The sun might be shining but the snow is lying deep and crisp and even. And the mercury has fallen to -4 degrees C. What better way to warm up than with a mug of hot chocolate… especially when it’s heated using renewable electricity?

The Cocoa Hut at the Hub Pavilion in Davos, Switzerland, is proving a magnet for passers by, all keen to sample the latest innovation from the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

LEAF-to-home technology reverses the Nisan LEAF’s usual energy flow by using power stored in the car’s batteries to drive domestic appliances.

Creative director Stan Stalnaker explains the philosophy behind the global collaboration network Hub Culture.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is one of the strategic partners of the Hub Pavilion which is providing an informal environment for business and political leaders and other influencers in Davos, Switzerland, for the 2012 World Economic Forum.

Meet Stan and discover all there is to know about Hub Culture at www.huculture/groups/davos/news/594/

And keep following the blog to stay up to speed with what the Alliance is doing at Davos… tomorrow, learn how Nissan LEAF can keep you warm inside!

Nissan LEAF, the award-winning pure electric vehicle, can do a great deal more than get you from A to B producing zero emissions as it goes. It can even power your house.

Nissan has developed technology that allows Nissan LEAF to provide electricity to a domestic dwelling, powering everything from lighting to laptops and heating to cooking. You could even do your ironing ‘powered-by-LEAF’!

Called LEAF-to-Home, the system harnesses the power saved in a fully charged Nissan LEAF battery – about 24kWH – to run a typical home for up to two days in the event of an emergency such as a power blackout.

Jan. 20 — Shibetsu, Hokkaido — Auto journalists put the all-electric Nissan LEAF through its paces on three powdery test courses in Shibetsu, Hokkaido, this week, in the freezing temperatures of northern Japan.

Some 230 meters above sea level, media gathered to assess the LEAF’s driving performance and handling in extreme weather conditions, icing any concerns that wintry weather could drastically reduce battery performance.

-- Renault and Nissan electric vehicles available for test driving and powering appliances during World Economic Forum in Davos --

DAVOS-KLOSTERS, Switzerland (Jan. 19, 2012)--Top business leaders and heads of state will gather next week in the Swiss Alps to debate global social and economic policy. Thanks to the Renault-Nissan Alliance, they will discover cutting-edge technology that powers cars – and even household appliances.

Policymakers, academics and CEOs from some of the world’s largest companies will meet Jan. 25-28 to brainstorm the planet’s most pressing concerns –- particularly those related to resource scarcity and energy security – at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn and other executives from both Renault and Nissan will attend the annual conference.

Dec. 19 — Wuhan — There’s a new vehicle on the road in Wuhan, a key city in central China, where traffic density is among the nation's highest.

Preparations for the Alliance participation in TEDGlobal 2011 conference in Edinburgh, UK are now complete and the critical things are all in place- the booth is set up (and our first visitors most impressed), Alliance video is looping on the screen, Nissan LEAF and Renault Twizy looking their best under the lights, and the most important element for a week long conference is assured: a reliable source of good strong coffee!