Currently, Japan’s overall economic output totals $1.29 trillion. Its economy grew 0.4 percent during the second quarter, substantially less than forecasted.

Jesper Koll, an economist with JPMorgan in Tokyo, predicts that China’s economy may grow up to 8 percent per year over the next decade. Japan’s underlying growth rate, on the other hand, will be one percent.

Several factors are helping China rise up the world economic ladder. Unlike Japan and other established economies, China has only just started its boom of urbanization. There is a lot of room for growth within the country. It also has a lower standard of living, an aspect that has greatly appealed to outsourcing companies.

According to another economist, Frederic Neumann at HSBC in Hong Kong, if China continues its rapid growth, it may be able to solidify its position as the world’s second largest economy by the end of the year. By 2030, it may even overturn the United States as the reigning economic power. China has already overturned several established European economic powers over the last few years, including Germany, France, and Great Britain.

The implications are not limited merely to economics. The way I see it, as more wealth is distributed to China’s vast population, the quality of life can begin to equalize among its peoples, and relative to the citizens of other, more established, developed countries in the west. If China can become like Japan, Brunei and Singapore, with their excellent poverty ratings, a larger absolute number of people, by far, stand to benefit. And as China’s economy grows, its neighboring countries can also take advantage through trade and human resource exchanges.

The principle behind “Natural Capital” is simply this: if we place efforts to protect our natural ecosystems, we can ensure the continuous flow of valuable natural goods or services into the future. For business enterprises, this can translate into the generation of huge profits.

The profitability of protecting biodiversity does not just stem from the conservation of valuable resources. A growing number of the world’s consumers are becoming more and more environmentally conscious. By shifting gears into a greener approach toward managing operations and delivering products and services, businesses can gain a larger consumer following. In fact, market opportunities for certified forest products, organic produce, and other conservation-grade products are estimated to grow by 200 percent, with chances of skyrocketing to 400 percent by 2020.

Integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services in business operations can also lead to substantial cost savings and new revenues. With the expenses for production cut without compromising quality control, companies can relegate the remaining budget toward improving business processes and creating more effective marketing strategies.

It seems there is nothing to lose in taking the initiative to protect our natural ecosystems. In addition to fulfilling their corporate social responsibility, companies can cut costs, earn more, and gain a vast marketability by applying more eco-friendly business practices. Business leaders from developing nations are getting into it because their economies rely heavily on their natural resources. The more businesses realize the benefits of sustaining “natural capital,” the higher our chances of saving the environment.

According to the unique chef-scholar, “conventional agriculture has never succeeded in feeding the world, and it’s never produced anything good to eat. For the future, we need to look toward alternatives.”

His talk, “How I fell in Love with a Fish” presented at the world famous idea sharing conference, TED Talks, garnered a standing ovation.

In his talk, he chronicles his pursuit of sustainable ways to farm fish. This came out of his struggle as a chef to keep fish on the menu. He mentions that 90% of large fish including tuna, halibut, and salmon have collapsed in terms of sustainability. Although fish farming or aquaculture is one solution that the world has been forced in to because of the depletion of wild fish sources, fish farming only has a feed conversion rate of 15:1. This means that it takes 15 pounds of wild fish to get you one pound of farmed fish. Most fish farms also contribute to environmental pollution.

He found the answer in a sustainable method used to farm fish in southern Spain. Despite being “overcooked twice over,” Dan says, the fish was still delicious.

Ironically, the fish farm began with an ecological disaster that came about when farmers drained the water from a vast area of wetlands into the ocean, planning to use the land to grow cattle. In an effort to reverse the effects of the dirty water in the ocean, a new company bought the land and re-flooded it, creating a vast sustainable fish farm in the process. The difference is that in this fish farm, there is no need to feed the fish. The environment is so rich that it has become totally self renewing.

This is a story of ecological karma. A company that originally sought to reverse the effects of disaster ended up creating an innovative and ecologically sustainable way to farm delicious fish.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation.

