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The Hard Rock Cafe in London -- which houses an Eric Clapton guitar and one of Madonna's credit cards -- is turning to tech to address its food waste problem. The iconic restaurant installed the Eco-Safe food waste digester by BioHiTech Global to cut costs and divert organic material from local landfills.

The food waste digester not only saves money, but it also cuts down on carbon emissions. Since installing it, Hard Rock Cafe reported a 56 percent drop in food waste disposal costs and a savings of 9.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (MTCO2). The digester saves over $3 million in waste-hauling costs annually, according to BioHiTech, and can prevent over 25,000 MTCO2 a year.

BioHiTech Global’s subsidiary, BioHighTech Europe, received accreditation from Carbon Trust for waste savings, and it submitted a case study on the Hard Rock Cafe in London as part of the accreditation process.

“We are honored to have been recognized by such an impactful organization and appreciate the support from the Carbon Trust in identifying the positive economic, social and environmental impact of our technology,” said Alex Giacchetti, president, BioHiTech Europe. “We look forward to working with the Carbon Trust to help raise awareness of the importance of diverting and reducing food waste, and in doing so cutting harmful carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.”

The city's Hard Rock Cafe is one of the “busiest restaurants” in London, Andrew Noone, general manager of Hard Rock Cafe, said in a statement. It generates a heap of food waste, and some days the restaurant will put 661 pounds of food waste into the digester.

“We feed the digester throughout the day and into the early morning, and it eats up whatever we put into it and the wastewater simply goes down the drain,” Noone said. “It's a very clever piece of equipment that we are looking to roll out elsewhere in our group."

Food waste is a massive global problem. About a third of the world’s food supply is wasted every year, and over 34 million tons of food waste winds up discarded in landfills annually, according to BioHiTech. The restaurant industry is responsible for a big part of that food waste.

Only a small portion of food waste is either donated or recycled by the restaurant sector. In 2013, only 15.7 percent of restaurants participating in a survey reported donating or recycling food waste, and over 70 percent of that donated material was cooking oil. Survey respondents generated 33 pounds of food waste per $1,000 of company revenue, on average. The total food waste generated was 2.1 billion pounds for restaurant companies that submitted full survey results. The survey cited the following example to illustrate the size of the food waste problem: A large company with $1 billion in revenues would average 33 million pounds of waste.

One key way that restaurants can reduce food waste is by cutting portion sizes. Over the decades, portion sizes have grown. Take McDonald’s french fries. In 1995, they weighed 2.4 ounces, but today that same product is a small order of french fries. The supersize option, which is 7.1 ounces, is the one typically ordered. Reducing portion sizes not only cuts food waste but it also cuts costs.

While the restaurants themselves bear a portion of the blame for the food waste generated, some of the blame lies with consumers. Ordering more food than they can eat or not taking home leftovers contributes to the problem. Sustainable America lists a number of things that consumers can do to reduce food waste, which include:

• Ordering only what you can can eat. Ask wait staff about portion size because they may offer smaller portions.


• Take home any leftovers and actually eat them.


• If there is something that comes with your meal that you don’t want to eat, tell the server to exclude it.


• Only take what you can really eat at buffets.

Reducing the food waste generated by the restaurant sector will require both restaurants and their diners both doing their part.

Image credit: Flickr/Hector Rodriguez 

The past few years were tough for Portugal with its debt crisis, high unemployment and struggles staying within the Euro Zone. But one success within this nation of 10.5 million people is its ability to harness its abundant wind and hydro resources. In fact, from the morning of Saturday, May 7, until late afternoon on Wednesday, May 11, Portugal ran entirely on renewables such as hydro and wind power.

According to a study commissioned by two Portuguese environmental organizations, Portugal ran 107 consecutive hours without having to use conventional energy such as coal or natural gas. Portugal’s renewable sector also generated enough power to export electricity beyond the country’s borders.

Portugal has seen impressive runs of high renewable power generation in the past. Back in 2013, the country’s grid operator reported that renewables supplied at least 70 percent of the country’s total electricity capacity during the first quarter of that year.

Wind power enjoyed considerable growth in Portugal over the past 15 years. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the country only generated 131 megawatts of electricity from wind in 2001. Since then, Portugal’s wind capacity has grown exponentially, to 2.2 gigawatts in 2007. In 2015, the country’s grid benefited from over 5 gigawatts of wind power.

Financial incentives, primarily feed-in tariffs that date back to the late 1980s, are largely behind Portugal’s impressive growth rate in renewables. While news about the growth of clean energy in Europe tend to focus on countries such as Germany and Denmark, the fact is that Portugal holds its own when compared to other nations on the continent.

