This WONDERFUL WATERFALL OF WORDS reflects the range of ideas and concepts discussed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In keeping with the MIT tradition, the word count is infinite, as new words and ideas are added every day. Want to brainstorm? Go to the site and click on an idea and watch a video on the topic.
GOT AN IDEA? Add it to the infinite list and watch a video on the topic...
The MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) of DC & Baltimore’s 2010 Gala on February 18, 2010 was an event to remember for 150+ small and medium entrepreneurs and the larger companies, VCs, Angel Investors and service providers who support and mentor them.
In a town where skepticism is rampant and who you know sometimes seems more important than what you know, the MIT Enterprise Forum of DC and Baltimore refreshingly brought together inspired professionals with knowledge, leadership and hope for the future to talk about international cooperation in launching and growing science based technology businesses. The Gala was held at the beautiful Canadian Embassy on Pennsylvania Avenue and it marked MITEF’s first DC based event. The glass windows of the Embassy looked out onto the Capital which provided a terrific backdrop for the distinguished gathering. One hundred and fifty entrepreneurs, scientists, venture capitalists and service-providers spent three hours mingling and eating, listening and asking questions of two fascinating keynote speakers with first hand knowledge about policy and the investment realities for Canadian and American businesses.
This year’s theme was “Growing Opportunity for Technology Entrepreneurship in Domestic and Emerging Markets: The Role of Innovation in Economic Development” and was chaired by Patrick Mellody, a Director on the MITEF Board. Jean-Luc Park, the MITEF Chairman and an Associate at the Calvert Fund moderated.
Jean-Luc Park Chairman Chapter of the MITEF of DC & Baltimore
The two keynote speakers were Jean-René Halde of the Business Development Bank of Canada & Phil Auerswald, founder and co-editor of the MIT Innovations Journal (along with Iqbal Quadir, Founder of Grameen Phone) and Associate Professor at George Mason University. The question and answer period went on for 30 minutes which indicated that people were truly engaged with both Jean-René Halde and Phil Auerswald.
Jean-René Halde’s 
visit with the MITEF was part of a larger business trip to the United States. Mr. Halde told the crowd that he was enjoying his trip and had enjoyed productive meetings with the heads of several private and public American institutions in Washington, DC. As CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, Jean-René’s primary goal is to invest in and promote entrepreneurial activity in Canada. He does this with tremendous support from the Canadian government. He is enthusiastic about the many successful entrepreneurial partnerships between American and Canadian companies. Mr. Halde also shared what he believes are new opportunities in a difficult economic environment. Mr. Halde ended the evening by showing his Canadian pride as this year’s sponsor of the Olympics. He generously awarded several pairs of red mittens adorned with the Olympic symbol to several lucky attendees.
Phil Auerswald came to the Gala hours after meeting with leaders at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. Mr. Auerswald brought a fresh new perspective to the MIT Enterprise Forum. He asked entrepreneurs to think globally as they create new entrepreneurial partnerships and establish new markets for their products. He asked them to engage foreign nationals to learn more about partnership opportunities in international markets. He also asked entrepreneurs to become more politically involved to protect their interests and grow their range of opportunities both at-home and abroad.
All in all- the evening was a tribute to the spirit of innovation and broad international entrepreneurial partnerships. Event Sponsors included The Canadian Embassy, Honeywell, Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz, LLP and ProVDN
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About The MIT Enterprise Forum
Open to all since 1981, the Enterprise Forum® has promoted the growth, education, and success of the entrepreneur and business community of the greater Washington & Baltimore area. The MITEF is a non-profit, volunteer organization, it provides exceptional quality events that are open to the public. Its many programs are targeted to local start-ups, high technology businesses, venture capitalists, angels, and the professionals who support them.
The DC chapter is one of a network of 24 worldwide chapters of the Enterprise Forum , which was created as an outreach educational program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). Participation and membership by the general public, regardless of their affiliation, is encouraged.
The Author, Halima Aquino, is a Director on the Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum. She was also last year’s Gala Chair and this year’s Vice Chair. Halima is the Founder of Bolton Hill Consulting and Clean Tech Market Maker.
Photography and videos supplied by Allan Tone at ProVDN
Innovate and Enter / Participate & Launch!
