Egypt Should Invest in Low-Tech Waste-To-Energy Technology in Cairo

April 30, 2009 by Robert.

I just heard a radio report on NPR in the Global Health section:

Egypt To Slaughter Pigs As A Flu Precaution by Peter Kenyon    

(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103642533)

The growing Swine Flu epidemic has got a lot of people scared.  But knee-jerk policy decisions can sometimes have dangerous consequences.

In Cairo, where the Muslim population does not eat pork (or even touch pigs), hogs are farmed by the Coptic Christian population, a small minority.  So it’s not a tough political decision for Egypt to simply say “kill all the filthy animals” before Swine Flu breaks out.

‘Problem is… many of these pig-farmers in Cairo are the garbage collectors – they go from house to house and busines-to-business collecting garbage, bringing it back to their homes, separating it, and feeding the food scraps etc. to the hungry hogs.  That’s their livelihood.

Without the hogs, they will certainly not want to bring the garbage back to their homes.  The pig-farmers warn NPR that the garbage will quickly pile-up, and Cairo will be a filthy place (er, even filthier).

But of course, Cairo won’t let that happen, will they?  They’ll burn their trash.  They’ll pile up the trash, pour kerosene on it, and light it up.  Somebody will.  If the government won’t do it, civilians will.

Swine Flu is an immediate public health issue in other countries, and is threatening Egypt.  But Egypt’s reaction is creating a different urgent public health issue in Cairo.  And they may soon export an even bigger environmental issue in the form of pollution and noxious fumes.

Instead of simply burning trash and putting filth into the air, they could use the trash to generate electricity while at the same time getting rid of all kinds of municipal waste.  It’s called Waste-To-Energy (WTE or W2E).

Envirepel™ gasification uses a brick oven design which is not new: it was patented over 100 years ago. They do not burn the trash — they heat the trash to the point that everything melts, all the microbes and disease “bugs” are cooked.  They use the waste heat from the process to generate eletricity.  And they use the gases that come off of the trash to fuel the system and to produce methane, ammonia, and other good stuff.  The “ash” that comes out the other end can be used for making bricks, concrete, roads, roof shingles and other useful products.

Now there’s a good thang!  See http://envirepel.com/

 

Posted in jobs, energy, small business, ventures, social ventures, public policy, health, finance, Linkedin, philanthropy, politics, investing, nonprofit, development, P2P, renewable energy | No Comments »

Selling Vs. Selling Out : Social Investing

April 29, 2009 by Robert.

An interesting article by Kevin Jones of Good Capital, which appeared in the Stanfurd… I mean Stanford Social Innovation Review:

The real question is not whether social investing will become real, or whether it will become a more important asset class. Social investment is growing, and its growth is in line with societal trends that are both on the rise in their acceptance and in line with the realities of limited environmental resources and economic transformation.

Based on the trends I’m seeing, I’m declaring the question settled. Yes, social venture capital is both a valid emerging asset class and in the forefront in its ability to deliver scalable social impact at low cost and provide an actual financial return that helps support the mission and the enterprise.

About the Writer

Kevin Jones is a cofounding principal of Good Capital, an investment firm that accelerates the flow of capital to enterprises that use market forces to create large-scale social change. Jones is a successful serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and cofounder of Social Capital Markets, the groundbreaking conference on social venture investing. (Source: same as above, Stanford Social Innovation Review:)

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Starting Up: Nonprofits Launch Social Sidelines

April 28, 2009 by Robert.

“…A new generation of changemakers is emerging that sees for-profit ventures as intrinsically more scalable than nonprofit entities.” – John Elkington, co-author of The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World     

…Consider Rubicon Programs, a Richmond, Calif., nonprofit that provides jobs, housing, and life skills to poverty-stricken, formerly incarcerated and disabled individuals. The organization, which was founded in 1973, has started two businesses and helped more than 40,000 individuals find jobs and live independently… [and] helped Rubicon build 200 units of affordable housing and operate mental health and workforce services in a dozen cities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area … 

 Thinking outside the box?  Now is the time to disregard the box, and start thinking creatively and practically. Nonprofits are in a great position to create small enterprises (tax-free, with low break-even), take limited risks, and create jobs.