What’s impressive about Portugal’s growing clean-energy industry is that -- despite the country’s decision in 2012 to reduce financial incentives that encouraged wind power developers to invest in Portugal -- the sector continued to add new capacity to the national grid. From 2013 until the end of 2015, the European Wind Energy Association estimates that the country added an additional 500 megawatts of wind power capacity, demonstrating how renewables have become more cost-competitive despite low oil prices worldwide.

But Portugal isn't the only country to see huge spikes in renewable power generation. One summer day last year, Denmark generated 140 percent of its electricity demand, allowing it to export excess power to neighboring countries. On May 15, Germany generated so much power from renewables that prices for electricity at times turned negative. And during the week of May 9, the United Kingdom did not have to rely on its coal-fired power plants for spells of several hours at a time.

Of course, perfect weather conditions led to Portugal’s ability to keep the lights on without using conventional power. But for a country with almost no oil and gas resources of its own, and a still tiny solar sector that is ripe for development, Portugal shows that sound policy and public support can help a country achieve energy independence even while its financial house is still not entirely in order.

Image credit: Correia/WikiCommons

Dan Kenary, co-founder of Harpoon Brewery, regularly has to explain that he isn't a left-winger. "I'm a huge believer in free enterprise," he says. "But greed has come to the forefront of the private sector, and that is a tremendous risk to the system.

"I am not surprised that so many people under the age of 30 think socialism is cool. The only form of capitalism they know has been perverted by greed."

Kenary wasn't thinking about socialism when he and co-founder Rich Doyle sold 48 percent of the company's stock to their employees in 2014. "I want Harpoon to be here for 100 years," he says. "We need to build a brand that has enduring value. I want our employees to love their jobs so much that they will spend their entire careers here. And if employees and their families can share in the financial rewards, that's great."

The deal came together after Kenary and Doyle, who each owned 45 percent of the company, decided to end their long partnership and turn Doyle's shares into cash. Doyle wanted to sell the company to a private investor. Kenary wanted to sell to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). To break the tie, they asked six minority investors to decide. All of them said the company should buy Doyle's shares and put them in an ESOP, which meant that Harpoon would take on significant debt.

"That was really something," says Kenary, "because it meant that anyone who held on to their stock took a big hit. My stock probably lost 60 percent of its value. But I'm convinced that we're all going to make it back. We're the 12th-largest craft brewer in the U.S. We're growing, and we're going to keep growing."

Harpoon's slogan is "love beer, love life," and Kenary says the company's mission is "socializing and having fun." Harpoon's brewery and beer hall in downtown Boston gets 500,000 visitors a year, with employees hosting the parties. "We have incredible employees," he says. "And now they are engaged on a different level when they're at work. They are not just punching the clock."

Harpoon got an award from the National Center for Employee Ownership for the way it explained the deal internally. The company brought in professional storytellers from The Moth to advise its communications team, so the company could effectively emphasize stories about the human impacts of employee ownership when it explained the deal to employees. The legal stuff came later.

"Employee ownership is a complicated idea, and it only works if the employees really get it," says Corey Rosen, founder of the NCEO. "In addition to the legal move, you need to cultivate a high-involvement culture that encourages employees to think like owners."

As the ESOP approaches its two-year anniversary, Kenary says that employees are just starting to see the financial benefits in their retirement accounts. The faster the company grows, the quicker the debt will be retired and the more their benefits will increase. "So if you're on the bottling line and you figure out something that saves us $100 a day, you will speak up, because that is a savings of $25,000 a year," he says. "Harpooners know that a savings like that will boost the company's valuation, which is reflected in the price of stock that they own."

Harpoon has also become a cheerleader for ESOPs. "A lot of microbrewery owners are going to retire in the next few years, and I want them to consider doing this," Kenary says. This fall, Harpoon and employee-owned Deschutes Brewery will release a limited-edition beer brewed with employee-grown hops.

"When I get to heaven, I don't think St. Peter is going to ask me how much money I made," he says. "The question is the same in every value system: Did you make a difference? I want a business that lets employees send their kids to college and buy a little boat for themselves. The business is about enjoying life."

Images courtesy of Harpoon Brewery

With a surface area of 1,040 square miles (2,700 square kilometers), Lake Kivu is one of the largest lakes in Africa. Sharing a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Lake Kivu and the surrounding area offer an interesting geology case study: Its depth reaches almost 2,000 feet (485 meters), and it sits in an area rich in volcanic identity. As a result, this lake has a high concentration of methane gas.

