Thankfully Bertrand Piccard, who flew the Breitling Orbiter hot air balloon around the world in 1999, isn’t mad.  In fact, this idea may just fly.

In 2003 he and the Solar Impulse Foundation announced their intention to fly a Solar Powered Plane around the world.  In 2007, they started to build it.

Now the plane has taken it’s first small, but confident, steps.

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Its policies simply aren’t working.  Overall waste generated has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, with waste going to landfill rising by over 10% in the same period.

One of its key targets was to get 60% of the province’s waste food into composting by 2012 has had to be abandoned: the current figure is only 12% and the target just cannot be met.

However, rather than just trying to fiddle with green taxes, the government has gone straight for the jugular and announced plans to make it illegal to dump rubbish and food waste.

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Long line fishing is being blamed for a startling drop in the number of albatrosses around the world.  Fish, squid and other bait are trailed on hooks behind a trawler to catch tuna and swordfish.

However, because the hooks for these fish are set just below the surface it attracts albatrosses who think they’ve spotted a nice free meal and dive into the water to get it.

Instead they get hooked and tangled in the line, dragged under the water, and drowned.  In many cases the bait has been dislodged meaning that hook will now catch nothing.

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I know, as a joke it’s either sick or bad or both. However it’s not too bad an analogy for the conclusions the chaps at the Charles Darwin University School for Environmental Research (SER) are reaching.

[Darwin, for those not familiar with Australian geography, is the capital of the Northern Territory in Australia, the harshest region in the country].

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Comprising five countries and seven territories, only one is totally outside the Arctic Circle and three quarters of the rest lie within.

It’s a land which is bleak and beautiful, fragile and harsh, and utterly magnificent.

This is why the recently published “Threats to Biodiversity in Nordic Countries”⁽¹⁾ is so relevant for environmentalists around the world.

Biodiversity is vital to all life.  The lessons uncovered in the unique Nordic countries need to be applied on a global scale.

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These are the fish which are most in peril from destructive, illegal or simple over fishing.  It lists 19 fish, two shellfish and one crustacean.

Cod we all know about and hopefully everybody avoids.  However the list also includes other common white fish, including hoki and pollock.

Then there are other common seafood: salmon, quahog, swordfish, red snapper, halibut and most types of tuna.

The list goes on and on and is truly astounding: you can read it all at the Greenpeace Red Fish List page.

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The Salamander of myth and legend: a creature which lives in water but renews its life in fire. It’s rubbish, Bunkum, steaming horse manure…  a bit like an electric car with neither plug nor solar panels.

Except no one’s told those clever boffins over at Advanced Power and Energy Sources Transportation (APET) in Hong Kong. According to them, the Salamander and the cordless EV are about to step out of myth and into reality.

APET’s revolution centres upon how zinc air batteries can power EVs. The technology is proven on the small scale: hearing aid battery adverts dominate any Google search for “zinc air battery”.

Furthermore, as zinc air batteries need only zinc, air and water to produce electricity they are likely the most environmentally friendly ones around.

However, upscaling the technology from a hearing aid to a car has always been a problem.

Until now.

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Then there’s the NIMBY neighbours: “Oh, we don’t want one of those here,” they say.  “Renewable energy: yes.  Somewhere where it’s inconvenient: NO!”  It’s as though they think a wind-energy solution can be integrated into every house with minimal visual impact.

Well blow me down, it can!!

Ridgeblade is a fabulous wind-turbine solution from UK based The Power Collective.  It’s very simple: instead of a large standalone windmill-like structure, put a long bladed turbine along the ridge of a building’s roof.

The blades are about the same length as a medium wind turbine, so you can catch about the same amount of wind.  What’s more, as these can be mounted along an existing roof, there’s no need for an additional NIMBY-provoking superstructure.

So revolutionary is this approach that the company has won $750,000 from the Green Challenge Awards.

“It’s beyond a dream,” said Power Collective CEO Dean Gregory when Skype founder Niklas Zennström announced him as the winner.  I’ll bet: he’d only entered the competition two days before the closing date!

