Important Innovations

Green Hydrogen Trains from Siemens Energy & Siemens Mobility Source:  Stock Image of Hydrogen Trains Green Sustainable Energy and Green Travel Newly listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Siemens Energy has signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with Siemens Mobility to jointly develop and sell hydrogen systems to power trains.  This is another new and important example of the hot and expansive development of hydrogen fuel cell technology.  The two companies have several goals.   They want to standardize the technology for fully hydrogen powered trains made by Siemens Mobility.  They also want to sell the technology to external companies to promote the "hydrogen economy of Germany and Europe". Smart Green Linkage Siemens Energy is developing green hydrogen, which is produced from renewable sources like wind and solar power.  Siemens Mobility specializes in transportation and is still part of the parent company Siemens.  Siemens Energy was spun off from the parent in

  2020 To Be Record Year For EVs in Europe                                                  Source:  Audi New Analysis In the first half of 2020, electric vehicles comprised 8% of car sales in Europe.  According to a new analysis by NGO Transport and Environment, EV's are on track to triple their market share for all of 2020 in Europe.  This is very significant growth despite the COVID pandemic clobbering overall vehicle sales.  The actual number of EV's sold in Europe is expected to double to 1 million for the year 2020. European Regulations and Incentives In the broader picture, several factors are helping to increase electric vehicle sales.  The European Union is tightening car emission standards and will continue to ratchet-up standards to reach its 2030 EU climate goals on carbon emissions.  Plus, Germany and France have put attractive EV purchase incentives into place. Overall, electric and plug-in hybrid EV's will account for 10% of European car sales in 2020.  The b

  Spotify Founder/CEO To Invest in European Tech Startups                                                       Source:  Spotify Seed Money For European Entrepreneurs The founder and CEO of Europe's most valuable technology company - Spotify's Daniel Ek - is building a European Silicon Valley. Speaking at a technology conference, he said he will invest one-third of his personal wealth - 1 billion euros or $1.2 billion - into European technology startups.  The highly successful entrepreneur says he will focus on "moonshot projects" in biotech, materials science and machine learning. Spotify 37 year old Ek's Spotify is a media services provider and audio streaming platform that recently offered a series of podcasts by former First Lady Michelle Obama. Spotify just announced an upcoming podcast series with Prince Harry and Megan Markle.  Ek routinely flies 17 hours from his home in Stockholm to San Francisco, which is one of Spotify's headquarters.  He says he

Looking to Invest Billions SOURCE:  ESA Rocket Launch with Satellite onboard New Tech, New Satellites, New Innovations The European Union is accelerating the investment of more money into its space explorations, satellite communications and rocket launches.  Europe and the European Space Agency (ESA) have been very successful in space.  They want to increase their efforts and keep pace particularly with the US and Chinese space programs.  This, according to European Commissioner Thierry Breton in a conversation with Reuters. EU Space Innovations For the first time, the EU budget will be used to develop new technologies to launch rockets, including reusable rockets like SpaceX has developed.  Breton has several novel ideas to spur space innovation: $1 billion euro Space Fund to support space startups $16 billion euros targeted just for space in the next EU budget Competition to provide free access to launches and satellites for startups. Bold Space Plan This is

US & European Regional Travel on the Rise Source: Cape Cod Summer Tourist Destination Marriott CEO's Global Hotel Perspective The pandemic was particularly inhospitable to the global hospitality industry.  As Covid-19 cases soared, air travel ground to a halt, lockdowns forced people to shelter at home and bookings at global hotel chains plummeted.  At Marriott, room occupancy rates dropped to 5% in some US hotel properties and to 7% in Marriott hotels in China.  The rates have rebounded in China to 40% and in the US to 20%.  CEO Arne Sorenson says he's starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel for global hotels:  a pickup in personal and business travel. Profound Economic Impact Sorenson says the impact of the pandemic on Marriott's global business is worse than 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis combined. He doesn't expect global occupancy to return to the average of 71% for a few years.  But there are positive signs.  US downloads of

