Posted under Express 194

The rooftop revolution is happening. The hardware for solar is improving and it is now cheaper than fossil fuels. The big finance players – Buffet, Blackstone, Google and the Saudis -are all lining up. So an Australian is setting up a solar hub in California. It is the heart of biggest solar market in US. It is close to the money and financiers and it’s close to Silicon Valley. Giles Parkinson in Renew economy has the story. Read More

By Giles Parkinson in renew Economy on (10 July 2013):

Danny Kennedy has a dream to create the global capital of solar PV – not in manufacturing or installations as other aspire to do – but in ideas. Solar, he says, is one of the greatest economic opportunities ever seen in the world – but right now it is missing some the innovative ideas needed to glue the various bits together.

Kennedy, an Australian who co-founded US solar leasing firm Sungevity, and is a former campaigns manager for Greenpeace, says that the solar PV industry has to be more than just solar modules and installations. The next step will be to add storage and product mobility (read electric vehicles) to the offering.

“This will be a bundle of services. Rooftop solar is not just a single commodity or a piece of kit,” he says. So to address that issue, Kennedy has decided that an “epicenter for ideas” needs to be created. And he has just the place.

“Our thesis is that it is software and financial engineering that is the key now (for the industry’s development),” Kennedy tells RenewEconomy, during a visit to his headquarters in Oakland, California.

“Hardware is great and is being produced at scale, and it will improve through deployment. “It’s not an R&D problem any more. It is a scaling problem. And the scaling is done through better low-cost business models and financing.

Kennedy’s proposed location for this epicenter is the Jack London Square on the waterfront at the port of Oakland, on the other side of the bay from San Francisco. It already boasts the headquarters of Sungevity, and Kennedy has opened up new premises that include other companies that are forging innovative ideas to help the development of solar.

These include Mosaic Energy, which has hit the headlines on its solar crowd-funding events, and lesser known companies such as Power Hive, which is developing off-grid solar solutions in Africa to answer the demand for basic lighting and mobile phone charging.

Kennedy is now extending this “solar campus” idea by creating a new solar “incubator”, called SFunCube, which stands for Solar for Universal Needs.

The idea of this is to encourage start-ups by providing them a venue, contacts, and the environment to help them develop from early stage concept, through to proof content and revenue generation. The goal is to help these new companies find a niche, a home, and to stay in the square to help pollinate other ideas.

“There is not a physical epicenter for the solar industry,” Kennedy says. “The scale of need for filling out all the niches of the global economy that will be filled out by solar is not being tackled by enough entrepreneurs. I think that’s because there is not enough support for those entrepreneurs. So we are trying to create that fertile ground.

“And we think Oakland has a unique potential to be that place. It is the heart of biggest solar market in US. It is close to the money and financiers (across the bay) in San Francisco, and it’s close to Silicon Valley and all the software guys.

This mixture of software and financing is what is underpinning the success of Sungevity and other companies. Sungevity specialises in remote sales of rooftop solar systems and zero down payments. It’s a product of smart software (remote survey applications) and some smart finance.

“The rooftop revolution is happening. The hardware is improving and it is now cheaper than fossil fuels. The big finance players – Buffet, Blackstone, Google and the Saudis, are all lining up. But there is not enough businesses to make it happen in individual niches.

“Take car parks for instance. It is close to a billion dollar market, and a quarter of the land surface in some cities is car parks. Where are the companies specialising in solar solutions to those car parks? They are not supported.”

Kennedy says that rewiring the world’s electricity supply and providing electricity to the billion and more who don’t have it now is possibly the biggest economic opportunity ever presented, or at least in the top three.

“It commands the heights of the economy. Everything else is downstream – information networks, agricultural systems, manufacturing. And as electricity migrates to take over mobility (transport), it will become an enormous centre.  Solar will be the catalyst for all this.”

To satisfy that trillion-dollar industry will require many billion dollar businesses. But to get 1,000 businesses of that size, about 10,000 will need to try. “We simply need more people to try to make this work,” Kennedy says.

SfunCube CEO Emily Kirsch says she is not aware of any similar opportunity for solar entrepreneurs. The Department of Energy’s Sunshot Program has granted funds, but not the shared experience that can go with a campus-style setting.

So far, she says, there are 10 companies on the campus with some 300 employees. She expects this to grow to around 1,000 within a few years. “There is a universal need for electricity, and a universal need for solar, and software and finance is where we see the greatest abundance of opportunity.”

Source: www.reneweconomy.com.au/

Posted under Express 194

Embedding sustainability into an organisation isn’t easy. It requires disrupting well-oiled processes, and calls for broadened decision-making and measurement systems informed by a rapidly evolving global context. As John F Kennedy said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” Read More

The world is on a collision course with environmental realities. Business leaders know what do but not always how to do it

Bruno Sarda in Guardian Professional (2 July 2013):

Our world is on a collision course with environmental realities and we’re quickly running out of roadway to take meaningful corrective action. There is widespread agreement from experts on what needs to be done and societal pressure to act, and yet the status quo prevails. What’s the missing ingredient to drive this needed change? Leadership.

Former US president Harry Truman was right when he said: “In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.” If a sustainable future is a better future, how do we get there? What kind of leadership does sustainability require?

