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Envirofit: Retrofitting the Two-Stroke Engine
Two-stroke engines emit as much pollution as approximately 50 conventional automobiles. A retrofit kit initially designed to reduce the emissions of snowmobiles is now being applied to the ubiquitous two-stroke motorcycle taxis in Philippine cities. Envirofit, an independent nonprofit company started at Colorado State University in 2003, works to develop and disseminate direct injection retrofit kits to improve the efficiency of two-stroke engines, one of the world?s largest sources o...
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Environmental Technologies and the Bottom of the Pyramid
Roughly four billion people, mostly in developing countries, subsist at the bottom of the economic and social pyramid. They are vulnerable not only to the risks associated with poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, but also to a host of environmental threats including poor air quality, contaminated water and climate change. Linking their entrepreneurial talent with the need to overcome the environmental conditions in which they live could accelerate the deployment of environmental technolo...
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US Banks Turn Greenbacks Flow Towards Indian SMEs
US banks have spotted a huge business opportunity in the small and medium enterprises (SME) here that contribute 9% of the country?s $1-trillion GDP. New Delhi: US banks have spotted a huge business opportunity in the small and medium enterprises (SME) here that contribute 9% of the country?s $1-trillion GDP. A wave of liberal offers for credit along with US government guarantee is set to make its way to the segment with the US seeking to boost its exports by providing trade finance t...
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Tata Unbound
A talk with Ratan N. Tata reveals his take on everything from Tata Group’s expansion plans, to being overstretched, to choosing a successor. For the past four years, Ratan N. Tata has been racing to seize opportunities to establish the Tata Group, one of India’s oldest and biggest conglomerates, as a major global player in everything from steel and cars to hotels and information technology services. Besides making big acquisitions such as the Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus Group and...
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Did Unilever get its Rural Communications Right?
A new book from Wharton School Publishing is critical of Hindustan Unilever?s advertising strategy. Chennai, Aug. A new book from Wharton School Publishing is critical of Hindustan Unilever?s advertising strategy. HUL missed an opportunity for increased marketing productivity when they repositioned, retargeted, and relaunched Lifebuoy, write Leonard M. Lodish, Howard L. Morgan and Shellye Archambeau, the authors of ?Marketing that Works? (www.pearsoned.co.in). Though the c...
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In Praise of Usury
Ignore credit snobs. It is no sin to profit from lending to the poor. IN DANTE’S ?Divine Comedy?, usurers are consigned to a flaming desert of sand within the seventh circle of hell. Attitudes have since softened a bit. Microcreditors, who offer small loans to self-employed poor people, enjoy hallowed reputations. One has even ascended to the rank of a Nobel laureate. But lending to the poor is still considered distasteful whenever it is pricey, short-term and profitable. In America, f...
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Life at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Are Environmental Technologies the Way Out?
VANCOUVER, August 1, 2007 (GLOBE-Net) ? Roughly four billion people, mostly in developing countries, subsist at the bottom of the economic and social pyramid. Here they are vulnerable not only to the risks associated with poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, but also to a host of environmental threats including poor air quality, contaminated water and climate change. Even though they live on less than US $2 per day, these people represent a huge potential market. Linking their entrepreneu...
- Categories
- Environment, Technology
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?No es fascinante?
LA pobreza es, para algunos agudos analistas socioecon?micos, la riqueza del futuro y empieza a transformarse de problema en oportunidad. Ha empezado a surgir un creciente inter?s alrededor de un tema trascendente para la humanidad: la posibilidad de crear masivamente modelos de negocios rentables que permiten a la vez, generar utilidades y lograr la superaci?n de las comunidades m?s pobres. Lo que es m?s, crear oportunidades de negocio con y para la poblaci?n m?s pobre no ...
- Region
- Latin America
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