Innovate or Die: The Next Big Trend in Sustainability

Innovative approaches to sustainability are rapidly becoming the next frontier of corporate differentiation. Being more innovative is not only essential to improve the bottom line, it is also a pathway to growth.

The combination of rapid technological change and slow economic growth are driving innovation. At the macroeconomic level innovation is essential to profitability and economic growth, at the level of the individual organization, innovation is increasingly a key success factor.

Examples of Renewable Energy Innovations in 2013

Renewable energy is one of the fastest growing and most interesting areas of innovation. The number of patents issued for renewable-energy technologies has risen sharply over the last decade. The number and size of investments in research and development, as well as in the growth of markets for these products is driving innovation. Here are some examples of renewable energy innovation from 2013.

Pyroelectricity

A new type of electronic circuit was developed in 2013 that may help to improve the performance of solar panels. Typically cooler, slower, mellower electrons don't have enough energy to produce a usable electric current. Ultrasolar has developed an electronic circuit (ideally built into an inverter) that passes a very high frequency signal backwards through the DC wires into the solar module and cells. The slower electrons catch these waves and are turned into hot and fast electrons for long enough to escape the crystal matrix and generate a useful current. This could lead to inverter efficiencies of over 100 percent.

Event - INNOVA-CON 2014 Conference

INNOVA-CON 2014 will take place on January 14-15, 2014 in Brooklyn, New York. The first conference by the International Association of Innovation Professionals (IAOIP) featuring world-class innovation experts. The INNOVA-CON is a great opportunity to meet in person and connect with luminaries in the innovation profession. Content will focus on how to use strategies and methods of innovation to create value.

IAOIP is a professional membership organization that is the world's only independent innovation certification body, providing members with the knowledge, skills and opportunities to deliver real change in their industry or field.

Event - Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Celebration

This event will take place on Friday, November 15, 2013 at
IAC HQ, 555 West 18th Street, NYC. Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Celebration in New York City will honor C2C leaders and present the winners of the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Challenge, sponsored by the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Dutch Postcode Lottery, with a shared cash prize of $250,000.
Aveda, Method, PUMA, Shaw, Steelcase among Innovators to be Honored.

Across the globe more than 200 companies are transforming product design and leading a new, green industrial revolution. Come see their product innovations first hand.

Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2C) is celebrating manufacturers of everything from clothing and furniture to carpets and cleaning products who have committed to “remake the way they make things” - transforming product design and leading a new industrial revolution. Following the lead of the green building industry, manufacturers from fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle brands are striving to make every product that touches our lives adhere to the highest standards of environmental and human safety.

Innovation is Key for Sustainability: Best Companies are Getting Better According to Tomorrow’s Value Rating 2013

Sustainability strategy company Two Tomorrows', tenth Tomorrow’s Value Rating 2013 (TVR), shows that the best companies are getting better. The rankings recognize companies that increasingly demonstrate “clarity of vision and innovation in their pursuit of a sustainable business model,” that is likely to likely to drive sustainable value in the future. This rating assesses the performance of the 50 companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).

In order of their performance here are the top ten.

Event - Nexus Conference: Innovative and Sustainable Solutions

The Nexus Conference, will take place March 4-7, 2014, in Chapel Hill, NC, USA. This event will bring together leaders in business, government, NGOs and research to discuss innovative and sustainable solutions that address the intersection of the world’s water, food, and energy needs and uses in a changing climate. The Nexus approach requires systemic thinking and a quest for integrated solutions to guide our decision-making about resource use and development and move to a more sustainable planet.

Event - The 24th annual National Bioneers Conference

The 24th annual National Bioneers Conference, is an annual three-day event that will take place on October 18-20, 2013 at the Marin Center in San Rafael. Established in 1990, this event is the original whole-systems forum of innovation and collaboration for social, cultural and environmental resilience. Serving the sustainability, environmentalism and social justice communities, BioCon speakers and presenters have included Bill McKibben, Jane Goodall, Gloria Steinem, Philippe Cousteau, Michael Pollan, Vandana Shiva and Paul Hawken, among many other luminaries. The conference also prides itself on introducing audiences to some of the most innovative voices yet to be discovered.