The danger in this region is that the accumulated methane can cause a limnic eruption, a rare geological occurrence in which dissolved gases can erupt from a lake’s depth. The outcome can result in the widespread suffocation of wildlife and humans. Few limnic eruptions, or lake overturns, have occurred in recorded human history. But as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study revealed, geological evidence suggests these events have hit Lake Kivu in the past and could very well fester again in the near future.

But as of December 2015, a power plant launched on the Rwandan side of Lake Kiva could solve two problems: mitigating the risk of such a disaster, while providing a renewable source of power in a country where only 18 to 20 percent of citizens have reliable access to electricity. The KivuWatt plant was officially inaugurated last week, five years after it was first conceptualized.

Wärtsilä, an environmental engineering firm based in Finland, was the lead contractor for this new power plant, which promises to churn Lake Kivu’s “killer gases” into a reliable source of clean energy. Three Wärtsilä engines extract methane gas from the depths of Lake Kivu, which in turn generates 25 megawatts of power. A barge that is anchored 8 miles (13 km) offshore captures and purifies the methane gas, which is then transported to the shore via an underwater pipeline. ContourGlobal, an international developer and operator of electric power and district heating plants, operates KivuWatt. Future plans involve the addition of an additional engine as part of a long-term plan to expand so this plant can generate up to 100 MW of power.

KivuWatt is one example of how twenty years after Rwanda suffered through a genocide that cost the lives of as many as 800,000 people, this landlocked nation of 11.8 million people is on the move. Its current government, led by Paul Kagame, has pursued an economic growth policy that combines a focus on technology with sustainable development. The result is that a country long reliant on subsistence agriculture, with some tea and coffee exports, is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with GDP growth averaging 7.5 percent since 2000. The lack of safe and secure, power, however, is a detriment for many Rwandans’ future economic prospects.

Renewables offer potential to expand access to electricity without relying on expensive fossil fuel imports and a grid that would also be difficult and pricey to build. Other clean energy projects underway in Rwanda include a network of small hydropower projects that will contribute an additional 25 MW to the country’s power capacity. The Rwandan government has also entered into an agreement with an international consortium to install rooftop solar on as many as 250,000 homes by 2018. This aggressive renewables program is one part of the Rwandan government’s Vision 2020 Plan, which seeks to build a knowledge-based economy while pushing Rwanda to become a middle-income economy.

Image credit: CounterGlobal

I visited China for the first time in 1996. Beijing still had blue skies back then, but its boom was evident as cranes hovered all over the city. Of course I saw all the sights, but I avoided Mao Zedong’s mausoleum because of my views about his impact on China’s history. I figured the best way to honor the founder of modern China was to celebrate China’s embrace of capitalism and have lunch at the KFC across the street from his tomb.

What I witnessed in that KFC, and at other fast-food joints such as McDonald’s over the years, was a fascinating yet disturbing view on Chinese society. For a generation fast food was seen as hip, fashionable and forward-thinking in China. And considering what many older Chinese endured through the country’s history, such as the “Great Leap Forward” and the “Cultural Revolution,” why not hang out in a fast-food restaurant? They were convivial, modern, brightly lit, air conditioned and welcoming to everyone.

But the scenes I saw in these restaurants were also worrisome. A child would be surrounded by his parents and both sets of grandparents, along with extended family, competing for that kid’s attention with copious helpings of hamburgers, fries, fried chicken and other fast-food delicacies. And many those kids, who were overwhelmingly boys — due to the Chinese preference for boys in a society in the midst of the second decade of its one-child policy — were already obese. The result is a proliferation of “fat camps” across the country as China’s rapid accumulation of wealth is in part behind its people’s own battle of the bulge. The problem is more obvious in China’s wealthier cities, but now media outlets are reporting an increase in obesity in rural areas, too.

But China may have passed the tipping point with its 25-year fast food obsession. A 2016 McKinsey report suggests that Western fast food is on the decline in China. Carbonated soft drinks and ice cream have also decreased in popularity since 2012, suggesting that Chinese consumers are seeking a healthier lifestyle.

In 2012, two-thirds of Chinese surveyed said they regularly eat fast food; this year that rate fell to 51 percent. Consumers who said they drink carbonated beverages peaked at 84 percent four years ago and has since dropped to 63 percent. The only food product that reported a slight uptick in the past few years is juice, with a modest increase of 2 percent. Meanwhile, more Chinese consumers are seeking organic food products, while 50 percent surveyed said they are focused on eating more healthful and nutritious foods.

