*****
The Carbon Micro Credit -- The Gold Standard of the Developing World
CARBON SAVINGS & LOAN
The PEOPLE'S CENTRAL CARBON BANK
The CARBON TRUST BANK -- In Carbon We Trust
"This Carbon is Legal Tender for All Debts, Public & Private"
Carbon Micro Credits, transmutable into e-gold, e-money, local currency, or cell phone minutes, could become the Euro of Africa and other regions of the Developing World. Unlike paper fiat currencies that governments invariably inflate to blow away state debts, cell phone-based Carbon Micro Credits are not inflatable for several reasons: First, they can only be produced and earned daily in a fixed quantity. Second, the participating mobile carriers would never inflate minute allocations and thereby overload their networks. Third, the original buyer of the bundled Carbon Micro Credits has only paid for the issuance of a fixed amount of credits, which likewise fixes the minutes allocated.
Through these checks & balances, Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) and their equivalent value in cell phone minutes (or other e-currencies) will serve as a fungible store of value and trade that transcends national boundaries. These non-governmental non-debaseable electronic doubloons will form a non-inflatable currency pool that renews itself daily.
Moreover, through cell phone-based money transfer systems such as Safaricom's M-PESA or Obopay.com, CMCs/cell minutes could be converted to a cash equivalent and withdrawn at any participating store or bank in Africa. There is no reason why not, seen as the bundled CMCs were originally pre-sold and a portion of the cash paid to the mobile carrier performing the back-office accounting and conversion -- refer to the 2nd post at the bottom of this Blog entitled "Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) Flow of Funds" (26 Oct 2008).
A few African countries such as Zimbabwe are now experiencing inflation or hyperinflation due to currency debasement -- or "printing their way to prosperity". Many other countries rely on circulating off-shore stores of U.S. dollars as a "hard" currency; however, the US$ is projected to experience its own collapse or severe depreciation in 2009 - 2010 due to excessive U.S. Government deficit spending. Therefore, Africa needs its own pan-continental currency as a long-term store of value, and to facilitate cross-border trade.
As well, the African people need their own People's Central Bank that issues and stores a currency that cannot be corrupted by government -- Carbon Micro Credits issued and stored at transnational mobile carriers such as MTN and Safaricom would be a synthetic equivalent -- a virtual African Carbon Savings & Loan, and the Carbon Micro Credit could be its Roman denarius or Greek decadrachma, to name two universal stores of value and trade that served Mankind well for centuries.
Gold has a universal value or readily identifiable market price anywhere on planet Earth. In view of global warming, likewise, a carbon-based currency should have universal value in any land. Eventually the disparate cap & trade, carbon tax regimes, and green house gas trading exchanges worldwide will coalesce, and the market price of a carbon offset or carbon permit (one metric ton of CO2 emissions) will, like gold, have a specific recognized market price anywhere.
In short, a global carbon offset-backed currency could appear -- let us call it the Carbo or Karbo, or Crbo or Krbo -- and a Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC = 2 kilograms of CO2/day/person) would just be 1/500th of this universal currency.
The Carbo / Karbo would transcend all national borders in its electronic forms -- the e-Carbo / e-Karbo, and be "Legal Tender for All Debts, Public & Private" worldwide.
Finally, because emission reductions efforts will take decades and because reduction of absolute concentrations of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere will take centuries, and because the supply of CO2 credits/emissions will be constrained, just as the supply of gold is constrained, the Carbo / Karbo should be a store of value for 100s of years.
Caesar would be proud.
Globally & warmly yours,
David A. Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Coming Carbon-Credits Cambrian Explosion
*****
The Imminent Carbon Offsets Bubble
"Would you like a carbon credit with your fries?"
With the incoming Obama administration, with an impoverished Wall Street desperately seeking bonuses in the Dust Bowl of The Great Credit Crunch, and with a global-warming tipping point looming in the offing, we will soon experience a Carbon-Credits Cambrian Explosion of unimaginable scale.
How BIG will the Carbon Credit Bubble become ?
So BIG that Hollywood stars living in Santa Barbara will agree to CO2 sequestration projects in their backyards and claim carbon credits. So BIG that mid-west farmers will tape vibration-activated ignition devices to the butts of their cows to flare methane emissions and then claim carbon credits. So BIG, restaurant chains will stop serving baked beans and file claims for green-house-gas emission reductions.
So BIG, crematorium owners will shut down, become total deadbeats and live off their claimed carbon offsets. So BIG, Detroit auto execs will fly first-class instead of using private corporate jets and then claim carbon credits. So BIG, fast-food chains will offer you uncooked fries and the opportunity to buy a matching nano carbon offset.
So BIG your stockbroker, who by definition makes you broker, and your insurance agent will be calling to sell you:
-- (1) Carbon-backed Securities
-- (2) Carbon Default Swaps
-- (3) Collateralized Carbon Obligations
-- (4) Carbon Sequestration Annuities
-- (5) Individual Carbon Retirement Accounts
-- (6) Carbon Cancer Insurance
-- (7) Carbon Burial Insurance
-- (8) Catastrophic Global Warming Insurance
-- (9) Methane Explosion Liability Insurance
-- (10) Carbon offset hedge funds, and, it follows logically:
-- (11) Carbon offset hedge funds of funds.
So BIG.......well, you get the picture.
And in the face of this menagerie of beastly offsets from the Rich Countries of the World, how will Carbon Micro Credits from Africa and Asia fare ? Will they find a market at a living wage ? Is there indeed a Carbon Santa Claus for the deserving Poor in the Developing World ? Or will the Rich in the Developed World game the system to make the lease payments on their Jaguars and Escalades ?
The answer really depends on YOU. Spread the Word today about cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credits and the superior merit of carbon offsets produced by poor INDIVIDUALS and FAMILIES in the Developing World living on less that US$ 1 - 2 per day. Carbon Micro Credits are daily manna from Heaven for the Poor. Make sure they stand at the front of the line wherever carbon offsets are sold.
Globally & warmly yours,
David A. Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
The Imminent Carbon Offsets Bubble
"Would you like a carbon credit with your fries?"
With the incoming Obama administration, with an impoverished Wall Street desperately seeking bonuses in the Dust Bowl of The Great Credit Crunch, and with a global-warming tipping point looming in the offing, we will soon experience a Carbon-Credits Cambrian Explosion of unimaginable scale.
How BIG will the Carbon Credit Bubble become ?
So BIG that Hollywood stars living in Santa Barbara will agree to CO2 sequestration projects in their backyards and claim carbon credits. So BIG that mid-west farmers will tape vibration-activated ignition devices to the butts of their cows to flare methane emissions and then claim carbon credits. So BIG, restaurant chains will stop serving baked beans and file claims for green-house-gas emission reductions.
So BIG, crematorium owners will shut down, become total deadbeats and live off their claimed carbon offsets. So BIG, Detroit auto execs will fly first-class instead of using private corporate jets and then claim carbon credits. So BIG, fast-food chains will offer you uncooked fries and the opportunity to buy a matching nano carbon offset.
