Where is the Leadership Problem?

So, where is the leadership problem?

It is clear that in the world today, not only do we have the economic crisis, but a crisis of leadership also. At the highest level of politics and business we are paying the high cost of low trust. The general public doesn’t trust its leaders. There are, perhaps, many reasons for this.

Certainly too many reasons to get into now, however, the basis of it all probably comes down to the dehumanization of the act of leadership on the part of political and business leaders. They have concentrated on the machinery of society as opposed to the human aspect that makes up society. They became managers of the machine instead of leaders of humans. The simple leadership concepts of setting the example, both in ethics and values, and taking responsibility for those that make it possible for them to position themselves at such heights have been forgotten. The world is crying out for the humanized leader.

This is not only a problem in the highest forms of leadership but, in Spain at least, every level of society. In business, where I concentrate my work, leaders are created for all the wrong reasons. You can, in the worst of cases, find leaders that have become so because of their year’s service in a company. This is, however and thankfully, becoming less and less. What you will find, however, is that the most technically competent workers find themselves in leadership roles. That in itself is not a problem if they have excellent emotional intelligence to match their technical strengths.

If, however, they lack emotional intelligence, the misuse of resources can become debilitating to a company. Not only does it deprive the prize technically-gifted staff of the ability to do what they do best, but  places them is a position where they are doomed to failure and frustration. These leaders, filled with frustration, misunderstand their role, believing the authority bestowed on them is enough to lead teams and departments. This frustration filters through these same teams and departments as individual and group potential becomes unrealized at all levels. This, ultimately, can be the difference between being productive or unproductive, success or failure, both critical in this day and age.

Technically gifted employees need to be optimized. Emotionally Intelligent employees need to be optimized. Great leaders will probably have both but the human side must remain priority.

We must stop managing the machine and start leading humans. Emotion is what motivates and the last time I checked humans still have the edge on machines in emotion.

I’m looking forward to my class in the EOI today. Putting the human back in leadership.

Below, Simon Sinek gives a great speech on how to Inspire.

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

And Daniel Pink on Motivation

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

EOI Management Skills Course.

By Chris Metcalfe

1 comentario / 15 Nov 2011 por evacurto
IMSD /

Starting the Finance Module

Hi guys:

this week we have started the Finance Module.

The main objective of the subject is to provide an initial and basic idea of finance in a company.

 More specific objectives are:

• To analyze the financial system including markets, institutions and products offered to companies for its financial activity.
• Introduction of accounting concepts in order to prepare financial accounting and financial statements: balance sheet and profit & loss account.
• To familiarize with several techniques for the economic and financial analysis of a company such as the use of ratios, analytical accounting and the financial balance of a company.
• To know the basis of financial mathematics to understand the most relevant financial products and the viability of investments.
• To understand the main methods to analyze investments.

Comments Off on Starting the Finance Module / 15 Nov 2011 por evacurto
IMSD /

Renewable energies Group 6 [Marie, Luca, Patricia]

Brazil

Brazil has general regulations and incentives for the inclusion of renewable energy as part of its national energy matrix base.

The Brazilian Renewable Energy Incentive Program (Proinfa) within the Ministry of Mines and Energy, established the inclusion of solar and wind  power plants into the national energy grid with a long-term objective of obtaining at least 10 percent of electricity from these sources (Law No. 10.438of 2002).

Small hydropower plants with install capacity between 1 to 30 MW/h and micro hydropower plants with capacity equal or less than 1 MW/h are also eligible to receive incentives.

The energy generator companies are obliged to apply annually at least 1% of its revenue into energy technology research and development. On the other hand Brazil´s government offers tariff discount on their use of transmission and distribution system.

In addition it offers contract simplification on energy connection; simplifies the measuring system for energy commercialization and establishes specific tariff rules.

Source: ANEEL – Brazil´s National Agency of Electric Energy

http://www.aneel.gov.br

Specific Regulation and Incentives by Renewable Energy Sector

Biomass

Federal laws regulating the bioenergy market

In Brazil there is a significant government presence in the bioenergy sector aiming at guiding and assuring the continued existence of bioethanol and biodiesel industries. In the country there are number of important federal laws that frames bioenergy production and consumption, most notably Law No. 9.478 on the National Energy Policy, which sets out the increase of biofuel contribution to the national energy matrix based on economic, social and environmental considerations.

A particular attention is given to the seasonal nature of sugarcane production coupled with year-long demand for bioenergy which requires as consequence planning and oversight at national level towards the maintenance of stocks that stabilizes prices and avoids scarcities between harvests.

Source:

http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1285e/i1285e03.pdf

Wind Power

The Brazil´s National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL) has already approved 92 new wind power plants, with the capacity to generate 6.243 MW, in its vast majority located in the Northeastern region of Brazil.

Nevertheless wind energy can only be well established in the Brazilian Market if is produced at competitive cost. However wind power is still expensive in comparison with conventional energy in the country. For this reason in other to acquire more competitiveness and to correct market imperfections the Brazilian authorities has started a series of auctions in this sector and has sent tender invitations at national and international level.

Nonetheless, Brazil needs to define a longer term program with projections of how much it can rely on wind power in the future and at what price. At moment wind power price and legislation are also undefined.

