Monthly Archives: November 2008
Tense
The limited capacity of accumulators is one of the major hurdles for the introduction of electric propulsion of vehicles. A lot of energy and intellect and money is thrown at the problem, with promising results. A Korean team has discovered … Continue reading
Repeating mistakes
It is very sad to see how mentall walls between sectors of society prevent us from learning. It is possible to see how all the learning that has resulted from introducing (and sometimes rejecting) new concepts in industrial environments apparently … Continue reading
Responsability
Taking your responsability serious: a wonderfull minisite from Patagonia, a clothing manufacturer showing the impact of their products: travelled distances, CO2, toxic materials, energy use per product. Excellent. “Every one of us does things in the course of a day … Continue reading
Grundlich (2)
The 166 page report by the Deutsche Bank requires a thorough reading, as it is filled with information. One observation sticks out. Given the most recent measurements in ice cores of CO2 over the last 800.000 years they declare the … Continue reading
Electric Cars 2.0?
On gas2.org an interesting viewpoint was published on Nissan being the only car company who “just gets it” with respect to Electric Vehicles. The reason for this being that they came up with a clear strategy for the next years at the … Continue reading
Grundlich
The advisors of the Deutsche Bank (Global Institutional Asset Management) have released an extensive study on the climate change investment opportunities in the context of the credit crisis. Conclusion: the investment potential is great. Government regulation, including carbon pricing, traditional mandates, subsidies, … Continue reading
Walking the gemba
“Walking the Gemba” is an expression used by practitioners of Lean Management. You have to get of your chair and walk to the “floor”, observe without interfering the actual processes as they are executed. Walking the Gemba on a regular … Continue reading
Innovative cleaning
In the last months of 2008 appear a great deal of lists with greatest persons, best inventions or most innovative projects on it. Estonia’s most innovative person is Rainer Nõlvak. After selling his company Microlink he devotes his time to … Continue reading
Chinese Hybrids
It is my personal belief that Chinese cars will be coming to Europe in the next couple of years. Although their first attempts to enter the European market were not successful (remember the Landwind) they will return and strike hard … Continue reading
Hypermiling
Oxford University Press has recently chosen their word of the year: hypermiling. According to their definition “Hypermiling” or “to hypermile” is to attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques. Rather than … Continue reading