Many organisations have already recognised that sustainability is a business and societal imperative, and have initiated programmes and practices to get them started down that path. Yet even organisations with the best of intentions can get stuck in the process of scaling their sustainability efforts.

In a study conducted by the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, practitioners across sectors indicated they know what to do but aren’t always sure how to get it done, and 80% of them agreed that better tools and training would help them scale and accelerate their sustainability efforts. So what do sustainability leaders actually do to achieve success?

For sustainability to truly scale, it needs to align with the strategic objectives of the organisation and be defined in terms of greater organisational and financial success. Traditional financial accounting can be overly short-term focused, so understand how to tie sustainability to long-term success indicators such as ability to retain and acquire talent, regulatory risk/cost in absence of voluntary efforts, reduced supply chain risk, market perception and company reputation.

Once the strategy is defined, goals are needed to set the level of ambition and prioritise efforts. These should be informed by external drivers but ultimately need to be agreed and owned by those who will be accountable for delivering on them. For example, don’t set a greenhouse gas or water reduction goal without involving your facilities and operations teams.

Clear plans are needed to outline how you’re going to hit your goals. Develop baselines and agree what KPIs will tell you if you’re on track. For example, if you set a five-year waste reduction goal, where should you be after the first year? Inertia is not your friend; deliberate action is what breeds engagement and credibility. Anticipate changing conditions and be ready to adapt.

Success comes through action and results. Know how to drive execution and build strong internal governance mechanisms for visibility and accountability. Achieve and celebrate early wins. Perhaps pick one facility or region where you want to drive early results – this will earn you the right to scale faster across the organisation. Lead from the context of sustainability and manage to your KPIs, but trust functional experts to own how they deliver against their goals. For example, your facilities team knows best how to reduce water or energy use in their buildings.

An effective sustainability leader needs to be able to engage the boardroom, the team room, the lunchroom, the news room, the chat room and the living room. Leading much more with influence than authority, it’s critical to inspire and earn the trust of the organisation and its key stakeholders. Do that through the power of story, not just facts and figures. If people responded to facts alone, nobody would smoke anymore and we’d all eat more vegetables. Embrace transparency and commit to reporting failures and challenges as well as successes. Listen more than you speak, and tap your stakeholder networks for wisdom and validation along the way.

Embedding sustainability into an organisation isn’t easy. It requires disrupting well-oiled processes, and calls for broadened decision-making and measurement systems informed by a rapidly evolving global context. Those who will successfully lead this level of change must challenge themselves to grow and adapt as much as their organisations. As John F Kennedy said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

Our world needs a “shock and awe” campaign executed by highly trained sustainability warriors who can effectively lead change, set strategy and execute on goals, be awesome communicators and keep up with a rapidly evolving global context. Let us find them and arm them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed, and cheer them on at every step. Our future depends on it.

Bruno Sarda is the director of global sustainability operations at Dell and adjunct professor at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. He’s been working to develop a new Executive Master’s for Sustainability Leadership as part of the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives in the Global Institute of Sustainability.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk/

Posted under Express 194

About 80 astronauts from around the world will converge on Cologne, Germany for the 26th Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), which will include a visit to BMW’s Munich facilities. And following the philosophy of “cradle to grave” sustainability, BMW has also come up with what it claims is the world’s first CFRP – Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer – recycling concept. Various body components, production waste and even parts from damaged i3’s will find their way back into production following a unique sorting process. Read More

By Aaron Turpen in Auto news (6 July 2013):

About 80 astronauts from around the world will converge on Cologne, Germany for the 26th Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), which will include a visit to BMW’s Munich facilities.

The Munich facilities visit will include a tour and time with young professionals at BMW who are engaged in sustainable research, development and architecture at the BMW Group for talks about the future of sustainable transportation. One of the goals of ASE is to stimulate public interest in not only science and technology, but in the responsible and sustainable stewardship of our planet.

The tour and meeting will take place at the BMW Research and Innovation Centre and will include six astronauts from Germany, France, Russia and the U.S.A. to report on their current missions and discuss sustainable technology. Most of the discussions will center on fuel cell development and vehicle lightweighting, both of which are common to both BMW and spaceflight.

The Planetary Congress itself is co-hosted by the Houston, Texas-based ASE and by the German Aerospace Centre. Discussions range from human health and performance in and out of space, protecting the environment, and more. BMW is an event support sponsor, providing vehicles for transportation during the event. BMW has also been named the world’s most sustainable car manufacturer on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

During their visit to Munich, astronauts Klaus-Dietrich Flade (Germany), Michel A. Tognini (France), Mary Ellen Weber, Kevin Ford and Dr Owen K. Garriott (USA) and Yuriy Usachev (Russia) will take part in a Community Day organised by the BMW Group’s VIP management together with other departments for young BMW Group professionals and for professional conversation with specialized engineers.

With hydrogen in particular, BMW has partnered with Toyota on the development of fuel cell technology and hydrogen storage systems, something which many space agencies are also heavily vested in terms of technology and R&D. Of particular interest to the astronauts as well will be the BMW i3, which will launch to market soon, with its lightweight carbon fiber-reinforced plastic passenger shell.

