Richard Hartung

Richard writes, educates and catalyses capital to mitigate climate Change. He is a freelance writer for media and companies. He is the author of Changing Lanes, Changing Lives. He supports start-ups, including as a co-founder of Asia Sustainability Angels and and as co-president of Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs. He serves on a variety of non-profit boards and committees, including Solar Washington. He has extensive experience with payments strategy and retail banking. Richard has a BA from Pomona College and an MBA from Stanford University. Richard is based in Singapore and spends part of his time in Seattle.

Use Solar Energy from Your Window or Wall to Power Your House The Growth of Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)

Residential solar systems have traditionally been installed as rooftop panels. Now, however, solar is being integrated into roofs, windows, wall panels and more, enabling new solutions for architects and builders as well as installers.

Digital Devices cause Massive Emissions. You can Easily Reduce the Damage.

When we spend hours a day on our smartphones and tablets, we often don’t think about the carbon emissions they cause. However, the emissions and their impact are larger than we think. Simple changes can make a big difference in reducing our environmental footprint.

Manufacturing Food has a Huge Climate Impact. Solutions are on the Way.

While the environmental impacts of as raising vegetables or animals as well as waste are usually the focus for the climate impacts of food, manufacturing food has a huge impact too. Solutions are slowly coming in to reduce carbon emissions from manufacturing and processing.

Learning from Oysters Makes Better and Greener Cement

Producing cement, used in everything from buildings and roads to bridges, releases up to 9 percent of global carbon emissions. Researchers and start-ups are mimicking the natural processes of oysters and molluscs to reduce energy needs, cut greenhouse gas emissions and create green cement.

Building a Greener, Fairer Logistics Network in Southeast Asia

Indonesia’s Blitz is reshaping delivery with EVs, AI, and a driver-first model

Solar can Solve the Energy Gap in Southeast Asia

Electricity demand is ramping up quickly in Southeast Asia. Supply, on the other hand, is coming onstream slowly. Innovative solutions can help resolve the gap.

Personal Technology You Can Use to Save Money and the Planet

Technology to mitigate climate change at big companies abounds. What about you and me, though, in our daily lives at home? It turns out that there is a vast range of technology to reduce energy and water usage as well as waste at home, which saves money and reduces emissions.

Ships in Port Belch Carbon Emissions. Solutions are on the Way.

Look out at the harbour in Singapore or other port cities and you’ll see lots of ships anchored offshore. Multiply what you see by the thousands of international and domestic ports in Southeast Asia, and the number of idle ships is huge. Every hour a ship is not transporting goods costs the owner money, and the engine that’s running to keep the ship operating is emitting greenhouse gasses. Start-ups and large companies alike are developing solutions to speed up turnaround, cut costs and reduce emissions.

Innovative Energy Storage Solutions Make Solar even more Attractive

One of the challenges of renewable energy is in ensuring consistent and reliable power generation, for example, solar panels cannot generate power during the night. Energy storage can overcome the difficulty by storing excess power for use when renewable energy is not available. Storage is growing rapidly, and innovations can make deployment easier, faster and cheaper. Click to read the full article or go to https://www.solarwa.org/innovative_energy_storage_solutions.

Electric Boats in Southeast Asia Cut Emissions – and Costs

While data shows that ocean-going ships create about 2-3 percent of global carbon emissions, what’s not counted in that data is coastal fishing boats, ferries, tugboats, tour boats and more. With ships plying the waters among thousands of islands and ports in Southeast Asia, emissions are likely to be huge. Regulator are cracking down, and small start-ups as well as global giants are designing electric boats that cut costs and emissions significantly.

27th April 2025

AI Powers Regenerative Farming Solutions in Thailand

Living Roots revives degraded land through precision agriculture. Farmers across Southeast Asia face a troubling trend: declining yields and diminishing incomes, primarily caused by deteriorating soil health and the intensifying impacts of climate change. In Thailand, Living Roots is addressing this issue head-on, employing microbial fertilizers, artificial intelligence, and regenerative agricultural practices to reverse this damaging trajectory.

22nd April 2025

Climate Adaptation is Critical yet Lags in Southeast Asia. Startups have Solutions

Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and typhoons are creating havoc with built infrastructure such as offices and factories. Adaptation for these impacts of climate change is essential. While adaptation has lagged, startups are helping businesses move forward.

14th April 2025

Southeast Asia Creates 20% of the World’s Waste – Start-Ups are Creating Solutions

Even though it has just 9 percent of the world’s population, 10 countries in Southeast Asia produce 20 percent of the world’s waste. Governments are scrambling to find space for it and regulate it. Start-ups in the region are creating solutions to help solve the problem.

Building Office Towers with Bamboo and Hemp – A Sustainable Solution

Buildings and construction are the largest sources of greenhouse gases and account for a about 37% of global emissions. Cement, steel, and aluminium are key culprits. Start-ups are using hemp, bamboo and more to produce innovative alternatives.

18th March 2025

3 Top Actions You Can Take for Conservation and the Planet

Many people feel nothing they do to reduce climate change, from taking the bus to turning off a light, will make a difference. Companies and governments, they believe, should take big actions to change our electricity, transport, agriculture systems in order to reduce climate change that causes wildfire, floods and heat waves. The reality is different. What each of us does has a major effect.

17th March 2025

Community and Cause Power New Eco-Friendly Payment Solutions

From plastic cards and POS terminals to customer spending and energy for software, the payments industry has a large environmental impact. Issuers and acquirers continue to roll out innovative solutions that create less impact, promote conservation and attract customers.

24th February 2025

Cool Buildings Heat the Planet – Start-ups have Solutions

While cooling and heating buildings keeps people safe and comfortable, it also creates tremendous costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Start-ups in fast-growing Southeast Asia have developed innovations to reduce the cost, emissions and impact of buildings.

12th February 2025

Data Centers need Solar Energy

Across the US, tech companies large and small are building data centers to handle generative AI, streaming, social media and myriad other activities that require massive amounts of data. In the past, Washington was a top destination for data centers, but data centers also require tremendous amounts of electricity. While there has been sufficient electricity so far, the scale of the expected growth of data centers and the difficulties with adding more electricity to the grid are reaching a point where there may soon be insufficient power. New solutions are critically needed.

18th January 2025

Expanding Solar with Virtual Power Plants, Microgrids and Local Storage

“There is a general consensus that we've got an energy problem coming in Washington State,” Cascadia Renewables co-founder and managing partner Markus Virta said. We have to be very intentional about where solar goes, where energy storage goes, and those distributed energy resources.What we're looking at, Markus said, is creating utility systems with communication over all of our energy assets and can actively balance supply and demand via the virtual power plants (VPP).

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