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SAN FRANCISCO Sept. 21, 2010— With the echoes of multifarious diatribes and speeches rising up from Manhattan’s streets in the past weeks, today marks the beginning of a three-day global summit at the United Nations.  Intended to examine extreme poverty and development at the global level — the collection of long-term markers known as “Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs), established in 2000, comprise the core of the conference agenda.

A family in Tarialan, Uvs Province, Mongolia, uses a solar panel to generate power for their ger, a traditional Mongolian tent. 28 July 2009

World leaders gathered to discuss substantive progress in reaching the 2015 cut-off date for achieving the goals.

Today, United Nations’ Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon spoke directly to the gathered heads of state and state representatives. Invoking simple rhetoric, he pointed to those who suffer most from global poverty – women and girls.

Mr. Ban said the MDG’s, devised in 2000, have been very effective. Results include “dramatic” increase in school enrollment rates, greater access to clean water, and more powerful and broad-ranging control of diseases.

“We have more development success stories than ever before. The transformative impact of the MDG’s is undeniable. We can be proud of this achievement. Nevertheless, we must protect these advances, many of which are still fragile. And the clock is ticking, with much more to do.”

Leaders around the globe, he said, should be, “Making the smart investments in infrastructure, small farmers, social services… and above all in women and girls.”

A variety of studies indicate that boosts in support for women and children will have an enormous “multiplier effect” across all the MDGs.

Ban-Ki-moon expanded upon his argument, “There is more to do for the mother who watches her children go to bed hungry – a scandal played out a billion times each and every night. There is more to do for the young girl weighed down with wood or water when instead she should be in school. And more to do for the worker far from home in a city slum, watching jobs and remittances disappear amid global recession.”

A view of the Middelgruden offshore wind farm. The wind farm was developed off the Danish coast in 2000 and consists of 20 turbines. 25 May 2009 Denmark

Although he did not clearly define “conventional wisdom” or precisely what he would consider “unjust,”  he did offer this, “And [we must] reconsider conventional wisdom. Recovery from the economic crisis should not mean a return to the flawed and unjust path that got us into trouble in the first place.”

From the Department of State perspective, Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said the  United States will continue to focus upon MDGs. She pledged to work with international partners to support implementation, thus fostering the realization of the world’s highest ideals into concrete action.

Allison Addicott is a writer, editor, and award-winning speaker. Raised in numerous places around the country, she has lived in: San Diego, Del Mar (Ca.),Virginia, Honolulu, Paris, Tokyo, San Francisco and Berkeley. She holds a BA from UC Berkeley, an M.Div. from the Graduate Theological Union, and has done PhD work at both Drew University (NJ) and the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley). Currently, Allison is the editor of The Addicott Journal. She also serves as a Managing Editor at The Washington Times Communities where she oversees some 85+ writers.

She is also the author of “The Flip Side” at The Washington Times Communities.

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President Obama announced recently that our policy in Iraq is now under the auspices of the State Department rather than the Defense Department.  This is welcome news – even though it should have occurred a long time ago.

Now he should do the same for Afghanistan.  If the President continues to perceive our core activities in that country as a WAR, with the Defense Department as our lead agency, we are bound to fail. We need to recognize that initiating fighting against Afghan people – even if they are Taliban – will not lead to success.  Rather, we should be putting most of our funds and manpower into a massive effort to build roads, schools, and health centers; and to educate and train people to improve themselves and their society.  Also, we ought to be assisting Afghans to govern themselves better – which means ignoring Karzai and working directly with less corrupt, lower-level officials, and might also mean behind-the-scenes efforts to overthrow ‘our’ Afghan President.  Development and governance – not fighting – are the keys to defeating the Taliban.

The current military emphasis is based on the assumption that we need to provide security first, development/governance second.  This argument is not valid.  We cannot provide adequate security unless the bulk of the people actively oppose the Taliban; they will not do so unless they are convinced that we are truly trying to help them and that there is no possibility of the Taliban returning to power.  Our killing people convinces them that we do not like the Taliban – but it does not convince Afghans that our underlying goal is to assist them to improve their lives and their country.

A shift to a development/governance policy would have significant implications for our military effort.  Revised policy for the American and NATO military should have four components, with the first as the most critical:

• Provide protection for those expats and Afghans involved in promoting development and improving governance.
• Block the border with Pakistan to reduce its use as a safe haven and as a source of arms.
• Train Afghan military personnel.
• Hunt – on both sides of the border – for the small number of al Qaeda members.