Increasing Sustainable Innovation Demands Change

There are tremendous opportunities to develop new innovations that help to manage the environmental and social challenges we face. We need to learn from those who are using sustainability to drive new business value.  We also need to generate new ideas and build productive partnerships.

Although not everyone is currently on-board when it comes to sustainable innovation, it should be clear to thinking people that all of the brand leaders of the future will be sustainable. The combination of resource scarcity, increasing fuel costs, extreme weather related supply chain disruptions, and rising consumer awareness are among the many factors that make innovation in sustainability one of the most valuable endeavors of the modern age.

Event - Energy and Sustainability Conference

The 4th International Conference on Energy and Sustainability will take place on 19 - 21 June, 2013, in Bucharest, Romania. Energy and Sustainability 2013 is the fourth International Conference in this series, following the success of the first meeting held at the Wessex Institute of Technology in the New Forest, UK (2007); the second in Bologna, Italy (2009) and the third in Alicante, Spain (2011).

The world’s economic system is driven by energy. Few of the advances made in the past two centuries would have been possible without the large-scale exploitation of fossil fuels. Resources depletion and predictions of severe environmental effects deriving from continued use of fossil fuels are spurring renewed interest in sustainable energy. The effort that will be required to shift from a fossil fuel-based economy to one hinged on sustainability is massive, requiring advances in the basic sciences (materials, electrochemistry and heat transfer to name a few) through to systems engineering (buildings, electric grids, transportation) and all the way to international policymaking.

Event - 2013 Sustainable Chemistry Summit

The 2013 Sustainable Chemistry Summit, will take place on June 5-7, 2013 in Montreal, Quebec. This event is presented by GreenCentre Canada, it will map the journey of green chemistry technologies from lab to market.

Following the path of innovation, the Summit will start with sessions on the genesis of discoveries, unfold along each step of the journey toward commercialization, and culminate with a look at real-life examples of technologies that have made it.

The Sustainable Chemistry Summit will connect you, educate you and inspire you– leaving you with the tools you need to chart your own course from lab to market.

Green Chemistry Bridging the Divide by Seetha Kammula

Green chemistry is an increasingly important player in global efforts to find more sustainable ways to minimize our impacts on the Earth. Green chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with developing processes and products to reduce or eliminate hazardous substances. One of the goals of green chemistry is to prevent pollution at its source, as opposed to dealing with pollution after it has occurred.

Here is a short essay on green chemistry written by Seetha Kammula in 2011. She is one of the founding partners of Simply Sustain LLC, has over 25 years of experience first at Royal Dutch Shell, and later at Basell, a Shell BASF Joint Venture. At Basell she was Senior VP Strategic Marketing, Innovation & Asset Management and a member of the Board of Directors of Indelpro (Mexico). At Shell she was Strategy Director (Houston), Director of Technology (Belgium)- both for Epoxy Resins, and Research Scientist (Amsterdam). She received a BS degree from Osmania University, India, a PhD degree in Organic Chemistry from Auburn University, and did post-doctorate research at Princeton University.

Chemical Regulation that is Good for Business and the Environment

The ubiquity of chemicals and our growing environmental awareness are helping to usher a new era in chemistry. Chemicals are part of modern life, yet we are increasingly aware that even tiny quantities of toxins can have harmful health effects including asthma, neuro-developmental disorders, and certain cancers. Chemicals are also being connected with a variety of distinctively modern diseases and disorders including obesity, diabetes, autism, and ADD.

Building Sustainable Infrastructure: The New Tools (Webcast)

Infrastructure is back in the news, in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and other severe weather events. Combine that with aging roads, bridges, pipes and other things, and governments around the world are facing a major challenge. Of course, with challenges come opportunities — in this case to design and build infrastructure projects that are resilient, long-lasting, and affordable, especially during lean times. And to do that with sustainability principles in mind.

Education References in the Rio+20 The Future We Want Text

Education was a key issue at the Rio+20 conference last June. Education is referenced six different times in the Rio+20 draft text known as "The Future We Want." Here is a summary of those references:

11. We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening international cooperation to address the persistent challenges related to sustainable development for all, in particular in developing countries. In this regard, we reaffirm the need to achieve economic stability and sustained economic growth, promotion of social equity, and protection of the environment, while enhancing gender equality and women's empowerment, and equal opportunities for all, and the protection, survival and development of children to their full potential, including through education.