Part of this change emanates from the food scandals that rocked China over the past decade. Scandals involving rotten products used in food processing, meat so pumped with chemicals it turned bright blue, and even reports of cooking oil sourced from sewage have spooked many Chinese consumers.  Food scandals involving tainted and expired meat also hit fast food companies hard, including McDonald’s and KFC. As a result, McKinsey reports that 72 percent of Chinese consumers are more concerned about their food supply’s impact on public health, up 60 percent from 2012.

These shifts in the world’s most populous country are worrisome for the world’s largest fast-food companies, which have long relied on growth overseas while sales stalled, and even declined, here in the U.S. But this survey also offers opportunities to companies that can find a way to sell healthier and more sustainable food to China’s 1.36 billion people, as the McKinsey report also suggests that the Chinese are become more loyal to their favorite brands.

Image credit: China Supertrends/Flickr

The energy-efficiency sector is creating new green jobs hand over fist, and the U.S. Department of Energy is getting ready to stir the pot with assistance from the iconic company GE. The public-private partnership centers around an energy-efficient, "ultrasonic" clothes-drying system that uses 70 percent less energy than conventional clothes dryers.

Aside from reducing household utility bills, the new technology offers some great potential green business opportunities in the commercial laundry sector.

Clothes dryers and energy efficiency

The DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is known for its high-tech research, from solar cells to nuclear energy and 3-D printing. So, it's fair to ask why Oak Ridge is engaged in the seemingly mundane field of household appliances.

Actually, household appliances have become a major focus area for the Energy Department, and its 2014 Roadmap for Next-Generation Appliances explains why:

Residential appliances such as refrigerator/freezers, dishwashers, laundry equipment, and cooking equipment account for over 12 percent of U.S. residential sector primary energy consumption.

The appliance sector has seen substantial innovation in recent years; however, energy efficiency measures, while significant, have generally involved incremental improvements to meet new DOE efficiency standards. Little research has focused on radical innovations that might dramatically reduce energy consumption.

Clothes dryers alone make a significant contribution to U.S. electricity use. According to the Energy Department, almost 80 percent of American households include a clothes dryer, and collectively they account for about 4 percent of total residential electricity use.

As for committing federal R&D dollars to common household products, you can see a similar approach in the department's administration of energy-efficiency requirements for household lighting. In addition to administering federally mandated energy-efficiency improvements, the Energy Department partnered with the private sector on LEDs and other next-generation, high-efficiency lighting technologies.

The urgency of an energy-efficiency breakthrough for clothes dryers becomes apparent when you factor in population growth and the expansion of urban areas, where there is limited opportunity for solar-powered clothes drying (aka a laundry line and clothespins).

Building a better clothes dryer

The basic idea behind the new clothes dryer efficiency research is to remove heat from the clothes-drying process, and replace it with high-frequency vibrations. In effect, the ultrasonic vibrations "atomize" water in the fabric. Instead of being released as hot steam, water exits the fabric in the form of a cool mist.

So far, Oak Ridge and GE have proven the new technology in principle. The plan is to scale it into a working device by the end of this summer, with the expectation that the new dryer will take less than half the normal time and use 70 percent less energy.

All else being equal, the energy savings alone is a strong selling point in terms of reducing household utility bills. Add the convenience of a significant reduction in drying time, and that makes the attraction even stronger.

Those two factors also work strongly in favor of adoption in the commercial sector. Public laundries, for example, would see a higher customer turnover per machine while reducing bottom-line operating costs. The high turnover/lower cost equation would also apply to institutional laundries.

The new technology provides an additional, significant sustainability benefit by putting much less wear and tear on clothing than heat drying. That's a bottom-line plus for the many companies, institutions and agencies that employ uniformed personnel.

Reducing the amount of lint for disposal also contributes to overall sustainability, and the release of water as a cool mist may provide a cost-effective opportunity for water reclamation.

Dude, where's my piezoelectric transducer?

The key to the new technology is a device called a piezoelectric transducer, which sounds like it could be second cousins with a continuum transfunctioner except that, unlike the continuum transfunctioner, piezoelectric transducers are real.

Piezoelectricity refers to the ability of certain materials to generate an electrical current when exposed to mechanical stress. You probably interact with piezoelectric technology every day without knowing it. Piezoelectric materials are deployed in many touchscreen devices, where your finger provides the stress. As deployed in the new dryer, the stress comes in the form of sound waves.

GE has accumulated a considerable body of knowledge in the field of applied piezoelectricity, which explains why the company partnered with Oak Ridge in this particular energy-efficiency project.

