Eco talk at the Hay Festival

Some of the contributors to the Guardin's Comment Is Free section are at the Hay Festival. Here are a few of their Green flavoured posts-

Is political leadership renewable?

The challenge facing David Miliband is clear - to realise the potential of renewable energy. Today's question at Hay: does he have the courage to do it?

I'm not climate change's Billy Graham

Climate change denial, I discovered at the Hay festival, shares the same characteristics as religion.

The joys of going green

Dick Strawbridge's talk at Hay was enough to make the most jaded nip out for a low-energy lightbulb.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Climate Change

It's a Mini economical adventure

BMW has announced changes to the Mini line that could see its diesel model achieving up to 72.4mpg. Utilising "hybrid like" technology, the little car will only engage its alternator on deceleration, rather than having it be a constant drag, and the manual versions will will turn the engine off rather than idle and give the driver hints on teh best gear to engage.

The caveat, as always, is that we should all be using cars less. However, for those of us who must, we should all consider the new breed of economical super-minis and/or alternative fuels.

Technorati tag: Mini, Transport, Hybrid

Hot Rodding for the Environment

If you must use a car, then you should at least try to use it as efficiently as possible. Jalopnik has some simple suggestions for improving mileage. Obviously, I would have put "Don't use your car when you don't have to" at the top of the list, but I don't have a car, so it's my only option.

Should I ever need to get a car I'll be looking for something I can run on biodiesel, or possibly a biodiesel/ petroleum diesel mix because you can't always get to a green fuel pump. I hanker for a Volvo estate or small van to cart my bikes around in. Efficiency isn't such a concern with a closed circuit fuel supply like biodiesel, but VCACarFuelData.org.uk, allows you to search for your next ride by this and other criteria. If I could forgo the space considerations then the Citroen C1 would be worth considering, the most efficient of the cars currently listed on there.

Of course, another option is to do something as inventive as this Russian driver, who replaced his Opel's engine with a 50kw motor and filled all the spare space with batteries.

Technorati tag: Electric car, Fuel Efficiency, Transport

C40

The C40Large Cities Climate Summit was held in New York this week, with mayors of major cities from around the world vowing to do their bit to cut greenhouse gas emissions. This is looking increasingly like a problem that's going to be tackled first at a personal and local level before national governments are going to pay any attention.

Technorati tag: Climate Change, New York

Dojo Ecoshop

Tucked away in Manchester's old textile district is a wonderful souinding source of ethical and eco beds and furnishing.

We are a small, independent company with strong roots in the textile heart of Manchester, we’ve been making tough, beautiful furniture here since 1990. We left our jobs in scientific research to set up a sustainable business where we could be responsible for the ethical and environmental impact of every aspect of our actions. We wanted to extend our holistic outlook on living to the way we worked too, as a positive and practical force for fairness, healthy living and a sound environment.

Our approach has always been simple and down to earth, we use the best organic and natural materials to produce well designed, functional eco goods that are made to be used, to be enjoyed and to last. We are committed to fair trade from start to finish, from sourcing ethically produced fabrics and fillings to honest pricing of our products.

Our journey has been challenging, exciting and creative and would mean nothing without the support and inspiration of family, friends, producers, suppliers and of course our customers. We look forward to developing more of our plans for new products and meeting new people along the Way.

Sarah and Jonathan

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Ethical Business

Devon's £3billion wind farm

The world's largest offshore wind farm could be built off the north coast of Devon. If it goes ahead it could provide nearly all of the county's electricity, and there are plans to supplement it with tidal power schemes.

As this article appears in the Daily Mail expect the usual NIMBY nonsense in the comments.

Technorati tag: Devon, Wind Power, Offshore Wind Power

Gordon Brown's eco-towns

Gordon Brown is getting on teh home ownership bandwagon, hoping to outdo Thatcher's grand vision. The promising part of his pronouncement is a call for "eco-towns", to be powered locally from sustainable sources.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Gordon Brown

Green China

Chin has the potential to be one of the countries worst hit by- as well as one of the prime causes of- global warming. So, thankfully, there is a growing Green awareness in the country, with solar water heaters popular in even the poorest areas and efforts to curb pollution before it kills too many rivers and destroys too much land. It can't hurt the expanding economy that they're moving more directly to efficient systems either.

via BoingBoing

Technorati tag: China

Golly G-Wiz

Boris Johnson on the G-Wiz electric car and Government efforts to destroy it.

Technorati tag: G-Wiz, Boris Johnson, Electric Car

Become a Domestic Energy Assessor

dea-training.co.uk is the National Home Energy Rating scheme's sites for people who are interested in assessing homes for Energy Performance Certificates to be issued with Home Information Packs. NHER will train and accredit you, when accreditation terms are agreed upon, for £3,250 + VAT (£2,750 + VAT if you are already an experienced practitioner in the field). I don't know if career development loans would cover this, I may do some research.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Home Information Pack

The Community Recycling Network

It can be hard disposing of waste sensibly and ethically. No matter how well meaning, your local council is likely to send you round in circles trying to find the right department or service. However, there are a lot of community based programmes out there that make creative use of the things everyday folks leave behind.

The Community Recycling Network tries to keep track of all these groups, allowing you to search by various criteria for the one best suited. They also produce rather nice directories, I picked up the Community Waste Network North West one on Saturday at the Green Architecture event.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Manchester Campaign Against Climate Change Carnival

Greater Manchester Campaign Against Climate Change will be holding a carnival on Saturday 30th June in the Peace GArdens near St. Peter's Square. You can download a pdf of the flier to print out and distribute.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Climate Change

Anatomy of a green roof

Anatomy of a green roof
Originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

Amongst the talks at the Green Architecture Event on Saturday was one on green roofs, given by Jeff Sorrill of the Green Roof Centre. Amongst the things I learnt was that you don't want too much organic matter on your roof- an 80:20 to 90:10 mix of rubble and soil is best- because then only the hardiest plants can survive on it. Make your roof too nutritious and you run the risk of getting larger plants with more active roots that will push the weight limits and try to work their way into your building.

A section of green roof was brought along in a fish tank and set up on a table.

Ecology Building Society hits 10,000!

The Ecology Building Society, which is dedicated to providing mortgages for Green projects, has reached the 10,000 saver mark. Accounts with the society provide the funds for mortgages on renovation or eco new builds and more esoteric schemes such as small woodland purchases for protection and conservation (pdf).

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Mortgage