Bio-Venture Capital Forum 2008 Keynote Presentation on Innovation, Dalian, China

Filed under: Ideas,Presentations — Tags: , , , , , , , — Steve Brown @ 3:18 pm October 11, 2008

Here are the slides from Steve Brown’s keynote presentation at the Bio-VC BIT Life Sciences’ Bio-Venture Capital Forum 2008, Dalian China, October 11, 2008. The Presentation discussed how to create a winning Life Sciences Innovation Strategy in an Era of Scarcity.


Abstract:

In the last century, technological innovation was propelled by a race to conquer nature and spread a modern lifestyle premised on an unspoken belief in unlimited resources. Now we find with ourselves with depleting resources and unsustainable systems for healthcare, energy, agriculture, water, and the environment. As Plato wrote over 2000 years ago, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” The great unmet needs of the current century relate to sustainability: How can we create sustainable systems for quality healthcare, agriculture, energy, and other sectors? These challenges are uniquely appropriate for innovation in life sciences, with new solutions enabled by the convergence of biotechnology and information technology. With the new challenges of our time, a new generation of entrepreneurs, scientists, and inventors will be inspired to apply their energy and ideas by starting new ventures. This talk will describe an entrepreneurial approach to life sciences innovation and will discuss how to create and foster an innovation culture targeting the great needs and challenges of our time.

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Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food, and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture

Filed under: Books,Energy — Tags: , , , , , — Steve Brown @ 9:48 pm July 18, 2008

Eating Fossil Fuels book cover

The book Eating Fossil Fuels looks at agriculture and our food supply through the lens of energy and energy balance. When you add up the energy inputs of fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, irrigation, and tilling, the food produced on a typical acre of land today takes many more calories of energy to produce than the maximum energy that could possibly be generated from the sun through photosynthesis. Where does the extra energy come from? Mostly from fossil fuels. What does this mean? The current food system is unsustainable and in many more ways than most people realize. If you look at the energy content of the food we eat, we are literally eating fossil fuels.