If you read today about Honda’s new fuel cell car (here or here), you may be interested in a fuller discussion we had on a recent podcast.
automobiles, environment, technology, fuel cell, green technology, podcast, corporate social responsibility
Archive for the ‘green technology’ Category
The beginning of the end of the oil crisis
Monday, April 28th, 2008It may very well be a stupid statement. John Cassidy contended in a recent issue of Conde Nast Portfolio that oil prices would begin to drop as the high price spurred more exploration and production–and that was when oil was a relatively cheap $100 per barrel–not near $120, as it is at this moment.
But there’s no doubt that the oil replacement/carbon-reduction innovation machine has swung into high gear. Two articles caught my eye recently. In yesterday’s New York Times, reporter Michael Fitzgerald wrote about a new home still that can create ethanol from sugar, reducing carbon emissions (the owners say) by seven-eighths. And in Saturday’s Times, Matthew Wald discussed A123 System’s power pack that converts the Toyota Prius into a plug-in hybrid.
These projects very well may end in failure. But they are but two of thousands of important initiatives around energy diversification, conservation and carbon reduction. And that’s a recipe for dramatic change. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter wrote in Harvard Business Review in November 2006 (link – $$), “an organization is more likely to get bigger ideas if it has a wide funnel into which numerous small ideas can be poured. One of the secrets of success for companies that demonstrate high rates of innovation is that they try more things.”
And so it is with industries. More ideas at the top of the funnel means more, bigger successes at the bottom. The energy innovation pyramid is well-stocked, which means, sometime in the future, when petroleum is just another niche chemical, we can say it all started today.
Related:
Kanter’s Innovation Pyramid
Chevy Volt: automotive revolution or flavor of the month?
What in hell is the Electron Economy?
Shop Talk Podcast #6 – Todd Mittleman on Honda’s Fuel Cell car
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energy, environment, innovation, technology, automobiles, green technology
Shop Talk Podcast #6 – Todd Mittleman on Honda’s Fuel Cell car
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
On this edition of the Shop Talk Podcast, I talk once again with Todd Mittleman, Director of Environmental & Safety Public Relations for Honda, this time about the Clarity FCX, Honda’s fuel cell car for the mass market, to be launched sometime in the summer of 2008. (You can find our first interview here.)
If you’ve ever wondered what on earth a fuel-cell is and how it can power a car, and how you can drive in Southern California’s carpool lanes with no one else in your car, you’ll want to listen.
Please right-click and save here to download the podcast.
automobiles, environment, technology, fuel cell, green technology, podcast, corporate social responsibility
Shop Talk Podcast #5 – Todd Mittleman of Honda on Green Automobiles
Thursday, February 7th, 2008On this edition of the Shop Talk Podcast, I talk to Todd Mittleman, Director of Environmental & Safety Public Relations for Honda, about environmentally-friendly vehicles.
I confess that all the “green” options make me a bit dizzy–hybrid, E85, fuel cell, all-electric, clean diesel. Todd helps put the various environmental considerations–fuel efficiency, emissions, carbon footprint–into context for us. And, of course, he talks about the cars Honda has now and in the future for the environmentally-conscious driver. It’s a very interesting conversation.
Please right-click and save here to download the podcast.
automobiles, environment, technology, green technology, podcast, corporate social responsibility
The race is on for plug-in hybrids
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007Today’s New York Times writes that Toyota is preparing to test a prototype plug-in hybrid, creating a possible competitor to the Chevy Volt. Maybe this electron economy thing will happen after all!
By the way, Toyota, if you need test drivers in the Northeast US, drop me a line.
green technology 
technology 
sustainability 
innovation 
automobiles 
New York Times
Chevy Volt: automotive revolution or flavor of the month?
Tuesday, May 29th, 2007I was delighted to read an article about General Motors’ emphasis on green technology in today’s Wall Street Journal (link – $$). GM has announced that the Chevy Volt, a mostly electric car with a small gas engine to recharge the battery en route, will be the linchpin of its effort to “change the DNA of the automobile.” But hidden in the article were a few clues proving that GM’s commitment to green technology is paper-thin:
GM executives acknowledge it is unclear whether these advanced-technology vehicles will ever come to market, much less generate a profit. The auto maker, as with companies in other industries, has concluded it can no longer wait and see how the public debate on global warming and the world economy’s increasing thirst for oil plays out. A big consideration in this change: GM fears it will sell fewer cars if consumers associate it with gas guzzlers.
“We have to have people think we are part of the solution, not part of the problem,” said Lawrence Burns, GM’s vice president for research and development and global planning. The rush to produce its electric vehicle, known as the Chevrolet Volt, is in large part an effort to show consumers that “we get it” on climate change, Mr. Burns said. “It’s not just words. It’s deeds.”
In other words, it’s a PR stunt. If gas prices plunged tomorrow, the Volt would disappear faster than day-old bread.
It’s only been two years since GM’s last attempt to reinvent the automobile. Contrast this to Toyota’s consistent focus on green technology for more than a decade (here’s information on an environmental award the company received in 1998 for the first-generation Prius).
Will that be the Volt? Time will tell.
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(Photo: our 1996 Trooper)
green technology technology sustainability innovation automobiles 
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