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October 09, 2007

Greenhouses That Change the World

Rick Nelson is the inventor of SolaRoof, a novel approach to greenhouse design and function that integrates a unique covering, heating / cooling system, and infrastructure / framework. It will revolutionize the greenhouse industry. More than that, once the materials are certified for use in human habitation, it will be disruptive to the housing and building industry as well. So what is SolaRoof, anyway, and why does it carry such potential to change the world? Let's find out.

Revolutionary Technology:
The greenhouse construction is unlike any other. Rather than a single layer of covering or glazing there are two. Each layer is a laminate of woven fiber mesh sandwiched in between two sheets of transparent plastic material. The laminated layers are sealed against the top and bottom of the roof and wall frames to create air-tight spaces. This combination by itself offers hardly any insulating value. However, fill the space with bubbles--yes, bubbles--and the equation becomes totally different!

The distance between the two layers varies depending on the desired amount of insulating value. Each inch is roughly equivalent to an R-factor of 1. A distance of a little over a yard yields an R-factor of nearly 40. That is almost unheard of in traditional construction techniques. And given the transparency of the two layers of covering, over 80% of the photosynthesis-catalyzing sunlight reaches the inside of the greenhouse.

In the SolaRoof webpage: Green Buildings for Urban Agriculture and Solar Living, two illustrations show how the process works from one extreme season to the next. Quite ingenius!
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posted by Steve Bosserman on Tuesday October 9 2007

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July 06, 2007

The Case for Localization

Over the past five months I have dedicated considerable attention to “localization.” According to Wikipedia, “Localization may describe production of goods nearer to end users to reduce environmental and other external costs of globalization.”

The Relocalization Network, which is affiliated with Julian Darley's Post Carbon Institute defines “relocalization” as “…a strategy to build societies based on the local production of food, energy and goods, and the local development of currency, governance and culture. The main goals of Relocalization are to increase community energy security, to strengthen local economies, and to dramatically improve environmental conditions and social equity.”

Another way to consider localization is to see it as the shrinkage of distance between the point of production and the point of utilization or consumption. It is the conversion of bits and bytes into material form as close as possible to where that form will be used. In contrast, globalization is the virtualization of experience, knowledge, and innovation so that intellectual property created can travel from anywhere to anywhere quickly, easily, at minimal cost.

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posted by Steve Bosserman on Friday July 6 2007

updated on Sunday July 8 2007

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February 12, 2007

Boids, Integrated Structures, and Renewable Energy

About 20 years ago, Craig Reynolds, developed an artificial life program entitled, Boids, that simulates the flocking patterns of birds. One of the compelling features of Boids is that despite random starting points and infinite range of action enjoyed by each boid, through adherence to three simple rules a consistent behavior pattern among the boids is quickly established and maintained.

Boids exemplifies a principle in complex adaptive systems termed “emergence.” Emergence is a key concept in organization design. It has particular relevance when the issues of control, dependence, and autonomy in centralized and decentralized structures are recast into integrated structures such as networks, communities, and teams.

My previous posting, “Lessons from the Grid,” focuses on distribution of responsibility and authority to generate electricity, by whatever type of renewable energy source, to individual homeowners and business owners. Net metering connections to the grid enable owners to sell excess electricity generated to the utility company and draw from the grid as necessary during times of insufficient electricity generated locally. This is a win-win solution: an expanding network of home and business owners, representing multiple families, neighborhoods, and communities, are actively involved; participants meet their individual and local needs, first, then, sell their surplus to meet regional and global demand; and, the localization of electric power generation through “green energy” is more efficient and consumes less “brown energy.”
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posted by Steve Bosserman on Monday February 12 2007

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February 03, 2007

Distribution Channels for Agriculture Equipment Systems in India

Overview
The long run of substantial growth in the Indian economy since liberalization in 1991 spread opportunities for business expansion and entrepreneurial start-ups in all commercial sectors, including agriculture. During the past decade and a half, noticeable gains in the purchasing power occurred for some Indian farmers. Their economic circumstances improved through the expansion and strengthening of infrastructure, rapid farm consolidation to take advantage of economies of scale, adoption of genetically modified cropping, and utilization of more productive agriculture equipment systems. However, there are 700 million farmers in India—the second largest block in the world behind China—and clearly, not all enjoyed the same level of benefit from the blistering economy as evidenced by the article, “India on Fire” in the current issue of The Economist.

Regardless of economic strata and chosen agricultural practices, all farmers are dependent on some type of agriculture equipment system to conduct their farming operations. The range of different equipment systems is quite broad, extending from low-investment handheld tools moved by draft animals to extensive, high-investment “packages” of machinery, computer systems, integrated software, and global communication networks. As with any complex marketing landscape, matching solutions with opportunities to make a difference for the customer and the company is essential.

The following graphic illustrates the interrelationships of the number of farmers, farm size, and market potential for sales of agriculture equipment systems.

The distribution clearly shows that 690 million farmers hold 80% of the arable land in India on farm sizes that are less than 2 hectares, approximately 5 acres, each. In fact, estimates suggest that 600 million farmers work on lot sizes that are each less than 1.5 hectares, or slightly less than 4 acres. This distribution is significant for several reasons, but one that features prominently when considering a marketing distribution channel strategy in India is population, both in terms of density and migration. As evident by the sheer number of people involved, unchecked farm consolidation, such as what occurred in North America and Europe since WWII, is not a viable course.

The infrastructures of urban areas in India would be quickly overwhelmed if even 25 – 30 % of the 700 million farmers scattered across India abandoned their rural homes in hopes of brighter futures in the cities. The challenge facing India, then, is to improve agriculture practices, increase output, and raise the quality of life for 700 million farmers so they choose to stay put. Not an easy mandate to meet.
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posted by Steve Bosserman on Saturday February 3 2007

updated on Thursday February 8 2007

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