the sky under which we live

Honda FC Sport

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:31:00 +0000

Honda - "The FC Sport emphasizes the design flexibility and potential of Honda's V Flow fuel cell technology - already deployed in the Honda FCX Clarity sedan - and reconfigures it into a lightweight sports car design with an ultra-low center of gravity, powerful electric motor performance and zero-emissions. The design study concept is inspired by supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain."

Electric Concept Cars of the future

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:46:00 +0000

via inhabit, Wallpaper.com, designboom.com

Concept car designs that may become the future for new sustainable vehicles.

Most of these vehicles were designed without a combustion engine in mind by the post-graduate course for The Royal College of Art. Eye catching but most of all a breath of fresh air as we will probably be able to plug them into our homes.

Centralized solar generation in Sahara for EU

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:25:00 +0000

When power generation for cities is considered, it is very seldom that such a discussion ends with "created locally". The plans for the Sahara desert to become the largest solar production region in the world to meet the demand for electricity in Europe is no exception. While commendable, there is a major drawback to such a system. The transmission of the power will lose a percentage roughly 7.4% on its way to Europe through high tension lines that are the standard for electrical transmission long distance.

The idea to use solar to power Europe is phenomenal and should be commended for the leadership the project will demonstrate on a global scale. However, the question in my mind remains, why couldn't the same amount of power be produced locally block by block within a kilometer of where it will be consumed? No doubt the amount of steel and other resources needed to build the infrastructure for a centralization of solar production in the Sahara could be greatly reduced by deploying neighborhood scale power production, storage and resale in Europe.

The referenced story and image via Treehugger.

Solar Energy in the Sahara to Power Europe Gains Support

Buy an eletric car in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:06:00 +0000

Consider this. It is conceivable to as of 2009: create your own power, sell your own power, power your home from your own power, run your computers from your own power, run your car of power you produce.

Now this may seem like a foreign idea, but that is what is called energy independence.

Read more about companies offering electric vehicles starting next year.

New Energy Paradigm, Al Gore's vision

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Statements in space

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:48:00 +0000

a new system for all product life cycles...

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:52:00 +0000

needs to be created. What if everything that was purchased was part of a larger program specific to its product type that saw the materials reintegrated into some other system? Recycling being part of a system that product manufacturers/distributers were required to create or participate in as part of their license for operating.

a shift of perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:03:00 +0000

I've been taking time to think about where I stand on key issues that affect my life. I've been pursuing cool technology and social initiatives to write about for a few years now. While its been fun, the process has given me an insight into why the world isn't changing the way I'd expect with all of these new developments and how people generally react to change. My personal life has also demonstrated to me one of the major issues that humanity faces in coming to grips with change and a world which increasingly requires focused attention and utmost intelligence.

People are constantly in a position of trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads while governments and innovators discuss large scale dreams of national and global proportions. When the challenges of meeting ones financial commitments are raised, I've often seen those with the ability to do something about it suggest volunteer work or internships as a way of expanding opportunities. Humanity still faces a battle of survival as it has since we used to use very basic tools and simple methods to harvest local foods for our families and communities. If you look in other parts of the world people still do this to get by. This is a delicate game where we aspire to much but settle for what the world gives us while the few go about building new systems.

I think the biggest disconnect people have today, is between those that are financially capable of doing something and those that are not. If you are funded to do something innovative but can only seem to say that something should be done, perhaps that money should have been put into a community where people needed an infrastructure upgrade for a new micro-hydro power station so they can stop burning diesel to keep the lights on.

The sickness that I see in the world is not a climate problem. It is a lack of a combination of vision, clarity, action and leadership concerning what holds people in a place where they are unable to change: unable to act differently, unable to change their lifestyle. As a result the environment is polluted, people are poor, and hunger, inequality, and war are maintained. Wealth, not just financial, is not being distributed evenly or fairly neither is the power to act to create change.

If you look to what constitutes a world change and in that process you think about the movie "An Inconvenient Truth", then you like many others are interested in change but may not know much about how to do anything about it. If you think that perhaps you too should go out and make a film, I'd reconsider. If you think you should stop driving your car, I'd reconsider. If you think you should buy solar panels, I'd reconsider. You should go out and come up with a way to solve a real problem by mobilizing your community and collectively do something about it.

