It looks like another bank, Bank of America, will be making some heavy investment into green technology. Last week we highlighted Goldman Sachs as they announced a 40 billion dollar commitment toward investing in green technology, following Wells Fargo's own dive into supporting green tech found here. Bank of America's plan includes a 50 million dollar venture that will span 10 years. Specifics beyond that portion of their announcement aren't know, but they're also committing themselves to a reduction in energy consumption of 25% from 2004 levels and additional reductions in paper and water. To many, this effort from B of A appears like the latest from big
banks trying to divert attention from their fading image. Besides the negative
perception that many banks have received from the 2008
crisis, deservedly or not, B of A has also been the target of
criticism for their part inlending to the coal industry.
We love this article by the Design Observer, which looks at the evolving narrative of sustainability over the years.
There is a technological progression towards efficiency, towards creating smaller or lesser polluting systems. But that's not necessarily the solution, and in fact can perhaps get in the way of every achieving true sustainability.
The article implores us to differentiate between technologically-driven sustainability, which is where a lot of what we're talking about lies, and instead also pay attention to the broader questions of ecological sustainability. To look at and develop new models for consumption itself, not just more efficient ways of producing and consuming as we always have, being cognizant that there is a broader ecological impact of iterations within the narrow field of "efficient products".
This is a conversation we hope to have on The Green Radar over the next few weeks, and would love for you to participate.
“Ever bigger machines, entailing ever bigger concentrations of economic power and exerting ever greater violence against the environment, do not represent progress: they are a denial of wisdom. Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful.”E.F. Schumacher
The renewable energyindustry moves fast and it is well known that solar energy is one of the most trendynowadays. Probably we all know of a city, an organization or even a neighborthat is investing in this technology (to use it in a building, car or otherassets) not only because the renewable sources like the sun provide free energybut also because they are eco – friendly. I think it worth to mention that theinitial cost of implementation and other required systems might be quiteexpensive but at the end this alternative is very convenient because its regularusage has no cost.
Furthermore, thisindustry has been evolving at the same time that portable electronics. That iswhy we can find companies like Goal Zero that has a very interesting offer of productsthat by means of portable solar panels allows us to charge our devices whereverwe are. They have even developed chargeable backpacks, lanterns and “powercontainers” and they are prepared to connect to the devices by USB, DC, AC. Theprocess seems easy:
1.Collect Power in a “power pack”: Depending on the devicethat you are looking to provide power to in the future it may take a while.Imagine that you can consider from an iPod, iPhone, tablet, laptop, TV to a 12Vrefrigerator!
2.Store Power: Once the power pack is charged, you can takeit wherever you want and have it available for whenever you need it.
3.Power your device: Use your power pack to power orrecharge your device.
Once again, the initialcost is not that cheap and the size of some products is not comfortable, but Iam sure that as much as we get used to this technology, it will keep improvingon the go faster and faster.
In general, this sustainable technology, trendy and available worldwide, is very recommendable foradventurers that like to camp or hike, travelers that stay long hours waitingin the airports or train stations, students that carry several electronicdevices at the same time, and for every eco – friendly user that wants to depending on electric power at home or office.
Very motivating to all of those who wants to be part of the "green revolution" that is coming... actually, that is already around us now.
Nobody has ever asked themselves how much energy an underground station uses. Calculating escalators, lights and air-flow, the world average is around 550.000 kWh per year (equivalent to the electricity consumed in more than 200 households). Considering that in Europe there are 4412 stations, in America 2761 and in Asia 2685, a quick multiplication will tell us that the energy demand is 5,5 GWh per year. This is why the European Union is contributing 2,8 million Euros for a project that, for the first time, will try to understand where this energy is used to find the best solutions for the stations. The name of this 4,1 million Euuro project is Seam4Us (acronym of Sustainable Energy maNagement for Underground Stations) and is coordinated by an Italian company: Cofely Italia Spa.
The project started with a pilot station in "Passeig de Gràcia" in Barcelona and will take 36 months to complete. The first year is dedicated to study of how energy is consumed and how innovative technologies can compliment it. In the next year it's expected to install systems that will regulate light, escalators and optimize the ventilation depending on the presence of people (thanks to environmental sensors).
What's better than a huge building, you ask? Another huge building that only consumes about half the power.
The Tokyo Institute of Technology's new Innovation building is covered with 4,500 solar panels, equaling a capacity near 650 kilowatts, and another 100 kilowatts of fuel cells.
Nice to see a leading university making moves. It would be great to see more universities doing so on their own, or through environmental councils like the U.S. Green Building Council in the US, where UCSB is among a few chosen schools participating in a broader pilot program to make significant amount of their facilities certifiably green.
Here's hoping they look nearly as cool as the Innovation Building.
Building on previous efforts to adopt energy efficient technologies for the armed forces, the current administration set a goal to build "...three gigawatts of solar, wind, and geothermal power capacity on U.S. military installations by 2025" the majority of which would be US installations. The announcement isn't totally driven by a desire to be "green," but by the logistically positive outcomes that it provides for the Armed Forces when considering the effects that power disruptions can have on a mission. Additionally, the transportation and protection of fuel have always been high risk operations leading to many casualties on the ground. Other efforts by the administration to move towards a greener armed forces included solar backpack adoption in 2010 for grounds troops in Afghanistan. The announcement earlier in the week also included a 30 Billion dollar research competition by the Energy Department for improving battery storage.
It looks like another bank, Bank of America, will be making some heavy investment into green technology. 