So BIG your stockbroker, who by definition makes you broker, and your insurance agent will be calling to sell you:
-- (1) Carbon-backed Securities
-- (2) Carbon Default Swaps
-- (3) Collateralized Carbon Obligations
-- (4) Carbon Sequestration Annuities
-- (5) Individual Carbon Retirement Accounts
-- (6) Carbon Cancer Insurance
-- (7) Carbon Burial Insurance
-- (8) Catastrophic Global Warming Insurance
-- (9) Methane Explosion Liability Insurance
-- (10) Carbon offset hedge funds, and, it follows logically:
-- (11) Carbon offset hedge funds of funds.
So BIG.......well, you get the picture.
And in the face of this menagerie of beastly offsets from the Rich Countries of the World, how will Carbon Micro Credits from Africa and Asia fare ? Will they find a market at a living wage ? Is there indeed a Carbon Santa Claus for the deserving Poor in the Developing World ? Or will the Rich in the Developed World game the system to make the lease payments on their Jaguars and Escalades ?
The answer really depends on YOU. Spread the Word today about cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credits and the superior merit of carbon offsets produced by poor INDIVIDUALS and FAMILIES in the Developing World living on less that US$ 1 - 2 per day. Carbon Micro Credits are daily manna from Heaven for the Poor. Make sure they stand at the front of the line wherever carbon offsets are sold.
Globally & warmly yours,
David A. Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Friday, November 28, 2008
Flipping over Pharaoh's Pyramid
*****
"But many who are first will be last, and the last, first" [Matthew 19:30]
Shortening the Long Tail ?
Means Testing for Carbon Credit Originators -- Vol. II
"Let them eat carbon!"
As implementation of the Carbon Micro Credit system approaches mega scale, the worldwide supply of carbon credits may grow faster than demand. What happens then ? Will a supply glut reduce price below marginal production cost, leading to no material gains for micro-originators? Will the Poor at the "Bottom of the Pyramid" be told there is no market for their laboriously-produced Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) ?
No, rather, Means Testing should be applied to all producers or originators of carbon credits worldwide, and their produced credits graded or assigned a relative valuation according to social merit and redeeming value to Mankind. And the largest relative economic gains should flow to the most needy.
In short, the last should be first, and the first, last. The bottom shall become the top, and the top, the bottom. Or, to quote Karl Marx: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". Let the better educated in Developed Countries, or those in more developed "Developing Countries" fend for themselves. Rich pharaoh's pyramid shall be flipped over.
Hence, the current dichotomy under the Kyoto Protocol of "Developed" country versus "Developing" country-of-origin should be expanded to multiple levels of development and relative valuation, such as, from the most-valuable carbon credits to least:
-- (i) DevelopING Credits - Platinum -- relative valuation = 1.0
-- (ii) DevelopING Credits - Gold -- relative valuation = 0.9
-- (iii) DevelopING Credits - Silver -- relative valuation = 0.8
------------------
-- (iv) DevelopED Credits - Nickel -- relative valuation = 0.4
-- (v) DevelopED Credits - Copper-- relative valuation = 0.3
-- (vi) DevelopED Credits - Zinc-- relative valuation = 0.2
Such a hierarchy of rankings could be applied to countries as a whole, or to specific projects from within any country. The Relative Valuations would deflate or discount excessive supply from Developed Countries or large corporations in any country whose projects perhaps border on failing a test of Additionality anyway.
The Carbon Micro Credit Registry (CMC Registry) described in detail in an earlier post below will allow for end-to-end tracing of Carbon Micro Credits and ensure that like credits are bundled together, or, analogously -- that Champagne really is made from grapes from Champagne -- and not from Normandy or Brittany. Or, that AAA-rated mortgages are not bundled with sub-prime loans.
As Greenland becomes a big Bermuda, as the Northwest Passage becomes the Northwest Ocean, as Antarctica's ice shelves break off and float to The Falklands -- suddenly raising sea levels 1 - 3 inches in few years -- the entire world will get religion and start producing 100s of millions of tons of carbon credits via 1,000s of different programs.
A Carbon Cambrian Explosion will result courtesy of Wall Street and carbon gold diggers worldwide. Supply will exceed demand, including both voluntary and legislated demand. Who then should be first in line to sell their carbon credits, and at what price? Will the Poor eat carbon, like the mud pies in Haiti?
"But many who are first will be last, and the last, first" [Matthew 19:30]
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
"But many who are first will be last, and the last, first" [Matthew 19:30]
Shortening the Long Tail ?
Means Testing for Carbon Credit Originators -- Vol. II
"Let them eat carbon!"
As implementation of the Carbon Micro Credit system approaches mega scale, the worldwide supply of carbon credits may grow faster than demand. What happens then ? Will a supply glut reduce price below marginal production cost, leading to no material gains for micro-originators? Will the Poor at the "Bottom of the Pyramid" be told there is no market for their laboriously-produced Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) ?
No, rather, Means Testing should be applied to all producers or originators of carbon credits worldwide, and their produced credits graded or assigned a relative valuation according to social merit and redeeming value to Mankind. And the largest relative economic gains should flow to the most needy.
In short, the last should be first, and the first, last. The bottom shall become the top, and the top, the bottom. Or, to quote Karl Marx: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". Let the better educated in Developed Countries, or those in more developed "Developing Countries" fend for themselves. Rich pharaoh's pyramid shall be flipped over.
Hence, the current dichotomy under the Kyoto Protocol of "Developed" country versus "Developing" country-of-origin should be expanded to multiple levels of development and relative valuation, such as, from the most-valuable carbon credits to least:
-- (i) DevelopING Credits - Platinum -- relative valuation = 1.0
-- (ii) DevelopING Credits - Gold -- relative valuation = 0.9
-- (iii) DevelopING Credits - Silver -- relative valuation = 0.8
------------------
-- (iv) DevelopED Credits - Nickel -- relative valuation = 0.4
-- (v) DevelopED Credits - Copper-- relative valuation = 0.3
-- (vi) DevelopED Credits - Zinc-- relative valuation = 0.2
Such a hierarchy of rankings could be applied to countries as a whole, or to specific projects from within any country. The Relative Valuations would deflate or discount excessive supply from Developed Countries or large corporations in any country whose projects perhaps border on failing a test of Additionality anyway.
The Carbon Micro Credit Registry (CMC Registry) described in detail in an earlier post below will allow for end-to-end tracing of Carbon Micro Credits and ensure that like credits are bundled together, or, analogously -- that Champagne really is made from grapes from Champagne -- and not from Normandy or Brittany. Or, that AAA-rated mortgages are not bundled with sub-prime loans.
As Greenland becomes a big Bermuda, as the Northwest Passage becomes the Northwest Ocean, as Antarctica's ice shelves break off and float to The Falklands -- suddenly raising sea levels 1 - 3 inches in few years -- the entire world will get religion and start producing 100s of millions of tons of carbon credits via 1,000s of different programs.
A Carbon Cambrian Explosion will result courtesy of Wall Street and carbon gold diggers worldwide. Supply will exceed demand, including both voluntary and legislated demand. Who then should be first in line to sell their carbon credits, and at what price? Will the Poor eat carbon, like the mud pies in Haiti?
