South-East Asia may be the next best sandbox available for eco-friendly architects. After Dubai, Taiwan is embracing that green wave of change with a new and enterprising structure that will soon become the imposing headquarters of Chinatrust Bank.

Designed by the Los Angeles office of NBBJ along with local architects from Fei & Cheng Associates, the structure is set for completion in 2012. When all done, it will incorporate the best of traditional Chinese design with green features to create an ambient and tranquil atmosphere that saves on energy immensely.

The Chinatrust Bank development will consist of a 30-story headquarters building, a 21-story commercial office building, a 10-story hotel, and a four-level retail center. But the brilliant-green aspect is that it will incorporate eco-friendly aspects such as podium covered in lush roof gardens, that helps reducing rainwater runoff and urban-heat-island effect. And although it doesn’t make the structure a zero-energy building, it’s still “enough” (never enough, eh?)  to make it the Taiwanese equivalent of a LEED-NC Gold rating.

With skylights, floor-to-ceiling windows and optimized natural lighting options, much of the energy otherwise wasted for artificial lighting is cut out. It seems only natural that more and more office structures and home edifices are opting for such features as they save both on carbon emissions and lowered power bills.

Taiwan is taking steps further. There is inspiration and creativity, there is hope!

[Bustler via Ecofriend]

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Japan says it is a leader in solar cell manufacturing. Taiwan and China want a piece of Japan’s solar panel market, especially considering the onslaught of business that is expected.

Meanwhile, a Taiwanese solar cell manufacturer Gintech Energy Corp. will supply Japanese companies this year on an OEM basis.

Low-cost production is why Gintech hopes to sell 50,000kw to 75,000 kW worth of solar cells each year to Japan. Gintech is already talking with Japanese clients – specifically, those companies that assemble and market solar power systems.

Gintech has a solar cell production capacity of 660,000 kW a year in Taiwan. Gintech’s major market is Europe and has sold just 5,000 kW of solar cells to a Japan.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. is the world’s third-largest solar cell manufacturer. The Chinese producer hopes to begin a major sales push in Japan also this year. “We are now able to supply sufficient volume of products to the Japanese market,” Chief Executive Officer Zhengrong Shi says.

And we’re on a good track, isn’t it?

Original image by Okinawa Soba

There are many things on President Barrack Obama’s desk right now that need urgent attending. But one of the most significant of all the bills the President wishes to see get acceptance from the Congress is the carbon-capping program. Apparently, he not only thinks the program will help the planet get cleaner, but will also generate the much needed revenue for the country.

The cap and trade system that will be put in place by the new government once it gets the Congress approval, will start an innovative new plan which will put a price on climate-warming gases emitted by companies. Each company will have to pay a price for every extra ton of carbon gas that it emits beyond its designated limit.

Apart from forcing companies to take up the green path and cut on emissions significantly, this also means that there will be significant revenue generated from the selling of carbon emission credits. The funds are estimated to touch $646 billion in the initial year. The price for one ton of carbon emission credits is being set around $15 and will progressively go up in an effort o discourage all methods that pollute the air.

Obama’s budget for 2010 projects this revenue, from 2012 through 2019, will fund $150 billion in clean energy technology investments over 10 years and a tax credit to help Americans make the transition to a less carbon-intensive economy.

There are both economic and environment viewpoints that should support such an idea to curb carbon emissions. Let’s just hope that the Cap-and-Trade bill not just makes it through in the US, but all across the globe in one form or another.

Meanwhile, let’s be good stewards to our planet.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site famous across the globe for their 15,000 to 17,500 years old cave paintings, the Lascaux caves in Southern France are now under a serious threat. A fungus attack which is spreading in the form of dark stains, is threatening the amazing prehistoric murals of bulls, felines and other images.

The problem of fungus infection is nothing new to the Lascaux cave. Sealed off way back in 1963, a replica of the main cave is what is on display to visitors today.

The geology of the caves, the composition of the stone and the humid conditions have always been a contributing factor to fungus growth. With global warming now heating up the caves further and causing a stagnant air inside, the fungus seems to be rapidly spreading. That’s why researchers from across the globe will be attending a two-day symposium that will explore possible solutions to the mounting problem.

Two possible solutions to be examined at the conference include the installation of a system to regulate the cave’s temperature and the use of biocides, which kill the bacteria and have been used in the cave before, with mixed results.

While the best possible method suggested right now is to seal off the cave completely so that it ‘heals itself’, the method does not guarantee success. While sending in scientists to rectify the problem is a possible solution, their simple presence could backfire increasing doing more harm then good.

Let’s hope they come up with something, before it’s too late.

With Tokyo expected to make buying surplus solar power at double the cost a requirement demand for solar panels is expected to climb in Japan.

Image by richardmasoner

Sharp Corp. and Kyocera Corp. are Japan’s biggest solar cell manufacturers. However, Chinese, Taiwanese and other foreign solar cell makers are getting ready to enter the market in Japan.

There is a 2nd International Photovoltaic Power Generation Expo happening in Tokyo this week.

