Nuclear power has cost us how much?

My main reason for opposing new nuclear plants is an economic one. The CO2 savings per pound invested in energy saving measures, micro-generation and renewables will be far greater than that on more reactors. To drive the fact home comes the news that the clean up costs for the last generation of nuclear reactors is going to be far higher than estimated. This was announced as plans go ahead to privatise the division of BNFL that does the decommissioning. I'm with Amicus on that move-

"Our union is opposed to the sale of the British Nuclear Group in principle," said Amicus national officer Dougie Rooney.

"But we are also concerned that it could compromise the government's stated objectives of decommissioning civil nuclear sites in the UK at a reduced cost to the taxpayer and a reduced timescale while maintaining safety standards."

So let's not throw any more cash into the nuclear money pit, and invest in sensible solutions instead.

Technorati tag: Nuclear Power, Wasting Money

Northstowe

England is to get its first 'sustainable' new town with 10,000 homes that meet the Government's eco-standards and use micro-renewable energy. Northstowe is to built on the site of the abandoned Oakington barracks, five miles outside Cambridge.

via Sustainablog

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Brownfield site, Community

Car Free Housing

More housing developments, particularly in city centres and on waterfrons, are finding it easier to get planning permission if their travel plan doesn't involve parking for their tenants. Consequently, more tenants are discovering they don't need a car after all.

via Velorution

Technorati tag: Urban Planning, Car

Green Weddings

There are at least two weddings for me to go to this year (unless I get really drunk and embarass myself), maybe the happy couples would like to look into some of the stuff on Hippyshopper's green weddings list.

Technorati tag: Wedding, Confetti

BRE's Environmental Assessment Method

US Green websites mention LEED a lot, it's an energy efficiciency standard to measure new builds against. I hadn't thought to find out if there was a British equivalent, until spotting a post on Enviropundit.

For over a decade, BRE's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) has been used to assess the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings. It is regarded by the UK's construction and property sectors as the measure of best practice in environmental design and management.

BREEAM's success stems from its unique ability to cover a wide range of environmental issues within one assessment, and to present the results in a way that is widely understood by those involved in property procurement and management.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, BREEAM, Standards

Ticketing SUVs

The Alliance Against Urban 4x4s have a bunch of "Poor Driving Choice" parking tickets available for download or purchase. I saw one of those stupid Mitsubishi half-cab pickup monstrositys being displayed in the Printworks yesterday and wanted to find a way to erect a sign saying "There are cheaper ways to prove you're an idiot." in front of it.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: 4x4, Chelsea Tank

London's sinking

Another rising sea levels story. New York, London and many other cities could be under water by the end of the century as sea levels continue to rise because of global warming.

Technorati tag: Global warming, Sea levels

Mapping the oceans' CO2 absorption

British oceanographers will use the MV Indotrans Celebes, to measure the oceans' ability to absorb carbon dioxide, going to remote areas they would not otherwise bea ble to visit.

Technorati tag: Ocean, CO2, Carbon dioxide

Cheap Light

Powergen are funding a scheme that subsidises compact fluorescent bulbs so shops can sell them for as little as 50p each. This is a lot like my suggestion to Manchester Council that they replace all there incadescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. It seems surprising that a power company should be behind it, but it's simply that they're fulfilling their obligation to the government's Energy Efficiency Commitment. Which feels like a lot more than the Government is doing.

I was an early adopter of compact fluorescent lightbulbs. I don't think any house I've lived in for the last six or more years has been without them, and that was while they were in the £8 a bulb range. Now I think it's time to move on and try some of the LED lighting solutions mentioned in the article.

Technorati tag: Compact fluorescent lightbulb, LED

The Beach is Getting Closer

If you want to get a quick impression of the effect of rising sea levels, try this interactive map. It allows you to see what the coast will look like with sea level rises of up to 14 metres.

via Sustainability Blog

Technorati tag: Global Warming, Sea Level

How to spot the signs of global warming

The Independent thinks the increasingly early onset of Spring is a pretty good sign.

What event defines the spring for you? Maybe it's the first primrose. Primroses traditionally appear around Mothering Sunday. But last year the countrywide average date for the first primrose was 28 February. And even in these climatically challenged times, February is not many people's idea of spring.

How about frogspawn? Well, if you live in Cornwall, frogs start to feel the urge around Christmas time. By the time spring comes to the south-west, garden ponds are full of tadpoles.

Technorati tag: Global Warming, Spring

It's Not Easy Being Green

If Casa Spinneyhead had a television, we'd be watching this show- to be broadcast on BBC 2, on 28 March at 8pm.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Green, Television

The Green map of Britain

More of a list, really.

Lowest carbon town: Woking in Surrey

Over a period of 15 years, Woking Borough Council achieved a 77.4 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and reduced carbon-equivalent emissions by 17.23 per cent.

Technorati tag: Britain, Environment

Brown to raise the tax on soft roaders

I like the name "soft roader", it sounds so much more..... English than SUV.

The Daily Mail reports that Gordon Brown may be considering a rise in road tax for the most polluting cars to £200 a year. The new top rate will be for vehicles emitting more than 250 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, catching all those school run monsters and a lot of luxury and sports cars.

Drivers' groups will be up in arms, of course, and it will only be a symbolic charge anyway. The fuel costs of one of these monstrosities must be huge, bound to dwarf the cost of road tax. Maybe it's time to put width or height restrictions on roads past schools (with bollards that only raise at school run time?). Or, even better, announce that every £200 raised taxing the mammoths would be spent to buy a bike for a school kid or commuter.

Update The Independent reports that road tax may also be waived for low emission vehicles.

Technorati tag: Gordon Brown, Tax, SUV

howtosavetheworldforfree.com

How to Save The World for Free has now moved to its own domain- http://www.howtosavetheworldforfree.com/. It's hosted by GreenWebHost, because I thought it would be appropriate.