"But many who are first will be last, and the last, first" [Matthew 19:30]
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Microfinance X.0 -- An Extreme Makeover
*****
Generation X Microfinance
The Linux O.S. for Microfinance
Super-sizing Microfinance -- "Over 1 billion served" ?
Strategic Microfinance Initiative
The cell phone is THE Solution
How can microfinance rapidly address the immediate needs of "the Next Billion"? Rather thank just a few million people?
The Next Generation of Microfinance must embrace for-profit Free Enterprise, as well as Star Wars-caliber thinking a la Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. Therefore, the main characteristics of Microfinance X.0 will be:
(1) Scales RAPIDLY to 10,000s or 100,000s of families in the Developing World due to consistent SOPs (standard operating procedures), accepted international standards (e.g., the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit & Carbon Micro Credit Registry described in earlier posts below), and parsimony / simplicity
(2) Self-funding, self-regenerating and markets-based via Carbon Micro Credits or another perpetual funding mechanism; No charity is required
(3) It must be based on an inexpensive device or technology platform that ALREADY exists in situ (in place) in the 100s of millions or billions of units. This means the cell phone or mobile. There's no other "solution"
(4) Open source code and completely public domain -- no proprietary systems, software nor equipment, no secret sauce or know-how, no control by any single company, bank, NGO or charity -- in short, the Linux operating system (O.S.) of Microfinance
(5) The only control or referee ? -- one small, non-profit standards-setting group/body that RAPIDLY defines the the SOPs, measures and international standards described below in this blog
(6) Accomplishes multiple goals at once including:
-- (i) MicroEducation
-- (ii) MicroMedicine or public health, and
-- (iii) mitigating global warming.
The current focus is mainly on poverty elimination only; and, finally
(7) No egos involved, no looooong self-laudatory bio's and no "Donate Now" buttons on web sites, no CPU-intensive flash routines on web sites targeting viewers in the Developing World, and no resourceless non-profit minds with zero-sum thinking.
Microfinance X.0 is the roadmap for enfranchising the "Next Billion". Let's free microfinance from the shackles of charity and a poverty of imagination.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Generation X Microfinance
The Linux O.S. for Microfinance
Super-sizing Microfinance -- "Over 1 billion served" ?
Strategic Microfinance Initiative
The cell phone is THE Solution
How can microfinance rapidly address the immediate needs of "the Next Billion"? Rather thank just a few million people?
The Next Generation of Microfinance must embrace for-profit Free Enterprise, as well as Star Wars-caliber thinking a la Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. Therefore, the main characteristics of Microfinance X.0 will be:
(1) Scales RAPIDLY to 10,000s or 100,000s of families in the Developing World due to consistent SOPs (standard operating procedures), accepted international standards (e.g., the Standard International Carbon Micro Credit & Carbon Micro Credit Registry described in earlier posts below), and parsimony / simplicity
(2) Self-funding, self-regenerating and markets-based via Carbon Micro Credits or another perpetual funding mechanism; No charity is required
(3) It must be based on an inexpensive device or technology platform that ALREADY exists in situ (in place) in the 100s of millions or billions of units. This means the cell phone or mobile. There's no other "solution"
(4) Open source code and completely public domain -- no proprietary systems, software nor equipment, no secret sauce or know-how, no control by any single company, bank, NGO or charity -- in short, the Linux operating system (O.S.) of Microfinance
(5) The only control or referee ? -- one small, non-profit standards-setting group/body that RAPIDLY defines the the SOPs, measures and international standards described below in this blog
(6) Accomplishes multiple goals at once including:
-- (i) MicroEducation
-- (ii) MicroMedicine or public health, and
-- (iii) mitigating global warming.
The current focus is mainly on poverty elimination only; and, finally
(7) No egos involved, no looooong self-laudatory bio's and no "Donate Now" buttons on web sites, no CPU-intensive flash routines on web sites targeting viewers in the Developing World, and no resourceless non-profit minds with zero-sum thinking.
Microfinance X.0 is the roadmap for enfranchising the "Next Billion". Let's free microfinance from the shackles of charity and a poverty of imagination.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Means Testing for Carbon Credit Originators?
*****
Means Testing for Carbon Offset Originators ?
The Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) as widow's mite ?
Can carbon offsets roll downhill ?
Carbon Trading -- a USD/US$ 100 billion market by 2010
Out of Africa ? And back into Africa ?
"The World Bank estimates that the size of the carbon market was USD 11 billion in 2005, USD 30 billion in 2006, and USD 64 billion in 2007" [Wikipedia.org]. Various sources estimate the global carbon trading market to reach the nice-round number of USD 100 billion by the nice-round date of 2010.
No wonder this carbon honey-pot has attracted 100s of carbon carpetbaggers, carbon gold diggers and financial opportunists from the rich nations of our Developed World. So how long before we see these gems of Wall Street engineering appear on the carbon trading scene ?
(1) CBS = Carbon-backed Securities ?
(2) CDS = Carbon Default Swaps ?
(3) CCO = Collateralized Carbon Obligations ? -- and
(4) Carbon offset hedge funds ?
They're coming to a brokerage near you sometime soon, sadly.
In great contrast, the cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) described in this blog, which are produced on the ground in the Developing World by solar cooking or by other real activities of poor individuals, are the pennies saved in a child's piggybank and the widow's mites given at the temple.
Such offsets should have greater market value than those produced by major corporations in China, India and South Korea by means of stretching the bounds of the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), e.g., by reducing NO2 emissions at a chemical plant, which should have been done ethically anyway with no reward at all of CDM carbon credits.
In short, the entire carbon credit / offset field should implement means testing, such that carbon credits are awarded from the Bottom of the Pyramid upwards. Now, carbon credits are given to the rich or middle-class at the Top or Middle of the Pyramid. But the Bottom has the greatest need, and ethically their offsets should be sold first and at higher rates/ton.
But how do we make carbon credits roll downhill -- and reliably identify their origin ? Consistent and broad implementation of the cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) system will eventually pull carbon credits downward to their rightful resting place in the hands of the world's most deserving people. In parallel, however, major nations, leagues of nations, NGOs, charities and influential opinion leaders worldwide should lobby for this transformative reallocation of the rewards of the carbon-trading industry.
The cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credit system described here makes it all possible today.
USD 100 billion for Wall Street bonuses ?
Or USD 100 each for 1 billion needy people in Africa ?
You decide.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Means Testing for Carbon Offset Originators ?
The Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) as widow's mite ?
Can carbon offsets roll downhill ?
Carbon Trading -- a USD/US$ 100 billion market by 2010
Out of Africa ? And back into Africa ?
"The World Bank estimates that the size of the carbon market was USD 11 billion in 2005, USD 30 billion in 2006, and USD 64 billion in 2007" [Wikipedia.org]. Various sources estimate the global carbon trading market to reach the nice-round number of USD 100 billion by the nice-round date of 2010.
No wonder this carbon honey-pot has attracted 100s of carbon carpetbaggers, carbon gold diggers and financial opportunists from the rich nations of our Developed World. So how long before we see these gems of Wall Street engineering appear on the carbon trading scene ?
(1) CBS = Carbon-backed Securities ?
(2) CDS = Carbon Default Swaps ?
(3) CCO = Collateralized Carbon Obligations ? -- and
(4) Carbon offset hedge funds ?