For the first of these, the military should be taking its orders directly from the State Department – not the reverse.  This ‘protection’ role would be most effective if it were somewhat passive, with primary responsibility provided by the Afghans themselves.  Defense rather than offense limits much of the ‘collateral damage’ and shows Afghans that we want to help them, not kill them.  But this mission would also comprise our largest assignment of troops, in sufficient quantity to deter attacks on the development/governance activities and personnel.

Under this policy, the military would still have the option to initiate action against the Taliban along the border with Pakistan – but not anywhere else. 

 The quantity of troops our military needs should derive from the requirements of these four missions, but would probably be fewer than are currently deployed.

With the State Department as the lead agency, there is a need for a significant qualitative improvement in their personnel, as well as a substantial increase in development professionals, mentors for Afghan government personnel, and other resources.  Normal USAID bureaucratic procedures should not apply to this far more complex mix of responsibilities.

*     *     *

This approach can succeed because most Afghan people do not want the Taliban to return to power.  Currently, they see us as being primarily interested in fighting the Taliban for our own reasons – because of the Taliban’s past support for al Qaeda.  But much of what we do is confusing to many Afghans, such as continuing to back the corrupt Hamid Karzai.  They are also wary of accepting our claims that we are there for the long term, primarily because of the way we abandoned them in the late 1980s and ‘90s.  But if, on the other hand, they were to observe a significant change in our approach, with development/governance becoming its core, this confusion could be overcome.  If they were to believe that we and our NATO allies truly intend to be a long-term presence whose first priority is to provide assistance for the improvement of their country, most Afghans would welcome us and turn actively against the Taliban.

This also applies to a portion of the people who are currently fighting for the Taliban.  Many of them do so only because they can’t stand the corruption of their own government at all levels, or because our military has killed civilians, or because they are paid to work for the Taliban and have no other way of making a living.  If, on the other hand, they were to find themselves asked to fight against the construction of a road to their own village, and if they had an opportunity to be paid to help build that road, many of these folks would quickly abandon the Taliban.  This approach ought to be the only manner in which we ‘dialogue’ with the Taliban; the horrendous way in which they conducted themselves when in power proscribes any further involvement of their leadership in future governments.

*     *     *

Pulling out of Afghanistan completely is not an option, primarily for two different reasons:

• It would be unethical for us to leave the Afghans in this mess that we, the United States, created by our poor policies of the past.

In the 1980s, our major foreign policy goal was to defeat international communism.  The Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan, so the US looked for a way to make things difficult for the occupiers.  Afghan freedom fighters – mujaheddin – were already opposing the Soviet occupation, so we decided to provide them with much better arms and training.  To do so, we had to move those arms and our personnel through Pakistan.  Pakistan exacted a bitter price – insisting that it decide to whom and how to give the arms and training.  Pakistan’s goal was to ensure that whatever Afghan government followed the Soviet occupation be weak and pliable.  To achieve this goal, it distributed arms to groups that disliked each other and – as Pakistan knew – would fight each other for power.  Since we never considered the long-term consequences of this action and had no real goal beyond making life as difficult as possible for the USSR, we allowed Pakistan to do as it wished.  Had any Americans in authority given this question any thought, they would, presumably, have disagreed with the Pakistani goal.  But the issue of Afghanistan-after-the-Soviets was not considered worth worrying about.  The result was a chaotic Afghanistan in which the groups to whom we had provided arms fought each other, allowing an outside group – the Taliban – to come in and take over with ease…During this period and after the Soviets fled, we might have partially atoned for allowing Pakistan to control our destiny by providing massive support to educate Afghan refugees, as well as the Pakistani Pashtuns who eventually became the Pakistani Taliban.  We did not.  As a result, having no alternative, young students (talibs) studied in Saudi-funded madrassas where they learned why and how to kill us…Better American policies during the 1980s and 90s would have prevented many of the problems we face today.

• Complete withdrawal would lead to Afghanistan reverting to the haven for al Qaeda that it was prior to 9-11; in a few years, we would simply have to return.

The argument that al Qaeda can establish itself anywhere is not valid.  In Afghanistan, it did – and would again – have access to a large functioning nation-state.  In other plausible locales, it either would be harassed by a government that opposes it (Pakistan, Yemen, Germany) or would be in a failed-state where nothing functions well (Somalia).  Al Qaeda needs Afghanistan in order to establish an effective base of operations.

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We only drove about half an hour before we faced the anticipated hurdles of border crossing between Russia and Kazakhstan. Needless to mention, we had a police escort us all the way to there. But much to our surprise, everything went rather smoothly with the crossings on both sides. At the Russian border, we also farewelled Boris, who appeared relieved to part from us, as he probably had a tougher week hanging out with us than he imagined. We are very thankful for the help of Boris, as without it, we would have been lost in Russia. Once we took a 100 pictures or so in the no man’s land zone between the two countries, we finally made it to Kazakhstan, where I was most impressed with the polite and friendly customs officers.

