It's that time of the year, when following the 2007 round -ups, one begins with the predictions for 2008.
The “futurologists” at the Guardian have a few interesting ideas, including the emergence of the N11 (next 11 countries after China and India) and the rise of social networking sites for the older generation. There will also be a realization that the masses of personal data (and photos of your drunken nights out) available on the Net might actually be a liability, and there will be a mass of “facebook suicides” and the like.
On the other hand the predictions of future consumer habits has not lost popularity with businesses.
Leading Trendspotting site www.trendwatching.com points out that in in 2008, “eco.iconic” is set to boom. They write in their report “Over the past few years, the ECO trend has moved from ECO-UGLY (ugly, over-priced, low performance alternatives to shiny 'traditional sphere' products and services) to ECO-CHIC (eco-friendly stuff that actually looks as nice and cool as the less responsible version) to ECO-ICONIC in 2008”.
The Bahrain World Trade center is seen as an example of the new Eco.Iconic
More than a trend, but an act to be encouraged, is the new regulation made to bring down pollution levels. Not just smoking has been banned in bars throughout Germany, but cars too have had to clean up their act. Since January 1 the city centres of Berlin, Cologne and Hannover have been made cleaner, with older cars and their dirty emissions not being allowed into certain zones.
Cars will be issued green, yellow or red stickers according to their environmental impact and drivers can receive a 40-euro fine for ignoring the rules.
Image from European Greens.

Physorg has reported that the Stockholm central train station will harness the body warmth emitted by its 250, 000 daily commuters to heat a nearby building. Instead of releasing the excess hot air it will be redirected and used to warm water, which will be piped to the new office block. I'm not sure how the commuters will react through.
Rock the Planet. To make up for my mean spirits regarding the Live Earth concert in my yearly round-up, I'm pleased to announce that Live Earth and Al Gore will receive a new music industry award from Midem. Other awards will go to Roskilde (DK), where all drinks are served in plastic mugs (with 97% being returned to recycling deposit points), and to the Paleo Festival Nyon (CH) , powered by a single green energy source which utilises wind and water energy from the Swiss Alps.
As far from a rock concert as you can imagine.

All September there has been a lot of action on the topic of sustainability.Belgium will build the first zero emission polar station in Antarctica, powered by solar panels and wind turbines. Even the waste will be recycled, and the only fossil fuels burnt will be for the back up systems. And since the scientists will be there to study the effects of climate change, it makes sense that their footprint is as light as possible. Read more at the Globe and Mail

The New York Times reports about a man who plugged his Prius Toyota into his home electricity unit during a recent blackout and was able to power all his appliances. It was all done through his un-interruptable power supply (UPS) and utilizes an emerging technology known as vehicle-to-grid or V2G. Something to surely watch out for....
The first large scale carbon dioxide geosequestration project will go ahead in Australia, as part of Chevron's multi-billion dollar Barrow Island Gorgon gas development. Chevron said its system would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 120 million tonnes over the life of the project by injecting carbon dioxide 2.5 kilometres below the island. This was the equivalent of taking 250,000 cars off the road each year.
Grist has selected 15 green buildings around the globe. They include the Center for Interactive Research in Sustainability, Vancouver and the Swiss Re Tower in London, (otherwise known as the Gherkin). But none of them can beat architect Sir Norbert Fosters plans to build a “sun” city powered just by solar energy!
Center for Interactive Research in Sustainability
Al Gore is set to write another book.“Path to Survival” will be released on Earth day, April 22. The Publishers Rodale books said it would explain how "bold choices now to protect our environment will also create new jobs, propel sustainable economic improvements, and inspire a new generation to tackle our most challenging issues with moral leadership". The book would be, "part scientific manual, part exposé, part visionary call for a new planet-wide political movement". The author and journalist Franz Alt , (and founder of the very newsworthy sonnenseite website) has been awarded Germany's oldest environmental prize, the “Goldene Blume von Rheydt”. Previous winners have included Klaus Topfer and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.
And another top prize goes to The Australian author and scientist Prof Dr Martin Green who was awarded the SolarWorld-Einstein-Award 2007 for his contribution to the development of photovoltaic technology and solar cells.

As for News this week, it seems the only way is UP .The first space hotel is becoming a reality and take off date is 2012. For the price of $4 million, the guests staying at the Galactic Suite can expect space training on a tropical island, rocket travel to the hotel and 15 sunrises a day. Nothing is mentioned of the carbon offsetting of this holiday.
Image from Site .
Iceland has introduced new measures to encourage its residents to drive greener. They are offering
free parking for energy efficient cars. Any car that consumes less than 5 litres of petrol per 100 km is entitled to a free space.
Source:The Iceland ReviewIn another move , this time in USA, New York state will enforce that any car of the 2010 model will have to display stickers that inform how energy efficient that particular car is. It seems that embarrassment may scare the buyers into making wiser choices.
Source: Staten Island Advance

Image by Aaron Logan on wikipedia
The Burning Man Festival, which runs for 3 weeks in Black Rock Desert in Nevada is trying to get greener this year. In the past, tons of fuel was used to power the generators, not to mention the burning of a giant man at the end. The festival is a gathering of self sufficient communities and runs on a gift economy, or bartering. The theme this year is “The Green Man”, and attempts to green include a no waste policy and "coolingman", a carbon offset program.
Good story on GristThe clever researchers at Germanys Frauenhofer Institute have come up with novel way of generating energy - body warmth. Studies have show that even medical machinery like heart frequency readers could potentially be powered by the actual patient.
Source:Sonnenseite