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December 2005
New Year
As we pass through the time of the Solstice (summer or winter depending on your location) and the festivals of Christmas and New Year, its a good time to reflect.
What gives me hope or worry at this time of year, as I reflect on the things that matter to me.
I believe that business has the ability to create the change we need in the planet. However it needs to be given the right incentives and motivations to do so. I gain hope that despite the lack of action from the US and Australian governments, that substantial investment, even from fairly conservative investors such as pension funds, is flowing into clean technologies such as renewable energy.
It worries me that the short term perspective of votes (and in the US bribes) from the old dirty industries will lead governments to plow money, resources and subsidies into green washing ideas such as "clean coal" and nuclear power.
It gives me hope that ordinary people outside the cities seem less and less concerned about the national origin or race of someone. It gives me worry that racism has bubbled to the surface in Australian cities, and will be used to pit communities against each other rather than focussing on the real problems of greed, and inequality.
It worries me that Johnny Howard still can't tell the difference between a refugee and a terrorist, incarcerating the former, and creating many more of the latter through continued participation in the illegal occupation of Iraq.
It gives me hope that locally we have a council that is prepared to fight for a green shire, it worries me that it puts so many barriers in the way of green concepts like wind turbines that it sends a clear signal to green businesses to go elsewhere.
It worries me that the RTA has once again succeeded in driving a wedge between the two halves of the shire, so they fight each other rather than fighting the whole concept of building more roads rather than rail or moving freight to the inland corridor.
It worries me that our whole economy is based around getting people to buy stuff they don't need and which don't make them any happier. It gives me hope to see an increasing number of people realising that more stuff does not equal more happiness, and choosing to step off the rat-race and find more fulfilling occupation.
Just a few ideas, and I wish everyone who reads this a year in which their own projects bring them, and our planet and community closer to wholeness.
Posted by at 6:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Hurricane and Oil - connections and images
I recently received a link to this Flash multimedia presentation. It has a powerful set of images.
Crank up the volume, and if it doesn't make you angry....
Posted by at 4:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Cleantech Investment Forum
Last week, I attended the Cleantech Finance and Investment Forum in Melbourne.
At this conference were representatives from pension funds, investors, venture capital, local government and the renewable energy industry.
A couple of points stood out.
Contrary to what the government is saying about backing emissions reduction, speaker after speaker talked about moving their investment offshore - mostly to Europe - because of the lack of government support here. The most interesting example was Viridis Energy with investments so far in four countries in Wind, Hydro and Waste to Energy.
Specifically:
- the lack of signing Kyoto means that the carbon credit trading system doesn't bring them the ability to sell their credits on the international market.
- The failure to raise the Mandatory Renewable Energy Targets, which are set at the absurdly low level of 2% by 2010. Essentially both the investors, and the industry were saying that this in effect puts a cap on the renewable energy industry in Australia, so it was safer to take funds offshore.
The US and Canadian companies, in particular Wal van Lierop of Vancouver based Chrysalix Energy spent much of his presentation on looking at how they look for the big opportunities - the places where a technology is about to make the leap from niche to mass market. In contrast Saxon Hill of Sydney based CVC Sustainable Investments concentrated on how they minimise the risk and avoid making bad investments.
This was not an isolated difference, it was mirrored in the discussion between Nicholas Parker of US/Canadian Cleantech Venture Network and John Brakey of Australia's Macquarie Funds Management, and illustrates why there is so little investment in early stage technologies in Australia as compared to the US. It also illustrated why US and Canadian VC's were at the conference, i.e. there are many opportunities in Australia to snap up a bargain because of the lack of local money chasing those bargains. The principle concern for Australians should be that early stage investors would typically require that the companies they are investing in relocate to the US rather than continue development in Australia.
As we move to an energy constrained future, it is important for investment to be occurring in both core technologies and also in projects using these, with both of these moving offshore it means Australia will be more dependent on dwindling fossil fuels rather than less.
Posted by at 7:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)