Vision + Development | Performance Optimisation | Project Management | Content + Communications

Cleantech RealitiesChris Tobias

Lead Strategist, Forward

Asian Youth Energy Summit 2010

The only thing certain is change.

The future =

Population growth +

Resource depletion +

Security and conflict +

Climate change

Population growth:

7-9bn on a planet that should

safely support 2bn

Economic and lifestyle ambition

to live like the West– with a

footprint to match.

Resource depletion:

More people, competing for less

“stuff”.

Especially critical: energy and

water (note the relationship).

Other key resources (e.g. trace

minerals) also declining in supply.

Security and

conflict:

More security issues globally.

Countries increasingly scrambling

for resources (ie China, Korea, US)

Numerous flashpoints for conflict.

(Iraq, Sudan, Rwanda)

Climate change:

It will impact every aspect

of human life.

Temperature changes, erratic

weather, droughts, sea level rise…

They’re game changers at a

difficult point in human evolution.

Cleantech: the silver bullet?

... or did technology start the mess

we currently have?

If we do not mind history,

we are destined to repeat it.

So how are we defining

“cleantech”?

Cleantech is a term used to

describe products or services that

improve operational performance,

productivity, or efficiency while

reducing costs, inputs, energy

consumption, waste, or pollution.(wikipedia)

It’s about humans, not just technology.

Fixing human software

(behaviour, attitudes, beliefs)

is

more important

than making more hardware.

Technology, like money, is a

means to an end.

Solve first for human behaviour.

Design technology

holistically as part of

a system.

Design for numerous outcomes.

Design for local conditions.

There are no silver bullet

solutions to our problems.

There is no “one-size fits all.”

There are no global “killer apps.”

There are plenty of clichés and

bad ideas.

Want help?

Some global cleantech best practice examples

Chido Govero

Orphan in Zimbabwe

Pioneered growing

mushrooms on

agricultural waste to

feed her family

Turned into an export

industry

Inspired and trained

others in Africa, South

America, and India

Jack Sim

Successful Singaporean

business-man

Chose to tackle

sanitation issues in

developing countries

rather than “retire”

Founded World Toilet

Organisation (WTO)

and drew resources

worldwide for the cause

Singh Intrachooto

Thai architect,designer,

professor, owner of

Osisu

Designs furniture,

products, and buildings

using recycled

industrial and

agricultural waste

Highly successful and

internationally

renowned

Majora Carter

American economics

consultant, concerned

citizen and activist

Founded Sustainable

South Bronx and

pioneered numerous

green initiatives locally

Reactivated the

neighbourhood, created

jobs, cleaned up

environment

Dr. Willie Smits

Dutch conservationist and

entrepreneur living in

Borneo

Pioneered combined

sustainable forest farming,

rainforest creation project,

orangutan habitat, and eco-

tourism venture: Samboja

Lestari

Also founded Masarang

Foundation which among

other things helped pioneer

converting sugar palm to

ethanol

Tom Szaky

American “eco-capitalist”

Created the startup

Terracycle, a company that

makes consumer products

out of post-consumer

products

First started by bottling

worm fertiliser in reused

plastic drink bottles

Has expanded to numerous

other product lines; has

many emulators worldwide

What’s going on locally?

What can you as a young person do?

In other words…

Be a catalyst for change.

WANT A JOB?

Find new ways to meet these needs:

-How/what will people eat?

-How can more food be grown locally?

-What sort of building materials will be used in the future?

-What forms will buildings take?

-What sources of energy can be harvested and used?

-How can processes become more energy

efficient/effective?

-Where will we get water from and how will it be processed?

-How will people be employed? What jobs will matter?

-How will people get healthcare, and what sort of treatment

will it involve?

-How will mobility/transport need to adjust (both short and

long distance)?

-What currency will people use to exchange goods and

services with?

Focus on adaptation.

Alternative Possibilities: Singapore and Beyond

Be Ready

Case Study: Agriculture and Land Use–

how will people feed themselves with

increase in fuel/food prices?

-Singapore historically produced much of its

own food domestically.

-Now reliant on importing some 93% of its

food; food production per capita dropped

dramatically (graph: Earth Trends)

-Critics say that Singapore does not have

enough land area to devote to agriculture

-Yet…there are approximately 300 sites

currently listed as farms island-wide

Alternative Possibilities: Singapore and Beyond

Be Ready

-Singapore: 30 golf courses and country

clubs… not to mention parks, green

spaces, public gardens, and military camps

-The challenge: perhaps it’s not a matter of

land area, but land use

-Localised, low-carbon, intensive, urban

agriculture could be possible on this small

island

-Cuba rebounded from it’s own “peak oil”

scenario following the collapse of the

USSR, and now is largely food secure. In

2002 it produced 3.2m tonnes of produce

in urban agriculture (see image at right)

Alternative Possibilities: Singapore and Beyond

Be Ready

Case Study: Less Energy = Better Buildings

-Many Singapore buildings are inefficiently built and

operated “glass boxes”, or monolithic high rises

-According to energy efficiency expert Lee Eng Lock,

60% of energy usage in SG attributed to inefficient aircon

(bad op. practice, rather than lack of good technology)

-And where does the energy come from?

According to NTU in 2007, Singapore energy sources:

76% Natural Gas (most imported MY/IN)

22% Fuel Oil (imported from elsewhere)

3% Waste to Energy (refuse)

.3% Diesel

Alternative Possibilities: Singapore and Beyond

Be Ready

Case Study: Less Energy = Better Buildings

-One local exemplar of “green” architecture:

Poh Ern Shih Temple, Pasir Panjang

Key Features:

-Passive cooling design; minimal aircon usage;

emphasis on natural ventilation

-Shading overhangs/eaves

-Amorpheus Cell PV system in 2 large installations

(roof + pagoda)

-7 large solar hot water heaters

-4x micro wind turbines (yes, they work in SG!)

-Energy efficient lighting

-Energy self-sufficient

-Water harvesting on site for landscape

-Coming soon: micro-hydro

Alternative Possibilities: Singapore and Beyond

Be Ready

Case Study: Social Resiliency

Worldwide movement: Transition Towns

Key Features:

-Decentralised organisation focused on local

responses to peak oil and climate change

-Started in the UK by Rob Hopkins in early

2000’s; now active in 278+ locations in 16+

countries worldwide

-Small, self-organised communities take on

initiatives for local resiliency and self-sufficiency

-Emphasis on building local economies and

social capital

Experiment and take risks.

Follow your passion & your gut.

View problems as opportunities.

Market yourself and influence

people.

Learn everywhere.

You never change anything by

fighting the existing reality. To

change something, build a new

model that makes the old model

obsolete.

-- Buckminster Fuller

Tomorrow doesn’t have to be

another yesterday.

Thanks for your attention. We’ve been…

Chris Tobias, Lead Strategist

E: chris@forward.net.nz

M: +65 8406 2275 (SG) +64 21 0225 2650 (NZ)

Skype: Forward.net.nz

Twitter: FWDTHNKG

Linkedin: ChrisTobiasForward

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