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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Solar

John Elkington · 22 April 2010 · 1 Comment

   

A day working at home and, intermittently but determinedly, reading Ian McEwen‘s novel Solar, which I finished literally as the sun touched the western horizon, scratched by high-flying jets making good the huge global travel deficit of the past week. But the extraordinary silence in Barnes continues, with the air traffic taking off westwards, I assume.

Many, many years ago, perhaps in 1987, I did a multiple review of novels that addressed green issues, in Green Pages, most of which weren’t that great. But I found Solar really ‘sticky’, not least as the first novel that I know that has name-checked such iconic figures in our landscape as James Lovelock, Stewart Brand, Tim Flannery, Jared Diamond and Paul Ehrlich. The ending of Solar really got me – though the Stones are playing as I write this, rather than the Kinks.

Was interested to see the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, featuring fairly prominently in the story. I visited them in 1981, when they were the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) and Denis hayes was still a Director, for a few days more before Ronald Reagan began to dismantle Jimmy Carter’s solar efforts. (Interested to see on the NREL website today, the home page features – on a 3-image rotator – a photo of Denis speaking in 1970.)

My meeting was Denis was a key reason why nine years later Denis kindly invited me to join the International Board of Earth Day 1990, an initiative whose fortieth anniversary we celebrate today.

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Comments

  1. Eduardo Aranha says

    25 February 2015 at 4:34 pm

    Hi!
    I decided to start reading this book because I read ‘Atonement’, loved it and wanted to read more by this author. It’s fascinating how Ian McEwan built a story about a man, his work and solar energy. In fact, I daresay that Ian McEwan rose to another level with Solar, engendering a new perspective on the world of academia and the science of global warming. If you like Solar, you maybe want to check out this list of books related with the sun and solar energy: http://abcofsolar.com/category/books-about-sustainable-development/ I hope it is not intrusive to share this link with you!
    Keep up with the good work!

    Reply

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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About

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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