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Providing the U.S. government and public with its most thorough and comprehensive “status report on climate change science and impacts” to date, the National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC) on May 6 released the final version of the Third National Climate Assessment report (NCA-3).

“From the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans ... and in the observed and measured changes in location and behavior of species and the functioning of ecosystems,” evidence that our climate is warming -- and the resulting impacts across U.S. society and geography -- abound today, according to NCA-3. “Taken together, this evidence tells an unambiguous story: The planet is warming, and over the last half century, this warming has been driven primarily by human activity." The main culprit, report authors add, is our burning of fossil fuels.

Moreover, meticulous observations of some key climate indicators, such as sea-level rise and arctic sea ice melt, are changing faster than the best climate models envisioned. Realization of the worst future climate scenarios can still avoided, but much greater reductions in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions will have to be achieved at a much faster rate than is taking place at present, NCA-3 authors conclude.

U.S. and global climate trends

The average temperature in the U.S. has increased 1.3 to 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit since record-keeping began in 1895, NCA-3 highlights, with most of the increase occurring since about 1970. The warming trend is expected to continue, with the decade just past being the nation's warmest on record to date. And as NCA-3 report authors note: “Because human-induced warming is superimposed on a naturally varying climate, the temperature rise has not been, and will not be, uniform or smooth across the country or over time.”

In the “Highlights of Climate Trends” section of the report, the report authors state:

“Global climate is changing and this change is apparent across a wide range of observations. The global warming of the past 50 years is primarily due to human activities. Global climate is projected to continue to change over this century and beyond. The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades depends primarily on the amount of heat-trapping gases emitted globally, and how sensitive the Earth's climate is to those emissions.”

A comprehensive, integrated assessment of climate change

In addition to the integrated analysis of climate change and impacts it provides, by comparing actual observations made across the U.S. with predictions from climate system models, the NCA-3 also serves as a “gauge” of greater scientific knowledge and improved understanding of the nature, mechanisms and potential impacts of our warming climate.

Looking to broaden, as well as deepen, our understanding of climate change and its socioeconomic and ecological impacts, NCA-3 incorporates advances in climate science “into larger social, ecological, and policy systems, and with this provide integrated analyses of impacts and vulnerability.” It also drills down to offer analyses of climate change and impacts across 10 U.S. regions, from Alaska and Hawaii to Maine and Florida, as well as in rural areas and along U.S. coasts.

The result of a four-year long production process that included public comment and inter-agency government review, the NCA, though based on scientific research, is intended to inform and guide public policy across every sphere of U.S. society.

Analyzing future climate scenarios and impacts

Based on actual observations and the best climate models scientists have to offer, the third NCA extends well beyond scientific research. Incorporating actual climate observations and calibrating them with the best climate models available, NCA authors created a wide range of climate scenarios. They then assessed the potential ecological and socioeconomic impacts of these scenarios across the geography of the U.S.

In the report's introduction, NCA authors provide a broad summary of the results and conclusions that are explained in greater detail in the 12 sections of the report. Encouragingly, they state that scientists' understanding of Earth's complex climate -- and humanity's role in shaping and influencing it -- has improved greatly in recent decades. On the other hand, observations of some key climate change indicators are changing at faster rates than those envisioned by climate models.

The NCA report authors write, “With each passing year, the accumulating evidence further expands our understanding and extends the record of observed trends in temperature, precipitation, sea level, ice mass, and many other variables recorded by a variety of measuring systems and analyzed by independent research groups from around the world.

"It is notable that as these data records have grown longer and climate models have become more comprehensive, earlier predictions have largely been confirmed. The only real surprises have been that some changes, such as sea level rise and Arctic sea ice decline, have outpaced earlier projections.

“What is new over the last decade is that we know with increasing certainty that climate change is happening now. While scientists continue to refine projections of the future, observations unequivocally show that climate is changing and that the warming of the past 50 years is primarily due to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases. These emissions come mainly from burning coal, oil, and gas, with additional contributions from forest clearing and some agricultural practices."

Producing the Third National Climate Assessment

A 60-person Federal Advisory Committee, the NCADAC, was created by the Department of Commerce in 2010 “to oversee the activities of the National Climate Assessment.” Supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NCAs are produced every four years as per the Global Change Research Act of 1990 -- a $2.6 billion federal research program on global change.

In producing the Third National Climate Assessment, the NCADAC enlisted more than 300 expert contributors. Following the January 2013 release of a draft version of the report, more than 4,000 public comments were received and reviewed by the authors and National Academies.

The resulting Government Review Draft, along with “derivative highlights,” was then submitted for formal inter-agency review. The NCADAC adopted the final version of the report and Highlights and submitted them to the federal government for publication and distribution on May 6.

In order to provide a thorough, comprehensive and integrated assessment of climate change and its impacts, NCA authors created scenarios based on a wide range of assumptions about population growth, economic development, technological evolution, and environmental policy and regulatory decisions, among other factors.

Quantitative and narrative descriptions of “plausible future conditions,” these scenarios served as inputs to the analysis of potential impacts and responses to climate change. Encompassing climate and sea level changes, land use and socioeconomic conditions, the scenarios weren't associated with probabilities, and hence they aren't predictions or forecasts. Rather, the NCADAC elaborates, they “provide a range of future conditions to bound uncertainty.”

NCA-3's 12 key messages

NCA-3 report authors highlight 12 “Key Messages” that correspond to the report's 12 chapters and spotlight key climate trends and their potential impacts across U.S. society and geography.

1. Observed Climate Change: Global climate is changing and this change is apparent across a wide range of observations. The global warming of the past 50 years is primarily due to human activities.


2. Future Climate Change: Global climate is projected to continue to change over this century and beyond. The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades depends primarily on the amount of heat-trapping gases emitted globally, and how sensitive the Earth’s climate is to those emissions.


3. Recent U.S. Temperature Trends: U.S. average temperature has increased by 1.3 to 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit since record keeping began in 1895; most of this increase has occurred since about 1970. The most recent decade was the nation’s warmest on record. Temperatures in the United States are expected to continue to rise. Because human-induced warming is superimposed on a naturally varying climate, the temperature rise has not been, and will not be, uniform or smooth across the country or over time.


4. Lengthening Frost-free Season: The length of the frost-free season (and the corresponding growing season) has been increasing nationally since the 1980s, with the largest increases occurring in the western United States, affecting ecosystems and agriculture. Across the United States, the growing season is projected to continue to lengthen.


5. U.S. Precipitation Change: Average U.S. precipitation has increased since 1900, but some areas have had increases greater than the national average, and some areas have had decreases. More winter and spring precipitation is projected for the northern United States, and less for the Southwest, over this century.


6. Heavy Downpours Increasing: Heavy downpours are increasing nationally, especially over the last three to five decades. Largest increases are in the Midwest and Northeast. Increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events are projected for all U.S. regions.