The new rss feed is at http://www.howtosavetheworldforfree.com/ecoatom.xml.

For now I'm trying to get all the archives to publish, but Blogger's being a pain in the arse. The archives at Spinneyhead will stay, because they still get search engine traffic, but I'm going to stick a redirect on the front page. Dig, Digest and 2 Wheels Good will come over as they have similar themes that will sit better as subdomains of howtosavetheworldforfree.com. When everything's fully published I'll think about converting to WordPress or some other publishing tool.

Technorati tag: How to Save the World for Free

The Green House

A few environmewnt related press releases from MPs-

David Lepper, Brighton Pavilion Labour and Co-operative MP, has been told the government is reviewing the guidance it gives to local councils about conservation areas to see if it can be made more compatible with energy effciency devices and renewable energy devices.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats will put the spotlight on the Assembly Government's green credentials in their minority party debate next week.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Lembit Opik MP, who will open a groundbreaking new exhibition at the Centre for Alternative Technology today, has backed his colleagues in Cardiff Bay, and called on Labour to be bold where they have been timid and do more to make Wales a powerhouse of the green economy:

"The green economy can bring enormous benefits to Wales. Labour should embrace green technology, not shy away from it."

The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill will reappear in the House of Commons tomorrow (Friday), after it was wrecked by filibustering Tory MPs last Friday.

Despite huge support amongst the public, environmental pressure groups and politicians this legislation, was "talked out" in its Report Stage - one of the final hurdles.

Bath's MP, Don Foster, has rearranged his diary so that he can attend the debate and vote in favour of the Bill.

Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, says that if the tactics of two maverick MPs are not curbed tomorrow, it could have disastrous consequences for the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill.

The Bill which had its Report Stage and Third Reading last week with all-party support was once again subjected to the juvenile actions of two Conservative MPs, one Mr Christopher Chope, a former Southampton MP, the other the Rt Hon Eric Forth. Between them they spoke for a total of three and a half hours out of five, an attempt to deliberately delay the Bill's passage preventing progress through the Bill's remaining clauses. This tactic effectively prevents the Bill from proceeding.

Technorati tag: Parliament, Environment

MEN- "TV queen to turn city green"

Manchester council has recruited Penney Poyzer, of BBC2's No Waste Like Home, to help spread the word on their plans to make Manchester a green city.

Technorati tag: Manchester, Green City

The Alternative Wedding List

A note to all Friends of Spinneyhead (and Spinneyhead members) planning their nuptials this year- the Alternative Wedding List gives money to charities for you. If you really do need kettles and fondue sets, I guess you could run this one in parallel.

via Hippyshopper

Technorati tag: Wedding, Charity

Big bucks for high mileage

After paying out $10million for the first non-government space flight, the X Prize Foundation is coming back down to Earth. It has announced a prize of $25million for the company that produces the first commercially succesful car with a fuel consumption over 250 miles per gallon. The money goes to the first company to sell 10,000 of such a super efficient vehicle, though the exact rules and requirements are still being worked on.

via Jalopnik, where they have the following take on the McDonalds franchisee who runs his car on the waste oil from his burger bars-

Man, here's a dichotomy. A Mississippi man who owns four McDonald's franchises has converted his Ford pickup and his VW Beetle to run on excess grease from his stores; the four locations dispose of 10,000 gallons a year, giving him basically unlimited supply of food. According to him, it's about environmental sustainability and independence from foreign oil, yet ironically, dude owns four McDonald's franchises; rainforests are being clearcut for land to raise cattle to satiate the world’s appetite for meat, and all those cows release volatile organic compounds out their bums, which leads to air-quality problems like we see in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. That said, we’re a vegetarian and our car has a V-8. We'll shut up now.

Greasecar.com, for all your fast food fuel supplies.

Technorati tag: Economy, Transport, Biodiesel

Telegraph- " New suburbia is an environmental cul-de-sac"

Unsurprisingly, the 400,000 new homes that John Prescott insists on building in the South of England will probably be like the ones described in this article- energy intensive and giving nothing to the areas they invade.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Sunlight

I'm still working in the CIS tower, which now has a big display in the foyer telling us how much power the solar panels have generated and what that means in saved CO2. However, every floor has row upon row of flourescent tubes lighting it. Direct sunlight, on the rare days we get any, is blocked by blinds because it tends to shine in the eyes of those facing the windows.

Perhaps the Co-op can take another step in energy saving and have a few solar collectors on the roof, such as those by Solartech, which use parabolic mirrors to direct light into light tubes that can illuminate thousands of square feet of office space. The company needs further funding to bring their products to market. They estimate twenty times greater efficiency than converting light to power and then back again and say a system could pay for itself within two years.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: Solar illumination

Click for the Climate

It's National Science Week, and we're being asked to pledge to take action to cut down CO2 emmissions. Despite already doing most of the things on the list, my pledge will still save 1045.32kgs of CO2 (providing I take an international flight and remember to plant a tree to offset it).

Technorati tag: Science Week, Carbon Dioxide

Cohousing

Cohousing is a different way of creating high density housing, a lot of house modules arranged around a communal section. The Independent reports on a project in Stroud.

Springhill Cohousing is at www. springhillcohousing.com; the UK Cohousing Network is at www. cohousing.org.uk; 'Designing Your Natural Home' by David Pearson is published by Gaia Books.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Cohousing

Keep your cleaning clean

From The Scotsman- How toxic is your home?

Mary Rayner, from the consumer watchdog magazine The Ethical Consumer, believes many of us are, and thinks we should be aware of the potentially harmful ingredients many of these cleaning products contain. "In an attempt to make us shell out for the latest products - promising ever faster and shinier results - many manufacturers [seem to be] adding more and more toxic ingredients to their cleaners without much regard for the effect they might have on the environment or the consumer," she says.

