Visioning 2026 Blog
Creating the Foundation for the Creative Molecular Economy
Technology, Disabled, Social Networking--Making Connections to Learn about and Solve Problems
He estimated that “an active online community may well take six or more months to organize, as there is inertia and shyness to overcome.” There will also be costs to create such an online community, he said, “for Web hosting, associated technology costs and set-up labor.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/business/smallbusiness/18edge.html
Weak Signal/Emerging Trend--Amateurs Trying Genetic Engineering at Home
I would submit that we have an emerging trend in home based bio/genetic engineering.
"People can really work on projects for the good of humanity while
learning about something they want to learn about in the process,"
stated 31-year-old computer programmer Meredith L. Patterson.
Future Trend In the Making--information technologies started in the
garage, how about the dining room table for genetic engineering.
Why are we starting to see this trend you might ask? I believe
there are a couple reasons leading to genetic engineering in a
non-traditional laboratory, more educated individuals, access to
information and experts through the internet from around the world, access to much less expensive
laboratory equipment, and access to supplies for the experiments.
People with a passion to solve problems in our everyday lives will
have another great adventure. Just as our grand parents started cross
breading cattle and hogs to achieve better traits and improve their
performance, now armed with information and tools we can transform our
local economies and livelihoods once again.
What short term and long term tools, resources and skills as a
community should we be helping these problems solvers of the future
become successful and experience a rewarding passion to help
themselves, the community, and world?
What other examples do you have that reflect this weak signal?
The Hottest 50 Companies in Bioenergy--Part of Our Future in Northeast Nebraska?
PRNewswire, reported Deceember 22, 2008, Biofuels Digest, the online daily bioenergy news service that US companies dominate; genomics, cellulosic ethanol and algae-based technologies prominent among honorees.
"Innovation in renewable energy is gaining speed," said
The algae farming and energy producing technologies appear to have a longer term impact on our country as these facilities could be collocated with existing distillations and distribution networks as well as large CO2 emitters (e.g., coal fired electric generators) since algae needs CO2 for growth. A plentiful water supply will also be necessary.
Cellulosic produced ethanol also looks promising as there are several competing processes to produce the lowest cost result.
The Hottest 50 Companies in Bioenergy with website references, trading symbols, a few notes.
1. Coskata http://www.coskata.com/
2. Sapphire Energy http://www.sapphireenergy.com/
3. Virent Energy Systems http://www.virent.com/
4. POET http://www.poetenergy.com/
5. Range Fuels http://www.rangefuels.com/
6. Solazyme http://www.solazyme.com/
7. Amyris Biotechnologies http://www.amyrisbiotech.com/
8. Mascoma http://www.mascoma.com/
9. DuPont Danisco http://www.ddce.com/
10. UOP http://www.uop.com/
11. ZeaChem http://www.zeachem.com/
12. Aquaflow Bionomic http://www.aquaflowgroup.com/
13. Bluefire Ethanol http://bluefireethanol.com/OTCBB BFRE
14. Novozymes http://www.novozymes.com/en NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen NZYM B
15. Qteros http://www.qteros.com/
16. Petrobras http://www2.petrobras.com.br/ingles/index.aspNYSE ADR ON
17. Cobalt Biofuels http://www.cobaltbiofuels.com/
18. Iogen http://www.iogen.ca/
19. Synthetic Genomics http://www.syntheticgenomics.com/
20. Abengoa Energy http://www.abengoabioenergy.com/sites/bioenergy/en/
21. KL Energy http://www.klenergy.com/
22. INEOS http://www.ineos.com/index.php
23. GreenFuel http://www.greenfuelonline.com/ recycles carbon dioxide from flue gases to produce biofuels and feed
24. Vital Renewable Energy http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS230267+10-Nov-2008+PRN20081110
25. LS9 http://www.ls9.com/
26. Raven Biofuels http://www.ravenbiofuels.com/NASD OTC BB RVBF
27. Gevo http://www.gevo.com/
28. St.1 Biofuels Oy http://www.st1.eu/index.php?id=2386
29. Primafuel http://www.primafuel.com/
30. Taurus Energy http://www.epuron.com.au/desktopdefault.aspx
31. Ceres http://www.ceres.net/
32. Syngenta http://www.syngenta.com/en/index.html NYSE SYT