Al Gore has made a heavy impact of the global psyche, however the impact he has made is not to do with our understanding of the environment. It is a starkly portrayed ugly truth about humans and the way our societies have been structured. It is as factual an analysis as any newspaper that accounts for the centralized corporatization of globally scaled industry. The knowledge that should be drawn from Gore's inconveniant truth is that he had to lose the American Presidency in order to make an impact. Had he actually been elected, this movie, and his presentation would more than likely have been passed off as rhetoric. If I made a movie, I'd been seen as someone looking to make a point, not someone changing the world, and that is a big difference.

Even though I have a firm stance on the environment, Al Gore's impact has mostly been just that, rhetoric. Gore has become one of the highest paid lecturers while attempting to finance projects that can actually make some sort of difference in the world. Ironically, the greatest difference he could make might be to give his money to people that have to take the jobs in the factories and industries that are creating the very problems he speaks of. And yet, we have yet to see the Gore "employment program" . Despite everything Al Gore says, until he spearheads an initiative that employs American, Mexican, Canadian and any other global citizen to create the cars of the future from sustainable materials sourced locally that don't destroy an ecosystem in the process, I'll continue to see his lecture as an entertaining version of my climatology 101 course I took in University.

My experience these days with the stories in the news and global initiatives to solve one or another social or economic crisis, is that each one gives me the same dull feeling of stagnation and pointlessness. This comes mostly from the fact that many are short sighted and still maintain the same structures and institutions in society that create the problems in the first place. This has led me to a conclusion about power and the class of individuals that maintain it currently. The generations that hold power in Canada are nearly finished in their effective leadership. There will be very little meaningful leadership left from the people that still pursue the concept of an "American Dream" and lifestyle ideology from the early 19th century. This is also the case with American, European, and potentially other world power centers.

When world leaders begin talking about the future and the changes that need to be made to save the future, really what they are saying is that their time of leadership is over. The future is a younger generation with ideas that go beyond our own stomachs and pockets. Unfortunately the younger generations are in no position to take up power and so we continue on the paths that have led us to this juncture in human history. Whats worse is that I think almost everyone knows this. We are at an impasse. The ideas that have driven us to this point are quickly becoming methods of a past that maintains a stranglehold on ways of living that harm people and the environment without a concern for the future. The generation that is almost expected to solve these problems that the previous generations have created is instead looking right back with an un-easy gaze and statement, "I didn't do this!"

Within my own immediate family, I have seen language change in the past five years around this topic. Though I'm sure fewer people are saying it now, "the world is going to hell in a hand-basket and I won't have to deal with it but my grandchildren's-grandchildren will", has become a statement that unifies and defines a whole generation of people. If this statement were about politics, which it is, and a silent and inactive group of voters, which it is, then some people are about to have a very unhappy awakening. What is at stake is the acceptance by a younger generation that until now their lives and those of their decedents, the future, were worthless enough to destroy.

So when you overhear comments about why a younger generation isn't getting into politics, why we aren't voting, we don't seem to be changing systems, and particularly how we seem to be selfish, you may want to answer with one of these boilerplate questions; Why is it that university education is 3 times more expensive and the retirement age was just pushed back? Why hasn't minimum wage been increased to keep people above the poverty line? Why is it that the housing market prevents a large majority of the population from developing equity? Why are cellphone networks charging money for what equates to a public utility? Why is pavement not permeable? Why are cars so expensive and run on gasoline? Where did the fish go? Why can't I drink this water?

I look at strife, and instability in foreign countries and I think very narrowly about the generation that is making this possible. I watch during the summer as the air turns yellow and I breath fumes from inefficient machines that we slave for and I think narrowly about the generations that didn't do anything to stop this. I look at the food I eat and the residential developments in newly clearcut forests and I think narrowly about the generations that continue to think this is a wise decision for economic reasons. I look at the next 30 years and the extension of retirement age, and I think narrowly about the generations that have created a false impression about social security and how their children will be taking care of them and picking them up from golf games.

I havn't blogged in a month because I sit a crossroads and wonder where this is all going. My impression is this: call it what you may, the next 30 years of innovation will be driven not just by guilt, but for the sake of retribution.

And there is a lot to answer for.

