sustainable development40
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Finding Answers to the Worsening Water Crisis in Gujarat, India
As explained in a recent blog post, falling groundwater levels in the Northern regions of the state of Gujarat, India, are reaching dramatically dangerous proportions. Columbia Water Center (CWC), however, believes that there are numerous technologies and practices that could save significant amounts of water and energy. Farmers have shown interest in applying them, but…
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Despite Grim Water Futures, China and US Discuss Everything but Water
Notably absent from this week’s program is any planned dialogue regarding energy demand and water supply, two issues whose inverse trajectories are threatening the environmental and economic futures of both nations.
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Desalination: Yesterdayʼs Solution (part 2)
Everyone has skeletons in their closets, desalination is no exception. Burying them does a disservice to the millions of public dollars that have been invested. Letʼs celebrate their weaknesses so that we may never repeat their mistakes. There may be many dozens of such projects, but here are a few that have experienced their share…
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The Worsening Water Crisis in Gujarat, India
For more than three decades, the farmers in Northern Gujarat State, in India, have produced abundant food crops, and have had a thriving dairy industry. In order to make that happen, they have been using once plentiful underground water resources. Because local aquifers are being replenished more slowly than the water is being withdrawn, groundwater…
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Desalination: Unlocking Lessons from Yesterday’s Solution (part 1)
There is powerful information waiting to be unleashed in water data. If it were set free it would force us to re-think how we use, develop, sell, transfer, and dispose of water.
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Could East River Tides Help Power NYC?
Typically, discussions about hydropower center around hydroelectric dams and ocean wind turbines. That could change, however, if Verdant Power – an energy company based out of New York – succeeds in its latest venture.
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Helping Water Work for Women in Mali
Last month I went to visit our Mali project site with two other Water Center staffers. We visited the village and garden where we worked last year (Koila Markala and Tibibas, respectively) and many other gardens where we hope to work in the future.
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Timor-Leste: Sustainable Development Initiative Launched by the Vale Columbia Center in Partnership with the Revenue Watch Institute and the Open Society Foundations
The Open Society Foundations have awarded $800,000 to the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment to promote integrated development in Timor-Leste in collaboration with the Revenue Watch Institute (RWI). Though rich in oil and gas, the island nation of Timor-Leste remains one of the least developed countries in the world. To use its revenues…
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New Initiative Launched to Help Manage Oil in Timor-Leste
The Open Society Foundations have awarded $800,000 to the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment to promote integrated development in Timor-Leste in collaboration with the Revenue Watch Institute (RWI). Though rich in oil and gas, the island nation of Timor-Leste remains one of the least developed countries in the world. To use its revenues…
By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings“