7. Extreme Weather: There have been changes in some types of extreme weather events over the last several decades. Heat waves have become more frequent and intense, especially in the West. Cold waves have become less frequent and intense across the nation. There have been regional trends in floods and droughts. Droughts in the Southwest and heat waves everywhere are projected to become more intense, and cold waves less intense everywhere.


8. Changes in Hurricanes: The intensity, frequency, and duration of North Atlantic hurricanes, as well as the frequency of the strongest (Category 4 and 5) hurricanes, have all increased since the early 1980s. The relative contributions of human and natural causes to these increases are still uncertain. Hurricane-associated storm intensity and rainfall rates are projected to increase as the climate continues to warm.


9. Changes in Storms: Winter storms have increased in frequency and intensity since the 1950s, and their tracks have shifted northward over the United States. Other trends in severe storms, including the intensity and frequency of tornadoes, hail, and damaging thunderstorm winds, are uncertain and are being studied intensively.


10. Sea Level Rise: Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880. It is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100.


11. Melting Ice: Rising temperatures are reducing ice volume and surface extent on land, lakes, and sea. This loss of ice is expected to continue. The Arctic Ocean is expected to become essentially ice free in summer before mid-century.


12. Ocean Acidification: The oceans are currently absorbing about a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere annually and are becoming more acidic as a result, leading to concerns about intensifying impacts on marine ecosystems.

Images courtesy of the NCADAC Third National Climate Assessment

By Michelle Morgan-Nelsen

Africa is an economy in waiting, which some say has the potential to leapfrog developed economies. Nigerian economist and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu believes that the private sector's role in solving social issues will be key to Africa's economic success. In this vein, we asked Elumelu – chairman of Heirs Holdings, an African investment company – about shared value, the management strategy where companies create profits by addressing social problems that intersect with their business, and how it might help kick-start Africa’s growth.

And to learn more about how business’s potential to catalyze both social and economic growth in a fledgling economy, Elumelu will also be speaking live on a panel of shared value experts and investors on May 13.

Shared Value Initiative: What does the success of shared value look like at Heirs Holdings? Tell us your favorite shared value story or example.

Tony O. Elumelu: The shared value concept to us at Heirs Holdings is synonymous with Africapitalism, which we practice and strongly advocate. Africapitalism is a call on the private sector to invest in Africa for the long term in key sectors of the economy that have the potential to create financial prosperity as well as social wealth. This is the philosophy under which we operate, and influences both the sectors we focus on, and the investments we make.

In 2011, we invested in agriculture in Benue State [Nigeria], which is considered the food basket of the nation. This is a part of the country that yields a significant amount of Nigeria’s produce, including citrus fruits. Yet, despite the high demand for fruit juice, Benue had never successfully established the capacity to convert the raw produce to a consumer product that had a ready market. In the meantime, Nigeria continued importing tons of fruit juice concentrate to serve the growing middle class population.

We invested in a local juice concentrate plant supplying makers of fruit juice, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, and this is already having a positive and measurable impact on the community.

We purchase oranges, pineapples and mangoes that previously couldn’t be sold and would be left to rot on the ground—as much as 60 percent of the production was lost every year. We’re empowering the community, from farmers to the many that are directly and indirectly employed by our activities, and we’ve introduced technology to the country that hitherto never existed—that to us is truly shared value.

SVI: Why is shared value one of your priorities as the leader of your company?

TOE: Shared value is a priority to me as the Chairman of Heirs Holdings because I believe that economic prosperity and social wealth must go hand in hand for maximum impact. Success cannot be measured purely in economic terms, and our investment activities aren’t strictly driven by profitability—though our ultimate responsibility to our shareholders remains creating economic value for them. We believe that a shared value approach accomplishes this mandate as it sets the stage for continued wealth creation over the long term.

Heirs Holdings is an African proprietary investment company that not only practices Africapitalism, but also commits to active management of our portfolio companies, to ensure the growth and preservation of our investments. This underscores the importance of sustainability, which we believe is paramount for lasting development and growth on the continent.

SVI: What are the most innovative opportunities that you see for shared value in your investments?

TEO: The shared value concept is easier to implement in companies dealing in consumer goods or operating in socially-oriented sectors, like agriculture. It becomes more difficult to integrate shared value in a resource extraction business or a utility. However, we have done just that through some of our most recent transactions.

One of our most well-known investments is the Transcorp Ughelli power plant, based in the Niger Delta, which will more than double its generating capacity within three to five years. The plant is the largest gas-fired power generating facility in Nigeria, and we have a direct supply of natural gas to power it. This also gives us the unique ability to convert excess natural gas for industrial use—a novelty in a country that has been flaring gas for decades.

Our investment will create unprecedented access to electricity in the community, improve healthcare and education outcomes, and give Nigeria the ability to power industries, which has an uncommon multiplier effect in a fast-developing nation like ours. Furthermore, through the transfer of skills and knowledge, we will educate our own people to deliver for the long term.

Watch Tony Elumelu speak more to business’s role in kick-starting Africa’s economy on a panel of investors the Shared Value Leadership Summit this May 13 from 8:30am-10:30am EST at http://sharedvalue.org/livestream. Follow the conversation on Twitter @SVInitiative and #SVInvest. 

Michelle Morgan-Nelsen is senior manager of communications at the Shared Value Initiative. 

As part of our series on sustainable seafood, we’re doing profiles on a couple of startups in the community supported fisheries (CSF) business. Last week I spoke with Sean Barrett, founder of Dock to Dish, a CSF serving the New York metropolitan area from Montauk, Long Island. This week I spoke with Sean Dixon of Village Fishmonger, another CSF in the New York area.

Unlike, Dock to Dish, which was founded by and overseen by fishermen, Village Fishmonger is coming at this from another angle. Among its three founders, Sean Dixon, Samantha Lee and Dennis O’Connor, two have their roots in the restaurant business. Sean, who I spoke with, is a marine biologist and environmental advocate. Sean has an almost evangelical drive to teach people about the ocean and the many creatures living in it. And while the CSF -- which currently has between 500 and 600 members -- constitutes the core of their business, they all spend a great deal of time reaching out to the public, telling them the story of seafood, educating them about the great potential to improve our food system by, among other things, taking advantage of the enormous resources just to the east of them.

They see it as their mission to reconnect the city with its long heritage as a seafood producing and consuming town. “Most people don’t realize,” said Dixon, “that NYC was once the oyster capital of the world.” The last of the New York City oyster beds were closed in 1927, primarily due to toxicity, but there is hope for recovery. In fact, that is the mission of NY/NJ Baykeeper. Founded with the help of the Hudson Riverkeeper and the American Littoral Society in 1989, their mission is to preserve, protect and restore the most urban estuary on the planet.

