This page that is still underconstruction, will be dedicated to Greater Cleveland's, Ohio's and America's historical involvement in sustainable technological and cultural advancement (ICEAlity) directly stemming from EXPO2000, the German Worlds Fair held in Hannover, Germany.
https://www.expo2000.de/expo2000/index_e.htm
On April 16, 1997, The International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA) was appointed by Lukardis von Studinitz, Generalkommissiart EXPO2000, to promote EXPO2000 in the United States. This project was named 'The US Network for EXPO2000' (www.expo2000usa.com ) and eventually would put Cleveland on the international stage. Because of the success of the project, ICEA founders, David and Renate Jakupca would spend six month's as American Cultural Ambassadors to EXPO2000. The closing of EXPO2000 in October 2000 was not the end of the Fair but the beginning of its impact on the future of Mankind.
EXAMPLE OF SOME AREA INITIATIVES
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Cuyahoga County's Green Building Movement
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Cuyahoga County's Wind Turbine Energy Program
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Great Lakes Brewery Sustainable Recycling Progeam
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Greening of the Cleveland Home & Garden Show
A)- Ingenuity Project
History of World Expositions
ZERI at EXPO 2000 Page
By Mia Roth l Special to GERMANIA NEWSPAPER
Complete story: (Free TimesMagazine/Sept 11, 1996/'The Art Corps' by Catherine Podojil)
GERMANIA NEWSPAPER
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Green Turns to Gold in Global Warming Battle:
Cleveland - A green goldrush is under way in the hunt for low carbon technologies to beat global warming.
Billions of dollars are involved, from trading in rights to emit greenhouse gases to funds supporting green technologies and backers of big projects like wind and solar farms. The stakes are high -- the planet's climate.
Barely a year ago it was mainly specialist carbon funds and hedge funds, some of which take on high risks in hope of big returns, that were prepared to bet on technologies to cut emissions of greenhouse gases.
Now the big money players are muscling in.
"This year the blue chip investors are moving in -- the big banks and the pension funds with a lot of money," Anthony Hobley of green investment fund Climate Change Capital told Reuters.
Climate Change Capital has nearly US$1 billion under management, tycoon Richard Branson has pledged US$3 billion for biodiesel research and blue riband investment bank Morgan Stanley has announced US$3 billion for carbon-related activities.
Pedro Moura Costa, founder of EcoSecurities carbon credit trading company, said there were now some six listed carbon trading funds, with market capitalisation of over 1 billion pounds (US$1.89 billion), whereas two years ago none were listed.
"If you pick a winner in the right technology in the search for a low carbon economy you are talking about potentially billions. It is really the holy grail," he told Reuters.
Last November environment ministers from more than 70 countries debated in Nairobi how to extend the Kyoto Protocol on global warming beyond 2012.
Kyoto sets emissions cuts targets for 35 countries, and a deal, expected in 2009 or 2010, would further boost demand for renewable energy and rights to emit greenhouse gases, called carbon credits.
Funds which set up in 1997, as Kyoto was being negotiated, got a shot in the arm in 2002 when Britain set up its own carbon trading scheme. They received a major boost in early 2005 when Kyoto came into force and the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme launched.
Scientists say global temperatures could rise by between two and six degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to burning fossil fuels for power and transport, causing floods, famines and violent storms and risking millions of lives.
ECO-CAPITALISTS
The warnings have pushed the climate crisis high up the political agenda worldwide and brought into being a new breed of environmentally-conscious investor.
"It is increasingly a capitalist arena. The eco-warriors are being replaced by the eco-capitalists," Henrik Hasselknippe, manager at the Point Carbon information and carbon analyst group headquartered in Oslo said.
Nowhere was it more obvious than at a reception in London for financiers this week, flowing with pink champagne and fine foods, to launch the US$250 million Masdar Clean Tech Fund.
"In 2012 the carbon market will be worth US$40 billion," said Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, chief executive officer of Masdar, oil-rich Abu Dhabi's Future Energy Company, which established the fund with Credit Suisse and the Consensus Business Group.
Trading in carbon credits is expected to be worth 20 billion euros (US$25.62 billion) this year, double the level in 2005 when Kyoto came into force and the EU's trading scheme started.
One possible problem looms -- while a deal to extend Kyoto beyond 2012 is expected, investors are worried about a possible gap before the new regime starts, if talks go to the wire.
"The big risk is you will not get post 2012 certainty early enough. All those big investments could shudder to a halt," Climate Change Capital's Hobley said. Story by Jeremy Lovell
Power Generating Wind Turbines are Silhouetted
Power generating wind turbines silhouetted at dusk in near the German city of Magdeburg Nov 18, 2006.
Photo by WOLFGANG RATTAY
Group asks the state of Ohio to help propel wind energy [ originating from EXPO2000 in Germany ]
Environmentalists urge incentives, mandates
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
John C. Kuehner
Plain Dealer Reporter
Turbines harnessing winds blowing across Lake Erie and Ohio's high ground could also power the way for thousands of jobs in the state.
An investment in wind energy could create more than 10,000 manufacturing jobs, according to a report released Monday by Environment Ohio.
The group, an advocate for clean-energy programs in the state, urged lawmakers to foster an environment that will create jobs in the wind industry.
In the next decade, Ohio could get 10 percent of its electricity from wind, the equivalent of powering more than 1 million homes, according to the report.
Dozens of Ohio companies already manufacture parts for the wind industry.
The state could help through tax incentives or low-interest loans, the report said. It also could mandate that a percentage of power companies' electricity come from renewable sources - something that 21 other states already require.
"The time is now for Ohio's leaders to come together and enact policies that will leverage Ohio's strengths and make us an energy-independent state that will be a safer and healthier place for all Ohioans," Amy Gomberg, the report's author, said at a news conference in Cleveland. For the report, Gomberg drew on data from dozens of federal and state government sources, universities, news accounts and advocacy groups.
Momentum is building for wind energy.
On Monday, for example, a coalition led by the University of Toledo joined at least six other bids from cities across the country seeking a $3 million federal grant to test the design, strength and flexibility of large offshore wind turbine blades in real-life applications.
A Cuyahoga County energy task force formed in August wants to build wind turbines in Lake Erie.
It could call on components developed at NASA Glenn Research Center two decades ago, said Larry Viterna, an engineering manager at NASA who worked on the project.
Some of that technology went on the shelf when the price of oil plummeted.
It also was picked up by European companies, which now dominate the $13 billion-a-year wind industry.
But with oil prices up again and an interest in clean, renewable energy, wind technology could be an economic driver for Ohio, much the same way that leaders hope fuel cell technology will be.
While still less than 1 percent of the nation's electricity supply, wind energy is the second-largest new source of electricity, behind natural gas, said Christine Real de Azua, spokeswoman for American Wind Energy Association.
Its average growth was 29 percent each year from 2000 to 2005, and it has accelerated the past two years, she said.
Governor-elect Ted Strickland campaigned on an agenda that would include job creation through investment in renewable energy, including wind power.
In August, Cuyahoga County commissioners created an energy task force to study wind power along the Lake Erie shore.
The task force, headed by County Prosecutor Bill Mason, learned Thursday that Ohio's strongest winds are found in Lake Erie about 12 miles northwest of Cleveland, about due north of Rocky River and Bay Village.
The best winds in the Midwest can be found here, said Steve Dever, a task force member.
Consistent wind speed is critical, which is why those off-shore winds look so attractive. But the construction costs are higher than they would be on land, perhaps as high as $30 million to $50 million to start. And the legal and regulatory hurdles are formidable.
The task force will make its recommendations to county commissioners by late January or early February.
If turbines are built in Lake Erie, the technology used could tap research on large turbines done in the '70s and '80s that was led by NASA Glenn.
One development was a two-blade wind turbine prototype installed in Hawaii in 1986. From the base to the tip of its blade the prototype stands 360 feet tall and is capable of generating 3.2 megawatts of electricity, enough electricity for about 1,000 homes.
This could be the model for turbines built offshore of Cleveland, said Viterna, the NASA engineering manager. Some of the technology remains in NASA's hands.
"We were way ahead," he said.
"For Cleveland not to have a prominent position in this industry would be incredible since it had such a significant role in development of the technology."
Plain Dealer reporter Tom Breckenridge contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jkuehner@plaind.com , 216-999-5325
EXPO2000 FACTBOX - How Green are Our Leaders?
After EXPO2000, governments round the world are trying to promote sustainable living through ICEAility . But what are our leaders doing about it in their private lives? Following are some answers to our recent inquiries: U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Has water-collecting devices blending into the his ranch landscape in Texas linked to a heating and cooling system that sends water deep below ground to keep it at a constant 67 Fahrenheit (19C), sharply cutting electricity use. Bush said in 2001: "It's the same type of system that Vice President Gore put in the vice presidential house, which I didn't realize because of the way they were made, but he did." Kristin Hellmer, of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, also wrote of the ranch that "wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into purifying tanks underground -- The purified water is funneled to the cistern with the rainwater. It is used to irrigate flower gardens, trees, etc. Water for the house comes from a well." GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL: "I save energy, as a lot of people do -- that starts with not leaving the television set needlessly on stand-by and goes to having an efficient heating system," she told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper this month. "But the most important thing is having a clear open head for developing technology in new directions. You can have economic growth without energy consumption growing at the same pace." She also owns a Volkswagen Golf -- a relatively small car -- that she sometimes uses on weekends privately. HILLARY CLINTON:
BARACK OBAMA : JOHN EDWARDS: JOHN McCAIN: MITT ROMNEY:
MIKE HUCKABEE:
RUDY GIULIANI:
GOVERNOR TED STRICKLAND: CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH: MAYOR FRANK JACKSON: |