enlightened orgs: inspiration

ALBERTA’S WINDIEST CITY

That seemingly constant, gusting wind I cursed when I lived in Grande Prairie, Alberta, had a different look and feel for Drennen and Jamie Hallett. It was the whiff of opportunity.

The Hallett’s, owners of Golden Sheep Power, officially opened their doors for business in Grande Prairie on February 1, 2009. They will be the first company in Alberta to offer home-owners a chance to get off the grid by using home-based wind turbines and solar panels.

A NEW WIND IS BLOWING

Their timing could not be better. The provincial government just passed regulations to allow for micro-generation in Alberta. And the City of Grande Prairie, a city that has seen explosive growth in the past 5 years due to oil and gas exploration, has shown its openness to explore other sources of energy by allowing the Halletts to set up a pilot project to demonstrate and test the home-based units.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE PILOT IS SUCCESSFUL?

The main concern with wind turbines is noise, or the perception of noise.

The City of Grande Prairie have agreed to test a home-based unit and, if it is not too noisy, the City will change its bylaws to allow individual home-owners a choice for energy production – stay on the grid, or employ a home-based wind or solar unit to fully meet or supplement your requirements.

The pilot turbine is being erected in the centre of the city at the Fire Hall. It will not be set up to generate energy, but to gauge public reaction. The Hallet’s say the noise level of 15 to 30 decibels when it is running at its peak is equivalent to a whisper. Following the six month pilot, a survey will be conducted to get public reaction.

AN ALBERTA FIRST

If all goes well, that would make Grande Prairie the first city in Alberta to change its bylaws to allow for home-based generation. Only the tiny southern Alberta town of Cardston currently has bylaws to allow for wind turbines for residential use.

The Halletts have previous experience with micro-generation in Ontario where it has been approved by government for a few years. They believe homeowners will recover their installation costs (between $11,000 – $30,000.00 CDN) within 3-5 years. Most households, they say, will be able to produce enough energy for their needs. If a household uses more energy, they will just draw the additional from the grid.

The purpose of the Monday Enlightened Orgs Best Practices post is to draw attention to companies that are doing the right things – and doing them well. They become listed in our directory as Enlightened Orgs.

Today we recognize, not only Golden Sheep Power for taking the initiative and risk to become the first company in Alberta to offer residential micro-generation options, but we also take our hats off to the Mayor and Council of the City of Grande Prairie for their willingness to be…the FIRST!

We will keep you posted on the outcomes of this pilot project.

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG
If you know a company that is making a MindShift towards serving humanity while still turning a profit, we would like to know about them. Let us know by contacting::
attractingsuccess@soulabundant.com... or leave the information in the comments section of this post.

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.CorporateMindShift.com www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.

enlightened orgs: inspiration

A NEW BLACK GOLD

In the debt-free province of Alberta, where the black gold that first gushed from the ground in the 1950’s, has resulted in a Heritage Trust fund worth of billions of dollars being set aside for a “rainy day” – getting anyone to think about alternative energy sources is not an easy sell. But two framers from the tiny farming community of Vegreville have risen to the challenge.

Their innovation to create Biogas from cattle manure seems a perfect fit for a province that has ranching as it second largest industry. It is also timely for a province aware of the implications of the depleting sources of non-renewable oil and gas, and the challenges of a reliance on an industry with a Boom/Bust economic cycle.

“Inventing a new technology is a pure Alberta story… a great example that building a knowledge economy can happen on the farm, not just in ivory towers” – Evan Chapko, CEO, Highmark Renewables (Edmonton Journal, 02/08/09)

FROM POOP TO PROFIT…Alberta’s new Black Gold…

ALBERTA’S FIRST GREEN ENERGY MEGA-PROJECT

Shane and Evan Chrapko are taking the cattle manure from a 30,000 cow feedlot, owned by partners Mike and Bert Kotelko, and turning it into Biogas, something their company Highmark Renewables, markets as “renewable natural gas.”

They have just tapped into what is probably Alberta’s most abundant and renewable resource…cattle poop.

The greenist electrical generating plant in the province is now producing one megawatt of power which is enough to meet the electrical demand of the feedlot and 700 homes in the tiny communities of Vegreville and Two Hills. When the construction on this plant is completed, it will also produce ethanol to be added to gasoline without the current problem of having to take away from farmland to produce ethanol from crops like corn. Together, with the help of Xiaomei Li, a scientist from China, they have developed more than 40 recipes for turning waste, including slaughter house waste and municipal sewage, into biogas. Patents are pending.

Their motto: “Where there is waste…there is opportunity.”
Chrapko calls it a “virtuous loop – producing power, cattle feed, fuel and fertilizer .”

The goal is to have a string of plants across the prairies at sites where manure is plentiful. When you consider each cow produces the manure equivalent of six humans, the idea of continuing to spread this volume of waste and its resultant methane gas, over the land forever, without negative consequences, is to ignore a looming environmental problem.

Travis Nickel who heads up the company, Growing Power, responsible for the electrical side of this innovation, sees a time when every feedlot in the country will have such a plant to provide fuel for nearby towns and will deliver ethanol to the big refineries for production of gasoline.