Source: www.torquenews.com/

 

Cradle-to-grave sustainability is at the core of BMW’s new i3

By Angus MacKenzie (8 July 2013):

When the i3 concept was unveiled alongside the i8 coupe concept back in 2011, it was the i8 that hogged the spotlight in commercials and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. But BMW engineers were hard at work in Germany developing real world production plans for the i3 and BMW is now set to put its first fully electric vehicle into mass production by the end of 2013. But the wee urban EV plays only a small part in BMW’s overall sustainability program.

To quickly recap, the i3 is designed as a fully electric inner city four seater. Using BMW’s eDrive technology, the i3 will have a range of around 130 to 160 km (80 to 100 mi), which means most urban users at which it is targeted will only have to recharge it every two or three days.

Generating 125 kW (170 hp) of power to the rear wheels and 250 Nm of torque (184.4 lb.ft), BMW reports performance figures of 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in eight seconds and a top speed estimated at 150 km/h (93 mph).

The company claims the i3′s range can be increased to 200 km (124 mi) through its “EcoPro” modes (Eco Pro and Eco Pro+), while a “range extender” will also be available as an optional extra that will add another 130 km (80 mi) to the vehicle’s range. The i3 can be fully recharged in six hours via a standard outlet, or to an 80 per cent charge in 30 minutes using a fast charger.

Battery issues

Batteries, fickle things that they are, function best at room temperature, with heat and cold significantly affecting their performance. But since most cars aren’t driven indoors, BMW has developed a system designed to keep the i3’s battery in the sweet zone, which in turn increases battery life and range. The intelligent heating/cooling system uses air conditioning coolant to cool the battery when things are heating up, and when things turn polar, a pre-heater warms the battery to optimal operating temperatures while plugged in. BMW claims this system helps ensure the lithium-ion battery should last the lifetime of the car.

The i3′s motor generates 125 kW (170 hp) of power to the rear wheels

Batteries are considered the weakest link in the sustainability chain and highly undesirable as a recyclable component. BMW again recognized this as a long term sustainability issue and set in motion a plan to repurpose, or re-use i3 batteries. After roughly 1,000 charging cycles the i3′s batteries are serviced and put to use as short term solar storage units for residential energy consumption. On a commercial level, several batteries can be linked together to form either large scale energy storage units or brought into the grid to act as supplemental power banks.

Increasing drive range is the critical moving target and ongoing challenge for manufacturers when it comes to electric vehicles. The smallest electrical device can decrease range, add several power sucking devices together and range can be drastically impacted. In the case of the i3, BMW addressed this niggling issue by incorporating items like a low-power heat pump system that the company claims saves 30 percent more power in traffic relative to a normal heater. In the cockpit LEDs are used to illuminate the cabin versus traditional low efficiency bulbs, further reducing power draw and increasing range.

CFRP brings weight reductions

Vehicle weight, another range-robbing factor was also on BMW’s hit list when developing the i3. It makes widespread use of CFRP, which in addition to weight reduction, also offers advantages in terms of safety. Due to issues like cost, production line flexibility and overly complex manufacturing processes, CFRP has largely been limited to use in supercars like the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. But over the past ten years, BMW has put millions of dollars and countless hours of research into making CFRP a viable option for mainstream production. TO that end, BMW claims it is the first manufacturer to have the facilities and manufacturing techniques in place to enable widespread use of CFRP in mainstream vehicles.

In keeping with its “cradle to grave” philosophy, BMW has also come up with what it claims is the world’s first CFRP recycling concept. Various body components, production waste and even parts from damaged i3’s will find their way back into production following a unique sorting process that separates “resinated” materials from non-resin parts. Excess CFRP cuttings, sans resin, that would normally be discarded are instead repurposed back into non-woven textiles and worked back into the vehicle. BMW claims around ten percent of the carbon fiber used in production of the i3 is derived from recycled materials.

Sustainability begins in the factory

Even before wheels hit the ground BMW, sought to make the manufacturing process as eco-friendly as possible. At BMW’s Leipzig shop (certified LEED Gold) in Germany, the company’s energy requirements are addressed via four wind power systems. The systems not only provide all the power necessary for production but actually over produce for the facility’s requirements.

Producing 26 GWh a year, the four Nordex N100/2500 turbines develop a yearly surplus of up to 2 GWh. This excess power is then redirected out to other processes at the Leipzig site, further reducing its overall energy footprint. BMW reports the Leipzig facility garners another 50 percent savings in energy and 70 percent savings in water usage relative to its other more traditional manufacturing facilities.

At a dedicated facility in Moses Lake, Washington, BMW has partnered with SGL Group to fill all the i3′s carbon fiber requirements. Producing carbon fiber since 2011, the hi-tech CFRP facility runs two lines, capable of producing 1,500 tonnes of fiber per year. Fibers are then shipped to the Wackersdorf Innovation Park where they are transformed into basic carbon fiber sheets. From there the sheets are shipped to the Bavarian villa of Landshut, and pressed into various CFRP components for the i3. BMW claims that in comparison to conventional CFRP production, CO2 output from the Moses Lake facility is roughly 50 percent less than its competitors.