The Blue Will’s glass roof integrates an array of dye-sensitive solar panels designed to collect the sun’s energy while parked, recharging the battery and powering a small fan to keep the car cool. The power plant is a combination of an all-aluminum 152 horsepower gasoline direct-inject engine attached to a Continuously Variable Transmission and a 100 kW electric architecture. A lithium polymer battery runs the electric motor, a technology Hyundai will be using in its upcoming Elantra hybrid. The Blue Will can travel up to 40 miles on the battery alone, and with both the gasoline and electric engine engaged, gets an average of 100 miles per gallon or more.

One of the more innovative features of the concept car is the tailpipe. Hyundai has developed a thermal generator that mounts to the exhaust manifold to capture exhaust heat, converting it to electricity to power auxiliary systems in the vehicle. But the ideas don’t stop with power generation. Other high-tech innovations include:

• An ultra-thin Transparent Organic Light-Emitting Diode, which replaces the gauge cluster and displays in high-resolution color.

• A touch-screen interface display that controls the HVAC, drive selector, and infotainment systems.

• An “Eco-Coach” that graphically promotes fuel-saving behavior by providing constant feedback about fuel consumption and driving efficiency.

• Carbon-fiber reinforced plastics and nano-composites on the side sills, moldings, and fenders. Bioplastics have been used for panels and other interior and exterior parts.

With all these new innovations and features, one has to wonder what Hyundai will come up with next year.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about concept cars

Dyson – who is perhaps best known for his bagless vacuum cleaners – is calling for more investment and support for innovative engineering. Together with some of Britain’s most highly regarded industrial leaders, he has developed a number of policy recommendations which the next government should follow to make the UK more competitive and help the country leave the recession behind.

“We need to inspire and enlighten people: science and engineering can change lives, society and the economy,” said Dyson. “High tech exports create real wealth and jobs, and will help set us on a course for sustainable prosperity. If we don’t capitalize on our engineering expertise now there’ll be no turning back.”

The report suggests a stronger bond between universities and companies should be developed by changing the way education is structured. It says large scale projects must be put in place to prove the UK’s ability with high-tech infrastructure, claiming research and engineering has been ignored for decades in Britain.

I personally believe James Dyson is right. The UK has some inherent strengths. It’s the sixth largest manufacturing economy in the world, and has four of the top ten global universities. If they harness the best of both worlds, they can grow their high value add industries in a big way.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation

GreenRoad, which is developing technologies to encourage safe and fuel-efficient driving behavior, intends to use the proceeds to accelerate the deployment of its GreenRoad 360 service among new and existing customers.

GreenRoad 360, the company’s proprietary-based service, provides drivers and fleet managers with real-time, comprehensive and preventative feedback, analysis, reporting and coaching on drivers’ abilities, maneuvers, and patterns.

According to GreenRoad, driving behavior is the largest single contributor to driving safety and fuel efficiency, and costs the US and Europe over $500 billion dollars per year. A typical GreenRoad customer sees up to a 50% reduction in crash costs and up to a 10% reduction in fuel consumption within the first year. As a result, GreenRoad delivers an innovative solution that saves lives, saves fleets money in top vehicle expense categories (fuel, crash, wear & tear, insurance), and provides a cost-effective way to reduce emissions.

GreenRoad is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, with sales offices throughout the U.S. and UK and an R&D Center in Or Yehuda, Israel, which has 90 employees. The company was founded in 2003 by Chief of Safety Hod Fleishman and CTO Ofer Raz.

I am excited to see Generation working with GreenRoad. GreenRoad’s job is to make our roads safer and greener, and I look forward to seeing what the two can do together to lead the way to cleaner, safer, and more cost-efficient transportation.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation

The keynote speakers promise to maintain a future-oriented perspective, as each will explore a different aspect of next-generation displays. The keynote addresses will kick off on Tuesday, May 25. This year’s speakers will be:

• Dr. Sang-Soo Kim, executive VP, Samsung Mobile Display along with Samsung Fellow and SID Fellow
• Mike Sinnett, vice president/787 systems chief engineer, The Boeing Company
• Steve Bathiche, director of research, Applied Sciences Group, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft Corp.