Yes! we made it to Kazakhstan!!!!

In Petropavlosk, we stopped for a charging break and a delicious lunch in a Kazakh restaurant. One thing that was very different here compared to Russia just a few kilometres up the road was the mosques, and the echoing sound of Friday’s muezzin.  After lunch, we also attempted to get some Kazakh currency, but as our luck always has it, we could not withdraw any from a bank, because there was a robbery under way with armed police surrounding the building. So…we hit the road again, with a police escort of course!

Mosque in Petropavlovsk

A typical landscape scene today

Workers on the land

We also stopped for a short recharge in the afternoon in the village of Astrachanka, where we were honoured by the locals to some singing about friendship and understanding, and the sounds of the national Kazakh instrument, the dombra. We really enjoyed our short stop here.

Music just for us in Astrachanka

The teams with the locals in Astrachanka

Tobi defends the Zerotracer. Or something.

The road to Köksetau was really flat and mostly agricultural, but the vastness of the open landscapes was still really interesting, as were all the horses, goats, and cows that were freely grazing by the roadside, without any fences surrounding them. It all felt like the wild east!

The evening charging arrangement is never dull. This shack was bewildering. But the teams always work it out in the end.

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin © Zero Race GmbH.

Before we left Chelyabinsk, sadly, we had to temporarily part from Nick this morning, as it was his time to return to Australia. But we are all really looking forward to seeing him in Vancouver soon. In our usual style, we hit the road in a convoy again, with the police at the front. Everything was going really well for a while, but then, out of the blue the engine of the support car stopped and we came to a silent halt. We ran out of fuel. Right in the middle of the highway! And Louis was driving. If there is one thing reliable in Russia, it is petrol stations at every few kilometres on the highways, even in the middle of nowhere. The second most reliable thing is stray dogs at petrol stations. So, once someone rescued us with a can of diesel from just a few 100 meters or so down the road, we continued our journey on this beautiful sunny, and cold autumn day.

Fuelling up in the middle of the highway

Typical landscape today…

In fact, today, we had a police escort for the whole day, we just changed guards in each city. At our arrival in Kurgan, we felt like stars, as there were 100s of screaming students with waving flags to protect nature to cheer us! Their excitement was contagious, and within instants we also felt euphoric. We were presented with bread and salt by girls wearing traditional dresses, as well as nice gifts, before the students released hundreds of green helium balloons to symbolise their support for our journey. The Vice Governor of Kurgan Region treated us to a delicious lunch, and he explained that much of what we ate was organically produced, as this area of Russia is known for that. In the afternoon, we went to the University of Kurgan to meet students, who kindly also accompanied us on a brief sightseeing tour of historic sites in the city. I think none of us really wanted to leave Kurgan, but our schedule was pressing us to move on.

Zero Race in Kurgan

A super welcoming crowd

Traditionally dressed Russian girls present us with bread and salt

The teams at the University in Kurgan

Our evening and overnight, we spent in the small town of Makusino, where the screaming and smiling children who greeted us was really touching. Makusino hardly ever gets any visitors, and the last foreigners that came through here was 20 years ago, a group of cyclists from Switzerland. The city administration invited us to town hall for a small public discussion, which was also a heartwarming experience for all of us. Although people really liked our vehicles, at some point we realised that the people were more excited about our presence, and the fact that we stopped by to visit their community. Our hotel stay was colourful as per usual, and as this was our last night in Russia, it was about time to taste some Vodka. Unbelievably, we just have not got around to it until tonight.

The welcome crowd at our arrival in Makusino

The locals in town hall

War memorial in Makusino

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin © Zero Race GmbH.

The morning was bitterly cold and windy as we drove across the Ural Mountains. We froze just getting in and out of the car, and we felt a bit sorry for Sven and Sandra for riding on a motorbike in these tough conditions.

Spot Louis hiding in the bush – filming the crew driving past

We were probably extra motivated, as today signified the end of the European leg of the journey, and the start of Asia! In celebration, we stopped at the monument that marked the geographic boundary between Europe and Asia. All in all, we have now driven over 8000 km since the start, which is halfway of the Zero Race between Geneva and Shanghai.

The crew at the Europe sign

Julianna and Louis at the Asia sign on the other side

Things also turned a little comical this morning, when we stopped for a recharge at a petrol station. Although it is the most normal for us to just stop and ask for 30 minutes time of charging at a petrol station, perhaps the locals are not yet accustomed to such requests. So, when Sven enthusiastically asked for a place to ‘plug in’ using sign language, as he does not speak Russian, the lady behind the desk promptly showed him to the pornography magazines in the shop.

