Opportunities for Agri-Food Chains to Become Energy-Smart

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Opportunities for Agri-Food Chains to Become Energy-Smart Opportunities For Agri-Food Chains To Become Energy-Smart R. SIMS, A. FLAMMINI, M. PURI, S. BRACCO NOVEMBER 2015 ISBN 978-92-5-108959-0 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), or of the PAEGC Founding Partners concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO, or the PAEGC Founding Partners in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO, or the PAEGC Founding Partners. FAO and USAID encourage the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO and USAID as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way. All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via www.fao.org/contact-us/licence- request or addressed to [email protected]. FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/ publications) and can be purchased through [email protected]” © FAO and USAID, 2015 Opportunities For Agri-Food Chains To Become Energy-Smart R. SIMS, A. FLAMMINI, M. PURI, S. BRACCO NOVEMBER 2015 ABOUT PAEGC In 2012, The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of Sweden (SIDA), the Government of Germany (BMZ), Duke Energy Corporation, and the United States Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) (collectively, the “Founding Partners”) combined resources to create the Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC) initiative. The objective of PAEGC is to support new and sustainable approaches to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy solutions for increasing agriculture productivity and/or value for farmers and agribusinesses in developing countries and emerging regions that lack access to reliable, affordable clean energy. PAEGC utilizes the financial and technical resources of its Founding Partners to support its innovator cohort’s implementation of clean energy technologies and business models that: (i) Enhance agricultural yields/productivity; (ii) Decrease post-harvest loss; (iii) Improve farmer and agribusiness income generating opportunities and revenues; and/or (iv) Increase energy efficiency and associated savings within the operations of farms and agribusinesses - while stimulating low carbon economic growth within the agriculture sector of developing countries and emerging regions. For more information, visit PoweringAg.org IV OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRI-FOOD CHAINS TO BECOME ENERGY-SMART TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword .............................................................................................................................................................................................vii Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................................viii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................................................................ix Abbreviations ...............................................................................................................................................................................................x Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................................................................1 1 Clean energy solutions and rural development............................................................................................................19 1.1 Aims and objectives .............................................................................................................................................................21 1.2 Scope of the study ...............................................................................................................................................................22 1.3 Case studies .............................................................................................................................................................................25 2 Energy and the food value chain ...........................................................................................................................................27 2.1 Value chain approach .........................................................................................................................................................28 2.1.1 Agri-food energy input trends ........................................................................................................................29 2.1.2 Energy in food losses and waste ...................................................................................................................33 2.1.3 Scale of enterprise ..................................................................................................................................................35 2.1.4 Access to energy .....................................................................................................................................................36 2.1.5 Cleaner value-chains .............................................................................................................................................37 2.2 Energy demand and supply technologies............................................................................................................... 41 2.3 Behavior and demand side management ............................................................................................................... 43 2.4 Cross-cutting low-carbon and energy demand efficiency options ........................................................45 2.4.1 Conservation agriculture ....................................................................................................................................46 2.4.2 Water pumping and irrigation .........................................................................................................................47 2.4.3 Heating ...........................................................................................................................................................................51 2.4.4 Cooling and cold storage ...................................................................................................................................54 2.4.5 Tractors and machinery ......................................................................................................................................57 2.4.6 Fertilizers and agri-chemicals ........................................................................................................................... 59 2.4.7 Transport and distribution of goods ............................................................................................................61 2.4.8 Processing and packaging ...................................................................................................................................62 2.4.9 Use of information technology .......................................................................................................................66 2.5 Renewable energy supply options for, and from, the agri-food chain .................................................68 2.5.1 Renewable energy technologies ....................................................................................................................69 2.5.2 Bioenergy .....................................................................................................................................................................69 2.5.3 Wind power ...............................................................................................................................................................73 2.5.4 Solar photovoltaics ................................................................................................................................................. 74 2.5.5 Small and mini-hydro power ............................................................................................................................75 2.5.6 Current use of renewable energy in the agri-food chain ............................................................... 76 2.5.7 Mitigation and climate change impacts ......................................................................................................78 2.5.8 Economic assessment ...........................................................................................................................................79
Recommended publications
  • Uef-Spinelli Group
    UEF-SPINELLI GROUP MANIFESTO 9 MAY 2021 At watershed moments in history, communities need to adapt their institutions to avoid sliding into irreversible decline, thus equipping themselves to govern new circumstances. After the end of the Cold War the European Union, with the creation of the monetary Union, took a first crucial step towards adapting its institutions; but it was unable to agree on a true fiscal and social policy for the Euro. Later, the Lisbon Treaty strengthened the legislative role of the European Parliament, but again failed to create a strong economic and political union in order to complete the Euro. Resulting from that, the EU was not equipped to react effectively to the first major challenges and crises of the XXI century: the financial crash of 2008, the migration flows of 2015- 2016, the rise of national populism, and the 2016 Brexit referendum. This failure also resulted in a strengthening of the role of national governments — as shown, for example, by the current excessive concentration of power within the European Council, whose actions are blocked by opposing national vetoes —, and in the EU’s chronic inability to develop a common foreign policy capable of promoting Europe’s common strategic interests. Now, however, the tune has changed. In the face of an unprecedented public health crisis and the corresponding collapse of its economies, Europe has reacted with unity and resolve, indicating the way forward for the future of European integration: it laid the foundations by starting with an unprecedented common vaccination strategy, for a “Europe of Health”, and unveiled a recovery plan which will be financed by shared borrowing and repaid by revenue from new EU taxes levied on the digital and financial giants and on polluting industries.