Shane and Evan Chrapko are no strangers to successful ventures. They launched, built and sold The DocSpace Company for 811 Million (538 Million USD) in just 30 months from inception to final sale. Both are graduates of the University of Alberta. Shane is the recipient of the rare Early Career Achievement award awarded to one graduate from a pool of 100,00, who has achieved remarkable success in business within ten years of graduation.

ANOTHER LOCAL, HOME-GROWN SOLUTION…a company to watch in the future!

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG
If you know a company that is making a Mindshift towards serving humanity while still turning a profit, we would like to know about them. Let us know by contacting::
attractingsuccess@soulabundant.com... or leave the information in the comments section of this post.

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization.

Consciousness: inspiration

CONGRATULATIONS, CANADA!

Today, we are celebrating the significant acts of two groups of people who are making a difference – first, a group of Canadians doing, 1 million right things...and secondly, 2500 Australians, who peacefully stood up for their beliefs.

My usual approach to this Friday post on Consciousness, is to recognize the inspiring efforts of an individual who is committed to doing something special to make a difference on the planet. We call this person an enlightenor. They are, typically, someone who is quietly going about doing the right things, for the right reasons.

It is exciting to see groups of people coming together – one dream – one team! On Wednesday, February 4th,2009, a Canadian team reached its goal!

THE GREEN CHALLENGE – 1 MILLION ACTS OF GREEN

CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos, host of the CBC program “The Hour”, challenged individual Canadians to reach a goal of 1 million acts of Green. The idea behind the project is that one small act can make a difference.

“When we all do one act – we act as one – that’s the save the planet effect.”

CBC set up a partnership with Cisco and, using a software program called GreenNexxus, a website was established for anyone to record the actions they are taking to demonstrate their commitment to changing the way we live on the planet and the software calculates the amount of greenhouse emissions reduced by their actions.

“We’re asking everyone to get involved: schools and universities, cities and communities, business, politicians, and even celebrities. George and The Hour are challenging other CBC programs to go green, including CBC News, Kids’ CBC, Steven & Chris, Living, and CBC Sports. But most of all, YOU.

Together we can make an impact. Together we can make our lives, our communities, and our environment greener.“

“The 1 million acts of green have already saved the planet 58,987, 483 kg of green house gases.

Stroumboulopoulos says the next step is to encourage these people to contact their Members of Parliament to insist that they make an equal or better effort.

The demand for government to pay attention to the environment is also coming from the grass roots level at the other end of the planet. Mums, Dad’s, grandmas and babies in prams…

2500 PEOPLE HOLD HANDS TO ENCIRCLE THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING IN CANBERRA

Gently resisting the direction to stay away from the building, protestors, wearing red shirts and traveling from across Australia, yelled a triumphant cheer when the last hands were clasped, heralding success in their project to circle the parliament building with a human chain, and drawing attention to the lack of responsibility of the government in dealing with climate change and environmental issues.

Read the story

“They are calling for urgent action on the climate emergency that threatens Australia’s future and the world.  Their action follows an intense three-day national Climate Summit which produced a list of 2009 campaign objectives:

Newcastle activist, Naomi Hodgson, says, “Today marks a turning point where we say we will not sit on our lounges and watch the government give in to polluting industries and consign us all to an uncertain and dangerous future.”

As we posted yesterday, there is a shift in the climate movement driven by urgency.  Those holding hands around Parliament House today are not a bunch of hippies. We are mothers, scientists, business people, children and commentators. And we all want the same thing – a safe climate future.”

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world – in fact it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Meade.

BLESS BLESS
JUDY BERG

Organizational Behaviour Consultant
author: Imagine Your Soul Abundant: Attracting Success, Fulfillment and True Happiness
more about: www.soulabundant.com
Judy’s book can be ordered from her website www.soulabundant.com.  Special prices for bulk orders upon request. Seminars and retreats customized to the needs of your group or organization. ]]> http://vanamburggroup.com/blogs/the-power-of-a-small-group-of-people/feed/ 2 http://vanamburggroup.com/blogs/is-this-the-energy-breakthrough-weve-been-waiting-for/ http://vanamburggroup.com/blogs/is-this-the-energy-breakthrough-weve-been-waiting-for/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:00:42 +0000 David VanAmburg http://vanamburggroup.com/blogs/?p=1536

Energy: Market-changing Products

IS NIKOLA TESLA ROLLING OVER YET?

“Think replacing batteries in electric cars, all the way down to no more lithium batteries in your computer, phone, and every other gizmo.”

Nick Gogerty has a brief discussion of such a product in his Designing Better Futures blog post, Ultracapacitors: is the energy revolution about to arrive?

We keep watching the market, as do so many folks in the energy industry for the game changer. One may have finally arrived!

A GAME-CHANGING PRODUCT

FINALLY ENTER THE ULTRACAPACITORS

Will this design hit the streets in the next 12 to 24 months? My fingers and toes are all crossed!

A few days ago I was watching the Security Now program with Steve Gibson and Leo LaPorte, and learned that the time may be soon.