Support for these kinds of activities is what has led them to collaborate with Future of Fish, Riverpark restaurant and others to produce the second annual Sustainable Seafood Week NYC, which is going on now. The event is a “culinary-fueled celebration … showcasing the efforts of local fishermen, chefs, organizations and communities to promote responsible sourcing of seafood.” In addition to ticketed fundraising events, there will be “programming geared towards anyone that's a stakeholder in the sustainable seafood discussion, including restaurant professionals, seafood purveyors, and scientists.”

The kickoff Sustainable Seafood Shindig event, took place on Tuesday May 6 at Riverpark, with close to 200 people attending. Net proceeds from the event will be donated to NY/NJ Baykeeper. I asked Dixon about Village Fishmonger and what we can expect to see at this year's Sustainable Seafood Week.

TriplePundit: Can you tell us a little about about the role Village Fishmonger plays in helping people make a sustainable choice in their seafood purchases?

Sean Dixon: People can click over to the fish tab on our website and see what we source and why we source it. They can click through to Fishwatch.gov and the fisheries councils and see why that is a responsible choice. This is [a] dynamic area, so you have to update your information regularly. Just recently, for example, butterfish, which had been considered overfished, has now been restored to the point where it is now suitable for commercial fishing.

3p: What is your service area?

SD: We fish anywhere from Cape May, N.J. to Montauk, N.Y. and serve the community all along the coastline. The geographic range helps out sometimes when the weather is bad in one portion of our range.

3p: How many fishermen do you work with, and what methods do they use?

SD: We work with six different fishing cooperatives that supply us with fish from close to a hundred boats. Mainly they are long-liners and trawlers.

3p: So what question keeps you up at night?

SD: There are millions of people in America who eat seafood, and there are lots of sustainable fisheries now in operation -- where the gear is managed, where the bycatch is utilized -- and it is being done in a way that is infinitely better than most of the imported seafood [yet 90 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported]. So the question is, how do we scale this up? How do we match up the demand with the supply?

3p: Not everyone lives near the ocean.

SD: That’s true. But we’ve been talking with a group in Boulder, Colo. They’re looking at sourcing and carbon impact. They have some great connections in Florida and Seattle, and they’re going to be able to make this work. This is being done all over the country, but it’s just like all the other aspects of our food system. People need to move away from the 99-cent, industrially-produced fish patty and move closer to a storied food -- that is locally produced, in most cases is better for you and can often be just as cheap or cheaper, and in all cases, it benefits the local economy.

3p: So how do we get there?

SD: Well, it’s easier for people who have lived near the water. For the many others, who have become so disconnected from the source of their food, it’s these new markets where you need to put the time in to explain to people what this is and really build that connection back to the sea.

3p: So that brings us around to Sustainable Seafood Week NYC. Can you connect the dots for me on what happens there and how this helps people make the trip?

SD:  We wanted to have a day where we could bring everybody together into one spot. Where we could have a day where we could talk to people in the fishing industry and the food purchasing industry and talk about these questions of story. Where we could have events at everybody’s favorite restaurant where the chefs come out and inform you about the local catch of the day and where it’s coming from and why they chose it. Where people could come to events and learn how to fillet a fish and for some, to learn what a fish looks like before it becomes a fillet. They could see what they are eating. They could talk to the people who caught that fish and ask them where they caught it and how and why. So we thought if we could do this all together in one big seafood celebration week, it will be able to reach a lot more people, and so far it has.

3p: That’s great. The festival is still going on. It wraps up this weekend with a number more events. For those in the area who are interested, check out the schedule here.

Image credit: Pexels

This week at the Abu Dhabi Ascent climate meeting in the United Arab Emirates, renewable energy company Masdar, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), announced that it will sponsor the region's first solar electric car competition to take place in the UAE next January. The event will coincide with Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, while the completion will be at the opening ceremony of The World Future Energy Summit.

The challenge, which is sanctioned by the International Solarcar Federation (ISF), invites student teams from 20 countries around the world to participate in the four-day event -- which will take place over a 1,200 kilometer (750 mile) course, comprised of both urban and desert environments. The winner of the endurance event will be the team that completes the course in the shortest overall time.

Though ADNOC's reason for being is to integrate the country's oil and gas industry interests, the Petroleum Institute, one of ADNOC's academic institutions, will be entering a solar vehicle in the contest. During the press conference, Mr. Mohammed S. Al Qubaisi of ADNOC said that the company believes in the importance of scientific research and that the event would help cement their position in renewables. A primary objective of the solar challenge is to bring a knowledge base to UAE universities, and to that end, universities will pair up with the international teams for the contest.

The event follows in the footsteps of similar solar car challenges held around the world such as the World Solar Challenge held in Australia, and the American Solar challenge hosted in the U.S. In turn, these events were inspired by Mr. Hans Tholstrup's crossing of Australia back in 1982, when it took him 20 days to achieve the crossing at a speed of just 23 kilometers per hour. Tholstrup, now president of the ISF, was on hand at the press conference announcing next years event: "We had been exploring the addition of a solar challenge in the Middle East and North Africa region for several years now. The emergence of the UAE as a leader in the region in future energy and education is quite evident and it became the natural choice for this challenge."

Tholstrup went on to say that since his Australia crossing over 30 years ago, the technology incorporated into student vehicles has improved beyond expectation. Modern iterations of solar electric vehicles are over four times faster today, now reaching speeds of up to 100 kmh (62.5 mph), and make use of lightweight carbon fiber materials, the best solar panels and electric motors available, and low resistance tires. When you consider the cars are drawing about the same power as an electric hair dryer, the performance is pretty astounding. Tholstrup emphasized events like the Abu Dhabi solar challenge focus on three important objectives: Education, energy efficiency and environmental consciousness.

Students are able to develop and showcase their technical and creative abilities, while also gaining an understanding of marketing, business and management skills needed to execute large and complex projects, according to the press release.

Still, some people may be wondering what practical purpose the cars themselves provide. After all, as you can see from the picture, the fragile-looking, single-seat pod hardly offers much day-to-day utility and wouldn't be of any use hauling the family around.

Instead, these vehicles push the boundaries of technical possibilities, which allows many of the technologies developed to be transferred into commercial applications. For example, Tholstrup pointed out that through the pursuit of solar challenges, teams have to focus on achieving maximal efficiency to make the most of the sun's energy. This has translated into the development of electric motors that are as much as 96 percent efficient, and that learning goes into the development of future products - a useful efficiency boost, even if we shouldn't expect to see solar powered family cars in the future. When you consider an internal combustion engine is only in the region of 30 to 40 percent efficient, it provides electric vehicles with a very significant advantage.

Image courtesy of Masdar

Travel expenses for the Author and TriplePundit to attend Abu Dhabi Ascent were provided by Masdar.

Follow me on Twitter: @PhilCovBlog

Editor's note: This is the second post in a two-part series on renewables in India. In case you missed, you can read the first post here.

By Darshan Goswami, M.S., P.E.