They're coming to a brokerage near you sometime soon, sadly.
In great contrast, the cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) described in this blog, which are produced on the ground in the Developing World by solar cooking or by other real activities of poor individuals, are the pennies saved in a child's piggybank and the widow's mites given at the temple.
Such offsets should have greater market value than those produced by major corporations in China, India and South Korea by means of stretching the bounds of the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), e.g., by reducing NO2 emissions at a chemical plant, which should have been done ethically anyway with no reward at all of CDM carbon credits.
In short, the entire carbon credit / offset field should implement means testing, such that carbon credits are awarded from the Bottom of the Pyramid upwards. Now, carbon credits are given to the rich or middle-class at the Top or Middle of the Pyramid. But the Bottom has the greatest need, and ethically their offsets should be sold first and at higher rates/ton.
But how do we make carbon credits roll downhill -- and reliably identify their origin ? Consistent and broad implementation of the cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) system will eventually pull carbon credits downward to their rightful resting place in the hands of the world's most deserving people. In parallel, however, major nations, leagues of nations, NGOs, charities and influential opinion leaders worldwide should lobby for this transformative reallocation of the rewards of the carbon-trading industry.
The cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credit system described here makes it all possible today.
USD 100 billion for Wall Street bonuses ?
Or USD 100 each for 1 billion needy people in Africa ?
You decide.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
The Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) Cell Phone
*****
The Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) Cell Phone
Supersizing Micro-finance, Micro-medicine & Micro-education
The Carbon Phone / CO2phone / CO2fon for "The Long Tail"
The Carbon Mobile / Carbon mobi / CO2mobi for "The Bottom of the Pyramid"
What features would the perfect cell phone or CO2fon have to permit easy monetization of the carbon footprints of the Poor in the Developing World? That is, to supersize microfinance to the scale of "Over 1 billion served"?
Plus, what features should it have to fulfill the ancillary objectives of:
(A) Telemedicine
(B) Tele-education and
(C) an Emergency Broadcast System for national disasters?
In short, to supersize the analogous fields of micromedicine and microeducation?
Such a carbon mobile would have:
(1) One-button dialing to send an SMS message (Short Message Service) to the local mobile carrier to claim one's daily Carbon Micro Credit (CMC)
(2) One-button access to see one's daily balance (credit or debit) of CMCs or equivalent cell-phone minutes or equivalent cash/local currency or non-inflatable e-gold
(3) the GSMA / ETSI-endorsed Single-Wire Protocol to allow an embedded NFC (Near Field Communication) chipset to communicate with wireless / no-contact readers to enable a variety of e-credit & e-debit transactions to access cash, make deposits or buy goods at local stores
(4) SMS reception capability that cannot be blocked to allow broadcast of public health messages, such as upcoming vaccine campaigns or outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Marburg, Ebola, dengue, malaria, hanta or Yersinia pestis (the plague).
(5) a built-in FM radio for the same reason in #4 above. Many Nokia phones have such built-in FM radios, thus making a cell phone-radio combo the ultimate "push" device for objectives A - C above -- telemedicine, tele-education and national emergencies
(6) a large, multi-script-capable, versatile screen/display to allow children to type text in various languages/alphabets including the Roman alphabet, Chinese characters or Japanese kanji, the Cyrillic alphabet and Arabic script
(7) high-level calculator and mathematical functions, routines and lessons to allow children to teach themselves math, algebra and calculus -- the universal languages
(8) Key-board icons that are globally intuitive and not overly-stylized nor trendy
(9) GPS and caller ID capability to locate lost or missing children
(10) an attached winder or crank to charge the battery manually, and/or solar-cell-covered surfaces for passive charging; and
(11) rugged and water-proof construction to survive life in the Developing World for many years.
Including all the features above is not absolutely necessary. Keeping manufacturing costs low is critical. A minimalist cell phone can be made "almost for nothing", one executive at NXP Semiconductors told me recently.
Design for Functionality in an environment where many adults are illiterate is most important. Another design tenet should be "Design for Compliance", so every head-of-household religiously claims their allocated Carbon Micro Credits every day. Design simplicity will boost adoption rates and facilitate monetization of a billion carbon footprints.
In sum, the Carbon Micro Credits Cell Phone is the savings account of the Poor; the bank and the ATM; the doctor and the nurse; their children's teacher and the school; and finally -- the Poor's business partner and carbon-footprint defender.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
The Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) Cell Phone
Supersizing Micro-finance, Micro-medicine & Micro-education
The Carbon Phone / CO2phone / CO2fon for "The Long Tail"
The Carbon Mobile / Carbon mobi / CO2mobi for "The Bottom of the Pyramid"
What features would the perfect cell phone or CO2fon have to permit easy monetization of the carbon footprints of the Poor in the Developing World? That is, to supersize microfinance to the scale of "Over 1 billion served"?
Plus, what features should it have to fulfill the ancillary objectives of:
(A) Telemedicine
(B) Tele-education and
(C) an Emergency Broadcast System for national disasters?
In short, to supersize the analogous fields of micromedicine and microeducation?
Such a carbon mobile would have:
(1) One-button dialing to send an SMS message (Short Message Service) to the local mobile carrier to claim one's daily Carbon Micro Credit (CMC)
(2) One-button access to see one's daily balance (credit or debit) of CMCs or equivalent cell-phone minutes or equivalent cash/local currency or non-inflatable e-gold
(3) the GSMA / ETSI-endorsed Single-Wire Protocol to allow an embedded NFC (Near Field Communication) chipset to communicate with wireless / no-contact readers to enable a variety of e-credit & e-debit transactions to access cash, make deposits or buy goods at local stores
(4) SMS reception capability that cannot be blocked to allow broadcast of public health messages, such as upcoming vaccine campaigns or outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Marburg, Ebola, dengue, malaria, hanta or Yersinia pestis (the plague).
(5) a built-in FM radio for the same reason in #4 above. Many Nokia phones have such built-in FM radios, thus making a cell phone-radio combo the ultimate "push" device for objectives A - C above -- telemedicine, tele-education and national emergencies
(6) a large, multi-script-capable, versatile screen/display to allow children to type text in various languages/alphabets including the Roman alphabet, Chinese characters or Japanese kanji, the Cyrillic alphabet and Arabic script
(7) high-level calculator and mathematical functions, routines and lessons to allow children to teach themselves math, algebra and calculus -- the universal languages
(8) Key-board icons that are globally intuitive and not overly-stylized nor trendy
(9) GPS and caller ID capability to locate lost or missing children
(10) an attached winder or crank to charge the battery manually, and/or solar-cell-covered surfaces for passive charging; and
(11) rugged and water-proof construction to survive life in the Developing World for many years.
Including all the features above is not absolutely necessary. Keeping manufacturing costs low is critical. A minimalist cell phone can be made "almost for nothing", one executive at NXP Semiconductors told me recently.
Design for Functionality in an environment where many adults are illiterate is most important. Another design tenet should be "Design for Compliance", so every head-of-household religiously claims their allocated Carbon Micro Credits every day. Design simplicity will boost adoption rates and facilitate monetization of a billion carbon footprints.
