The earth can’t be saved in one day. On the other hand, it can be destroyed relatively quickly – by an asteroid impact, for example. For this reason, researchers are searching for ways to repel these projectiles from space.The thought alone is tragic. After many years on his lecture marathon, Al Gore has finally stopped the non- stop race towards climate change. Cameron Diaz has saved the oceans, and Bob Geldof has patiently sung away starvation in Africa. All of a sudden, a killer asteroid is hurtling towards the purged planet, and threatens to lay waste to all these efforts – and a Bruce Willis, who in the film Armageddon swings onto the space particle to heroically blow it up, is nowhere to be seen. A close shave, every 76 years: Halley's CometSo it’s comforting to hear that scientists around the globe are searching for ways to track so-called Near Earth Objects (NEOs), and to eliminate the threat they represent. Around 300,000 perigee asteroids with a diameter greater than 100m are flying through space. A diameter of 50m is enough to break through the atmosphere and do significant damage. All NEOs with a diameter greater than 10 km have already been discovered. This was roughly the size of the asteroid that struck the earth around 65 million years ago, thereby sealing the fate of the dinosaurs.NASA is approaching this problem in a brutal manner, focusing on atom bombs. However these are not to be drilled into the asteroid simply to pulverise it, as was the case in Armageddon. Rather, they want to detonate the bombs close to the planet, the resultant shock waves thereby throwing it out of its orbit.But this can also be done in a softer way. A research team of Massimiliano Vasile, of the University of Glasgow, want to simply eliminate dangerous asteroids with the power of the sun. Their studies focus on the so-called solar concentrator mirror technique: Multiple spaceships are fitted with mirrors of 20m in size, and approach within a few hundred metres of the space particles. Reflectors concentrate the sunlight and throw it onto a point on the surface of the asteroid. There, temperatures can reach up to 2100 degrees Celsius. The rock would then vaporise, while the gases created would send the asteroid like a jet in the opposite direction. Artist viewThis method has considerable advantages over other procedures. “Our studies show that this technology is genuinely feasible and, unlike methods where an explosion or impactor is used to divert the asteroid, there is no further risk from fragments,” says Massimiliano Vasile. The plan, however, sounds somewhat simpler than it actually is. At least 10 such spaceships would be required to throw a 150m asteroid off its earth course. And that would also take some time. “It would take about six months to steer an asteroid of this size into a safe orbit,” says Vasile. Compared to the length of time for which Hollywood and the rest of the world will have to fight climate change, however, that’s not actually all that long. Images: German Aerospace Center

With the ultra compact IQ concept, Toyota is presenting a vehicle for the urban jungle, while the Prius' electric mode is to take care of longer journeys.


Stay tuned for more to come on Mercedes, Honda, BMW, VW, Loremo and many others!

The aim is hybrid and hydrogen power. But there are more basic steps to reduce fuel consumption to be undertaken first, says Ford. See what they are.

Anna Netrebko had her breakthrough as an opera singer in 1995 at the San Francisco Opera. She started her formation in Russia, in the city of St. Petersburg where she won the Glinka Award for singers in 1994.

 

After the San Francisco debut she became known on all major opera stages in the world, amongst them the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Wiener Staatsoper.

 

At the moment Anna Netrebko is doing a concert tour through Germany and Austria. A month ago she decided to become a testimonial for the BMW Hydrogen 7 - and this though she owns no driving license. We met her during her tour asking why she is engaging in environmental matters and when she is finally going to do her license.

 

 

How is your tournee going?Our concerts in Germany are very successful and are mostly sold out. I have even had some trouble getting tickets for family and friends!!! (Laughs). The audiences have been wonderful, and they are very passionate about classical music. Many of them wait hours before and after the concert to get autographs.

What made you decide to drive with a Hydrogen 7 vehicle?

As an opera singer, I have engagements around the world. Therefore, clean air and clean energy are important issues for me. When I learned that I could ride in the first Hydrogen 7 vehicle (and it is a very cool and comfortable car!), I knew that this was important and something I wanted to do.

You do not have a driving license yourself – you however have the full driving pleasure?I have wanted to learn to drive for a very long time. I simply need to find the right time and place to make my license. This new BMW has motivated me to make this happen sooner! It certainly hasn't stopped me from asking my driver if I can drive the powerful and clean Hydrogen 7 by myself!How do you see the BMW vision of a zero emission water vapor vehicle concept?BMW has made a very strong statement to the world by creating this incredible car. We cannot make a conversion to all Hydrogen in a very short time, so this is the perfect place to begin. The Hydrogen 7 will be the leader that will bring this issue to all other car companies as well as all developed countries as we try to make our world a safer and healthier place to live.

How do you see the “new green” movement?It is very important that more and more influential people like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, or key players of the entertainment business like Angelina Jolie engage in a better environment for the future. The politicians alone are not able to handle all the sustainability issues of our planet.

Many actors, artists etc. are going green and promote green technologies or sustainable products. Can artists influence the public opinion by doing so?It is one thing to appreciate the work and the performance of an Artist. But what is as important, is to know, if and how an Artist engages himself socially and for the environment. Only if both criteria fit together organically, at least I can really appreciate an Artist personally. Artists have the ability to reach a large public, and I believe it is our responsibility to adopt important causes so that we can use our influence in the most positive way.

What do you personally do to lead a sustainable lifestyle?To be open - to me it is important to make one step after another and to learn more and more on how I can do my part for a greener future. I might not exchange a relaxing hot bath tub after a strenuous perfomance against a cold shower. But more and more hotels
heat this water with solar energy. Another example: I prefer to drive with close to zero emission with my BMW to my show in the next city, where I perfom. Even if a flight would be more time saving.