Leipzig also participates in the forming process by transforming the sheets into their respective 3D forms. These 3D forms can then be assembled to form larger components with relative ease as compared to aluminum or sheet metal processes. According to BMW, this CFRP development allows for modification of parts at any time during the manufacturing process, resulting in faster redesign turnaround and less downtime as compared to traditional steel component reconfiguration.

BMW’s new pressing plant not only has the flexibility to adapt but is further designed to reduce the speed and time in which CFRP components are manufactured. Pre-formed parts are available in minutes thanks to the company’s proprietary manufacturing process that deletes the time-sucking phase of curing from the equation. Not only does BMW’s process reduce component output time, but parts such as a door frame can be processed with critical structural details already included. The advantage to this holistic process enables BMW to more quickly produce i3 components that are lighter, require less structural elements and less overall energy to produce.

Contributing to increased component bonding times, BMW developed a new CFRP-friendly adhesive. Whereas traditional fiber bonding required anywhere from 12 to 24 hours, the new adhesive can be processed in ninety seconds, and become hard in only 30 minutes. According to BMW, this represents a ten-fold reduction in processing over the traditional method. BMW also learned that by heating key adhesion areas they could increase the curing process by a factor of 32.

“LifeDrive Architecture”

BMWs new architecture for the i3 is premised around what it calls “LifeDrive Architecture.” The method essentially mounts the CFRP “life module” or passenger compartment, on to an aluminum chassis. Whereas the method of combining pod with frame is not new, what is new the use of a CFRP cocoon in the mix. The pod is then populated with seats, steering wheel, doors, etc and finished off with exterior body panels. The result is a cabin whose volume statistics are reported to exceed that of vehicles of a similar wheelbase.

The lower half of the architectural arrangement, where the i3’s lithium-ion battery is located underfloor, is a lightweight aluminum frame that holds the electric motor, transmission and differential. According to BMW, the i3 meets or exceeds safety requirements as a result of the aluminum subframe design and CFRP life-pod architecture.

In its first foray into the mass production of an electric vehicle, BMW has shown that its sustainability goals are about more than just the conveyance and production of the vehicle itself. From manufacturing to infrastructure, and recycling to end of life cycle strategies, the company is clearly demonstrating itself to be an industry leader when it comes to the implementation of sustainable processes in developing electric vehicles like the i3.

The i3 is scheduled to go into production at the end of 2013 and is expected to have price in Europe starting at around €40,000 (US$51,000).

Source: www.gizmag.com/

Posted under Express 194

Green Leadership Award, the first environmental recognition to Ricoh in Asia Pacific Region for its effort towards making a difference to the environment, for powering green awareness  and action through Eco Action Day Campaign in Singapore. Ricoh was one of 20 companies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand to receive the prestigious Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards 2013 Southeast Asia for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Read More

Singapore, 1 July 2013:

Green Leadership Award, the first environmental recognition to Ricoh in Asia Pacific Region for its effort towards making a difference to the environment.

Ricoh Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Singapore’s sole representative, is one of the 20 companies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand to receive the prestigious Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards 2013 Southeast Asia for its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives under the Green Leadership category.

Ricoh initiated Eco Action Day as the first annual nationwide energy saving campaign with Singapore Environment Council in 2007. It is endorsed by other several government agencies such as National Environment Agency, National Climate Change Secretariat and Energy Market Authority.

Eco Action Day encourages any organization or institutions to go green and take eco action in office, in conjunction with the World Environment Day (WED) on 5th June. To date, more than 300 organizations have come together as a collective effort in playing a part to counter the climate change.

“This award means a lot to us as we have set a really good example to other Ricoh regional offices such as Europe and America to continue this green effort. This is definitely not by one effort; it is an accumulative result after so many years of continuous effort despite difficulties. The receiving of this award further motivate us to work and think even harder to bring the campaign to next level.” quoted by Mr. Nobuaki Majima, Managing Director of Ricoh Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, during the interview with CNBC Asia.

Ricoh has been committed to sustainable environmental management back in 1970s. The practice involved the whole product life cycle from product design, production, marketing and customer services to end of life product. Such practices reduce the environmental impacts, and at the same time, create economic value for the investors, clients and employees.

Ricoh will continue to seek for possible collaboration with other organizations and institutions to further develop a broader outreach and publicity for the campaign.

For more information about the campaign, please visit our website at http://www.ecoaction.sg/

 

Ricoh wins – 20 ASEAN Companies Receive CSR Awards at AREA 2013

Singapore, 29 June 2013:

Twenty companies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand received the prestigious Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards 2013 Southeast Asia for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The Awards were presented by regional non-governmental organisation, Enterprise Asia, at a closed-door awards ceremony at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

The Awards are organized by Enterprise Asia to encourage continued corporate leadership towards sustainable economic development for the region. The Awards are held in four sub-regions of Asia: Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and West Asia, with a total of 32 countries participating to promote responsible entrepreneurship in Asia.

The Awards recognize organizations for their initiatives and impact towards the society and environment through their Corporate Sustainability projects in five categories: Social Empowerment, Green Leadership, Health Promotion, Investment in People, and SME CSR.

Award nominees have to undergo a stringent evaluation and judging process spanning a period of 6 months, including compulsory on-site and project audit before being selected from amongst other highly qualified nominees from all over Southeast Asia as winners.