In the coming years, India will face seemingly insurmountable challenges to its economy, environment and energy security. To overcome these challenges, India needs to shift to non-polluting sources of energy. To reach the goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 the following steps are recommended.

1. Expand large-scale deployment

Aggressively expand large-scale deployment of both centralized and distributed renewable energy, including solar, wind, hydro, biomass and geothermal, to ease the strain on the present transmission and distribution system, and allow more off-grid populations to be reached. Facilitate growth in large-scale deployment by installing 100 million solar roofs and large utility-scale solar generation, through both centralized and distributed energy within the next 20 years.

2. Set a standard

Enact a National Renewable Energy Standard/Policy that calls for 20 percent renewable energy by 2020 – to create demand, new industries and innovation, and a new wave of green jobs.

3. Put the policies in place

Develop favorable government policies to ease the permitting process, and to provide start-up capital to promote the exponential growth of renewable energy. Create and fund a national smart infrastructure bank for renewable energy.

4. Increase demand

Accelerate local demand for renewable energy by providing preferential Feed-in-Tariffs (FIT) and other incentives such as accelerated depreciation; tax holidays; renewable energy funds; initiatives for international partnerships/collaboration, incentives for new technologies; human resources development; zero import duty on capital equipment and raw materials; excise duty exemption; and low interest rate loans.

5. Phase out conventional subsidies

Phase out all conventional energy subsidies. Force petroleum products to compete with other fuels like biomass and biogas, etc.

6. Increase energy efficiency

Accelerate the development and implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency standards to reduce the long-term demand for energy. Engage States, industrial companies, utility companies and other stakeholders to accelerate this investment.

7. Electrify automobiles

Initiate a move to electrify automotive transportation or develop electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids – such as the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S, or Chevy Volt, etc. Develop and implement time-of-day pricing to encourage charging of cars at night. Adopt nationwide charging of electric cars from solar panels on roofs, and solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations around the country. Thousands of these solar-powered recharging stations could spread across India just like the present public call office (PCO), giving birth to the “Green Revolution.” These recharging connections could be deployed at highly-concentrated areas including shopping malls, motels, restaurants and public places where vehicles are usually parked for extended periods.

8. Invest in two-way and micro-grids

Aggressively invest in a smart, two-way grid (and micro-grid). Invest in smart meters, as well as reliable networks that can accommodate the two-way flow of electricity. Such networks need to be resilient enough to avoid blackouts and accommodate the advanced power generation technologies of the future.

9. Develop solar manufacturing

Develop large scale solar manufacturing in India (transforming India into a global solar manufacturing hub). Promote and establish utility-scale solar and wind generation parks and farms. Also, establish R&D facilities within academia, research institutions, industry, government and private entities to guide technology development.

10. Work towards a hydrogen economy

Work towards a hydrogen economy development plan. Hydrogen can be fed into fuel cells for generating heat and electricity – as well as for powering fuel cell vehicles. Produce hydrogen from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. If done successfully, hydrogen and electricity will eventually become society's primary energy carriers for the 21st century.

Conclusion

Renewable forms of energy (especially solar and wind) could enhance India’s energy security and represent a bright spot in its economic and environmental future. If India switched from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants, it is possible that 70 percent of the electricity and 35 percent of its total energy could be derived from renewable resources by 2030.

Excess energy generated from renewables could be stored in various forms such as molten or liquid salt (a mixture of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate); compressed air; pumped hydro; hydrogen, battery storage, etc. This stored energy could then be used during times of peak demand.

India can ramp up its efforts to develop and implement large utility-scale solar energy farms to meet the country's economic development goals, while creating energy independence and bringing potentially enormous environmental benefits. Both issues have a direct influence on national security and the health of the Indian economy.

Supplying almost 100 percent of India’s energy demand through the use of clean renewable energy from solar, wind, hydro and biogas, etc. by 2050 is technically and economically feasible. But, a number of political barriers must be overcome. As examples of needed reforms, Denmark's Parliament has passed the most ambitious green economy plan to generate 35 percent of its energy from renewable energy by 2020 and 100 percent by 2050. Iceland, Scotland and the Philippines, have recently announced impressive plans to obtain 100 percent of their power from renewable energy. Three years after Japan's nuclear meltdown, the Japanese province of Fukushima has pledged to switch to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040.

A future powered by renewable energy is already here, not decades away. Comparisons of costs per kilowatt hour of electricity produced show that newly built solar and wind plants are already considerably cheaper than new nuclear plants. In coming years solar and wind energy will compete more and more favorably with conventional energy generation and, in places such as California and Italy, have already reached so-called “grid parity.”

Renewable energy (especially solar and wind) is a game-changer for India: It has the potential to re-energize India's economy by creating millions of new jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce the trade deficit and propel India forward as a “Green Nation.” Providing 100 percent renewable energy is not a fantasy for someday, but a reality today. India has a golden opportunity to solve three huge problems — reducing poverty, ensuring energy security and combating climate change. But it must act soon! India can no longer afford to delay renewable energy deployment to meet its future energy needs.

Image credit: Flickr/vax-o-matic

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not intended to represent the views or policies of the United States Department of Energy or the United States. The article was not prepared as part of the writer's official duties at the United States Department of Energy.

Darshan Goswami has over 40 years of experience in the energy field. He is currently working as a Project Manager for Renewable Energy and Smart Grid projects at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Previously, he was a Chief of Energy Forecasting and Renewable Energy at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, DC and spent three decades at Duquesne Light Company, an electric utility company in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Darshan is a registered Professional Electrical Engineer with a passion and commitment to promote, develop and deploy Renewable Energy Resources and the Hydrogen Economy.

Environmentalists and beer lovers alike can raise their glasses in a toast: Aluminum manufacturer and recycler Novelis has unveiled an aluminum beverage can sheet that has been independently certified to contain a minimum of 90 percent recycled material. Red Hare Brewing Co. will be the first company to package its product in Novelis’ “evercan,” with the new high-recycled-content can expected to hit shelves in the southeastern U.S. later this month.

“This introduction marks the commercial availability of the world’s first certified high-recycled-content aluminum beverage can,” said Phil Martens, Novelis’ president and CEO, in a statement.

Red Hare chose the “evercan” product as part of its commitment to reduce the microbrewery’s environmental footprint, the company said on its blog.

“We were the first microbrewery in Georgia to package our craft beer in cans two years ago because aluminum cans have a much lower carbon footprint than glass bottles,” said Red Hare founder and CEO Roger Davis. “With the new ‘evercan,’ we are getting closer to full-loop recycling, which is the right thing to do for our planet. We are further reducing our environmental footprint while providing our loyal Red Hare fans with the portability, freshness and taste they love.”

The “evercan” is responsible for 72 percent fewer carbon emissions over its lifetime than glass bottles are and 22 percent few emissions compared to typical aluminum cans, according to Red Hare. Furthermore, the brewery said, recycling aluminum requires 95 percent less energy and produces 95 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than mining and using virgin aluminum.