The next Solar Decathlon will be held in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2011, when once again teams from colleges and universities from around the world will gather to compete. The request for proposals (RFP), RFP amendments, and draft rules for the 2011 competition are available by clicking the link above.
2009 Competition: DOE Solar Decathlon: 2009 Final Results.
For three weeks in October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy hosted the Solar Decathlon—a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students competed to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon also enabled the public to observe the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design.
The dates of the 2009 event were:
The 10 Contests included the following:
The final results of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2009 are presented below. The 2009 Solar Decathlon was held Oct. 9-18 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and challenged 20 student teams to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.
The 2007 champions did it again! Team Germany focused on producing surplus energy by using the maximum overall building dimensions allowed, applying photovoltaics to every available surface, and pushing the envelope with new technologies. The team walked away with the Net Metering contest and performed well in several others, including Architecture, Lighting Design, Comfort Zone, and Hot Water. Demonstrating that they are true champions, members of Team Germany were extremely gracious in their victory and recognized the work of their peers.
Gable House was one of the first to be assembled and ran like clockwork the entire competition. The team set out to express its regional heritage and sought to create a synergy between old and new. Traditional techniques in homebuilding, along with great advances in technology, blended to create a house that performed exceptionally well in energy efficiency—as demonstrated by the team’s results in all the objective contests. Focused on performance, this team also achieved elegant simplicity in design.
A winning spirit guided this team throughout the 2009 competition. Ranking in the top three of nearly every contest, Team California also excelled in some of the most prestigious subjective contests. It finished first in both the Architecture and Communications contests, achieved second in Engineering, and tied for third in Market Viability. Beautiful in every respect, Refract House broke out of the box and masterfully executed the melding of interior and exterior spaces while offering a consistent and high-quality learning experience to visitors.
The panel of judges and jurors assembled to evaluate the 20 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2009 teams and their houses is composed of individuals at the top of their professions. Renowned in their fields of study, they bring academic excellence and practical, in-the-field expertise to each of the 10 contests. Their involvement in the Solar Decathlon will help advance energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the world.
Using objective and subjective measures to evaluate the team houses, the jurors assign points for every contest that determine each team’s overall score and standing.
Kevin Burke works closely with William McDonough to give form to the eco-effective design principles on an array of project types and scales at William McDonough + Partners. He served as co-designer on several of the projects that have become known as milestones in American sustainable design. His approach is driven by his keen interest in place-making through integrated design solutions. Burke currently manages the 40-person practice, which opened a second studio in San Francisco in 2006. He is a key design leader, heading teams on Fuller Theological Seminary’s Worship Center and Library, the American University School of International Service, and VMware Corporate Headquarters, among other projects. Burke lectures widely about eco-effective design and cradle-to-cradle thinking as the backdrop for the firm’s architecture and its work on guidelines, master plans, and other frameworks. Burke is a LEED Accredited Professional.
Jonathan Knowles is an assistant professor of architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He has been teaching at RISD since 2001 and was project director for RISD’s 2005 Solar Decathlon entry. He has initiated a pilot project with the Department of Engineering at Brown University to conduct research into new forms of thermal electric systems. Knowles has taught at the Parsons School of Design, Cornell University, and Columbia University. He is also a practicing architect and passive house consultant in New York City, where he is a partner at Briggs Knowles Studio. The work of the firm has been published in several venues, including the New York Times and Dwell magazine. He is currently overseeing the design and construction of two net-zero homes in New England. His degrees, a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Fine Arts, are from RISD.
Sarah Susanka is the leader of a movement that is redefining the American home and lifestyle. Through her “build better, not bigger” approach to residential design, she teaches that the sense of “home” we seek has almost nothing to do with quantity and everything to do with quality. She is the author of eight best-selling books, including The Not So Big House, Home by Design, and The Not So Big Life. In March 2009, Taunton Press published Not So Big Remodeling, in which Susanka shows readers how to remodel in a not so big way, making a house more functional, inspiring, and more sustainable. Her books have sold more than 1 million copies. Susanka is regularly tapped for her expertise by national media, including “The Today Show,” CNN, and The New York Times. In January, Builder magazine recognized Susanka as one of 30 innovators in housing over the past 30 years. She is a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council and resides in North Carolina.
