In news this week, Climate Week NYC and the Clinton Global Initiative both wrapped up their annual meetings after recognizing leading environmental activists, the National Science Foundation awarded a grant to support the work of its Arctic Observing Network, researchers at Pennsylvania State University invented a fuel cell that runs on bacteria, and 26 organizations asked for a resumption of the Yucca Mountain Review. In addition, our “mother ship,” TMC (News - Alert), has awarded the 2010 Green Technology World Leadership Award to ALOE Systems ’ flagship product, MVTS II; and the Germans are developing a driverless car.
This year's Climate Week NYC has named London-based BT (News - Alert), providers of communications services and solutions, among its list of eight business and government organizations that have helped drive support for carbon reduction. The group lauded BT for acting as catalyst: first, by demonstrating how emissions can be reduced while still maintaining growth; and second, by providing the tools and technology to enable others to follow.
At the Clinton Global Initiative(CGI (News - Alert)), former President Bill Clinton announced an agreement shaped by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that is intended to improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings – and in doing so, to boost the market for commercial space – in the Big Apple . Several major commercial tenants in the city – including Bloomberg (News - Alert) LP, LinkedIn, and Jones Lang LaSalle – already have agreed to comply with the program, which will replicate a $550 million energy efficient retrofit project at the Empire State Building that has reportedly cut electric bills by more than 40 percent. The three-year project is being underwritten by Goldman Sachs and the Rockefeller Foundation; Johnson Controls, Vornado Realty, Malkin Holdings, YR&G, and the Greenprint Foundation also are participating.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $926,000 grant to three researchers, who plan to mount carbon dioxide (CO2) and pH sensors on ice floes in the Arctic Ocean, in order to monitor the changes taking place currently as well as to help predict what will happen over the next century. The grant will support the goals of the NSF’s Arctic Observing Network (AON), which is dedicated to facilitating research in Arctic environmental change.
One of the remaining drawbacks to hydrogen fuels has been the fact that you still needed a process that required electricity to produce the hydrogen to power the fuel cell. Researchers at Penn State University may have solved that problem using – of all things – bacteria. The new process, called microbial electrolysis cell (MEC), could produce fuel-cells that are essentially self-powered and therefore limitless in their ability to produce clean, emissions-free energy, reports the BBC.
In a demonstration of strong support for the resumption of the Yucca Mountain Project review — an attempt by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to find a viable site for nuclear waste disposal — 26 organizations that comprise a cross-section of energy consumers, regulators, elected officials, Native Americans, and community entities and businesses lobbied the U.S. Senate this week.
ALOE Systems’ flagship product, MVTS II, has received a 2010 Green Technology World Leadership Award from TMC, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based publisher of this publication. ALOE Systems (formerly, MERA Systems) is an industry-leading developer of softswitches and VAS platforms that enable carriers and service providers to manage VoIP traffic across their networks. The 2010 Green Technology Leadership Awards have recognized the best green technology products brought to market in 2010 that contributed to higher energy efficiency, reduced waste, and/or improved impact on the environment and helped improve the bottom line for the business that use them.
Finally, you may have wondered if you'll live long enough to see the day when cars can drive themselves. The Germans think they may have created a “car of the future” – a completely computer-controlled vehicle that is now roaming the streets of Berlin, minus any human operation. Researchers from Berlin's Free University are testing the new car, a modified Volkswagen Passat. The car, which has been in development for four years, uses a sophisticated combination of a computer, sensors and navigation systems (there is a precision satellite navigation system in the trunk of the car); plus a camera in the front and laser scanners on the roof and around the front and rear bumpers, reports the Associated Press.
Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
