Important Innovations

  CEO Oliver Zipse's Personal Commitment to Electric Vehicles                            Source: BMW Next Vision e-Car Concept 20% of All New BMW's Will be Electric by 2023 BMW CEO Oliver Zipse is putting BMW into overdrive for the production of electric vehicles.  The Germany based luxury car maker intends to build 1 million more electric cars than originally planned between 2021 and 2023.  It is a major commitment from the top leader of BMW to move in a very electric, zero emissions direction. Electric Charging Infrastructure Needed In 2020, 8% of all new BMWs sold are electric.  By 2023, CEO Zipse wants that electric vehicle number to hit 20% of all new vehicles sold.  To support the electric car and vehicle market, Zipse is calling for a dramatic increase in investment in electric charging infrastructure, both on a private and public basis.  His point is clear:  to support and accelerate driving electric and emissions free, just make electric vehicle charging easy, inexpens

  AI Breakthrough                              Source:  USAF Dragon Lady Spy Plane Historic Flight For the first time in history, a robot has co-piloted a US Military plane.  The robot fully shared control of the plane and the test mission with a human pilot.  The artificial intelligence algorithm, called ARTU from Star Wars fame, took charge of the navigation and sensors of a U-25 Dragon Lady spy plane.  The flight in mid December 2020 was successful, historic and a first.  The spy plane is based at the USAF 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base in California. ARTU The artificial intelligence system, ARTU, was developed by the Air Combat Command U-2 Federal Lab.  It was trained for the test flight to search for enemy missile launches during a simulated attack, while the human pilot searched for aircraft.  They used the same radar.  ARTU was in complete control for its part of the mission. For instance, the robot made final decisions on devoting radar to search for missile la

Boat Designed To Reduce Shipping Industry's Carbon Footprint                                               Source:  Sailcargo, Inc. Capable of Carrying 350 Tons On the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, an international team of 200 workers from 27 nations are building a hybrid sailboat.  It's an international project designed to demonstrate that it is possible to transport cargo without polluting the environment.  The 148 foot vessel will rely mostly on wind-power but it will also have two electric engines for moving around ports and for power in low wind conditions.  The hybrid vessel is capable of transporting 350 tons of cargo. Zero Emissions Cargo Transport The company Sailcargo Inc. was founded and is led by CEO and professional ship captain Danielle Dogget of Canada.  She aims to make the hybrid sailboat called Ceiba "environmentally and socially sustainable" and financially profitable.  Dogget says Ceiba is the first of its kind vessel in the world. Ceiba's Opera

Fantasy EV:  GTX Electric Muscle Sleigh for Santa's Christmas Ride by Journalist/Author Edward Kane Santa Going High Tech, GTX, Electric The recent International Sleigh Show at the North Pole debuted the first electric muscle sleigh for Santa's legendary Christmas Eve ride.  The chairman of Reindeer Motors Rudolph Reindeer said:  "Santa will be able to deliver gifts and complete his ride in record time with this high performance EV muscle sleigh.  The cockpit for Santa will be loaded with connectivity at the 6G level.  We'll make the muscle sleigh autonomous, so Santa and his reindeers can take a mid-air break between his global gift deliveries." Santa Is Loving It Santa commented:  "Most impressive is the advanced autonomous system Reindeer Motors has put in this sleigh.  With the burgeoning world population, I have more stops to make every year.  This gives me a chance to nap between stops." Rudolph Is All For It "This is clearly a GTX electric mu

  From Maryanne Kane, a Very Merry Christmas!!!

  Prime Minister Suga's Green Growth Strategy                                                                 Source:  Tokyo Traffic                                                  Source:  Tokyo Highways Reaching New Zero Emissions  Japan has very ambitious green, zero emissions plans.  It plans on eliminating gas powered vehicles within 15 years or by 2035.  It also wants to reach net zero carbon emissions and achieve $2 Trillion a year in green growth by 2050.  The sales of gas powered car would be replaced by electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell cars.  To spur electric vehicle sales and reduce EV costs, the government wants battery costs to be cut in half. Prime Minister Suga's Green Growth Strategy The moving force behind the green energy plan is Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his Green Growth Strategy.  The plan heavily relies on the hydrogen and automotive industries.  His targets to hit zero carbon emissions are bold. The Prime Minister has made green investments

Greenland's Ice Melt 60% More Than Expected by 2100 Source:  Greenland Not So Subtle Signs from Nature A new research study by scientists at the University of Liege Belgium demonstrates that the effects of Climate Change on the ice melt in Greenland and the Arctic are far worse than previously predicted.  The scientific team used revised climate models that they say are far more accurate.  They found that the Greenland ice melt by 2100 will be 60% more than expected.  Greenland's ice sheet is the second largest in the world.  Rising water levels from the melt will have very serious consequences. Messages of Accelerating Climate Change From Nature Should the Greenland ice sheet completely melt, the scientists say that would cause sea levels to rise 23 feet.  The study says the Netherlands would be completely under water, Denmark would be a lot smaller and some cities in the Atlantic coastal regions of the US could be submerged.  The scientists add there are many signs from natur