This year’s Zayed Future Energy Prize winner in the “Large Corporation” category, as you already know, was Panasonic. I was excited, since Panasonic is involved in a few disruptive cleantech markets — battery storage, solar power, smart technology — and is especially well known for its electric vehicle battery leadership alongside Tesla Motors.
Naturally, at the Zayed Future Energy Prize press conference, I got a question in to Yoshihiko Yamada, Executive Vice President of Panasonic Corporation since April 2014. I just wanted to hear him talk more about these technologies and the future of energy.
Unfortunately, his response was a bit “meh.” It quickly touched on a “smart town” it is building, a model which it intends to expand even to the US; and lithium-ion batteries it produces for electric vehicles, including a few words on the Gigafactory Panasonic is building with Tesla Motors. He also briefly mentioned that this energy storage technology could be utilized to help store electricity from solar and wind power. All of these things are wonderful, but Mr Yamada essentially just made matter-of-fact statements, when I was hoping for some more inspirational and broader talk about the future of energy, disruptive technology, and how Panasonic was planning to take over the world.
Anyhow, to see Mr Yamada’s full response, check out the video:
*Full Disclosure: My trip to and accommodation in Abu Dhabi for the Zayed Future Energy Prize, World Future Energy Summit, and other Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week events was covered by Masdar. That said, I have full editorial control over the work and am publishing it without feedback.
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