Oak Ridge is known for its foundational research on piezoelectric materials, and an Oak Ridge scientist, Ayyoub Momen, is credited with coming up with the concept for the ultrasonic dryer.

Image credit (screenshot): Oak Ridge's Ayyoub Momen with prototype piezoelectric dryer, US Department of Energy via YouTube.

Viacom is a massive media company that has positioned itself as a powerful force for change. Viacommunity, the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) branch, is all about leveraging the power of Viacom’s brands to drive action on the issues that matter.

By partnering with local and national organizations, schools, community groups, foundations, and corporations, Viacommunity addresses a spectrum of issues and causes, from sustainability to HIV/AIDS and gender equality. The company is leading its industry peers in tackling difficult issues and turning moments into movements.

Each year, the company organizes an international day of service which invites employees to give back to the communities in which they work and live. This year's theme was "Turn Up For Good." From offering job training to refugees, to feeding the hungry, this initiative engaged thousands of volunteers around the world.

However, what's most impressive is the company’s commitment to fostering social and environmental justice year round through dynamic programming, inclusive actions and promoting ongoing community service.

Building inclusive societies

Viacom’s networks attract diverse audiences of all ages, backgrounds, races, sexual orientations and genders. It is for this reason that the company is dedicated to celebrating diversity and advocating for inclusion and recognition to ensure that every person has a voice.

Look Different helps teens and young adults challenge bias in their daily lives. It addresses the subject of discrimination based on race, gender and sexual orientation in an effort to help the network’s audience create a world without prejudice.

The MTV network built a coalition of partners, including the Anti-Defamation League, GLAAD, the NAACP and the Trevor Project, to help tackle the issues on-air and online via public service announcements, celebrity messages, programming, social media and digital tools.

The company also takes part is special activities and events each year -- both on and off the air -- in support of GLAAD’s Spirit Day, which raises awareness of bullying against the LGBTQ community.

In partnership with the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, volunteers from the company are trained to help conduct transgender intake screenings as a part of the organization’s Name Change Project. The project provides free legal name-change services to transgender people through partnerships with some of the nation’s most prestigious law firms and corporate law departments.

Pioneering social change

Holding the belief that social change happens when awareness meets action, Viacom has long been at the vital intersection of social, political and environmental causes.  By leveraging the company’s massive influence and the ability to use powerful brand voices as loudspeakers for certain causes, the company has been able to amplify its reach.

The company stepped up to raise awareness and action to end domestic violence and sexual assault through a partnership with the Joyful Heart Foundation and the NO MORE campaign, led by actress and advocate Mariska Hargitay. The campaign aims to dispel the myths and excuses that perpetuate sexual assault and domestic violence and get people talking openly about the issues.

Get Dirty is Nickelodeon’s rallying cry to kids to go outside and “dig in” to help the environment year-round. The initiative educates kids about issues like wildlife conservation and protecting the environment, and challenges them to do their part.

In Latin America, Agentes de Cambio (Agents of Change) is a Nickelodeon initiative which spotlights young people and celebrities making a difference in education, employment, environmentalism, health and wellness, and youth engagement.

Promoting healthy living

Viacom is dedicated to using its networks and resources to not only promote physical and sexual health, but to also break down barriers to discussing mental health. The mission is to promote good health and wellbeing for all of the audiences the company serves.

MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation is now the world’s largest youth-focused HIV initiative, helping millions of young people get smarter about their sexual health and welfare. The foundation works in two ways: distributing hard-hitting and thought-provoking original programming and providing four-year grants to young activists who run HIV-prevention projects in their local communities, armed with effective tools and training.

The company believes that one of the best ways kids can help themselves is by getting out and getting active. So, once a year, all Nickelodeon channels and websites go dark from noon to 3 p.m. on the network's Worldwide Day of Play (WWDoP). On-air programming before and after the "digital detox" features health and wellness messages and, in 2014, WWDoP and 16 partner organizations hosted 4,000 events in all 50 states.

Inspiring future generations

Viacom believes that fueling the next generation through education is vital to a healthy society. The company uses its various media platforms, content and resources to help audiences get the best education they can and inspire them to learn at every age.

Through BET’s Next Level campaign, the network encourages its core audience of 16- to 25-year-olds to stay in school, attain higher education and avoid dropping out. The initiative helps viewers do three things: choose the right school, whether it’s a university or community college; set out a personal career plan; and find ways to finance their education.