This is the right kind of innovation, one which will bring a community together to provide energy together on a collective scale, rather than relying upon some far away power station to provide the same for a profit.

Let’s hope it succeeds.

So let’s recap:

• Zinc is the most efficient energy producing metal used in mainstream battery technology. Check.
• Zinc is the fourth most abundant metal on Earth and, unlike lithium, there is no foreseeable shortage. Check.
• Electrolysis is a simple and safe way of producing electricity with no harmful emissions or waste. Check.
• Electrolysis batteries need no external electricity source to “recharge”: the days of the plug-in umbilical cord are over. Check.
• ZOE batteries can be taken apart and the waste zinc oxide reconverted into zinc and reused. Check.
• APET will build solar furnaces to generate the heat needed to recover the zinc. Not a single power station has to be built to keep these batteries going. Check.

Like the Salamander these babies will live in water and be recharged by fire, which is why APET’s ZOE powered concept car is called… “The Salamander”.

ZOE technology is almost a closed loop process. It’s a bit like propane: you buy your canister and then pay to have it refilled.

However they’re not available in the shops… yet. But I hope they will be soon, because this isn’t just cool “pushing the envelope” WOW green technical innovation stuff.

If APET can prove their technology and bring it to market, it will be A Revolution—one which will change the face of EVs as we know it.

Much has been written about the launch of the Hyundai i10 concept, the company’s first foray into the electric car market. It’s an impressive car and the underlying technology trumps many other competitors.

For example, there’s the Li-Poly battery which Hyundai claim will charge almost twice as fast as the Li-Ion battery championed by Renault and other manufacturers. Of course, this assumes you have an industrial outlet with enough amps to provide the power fast enough.

However, the Hyundai i10 is more than a standalone electric car. It is part of a range which the company has obviously thought about long and hard before bringing it to market.

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“Premium … (adjective): finest, exceptional; premium quality.” So says Chambers Dictionary anyway. For me it usually translates to “bloody expensive”.

Come to think of it, that’s also a good description of the Lexus range: priced between $32,000 and $106,000, “cheap” is not the first word which springs to mind.

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The moment sustainable motoring has waited for has finally arrived: a full range of all-electric cars.

Renault has launched the world’s first range of purely electric cars at the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show 2009.  Designed to cater for everyone from a single traveller to local commerce, via 2.5 kids family cars, it’s a revolution in three important ways:

• the range is designed from scratch as a complete set of electric cars — not gas-fueled cars with an electric motor retro-fitted to give the manufacturer green kudos;
• the cars will be priced without an “electric premium,” allowing them to compete alongside gas-based engines on a like-for-like basis for the first time ever;
• most importantly, they’re real. Presented as concept cars, the Kangoo ZE is already in an advanced prototype stage, and I was lucky enough to drive it at Frankfurt.

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In the days when Ronnie was in the White House, penis envy ruled the superpowers’ nuclear arms race and David Hasslehoff was the west’s epitome of “cooool,” one car kept communist Europe running…

The Trabant. There was nothing this little runabout wouldn’t do to be cheap.

Its engine, a 600cc two stroke, would outperform your neighbour’s lawnmower… just. The fuel tank was *in* the engine; to refuel you opened the hood and splashed petrol around right next to a red-hot carburetor.

Even the bodywork was superior: the Trabant was made predominantly of plastic… it may not take an impact as well as metal, but at least is didn’t rust!

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The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has agreed new rules which ban the transportation and use of heavy grade oils by ships in the Antarctic Ocean.

The change was agreed during the 2009 meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee and is scheduled to come into force in 2011.

In essence it will only allow ships to use only lighter grade oils which, if spilt, evaporate more easily, are easier to clean up and are far less damaging to wildlife.

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.
At first he was simply curious but after it had grown five feet in three months he and his wife decided it was time to act.

Better known as Jimson Weed or Thornapple, the plant was initially identified as Devil’s Snare from the Harry Potter books!

A cousin of Deadly Nightshade, it is commonly used as a poison by Central American hunters and a hallucinogen by Indian monks.