Three of Red Hare’s store brands – Long Day Lager, Gangway IPA and Watership Brown – will all be converted to “evercan” packaging through May and will be sold in Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Novelis’ high-recycled-content can is currently available to beverage companies worldwide, the company said in a statement. Its facilities in North America, Europe, South America and Asia have been certified to produce the “evercan” by third-party environmental auditor SCS Global Services. The development of the “evercan” is part of Novelis’ goal to dramatically increase the recycled content of its products across its global operations to 80 percent by 2020.

Aluminum cans are one of recycling’s greatest – and quietest – success stories. They can be recycled back into the same product an infinite number of times: In fact, nearly 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today, according to the Can Manufacturers Institute. Aluminum cans also boast one of the highest recycled content percentages among beverage containers – 68 percent – the trade group reports.

Yet you rarely hear news stories about this financially-sound and environmentally-responsible industry practice. Instead, media coverage tends to focus on the plastic bottle: Consumers assume plastic bottles are recycled back to plastic beverage containers, but the industry has been struggling to make this closed-loop recycling system a reality.

The recycled content of typical aluminum cans may be so robust that we can take this environmental triumph for granted, but now Novelis and Red Hare Brewing are raising the bar in their industry.

"Novelis' ‘evercan’ is an excellent model for sustainability-based innovation, which will enable  beverage brands and retailers to advance their own sustainable packaging goals," said Stuart L. Hart, S. J. Johnson Professor Emeritus in Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University, founder of the Enterprise for a Sustainable World and author of “Capitalism at the Crossroads.” "This introduction also serves as an important catalyst to educate other brand holders and consumers about the value of closed-loop aluminum recycling and engage them to take action themselves."

Image credit: PRNewsFoto/Novelis Inc.

Passionate about both writing and sustainability, Alexis Petru is freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area whose work has appeared on Earth911, Huffington Post and Patch.com. Prior to working as a writer, she coordinated environmental programs for Bay Area cities and counties. Connect with Alexis on Twitter at @alexispetru

Editor’s note: This is the second post in a three-part series on sustainable fish farming startups. You can read the first post here and the third here. 

In the first post of this series, we introduced Kampachi Farms, an open-ocean mariculture startup on the Big Island of Hawaii co-founded by Neil Sims and Michael Bullock. When their mariculture fishery, the Valella project, got started in early 2012, the future of aquaculture and mariculture was uncertain, as a lawsuit brought by Food and Water Watch against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was wending its way through court. Principal among the issues Food and Water Watch had with NOAA was allowing the Velella project to proceed in federal waters.

Food and Water Watch characterized Velella as “factory fish farming,” challenging its legality in court with the Magnuson-Stevens Act as the basis for its argument.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act of 1976 is the primary law governing management of marine fisheries in the United States. Formally known as the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, the law has undergone a number of amendments since then, including the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 and the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006.

“They [Food and Water Watch] thought that aquaculture was not fishing,” says Sims. “NOAA’s position is that, under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which refers to the harvesting of living marine resources, there can be aquaculture as well.” Food and Water Watch lost their initial suit as well as an appeal in the 9th Circuit.

“It’s pretty much settled law now,” Sims says. “The Magnuson-Stevens Act for years, probably 15 years, has been swirling around. A lot of effort and emotion has been expended on trying to set in place national aquaculture legislation.” The result of all the effort and emotion as that, under Magnuson-Stevens, aquaculture in federal waters should continue, regulated by the Regional Fisheries Management Councils, that already manage federally regulated fish species.

The Gulf of Mexico has led the effort over the past decade, drafting a regional fisheries management plan for Aquaculture which authorizes NOAA to issue permits and oversee the industry in the Gulf. Despite frustration on the pace of actually writing and implementing rules around the plan, Sims credits NOAA and the Department of Commerce with finally coming up with a national plan for aquaculture.

“NOAA has collated a lot of information on fish farming impacts,” Sims says. “There’s a beautiful bit of work done by two NOAA folk… from the National Oceans Service. They come at it more from a disinterested environmental perspective." The research, entitled Marine Cage Culture and the Environment: Twenty-First Century Science Informing a Sustainable Industry, looks at all global environmental impacts from net pen aquaculture.

Summarizing their findings, Sims says: “As long as you’re in deep enough water -- water that’s twice as deep as your net pen is [and] as long as there’s a reasonable current -- your pens have no impact, no significant impact on water quality. And 30 meters away from the pen no significant impact on the substrate. It’s pretty hard to argue with that."

With impartial research done and federal policy, currently undergoing review by the Office of Management and Budget, finally falling into place, Sims hopes to see comprehensive rules in place for issuing permits for aquaculture by the end of the year.

“It’s been very, very frustrating how slowly NOAA has moved,” Sims says, “but they’re moving.”

What’s also been frustrating, not only for Sims but for anyone interested in developing sustainable net pen aquaculture, has been pushback, misunderstanding and sometimes misinformation coming from environmentalists and NGOs.

Fighting anti-corporate sentiment: When the NGOs just don’t get it

“Two years ago there was a lot of frustration from industry aspirants that the NGOs just didn’t get it,” says Sims. But, just like the progress made in management policy and regulation, things are finally changing for the better. "In the last two years there has been a significant swing in the conventional wisdom amongst the more progressive-thinking NGOs,” Sims says. Among those progressive NGOs Sims points especially to WWF.

"WWF essentially said: 'Let’s stop beating up on aquaculture, because we need aquaculture - desperately. Let’s start supporting good aquaculture and give it this seal of approval.'”

To that end, WWF has launched the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), providing globally available ASC-certified farmed products. “Credit to WWF for taking that visionary stand,” Sims says. He also applauds Conservation International’s study Blue Frontiers finding that aquaculture is, by far, the least impactful means of animal protein production.

“And this is coming from Conservation International,” says Sims, “the paragons for purity in terms of the environmental movement.”

The ongoing anti-aquaculture sentiment that continues is, in Sims’ view, a combination of emotion -- reacting to something new and not fully understand, with elements of an “anti-corporate” attitude. “They just don’t like businesses involved in the food production system,” Sims says.

“Now that’s a far bigger issue than aquaculture. It’s just that because aquaculture is new it’s easy for them to beat up on a smaller, new industry than to take on bigger … what, are they going to take on beef?”

But as we’ve seen, much of the problems of early aquaculture come from individuals starting under-capitalized, poorly-conceived operations.

“When large corporations get involved and they get a proper engineering department, they get properly capitalized, buy the right sort of cages. they can get selectively-bred salmon that perform better. more efficient converting the feed, and they operate these facilities very, very well.”

For Sims, the “emotional swirl” against business and specifically the business of aquaculture is a very sore point. Business, good business, is how things get accomplished.

“It wasn’t corporate agriculture that created the dust bowl,” Sims says, “it was small landholders overgrazing."

