Sunny Ahn's WebLog

My father, Kunil Ahn, officially announced yesterday that he is entering the race for National Assembly (US version of the Senate) in the Gaesan/Eumseong area for the Grand National Party. This has been something that he has been wanting to do for a while and he made it official, particularly since his father served 4 terms in the same district.

The nomination election is schedule for April 9th. Take a look at his website at http://ahn.nbora.com/.  Good luck dad

While the push to alternative fuels is an encouraging event, there generally is no one ‘right’ solution to address the global warming crisis. As the world pushes towards biofuels, there are a number of consequences that are likely to happen as a result. It is likely that the price of corn and other crops will increase dramatically as more people and investment goes into biofuels. In addition, there will likely be increased competition for land, particularly in Asia countries which might force many poor families off their land. Some scientist have even stated that energy crops can destroy natural forests that store carbon, which ultimately is a key source to reduce carbon dioxide. Thus it is important to look comprehensively at all the factors (cause and effect) that are associated with any alternative fuels, as there is no one clear solution.

More environmental news from GM as it invests in a biofuel start, Coskata.  The company is looking to commercialize a process to bring cellulose-based ethanol by 2011.  Currently switchgrass and wood chips are the main materials being used to produce cellulose-based ethanol.  GM claims that the production of the company’s ethanol is less than $1 a gallon to produce, about 1/2 that of producing gasoline.  This investment goes in hand with its push with hybrid vehicles, particularly as it pushes more consumers toward E85 biofuel (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline mix) in its FlexFuel vehicles.  

Toyota stated yesterday that they would launch a plug-in hybrid vehicle by 2010, a counter-move to the announced plans by GM for its Chevrolet Volt, due by 2010 as well.  Both vehicles will be based on lithium ion batteries.  According to Toyota, each charge (which takes about 4 hours) uses about 2.7 kilowatt hours of electricity.   The plug-in hybrid, a version of the Prius, gets about 100 miles a gallon, in electric mode.  The plug-in Prius can stay in electric mode until 62mph versus 30mph for the conventional Prius. 

It was announced today that an European automaker, Motor Development International, has come out with an automobile (called MiniCat) that runs on compressed air.  The firm is based in Luxembourg and the cars are manufactured in France.  More on this to come. 

While there has been a lot of attention on sun and wind power, the struggle has always been how to store the immense power that the two sources provide.  One method is focused on different battery technologies, such as those provided by Smart Storage Pty – however the problem has been how to store the energy cost-efficiently.  Another promising technologies is compressed air energy storage (CAES), which stores compressed air underground and is drawn when needed – expanding electricity generators.  General Compression is a company focused on this type of technology.

Look for more focus on sun/wind power storage technologies over the next year…

It was announced on Tuesday that Google plans to invest tens of millions of dollars in R&D in renewable energy.  The company has stated that the technologies created by Google will be used directly by Google itself, as the company is a big user of energy.  Google will hire approximately 30 people into a newly created clean-energy division by 2008.

The company will also fund other investments through its philanthropic arm, Google.org.  The group has about $2 billion worth of Google stock to invest. 

A friend of mine this week mentioned the soft launch of an interesting website that analyzes how simple changes in our daily activities can have a big impact on our production of CO2 into the environment.  CarbonRally.com provides simple, achievable challenges to individuals and calculates specifically how much reduction YOUR change can have on reducing CO2 production levels.  Try it out.  This week’s challenge is to eliminate drinking bottle water for a week… 

Congrats to our firm, Context Connect, on getting another patent around the private directory and connectivity space – European Patent #EP1301887 – A System and Method for Directory Services and eCommerce Across Multi-Provider Networks.  The patent is focused on the ability to ‘find and connect’ individuals without requiring or needing the actual contact number (e.g., phone number) through a DNS-based contextual platform.  The patent extends to directory-based connectivity calls as well as electronic transactions or eCommerce via mobile devices.   

The patent describes methods for providing secure connectivity across disparate networks or service providers.  Contextual, DNS-based directory listings are created by consumers or groups, while connectivity to individuals is made without revealing valuable customer information and data – thus ensuring a more appropriate way of getting connected (self provisioned contextual listings) through a private-based platform (no phone numbers revealed).  The patent covers directory assistance/enquiry listings by consumers and merchants that do not reveal actual connectivity details like DNS-like registrar services.

I wanted to take some time and write about my visit to the AltWheels Festival this past weekend in Boston.  It was a great opportunity to see all the latest advances in eco-friendly activities, some that were merely concepts to products that could be purchased on site.  It was also nice to see such a diversity of vendors at the show – from small startups to large automotive companies.   There were, of course, a number of electric-based vehicles at the show and the one area that immediately hit me was the appealing designs of many them.  While an eco-friendly vehicle must be priced appropriately, it must also be appealing to the basic consumer.  Such design limitations have certainly hampered many manufacturers in the past.

One vehicle I was impressed with was the Vectrix motorcycle (see below).  I spent some time with them and found out the basics of their key vehicle.  While a zero emission based vehicle, it can reach maximum speeds up to 62 mph and has a range of 40-60 miles on a single charge of the battery.  It has a nickel Metal Hydride battery with an estimated life of 10 years or 50,000 miles.   Its lightweight alumimum frame gives the vehicle a weight of 462 pounds.  And the design was slick.  And while the costs are still a little steep at $11,000, it is certainly within reach for those who want performance and design within an eco-friendly vehicle.

I also spent some time with the GM folks and must say it was nice to hear a large American car company dedicated and committed to alternative fuel vehicles.  While the source of ethanol (e.g., corn, grain) is a much debated topic, it is a very good start on shifting our dependence away from non-renewable energy sources.  I was encouraged to hear many of the company’s accomplishments and goals so far.  GM reports that it has nearly 2 million Flexfuel vehicles on the road today that are capable of running on E85 ethanol.  And it is a goal of GM to have 50% of its entire fleet of automobiles be ethanol-based by 2012, including its Chevy Tahoe to its Chevy Suburban.  Most exciting to me was the information on its fuel-cell based Equinox and in particular, its Chevy Volt with its High Energy Battery that can be configured to run on gas, ethanol or bio-diesel to recharge the battery and is hydrogen capable.   While still years away, it has been report that the plug-in hydrogn could have a 300-mile range with combined battery and hydrogen power, with no gas (emissions-free).   Can’t wait to see this vehicle in the mainstream.