Set on contracts for 10 renewable energy projects in Africa this year, Gigawatt Global follows up Rwanda mission with new 28-acre solar field in one of the world’s poorest nations
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Sunday, January 26, 2020
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Entrepreneurs Programme - if you turnover between 1.5m and 10m - you could be eligible
Grants available
1. Up to $40k for consultants to help you grow your business
2. Using PhD or uni grads on specific projects - $50k per student and government matches payment (can have 2 )
3 a commercialisation grant $for$ - $100k - $3m - this is a long process - but we’ll worth it - if you get it.
Here is a great video of how the grant works....
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Finland’s homelessness is in decline
Finnish homelessness is on decline as the country applies the “Housing First” concept.
Those affected by homelessness receive a small apartment and counselling – without any preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected thus make their way back into a stable life.
And: All this is cheaper than accepting homelessness.
In 2008 Helsinki had tent villages and huts standing between trees in its parks. The Homeless couldn’t find jobs – without a housing address. And without any job, they couldn’t find a flat. It was a vicious circle. Furthermore, they had problems applying for social benefits. All in all, homeless people found themselves trapped.
In 2008 the Finnish Government started introducing “Housing First” and has set a vision
Nobody should have to live on the streets – every citizen should have a residence.
How it’s done
Housing and counselling - and no preconditions
The NGO - “Y-Foundation” provides housing for people in need. They take care of the construction themselves, buy flats on the private housing market and renovate existing flats.
The apartments have one to two rooms. In addition to that, emergency shelters have been converted into apartments in order to offer long-term tenancies.
Homeless people turn into tenants with a tenancy agreement. They also have to pay rent and operating costs. Social workers, who have offices in the residential buildings, help with financial issues such as applications for social benefits.
Y-Foundation receives discounted loans from the state to buy housing. Additionally, social workers caring for the homeless and future tenants are paid by the state.
The Finnish lottery supports the NGO when it buys apartments on the private housing market. The Y-Foundation also receives regular loans from banks. The NGO later uses the rental income to repay the loans.
“Housing First” help Homeless people get a flat – without any preconditions. Social workers help them with applications for social benefits and are available for counselling in general. In such a new, secure situation, it is easier for those affected to find a job and take care of their physical and mental health.
The result is impressive: 4 out of 5 homeless people will be able to keep their flat for a long time with “Housing First” and lead a more stable life.
In the last 10 years, the “Housing First” programme provided 4,600 homes in Finland. In 2017 there were still about 1,900 people living on the streets – but there were enough places for them in emergency shelters so that they at least didn’t have to sleep outside anymore.
Providing people with apartments is cheaper than leaving them on the street
Creating housing for people costs money. In the past 10 years, 270 million euros were spent on the construction, purchase and renovation of housing as part of the “Housing First” programme.
However, CEO of housing first, Juha Kaakinen points out, this is far less than the cost of homelessness itself. Because when people are in emergency situations, emergencies are more frequent: Assaults, injuries, breakdowns. The police, health care and justice systems are more often called upon to step in – and this also costs money.
In comparison, “Housing First” is cheaper than accepting homelessness: Now, the state spends 15,000 euros less per year per homeless person than before.
No miracle cure – but a high success rate
With 4 out of 5 people keeping their flats, “Housing First” is effective in the long run. In 20 percent of the cases, people move out because they prefer to stay with friends or relatives – or because they don’t manage to pay the rent. But even in this case they are not dropped. They can apply again for an apartment and are supported again if they wish.
Of course, there is no guarantee for success. Especially homeless women are more difficult to reach: They conceal their emergency situation more often: They live on the streets less frequently and rather stay with friends or acquaintances.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Creating Water from Air - another Israeli technology wins CES prize
Israeli tech company , Watergen has created Genny - a water-from-air system that taps into atmospheric water using patented heat-exchange technology.
Founded in 2009 by Arye Kohavi, Watergen uses its patented GENius heat-exchange technology to create the drinking water.
GENNY received the Mark of Excellence Award at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that annually recognizes the tech industry’s top smart home innovations.
Genny produces up to 30 liters of potable water for a home or office every day – significantly reducing plastic usage and disposal by eliminating the waste caused by drinking bottled water.
How does it work?
