Internet of Things for a Green Planet: 2010 Conference

http://www.iot2010.org/cfp/

The "Internet of Things (IoT)" disrupts with the today's Internet limitations of human-entered data: technologies like RFID, short-range wireless communications, real-time localization, and sensor networks empower computers to perceive the world for themselves. Standardized infrastructures capable of managing, sharing and processing this captured data will be necessary in order to bring the Internet of Things into commercial use. This interlinking of physical world and cyberspace foreshadows an exciting endeavour that is highly relevant to researchers, corporations, and individuals.

This conference will continue the success of the Internet of Things conference from 2008 in Zurich. It brings internationally leading researchers and practitioners from both academia and industry together to facilitate sharing of applications, research results, and knowledge.

The IoT2010 particularly encourages research on infrastructure and applications facilitating environmental responsibility under a theme "IoT for a Green Planet".

Topics:

* Green by Internet of Things / Green of Internet of Things Technology

* Design of future sustainable technologies linking the physical and virtual world

* Novel services and applications to facilitate environmental responsibility

* Emerging Internet of Things business models and process changes

* Communication systems and network architectures for the IoT

* Experience reports from the introduction and operation of networked things in areas such as healthcare, logistics & transport

* Emerging applications and interaction paradigms for everyday citizens

* Social impacts and consequences, such as security, privacy, opportunities and risks

* Smart Objects

http://www.iot2010.org/cfp/

ICT for Sustainable Growth - European Commission

ICT for Sustainable Growth - European Commission

"The European Commission aims to make sure ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) contribute to the development of a more sustainable Europe and is, therefore, focusing on Energy Efficiency, Water Management and Climate Change Adaptation.

The Recommendation adopted by the European Commission in 2009 entitled "mobilising Information and Communications Technologies to facilitate the transition to an energy-efficient, low-carbon economy" provides the policy framework for our activities in this area and aims to unlock the energy efficiency potential of the ICT sector in various ways. It calls upon the ICT industry to develop a framework to measure its energy and environmental performance and set itself energy efficiency targets, which has led to the setting up of the ICT for Energy Efficiency Forum by stakeholders. The European Commission has also encouraged the Forum to reach out to other sectors such as buildings and transport where the potential energy savings through ICT are significant.

The European Commission, furthermore, supports a wide range of research and development projects aiming at enhancing energy efficiency, water management and adaptation to climate change through the use of ICT."

Read more ...

Commercialization of sustainable energy technologies

P. Balachandra, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, B. Sudhakara Reddy (India)

Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 1842–1851

"Commercialization efforts to diffuse sustainable energy technologies (SET) have so far remained as the biggest challenge in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Limited success of diffusion through government driven pathways urges the need for market based approaches. This paper reviews the existing state of commercialization of SETs in the backdrop of the basic theory of technology diffusion. The different SETs in India are positioned in the technology diffusion map to reflect their slow state of commercialization. The dynamics of SET market is analysed to identify the issues, barriers and stakeholders in the process of SET commercialization. By upgrading the ‘potential adopters’ to ‘techno-entrepreneurs’, the study presents the mechanisms for adopting a private sector driven ‘business model’ approach for successful diffusion of SETs. This is expected to integrate the processes of market transformation and entrepreneurship development with innovative regulatory, marketing, financing, incentive and delivery mechanisms leading to SET commercialization."

Read more ...

The Impact of Climate Change on M&A Activity

Survey #1:

KPMG's survey (2010) shows that climate change has moved beyond the scope of corporate social responsibility and is now playing a long-term and important role in decision making for companies based in Ireland. Read the report ...

• Climate change is now a mainstream issue and making a real impact on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity.
• Climate change is fast becoming a board agenda item for successful acquirers.
• Link: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/download/fs/doc/reports/drivingchangeclimatesurvey.pdf

Survey #2: Turning up the Heat: An insight into M&A in the Renewable Energy Sector

KPMG's report (2010) into M&A in the renewable energy sector has revealed an explosion in the number of deals. Read the report ...

