The next hot commodity for investors could be one you think is everywhere, but which in reality is increasingly hard to find: Clean, fresh water.
To be sure, it's easy to suffer from crisis overload these days. Climate change. Crop failures. Tornadoes. Oil spills. The list goes on. But of all the issues, water is probably the most troubling yet underappreciated.
According to the United Nations, 50% of the global population will be living in water-stressed regions by 2030. Citigroup estimates that about one-third of the global population will not have access to adequate drinking water by 2025. Right now, 35% of the world's population, or 2.4 billion people, do not have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, the U.N. says.
These issues are poised to result in political turmoil, because more than 20 countries today get more than half their drinking water from rivers flowing out of neighboring countries, and more than 240 water basins around the world cross political borders. Major rivers like the Colorado and the Rio Grande, sucked dry by thirsty municipalities and farmers, now reach the ocean only during very wet years. Imagine the issues to be faced in the years to come along rivers like the Mekong, which flows through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The problem is that the world is using too much. Water demand in the United States has tripled in the past 30 years while population has grown just 50%. Every 20 years, world water consumption doubles -- a growth rate twice that of population.
Water also plays a central role in the major investment themes set to play out in the decades to come: the rise of the emerging-market economies, increased demands on the world's arable land (a result of the spread of high-protein diets), and increased urbanization.
People, as they become wealthier, tend to use more water. Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency put average American household water consumption at about 100 to 150 gallons per day per person, by far the highest in the world. Compare that to an average of 74 gallons in Europe, just 35 gallons by the Swiss and 23 gallons by the Chinese. Africans use just 17 gallons. Now, think of all the double-head showers being installed in tony condos throughout China and India.
Next up is agriculture, by far the largest user of water at 70% of demand globally. Because of rising population and the need to raise and feed the cattle and poultry bound for the plates of increasingly carnivorous Asian gastronomes, the U.N. estimates that an additional 10% of farmland will be put into use by 2030. That will increase total water demand by 14%.
And finally, the great human migration into cites will further strain antiquated infrastructure in the developed world and force the construction of new facilities in the emerging world. In 1950, 29% of the world lived in cities. The U.N. estimates that number will be 60% by 2030.
How bad is the problem? The EPA estimates that the cost of upgrading and replacing America's dilapidated water infrastructure will be more than $1 trillion. At current spending rates, it would take us 700 years to replace aging water assets.
It gets worse. Aqua America, a utility that operates between Texas and Maine, reports that it operates with some 75-year-old pipes. York Water still uses some cast iron pipes from 1840. In Boston, they've recently found wooden pipes still connecting water mains to historic residences. And in New York City, many water mains are nearly 100 years old.
It's not just an American problem. London reportedly loses 50% of treated drinking water to leaks in old pipes.
my back is KILLING ME right now. trying to stand up straight is a painful process. what’s worse is that it is a slow process because it hurts so much to stand up. this only prolongs to pain. ugh. i don’t know why it is hurting so bad, either. i don’t think that i did anything that would have hurt it except sleep funny.
yesterday we had a puppy play date. four dogs in all were at the house. they were running around outside and playing in the house. by the time all of the dogs had left the house i was exhausted and fell asleep.
It was a privilege for OpenClinica to help with the “Future of Open Source” survey recently completed by Michael Skok of North Bridge Ventures, Black Duck and Forrester. The survey polled users and other stakeholders across the entire spectrum of OSS.
Recently published results from the survey substantiate the idea that open source is ‘eating the software world’s lunch’ (to borrow a phrase from Michael). OSS powers innovation, increases security, and enables a virtuous cycle of proliferation and participation across major sectors of our economy. This is even true in healthcare and life sciences, and we are seeing these trends within OpenClinica community. People are adopting OpenClinica and other open source research technologies because of the quality, flexibility, and security they provide, not just to save a buck or two.
What I find particularly significant in the results is the increased recognition of quality as a key driver of adopting open source. 8 out of 10 survey respondents indicate quality as a factor for increased OSS adoption. This has vaulted from the #5 factor in the 2011 survey to #1. In research, quality and integrity of data are paramount. OpenClinica’s active (and vocal!) community’s constant scrutiny of the code, and continuous improvements demonstrate the power of the open source model in producing quality software. Furthermore, working in a regulated environment means you need to do more than just have quality technology. You also must provide documented evidence of its quality and know how to implement it reliably. The transparent development practices of open source are huge contributors to achieving the quality and reliability that clinical trials platforms require. Knowing that feature requests and bug reports are all publicly reported, tracked, and commentable means nothing can hide under the rug. A public source code respository provides a history of all changes to a piece of code. And of course, it greatly helps that many of the key tools and infrastructure that power open source projects are open source themselves.
“As a result of all this, Open Source is enjoying a grassroots-led proliferation that starts with a growing number of new developers and extends through the vendors and enterprises to the applications and services, industries and verticals, reaching more people and things in our everyday lives than ever before… there are now over 1 million open source projects with over 100 billion lines of code and 10 million people contributing.”
One thing I predict we’ll see a lot more of in the next year, especially for OpenClinica and life sciences as a whole, is greater interaction between projects and communities. OSS reduces traditional barriers and lets more people ‘get their hands dirty’ with tools and technologies. As OSS tools, libraries, and apps proliferate, innovation will increasingly come from the mashups of these projects.
Air condishuning and sun puddlez tied fur first place, firefliez wuz next, and lastly, fresh catnips. I puts up noo poll soon. Iz still a Caturday Poll but I no has computer until today so will only be 5 days to vote!