect my choice of whether to work with you, though I’m interested in who you are, and your personal story, as success is as much about the innovator as the innovation. </li><li> <b>Education</b>: I don’t care whether you are educated formally or informally, or whether you career has taken a traditional path. </li><li> <b>Stage</b>: I like early stage, innovations - but it needs to be something more than just an idea - you need to have a good reason why you think it will work! I don't care if you have raised money before. </li><li> <b>For-profit or non-profit</b>: These are just tax statuses, but I do care - in both cases - why you think it will scale. </li></ul><h4> Doing something new or innovative. </h4><p> My core expertise is turning an idea or technology into a product and then a viable business. My skills overlap technology and business. </p><p> I have past experience, and particularly like working in areas such as Green Materials; Energy; Internet of Things and embedded systems (IoT); </p><p> I am much less interested in projects that are primarily platforms, apps, AI etc. Although, of course, IT forms a part of most solutions. </p><p> Some examples: </p><ul><li> Magi Farm - adapting a known solution (Black Soldier Fly for composting) to a new problem (Hospitality waste) so this is essentially a systems innovation. </li><li> Recyrcle - taking hospitality waste linen and turning back into yarn; spinning into fibre; weaving back into textiles. </li><li> Anitec - using IoT to improve agriculture outcomes </li><li> Folia Water - silver treated anti-microbial paper for water treatment. </li></ul> <h4> A strong positive impact on our society or environment </h4><p> I am interested in sustainable solutions to problems of poverty. I see environment and society intertwined - we won’t have a sustainable economy if we destroy the earth’s life support systems; and we won’t save the environment while people struggle to elevate themselves from poverty. </p><p> My own theory of change is that we have the solutions to most problems in the West, but we do not know how to adapt and simplify them to work in resource-constrained environments such as most developing countries. </p><p> Your project does not have to agree with my thesis, but I want to know that you have thought this through , and that impact is intrinsic to what you are doing. </p><h4> In either S.E.Asia or Australia (especially Northern NSW; Southern QLD). </h4><p> I split my time mostly between home, which is in the northern part of NSW (near Byron Bay), and SE Asia - especially Bali; wherever you are, we can do a lot together remotely, but it works better if you are close enough that I can visit your project where its developed, and/or the situation where it is applied. </p><p> I have also spent a lot of time in India (mostly Tamil Nadu); and multiple trips to Africa (especially Kenya). I do not speak Spanish, so solutions in S.America might be better off working with someone in the US. </p><h4> Reach out </h4><p> If what you are doing, fits into this at least somewhat then please feel free to reach out. An email is fine - mitra@mitra.biz - but please include a link to something that describes your product or service and the problem you are working on. </p> 2020-10-01T00:00:00.000Z 2020-10-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3432-nuclear-diamond-batteries Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Nuclear Diamond Batteries - have received a fair bit of hype, and to be fair they are a cool idea, but the hype-machine turns them into something they aren’t anywhere close to.

<p> There's a general rule that says Exceptional claims need exceptional evidence, there is no evidence of any note here (so far). </p><p> Batteries are typically judged by two metrics - kWh/kg and $/kWh, depending on whether the application is mobile or static. None of the articles I've seen, nor the press release have EITHER of these metrics, suggesting it is poor on both. They quote a meaningless "charge collection efficiency". But we can work some of this out …. As the saying goes …. “Do the math!” </p><p> The factual notes typically say something like “100 microwatts at 3 volts and measures 15 x 15 x 5 mm.” </p><p> These devices could actually be useful for things like powering distributed sensors which need really really low power, especially if they only wake up and turn on their radios for a few seconds every hour or so. </p><p> A typical phone uses between 2 to 5W so it would need 20 to 50 THOUSAND of these to power it i.e. about 400 times as big as even a fairly chunky cellphone battery. </p><p> The classic nonsense claim is something like “such batteries could one day power a mobile phone so it never needs recharging or keep a small drone in the air indefinitely, at this level of power, the drone wouldn’t be able to lift its own battery ! </p><p> Another Red Flag is that they quote professor <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=1iE2ykkAAAAJ&hl=en”>John Shawe-Taylor</a> who may be smart, but is a statistics prof, not anything remotely relevant to physics, or electronic or energy. </p><p> Many of the stories such as <a href=“https://glennrocess.medium.com/self-charging-nano-diamond-batteries-that-can-run-an-electric-car-for-90-years-57b0a9aa803a”>Medium - 2020</a> churned an article in <a href=“https://web.archive.org/web/0/https://newatlas.com/energy/nano-diamond-self-charging-batteries-ndb”>New Atlas 2020</a> which was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201101021420/https://newatlas.com/energy/nano-diamond-self-charging-batteries-ndb/“>updated</a> to doubt some of the claims and then deleted. The orginal seems to have churned <a href=“https://www.prweb.com/releases/ndb-inc-announces-major-technological-laboratory-breakthrough-for-the-first-universal-self-charging-nano-diamond-battery-first-beta-customers-827952823.html”>PRWeb 2020</a>; </p><p> As always with any of my debunks, if I've got it wrong then please send me a correction, or a link to a correction and I'll either correct my article, or post your rebuttal here. </p><p> <b>Update 2025</b> …. Various stories around 2024 suggest it’s been delayed, and I cannot find anything newer. </p> 2025-08-29T00:00:00.000Z 2025-08-29T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3433-big-company-accounting Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

