Report (Part 1): Sustainable Development Convention 2002

Track 1: Environment

Time: 30 October 2002, 11:00 Location: A Chair: Peter Sissons Presenters/ Participants: Enga Luye, Integrated Pollution Management (IPM)
Athanasios G. Konstandopoulos, PhD, Wireless On-Board Directional Emissions Relaying System (WONDERS)
Anne Dimitrov, Solar Desalination Technology (SOLO) Reporter: Simon Hetherington (ICVolunteers) Languages: English Key words: Wonders, belair, solo, peter sissons, pollution, environment

The moderator and chair, Mr. Peter Sissons, a well-known newsreader and journalist from England asked for a brief description from each project leader. He began by noting that recently the environment has been making the news on a frequent basis and now pollution prevention is increasingly necessary, if only for companies not to be fined large sums of money.

Chair Mr. Peter Sissons gave a brief introduction of each speaker in the track 1 session and proceeded to conduct the session from his capacity as a reporter. Each presenter was asked to give a brief description of their project, how far it had advanced, what the projects ambitions are and what the presenters of the projects hope to gain from the convention. The replies were as follows:

Ms. Enga Luye, Founder of BELAIR & Project Manager of IPM, outlined the basic goals of the project as being to convert industrial waste into biogas to produce renewable energy. This concept allows the reduction in pollution from industrial sites and provides heat and electricity. One of the key concepts of his company is how to use waste in a way that makes it more valuable. The project and company are still in the preliminary stages and hope to gain new partners and be able to share their ideas with fellow participants of the convention.

Mr. Anthanasios G. Konstandopoulos Ph.D., Project Manager of WONDERS, explained that the WONDERS project aims to develop, implement and operate a Wireless On-Board Directional Emissions Relaying System, to be able to monitor the environmental conditions of urban air pollution. He described this as a form of sustainable development for the North, in light of increasing pollution levels in cities. Mr. Konstandopoulos used Athens as an example. One of the key concepts of the project is to collect real-time data to obtain accurate information to facilitate environmental monitoring. Mr. Konstandopoulos hopes to test the new technology within the year. He hopes to find increased financial support for the project, as well as new contacts and ways to share ideas behind the project.

Ms. Anne Dimitrov, Project Leader & Professor at Geneva Engineers School (EIG), presented an outline of the Solar Desalination Technology project, which intends to create a desalination unit using solar energy to produce drinking water from sea water. Each unit would be autonomous and transportable --and at full capacity could produce between 200 and 600 liters of water per hour. The aim of the project in progress is to build a fully operational prototype and test it in the field. As with many projects presented in this discussion, additional financial support is needed.

Conclusions
Through innovation and small business, the Development Alternatives Group provided examples of potentially successful business models for sustainable development. However, finances continue to be a concern.