Friday, October 16, 2009

Have Your Voice Heard with Time Magazine's "Most Influential," Amory Lovins

Nuclear energy? Oil levels? Climate and energy resources? Do you have questions on these or other energy issues? Now is the time to ask! The answers will come from Amory Lovins, named in 2009 as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people. Founder of the prominent think tank, the Rocky Mountain Institute, Amory is widely-heralded to have had the answer to energy problem since 1976. The Heinz Journal has a unique opportunity to interview Amory Lovins, and we want you to be a part of the discussion!

A Heinz Journal representative will pose your questions to Amory in an interview before Lovins presents his talk, "Profitable Solutions to Climate, Oil, and Proliferation" in Washington, D.C. on October 27th. Lovins' talk is part of a Heinz Talks! event that will be moderated by Andre Heinz.

Send your questions to Nisha Abraham (nabraham@andrew.cmu.edu) by 6pm on Wednesday, October 21st for consideration to be included as a part of this exclusive interview.


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Designing Sustainable Products

From Carnegie Mellon University's Website:

Cliff Davidson is educating engineers and managers around the globe about the importance of engineering and sustainability. A professor of civil and environmental engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, Davidson most recently led a workshop in Bangalore, India.

"Animals, plants and entire habitats, as well as our current lifestyles, are at risk from continued unsustainable development," said Davidson, the winner of Carnegie Mellon's prestigious 2009 William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching. "It is up to us to help educate future engineers about preserving limited resources through sustainable methods."

A leader in developing sustainable engineering programs across the United States, Davidson has been spearheading workshops around the globe for professors without experience in sustainability to apply the concepts they learn to their engineering efforts and coursework.

Read more at CMU.edu >>

Friday, September 11, 2009

Citizen Scientists: Technology for Green Solutions

From Carnegie Mellon University's website: 

What do you see when you look at a mobile phone? A tool to call or text a friend? Get email? Surf the web? Eric Paulos, assistant professor in Carnegie Mellon's Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), sees a whole new way to expand the reach of science.

Paulos, director of Carnegie Mellon's new Living Environments Lab, is working to equip everyday cell phones with sensors capable of detecting a variety of environmental measurements, like carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter, or pollen counts. The data would then be uploaded and aggregated for sharing. Paulos envisions a new generation of 'citizen scientists,' connected both to the environment and each other.

Read more at CMU.edu >>

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Introduction

Hello,

Welcome to the Heinz Talks! Blog. My name is Zhimin Mao, and I recently graduated from the Heinz College's Washington DC program. I am currently working as a policy analyst focusing on China's energy and climate policy and a lot of my work was focused on China's low carbon development pathways and related environmental assessment strategies.

The upcoming talk on October 27th would highlight an important factor that was not often discussed but critical. The current urge for action on climate change issues largely came from the scientific world yet the diffusion of new products and technologies would eventually be driven by the private sector. Such products and technologies should make business sense in order to provide the motivations needed to achieve a quick deployment. A list of “profitable solution” may also encourage countries without emission caps to voluntarily adopt low emissions products or technologies. In fact, the vast development of China's CDM market and its solar industry is resulted from potential financial incentives.

I am very excited to attend the upcoming discussion and look forward to meeting people who are also interested in this topic.

Have a nice day!

Zhimin Mao

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Introduction

Hello,

I would like to welcome everyone to the Heinz Talks! Blog. My name is Michael Spotts, and I am a student in the Heinz College's Washington DC program. I currently work in the affordable housing field, where I focus on sustainable, holistic development that addresses environmental, economic, and social equity considerations.

The upcoming event on October 27 is coming at a crucial time in the energy policy debate. This past year, the US House of Representatives passed HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which represents a major step forward in US energy and environmental policy. The Senate is likely to take up the debate in the fall. Advocates on all sides of this debate have been energized, and are looking to the Senate debate to strengthen the House version of the bill, kill it completely, and everything in between.

Suggested Reading: Winning the Oil Endgame

"Winning the Oil Endgame - Innovation for Profits, Jobs, and Security" - published by the Rocky Mountain Institute in 2004.

www.oilendgame.com

The website notes, "Winning the Oil Endgame offers a strategy for ending US oil dependence, and is applicable worldwide. There are many analyses of the oil problem. This synthesis is the first roadmap of the oil solution—one led by business for profit."

Visitors may download a free pdf file of the text on the site. The inside cover includes some interesting quotes on the transition beyond oil, from leaders of the world's largest oil and automoble companies.

Energy Efficiency is Good Business

Last year, Amory Lovins was chosen as one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report. This USNWR profile highlights Lovins' focus on energy conservation, and not simply the identification of new energy supplies. This approach has earned him some seemingly unlikely allies in the business and industrial sectors, because energy cost savings aligns with their profit motivation. This alignment with financial incentives is important for the broad adoption of new energy policies.

Read more from US News & World Report's profile ->