“Asian Nations Could Outpace U.S. in Developing Clean Energy” – The Washington Post, Jul 7, 2009
“Obama Says U.S. Must Win Clean-Energy Race” – The Los Angeles Times, Oct 24, 2009
“China surges ahead of U.S. in clean energy race” – The Hindu, Mar 26, 2010
“China leads world in clean energy investment” – The People’s Daily Online, Mar 29, 2010

The Great Power Race (GPR) is a clean energy competition between universities and other college/school campuses in India, China and the US. The aim is to kick-start hundreds of new climate solution projects on campuses and in communities in all three countries and to demonstrate to governments and businesses our generation’s leadership in transforming our world towards a green economy. 

From installing compost pits to solar panels to changing light bulbs to growing local food, campus teams are encouraged and trained to take up various projects that reduce their dependence on dirty fossil fuel and emit less greenhouse gases. The competition is a one of its kind where teams will be allowed to communicate with each other across nations and share best practices thereby learning and understanding the differences and challenges of executing clean energy projects.

The Indian Youth Climate Network, Chinese youth climate action network, Energy action coalition and 350.org are the main organizers of the competition in the three countries. The competition is in 4 phases and will last till April 2011. Phase I ends by June 30th and the race is on for the maximum registrations from countries. Phase II involves training and execution of projects with the winners being declared in Cancun, Mexico during COP16 and the final two phases will accept more registrations and the winners will be declared in mid 2011. Eminent personalities in the field of environment from all three countries will be chosen to judge the projects and an elaborate point system has been designed to evaluate projects across various criteria.

The Indian youth climate network, a registered society working on issues of climate change and sustainable development is the main organizer of GPR in India. With a wide network amongst youth in the country, IYCN aims at helping support multiple climate solution projects in India. 

Campus teams can register or follow the race at www.greatpowerrace.org or www.facebook.com/greatpowerrace and please help spread the word to your friends, family and the world.

Lets come forward and show the solidarity with the people who are struggling against this so called development.

Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) is recruiting for 5 positions in the National Steering Committee (SC) of 2010 and has opened up applications for the same.

The National SC will play the role of planning & executing the various programs of IYCN with the state chapters.

At the national level, the SC will jointly take care of multiple responsibilities such as fund raising, partnerships, representation of IYCN at programs, external communications, accounts/administration, etc. In addition, each SC member will coordinate the activities with some pre-assigned state chapters.

The application form can be filled here.

The last day to submit your application is April 23rd 12:00 AM IST.

Each SC position is from April 2010 to March 2011 and the person can be located anywhere in India with access to internet and telephone. The detailed profle requirements are as follows:

National Coordinator should be able to (or) have

1) High levels of commitment to the cause and organisation
2) Coordinate activities in the allocated tasks along with the Coordinators in those states
3) Raise funds, maintain relationships with donors, represent IYCN at internal & external events/ meetings
4) Collectively steer the IYCN network in the direction of work it should take, discuss proposals of programs/ projects and make decisions, and take a call on partnership requests from other organizations/ individual
5) Actively participate in activities in his/her respective city/ district
6) Possess basic knowledge of India – politics, geography, environment issues, finance & accounts procedures, basic internet skills and knowledge about social & online media etc.
7) Documentation and reporting
All positions require 30-40 hours a week. The duration is from April 2010 – March 2011 which includes 3 months probation. Compensation will begin on successful completion of probation.
IYCN is an equal opportunity employer

The selected applicants will be interviewed and the final communication will be given by the 30th of April. The SC will assume office from the 1st of May.
For any specific queries, please write to us at jobs@iycn.in.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declares that a fair deal can only be reached through further talks

In a speech immediately following President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated unequivocally that negotiations would need to continue until 2010, to strike any kind of agreement that would enhance global action on climate change.

“To settle for something that would be seen as diminished expectations and diminished implementation,” he said, “would be in our view a very wrong message to emerge from this conference. We should therefore reaffirm categorically that our negotiations will continue on the basis of the Bali mandate.”

Singh also emphasised and re-emphasised the importance of equity in any global climate deal, adding, “any new regime will have moral credibility and authority only if it acknowledges that every citizen of this globe has an equal entitlement to the global atmospheric space.”

Like all the leaders who spoke before him, Singh described plans for voluntary domestic action on climate change. However, unlike President Obama, who suggested that “America has made our choice; we have charted our commitments,” and that the rest of the world must follow, Prime Minister Singh said that India would be willing to consider additional actions as part of a fair global deal.

Given the enduring gulf between the expectations expressed by world leaders this morning, it would seem highly unlikely that a deal can be concluded in the coming hours.

However, it’s not yet clear whether any of the political texts drafted earlier today could provide a high-level agreement that would satisfy all parties; or if not, how an alternative would now be developed.

a) Maintain the consistence of the outcomes. Bali Action plan was adopted by all the nations of the world a couple of years back and to drift away from the road map and adopt new pathways only undermines the UNFCCC process.

b) Uphold the fairness of rules. Kyoto called for common but differentiated responsibility and here in Copenhagen we seem to be ignoring the fairness that is embedded in those principles.

c) Assess the practicality of the targets. ” A thousand mile journey starts with the first step”. ” Rome was not built in a day”. With these proverbs, he called for giving people hope by doing credible actions. Long term efforts are important but moving with a sense of practicality is important.

“China will honour the world with its actions”. The premier was hopeful of a deal in Copenhagen that will not undermine the efforts of developing nations.

The entire text can be read here.

In summary: I am Mahats, not Kabir and I will be blogging from New Delhi.

My views do not reflect those of IYCN. Nor do my spelling and paraphrasing.

3:40 pm

Panel discussion on its way. Projector down temporarily.

Mr. Gopal Krishna from Water Watch Alliance is chairing the discussion and is joined on the panel by IYCN’s very own Kabir and Reva.

GK: Opens with a brief statement on how the talks have stalled. Pessimistic attitude towards everything. US declared its lifestyle non-negotiable. Developing world declared its development non-negotiable. Stalemate because of short term thinking.

3:45

Kabir: Governments being aggressive to crack down on civil society and we should respond. Peaceful protest was stopped. When and if COP15 fails, civil society should have a huge push.

MM: Who constitutes civil society? While I hate the idea of cracking down on protests and will fight to the death to keep the right to protest and free speech alive, vibrant and utilized, one has to ask what do these protestors expect. If there is going to be no deal at this point, short of massive mass mobilization, I doubt these voices are going to have an impact. And, with the security precautions, there was no hope.

As for the second point, we are not dealing with unitary actors. Get two activists in a room and there will be three different opinions. One of them changeable.

3:55

Reva: There are choices within domestic policy. Changing people’s world views is far more difficult than getting a deal. Very few countries will alter their domestic policies. We need to change the mind of the populations.

MM: Right. How?

4:01

GK: There is a need for a new construct not based on nation-states. We need to create some mechanism for dealing with all the non-state actors.

MM: Again, what are the mechanics? Too many voices create a really unpleasant room.

4:10

Question: Separate the rich India from the poor India and then talk about carbon intensity. Why should developed countries fund their eventual competitors?

MM: Interesting. One of my hobby-horses has been how the activist community in India actually seems behind the government and spends most of its time pressuring other countries. While the developing world has a moral responsibility to act, there is no chance a hubbub in India will push the US to do anything. More importantly, the Indian government has not been faultless in negotiation and without domestic pressure has little incentive to moderate their position.

GK: Developing countries have a historic moral responsibility to act.

MM: Yes, but you can’t strong arm the energy lobby because of a historic moral responsibility. Give us something stronger to hit them with.

4:30

GK: There has been a massive misuse of money and resources. There needs to be radical action taken for the Earth.

