Md. gov to attend electric vehicle charger event

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators closed the 64th bank in the U.S. so far this year on Friday, shutting down First National Bank of Olathe, located in Olathe, Kansas.

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O’Malley To Attend Electric Vehicle Charger Event

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Gov. Martin O’Malley is scheduled to attend the launch of Maryland’s first solar tracking electric vehicle charger.

The governor will be taking part in the event in Bethesda on Monday.

Last week, O’Malley named members of a group that will plan the integration of electric vehicles into Maryland. The Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure Council includes representatives of automobile manufacturers and dealers, electrical vehicle charging manufacturers, utilities and electrical workers. It also includes state and local government representatives as well as environmental and energy experts.

The council was formed to develop statewide standards for streamlined permitting and installation of electrical vehicle charging stations and supply equipment. It’s also tasked with increasing consumer awareness about electrical vehicles.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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ECOtality accelerates electric vehicle charger installations

Writing publicly about what the high-tech industry is actually doing to help itself and the world get greener or more sustainable is one way I figure I can contribute more meaningfully to said effort. IA?A￠A¯A?A?A¯A?A?m also a big OMG-kind-of-fan of smart leadership, which is why the goodly folks who publish this blog let me go on about this topic and why I am always on the hunt for forward-looking business management ideas.

My daily writing is focused on looking for topics for my blogs, GreenTech Pastures and Business Brains. I also write often about emerging technology trends such as mobile computing, unified communications and cloud computing. Occasionally, I will pop up at an industry conference in some sort of speaking capacity. In cases where a speaking engagement involves a sponsor that may be covered in this blog, that fact will be disclosed in coverage as appropriate.

My corporate writing work usually consists of crafting research white papers about some aspect of technology. In the event that my commentary (in written, audio or video form) mentions a company for which I have provided consulting advice, I will disclose that fact. However, there is no connection between these projects and the topics that IA?A￠A¯A?A?A¯A?A?m covering in my blog.

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Kansas City brewery installs electric vehicle charger

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ? A Kansas City beer maker known for environmental innovation is adding a new convenience for staff and visitors.

Boulevard Brewing Co. has installed an electric vehicle charging station at its headquarters on the city's west side. KSHB-TV reports the charging port is only the fifth one in the Kansas City region.

Visitors touring the brewery will be able to sample its craft beers while charging their electric vehicles for free.

Boulevard recently finished installing solar panels on its green roof, and everything it uses is recycled, composted or used as alternative fuel.

When glass recycling programs were failing in the metro area, Boulevard Brewing created a program it calls Ripple Glass, with purple recycling bins placed in the city and suburbs.

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Wellington unveils new EV charger as New Zealand looks to a bright electric future

New Zealand's capital city Wellington unveiled its first public electric vehicle charger this month, as it aims to kickstart its fledgling electric transportation market.

The city, already the first in New Zealand to trial production electric cars in the form of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, now has a 15-amp charging post available to anybody on the cortner of Customhouse Quay and Whitmore Street.

The charger, which is free to use to the public, is a signal of the growing appeal of electric vehicles, which are most associated with places such as Tokyo and California but are now becoming available around the world.

Although there are reportedly only a "handful" of electric vehicles on the streets of Wellington, the Mitsubishi i and Nissan LEAF are both set to hit New Zealand in 2012, where they are expected to draw the same attention they have done in Japan, the US and Europe.

Mitsubishi is already known as something of a green name in the country -- it's a long-term partner of the Zealandia eco-tourism attraction, a 225-hectare living ark which opened last year to showcase the world as it was "the day before humans arrived."

Last year, it provided five i-MiEV models to the city for a trial involving authorities and the New Zealand Post, similar to the larger trials being conducted across neighboring Australia.

Unlike other electric vehicle markets, which often use fossil fuels to generate the electricity used for charging cars, New Zealand boasts an excellent alternative energy infrastructure of wind turbines and hydroelectricity installations.

In 2009, researchers said the the unique capability of electric vehicles to store and discharge power while they are plugged in and not used, effectively making them large batteries, could greatly increase the efficiency of the New Zealand power grid in the future by storing unused energy and providing it back when it was most needed.

For a country which produces roughly 70 percent of its electricity renewably, Wellington's single new charge point could be the start of something very big in indeed.

Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4786249/Mayor-amped-about-charging-post

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