greenswitch – climate change and cleantech solutions

Distributed Power

When it comes to fuel cells, everybody talks about ‘cars’ or mini fuelcells in laptops. Sure, that’s more ’sexy’ than fuel cells in stationary uses. But these areas are more likely the first commercial applications for fuel cells. Check this new [pdf]report from the Wuppertal institute on distributed fuel cells.

Wuppertal Institute – Homepage: “New report on fuel cells for distributed power

Fuel cells are often portrayed as the answer to the world’s pressing need for clean, efficient power. They are also seen as a key component in a future hydrogen economy that will substantially reduce or eliminate pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions associated with current power generation and transport. However, questions about the technology still remain: to what degree are these expectations realistic? Can fuel cells deliver what they promise?

The new report of the IFEU Institute, Heidelberg, and the Wuppertal Institute addresses these questions concerning barriers and perspectives of stationary fuel cells. The work was commissioned by WWF Europe and Fuel Cell Europe and was officially launched on 11th June 2003 in Brussels in order to make a contribution to the ongoing process of the European ‘High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells’.

Short Version (PDF) Download here.

The full report here.

Clean soccer in Germany

In Germany we don’t have four but only two seasons: There is soccer and a couple of months without soccer. Season starts today but I won’t get into who’s going to beat Bayern Munich this year. Anyhow, as you may know, Germany will host the soccer World Cup in 2006. That’s a BIG thing in Germany. And since Germany is such an environmentally aware country there has been quite some talk on how to keep this event environmentally sound. Check out the “green goal” concept of the organizers (and don’t worry, it’s in English): Greengoal – Ein Umweltkonzept für die Fussball-WM 2006 in Deutschland

Oeko Institut/Greengoal: The Football World Cup occupies a special position among major sporting events in a variety of ways. Because the stadiums are intensively used not only during the World Cup, a considerable environmental impact is to be expected in subsequent use for Bundesliga matches (“in Germany there’s a World Cup every weekend!”).

The “sustainable development” of the sport of football is therefore explicitly addressed, since it is not so much a question of creating a “green island” for a month in World Cup year 2006, but rather of making a long-term contribution to the improvement of the environmental situation.

quick update: I am currently in Germany and waiting for my computer to arrive. Soon I’ll report right from Europe on green tech, energy efficiency and sustainability issues. Stay tuned…Reiner