MM: Presumably everyone in the room agrees. In fact, the presumption is that now even the Obama Administration agrees that there needs to be action. But how do we get over the fact that all politics are domestic? Yes, more leadership on this issue from Washington would be wonderful, but it will be tricky for them to agree to take radical action when a citizen of the US could conceivably keep living their lives in gluttony and peace (although that last bit is doubtful) long after the Maldives are submerged. While putting all the greed-heads up against the wall would be the most just solution, it doesn’t seem practical.

GK: The worse sufferers will be the developed world. That is why they are concerned. It is the corporate governments who brought about these situation.

4:40

Mr. Jay Kumar Gaurav, a consultant for clean development industries, has joined the discussion to contribute the point of view of an eco-friendly corporation in India.

JKG: India as a country should try and find out how the big emitters in India who are making big bucks out of big emissions can contribute to clean environment.

In the business world, it is far less based on ideology or what you feel is right. When the person in charge says something, it is decided.

Everyone has to find a way to adapt. It is upon you. You have your sphere of influence and your sphere of concern. You may care about what the US does, but you can only ask them. You can try your level best, but we should try to find ways to be sustainable on your own.

MM: Maybe it is my latent conservatism, but I agree. We have limited time, energy and ability and should determine what we can accomplish–then shoot for a little more. Activism has a role, but we need more calculation than moral indignation. Anger is good, but only as a tool, not as a policy. For instance, non-violent taking to the streets is useless unless there is a corollary legislative effort. With Gandhi there was Nehru.

4:45

Kabir: How do you account for improper development of projects using CDM [Clean Development Mechanism]?

JKG: CDM has been a force for green development in India. It is the only force. If you scrap CDM, it will result in destruction. Don’t criticize CDM as a mechanism, but attack the faulty projects.

5:00

Questioner: How can carbon trading help in India when you have projects like a dioxin plant polluting in Delhi.

JKG: How can you say one project is enough to scrap a system?

(Shouting)

MM: Here, I am of two minds. I think, specifically that CDM has done some good and is working. The problem lies with the endemic corruption in the implementation and enforcement of the agreement.

Questioner: What about the historical debt? What about countries bypassing the burden by cap-and-trade?

JKG: Historical debt is a concept that the development world has agreed to, but are providing it within a certain space.

Cap-and-trade is a concept of reducing the price of emitting carbon. Otherwise India will go back to burning coal. The problem lies with uninformed criticism of the system.

You can talk about the fossilized attitude of the US, but what works is what works.

MM: At the end of the day, he is right. Talking about a problem is only the first step to solving it. And while radicals in the wings gives those willing to compromise room to move, when the people on the other side have to turn around and sell their idea to their constituents, the impression of their opponents being shrill and unreasonable makes the whole thing much more difficult.

5:10
(The projector is up. Multiple voices. Shouting.)

Kabir: Every point of view needs to be listened to. We need to follow the Middle Path.

(More shouting.)

Kabir: Let’s wrap up the session and thank our speaker.

5:30

We have been joined by Vijay Menon, a representative from Moserbaer.

5:58

MM: Much of this discussion has been in Hindi and I have lost my lovely translator Sreepriya and in any event, most of it has been centered on Moserbaer, so my commentary is rather useless.

VM: Decentralized energy production is going to be quite useful to India.

MM: This I did find interesting. Energy deregulation has been disastrous in the West and China’s centralized energy development has been one of the driving forces of their blistering growth. More importantly for this type of discussion, it has also allowed the PRC to invest a ton of money in green and nuclear technology.

Kabir: Is decentralized energy cost-effective.

VM: That is hard to say, but effectiveness is more important.

MM: Very interesting. He honestly answers a question that I thought would be easy for him to play off. One of the main arguments that advocates of decentralization use is that energy will then becomes play to market forces and is therefore more cost-effective. The corollary is that it then becomes less effective to do the type of quick implementation that makes China’s model so attractive. To say the reverse is perhaps a testament to how terribly slowly the National Thermal Power Company functions.