Amongst the worst culprits- ammonia, bleach and triclosan

Technorati tag: Cleaning, Toxins

Poop Power- fuel from cow dung

Japanese scientists have announced that they can extract petrol from cow dung by applying high pressure and heat and hope to have a commercially viable system ready in a few years.

Technorati tag: bio fuel, Waste, Cow dung

Lunar Power

A small scale scheme in New York could be the precursor of widespread tidal power schemes.

The appeal of next-generation hydropower is hard to miss. "It's local, reliable, renewable, and clean. Plus, it's out of sight," says Trey Taylor, president of Verdant Power LLC, the Arlington (Va.) startup developing the East River site. Adds Roger Bedard, ocean energy leader at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the industry's research-and- development arm: "Offshore wave and tidal power are where wind was 20 years ago, but they'll come of age faster." By 2010, Bedard predicts, the U.S. will tap about 120 megawatts of offshore wave energy -- enough to power a small city -- up from virtually zero today.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: Tidal Power, Lunar Power

Green cleaning solutions

Eco Street has a useful checklist of less polluting household cleaners

Technorati tag: Cleaning

Hybrid House

Hybrid technologies are almost finished building the "Hybrid House", which promises to be 100% self sufficient for energy. Buy the right kind of rechargeable hybrid car and you can plug that into the system as well.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Hybrid House

How to Save the World for Free is looking for a Green home

This blog has been going since October 2004, starting as Spinneyhead's EcoHouse before becoming How to Save the World for Free. All that time it's been sitting as a subdirectory of Spinneyhead. Now I think it's time for it to move out and fend for itself in the big bad world.

I'm looking for a Green hosting solution, hopefully one that costs less than $17.50/£10 a month (which is roughly half the blog's income last month). If anyone has suggestions please leave them in the comments.

Technorati tag: Web hosting

Loremo

It looks like the car of the future, as envisaged in numerous sci-fi films, and you will have to wait until 2009 to get the first ones. The Loremo offers fuel consumption of 1.5litres/ 100km. Someone on Digg has calculated that out to 159mpg for those of us still thinking in Imperial.

Technorati tag: Transport, Fuel Economy

Guess who'll pay extra for nuclear power?

The Green Party has warned that electricity bills will have to go up if the government builds a new generation of nuclear power stations. This shouldn't surprise many people, and Tony Blair is bound to ignore any such evidence now that he's decided to go ahead no matter what.

Green Party principal speaker Caroline Lucas MEP said: "Tony Blair is determined to push this country down the nuclear route, based on two arguments: guaranteeing affordable energy supply, and reducing carbon emissions.

"The Alternative Energy Review proves what anti-nuclear campaigners have long suspected - that, even using these criteria, nuclear power is the inferior choice.

"It shows that a twin-pronged investment in renewable alternatives and energy efficiency and conservation measures will not only deliver greater emissions reductions than nuclear power, it will deliver them more cheaply, and all without the huge safety risks inherent in the nuclear option."

Technorati tag: Nuclear Power

The Government almost catches up with reality

"Ambitious" green building regulations unveiled by the Government last year have drawn so much scorn that they've gone back to the drawing board and come back with something more useful. Of course, they're too wimpy to apply them to new private builds, but it's a start.

Technorati tag: Building Standards

Environment and Community-Oriented

The guardian on "light green" tourism. Now, if only I could afford to actually go on holiday.

Technorati tag: Travel

The Earthship Estate

A company called Biotecture has submitted plans for a 16 house estate in Brighton that will consist of Earthships- buildings constructed of old tyres and waste. The houses will be so efficient, and the plan incorporates rainwater capture and solar panelling, that the houses are likely to have no utility bills whatsoever. At £250,000 to £350,000 each they're a bit expensive to be the solution to the nation's housing shortage, but they show the way new builds should be going. And they deal with waste without having to incinerate it, so two birds with one stone.

Wikipedia Earthship entry.

Technorati tag: Earthship, Brighton

Mr. Luna's Bright Idea

Kenny Luna is a science teacher who is lobbying Oprah Winfrey to back a campaign that will supply a compact fluorescent bulb to every child in the US. He reckons it will save the country at least $2.3 billion in electricity expenditure.

via sustainablog

Technorati tag: Low energy bulb

Baby wind turbines

via sustainablog

N. Satyanarayana, a graduate student in India, has figured out a way to miniaturize a windmill so it can be used to charge a cellphone battery. It is a simple fan blade that is attached to a generator, also it’s waterproof so it can even be used in the rain. Imagine clipping one of these babies outside the window as you take the train into work, charging up your cellphone and other electronic devices you might have on hand. Its small blade cranks out a DC flow of one ampere with a potential difference of 12 volts, in other words, enough juice to power portable electronic stuff. It beats solar, as long as the wind’s blowing.

A commenter on the Gizmodo thread came up with the cool idea of clipping it to your bike to power accessories such as GPS whilst riding along.

Technorati tag: Wind Power

Dog Poo Power

San Francisco could get a dog poop power plant. Norcal Waste, who handle the city's rubbish, will begin a pilot program under which it will use biodegradable bags and dog-waste carts to pick up droppings at a popular dog park. This will then be broken down in a methane digester to create gas for combustion for heating or electricity generation.

via sustainablog

Technorati tag: Methane, Poop Power

ETA- a climate neutral motoring organisation

I don't have a car, so this is a suggestion for all my friends who do. ETA is a motoring association akin to the AA but with green fringe benefits. Not only do they offer all the recovery services they will also offset carbon dioxide equivalent to about ten thousand miles of driving. The description on Eco Street Blog compares the service side by side with the AA and it seems to compare well. The only question I would have is whether ETA membership is for a specific car rather than the AA's one driver- any car version.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Green motoring

Ethical Man

Newsight have decided they should have an "Ethical Man" on their team. Justin Rowlatt will try to live as ethical a lifestyle as possible over the course of a year. A neat idea, though the Guardian had Leo Hickman- who will be serving as Rowlatt's ethical guru, doing something similar last year.

via The EcoStreet Blog

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Ethical lifestyle

Carbon Map

A map of carbon emission density in the UK shows the effects of energy use and local energy policies. Manchester produces 2,129,344 tonnes of carbon per square kilometre each year (0.95 tonnes per person), one of the highest amounts in the country.