With the assistance of Nickelodeon’s beloved preschool characters, Beyond the Backpack helps parents and caregivers get children ready for kindergarten by developing language, literacy, math, science and creative arts skills, as well as social, emotional and physical health.

Whether it be by educating stakeholders, igniting action in the public arena, philanthropic investment, engaging employees through community service or leveraging the power of brands to engage on social issues, Viacom is striving to make a difference in the communities in which it serves.

Image credit: Viacom

Editor's Note: This post originally appeared on GE's Power Conversion blog.

By Sofia Sauvageot

Competing in the wind industry is like playing in a professional soccer league. You need your star players, a tailored strategy and a drive to make your fans proud. And, while a decade ago wind may have been at the bottom of the power generation league, it’s rising up the table fast, almost catching up to the big players — traditional thermal power sources and natural gas.

Numbers say it all. Globally, progress in the wind sector continues to be strong with increasing annual installed capacity and growing investment in the sector. In 2015 alone, 63,013 megawatts of wind power capacity was installed globally, an annual market growth of 22 percent. It is continuing its progress towards becoming a mainstream, competitive and reliable power source in both developing and mature markets. In fact, wind is becoming cheap enough in many places in the U.S. and around the world to compete effectively with fossil fuels.

As wind energy continues to gain ground, let’s take a look at three main trends we’re seeing in the industry moving forward:

1. The formation of strategic partnerships

Thomas Edison may have been behind the invention of the electric light bulb, but he did not work alone. Edison worked alongside partners, both financial and commercial, to get his inventions off the ground, and without these partnerships, the light bulb as we know it today may never have taken off in the way that it did—and he’s not the only one. Some of the world's most effective business models and companies have been forged through complementary and long-standing partnerships, resulting in products and services that have defined completely new industries.

Throughout the wind sector, this type of partnership and collaboration is crucial. Battling challenging cost targets and the need to build wind power closer to urban areas, wind operators must form long-term strategic collaborations to maintain and increase wind’s competitive edge. Maintaining a long-term partnership with a supplier or original equipment manufacturer will not only save time, but can also save costs through economies of scale. What’s more, through working with one supplier, wind operators can decrease the admin and supply chain complexity and feel assured that all elements of their business are working together smoothly. This can help to standardize and rationalize components needed throughout the wind farm operational life cycle, reducing timely and costly re-engineering.

The formation of strategic partnerships can not only benefit the industry as a whole, but also advance a company’s position in the marketplace. They enable parties to tap into each other’s knowledge, accelerating innovation and supporting the development of new and improved technology. Right now, turbine manufacturers have to search for the best component to fit their turbine. In the future, however, we expect to see a shift to where operators no longer focus on repeat negotiations of contract and price, but instead move towards developing products together — in partnership. Through this collaboration, components and turbines could be designed together to ensure seamless integration and improved reliability and efficiency.

2. The demand for localization

The wind market is governed like no other. Countries globally have realized the rising potential of wind and its ability to create jobs and boost economic output, and they are not simply requesting the use of local suppliers, but are demanding it. In Brazil, products today need to meet the requirements of the Brazil Development Bank (BNDES), and import duties in India make importing products and components extremely costly. This localization not only boosts the local economy, but manufacturing components locally also helps to eliminate long-distance transport costs, for the large components in particular, and the associated emissions.

However, while positive for many, this change is not great news for certain suppliers. Companies without local manufacturing capabilities could find themselves at a disadvantage, as building local production and test facilities can be capital intensive and time consuming. Players with a global footprint in manufacturing and production, such as GE, however, are already equipped to handle the growing trend for localized products as they can utilize their local expertise and knowledge in each individual market.

This local expertise and knowledge is key because each market has differing targets and goals for wind power. For example, the Chinese government is actively spurring on wind development to meet rising electricity demands and limit its reliance on polluting coal-fired power stations. Therefore, projects move much faster there compared to many other countries. Understanding the nuances of the practices and policies that surround the industry is crucial to succeeding in each market, which is another reason why wind operators need to consider partnering with suppliers that have a truly global presence.

3. The move towards a more digital future

In the wind industry, performance improvements are mainly found through sourcing the lowest cost provider or moving to low-cost countries for the production of components. As we see the increased need for localization, it’s clear that we can no longer rely on this low-cost model. To move away from this, investment must be made in adopting new technologies and smart machines and in the training and development of engineers and innovators within the industry. As a whole, we must work together to develop world-class facilities and world-class people that can build state-of-the-art equipment, designed and engineered specifically for wind.

