When the Federal Highway Administration solicited proposals for a new pavement system that could generate power and pay for itself over its lifetime, Scott and Julie Brusaw stepped up to the challenge with their Solar Roadways™, a road made entirely of solar panels, and received a $100,000 grant. According to SolarRoadways.com, “the Solar Roadway is [...]
Archive for the ‘Science, Sustainability & Technology’ Category:
5 Innovation Lessons from Solar Roadways
Watson and the Future of Thinking
A few weeks ago, IBM made history when Jeopardy! hosted its first-ever man vs. machine challenge. The TV quiz show positioned IBM’s supercomputer, Watson, against the two biggest all-time Jeopardy! champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Unlike other computers, Watson – named after IBM’s founder Thomas J. Watson – is able to “understand questions posed [...]
Use Innovation to Guide Sustainability
In 2008, PepsiCo UK & Ireland (PUK) announced its Path to Zero, a pledge to “unplug factories from the water mains, eliminate sending waste to landfill within 10 years and become a fossil fuel free operation by 2023.” According to its recently published “Environmental Sustainability Report 2009/10,” PUK has already reduced its total energy consumption [...]
The Multidisciplinary Mind
Over the years, countless studies detailing different methods for increasing brain function have been released. Unfortunately, said Sharon Begley in a recent Newsweek article, many of these studies are wrong. “A 2010 evaluation of purported ways to maintain or improve cognitive function, conducted for the National Institutes of Health, shows how many of the claims [...]
A Tree Grows in the Desert
A few weeks ago, Popular Science (PopSci) announced its “Best of What’s New 2010” list of the top 100 innovations of the year. Named No. 1 was the Groasis waterboxx, a “dead-simple game-changer.” Indeed, the waterboxx, developed by AquaPro Holland, allows trees to grow anywhere. According to PopSci, “drylands actually have enough water to sustain [...]
Business Innovation Must Lead the Sustainability in the United States
Since last week’s midterm elections, there has been a lot of talk in the United States about what the next Congress will and won’t accomplish by 2012. One major issue that experts say is unlikely to make the nation’s urgent to-do list is combating climate change. This view, according to Newsweek, stems from the fact [...]
Would Privatizing Water Create Value for the Consumer?
Across the globe, some 1.1 billion people currently live without clean water. As the world’s population continues to grow (it’s expected to increase by 40 to 50 percent in the next 50 years), and increased industrialization, irrigated agriculture, urbanization and standards of living jack up the demand for water, world leaders are starting to wonder [...]
Innovative Means of Transportation Benefit Environment and Job-Seekers
When I started this blog this morning, I set out to write about two pilot programs BigFish Bikes, LLC, announced at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting to “help the environment by decreasing use of automobiles and increasing adoption of mass transit.” But after doing some research, I learned these bikes can help people do [...]
China’s Jumbo Bus: Where Do I Get My Pass?
In the global race for green superiority, China is often seen as a frontrunner. In fact, China recently announced plans to invest 5 trillion yuan ($739 billion) in energy industries including nuclear, wind, solar, biomass, clean coal, smart grid, distributed energy and green autos by 2020. This is good news for the 1.3 billion people [...]
#WIF10: Jeffrey Hollender on Building a Better World
In continuation of the afternoon’s sustainability theme, Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder, president and chief inspired protagonist of Seventh Generation Inc., an environmentally responsible household product company, spoke next. Despite providing a much grimmer look at green business than Joel Makower, who spoke before Hollender, I found Hollender to be one of the most interesting speakers at [...]