Tesla Founder Named Innovator of the Year by WSJ

Posted on October 31, 2011 by quest

Elon Musk, CEO and Co-founder of Tesla and CEO and CTO of SpaceX, was just recognized for Innovator of the Year in Technology by WSJ. Magazine. WSJ. Magazine’s first annual Innovator of the Year Awards honors the most creative, disruptive, and influential individuals in the world today. Musk was recognized for revolutionizing three of the biggest industries in the world — automobiles, energy and space exploration — simultaneously. Artist Tom Sachs, whose recent work is based on the imagery of space, presented the award to Musk.

In conjunction with the November issue of WSJ., the winners were honored on Thursday, October 27, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The November issue of WSJ. will hit newsstands on Saturday, October 29, as part of WSJ Weekend.
“It is an honor to be recognized by WSJ. Magazine, and to join these other visionaries here tonight,” said Elon Musk. “It is urgently important to apply innovation the areas that will most affect our future. I am committed to finding renewable energy solutions, accelerating the adoption of sustainable transportation, and revolutionizing space travel.”
The Innovator of the Year Awards were chosen by editors of WSJ. Magazine, with input from a select group of experts in each field.

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Elon Musk is also the primary investor and chairman of the board of photovoltaics company SolarCity, where Lyndon Rive his cousin is the CEO and co-founder. Just recently through his Musk Foundation, has donated $250,000 to build a solar power system in Soma City, in the Fukushima prefecture of Japan. Musk visited an area of Soma City that was devastated by a tsunami earlier this year, for a ceremony at the site where the project will be built. SolarCity is donating time and resources to manage the project, which will provide renewable electricity to a city facility located on reclaimed industrial land not suitable for agriculture.

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Organic Solar Cells Sparking Consumer Electronics

Posted on October 30, 2011 by quest

Molecular Solar Ltd, a spinout company from the University of Warwick, has achieved a significant breakthrough in the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. They have achieved and demonstrated a record voltage for organic photovoltaic cells that means these highly flexible, low cost solar cells can now be devolved for commercial uses in a wide range of consumer electronics. The Company’s most recent advance in the development of its organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell technology is the realisation of cells with open-circuit voltages in excess of 4 volts for the first time. Molecular Solar’s research team believe this is a record for an OPV device. Dr Ross Hatton, Research Director of the company commented:
“This is an important advance. We are now very close to having highly flexible organic photovoltaic cells that will be capable of delivering electrical energy at a voltage suitable for recharging lithium ion batteries that are widely used in portable consumer electronics. Remarkably, this high voltage is achieved using a cell with only 4 junctions (sub-cells)’’.University of Warwick researcher Professor Tim Jones, who is Chief Technology Officer of Molecular Solar, added:

“The first generation of organic photovoltaics will be exceptionally well matched to consumer electronics applications. The advantage of Molecular Solar’s high voltage cells is that a single cell can be used with no requirement to connect multiple cells in series for these applications, saving manufacturing cost. ’’Andrew Oldfield, Head of Cleantech at Mercia Fund Management said, “We were attracted to Molecular Solar’s unique approach to realizing truly flexible, environmentally sustainable photovoltaics that are well matched to the burgeoning portable consumer electronics market.”

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Solar Energy To Power Vertical Forrest In Milan

Posted on October 30, 2011 by quest

Bosco Verticale is a project for metropolitan reforestation that contributes to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without the implication of expanding the city upon the territory. Bosco Verticale is a model of vertical densification of nature within the city. It is a model that operates correlated to the policies for reforestation and naturalization of the large urban and metropolitan borders (Metrosbosco). Metrobosco and Bosco Verticale are devices for the environmental survival of contemporary European cities. Together they create two modes of building links between nature and city within the territory and within the cities of contemporary Europe.

The first example of a Bosco Verticale composed of two residential towers of 110 and 76 meters height, will be realized in the centre of Milan, on the edge of the Isola neighbourhood, and will host 900 trees (each measuring 3, 6 or 9 m tall) apart from a wide range of shrubs and floral plants. On flat land, each Bosco Verticale equals, in amount of trees, an area equal to 10.000 sqm of forest. In terms of urban densification the equivalent of an area of single family dwellings of nearly 50.000 sqm. The project is now underway.

The future of vertical farming in Italy

The Bosco Verticale is a system that optimizes, recuperates and produces energy. The Bosco Verticale aids in the creation of a microclimate and in filtering the dust particles contained in the urban environment. The diversity of the plants and their characteristics produce humidity, absorb CO2 and dust particles, producing oxygen and protect from radiation and acoustic pollution, improving the quality of living spaces and saving energy. Plant irrigation will be produced to great extent through the filtering and reuse of the grey waters produced by the building. Additionally Aeolian and photovoltaic energy systems will contribute, together with the aforementioned microclimate to increase the degree of energetic self sufficiency of the two towers. The management and maintenance of the Bosco Verticale’s vegetation will be centralised and entrusted to an agency with an office counter open to the public.

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Electric Vehicles A History of Moving Americans Reborn

Posted on October 29, 2011 by quest

The popularity of mass-produced electric or hybrid cars is recent, but the idea behind using electricity as a power source for cars is more than 100 years old. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will explore the history of the electric car from the early 20th century to the present in a new display as part of the “America on the Move” exhibition opening Oct. 27 through January 2012. “Electrifying Cars” showcases two cars—a 1904 Columbia electric runabout, the best-selling car in the United States at the turn of the century and a 1913 Ford Model T touring car, a gasoline car equipped with an early type of electric starter and electric headlights. The cars, along with a battery charger for General Motors’ EV1 and images of additional electric models, car owners and power sources, follow the historical, cultural and physical development of the electric car.

