Penta Energetica

Energy policies so far do not deliver enough results. Trias Energetica policies – save energy, use sustainable energy, process fossils as efficient as possible – fail to deliver enough effect timely. Energy use increases, sustainable energies hardly manage to match that growth and efficiency increases are slow and little. Its open ended nature without a maximum and its solo technical nature are fundamental shortfalls of the Trias Energetica. 

The Penta Energetica Principles can be applied to any region, but are best applied to urban area’s with sufficient size (more than 5-10 million inhabitants) and diversity of energy functions (industry, ports, transport, housing) as to facilitate energy integration best. Read the whole post

Tidal flow energy generation

Through Facebook Jon Brown shared his idea on extensive tidal flow energy generation facilities:

"To start with it's important for the Netherlands to establish a reliable, independent energy supply:
It's lowland position, along with experience building the Delta Works and Zuiderzee Works, means it's in a perfect position to build extensive tidal flow energy generation facilities..." read the whole post

Lifelong learning

One of latest members of the Enviu network, Bee Leng Lee, comes originally from Singapore and introduces to us her idea on Lifelong learning and how to create a positive and safe environment for senior students. Here is a piece of the document she sent us, to read the whole doc follow this link.

Why LLL?
People are the core infrastructure and resource of a country. The workforce in this case is extremely vital to sustain competitiveness. And people make up the workforce. So they need to be properly trained. To change something, we need to educate or make awareness of the changing world to the people.
While from the Lisbon treaty, the EU commission under Education and Training has implemented various Lifelong Learning Programmes (LLP) to enhance globalisation, much of the initiatives are based on student and staff exchange under the Erasmus, Comenius programmes. One purpose of this is to create opportunities for students and staff to expand their horizon to work/study in another country... Read the whole post

3 guidelines to foster innovation

Inspired by a column of Pieter Hilhorst Carel Muller suggested that the 3 guidelines for "passionate budget cuts", might also apply to foster innovation: "de-regulate, small-scaliness and do-it-yourself".

So advise to the government would be:
- de-regulate: it would be cheaper and much nicer to change unnecessary juridical fights with mediation. Looking for a solution is then the main goal, not applying the rules (as the "paarse krokodil" advertisement).
-Small-scaliness: from the positive experience in health care we can learn that large-scale is not always cost efficient, nor "customer friendly" to the patients. Small-cale can be "klein maar fijn", and if it would be the norm in healtcare it could save 2,8 mld euros according to Kees Tamboer in the Parool 10th of Febr 2010.
- do-it-yourself: and finally, the way to save most, according to Pieter Hilhorst, is let amateurs take over the work of professionals, as much as possible, as banks did with home-banking.

What do you think? Could the need to cut expenses create opportunities for new policies/ ideas?
And what do you think about the 3 principles suggested?