The world can be powered by alternative energy, using today's technology, in 20-40 years, says Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson | Stanford News Release January 26, 2011 A new study – co-authored by Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson and UC-Davis researcher Mark A. Delucchi – analyzing what is needed to convert the world's energy supplies to clean and sustainable sources says that it can be done with today's technology at costs roughly comparable to conventional energy. But converting will be a massive undertaking on the scale of the moon landings. What is needed most is the societal and political will to make it happen. By Louis Bergeron If someone told you there was a way you could save 2.5 million to 3 million lives a year and simultaneously halt global warming, reduce air and water pollution and develop secure, reliable energy sources – nearly all with existing technology and at costs comparable with what we spend on energy today – why wouldn't you do it? According to a new study coauthored by Stanford researcher Mark Z. The world they envision would run largely on electricity. Jacobson said that the variability can be overcome.
ADA 2011: Architecture Dissertation Award AWR is pleased to invite students around the world to take part to the competition for graduate thesis on sustainable architecture and design innovation. The goal of this competition is to increase and promote sustainability culture and green architecture. Participation is open to all graduates of architecture and engineering faculties coming from all over the world. The theses, made individually or in groups, must have been discussed in the period between January 1, 2009 and October 31, 2011. The thesis submitted in the competition should cover the following areas: urban planning, architecture and tecnology.
Environmental Building Strategies Blog Green Options - Organic living, eco product reviews, tips for going green and more Budgets Are Sexy | Spreading The Financial Love Since 2008 What Loyalty? High-End Customers are First to Flee Businesses that offer their customers the highest levels of service might like to believe that all their efforts to pamper and please will pay off with an extremely loyal following. “Customers you might expect to be the most ’stuck' are the ones who are disproportionately vulnerable to service competition.” But as new research from Harvard Business School demonstrates, the customers you think are your best and most loyal are likely to be the first to cast you aside when a challenger to your service superiority barges into the market. "Our results suggest that this is due to increasing expectations for service in these markets—the longer a firm has held a service advantage in a local market, the more sensitive are its customers to it service levels relative to those of competitors," says Harvard Business School's Dennis Campbell. In How Do Incumbents Fare in the Face of Increased Service Competition? Differences across markets Customers and companies trade off between price and service.
Design Home Online :: Design Photo BLOG & Catalogue. Home designs - online photos, reviews of new fresh ideas. Australia designers, Sydney, Melbourne. Ideas from other countries. Green Building Law Update : Green Building & Construction LEED AP, Lawyer & Attorney Chris Cheatham : Washington DC, Virginia, New York City The Cab Ride I’ll Never Forget “Great moments often catch us unawares….” By Kent Nerburn There was a time in my life twenty years ago when I was driving a cab for a living. It was a cowboy’s life, a gambler’s life, a life for someone who wanted no boss, constant movement and the thrill of a dice roll every time a new passenger got into the cab. What I didn’t count on when I took the job was that it was also a ministry. Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a rolling confessional. We were like strangers on a train, the passengers and I, hurtling through the night, revealing intimacies we would never have dreamed of sharing during the brighter light of day. And none of those lives touched me more than that of a woman I picked up late on a warm August night. I was responding to a call from a small brick fourplex in a quiet part of town. When I arrived at the address, the building was dark except for a single light in a ground-floor window. So I walked to the door and knocked. After a long pause, the door opened.
WA Contents - wanews / Architectural news from all around,WA Contents’s Blog The Rechargable Future Under the Bolivian Salt Flats The change in landscape upon entering Bolivia from Argentina was immediate. A gradual rise departing Northern Argentina quickly spiked upon entering Bolivia and within hours thrust us into the Altiplano, or “high plain.” The Altiplano is a place where elevations of 9,000 feet are considered lowlands, the mountains seem stubby though they are commonly over 19,000 feet, and operating passes of over 13,000 feet are the norm. We spent five days traversing through this landscape, trapped in the confines of a 4 x 4 peering out the windows, desperately trying to take it all in. It is estimated that 50-70% of the world’s lithium reserves lie beneath the surface of the salt crust in the Salar de Uyuni. Modern society is only becoming more dependent on long lasting rechargeable batteries, batteries that are primarily made with lithium. Traveling through the Altiplano didn’t open up any magic box to understanding Bolivia’s ability to develop the Lithium.