In sum, the Carbon Micro Credits Cell Phone is the savings account of the Poor; the bank and the ATM; the doctor and the nurse; their children's teacher and the school; and finally -- the Poor's business partner and carbon-footprint defender.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Super-sizing Micro-finance
*****
SUPERSIZING MICROFINANCE / Super-sizing Micro-finance
The McDonald's of Microfinancing ?
Various ambitious charitable or NGO initiatives exist to connect a "billion" people in the Developing World to the internet, the telecom grid, or an electronic banking system. However, they all rely to a degree (or totally) on charity or microfinance funding mechanisms that are self-limiting. In contrast, the cell-phone-based, self-funding Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) system described in this blog has no such limitations, and allows for the first time the supersizing of microfinance.
The World of Micro-Financing would benefit greatly by emulating the business model of McDonald's -- applying consistent standards worldwide in every location, while permitting small customization at the local level. Hence the other entries in this blog describing:
(1) a Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) = 2 kilograms of CO2/person/day in the Developing World
(2) a Universal Carbon-Micro-Credit (CMC) Registry; and
(3) a CMC Operating System or CMC software architecture for cell phone-based accounting, trading and monetization of Carbon Micro Credits.
International agreement on such standards would permit the rapid implementation of Carbon Micro Credit projects anywhere worldwide in a few weeks or months. In contrast, some of the "billion" initiatives described on internet sites talk about timelines measured in decades, sadly.
With consistent standards, Carbon Micro Credits could rapidly become the Big Macs, frequent-flyer miles, or carbon Euros of the Developing World -- a uniform measure, store of value and versatile currency for the world's poorest people.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
SUPERSIZING MICROFINANCE / Super-sizing Micro-finance
The McDonald's of Microfinancing ?
Various ambitious charitable or NGO initiatives exist to connect a "billion" people in the Developing World to the internet, the telecom grid, or an electronic banking system. However, they all rely to a degree (or totally) on charity or microfinance funding mechanisms that are self-limiting. In contrast, the cell-phone-based, self-funding Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) system described in this blog has no such limitations, and allows for the first time the supersizing of microfinance.
The World of Micro-Financing would benefit greatly by emulating the business model of McDonald's -- applying consistent standards worldwide in every location, while permitting small customization at the local level. Hence the other entries in this blog describing:
(1) a Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) = 2 kilograms of CO2/person/day in the Developing World
(2) a Universal Carbon-Micro-Credit (CMC) Registry; and
(3) a CMC Operating System or CMC software architecture for cell phone-based accounting, trading and monetization of Carbon Micro Credits.
International agreement on such standards would permit the rapid implementation of Carbon Micro Credit projects anywhere worldwide in a few weeks or months. In contrast, some of the "billion" initiatives described on internet sites talk about timelines measured in decades, sadly.
With consistent standards, Carbon Micro Credits could rapidly become the Big Macs, frequent-flyer miles, or carbon Euros of the Developing World -- a uniform measure, store of value and versatile currency for the world's poorest people.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Carbon-Micro-Credit (CMC) Registry
*****
Universal Carbon-Micro-Credit (CMC) Registry
Caller ID or Radio-tagging for Carbon Credits ?
Fingerprinting Carbon Credits for Traceability ?
Social Security Numbers for Carbon Offsets ?
Do you know what your carbon offsets are doing today ?
Carbon Credit ankle bracelets ?
Do you know from where your purchased carbon-offsets came ? From a factory in a Developing Country violating child-labor laws ? From a cement plant polluting the local water table ? From a nuclear power plant that received excessive credits under an ill-conceived cap & trade system ? Who knows ?
And for the sake of corporate image enhancement, shouldn't you buy carbon offsets or carbon micro offsets from individuals, families, villages, cities, regions and countries where you do business ? Or from such places where your customers do business, live, vacation, or about which your stakeholders care ?
For these reasons and the others explained below, end-to-end traceability of carbon offsets will eventually happen.
In the case of Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs), to facilitate their faster adoption, a Universal Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) Registry is needed. The Registry will be a look-up database of unique alphanumeric serial numbers that will be assigned to any device or small-scale project worldwide that generates Carbon Micro Credits, to include small methane-capture or reforestation / sustainability projects, conversion of 2-stroke motorcycles to direct fuel injection, or the use of solar cookers or more efficient charcoal cookers (e.g., a Uganda stove).
Groups or batches of sequential serial numbers would be created, assigned and either sold or donated to specific Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) projects worldwide. The serial numbers would contain fields designating these values or variables, among others:
(1) This device/project may generate only X Carbon Micro Credits/day
(2) This serial No. is valid for only X months or Y years
(3) The CMC's country of origin
(4) A unique portion of the No. to be used when claiming CMCs by cell phone
(5) The type/nature of the device or project generating the CMCs; and
(6) Other values / variables ?
So after X months or Y years the serial No. will expire and the user will no longer receive CMCs for that device or project.
Such a Universal Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) Registry with uniform serial No.s will allow development of a standardized CMC O.S. -- a CMC Operating System or CMC software architecture -- for mobile carriers, which will be outlined in a future post.
As well, for carbon offset buyers who care about the origin or provenance of the credits they are buying, the Registry will allow "radio tagging", fingerprinting or bar coding of every carbon credit or microcredit produced worldwide. Thus, every CMC produced will have a personality and local flavor that can be positioned and marketed to the most interested buyer willing to pay the highest price. In sum, the Registry will allow personalized marketing, perfect price discrimination, and revenue maximization for micro carbon credit producers.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Universal Carbon-Micro-Credit (CMC) Registry
Caller ID or Radio-tagging for Carbon Credits ?
Fingerprinting Carbon Credits for Traceability ?
Social Security Numbers for Carbon Offsets ?
Do you know what your carbon offsets are doing today ?
Carbon Credit ankle bracelets ?
Do you know from where your purchased carbon-offsets came ? From a factory in a Developing Country violating child-labor laws ? From a cement plant polluting the local water table ? From a nuclear power plant that received excessive credits under an ill-conceived cap & trade system ? Who knows ?
And for the sake of corporate image enhancement, shouldn't you buy carbon offsets or carbon micro offsets from individuals, families, villages, cities, regions and countries where you do business ? Or from such places where your customers do business, live, vacation, or about which your stakeholders care ?
For these reasons and the others explained below, end-to-end traceability of carbon offsets will eventually happen.
In the case of Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs), to facilitate their faster adoption, a Universal Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) Registry is needed. The Registry will be a look-up database of unique alphanumeric serial numbers that will be assigned to any device or small-scale project worldwide that generates Carbon Micro Credits, to include small methane-capture or reforestation / sustainability projects, conversion of 2-stroke motorcycles to direct fuel injection, or the use of solar cookers or more efficient charcoal cookers (e.g., a Uganda stove).
Groups or batches of sequential serial numbers would be created, assigned and either sold or donated to specific Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) projects worldwide. The serial numbers would contain fields designating these values or variables, among others:
(1) This device/project may generate only X Carbon Micro Credits/day
(2) This serial No. is valid for only X months or Y years
(3) The CMC's country of origin
(4) A unique portion of the No. to be used when claiming CMCs by cell phone
(5) The type/nature of the device or project generating the CMCs; and
(6) Other values / variables ?