33. Aurora Biofuels http://www.aurorabiofuels.com/ Algae Feed Stock based
34. Bionavitas http://www.bionavitas.com/
35. Algenol http://www.algenolbiofuels.com/ Algae Farms
36. Verenium http://www.diversa.com/ Cellulosic Nasdaq VRNM
37. Simply Green http://www.seacoastbiofuels.com/
38. Carbon Green http://www.carbongreenllc.com/ carbon credit program
39. SEKAB http://www.sekab.com/default.asp?id=1484 Swedish
40. Osage Bioenergy http://www.osagebioenergy.com/ barley based ethanol
41. Dynamotive http://www.dynamotive.com/ OTCBB DYMTF
42. Sustainable Power http://www.sstp.us/ QuoteMedia SSTP
43. ETH Bioenergia http://www.eth.com/website/default.asp Brazil
44. Choren http://www.choren.com/en/ gasification from biomass
45. Origin Oil http://www.originoil.com/NASD OTCBB OOIL.OB Good description of algae process
46. Propel Fuels http://www.propelfuels.com/content/
47. GEM Biofuels http://www.gembiofuels.com/
48. Lake Erie Biofuels http://www.lakeeriebiofuels.com/
49. Cavitation Technologies http://www.cavitationtechnologies.com/ NASD OTCBB CVAT.OB
50. Lotus/Jaguar – Omnivore http://www.grouplotus.com/mediacentre_pressreleases/view/407
Green Technology In Our Future at a Local Level?
If green technology is in our countries future where do we want to be in this new economy on a local level? I would submit that investments by venture capitalist help consider these future trends and the impact on our local community.
Which of those industries listed under the Green Tech topics (right side half way down web page) can we find ourselves involved in or helping existing local companies already involved in?
In venture-capital circles, clean tech has been on a tear, bringing in billions of dollars and attracting thousands of entrepreneurs. But now, some people are starting to add a voice of caution to the stream of upbeat financial news.
The U.S. National Venture Capital Association on Wednesday released results from a survey (click for PDF) of venture capitalists which, on the whole, reflected a dour mood over the economy and finance.
A tally of venture-capital investment in clean-tech companies in the U.S., Europe, and China hit a record $4.6 billion in the first three quarters of 2008, according to an Ernst & Young analysis based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource. That's an increase of 82 percent, compared to the same period last year, and represents 13 percent of all venture capital.
Northeast Nebraska Impacted by Water Use Ruling
Omaha World-Herarld reported that Brian Dunnigan, director of the State Natural Resources Department, issued a designation temporarily banning new groundwater irrigation wells, halts new permits for diversion of river water for irrigation and stops farmers from expanding the number of irrigated acres in their operations.
This impacts the watersheds of the Upper and Lower Elkhorn, Lower Platte South, Lower Platte North, Upper and Lower Loup, and the Papio-Missouri Rivers.
Public hearings on the designation will be held across the basins during the next three months with respective Natural Resource Districts responsible for developing and implementing water use plans.
Just establishing a temporary ban will have economic development impact for farmers, industries, and communities. Not knowing whether you can develop land for irrigated crops will have an adverse impact on farm sale prices. Communities wishing to expand their industrial base to included expanding existing operations (e.g., ethanol production) may be affected in the near term as well as the long term.
This is changing the economic engine of Northeast Nebraska, especially in the production agricultural area. This will directly impact well drillers, irrigation manufacturers, irrigation service centers, and indirectly farm machinery distributors, seed and fertilizer suppliers, banking operations, county governments, rural electric districts, etc.
We now need to transform our thinking on how best to use the existing water resources, e.g., encourage tourism that has water features, creative molecular economy, etc.
Emerging Technology Conference 2009 -- What Are Experts Covering
Interesting announcement on the O'Reilly ETech Conference, March 12-19, 2009, San Jose, CA. Do we know of anyone in our area and social/professional network that may be attending?
Focus of ETech 2009 is on Living Reinvented: The Technology of Abundance and Constraints. We'll look at the trends, tools, and technologies that operate at the intersection of abundance and scarcity, and discover how these worlds cross-pollinate and influence each other.
