Live from Ceres Conference: The Water-Energy Nexus

The connection between water and energy was discussed during a morning workshop at today’s Ceres Conference in San Francisco.  Moderated by Jon Jensen, executive director of the Park Foundation, the panel brought together three outspoken voices from non-profit, industry, and investment organizations: Jason Morrison, program director, Globalization at the Pacific Institute; Peter Williams, CTO of Big Green Innovations at IBM; and Kenneth Sylvester, assistant comptroller for Pension Policy in the New York City Comptroller’s Office.  Each party had a unique perspective.

Morrison (who I also covered when he spoke at the State of Green Business Conference) started off the discussion by outlining the problem and a four step solution plan. The water problem is that 900 million people lack access to clean water, and this number is growing; demand for water is increasing; and more and more parties want to have a say in how water is managed, so water is fast becoming a socio-political and economic issue.

“We are coming from a water abundant era, and companies don’t see water as a risk to business.  Especially as it is relatively cheap,” Morrison explained.  He advises that companies account for water risk in three categories: physical, regulatory, and reputational, as outlined in a paper Ceres and Pacific Institute produced.

More importantly, water, energy and climate are all interconnected, but policy makers and the general public does not get it yet.  Climate change will increase the demand for water.  For example, drought causes increased need for irrigated agriculture.  A few factoids Morrison shared were simply shocking:

1) Running hot water from your kitchen faucet for 5 minutes uses the same amount of energy as running a 60 watt light bulb for 14 hours.

2) In California, the single largest energy user is the state water project which moves and treats water from north to south – 20 percent of California electricity is used in this way.

But people fail to connect energy and water.  As such, Morrison advised companies of the following strategy to mitigate water risks:

1) Measure your water footprint, so you can identify hotspots and prioritize issues

2) Assess your risk

3) Formulate integrated responses to your water risks and footprint

4) Disclose your water performance, risk, and your undertakings to manage that risk

In other words, measure, manage, and communicate your water footprint and risks.  Later on in the panel, Morrison built on this, encouraging that we all need to think more holistically and more collaboratively about the challenges at hand.  We can’t think only of our company on its own, but we must broaden that to include the communities we operate in and the bigger picture.   One bright spot is that “scarcity makes creativity flow.”

Continue reading on GreenBiz.com

 

Clinton Global Initiative 2008 Annual Meeting

I received a link to this video from Brian Purchia, Deputy Director of Communications for Gavin Newsom.  While I haven’t had a chance to watch the whole conference (that would take a few days!), I’m delighted to see there is online access to any of the sessions here, and they look quite impressive.  Click on above image to view an opening plenary session from the Clinton Global Initiative, which includes a panel of Gavin Newsom, T. Boone Pickens, Shimon Peres, Helle Thorning-Schmidt (leader of Danish Social Democratic Party), Robert Zoellick (President of the World Bank), moderated by Tom Brokaw as well as speeches by both McCain and Obama on the topic of integrated solutions to water, food and energy.

I’m a Newsom fan, and seeing as the video linked above is nearly 2 hours (1 hr 50 minutes longer than the average attention span), I’d like to point out that around minute 57 Newsom gives a terrific explanation of what he thinks needs to happen to solve our climate catastrophe, advocating for both cap and trade as well as a carbon tax.

One other interesting point is that the forum is decisively not political, and I was impressed that Clinton welcomed both McCain and Obama to speak.  However, I was pleased to notice how overtly more excited Clinton was at the conclusion of Obama’s masterful, well-articulated and strategic speech (seen towards  the end of the video) than after McCain spoke.  Clinton shows a clear preferene for Obama and his commitments to global health, a preference I strongly share.

 

Start-up of the week: Distributed World Power (DWP)

Idealab-birthed, LA-based, Distributed World Power is an early stage start-up aimed at creating low-cost energy generation tools to provide off-grid power in emerging markets.

DWP was founded in response to the uneasy truth that “Half of all people alive today do not have adequate access to inexpensive electricity. One in four does not have any access at all. The only other energy options available, like kerosene and wood, are inefficient, unhealthy, environmentally unfriendly, scarce and, above all, increasingly expensive. Many families must choose daily between food or light.”

DWP’s stellar team combines experience in all corners of renewable energy, and they are looking to serve the target market with whatever technology is the best fit. “We are technology agnostic…we represent a market looking for the right technology,” John Howard, co-founder and VP of Business Development explained. The DWP team traveled for six weeks in their target markets to understand the needs and life situations of the population. They found three universal electricity demands – lighting, television, and cell phone charging. DWP’s first product will be affordable and based on this level of energy requirements.

Howard explained that DWP is currently deciding between a few small scale generation devices to develop and market as their first product. The bulk of all start-ups these days are focusing on improving quality of life for the most privileged among us. DWP is unusual in its admirable focus on creating vital products for people who most need it and can least afford them. DWP’s goal is to impact 1 million people within 5 years and 100 million with 10 years. Even without such lofty goals, the potential for DWP to positively impact lives around the globe vastly outweighs that of your average technology start-up.

Look out for DWP’s first potentially world-changing, equalizing product release in early 2009. If you have an interest in working with DWP, they are very open to collaboration and you can contact them at info@dwpower.com.