Richard Bourne is in “semi-retirement” as a half-time manager at the Western Cooling Efficiency Center (WCEC) at UC Davis, where he is responsible for retailer affiliate relationships and major research projects to reduce the cost of large radiant floor cooling systems. Bourne has served as director of WCEC, principal of Davis Energy Group Inc., and owner and manager of Solar Concept Development Co. Bourne has been a registered mechanical engineer since 1978. He has been a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) since 1975 and served as a chairman on the Radiant Heating and Cooling Committee from 1988 to 1990. As part of his work, he has presented more than 150 special lectures, workshops, and technical papers on energy topics and has 20 United States patents.
David Click is an alumnus of the 2002 Solar Decathlon and the University of Virginia, where he earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering. He then worked for three years at Solar Design Associates near Boston on residential and commercial projects, including a 600-kW system on a warehouse roof and the 120-kW photovoltaic systems installed at the San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park. Now working for the Florida Solar Energy Center, he helps lead a week-long training course for aspiring solar contractors. He also serves as project support director, working with an affordable housing developer and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (among others) on solar power and energy efficiency projects throughout Florida. Click also serves as a U.S. Department of Energy Tiger Team lead for several Solar America projects, including the City of Orlando and two showcases. He and his wife, Barrie, are the proud owners of a new 5.4-kW grid-tied photovoltaic thermal system.
Ted Prythero is a principal in the Denver office of M-E Engineers, an international mechanical and electrical consulting engineering firm. Prior to M-E Engineers, he was a principal with Engineering Economics and a partner in ENSAR Group, a sustainability consulting firm. He has more than 30 years of experience in the design of HVAC systems, with an emphasis on energy conservation and applying innovative and alternative energy systems to buildings. Prythero also has extensive experience in energy management/control systems and energy analysis and has taught energy conservation seminars to design professionals. His interest has been working with other design team members to make more efficient envelopes and incorporate solar features into buildings. He has been involved in numerous exemplary energy-conserving buildings. He has received multiple awards, ranging from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Innovation in Energy award to the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado’s Engineering Excellence award. Prythero obtained a Bachelor of Science in engineering at Purdue University.
James Ketter is the engineering manager for GF Development, an arm of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in Durango, Colorado. He has extensive management experience in commercial and residential planning, design, construction, and operations and is a staunch advocate for sustainable communities. His current work includes the Three Springs project in Durango, a 2,000-unit, mixed-use, sustainably constructed traditional neighborhood development project. Ketter earned a mechanical engineering degree from Ohio State University, is a registered professional engineer, a LEED Accredited Professional with the U.S. Green Building Council, and member of the American Solar Energy Society. Ketter was a founding board member of the Durango Discovery Museum, a planned science and energy museum showcasing energy past, present, and future to be housed in the world’s oldest-known surviving AC steam power plant.
Joyce Mason markets new home communities for Pardee Homes, one of the nation’s most prominent multi-regional builders. She developed Pardee’s LivingSmart® brand to promote energy and water savings, indoor air quality, and use of earth-friendly building materials. A member of the Building Industry Institute Advisory Board for California Green Builder, Mason earned The State of California Earth award for Pardee’s LivingSmart neighborhoods and habitat preservation in San Diego. Pardee Homes has received numerous sustainability awards, including the National Association of Home Builders’ Green Builder of the Year award, several Sustainable Community of the Year awards, and recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and other local and regional agencies. She also devotes time to HomeAid. On its behalf, she coordinated display of a Pardee-built playhouse at the National Building Museum to teach children about green building.
Paul Waszink is a construction cost consultant who specializes in the development of independent cost opinions via personal-attention investigative scope verification, quantity surveying, cost analyses, and related services for real estate development projects. As part of his job, he develops project budgets and cost estimates; provides peer review of construction cost estimates; offers project management at the sub-consultant, pre-construction, and course-of-construction phases of a project; works as a party appraiser in insurance settlement disputes; and provides training for groups and agencies about project funding budgets, cost planning, and monitoring.