Experts believe seeds travelled up to 6,000 thousand miles in a bird’s stomach before escaping over the UK in a fresh batch of guano.  (It’s a wonder the bird could fly straight — or fly at all!)

However the couple weren’t interested in the plant’s magical powers or hunting uses and quickly cut it down.

Quite right too.  After all, you wouldn’t want Grandpa trying to improve neighbour relations at the end of a poisoned spear, would you?!

^{Picture Credit: Husband humors his wife with “pig hunting” by quinn.anya from flickr under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License.}

Kangoo Zero Emissions Concept

The Kangoo ZE is the lynchpin of Renault’s ambitions to dominate the European electric car market.

They reason, quite rationally, that a large proportion of light commercial vehicles operate within a limited area which varies little from day to day or week to week. Florists have the same catchment area, and so do plumbers and electricians.

And the Postal Service. The French Postal Service, La Poste, already uses the Renault Kangoo and the partnership has proved so popular that models of Kangoo LaPoste postal vans are now a collectors item.

More importantly, LaPoste has committed to phasing in the electric Kangoo ZE model once it is available. Ontop of this, according to Thierry Koskas, Renault’s Director of Electric Vehicles, Renault has agreements in place with other European businesses but he declined to comment on specifics when asked.

Test Driving the Renault Kangoo

The best thing about the Renault Kangoo ZE is that is actually exists. The Kangoo ZE BeBop prototype was available to drive at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and Gas 2.0 was honoured to be invited to jump in and give it a go.

At this point I could wax poetic about how wonderful it was; about how it’s so quiet we drove behind a horse without the horse hearing us, or how we went onto a divided highway and the vehicle got from zero to 40 mph in less than a hundred yards.

But the real point is that this prototype not only exists, but has been manufactured to meets Europe’s stringent safety specifications to allow it to be driven on the open highway. I drove it on real roads, mucked in with commuter and commercial traffic on a divided highway.

I drove a car, this car, on the highway. And it was normal. I didn’t feel like a freak and there was no “green electric hippie sign” flashing above the car as I cornered suburban streets. In fact, to be honest, it was pretty boring.

Wow!

So many prototypes exist to show that a certain technical innovation can work, or that a certain styling looks as good in real life as it does on paper. Usually journalists get to drive them on a test track, but rarely on the open road.

Renault’s Kangoo ZE BeBop prototype is, on the other hand, A Real Car. It shows that electric vehicles are ready for mass production. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less.

The Renault Kangoo ZE will be available to buy in 2011. In my opinion, the sooner, the better.

Turn the page for more info on the Renault Twizy…

Twizy Zero Emissions Concept

The Twizy is the smallest and the most innovative of Renault’s electric car range. In fact, to call it a car is to miss the point… it’s more a four-wheeled motorbike.

Designed to compete with a 125cc motorbike, the car is one seat wide with the passenger sitting directly behind the driver.

It’s aimed at a single person who has up to 30 miles to travel to work every day and features a battery which can be fully recharged in 3.5 hours from any 220V mains outlet.

In fact it reinvents the idea of a car, and once you’ve got your head around the idea, you can start to appreciate all the Renault Twizy has to offer.

For the single person, going to work or going shopping, it’s ideal. And every family, perhaps, will end up with one in their garage for low-emission personal journeys or shopping trips.

Thierry Koskas, Director of Electric Vehicles, said “The Twizy will enable individuals to move around in the most environmentally responsible way possible: this could be an individual’s mode of transport for the future”.

The Renault Twizy ZE will be available to buy in 2011.

Turn to the last page for info on the Renault Zoe and Fluence…

Zoe Zero Emissions Concept

Fluence Zero Emissions Concept

The Zoe and Fluence concept electric cars are Renault’s competition for the existing four and five door car market. Technically there is little to differentiate them, but their presentation and added extras ensure they appeal to different market sectors.

The Zoe is a four seat, four scissor-door electric car whose back seats can be folded down to provide additional side loading boot capacity. It incorporates a unique triple climate control system, developed in partnership with L’Oreal, which Renault claim will leave occupants “more relaxed, just like after a spa treatment” after each journey.