Among the winners included Indonesia’s PT Pertamina, which runs the “Pertamina Sehati” program, with the aim to reduce child mortality, improving maternal health as well as promoting gender equality and empowering women. Singapore’s sole representative, Ricoh Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, took home an award in the Green Leadership category for their continued efforts in raising awareness on environmental conservation as well as promoting eco action in conjunction with the World Environment Day.

Malakoff Corporation Berhad once again emerged as a winner in Green Leadership Category, with a series of programs promoting the use of Clean Energy and Environmental Conservation, which are conducted throughout Malaysia, ranging from Solar Panel installation in schools, Forums & Talks on renewable energy, Coral rehabilitation, Turtle conservancy, Mangrove Replantation and the annual Malakoff UTM Eco Run.

William Ng, president of Enterprise Asia noted that through the Awards, the organisation hopes to create the awareness of the importance of responsible entrepreneurship as an important driver of change in nurturing future generations of socially responsible individuals.

He said, “More than ever, we now see the urgency to institutionalize responsible entrepreneurship as a mean to protect our market, shareholder’s value, and the sustainability of our businesses. Doing good is more than just a social obligation, it is essential to businesses”.

Ng added that this year’s submissions have improved quantitatively and qualitatively, indicating a growing awareness among corporates and increasing maturity of the Asian CSR community in project planning and delivery.

About Enterprise Asia

Enterprise Asia is a non-governmental think tank for the development of entrepreneurship across the region and in the promotion of opportunities and fair ground rules for emerging entrepreneurs. We champion honest, fair, and responsible entrepreneurship across Asia. We believe the true foundation of any nation’s economy lies in its entrepreneurial resources; which if properly nurtured can be the most potent asset for sustainable and predictable economic planning. With entrepreneurial spirit ingrained within a country’s culture, numerous social and economic issues, including urban poverty, urban-rural income disparity, racial or cultural-sensitive dynamics, labour exploitation and economic slavery can be diminished and eventually be eradicated.

We work with governments, NGOs and other organizations to promote competitiveness and entrepreneurial development, in uplifting the economic status of people across Asia and in ensuring a legacy of hope, innovation and courage for our children.

Source: www.EnterpriseAsia.org

Posted under Express 194

The AT&T telecom company has installed 25 Street Solar Charge stations in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York. The initial run marks a trial for a potential broader deployment. And how to drive trucks along the road without diesel or petrol? One solution is to go under the road as seen in a large Swedish research project automaker Volvo is participating in. Working with Alstom, Volvo has a 400-meter long track at its testing facility in Hällered outside Gothenburg. Read More

AT&T solar stations offer quick recharge in New York

The telecom company has installed 25 Street Charge stations in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York. The initial run marks a trial for a potential broader deployment.

by Roger Cheng in Cnet (18 June 2013):

AT&T is deploying solar-powered charging stations to help keep smartphones and other mobile gadgets juiced up in parks throughout New York.

The 25 stations, which each feature a microUSB,  iPhone 4, and  iPhone 5 plugs, as well as USB ports for other devices, are being set up in various parks this summer and offer a free recharge. They can be found this week in Riverside Park on the west side of Manhattan, in Union Square, and in Brooklyn Bridge Park, with more locations to come this summer.

The Street Charge project, which is still in its trial phase, comes out of AT&T’s work during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy. The company had set up mobile charging stations in the blacked-out areas of New York, which inspired the idea of creating charging stations for everyday uses.

“We realized charging was the missing ingredient during the day,” said Neil Giacobbi, who helps with gifts, sponsorships, and programs in the New York region for AT&T.

AT&T worked with Brooklyn-based Pensa to design the 10-foot-tall steel structure, a tower that branches out into three arms at the top, which hold the solar panels. The solar power technology was supplied by Goal Zero.

The charging stations are powered by the solar panels, and are standalone structures without an external power source or wires. In working with New York City, Giacobbi said it was important that the company didn’t have to install any new wires or infrastructure to power the unit.

Packed to the gills with batteries, one station is designed to provide three to four days of continuous charging if holding a full charge. While the station can still absorb ultraviolet rays during cloudy or even rainy days, it can get fully charged up after four hours in direct sunlight. The stations charge at the same speed as normal wall outlets, although AT&T is looking at quick-charging technology down the line.

AT&T is paying for the 25 stations, and the city bears no cost, Giacobbi said, adding that the city is fully supporting this program.

Because there are no external wires and construction, the towers can be disassembled and then reassembled in another location. Giacobbi said that the stations will stay in their current spots for the next month before being moved around. The company has staff monitoring the usage and will track where the optimal locations will be for each station.

So what’s in it for AT&T? Giacobbi said the stations are here to keep phones on and running (even if they are for another carrier).

“If I don’t have a charge, I can’t use the network,” he said.

The trials will run through the end of the year, after which AT&T will consider a longer-term plan. The company is considering expanding the number of stations, as well as potentially bring them to other cities.

“There are a lot of eyes on this project to see how it works,” Giacobbi said.

Source: www.news.cnet.com

 

From EarthTechling’s Nino Marchetti, Huffington Post (29 June 2013):

One solution often seen with electric buses, and sometimes with electric trucks, is to power them via attachment to overhead power lines. This is both unsightly and can cause delays in scheduling should the vehicle’s power connector fall off the line. One solution to these issues is to go under the road as seen in in a large Swedish research project automaker Volvo is participating in.

