Sen. Hatch showing off the candy apple red H3 to the media.

Given Barack Obama’s recent fuel efficiency standards, vehicle manufacturing companies are putting forth more of an outspoken effort to develop technologies that are cleaner, more efficient, but more importantly, affordable to the common consumer.  Alongside the car companies themselves are a multitude of different, more independent groups finding ways to turn current market vehicles into some of the most fuel efficient machines on the road.

Normally when you think of fuel efficient vehicles, GM’s Hummer doesn’t exactly come to mind.  But yesterday, Raser Technologies showcased its 100 mile per gallon Hummer with the help of Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. Capitol Hill was filled with cameras and journalists as Sen. Hatch test drove the candy apple red H3 plug-in hybrid; the vehicle boasted a little over a 400 mile range without either a charge or a fill-up.  Hatch invited his fellow politicians to try out the technology for themselves; he noted how indispensable the development of plug-in hybrids are to weaning the Unites States off of oil while keeping the development of such important technology at home.

Hatch’s personal plea amongst his fellow politicians culminated into a direct appeal to Barack Obama that such technology needs to be fostered, both in the context of short and long term goals in our energy policy.  Hatch, who’s been an outspoken advocate of hybrid technology, has high hopes that it’ll become more affordable so that the average hybrid vehicle sold won’t cost much more than its non-hybrid counterpart.

Currently, the GM restructuring plan involves seeing the Hummer brand sold off in China. Hatch urged Obama to prevent the selling of the well known gas-guzzling behemoths, especially since he believes “the US is on the cusp of integrating environmentally friendly and affordable hybrid technologies” into these normally environmentally disastrous vehicles.

Kraig Higginson, chairman of Raser, said that although the current trend is to turn smaller, more compact vehicles into hybrids, there is still little done to address the fact that it’s the utility of SUVs and trucks that some citizens could never live without.  Offering a cleaner, more fuel efficient hybrid alternative to the vehicles some Americans need the most may be a key turnaround point within the whole scheme of the plug-in hybrid revolution.

People such as farmers, parents, and business owners aren’t driving gas guzzlers just cause, they’re holding onto them because hybrid technology has yet to make its debut in an affordable manner on the vehicles they need.  Hopefully, companies like Raser and politicians like Sen. Hatch can open up some eyes in Washington, D.C. and make vehicles like this a market reality.

Clean technology and green design have both resulted in numerous innovations that continue to push the boundaries of energy generation and efficient resource consumption. Today, urbanization and the increasingly dense populations of the world’s largest cities are pushing architects to reach for new heights in green skyscraper design.

Because of the enormous energy needs of the traditional skyscraper, designing modern skyscrapers to be a little cleaner and more environmentally friendly is a big deal. McKinsey and Co., a global management consulting firm, estimates that China alone will be building upwards of 50,000 skyscrapers within the next two decades.

Today’s architects and builders are charged with the task of setting trends that will emphasise ecologically imaginative aspects for the skyscrapers of today and beyond; modern “eco-scrapers” are no doubt bridging the gap between breathtaking building design and clean technological ingenuity.  Here are ten modern and green skyscrapers that are changing the landscape and pushing the envelope on behalf of the modern “eco-scraper”.

1. Dynamic Tower (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

This rotating tower designed by architect Dr. David Fischer on behalf of Dynamic Architecture presents fearless design elements with renewable energy concepts that are sure to impress even the most eco-friendly structure builders.  When finished, the structure will stand at nearly 420 meters tall and feature 80 rotating floors, 79 horizontal wind turbines (one between each floor), and photovoltaics on the rooftop.

Dynamic Architecture claims that only a fraction of the wind turbines will be needed to sustain 100% of the energy needs of the tower itself, and that the rest of the turbines would be able to produce enough energy to power nearby skyscrapers of a similar size.  This structure’s concept is described by designers as “the world’s first skyscraper in motion”; the revolving floors and wind turbines means the shape of the building will constantly be changing.

The Dynamic Tower is scheduled to break ground soon, and is supposed to be finished by the end of 2010. This project marks the first time a skyscraper will be built in stages utilizing pre-fabricated sections.  With over 4,000 hours of wind annually in Dubai, wind enthusiasts are exited about what this tower really means for green architecture.

2. World Trade Center Towers (Manama, Bahrain)

The World Trade Center Towers in Bahrain are an exquisite architectural and technological wonder designed by South African architect Shaun Killa.  Featuring three behemoth 96-foot wide wind turbine blades between the towers, over 1100 megawatts of electricity will be generated per year for the structure.