Source:

Economic Regulation in Wind power generation in the Northeast area of Brazil:  Actual situation and tendencies

http://www.workoutenergy.com.br/abar/cbr/Trab1108.pdf

Solar Power

In Brazil Concentrate Solar Power (CSP) are found in the southern areas, whereas photovoltaic (PV) are found in the northern areas of the country, this is due Brazil´s climate conditions and availability of more water in the southern areas, in this region energy derived from CSP is designated for residential consumption.

At moment there are many projects on planning and operation stages towards the utilization of solar power in the country, particularly on expanding and investing in photovoltaic systems with the objective to serve isolated and poorer communities.

Besides technical, scientific and financial support received by many Brazilian organizations and institutions, solar power projects have also been receiving international from international entities such as: the German agency of Technical Cooperation ( GTZ) and from the American National Renewable Energy Laboratory – (NREL/DOE).

Why solar power is the renewable energy receiving the lowest Investment in Brazil?

Although Brazil possess good irradiation conditions and opportunities to utilize Solar power alongside conventional energy sources it also has big barriers that pushes further investment and implementations of this renewable energy technology away.

Some of these barriers are:

• Presence and competition of alternative renewable energies like hydropower, biomass and wind power in the country.

• High production costs.

• Lack of finance mechanism.

• Lack of national police that permits the development of solar power market.

• Lack of regulations that allows the inclusion and connection of solar power into electric power grids.

• Need to establish stronger national fiscal incentives for solar power.

• Need to promote the development of a national solar power industry including businesses inside its production chain.

• Need to promote a national technological and scientific program in this field.tp://www.aspe.es.gov.br/PALESTRAS/III%20Forum%20de%20Energia/Maur%C3%

http://www.aspe.es.gov.br/PALESTRAS/III%20Forum%20de%20Energia/Maur%C3%ADcio%20Moszkowicz.pdf

Hydropower: Itaipu video

MegaStructures – Itaipu Dam [1/4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeXnMZDaH08

 

Germany

Renewable Energies in Germany

In the first half year of 2011 renewable energies jumped for the first time above 20 percent of the total share of electricity in Germany. They provided 57.3 billion KWh (first half year 2010: 50.4) which covered 20.8 percent of the German electricity supply. Wind energy remains the most important renewable energy with a share of 7.5 (2010: 6.6) percent or 20.7 billion KWh. The second largest part provides biomass with 5.6 (5.4) percent. Interesting is the third place: due to new capacities and sunny early months of the year photovoltaic solar could almost double its share and provides 3.5 (2.0) percent. Thus it overtook hydro power for the first time which produced only 3.3 (3.6) percent due to weather conditions.

The reasons for the boost in new photovoltaic installations are the relatively low prices for the equipment which have decreased by 50 percent since 2006 and the decision of the government against the planned cut in subsidies for private solar-power generation. Germany is planning to phase out nuclear power completely by 2022. Until then the goal is to provide 35 percent of production from renewable energies.

The geothermal power generation in Germany is still in its infancy. There are efforts made to improve its competitiveness. Until now there are four plants which produce electricity out of geothermal power. Even though the regulations are strict and plants have to be licensed in any case by the authority many more projects are planned and it is expected to increase the share of geothermal generated electricity next year. However the direct use of geothermal is already relatively widespread. Currently there are about 334 000 heat pumps installed in Germany. There is expected to be an enormous increase of new heat pumps for the direct use of geothermal.

The potential for marine energy is relatively low in Germany. Main reason for this is the geographic framework. Nonetheless Germany contributes know-how to the development of the needed technologies.

 

Resources:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermie#.28Rechtliche.29_Situation_in_Deutschland

http://www.bdew.de/internet.nsf/id/DE_20110829-PI-Erneuerbare-liefern-mehr-als-20-Prozent-des-Stroms

http://www.erdwaerme-zeitung.de/meldungen/waermepumpen—absatzboom–888787866543.php

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,783314,00.html

http://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/news/alternative-energien-so-viele-windraeder-stehen-in-deutschland-1749942.html

http://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/de/wasserkraft/detailansicht/article/160/potenziale-der-meeresenergie.html

 

Italy

Most important Renewable Energy Source (RES) in Italy is hydropower, contributing to 16.6% of total gross electricity production of the country. Italy has also large geothermal resources, both high and low temperature: it is the most important producer of geothermal electricity in Europe. Despite strong growth in sectors such as onshore wind, biogas and biodiesel, Italy is far from the targets. Firstly, there is a large element of uncertainty due to political changes and ambiguities in current policy design. Secondly, there are administrative constraints such as complex authorization procedures at local level. Thirdly, there are financial barriers such as high grid connection costs. The Italian government is working out the details of more ambitious support mechanisms for the development and use of RES. Italy may be on the verge of moving towards a feed-in tariff-based renewable energy rebate scheme, similar to successful models implemented in Germany and Spain. Italian Government is developing a national building law that will ensure that solar thermal installations are installed in new and refurbished buildings and will assist in increasing the market penetration for RES-H&C technologies. The Italian nuclear power referendum of November 1987 rejected the expansion of the country’s nuclear power industry by the construction of new nuclear power plants. Subsequently, the Italian government decided in 1988 to phase out existing plants.