The project, said Volvo, entails two power lines built into the surface of a road along the entire length of the road. A current collector in contact with the power lines and is located on the bottom of the electric vehicle, providing constant energy to move the truck or bus forward much like overhead power lines would. Lines would be built in sections, and only one section would be live as the vehicle passes overhead. It is envisioned as an ideal solution for long distance vehicles.

Besides the previously mentioned advantages, another big one would be no need for large batteries. By removing these batteries from the vehicle’s footprint, more room could be made available for more commercial loads or passengers.

As exciting as this project sounds, it is still in the early stages of development. Working with Alstom, Volvo just last year built a 400-meter long track at its testing facility in Hällered outside Gothenburg. The company has been testing the system since last autumn.

“We are currently testing how to connect the electricity from the road to the truck,” said Richard Sebestyen, project manager at Volvo Group Trucks Technology, in a statement. “The electricity flows into a water-cooled heating element, with similar power requirement as an electricity-driven truck.”

Next steps include the continued technical development of the current collector, electric motor and the control systems required. It also involves road construction, road maintenance, electricity supply along the roads and various payment models, etc. To reach these milestones, Volvo is working with the Swedish Energy Agency, as well as the Swedish Transport Administration, Vattenfall, several universities, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Posted under Express 194

Last word: World Motor Sport Comes Clean

Following the initial work undertaken by a dedicated Working Group mandated to develop a Sustainability Programme, the World Motor Sport Council approved late last month the implementation of the FIA’s ‘Action for Environment’ programme. The FIA’s goal, within a decade, is that motor sport will be recognised as an exemplar of best practice in environmental sustainability and a world leader for environmental innovation creating a positive impact on both the track and road. Its strategy will focus on measuring and improving innovation and promotion. At the same time, FIA confirmed the new electric Formula E Championship season will run for the first time from September 2014 to June 2015. And the McLaren team is firmly at the front of F1′s sustainability grid, becoming the championship’s first ever “carbon neutral” team. Read More

The venue was the Goodwood Motor Circuit, part of the 12,000 acre Goodwood Estate, which originally opened its gates to the public in September 1948 to host Britain’s first post-war motor race meeting at a permanent venue.

See below for the Goodwood ISO 20121 sustainability case study.

The second World Motor Sport Council meeting of 2013 concluded the inaugural FIA Sport Conference Week, a new event on the Federation’s calendar developed to provide a global platform of networking and business exchange for the motor sport community.

Jean Todt thanked Lord March and the staff at Goodwood for their hospitality in the magnificent surroundings of the Goodwood Estate, which provided an excellent venue for the first Sport Conference Week. With Delegates from more than 70 countries in attendance, the event was universally hailed by the motor sport community as a huge success.

Case Study: McLaren accelerates towards sustainable racing. See below.

The following decisions were taken by the World Motor Sport Council:

FIA ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

Following the initial work undertaken by a dedicated Working Group mandated to develop a Sustainability Programme, the WMSC approved in principle the implementation of the FIA’s ‘Action for Environment’ programme. The FIA’s goal, within a decade, is that motor sport will be recognised as an exemplar of best practice in environmental sustainability and a world leader for environmental innovation creating a positive impact on both the track and road. Its strategy will focus on measuring and improving innovation and promotion.

FIA FORMULA E CHAMPIONSHIP

Technical and Sporting Regulations for the FIA Formula E Championship were agreed in principle, and it was confirmed that the Championship season will run from September 2014 to June 2015. The regulations, along with the calendar comprising a maximum of 12 races, will be presented to the WMSC at its September meeting.

A new registration period for car manufacturers applying for the 2015-2016 Championship season will be open from 1 July 2014 to 1 February 2015.

Certification Framework

The FIA Institute’s Environmental Certification Framework is a targeted programme to improve sustainability across motor sport worldwide. It provides an environmental framework and unique motor sport designed guidelines that stakeholders can engage in and offers incentives for them to advance their environmental performance.

Organisations that sign up to the Environmental Accreditation are rated against three levels of environmental performance, so measuring their achievement and providing a benchmark against which to improve.

This represents the first time that an environmental accreditation system has been developed specifically for sport and is the first such programme of its kind. Fully aligned with the accreditation scheme is a Carbon Offset Initiative, a module enabling stakeholders to reduce their carbon footprint, compensate for unavoidable emissions and achieve carbon neutrality as part of a wider set of environmental actions.

27.06.2013 | Statement on Sustainability

FIA and FIA Institute will work together to improve motor sport sustainability around the world

FIA Deputy President for Sport Graham Stoker and FIA Institute Deputy President Garry Connelly gave a joint statement on sustainability on the final day of FIA Sports Conference Week.

Graham Stoker opened the statement by outlining the FIA’s involvement in sustainability issues to date.

He said: “The challenge for motor sport and the FIA is at first glance daunting to say the least, but we have a great opportunity to play a constructive role on environmental issues both as a sport and as the representative of mobility consumers.