The triangular design of the towers themselves is suppose to optimize the airflow between the towers, thus really giving the turbines an opportunity to generate the most power.  This skyscraper was the first one built with wind turbines integrated into the design of the building itself.

3. The Pearl River Tower (Guangzhou, China)

Designed by American architect Gordon Gill, this nearly 1000-foot tall structure is designed with a few zealous environmental goals in mind.  Not only is the structure planned to be the world’s first “zero-energy skyscraper”, but it’s also slated to generate excess electricity that it would then insert back into local power grids.

The Pearl River Tower will have internal tunnels built into two of the building’s 71 stories.  The structure itself is going to be shaped like one giant wing that will serve to funnel wind into the tunnels.  Along with utilizing wind power, the tower will also integrate radiant slabs, geothermal heat-sinks, vented facades and integrated photovoltaics.

4. Bank of America Tower (New York City, US)

The Bank of America Tower in New York City was designed by Cook + Fox Architects; they really set the tone for future skyscrapers that will be built in the US.  This is also one of the first skyscrapers that was built using largely recycled and recyclable material as well as being LEED Platinum certified.

Natural gas fuel cells will generate on-site electricity as well as supplement the 4.6 megawatt cogeneration plant that will mitigate a lot of the base-load energy concerns for the skyscraper.  A sophisticated rain water capture system is also in place, as well as windows that maximize sunlight along with smart and efficient LED lighting.

5. Okhta Tower (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Designed by UK architecture firm, RMJM, the Okhta Tower is slated to become the new headquarters of Gazprom, the monolithic Russian Gas Company.  Situated right nearby the River Neva in St. Petersburg, the structure will emphasise new levels of ecological design.

The double layered outer shell of the needle-like tower is designed in such a way so as to maximize the amount of sunlight that penetrates the interior of the building, and it helps ensure that most of the heat energy stays within the structure during the harsh and cold winters.

6. 340 on the Park (Chicago, US)

Chicago’s 340 on the Park was designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz  and is the first residential tower in Mid-western America to attain the silver LEED certification.  Featuring high tech insulation and rainwater capture systems, this structure really sets the environmental benchmark for residential skyscrapers in the US.

340 on the Park was designed with the energy consuming human in mind, and thus integrates only the most efficient of technologies within the living and common spaces; there’s even a two story winter garden starting on the 25th floor that makes great use of the special windows designed for optimal sunlight dispersion throughout the building.

7. The Lighthouse Tower (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

The Dubai International Financial Center plans on inhabiting this skyscraper dubbed “The Lighthouse Tower”.  Designed by Atkins Middle East, the 66-story tower boasts a proposed amount of 4000 solar panels that will be integrated into the south facing facade, as well as three huge 225 kilowatt wind turbines.

It’s estimated that the tower design along with integrated technologies will knock off 65% of the overall energy needs.  Developers in Dubai are touting this strucutre as just one of many planned “eco-scrapers” that will bring carbon emissions to new lows in terms of the building’s overall impact to the local environmental landscape.

8. CIS Tower (Manchester, England)

The Co-operative Insurance Solar Tower in Manchester, England set a new benchmark by retroactively installing renewable energy technology onto the service tower during a renovation in 2006.  Boasting over 7000 solar panels and 24 wind turbines, the CIS tower no doubt represents a stunning achievement in what be accomplished when you combine skyscrapers and clean technology.

Currently, the structure can generate more than 10% of the energy it needs, but it’s still a technological marvel that serves as a great example of integrating renewable energy technologies into pre-existent architectural design.

9. The Hearst Tower (New York City, US)

The Hearst Tower was New York’s first skyscraper to receive the gold LEED certification.  Nearly 80% of the steel used to create this structure was recycled, as well as much of the interior’s flooring and ceiling materials.  The diamond-like shape of the steel support beams allow for less material to be needed in order to achieve the same level of structural integrity; the unique shaping of the structure also ensures copious amounts of sunlight are being taken advantage of.

The Hearst tower also makes excellent use of rainwater; there’s a 14,000 gallon tank in the basement of the building that serves as a starting point that enables the tower to shave off 50% of its water needs by treating and redirecting resources to irrigate plants and provide for a nifty water sculpture at the entrance of the building.