RIO + 20 Supported Education for Sustainable Development

Education was an important part of the Rio+20 conference in June 2012. Although many felt that the outcome did not go far enough, education was frequently mentioned as an important area of sustainable development. Despite tepid results, participants at the conference did manage to agree that education has a crucial role to play, in particular Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

The Rio+20 conference prompted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to say, “We resolve to promote education for sustainable development and to integrate sustainable development more actively into education beyond the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.”

UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development

UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) promotes the widespread access of all people everywhere to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future. ESD incorporates key sustainable development issues into teaching and learning; for example, climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption. It also requires participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behavior and take action for sustainable development. ESD consequently promotes competencies like critical thinking, imagining future scenarios and making decisions in a collaborative way.

The Fractal Frontier: Sustainable Development Trilogy from SLDI

The Fractal Frontier is a geometrical algorithm which balances and integrates the triple-bottom-line needs of people, planet and profit.  In this context a holistic fractal matrix becomes increasingly detailed, and guides effective decisions for sustainable results. It was originally developed to enable sustainable land development throughout the planning, financing, design, regulating, construction and maintenance processes while always enabling project context to drive specific decisions. These principles were developed by Sustainable Land Development international (SLDI). The SLDI Code for the sustainable development matrix are universal in their application and need not be confined to land development projects.

Biomimicry in Action: Janine Benyus on Design (Video)

Janine Benyus has a message for inventors: When solving a design problem, look to nature first. There you'll find inspired designs for making things waterproof, aerodynamic, solar-powered and more. Here she reveals dozens of new products that take their cue from nature with spectacular results. A self-proclaimed nature nerd, Janine Benyus' concept of biomimicry has galvanized scientists, architects, designers and engineers into exploring new ways in which nature's successes can inspire humanity.

The Governor of Virginia's Energy Strategy is Both Dirty and Green

Republican governor Bob McDonnell took office in 2010 thanks to support from the Tea Party. McDonnell has an ingenious strategy to maintain the support of his base and attract green jobs. He has called for building more coal plants, drilling for offshore oil, increasing nuclear power and exploiting natural gas reserves. He also wants to see more offshore wind turbines and larger numbers of electric cars.

Two Sides of Michigan's GOP Gov: One Green and One Not

Republican governors like Michigan's Rick Snyder try to walk the tightrope of acceptance and denial. Snyder both supports and resists green initiatives. Climate denial is a defining feature of the GOP and de rigueur for any Republican seeking the presidential nomination. Although he cannot afford to be identified with efforts to combat climate change, Snyder cannot afford to ignore the jobs and economic development that the green economy provides.

The media commonly lambastes Republicans for their climate change ignorance. The National Journal wrote, “The GOP is stampeding toward an absolutist rejection of climate science that appears unmatched among major political parties around the globe, even conservative ones”.

Even denialists like Fred Hiatt, the Washington Post‘s Editorial Page Editor are now publishing op-ed pieces accusing the GOP of being "lost in never-never land,” on climate change.

To appeal to his base and provide jobs, Snyder both rejects and embraces green initiatives. Although he has been known to describe himself as a "good green Republican," he came down against green tax subsidies.

Snyder continued some of the clean energy policies enacted under forward thinking governor Jennifer Granholm and he supports the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires utilities to source 10 percent of their power from cleaner sources by 2015. Snyder has also offered low-interest loans to green manufacturers. However, Snyder does not offer any new tax breaks for clean energy, and he has indicated that he will not extend Granholm's subsidies when they expire.

Snyder may not like it but as governor he knows he is expected to create jobs and Granholm's policies have lured companies with state tax breaks for green manufacturers and cleantech research grants. according to a 2011 study by the Environmental Law & Policy, Michigan now employs more than 10,000 people in the wind and solar industries.

To appeal to his base, Snyder changed the state tax code to ensure that all business sectors in Michigan are eligible for tax breaks, not just clean energy companies. This is a position that is more appealing to conservative Republicans who say governments shouldn't use taxpayer money to favor green energy.

Regardless of whether you are a feckless Republican or a savvy Democrat, it is hard to resist the jobs provided by the green economy.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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