• Analysts estimate that 2007 saw US$55.7bn in M&A transactions – up by 47pc on the year before.
• This report was written in co-operation with the Economist Intelligence Unit and is based on a survey of 202 senior executives from across the global energy industry, conducted in February 2008.
• Link: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/download/fs/doc/reports/turninguptheheat.pdf

Sustainable Economy Based on Prosperity

"Prosperity without growth? The transition to a sustainable economy"

By Professor Tim Jackson, Economics Commissioner, Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), UK

Download the report here.

"The economy is geared, above all, to economic growth. Economic policy in the current recession is all about returning to growth – but an economic crisis can be an opportunity for some basic rethinking and restructuring. Two objectives other than growth – sustainability and wellbeing – have moved up the political and policy-making agenda in recent years, challenging the overriding priority traditionally given to economic growth. SDC's "Redefining Prosperity" project has looked into the connections and conflicts between sustainability, growth, and wellbeing."

Read more ...

"As part of a two year programme of work, we commissioned think pieces, organised seminars, and invited feedback. This project has now resulted in a major SDC report: 'Prosperity without Growth?: the transition to a sustainable economy' by Professor Tim Jackson, SDC’s Economics Commissioner. Prosperity without growth? analyses the relationship between growth and the growing environmental crisis and 'social recession'. In the last quarter of a century, while the global economy has doubled, the increased in resource consumption has degraded an estimated 60% of the world’s ecosystems. The benefits of growth have been distributed very unequally, with a fifth of the world’s population sharing just 2% of global income. Even in developed countries, huge gaps remain in wealth and well-being between rich and poor. While modernising production and reducing the impact of certain goods and services have led to greater resource efficiency in recent decades, our report finds that current aspirations for 'decoupling' environmental impacts from economic growth are unrealistic. The report finds no evidence as yet of decoupling taking place on anything like the scale or speed which would be required to avoid increasing environmental devastation. Prosperity without growth? proposes twelve steps towards a sustainable economy and argues for a redefinition of "prosperity" in line with evidence about what contributes to people’s wellbeing. SDC intends to generate discussion and debate on the challenges on the issues that Prosperity without Growth? raises."

Read more ...

International Organizations to Promote Sustainability

• The Brundtland Commission (formally the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED))
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brundtland_Commission
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
  http://www.ipcc.ch/
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change
• World Energy Council,
  "Founded in 1923, the World Energy Council is the only truly global and inclusive forum for thought-leadership and tangible engagement committed to our sustainable energy future. Our network of 93 national committees represents over 3000 member organizations including governments, industry and expert institutions. Our mission is to promote the sustainable supply and use of energy for the greatest benefit of all. The World Energy Congress is the world's premier energy gathering."
  http://www.worldenergy.org/

GIS for Sustainability

Connecting Local to Global: Geographic Information Systems and Ecological Footprints as Tools for Sustainability

Authors

Klinsky, Sonja; Sieber, Renée; Meredith, Thom

Abstract:

Tools that support public engagement with sustainability are essential for local sustainability planning. This research investigates the ability of two geographic information system (GIS)-based tools to promote discussion of sustainability in a suburban context. A local ecological footprint tool and a community environmental atlas (an environmentally themed online mapping system) were created for seven suburban boroughs of Montreal. Variations of both tools have been used to support sustainability efforts, but their use has not been widely evaluated. Working from a public participation GIS (PPGIS) framework that recognizes the powerful influence of data representation, this research uses focus groups to evaluate how well these tools address three criteria that have emerged from the literature on public engagement in sustainability: interdependency across systems, reflexivity about personal and social decision making, and interactions across spatial scales. Whereas the atlas remains advantageous for discussing local spatial specifics, it was found that the ecological footprint helped people see the interconnections among systems, integrate local and global aspects of sustainability, and reflect on the values and assumptions underlying current social and economic structures.