    [Show full text]
  • Detailed Modelling of the Deep Decarbonisation Scenarios with Demand Response Technologies in the Heating and Cooling Sector: a Case Study for Italy
    Article Detailed Modelling of the Deep Decarbonisation Scenarios with Demand Response Technologies in the Heating and Cooling Sector: A Case Study for Italy Francesco Calise 1, Massimo Dentice D’Accadia 1, Carlo Barletta 1, Vittoria Battaglia 1,*, Antun Pfeifer 2 and Neven Duic 2 1 Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, 80040 Naples, Italy; [email protected] (F.C.); [email protected] (M.D.D.); [email protected] (C.B.) 2 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb,10000 Zagreb, Croatia; [email protected] (A.P.); [email protected] (N.D.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-347-4461-729 Received: 30 July 2017; Accepted: 22 September 2017; Published: 3 October 2017 Abstract: Energy policies accompanying the transition towards a sustainable development process must be supported by technical analyses in which future energy scenarios are modeled and evaluated. This paper analyzes possible decarbonization scenarios in Italy for the year 2050. They envisage high electrification of transports and residential buildings, high use of renewable energies, and a modal shift towards public transport. The energy scenarios are evaluated using a software program, EnergyPLAN, starting from a reference model developed for the year 2014. Special attention has been given to the modeling of data that are unavailable in the literature, such as the time profile of heating and cooling demands, obtained with the degree-days method and validated by elaborating the results of the modeling of the residential building stock, this latter was dynamically simulated in TRNSYS. The results show that to obtain a significant decrease of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption, it is necessary not only to promote a deeper penetration of renewable sources, but also their integration with other technologies (cogeneration, trigeneration, power-to-heat systems, thermal storage, vehicle-to-grid operations).
    [Show full text]
  • 'Make America Great Again'
    University of Amsterdam ‘English: Language and Society’ Master Thesis ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Italians First’: a comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of two right-wing populist discourses on Twitter Student: Alessia Sanghez Student Number: 11631325 Supervisor: Manon van der Laaken Academic Year 2017/2018 Index 1. Introduction 5 2. Theoretical framework 9 2.2 The socio-political background of U.S. and Italy 13 2.2.1 America First 13 2.2.2 Italy First 16 2.3 The power of political slogans in the hashtag era 18 2.4 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Social Media 21 3. Methodology 23 3.1 Critical Discourse Analysis approaches 25 4. Analysis 31 4.1. Analysis, part 1: Analysis of ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Italians First’ tweets 31 4.1.1. Categorization 31 4.1.2 Critical Discourse Analysis of ‘Make America Great Again ‘ and ‘Italians First’ tweets 33 4.2.1. Analysis, Part 2: Analysis of Trump and Salvini’s anti-immigration rhetoric 53 4.2.2. Analysis of Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric 53 4.2.3 Analysis of Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigration rhetoric 58 5. Discussion and Conclusions 63 References 69 4 1. Introduction In recent years, the upsurge of right-wing populist parties (RWPPs) across Europe and beyond has drawn the attention of many scholars and politicians (Wodak and Krzyżanowski, 2017) to the number of ‘discursive shifts’ that has affected media and public discourses (Wodak and Krzyżanowski, 2017; see also Feldman and Jackson 2013; Muller 2017; Wodak et al. 2013; Wodak 2003, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).