Nancy Clanton is founder and president of Clanton & Associates, a lighting design firm that specializes in sustainable design. She obtained her Bachelor of Science (in architectural engineering with an illumination emphasis) from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a registered professional engineer. Clanton is chairperson of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America’s (IESNA’s) Outdoor Environmental Lighting Committee and the Mesopic Committee and is a past member of the boards of directors of the International Association of Lighting Designers and the IESNA. Clanton is currently a member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Environmental Quality Technical Advisory Group. She was a topic editor for the IESNA Lighting Handbook, and her committee was responsible for the production of the IESNA Recommended Practice on Lighting for the Exterior Environment. Her firm has authored the lighting criteria for the Department of Defense Unified Facilities Criteria, the Colorado Department of Transportation Lighting Design Guide, and the exterior sections of California’s Title 24 2008 energy code.
Ron Kurtz has been with Randy Burkett Lighting Design since 1990. His responsibilities as a lighting designer and project manager include the development of conceptual design, which involves the determination of both aesthetic and technical requirements, the preparation of contract documents and specifications, and construction phase coordination and field observation. His lighting design experience includes three years with Grenald Associates Ltd. in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Kurtz is an active member of the International Association of Lighting Designers, serves on the Sustainability Committee, and is a LEED Accredited Professional. He is also involved in the IESNA on local and national levels and participates on the Energy Management Committee. He is a member of ASHRAE’s 90.1 Energy Standards Committee and has been a speaker on a number of lighting topics at professional and educational conferences.
Naomi Miller is the principal of Naomi Miller Lighting Design in Troy, New York. Lighting quality, the aging eye, health effects of light, dark skies, sustainability, and energy efficiency are her passions. She has many years of experience working in different facets of the lighting industry but finds lighting to be an ever-advancing field with creative challenges. More than 30 lighting design awards hang on her wall. She earned an undergraduate degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in lighting degree from Rensselaer. She chaired the IESNA Quality of the Visual Environment committee for eight years and was a principal member of the writing team for Light + Design: A Guide to Designing Quality Lighting for People and Buildings. She is a fellow of the IESNA, fellow of the International Association of Lighting Designers, and member of the Lighting Research Office’s Technical Advisory Committee.
Maureen McNulty manages D&R’s outreach on behalf of the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-administered program that works to speed the development and adoption of advanced building technologies. Before joining D&R, McNulty worked as an independent communications and marketing consultant and marketing director for an electronic communications firm. She also has six years of experience in program administration for an education association and several years as an account executive in public relations and marketing agencies. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in writing from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Art from Agnes Scott College.
As the higher education sector manager at the U.S. Green Building Council, Jaime Van Mourik guides colleges and universities through the green building planning process and the implementation of the LEED Green Building Rating System. In this role, she directs the development of tools and resources for the sector and maintains customer relations for the council’s portfolio program. Prior to joining the U.S. Green Building Council, Van Mourik worked as a project manager at GreenShape, a sustainable design consulting firm, assisting more than 30 projects pursuing LEED certification. From 2002 to 2007, she worked at the National Building Museum developing, implementing, and managing educational programs about the built environment for an adult audience. Van Mourik is an active member of the building industry community, serves on the American Institute of Architects Washington, D.C., Inter-School Design Competition Committee, and is an Associate American Institute of Architects member and LEED Accredited Professional. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech and a Master of Architectural History from the University of Virginia.
Alan Wickstrom is the president and CEO of BuildingOnline Inc., a Web site design and Internet marketing agency devoted to the residential and commercial building products industries. BuildingOnline designed and hosts more than 120 of the industry’s leading Web sites, offers a building industry search engine and Web site directory, and manages BuildingOnline’s eUpdate, a building industry newsfeed service. He has 20 years of business marketing experience in these industries as well as 14 years of Internet marketing and design experience. Wickstrom has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from National University, San Diego. He is an accomplished speaker on the Internet and in the building industry. Wickstrom is an active Rotarian, serves on the board of the Italian American Opera Foundation, and served as the foundation president of the South Orange County School of the Arts until June 2009.
This Association of Public Land Grant Universities (APLU) sponsored event was designed to help DOE employees improve the grant review process. Had it been open to the public… it would have been of great interest to anyone trying to get government funding in the renewable energy arena.
It was a privilege to attend this event.