So after X months or Y years the serial No. will expire and the user will no longer receive CMCs for that device or project.
Such a Universal Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) Registry with uniform serial No.s will allow development of a standardized CMC O.S. -- a CMC Operating System or CMC software architecture -- for mobile carriers, which will be outlined in a future post.
As well, for carbon offset buyers who care about the origin or provenance of the credits they are buying, the Registry will allow "radio tagging", fingerprinting or bar coding of every carbon credit or microcredit produced worldwide. Thus, every CMC produced will have a personality and local flavor that can be positioned and marketed to the most interested buyer willing to pay the highest price. In sum, the Registry will allow personalized marketing, perfect price discrimination, and revenue maximization for micro carbon credit producers.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Carbon Euro of the Developing World
*****
Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) = 2 kilograms of CO2
SICMC = MicroCO2 = mCO2 = myCO2 = myCO
The Carbon Euro of the Developing World
International NGOs should agree to an international standard for Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) and promulgate it for uniform worldwide use. A SICMC could be defined as follows, for example:
For normal sustenance in the Developing World the average human being requires 1,100 food calories, which requires XYZ BTUs (British Thermal Units) to cook with biomass, which if offset by cooking with solar means NM kilograms of CO2 are not emitted into the atmosphere because XY kilograms of biomass were not burnt.
NM kilograms of CO2 would then be the unit of measurement used to quantify produced CMCs worldwide. I guesstimate a SICMC would be around 1,800 - 2,000 grams/day of CO2 -- so let's say exactly 2 kilograms.
A recent article in WIRED magazine said producing a Big Mac (540 calories) results in the emission of 4.7 lbs of green house gases (GHG), or very close to 2 kilograms again. Diets in the Developing World are obviously not so energy intensive as beefy Big Macs, but the SICMC rule of thumb above is probably close to the true figure.
Once a SICMC was defined and agreed to worldwide by accreditation and auditing agencies/companies and NGOs, then auditing of solar cooking-based or Uganda stove-based CMC projects would be greatly streamlined. It would be highly ridiculous to try to quantify and audit the CMCs produced person by person, or family by family, or project by project in the Developing World.
Depending on the market price of a ton of carbon, a CMC is worth only about 3 - 5 cents. For a family of 5 in the Developing World it adds up to 15 - 25 cents/day. Us rich folks in the Developed World should let the Poor living on a dollar a day make an extra 15 - 25 cents per day without auditing them excessively. People have to eat and have to cook. They won't not cook and not eat to scam the system.
Moreover, in many parts of the Developing World the landscape has been denuded of natural biomass, leading to cooking with dried cow dung, among other highly-polluting carbon sources. The scarcity of naturally-occurring and easily available carbon/fuel sources means the average family spends 20 - 50 % of their daily income on imported manufactured fuel such as charcoal or propane. Hence, again, participants in a CMC program are highly financially incentivized to follow the rules and cook with solar or their Uganda stove.
In sum, I call here for NGOs worldwide to take action to define, standardize, promulgate and support the SICMC. Such NGOs would include the:
United Nations / UNICEF
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
OECD
World Bank
European Commission / European Union
ASEAN
Asian Development Bank
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
National Wildlife Federation
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and
many others.
Once a Standard International Carbon Micro-Credit (SICMC) is defined as 2 kgs (for example), then it is simple to calculate the market value of 2 kgs of CO2 (3-5 cents), and then convert this to equivalent cell phone minutes (1 - 5 minutes..?).
The number of cell phone minutes will vary by carrier and depend on local economics, but this is fine. Most people in the developing world transact business or call locally. But the SICMC could become the financial lingua franca or the Carbon Euro of of the Developing World, especially in Africa where most mobile carriers transact business in multiple countries.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Standard International Carbon Micro Credit (SICMC) = 2 kilograms of CO2
SICMC = MicroCO2 = mCO2 = myCO2 = myCO
The Carbon Euro of the Developing World
International NGOs should agree to an international standard for Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) and promulgate it for uniform worldwide use. A SICMC could be defined as follows, for example:
For normal sustenance in the Developing World the average human being requires 1,100 food calories, which requires XYZ BTUs (British Thermal Units) to cook with biomass, which if offset by cooking with solar means NM kilograms of CO2 are not emitted into the atmosphere because XY kilograms of biomass were not burnt.
NM kilograms of CO2 would then be the unit of measurement used to quantify produced CMCs worldwide. I guesstimate a SICMC would be around 1,800 - 2,000 grams/day of CO2 -- so let's say exactly 2 kilograms.
A recent article in WIRED magazine said producing a Big Mac (540 calories) results in the emission of 4.7 lbs of green house gases (GHG), or very close to 2 kilograms again. Diets in the Developing World are obviously not so energy intensive as beefy Big Macs, but the SICMC rule of thumb above is probably close to the true figure.
Once a SICMC was defined and agreed to worldwide by accreditation and auditing agencies/companies and NGOs, then auditing of solar cooking-based or Uganda stove-based CMC projects would be greatly streamlined. It would be highly ridiculous to try to quantify and audit the CMCs produced person by person, or family by family, or project by project in the Developing World.
Depending on the market price of a ton of carbon, a CMC is worth only about 3 - 5 cents. For a family of 5 in the Developing World it adds up to 15 - 25 cents/day. Us rich folks in the Developed World should let the Poor living on a dollar a day make an extra 15 - 25 cents per day without auditing them excessively. People have to eat and have to cook. They won't not cook and not eat to scam the system.
Moreover, in many parts of the Developing World the landscape has been denuded of natural biomass, leading to cooking with dried cow dung, among other highly-polluting carbon sources. The scarcity of naturally-occurring and easily available carbon/fuel sources means the average family spends 20 - 50 % of their daily income on imported manufactured fuel such as charcoal or propane. Hence, again, participants in a CMC program are highly financially incentivized to follow the rules and cook with solar or their Uganda stove.
In sum, I call here for NGOs worldwide to take action to define, standardize, promulgate and support the SICMC. Such NGOs would include the:
United Nations / UNICEF
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
OECD
World Bank
European Commission / European Union
ASEAN
Asian Development Bank
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
National Wildlife Federation
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and
many others.
Once a Standard International Carbon Micro-Credit (SICMC) is defined as 2 kgs (for example), then it is simple to calculate the market value of 2 kgs of CO2 (3-5 cents), and then convert this to equivalent cell phone minutes (1 - 5 minutes..?).
The number of cell phone minutes will vary by carrier and depend on local economics, but this is fine. Most people in the developing world transact business or call locally. But the SICMC could become the financial lingua franca or the Carbon Euro of of the Developing World, especially in Africa where most mobile carriers transact business in multiple countries.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Sunday, November 16, 2008
ONE CELL PHONE per CHILD / The Cell Phone is the School
*****
ONE CELL PHONE per CHILD / 1 Cell Phone per Child
ONE CELL PHONE per WOMAN / 1 Cell Phone per Woman
The Cell Phone is the School
It takes a cell phone to raise a child
Back in August or September 2007 I registered these domain names:
http://www.onecellphoneperchild.com
http://www.1cellphoneperchild.com
Why? -- because the slow adoption rate of the "One Laptop per Child" program made it clear that a lower cost structure was needed to wire the Children of the Developing World. The direct manufacturing cost of a cell phone is only US$ 5 - 10. But the "One Laptop per Child" laptop still has a manufacturing cost of at least US$ 50++.