Squad Mobility's Solar Cars to Debut in Europe Source:  Squad Mobility Green, Sustainable Driving Amsterdam-based Squad Mobility has invented a solar powered, 2 seat mini electric car.  Called the Squad Solar City Car, it's getting ready to go on the market in Europe.  The vehicle comes in two versions.  A L6e model can go up to 28 mph.  And, the L7 model can accelerate up to 50 mph.  These electric vehicles are not designed for highway driving.  They're designed for driving city streets and country roads. Roof Top Solar Panels The solar panels are mounted on the roof so charging can be done inexpensively or even for free with sunshine only.  The company is taking pre-orders.  The price is $6,330.  First deliveries will start in late 2021.  The vehicle size is 21.5 square feet.  4 of the EVs can fit into a parking spot designed for a SUV.  The vehicle has seat belts, a roll cage for additional safety, air conditioning and removeable doors.  The company says i

Britain and France Getting on Board Source:  Google Biking to Work, Avoiding Pubic Transit There is a significant trend from the global pandemic: individual personal mobility is far preferable to public transportation. As a result, bikes are getting a big boost in Europe as governments search for means to get people safely to work without crowded buses, trains and subways.  As the lock-downs ease and people start returning to their places of work, many will be doing a cycling commute. Britain and France Britain has just rolled out a $308 million emergency active travel fund to get commuters to cycle to work.  France is investing $22 million to develop and subsidize cycle commuting.  Both countries are also installing temporary bike lanes to facilitate the cyclists. Amsterdam Many cities in northern Europe, like Amsterdam, have a long history of travel by bikes and they have the infrastructure in place to support it.  In the Netherlands, 27% of commuting is done by bike. 

Satellite Spots 1st Alien World Source:  ESA CHEOPS ESA's New Highly Advanced Satellite Europe's new exoplanet-spotting space telescope CHEOPS has been tested in space for the past three months.  It has successfully spotted several exoplanets.  These are planets that orbit stars outside of our solar system.  They're known as alien planets,  By the end of April it will start scientific observations of great importance to the process of  discovering life beyond the Earth. CHEOPS  CHEOPS is on a different mission than NASA's Kepler space telescope that searches for exoplanets. The CHEOPS space telescope is targeting known  exoplanets to determine their sizes and density.  Thanks to its highly advanced instrumentation, the accuracy of measurement that CHEOPS delivers will be unprecedented. Search for Alien Life on Alien Planets The discoveries and findings from CHEOPS are expected to be critical to scientists in

HARDT Hyperloop of The Netherlands Source:  HARDT Hyperloop Paris to Amsterdam in 90 Minutes In The Netherlands, a proposal to develop a hyperloop network for Europe is picking up steam. This, as a feasibility study has concluded a hi-tech link, would be economically feasible. The study was commissioned by Dutch startup HARDT Hyperloop and the Province of Northern Holland.  H yperloop Travel The hyperloop mode of transportation is the brainchild of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. At the moment, he's not involved in this European project. The hyperloop involves train-like pods for travelers to be propelled through low pressure steel vacuum tubes at speeds of 600 mph plus. Commuting Times The new feasibility study concluded that a European-wide hyperloop system would have  significant benefits.  The benefits include shorter commuting  times, blurring boundaries  and growing economic benefits. The study says it c

New Green Tech from Europe Source: Platio Solar Charging - Green Plus Green From Europe, there's a new technology first. A European Union funded company, Platio of Budapest, Hungary, has just installed the world's first solar driveway for residential use.  The technology and environmental concern behind this new green energy technology is extraordinary. Pavers The system consists of interlocking units called Patio Solar pavers.  Each paver is made from 400 recycled PET  plastic bottles.  According to Platio, the  pavers are more durable than concrete. Multi-Functional You can use the solar driveway pavers for energy to power your electric car.   Or the energy generated by the driveway  can be fed back into your home's power network to provide electricity to your home.  The company claims a 20 square meter driveway will cover the yearly energy consumption for the average residential property.   The pa

Rains Liquid Molten Iron Source:  Image of Planet Raining Molten Iron Exoplanet WASP-76 B Some scientists are calling WASP-76 B the exoplanet from Hell.  It was just discovered in another solar system and is therefore an exoplanet.  The exoplanet is so exotic that even the weather conditions are extremely bizarre.  On WASP-76 B it's usually cloudy with a chance of rain.  But the rain drops are hot liquid molten iron that are boiling hot.  European scientists and astronomers just spotted it using the planet hunting instrument EXPRESSO on a huge international telescope based in Chile.  The weather conditions on this exoplanet are so severe there is molten iron rain! It's a unique finding in the Universe. And despite the extremely harsh environment, you have to wonder about the value of the mineral deposits on such a far away frontier in space. Ultra Hot Gas Giant 640 Light Years From Earth This very hot exoplanet is 640 light years away from the Earth.  An