Wouldn't it be great if China, land of cheap products, could bring us a low-cost, well-made electric sedan? We certainly thought so when we named China's BYD as one of our Most Innovative Companies earlier this year. Warren Buffett apparently agreed as well, buying a 10% stake ($230 million) of the car company through MidAmerican Energy Holdings. But is BYD's $22,000 electric vehical a dream that is going to be permanently deferred?
The company says that it put a plug-in hybrid--the F3DM--on sale in China this past December, but it hasn't yet appeared in any dealerships. And while BYD initially hoped to have its electric e6 sedan filling U.S showrooms by this year, the launch date has been moved to 2011. Even that seems unlikely since the vehicle hasn't passed Chinese or U.S safety tests.
BYD's lithium-ion battery business is also looking increasingly like a mirage. The batteries are built using technology that is 15 years old, and 15-30% of the products are ditched because they don't meet quality standards. The industry average for such failures is just 5%.
Maybe we shouldn't put our faith in BYD, then--but all hope isn't lost for low-cost EVs. Tata, the Indian manufacturer of the world's cheapest car, recently announced that it plans to produce a hybrid version of the Nano. No word on when that might hit the market, but at least we know that Tata is capable of producing tangible products.
At first glance, this burning bust of Barack Obama seems like an affront against the president, much in the same way that some consider burning the flag a threat against the U.S. But Chinese artist Liu Bolin claims his bronze bust, built in honor of Obama's visit to China, is actually a celebration of the president.
According to Bolin, the "Burning Man Obama" bust represents the fiery energy that the president holds, claiming "this piece represents energy and life that Obama has given to the
world. We're eager to see what he can do for China and U.S. relations." But while Bolun may claim that his sculpture is a positive thing, we wonder if there is actually a deeper, darker meaning. Even if there isn't, the bust is virtually guaranteed to ignite a firestorm of controversy.
Or maybe the whole thing is just a publicity stunt. Bolin is known for his mind-bending invisible man paintings, which feature the artist literally disappearing into his scenes.
What do you think of "Burning Man Obama"? Let us know in the comments.
The tradition of the Great American Roadtrip has been hampered recently by skyrocketing gas prices. And taking an RV on the road? Forget it, unless you have plenty of cash to spare. But that may be about to change now that Freightliner is taking orders for ecoFRED, the first hybrid-electric class A motorhome chassis.
The chassis, introduced as a prototype last year, has a 6.7-liter engine, an Eaton hybrid-electric system, and manual transmission. The vehicle's also hybrid drive system increases the overall weight to 37,000 pounds. That's an advantage in this case since it means that travelers can carry more weight in storage compartments or tow a heavy vehicle. And ecoFRED's regenerative braking system cuts down on brake wear--a key feature for those days spent driving through the mountainous roads of Colorado.
An upgrade to ecoFRED isn't for the faint of heart--adding a hybrid chassis adds about $30,000 to a vehicle's cost--but savings on fuel costs add up quickly when you get only 7 mpg with a regular gasoline engine. Still interested? Freightliner is taking preorders for ecoFRED now, with units expected to start shipping next year.
Google Earth: it's good more than just spying on the neighbors. Google announced today at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen that it has combined Google Earth's satellite imagery and high-speed cloud-based computation to create an online turbocharged satellite imagery-processing engine that detects deforestation in specific areas within seconds.
The prototype system, could, for example, allow users to show forest cover and deforestation over time in Rondonia, Brazil from 1986-2008 in just seconds. This type of computation normally takes days or weeks, but the massive horsepower of Google's data centers makes the information much more quickly. In practical terms, that means police investigators can get to the root of illegal logging activity quickly, and activist groups like Greenpeace could call out logging operations in real-time. The system could also be used in the proposed UN REDD program, which might pay developing countries to cut down on deforestation.
Stay tuned for more information--Google has only released the system to a small set of partners for testing, but we can expect to see it pop up (maybe in Google Labs?) sometime in the next year.
Hot on the heels of an announcement that a group of European countries are planning to build an offshore wind power supergrid, GE has announced that it is the lucky winner of a $1.4 billion contract to supply 338 turbines to what could be the world's largest wind farm. The farm, located in Shepherd's Flat, Oregon, will generate 2 billion kilowatt-hours of power each year, or enough for 235,000 average California homes.
While all the power from the farm will go to California--the power utility Southern California Edison, more specifically--the Shepherd's Flat project has the potential to provide a major boost to the Oregon economy. The wind farm, which requires building 85 miles of road and 90 miles of power lines, will recruit 400 workers for the two-year construction period and 35 workers during operation. All told, the farm is expected to inject $16 million in economic benefits to the state.
We'll hold off on getting too excited until the project is finished, however. As the T. Boone Pickens wind farm debacle proves, sometimes the best of intentions aren't enough to get a massive wind project off the ground.
As it stands, Big Agriculture companies like Monsanto dominate the farming industry with their patented, genetically-engineered crops. The burgeoning organic movement has slowly shifted the tide, but it's still hard to imagine a day when the small, organic growers hold sway over the multinational corporations that are currently in charge. Protofarm 2050, a project put together by Design Indaba, tries to imagine what such a sustainable farming future might look like--and how we can get there.