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In Iraq, a green idea for saving lives of troops

April 28, 2009 by Robert.

“The key is fuel: The more of it a base uses, the more soldiers are exposed to deadly roadside bombs on fuel convoys.” (Source: LA Times article, Doug Smith and Saif Rasheed, Nov 22, 2007)   

I love how crowdsourcing innovation can lead to unexpected benefits.  The military expected to get some high tech, expensive gadgets.  But instead, they got barrels of goop.OK, so “barrels of petroleum-based goop” is not such “green idea” and it’s not cheap.  But it’s innovative.How could it be improved?  Maybe use lightweight re-inforced concrete foam instead of “plastic” foam.  Maybe use materials that are readily-available onsite.  Or, sink the tents 4 ft. down into the ground (i.e. in rows, with the excavated dirt/sand piled at both ends).  Prefab steel-reinforced concrete walls (poured onsite) could provide quick snap-together construction.The temperature is usually more mild underground, providing passive cooling during the day and heating at night.  Keeping a low profile provides added protection from flying shrapnel/debris.

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The Cost of Doing Business in California

April 22, 2009 by Robert.

Ouch!  We need to protect small businesses in California!  This particular story made me angry: others at Faces of Law Suit Abuse.org might make you cry.  A seven year old boy sued over a minor skiing accident?  Outrageous!  A $47 million dollar suit over a pair of pants?  The dry cleaner eventually won the suit, but only after years in court, after shutting-down 2 of their 3 businesses.  What a tragedy!

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From the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR): Small businesses pay $20 billion in tort liability costs out of their own pockets each year.

• Tort Liability Costs for Small Business

Small businesses are responsible for 60 to 80 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S economy. More jobs, higher wages, and better benefits could be provided if the average small business earning $1 million in revenue didn’t have to spend $20,000 each year on an out of control lawsuit system.

• Tort Liability Costs for Small Business

The growth in U.S. tort costs since 1950 has exceeded growth in GDP by an average of approximately two percentage points annually.

• 2008 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends

America’s civil justice system is the world’s most expensive, with a direct cost in 2007 of $252 billion, or 1.83 percent of the U.S. GDP.

• 2008 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends

Tort costs were $835 per U.S. citizen in 2007, meaning a family of four paid a “litigation tax” of more than $3,300 for the U.S. civil justice system, a cost driven up due to increased costs from lawsuits and other liability expenses that force businesses to raise the price of products and services.

• 2008 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends

The cost of the U.S. tort liability system as a percentage of GDP is more than double the average cost of any other industrialized nation.

• Who Pays for Tort Liability Claims? An Economic Analysis of the U.S. Tort Liability System

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Financing Wind Energy Projects

April 22, 2009 by Robert.

In many school cases schools and other public entities have unique opportunities to help finance wind projects because they qualify for low interest loans, can issue bonds, have lower required rates of return, and generally can get longer financing terms.  Pictured [right] are the Spirit Lake Community School District’s 250 kW and 750 kW wind turbines.  The 750 kW wind turbine was financed through a zero interest loan from the Iowa Energy Center’s Alternative Energy Revolving Loan Program and a low interest loan approved by the Iowa Energy Bank.  (Article and photo from the Windustry Community Wind Toolbox)  Photo credit: Iowa Energy Center

Posted in community wind, finance, schools, stimulus, VCwind, Linkedin, development, politics, renewable energy, philanthropy, investing, nonprofit, wind | No Comments »

Introducing Peer to Peer Lending

April 20, 2009 by Robert.

This is a nice CNBC report from 2007, saying that Kiva went from $1 million in loans in 2006 to over $15 million in 2007.  But it’s interesting that the CNBC website misses the whole point of Kiva.  (Apparently the person who posted it onto the CNBC website did not actually watch the video!   What a shame!)  The server is slow (overloaded?), but it’s still worth watching.

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Ventura County Now Open to Small Wind Turbines

April 14, 2009 by Robert.

