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HEARD:

thIs wOrld has a lOt Of

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whOle  wOrld  Is  cryIng  GREY  nOw ?

CLUELESS  transpOrt  management  Is thInkIng  BLACK  hIttIng  BLiND spOt  InsIde the clOsed bOx ?

SIngapOre  2010 is flOOded  fUll  Of  medIOcrIty  In  the  fOrms  Of :

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"errOrs"

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"ImperfectIOn"

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ENOUGH  IS  ENOUGH  negatIvIty

I  aspIre  pOsItIvIty

I am InspIred by

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Watch what they do,

not what they say

The entrepreneur’s road to alternative energy

Richard Branson

 When I recently wrote that we need to invest more aggressively in alternative energy, I promptly got a number of emails from readers, including a series of searching questions from Dan Lubar of Colorado. First, Mr Lubar is concerned about the cost, both in time and resources, to transform our energy infrastructure to provide enough alternative energy to meet our needs. “Various transitions that are underway will take time and may in fact cost many times more than our current energy economy can bear during a long transition period,” he cautions.

SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS

As an entrepreneur, I have often found that it is precisely when entrenched interests refuse to change that I have had an opportunity to make money by doing things differently.

While I’m a big proponent of both nuclear and geothermal energy, these technologies are generally the domain of entrenched interests, and those interests push them very hard.

The solar, wind, biomass and energy efficiency sectors are generally led by entrepreneurs — which is why they have been so successful in the past 10 years, raising more than US$150 billion in project finance this year alone.

The big global successes of the past 30 years, such as the mobile phone and the Internet, have been what the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter described as “destructive successes”.

The mobile phone has eclipsed the 100-year-old landline and put traditional telecom companies out of business in many markets.

The Internet has revolutionised some marketing, advertising and content companies, while forcing others into dire straits.

The same will happen in infrastructure.

The time frames we’re talking about are relatively short: In just 10 years, the solar and wind industries have gone from virtually a standing start to amassing US$150 billion a year in financing. In the energy transition, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial CEOs will lead the way.

A decade ago, oil cost US$20 to US$30 per barrel.

Today the oil industry says it has to charge closer to US$40 per barrel just to break even, and the cost of oil has already reached more than US$80 a barrel following the

Meanwhile, almost 10 per cent of the petrol in the United States now comes from ethanol and, by law, all petrol sold in Brazil must contain 20 to 25 per cent of the fuel.

Next-generation biofuels promise cost effective production within three years.

Even if that turns out to be five years, if the price of oil continues to climb, it may become much more profitable for oil importing countries like Jamaica to grow crops like sweet sorghum to create its own biofuel, instead of purchasing fossil fuels overseas.

Why are people so reluctant to see thechanges going on around them?

Maybe this is why entrepreneurs are courted the world over: They see change coming before the mass market does, and in the process they’re able to create wealth for themselves and their supporters. Harnessing this talent will help us develop timely and cost effective ways to modernise infrastructure and transform the world’s energy supply.Deepwater Horizon spill.

© 2010 Richard Branson. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

The writer is the founder of the Virgin Group and companies such as Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, Virgin Mobile and Virgin Active.

While I believe biofuels and biomass are two suitable energy sources to replace petroleum-based fuels, Mr Lubar worries these are the wrong choices. He asks if we can afford to build a second “fuel system” alongside the first and transition away from unsustainable fossil fuels. He suggests the two best bets are fusion and geothermal energy.

Mr Lubar also wonders what roles the private sector and the government should play in the switch — and whether this kind of transition to alternative energy is even possible, in the long run.

There can be no doubt that the world is facing a monumental decision. One hurdle is that infrastructure costs more to build today than it did 40 or 50 years ago. For instance, a new coal plant in the United States costs about US$4 million ($5.4 million) per megawatt to build today, compared with just US$1 million per megawatt 30 years ago.

But it is not quite correct that a whole second fuel system has to be built alongside the existing one. Many biofuels being developed now, such as alcohol fuels, can be blended with the current fuel offerings; others, called drop-in fuels, can simply be substituted for existing fuels. With either of those options, we can continue to use existing transportation and refuelling infrastructures, making only minor modifications over time.

The increasing cost of infrastructure is mainly due to rising energy costs, which make it more expensive to produce cement, steel and other building materials.

By comparison, the incremental costs of the changes I favour are quite small. As the oil industry performs routine maintenance, it can absorb the minor costs of updating its infrastructure to accommodate certain newer fuels. And in the case of drop-in fuels, no changes are necessary.

Blair to donate profits of memoirs to charity

LONDON

A spokesman for the former Prime Minister said he would hand over all the money he makes — including a £4.6 million ($9.8 million) advance he has received for

The gesture will mean as much as £5 million will be paid to the charity, which will help pay for rehabilitation facilities for seriously injured personnel.

Relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq demanded that he disclose exactly how much money the charity should expect but Mr Blair’s office failed to give an answer.

The man who committed British forces to military action five times while in office was also accused of using the donation as “blood money” to appease families of those killed or injured in the conflicts.

Since standing down as Prime Minister in 2007, Mr Blair has amassed a personal fortune thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

The book is expected to generate huge interest when it goes on sale on Sept 1.

— Mr Tony Blair, who led the United Kingdom into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is to donate all of the proceeds from his controversial memoirs to the Royal British Legion, a charity for injured troops.A Journey — “as a way of marking the enormous sacrifice (the armed forces) make for the security of our people and the world”.AGENCIES