6:11

We are now joined by our partners in Copenhagen giving us an update on the bleakness of the situation.

MM: Since they do their own blogging on this website, I am perfectly useless. I will continue with commentary when we move on.

6:15

Vimal Bhai, from the Matu People’s Organization is now in the Hot Seat.

VB: I don’t expect too much from Copenhagen. The West is too energy dependent to give up their lifestyle. We don’t have to beg for money from them when we have our own solutions. However, domestically we are adopting these flawed and faulty designs from the West.

MM: Yup. But who doesn’t want a date with Justin Timberlake?

6:30

PV: Before even talking about international treaties, we should look internally and deal with all the people who are displaced or otherwise hurt by climate change.

MM: Who says you can’t do both? I suspect the solution lies in not looking for panaceas, working bit-by-bit, but also engaging with everyone in order to lift ourselves out of this massive mess.

PV: We need to focus on jal, jungle and jameen. [Water, jungle and land].

(Amir is summing up. Look to the website for a day-by-day summary.)

MM: There you have it–December 17th. If you pardon the natural ego of a blogger, please allow me to conclude with my thoughts on the developing-developed world dichotomy (a convenient oversimplification).

Nationalist nonsense, on both sides, is what is making an agreement in Copenhagen impossible. Perhaps making this process less democratic and more technical is the only way to get something done. Or we can try it all again in Mexico.

More heat waves across the world, particularly in warmer countries, will worsen the situation. Drought, floods, cyclones and the resulting impact on human lives seems irrevocable. Do we need more proof?

Seventy-four students were selected from 6 schools and they were trained by IYCN, CANSA, CLRA. The students are very excited for meeting with the MP’s and they hope to learn from the MP’s about various local issues and also hope to share their knowledge on climate change. This is really important to inform the MP’s about this important global issue as there is very little discussion on it on the floor of the Parliament. IYCN has prepared a small docket on the youth actions on 24th October which was observed as the Global Day of Climate Action. These dockets were sent to all the Members of Lok Sabha and we hope to deliver the same to Members of Rajya Sabha.

A stellar lineup of judges included leading venture capitalists, industrialists, entrepreneurs and academics. Prof. Oopali Operajita, Chair and Founder of the competition, says: “I am grateful to IIT Kharagpur’s’s Director, Prof. Damodar Acharya, for lending this competition his full and generous support from the very first day. Equally, I am grateful to Prof. Amit Patra, Dean of Alumni Affairs and International Relations, IIT Kharagpur, and Prof. Joy Sen, for their unflinching efforts towards making this competition a notable success. IIT’s Board of Advisors for the competition features major academic stars and it was an honour having them on board. There was a perceptible elevation of standards in this, our second competition, but that’s an artifact of having Brand IIT as our education partner. I’d like to thank Mercedes-Benz India and its CEO, Dr. Wilfried Aulbur, for sponsoring the competition, and Sajjan Jindal, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Jindal Steel West (JSW) and ASSOCHAM for being our industry partner. Mr Jindal’s commitment to climate change is well known. All the finalists had excellent ideas and business plans.”

The First Prize went to the IIM Bangalore– IIT Bombay team of Abhijit Parashar (CEO), Roshan Agarwal, Gaurav Parashar and Abhishek Humbad for Energy and Carbon Productivity Solutions (ECPS), a product-based technology firm, focused on providing smart IT solutions to the clean technology sector in emerging markets. The team is currently ready with a set of Enterprise Resource Management solutions for the corporate and education industry. ECPS’s unique use of analytics, software solutions and web technologies make our products far superior to any of the existing solutions in the market.