Velella Gamma and beyond

The next, or “gamma,” phase of the Velella project, as Sims describes it, involves testing “over the horizon” aquaculture. “The drifter cage idea was a lot of fun,” he says, “some spectacular biological performance of the fish; difficult to see how we could commercialize it.”

For the Gamma test, Sims and his team take the same cage, same species, same stocking density and diet in the same body of water, but instead of a drifting net an anchor is put down. One mooring line is used to hold the pen at a 6,000-foot depth six miles offshore with 12,000 feet of line anchored to 20,000 pounds of concrete at the bottom.

“The initial indication are very encouraging. We are also looking at taking this Velella technology globally. We have keen interest from Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. We are in the planning stages of the world’s first high seas aquaculture project. Aquaculture in international waters in the Mediterranean.”

A project is also in the works in Mexico. “We’re moving forward in a Mexican operation, we have some initial investment there and we are planning to out fish in the water by July of this year (2014) and have fish in the market by May of 2015.”

Image credit: Kampachi Farms

Read the rest of Startups in Sustainable Fish Farming: 

• Part 1: Sustainable Fish Startups: From the Open Seas to the Inner City


• Part 2: The Future of Mariculture: Bridging the Gap Between Startups, Lawmakers and NGOs


• Part 3: Sustainable Fish Farming: Global-Scale Aquaculture in the Big City

 

Image: Models walk the runway wearing upscaled garments at a Redress fashion show. 

By Beth Stewart of Redress

In a world still churning out trendy throw-away fashion pieces at breakneck speed, the idea of upcycled or refashioned apparel can be an anomaly. But it is a continuously growing trend and is one of the most sustainable things people can do in fashion. As upcycling makes use of already existing pieces, it often uses few resources in its creation and actually keeps ‘unwanted’ items out of the waste stream.

Yes, your clothes have an afterlife

There are more textiles produced in the world today than can be used -- many of the large clothing chains can produce as many as a half a billion garments a year. And what happens to those clothes after they have fulfilled their ‘useful’ lives? About 14.3 million tons of textiles were sent to the landfill in 2012, or around 5.7 percent of total municipal solid waste generation in the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

If not discarded as trash, unwanted apparel is often donated to thrift stores. Though a good step toward avoiding the landfill, this is not as beneficial as people think - only about 20 to 30 percent of donated clothing is actually re-sold. And the drastic increase in the volume of secondhand clothing has driven down its value in the past 15 years -- meaning that charity shop stores are now filled with cheap fashion and junky basics instead of vintage gems.

In addition, massive amounts of donated clothing that are not deemed as ‘re-sellable’ in the U.S. are shipped to developing countries, inundating them with unnecessary goods that stifle any emerging economic development in textiles. While many people may have the idea that they are helping clothe the poor in these countries, access to the Internet and cell phones has made many of these countries more fashion-forward recently, and they may have no interest in our American cast-offs. Since this model relies on a waste economy -- where instead of mending clothes or leasing clothes, items are bought and discarded -- what happens when exportation is no longer an option?

What is upcycling?

Upcycling is a way of processing an item to make it better than the original. In the example of clothing, this is often taking something that doesn’t fit or is stained/torn and refashioning a wearable product from it.

Upcycling can be done using either pre-consumer or post-consumer waste or a combination of the two. Pre-consumer waste is produced while items are being manufactured (such as the pieces of fabric leftover after cutting out a pattern) and post-consumer waste results from the finished product reaching the end of its useful life for the consumer (such as a T-shirt that doesn’t fit anymore).

"Manufacturers and designers in the mainstream fashion industry discard on average 15 percent of materials en route to production.” - EcoFashionTalk.com One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

Benefits of upcycling

Upcycling stops adding stuff to a world that is already overwhelmed with material things. It also reuses materials that may otherwise end up in the landfill in creative and innovative ways - producing original often one-of-a-kind items from what many consider to be waste. It is a way for companies and designers to be more efficient with leftover materials such as upholstery scraps or vintage textiles and to give new life to worn-out jeans and tattered T-shirts.

"As we move into the '90s revival, grunge will be back, and upcycling will fit that look perfectly. I predict modern upcycling will actually look "upcycled," but with a much edgier feel.” - Orsola de Castro, Co-founder of Estethica, From Somewhere, and Reclaim to Wear; via Ecouterre’s 37 Eco-fashion Predictions for 2014

Whether as everyday apparel or runway exhibition pieces, upcycling can challenge cultural codes -- questioning what we consider to be trash versus fashion or beautiful versus ugly. For some it can also be a connection to our heritage -- incorporating vintage clothing or using a family heirloom to create an original piece preserving a bit of history.

Who is doing it?

The world of upcycling has exploded in the past few years, and there is a plethora of inspirational design in this facet of eco-fashion. An excellent summary of many designers throughout the world can be found in the newly released book "ReFashioned" by Sass Brown.

To see some great examples on the runway, Redress Raleigh’s annual Spring eco-fashion show often features innovative designers using upcycling in their collections. Mother/daughter team Zass Design creates gorgeous jewelry from overlooked materials. And Little Grey Line takes old men’s work shirts and remakes them into adorable dresses for little girls. This coming spring’s show will also feature a North Carolina State University student duo using denim remnants, a Durham-based designer creating chic handbags made from plastic bags, and another NCSU student showcasing how simple white T-shirts can become an elegant wedding dress.

In addition, a few companies are recognizing the combination of nostalgia and sentimentality many of us have about our clothing and seizing the opportunity to create memorable objects from apparel. Project Repat, based out of Boston, Mass., is one such example that creates quilts out of old T-shirts -- a great way to commemorate all your favorite concert gear without having a closet exploding with shirts that don’t fit anymore.

As consumers start realizing the devastating effects of fast fashion, they will begin looking for innovative ways to change their wardrobe. Upcycled apparel can be a part of this revolution -- helping people make meaningful choices with their clothing while appreciating the history of the industry.

Image courtesy of Redress via Facebook

Beth Stewart is the co-founder and Strategic Director of Redress, a company that connects and champions eco-conscious designers and companies through event planning and marketing. Stewart has a passion for catalyzing ethical and environmental consciousness within the fashion and textiles industry and looks forward to the day when people don’t brag about their fast fashion scores.

It may be taken as an encouraging sign of the times the number of multinational corporations now taking sustainability seriously. We're not talking about companies simply paying lip-service or “greenwashing,” but rather instilling an ethic and values of social and environmental sustainability from the core of their businesses outward to include suppliers, distribution and sales partners, customers and those outside of, but affected by, their investments and activities.

Resource-, energy- and capital-intensive, auto manufacturing has been an engine of economic growth and a core aspect of industrial and economic development worldwide over the course of the fossil fuel-era. Times change, and businesses, as well as ways of doing business, change with them, however. Today, multinational auto manufacturers such as Fiat-Chrysler are digging deeper and making comprehensive efforts to embed social and environmental, as well as economic, sustainability into their strategic business plans and day-to-day operations.

