MBA Internship - Switzerland

I worked in one of the leading agricultural businesses in the world, leading in crop protection products like insecticides and pesticides। Its core lies in its chemical research and genetically modified crops and it has strong market share in the emerging economies and latin America
(So what is a ex-Deloitte consultant and electrical engineer doing here.. thats what the INSEAD MBA is good for.. a complete switch into an industry which is completely out of the domain of ones past experiences)

Following is a brief account of the concept behind my carbon credit internship:
Post Kyoto protocol, the ratified annex 1 country either had to reduce their CO2 emissions organically (through internal technological developments) or by procuring 'carbon credits' from another country where carbon emission reduction projects have been implemented. The official CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) market has developed from zero in 1996 to about sixty billion dollars in 2008 while even the unregulated voluntary markets (Chicago Climate Exchange and Over the Counter markets) have moved from barely nothing to about five hundred million dollars. A market of this size is for sure a great opportunity for most companies or industries that can employ environmentally friendly technology.

Till now most of the emission reduction projects have been in the areas of waste management and renewable energy but I realized that it could also be very beneficial for agriculture.
My hypothesis is that if by the use of new agronomic technologies, fertilizers, genetic modifications and enhanced crop protection a farmer is able to reduce the carbon emissions from his field, it could bring in significant revenue (if measured properly, packaged and sold) on the carbon market.
My objective from the internship was to develop a process flow that would help the farmers get accreditation for the carbon emssions saved and hopefully enable them to sell these over the market.
Other than the work, since my internship location was Basel, Switzerland it gave me the opportunity to travel around the beautiful central European countryside, the snow capped Alps and to the serene blue lakes. I squeezed in trips to Strasbourg (France), Ljubjlana, Bled, Postojana (Slovenia) and a number of places around (Bern, Zurich, Interlaken etc.).
So, the internship overall has been quite satisfactory and I would again thank my good 'fortunate' for the wonderful time this summer.