Policy

At the end of 2007 the Italian government has introduced some new provisions for renewable power generators. Small generators (up to 1MW, with exception of wind plants, whose limit is 200kW) will have the choice between selling their green certificates on the market and receiving a feed-in tariff. The renewable energy obligation for Italian suppliers will increase annually by 0.75% to 2012 (instead of the former 0.35%), starting from the 2007 share of 3.05%. After 2012, a new annual increase percentage will be established by the Italian government. 4

RES TARGETS Mandatory targets set by the Directive on the Promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources

• 17% share of RES on the final consumption of energy in 2020.

• At least 10% share of renewable energy in final consumption of energy in transport by 2020.

Progress towards the Targets

The Share of RES-e in the total electricity consumption was of about 15,7% in 2007, 16.6.% in 2006, in 2005 13.93%, so smoothly Italy is moving towards it s 25% target by 2010 but still is far from reaching it. Italy aims for a RES-e share of 25% of gross electricity consumption by 2010. But then the Italian Government declared that a more probable target would be 22%.

For biofuels, Italy’s Decree 128/2005 set a reference value of 1% by 2005, which is lower than the 2% reference value in the EU Directive.

Main supporting policies

In order to promote RES-E, Italy has adopted the following schemes:

• Priority access to the grid system is granted to electricity from RES and CHP plants.
• An obligation for electricity generators to feed a given proportion of RES-E into the

power system. In 2006, the target percentage was 3.05%. In case of non-compliance,

sanctions are foreseen, but enforcement in practice is considered difficult because of

ambiguities in the legislation.

• Tradable Green Certificates (which are tradable commodities proving that certain

electricity is generated using renewable energy sources) are used to fulfil the RES-E

obligation. The price of such a certificate stood at 109 EUR/MWh in 2005.

• A feed-in tariff for PV exists. This is a fixed tariff, guaranteed for 20 years and

adjusted annually for inflation.

National legislation is being developed, both for RES-H and for biofuels. Subsidies are

already in place for bioethanol production and tax exemptions for biodiesel production.

As yet, no national policy framework exists that supports RES-H. In the meantime, certain

regional and local governments have introduced some measures to promote RES. These

have taken the form of incentives for solar thermal heating and compulsory installation of

solar panels in new or renovated buildings.

 

Sources:

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy_policy/doc/factsheets/renewables/renewables_it_en.pdf

http://www.erec.org/fileadmin/erec_docs/Projcet_Documents/RES2020/ITALY_RES_Policy_Review_09_Final.pdf

http://www.planbleu.org/publications/atelier_energie/IT_National_Study_Final.pdf

Comments Off on Renewable energies Group 6 [Marie, Luca, Patricia] / 15 Nov 2011 por Luca Palma
IMSD /

DP #1: Food Waste in gastronomy industry

 

My interest to this topic started a couple of years ago. My friend came back home from a Work&Travel program in the US. He worked in a restaurant in the Yellowstone National Park. Of course as he was a student, the work was hard and tiring, but it wasn’t the biggest problem. What he could not stand was one of his duties, which was throwing out the garbage full of edible food and it was around 200 kgs per day. At first I was thinking: “poor guy, he has to carry so much weight each day!” But than it hit me! I’ve started to think about the number of people carrying those wastes, multiplied by the number of restaurants, then by the number of countries etc. I was shocked!

Where does the schock come from? Because we (an average person only looks at his plate) do not think at large scale. If we think about the number of times we threw out something into the garbage, because we were not hungry anymore and multiply by the number of people in the world we start to see the whole picture. That is why the statistics are so important for this topic! I will present you some of them to give you a basic notion of the problem.

• an average restaurant in America disposes of about 50 tonnes of food wastes each year, from which 76% is organic and can be recycled
• the British restaurants dispose in total of 600,000 tonnes per year
• an average restaurant in Britain dispose of about 22 tonnes of food wastes per year, which means each time a person eats, it creates 0.5 kg of wastes
• in comparison british households throw out 12 million tonnes of food waste per year at a cost of $19 billion
• 27% of all food is being thrown out, which works out for to a 0.5 kg of food for every american each day
• full service restaurants throw out more food than fast food eateries. Food wastes make up respectively to 66% and 52% of all trash

That short list of numbers already can transmit to any person in the world that the problem is serious and that definitely some solutions have to be found.

There are a lot of reasons behind the colossal waste of food that goes on in the restaurant industry, but I would say that one of the largest causes has to do with corporate restaurant policy regarding the treatment of leftovers. And leftovers are not what come back on the plates. I am referring to the disposal of food that is left on the steam table or in the oven at the end of the night. that food can be reheated one more time with no risk of contamination that could come from the leftovers of customers, cooled properly and refrigerated. Most of corporate restaurants do not have that flexibility as the small restaurants have. Sometimes restaurants have special garbage tanks for food waste which are being closed. In their opinion people who take their food from garbage are thieves. But is this not against the idea of garbage? Even that in the whole world there are so many cultures and different habits, the idea of garbage is still the same. If you throw something out to it, it means you do not need it anymore, doesn’t it?

The situation is already changing, but there is still a long way to go. In my next entries I will develop more the topic and present some policies that are being or had been already introduced to improve the situation. Also you will get to know some possible solutions to this issue and organisations that are trying to change the way we think about food wastes.

