Monthly Archive for August, 2010

Q&A: Bill Gates: The cofounder of Microsoft talks energy, philanthropy and management style

Published on August 24, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

gates_x220 From Jason Pontin in Technology Review:

TR: Explain the moral imperative behind “The Pledge” [in which Gates and Warren Buffett have asked America's 400 wealthiest individuals to pledge half their wealth to charity]. What will it achieve that conventional philanthropic giving cannot, besides raising a greater supply of money? Or is that the whole point?

Gates: Well, I think the idea is pretty simple, and I wouldn’t use the term “moral imperative.” It’s absolutely the case that the U.S. is the most generous country in terms of philanthropic giving. If you look at the large estates in the country, about 15 percent of the value goes to charitable causes, and there are more billionaires today, with more wealth on average, than ever before. And a lot of them may not know how much fun it is to get involved in giving, or know that it’s kind of like starting a new career. And so we decided to create this group who had in common a pledge to give–not to all take one approach or pool money, but merely to find people who had things in common. How long should a foundation last, how do you staff, how do you involve your family? Different things will fit for different people. We did these dinners with some wealthy people, some of whom have done a lot of philanthropy, some of whom have done less. Another key factor is that the earlier in life you think about this stuff, the more opportunity there is for you to take your talent and get involved, or have associates that you know are talented through their work with you get involved. You’re not going to do your best thinking about this if you wait until you’re 92 years old and probably quite influenced by a small group who may have different thoughts. Starting earlier, giving earlier–that works. Those are the themes, and as this year goes on, hopefully we’ll get more people to sign up, and we’ll share that at various milestones. But so far we’ve had lot of good acceptances.

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A New Way to Use the Sun’s Energy

Published on August 23, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

katie_x220 From Katherine Bourzac in Technology Review:

A new type of device that uses both heat and light from the sun should be more efficient than conventional solar cells, which convert only the light into electricity.

The device relies on a physical principle discovered and demonstrated by researchers at Stanford University. In their prototype, the energy in sunlight excites electrons in an electrode, and heat from the sun coaxes the excited electrons to jump across a vacuum into another electrode, generating an electrical current. The device could be designed to send waste heat to a steam engine and convert 50 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity–a huge improvement over conventional solar cells.

The most common silicon solar cells convert about 15 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity. More than half of the incoming solar energy is lost as heat. That’s because the active materials in solar cells can interact with only a particular band of the solar spectrum; photons below a certain energy level simply heat up the cell.

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The Colour of Money

Published on August 12, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

us-money-photo

From Hannah Fearn, Times Higher Education

Sustainability on campus is a vital issue, and in a climate of austerity it also makes financial sense. That fiscal impetus is good news, because as the Green League table shows, the sector still has much to do. Hannah Fearn reports

In an era of financial austerity, there is money on the line. As government funding for education shrinks, research and expertise in sustainability could provide a lifeline for proactive and ambitious institutions. Universities have a great chance to make efficiency savings and place themselves at the forefront of the debate on tackling climate change.

The climate for universities is harsh. Even before the general election and the new coalition government, the sector had been served notice that huge cuts were on the way. From this year, universities will have to move towards government targets on carbon reduction and energy efficiency or face financial penalties. Sustainability is becoming an urgent issue – and for reasons perhaps less noble and enlightened than saving the planet.

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Sustainability Journal – Become an Associate Editor

Published on August 4, 2010 in Journal. 0 Comments Tags: sticky-even.

As part of the process of publishing The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability all submissions are sent for peer refereeing, prior to publication. Assessment, comments and guidance by the referees are an essential part of the publication process and invaluable to the authors of the submitted papers.

In recognition of the important role of referees, the international advisory board acknowledges all referees who have refereed papers as an ‘Associate Editor’ in the volume of the journal they have contributed to.

If you would like to referee papers submitted to The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, please email journals@onsustainability.com, with your professional details, areas of expertise and contact details. If we feel you are qualified and we require refereeing for papers within your expertise, we will contact you.

Series: On Sustainability

Published on August 4, 2010 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments Tags: sticky-even.

We are accepting book proposals for the imprint On Sustainability.

Common Ground is setting new standards of rigorous academic knowledge creation and scholarly publication.

Unlike other publishers, we’re not interested in the size of potential markets or competition from other books. We’re only interested in the intellectual quality of the work.

If your book is a brilliant contribution to a specialist area of knowledge that only serves a small intellectual community, we still want to publish it. If it is expansive and has a broad appeal, we want to publish it too, but only if it is of the highest intellectual quality.