    [Show full text]
  • Low-Carbon-Funding-Report-Piemonte-V2
    PIEMONTE REGION INDIVIDUAL REGIONAL BASELINE REPORT ON LOW CARBON INVESTMENTS FUNDING Preface Present PIEMONTE REGION Individual Regional Baseline Report on Low Carbon Investments Funding is to be delivered under the Project entitled “PROmoting regional Sustainable Policies on Energy and Climate change mitigation Towards 2030” funded by the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme Programme 2. Cooperating on low - priority: carbon strategies in CENTRAL EUROPE Project name: 2.2 To improve territorial based low-carbon energy planning strategies and policies supporting climate change mitigation Project acronym: Prospect2030 Project index CE1373 number: Lead partner: Piemonte Region Project start 01.04.2019 date: Project end date: 30.09.2021 Deliverable D.T1.1.2 number: Prepared by: PIEMONTE (LP) Date: 24.01.2020 Table of Contents 1 4 2 5 2.1 5 2.2 6 2.2.1 6 2.2.2 6 2.3 8 3 8 3.1 9 3.2 11 3.2.1 11 3.2.2 15 3.2.3 16 3.2.4 21 4 22 4.1 22 4.1.1 22 4.1.2 25 4.1.3 26 4.2 31 4.2.1 31 4.2.2 33 4.2.3 33 5 33 5.1 34 5.2 41 5.3 44 5.4 44 6 45 7 46 8 47 Appendix 1.: Fact sheet(s) to decentralised regional operative programmes Appendix 2.: Fact sheet(s) to other EU low-carbon initiatives 1 Background The Data Collection and Reporting Guide (D.T1.1.1) is the initial task foreseen under the Work Package “T1 Assessment of availability and use of public funds supporting climate change mitigation” of the PROSPECT2030 Project.
    [Show full text]
  • Ticipants at the PV Con- Ference There Was No Jostling at the Spacious Halls of the New Milan Exhibition Centre
    PV CONFERENCE O sole mio ... che bella cosa Despite the record at- tendance of 3,000 par- ticipants at the PV con- ference there was no jostling at the spacious halls of the new Milan Exhibition Centre. 106 Sun & Wind Energy 4/2007 PV CONFERENCE O sole mio ... che bella cosa The »European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC)«, which this year took place for the 22nd time, has become as important as it is vast. With 520 stands covering 30,000 m2, the exhibition was almost as big as this year’s Intersolar in Freiburg, Germany, which is after all one of the world’s largest solar fairs. On top of this was a tightly packed conference programme with over a thousand presentations. And don’t for- get the conversations on the conference fl oor – after all each participant had a choice of 3,000 PV sector colleagues to speak to. nrico Caruso sang about the sun in 1916. »O sole mio, che bella cosa nella giornata è sole.« In English: »What a beautiful thing is a sunny day.« The photovoltaic sector would agree with that. The many days of sunshine in Italy and the revised feed-in law hold the promise of a lucra- tive market. E Growing capacities and fortune hunters A complete overview of the most important event for the European photovoltaic sector aside from the Inter- solar is impossible. Highlights remain – necessarily sub- jective ones. Two of these seem to accurately refl ect the situation in the sector, however: In hall 20 there was a sort of advertising pillar at a crossing of two gangways, with job ads on it.
    [Show full text]
  • Talking to Each Other Is Gold: Increasing Acceptance Through Communication Page 2
    Insights into the industry and the company May 2021 Insidewpd specialist departments at the side of our project partners Page 3 Talking to each other is gold: increasing acceptance through communication Page 2 wpd celebrates commissioning in Chile Page 7 Onshore Germany Communication as the key to acceptance and the success of projects For the last ten years, the German Renewable Energy municipality from a project”, notes Ekkehard Agency (AEE) has been publishing the results of its Darge, technical Project Manager at wpd onshore. representative, Germany-wide survey of the level For example, thanks to the new Section 36k, of acceptance greeting the expansion of renewable municipalities can now share in every kilowatt hour energy. The approval ratings are consistently high; generated to the tune of 0.2 cents. According to the in 2020, 86% of respondents were in favour of faster Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, this can add expansion of regenerative energy. In addition, the up to roughly 20,000 euros per year per turbine, economic stimuli and opportunities for rural regions depending on the location and electricity yield. This were rated positively by 57%. But that should not give additional income from a wind farm for municipal rise to any assumption that project work on site is coffers and therefore for local residents represents an easy business. Communication work is subject to important momentum for greater acceptance. many requirements and is sometimes challenging. Transparent and above all personal dialogue is also an important door opener to such acceptance. Many After taking over a project from the sales department, of the concerns expressed are well documented: from technical project management gets down to infrasound via the shadows cast to the protection business.