1. Taiwan’s Sun Well Solar Corp. has thin-film solar cells. The company already sells two types of solar cells, one see-through, mainly in Germany and Spain.
2. Chinalight Solar Co. manufacturers and sells machinery hopes to start selling its solar cells in Japan through the machinery sales network.
3. Most Chinese and Taiwanese sell their solar goods in Europe. Now they take aim at Japan.
4. Some Japanese chemical companies are aiming to enter into the solar cell business.
5. Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. is working on an organic thin-film solar cell  with built-in solar cells.
6. Fujikura Ltd. is displaying pigment-sensitized solar cells at the expo.
7. Kyocera is displaying a  polysilicon module cell that maximizes the light-capturing area by placing the electrodes on its back.
8. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. is promoting a polysilicon solar cell that uses infrared rays.
9. Sharp’s is displaying a solar module that requires an installation space of just 13 sq. meters.

In the end, the customer and the Earth will win this competition, eh?

Source (sub req)

How about making your own home into a theater that surrounds you in all four directions? Currently under research, Toshiba has been busting themselves to turn OLED-enabled wallpapers into a  television screen using nanotechnology.

The revolutionary technology uses light that has been redirected by an ultra-fine grating that is fabricated by self-assembled nano particles and hence can translate light into visuals all around you. Apart from acting as vibrant and ever-changing wallpapers, these OLED-enabled sheets are also expected to acts as self-powered sources of light. That means you will not have to worry about lighting as well.

Another key advantage, the company points out, is that OLED uses a fraction of the energy required for an LCD or plasma television.

Apart from the awesome possibilities this new direction of research offers, it also saves a great deal in terms of power consumption and carbon footprints. [via TheTelegraph]

Image courtesy of luisvieira

The conflict between the environmentalists and the political activists about global warming causes and the impact of human activity on rising global temperatures, seems to have been rekindled once again by a controversial report by the Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER).

Three of the five researchers who conducted the extensive study concluded that global warming was majorly a cause of the natural heating and cooling cycle. And that we humans, had little or no impact on that matter.

While the report didn’t cause any major uproar in the west, it seems only a matter of time before theories start flying again.

In what is a very harsh reply to the accepted global warming theory, the report focuses on what it claims to be the immaturity of simulation work cited in support of the theory of anthropogenic climate change.

Giving a detailed account of temperature change and its causes, the current cycle of the global temperature rise, is attributed to the last small ice age that has reportedly ended by 2000. While three of the five scientists seem to claim that the hot and uneven weather patterns in the last decade are not a result of CO2 emissions by human activity, it also fails to explain why the temperatures seem to still be on the rise after the predicted natural cycle has ended.

Irrespective of the validity of the theory (Bill is waving for it being true), such notions and conclusions may be bad for environment because they could stop encouraging people to go green.

Image by softpixtechie

The new Honda Insight is already hot in Japan. Orders are more than three times what was expected. “Overwhelming” says a Honda executive.

The car will be on sale in the States from April.

There are three reasons why the Honda Insight will beat out the Toyota Prius in the long run … maybe.

1. Honda Insight has a mass appeal – former mini-car owners, sedan-owners and minivan-owners are checking it out.
2. Honda Insight costs under $20,000, almost 20% less than a Toyota Prius.
3. Honda Insight boasts 61 miles per gallon, 33% BETTER than the Toyota Prius, and 20% BETTER than the new Prius due out this spring.

Economy is bad, gasoline prices unstable and leaning upwards, and the new Insight is not nearly as funky looking as the older one. My bet is this Honda Insight has a pretty good chance of making inroads into the market that the Prius now dominates.

Images via Autoblog

Tokyo will soon require domestic electricity companies to buy surplus solar power generated by households at about twice the current price.

The plan will come into effect as early as April the start of Japan’s new fiscal year. Tokyo wants to promote solar power as part of Japan’s efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“Japan has already led solar power technology in the world. With the scheme, we would like to firmly secure the lead.”

Japan’s utility companies now voluntarily buy surplus electricity from domestic solar panels. A bill will go to parliament to make buying mandatory for power companies at double the current price. Homeowners will be able to recover the initial cost of installing photovoltaic cell systems quicker and more homes will be encouraged to install solar panels.

Japan has pledged a 10-fold increase in solar power use by 2020 from today’s level and offer solar power systems at half the current price within four years.

Japan is badly behind in meeting its own targets under the Kyoto Protocol. With this new scheme, they will start catching up, or else.

Image courtesy of lcrf

Although biofuels help fight gobal warming by potentially helping us to respond to the challenges we face, it’s true that there are drawbacks associated with them. Like threatens for food prices to drive up in poor countries or negative effects on soil protection and bio-diversity. However, we’re pretty sure these are not the reasons why Muslims may prohibit use of biofuels.

Image courtesy of octal

Looking like a pretext for you and me, the Muslim culture forbids alcohol buying, selling, transporting and drinking. And according to Sheikh Mohamed al-Najimi of the Saudi Islamic Jurisprudence Academy, that includes the ethyl alcohol present in ethanol or any alcohol-derived fuels.

Therefore we can only wonder why luxury car makers are considering the green path if the rich oilmen of the desert won’t be able to fill the tank.

Do you think prophet Muhammad would be against biofuels knowing they could help reduce global warming, even by a bit? Would that be a sin? There are always camels … No?