Colloquium - Jeremy Hall "From the ‘Eroom’ Effect (Moore's Law Backwards) to Borlaug's Paradox: Emerging Challenges and Unintended Consequences of Sustainable Development Innovation"

Abstract:
Innovation has been recognized as key for improving social and environmental conditions, yet limited progress has been made towards more sustainable societies. This presentation will explore two challenges of sustainable development innovation. The first is the 'Eroom' Effect (Moore’s Law backwards) proposed by Scannell et al. (2012), where the promise of improved price-performance from technological advancements are often outweighed by regulatory approval and downstream commercialization costs. The second concerns unanticipated outcomes, what we call “Borlaug's Paradox” after Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug, “the man who saved a billion lives” by pioneering Green Revolution technologies, vastly improving agricultural output but also leading to major environmental impacts and a population explosion. Such paradoxes may hinder the development of more sustainable technologies, especially those coming from publically funded institutes, or from emerging countries. To illustrate these challenges, we present various examples of technology development from publically funded institutes in Brazil and Canada. We conclude with implications for industry, policy and advocacy groups.