Nonlinear Thinking

Doughnut Economics

Via Doughnut Economics Action Lab:

The Doughnut offers a vision of what it means for humanity to thrive in the 21st century - and Doughnut Economics explores the mindset and ways of thinking needed to get us there.

First published in 2012 in an Oxfam report by Kate Raworth, the concept rapidly gained traction internationally, from the UN General Assembly to the Occupy movement.

Kate's 2017 book, Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist,  further explored the economic thinking needed to bring humanity into the Doughnut, drawing together insights from diverse economic perspectives in a way that everyone can understand

The Doughnut's holistic scope and visual simplicity, coupled with its scientific grounding, has turned it into a convening space for big conversations about reimagining and remaking the future. It is now being discussed, debated and put into practice in education and in communities, in business and in government, in towns, cities and nations worldwide.

Think of it as a compass for human prosperity in the 21st century, with the aim of meeting the needs of all people within the means of the living planet.

The Doughnut consists of two concentric rings: a social foundation, to ensure that no one is left falling short on life’s essentials, and an ecological ceiling, to ensure that humanity does not collectively overshoot the planetary boundaries that protect Earth's life-supporting systems. Between these two sets of boundaries lies a doughnut-shaped space that is both ecologically safe and socially just: a space in which humanity can thrive.

 

Microgrids

Innovation in the generation, transmission and, most importantly, storage of electricity continues apace.  Going well beyond interest by sustainability-oriented consumers, microgrids are emerging as an efficient and effective distributed generation option.  This recent Time Magazine article outlines the potential this technology may hold.

Microgrids have become increasingly popular across the U.S. in recent years, embraced by everyone from community developers to military officials. They have been installed as part of a 40-solar-panel infrastructure project atop a peak in North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains; used as a way to deliver power to the 2,800 residents of Borrego Springs, Calif.; and implemented at the U.S. Army's Fort Carson in Colorado.

The reason is as simple as the bottom line: the technology offers a way for communities to collect, store and use their own energy, rather than pay for it to be shipped from miles away. In the U.S., microgrids often include batteries, a localized renewable energy source like solar panels, and sophisticated software to determine when to buy energy from utility companies and when to sell any excess power back.

The rise of microgrids comes as part of a broader shift in the ways Americans think about electricity storage and delivery. The grid, long associated with large infrastructure such as transmission lines, power plants and substations, also functions at the community and neighborhood levels. Indeed, microgrid capacity is expected to double by 2020, totaling 4.3 gigawatts in microgrid potential, according to GTM Research, an industry analyst.

 While this is sure to be of global interest, particularly in less developed countries where reliable power is always suspect, the U.S. appears to be on the forefront as an estimated $3.5 billion will be invested in micrograms between 2015 and 2020 with 54% of global microgrid capacity already located in the U.S.

 

The Life of Cheese

 

 

The Landscape for the Internet of Things

The growth in Internet of things will far exceed that of other connected devices. By 2020, the emergence of mass-market smart phones, phablets, and tablets, combined with a mature PC market, will result in an installed base of about 7.3 billion units, used by an expected human population of 7.7 billion.  In contrast, the Internet of things will expand at a much faster rate, resulting in an installed base of about 26 billion units at that time. Installed base is the key metric here because it drives the value of service revenue, and it aggregates communications bandwidth and data center activity.

Source: Gartner Inc.

2013 Enterprise Sustainability Trends

Presented without comment.  Infosys, the India-based global services company weighs in on 2013 enterprise sustainability trends.