Digital technology sits at the heart of meeting this challenge. GE is continuing to collaborate with the industry to embrace a technology and data-driven approach, investing heavily in software and machines to transform the industry. For example, using its Industrial Internet expertise, GE has developed the world’s first digital wind farm.
As the wind industry continues its rise in the global energy production league, there are high hopes that it will become a star player in the power generation market in the not so distant future.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sofia Sauvageot is the Global Sales leader with the global lead for the wind business for GE Power Conversion. She has been working since 2010 with Electric drive trains for Renewables and before that in Marine business for 10 years.

By Adam Woodhall

At the first National CSR & Sustainability Conference, held in London last month, the provocative question "Is CSR dead?" was posed. The question was considered directly and indirectly from many different angles, both challenging and celebratory. A few examples will highlight the grand scope of the day.

As sustainability and social responsibility covers a vast area, it was a relief that the Conference mainly focused around two key areas: environment/circular economy and corporate governance/tax issues.

The Conference opened with Catherine Howarth, CEO of ShareAction, enthusing us with stories of how their AGM Army have door stepped many corporations to ask "delightful questions" which have challenged many of these organisations to make changes. One highlight is that 30 of the FTSE100 have now signed up to the Living Wage. Howarth ended her keynote by urging everybody to knock on the door of their pension fund to ask these governance questions.

Prof Raimund Bleischwitz, of University College London challenged us with the notion that the UN Sustainable Development Goals have been built on the basis of a linear economy; however, all the evidence suggests they need to be built for a circular economy.  Celebrating the circular economy was Jonathan Garratt, Director CSR at Jaguar Land Rover, who projected that by 2020 25% of their cars will be made out of drinks cans, so in a few years you could literally be driving around in a Coke can!

Paul Monaghan, Director of the Fair Tax Mark, didn’t think CSR was dead, but challenged CSR professionals to pay attention to the top two concerns for the British public, which are corporate tax avoidance and executive pay.

Somebody who is paying attention is Bianca Shead, Sustainable Development Advocacy & Policy of SABMiller, who observed that tax is a transparency issue so therefore a CSR issue and encouraged everybody to be open with it. 

Perhaps the most interesting answer to “Is CSR dead?” was by Graham Precey, Head CSR & Ethics at Legal & General: he thinks it is, as he believes we are all R&D professionals.

The conference closed with a keynote from the inspirational Roz Savage. It took seven years for Savage to complete the mammoth task of rowing solo across three oceans. She highlighted how we must recognise that we are not superior from nature.  We were left with the rallying call that the way to get over fear of the vast "oceans" in front of us is by being massively motivated, in her case by the sustainability imperative.

Along with the stimulation received from the speakers, attendees were also inspired by the venue, the multi-award winning Siemens' Crystal building, the lowest carbon footprint building in the world and one that contains an innovative exhibit about urban life in the future, and were served delicious sustainable food from Sodexo.

Finally, in addition to all the celebration and challenge, we were also given guidance on how to make change happen such as that from Gareth Ellis from Hubbub who helped us understand how that organization engages: “Make it easy, topical and emotive; create unusual collaborations; and be innovative”.

As the conference finished, we were left digesting the nourishing food, conversations, provocations, questions and answers, and looking forward to next year’s event whilst we absorbed the provocation “Is CSR dead?” (My personal answer? It is rapidly evolving).

Photo: Steve Walker swpics.co.uk

With a busy week behind you and the weekend within reach, there’s no shame in taking things a bit easy on Friday afternoon. With this in mind, every Friday TriplePundit will give you a fun, easy read on a topic you care about. So, take a break from those endless email threads and spend five minutes catching up on the latest trends in sustainability and business.

Two decades ago, if a large corporation even mentioned sustainability, it was quickly dubbed a thought leader in the space.

But the 21st century brought with it new realities. The global population is booming and is expected to reach at least 9 billion by 2050. Meanwhile, more people around the world are rising out of poverty and into the middle class -- a welcome trend that also ushers in new challenges, such as how to meet the growing demand for goods in a resource-constrained world with a warming climate.

Such challenges demand new thinking about what it means to be a thought leader. This summer, TriplePundit is launching our second series in partnership with MGM Resorts International. After teaming up with the MGM Foundation for a conversation about women's leadership last year, we'll now take a deep-dive into what it means to be a thought leader in the 21st century, with the support of MGMThink, an MGM Resorts International online platform.

To kick off the series, 3p took to social media to ask our readership of sustainability and business professionals what thought leadership means to them. Given the realities of a climate-constrained world, many of our experts called for an expanded definition of thought leadership -- or even another term entirely.