References:

1. Gustavson, Jenny; Cederberg, Christel; Sonesson, Ulf; van Otterdijk, Robert; Meybeck, Alexandre (2011). Global Food Losses and Food Waste

2. http://www.greenecoservices.com/food-waste-in-restaurants/

3. http://www.independent.co.uk/ “UK restaurants waste 600,000 tons of food a year”

 

 

Comments Off on DP #1: Food Waste in gastronomy industry / 13 Nov 2011 por Piotr Adam Lubiewa-Wielezynski
IMSD /

DP #1: Time to Rethink Development Aid

Who am I that I can tell you this is right and this is wrong? Who am I that I can force you to take a loan you cannot pay back? Who am I that I can tell you how democracy should work in your country without considering your culture? Who am I that I can exploit your beautiful nature and leave it behind like a battlefield? Who am I – this is what the so called developed countries should ask themselves if they want to consult poorer countries. I just want to best for you! The western countries are shouting. Not considering the problems they have started with their systems, institutions and organizations.

This situation reminds me of a parents-children relationship where the parents think that they know what is best for their child and impose their paradigms on it. But HOW do they know what is good for their child? Maybe they think football is the right kind of sport but the child would love to learn ballet instead. It has no chance to tell them and in the end it believes football is the right thing but it will be a bad player for ever. Why do the parents not ask their child what it wants to play or learn? Why do the western countries not ask the people in the villages what they need most? It might be completely different than what they have thought.

The target of development aid should be not to provide aid anymore. However this target seems far and development aid creates even more dependencies. It does this with a lot of fancy words like “Empowerment”, “Participation” or “Engagement” – this might sound great, but if ones look behind these words the inequalities arise. A change arises in the paradigm of the industrialized countries on what development aid is. A change in the mindset how incredible generous the western world is and that development can be brought from outside. Countries, cultures and groups have their own beauty which one should be considered. There are approaches for radical rethinking from Dambisa Moyo or Esther Duflo. You are welcome to comment if you have other ideas how to approach development aid and how to rethink it.

Further Readings, last accessed 11.11.2011:

Gallo C (2010) Rethinking the Development Aid Paradigm, http://yalejournal.org/2010/03/rethinking-the-development-aid-paradigm/

Gerhardt K (2010) Time for a Rethink, Why Development Aid for Africa Has Failed, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,712068,00.html

Herrström S (2010) Rethinking Aid and Development in Africa ― but with sense and sensibility, http://www.nai.uu.se/forum/entries/2010/11/23/rethinking-aid-and-develo/index.xml

Comments Off on DP #1: Time to Rethink Development Aid / 11 Nov 2011 por Marie Glueck
IMSD /

DP #1: Time to Rethink Development Aid

Who am I that I can tell you this is right and this is wrong? Who am I that I can force you to take a loan you cannot pay back? Who am I that I can tell you how democracy should work in your country without considering your culture? Who am I that I can exploit your beautiful nature and leave it behind like a battlefield? Who am I – this is what the so called developed countries should ask themselves if they want to consult poorer countries. I just want to best for you! The western countries are shouting. Not considering the problems they have started with their systems, institutions and organizations.

This situation reminds me of a parents-children relationship where the parents think that they know what is best for their child and impose their paradigms on it. But HOW do they know what is good for their child? Maybe they think football is the right kind of sport but the child would love to learn ballet instead. It has no chance to tell them and in the end it believes football is the right thing but it will be a bad player for ever. Why do the parents not ask their child what it wants to play or learn? Why do the western countries not ask the people in the villages what they need most? It might be completely different than what they have thought.

The target of development aid should be not to provide aid anymore. However this target seems far and development aid creates even more dependencies. It does this with a lot of fancy words like “Empowerment”, “Participation” or “Engagement” – this might sound great, but if ones look behind these words the inequalities arise. A change arises in the paradigm of the industrialized countries on what development aid is. A change in the mindset how incredible generous the western world is and that development can be brought from outside. Countries, cultures and groups have their own beauty which one should be considered. There are approaches for radical rethinking from Dambisa Moyo or Esther Duflo. You are welcome to comment if you have other ideas how to approach development aid and how to rethink it.

Resources, last accessed 11.11.2011:

Gallo C (2010) Rethinking the Development Aid Paradigm, http://yalejournal.org/2010/03/rethinking-the-development-aid-paradigm/

Gerhardt K (2010) Time for a Rethink, Why Development Aid for Africa Has Failed, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,712068,00.html

Herrström S (2010) Rethinking Aid and Development in Africa ― but with sense and sensibility, http://www.nai.uu.se/forum/entries/2010/11/23/rethinking-aid-and-develo/index.xml

Comments Off on DP #1: Time to Rethink Development Aid / 11 Nov 2011 por Marie Glueck
IMSD /

Starting the Subject on Environmental Economics!

Has anyone ever noticed that economy and ecology share a common root?

OK, even if we don’t speak Greek it is easy to notice that they share a few letters (and yes, the word “economy” comes from Greece, I know it is not a good time to say it).

This happens for a reason. Economy and ecology are essentially linked. However, most people believe that nature and ecosystems are simply a lot of animals and plants that we love to admire.