If you are a B2B SME of any kind, but particularly Social Ventures, that deals with a variety of customers you know how different it is to deal with other SME's, big corporates, or governments/NGOs.

<p> While the former is happy with an invoice, or even an email, and often pays before shipping, big corporations employ people to slow down payments as that helps their cash flow, governments and NGOs are often even worse, being both slow payers and expecting discounts. </p><p> I'd be interested in ideas for dealing with this, here are a few tactics I've used in the past. </p><p> We had a university asking us for an educational discount, since they were one of our slowest payers we just added to the next invoice "Discount 10% if paid in 7 days" which of course never happened. </p><p> Macro Wholefoods (the Australian equivalent of Whole Foods, later acquired by Woolies) were notoriously bad at paying, always wanting some extra paperwork, statements etc, and multiple phone calls even when well beyond 30 days. Since they were a repeat buyer, we waiting until the stores were calling us because our product - a best seller - was missing from their shelves and told them we had held up fulfilling the order until it was paid, and gave them the name (and direct line) of the accountant responsible. Needless to say, the payment started flowing once the stores started complaining. His job, of improving cash flow, saved far less money than they lost by customers going elsewhere for our product. </p><p> I was doing some consulting for IBM once, and my liaison there told me explicitly. "I can't do anything to remove the bureaucracy, but you are welcome to bill any time spent talking to our contracts department at your standard rate". Since it was a short engagement this added a considerable percentage to the bill. </p><p> Schneider Electric, were a classic case. It once took more than 10 emails back and forth with their purchasing department to get a small ($50) invoice paid. They wanted to pay in Indian Rupees, to an Indian registered company, the bill finally got paid - on someone's personal credit card - when we stopped providing support to their dev team. Their next order was a little too large for a credit card payment, so we added an "account department facilitation fee" charge of $200 (to a $200 bill). When the dev team ordering the product asked us about it we explained the previous challenges and explained that we'd happily wave that fee if the invoice was paid (by wire or credit card) within 7 days and we didn't have to talk to anyone but him, and he dealt with the purchasing departments bureaucrap. Internally this became known as the "Schneider Tax" </p><p> I was relating this story to a Schneider exec at a social event in Nairobi some time later, and he told me about being in a demonstration with the Schneider regional CEO. The CEO asks how to obtain a demonstration item. The demonstrator told him that he could send an invoice and would ship as soon as funds were received. The CEO took out his wallet, and said, "No - I can't afford to wait for my purchasing department to handle this, here is $100 cash, how about you just leave that item with us now". </p> 2020-10-01T00:00:00.000Z 2020-10-01T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3434-chinese-grandfather-bridge Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>I loved this video of a chinese grandfather building a simple self-supporting timber bridge using something almost the same as what I knew of as the Leonardo da Vinci design. </p><p> <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k6f0eJACyw" cached="//chinese_grandfather_bridge [9k6f0eJACyw].mp4"></content-video> </p>

<p>I loved this video of a chinese grandfather building a simple self-supporting timber bridge using something almost the same as what I knew of as the Leonardo da Vinci design. </p><p> <content-video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k6f0eJACyw" cached="//chinese_grandfather_bridge [9k6f0eJACyw].mp4"></content-video> </p> 2025-07-08T00:00:00.000Z 2025-07-08T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3435-fix-impact-investing Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p>Much of my work is in SE Asia, with early stage innovation driven impact startups, and both the entrepreneurs and the accelerators and incubators, venture builders and Angels that support are pretty much all agreed that impact equity investment - as practiced by the funds - is broken. It’s delivering neither impact, nor financial returns. So how could we fix it.</p><p>Here are a few ideas.</p>