A look at electric vehicles in history

“Electricity has always been a popular feature of cars,” said Roger White, associate curator of Road Transportation. “By the 1920s manufacturers used batteries not to propel cars but to apply the conveniences of electric cars to gasoline-powered cars.” He added that in recent years a market has developed for all-electric cars and hybrid cars with gasoline and electric propulsion because they reduce energy costs and air pollution. “These cars can draw energy from a variety of sources including fossil fuels, regenerative braking and renewable sources such as solar panels and wind power,” he said.

In the early 20th century, Americans could choose electric, steam or gasoline cars. Wealthy city residents, particularly women, bought electric cars because they were easier to operate. By the 1920s, gasoline-powered cars were the vehicle of choice because they could be driven much farther than electric cars between fill-ups, and gasoline pumps, unlike electric power stations, could be readily located anywhere. Since the 1960s, smog, greenhouse gases, global warming and strained oil supplies have prompted researchers, government and the public to take a new look at electric hybrid and all-electric cars. In the 1990s GM and other manufacturers worked to put electric cars on the market. GM’s EV1, Honda’s EV+, Ford’s Ranger EV and Toyota’s RAV4 EV were leased. But by 2003, the manufacturers determined that the electric car was not commercially viable and ended the leases. By 2010, the market led to the reintroduction of electric cars, and for the first time in almost 100 years consumers could purchase all-electric or new types of hybrid cars.

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Aquamantra On Greenwashing Environmental Lawsuit

Posted on October 29, 2011 by quest

In response to California’s greenwashing lawsuit against its Balance and Aquamantra brands, Danny Clark, President of ENSO, states, “Our industry is young, and we are still improving standards and dispelling false beliefs. Our products perform as we claim, and we have the data to prove it. The situation in California is a lack of education and misunderstanding new technologies; this is not an issue of false claims. We will take this opportunity to bring legislators up to speed with ENSO technologies and the value they bring to the environment.”
“The citizens of California and the environment deserve better,” stated Del Andrus, VP of ENSO. “History is full of examples where science has provided the facts to overcome false beliefs, a principle that ENSO will continue through the pioneering of new information, technology and education.”

At ENSO, we stand behind our claims and our mission to solve the world’s plastic pollution. Every one of us has contributed to this global problem, and it will take each of us, working together, to solve it. Companies like Aquamantra and Balance should be recognized for rising above status quo and implementing environmentally sound solutions.We do not claim that biodegradability is a silver bullet, but it is a huge step in the right direction. Consumers should be educated on the true impact of the products they are buying and have the opportunity to take that step. The lawsuit filed by Attorney General Kamala D. Harris was a first-of-its-kind “greenwashing” lawsuit against three companies that allegedly made false and misleading claims by marketing plastic water bottles as “100 percent biodegradable and recyclable.” Under California law, it is illegal to label a plastic food or beverage container as biodegradable. Plastic takes thousands of years to biodegrade and may never do so in a landfill.

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Sustainable Environment Key To Greater Paris Project

Posted on October 28, 2011 by quest

When it was officially unveiled in 2009 by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the 10-year, major urban renewal project included a euro 35 billion transport plan to build a 140-kilometre, driverless subway system around the exterior of Paris, 70,000 new homes per year and a complete redevelopment of the Seine river to turn it into a major transport link with the Channel, via the port of Le Havre. Projects were submitted by 10 top international architects and President Sarkozy said he wanted work on the transport system to begin in 2012. French Minister for Urban Affairs, Maurice Leroy, will update MIPIM Asia delegates on the gigantic Greater Paris project during a keynote address in Hong Kong, on November 16. At MIPIM Asia, Minister of Urban Affairs, Maurice Leroy, who oversees the Great Paris programme, will give delegates the latest news on what is the most ambitious redevelopment project in the French capital since Baron Haussmann redesigned the city some 150 years ago.

La Vie en Rose

Maurice Leroy‘s keynote address is part of MIPIM Asia’s conference programme targeting urban development, liveable cities and the use of eco-friendly infrastructure to ensure sustainable urban development. “The Greater Paris project offers truly exciting investment possibilities for the public and private sector and we are honoured that the French Minister of Urban Affairs will provide MIPIM Asia delegates with a unique opportunity to learn more about this huge development programme,” noted MIPIM Asia Director, Filippo Rean. “Sustainable urban development is a major concern for urban administrators around the world and the Greater Paris development provides a fascinating insight into the future of city planning,” he added.

Marrying urban environmental and commercial requirements while also responding to the evolving needs of citizens, will be discussed during the MIPIM Asia conference programme by two high-profile speakers: Jason Hu, Mayor of Taichung City Government (Taiwan) and Amy Cho, Director General of Business Opportunity Bureau of the Incheon Free Economic Zone (South Korea). MIPIM Asia delegates will also discover some of the ground-breaking construction projects from across the region which will be on display as winners of the 2011 MIPIM Asia Awards. Frank Krueger, Creative Director of logon urban.architecture.design (Berlin/Shanghai) which designed the Shanghai Museum of Glass – one of the winners in the “urban regeneration” category, explained why he’s looking forward to this year’s event: “MIPIM Asia does provide a unique opportunity for us as it stimulates the exchange of knowledge and latest trends in urban development, planning and sustainable design. We did not only established new business relations (and acquired new project opportunities), but we were also able to boost the quality and competitiveness of our work through the gain of knowledge at MIPIM Asia.”

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