Village scene in the foothills of the Ural Mountains

In Chelyanbinsk, we were welcomed by the World Trade Center for a press conference, together with various government representatives, including the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, members of the city council, academics and the public. So, once again we had the opportunity to explain our mission and Louis nicely explained that if we all put just 10 m² of photovoltaics on our home roofs, (now at a cost of about 5000 Euros or so), one could drive 15 000 kms per year using an electric vehicle, without needing much more investments for the next 40 years, as the technology is already reliable and durable. We also learnt that Russia intends to implement infrastructure for sustainable mobility in the future, and keep pace with the rest of the world. Whilst we were at the World Trade Center, Tobi and Frank was escorted with a jeep from the Second World War to the University of Chelyabinsk, where they exhibited the Zerotracer and participated in an interesting discussion with a few hundred students.

Chelyabinsk welcomes the Zero Race

Sandra… in charge!

Louis speaks at the World Trade Center in Chelyabinsk

Tonight, once again, we were treated to a nice dinner by our hosts, and Mr Sergey Tarasov helped us get organised with everything, which in our case, included all kinds of special requests! For a change, Zero Race crew slept at the Chaika Sanatorium, an establishment to help children who suffer from the effects of nuclear radiation. The place was very sterile and abandoned, and everyone felt disturbed and sad.

Dickson with all the cakes we received as a gift

Our kind host, Mr Tarasov with Louis

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin © Zero Race GmbH.

The time zone change and the loss of two hours sleep was harsh for everyone this morning, but the cold temperatures in Ufa woke us up in an instant. Here, we were welcomed by journalists and students from Bashkir State University, including representatives of a non-government organisation called the Environmental Patrols (www.bshdop.org), who work on ecological restoration and monitoring projects in the Ufa region. Louis also gave a guest lecture to a class of students, which was a nice change of setting and we thoroughly enjoyed the warm atmosphere of the classroom.

Ufa River

Environmental Patrol representatives

Tobi checks out his outdoor charging connections

Louis teaches students about electric mobility

Louis explains the importance of switching to renewable energy

The afternoon drive would have been lovely through the foothills of the Ural Mountains, but it was a bit miserable in the misty, cold rain. We stopped a couple of times at roadhouses that resembled jumble sales.  Just as we arrived Jurjuzan, the Vectrix bike broke down, but luckily right in front of a garage.

Roadside shops across the Ural Mountains

More roadside shops across the Ural Mountains somewhere

Meanwhile, the rest of us were invited to the local cultural centre to give a presentation to a group of school children and representatives of the local city council. They also treated us to a nice dinner. And a few of us also had a little time to enjoy a hot sauna followed by an invigorating plunge in to the cold water pool.

Schoolchildren cheer us again

Frank! The star of the night…all the kids loved him and wanted his autograph

As we were the very first foreign tourists ever to visit the town of Jurjuzan, our arrival was especially celebrated. This town of 30 000 inhabitants also does not have a hotel, so we were accommodated at the local sports centre in dorm rooms, which we enjoyed quiet a lot, and we also felt as if were at some summer school camp! We also giggled a fair bit, as coincidentally, both Tobi and Dickson overtly announced their wish to dream of Anna from Kazan! So, the hero race of the Zero Race goes on! The evening was a lot less amusing for Sandra, Sven and Nick, who worked until 1 AM to get the Vectrix bike fixed.

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin. © Zero Race GmbH.

Most of us were reasonably fit this morning, simply because we had almost a normal night’s sleep, so the couple of hundred kilometres ahead did not seem so gruelling. The mid morning highlight was a charging break at a roadhouse, which could be better described as one big smoked fish market. Sandra even got an offer to taste the fish! Dickson was just happy as the roads were smoother than previous days, and there was a lot less traffic to slow us down.

Roadside food market. Boris liked all the smoked fish!

Local women selling herbs

By the time we arrived in Nabereznyje Celny, it was pouring with rain, and so we were charging yet again in wet conditions! At our arrival, a group of enthusiastic cyclists greeted us, and the local police of course. We love our police escorts so much now, I think we will miss them back home.

Cyclists in the rain cheered our arrival

Louis getting interviewed in the rain

Outdoor charging in the rain

Charging break at a World War II Memorial

In Nabereznyje Celny, a group of school children, local government and city council representatives welcomed us. They not only accompanied us to a lunch at a sport stadium, but they also invited us for the most unexpected activity yet in the middle of Russia: to play with dolphins. We were allowed to really get close to them, stroke them and they seemed to have been waiting for nothing, but to get us to scratch their bellies. What fun!!! Incidentally, these animals were brought here for rehabilitation, and not just for the fun of it. We were really happy to spend time here. After an hour or so with the dolphins, the charging was complete. Somehow, Tobi also managed to find a girl here that wanted to marry him. And as I found out, he and Dickson are not only in contest for the Zero Emissions Race, they are also competing to see who can get the prettiest girls to sit in their cars! There is plenty of photos around for proof!