Some 300,000 people worldwide were involved in Fiat-Chrysler's short- and long-term sustainability strategies and realizing comprehensive sustainability targets, objectives and reporting. In its “2013 Sustainability Report: Economic, Environmental and Social Responsibility,” the multinational automaker lays out its short- and long-term strategy underlying those goals, reviews what's been achieved to date, and outlines how it plans to realize the sustainability goals it has set out to 2020.

No "Johnny Come Lately"

Though they have changed in substance and taken different names and forms over time, Fiat-Chrysler is no “Johnny Come Lately” when it comes to a corporate culture that recognizes, values and promotes enhancing the sustainability of every aspect of its business, Chrysler Group's Mary Gauthier, a veteran in the automaker's sustainability reporting group, pointed out during a 3P interview.

Having lost institutional memory along with veteran employees during the period when the U.S.-based automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization (2008-2010), Chrysler managed to rediscover a history of activities, as well as underlying values and attitudes, that today full under the umbrella of sustainability in the wake of its 2009 acquisition by Fiat, the United Auto Workers (UAW) pension fund, and the U.S. and Canadian governments.

“When we first started, we found that, across the company, we were doing the right thing [regarding sustainability]. There were pockets within departments that had been doing these types of things, but we hadn't brought it all forward and together in a cohesive, prominent form,” Gauthier said.

The high value and strategic importance Fiat Group senior management, led by CEO Sergio Marchionne, places on social and environmental sustainability revitalized and provided strategic focus and direction to Chrysler's sustainability initiatives, Gauthier continued. “We've had a lot of encouragement from our CEO, Sergio Marchionne, on down, and we've been seeing results from the grass roots up as well.”

Sustainability and public recognition

The success of Fiat-Chrysler's sustainability initiatives and reporting have not gone unnoticed by organizations looking to promote and foster adoption of pioneering corporate social and environmental sustainability standards and reporting.

For the fifth consecutive year, for instance, Fiat Group in 2013 maintained its place in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, which are produced in collaboration with RobecoSAM. It also confirmed its leadership in the CDP's (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) Italy Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index and Carbon Performance Leadership Index.

Reductions in water use and greenhouse gas emissions across its manufacturing operations worldwide are two prominent examples of the success of Fiat-Chrysler's ongoing efforts to enhance the environmental and social sustainability of its operations.

Sustainability in auto manufacturing: Thinking outside the box

Fiat-Chrysler manufacturing plants worldwide are now reusing 99 percent of the water used in the manufacturing cycle. That was a savings of more than 2.1 billion cubic meters (m3) of water in 2013 -- equivalent to 13 consecutive days of water flow over Niagara Falls. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per vehicle produced have been cut 15 percent over the past four years.

The multinational automaker's energy efficiency initiatives are also paying handsome dividends. Some 730 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity savings have been realized. Those savings flow directly down to the financial bottom line.

These results are illustrative of Fiat-Chrysler's broad-based “green” manufacturing drive. Fiat Group plants in Pomigliano, Italy, Tychy, Poland and Tofas, Turkey, for example, all achieved Chrysler WCM (World Class Manufacturing) Gold level performance ratings. Its Bielsko Biala plant in Poland won the Automotive Lean Production Award 2013.

As Fiat-Chrysler strives to enhance the overall sustainability of its operations, it is also thinking outside the box, stretching beyond convention and thinking “green” when it comes to engine and vehicle design.

Its 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 and Fiat 500e Battery-Electric Drive System was among the winners of Ward's “Best Engines for 2014,” while its 0.9 TwinAir Turbo bi-fuel natural gas-powered engine earned “Best Green Engine of the Year 2013” honors among the 12 categories included in the International Engine of the Year Awards.

The automaker's sustainability initiatives extend to supply chain partners around the world, as well as Chrysler dealerships in the U.S. Chrysler publicly recognized 30 of them for their eco-friendly operations in 2013.

Fiat-Chrysler: Sustainability and society

Promoting economic and social equity and opportunity are core aspects of triple-bottom-line and sustainability's conceptual framework. For Fiat-Chrysler, that entails creating business and employment opportunities for the socially disadvantaged and minorities, as well as supporting the work of community development groups. As Fiat-Chrysler Group Chairman John Elkann elaborated in the foreword to the group's 2013 sustainability report:

“Social responsibility is another aspect of our activities that is very important to us. We believe firmly in the values of multiculturalism and diversity and, wherever we have a presence, we actively contribute to the advancement of local communities.

Fiat-Chrysler committed some €19.7 million (~US$27.3 million) to local communities last year and spent €3.9 billion (US$5.41 billion) with minority suppliers – nearly 17 percent of Chrysler's North American purchases. Under the Chrysler Group Volunteer Program, Chrysler employees themselves contributed over 9,400 volunteer work-hours in the U.S. in 2013. As Elkann highlighted:

“Of approximately €20 million committed to local communities in 2013, for example, around 40% was for cultural, educational and training initiatives. For every social initiative, we give priority to the involvement of local employees and suppliers in order to create jobs, stimulate the local economy and strengthen social ties within each community.”

Changes in Fiat-Chrysler's sustainability strategy and initiatives have come with the passage of time. Not only is the automaker putting more time, money and other resources into them, it's also refining its strategy and goals, as well as the means by which to achieve them.

Completed and released in 2011, Chrysler's first sustainability report, dubbed “The White Album,” prompted the automaker's parent to draw together all the resources it was devoting to sustainability and centralize the its sustainability reporting function.

“We published in October (2011), reporting at a GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) A-level. We hit that goal and immediately upon publishing we got the word to work together to publish with Fiat. Six months later, in April 2012, we published a joint sustainability report with Fiat,” Gauthier recounted.

Sustainability: From concepts to practice

For the 2013 report – “The Blue Album” – the Fiat-Chrysler sustainability team zoomed in on streamlining and communicating information on “materiality” and other “headline” factors regarding its sustainability strategy and goals. That went hand-in-hand with earning comprehensive GRI G-4 comprehensive-level certification.

The effort for the first time included conducting multi-stakeholder events that spanned the automaker's global operations. Fiat-Chrysler dealers, suppliers and customers, as well as students, and social and environmental NGOs assembled in Brazil, Italy and Michigan along with group staff during these events. As Gauthier told TriplePundit:

“We talked to them about mobility and transportation, and how they saw them evolving out to 2020. We talked about the present, covering sustainability across the value chain.”

Themes common among regions, as well as differences between them, emerged during the course of the three events.

Feedback flowing from the multi-stakeholder event in Turin, Italy, for example, coalesced around promoting “a culture of sustainability, educating stakeholders, and promoting sustainability concepts across the board among various stakeholders,” Gauthier elaborated. At Chrysler's headquarters in Detroit's Auburn Hills, participants' discussion centered on new models of mobility in response to changes in the urban environment.