Jim Turner at the Association of Public Land Grant Universities (APLU) put on a stellar speaker panel and provided participants with the opportunity to meet the experts in the funding process. A select group of speaker presentations are listed below. One of the best featured speakers included D. Wayne Silby (Chair), Founding Chair of the Calvert Funds; Co-chair, Calvert Social Investment Foundation; Chair-elect and Principal, Syntao.com. Catherine Hunt, Dow, Director of Technology Collaboration Development was engaging and informative about finding practical solutions to industry problems.
The agenda and presentations are included below:
EERE Peer Review Best Practices Workshop
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
1307 New York Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20005
8:30 am Continental Breakfast
9:00 am Welcome : Peter McPherson, President, APLU
9:05 am Opening Remarks:Henry Kelly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
9:15 am Keynote : Bill Bonvillian, Director of Federal Relations, MIT
9:45 am Peer Review Best Practices: Basic Science
Moderator: Jim Turner, Energy Programs, APLU
11:15 am Peer Review Best Practices: Applied Research and Technology Development
Moderator: JoAnn Milliken, EERE
12:30 pm Lunch
1:00 pm Peer Review Best Practices: Private Sector and Academic
Moderator: Jim Turner, Energy Programs, APLU
2:15 pm Alternate Approaches to Peer Review
3:00 pm Public Comment Period
The Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program administered by the World Bank. The 2009 global competition is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and additional DM partners. It aims to identify 20 to 25 innovative, early-stage projects addressing climate adaptation.
Open to the public: this year’s Climate Adaptation Grant Recipients will be announced on Nov 10-13, 2009 –
Development Marketplace – DM2009 – Climate Adaptation.
The winners came from Sub-Saharan Africa, South and East Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. India, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Cambodia, and Vietnam were each the home of two award winners. Altogether, 15 countries and Sub-Saharan Africa as a region were represented.
The projects that made the final cut — from 1,800 applications that were winnowed down to 100 from 42 countries — promise to deliver a number of objectives and innovations to increase agricultural productivity, give farmers more land rights and link them to global markets, and, overall, reduce the deep poverty of rural regions in developing countries.
All the grants are $200,000 or less — but the World Bank Group and other funders of DM2008 see even the smallest projects having a catalyst effect on lagging agricultural development that has been undercutting gains in the global fight against poverty.
In her opening remarks, Katherine Sierra, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank, a DM2008 partner, complimented the winners on their “ambition and drive,” and said their innovation comes when it’s especially needed — amid the crisis of rising commodity prices.
“Today we meet to celebrate innovation,” said second speaker Monique Barbut, CEO of the Global Environment Facility, a competition partner. “And the projects we are recognizing here do just that by supporting communities struggling with the agricultural challenges of the food price crisis.”
More compliments came from other speakers representing other partners — Mercy Karanja, Senior Program Officer of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Albert Engel, Head, Division for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food at GTZ.
The winners that used technology are listed below: (listed by project, country, sponsoring organization, and objective):
1. Using Cassava Waste to Raise Goats, Nigeria, University of Agricultural, Abeokuta. To create a new market linking cassava producers and goat keepers through the introduction of a simple drying technology that will turn cassava waste into goat feed. As a result, the project will increase farming incomes and reduce carbon dioxide wastes by eliminating the need to burn cassava waste.
2. Converting Rice Fields into Green Fertilizer Factories, Ecuador, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL). To increase rice yields and reduce dependency on imported artificial nitrogen fertilizers through the re-introduction and cultivation of the Azolla Anabena plant as a biofertilizer.
3. Linking Coffee Farmers to Markets via Traceable Coffee, Sub-Saharan Africa, Pachama Coffee Cooperative of Small-scale coffee producers. To support small farmers to obtain a greater share of the value-added in coffee production through the introduction of an online tracking system that will allow end consumers to trace a specific coffee back to the level of the actual farm.
4. Mini Cold Storage Ventures, India, Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College- Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park. To establish cold chain enterprises among trained youth using the latest technology in refrigeration adapted to the needs of small farmers.
5. Renewable Energy-Powered Milk Coolers, Uganda, University of Georgia, To test a reengineered milk cooling system to match the needs of smallholder dairy farmers, resulting in reduced post-harvest losses and increased farm income.