Technorati tag: Carbon emissions

Tree Blocks Elves wooden toys

Affiliate Link

Intriguing and ethical toys for your little ones.

If you are looking for toys that will fire your child's imagination and creativity then look no further than the TREE BLOCKS Elves toys, blocks, houses and furniture and the carefully selected range of other quality wooden toys.

The vision of the TREE BLOCKS Elves is to provide fun and learning oriented toys produced in a socially and ecologically responsible way.Maths Set

The TREE BLOCKS Elves take nature and the environment very serious and for example ensure no living tree is damaged when making any Tree House, using the discards of orchard trees and managed paper forests. They also ensure all other products sold conform to the strictest of European environmental requirements.

In relation to the TREE BLOCKS Elves own Tree Houses, Apple Cherry, Hazelnut and other orchard trees that have been abandoned or are near the end of a productive cycle are located by the TREE BLOCKS Elves. They then push the old trees over, thereby removing the roots and haul them away to make more Tree Houses. This leaves the farmer clean soil, so he can be back into production.

Technorati tag: Toys

Increased CO2 may cause plant life to raise rivers

Plants around the world are requiring less water, another effect of the increased CO2 in the atmosphere. The higher concentrations mean plants can absorb the gas and convert it through photosynthesis more efficiently, meaning they need less water overall. This could be a good thing, as Gaia self regulates the CO2 out of the atmosphere, but it is also leading to an increase in water run off and greater risks of flooding.

Technorati tag: Carbon Dioxide, Floods

Eco-farming to bootstrap poor economies

A major study has shown that green farming methods such as crop rotation and organic farming increased crop yields by an average of 79%, without risking future harvests.

"Most people think it is bad news from the south," Professor Pretty said, "but in many ways farmers in developing country are leading the way."

The researchers found methods that did not have an adverse effect on local biodiversity allowed farmers to reap the rewards of growing crops in healthy soil.

"People are using a variety of integrated pest management techniques; making the best of biodiversity like predators, parasites and multiple cropping," Professor Pretty told the BBC News website.

"In essence, it allows the ecosystem to deliver the pest management services."

This approach paid dividends, he said, because it not only cut the use of pesticides but also resulted in farmers having to spend less of their income on chemicals.

Technorati tag: Poverty, Farming

Sugar in the tank

They may not be popular with Tescopoly, but Tescos are doing some interesting things on the environmental front. They have started selling petrol with 5% bioethanol at their petrol stations.

According to the renewable transport fuels obligation, the details of which are to be described in this year's budget expected in March, 5% of all motor fuel must come from renewable sources by 2010. Government figures suggest that if bioethanol replaced 5% of petrol in the UK, it would have the environmental impact of taking a million cars off the road.

Of course, we could take a million or so cars off the roads as well.

Technorati tag: Bioethanol, Tesco

Eco-home building shows

Hippyshopper has a useful post on upcoming shows dedicated to building your own low energy home.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Compact- buy nothing new

Compact are a San Francisco based group who have vowed to buy nothing new in 2006 except food, health and safety items and underwear.

via BoingBoing

Technorati tag: Recycle, Anti-consumerism

Tories turn against nuclear

The Conservatives could be prepared to drop their historic commitment to nuclear power to underline their new "green" credentials under David Cameron, it emerged last night.

On the eve of the launch today of a Tory review of energy policy, Alan Duncan, the shadow trade and industry secretary, said that his party now had "no fixed opinion about nuclear energy".

They have a website energyreview.info for you to get involved in their discussions about energy policy.

Technorati tag: Nuclear Power, Tory Party

Ban the Bulb

I've been considering more sensible uses for the money that's going to be wasted "deciding" that we should build new nuclear power stations. One of my ideas was to send a low energy bulb to every household, saying it should replace the most used filament bulb in the house. In a BBC interview/opinion piece, Dr Matt Prescott argues that the filament bulb should be banned completely.

It has been estimated that if every household in the US replaced just three of its incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving designs and used them for five hours per day, it would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 23 million tonnes, reduce electricity demand by the equivalent of 11 coal-fired power stations and save $1.8bn.

Given that investing $450m could save $1.8bn, it is hard to understand why anyone would still choose incandescent bulbs.

[...]

In 2002, the UK government spent £410m on bailing out its near-bankrupt nuclear sector.

That would be more than enough to supply every household in Britain with three energy-saving light bulbs.

banthebulb.org

via Unplugged Living

Technorati tag: light bulb, Energy conservation

No New Nuclear petition

Tim Farron - Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale (in Cumbria) has added his support to this petition and added his signature to the hundreds already on the paper version

To: Prime Minister of the UK

We petition the Prime Minister of the UK to the effect that we do not want any new Nuclear Power Stations, because nuclear power:

* facilitates proliferation of nuclear weapons worldwide and endangers our security
* amasses vast amounts of waste, which remains lethal for 100,000s years
* has an exorbitant cost and is not carbon free
* will not provide the answer to climate change
* has left a lethal legacy of tens of thousands abandoned uranium mines on the land of indigenous people worldwide

The Navajo say "water is life" (www.endaum.org)
What is the point of being able to switch the light on if you cannot drink the water?

