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-- an SWM THiNKTANK article edited: 2012-05-25 (ws), Sustainability and 'growth' (as observed and interpreted today) is a contradiction. The first term has (under today's conditions) nothing to do with the latter and vice versa. Why is this the case? First of all 'growth' (up to now and prevailing) refers to a purely quantitative growth. For example, the GDP [ 1 ], mobility growth [ 2 ], car market growth [ 3 ]-[ 6 ], profit growth [ 7 ], unemployment growth [ 8 ]. A return to growth (away from the current 'anemic growth' [ 9a ]-[ 9c ]) is reported [e.g. 9 ] which, however, may have disadvantageous consequences, i.e. another growth in CO2-emissions despite a decrease [ 10 ]. The list could easily be expanded.  The overall impression from the above brief list however is, that the society is inescapable doomed to grow, in particular (and actually exclusively) in quantitative/physical terms/dimensions. Cancer, perhaps a rather drastic neverthel...

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article   * alpha-terms : a series of attributes describing the fundamental characteristics of sustainability. edited: 2012-05-22 (ws),2012-05-23 (ws) S ustainability today is overquantified, institutionalised (suffering from inflexible conditions), technified, etc. [ 1 ]. There exists (unfortunately) a popular unidimensional belief that almost exclusively technical solutions (entities, vehicles, etc.), i.e. entities that somehow can be 'engineered' (in the broadest sense) can provide for sustainable development. Two major characteristics of sustainability are: credibility and confidence . Looking exemplary at the finance sector it is rather evident that both attributes have seriously suffered in the course of the recent social and economic developments. Reflecting on the information available to the public about the economic development, specifically the finance sector, from the more recent three to four years the following major processes/...

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article edited: 2012-05-15 (ws), 2012-05-21 (ws) humanity (humanism), confidentiality, reliability, efficiency, flexibility, durability, stability, quality, honesty, consistency,  competency, decency, transparency, legitimacy, continuity, fidelity, accuracy, (uni)versatility, plurality, (sense of) responsibility, clarity, to be complemented... fairness, confidence, esteem, tolerance, respect, appreciation, constructiveness, robustness, to be complemented... Sustainability, often - perhaps to often - quoted, was once (in context with 'development') defined as: "sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” [ 1 ]. Accordingly, such a development implies the consideration of a rather long time-span challenging well-founded, comprehensive decision making (approximately between 20 and 30 years [ 3 ], depending upon the definition). A...

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article In a recent publication British scientists evaluated the potential amount of fresh-water resources in Africa based upon maps, publications and further qualitative and quantitative information [ 1 ], [ 2 ]. Accordingly, the volume of subterrestrial fresh-water resources are estimated to amount to about 0.66 Mio km3 [ 3 ]. One of the key information sources for the researchers were once more a set of high-resolution maps [ 4 ]. According to the results major ground-water resources are located in Libya, Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan. Despite the identified potential availability of the precious good 'water' in regions otherwise endangered by shortages of almost every kind the problem exists that this resource currently is not usable. An outdated technical equipment (hand pumps) presents one of the key challenges to address in order to provide for sustainable water supply [ 5 ], [ 6 ]. Also in this context it might be useful to favor a diversified...

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article Started officially in 2003 with a capacity of 33.5 Mio l world-wide, today bio-ethanol has emerged towards a vital alternative in the market of energy carriers [ 1 ]. Of the more than 110 Mio l of bio-ethanol most of it is produced in the USA [ 2 ], [ 3 ] followed by Brazil [ 2 ]. Asia is currently not considered as a major player in this sector [ 2 ] but developments to follow the technology trends are going on [ 4 ]. In addition, new technological developments seem to provide for a more efficient extraction/refining of ethanol from the plant fibres [ 5 ], [ 3 ] that may help to reduce the energy impact per hectare.  However, the number of arguments increase that call for a more critical/comprehensive consideration of the production of bio-ethanol. Two issues are addressed: the different energy efficiency in the production of bio-ethanol in different regions and the water demand of the (mono culture) plantation, e.g. [ 6 ]-[ 9 ]. Accordingly, Souther...

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article By today the third regional representation of SWM THiNKTANK has been established: SWM Americas   Web: http://swm-americas.blogspot.com/ |  LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=4252116 Feel invited to share our experience of the birth and growth of a serious and responsible player in the field of sustainability: SWM THiNKTANK . Stay tuned, think different, make it happen.   Further readings: [ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ]

-- an SWM THiNKTANK article updated 2012-04-02 A c cording to a most recent news paper article [ 1 ] the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) has revised its current expectations/prognosis regarding the potential energy supply by hydro power downwards by almost 50%. This is a substantial revision of the 2011 assumptions according to which hydro power in Switzerland could provide about 6 terawatt hours (TWh). Today the overall, annual energy supply by hydro power is expected to be in the range of ~3.2 TWh. As key factors motivating this revision among others 'strengthened emphasis on protecting natural heritage', 'exclusion of projects in protected areas' but also 'deficient political will' are quoted [ 1 ] . This once more shows the sensitivity associated with the so far actively promoted renunciation of the energy supply by means of non-renewable energy carriers. This most recent modification may also be expected to have notable effects on the expec...