The future - RE>C

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:10:00 +0000

I was about to post a discussion I've been working on for a week to do with local food sourcing, but this item has superseded that piece.

Yes it will change our world, and this particular item is quite close to my heart in many ways.

RE>C = Renewable Energy cheaper than Coal

Google has announced an initiative to make solar power cheaper than coal and has invested in a company called Nanosolar. This fits into a pattern that has been developing now for a few years with Google's initial investment in covering their Bay Area Mountain View headquarters with solar panels. It also makes sense from the standpoint of a lecture by Sergey Brin and Larry Page Google's owners in a Ted Talk from February 2004 (at about 2:40) that mentions Google's expansion in to Africa.

If one considers Google's goal to organize the world's information, then considers what parts of the world do not have infrastructure for the internet or the power to support the expansion of Google into these areas, making Google offices and consequently more connections to the internet independently powered and green energy producing would be a precursor to their grand goal. Essentially the result is three fold, Google is able to expand global offices into undeveloped nations and become a guiding force in many societies where the economy is not yet service/knowledge/information based while providing an alternative to coal based electrical production and securing a second monetized service that again changes the world and makes a ton of cash.

Read the press release here.

And of course no good announcement from Google comes without new job openings.

The Future - Open for Business

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:10:00 +0000

Real Sustainability means eating local crops

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:32:00 +0000

While in Mexico I was treated to perhaps the best food I've had. I should clarify this statement however, it wasn't that the recipes or even the meals themselves were that good. In fact, whatever I ordered never seemed to look that appealing on arrival. However, it was the quality of every ingredient that stood out. Each and every ingredient was fresh, organically grown with little fertilizer, and flavorful.
I realized while eating my way through central America, that if you are talking sustainability related to food, then really what is meant is the maintainable and prosperous exploitation of local food crops.

Fast forward to this morning when I was at a local diner for breakfast and had an omelette with peppers, mushrooms, and onions plus wholegrain toast with a few slices of orange topped off with a fresh squeezed orange juice. This meal was partially imported and due to our current lack of data about food supply chain information, will remain a speculation. However, I can guess based on basic economic competitive advantage of food crops and the factors of NAFTA and globalization, that the following products were imported from outside of the lower mainland:

butter

whole-grain bread

orange slices

oranges that were used for the fresh squeezed orange juice

eggs

Food products that were more than likely produced locally within the lower mainland include:

peppers
mushrooms

So to conclude my little forray into this discussion I tracked down a list of all the agricultural products produced in BC. I hope to find out which ones are produced within the lower mainland, and then figure out which ones are in season. Once I have this list, I'll start to look to how to modify my diet to fit a sustainable consumption pattern and look to expand on it by considering what First Nations peoples used for food crops prior to European settlement.

Without a doubt, I think I'll find that outside of fish, Vancouver will no doubt have something that isn't world class, and that would be the nutritional value of its currently produced seasonal food products.

Plants

Apples	Hazelnuts
Apricots	Herbs
Asparagus	Holly
Beans	Honey
Belgian Endive (Witloof)	Kiwifruit
Blueberries	Lettuce
Cabbage	Mushrooms
Canola	Nursery
Carrots	Onions
Cherries	Peaches
Chinese Vegetables	Pears
Christmas Trees	Peas
Corn	Plums
Cranberries	Potatoes
Floriculture	Pumpkin
Forage	Raspberries
Forage Seed (Legume and Grass)	Seed Potatoes
Ginseng	Strawberries
Grains	Turfgrass Sod
Grapes and Wine	Vegetables - Other
Greenhouse Vegetables

Livestock

Beef	Horses
Chickens	Llama and Other Exotic Animals
Dairy - Milk	Ostrich and Emu
Eggs	Ranching
Fallow Deer	Reindeer
Game Birds	Sheep, Lambs and Sheep's Milk
Goats	Turkeys
Hogs

Mobile Phones, Mobile Minds

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:54:00 +0000

Graham Brown-Miller takes a provocative look at using mobile phones in schools. He asks if we can see the world as today’s seven-year-old does.

If you are in the UK be sure to checkout the Handheld Learning Conference 2007.

Atlantic crossing, 1 tank of Diesel

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 01:12:00 +0000

Every time I'm stuck in a ferry line up at one of the terminals in Vancouver's lower mainland, I ask myself why we don't all have our own vehicles. Inevitably its a cost issue and fuel consumption issue, but perhaps no longer.