Until silicon and intellectual property become free, which will take another 10 - 15 years, the One Laptop per Child program will be severely cost constrained.
Moreover, a cell phone is the ultimate personal "pull" device, and a radio the ultimate push device. In the latter case, think of Voice of America or Radio Free Europe, which helped catalyze the rot and fall of the Soviet Union.
Nokia now produces many cell phones with built-in FM radios. The broadcast networks and the telecom networks are now accessible in the same low-cost personal device. Once a person in the Developing World has bought a cell phone by redeeming their Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs), they not only have a portable ATM, but the same device can also immediately serve other value-added functions in the Developing World such as:
(1) tele-education of children -- a very attainable “One Cell Phone per Child” goal, versus the now unrealistic “one laptop per child program”
(2) dissemination of public-health messages to parents and patients; and
(3) timely notification of national emergencies such as typhoons or tsunamis.
In the case of tele-education, a child can use a cell phone to learn how to type, spell, text-message, do mathematics & calculations, and download information from the internet (if accessible). All for only a US$ 5 - 10 investment. With a built-in FM radio as well, the entire world bows at the child's feet -- the child can hear and learn foreign languages, stay current with national & international news, and learn the meaning of Freedom and Free Will.
In the case of public health, both text and FM radio messages can be pushed/broadcast to remote populations advising them of:
* Infectious disease outbreaks (e.g. Ebola, Marburg, Malaria, Dengue) and precautionary counter-measures
* Upcoming vaccine campaigns and incentives to participate -- "Get your child vaccinated for polio and receive 60 free cell phone minutes!"
* Reminders to individual patients to take medications such as for drug-resistant tuberculosis -- already done in Central America via an MIT-sponsored project; and
* Repetitive public health announcements regarding family planning and avoidance of sexually-transmitted diseases such as HIV, HCV, herpes, syphilis, and others.
Regarding the concept of "One Cell Phone per Woman", in the Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) system outlined in the other posts below, the cell phone is already in the woman's hands, as the woman of the house does the cooking and has the greatest control over the family's carbon footprint. Of course, mother and child can share the same handset. But a separate, low-cost cell phone with computing functions, combined with a built-in FM radio will save the children faster.
In these Dark Times, radicals in many countries of the Developing World burn down school buildings to prevent children, especially female children, from being exposed to Western Knowledge, and to prevent the children from learning the meaning and feeling of Free Will and Freedom. However, if the cell phone becomes the school and the library, and if Education & Knowledge can be accessed in any small corner of the home or village, who could silence the Voice of Freedom ? Who could imprison Knowledge then ?
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
ONE CELL PHONE per CHILD / 1 Cell Phone per Child
ONE CELL PHONE per WOMAN / 1 Cell Phone per Woman
The Cell Phone is the School
It takes a cell phone to raise a child
Back in August or September 2007 I registered these domain names:
http://www.onecellphoneperchild.com
http://www.1cellphoneperchild.com
Why? -- because the slow adoption rate of the "One Laptop per Child" program made it clear that a lower cost structure was needed to wire the Children of the Developing World. The direct manufacturing cost of a cell phone is only US$ 5 - 10. But the "One Laptop per Child" laptop still has a manufacturing cost of at least US$ 50++.
Until silicon and intellectual property become free, which will take another 10 - 15 years, the One Laptop per Child program will be severely cost constrained.
Moreover, a cell phone is the ultimate personal "pull" device, and a radio the ultimate push device. In the latter case, think of Voice of America or Radio Free Europe, which helped catalyze the rot and fall of the Soviet Union.
Nokia now produces many cell phones with built-in FM radios. The broadcast networks and the telecom networks are now accessible in the same low-cost personal device. Once a person in the Developing World has bought a cell phone by redeeming their Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs), they not only have a portable ATM, but the same device can also immediately serve other value-added functions in the Developing World such as:
(1) tele-education of children -- a very attainable “One Cell Phone per Child” goal, versus the now unrealistic “one laptop per child program”
(2) dissemination of public-health messages to parents and patients; and
(3) timely notification of national emergencies such as typhoons or tsunamis.
In the case of tele-education, a child can use a cell phone to learn how to type, spell, text-message, do mathematics & calculations, and download information from the internet (if accessible). All for only a US$ 5 - 10 investment. With a built-in FM radio as well, the entire world bows at the child's feet -- the child can hear and learn foreign languages, stay current with national & international news, and learn the meaning of Freedom and Free Will.
In the case of public health, both text and FM radio messages can be pushed/broadcast to remote populations advising them of:
* Infectious disease outbreaks (e.g. Ebola, Marburg, Malaria, Dengue) and precautionary counter-measures
* Upcoming vaccine campaigns and incentives to participate -- "Get your child vaccinated for polio and receive 60 free cell phone minutes!"
* Reminders to individual patients to take medications such as for drug-resistant tuberculosis -- already done in Central America via an MIT-sponsored project; and
* Repetitive public health announcements regarding family planning and avoidance of sexually-transmitted diseases such as HIV, HCV, herpes, syphilis, and others.
Regarding the concept of "One Cell Phone per Woman", in the Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) system outlined in the other posts below, the cell phone is already in the woman's hands, as the woman of the house does the cooking and has the greatest control over the family's carbon footprint. Of course, mother and child can share the same handset. But a separate, low-cost cell phone with computing functions, combined with a built-in FM radio will save the children faster.
In these Dark Times, radicals in many countries of the Developing World burn down school buildings to prevent children, especially female children, from being exposed to Western Knowledge, and to prevent the children from learning the meaning and feeling of Free Will and Freedom. However, if the cell phone becomes the school and the library, and if Education & Knowledge can be accessed in any small corner of the home or village, who could silence the Voice of Freedom ? Who could imprison Knowledge then ?
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The CARBON FOOTPRINT BILL of RIGHTS
*****
The CARBON FOOTPRINT BILL of RIGHTS
A Billion cell phones = a Billion ATMs
Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) = Cell phone minutes = Cash
Every human being should own his or her own carbon footprint. If they offset their footprint, they should realize all the gains from the carbon savings they create.
However, one prominent American company, a member of the Dow Jones Industrials (or "Dow 30") sees it another way. Their subsidiary in Africa buys efficient charcoal stoves for less than $ 10 each, distributes them to the poor in Africa, and then claims about 2 tons / year of carbon offsets per distributed stove. Today 2 tons of carbon sell for about $ 40 in Europe See:
http://www.europeanclimateexchange.com/
An excellent business -- for the unnamed Company! But in essence they are wrongfully appropriating the property of the poor in Africa to book US$ 100 - 200 million of profit per year for their rich American company. This is a great injustice -- they are carbon-footprint squatters, or carbon-credit carpetbaggers.
A Carbon Footprint Bill of Rights (or Carbon Offset Bill of Rights) is needed, and it should be endorsed by all governments and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) such the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the OECD, and by all major corporations.