Dolphins at a sport centre

The dolphins were friendly

Darkness descended quicker than usual tonight, as we crossed a time zone, which meant forwarding our watches by two hours. The evening drive was mostly dull and boring until suddenly, in Djurjuli, our calm turned to turbulence, as Louis decided to chase after Zerotracer on an uphill bumpy stretch, just because Frank and Tobi missed the turn off for the hotel. Apparently, it would have been “catastrophic” if they kept on driving. As Louis drove like crazy after them (he really did!!! And powered by a can of MONSTER drink), some of us in the support car were praying to survive this chase, but I just screamed in panic. By the time we all made it back to the hotel some time passed, because the Zerotracer is way faster than us, and Frank and Tobi never heard our horn blasting! The dinner discussion that followed was nothing short of a theatre scene.

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin © Zero Race GmbH.

This morning we sadly farewelled Mick, who had to return to Australia to a more normal life before we hit the road again towards Cheboksary.

The team today

In Cheboksary, we had yet another really impressive welcome by a group of journalist, university students and various government representatives, including the Deputy Minister of Environment of Chuvash Republic. We were presented with impressive gift bags, and also treated to a delicious lunch. In return, Louis invited our hosts to judge the best cockpit of our vehicles, and Trev came out as winner today again!

Cheboksary

The welcome crowd

Sven’s outdoor charging facility

In Cheboksary, I also caught up with a group of geography students, who founded a non-profit organisation to raise awareness and educate activities and involve youth in environmental protection, including restoration works and clean-ups (www.medchr.ru). Even though there are currently only 20 members, the group has successfully obtained funding for their activities from Russian government organisations in Cheboksary, and various others from the Netherlands.

Geography students

Lunch

In the afternoon, I accompanied Tobi in the Zerotracer, and that was a real fun experience. We were treated to a special police escorted sightseeing tour on our way out of Cheboksary, and the landscape towards Kazan gradually became more undulating and varied. This afternoon almost every single car that passed us, either photographed us, or waved at us with thumbs up, which was just great fun to see! We not only saw the most amazing sunset over the Volga River, but as we arrived in Kazan, we had the police force out again ready to escort us into town. I think love going through red lights and everyone having to pull over to give us priority way. The welcome in Kazan was impressive, as was the town itself with all its glimmering castles, churches and opulent buildings. As I found out from proud locals, Kazan considers itself to be the sport capital of Russia!

Dickson barefoot talking to local police

Volga sunset

Tonight, we gave many interviews to a nice turnout of journalists, and several also asked us if our arrival coincided with the special celebration of Oil Day in Kazan! Of course! As we were presented with impressive sets of gift bags by our host, we now started to wonder if we need another support bus to transport them all!

Kazan glimmers

I also met with Katerina Vorontsova, a representative of a local charity organisation involved with ecological restoration works in the Kazan region. As she enthusiastically explained, her organisation tries to put the ideas of think globally, act locally into action (www.vkontakte.ru). Later, we were invited to an impressive dinner by the Vice Minister of Environment for the Republic of Tatarstan.  And some of us even had the energy to have a night out in a bar till 2 AM.

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin. © Zero Race GmbH.

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Today marked the 863^rd birthday of the foundation of the city of Moscow, but unfortunately we could not be a part of the festivities. In fact, today was an arduous day for most of us. Although we are all strong and generally in good spirits, the fatigue is really getting to us, and it exacerbates any of our tiniest challenges. At some point, somebody is grumpy or impatient, and we face enormous difficulties because our guide, Boris speaks limited English, and our Russian is about nowhere.

Peter and the Zero Race boys share some nice cakes we got in Tula

line up for departure from Moscow

This morning, we left two hours after schedule from Moscow, as there were still issues to resolve with vehicle tyres, and it was too dangerous not let some people sleep a little more. Sven and Sandra have been working extreme hours for many days now during the night, and yet, their capacity to continue with enthusiasm and positive attitude is astonishing. The tasks of all Zero Race participants is extremely challenging, as it often involves having to perform complex technical repairs with limited facilities and tools en route. But! Everyone remains motivated, and it is fantastic to feel the team spirit. Today, Louis deservingly gave points to all the teams for their efforts to help out in difficult situations.