Technorati tag: Nuclear Power, Petition

Out of the rat race and under a green roof

Leonie Davies, a former department head with the investment bankers J P Morgan, finalised her divorce, quit her job and left London for Norfolk. There she spent four years and £400,000 building her dream eco-house. The green roofed, earth sheltered geothermally heated building has set her back more than planned, but she's glad to be away from the city and its skewed priorities.

"I was paying a huge mortgage so that I could have a home close to my office, where I was working so that I could afford the huge mortgage on my home. I realised just how crazy that was."

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Scotland 'hits recycling targets'

Scotland has reached its target of recycling 25% of municipal waste, according to figures for the second quarter of 2005/06.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency statistics, covering the period from July to September, were welcomed by Environment Minister Ross Finnie.

But he said that more had to be done to improve Scotland's record, a call echoed by unions and environmentalists.

The minister launched a consultation to seek views on the issue.

Technorati tag: Recycling, Scotland

Mighty Mice

Filed under Must Read Later.

via a comment on this Treehugger post came a link to the Rocky Mountain Institute. The first entry under nuclear power is an article entitled Mighty Mice (pdf). The description reads-

The most powerful force resisting new nuclear may be a legion of small, fast and simple microgeneration and efficiency projects. In this guest article in the UK-published Nuclear Engineering International, Amory Lovins explains to the industry who its most formidable competitors are: not central coal- or gas-fired power plants, but micropower and efficient use. These are already adding more than ten times as much global capacity per year, and, being much cheaper, provide more climate solution per dollar and per year. (29 December 2005).

Technorati tag: Nuclear, Micro-generation

You knew you couldn't trust him, didn't you?

Dubya's a politician, so you expect him to lie. So it comes as no surprise that his State of the Union speech pledge to wean the US off foreign oil was "not meant to be taken literally".

Technorati tag: USA, George Bush, State of the Union

Eco Street

I was idly fantasising about what I'd do with the massive Euro Lotterry roll over prize (very idly as I'm not dumb enough to waste money on it) and came to the conclusion that I'd build an eco community. I've been beaten to it, as Arthur Street in Penrith has become Britain's first eco-street. The initiative was led by residents and has become a great way to build community as well as saving money and promoting environmental technologies.

Technorati tag: eco street, Penrith

On your (biodiesel) bike

Jalopnik points to an auction on EBay of a biodiesel powered motorbike. The Royal Enfield 350cc diesel motorcycle was imported to the US from India and then converted to run on biodiesel before seeing duty as a demo bike for the concept. It gets around 200 miles to the gallon, though it's more of an around town potterer than a grand touring or racing bike.

Technorati tag: Biodiesel, Royal Enfield

Pow Wow Eco Arts

Pow Wow exists to promote collaborative creativity between the arts, environmental and community sectors and promote sustainable living. They also produce the eco arts directory for artists producing environmental art.

Technorati tag: art

Quiet Revolution wind turbines

Quiet Revolution wind turbines are vertical and rather gorgeous to look at. Virtually silent and vibration free, they are ideally suited to both urban sites and exposed locations, they can also become billboards using LEDs embedded in the blades. The first installation is due for later this year, on a roundabout.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: Wind Power

Got Wind?

I fancy having a go at making my own micro wind turbine. Perhaps one of the projects at this site will be suitable.via TreehuggerTechnorati tag: Wind Power

The Rotating Cylinder Valve engine

RCV engines, developed by a British company, offer two-stroke power with four-stroke efficiency and cleanliness for engines up to 250cc. They are also well suited to alternative fuels such as kerosene and bio-fuels. Widespread adoption of the technology could take the edge off increased demand for scooters and small motorbikes in China and India and make suburban mowers and leaf blowers cleaner.

Technorati tag: Rotating Cylinder Valve

....And they could make more economical cars and people could stop driving so much

Let's face it, it's impossible to believe anything GW Bush says. He goes on about the US' addiction to petrol and touts ethanol from grass as a possible saviour, but doesn't have the guts to suggest that Americans walk to the shops or buy more economic cars.

Related The Times on Brazil's ethanol economy.

Unsurprisingly, the promises don't bear up to scrutiny.

Technorati tag: Ethanol, USA, Brazil

The ever greener Co-op

My current employers keep launching environmental initiatives. These micro wind turbines are the first of a bunch atop their building on Portland Street. They generate 1kW each, save about a ton of carbon dioxide a year and will have paid for themselves in four or five years.

All of the taller buildings in the city should have a copse of wind turbines, I think.

Make your own news report with the raw footage from BSN.

Technorati tag: Wind Power, Manchester

Rain Gardens

Rain gardens, shallow depressions containing bark mulch and shrubs, can remove up to 99% of toxins from rainwater run off. With built-up urban areas generating nine times more runoff water than woodlands of a similar size anything that can act as a buffer has to be welcomed.

Technorati tag: Water Runoff, Rain Garden

Car firms 'blocking green fuel'

Car makers are not doing enough to develop green alternatives to petrol, an influential government adviser says.

Japanese companies had a better record than European or American ones, Professor Stephen Blythe said.

But the industry had still not grasped the urgency of the problem - despite promoting its green credentials.

Technorati tag: Transport

30 centimetres closer to the beach

Sea levels could rise by 30 centimetres by the end of the century if current trends prevail. An Australian study found that sea levels rose by 19.5cm between 1870 and 2004, with accelerated rates in the final 50 years of that period. Extrapolation gives the worrying century's end figure.

Technorati tag: Sea levels

Here comes the bio-power

Work is due to begin on a £90million biomass power station near Lockerbie in Scotland. The scheme converts waste timber products into energy and should supply enough power to meet the needs of around 70,000 homes.

Technorati tag: biomass power, Scotland

Tap your heels together and repeat "There's no such thing as global warming."

2005 was the warmest year on record, according to NASA.

