Argentina developing small, modular reactors that promise better safety
When the tsunami in Japan generated the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011, Argentina not only confirmed its decision to increase the share of atomic energy from from 6% to 15% of its energy mix, but started building the prototype Central Argentina Modular Element (CAREM) reactor, the first Latin American reactor design, with the aim of becoming by 2020 one of the stars of the next generation of reactors. The CAREM concept was first introduced in 1984 as one of the...
read moreThe ‘Golden Arches’ are going green in South America
McDonald’s has taken the lead in organic restaurants in Latin America with the construction of three “green buildings” on their premises in Brazil, Costa Rica and Argentina. In this sense, it seems difficult to relate fast food restaurants with eco-friendly as they are based on consumer products which are a concept that typically does not agree with the ideas of recycling. However, during the last five years, Arcos Dorados, licensee of McDonald’s...
read moreInterview with Zac Manchester- Creator of chip-sized satellites
Tiny silicon wafers wafting through the void 300 km in orbit. Bits of a rocket gone awry or the next step in affordable space exploration? If you chose the latter, you’d be correct. Zachary Manchester, a graduate aerospace engineering student at Cornell University is developing a satellite-on-a-chip, called Sprite, that promises to enable fleets of low-cost, specialized micro-satellites to explore the cosmos. Opinno had the opportunity to interview Manchester about...
read moreMeat the Future: Would you eat a stem cell steak to save the planet?
Juicy, chargrilled perfection, nestled between saucy layers of ketchup and mustard, half-hidden behind a veil of lettuce, its tomato cap cocked to one side. Ahh, the burger of your dreams….but wait. Like most dreams, this burger isn’t what it seems. Far, far from the fields you imagine your burger once roamed, far, far from the dinner table it ended up on is reality. Your burger was grown in a lab. Yes, “in vitro” – grown in a Petri dish — meat. Sounds...
read moreVermont the Latest to Adopt Smart Grid Tech
Vermont has become one of the latest to adopt a smart electrical grid system in an effort to enhance efficiency and customer service. The Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO) and IBM have announced a partnership that will bring its grid into the 21st century and also meet federal mandates. “The primary purpose of the fiber project is to improve transmission grid reliability, security and communications,” said VELCO representative Shana Duval. “The completed...
read moreBeyond Smart Cities: It’s Really All About the People
Imagine a colony of ants busily going about their lives. Unorganized, chaotic and without central control. However, each ant has an agenda and things end up getting done, not because of a grand plan, but because of small acts that benefit the whole. This is the vision that was presented at “Beyond Smart Cities” at BBVA’s Innovation Center a few days ago by three renowned experts in the field of city planning. Adam Greenfield, author of Everyware: The Dawn of...
read moreThe Golden Angle: How it Could Mean Green Energy for Everyone
Out of the dust of a cracker dry field near Seville in southern Spain, rises an ivory tower of hope for the end of fossil fuels and the beginning of enough clean, renewable energy to power the entire countries. It is Abengoa’s Planta Solar 10 (PS10), Europe’s first commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) tower and now MIT researchers, in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University in Germany, have discovered that Mother Nature has been holding the key to making it...
read moreBBVA Innovation Center to Host Beyond Smart Cities Jan. 18
What makes a city more livable, sustainable and efficient and how can technology make this happen? This Wednesday, the BBVA Innovation Center in Madrid will host “Beyond Smart Cities” to talk about these important questions among others with leading experts in the field. While many cities now incorporate various sensors to monitor such things as traffic and pollution, only about 5% of the data is used (according to the Economist). Practical solutions must be found...
read more1st Large-Scale Solar Project in S. America Announced
Spain-based T-Solar has announced funding to construct South America’s first large-scale photovoltaic generating plants in Peru. The two plants will have a combined output of 44 MW and present only a start for T-Solar’s plans in Latin America. “South America is a region with vast renewable resources also has a great growth potential, which requires lots of energy,” said T-Solar spokeswoman Maria Murillo. “The various peoples and countries of South American...
read moreAloha ‘Lohas’: Revolutionizing the Way We Travel
It’s official: the economic crisis is over. Well, for the travel industry, anyway. 2010 saw a strong recovery after a turbulent year brought on by skyrocketing oil prices and a tendency towards traveler thriftiness. But the industry that had fallen 4.2% in worldwide flights and 5.7% in overall spending, according to ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel trade show, is back – and the experts are predicting growth. The World Travel and Tourism Council...
read more