6. Micro-Franchising Scheme for Agricultural Services, Cambodia, International Development Enterprises Cambodia. To develop a sustainable micro-franchise enterprise to provide affordable horticulture services through private extension agents.
7. Açaí Production for Income Generation and Forest Protection, Brazil, Centro Ecológico. To provide technical services to a local cooperative of small scale farmers in the biodiversity-rich Atlantic Forests to harvest and market the açaí berry.
8. Value Chain Development for Textile Products, Mongolia, VSO. To increase the domestic value of livestock production through better marketing opportunities and services to raw material producers and processors.
9. Organoleptic Analysis to Improve Market Access for Cacao Growers, Ecuador, Conservación y Desarrollo. To equip cacao growers with access to chocolate making machinery so that they can better serve differentiated markets and improve the quality of their product.
10. Ancient Cocoa: Modern Genomics Methods Benefiting Small Farmers, Trinida and Tobago, Bioversity International. To enhance the cocoa value chain by facilitating the identification of more profitable trace cocoa cultivars using modern genomics methods.
11. Riverbed Farming for Landless Households in Nepal, Nepal, Helvetas. To facilitate the use of leasing arrangements for landless households to gain access to unused dry riverbeds for off-season cultivation of horticultural produce.
12. Collective Land Ownership Model for Women, India, Manav Seva Sansthan “SEVA.” To demonstrate the effectiveness of a collective land ownership model that provides women secured land holdings necessary for them to adopt more profitable modern farming practices.
13. Legal Aid for Farmers’ Land Rights, China, Rural Development Institute. To create the first legal aid center in China devoted to farmers’ agricultural land rights.
14. Land Ownership for the Rural Poor in Mexico, Mexico, Agros International.To create two sustainable farming communities in Chiapas through the long-term lease of land and provision of integrated technical services to landless farmers.
15. Producing Biofuel from Indigenous Non-Edible Nuts, Tanazania, Africa Biofuel and Emission Reduction Ltd. To cultivate and sell an indigenous oil-seed for biofuel from the Croton tree, creating a new, sustainable cash crop for smallholder farmers.
16. Locally Produced Biofuel Outboard Motor, Senegal, Mission Goorgoorlu. To introduce along Senegal’s waterways an affordable and environmentally friendly mode to transport agriculture products to market. The project is using traditional vessels powered by a locally produced biofuel outboard motor fueled by processed indigenous oil seeds.
17. Agricultural Cooperatives for Biodiversity Conservation, Cambodia, Wildlife Conservation Society. To pilot Cambodia’s first market for payment for environmental services generated from agriculture using a “Wildlife-friendly” branding and marketing strategy.
18. Reducing Impacts of Ranching on Biodiversity, Mexico, Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda. To pilot a payment scheme for a “gourmet” menu of integrated environmental services generated from intensive cattle operations in the biodiversity-rich area of San Antonio Tancoyol.
19. Sustaining Nitrogen-Efficient Rice Production, Vietnam, University of Sydney. To establish an integrated production-supply-extension chain to ensure a reliable biofertilizer product that reduces chemical contamination and increases yields.
20. Low-Cost Housing: Waste Rice Straw Construction Panels, Vietnam, Vinh Sang Ltd. To create a sustainable enterprise that manufactures kits for affordable environmentally sustainable housing made from recycled straw waste in the Mekong Delta.
22. Payment for Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Agriculture, Paraguay, Organization of American States. To implement in three pilot sites a menu of agro-forestry practices combined with a scheme of Payments for Ecosystem Services. This will be the first application of Paraguay’s Law of Ecosystem Services in the context of a rural farm economy.
This Month’s Innovations For a Greener Future: Megakites, Solar Flowers, and More
via This Month’s Innovations For a Greener Future: Megakites, Solar Flowers, and More | Popular Science.
By Carina Storrs Posted 10.14.2009 at 10:21 am
A kite flown in a strong breeze will quickly unspool string as it climbs higher. KiteGen Research in Italy aims to turn that action into electricity. The company developed a prototype that flies 200-square-foot kites to altitudes of 2,600 feet, where wind streams are four times as strong as they are near ground-based wind turbines.