After a seemingly long drive, and whole series of miscommunications and misunderstandings, we finally arrived in Vladimir, the old capital of Russia. We also had a number of interesting Russian people accompany us on the journey, including Anna who is a journalist for Russian Environmental Journalists Association (www.ecomedia.net.ru) and Alexander, who is the development director of Green Cross (www.green-cross.ru). They were very knowledgeable about everything to do with environmental protection in Russia. We had a very pleasant time in Vladimir, and the city was really charming, with its many ornate buildings and monuments.

Zerotracer in Vladimir

Just excited about lunch

Lunch in Vladimir

The drive to Niznij Novgorod was tougher than we would have liked. We had to stop to charge a couple of times, and after one stop, Louis got really sick and started throwing up, as he got food poisoning from some juice that was off. At least Tobi and Frank made it the welcome event that the rest of us missed completely in Novgorod. I think most of us went to bed well past 1 am, and Sandra and Sven worked later.

Sandra

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin © Zero Race GmbH.

Today was a day off for the teams. Or at least that was the plan on paper. But instead, everyone was up past midnight working on something. So, there was neither sightseeing nor true relaxing in Moscow. On a brighter note, the hotel provided a secure underground parking space, so the vehicles could get some maintenance work done. Although the place was filthy, it had a complete workshop with nice and helpful staff. So, thankfully Sandra and Sven successfully repaired their battery management system, and welded back their broken bike’s stand. Meanwhile, Trev had a tyre change, but then a radial split in the side-wall also led to its immediate explosion. Then, the team modified the motor controller, but this also did not work out in the end. So, finally Trev had some cleaning and adjustments, and otherwise everything stayed as before. Nick says his highlight was having dinner, as he has not had one for the past few days. Tobi and Frank also changed their tyres on Zerotracer, and they were also nice enough to run around town getting the support van’s punctured tyre fixed.

Garage scene: Vectrix team prepares for working

Garage scene: Sandra, Sven and Nick at work

In the afternoon, Louis and the Zerotracer boys raced off to a press conference in the studio of a news reporting agency. The event turned out to be rather theatrical, thanks to the interesting special invited guests who join the discussion about sustainable mobility. Besides Louis, the discussion panel consisted of a climate scientist who has driven six times to the north pole six (in a special vehicle), a writer wearing a big Soviet emblem around his neck, and a Russian movie star with skullbone rings on each finger and long golden hair who reminded us of someone that was a mix between Sylvester Stallone and Salvadore Dali. He was very passionate, and he was most supporting of the Zero Race and its mission. The discussion was riveting all around philosophical! Conclusion: as we destroy the environment, we also destroy our societies.

Studio scene

Thumbs up for eveyone!

Frank explains all about the Zerotracer

Personally, I had a totally uneventful day, and besides the hotel’s restaurants and basement laundry room, I only saw the skyline of Moscow from my hotel’s room. In hindsight, we were all happy for getting lost last night, as at least we got to see some of the famous sights, including Red Square of course.

Moscow view from my room

Louis, Tobi, Mick and Sven after midnight still at work in the lobby

Written by: Julianna Priskin © Zero Race GmbH.

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If a pair of recently-approved nuclear reactors are built in Georgia, they would be the first new additions to America’s fleet of atomic power stations in nearly thirty years. A look at some numbers reveals that we need to be building more such installations, faster – at least on the order of a couple per year – if we expect to meet our burgeoning electricity demand. Those same numbers reveal that such a nuclear building boom is necessary even as we bring other power generation technologies to full capacity.

The total U.S. electrical generating capacity is 1,075,677 megawatts. The department of energy tells us we’ll need 30 percent more power by 2035, for a total of 1,398,380 MW.  We need to find another 322,703 MW somewhere.

Any honest discussion of large-scale electricity generation should include an evaluation of each technology’s “capacity factor,” which takes into account its actual vs. potential output. Capacity factor is not just a simple measure of how long a power station stays “on line,” but of how much power it supplies when it is. This is important in evaluating its suitability as a baseload power provider.

Capacity factor is the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of a power station’s actual output over a period of time – usually a year – and its output if it had operated constantly at its full installed capacity. A station with an installed, or “nameplate,” capacity of 100 megawatts would produce 876,000 megawatt-hours of electricity in a year if it ran at full capacity 24 hours a day. But if it produces only 700,000 megawatt-hours in that year, it would have an annual capacity factor of 80 percent. Capacity factor is affected most directly by maintenance requirements and fuel availability (remember – water, wind and sunlight are also fuel).