<p> </p><p> The key seems to me. we need to change the Capital Stack to meet the needs of enterprises that we want to succeed, rather than trying to bend the enterprise to fit in a unicorn-shaped box. </p><p> We saw how badly that worked with the eFisheries scandal, the only companies that can raise money are those faking their projections, and in eFisheries case they had to then start faking numbers (by a factor of 10) to meet the projections. </p><p> We need to combine the best of Philanthropy with the best of VC, not the worst of both. </p><p> Lets start with ticket sizes - fund ticket sizes start around €2m, and are complaining about lack of pipeline - which is hardly surprising since neither they, nor anyone else, is funding in the €100k-1m range. And below that, Angels are leaving the space - because the biggest risk is not company failure, but the lack of funds for a successful story. Funds need to structure the deals so you can start small, and then come back later if projections are met, rather than pouring €2m into a company that can’t handle it. </p><p> But … I heard only this week, we can’t do small tickets since our DD costs €200K. Well that’s the next thing to fix, long DD (6 months is normal) is itself killing companies as CEOs are diverted from running their business to keeping multiple DD’s going (and they need multiple, in case the first DD fails for reasons which are usually nothing to do with the quality of the company. Instead we should use small early investments as the DD. That €200k spend on DD could have been used to fund an earlier company to the point where it could absorb €2m and would have been a far better measure of quality than some expensive but inexperienced western based staff looking at the books. </p><p> The next thing we should do is reduce the reporting - Socap and other pay-to-play conferences are full of consultants telling you that we need more DD and reporting - one of the worst parts of philanthropy., and entrepreneurs often spend around 15% of money and time producing “impact reports” that are neither relevant to their business nor the investors. This 15% tax turns profitable models into loss making. Instead design frameworks that take 2%, focus on meaningful metrics related to the business, and then look qualitatively for secondary benefits, and more importantly, secondary risks. </p><p> Of course, none of this works if we are looking for unicorns (the worst of VC - low likelihood of 100x returns) - instead, set reasonable expectations of risk-adjusted return i.e. a good chance of a 3x return in 5 years (using Revenue Related Debt for example) will deliver 20% return with high likelihood, while I have yet to meet ANY impact VC that had an exit that “payed off the fund”. </p><p> How long should we wait for a return - 5 years is possible, but we need to be flexible, the most likely outcome is unexpected delays caused by mistakes, natural disasters, political instability etc. Recoverable setbacks, which is a complete contrast to the VC model, of speed or nothing. If a fund is closed-end, i.e. the GPs don’t get paid unless they monetise in 5, or even 10, years it’s not going to generate impact. </p><p> </p><p> Even better - skip exits entirely - look for repayment from revenue, or dividends since very very few exits actually preserve impact. We desperately need a secondary market to allow risk-tolerant investors to exit to those looking for safer longer term returns. </p><p> If we can’t do this with impact equity - then we need alternatives, working capital debt is often the best - I’ve done 8 impact debt deals - through Red Hat and Good Karma syndicates, and all are repaying well at interest rates around 8-10%, this easily beats the returns in impact funds. </p><p> Revenue Related Debt is another promising alternative - early repayments out of a portion of the companies revenue. I’m part of a group, coordinated by Moonshot Ventures, standardising the legal instrument to make these deals easier to do. </p><p> In conclusion - let’s look for alternatives to a methodology delivering neither impact nor financial returns and instead adapt the capital stack to the needs of impact. </p><p> I <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mitraardron_13-much-of-my-work-is-in-se-asia-with-early-stage-activity-7376172280738926592-z5cl">posted this to LinkedIn</a> where it received a fair number of thoughtful comments. Feel free to add yours ... </p> 2020-05-02T00:00:00.000Z 2020-05-02T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3436-portal-economics Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> An interesting article on the potential for restructuring post-covid, i.e. what the "Great Reset" could have been if the conspiracy "theorists" had not coopted the term. <a href="https://medium.com/future-crunch/portal-economics-ae11000a4f4d">via Medium</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250522134524/https://medium.com/future-crunch/portal-economics-ae11000a4f4d"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> </p>