My cellphone-based system for claiming and monetizing Carbon Micro Credits -- CMCs -- (or Micro Carbon Credits or Carbon Micro Offsets) described in my first post down below would allow the Poor to buy their own stoves with their own Carbon Micro Credits in only 3 months. After that, the Poor would be able to keep and spend all the money that now unjustly goes into this American company's pockets.
Carbon Micro Credits will become the frequent flyer miles of the Developing World -- or the Green Stamps that every American housewife used to accumulate during the 1950s - 1960s. All are or were very successful and widespread forms of micro-financing that drive the profit motive down to the level of the individual.
Many experts and charities talk about enabling billions of the Poor to open bank accounts, but they all have no enabling electronic system and/or no renewable funding mechanism to seed the billion new bank accounts. All the schemes to date rely on charity, and/or require a physical bank facility to accept and distribute cash. These limitations will greatly retard any expansion of the banking system in the Developing World.
However, a cellphone-based Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) system could rapidly become ubiquitous and fund itself via ongoing monetization of carbon offsets. Cell-phone penetration rates in even the poorest countries of Africa are already high.
Simple accounting program/software changes at African cellphone carriers could equate X CMCs to Y cellphone minutes to Z amount of cash, which could then be withdrawn at any store in Africa using a cellphone-based text/SSM banking system such as that of Obopay.com.
Cellphone minutes are already an accepted, widespread, easily fungible and non-inflatable form of currency in India, China and Africa. Carbon Micro Credits could be the underlying funding mechanism for their creation.
In sum, there are already a billion cell phones in the Developing World, why not make each one an ATM ? And why not fund these billion ATMs with Carbon Micro Credits, rather than charity ? The right answer ? -- there's not enough charity in the entire world to elevate the Poor in our lifetimes. But CMCs could at least start the process on a massive scale.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
The CARBON FOOTPRINT BILL of RIGHTS
A Billion cell phones = a Billion ATMs
Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) = Cell phone minutes = Cash
Every human being should own his or her own carbon footprint. If they offset their footprint, they should realize all the gains from the carbon savings they create.
However, one prominent American company, a member of the Dow Jones Industrials (or "Dow 30") sees it another way. Their subsidiary in Africa buys efficient charcoal stoves for less than $ 10 each, distributes them to the poor in Africa, and then claims about 2 tons / year of carbon offsets per distributed stove. Today 2 tons of carbon sell for about $ 40 in Europe See:
http://www.europeanclimateexchange.com/
An excellent business -- for the unnamed Company! But in essence they are wrongfully appropriating the property of the poor in Africa to book US$ 100 - 200 million of profit per year for their rich American company. This is a great injustice -- they are carbon-footprint squatters, or carbon-credit carpetbaggers.
A Carbon Footprint Bill of Rights (or Carbon Offset Bill of Rights) is needed, and it should be endorsed by all governments and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) such the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the OECD, and by all major corporations.
My cellphone-based system for claiming and monetizing Carbon Micro Credits -- CMCs -- (or Micro Carbon Credits or Carbon Micro Offsets) described in my first post down below would allow the Poor to buy their own stoves with their own Carbon Micro Credits in only 3 months. After that, the Poor would be able to keep and spend all the money that now unjustly goes into this American company's pockets.
Carbon Micro Credits will become the frequent flyer miles of the Developing World -- or the Green Stamps that every American housewife used to accumulate during the 1950s - 1960s. All are or were very successful and widespread forms of micro-financing that drive the profit motive down to the level of the individual.
Many experts and charities talk about enabling billions of the Poor to open bank accounts, but they all have no enabling electronic system and/or no renewable funding mechanism to seed the billion new bank accounts. All the schemes to date rely on charity, and/or require a physical bank facility to accept and distribute cash. These limitations will greatly retard any expansion of the banking system in the Developing World.
However, a cellphone-based Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) system could rapidly become ubiquitous and fund itself via ongoing monetization of carbon offsets. Cell-phone penetration rates in even the poorest countries of Africa are already high.
Simple accounting program/software changes at African cellphone carriers could equate X CMCs to Y cellphone minutes to Z amount of cash, which could then be withdrawn at any store in Africa using a cellphone-based text/SSM banking system such as that of Obopay.com.
Cellphone minutes are already an accepted, widespread, easily fungible and non-inflatable form of currency in India, China and Africa. Carbon Micro Credits could be the underlying funding mechanism for their creation.
In sum, there are already a billion cell phones in the Developing World, why not make each one an ATM ? And why not fund these billion ATMs with Carbon Micro Credits, rather than charity ? The right answer ? -- there's not enough charity in the entire world to elevate the Poor in our lifetimes. But CMCs could at least start the process on a massive scale.
Globally & warmly yours,
David Palella
Caped Carbon Crusader
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
*****
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Micro Carbon Credit / Nano Carbon Credit / Pico Carbon Credit ?
*****
Where will the fractionalization of Carbon Credits end ?
This innovative company below is "breaking bulk" down to the level of 1 gram of carbon or CO2 -- bravo !
VERcert
http://www.vercert.org/
VER = Voluntary Emission Reduction credit.
To quote from the company's web site:
"VERcert is the first solution that offers consumers the ability to truly offset their carbon footprint when making purchases online. Each VERcert is in fact a 100 % guaranteed & verifiable micro carbon offset credit certificate, linked via a traceable serial number, to a macro, Voluntary Emission Reduction certificate, provided by one of our carbon credit supply partners.
VERcert is the world’s first micro VER certificate issuing, & certificate authentication authority, providing enablement technology to consumers and merchants alike in the area of carbon footprint offsetting."
Simply stated, VERcert is most likely buying validated carbon offsets in multi-ton quantities from the European Climate Exchange (ECX) or the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and breaking them down into gram or kilogram quantities for re-sale. This business model is the complement on the consumer side to my own idea for Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) on the producer side on the ground in the Developing World.
Green house gas-associated micro-financing is now accessible to both the consumer and the producer anywhere on Planet Earth. I compliment VERcert for their world-changing business model.
*****
Where will the fractionalization of Carbon Credits end ?
This innovative company below is "breaking bulk" down to the level of 1 gram of carbon or CO2 -- bravo !
VERcert
http://www.vercert.org/
VER = Voluntary Emission Reduction credit.
To quote from the company's web site:
"VERcert is the first solution that offers consumers the ability to truly offset their carbon footprint when making purchases online. Each VERcert is in fact a 100 % guaranteed & verifiable micro carbon offset credit certificate, linked via a traceable serial number, to a macro, Voluntary Emission Reduction certificate, provided by one of our carbon credit supply partners.
VERcert is the world’s first micro VER certificate issuing, & certificate authentication authority, providing enablement technology to consumers and merchants alike in the area of carbon footprint offsetting."
Simply stated, VERcert is most likely buying validated carbon offsets in multi-ton quantities from the European Climate Exchange (ECX) or the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and breaking them down into gram or kilogram quantities for re-sale. This business model is the complement on the consumer side to my own idea for Carbon Micro Credits (CMCs) on the producer side on the ground in the Developing World.
Green house gas-associated micro-financing is now accessible to both the consumer and the producer anywhere on Planet Earth. I compliment VERcert for their world-changing business model.
*****
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