Living in the US, Austria and Russia: How do people in these different countries see issues of the environment?In Europe and in the US more and more people are very environmentally conscious. In Russia, we have a long way to go to bring these issues before the public. However, the vast majority of Russians live a simpler, 'greener' lifestyle simply due to their lack of financial resources.
Interview: Alex Goerlach
Fotos: BMW pressclub

Italo Calvino’s “The Baron in the Trees" (Il Barone rampante) takes place in the times of Voltaire when not only a lot of ideas were being discovered in the new age but also a lot of trees. In 1767, the 12-year-old Baron Cosimo Piavosco di Rondo refused to eat the snails he had been served at table and, in an Italian snit (nowadays we call it a temper tantrum), took to the trees. He spent the rest of his considerably long life up there!Seeing Ingo Frost up in a tree, talking about his vision of WikiWoods, he reminds me quite strongly of Cosimo, who talked to the people that climbed up to him.

Ingo Frost in a treeIngo is convinced that his and his friends’ new initiative will be the incentive for Berliners to take a stance for the forests that surround the three million strong capital of Germany. “We combat climate change by planting the trees that bind the CO2 from the atmosphere”, he says. Especially in urban surroundings, the a slow yet sustainable reduction of CO2 emissions will have an impact in many years to come. Just as Baron Cosimo found an infinite number of trees in his park, so the WikiWoods community has established a virtual garden paradise of the same kind. Ingo and his friends will host “tree giving” in Berlin and will invite others to do the same all over the planet. The philosophy of WikiWoods is to act locally and to get together virtually by exchanging experiences and thoughts about the tree planting projects. By collaboratively expanding and contributing, WikiWoods will grow in the same way as Wikipedia has (the online encyclopedia where the name is borrowed from).The interview that follows is a result of our friendly tree-chat.
How did you come up with the idea for WikiWoods?The Internet is the perfect medium to bring people together and to enable self organization. That's what I learned from Wikipedia. But the activities of volunteers are not limited to the Internet: You can initialize cooperation to solve real world problems, such as climate change.How is WikiWoods going to work?WikiWoods will be an international platform to bring the different groups together to rebuild natural and sustainable forests - volunteers who plant the trees, experts who help with their knowledge and experience and of course partners who support us with money.Are there not enough offsetting programs that are quite similar to WikiWoods? What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) anyway?Our USP is: We use the Internet because we know there are enough people who are willing to do something against climate change. We can reach them and bring them together, so that they have everything to build their own projects within WikiWoods. We are open for any co-operation with existing initiatives and organizations.Are the people in Berlin receptive to sustainability issues?It's amazing how many people react positively when I talk about WikiWoods and it is even more fascinating to see how many people are working already voluntarily with these issues.If someone flies a lot during the year – can he buy trees at WikiWoods or is it just for organizations and institutions?We don't actually sell certificates like Atmosfair. We just rebuild natural resources that assist in the carbon conditions for the public.How do you select the places you plant trees? Do you guys have any partners in industry or politics?

We want to ensure sustainability by special mechanisms: At the beginning we buy the places together with environmental organizations that can ensure that the forest is protected. At the moment we do not yet have any big partners in industry or politics.

What are the countries where our Pioneers are from
doing about sustainable lifestyles? Ill start with
Germany and I invite all of you guys to write a blog
entry about your countries and send it to me.

On the governmental side, the Alternative Energy Law,
enforced for the first time in 2000, is one of the
pillars of sustainable politics in Germany. Renewed in
December 2006, the law enforces energy suppliers to
invest in renewable energies.For instance, electricity gained by solar or
geothermal technology has to be fed into the "normal"
grid. Subsidies are granted to the operators to cover
the additional costs that occur. These subsidies
decline year by year to implement the renewable
electricity into market mechanisms.In the beginning of July this year an Energy Summit
was held in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel and delegates of the Energy Industry. Though
the industry did not want to, the chancellor has
demanded that energy efficiency climb three percent
per annum. Further, until 2020, the CO2 emissions have
to be cut by 40 percent (compared to those of 1990).

The energy sector complained that these aims were too
ambitious and would threaten the competitiveness of
the Germans. Merkel however did not buy into this
argument. Environmental organizations therefore
commended Merkel's stability.
Angela Merkel before the Energy SummitIt remains to be seen though if the adopted new course will lead to sustainable results.

It is one of the most fascinating events of the year, the 40 under 40 retreat. 40 leaders of the sport industry gather, this time they at Sea Island, Georgia discussing the future of their industry. The toprunner of sports business stay in the Lodge, a famous hotel here in the area, where the participants of the G8 summit in 2004 resided. Next to my room a sign recalls of the nights King Abdullah II. of Jordan slept here.

Sea Island
Some pioneers are here, too. Like Christopher Dunlavey. Once he heard about the Club of Pioneers Community he said to me: "We are constructing the first sustainable green stadium in the US at the moment." This is the Washington National Ballpark which is going to be opened in next spring. Green architecture gets a topic more and more in the US, Christopher added.

Chris DunlaveyThe fact that public money was involved in the Ballparkmade it easier to emphasize the need of green elements in the stadium." Because of the city of Washington being the owner of the new stadium the facility is also laid out especially for handicapped people.
David HillDavid Hill, Chairman and CEO of Fox Sports gives advises for the young business leaders. "You got to have the feeling each day you are gonna make history", he said. Hill being in TV business for a long time, remarks that the standards in sports should be maintained by the next generation being present at the Lodge today.BMW is here, too showing the Hydrogen 7 and offering Testdrives to the 40 under 40. People here get really excited by the car that has zero emissions.

Foto Sea Island: www.uga.edu