After the air is sucked in and chilled to extract its humidity, a built-in blower draws air into the system’s atmospheric water generator. There, an internal filter cleans the air by removing dust and dirt. Once clean, the air is directed through the GENius heat exchange and cooling process, and condensed into water.
The water is then filtered to remove impurities and add minerals, resulting in fresh, drinking-quality water. Once produced, the water is continuously circulated in a built-in reservoir to preserve its freshness.
GENNY also has the potential to serve as an air purifier, circulating clean air throughout homes through a small tweak in the water generation process, using the already existing technology to create a multipurpose product.
The vision - to help people become more environmentally aware, and supported by its Chairman - philanthropist Mikhael Mirilashvili, the Company has set its sights on expanding its renewable and energy-efficient clean water solution to the 2.1 billion people worldwide who lack access to safe water at home.
Last year, Watergen’s large-scale system was donated to authorities in Brazil, Vietnam and India. It also assisted rescue and recovery efforts during the 2018 California wildfires and provided clean water to the residents of Texas and Florida in the aftermath of the devastation caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
The large-scale version, called Gen-L, can produce up to 5,000 liters of clean water a day, requiring no infrastructure other than a standard electricity supply.
According to the company's website, it is “perfect for villages, off-grid settlements and factories.”
“My first priority is not how to make money but to help people, the planet and make [a] kiddush hashem [sanctification of God’s name],” said Mikhael Mirilashvili
Friday, January 3, 2020
Referron V 2 - instructions in under 2 minutes
Download referron - easy to sign in - update your profile - send your business card - Refer a person to a business you know like and trust . - Track your connection and referral activity - All within 3 taps
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Is the aging population an issue or an opportunity?
Age expert, Jon Werner, who runs a virtual accelerator, called silver moonshots, focussing on solving issues for the older adult, pointed out that 65 is the new 70... with life expectancy now about 75-85 (a few 100 years ago it was 50! ).
#work #innovation around #health #finance #education, #housing, #mobility #entertertainment and being an #olderadult is changing
John pointed out an interesting bbc article alking about the untapped potential of the longevity economy, written by Mari Shibato -
Highlights from this article
The baby boomers (with the youngest of us at 55 now aren’t keen to “get old and retire”
The Aging Population is growing
Over 80s are projected to triple, from 143 million in 2019 to 426 million in 2050.
The population aged 65 and older is growing faster than all other age groups, and global birth rates has been plummeting since the second half of the 20th Century (except in Africa)
Life stages can be quantified in fairly equal measurements of 8000 days
0 to 21,
21 to 40
40 to 65
65 to 85
If you make it to 65 years old, you have more than 50% chance you’ll make it over age 85 –
.
The Boston Consulting Group projects that by 2030, the 55-plus population in the US will have accounted for 50% all domestic consumer spending growth - 67% in Japan and 86% in Germany.
Governments are worried
Ageing has generally been considered detrimental to a country’s economic health, since it reduces the workforce and increases burdens on healthcare systems.
At this year’s G20 meeting in Japan, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that an ageing population could pose “serious challenges” for central banks with governments around the world concerned about public systems of health care, pensions and social protection for older persons blowing out as the population of retirees will increase.
How can we “unlock” the World’s Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market.
As the population of elders increases and become healthier - this longevity should be a massive asset to society . This is a group of consumers, workers and innovators - who can still be active contributors to the economy.
Spending Power
KPMG’s 2017 report of online consumers in 51 countries revealed that baby boomers spend the most online at $203 on average per transaction, compared to ‘tech-savvy’ millennials, who actually spend the least at $173 on average.
Prolonging employees’ working lives
Workers are living healthier, longer lives, and an ageing workforce can be an opportunity to reap what consultancy Deloitte calls the ‘longevity dividend’ – being able to boost economic productivity from older employees.
In Germany, more than 21% of the German population is older than 65 - who are being helped by improved work conditions, improved econometrics at work and advances and support by AI, and VR - reducing the physical demands of the manufacturing process.
Giving jobs to the younger generation
Looking at the demographic shift, the work of the 21-65 year olds seems to be cut out for them - focussing on “looking after the 0-21 and 65 plus aged groups.
The 21-65 workforce will be shifting from a “manufacturing workforce” to a “service workforce” - making for a better planet.
The universe seems to maintain its perpetual balance and flow !
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