Here's what they had to say:

Andrea Learned, independent thought leadership strategist and authentic social voice developer: "Leaders become influencers through the consistent, thoughtful engagement (in person and on social media) in two-way conversations.

"'Thought leaders' today realize their responsibility for leaving a digital footprint of their developed wisdom and experience upon which future leaders can build. They deliberately and strategically build foundations of trust in publicly-visible conversations that engage employees and help foster new partnerships or collaborations externally (among other things). The 'on high' or ivory tower thought leader of yesterday can't compete in any sense...

"These are great days of impact opportunity for leaders who step fully into the role."

Nick Aster, founder and publisher of TriplePundit: "I'd like to see 'thought leadership' be turned into actual leadership -- driving actual action. Thoughts are good, but it's time to move beyond thoughts!"

Tim Gnatek, co-founder, partner and president of Blue Practice: "Thought leadership is more potent and accessible today than ever. With social media and self-publishing tools, anyone can take a global platform as a thought leader. Not everyone should. We have entered an age where the loudest, not the wisest, seize too much airtime.

"We need to encourage the real heroes in sustainability to empower themselves and raise their voices in a way that elevates, inspires and guides us. We don't need thought leaders. We need leaders."

Joanne Sonenshine, founder of Connective Impact and advisor on partnership and collaboration strategy: "Thought leadership is most impactful when the stories told, experiences had, and work delivered yield greater justice, empathy and laser focus on opportunities for human beings to thrive."

Ben Gruitt, manager of sustainability and special projects for the Corn Refiners Association: "Thought leaders have typically been considered the trusted source in their particular field of expertise. Yet the world of today demands more. There is an increasing need to consider social and environmental factors on the same level as economic ones, which challenges leaders to think more broadly.

"Our increasing scientific understanding of the world reveals how interdependent seemingly disparate elements are, and true thought leaders must step beyond the boundaries of their field to challenge the status quo. Those who are able to think in systems and inspire others to act in the interest of all involved in that system will be the successful thought leaders of the 21st century."

John Friedman, sustainability manager for WGL Holdings, Inc.: "Thought leadership is a misnomer. Thanks to digital media and real-time information, we are living in the age of 'collaborative co-creation.'"

Scott Weislow, global business partner program leader for Arrow Electronics: "The term 'thought leadership' has been grossly overplayed, in my opinion. Too many people think that having what they deem as original thought makes it leadership, when in fact leadership goes well beyond thoughts and ideas, with many more layers of complexity to it.

"True leadership is energy-driving, collaborative efforts structured around a goal-oriented vision that is well thought-out by true subject matter experts with the passion and know-how to rally teams to align and drive progress."

David Wilcox, founder of ReachScale: "Thought leadership is a very global north idea. That one can lead thoughts suggests a bias that the knowledge can be organized and then others can get their hands dirty applying it. Successful social enterprises are led by people who consider thinking without actually solving the problems as fraudulent. The solving of the challenges is the actual leadership. I can't tell you the number of books I've scanned by 'thought leaders' and set aside because it was immediately clear they did not contain first-hand leader learnings."

Timothy R. Eyab, CEO of Hamlinks: "Thought leadership does not mean a leadership that thinks without doing. To me it's the opposite. It means [a leader who] is ahead in his area of expertise. Who does not miss a goal. You can not do away with thought leadership in any area of human endeavor ... We need thought leaders to steer the sustainability and corporate behavior-ship."

Marc Seago, independent marketing consultant: "A thought leader needs to be truly conscious in today's world. Understanding the past, the present and imagining the future -- seeing beyond the companies' bottom-line. Applying common sense, good social judgement and being pragmatic in all actions."

Julie Hancher, co-founder and editor of Green Philly Blog: "A thought leader in the 21st century should look at the complex whole picture. How do we move forward to create a more sustainable world balancing new, exciting technology, business and the best interest of humans? The next great thought leaders will weigh these factors collectively to help solve our current climate problems."

Jeff Mcintire-Strasburg, founder and editor of Sustainablog and job coach for MERS Missouri Goodwill Industries: "A 21st-century thought leader sees the networks and interconnections that aren't obvious to the rest of us, explains those connections/networks in terms that the rest of us can grasp, and advocates for action based on this bigger picture."

Over the next three months, we plan to explore the concept of thought leadership in greater detail. It's clear that the challenges facing society today demand a coupling of thought and action -- and a closer look at what leadership means. Keep an eye on this page for more.

What does thought leadership mean to you? Join the conversation in the comments section below.

Image credit: Flickr/David Sanabria