Ugo Conti, an Italian-born engineer and oceanographer and his wife Isabella, co-founded Marine Advanced Research, Inc., a Silicon Valley-based firm that built this Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel called the Proteus for about $1.5 million. The vessel which can crosss the Atlantic on a single tank of diesel fuel though it is unknown how big the tank is) measures 100 feet long and 50 feet wide reaching a maximum speed of 30 knots (34.5 mph).

Here is a news piece from MSNBC about the Proteus in New York this week.

Holy Shit

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:52:00 +0000

Here is a news piece on an innovative use of waste, human excrement and other disease causing by-products in Nairobi slums. The article is titled, "How to Clean Up the Slums -- Cook on Garbage" by Barry Moody for Reuters on August 30, 2007. It references a project by the NGO the Umande Trust from Olympic Estate-Kibera Nairobi Kenya in Africa.

The Umande Trust is recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and has many different incredible projects they have developed in the areas of the right to water, water governance, community and waste disposal, community-led technological development and design, and bio-sanitation. See pictures and descriptions here.

Read more about the Umande Trust through UNESCO Nairobi.

Contact the Umanda Trust about their work.

Stay hungry, stay foolish

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:49:00 +0000

The Future - Some of us will stand out more than others

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:59:00 +0000

The future of commerce and reality from a virtual perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 02:42:00 +0000

Alex Steffen - Sustainability

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 04:37:00 +0000

"All of the past is but the beginning of a beginning; all that the human mind has accomplished is but the dream before the awakening." - H.G. Wells

The Present - Sustainable Food

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:50:00 +0000

I think it is time for a bit of perspective on where we sit currently.
I recommend you view this slide show in its entirety as it really does put you in a place of knowledge regarding our current state of affairs vis-a-vis global food production.

Given time, who do you think will play the biggest role in changing the global system to solve world hunger? What do you think the world will look like and how must we re-organize society to make this happen? Hope you'll take a moment out of your busy day to discuss this with us in the comment section and possibly point to some other examples that will further educate us on the topic of sustainability and food production. As usual, if its your project, please plug it here, we love that.

Live Earth Update

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 22:29:00 +0000

I feel its important at this point, while watching Jane Goodall of the Jane Goodall Institute welcome everyone from New York with the greeting call from the African Chimpanzee, that Alicia Keys, more than any other artist I've seen perform today, actually has a voice in the public to address the need for change. So I know its a bit early, but I'd like to personally thank Alicia Keys for being eloquent enough to speak to the message of Live Earth unlike many of her peers.

Ms. Key, an ambassador for the organization Keep a Child Alive Foundation that directs money to supplying AIDS drugs to children in Africa, not only addressed the audience in a welcoming way, but truly spoke to them unlike many of the other acts that have been deemed worthy to grace the stages of Live Earth. Also, for those not glued to the TV set and who may not have the priviledge to watch a rerun, Alicia Keys covered "Mercy Mercy Me: The Ecology" by Marvin Gaye from the album Chronicle. This song has been a staple of many of my playlists for years now and I feel its important for us to recognize what the meaning and impact of that song is. Take the time now, and read the lyrics. Remember this was written 30 years ago.

Oh, mercy mercy me

Oh, things ain't what they used to be

No, no

Where did all the blue sky go?

Poison is the wind that blows

From the north, east, south, and sea

Oh, mercy mercy me

Oh, things ain't what they used to be

No, no

Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas

Fish full of mercury

Oh, mercy mercy me

Oh, things ain't what they used to be

No, no

Radiation in the ground and in the sky

Animals and birds who live nearby are dying

Oh, mercy mercy me

Oh, things ain't what they used to be

What about this overcrowded land?

How much more abuse from man can you stand?

My sweet Lord

My sweet Lord

My sweet Lord

I find it glaringly obvious that acts such as Ludacris and Akon, though popular, had very little to say as part of the concert. While their presence may have drawn viewers, I find it unfortunate that neither of them seemed to address the issues at hand. This isn't politics, its about consumer habits. You'd think that rappers, of any of the artists being representative of probably the most consumption based culture, hip hop culture, would jump in both feet first and get behind something like, I don't know, a boutique line of chrome rims from recycled chrome. I guess until you you can make solar panels cool and put them on hummers, these guys are going to keep pitting one side of the audience against the other to see which ones louder. What a wasted opportunity.