<p> An interesting article on the potential for restructuring post-covid, i.e. what the "Great Reset" could have been if the conspiracy "theorists" had not coopted the term. <a href="https://medium.com/future-crunch/portal-economics-ae11000a4f4d">via Medium</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250522134524/https://medium.com/future-crunch/portal-economics-ae11000a4f4d"><img src="/images/internet_archive_logo_14x12.png"/></a> </p> 2025-11-13T00:00:00.000Z 2025-11-13T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3437-plastic-pollution-feebates Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

Plastic pollution keeps rising despite decades of “solutions.” The system is structured to fail - consensus-driven, industry-led, and incentive-poor. This article suggests a (probably simplistic) alternative: combine feebates, border adjustment tariffs, and green bonds to realign incentives. It’s not perfect - but maybe it’s worth testing. Please share your thoughts on the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mitraardron_natural-innovationorg-activity-7394541329579589632-dW7R">LinkedIn version</a>

<h3> Why the current approach isn’t working </h3><p> We’ve been talking about plastic pollution since the 1970s, but plastic production has risen from 2 million tonnes in 1950 to over 400 million tonnes today (UNEP, 2023). The OECD projects it will triple by 2060 under current trends. </p><p> The global plastics treaty process looks a lot like the COP climate talks - consensus-based, which means decisions must satisfy everyone, including the biggest producers and users of plastics. The result is predictable: watered-down commitments and slow progress. </p><p> And while ocean cleanups grab headlines, they don’t solve the source problem. It’s like mopping a kitchen floor while the tap is still running. </p><h4> Better alternatives exist - but can’t scale </h4><p> Bioplastics, refill systems, and compostable packaging are improving fast. But they face three major barriers: </p><ol><li> Higher cost than conventional plastics, especially at small scale. </li><li> High investment needs to reach scale (new infrastructure, supply chains). </li><li> Market uncertainty - even if someone builds capacity, will anyone buy it? </li></ol><p> We’ve seen this movie before in renewable energy - clean tech was “too expensive” until policy shifted the economics. </p> <h3>A (probably simplistic) alternative: fix the incentives </h3><p> Here’s a sketch of a three-part approach. </p><h4> 1. Feebates </h4><p> A concept popularised by Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute. Producers of harmful plastics pay a fee; producers of sustainable plastics (or verified removal projects) receive an equivalent rebate. </p><p> Applied at the point of production, where it’s easy to measure. </p><p> Designed to be revenue neutral - the bad funds the good. </p><p> Proven in other sectors: feebates helped transform vehicle efficiency in France and appliance standards in California. </p><h4> 2. Border Adjustment Tariffs </h4><p> To avoid “pollution leakage” - where production just moves offshore - participating countries apply a border tax on plastic imports from non-participants. </p><p> Mirrors the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). </p><p> Ensures domestic producers aren’t penalised for doing the right thing. </p><h4> 3. Green Bonds with Price Guarantees </h4><p> Investors hesitate to fund new materials because the market is uncertain. Governments could issue green bonds or provide minimum price guarantees for verified sustainable plastics or removal credits. </p><p> That means: </p><ul><li> Entrepreneurs can focus on execution, not survival. </li><li> Investors can back strong teams with less market risk. </li><li> Governments only pay when results are delivered. </li><li> This is similar to how feed-in tariffs de-risked early solar power investment - a policy that turned niche tech into a trillion-dollar industry. </li></ul><h4> Why this combination might work </h4><p> Each mechanism addresses a failure point in the current system: </p><p><table> <tr><td><b>Problem</b></td><td><b>Mechanism</b></td><td><b>Example</b></td></tr> <tr><td>Unsustainable plastics are cheaper</td><td>Feebates make bad plastics more expensive and good ones cheaper</td><td>Vehicle feebates (France, California)</td></tr> <tr><td>Production moves offshore</td><td>Border adjustments maintain fair competition</td><td>EU CBAM</td></tr> <tr><td>Investors avoid early-stage risk</td><td>Green bonds / guarantees share the risk</td><td>Solar feed-in tariffs, climate tech funds</td></tr> </table></p><p> Together, they could create a balanced, self-reinforcing system - penalising the harmful, rewarding the sustainable, and financing the transition. </p><p> References and resources </p><ul><li> OECD (2022) – <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2022/06/global-plastics-outlook_f065ef59.html">Global Plastics Outlook</a> </li><li> UNEP (2023) – <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/turning-off-tap-end-plastic-pollution-create-circular-economy">Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy</a> </li><li> Rocky Mountain Institute – <a href="https://rmi.org/insight/feebates-a-legislative-option-to-encourage-continuous-improvements-to-automobile-efficiency/">Feebate design example</a> </li><li> European Commission (2024) – <a href="https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism_en">Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism</a> </li><li> World Bank (2024) – <a href="https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/553c323db2132d2ee349da34a88a388b-0320082024/original/2024-03-06-WICER-Economic-and-Financial.pdf">Financing Circular Economy Transitions in water</a> </li><li> The Ocean Cleanup (2023) – <a href="https://assets.theoceancleanup.com/app/uploads/2024/06/TheOceanCleanup_Annual_Report_2023.pdf">Impact Report</a> </li></ul><h4> Discussion </h4><p> This is probably a simplistic idea. It doesn’t cover all the politics, vested interests, or complexities of global trade. But it might at least move the conversation from “why can’t we agree?” to “what would actually work?” </p><p> I’d love to hear your thoughts - especially what’s wrong with this idea, what wouldn’t work, or what’s missing. </p><p> 👉 Join the discussion on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mitraardron_natural-innovationorg-activity-7394541329579589632-dW7R">LinkedIn</a> </p> 2014-07-27T00:00:00.000Z 2014-07-27T00:00:00.000Z http://www.mitra.biz/3438-patents-chicken-crossing-road Mitra Ardron mitra@mitra.biz