Technorati tag: Global Warming

GCSE Level heat pumps

The Guardian on the wonder of heat pumps.

With fossil fuels becoming alarmingly expensive, this environmentally friendly and low-cost alternative to gas central heating is finally coming into its own in the UK. It is incrediblyeffective, capable of achieving 400% efficiency - giving out more energy (typically 3 to 4 kilowatts) than the householder puts in to run it (typically 1KW). By comparison, an average gas boiler works at 90% efficiency at best.

Technorati tag: Heat Pump

Titanium nanotubes to increase solar energy efficiency

Researchesr at Penn State university are using highly ordered arrays of titanium nanotubes to increase the efficiency of photolysis- the breaking down of water to hydrogen and oxygen by sunlight.

"Basically we are talking about taking sunlight and putting water on top of this material, and the sunlight turns the water into hydrogen and oxygen. With the highly-ordered titanium nanotube arrays, under UV illumination you have a photoconversion efficiency of 13.1%. Which means, in a nutshell, you get a lot of hydrogen out of the system per photon you put in. If we could successfully shift its bandgap into the visible spectrum we would have a commercially practical means of generating hydrogen by solar energy. It beats fighting wars over middle-eastern oil."

via Warren Ellis

Technorati tag: Photolysis, Solar Power, Hydrogen

Recycling Mobiles

Hippyshopper has a short post on one way to recycle mobile phones. I've got at least two hanging around that I haven't wanted to get rid of because they'd just end up in landfill. I think they'll be going in a bag marked FREEPOST GREEN GAMBIA instead.

Technorati tag: Recycle, Mobile phone

20% Tidal

The Carbon Trust thinks that up to a fifth of the UK's power could be generated by tidal and wave power.

Technorati tag: Tidal Power

Where do clouds come from?

Scientists are beginning a three week experiment to better understand the formation process of tropical clouds. Better understandings of the factors involved will help build better models for predicting climate change.

Technorati tag: tropical clouds

First get rid of the old waste

241,000 cubic metres of intermediate-level and 1,340 of high-level nuclear waste need disposal according to Nirex. The government adviser has published its latest inventory of current radioactive waste totals in the UK, and its forecast of waste totals to be created from the operation and decommissioning of existing nuclear facilities.

And if Tony Blair gets his way and restarts the UK's nuclear industry there'll be ever more of this stuff. I'm not as panicky as some about this, but we're supposed to be cutting down on the pollutants we bequeath our children not increasing the volume of it.

John Dalton, Nirex corporate communications manager, said: "We have been generating this stuff for 50 years or so - surely we have responsibility to deal with the waste we have got now.

"We don't want to just be passing it on to future generations."

Technorati tag: Nuclear Power, Radioactive waste

micro generation in New Scientist

Two truncated pieces in the New Scientist (you need premium membership to see the full versions) show the way that energy policy should be going. The rooftop power revolution and Editorial: A generator in every home. Somebody find the recent UK government report that estimates that such microgeneration could supply 25 per cent of the country's electricity by 2050 and make sure the Energy Secretary reads it.

Technorati tag: micro generation

Nuclear power no use

A recent poll found that 54% of people would support nucler power if it could stop global warming. The crucial word there is if. There are a lot of things that people would do if there were a guaranteed pay off. More importantly, and the part that Blair will ignore, 78% felt that renewable sources were more important in the fight against climate change, and 76% thought reducing energy through lifestyle changes and energy efficiency was better.

Far better, [Dr Kevin Anderson, from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester] believed, was a policy which sought significant emission reductions through greater efficiency.

"Why are we still selling fridges with a B, C, D, and E ratings? An A-rated fridge is a standard and you set it. You make sure all new buildings are well built with very high energy efficiency.

"You inform industry that standards will be incrementally increased so that they have market signals. You tell car manufacturers, for example, that to sell a car on a UK forecourt by 2010, it must meet a minimum fuel economy."

Which is pretty much what the Liberal Democrats say, making them still the most sensible political party no matter what they did to Charles Kennedy.

[Environment spokesman Norman Baker] said: "A new generation of nuclear power stations should not be part of the future UK energy mix.

"Nuclear power is hopelessly uneconomic and the commissioning of a new generation would effectively result in a nuclear tax on every household to pay for them.

"A new generation of nuclear power stations would generate vast quantities of nuclear waste and divert essential funding away from energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy."

Technorati tag: Nuclear Power, Renewable energy

'Better insulation could save £120'

Millions of British homes do not have enough insulation to cope during cold spells, a new survey has shown.

Householders prefer to crank up their thermostats to keep themselves warm.

This wastes an estimated £1.5 billion and produces 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

Rather than wasting time and money trying to relaunch nuclear power Blair should call for an initiative to fix this problem and cut energy consumption in general. Prevention is better than cure, remember. If the country's using less energy then it can afford to get its electricity from more sustainable sources.

Technorati tag: Waste, energy efficiency, Insulation

US tax breaks for hybrid buyers

A step in the right direction from an oil hungry country. The Energy Policy Act allows tax credits worth up to $3,400 for hybrid owners. Other vehicles eligible for credits include fuel cell vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles, and hybrid heavy trucks.

via Digg

Technorati tag: Hybrid car, tax credit, USA

Be a Real Man, be Green

Not really the meaning of Thomas Friedman's piece, but you get the gist of it. Our leaders are content to carry on with the same old same old, pretending that minor variations on old policies and moronic shows strength are new and brave. If they really cared about the future they'd be joining us in looking for new ways to live with minimal impact on the environment.

[W]hen it comes to what is actually the most important issue in U.S. foreign and domestic policy today - making ourselves energy efficient and independent, and environmentally green - [Bush and Cheney] ridicule it as something only liberals, tree-huggers and sissies believe is possible or necessary.