Among the many “good thangs” I could write about here, I am particulary pleased to report that Ventura County now has its first wind turbine.  And I am tickled to be able to say that my work with Prevailing Wind Power, LLC (PWP) was instrumental in making that first installation happen. Here’s a front page story from the Fillmore Gazette (Fillmore, CA) dated Feb. 11, 2009: http://www.fillmoregazette.com/front-page/farming-wind  Sales for wind turbines are not rolling-in quickly (yet), but I am confident that in the 2009 we’ll see several more turbines installed.For many months, I fielded phone inquiries from residents in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties asking for information about turbines from Southwest WindPower (SWWP).  SWWP is one of the oldest and most popular brands of “Small Wind” turbines, and has tens of thousands of turbines installed worldwide.  Yet, there were no turbines in the local area to which I could point prospective customers.  The closest (to my knowledge) were in the Big Bear / Arrowhead area, over 100 miles away.These “residential” turbines like the SkyStream 3.7 are larger than Air-X turbines common with boats and RVs.  But they are far smaller than thewind turbines that most people associate with Palm Springs or Tehachapi in Southern California or Altamont Pass in Northern California.Concerns over noise or performance or maintenance costs are real and legitimate.  Assuring a prospective buyer that the wind in the trees is louder than a SkyStream, or that ‘we have plenty of wind here’ in California, or that ‘these things last and last’ only goes so far.  For my money, I would want to see/hear for myself.  So, being able to point to a local Skystream unit and an owner that is high-profile and approachable is fantastic.  It’s going to really help sales here in Ventura County, CA.  The SkyStream website has a link for “SkyStreams Near Me” which lets you see if there are any units in your local area.  The new owner, like so many others, is happy to show off their new residential power plant and to tell about the process. Hats-off to the Hammonds for pressing Ventura County, writing letters to local legislators and getting the local media involved.   And hats-off to the Fillmore Gazette for following-up on the issue and getting local legislators “off the dime” and getting the wheelsblades turning.

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Could You Use a Cow-Fattening Loan?

April 11, 2009 by Robert.

For many, this video will be a fun introduction to the concept of peer-to-peer lending, and Kiva.org. The video was made by a Kiva Fellow doing development work in a beautiful place with beautiful people.  The camera is a bit shaky, but, hey — the soundtrack is great!  Great stuff.  

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Development: Corporate Social Responsibility or Exploitation?

April 3, 2009 by Robert.

Many companies are scrambling to demonstrate their “social responsibility” and even to involve their employees and clients in charitable activities as a way to build their brand. But when businesses try to “pluck the heartstrings” of their customers and employees, they quickly run into uncomfortable grey area.  This blog article, “Poverty Isn’t Always Pretty,” was written Kiva Fellow RobC, wrapping-up his six-month fellowship in the Philippines.  It’s clear from the context that he considers his work philanthropy (”giving” as opposed to “investing”).  Nevertheless, the article deals directly with difficult issues that are pertinent to corporate investment, private charitable donations, and even family relations.

“The greatest thing I see in Kiva and its lenders is the ceding of decisions to the borrower.   Making a loan in essence conveys a trust in the borrower and preserves the dignity of the relationship.   But it also means that borrowers may make decisions at odds with your own thinking.   A recent borrower in the Philippines took a loan to raise fighting cocks.   This is a very popular and legal activity which provides an income for many families throughout the country. While many lenders may not want to fund such a loan (and exercise their own free will through such a choice), is it appropriate to deny this borrower access to Kiva since we may not agree with how she chooses to legally pursue her livelihood?This is one of the more difficult questions we face when we engage in charity of any sort.   Do we give with the expectation of control?  Or do we give with the acknowledgment that we are empowering others?”

It reminds me of when grandparents give money to their grandkids.  Is it purely a gift? Or is there an expectation of Return on Investment (ROI)?Certainly the PETA crowd would say that Kiva is funding the abuse of animals.  Such controversy will limit the growth and breadth of organizations like Kiva, which depend on crowd funding.  If donors don’t like the projects that Kiva is funding, Kiva could lose a huge customer/investor base.  So it makes sense for Kiva to poll their donors, “choose their battles,” and steer clear of “torpedo issues” that could sink them in a high-profile ethical controversy.

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