One Man’s Mission To Wean The World Off Oil

WKRG.com News

One of the 100 most influential people of 2009 by Time magazine is a 42 year old Israeli businessman, Shai Agassi. Whom happens to be developing a global network of charging spots and “battery switch stations,” which will effectively work as gas stations for electric cars. He is a man on a mission to wean the world off it’s oil addiction and turn everyone into electric car drivers. With his California-based company, Better Place, Agassi has partnered with car maker Renault-Nissan to produce the first generation of emission-free electric cars, the Renault Fluence ZE design delivers comfort, styling and flexibility. The world’s first switchable battery electric car will be available in early 2011, which Agassi says “will not be more expensive than your average Sedan.” (more…)

Smart Water

A standalone desalinator needs 17 gallons of diesel fuel and 66.5 kilowatts of
electricity to make 1,000 gallons of freshwater, but now, the Solar Cube, (made
by Spectra Watermakers in California), churns out 1,500 gallons of drinking water
on just 22 kilowatts of its own solar and wind power. The innovation is a pump
that triples efficiency by recapturing hydraulic pressure during the filtering
process. Solar Cubes are now bringing freshwater to remote regions and places
short on infrastructure and electricity without paying the CO2 price – way cool. (more…)

A Message from Michael

Love him or hate him, he makes sense…

Friday, December 12th, 2008
Friends,

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building
only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that
reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their
many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our (more…)

Energy efficiency boom leads 9 clean technology predictions for 2009

SHANGHAI, China, December 4th, 2008 – Continuing an annual tradition, the Cleantech
Group™, founders of the cleantech investment category and providers of leading global
market research and financial services for the cleantech ecosystem, today issued nine
predictions for clean technology markets in 2009, forecasting progress in some sectors,
but delays and setbacks in others.

A reflection of undercurrents in the global clean technology category from the company’s
conversations with industry and government leadership worldwide, the nine predictions
include a global focus on energy efficiency as a job creation and economic engine, and an
increase in valuations of global wind companies. (more…)

Magnetic Levitation, or Maglev

Ever wonder what happened to the jet packs, that was going to have us jetting
through the air like the Jetsons? Well, turns out they couldn’t get past the
20 second fuel limit. Then there was the monorail, or the updated version, the
maglev. Those futuristic, sleek, cool trains that glide almost silently over
head atop modern concrete superstructures. (more…)

A professor, at Rutgers University, has developed an inorganic paint called Ultimate
Paint.  This paint is displaying some very remarkable abilities.  Such as: graffiti
resistant; repairs concrete; mold resistant; fire proof; dries nearly as hard as a
diamond, and lasts 1,000 years.  How do they know?  The chemistry of the coating is
an aluminosilicate, the same formula used for the Chinese terracotta army which is
more than 2,000 years old. (more…)

As promised, for those of you who do not get the Planet Green channel:

Two episodes were shown:

The first – “The Tornado”

On May 4, 2007 the town was hit by an F5 tornado, 10 people were killed in this town
of 1500. The entire infrastructure was annihilated and most of the residents left
homeless. A town that before the tornado, faced the very real possibility of
disappearing into the pages of history, as have many small agricultural based towns
in America. So why build a town back exactly the way it was if it’s future outlook is
dismal. The community decides to make it’s mark by rebuilding as energy efficient and
as green as possible. This was to be a daunting task especially monetarily as many
of the residents were under-insured if insured at all. (more…)