Archive for Sustainability
Innovation stories to unfold at the Sustainable Innovation Summit
It’s called the Food & Beverage 2011: Sustainable Innovation Summit, and it’s happening in Chicago August 9
and 10. This invitation-only event will bring together the top 100 innovation leaders from a multi-national audience of Chief’s, VP’s, Directors, Heads, Senior Directors and Managers of Innovation, R&D, Product Development, Open Innovation, Customer Management, and Manufacturing. My company, Innovationege, is proud to team up once again with the outstanding leaders at the Management Roundtable for this exclusive event.
We’re going to talk about everything from our changing regulatory landscape to the search for new market channels. We’re going to hear from leaders about those amazing innovation journeys, like how H.J. Heinz developed an interesting approach to honing their capability to deliver growth by identifying, developing and acquiring a continuum of incremental and disruptive technologies! Or how the J.M. Smucker Company quadrupled in size via a strategy of growth through acquisitions, and the choices they needed to make as a result.
And we’re going to challenge current thinking and approaches, set the stage for new trends in sustainable innovation and create a senior level networking community for ongoing support and dialogue. There are 100 spots open, and if you’d like to be a part just let me know. You’ll find all of the information about our keynotes, candid case studies, facilitated Q&A, networking sessions and a post-conference workshops on our Sustainable Innovation Summit site, where you can register and check out the facilities at Chicago’s Allerton Hotel.
I’ll see you in Chicago!
Biomimicry looks to nature for innovation
Courtesy: Wikicommons
I’ve been spending a lot of time in San Diego lately, doing some teaching as well as learning! San Diego is known for many things: Beautiful weather, its biotechnology industry and of course the San Diego Zoo. As the keeper of the world’s largest collection of plants and animals, San Diego Zoo is working to develop collaborative efforts with national companies and organizations.
These days the city of San Diego is partnering with its zoo to see how they can stimulate an industry many Americans are just now hearing about: Biomimicry.
Biomimicry or biomimetics is the examination of nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements to emulate or take inspiration from in order to solve human problems. The term biomimicry is from the Greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. San Diego is trying to become a center for biomimicry by stimulating the industry and creating a hub for biomimicry research.
This makes an incredible amount of sense to those of us in the innovation industry. Innovative ideas have long been inspired by what we observe in nature, and I believe that what we can observe from animals in particular can give us insight into brand new inventions and technology.
The San Diego Zoo is bringing the 2011 Biomimicry Conference to its city in two weeks, and will offer the opportunity for attendees to consider how nature can play a huge part in innovation, and how biomimicry will transform many industries.
Interestingly, the two-day event is presented by mirasol®, a display innovation by Qualcomm. The local wireless giant recently commercialized a new type of display technology based the reflective properties of Morpho butterflies! The displays consume less battery power and makes it easy to see in daylight—just like the vibrant butterflies that inspired the innovation.
Check out the details of the conference here. I think biomimicry has the potential to be a key driver of innovation as well as an economic game-changer.
Giving green energy a twirl and a promise
Photo courtesy of Yanko Design
I’ve been following green concepts over the years, and I’m always excited to see trends in energy power that will eventually make it into our hands someday. Or in this case, onto our fingers!
This innovative idea is a concept from the minds of two designers, Song Teaho and Hyejin Lee. Their new finger battery could one day be good news for those of us who are continually in need of a smart phone battery boost: A prototype mobile phone with a battery you can charge with a simple twirl of your finger.
The kinetic energy generated by the twirling motion powers the charge and would allow users to energize their cells.
It does take some coordination thought. The designers say you need to twirl for 130 rotations around your finger to generate about two minutes of talk or 25 minutes of standby power.
Perhaps there will come a day when we don’t have to expend quite that amount of effort. But it does give me hope that great minds are continually thinking of ideas for clean and green energy!
