April 12, 2011
Vol. 51
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The Blue Economy ? Report to the Club of Rome
100 innovations ? presented weekly over 2 years
Dear Reader,
The Blue Economy has had a very exciting week, so this newsletter will offer you a deeper insight into our last activities.
Case 50 of The Blue Economy
to celebrate the first half of all 100 business cases, we organised a press conference at the city of Zonhoven, Belgium, the home of innovator Melotte NV who has developed the system of “Manufacturing without Molds”. The Belgian TV broadcasting stations “kanal z” and “TV Limburg” were present and placed their reports in the Internet:
? kanal Z (Minute 8:44): News – kanal Z
? TVL – TV Limburg
Blue Economy at the Vision Summit 2011
Last week, Blue Economy presented its versatility in business models at the “Vision Summit 2011” in Potsdam (Germany). The stand and presentation of its innovative business concepts of “Chido´s Mushrooms” and “TOP FARMERS” were a major attraction within the marketplace.
Visitors showed enthusiasm about the simplicity of the Chido’s Mushrooms idea, using coffee grounds, which are normally considered useless and discarded by coffee shops as organic waste, for cultivating proteine rich edible mushrooms as a contribution for a healthier diet.
At the Vision Summit, Blue Economy focused on urban gardening and topped its presence by introducing “TOP FARMERS”. Inspired by the integration of natural cycles within food production, “TOP FARMERS” focuses on designing inner city agricultural spaces aiming to secure a local, healthy and urban nutrition. As an example, roofs are used for integrated cultivation of vegetables, fruits, and fish, being the left-overs of one production the nutrients for the other. If you wish to have more information about these two business models, please do not hesitate to contact us via [email protected].
As a keynote speaker of the Vision Summit, Prof. Dr. Gunter Pauli presented to an audience of 1000 his vision of “How to use the innovative patterns of nature for the most radical change towards a sustainable economy”, showcasing sustainable business cases and international projects, among them the national project of Bhutan. It was a special honor for Prof. Dr. Pauli as laudator, to present the “Vision Award 2011” in category “Sustainable Development” to Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (member of the Club of Rome) for his contributions to eco-efficiency (“Factor Five”).
In our effort to offer you a glimpse of the Vision Summit 2011, we have uploaded some impressions to our Facebook profile.
Biogas is future-oriented because it is neutral in CO2 Emisions and, unlike natural gas, a renewable energy source. It can be obtained from sludge at the municipal water treatment plants, but the quantity to be harvested within the plants is not enough for a profitable industrial production.
Erik Danielsson, founder of Scandinavian Biogas, came to the same conclusion. This is why he started to combine sludge from the water treatment plant with other waste from agriculture and the food industry which otherwise are disposed of separately causing high expenses. He obtained a perfect mix for the production of high quality biogas.
His first plant in Ulsan, South Korea, is a converted common water treatment plant of smaller size. Before, this plant depended on tax revenues for operation. Now it generates its own revenue with several cash flows: gate fees for food waste, sales revenue from refined biogas for vehicles and also for liquid CO2, and from selling heat. This is an example for intelligent clustering of industries, a characteristic for the Blue Economy.
Interested?
Detailed information on the business model and its potential is available at www.community.blueeconomy.de – or as pdf, if you do not wish to register there.
We wish you many inspirations and look forward to jointly changing the way we do business!
Gunter Pauli and the Team of The Blue Economy
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The Blue Economy is an initiative of ZERI Foundation (www.zeri.org) and the author Gunter Pauli.
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