ENVIRONMENTAL VENTURE PROJECTS: Food Security: Food Security
Menu Messaging to Reduce Meat Consumption »
High levels of meat consumption pose severe environmental and health risks. Globally, livestock produce 14.5 to 18 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, an amount larger than the entire transportation sector. Moreover, residents of many developed countries consume far more meat than is considered healthy.
Social and environmental transformation in Chile's aquaculture industry, 1950-2000 »
Recognizing that it is difficult to ameliorate environmental problems without understanding their connections to associated social changes, we aim to research the complex feedback loops that connect environmental and social change in the salmon-farming industry of southern Chile. We propose to map and analyze the social transformations brought about by...
An alternative development model? Assessing solar electrification for income generation in rural Benin »
Beginning in summer 2007, the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF, a US-based NGO) in collaboration with local organizations began a project to electrify the entire Kalale district of northern Benin with photovoltaic (PV) solar systems. Thanks to the randomized, single-treatment project design, the Kalale project provides an ideal laboratory and...
Consequences of increased global meat consumption on the global environment -- trade in virtual water, energy & nutrients »
Meat production is projected to double by 2020 due to increased per capita global consumption of meat and population growth. Most of this increase in production will come through industrialized animal production systems. These trends will have major consequences on the global environment. Vast transfers of "virtual" energy, water and...