Another exciting event attendees won’t want to miss is the annual SID luncheon, being held on Wednesday, May 26. Terry Schmidt, chief scientist, Christie Digital Systems, Inc. will reveal what happened “Behind the Screens at the Beijing Summer Games.” Schmidt will walk attendees through the challenges of the high-tech setup in an outdoor venue of this immense scale, and explain how these displays contributed to the overall spectacle of this memorable event.

This is just a sampling of the exciting presentations attendees can expect at this year’s Display Week. More information on the program will be announced soon. You can visit www.sid2010.org for additional information, or follow SID’s Twitter at @DisplayWeek.

What makes Display Week so exciting to me is that it’s kind of like the electronics industry’s crystal ball, previewing display technologies that will enable the commercial products of the future.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Hi Technology

In general, entrepreneurs and green tech investors believe that putting a price on carbon emissions will act as an incentive for businesses to develop low-carbon energy. Many also argue that utility regulations need to change so that all utilities have an incentive to use energy more efficiently. Meanwhile, financing remains a challenge for many green tech startups because many businesses require hundreds of millions of dollars to produce their products at scale.

The ARPA-E agency was first funded last year with a $400 million budget with the goal of nurturing breakthrough energy technologies. ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar said the agency is structured to yield “home runs” by focusing research in different areas, such as grid storage or carbon capture and storage, which can be developed within the next three to five years.

In my opinion, the success of early companies such as Tesla Motors, A123 Systems, and solar firm Solyndra show that new technologies are penetrating the market faster than many would have predicted five to eight years ago. But to make a large-scale impact, the industry still needs a handful of enduring success stories. I think we need a moment as a nation when a company goes public and its potential and success infects the average American, so that there’s a change in attitude toward this market.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about clean technologies

First, it could indicate a significant revival of the U.S. technological innovation that has largely slipped away into the hands of China, Germany, and other nations. China is currently excelling ahead in terms of solar power development.

A fuel cell the size of a loaf of bread providing power for home and businesses would also significantly reduce some of the heavy costs of producing and transmitting electricity, as well as drastically cut down on the use of some fossil fuel products. Additionally, such a device would improve air and water quality, and could lead to byproducts yet to be explored or even imagined.

Several major corporations – Wal-Mart, Google, FedEx, Coca Cola, Bank of America, and Cox Enterprises – have ordered the cell boxes, which have been in development for nearly a decade by Bloom Energy under the supervision of a space scientist.

Although the “box” won’t be available for use in homes for several years, care must be taken meanwhile to prevent this promising new product from being smothered in the marketplace by other energy producers fearful of competition.

I personally believe that Bloom’s “box” should be embraced for what it is – an industrial breakthrough whose benefits to society and industry can be adopted and shared, not dreaded.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about California Clean Energy

Last year, U.S. clean tech investments dropped to a five year low, from 72 percent of the worldwide total in 2008 to 62 percent, while Europe and Israel’s percent of the global clean tech market climbed to an all-time high of nearly 30 percent.

According to the CleanTech Group, an investment advisory service provider, despite the solar sector being the largest recipient of clean tech funding, concentrated solar thermal investment declined 90 percent.

In the absence of funding, utilities continued to bring capital and access to credit to the clean tech sector and are playing a fundamental role in getting more projects off the ground.

“North America still attracts the largest percentage of clean tech venture capital, but the fact that it is slightly down is worth noting,” says Dallas Kachan, a managing director at CleanTech Group, a consultancy that pioneered the word clean tech and owns it as a registered trademark. “It underscores that clean tech innovation continues to globalize.”

“As for overall growth in private capital, we believe we’ll actually see a recovery and record year in 2010 for cleantech fundraising,” says Kachan. “Not necessarily in actual venture investments in 2010, but we expect to see record funds raised aimed at clean technologies.

In the absence of a mandatory national cap-and-trade scheme, will voluntary carbon markets bear enough influence to generate greater price alignment between fossil fuels and renewable energy?

I personally don’t think so. While voluntary efforts will continue on a small scale, it will take government intervention in the form of creating and cap and trade market or implementing carbon emissions-related taxation to actually get the business environment to change.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about environmental legislation