Acceleration

Isn't it strange that we live in an era that has seen such a spectacular use of information and communication technology and yet it all sits on top of a comparatively archaic system of extracting and cracking hydrocarbon molecules? What do you think it is going to take to move away from the hydrocarbon economy?

Global hydrocarbon-released CO2 grew 3.1 percent per year between 2000 and 2006, more than twice the 1990's rate. I predict equal or greater growth for another 10-15 years. After that I imagine we will experience some unbelievable polar ice events. The industrialized world will have a collective "holly crap!" moment that will even produce a massive shift in U.S. and Canadian policy to drive solar, geothermal and other non-carbon-based power production and a renewed power distribution infrastructure. And then over an agonizingly slow period of 10-20 years, carbon consuming technologies (power plants and transportation systems) will be forced out of operation. I predict Canadian governments will fail to help companies develop core technologies and we will buy virtually everything from abroad and further hollow out the economy.

The Earth Policy Institute newsletters have periodic reports on this stuff worth reading. But it may scare the crap out of you. If it does, write a short letter (or an email if you are only somewhat alarmed) to every politician you can think of and tell them to show some leadership and backbone and to steer our society towards a consumption model that is sustainable for a century from now, not just another decade or two. If you have kids, do you think they will want to have kids?

Russia trip video

This is a ten minute video of our trip. The DVD version has some of the parts that were cut and I am working on finishing the 20-minute extended version which will also end up on the trip DVD. There is a two minute slideshow in an earlier posting.

14 grand challenges for engineering

A U.S. National Academy of Engineering committee today announced their list of 14 grand challenges for engineering this century. You can vote for which you think is the most important goal on the list. The Challenges:

• Make solar energy affordable • Provide energy from fusion • Develop carbon sequestration methods • Manage the nitrogen cycle • Provide access to clean water • Restore and improve urban infrastructure • Advance health informatics • Engineer better medicines • Reverse-engineer the brain • Prevent nuclear terror • Secure cyberspace • Enhance virtual reality • Advance personalized learning • Engineer the tools for scientific discovery

Rwanda: education, entertainment and entrepreneurship

At the AAAS conference Rwandan President Paul Kigami stated that Rwanda is working towards allocating 3% of GDP for science and technology, which is a rate equal to South Korea and greater than the U.S. Listen to Kigami and their science & technology minister talk about how they are upgrading their telecommunications infrastructure with goals of fiber to all local counties to facilitate everything from education to entertainment and entrepreneurship.

Paddle the Prairies

A month ago I heard about a few groups planning to commemorate the 200th anniversary of David Thompson's cross-Canada trade route later this year. It involves paddling from Rocky Mountain House in Alberta to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Along the way communities are planning to host the paddlers and hold celebration events.

I hope to paddle the entire 66 day route; others will participate for a few days or weeks. If you know someone who likes to paddle or really likes Canadian history, please let me know and maybe they will join the adventure.

Free Rice Update

Two months ago I mentioned the Free Rice folks. Vocabulary testers generated about 4.8 billion grains in November and 7 billion in December and have averaged over 147 million per day this month for a possible total of around 4.6 billion in January.

One source suggests there are 36,590 grains per kilogram, others put the number near 50k. Using the 50k number it would mean they are donating about 3 metric tonnes of rice per day this month. That is a good result.

The site was developed by the folks who made the www.poverty.com site. There is some interesting OECD data about international aid on that site. Canada is in the middle of the pack, but still far behind the UK or the leading country Sweden.

The site is funded by advertising and the food is delivered through the U.N.'s World Food Program. The list of advertisers is much longer than two months ago. Current well-known companies include Orbitz, Fujitsu, American Express, Office Depot and Lego.

Canadian copyright crud coming ?

Canadian MPs might soon attempt to mess with our current copyright act. Stealing music has fueled the fight. Some people think it is OK to copy a friend's CD or trade mp3s. I don't. If I think the music is worth listening to, and if I don't like the price, then I will listen to something else.

If you want to learn more about digital copyrights and freedom to information from a Canadian perspective I recommend the blog of Prof. Michael Geist. He is Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. In May 2006 TVO's Big Ideas published a very good talk he gave on the subject. Youtube also has a few of his talks.

Want to make change happen? Consider doing some letter writing - Geist has a list.

Organic Insulation

Ecovative Design was the most interesting presentation at the RPI-hosted Tech Valley Business Plan competition this past May. Many in the audience thought founders Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre should have won, but nonetheless they are gathering lots of interest from within RPI's Incubator Center and are another great innovation to come out Burt Swersey's Innovator's Studio class in the product, design, and innovation (PDI) curriculum at Rensselaer.

Their Greensulate product will compete against polystyrene sheets (the pink stuff you often see on the outside of new construction homes). It requires no light, heat, or petroleum products, but it does require a volume of space and time to grow. The R value of the insulation is 3 per inch - comparable to blown insulation or polystyrene, but unlike polystyrene, it doesn't burn and generate toxic gas, so it is a firewall too.

Check out Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyr giving a presentation.

Slideshow of trip to Russia

I am working on a video of our trip to Russia last June. So I decided to see how Blogger does with the conversion. The audio comes through well, but the frame size is reduced. But not bad really.

Hawai'i

We had a great time in Hawaii - a week on Maui and a week on the Big Island of Hawaii. On Maui we spent a few days in Hana, including some great snorkeling. The islands had been blasted with a major storm so the waterfalls were all flowing. The sunrise from the top of Haleakala was not spectacular on the day we were there, but other sunrises more than compensated. The hiking on Haleakala however was beautiful in a volcanic sort of way.

On Hawaii we went on a tour of the original 88 inch observatory on top of Mauna Kea; unfortunately we didn't get into the Keck observatories which are the twin ball shaped ones in this photo and are the world's largest optical observatories. We also had an amazing time swimming with dolphins along the coast north of Kona. If you go to Hawaii, it is an amazing experience.