2008 ends and things become full circle: While the Solartaxi has finished its word tour in Lucerne, the Club of Pioneers Team says goodbye! We would like to thank all of you for your great sustainable spirit, for all your innovative ideas and for your passionate participation in the last two years! Without you, Club of Pioneers would not be what it is!We have collected the golden moments of our community in a "Best Of" special. Click here to check it out!

 

Watch the Solartaxi arrival in Lucerne:Regarding climate change and clean energy solutions, 2009 will be another challenging year! We hope that the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in December 2009 will be more successful than the one in Poznan. Fortunately, there is one person among the decision-makers, we can rely on. In case you haven't heard of him - check out this video of Yvo de Bear!On this note... Keep on pioneering!!

Electric cars are on the rise. Design engineers are full of ideas when it comes to shaping the future of electric driving. We want to present an amazing "human-electric hybrid" concept - the TWIKE!Learn more: http://www.twike.com/

To develop a windracer that uses the wind to drive against the wind - that was the dream of Alexander Miller and Jan Lehmann, two young design engineers from the University of Stuttgart. We were thrilled by this idea and supported them with 5 000 Euro and other things - actually the Ventomobil became one of our most important projects in 2008! And it was worth the effort: Alex and Jan, also known as Team InVentus, have won the Aeolus race, the first race of windmobiles ever!

Click here to read their blog about the race!Watch also this "handmade" video of the race:Club of Pioneers covered the project right from the beginning: Watch our video of the construction process!And last but not least: Check out this expert talk with BMW Designer Stephan Augustin!Learn more about the project on our Ventomobil project site and the InVentus website!

Hopefully, you have all your presents already under the tree and some white snow outside the window. However, we want your Christmas to be a little green as well - so check out this video we have found at youtube!Merry Christmas and keep it green!

The next chapter of our Club of Pioneers review: Our fantastic community get-together in February 2008! Club of Pioneers celebrated the Land of Ideas Award for innovative initiatives from Germany and invited some amazing mobility experts!Watch our Videoclip to get an impression of the event, and see more of the fantastic mobility concepts like the Clever, the Ventomobil and the BMW Hydrogen 7!

Same story, different year: What’s the perfect Christmas gift? Well, don’t forget that Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace, togetherness and of course awareness! So if you are looking for an outstanding idea and want to do something good as well, we have some cool suggestions for you: Check out our sustainable Christmas gift ideas!
Solar Spark LighterGreat for backpacking, camping and emergencies: Using a stainless steel parabolic mirror, the Solar Spark Lighter from Sundance focuses the sun's energy to a precise focal point – it is the only pocket-sized solar lighter!Click here for more info! Price: $17.95
Global Warming MugThis really creates awareness for the impacts of climate change: As you add a hot drink to the mug, the sea level gradually begins to rise, illustrating the effects that global warming will have on our planet's coastlines.Thanks to the thermochromatic printing technology when the mug cools off, the coastlines of the earth return to pre-global warming levels in just a few minutes (oh, if only it were that easy!!).Click here for more Info! Price: £7.95
Sun Jar Solar LampSounds magical but it works: You can put the sun in a jar – in the Sun Jar Solar Lamp, to be more precisely! The light is given off by energy efficient LED's allowing maximum light from minimum charge, and there is a handy on/off switch located just inside the lid of the jar in case you want to turn the light off and save the light for another time. Simply leave the jar on a sunny window or in a bright room and the jar magically stores the light ready to release it again automatically turning on when it gets dark. The jars are waterproof allowing them to be used outdoors as well as indoors (though when not being used they should be kept inside).Click here for more info!Price: £18.50
The EcopodThe Ecopod is a clean and worry-free home recycling center which is designed by Troy Hoidal and BMW Group Designworks USA. You can place aluminum cans and plastic bottles into the top and step on the easy-step compaction system to store 50 or more containers. Place glass and other recyclables inside the top bins and you'lll benefit from clean effective recycling that your friends will admire. And last but not least: The Ecopod is a great piece of design in your kitchen!
Click here for more info! Price: on request

While celebrating our final get-together "Club of Pioneers meets Solartaxi" on November 28, we have come full circle! For the first time, our community met in September 2007 in Frankfurt, Germany on the occasion of the IAA: All together 25 pioneers attended at rather short notice to meet and mingle with the Club of Pioneers editorial team, the experts from BMW and Loremo in the small restaurant “Blumen” (Flowers) at night. Watch our video of the first "The Editors Invite"!Club of Pioneers also presented some other highlights from the IAA - such as the Brian Cox Series:The Rock-star physicists talked about sustainability, energy and mobility topics - especially for Clubofpioneers.com!

 

Click the picture to watch the Series!Last but not least we provided video reports from the hottest trends in sustainable car technology such as BMW Efficient Dynamics, the hybrid concept "Cactus" of Citroen
and: the lightweight construction concept "Loremo" - check out the video: