For this project, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman announced an award of up to $122 million over five years for the team to establish an Energy Innovation Hub aimed towards the development of artificial photosynthesis. By finding a way to harness this innovative method of generating fuel, it may be possible to cut down dependence on oil and enhance energy security.

According to Senator Feinstein, the award for California’s top scientists would help them along the way to producing a fuel that can be put into cars without further processing, and thus make use of the excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere while at the same time, eliminating dependence on oil. This same project also hopes to generate an innovative industry in the heart of California, a state on the cutting edge of the clean energy movement.

Aside from the Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub, there will also be two other hubs that will receive funding for the Fiscal Year 2010. One would be a hub dedicated to the modeling and simulation of nuclear reactors, established by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The other would be announced over the coming months.

“Finding a cost-effective way to produce fuels as plants do — combining sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide — would be a game changer, reducing our dependence on oil and enhancing energy security. This Energy Innovation Hub will enable our scientists to combine their talents to tackle this bold and highly promising challenge,” said Poneman.

This is not just a push for investments in science and finding breakthrough discoveries, it’s a way to turn theoretical science into practical technology by bringing together great minds from different industries. It’s a catalyst of change.

To suppress the flow of garbage and the additional use of energy for purification, New York City is promoting its tap water as a sustainable alternative to bottled drinking water.

New York’s water comes from a highly protected watershed upstate. The Environmental Protection Department oversees a daily supply of more than one billion gallons of this fresh water, which serves nine million people. “Our high-quality drinking water not only quenches New Yorkers’ thirst, but is the not-so-secret ingredient in the bagels, pizza, and thousands of other dishes that people come from around the world to get,” said Cas Holloway, the city’s environmental protection commissioner, in a statement announcing new products last week.

In partnership with Fishs Eddy, a New York-based purveyor of glassware, dinnerware and kitchen goods, the city has come up with merchandise bearing the NYC Water logo: a stylized tap with a drop of water, with the slogan “drink NYC water.” This merchandise available at the city’s online shop for everything New York, CityStore, range from glasses to T-shirts to even coasters, decanters and water bottles.

They hope that this will push for people to consume tap water instead of bottled water; the city can reduce the energy needed and the litter generated by its consumption. The city government is also set to provide other means to reduce bottled water consumption, including the provision of outdoor drinking stations connected to fire hydrants at parks, public plazas and other outdoor spaces. These stations come with six faucets for people, and even a water bowl for pets to drink from.

In the 1980’s it was unthinkable that people would want to actually buy their water in a bottle. I suppose fear of disease and harmful elements in water combined with the marketing efforts of brands like Fiji and Evian have made it part of popular culture to buy water from a bottle even when we can get it for free from the tap. Hopefully, New York can be the first to reverse that trend.

“There has been no delay with the project, which is running on schedule, and no recent issues have emerged that affect its delivery,” a spokesman for the Department of Education said. Fewer than 30 of the estimated 2400 schools and Technical and Further Education sites left to be connected to the network.

The project will be a good complement to the $158m Connected Classrooms program, which is part of the Building the Educational Revolution (BER). BER is a national program sanctioned by the Australian government and administered by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations that is projected to cost AUD16.1 billion. BER is part of an economic stimulus package meant to address the recent financial crisis, which largely entails the refurbishing of school facilities and the funding of other environmental programs.

According to The Australian, NSW is already experimenting with virtual classrooms with students in the state’s central and western regions. NSW Education is also looking into other interactive learning methods involving electronic whiteboards and video-conferencing, a technology that Telstra will get to showcase as a part of the Connected Classrooms program. Even blogging is being considered as a potential tool for online collaboration that could be capitalized upon thanks to the new fiber optic network.

In the larger scheme of things, Telstra also agreed to decommission its old copper and HFC broadband networks and transfer all customers to the National Broadband Network for AUD11 billion.

The improvement of infrastructure is usually the solution in dealing with problems that plague the entire nation, even as a part of a global economic slowdown. I think this was a smart move by the Australian government, and now that the world is in recovery, they have only to reap the benefits.

However, recent news from New Zealand is giving silent film fans something new to look forward to. The country’s government has recently gotten in touch with the Foundation to announce the discovery and return of 75 silent movies to the US.

These movies are considered extremely rare, partly because early film was very volatile and would degrade quickly. In fact, the 75 films from New Zealand’s national archive are only part of 150 American titles that were found there. However, only half of that number was deemed in good enough shape to be returned.

But how did these artistic treasures get to New Zealand in the first place? Frank Stark, chief executive of the New Zealand Film Archive, explains: “When you look at a map, we were at the end of a distribution network. By the time the nitrate films had been shipped to Asia, Australia then on to New Zealand, or whatever the sequence was for a particular film, it was considered largely to have finished its commercial life. The people in the States didn’t want to spend the money to ship it all the way back… and I believe they [were] probably in the main issued instructions that the reels should be destroyed or thrown away.”

Luckily, they weren’t. Projectionists held on to them, collectors sought them out, and eventually many of them found their way to the New Zealand national archive’s vaults, where they were kept safely as they awaited their return to the US. Thanks to the cooperation of cineastes and governments, today’s generation can now enjoy the unique and timeless beauty of the art form known as silent movies. As Stark declares, “What’s really, really satisfying is to have that impulse (to store silent films safely) reinforced by these kinds of discoveries, to feel that we’re doing the right thing – and that there is more treasure to be found.”

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about arts and culture.

Fifty percent of the survey’s respondents, in fact, believe that their organizations’ financial outlook for the year will be more difficult than in 2009. The NFF study also indicated that 80 percent of these organizations expect to see a rise in the demand for the services they provide.

Part of this lack of funding is being blamed on congress’ failure to pass legislation to correct the expiry of the federal estate tax which was scheduled on January 1. Data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shows that as the estate tax was reduced from 2001 to 2007, the percentage of wealthy decedents that left part of their inherited estate to charity declined along with it. The tax-lapse could actually be hurting charitable efforts and non-profit organizations.

Local governments are also said to be hurting non-profit organizations by reducing the budget on essential services and leaving non-profits to take up the slack. Some local governments are also reportedly holding off on payments contractually owed to non-profit organizations for delivering services.

According to a report by the National Council of Nonprofits, this in combination with the recession has “pushed many nonprofits to the brink.” The council also reports that non-profits “operate as invisible yet indispensable economic engines.”

The power of philanthropy is much more considerable than most perceive it to be. Philanthropists have a great responsibility to take care of society and humanity.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Philanthrophy.

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

The UKIIF was announced by Brown last June and will target slow growing businesses, start-ups and spin-outs including those in the pre-profit and pre-revenue stages of development.

It was announced last month that a total of £125m from the UKIIF will be invested in clean tech and low carbon sectors.

The UKIIF has now completed first closing on the first £200m UK Future Technologies Fund with fund managers the European Investment Fund (EIF), who have in turn raised £100m.

Gordon Brown said: “This fund, seeded by the Government, is bringing private venture capital to growing enterprises. It is already providing £125 million of funding to high tech, low carbon businesses. From today, a further £200 million will be available for life sciences, digital and advanced manufacturing.”

I personally believe the leveraging of the UK government’s funds and expertise coupled with the European Investment Fund’s experience in the EU venture capital market will help the next generation of high growth, high-tech businesses.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about overseas markets

Henry Ford Community College will design a curriculum to develop core competencies and skills to retain workers for 21st century jobs.

“This program recognizes and will tap into the tremendous potential of the human capital we have in Michigan,” said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. “This initiative will provide our workers the opportunity to learn the skills they will need to help grow the 21st century economy right here at home.”

The Michigan Alliance for High-Tech Skills Training Program supports efforts by the governor and other Michigan leaders, as well as the Obama Administration, to engage businesses in the education and retraining of displaced workers.

“As President Obama recognized when he announced the American Graduation Initiative right here in Michigan, our nation’s community colleges will continue to play an even greater role in expanding economic opportunities to all individuals,” said Dr. Gail Mee, Henry Ford Community College president. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue helping those here in Michigan who have been hit hardest by the struggling economy.”

I personally believe that evolving technologies require that leading edge businesses train and educate their employees to remain in lockstep with the industry. Education and retraining are the keys to assisting people in rejoining the workforce. The curriculum being offered by Henry Ford, developed together with this coalition, will provide displaced workers with new high-tech skills that can be applied across many industries.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about job creation

For the first time in recent history, Russia is making a serious attempt to drop the use of invocations and declarations while speaking about the innovative renewal of the Russian economy. Instead, action has been taken by formulating a plan of priorities and the basics of a long-term policy. Russia’s modernization plan has two major components: a) seeding innovation and technological breakthroughs inside the country, and b) importing technology and equipment more efficiently for use in the real sector of the economy.

Of course, the modernization of Russia cannot be limited to these two components. The success of the project will depend on engaging the leaders of all parts of Russian society in the process of developing innovative changes. This means that meaningful cooperation between the state, business, and society is very important. That, in turn, requires an open, honest, and ongoing dialog between government leaders and the private sector to develop a plan of joint actions.

A year after the Russian government’s anti-crisis plan was drafted, and after implementing much of that plan, the macroeconomic indicators provide reason for cautious optimism. Now is the time to design an innovative breakthrough.

I think the more we consider these topics in light of the government’s program, the more likely the Russian people will be able to succeed in taking concrete steps toward building an economy for the 21st century.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation