"E" Waste Disposal and Recycling Center : 2008 Tech

7 Technologies that will Save the Earth in 2008

Written by Hank Green

Sunday, 30 December 2007

2007 is done, and with it came huge advances in materials, energy, architecture, transportation and more. But I though, before we take a look back, we'd take a look forward.

EcoGeek is here to keep you informed of the latest technologies that are making our lives better while also ensuring that we don't spoil the Earth at the same time. But just this once, let's look not at what's happening now, but at what's coming in the near future. Here are ten technologies that I can't wait for, and that I think we'll see (to varying degrees) in 2008.

Cellulosic Ethanol
While America maybe got a little bit over-excited by ethanol (to the tune of wasted subsidies and spikes in Mexico's food prices) there is a great future here. And while corn ethanol, it turns out, really isn't a very good idea, cellulosic ethanol is looking at a bright future. With huge bursts of funding both from federal subsidies and billionaire entrepreneurs like Vinod Khosla, we should expect advances on several fronts in 2008. First, techniques for producing the fuel from waste inexpensively will continue to emerge. Second, America's first cellulosic production plants will come online, while the benchmarks required by the recent US energy bill will spur investment in a new round of plants that will come online sometime after 2008.

LEDs
America's love affair with incandescent lights is over. Especially considering that they will be mostly illegal by 2012. So 2008 should be a year where Philips and GE get off their asses, start producing ultra-efficient LED lights in earnest. Already the technology is more efficient, longer-lasting and more user-friendly than CFLs or incandescents. The obstacle, it seems, is the price. But finally, Americans are getting used to the idea that paying more now will save you money in the long run. And as LEDs are a bit more approachable than CFLs, I think we'll see a good adoption rate for LED bulbs. Especially as I predict they'll start showing up on shelves in Wal-Marts and Home Depots in mid 2008.

No One Killed the Electric Car
2008 will be the year the EV came back to life. Tesla will make its first sales, the Chevy Volt production design will be released, while the first GM E-Flex drive trains will be driving around (in Chevy Malibu bodies.) Ford will begin marketing (though not selling) it's plug-in Escape and GM will begin selling the plug-in Saturn Vue. While smaller producers like Aptera and Phoenix will sell their EVs as well.

CDs Will Die
DVDs have a slightly longer lifespan, but physical media are on the way out. Everyone realizes now that there's no good reason to have a CD instead of an MP3. Frankly, it's more expensive and less convenient. And while other media (include books and movies) are going to have a longer road to obsolescence, everyone, including record companies and musicians, will agree that CDs have gone the way of the 8 track.

The Kindle will light a Very Small Fire
Speaking of obsolete physical objects, book readers will continue to advance in 2008, but they'll only just begin their journey to supremacy. That journey will be led by the Kindle which, though uglier, bulkier, and more expensive than the Sony Reader, is more well marketed and convenient than any other ebook reader ever has been.

Solar Really Will be Cheap
We've been hearing for years that "solar is going to be as cheap as coal." And while that prediction won't come true in 2008, solar will become extremely cheap. Nanolsolar and Heliovolt's printable solar cells will sell like hotcakes to large buyers, leaving you and me on a long waiting list for personal panels. So while the large solar plants will start springing up, distributed solar will be a bit further down the road than 2008.

There will be 30 Stories about Cars Running on Water
And each and every one of them will be erroneous.

Small Cars Will Win
While it's great that major car companies are creating cars like the Fit, the Mini and the Aveo, it's my opinion that they are completely underestimating the desire for small vehicles in American driveways. Which is why I think that the Loremo and the Aptera will be widely acclaimed in the US. Honda will continue selling every Fit it can build, but it will take entrants from outside the establishment to show how interested people are in less substantial cars. Additionally, the Aptera and the Loremo both will establish themselves as early favorites for the automotive X-Prize which will begin in early 2008.

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written by kent beuchert, December 31, 2007

Solar photovoltaic is an inferior technology regardles of the price, which is still exorbitant and impractical. Solar thermal is the only solar energy source worth bothering with. As for saving the Earth, that would require more than redcuing carbon, which has recently been proven as not the main impetus behind global warming. Sorry, it looks like would-be Earth saviors are actually global warming dupes. New technologies will be required to prevent global warming, if necessary.

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written by Jose, December 31, 2007

I'm really looking foward to these advancements as well. Especially the one where the kindle conquers books and the mp3 conquers cds. I already have stopped using incandescent lights, so I can see many people making the change in 2008.

Note: I never knew EcoGeek was run by a member of Brotherhood 2.0 smilies/tongue.gif

No future... for now
written by xavi, December 31, 2007

I won't like to break the optimism of any reader, but my humile oppinion is that... yeah! these technologies and all that are to come will be an inflection point of our technological tendencies, but the humanity has done enough damage to our planet to consider them just little first steps to the great work of saving our planet. In the case of arriving someday when we can talk about achieved objectives, there will be also a lot of things missing forever.

Except for...
written by Keith_Indy, December 31, 2007

Everyone realizes now that there's no good reason to have a CD instead of an MP3.

Except how do you actually OWN a song that's only on an MP3? How do you get another copy when your MP3 dies or it's memory becomes corrupted?

A CD or DVD is a permanent proof of ownership.

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written by Keith_Indy, December 31, 2007

One other thing is I think the adoption of diesels will increase, as manufacturers are finally ready to adopt the 2009 standards (better emissions.)

Result a 70 MPG diesel car available soon. http://www.popularmechanics.co...?series=19

While it's not the ultimate solution to our problems, it could be an important step in slowing down our dependency on oil, and decreasing our emissions.

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Hank Green
		About the author:
		Hank Green is the founder and chief geek at EcoGeek.org. He lives in Montana with his wife and his cat. This blog thing is actually becoming, like, a full time job. He is very surprised.

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