PuneCleanTech All about CleanTech in Pune

An estimated 500,000 mines dot the US landscape, most of them abandoned.  Indian statistics are equally bad, if you also include the quarries etc.  Symbols of our incessant hunger for consumption, these abandoned mines are not just an ugly eyesore but continue to pose significant hazard to communities around them:  physical hazards due to accidents and environmental hazards because of the leaching of contaminants into ground water.

Although most mine owners do not care about the abandoned mines, a few want to do the right thing by restoring these mines back to nature.  It’s, however, easier said than done.  Mountainous chunks of earth have been gouged out.  All of it cannot be replaced.  Then how is it done?  How is the site restored to nature?  How is biodiversity ensured?

Although this is not classic CleanTech, it provides an important backdrop to the need for CleanTech.  Besides there’s a science behind restoration.  To tell us all about this, Mr. Kaustubh Moghe, a Conservation Biologist and a professional mine restorer will talk to us on July 31st at 11:00 am at the NCL Venture Center.

Be there!!  We don’t know where dead people go, but this is a rare chance to learn where the dead mines go!

Mine Restoration Talk Organized by PuneCleanTech

I wish I had gotten this before or around the Probiotics talk.  We could have asked Dr. Pillai about it.  A tongue-in-cheek look at how we can help Probiotics do their work better.  Who said CleanTech is all serious?

Dr. Pillai, a highly renowned authority on Probiotics, has graciously agreed to enlighten us on ‘Probiotics in Cleantech’.  We all know Probiotics: these are helpful micro-organisms that help various animal processes.  Our knowledge and awareness (OK, mine!  Let me just speak for myself here) of probiotics has been limited to the supplements and other health food that helps our digestive systems!  But it’s enlightening to extrapolate that and see how it applies to Cleantech, especially in Waste Management.

Dr. Pillai will do precisely that.  During his upcoming visit to Pune, he will talk about it at 4:00 pm at the NCL Venture Center.  Please note that this is on a work-day (Monday) due to Dr. Pillai’s availability.  But we sure will be hard-pressed to get such an eminent authority to talk about this subject, so it’d be unwise (to put it mildly ) to pass up this opportunity.

As always, admission is free but seating is limited and on a strict ‘first come first served’ basis.  No RSVP required and accepted.

A poster is attached below.

Thx

Anil

Shweta Kapur, a Pune Mirror reporter, was gracious enough to attend the recently concluded PuneCleanTech workshop on June 25th and wrote an interesting piece on it.  And yes, Prashant Savardekar from Cleantech systems has really developed a cow-washing machine!

A bunch of universities and other organizations across the globe participated in 2010 Solar Decathlon in Europe, coming up with some stunning designs for solar-powered houses.  For all you architecture buffs (and the CleanTechies, of course), check out the innovative designs, shapes etc.  I remember that some team(s) from India had also participated but don’t see their entry in the slide show at least.

Now, whether these houses are really designed/built sustainably or not, is a different issue.  I guess the focus was Solar, not really Sustainable.  Still, a good step in the right direction, i’d say.

“Did they, did they not?”

“Will they, will they not?”

“Should they, should they not?”

You can’t really trust BP these days but on this one, i think we should.

BP just published a statistical review of world energy (mostly conventional).  A few highlights (or lowlights, depending on your outlook):

- Energy consumption in emerging markets rose much faster than GDP growth.  In developed markets, it was reverse

- The world’s largest increase in oil production came from the US, mainly from the Gulf of Mexico: put this in perspective when you view the oil spill!

- World primary energy consumption FELL 1.1%, the first decline since 1982.  (that doesn’t mean we were smarter, just poorer due to recession

- World oil production declined by 2.6%, mainly due to OPEC cuts (7%), partially offset by US production increase (7%)

- Natural gas production declined by 2.1%, the FIRST decline ever!

- Coal’s share of world energy consumption was 30%, the LARGEST since 1970

- Hydro was suddenly the fastest growing major fuel last year, which is both good/bad overall.

- Prices of all fuels fell sharply, although i don’t really feel it where i sit.

