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CalCars Wins Aspen Award for Environmental Innovation
Mar 26, 2008 (From the CalCars-News archive)
CalCars-News
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We're honored that our role in promoting PHEVs and the electrification of transportation has just been recognized in a major new award for environmental innovation. Thanks to all those who've believed in us and helped since CalCars was founded six years ago!

We're in the most eminent company -- details follow. (We're travelling, so it's hard to keep up with the news -- we'll be fully back next Monday, after we travel to Aspen to receive the award described below.)

Along with this news, we're happy to pass along two private reports from insiders in two key domains that confirm the impact we and our partners have been having:

AUTO INDUSTRY: My contacts have told me that there is much interest and even excitement within some top-level engineering teams at Toyota, in response to the work that CalCars’ partner companies have been doing to design and install PHEV conversions for Prius vehicles.

CLEANTECH: You should know that at the conferences we attend on Cleantech/Greentech, people are very aware and up-to-date about what CalCars and the plug-in hybrid campaign are doing.


PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWED BY THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AWARDS PROGRAM

Aspen Institute Announces Winners of First Annual Energy and Environment Awards http://www.aspeninstitute.org/­site/­apps/­nlnet/­content2.aspx?c=huLWJeMRKpH&b=3818507&ct=5133855

Washington, DC, March 24, 2008––The Aspen Institute proudly announces the winners of the first annual Energy and Environment Awards, which will be presented at a ceremony on March 29, 2008, during the inaugural Aspen Environment Forum. Created by the Aspen Global Leadership Network and Henry Crown Fellows, the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards recognize and reward excellence for those making significant contributions to innovation, implementation, and communication of energy and environmental solutions (visit http://www.aspenenvironment.org/­program/­energy-and-environment-awards).

The winners—all organizations and people who are making the biggest strides, acting as leaders, catalysts, and educators, particularly at the critical nexus between energy and environmental problems and solutions—are:

  • Corporate Energy Generation – SolarCity
  • Corporate Energy Conservation – Serious Materials
  • Innovation in Government – State of California Energy Office’s Million Solar Roofs Initiative
  • Innovation in a Non-governmental Organization – The California Cars Initiative
  • Individual Thought Leadership – Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute

The Energy and Environment Awards, which are meant to celebrate success and provoke conversations about ways to emulate and expand upon the success stories honored, are part of the Aspen Environment Forum, a gathering of more than 300 thought leaders that will take place from March 26-30, 2008, at the Aspen Meadows Resort and Conference Center in Colorado (visit http://www.aspenenvironment.org for more information). Designed to stimulate open-minded dialogue, the forum is an innovative festival for thought and conversation about the environment across a broad array of topics. Environmental experts, scientists, economists, business leaders, journalists, authors, and interested consumers will examine the state of the planet and share their ideas for the future.

The Forum will conclude with the debut of the Aspen Energy and Environment Awards for excellence in communications, contributions to innovation, and environmental solutions. The Awards are proudly sponsored by CH2M HILL and will be presented on March 29, 2008, at the Hotel Jerome ballroom. "CH2M HILL is proud to sponsor the first Energy and Environment Awards. The spirit of these awards are directly linked to CH2M HILL's commitment to offer our clients sustainable long-term solutions that respond to critical global issues, and the values important to our stakeholders," said Lee McIntire, CH2M HILL President and Chief Operating Officer. CH2M HILL is a global full-service engineering, procurement, construction, and operations firm, with more than 24,000 employees world-wide.

To register for the forum, contact Deborah Murphy at (970) 544-7960 or deborah.murphy@..., or go to the forum's Web site at http://www.aspenenvironment.org.

Sponsors for the Aspen Environment Forum 2008, presented by the Aspen Institute and National Geographic magazine, include Camco, Duke Energy, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, and Shell.

The Aspen Institute, founded in 1950, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Through seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives, the Institute and its international partners seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values. The Institute is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has campuses in Aspen, CO, and on the Wye River near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Its international network includes partner Aspen Institutes in Berlin, Rome, Lyon, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Bucharest, and leadership initiatives in Africa, Central America, and India.


The Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards http://www.energyandenvironmentawards.com/­

Created by the Aspen Institute Global Leadership Network, the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards recognize and reward excellence for those making a real and concrete contribution to innovation, implementation, and communication of energy and environmental solutions.

Six awards, to be presented at this first Annual Event, are designed to draw attention to the organizations and people who are making the biggest strides, acting as leaders, catalysts, and educators, particularly at the critical nexus between energy and environmental problems and solutions. The object is to celebrate success and provoke intellectually stimulating and productive thinking and conversations about ways to emulate and expand upon the success stories honored.

Corporate Energy Generation Award: For disruptive solutions in the generation and distribution of renewable energy

Corporate Energy Conservation Award: For conservation-oriented projects, which may encompass efficiency based technologies, or consumer products and services that have lower energy and environmental impact

Individual Thought Leadership Award: For leadership contributions in energy and environmental problem solving, with special emphasis on disruptive and scalable solutions.

NGO Award: For contributions in increasing renewable energy generation, increasing efficiency, achieving radical price reductions, or developing new green markets in developing countries.

Government Award: For innovative government initiatives that result in increasing renewable energy generation, increasing efficiency, or developing significant new policies that benefit energy and environmental objectives.

Photojournalism:
Presented by National Geographic for imagery that
best conveys innovative solutions to
environmental or energy problems, and symbolizes excellence in photography.

Awards Dinner: The winners will honored at the awards dinner at the Aspen Environment Forum presented by the Aspen Institute and National Geographic on March 29, 2008.

Energy and Environment Awards Board:
Neil Jacobstein - Chairman, and CEO, Teknowledge Corporation
Lucy P. Marcus - CEO, Marcus Venture Consulting
Sonal Shah - Google.org
Vishal Vasishth- CEO, Clean Partners

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