Musicecology

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 07:56:00 +0000

That's me posing a question of Rob Calder of Boompa Records

Hold the phone! The whole Musicology blue sky discussion is available from CBC Radio 3 right here! Everyone should know that Paolo Pietropaolo is possibly the best producer in Canada possibly North America, possibly the world. Consequently, he's won a Peabody Awardfor his piece "The Wire: the impact of Electricity on Music".

So if you follow my blog fairly regularly, as regularly as I post, you'll know there is a bit of an environmental bent to it. Although really, its more of an inquisitive pursuit for business opportunities that are green rather than a stance of environmental superiority. Here's the thing, I speak on this recording. And its about energy systems, and this affects everyone. So give it a listen. And if you really like what I have to say, or you really disagree, or you want to let Paolo know that he should have me in again for an interview, please leave a comment below.

Oh yeah and if you want to see pictures of the bus we are taking across Canada (with my company Organik Productions) check out this link.

Oh yeah. Almost forgot.

Shannon and Rob. Give me a call. Would love to band together on getting a vehicle for Indie Canadian artists to tour sustainably.

Google us.

Turning Green - CBC Radio 3 Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:05:00 +0000

A little while back, I was part of a round table discussion with other music industry people and enviro folks regarding sustainability in the music industry. There was a lot said. Obviously too much for me to be included in the podcast. I got the cut in the final version. Oh well. Maybe next time. This is a bit of landmark though, episode #111 "Turning Green" of the CBC Radio 3 podcast features music by Organik. Organik is the band that my company Organik Productions Inc. (the band and I) backs for their musical and production endeavors. So for your own interest, and for that of the planet, tune-in. The podcast is available in the podcast section of the CBC Radio 3 website and of course in the iTunes Music Store where so many of our friends are going to activate their iPhones.

Download the podcast here -->

Plastic is now a fuel

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:50:00 +0000

When you consider how many people are thinking of ways of creating ethanol from having new crops of corn planted and intensely farmed (corn is the crop that requires the most water and pesticides to maintain), this method of extracting oil from plastic and rubber by using mcirowave frequencies with a new machine called a Hawk-10 by Global Resource Corporation (GRC) seems like a much better solution (see video). First of all its making fuel from waste, we could go to the North Pacific Gyre and mine it for every last water bottle of plastic and make a ton of money selling it back to global market.

Seen below, an image from the blog The Coffee House: Debating Today's Environment for Tomorrow's Future of the pacific Gyre. Read more about the Gyre here, here, and here

Secondly, with this new method you could take every tire dump in the world and possibly every land fill and also have a field day collecting inputs for a now renewable fuel source. Yes you can, its just dirty. Kinda like Fort McMurray Oil sands dirty without using a half a barrel of oil to fuel the digging machine, two to five barrels of fresh water and 250 cubic feet of natural gas (enough to heat Canadian home for almost 1.5 days) in extracting a single barrel of oil.

But wait, this is waste already not a new resource, so we'd be getting rid of our waste as opposed to creating more.

So... why aren't we doing this on a large scale yet?

I challenge any wealthy and powerful industrialist to look the other way from the opportunity of mining the worlds oceans and landfills as a source for fuel. Its a never ending resource. Humans are always going to make garbage.

Make your own electric bike

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 03:22:00 +0000

Although its a little long, its worth checking out. Anyone out there own an electric bike? We want to hear from you if you do. How do the bikes you can purchase from the store size up against those you can make yourself?

Cradle to Cradle - William McDonough

noreply@blogger.com (Stefan Lorimer) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:01:00 +0000

Recently, while out to dinner with the a-team, Raffael brought up a lecturer he had recently seen talk at UBC. His name was William McDonough. I went to University with Raffael and after graduating he has gone on to pursue architecture working on LEED certification for a firm in Vancouver.

Being a big fan of Ted Talks, I was happily surprised to find that William had done a presentation. My reaction was similar to Raffael's, this man knows the future and the present state of affairs. Its worth the watch, if only to understand why not to buy rubber duckies.