As we are the first batch of research assistants at the Masdar Institute and many global companies are involved in the Masdar Initiative project we are priviledged to hear a series of talks about energy and water conservation from Vice presidents and CEOs in our seminar room. It is really great, because we can interact with them and ask so many questions that would usually not be possible for instance at major climate conferences. Some of them are outstanding personalities with a big vision but the necessary amount of realism as well. They really inspired us to change the world because it is our generation that needs to solve the issue of climate change before it is too late.
1) As the founder and chairman of The Seawater Foundation, Dr. Hodges is convinced that by following nature’s example, it is possible to prevent climate change induced sea-level rises. With a background in atmospheric physics and mathematics, Dr. Hodges has developed an integrated agricultural and aquacultural farm in Africa – with a second one in Mexico – which uses seawater to green the desert. Rather than using seawater for desalination – which requires great energy consumption – Dr. Hodges proposes that seawater can be drawn inland to irrigate seawater-tolerant crops and plants, creating arable land, food and employment in areas once thought too dry to sustain life.
2) Mr. J. Van Der Hyden, Vice President Business Development EMEA of First Solar Inc., was delivering a presentation at Masdar Institute about First Solar, which is the dominant manufacturer of thin-film PV modules based on CdTe technology. It has shown unprecedented growth and expansion since its beginnings, and has recently achieved a manufacturing cost below 1$/W. Finally, it has supplied 5 MW for Masdar’s 10 MW grid-connected power plant.
3) Karl W. Feilder is the CEO of DHL Neutral Services, which is a carbon consultancy unit established to accelerate the reduction of customers’ carbon footprints. The unit supports GoGreen, the worldwide climate protection program of DHL’s parent company Deutsche Post DHL. The mission is to create and execute greenhouse gas reduction strategies by assessing, reducing, replacing, and in some cases neutralizing direct and indirect carbon emissions.
4) A presentation at MIST given by Daniel Goldsmith, a member of MIT research group, on Modeling Technology Policy: Applications and Extensions of System Dynamics. Increased knowledge intensity of economic activity worldwide in conjunction with the quest for sustainable development is placing a special responsibility on technology policy, broadly defined as well as for individual sectors of the economy. Modeling technology policy and strategy is becoming a critical capability in the domain of science and technology in order to represent the connections between determinants, decisions, and consequences. he therefore presents research concerning the design, development and operationalization of a system dynamics model examining alternative paths toward renewable energy technologies.
