The 'Future of Green' at WIRED NextFest
by Eric Kane, New York, NY on 10. 2.06
Yesterday marked the close of the third annual WIRED NextFest. This year's event, held at the Javits Center in New York City, showcased numerous green technologies. GE, the event's Presenting Sponsor exhibited several green products at its Imagination Pavilion including: a hybrid locomotive, a 1.5 MW wind turbine, and a next generation jet engine. At the event's Transportation Pavilion, GM displayed flex-fuel vehicles, hybrids, and two fuel cell-powered concept cars. However, the event's green core was located at the Future of Green Pavilion. Among the numerous green products were: green building materials, solar technologies, small-scale wind turbines, and bags made from recycled plastic sacks. Although many of the technologies were impressive, two products designed by the Interactive Institute stuck out in my mind as being particularly unique and ingenious. The first was a lamp designed to promote energy awareness. Dubbed the Flower Lamp, this product opened and closed its metallic petals based on the overall energy consumption in a given household. The lamp will only open its petals when household energy consumption is low, therefore creating a constant reminder of electricity use. The second was a power strip called the Power-Aware Cord that lights up to indicate how much energy an appliance is consuming. The cord emits a blue glow that becomes more or less intense according to the amount of electricity flowing through it. In general, it was encouraging to see an emphasis on green technologies, and I look forward to the day when all these products become commonplace.
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I attended Nextfest as well eager to see all the worldchanging products and technology but what I am slowly but surely realizing is that it's not any given technology or product that will collectivelly point us in the right direction, it's people. People like Majora Carter and Graham Hill inspire other people like me and hopefully this domino effect will help us reach critical mass and create real change. Like every time I attend one of these events, I come out very inspired and convinced that I will go back to work on Monday and truly influence the large corporation I work for but 99% of individuals still don't really care. If pressed they will say that they care but it's not reflected in the desicisions they make on an everyday basis. The highlight of the even for me was meeting Richard Branson, he did not participate in the even but I did run into him right outside the Javits center on Wed. I thanked him for his investment in renuable and clean energy I and was very surprised when he stopped turned back and approached me to shake my hand. I know he will make a lot of money with his investment and that's good but just like Billy Gates (my former boss) it's truly influentual people that are the real hope for a better and more sustainable future. Thank you Treehugger!