The Fluence, on the other hand, is a five door, five seat electric car which Renault unashamedly proclaim is for “the single-car family father who would use the car every day to go to the office, but who would also want to take his wife and children to the country at the weekend”.

Where the Zoe is feminine in it’s presentation, the Fluence is unashamedly male: it’s a technology laden dream which includes an inbuilt mobile phone, the ability to download and use in-car music and films from the internet and touch-screen satellite navigation systems.

Thierry Koskas, Director of Electric Vehicles, said these cars “give unparalleled opportunity for urban families to go about their day-to-day life in a much more environmentally friendly way than is currently possible, while their cost base remains the same”.

The Renault Zoe ZE will be available to buy in 2011, the Renault Fluence ZE in 2012.

^{* double / triple battery charging system.}

The Business and Biodiversity Offset Program has left me torn: is this a genuine attempt to preserve biodiversity, or just another exercise in corporate greenwashing?

The Business and Biodiversity Offset Program is a work in progress.  Its name includes that reviled word “offset”, a red flag for many deep greens.
However, unlike the dreaded carbon offset, this is not a market mechanism which allows industry to greenwash its way through normal operations.

Instead it’s a recognition that large industrial developments have a huge impact upon sensitive natural environments and can undermine the cultural lifestyle of local populations.

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Usually consumers believe the only way cap and trade will affect them is through price differences based upon the amount of carbon emissions used in a product’s manufacture and delivery.

However Sandbag UK have come up with a brilliantly simple way of engaging consumers directly in the carbon market.

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The scheme works by signing up people to receive locally produced food and veg one year at a time. How much they pay for this food depends upon the amount of time they commit to working on the farm: the more time they commit, they cheaper the food.

This model has a large range of benefits including keeping distribution, labour and marketing costs down. Emissions are also lowered as much of the food is taken home by people working on the farm.

For those who choose not to work on the farm, the cost of fruit and veg is lowered, making high nutrition organic produce more affordable.

The following table compares the cost of organic food from Stroud Community Agriculture and three of the largest supermarkets in the UK:

Prices correct Feb 2008; (*) non organic food

However, as well as providing nutritious, locally grown food the model provides one factor more important than any other: the facility for communities to reconnect directly with their food and environment.

Picture Credit “Future Tractor Queen” by Glenn Loos-Austin from Flickr under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License.

Kangoo Zero Emissions Concept

The Kangoo ZE is the lynchpin of Renault’s ambitions to dominate the European electric car market.

They reason, quite rationally, that a large proportion of light commercial vehicles operate within a limited area which varies little from day to day or week to week. Florists have the same catchment area, and so do plumbers and electricians.

And the Postal Service. The French Postal Service, La Poste, already uses the Renault Kangoo and the partnership has proved so popular that models of Kangoo LaPoste postal vans are now a collectors item.

More importantly, LaPoste has committed to phasing in the electric Kangoo ZE model once it is available. Ontop of this, according to Thierry Koskas, Renault’s Director of Electric Vehicles, Renault has agreements in place with other European businesses but he declined to comment on specifics when asked.

Test Driving the Renault Kangoo

The best thing about the Renault Kangoo ZE is that is actually exists. The Kangoo ZE BeBop prototype was available to drive at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and Gas 2.0 was honoured to be invited to jump in and give it a go.

At this point I could wax poetic about how wonderful it was; about how it’s so quiet we drove behind a horse without the horse hearing us, or how we went onto a divided highway and the vehicle got from zero to 40 mph in less than a hundred yards.

But the real point is that this prototype not only exists, but has been manufactured to meets Europe’s stringent safety specifications to allow it to be driven on the open highway. I drove it on real roads, mucked in with commuter and commercial traffic on a divided highway.

I drove a car, this car, on the highway. And it was normal. I didn’t feel like a freak and there was no “green electric hippie sign” flashing above the car as I cornered suburban streets. In fact, to be honest, it was pretty boring.

Wow!