As the kite’s tether unspools, it spins an alternator that generates up to 40 kilowatts. Once the kite reaches its peak altitude, it collapses, and motors quickly reel it back in to restart the cycle. This spring, KiteGen started building a machine to fly a 1,500-square-foot kite, which it plans to finish by 2011, that could generate up to three megawatts—enough to power 9,000 homes.
Any blossom would stand out in the desert of southern Israel, but you’d be hard-pressed to miss a 98-foot-tall one. The tulip-shaped tower is the centerpiece of the world’s first hybrid-solar power plant, opened this summer by Israeli start-up AORA Solar. An array of 30 mirrors focuses the sun’s rays on the central steel bud. Inside, the solar energy heats air to 1,800ºF, causing it to expand and spin a turbine to generate 100 kilowatts. When night falls or clouds obscure the sun, the plant helps heat the air with a standard diesel combuster running on up to eight gallons per hour to provide consistent electricity output, unlike strictly solar plants. AORA is working with Spanish, Chilean and Australian companies to export the tech, which could be reconfigured to burn biofuel, says Pinchas Doron, the company’s chief technology officer. “Soon,” he says, “it could be green energy 24/7.”
Clean Energy Patents Hit Record High in the US.
by Zachary Shan at CleanTechnica.com
Some Excerpts:
According to intellectual property law firm Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C., who publishes the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index (CEPGI) every quarter, 274 clean energy patents were granted last quarter. This is 31 more than the previous quarter and 57 more than in the same quarter last year.
This is a good sign that clean technology will continue to provide the US with a greater and greater share of its energy. Additionally, clean technology in the transportation sector is advancing at great speed and with momentum and maybe we will find our way out of gas and oil related crises soon. Fuel cell* technology is leading the way. Victor Cardona, co-chair of the firm’s Cleantech Group, states: “Fuel cells continued to dominate the other technologies while wind and solar patents continued an upswing. Honda earned more patents than the other patentees to again claim the Clean Energy Patent Crown.”
Another record high was in the biofuels** sector. “Biofuel patents reached an all time
quarterly high at 13 and were up 2 relative to the first quarter and up 8 over a year before,” according to the press release.
Geographically, Japan led the pack (with 75 new patents), California was second (29), Michigan and Germany tied for third (23), and New York and Korea tied for fifth (15). In addition to Honda, the top companies were GM, Toyota, GE, Nissan, and Panasonic Corp. (respectively).
*For recent news on fuel cells, read Full Cycle Energy Joins Race for Non-Platinum Fuel Cells and Wegmans Grocery Gets $1 Million Grant for Fuel Cell Technology.
**For recent news on biofuels, read Watermelon Juice — Next Source of Renewable Energy, Electrolyzed Water Turns Waste Product Into Biofuel, and Scientists Force Fungus to Have Sex to Create Biofuel.
When you build a car that’s electric, you start with one built-in advantage: Electric cars just don’t have to be as complex mechanically as the car you’re probably driving now. Sophisticated electronics and software take the place of the pounds and pounds of machinery required to introduce a spark and ignite the fuel that powers an internal combustion engine.
For example, the typical four-cylinder engine of a conventional car comprises over a hundred moving parts. By comparison, the motor of the Tesla Roadster has just one: the rotor. So there’s less weight to drive around and fewer parts that could break or wear down over time.
The Tesla Roadster’s elegantly designed powertrain consists of just the four main components discussed below. Mind you, these aren’t “off-the-shelf” components, and each includes innovations, both small and large. But when you build a car from the ground up, you have the luxury of questioning every assumption — and to distill as you reinvent.
When we set out to build a high-performance electric car, the biggest challenge was obvious from the start: the battery. Its complexities are clear: it’s heavy, expensive, and offers limited power and range. Yet it has one quality that eclipses these disadvantages and motivated us to keep working tirelessly: it’s clean.
As a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and investor in companies like Juniper Networks, Khosla had a stake in the earliest days of the Internet build-out when it seemed like an impossibly hard task. Now, he sees the same—if not greater—opportunity in cleantech.
via Can Cleantech Produce “Ten Googles”: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance.
Dean Kamen’s Spectrum Technologies
Bolton Hill Consulting, Ltd. 