Alcoa fights N. Carolina for water rights

For those of you who read Robert Glennon's book on America's water crisis, you may recall his discussion about the water wars between states--states fighting each other over limited water supplies. Here is an example where a corporation is fighting a state--North Carolina--over a water license... Expect to see more of this kind of thing.

SW Day of Reckoning Drawing Near

Lake Mead is only 15 inches above its all-time low...

Limits to Alternative Energy Development?

50% of all the water we use in this country, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, goes to energy production. So whenever we develop more energy, we use more water--a lot more water. But I had no idea that "alternative energy" sources, such as solar power, were so water intensive. But at least according to this story, solar energy plants use 2-3 times as much water as traditional coal-fired plants! So our growing energy demands are leading inevitably to a growing water crisis. This crisis will manifest itself dramatically in the coming decades, regardless of whether global warming turns out to be the threat that Al Gore et. al. claim or not. So why isn't it being taken more seriously?

Uh-oh. Looks to me like Lake Mead has lost 50% of its water in the past 10 years. Not a good sign.

Pepsico on the Water Problem

Here is the report that Pepsico produced on how they plan to deal with the world water crisis. What do you think: are they just greenwashing, or is this serious commitment to corporate social responsibility?

Greenwashing the Bottled Water Industry

This really is a lame attempt by the International Bottled Water Association to boost their public image. This is probably a good example of how *not* to use the new social media... Don't miss the video.

Business Opportunity: Water for the Military

"Accessing, securing and transporting the water required to sustain the well-being of forward operating troops is one of the major risks to the U.S. military's mission success. In response to this challenge, GTEC has integrated and deployed multiple solutions to conserve, purify and package water to reduce transport exposure, risk and cost." The company that provides this service is Global Defense Technology and Systems, and is listed as GTEC on NASDAQ.

The EPA Wants More Info. on Fracking

Inquiring minds want to know...just what chemicals are used in fracking, anyhow?

Riverkeepers Fight Water Abuse

Here's an interesting project to try to keep our water clean...

FRACKING

If you don't know about fracking, you need to learn about it asap. In this article, John Hanger, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, is quoted as saying that “Fracking wastewater is one of the most toxic substances on earth.” And we're not talking about millions, or even billions, of gallons of water that fracking takes--we're talking trillions of gallons of water. Fracking is a nightmare. Fracking is what gas drilling companies apparently want to do to your water. What do you think about it?

It's World Water Week!

Who knew there was such a thing?

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“Bad water kills more people than HIV, malaria and wars together, affecting the lives of families and the economic development of many countries around the world. We are also increasingly seeing that ecosystems and their services are being degraded by pollution, which will affect all functions of society,” said Mr. Anders Berntell, Executive Director of Stockholm International Water Institute, in his welcome address at the opening session.
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More here...

Who Says You Can't Ship Water from Alaska to India?

Check it out!

IVCRL

A water infrastructure company in India...

The Messy Business of Legislating Water Rights

Here's how it is playing out in New England right now...

"Water Could Be Issue With New Coal Plant"

Ya think? "Sunflower Electric Power Corp., based in Hays, estimates its new plant in Finney County in southwest Kansas will consume 3.9 billion gallons of water a year."

Forget the Financial Crisis; We Have a Global Water Crisis

Here are some investment opportunities (which I in no way endorse, by the way!) that focus on the water crisis.

Improving Water and Food Security

is crucial due to increasingly erratic rainfall patterns, they say...

More on Gas & Water Contamination

This time, in Texas... (Get a hold of the report they reference in this article, if possible, if you are interested in exploring this topic more...)

Here is a city government bureaucrat who is very pleased by the great labor and expense that the City of New York goes to to ensure that the city drinking water is safe. Every single day, workers drive out to water sampling stations across the city, and do 900 water sample tests. That's all very fine and good; but mightn't there be some business or technology that could do the 900 water sample tests every day (and maybe even many more) much more quickly, efficiently, and (more importantly) cheaply? See if you can propose a better solution than sending government officials driving through NY traffic every day to collect water samples...

But here is some water activism that worked, in the Florida Everglades...

Hmmm. Here is something I expect we'll be seeing more of--water activists. These folks are trying to prevent UC Santa Cruz from expanding their campus by using water as a political weapon. Doesn't look like it will work, though...yet.

Destroying our Water with Natural Gas

In our rush to harvest the natural gas-rich fields of this country to get "clean energy," we are devastating our water supply. There may not be a more effective way to ruin and destroy our water supply than the practice of "fracking," which you will be hearing more and more about soon...

Virtualizing/Cloud Computing and Water Management

VM Ware and IBM combine to help Tampa Bay Water, serving nearly 2.5 million people, to significantly improve its efficiency...

Privatizing Water

A WSJ article last month on the topic. Apparently it is a growing trend. (I don't know if you need a subscription to view the article.)

Cotton + Nanotechnology = Clean Water?

This time it is the folks at Stanford at work on some of our water problems...

So: Can You Really Power Your House with Water?

The guys at MIT, again...!

Water-Purifier-on-a-Chip

Those guys at MIT are doing some amazing things!

Data Slurping

Is this not cool? (And a little bit eerie?)

Saving Water with Data Crunching...

Check it out...

Using IT to Reduce World Energy Consumption

Key quote:

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Innovation in the trillion-dollar-per-year construction industry has been pretty sluggish over the past century. The low-tech method for producing standard gypsum drywall, for instance, was invented in 1917. It has plenty of drawbacks-including the release of some 20 billion pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere annually-but is still in use.

Enter Serious Materials, a Sunnyvale, Calif. company that is applying knowhow from the computer hardware and software industries to reengineer the basic building blocks of construction. It's no small feat, given that construction is responsible for 52% of CO2 emissions worldwide-more than transportation and all other industries combined. By giving a high tech makeover to mundane construction materials such as drywall, Serious Materials thinks it could reduce world energy consumption as much as 75% by 2040.
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Is that not cool? Imagine how much water they will be able to save in the process...

back to blogging

Okay, I'm going to revive this blog for a while. I am going to be focusing on business, communications, water & sustainability issues for awhile. Check out some of these emerging technologies and businesses!