    [Show full text]
  • Bozza Per I Concorsi Di Idee
    IDEA CONTEST – 2013 EDITION1 Renewable energies for Italy’s minor islands and the Marine Protected Areas Article 1 (Promoters and purpose of the contest) 1. In application of article 2 of the Protocol of Understanding executed on 13 April 2010, Associazione Marevivo, CITERA – Centro di Ricerca Interdisciplinare Territorio Edilizia Restauro Ambiente (Inter-department Centre for Territory, Building, Conservation and Environment) at Università di Roma La Sapienza, ENEA – Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), GSE (Gestore dei Servizi Energetici – GSE S.p.A.), the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities - Direzione generale per il paesaggio, le belle arti, l'architettura e l'arte contemporanee (General management for landscape fine arts, architect, and contemporary art, hereinafter DG PABAAC), and the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea – General Secretariat (hereinafter, MATTM – SG) are promoting this international contest, whose purpose is to generate project proposals and ideas on installation systems and components aimed at efficiency, energy savings, and the use of renewable energy sources applied to an environmental, landscape, and socio-cultural setting typical of Italy’s minor islands and of the marine protected areas, with a view to sustainable development. 2. The contest aims to incentivize the search for solutions that can reconcile the use of installation systems and/or components for the production of thermal and/or electric energy from renewable sources – the Sun, wind, high/enthalpy geothermal, biomass, the tides, currents, and wave power – with respect for the environment, for the typological traits of the place’s architecture, and for the landscape of the minor islands and/or of the marine protected areas.
    [Show full text]
  • Policy Pathways for the Energy Transition in Europe and Selected European Countries
    Policy pathways for the energy transition in Europe and selected European countries Deliverable 7.2 (MUSTEC) Deliverable 1 (SCCER JA IDEA) Johan Lilliestam, Richard Thonig (ETH Zürich, Renewable Energy Policy Group) Pablo del Río, Christoph Kiefer (CSIC) Natalia Caldés, Yolanda Lechón (CIEMAT) Gonzalo Escribano, Lara Lázaro Touza (Royal Institute Elcano) (all funded by MUSTEC) Leonhard Späth (ETH Zürich, Climate Policy Group) (funded by SCCER JA IDEA) 2 This deliverable is a joint report of the Horizon 2020 project MUSTEC and the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research (SCCER) – Joint Activity IDEA (joint project between SCCER CREST and SCCER SoE). The cases European Commission and German (ETH REP), Spain (CIEMAT) and France (CSIC) come from MUSTEC partners, whereas the Italian and Swiss cases were done by the SCCER JA IDEA partner (ETH CP). Leonhard Späth (ETH CP) declares to have no financial or other demands towards the MUSTEC project, CIEMAT (MUSTEC coordinator) or the European Commission for his contribution, and all other authors declare to have no financial or other demands towards the SCCER JA IDEA project or the Federal Swiss Institute for Technology (ETH Zürich). The deliverable is to be seen both as a stand-alone report and, especially, as dedicated input for subsequent modelling tasks in both the MUSTEC and SCCER JA IDEA projects. The report will be updated within the MUSTEC project (only the MUSTEC-funded pathways) in September 2019, considering recent policy developments affecting the dominant pathways – in particular the Member States’ National Energy and Climate Plans, to be made published in winter 2018/19 – and the feedback from the MUSTEC and SCCER JA IDEA modelling teams.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotions Office in Italy
    Printed in Austria UNIDO EVALUATION GROUP V.07-85445—July 2007—65 Independent Evaluation ITALY UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotions Office in Italy UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 300, 1400 Vienna, Austria Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-0, Fax: (+43-1) 26926-69 UNITED NATIONS E-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.unido.org INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION unido evaluation group Independent Evaluation ITALY UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotions Office in Italy UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Vienna, 2007 Distr. GENERAL OSL/EVA/R.4 21 May 2007 Original: English The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Contents Abbreviations ...................................................................................................v Glossary of DAC terms .....................................................................................vi Executive summary..........................................................................................vii I Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 II The evolving international landscape of investment promotion......................