New concept car takes green to a new level with zero emissions
Not too long ago I blogged about the YEZ electric car that is changing the way manufacturers think about energy efficiency and media connectivity. In a few weeks you’re going to hear a lot about Nissan’s zero-emission ESFLOW electric sports car, which will be featured at the International Motorshow in Geneva. Talk about green innovation!
This photo is one of many you’ll want to check out on the AllCarsElectric site. It’s a concept car that will hopefully be in production someday. It is aerodynamic, futuristic and downright cool in my opinion. Nissan says it gets 150 MPC (miles per charge),but no word yet on the price one of these might cost. The 2011 Geneva Motorshow opens March 11.
Here’s a video of the ESFLOW concept car:
Photo courtesy allcarselectric.
Tree Hugger uses crowdsourcing to green up crowded house
How does one “go green” with only 420 square feet of living space? The founder of Treehugger.com and VP of Interactive Media at Discovery’s Planet Green is getting media attention this week for engaging hundreds of thousands of people in a contest that resulted in some truly innovative architectural solutions.
Graham Hill launched the contest back in October and promised entrants that he not only would pay for the winning design, he’d live in it. The public was asked to design a fully functioning living space in a tiny New York apartment, complete with room for a sit-down dinner for a dozen people, space for two guests, a home office, a hideable kitchen and a bed, shower and bike storage.
Hill says he wanted consumers to think about how much we really need in terms of space and stuff. The contest was designed to inspire architects and others to think environmentally by reducing their eco-footprint. Hill received 304 submissions, 600,000 entry views and thousands of comments on his website.
The winner’s design is titled, One Size Fits All. Check it out, along with the photos from the runners up here.
A look at green consumerism in 2011
As Americans, we’re beginning to adopt green and sustainable fads like reusable shopping bags and refillable water bottles as everyday ordinary lifestyle habits, and that’s a trend that is expected to continue for years to come.
Today’ savvy “green” consumers are paying attention to the green marketing being pitched at them–everything from online data storage services, cookware and pet food are jumping on the eco-bandwagon. But consumers aren’t buying everything green they see. This year the Federal Trade Commission will revise its environmental marketing guidelines to combat something now called “Greenwashing,” or the misleading information and environmental benefits of products or practices many companies have advertised.
Consumers do look for these products as they become more and more caring of the environment, but they still want products that do the job. It isn’t good marketing to sell an environmentally-friendly dish detergent that leaves spots and streaks. According to trendwatching.com, this is the year that people are looking for “eco-superior” products.
Quality also needs to last. A cheap disposable product has a short life cycle, and may give off a chemical gas as it sits in the landfill. Many people are embracing antiques and locally-made items like clothing and furniture. These products may last longer, but often cost a little more.
Groasis is greening up dry climates one tree at a time
Photo courtesy www.groasis.com
Imagine being able to grow trees anywhere in the world–including the desert. The AquaPro company developed the Groasis waterboxx, and it has indeed turned out to be one of the most innovative system of 2010. The waterboxx allows trees to grow in dry lands by providing a reservoir for roots with a sustainable water system that can last decades. Popular Science Magazine just named the waterboxx No. 1 in its Best of What’s New in 2010, and it’s no wonder.
With just a one-time fill of four gallons of water, the system surrounds a newly-planted sapling and prevents against evaporation, pests and other elements that can kill saplings before they’ve had a chance to mature.
The system was tested in the Sahara Desert and costs only a dollar per tree, making it affordable enough for those in poor nations. Check out this video on the Groasis waterbozz:
A lesson in eco-friendly modular classrooms
The latest trends in the classroom are actually the classrooms themselves. Our student population is increasing, making it necessary to expand the learning spaces. Now administrators are looking at some eco-friendly options that cost just a fraction of the traditional brick and mortar add-ons.
Many of these new kit-style classrooms can save up to 30 percent in materials costs. One builder says its structures are about $40 to $50 per square feet as opposed to new construction at $250 to $300 per square foot. And they’re actually quicker and easier to construct. Modular classroom contractors say there is typically a two- to -four-month install time.
