The Kev Blog

We all know that global warming, or at least our knowledge of global warming, is nothing new. “It’s been an issue for years!” you might think. How about 50?

Check out this film by Frank Cappa from 1958. Seems like the original Inconvenient Truth!

Google announced this morning that they will be pouring potentially hundreds of millions of dollars into achieving their newest goal:

Google has already spent significant resources in reducing their negative footprint at their own facilities and data centers, as we’ve seen with projects like their infamous “solar trees” (see below). But now it is time for Google to take that knowledge and innovation and apply it outside the company. They will be hiring loads of scientists, engineers, and technologists to develop ways in which to “produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal.” says Larry Page, Google Co-founder and President of Products. That’s enough to power a city the size of San Francisco.

Alex Steffen of WorldChanging.com interviewed Karl Schroeder in September. Karl managed to describe the need for this type of investment in one of the best ways I have ever heard when discussing what he would do with a billion dollars:

“[I would invest in] projects that can’t get funding because they have a low probability of success, but massive payoff if they do work. –Which is precisely where our investment should be flowing right now, because we don’t have time for incremental development to solve the climate crisis. We need miracles, and those don’t come from slow, safe R&D projects…”

From what I’ve read so far, some people aren’t so sure what the heck Google is doing in the energy business. My take: Who better to do this?! We’re talking about a corporation with the big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG - thanks Jim Collins) of “organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful.” The scariest part is they’ve estimated how long it will take them to complete; 300 years. Maybe this includes organizing the world’s information in regards to technologies, ideas, and innovations that will make energy cheaper and cleaner for everyone.

So, why not let Google go at it? They’ve got the culture, attitude, outreach, brains, and money.

See the press release here.

This is incredible.

A TED Talk where William McDonough speaks about flaws in our usage of designs, and goes on to introduce his new design for cities and communities in China - unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

Just prior in this clip, McDonough uses his incredible way with words to emphasize just how much we can learn from the ‘design’ of trees, especially with respect to architecture and civil planning:

“Imagine this design project:

Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, provides habitat for hundred of species, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates, changes colors with the seasons, and self replicates.

Yeah…Why don’t we knock that down and write on it…”

Check out the entire Ted Talk here.

-100% electric
-0-60 mph in under 4 seconds
-135 mpg equivalent
-245 miles per charge
-costs less than $.02/mile to drive

This is not a hybrid. From the Tesla website:

“Note the term hybrid as applied to cars currently on the road is a misnomer. They are really just gasoline powered cars with a little battery assistance and, unless you are one of the handful who have an aftermarket hack, the little battery has to be charged from the gasoline engine. Therefore, they can be considered simply as slightly more efficient gasoline powered cars. If the EPA certified mileage is 55 mpg, then it is indistinguishable from a non-hybrid that achieves 55 mpg. As a friend of mine says, a world 100% full of Prius drivers is still 100% addicted to oil.“

The natural argument to fully electric cars is that carbon emissions are simply transferred from the tailpipe to the powerplant. But, Elon Musk, chairman of the company, says this:

“I should mention that Tesla Motors will be co-marketing sustainable energy products from other companies along with the car. For example, among other choices, we will be offering a modestly sized and priced solar panel from SolarCity, a photovoltaics company (where I am also the principal financier). This system can be installed on your roof in an out of the way location, because of its small size, or set up as a carport and will generate about 50 miles per day of electricity.

If you travel less than 350 miles per week, you will therefore be “energy positive” with respect to your personal transportation. This is a step beyond conserving or even nullifying your use of energy for transport – you will actually be putting more energy back into the system than you consume in transportation!

The master plan is:

1. Build sports car
2. Use that money to build an affordable car
3. Use that money to build an even more affordable car
4. While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options“

http://www.teslamotors.com

This from an ongoing PBS series about the economies of becoming environmentally conscious:
http://www.design-e2.com/

This from TED:

“To power his family’s home, young William Kamkwamba (19 yrs old) built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap.

19-year-old William Kamkwamba, from Malawi, is a born inventor. When he was 14, he built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap, working from rough plans he found in a library book called “Using Energy” and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home.

After reading about Kamkwamba on a blog (which picked up the story from a local Malawi newspaper), TEDGlobal Conference Director Emeka Okafor spent several weeks tracking him down (though his home has electricity, William’s family had neither a phone nor email access) and invited him to attend TEDGlobal on a fellowship. Invited to the stage, Kamkwamba talked about his invention, and shared his dreams: To build a larger windmill to help with irrigation for his entire village, and to go back to school.

Following Kamkwamba’s moving talk, there was an outpouring of support for him and his modest but hugely promising work. Members of the TED community got together to help him improve his power system (by incorporating solar energy), and further his education through school and mentorships. You can read the ongoing details on his blog (which he keeps with help from his mentor).”

http://www.ted.com

Over this past summer, I spent a lot of time researching trends and issues in modern architecture. Of course, new innovations in architecture are happening at a lighting-fast pace, leading to new designs, technologies and concepts - even including the processes behind building design (open-source, collaborative software, etc.)

Why should buildings simply exist? These structures, which literally shape our world, could serve so many more purposes than simply shelter, whether it be energy production or conservation.

Dynamic Architecture has done just that. Check out their new building design, projected to be built in Dubai:

“The Dynamic Architecture building, which will be constantly in motion changing its shape, will be able to generate electric energy for itself as well as for other buildings.”

This from Alex Pasternack at treehugger.com:
Click here to see the article.
“As part of worldwide Carfree Day, major roads in each city, according to officials, will be open only to pedestrians, bicycles, taxis and buses from 7 am to 7 pm on Saturday, September 22. Good timing — that’s two days after Beijing’s first north-south subway line opens.

Never mind that the website for World Carfree Day, the campaign inspiring China’s no car day, is apparently blocked in China!”