<p> Once upon a time was a chicken - lets call him Chuck. </p><p> It lived with a bunch of other chickens on one side of a busy road, </p><p> One day a farmer planted a field on the other side of the road full of fat juicy grain. </p><p> From that day on, the question of "Why did the Chicken cross the road" was settled, the only question left was How. </p><p> One day Chuck woke up late from his nap, and all the grain had been gobbled up by his so-called mates, so he figured today was the day. </p><p> He sidled up to the road, looked both ways, waited till there was no traffic and walked over and had himself a good feast. </p>

<p> The other chickens pretty quickly followed, one took the bridge, one launched himself from a bush, a group crossed together and so on. </p><p> When Chuck got back home a Raven was sitting there. "Hello Chuck" the Raven asked, "did you enjoy your meal ?". "Sure" replied Chuck, "But not much left after everyone else got there". "That's where I can help" said Raven, "Since you were first, we can apply for a patent, then whenever anyone else wants the grain they'll have to pay you, and you won't even have to cross that nasty dangerous road again". </p><p> So Raven wrote up a patent … its claims went like this. </p><ol><li> A person or member of any mammalian, reptilian or avian species traversing an obstruction to another to obtain some advantage </li><li> The claims of #1 where the crosser is a chicken </li><li> The claims of #2 where the obstruction is a concrete or bitumised surface </li><li> The claims of #3 where the obstruction is a road </li><li> The claims of #4 where the chicken uses flight, walking or other method of propulsion </li><li> The claims of #5 where the chicken walks </li><li> The claims of #6 where the chicken first looks each way to avoid traffic and then walks </li></ol><p> Chuck took a look and noticed #6 - "Yes that's what I did he said", but the Raven was smart and insisted Chuck signed for the whole set and Raven filed it. </p><p> A while later, Raven returned, by now the whole flock would cross the road daily for its feast. So Raven started suing all the other chickens. </p><p> "But just hang on" … Jemima said "I don't walk across the road, I take the bridge". "Doesn't matter" said Raven, "Chuck did it first". </br>"So what" said Jemima, "Its B****" obvious, there's a bridge there, and over there is an underpass, no need even to risk get squashed". </br>"Doesn't matter", countered Raven, "The law is a the law" and he started collecting a tax on grain, keeping 10% for himself of course. </p><p> A few chickens objected, but Raven took his Patent to Alfred the Ass, the local judge, who looked at Raven in his smart suit and confirmed the patent. </p><p> By this time Chuck was getting really fat since he didn't have to cross the road any more. One day he took a walk across the bridge to check out the field anyway. </p><p> Under the bridge was an evil Troll, he saw how fat and slow Chuck was and grabbed him and ate him, except for the Patent which he kept. Now everyone had to pay the Troll for crossing the road. </p><p> Any resemblence to <a href="?3040">US Patent # 6219045 - Shared 3D Worlds</a> is purely coincidental. </p>