Here are the capacity factors for today’s current technologies:

Solar, photovoltaic panels: 20%-30%
Wind turbines: 20%-40%
Solar, heliostats and molten sodium: ~65%
Hydroelectric dams, run-of-river: 65%
Coal: 74%
Hydroelectric dams with reservoirs: 90%
Geothermal: 90%-98%
Nuclear: 95%-98%

By the numbers, both types of hydroelectric installations plus geothermal and nuclear are our best bets for reliably meeting the energy challenge, with nuclear development being crucial. Of the others listed above, photovoltaic solar installations and wind farms are just not generating a lot of investor interest given their low capacity factors, and it will be about 10-15 years before solar molten sodium technology (using stored heat to drive steam turbines) is producing power from just a handful of plants. And it’s fair to say that fossil fuels – coal in particular – are high on no one’s list.

America’s total geothermal potential, according to United States Geological Survey, is 95,000 to 150,000 megawatts. Geothermal generating stations already have 3,153 MW on line, so 146,847 MW is waiting in the wings.

Today 2,400 dams provide about 10 percent of America’s electricity, with an installed capacity totaling around 80,000 megawatts. The DOE estimates that between new construction and upgrades of current installations, there is another 30,000 megawatts of domestic hydroelectric capacity available. But that would require developing a whopping 5,677 separate sites.

With just 104 reactors, nuclear generating stations currently provide nearly double the electricity from hydro. There are another 28 reactors currently proposed, with a combined capacity of more than 31,000 megawatts. Unlike wringing the last remaining capacity out of geothermal or hydroelectricity, that increase would be just the beginning.

If we add geothermal’s remaining potential capacity to that of a totally optimized hydroelectric industry, we are still 145,856 megawatts short of our projected need.

Our only choices for reliable power generation would be to increase our burning of fossil fuels by 26% (from the current 559,352 MW to 705,208 MW), or build another 80 or 90 nuclear generating stations – or more, because unlike hydro and geothermal, this is one power source that can’t be “built out.”

Of course, more reactors – even little modular ones – mean more waste. Right now the United States is seeking suitable permanent storage for the 50,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel that’s accumulated to date. While that sounds like a lot, it is not so much bulky as it is dense. Stacked uniformly on a football field, the pile would be just one meter high. But with technology now on the horizon that pile could be made to disappear. Areva, the world’s largest nuclear energy company, says it is developing a special waste-burning reactor that could reduce the stockpile by up to 99 percent.

Bill Gates has also taken a high-stakes hand. As a principal investor in TerraPower, Gates is betting on a new type of unit called a traveling wave reactor. A TWR operates differently from other types in that the entire core does not undergo fission at the same time. Instead, only a localized area reacts as fuel is shuffled to it slowly. The core itself is all low-grade fuel – it will work just fine using the unprocessed waste from conventional reactors and can even use natural, un-enriched uranium.

The TerraPower design is expected to be so efficient that its TWR could operate for up to 100 years on a single load of fuel. The company expects to have a prototype in the 300 megawatt range producing commercial power in ten years, and has a design for a 1000 megawatt model as well.

But the truth is, nobody ever attacks nuclear power generation for being inefficient. It’s simply that radiation scares people. Among the ways nuclear technology can deliver a dose are in routine releases during plant operation, plant accidents, accidents in transporting nuclear materials and the escape of nuclear waste from confinement. Dr. Bernard Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Pittsburgh, offers the probabilistic assessment that all of those events combined carry a risk of having one’s lifespan shortened by less than an hour. He goes on to state that electricity generation by fossil fuels shortens our lives by up to 40 days.

It is important to note that nuclear generating stations are nowhere close to being our worst radiation threat. The 3.5 million tons of coal burned to produce one gigawatt of power contains more than five tons of uranium, an alarming amount of which is released into the environment in fly ash. U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu (Nobel Prize, Physics, 1997) says a typical coal plant emits 100 times more radiation than a nuclear facility. Considering that just one ounce of uranium fuel contains the energy of four tons of coal, just 27 tons of uranium would produce that same gigawatt with an orders-of-magnitude reduction in released radiation.

If you’re still with me by this point, you’ve read a lot of numbers. Those numbers constitute an empirical call to action on several energy fronts, with one in particular. By the numbers, accelerated expansion of America’s nuclear power generating capacity can no longer be regarded as just optional. It is a necessity.

(more…)

Another tough day for everyone, and maybe even tougher than previous days. Just before we left our hotel, Sandra and Sven discovered a new problem with the battery management system of their Vectrix bike, probably caused by water from all the rain. So, this morning we had no alternative, but to trailer the bike until the problem could be resolved in dry conditions. Although the bike was tied down on the trailer, the bumpy road conditions led to its fall and the breakage of some parts – much to everyone’s horror! It was really not that easy to tie down the bike on our trailer to start with, let alone ensure that it could withstand the difficult road conditions. As a result of this setback, we lost some time, and unfortunately we had to skip an event in Orel.