So many prototypes exist to show that a certain technical innovation can work, or that a certain styling looks as good in real life as it does on paper. Usually journalists get to drive them on a test track, but rarely on the open road.

Renault’s Kangoo ZE BeBop prototype is, on the other hand, A Real Car. It shows that electric vehicles are ready for mass production. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less.

The Renault Kangoo ZE will be available to buy in 2011. In my opinion, the sooner, the better.

Turn the page for more info on the Renault Twizy…

Twizy Zero Emissions Concept

The Twizy is the smallest and the most innovative of Renault’s electric car range. In fact, to call it a car is to miss the point… it’s more a four-wheeled motorbike.

Designed to compete with a 125cc motorbike, the car is one seat wide with the passenger sitting directly behind the driver.

It’s aimed at a single person who has up to 30 miles to travel to work every day and features a battery which can be fully recharged in 3.5 hours from any 220V mains outlet.

In fact it reinvents the idea of a car, and once you’ve got your head around the idea, you can start to appreciate all the Renault Twizy has to offer.

For the single person, going to work or going shopping, it’s ideal. And every family, perhaps, will end up with one in their garage for low-emission personal journeys or shopping trips.

Thierry Koskas, Director of Electric Vehicles, said “The Twizy will enable individuals to move around in the most environmentally responsible way possible: this could be an individual’s mode of transport for the future”.

The Renault Twizy ZE will be available to buy in 2011.

Turn to the last page for info on the Renault Zoe and Fluence…

Zoe Zero Emissions Concept

Fluence Zero Emissions Concept

The Zoe and Fluence concept electric cars are Renault’s competition for the existing four and five door car market. Technically there is little to differentiate them, but their presentation and added extras ensure they appeal to different market sectors.

The Zoe is a four seat, four scissor-door electric car whose back seats can be folded down to provide additional side loading boot capacity. It incorporates a unique triple climate control system, developed in partnership with L’Oreal, which Renault claim will leave occupants “more relaxed, just like after a spa treatment” after each journey.

The Fluence, on the other hand, is a five door, five seat electric car which Renault unashamedly proclaim is for “the single-car family father who would use the car every day to go to the office, but who would also want to take his wife and children to the country at the weekend”.

Where the Zoe is feminine in it’s presentation, the Fluence is unashamedly male: it’s a technology laden dream which includes an inbuilt mobile phone, the ability to download and use in-car music and films from the internet and touch-screen satellite navigation systems.

Thierry Koskas, Director of Electric Vehicles, said these cars “give unparalleled opportunity for urban families to go about their day-to-day life in a much more environmentally friendly way than is currently possible, while their cost base remains the same”.

The Renault Zoe ZE will be available to buy in 2011, the Renault Fluence ZE in 2012.

^{* double / triple battery charging system.}

The World’s population is estimated at 6.7 billion:

• of this, 15% live in slums and are permanently hungry
• yet the USA, the EU, the UK, Russia, China, India and Brazil have all reported bumper harvests this year

The World’s GDP is estimated at $55.5tr per annum:

• of this 85% is consumed by 20% of the population
• while 45% of the population live on around $900 per annum
  
• and 0.0001% of the population have a combined wealth of over $10tr

In the USA, in the ten years to 2006:

• employment stayed at around 72%
• while average earnings rose 45% from $37,000 to $54,000
• and the average real income of the poorest 20% of households fell

In other words, the global economy is fixed in a spiral where prosperity is hoarded by those who already have and isn’t shared with those who already have not. Social mobility is non-existent.

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There are two well known and highly charged sayings about land:

—–agriculture is the foundation of economic growth
—–all land use is inherently political

The fast approaching world of a carbon market could see how we use land becoming the most important issue in stopping climate change becoming a disaster for mankind.

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Previous posts in the “New Economic Architecture Required” series have looked at Wealth & Value, Money & Debt and Growth & Competition.

What these very brief analyses have shown is that we, the human race, are living beyond our means.

A Steady State Economy may be a way of bringing our consumption back into line, eliminating boom and bust in the process.

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