Sampling of the speakers is even more impressive with the associate topics they'll be covering. It will be interesting to learn the results from the SuperStruct multiplayer forecasting game.
Mary Lou Jepsen (Pixel Qi) sets the stage with her game-changing vision for green, affordable computing
Jane McGonigal (Avant Game) presents the results of SUPERSTRUCT, the world's first massively multiplayer forecasting game dedicated to collaborative solutions to global problems
Drew Endy (BioBricks Foundation) discusses the synthetic biology revolution at his session "Building a New Biology"
Aaron Koblin (Google) shows off some of the amazing things he's been building through data visualization and discusses the future of turning data into visual expression
Lisa Katayama (TokyoMango) demystifies "weird" Japanese toys and tools and the convergence between Japanese culture and technology
Eric Paulos (Carnegie Mellon University) explores mobile as the new gateway for collaborative science and research
Andrew Dent (Material ConneXion, Inc.) explores global, cross-pollinated solutions to new materials development that address the sustainability needs of both the developed and developing worlds
Tony Jebara (Sense Networks) looks at the real-world implications of indexing the world through location data
Greg Elin (Sunlight Foundation) examines how hackers are creating more transparency between government and the public
2008 Ideas and Possibilities for the Future--Will We Choose?
Several items posted on the New York Times website, Year in Ideas 2008, have some weak signals and possibilities for mega-trends in the future. Some of these concepts were discussed during the Visioning 2026 process in the different dialogue and focus groups and the educational sessions.
Here area couple that really stood out for me. what are your comments related to these topics?
- More fuel efficient engine for transportation, The Brinkley Engine
- Distant learning, 3D Simulation environmental stress effects related to Drone-Pilot Burnout
- Purchasing and investing local, The Locavesters
- Livestock production, MiniCattle
- Providing computer and communications technology while in transit, The One-Room School Bus
- Smart Grid Energy, similar in some respects to the NPPD electrical monitoring equipment and processes in parts of the state (Two-Way Automated Communications System (TWACS))
- Two-Tirer Teacher Contracts, providing rewards along with risks
Which of these do you think will have an impact in our community and region? Which of these should we look into with regard to further investigation and implementation steps, further connections and parallel process?
A Nuclear Reactor in your Community
From a NASA e-letter on Dec 1, 2008:
A company in New Mexico has started producing hot-tub-sized nuclear generators they hope will soon provide communities throughout America with affordable energy. Powered by low-enriched uranium fuel, each Hyperion Power Module will reportedly produce enough clean, safe, and environmentally friendly energy to reliably power 20,000 standard American homes for 10 cents per watt. The units will be factory sealed, buried underground, and guarded for maximum security. Each module will produce a softball-sized amount of recyclable waste every five years, no greenhouse gases whatsoever, and there is no risk of meltdown because the fuel cools instantly if a module is opened. 75% of NASA e-letter readers polled said they wouldn't mind having a small nuclear reactor in their community to power their homes with nuclear energy.
Very interesting break through. I read a similar article. Here are a couple website references.
http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf33.html
This will further reinforce the need for distributed and local transmission systems geared closer to customer consumption. I make this connection with the value of network theory described in the book "Linked, How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What it Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life," by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. This book is also supporting what we are experiencing with social networking websites.
I suspect this will put some pressure on the coal powered electric generations systems that support the rail transportation systems and associated mining companies and states. Instead of building coal powered generators to pickup the growing peak loads this new technology should direct a more decentralized funding and development effort. It will be interesting to see if NPPD jumps on the bandwagon since they are currently promoting coal gasification projects since we are close to the coal fields in Wyoming. Given the pricing for one of these units it is well within a community's thresholds for issuing bonds to pay for a community system. Now tie in solar and wind power at the local level, even at the home site, and we have lower costs for supporting electric vehicles and producing hydrogen for future transportation systems.
Could we see Nucor Steel investing and installing several of these units to reduce their energy costs? This could give them a better control on costs and make them more competitive in the world market. Or does it make more since for Nucor to build a steel facility closer to their source of material and customers and include their own power generation source? How could this affect Nucor operations in Norfolk?
Wow.... the world around us is changing even faster than ever.
Mark