But let’s think about biodiversity. Only considering land-based ecosystems we are losing each year services worth around € 50 billion. By 2050 costs could be equivalent to 7 % of global GDP. Conserving forests avoids greenhouse gas emissions worth US$ 3.7 trillion. So nature is money and money needs nature!

Environmental economics is an emerging discipline, but at the same time it is a very old way of thinking economics. Its goal is to show the economic significance of the environment and its protection. To do so, there are two main schools of thought. On one hand, there are those who think that the best strategy is to make nature speak the language of the economics (money). On the other hand, others consider that it should be the other way around, and economy must speak the language of nature (physics, basically).

Envi-ronmental economists design new instruments for the environmental policy such as the monetary valuation of ecological resources, the carbon markets or the ecological taxes. Thousands of articles are being developed every day trying to come up with new ways to protect the earth using economic instruments.

Mr. Pigou, Mr. Coase and Mr. Georgescu-Roegen will be our travel companions during this trip.

Kepa Solaun. Teaching in the International Master in Sustainable Development

5 comentarios / 11 Nov 2011 por evacurto
IMSD /

DP #1: Food Waste

Food Waste: 

Overview

Just as flowers need the sun for survival and cars need petroleum for movement, humans need a constant caloric intake to function properly.  However, according to the 2008 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, there are 1 billion people currently hungry, which is the highest number we had in human history. (Beachy 2011). This number sheds a faint light on the disparity between food production and food consumption. If we have the technology to produce more food, and do so on a daily basis to feed the entire population, then the problem is with food transportation and its waste.

In fact, a recent collaborative paper by the the Stockholm Environmental Institute, the Stockholm International Water Institute, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and the International Water Management Institute highlighted that the global food crises is not truly caused by lack of food production, but rather its distribution and waste. “Inefficient harvesting, transport, storage and packaging make a considerable dent in the potential availability of food. Additional losses occur in food processing, wholesale, retail, in households and other parts of society where food is consumed.” (Saving Water 2008)

Some argue that developing countries should not be given aid through rice or other food supplies, due to its potential of hampering the capability of local farmers to compete with the subsidized commodities provided from abroad. A good example of this are developing countries such as Haiti and Mexico, where free trade agreements have led to the rapid influx of cheaper international corn and rice, which devastated local farm production. With the local farmers out of business, the population begins to rely on international imports, and becomes unable to pay for rising international prices, as is happening on a global scale.

Short-term Aid

It is these soaring food prices, out of work farmers and food insecurity that causes civil riots and protests against governments. The problem of free trade is that the big players of international food donation artificially control food prices and demand. “The EU pays farmers to destroy their crop when there is a surplus. The U.S. dumps it in Haiti.” This charity rice and corn, although donated with good intentions, produces long-term negative effects. They provide short-term reduction of hunger, but debilitate local farmers from developing a stable business. (Beachy 2011)

Environmental Concerns

In addition to food being a human right that must be met, food wastage also causes grave environmental damages. “A 2009 article published in the journal PLos calculated that food that ends up getting tossed accounts for almost one-quarter of all freshwater use in the country. Additionally, rotting food in open landfills releases significant quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas with a warming potential that is 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.” (Walsh 2011)

The food waste statistics are staggering. “In the U.S. alone, as much as 30% of food is thrown away – at a cost of $48.3 billion dollars and 40 trillion liters of water. In developing countries, 15 to 35% of food may be lost in the field and an additional 10 to15% discarded during processing, transport and storage, all happening before it gets to the point of consumption.” (Saving Water 2008)

The important difference to note between food wastage in developed and developing countries, is that the efficiency with which food gets produced is much higher in the developed world. Additionally, almost half of one’s salary is spent on food in the developing countries, illustrating just how difficult it is for low and poor class individuals to buy and provide for their family during rising food crises.

The Sustainable Future?

For someone who is a big food lover, the topic of food waste comes close to my heart. 
It’s not just about eating, its also about wasting the things that take so much water, energy and physical labor to grow. It is about throwing away the labor of others, of the world, and then pretending to care about those less fortune, hungry and starving. 

A good example of this is the “1997 study by the economic research arm of the Department of Agriculture, [which stated] that about 10 million people a year could be fed through the recovery of just one-fifth of food waste.” If that was 14 years ago, imagine this number today, with an increased population, higher food demand and a stagnating economy worldwide. (Walsh 2011)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States of America published statistics that demonstrated how more than 30 million tons of food was dumped in landfills in 2009, making food the most abundant material wasted by weight.

In order to make a real difference in the future of our planet and make large strides in the world of development, governments, organizations and individuals on a grassroots level need to start addressing this gap between food production and its consumption. Finding more efficient ways to  package, transport and utilize these precious commodities are a more important question to address, than aiming at solving the hunger problem through distribution of international food aid.

I have been hearing since childhood that, I “should finish the food on my plate because there are starving children in Africa,” now I see this statement has more truth in it than I previously thought. If we are all more efficient in how much food we waste, sustainability of our planet is possible… it just all depends on us.