The Second Prize went to IIT Kharagpur’s Manoj Kumar Mandelia (team leader), Mohan Yama, Prateek Kumar Jain, Shobhit Singhal and Pulkit Anand for LOCUS. LOCUS stands for “Localized Operable bio-Cells Using Sewage”, and is a green technology that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. It serves as an ideally integrated platform to simultaneously tackle the critical issues of wastewater treatment and energy scarcity. LOCUS makes use of a unique design to achieve higher efficiencies in treating wastewater and generating electricity from wastewater. Its delivery model makes it affordable and gives the customer incentives to buy and make use of this green technology. It also qualifies as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The awards were given away by the US Consul General in Kolkata, H. E. Beth Payne, who congratulated the winners, finalists and IIT Kharagpur, in her speech on November 7th. Congratulating Prof. Operajita on her unique idea, thought up in February 2007, which now has galvanized an entire generation of India’s brightest students into tackling climate change and energy security with sustainable tech business plans, Consul General Payne said the competition was, “the right step in the right direction at the right time.” For the full text of Consul General Payne’s speech, please visit the US State Department’s website, here.

The Acara Institute is a non-profit organization, does this by conducting the Acara Challenge, a program that uses best practices from industry in concert with university courses to enable students to create real businesses. The program matches university students with counterparts in another country (USA, India and Mexico in 2010) and industry mentors and challenges them to develop solutions to difficult problems, such as the lack of clean water and energy in urban slums. Acara Institute is inclusionary and taps into the passion of its volunteers, business partners, university participants, and like-minded organizations and individuals.

The theme of the Acara Challenge 08-09, its first edition, was to develop an affordable and sustainable mechanism and business model for reuse and/or recycling of water in an economically disadvantaged area in Mumbai, India. Three universities – University of Minnesota, Illinois Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai participated along with a high school team – Leanardo’s Basement, Minneapolis. The winning proposal, ReachOut Water, addresses issues of water quality and availability to potentially hundreds of thousands of individuals in Mumbai. The program is planned to be housed in the existing Slum Sanitation Program buildings, utilizing its preexisting customer base and infrastructure. The business combines source water storage with UV water treatment and a novel distribution system to supply 50L of clean, low-cost water to community participants and 10L of potable water to pay-per-use customers at a reasonable rate. ReachOut Water Solutions has received Phase I seed funds from the government of India and Acara Institute is currently in the process of procuring the fund and start the company in India

The 2010 Challenge will focus on two issues – Clean Water and Clean Energy. A tentative list of participating universities for Challenge’10 are Arizona State University, Cornell University, Duke University, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Illinios – Chicago, University of Hartford and University of Minnesota, Mumbai, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar and Vellore Institute of Technology(VIT), Vellore and Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo De México from Mexico City.

Acara was founded by Fred Rose (CEO) and Erin Binder (Chairman of Board and Director of Marketing). Fred has over 25 years of technology and business development experience, most recently as Director of Technology Strategy, Honeywell where he was responsible for strategy and development programs in India, US and China. He is the co-founder of High Tech Kids and has experience in wide range of technology R&D, emerging markets and global development teams. Erin is a Manager of Business Development at 3M and is also the Co-founder and VP at Innuity. She has experience in business development, strategic planning and operations in high tech businesses.

Acara relies on individuals and organizations with an interest in social change, and an experience or desire in areas relating to engineering, business development, education, social issues, natural sciences, finance, product development, supply chain or other areas relating to creating a real, sustainable difference. The areas of focus for 2010 are energy and water, but Acara is also committed to building programs in health and medicine, sustainable agriculture, environment. As Acara ramps up its programs in India, US, Mexico and ultimately to Africa, Latin America and other region, they will rely on Program Managers to manage University relationships.

Acara’s university teams rely on mentors who can guide them through various aspects design thinking and commercialization process. Mentors provide business and/or engineering expertise to teams throughout the challenge and in some cases, help to launch the business as well. Mentors may be working professionals from corporations, non-profit organizations, universities, entrepreneurs or previous Acara Challenge participants. They can help as Subject Matter Experts, Guest Lecturers, Team Mentors and Project Mentors. If you are a business or technology professional who has a deep need to “do good”, Acara would like to work with you. Visit www.acarainstitute.org for more details.