Tag Archives: business models
Could the current scandals surrounding Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation organisation be a sign that printed newspapers are in their death throes? Dubious behaviour in a corporation and its management is often a sign of a failing business desperate for revenue. Printed newspapers are a relic of the industrial age and News Corporation seems to be an organisation whose thinking has has not progressed beyond that age. Another sign of desperation and old-fashioned thinking is the Murdoch plan to charge for access to his news web sites. Other businesses are able to thrive on the Internet without doing this … Continue Reading
Google’s energy subsidiary has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy. Google will begin buying 114 megawatts of electricity from an Iowa wind farm later this year. Google intends to sell this energy on wholesale markets, and simultaneously buy energy where they need it. By buying the wind energy directly, Google has created a giant hedge against both rising energy prices and the future cost of compliance with emissions reduction mandates The company also pointed out that "our deal has a greater impact on the renewable industry than simply buying RECs from third parties; our long-term commitment directly … Continue Reading
FreeGreen is an American architecture and engineering company which is offering its house plans – with full construction specifications normally costing thousands of dollars – for free (See www.freegreen.com). The environmentally friendly design come with suggestions for particular products which meet FreeGreen’s specifications. Of course, clients can choose any products they like but the company’s revenue comes from advertisers paying for these product placements.
The success of Wikipedia has brought the notion of commons to public attention. Commons are not new but were a dominant part of most economic systems prior to the Industrial Revolution. In England, for example, the people of a village would have an area of common land which they could all use for grazing cattle, collecting fruit, gathering firewood and so on. This system was brought to an end between 1760 and 1820 by the “enclosure” of village common land. The result, whether as a deliberate ploy of the capitalists (as Marx claimed) or coincidentally, was to deprive thousands of … Continue Reading
It would be hard not to notice China’s ever-increasing domination of the production of ever-cheaper manufactured good. Many in the West explain this by pointing to China’s pool of cheap labour. This simplistic explanation is mistaken and will lead to missed opportunities as China continues to play an increasingly important part in the global economy. Shanghai ("Blick auf die Skyline von Pudong" by Yorky ex Wikimedia) If having cheap labour was the main factor in being able to produce and sell cheap manufactured goods, then counties, such as those in Africa, which have even cheaper labour should be outperforming China; … Continue Reading
Videos
Renewables News- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted WaterScientists from Deakin University, together with French colleagues, say that they have manufactured a lightweight and reusable material that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in a wide range of spilt oils, chemical solvents and dyes, while repelling … Continue Reading → […]
- Aussie Researchers Make Efficient Solar Cells from Low-grade SiliconResearchers at the University of New South Wales have found a way to make very high efficiency solar cells out of cheap, low-grade silicon. It has been known for several decades that hydrogen atoms can be introduced into the atomic … Continue Reading → […]
- First Aussie “Hot Rocks” Power Plant Begins ProducingThe first power plant in Australia to produce electricity using an enhanced geothermal ("hot rocks") system has begun producing electricity in the far north-east of South Australia. The one-megawatt Habanero pilot plant near outback Innamincka is operated by Geodynamics. Geodynamics … Continue Reading → […]
- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted Water