The following entrepreneurs and companies have been chosen to present at the upcoming Pune CleanTech Entrepreneur Workshop, to be held on June 25th.  These companies are chosen based on the fact that they have already moved beyond an ‘idea’ stage.  There are a few more entrepreneurs who are at ‘idea’ stage, who will also be invited to the workshop.  That list will be published separately.

Please note that the actual time slots and duration of presentation will be communicated to these entrepreneurs in a couple of days.  Congratulations!  We’re all excited to hear more about your CleanTech Ventures.

Excellent article in the latest Outlook Money.  Has a couple of CleanTech and Energy startups as well.  Well worth the read.

The new gee-whiz technologies such as solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels et cetera take all the limelight these days.  But the fact remains that they are still a miniscule part of our energy mix and will remain so for the foreseeable future.  A far bigger opportunity, however, exists all around us.  There is enormous potential for making the conventional energy generation, distribution, storage and utilization much more efficient than what it is.

What is this opportunity?  Where is it?  How does one find it?  How big is it?  What can be done about it?  How can it be addressed?  Does anyone address it today?  How do they do it?  What qualifications do they need to do it?

We’re fortunate to have Mr. Shishir Athale enlighten us on all these questions on June 5th, 11am at the NCL Venture Center (June 5th is also the Environment Day, a fitting coincidence!).  Shishir is one of those very few intrepid entrepreneurs, who have the guts to get into this very tough market, where he has been painstaking building his company called Sudnya Industrial Services.  Sudnya is an ESCO (Energy Services Company) which identifies energy efficiency improvement opportunities for clients, often putting their own money on the line, getting paid only if those savings materialize (now you know why this business is not for the faint-hearted!)  Besides guts, this business also needs a rare mix of capabilities: engineering, project planning, management, finance, marketing all rolled into one.  It will be exhilarating walking Shishir’s journey (while safely holding his hand on this tough trail.

Before Sudnya, Shishir spent many years at Thermax and other companies, getting trained on many engineering skills in heat and co-generation fields that ultimately culminated into Sudnya.  Before Thermax, he managed plants for CPG companies where he often implemented energy saving projects, sometimes achieving 25% energy savings.

Shishir is well recognized as a trainer for energy managers by none other than FICCI.  He was on CII’s sub-committees on Cogeneration and Energy End-use Efficiency and on an MNES Committee for evolving a National Policy on Bio-mass Based Cogeneration.  He is a qualified Lead Assessor for ISO 9000 certification and has undergone training in India and abroad.  He qualified as a Certified Energy Auditor in the first examination conducted by the BEE in 2004.

Shishir is a graduate in Chemical Technology and now resides in Pune.

As always, seating is limited, no reservations and strictly on a first-come, first-seated basis.

See you on the 5th, 11am, at the NCL Venture Center

PuneCleanTech and MCCIA (Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture) are proud to bring the first-of-its-kind ‘CleanTech Entrepreneur Workshop‘ to Pune on June 25.  This is organized by New Ventures India (NVI), which is a joint initiative of CII-Godrej Green Business Center (CIIGBC) and World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington DC, set up with the singular mission to accelerate growth of Clean/Green Businesses in India.  NVI is supported by USAID, British High Commission, USDoS, and Citi Foundation.

Having organized such workshops in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, NVI has now set its sights on Pune, an emerging hub of CleanTech Entrepreneurship.  In this workshop, both emerging and established CleanTech companies will be able to network with other entrepreneurs, companies, mentors, managers, investors, service providers and other CleanTech enthusiasts.  But the main aim of this workshop is to get CleanTech entrepreneurs good mentorship from eminent and experienced business leaders.  A few selected companies will even get to present themselves at NVI’s annual conference in November, attended by all major investors in India and abroad.  More details are available in this nicely downloadable poster.  Please feel free to forward the poster or paste it offline at appropriate places.

This event is FREE to attendees but it’s strictly BY INVITATION ONLY.  To keep the quality of the event high and focused, the event is restricted to 10-15 companies.  You will need to apply to attend and the organizers will try their best to accommodate you.  If you are a manager, service provider, business leader with a passion for mentoring or an expert who wants to explore cleantech co-traveller opportunities, you are encouraged to apply as well.  The last date for application is May 31st, 2010.

For further details, please contact: Anil Paranjape (amparanjape*at*#gmail#*dot*$com$)