Frank collects rainwater for drinking at our border cross hotel

typical landscape view today

By the time we got to Tula some 200 km or so down the road towards Moscow, it was 5 pm! The good thing was that Mick was there with Trev, as was the local police who escorted us into town, to meet some local press and a lot of really enthusiastic bunch of people. We noticed during the past days that many people turn their heads as we roll past on the roads, and so we really enjoy this part of the driving experience in Russia. And when we finally stop for press events, the enthusiasm is remarkable. To add to our excitement in Tula, we also caught up with a new crew member, Dickson Beattie from Australia.

Orel

Policeman in Tula watching all is OK for our passage through town

Zero Race in Tula

After Tula, we headed to Moscow (actually most of us just snoozed while Louis was driving the entire stretch), which was another 200 km or so of highway driving at night. And as we entered Moscow, we drove past yet another horrible accident scene, and as our luck had it, we got a punctured tire. So at midnight, I was amazed at the enthusiasm and energy, suddenly Nick, Sven and Sandra had as they literally jumped out of the car and changed our tyre. The rest of us were mostly standing and watching the operation, and shivering, as arriving in Moscow not only marks the northern most point on our entire Zero Race journey, but also the beginning of autumn, with a good dose of cold wind and rain.

check how flat that back tyre was….Nick and Sven down on all fours

Our adventure did not end with the flat tyre in Moscow…we then got lost looking for our hotel as we now don’t have a GPS at all, and thanks for a taxi driver leading us, we managed OK. But then checking in at the hotel seemed to have taken f o r e v er, and it was past 3 AM by the time I hit the pillow. To top this, Trev’s arrival at the hotel was 6 AM. To make things even tougher for Mick and Dickson, Trev was not permitted parking in our reserved secure parking area for some bizarre reason.

There was one great news from today though. Zerotracer (cruising mostly well ahead of us today), reports to be the first electric vehicle to have driven all the way from Switzerland to Moscow…I think they also managed to have a driving range of 330km with one charge! So this is certainly a new fantastic record!

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin. © Zero Race GmbH.

As most our mornings start with surprises, today was no exception! Team Vectrix had their recharging system damaged by some electrical explosion caused by the hotel’s electricity supply. On a brighter note, the team also had a crew change this morning as we said goodbye to Erich, and welcomed Sandra’s return. Incidentally poor Sandra had a 21 hour train ride to Kiev from Berlin without food on board! The rest of us spent the morning in Kiev at a press conference with an impressive turnout of journalists and interested people. We were also lucky to be treated to a cocktail lunch at a swish restaurant with a superb view of Kiev by the Swiss Embassy.

driving in Kiev

Kiev

Press conference in Kiev

Zero Race in Kiev

Katja (Green Dossier) at our cocktail lunch

Today’s Zero Race competition was to find out which vehicle had the most comfortable seats, and since there were a number of women in skirts, this was a tough competition…The winner was Trev… but I must mention that Mick’s charming services, including a pillow probably helped .

welcome on board with Trev Cruises…Mick with our super hotel guide Olena from Radisson Blu Kiev

In the afternoon we had to literally race off, as we had still make it across the border to Russia. I think we were all disappointed to leave town as we all really enjoyed the people and the city. But luckily we had Andre and Katja still with us as guides, who continued to tell us all sorts of interesting things about life in Ukraine! We stopped in Baturyn for a few hours late afternoon, where the teams had a recharge and we enjoyed another Ukrainian dinner accompanied by a few journalists and local government representatives.

KIev before rain

on our way out of Kiev

Baturyn break

We spent most of our evening driving across eastern Ukraine to the Russian border. Incidentally, I should mention that the smooth running of our Ukrainian journey is owed to the help of Tamara and Katja Malkova from Green Dossier an international charitable organisation whose aim is to educate people, (especially youth) about environmental issues and sustainable development (www.dossier.org.ua).

The border crossing to Russia was exciting, especially since it was cold, raining again, and we were so buggered by the time we got there at 9 pm or so. And let’s not forget the thrill of not being able to communicate much in Ukrainian or Russian!  Our interaction with the customs officers seemed like a snippet out of a road movie, where anything can happen any time. But luckily, the customs officers were thrilled with our vehicles, and we had Boris, our Russian tour guide who speaks some English explain what we are really doing. Still, it took us 3.5 hours of running around, from one officer to another, and sorting out various official papers and passports ….It was well after midnight by the time we finally made it across to Russia, but luckily we found a hotel just a few kilometres down the road from the border.

Written by Dr Julianna Priskin © Zero Race GmbH.