“We are in a unique position to not only reduce our impact, as every organisation and sport must do, but we can also help to develop the solutions of tomorrow. In the last World Motor Sport Council, the FIA Sustainability Working Group was set up to define a strategy for the FIA on environmental issues that can form the basis of our actions for the coming years.

“But sustainability is not a new subject for us. The FIA has been involved in this area as far back as the Rio summit in the early 90s. For the FIA since then, it is a topic that we have taken seriously, in both our Sporting and Mobility arms. In Mobility, over the years, we have played a key role in campaigning for stricter emissions standards on pollutants and greenhouse gases, notably at EU level but also through Working Parties of the UN in Geneva.

“Mobility was also responsible for important actions such as Make Cars Green, which successfully demonstrated how sport can be used to promote important mobility issues.

“On the sporting side we have played an important role in areas such as consumer acceptance of new technologies, as was the case with the move from leaded fuel to unleaded. Motor sport was amongst the first to make this move and helped convince the consumer that unleaded fuel could perform just as well as traditional fuel.

“More recently technologies such as KERS have been introduced and have already helped to form the basis of mobility solutions for environmental sustainability issues.

“In the coming years I have no doubt that through Formula E we will drive the same consumer acceptance for electric vehicles.

Garry Connelly then talked about the work of the Environmentally Sustainable Motor Sport Commission and the FIA Institute.

He said: “The FIA Environmentally Sustainable Motor Sport Commission was established in 2009. This Commission, chaired by Peter Wright, was set up to take an initial look at some of the key policies and principals that needed to be adapted into motor sport. These were debated and adopted at the World Motor Sport Council after which the Commission, having completed its tasks, was dissolved.

“As part of the process, the FIA Institute changed its statutes to include sustainability and was specifically tasked with the development of a number of topics. Notably: Environmental Management, Carbon Sequestration, and Noise Control.

“On Environmental Management, I am proud to say that we have developed a landmark certification framework specifically designed for motor sport, which a number of stakeholders, including ourselves, have already adopted.

“This Framework sets out how anyone involved in motor sport can measure and improve their environmental impacts.

“I am also pleased to say that this Certification Framework will form one of the cornerstones of the FIA’s strategy.”

Graham Stoker finished the statement by outlining the future strategy plans in this area.

He said: “The work of the Institute has been invaluable in shaping the FIA’s vision on this subject. Tomorrow in the World Motor Sport Council we intend to adopt the FIA’s strategy for the forthcoming years. The key message is that within the decade, we want motor sport to be recognised as an exemplar of best practice in environmental sustainability and a world leader for environmental innovation creating a positive impact on both the track and road.

“To achieve this we will ‘Measure & Improve’ and ‘Innovate & Promote’. By measure and improve, we really are talking about motor sport’s environmental impact and how it can be improved. Tools such as the FIA Institute’s Environmental Certification Framework will be instrumental to this aspect of the strategy.

“The FIA must also get championships to conduct Life Cycle Assessments to improve their own management. Through this we will identify environmental hot spots and prioritise their improvement.

“When it comes to innovation and promotion, we will be considering the pioneering role of motor sport in promoting consumer acceptance. We will look at how new regulations can lead to championships, such as Formula E, developing competitive powertrain solutions and driving consumer acceptance of sustainable mobility.

“We will also focus on technology transfer to the consumer market and award excellence and innovation.

“Finally as an umbrella for the strategy we intend to launch a campaign under the banner ‘Action for Environment’.”

http://www.fiainstitute.com/

In January 2011 Goodwood started its certification journey working to the requirements of BS 8901, the British Standard which recognises an organisation’s efforts in sustainable event management. As a multi-venue site operating major international events it made sense to focus on an event industry-specific standard. By June 2011 Goodwood was in a position to self-certify compliance to BS 8901 having spent six months gaining a full understanding of the standard and implementing new processes both internally and externally. In May 2012 Goodwood became one of the first organisations worldwide to gain certification to ISO 20121, the internationally recognised specification for sustainable event management that evolved from BS 8901. Go to http://www.goodwood.co.uk/downloads/estate/goodwood-iso-20121-case-study.pdf for the full case study.

Case Study: McLaren accelerates towards sustainable racing

Posted on March 5, 2013

In depth analysis of how the carbon-neutral Formula One team stays ahead of the curve of green technology

By Will Nichols

LONDON, 5 MARCH (Business Green) A carbon neutral company that recycles two thirds of its general waste and is headquartered in a state of the art, energy efficient building would generally be applauded.

And if it had set further targets to reduce CO2 emissions by 2.5 per cent year-on-year and send zero waste to landfill by 2015, most commentators would agree that this is a business moving in the right direction from a sustainability point of view.

But what if that company was a Formula One (F1) team, with the associated industrial-scale consumption of resources – would it still be held in such high esteem?

Jonathan Neale, managing director of McLaren Racing, which has achieved all these things, while remaining competitive on the track, thinks it should be. What’s more, he maintains an F1 team faces exactly the same challenges as any other business – getting the best result out of increasingly limited resources.

“It’s just good business for us if we lower the levels of waste we produce or the amount of energy we use,” Neale says. “If we’re spending a pound on overheads, that’s a pound we’re not spending on getting the car to go faster and winning races. It’s hard-nosed business sense.”

