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Specialized announces 'climate change' bike winner
Carlton Reid Jan 17 2008, 10:07am
Comments (5)
Winner of Specialized and Google's Innovate or Die contest is water filtration trike
The Innovate or Die contest challenged participants to create a pedal-powered solution for offsetting climate change. There were 100+ qualified entries submitted via YouTube.
One of the comp judges Rich Silverstein, founding partner at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, said: “It’s up to the next generation to solve the mess we find ourselves in today. The success of the Innovate or Die competition gives me confidence that they have the imagination and creativity to succeed.”
Aquaduct was the brainchild of five California-based design students who wanted to address the 1.1 billion people in the world who don’t have access to clean drinking water. The pedal-powered machine transports and filters water without burning fossil fuels or wood, both of which contribute to a reduction in CO2 emissions.
All of the comp winners receive Specialized Globe bicycles.
Specialized and Google have already partnered to equip Google's main Mountain View campus with 350 Globes.
Specialized founder and president Mike Sinyard said: “We will continue partnering with businesses, non-profits and city governments to implement bike-share programs with the like-minded goal of decreasing CO2 emissions. Let’s all get out of our cars and onto bikes.”
Dan Reicher, director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for Google.org and former US Assistant Secretary of Energy, and a competition judge, said:
"The diversity, creativity and potential impact of the proposals was impressive. I was interested to see if bicycle powered technologies could help address global problems like climate change and water pollution. These proposals convinced me that human brainpower can harness muscle power to help solve some of our biggest environmental challenges."
Comments
“Thinking things through.....”
Posted by: DocB - Jan 17, 10:58am
Odd thoughts about the prize winning bike.
OK, access to clean water is a real issue for a lot of people in the world but does this idea get anywhere near solving the problem. Not really.
The device uses plastic pipes and containers. These are made from oil and no doubt will be made in energy and water hungry factories somewhere in a cheap labour area and shipped, using lots more oil, in ships and lorries made using lots more energy and water, to where needed. Same applies to the bike. It will need replacement filters. These will be made in energy and water hungry factories and just like the rest will be shipped on energy hungry transport to where the are needed.
It might make the well fed and well watered Specialized and Google executives feel good and get their products some publicity the are kidding themselves if they think it is a contributor to solving the world problems.
PS This is an attempt to use this comment system....typing iand proof reading using this box is harder than on the forum!
“Re: Thinking things through.....”
Posted by: jerry - Jan 17, 3:43pm
You gotta start somewhere. If we look for perfect solutions we will do nothing but look.
“Re: Thinking things through.....”
Posted by: Carlton Reid - Jan 18, 10:22am
V. similar concerns were raised on BBC's The Dragon's Den for a wheel-along filtration device. All the Dragons invested though, cos answers to replaceable filters etc were answered.
“Re: Thinking things through.....”
Posted by: DocB - Jan 18, 4:00pm
I saw that. Could not help but think that their normal hard headedness disappeared when one of them appealed to the rest to join in to do their bit in a good cause. They could not say no. In another context they might have been telling the proposers to stop trying to foist high tech solutions onto the third world and to put the money into a mobile drilling machines and teach the locals how to use them to drill bore holes. Offering things that are dependent on long term aid will never get to a permanent solution.
“Can it be used in Africa?”
Posted by: Johan - Jan 19, 8:12pm
Most african villages are joined by small "single track" paths and a trike would not work. Maintenance and cost would also be a huge issue. Africa is looking for simple solutions like the qDrum which does not filter but solves the transportation/storage problem.
http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/Design/q-drum