 

References:
The Stockholm Environmental Institute, the Stockholm International Water Institute, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and the International Water Management  Institute. “Saving Water: From Field to Fork- Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain.” Accessed from:  http://www.celsias.com/article/new-report-says-50-food-grown-wasted/

Beachy, Ben. (2011). “The Coming Food Crisis: Trading Away Security.” Harvard Kennedy School Review. Accessed from:  http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k74756&pageid=icb.page414562

Walsh, Dylan. (2011). “A War Against Food Waste.” New York Times Blogs.  Accessed from: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/a-war-against-food-waste/

1 comentario / 10 Nov 2011 por Hokuma Karimova
IMSD /

Renewable Energies

9 comentarios / 08 Nov 2011 por Diana Patricia Sanchez Barajas
IMSD /

Renewable Energies [Group 6: Marie, Luca, Patricia]

Brazil:

Overview

The majority of energy generated and utilized in Brazil comes from renewable resources.

• Hydropower: ¾ of the country electricity comes from hydroelectricity, however rainfall shortages are pushing authorities to diversify away from water power and invest wind power and biomass.

Hydropower: Itaipu video

MegaStructures – Itaipu Dam [1/4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeXnMZDaH08

Current Energy Matrix Consumption

 

• Biomass: energy represents 27% of Brazil’s energetic source and generates 21.354 TWh. Common sources of biomass in Brazil are found out of agriculture residues from soya, corn, rice, sugar cane, wood.

http://www.aneel.gov.br/aplicacoes/capacidadebrasil/OperacaoCapacidadeBrasil.asp

 

• Biofuels: Brazil is the world’s second largest ethanol fuel producer. After the 70´s oil crisis, the Brazilian government initiated the Pró-Álcool (National Alcohol Program).The program successfully developed alternative sources of energy, mainly sugarcane ethanol, to gasoline. An evidence of this program success can be demonstrated by the presence of the large amount of vehicles that runs on ethanol and flexible-fuel vehicles in the country.

 

• Wind Power: in 2009 the installed capacity of wind power was 602 MW, generated by 36 windparks and windfarms, enough to power a city about 300 thousand residences. But Brazil has technical potential for wind energy due to the country’s 4,600-mile of coastline.

 

• Solar power: is currently the renewable energy resource with the lowest investment in the country, the total installed photovoltaic power capacity in Brazil is estimated to be between 12 and 15 MW.

Source:

Production of Wind Power in Brazil

http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Ciencia/0,,MUL1415078-5603,00-BRASIL+CONCLUI+PRIMEIRO+LEILAO+DE+ENERGIA+EOLICA.html

Brazil Ministry of Energy

http://www.mme.gov.br/mme/menu/todas_publicacoes.html

Brazil National Energy Plan

www.mme.gov.br/mme/menu/todas_publicacoes.html

 

Regulations Overview:

Brazil has general regulations and incentives for the inclusion of renewable energy as part of its national energy matrix base.

• The Brazilian Renewable Energy Incentive Program (PROINFA) within the Ministry of Mines and Energy, established the inclusion of solar and wind  power plants into the national energy grid with a long-term objective of obtaining at least 10 percent of electricity from these sources.(Law No. 10.438of 2002).

• Small hydropower plants with install capacity between 1 to 30 MW/h and micro hydropower plants with capacity equal or less than 1 MW/h are also eligible to receive incentives.

• The energy generator companies are obliged to apply annually at least 1% of its revenue into energy technology research and development. On the other hand Brazil´s government offers tariff discount on their use of transmission and distribution system.

• The government also offers contract simplification on energy connection; simplifies the measuring system for energy commercialization and establishes specific tariff rules.

Source: ANEEL – Brazil´s National Agency of Electric Energy

http://www.aneel.gov.br

 

Specific Regulation and Incentives by Renewable Energy Sector

Biomass

Federal laws regulating the bioenergy market

In the country there are number of important federal laws that frames bioenergy production and consumption, most notably Law No. 9.478 on the National Energy Policy, which sets out the increase of biofuel contribution to the national energy matrix based on economic, social and environmental considerations.

Attention is given to the seasonal nature of sugarcane production coupled with annual demand for bioenergy which requires as consequence planning and oversight at nationally the maintenance of stocks that stabilizes prices and avoids scarcities between harvests.

 

Source:

http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1285e/i1285e03.pdf

Wind Power

The Brazil´s National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL) has already approved 92 new wind power plants, with the capacity to generate 6.243 MW, in its vast majority located in the Northeastern region of Brazil.

 

But wind energy can only be well established in the Brazilian Market if is produced at competitive cost. For this reason in other to gain higher price competitiveness and to correct market imperfections the Brazilian authorities has started a series of auctions in this sector and has sent tender invitations at national and international level.

Nonetheless, Brazil needs to define a longer term program with projections of how much it can rely on wind power in the future and at what price. At moment wind power price and legislation are also undefined.

 

Brazil’s wind map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source:

http://www.aneel.gov.br/aplicacoes/atlas/pdf/06-Energia_Eolica(3).pdf

http://www.workoutenergy.com.br/abar/cbr/Trab1108.pdf

 

Solar Power

In Brazil Concentrate Solar Power (CSP) are found in the southern areas, whereas photovoltaic (PV) are found in the northern areas of the country, this is due Brazil´s climate conditions and availability of more water in the southern areas, in this region energy derived from CSP is designated for residential consumption.