10. Gwanggyo (Seoul, South Korea)

Probably one of the most unique designs to ever see the drawing board, a Dutch architectural design firm named MVRDV won a bid to design a “self sufficient city” called Gwanggyo that would be established 35 kilometers south of Seoul, Korea.  The buildings will resemble tall hill-like structures that emphasizes the maintenance of a more “organic landscape” that integrates itself seamlessly into its surroundings.

Built with population density in mind, this “eco-city” could house over 77,000 people and provide enough commercial and public space to satisfy all the needs of the community.  At the heart of the site would be a power plant that utilizes the most sophisticated of technologies for clean power generation and streamlined resource consumption.  Currently, this project stands to completed by the end of 2011.

The chief executive of production at General Motors recently stated that GM will indeed have a plug-in SUV hybrid that will be fleet test ready by early 2011.

Originally planned to be a Saturn Vue Green Line, GM will most likely produce the SUV hybrid through another name, but will essentially be the same vehicle as planned; GM has since intended to either sell or phase out its Saturn branch.

Vice Chairman Tom Stephens emphasized that there are four brands that could potentially give a home to their new vehicle; Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick or GMC could very well be seeing the new plug-in hybrid SUV arriving in their showrooms.  This specific vehicle planned is supposed to get somewhere around double the city mileage of similar gas-powered SUVs.

It seems that consumers have done enough clamoring for a plug-in SUV hybrid, and they’re indeed getting their wish; but, electricity being used to charge the vehicles sophisticated battery systems still has yet to see the same scale of environmentally friendliness.

Conceptually, hybrid plug-in vehicles are ideal.  But, in an age where the average household’s electricity isn’t exactly clean, this concept does little to address the real problem and serves to only address a small symptom. Ultimately it’s up to the energy producers to make a change, provide better and cleaner energy generation and pass the clean buck to the consumer.

Solar energy innovations have been brewing across the board the past couple of decades; but it’s recently been made known this week that solar technology company, SolarEn, has struck an agreement with California’s Pacific Gas and Electric company to achieve something new and dynamic within the renewable energy industry. SolarEn has come up the zealous goal of launching solar panel laden satellites into orbit that will then capture the rawest forms of solar radiation from more than 22,000 miles above the Earth.

Transporting the solar technology itself into space can be done utilizing existing rocket technologies, but it’s transferring the energy back into power grids on earth that really seems like the most intriguing part of all of this.

SolarEn expects to start beaming down electricity to earth by 2016.

The company plans to convert the captured solar energy into radio frequencies that would then be sent back to earth. This sounds like the kind of stuff we’d see in the science-fiction world, but this fantasy is steadily turning into a reality. Marking the first real attempt at tapping into the ceaseless potential energy stream in space that the sun provides, SolarEn plans to initially provide 200MW of electricity to Pacific Gas and Electric utilizing their new method.

Although not exactly a new concept, sending solar energy technology into space this time around has a lot more promise. Plans by the US Government to achieve the same thing have been undertaken by NASA and the Pentagon as early as the 1960’s. Critics cite the costly nature of sending the satellites into space; but SolarEn ensures that their technology is commercially viable unlike any previous endeavors trying to achieve the same thing.

Here's a diagram that illustrates the basic concept of the proposed space based solar array. SolarEn also cites the higher energy potential of the raw solar energy available in space, noted by the color intensity of the orange.

Another top concern that SolarEn must engage in is the perception that the RF signals transferring the solar energy could interfere or adversely affect things here on the surface. SolarEn’s founder, Gary Spirnak, explained that the technology they’re going to use has been developed and implemented through other communication satellites. The near constant stream of energy traveling back to Earth by way of RF signal won’t present any cause for worry, Spirnak assured. Spirnak went on to explain that humans won’t be affected and that planes could fly through the signals without a hitch.

The sheer energy generation potential that lies in space could very well be where solar energy needs to make its future.

It’s estimated that the raw, unfiltered solar radiation from the sun provides nearly ten times the energy compared to the sun’s rays that current technologies capture. SolarEn’s agreement with the PG&E is currently pending review by regulators from the California State Government; it’s likely this proposal’s purported technological feasibility is a reason that it might actually stick.

But, as with any daunting renewable energy project, it all comes down to funding. The average renewable energy project of this magnitude would ordinarily cost somewhere around $200m, but because of the technology, Solaren expects that it would need funding within the range of a few billion to get this project off of the ground.