    [Show full text]
  • E-Newsletter
    FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE E-Newsletter MAYORS in ACTION empowers Coordinators and Supporters (C&S) of the Covenant of Mayors in effectively assisting their municipalities in implementing and monitoring their SEAPs. Through tutoring and coaching schemes, MAYORS in ACTION will allow C&S municipalities to go further, enabling them to implement actions by employing existing tools and experiences in different environments, and helping them to support one another towards a common goal. MAYORS in ACTION is a three-year project, running until February 2017, and is co-funded by Intelligent Energy Europe. www.mayorsinaction.eu News COP22 delegates discuss new global climate change join to make ambitious commitments to reducing emissions. initiative for local governments That is an opportunity for Veneto as the coordinator of the Covenant of Mayors, ministers and city Mayors to share ideas and best practices on how to reduce greenhouse representatives gathered at the gases and promote renewable energy. This includes developing and COP22 in Marrakech (Morocco) for a implementing policies that have the biggest impact on climate change, session to discuss the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, a energy and energy efficiency; technological innovation; development; and new worldwide initiative announced in June 2016 for ambitious cities to other areas that have direct implications for greenhouse gas emissions levels. help tackle climate change. Complementary to and coordinated with the MOU, the Compact of States The new initiative – which will “go live” on 1 January 2017 - is a result of the and Regions is an initiative that provides a mechanism for its members EU’s Covenant of Mayors, and the Compact of Mayors, coming together.
    [Show full text]
  • 100 Italian Energy Stories 100 Italian Energy Stories Key Legenda
    100 ITALIAN ENERGY STORIES 100 ITALIAN ENERGY STORIES KEY LEGENDA SOLARE EOLICO GEOTERMIA IDROELETTRICO · · · · SOLAR WIND GEOTHERMAL HYDROELECTRIC ENERGIA BIOMASSE MOBILITÀ DOMOTICA DAL MARE · · · · BIOMASS MOBILITY HOME ENERGY FROM AUTOMATION THE SEA IMPRESE CENTRI DI RICERCA / TERZO SETTORE / COMPANIES UNIVERSITÀ AGENZIE PUBBLICHE RESEARCH CENTERS / THIRD SECTOR / UNIVERSITIES PUBLIC AGENCIES SISTEMI OPERATION INFRASTRUTTURE PROMOZIONE DI ACCUMULO & MAINTE- DI RETE DELLA CULTURA GREEN · NANCE · E SOSTENIBILITÀ STORAGE GRID · SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE PROMOTING GREEN CULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY EFFICIENZA COMPONENTISTICA ENERGETICA E ANALISI · DEI CONSUMI COMPONENTS · ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSUMPTION ANALYSIS PREF~ PREFA~ ACE ZIONE “There is a tide in the The fight against climate change, which has convened the world as “C’è una marea nelle La sfida dei mutamenti climatici che convoca a Parigi, per la COP21, a whole in Paris for Cop21, is not just a climate and environmental il mondo intero, non è solo una sfida climatica e ambientale. affairs of men, which challenge: it is economic, technological and geopolitical. It influences cose degli uomini È una sfida economica, tecnologica e geopolitica: influenza ed è taken at the flood, and is influenced in turn by the key global issues that remain che, colta al suo influenzata dalle grandi questioni aperte nel mondo. Se l’economia unresolved. If the economy takes the green path with conviction, imboccherà convintamente la via della green economy, se la ricerca leads on to fortune. if research and innovation bet on efficiency and sustainability, then apice, conduce alla e l’innovazione scommetteranno sull’efficienza e sulla sostenibilità, Omitted, all the we can make it. The challenge also concerns social justice because fortuna; una volta ce la possiamo fare.
    [Show full text]
  • Management and Water Literacy in Italy Rachel E
    Black & Gold Volume 2 Article 4 2016 Keep Your Head Above Water: Management and Water Literacy in Italy Rachel E. Huxhold College of Wooster Follow this and additional works at: https://openworks.wooster.edu/blackandgold Part of the Environmental Policy Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, and the Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons Recommended Citation Huxhold, Rachel E. (2016) "Keep Your Head Above Water: Management and Water Literacy in Italy," Black & Gold: Vol. 2. Available at: https://openworks.wooster.edu/blackandgold/vol2/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Open Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Black & Gold by an authorized administrator of Open Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Huxhold: Keep Your Head Above Water: Management and Water Literacy in Ital Preface “Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarce anything; scarce any thing can be had in exchange for it. A diamond on the contrary, has scarce any value in use; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.” –Adam Smith “If gold has been prized because it is the most inert element, changeless and incorruptible, water is prized for the opposite reason—its fluidity, mobility, changeability that make it a necessity and a metaphor for life itself. To value gold over water is to value economy over ecology, that which can be locked up over that which connects all things.” –Rebecca Solnit These quotes, one from a renowned economic philosopher and the other from a journalist and author, express the paradox of societal views toward water.
    [Show full text]