At moment there are many projects on planning and operation stages towards the utilization of solar power in the country, particularly on expanding and investing in photovoltaic systems with the objective to serve isolated and poorer communities.

Besides technical, scientific and financial support received by many Brazilian organizations and institutions, solar power projects have also been receiving international from international entities such as: the German agency of Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and from the American National Renewable Energy Laboratory – (NREL/DOE)

 

But why solar power is the renewable energy receiving the lowest Investment in Brazil?

Although Brazil possess good irradiation conditions and opportunities to utilize Solar power alongside conventional energy sources it also has big barriers that pushes further investment and implementations of this renewable energy technology away. Some of these barriers are:

• Presence and competition of alternative renewable energies like hydropower, biomass and wind power in the country.
• High production costs.
• Lack of finance mechanism.
• Lack of national police that permits the development of solar power market.
• Lack of regulations that allows the inclusion and connection of solar power into electric power grids.
• Need to establish stronger national fiscal incentives for solar power.
• Need to promote the development of a national solar power industry including businesses inside its production chain.
• Need to promote a national technological and scientific program in this field.

http://www.aspe.es.gov.br/PALESTRAS/III%20Forum%20de%20Energia/Maur%C3%ADcio%20Moszkowicz.pdf

 

 

Germany:

In the first half year of 2011 renewable energies jumped for the first time above 20 percent of the total share of electricity in Germany. They provided 57.3 billion KWh (first half year 2010: 50.4) which covered 20.8 percent of the German electricity supply.

Interesting is the third place: due to new capacities and sunny early months of the year photovoltaic solar could almost double its share and provides 3.5 (2.0) percent. Thus it overtook hydro power for the first time which produced only 3.3 (3.6) percent due to weather conditions. The reasons for the boost in new photovoltaic installations are the relatively low prices for the equipment which have decreased by 50 percent since 2006 and the decision of the government against the planned cut in subsidies for private solar-power generation.

Biomassplants in Germany

The dots represent the locations of the biomass power plants in Germany. The size of the circle symbolizes the power of the power plants:
– small < 5 MWe (megawatt electric)
– medium = 5-19 MWe
– large = > 20 MWe
For circles without outline the performance is unknown.
http://www.stepmap.de/karte/a-biomassekraftwerke-in-deutschland-136281

 

The geothermal power generation in Germany is still in its infancy. There are efforts made to improve its competitiveness. Until now there are four plants which produce electricity out of geothermal power. Even though the regulations are strict and plants have to be licensed in any case by the authority many more projects are planned and it is expected to increase the share of geothermal generated electricity next year. However the direct use of geothermal is already relatively widespread. Currently there are about 334 000 heat pumps installed in Germany. There is expected to be an enormous increase of new heat pumps for the direct use of geothermal.

The potential for marine energy is relatively low in Germany. Main reason for this is the geographic framework. Nonetheless Germany contributes know-how to the development of the needed technologies.

Outlook

The main potential lies in photovoltaic and wind power. The people in Germany can install many more solar panels and the advanced technology increases the level of efficiency. The potential in wind power lies mainly in repowering the existing farms and in offshore wind farms. An increase in photovoltaic and wind power makes the supply of the energy unpredictable and it is necessary to invent possibilities to save the energy and supply it if the demand is higher than the actual supply.

 

Map of mean annual wind speed in Germany at a height of 80 m above ground.

Link for the windmap:
http://www.dwd.de/bvbw/generator/DWDWWW/Content/Oeffentlichkeit/KU/KU1/KU12/Klimagutachten/Windenergie/Download__Karte__D__80m,templateId=raw,property=publicationFile.pdf/Download_Karte_D_80m.pdf

Germany is planning to phase out nuclear power completely by 2022. Until then the goal is to provide 35 percent of production from renewable energies.

There are different scenarios if it is technologically possible for Germany to provide 100 % of the energy demand from renewable sources. Here are the arguments against it (German) (http://www.science-skeptical.de/blog/warum-regenerative-energien-in-deutschland-keine-zukunft-haben/002119/). The main problem lies in the possibility to save the produced energy an in the security of the supply.

The study which states that Germany can meet its demand with 100 % renewable energies (German) (http://www.umweltdaten.de/publikationen/fpdf-l/3997.pdf) calculates the potential and the demand in 2050 and predicts that this is possible. If Germany continues with building insulation, savings in electricity consumption and a decline in birthrate the target is achievable. In 2050 the government wants to provide at least 50 % of the primary energy consumption from renewable energies.

