The Paris agreement, reached at this year’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as part of the Rainforest Alliance delegation to the COP21 U.N. climate summit, marks a turning point for the future of this planet. The agreement serves as a commencement of the metamorphosis that is taking place: shifting from the business-as-usual trajectory towards a sustainable global… Read more →
Author: Ed Sappin
What Is The Future Of China-U.S. Relations?
I was asked this question on Quora and here is my response: The US and China are both large, great nations with patriotic populations. They will be “cooperative competitors” in the years to come. From the China side, there are clearly elements that wish to overtake the US as a world leader, others that want to have a robust China… Read more →
Technology, Healthcare and Energy or Having a Real Impact through Scalability
Innovation focused industries vary widely. Developing the next digital healthcare system has little in common with the next generation of wind power turbines. Social media entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley or New York speak a different language from biotechnology companies in Boston. However, the commonality between these varied areas is scalability: if you can reach a wide audience quickly, you will… Read more →
Oil and Gas Prices are Down. Still a Bright Future for Renewables.
Brent crude oil prices continue to hover around $57 and Henry Hub natural gas prices maintain at approximately $2.60. It is a good time to be a consumer of oil and gas, especially as summer nears. If you can purchase oil at such low prices, why invest in that solar rooftop or buy wind power from your utility? Despite these… Read more →
Five Innovations Leapfrogging the U.S.
The U.S. prides itself on being the source of the world’s greatest innovations. While this generally is true, we have become complacent and are at risk of being overtaken by increasingly unique innovation in other countries. The U.S. ranks number two in patents granted worldwide, just behind Japan, but China is rising quickly in the ranks. Historically, most innovation in… Read more →
What do Walmart, the U.S. Military and Intel Have in Common? More Than You Think
Walmart, the U.S. Department of Defense and Intel Corporation would seem a strange lot to put together. The largest retailer on earth, the most sophisticated military and the leading semiconductor company are vastly different arms of US power and success. However, they do share at least one trait: they are some of the biggest supporters of renewable energy and sustainability… Read more →
Wired.com – Top 10 Cities Leading the Way in Innovation
Sappin Global Strategies (SGS) has released its list of top 10 innovative cities around the world. This list is dedicated to cities that have established themselves as hubs for creating and developing new ideas that could ultimately have a major impact on our world and everyday lives. Several cities were considered in this evaluation and were judged on a scale of 1-10 based… Read more →