In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, managing the “end-of-life” of projects and achieving “cradle-to-cradle” product development was central to the discussion. So was Fiat-Chrysler's involvement in public policy and efforts to improve public goods and services.

Fiat-Chrysler's "Materiality Matrix"

In its “Materiality Matrix,” Fiat-Chrysler's sustainability team identifies the topics common among participants across the three multi-stakeholder events.

“The same things rose to the top across regions,” Gauthier explained. “The upper quadrant is all about the consumer and our products impact on them, from vehicle safety and quality to customer satisfaction, research and innovation – the production side of our business in its entirety.”

The sheer size and scope of its sustainability initiatives – from materials and equipment procurement, supply and manufacturing through distribution and sales to reporting – alone makes it clear that Fiat-Chrysler's commitment to sustainability isn't greenwash. It's about putting sustainability at the core of its business.

When asked what its stakeholders and the public can expect going forward, Gauthier said, “We've set goals, we watch the trends, and we're committed to developing new mobility solutions. The synergies between the two companies have already produced some very innovative products and thinking. Stay tuned and we'll see what comes forth. We have a Fiat 500 EV (electric vehicle).”

An interactive version of Fiat-Chrysler's 2013 sustainability report is available on the group's website.

Images credit: Fiat-Chrysler, "2013 Sustainability Report: Economic, Environmental and Social Responsibility"

Editor's note: This is the first post in a two-part series. You can read the second post here.

By Darshan Goswami, M.S., P.E.

In the coming years, India will face seemingly insurmountable challenges to its economy, environment and energy security. To overcome these challenges, India needs to shift to non-polluting sources of energy.

As Jeremy Rifkin, an economist and activist, said in New Delhi in January 2012: "India is the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy sources and, if properly utilized, India can realize its place in the world as a great power,” and adding “but political will is required for the eventual shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.” The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has also recommended that the world needs a major shift in investments from fossil fuels to renewable energy in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

India has tremendous energy needs, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet those needs through traditional means of power generation. More than 40 percent of rural Indian households don’t have electricity. While India is developing domestic energy sources to satisfy the growing demand, it is also anxious about having to import increasing amounts of fossil fuels that exacerbate the trade deficit and can be harmful to the environment. Coal imports hit a record high during the last fiscal year and will likely rise further over the next five years since India aims to expand its power-generation capacity by 44 percent.

The country's inability to generate clean, affordable power is also a major constraint to achieving energy security. The present centralized model of power generation, transmission and distribution is growing more and more costly to maintain and, at the same time, restricts the flexibility required to meet growing energy demands. India needs to encourage a decentralized business model in order to more readily take advantage of abundantly available renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, biogas, geothermal and hydrogen energy, and fuel cells. India is blessed with an abundance of these resources, yet it spends millions of rupees to import oil, coal and natural gas -- resulting in enormous amounts of renewable energy being unused/wasted. To that end, renewable resources are the most attractive investment, because they will also provide long-term economic growth for India.

To secure its energy future, India urgently needs to design/implement innovative policies and mechanisms that promote increased use of abundant, sustainable, renewable resources. All of India’s future energy demand could be met by utility-scale and rooftop photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP), onshore and offshore wind, geothermal, and conventional hydropower. This would require building many more solar power systems and wind farms, hybrid solar-natural gas plants, solar thermal storage and advanced battery-based grid energy storage systems. Investment in these technologies would create millions of new jobs and an economic stimulus of at least US$1 trillion, and perhaps much more if all indirect (ripple) effects are included. Other major changes involve use of electric vehicles and the development of enhanced smart grids. Making the transition to 100 percent renewable energy is both possible and affordable, but requires political support.

What needs to be done?

Instead of an overarching energy strategy, India has a number of disparate policies. To date, India has developed a cluster of energy business models and policies that have obstructed adoption of renewable energy expansion plans. This present approach threatens India’s economic competitiveness, national security and the environment. India must fundamentally transform the manner in which it produces, distributes and consumes energy to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, create jobs, enhance global competitiveness and decrease carbon emissions.

The government of India has taken several measurable steps toward improving infrastructure and power reliability (such as development of renewable energy from solar and wind), but clearly more needs to be done -- and fast. One step in the right direction was the establishment of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in late 2009. However, the present JNNSM target of producing 10 percent of the country’s energy from solar − 20 gigawatts by 2022 − is totally inadequate. JNNSM needs to take bolder steps, with the help of central and state governments, in order to play a greater role in realizing India's solar energy potential. One such step would be establishment of a nationwide solar initiative to facilitate deployment of 100 million solar roofs and utility-scale generation installations within the next 20 years. In achieving such a goal, India could become a major player and international leader in solar energy for years to come.

In addition, developing off-grid powered micro-grids have the potential to change the way communities generate and use energy, and can reduce costs, increase reliability and improve environmental performance. Micro-grids can be used to take substantial electrical load off the existing power grid and so reduce the need for building new or expanding existing transmission and distribution systems.

Renewable energy potential in India

Renewable energy is the only technology that offers India the theoretical potential to service all its long term power requirements. The Indian subcontinent is blessed with abundant renewable energy resources. For instance, taking advantage of 300 to 330 sunny days a year, India could easily generate 5000 trillion kWh of solar energy, which is higher than India’s total yearly energy consumption. Even if a tenth of this potential was utilized, it could mark the end of India’s power problems. Using the country’s deserts and farm land, India could easily install around 1,000 GW of solar generation – equivalent to around four times the current peak power demand (India’s present generation capacity is about 210 GW).

Wind energy can also help India convert to 100 percent renewable energy. According to the environmental group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), while India has no estimates of its offshore wind potential, up to 170 GW could be installed by 2050 along the of coastline. Hydropower could generate an estimated 148 GW, Geothermal around 10.7 GW and Tidal power about 15 GW. If these abundantly available resources were properly developed and utilized, all of India’s new energy production could be derived from renewable energy sources by 2030. In addition, all existing generation could be converted to renewable energy by 2050 while maintaining a reliable power supply in the interim. Barriers to implementing the renewable energy plan are seen to be primarily social and political, not technological or economic.

In the next post in this series, Goswami will explore 10 strategies India can enact to go 100 percent renewable by 2050. Click here to read the post in full.  

Image courtesy of Solar Energy Bay

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not intended to represent the views or policies of the United States Department of Energy or the United States. The article was not prepared as part of the writer's official duties at the United States Department of Energy.

Darshan Goswami has over 40 years of experience in the energy field. He is currently working as a Project Manager for Renewable Energy and Smart Grid projects at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Previously, he was a Chief of Energy Forecasting and Renewable Energy at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, DC and spent three decades at Duquesne Light Company, an electric utility company in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Darshan is a registered Professional Electrical Engineer with a passion and commitment to promote, develop and deploy Renewable Energy Resources and the Hydrogen Economy.