Many contractors turn the project into a lesson in green technology, as students learn why a greener school is better for their community and the environment. Some of these classrooms are said to generate enough solar energy to be 100 percent sustainable. Check out Project Frog classrooms in San Francisco and the Gen7 from American Modular Systems.
At the moment most of these schools are being built in southern climates like California and Florida. But some in the U.K. are able to withstand cooler temps. No doubt we’ll be seeing more of these eco-friendly moduals coming to school as the younger population increases.
(Photo courtesy of American Modular Systems)
Yez, please! First car with negative footprint is a dream for China
Imagine a car that has a negative carbon footprint. In China, a new concept car called the 2030 Yez is the first automobile that promises to remove more pollution from the air than it creates. It’s an electric car that also combines several other technologies.
The photo looks like something out of this world, doesn’t it? It’s not by coincidence that the shape of the car resembles a leaf. The word Yez is actually Mandarin for leaf.
The car is produced by a little-known company, SAIC, which stands for Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation. SAIC is GM’s partner in China. A few months ago SAIC showed off this innovative concept car which uses photovoltaic conversion, wind energy conversion and CO2 absorption to generate it’s power.
Even the wheels are energy efficient, acting like small wind turbines to capture and convert wind energy into electricity. I particularly like how its roof is filled with solar cells that can find the sun’s in the sky and then rotate to produce the maximum energy-absorption.
At the moment this is just an idea. The auto company says it is definitely something to shoot for in the future, but is for now far off from reality.
Amyris: A Partner in Open Innovation for Sustainable Consumer Products and Biofuels
In our ongoing work on analyzing the intellectual property landscape in biofuels, one interesting company we’ve encountered is Amyris, an integrated renewable products company. Amyris was founded in 2003 by Kinkead Reiling, Neil Renninger, and Jack D. Newman who met at Berkeley. The company is now located in Emeryville, California. With a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they first developed their technology under a non-profit initiative to provide a reliable and affordable source of artemisinin, an anti-malarial therapeutic. It was viewed as a long-shot, but they found success that led to growth into other areas. They are now developing new microbial strains that can produce other molecules from renewable feedstocks. This industrial synthetic biology platform is providing alternatives to a broad range of petroleum-sourced products. he extremely useful molecule farnesene is an important part of their business. It provides a compound that can be used to produce flavors, perfumes, detergents, cosmetics, biodiesel, and other products.
This week Amyris announced a record number of deals and partnerships for a single week (a record among bioenergy companies, according to Biofuels Digest). These partnerships include P&G, Total, Soliance, Cosan, M&G Finanziaria, and Shell:
Amyris has taken it up a notch with a series of stunners surrounding its synthetic farsenene, which it has named Biofene – the first product that Amyris is seeking to produce at commercial scale.
Beyond its success this week with Biofene announcements, which are the basis for the P&G, M&G and Soliance partnerships — there are the broader arrangements with Cosan to develop a platform in renewable chemicals, and the equity agreement with Total that will provide needed capital as well as a broader platform for Amyris’s expansion into hydrocarbon fuels.
The mysterious agreement with Shell, regarding diesel, is one to watch. The decidedly vague disclosure was buried in Amyris’ amended S-1A registration statement, but not otherwise mentioned in a flurry of press releases from the company as it promotes its expansion in this pre-IPO environment. Shell Western Trading & Supply is one of 17 Shell trading companies that buy and sell to customers within and outside of Shell.
This news shows an interesting example of companies forming partnerships with an innovative start-up with great technology and apparently highly valuable IP. According to my Patbase search, Amyris has 21 patent families, quite a large number for such a young company. They clearly have been active and aggressive in pursuing patent protection, and those patents are critical for the meaningful partnerships they are now forming. It’s a great unfolding story of open innovation and technology transfer.
The story extends beyond the US. They have operations in Brazil, for example, which is one of the world’s hotbeds for bioenergy, bioproducts, and collaborative innovation.