McLaren is firmly at the front of F1′s sustainability grid, becoming the championship’s first ever “carbon neutral” team in November 2011. Neale admits some offsetting was needed given the amount of travel required to compete in the global championship, but he insists the bulk of the work to reduce emissions has been done in-house.

The group had already achieved a more than 18 per cent drop in emissions per employee between 2007 and 2011, while the amount of general waste recycled increased from 46 per cent to 66 per cent over the same period.

The improvement was in no doubt aided by the state of the art McLaren Technology Centre (MTC), built for the company by architect Norman Foster, which was designed to incorporate a huge range of environmental and efficiency measures McLaren has since been able to enhance further.

When completed in 2004, the Woking site was dug into the earth to provide a thermal buffer that reduces the need for heating, while a purpose-built lake helps cool the building further. It also makes use of insulated windows to maximise natural light, filters “grey water” through a reed bed system before releasing it into a nearby river, and, in a neat touch, used recycled tyres for its rubber roof.

Since then, the MTC has been improved to enhance its energy efficiency further, making use of a smart building system that automatically switches off air conditioning and lighting in unoccupied areas. The technology saves over 1,300,000kWh of electricity per year – enough to power almost 400 homes. Control strategies for the MTC’s chilled water plant similarly ensure it uses the minimum amount of energy necessary, saving over 900,000kWh of electricity usage per year.

Meanwhile, a heat recovery system redistributes heat created as a by-product of electricity generation to other processes, including generating chilled water through an absorption chiller. Neale says this ensures a “significant cost reduction” in running McLaren’s on-site wind tunnel and sizeable data centres.

McLaren has also tapped into its in-house expertise. A McLaren engineer designed the bespoke low-energy lamps now used along the VIP entrance road, saving 13,000kWh of electricity per year and reducing the frequency at which lamps need to be replaced. Inside the MTC, halogen lights have been replaced by more energy-efficient LEDs, and metal halide bulbs which, along with energy efficient simulation equipment, has saved a combined 500 tonnes of CO2 a year.

These efforts helped McLaren become the first F1 team, and indeed any motor sport stakeholder, to achieve the top environmental award issued by the FIA Institute, a non-for-profit organisation under the umbrella of the FIA that works to improve safety and sustainability across the sport.

After a rigorous audit of its environmental credentials, the FIA Institute declared in February that McLaren had demonstrated “a commitment to continual improvement and impressive environmental awareness throughout the entire organisation”.

Neale is keen to emphasise this point. He argues employee buy-in is key and has been achieved by handing individual parts of the organisation the responsibility for coming up with the ideas to deliver the 2.5 per cent yearly emissions reductions outlined in its environmental policy.

“The pressure to adopt more contemporary sustainable practices is company-wide,” he says. “Sustainability has got to be smoothly managed and long term – embed it at grass roots so it’s not just another patchy initiative.”

But is McLaren a one-off? There is no denying the huge amount of resources used to fly driver, equipment, and scores of supporting team members around the globe, all the while promoting what many would view as an image of fossil fuel-driven excess.

It is also a message that emerging economies – and their millions of potential consumers – are increasingly buying into, with races now being staged in India, Abu Dhabi and Malaysia, alongside the traditional circuits.

Neale insists this picture is changing, for the same reason that businesses all over the world are increasingly adopting green practices – survival. A seemingly unsustainable business model simply is not going to attract the investors F1 needs to secure its future.

“If you want to have a product with 11 competitive teams, sustainability is something we have to champion,” Neale says. “In F1, we want to provide an attractive set of values that matches contemporary business… to make sure we are still relevant to fans, investors, [and] our employees.”

According to research earlier this year by the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), F1 teams reduced their carbon emissions seven per cent between 2009 and 2011 – so some progress is being made on the environmental front.

Moreover, new rules have been brought in to limit the amount of fuel used in a race, while restrictions on the numbers of engines and gearboxes that can be used has also prompted racing teams to maximise the reuse of materials and ensure offcuts of elements such as carbon fibre are all but eliminated.

“It’s increasingly becoming an energy-constrained series,” Neale says. “I remember people using six engines in a race, now it’s five in a season.”

Green campaigners are likely to want greater concessions, but perhaps F1′s global pull – the television audience for the 2012 series was estimated at well over half a billion – offers a huge opportunity to showcase sustainability, an aspect a new series for electric sports cars is hoping to capitalise on.

McLaren is designing the stock car for the inaugural Formula E championship – a 10 race series through the city streets of Rio, Rome, and possibly London, featuring all-electric cars. Each of the 10 teams will use McLaren’s car when Formula E kicks off next year, but both teams so far involved have expressed their desire to be constructors in their own right.

Neale is confident the championship can live up to the organisers’ hopes that Formula E will accelerate the adoption of electric car technology by advertising it to a new generation of urban consumers.

“There’s been a lot of interest in it – it will work well in city centres,” he says. “And it’s a new market we can move into.”

F1 will always remain a target for green campaigners. But just as the championship has long-served as a test bed for the kind of innovations that have helped make mainstream cars safer and more efficient, there are now also valid hopes that F1 could help drive improvements in green car technology.

Perhaps F1 is changing. After all, everything starts with a green light.

www.carbonstrategygroup.com