Protofarm 2050 acknowledges that there is no silver bullet with the problem of sustainable farming, and instead focuses on an array of scenarios that could become viable in the future. Among them: intra-urban farming areas to cut down on travel time, vertical farming, and feeding livestock methane-reducing grass.
So what makes Design Indaba think this will actually happen? Simply put, we have no choice. The world population is expected to balloon to 9.2 billion by 2050, and growing countries like India and China will demand access to products like meat and dairy. We have to rebuild the food chain to grow with our population.
Want to see what a sustainable future food system might look like? Check out Design Indaba's video below.
If a significant climate deal is struck at this month's UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen--and that's a big "if"--world economies will pay the price. The bill has been tallied: $10 trillion in investments in energy infrastructure, to be exact. And despite recent big-ticket grants and loans in green tech from the U.S government, the majority of that cash will come from private investors. While this may seem like bad news for developing countries that can't foot the bill, industrialized countries have proposed paying $10 billion each year for the next three or four years in an attempt to make things fair. But what, exactly, will that cash go towards?
Putting aside the catch-all phrase "energy infrastructure," the money will go into renewable energy projects (wind, solar, geothermal, etc.), flood walls, well-insulated homes--basically anything that can help cut down on carbon emissions. By 2020, experts at ClimateWorks and Project Catalyst predict that $100 billion could be sunk into carbon-cutting measures.
These investments will be a boon to green tech companies around the world, but some countries have a longer way to go than others. "A few years ago, China had almost no recycling. Now it has three to four recycling mills for cartons. That's not ideal, but it's a start," said Mario Abreu, the Director of Recycling and Supply Chain Support Global Environment at Tetra Pak International. Clearly, then, companies from more developed countries that have advanced green technology on tap will have an advantage (note: China does actually have a growing solar industry and will probably benefit economically from a climate deal).
This is all hinged on a climate deal being reached, of course. For that, we'll just have to wait and see.
Ah, December. Season of gifts, friends, family, and...catalogs. JC Penney broke the hearts of children everywhere last month when it discontinued its 1,000-page Big Book (due to increased reliance on Internet sales), but the move cut the company's catalog paper use by 30% annually. The Plano, Texas-based chain isn't the only company changing its mailbox-stuffing ways. According to ForestEthics' annual Holiday Catalog Environmental Scorecard, Timberland, Patagonia, REI, Macy's, and Crate & Barrel also deserve kudos for their "nice" efforts, while Sears and Neiman Marcus make this year's "naughty" list.
Timberland received praise for scrapping print catalogs altogether, Patagonia made the "nice" list for using loads of post-consumer recycled paper, and Crate & Barrel got the okay for using all FSC-certified paper. ForestEthics chided Sears for greenwashing, while Neiman Marcus didn't even bother to respond to the survey. They weren't alone: every company on the "naughty" list failed to complete the catalog survey--a telltale sign of wrongdoing.
Overall, this year's survey shows progress. A record 11 companies made the "nice" list--nearly four times the number that made the list in 2006. With that track record, we can expect at least some of the "naughty" companies to fess up to their catalog crimes next year. In the meantime, ForestEthics is sponsoring a campaign to create a national "Do Not Mail" registry--an initiative that has the support of 89% of Americans. So whether companies like it or not, print catalogs might be on their last legs.
Sure, you could buy a fierce-looking sound system for your iPod or invest in some slick ceramic speakers. But where's the fun in that? Dean Brown's $30 Audio Can uses a simple baked bean can to house a loudspeaker. amplifier, and audio input. It's virtually guaranteed to start a conversation and go virtually unnoticed by thieves. Plus, what better way to listen to throwaway pop like, say, Black Eyed Peas, than through a reclaimed bean can?
According to designer Dean Brown, "The motivation to design this product was to create an iPod speaker that differentiates itself from the majority that are
heavily styled and have increased merit based on increased size,
increased sound quality, and more features." Indeed, the Audio Can won't win any awards for sound quality, but that's not the point--the device is meant to be used in places where music isn't the primary focus (i.e. coffee shops, kitchens, yoga studios, etc.).
Perhaps most importantly, the Audio Can demonstrates the utility of what might normally be a throwaway bean container. It makes us think: what other everyday items that we regularly toss in the garbage could have alternate uses?
Whether a binding climate change agreement will be reached at this week's UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is still up in the air, but at least some progress has been made in the realm of renewable energy. Nine European countries--Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Ireland--signed the "North Seas' Countries Offshore Grid Initiative," a plan to create an offshore wind power supergrid in the North and North West seas.
The plan means that offshore wind parks in various countries could all be linked--so wind power from Ireland could be used in Germany, for example. According to a press release from Ireland's Department of Communications, the plan will allow Irish wind farms to "connect directly to Europe, not only securing our energy supply but allowing us
to sell the electricity produced on a wider market." The same holds for all countries involved in the deal.
Plenty of details have yet to be worked out. The countries have no idea how much the plan will cost, let alone what companies will be responsible for constructing the wind farms and transmission lines. But if it is carried out, the offshore grid initiative will help Europe reach its goal of generating 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2020. Another potential renewable energy boon for the continent is Desertec, a solar pipeline project connecting Europe to North Africa and the Middle East. Like the offshore wind initiative, Desertec is still in the planning stages.