Sorry, but being green, focusing the nation on greater energy efficiency and conservation, is not some girlie-man issue. It is actually the most tough-minded, geostrategic, pro-growth and patriotic thing we can do. Living green is not for sissies. Sticking with oil, and basically saying that a country that can double the speed of microchips every 18 months is somehow incapable of innovating its way to energy independence - that is for sissies, defeatists and people who are ready to see American values eroded at home and abroad.

Living green is not just a "personal virtue," as Mr. Cheney says. It's a national security imperative.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: Green, Petrolism, Friedman

Appleseed biodiesel processor

The "Appleseed" processor is an open source design for a cheap biodiesel refinery utilising an old water heater tank and easily available plumbing supplies. It's proved very popular with loads of versions, variations and improvements.

via Sustainablog

Technorati tag: Biodiesel, Home Brew

Money for old grass

I have to say I can't side with the farmers on this one. The NFU are unhappy that their members won't be able to rake it in growing crops for conversion to biofuels because the oil companies are considering the much greener alternative of making it from straw and green waste.

(The oil companies are considering the greener option? Am I in bizarro world?)

Technorati tag: biofuel

What Would the Stig Do?

Despite the fact that it can outperform most of the cars that give the Top Gear presenters wet dreams, I don't think the X1, electric concept car from Wrightspeed, is going to be doing a timed lap piloted by the Stig any time soon. Clarkson couldn't make any milk float jokes if presented with the truth.

Check out a ride along in this video.

via Jalopnik

Technorati tag: Electric Car, Wrightspeed

Life in the Project:LIFE House

The Parnell family spent a year in an experimental eco house to test a number of features that could be incorporated in the home of tomorrow. It was originally meant to be a six month trial but they loved it so much they doubled the length.

Although the Project:LIFE house contains so much that is environmentally friendly and technologically advanced, the prime aim of the project is to investigate the changing households of the future, according to James Wilson, the development director of David Wilson Homes. "As house builders we often have to be more conservative than we would like," he says. "In this project, we have pulled together a big collection of ideas. We're trying to consider demographics and changing lifestyles, different expectations and requirements and combine all the latest ideas and thoughts."

Technorati tag: Project:LIFE, Ecohouse

Police Horse Power

Manchester's Police horses are to contribute to cutting the costs of their upkeep. Dung from the equine coppers is to be compressed into bricks that can then be burnt to provide heating and hot water for the stables, helping reduce its £1.5m annual energy bill.

Shauna Carberry said: "This idea really stood out and as soon as we can find the money we are definitely going to put it into practice. The horse manure will provide heating and hot water for the stable block and it is likely to provide more energy on top of that.

"We're not sure yet exactly how much money will be saved, but it's likely to be a lot once the furnace costs are out of the way."

There are other initiatives as well- all the force's 1,275 diesel vehicles were converted to using biodiesel this week.

Technorati tag: biomass, Recycling, Manchester

Act Local

FutureManchester.org.uk, a list of local groups for campaigning, trading, etc.

Technorati tag: LETS Scheme, Manchester

NIMBYs in New York

Wired on the campaigners against New York state's plans for windmills. They seem to be concerned about the values of their property without thinking about how real estate prices will plummet when New York becomes the land of the constant blackout.

Technorati tag: Windmill, NIMBY

The return of the population timebomb

Professor Chris Rapley, the head of the UK's Antarctic research agency, says that the growing global population is one of the biggest problems facing the environment. He has named the issue the "Cinderella" issue of the eco debate.

"If we believe that the size of the human [ecological] 'footprint' is a serious problem, and there is much evidence for this," he writes, "then a rational view would be that along with a raft of measures to reduce the footprint per person, the issue of population management must be addressed."

A number of studies suggest that humankind is consuming the Earth's resources at an unsustainably fast rate.

Even so, the issue of population is hardly ever discussed at environmental summits or raised by green lobby groups.

Technorati tag: Population, Resources

Sea Solar Power- tapping the oceans' temperature gradients

Sea Solar Power Inc. (SSP) is developing a solar power technology that uses a reverse refrigeration cycle to harness the solar energy stored in the sea by tapping the thermal gradient that exists naturally between the surface and deep waters. This temperature difference between surface water and that at 3000 feet in tropical oceans is sufficient to operate vapor turbines, which drive generators to produce electricity, with fresh water as a byproduct. SSP, run by three generations of the Anderson family, has been working on the technology since 1962.

via Slashdot

Technorati tag: Solar Power, Sea

The end of cheap waste

Peter Jones, a director of Biffa- Britain's largest waste handling company, says that tighter EU recycling laws and higher landfill taxes will cost up to £8bn within years.

"The days of chucking waste into holes in the ground are over and the future is hi-tech, efficient, but fiendishly expensive. Instead of chucking 75% of everything we have finished with down a hole for about £12 a tonne, within a few years very little will be landfilled and that will cost two or three times what it costs now. We expect it to cost Britain £5-8bn to deliver an 80% diversion from landfill. Everyone is in for a rude shock."

Efficient and fiendishly expensive? I can't help thinking he's missing a bit of joined up thinking and hasn't considered the money making potential of closing the manufacturing cycle with recycling.

Technorati tag: Waste, Recycling

Warm weather 'to boost food bugs'

Almost a crossover with Digest here-

Britain could see a dramatic increase in food poisoning cases and waterborne disease as the warmer, wetter weather linked to climate change takes hold.

Hotter summers could lead to more salmonella cases as people opt for more barbecues but leave food out of the fridge, Professor Paul Hunter warned.

Heavy rain may also lead to more cases of diarrhoea-inducing cryptosporidium.

The University of East Anglia expert said Britain may also see some malaria cases - but is likely to cope.

Not what I'd consider the most pertinent factor of global warming, more of a worrisome side effect.