Resources (German):

20 % out of renewable energy (English): http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,783314,00.html

20 % out of renewable energy: http://www.bdew.de/internet.nsf/id/DE_20110829-PI-Erneuerbare-liefern-mehr-als-20-Prozent-des-Stroms

Geotheral, increase: http://www.erdwaerme-zeitung.de/meldungen/waermepumpen—absatzboom–888787866543.php

Geothermal, legal situation: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermie#.28Rechtliche.29_Situation_in_Deutschland

Marine energy: http://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/de/wasserkraft/detailansicht/article/160/potenziale-der-meeresenergie.html

Wind power: http://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/news/alternative-energien-so-viele-windraeder-stehen-in-deutschland-1749942.html

 

Italy:

Italy

• 3rd country in EU for Wind power capacity production (2010)
• 3rd in EU for Photovoltaic (2005)
• 4th for Solar (2009)
• 8th for Biofuels consumption
• In 2010 Italy saw a growth of 124% investment in clean energy, recording one of the highest increase among the G-20 countries, about 62% of investments in renewable energy was allocated to photovoltaic
• By December 2011, the solar should increase to nearly 9 TWh (from 0.7 in 2009), exceeding by far the wind which now produces 8.4 TWh, which is not expected to grow much, saw cutting incentives in place and announced the change of regime of public support expected in September 2011
• Budget Law 2007 introduced a quota of 250,000 tons of biodiesel with a reduced tax excise, in the measure of 20% of the corresponding excise for diesel fuel. The quota is split among accredited producers; the program is valid until the end of 2014 with quota and excise reduction redefined each year, to avoid overcompensation
• Installed PV in 2011 reached the capacity of 4000 MW and the present growth is expected to lead to some 6000 MW installed by end 2011. It is significant, that while the growth trend for geothermal and biomass is slowly decreasing, wind and especially solar are rising sharply after a period of low growth. Considering the installed power and the number of plants in the period, it appears that the growth rate is negligible for hydropower and geothermal. PV shows a different trend: the introduction of the feed-in tariff in 2005 led to the sharp increase in the number of plants and installed power, a trend that could continue if stable conditions are created in 2011
• Most important Renewable Energy Source (RES) in Italy is hydropower, contributing to 16.6% of total gross electricity production of the country
• Italy has also large geothermal resources, both high and low temperature: it is the most important producer of geothermal electricity in Europe. Despite strong growth in sectors such as onshore wind, biogas and biodiesel, Italy is far from the targets
• There is a large element of uncertainty due to political changes and ambiguities in current policy design
• There are administrative constraints such as complex authorization procedures at local level. Thirdly, there are financial barriers such as high grid connection costs

Policy

• At the end of 2007 the Italian government has introduced some new provisions for renewable power generators. Small generators (up to 1MW, with exception of wind plants, whose limit is 200kW) will have the choice between selling their green certificates on the market and receiving a feed-in tariff. The renewable energy obligation for Italian suppliers will increase annually by 0.75% to 2012 (instead of the former 0.35%), starting from the 2007 share of 3.05%. After 2012, a new annual increase percentage will be established by the Italian government

RES TARGETS Mandatory targets set by the Directive on the Promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources

• 17% share of RES on the final consumption of energy in 2020.

• At least 10% share of renewable energy in final consumption of energy in transport by 2020.

Progress towards the Targets

• The Share of RES-e in the total electricity consumption was of about 15,7% in 2007, 16.6.% in 2006, in 2005 13.93%, so smoothly Italy is moving towards it s 25% target by 2010 but still is far from reaching it. Italy aims for a RES-e share of 25% of gross electricity consumption by 2010. But then the Italian Government declared that a more probable target would be 22%.
• For biofuels, Italy’s Decree 128/2005 set a reference value of 1% by 2005, which is lower than the 2% reference value in the EU Directive.

Main supporting policies

In order to promote RES-E, Italy has adopted the following schemes:

• Priority access to the grid system is granted to electricity from RES and CHP plants.
• An obligation for electricity generators to feed a given proportion of RES-E into the

power system. In 2006, the target percentage was 3.05%. In case of non-compliance,

sanctions are foreseen, but enforcement in practice is considered difficult because of

ambiguities in the legislation.

• Tradable Green Certificates (which are tradable commodities proving that certain

electricity is generated using renewable energy sources) are used to fulfil the RES-E

obligation. The price of such a certificate stood at 109 EUR/MWh in 2005.

• A feed-in tariff for PV exists. This is a fixed tariff, guaranteed for 20 years and

adjusted annually for inflation.

National legislation is being developed, both for RES-H and for biofuels. Subsidies are

already in place for bioethanol production and tax exemptions for biodiesel production.

As yet, no national policy framework exists that supports RES-H. In the meantime, certain

regional and local governments have introduced some measures to promote RES. These

have taken the form of incentives for solar thermal heating and compulsory installation of

solar panels in new or renovated buildings.

 

Sources:

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy_policy/doc/factsheets/renewables/renewables_it_en.pdf

http://www.erec.org/fileadmin/erec_docs/Projcet_Documents/RES2020/ITALY_RES_Policy_Review_09_Final.pdf

http://www.planbleu.org/publications/atelier_energie/IT_National_Study_Final.pdf

http://www.terna.it/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=zuvz3fV0FiQ%3d&tabid=649, last accessed 01.11.2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Italy, last accessed 01.11.2011
http://www.reshaping-res-policy.eu/downloads/RE-SHAPING%20Renewable%20Energy%20Policy%20Country%20profiles%202009.pdf, last accessed 03.11.2011

 

Map of Italy’s biomass plants

The dots represent the locations of the biomass power plants in Italy: Black dots: operating plants, Red dots: plants under constructions, Yellow dots: plants in the process of approval.

http://truccobiomasse.altervista.org/impianti.html

 

Italy’s wind map

http://www.windatlas.dk/Europe/Index.htm

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