Welcome to Bright Spot!

A warm welcome to all readers of a brand new industry blog! The Bright Spot -blog was born from an idea to create a forum for process industry that presents and discusses new innovations, ideas and sustainable ways to process industrial products and energy for people with respect for our precious nature and environment. The topic area is wide, but so is the need to find more sustainable solutions that figth back the climate change, prevent waste build up to soil and water systems and to clean the existing pollutions and wastes. The big themes in today's global economy for sure are emissions from energy production and transportation, plastic waste accumulation in oceans and many types of wastes as a result from processing industry.

Since the discovery of oil and plastics the processing industry segments have grown and developed to provide welfare for many people in the global world. Coal has been used for centuries for heating and providing electricity for people, homes and businesses as an abunbdant and affordable energy source. The unfortunate and unpleasent side of all this human welfare and development is the formation of greenhouse gases,  with methane and carbon dioxide as the dominant compounds responsible for global warming and climate change. Many other unwanted side effects occur as well, such as particulates, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, waste waters, volatile organic compounds, and many other environmental and health pollutants.

During the last two decades, I have had the priviledge to work and get to know oil, gas and chemical process industries, business sturctures and many people working within. I think many people as industry experts and as consumers of energy and industrial products have recognized this conflict between human welfare and environmental challenges. Some people say that the "easy" answer is for the people and industries to degenerate back into the "good old" times before the industrial revolution and not to consume so much natural resources. I think most people are not willing to go back and give up the benefits and prosperity we are enjoing today, especially in the developed countries. But at the same time, we should all keep in mind that the developing countries are growing as population and rising standard of living, where they expect to enjoy the same benefits as in the developed countries. This will be unbearable for the natural resources and  natural ecosystems. Keeping our planet viable and clean will be extremely challenging.  

With this blog, I would like to invite process and energy industry experts, leaders and anyone interested in sustainable procees and energy industries to discuss, follow and contribute to think and develop practical, economical solutions that present the bright side of the energy and process industry and new sustainable ways to provide welfare for people without compromising the well-being of natural ecosystems. The key-topics, I am planning to address in this blog are related to circular economy, energy effieciency, renewable energy, waste to energy, capturing plastics in water systems and bio-plastics, to name a few. Above all, I believe that the foundation for more sustainable industry and solutions is the awarness and education of people to give pressure for better energy sources and products.

I think it is possible to find the bright, sustainable spots in process industry. Important steps has already been taken in the development of renewable energy technologies and fuels. Recently in an article published  in a local newspaper Helsingin Sanomat at 27.12.2017, a climate change reaseracher and Anchorage University professor Jeff Welker said that "the global community has already solved the problem of acid rain and limited the use of substancies destroying the ozone layer by the Monteral agreement. This indicates that we can solve the future environmental problems too. We just need to have the right incentives."