Technorati tag: Global Warming, Food Poisoning

Solar Tower

Whilst looking for stats on the CIS Tower's photovoltaic refit I found this CIS siteabout the project.

Technorati tag: Solar Power, CIS Tower, Manchester, Photovoltaic

Manchester's first biodiesel service station

The first service station in the country to sell only biodiesel opened yesterday on Fairfield Street, near Piccadilly Station in Manchester. It was set up by a co-operative of Manchester motorists keen to promote the new energy source.

Technorati tag: Biodiesel, Manchester

Peter Hain walks the talk

Peter Hain, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, and the secretary of state for Wales has taken advantage of a government grant to install photovoltaic panels on his constituency home.

"I decided to put my money where my mouth is. It's not cheap." Mr Hain and his businesswoman wife, Elizabeth Haywood, paid £8,000 - with another £8,000 coming from the grant - to place photovoltaic panels on the roof of the barn conversion they refurbished in the summer.

He hopes the investment will eventually pay for itself. Any surplus electricity generated is sold back to the national grid.

"When we are not using it, when we are away, then it generates electricity which goes back to the grid. So we save on our bills when we are at home, and when we are not at home it basically goes back to the grid and we get paid for it," he added.

It's also good to see that the Welsh Assembly's attitude to nuclear is more sensible- there is not yet a case for it because energy saving and more cost effective renewable sources should be utilised first.

Technorati tag: Solar power, Photovoltaic, Peter Hain, Wales

Top Ten Green Energy Schemes

The Department of Trade and Industry has named ten schemes which began last year that show the way ahead in cutting carbon emissions and promoting renewable energy. They include offshore turbines in Kent, a wave buoy in Cornwall and the solar-panelling of the CIS tower in Manchester.

Technorati tag: Renewable Energy

Jatropha powered Le Mans

D1 Oils, previously mentioned as a top supplier of Jatropha curcas tree based biodiesels, is set to enter a car in the 2006 Le Mans 24 hours. The top speed from the modified Volkswagen engine is 200mph, compared to 215mph for petrol engines, but the team are counting on the greater efficiency meaning fewer fuelling stops.

D1 chief executive Philip Wood said apart from winning the coveted Le Mans gold trophy, the team's other objective is to test the performance, fuel efficiency and emissions produced by different biodiesel blends during the trials.

"This is about demonstrating that low emissions don't mean low performance," he said.

"It is going to be of immense value to motorists who want to know that biodiesel will get them the mileage and performance they need while contributing less to global warming."

via Foursprung and Jalopnik

Technorati tag: biodiesel, Jatropha, Le Mans

Energy from Waste

Enviropundit has a selection of links on the subject.

Technorati tag: Energy, Waste

Stealing energy from passing traffic

If I lived on a busy through road I'd definitely want one of these outside my house. A metal ramp is moved by vehicles passing over it and generates electricity. Tests have shown that they can generate between 5 and 50kW depending on the weight of the vehicle passing over them.

We discussed this and, strictly, it's reducing the efficiency of the cars by stealing kinetic energy generated by their engines. However the generation of that energy is producing pollution in the neighbourhood, so the drivers should pay a little back. The best locations would obviously be roads that are already due to have speed bumps installed, making the traffic calming pay for itself.

Technorati tag: Traffic, Speed bump

Welsh wave power

West Dale Bay near Milford Haven is to get a rather appropriately named Wave Dragon tidal power station.

The floating units are moored to the sea bed but are able to adjust their position to the on-coming wave direction.

Water is channelled into a reservoir above sea level. It is then released through a number of turbines to generate electricity in the same way as hydro-electric power plants work.

Technorati tag: Wave Power, Tidal Power, Wales

D1 Oils and Jatropha biodiesel

Another link I found whilst surfing the Co-op's intranet.

D1 Oils want to generate biodiesel from the seeds of the jatropha tree, a hardy shrub that can be grown all over the developing world.

Because it requires minimal rainfall, jatropha can be grown successfully on marginal, degraded, or even desert land. The trees also help prevent soil erosion. In addition to yielding oil for refining into biodiesel and glycerol for use by the cosmetics industry, the residual oil cake is excellent organic fertiliser. Research is underway into alternative uses for the residual seedcake, such as animal feed, briquettes for power generation and nutraceuticals.

Technorati tag: Biodiesel, Jatropha

FTSE4Good

The FTSE4Good Index Series has been designed to measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards, and to facilitate investment in those companies. Transparent management and criteria alongside the FTSE brand make FTSE4Good the index of choice for the creation of Socially Responsible Investment products.

I've been reading up on the Co-op's environmental guidelines on the intranet, which is where I found out about FTSE4Good. I need to find out who to suggest green roofs to in the corporation.

Technorati tag: FTSE, Socially Responsible Investment

Ethanol from Shitake

An enzyme in Shitake mushrooms is particularly efficient at breaking down dead wood into sugars. So scientists are working on an enhanced version of the enzyme to make the production of ethanol more efficient.

Called Xyn11A, the gene carries the instructions that the mushroom uses to make an enzyme known as xylanase. The researchers want to see if a ramped-up version of the gene could be put to work digesting rice hulls or other harvest leftovers.

If enzymes can do that quickly and efficiently in huge vats, or fermenters, at biorefineries, they could help make ethanol and other products a practical alternative to today's petroleum-based fuels, for example. That's according to Charles C. Lee, an ARS research chemist.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: Biofuel, Shitake

Mapping Pollution from Space

Dutch scientists are putting together remarkable maps showing pollution over Europe and other regions of the globe.

Using the US space agency's Aura satellite, the team can look right down to the troposphere, the lowest part of the atmosphere where we all live.

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (Omi) and other key equipment on Aura can build a daily picture of air quality.

The pollution maps, which can see detail at the city scale, will be used to identify problem hotspots.

via Warren Ellis

Technorati tag: Pollution