Steve Gibson has been one of my tech heroes since the early 1980s when we starting writing a weekly column for InfoWorld. If you have never heard of him or his great security work, go to Gibson Research Corporation, use some of his free tools to test your computer, and SpinRite to save your hard drives.

Leo LaPorte has done a great job sharing tech information for years, and has built Twit TV, one of my favorite online information sites.

EESTOR’S NEW ULTRACAPACITORS

On this week’s Security Now show, #177, Steve offered his very positive assessment of stealth firm EEStor, and its new patent regarding UltraCapacitors. His electrical engineering analysis makes the success of this process sound highly probable.

If you want to understand the details, I’ll let you listen to the show’s conversation. Steve offers related information at http://www.grc.com/sn/notes-177.htm.

You can follow this company at News, Reviews, Interviews and Overviews of all things related to EEStor Inc. They have a good explanation in their December 31 post.

THE TIME HAS COME FOR HUGE SHIFTS

I read recently that 60% of the money that comes out of our pockets goes to pay for energy, either directly or somewhere in the manufacturing and supply chain. Even if it’s 30%, think about how much wealth could be generated if we didn’t have that overwhelming expense.

In 1995, I was conversing with the VP of an energy utility client about the future of energy. I expressed my unscientific belief that we finally would see major breakthroughs in energy sources within 10 years. I expected significant downsizing, so that central generation and transmission or distribution would no longer be required within 20 years. It’s good we didn’t bet. I was wrong. 2005 came and went, and no critical inventions hit the market.

SOME OF THE FOLKS WE’RE WATCHING

But in 2009 things are rapidly changing. I love reading about folks like Yoshiro Nakamatsu, such as Brainsturbator’s homage blog. We need to support more geniuses like him, Dean Kaman [Wikipedia], and so many others. In addition to major advances in solar panels and windmills, two of the alluring concepts that have kept our attention are:

1. Water-fuelled engines and cars [Wikipedia]

2. Energy from from salt water. You’ve likely heard of this. While researching a cancer cure through radio frequency transmission, our friend, John Kanzius [Wikipedia], from here in Erie, also discovered the ability to create a flame from saltwater through the same radio transmission. John is focusing on his cancer treatment, while research on energy continues at Penn State and local firm Industrial Sales & Manufacturing owned by Jim Rutkowski and his family.

Web Marketing: VanAmburgGroup.com

THANK GOD OUR NEW SITE IS UP

Over the years, we created and managed a lot of websites for clients, and focused on creation of MutualGravity’s software platform, leaving some of our own sites to collect dust.

Until a few weeks ago, VanAmburgGroup.com was untouched since 1999. Yet that was our public presence, our 24/7 communications with the world. If you saw the old site, you probably thought we were on a long cruise or something.

So this quarter we revamped the the entire site:

1. To share hundreds of pages of practical research, planning and marketing information,
2. To communicate some of the exciting projects we’re working on, and
3. To bring in some of our global partners.

In this process, I’ve committed to being transparent with our site development and search optimization.

Starting today, every Monday I’ll share some of our related accomplishments and challenges. On Wednesdays, we’ll offer web design and SEO nuggets for your use.

THE BLOG SCHEDULE

But before I jump in to the site development discussion, here’s what to expect with the Thinking Big Works blog.

For the main site:

• Check the chart above for the full schedule. We’ll also add posts beyond those categories and days.
• To simplify your reading experience, every post will have a category header, so you can easily choose which ones you want to read. The first line of each post will give a bit more information on what it’s about.
• Author Judy Berg now posts daily. As of today, I’ll be posting daily. Noted management consultant, Greg Pashke will begin regular posts next week. And SEO specialist, Jody Resnick, will be sharing his insights beginning in January.

Read more about current and upcoming site features below the fold.

HERE’S WHERE WE ARE WITH THE SITE

For the main site:

• We’ve completed about 70 pages of information most with charts, and will add 5-10 a week, and post the new ones every Monday.
• We’ve completed about 50% of our search optimization. We’ll share that wonderful process on Wednesdays.
• Friday of this week we’ll launch a video tour of the site to help you access the practical info you need.
• Starting next week, we’ll add white papers, slide overviews, and other detailed info for your research, planning, marketing, and web marketing use.

WHY ENLIGHTENED ORGANIZATIONS

On Mondays and Tuesdays, Judy Berg and I will be sharing a public conversation about one of the most exciting trends you will witness in the worlds of business and government.

We all experience the daily revelations of greed, corruption and other mistakes made by individuals in the recent past. There are enough news and commentary outlets discussing examples of these sad affairs. You may have lost 50% of your retirement savings so far, but we’re all just beginning to experience the fallout of these actions. Yes, there will be more.

But our focus is what comes beyond the chaos that fixates the nightly news. There are amazing people who have created amazing organizations over the past 30+ years. They are the ones who will redefine our economy, our world society, our reality – and not in a few generations.

Starting in January:

• We’ll be interviewing 100+ of the leading thinkers on the planet.
• You can join in on our Enlightenors’ Cafe online conversations, which we’ll announce soon.

Want more on our near and medium-term projections for the economy and how it will affect your business? Keep reading Thinking Big Works. Thanks.

Best wishes,
David