Leaders talk about integrated solutions

A who's-who of the political world, as well as one high-profile former oil tycoon, were on hand for a panel in New York to discuss ways to use water more efficiently, expand food security, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The Integrated Solutions panel was part of the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual philanthropic meeting headed up by former President Bill Clinton.

"This may be the most eclectic panel of the entire CGI," said Clinton in introducing the event. "But they all know something different about the energy challenge."

The panel pulled in Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco; Shimon Peres, president of Israel; T. Boone Pickens, head of BP Capital; Helle Thorning-Schmidt, leader of the Danish Social Democratic Party; and Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank.

The issue of water scarcity was a major issue for at least one panelist.

"We never had water," said Peres. "Even Moses tried to extract water from a stone — it worked for a very short while. You couldn't make a company out of it."

Peres said that his country has estimated that 50 percent of their drinking water is being wasted because of overuse, old pipes and old systems.

"To save water is the cheapest way to produce water," he said.

Earlier this month, Israel's Arison Group announced the formation of a new water company to tackle that very issue (see Cleantech cash piles up in Israel).

Led by Shari Arison, billionaire heiress to the Carnival (NYSE: CCL) cruise ships fortune, the Arison Group formed a global water company called Miya with a $100 million investment. The new company will target water loss management issues for municipalities and utilities.

Israel is also producing water, with Peres saying that they already have one large desalination plant and are now building another four.

Great strides in cleantech are also happening in Denmark, another small country.

"It's not about size," said Thorning-Schmidt. "To change your energy supply and move to renewables is about political decision. You have to take the bold decisions, the long-term decisions that are necessary to move ahead."

She said that while Denmark has very few natural resources, it does get a lot of wind.

"That's why you'll see, if you travel the country, that there are wind power stations everywhere. Thirty percent of our energy supply now comes from renewable energy."

Some of that renewable energy could be going toward transporation under a project announced earlier this year. In March, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Project Better Place signed a deal to work with DONG Energy to bring electric vehicles to Denmark (see Project Better Place goes to Denmark).

Project Better Place plans to introduce its subscription-based electric recharging service in the country, along with cars and batteries from its partner, the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

Pickens, who originally made his fortune in oil, now sees a great opportunity to expand the wind industry in Texas.

"The land owners there want the turbines. They like the turbines," he said. "Why? Because they generate income for them."

Pickens said a wind turbine will generate $10,000 to $20,000 each on royalty income annually for land owners, and offers a big advantage over digging for oil.

"Where we have experienced in Oklahoma and Texas the discovery of an oil field, then it peaks, then it declines, and then it depletes, and the people move out."

"With the wind, that is sustainable, because it is renewable."

In May, Dallas-based Mesa Power, formed by Pickens, made a deal to order 667 wind turbines from Fairfield, Conn.'s General Electric (NYSE: GE) as part of the $2 billion first phase of a massive wind farm to be built in Texas (see Mesa Power makes big order for GE turbines).

Mesa's four-phase Pampa Wind Project is set to be the world's largest wind farm, with more than 4,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for 1.3 million homes.

According to Thorning-Schmidt, big renewable projects need help from industry and government.

"It's not about public money going into energy," said Thorning-Schmidt. "That's not what it's all about because it won't work."

"It's about creating the right incentives, having the right price for energy, and letting the market do the rest."

Cleantech developments making news in the past 24 hours

• Metabolix, ADM to open new bioplastics factory
• Rockwool nears construction on Indian insulation factory
• Two Israeli wastewater firms to locate in Michigan
• Al Gore: Super grid is critical to combating the climate crisis
• A quest for CO2 and O2 optimal management with biofuel from algae

View the last week of cleantech developments here | Subscribe to full feed