There are two big pieces of news from the Hub Pavilion in Davos today. The first is that the sun’s been shining all day, a real lift after the grey gloom that’s engulfed this mountaintop town since we’ve been here.

The sun lifted the mood at the 2012 World Economic Forum, too, where Microsoft Founder Bill Gates announced that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was to commit a further US$750m to a global fund to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

The second piece of news is also weather-related… in a way!

There was a mini whirlwind down at the Davos Hub Pavilion, our home to for the week. Our Chairman and CEO, Carlos Ghosn, made a flying visit to see the first public application in Europe of LEAF-to-Home technology – energy stored in a Nissan LEAF battery is powering the hobs keeping pans of hot chocolate on the boil, ready to be dished out to passers-by.

He stayed still long enough, however, to answer a few burning questions from the Alliance’s Matt Loader. Matt wanted to know if the huge investments in new Nissan manufacturing facilities in Mexico and Brazil would be to the detriment of investment in the Alliance’s ‘home’ markets of Europe and Japan (answer: no, it’s good news).

Matt also quizzed the CEO on the Alliance’s EV future - positive with plenty of growth potential.

As for the rest of the day, it’s been business as usual with visitors taking test drives in the fleet of Alliance EVs while the hot chocolate cup-count now stands at more than 600. For each cup consumed, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is donating US$1 to Nike’s Mata No Peito programme to save and preserve the Amazon rainforest.

We’ll be back tomorrow with the CEO’s video interview and other news. Make sure you come back and check it all out.
 

An electric vehicle is ideal for driving up (and down) snowy mountain passes. Want to know why?

Then watch Rachel Konrad, communications Director at the Renault-Nissan Alliance, as she explains all…

With the 2012 World Economic Forum now in full swing, life in Davos has stepped up a pace. Some 2,600 top business leaders and politicians will visit, including Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, who opened Forum proceedings.

Others expected include more than 40 heads of state and 19 of the world’s most influential bankers (not to mention celebs like Mick Jagger), so it’s little wonder that security in this tiny mountaintop town is tight.

Visitors to the Hub Pavilion in Davos, Switzerland – where the Renault-Nissan Alliance is offering test drives in a fleet of zero-emission electric vehicles – are being encouraged to pace up and down in front of the welcome desk.

The reason? Kinetic energy generated by their footsteps is being converted into renewable energy to power LED lighting in the Hub.

The special walkway is the result of a collaboration between sports shoe maker Nike and Pavegen Systems. Nike Grind is a material created from recycled sports shoes and used to create athletic and playground surfaces… since the early 1990s the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe programme has recycled more than 25 million pairs.

Tiles made from Nike Grind cover the Pavilion floor and have been placed over energy harvesting equipment developed by Pavegen. As visitors walk over the tiles, they flex an imperceptible 5mm generating the renewable energy.

When a number of Pavegen slabs are linked together in a high footfall location, they can provide enough energy to power lighting for more than 12 hours, for example. And music fans at a recent UK pop festival danced on a Pavegen floor to generate electricity to recharge their mobile phones.

Walking – and dancing – is not only good for you, it's also good for the environment.

Europe’s newest production electric vehicle, the Renault Fluence Z.E., is taking a starring role in Davos, Switzerland.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has two examples of the stylish zero emission sedan running around the snow-covered streets, offering test drives to the legion of world leaders, top businessmen and opinion formers gathered in the town for the 2012 World Economic Forum.

The Renault Fluence Z.E., which has just gone on sale in Europe alongside the Renault Kangoo Z.E. - International Van of the Year 2012 -, is a well equipped and roomy four-door sedan with space for five adults and their luggage.

New York-based David Kirkpatrick, technology commentator and founder and CEO of Techonomy, describes his first ever EV experience after a lap of Davos behind the wheel of a Nissan LEAF.
 

Watch the video to discover his verdict...

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.

As the thermometer drops and night falls, the Renault-Nissan Alliance looks back on the first full day at the Hub Pavilion in Davos Promenade and ahead to a busy day tomorrow.

Overnight there had been yet another huge snowfall – locals can’t remember a winter with so much snow – so the first task was simply getting to the Pavilion. Thankfully, Swiss efficiency meant snowploughs and sweepers were out at first light clearing the way.

With the 2012 World Economic Forum not due to start officially until tomorrow, day one in Davos has been spent making sure everything is in place and that the fleet of Alliance electric vehicles – two brand new full-production Renault Fluence Z.E. models and a pair of Nissan LEAFs -– are ready for a busy few days of test drives ahead.

With high levels of security around the town ready for the influx of world leaders, drivers and cars all need security clearance, so part of the day for the team has been spent sorting the paperwork.

At the Hub itself, there’s been much interest in a third Nissan LEAF, which has been demonstrating Nissan’s innovative LEAF-to-Home technology. Electricity stored in its battery has been powering hobs heating vast pans of hot chocolate ,cups of which have been handed out to passers-by… just the thing for the sub-zero temperatures.

The Renault-Alliance team have also welcomed a number of visitors to the Hub, including Simon Sproule, corporate vice president, global marketing communications at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., who’s over from Japan for the Forum and have chatted to the key people behind Hub Culture, including Creative Director Stan Stalnaker (see Stan's interview).

Don’t forget to come back to the Alliance blog tomorrow and discover what day two at Davos has to offer.

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.