Feed in tariffs on Radio 4

Costing the Earth on Radio 4 today examined the feed in tariff, which should become available with the new tax year, and the economics of buying yourself a windmill or solar panels. You can listen to it through iPlayer.

Normally listen and watch again programmes on the BBC site expire within a week, but this one says it's okay until January of 2099.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Nuclear reactors that eat their own waste

I'm not keen on it, but I think nuclear power will have to be part of any low to no carbon future. There's a lot of other stuff that should be done before going nuclear, but that's another post.

The design of reactors which burn up most of their radioactive waste has to be a step in the right direction. As the article points out there are still a lot of other ethical and physical problems with the technology, but reducing the amount of stuff which has to be buried for millions of years is a good step in anyone's book.

Technorati tag: Nuclear Power

The algae powered house

Students from the University of Cambridge have designed a house which utilises algae and household waste to produce power.

More information here.

Around the world by chip fat

A trip around Europe in a biodiesel powered van was one of those plans I had that never came to fruition. Wired has an article about one man who is better organised than I and is on the road at the moment.

Global Cooling is a con

This won't be news to anyone who's been paying attention, but it needs to be shouted out and repeated often, because the American public and even the BBC are falling for the lie.

There are many quote worthy lines in this report. Almost at random, let's go with-

Saying there's a downward trend since 1998 is not scientifically legitimate, said David Peterson, a retired Duke University statistics professor and one of those analyzing the numbers.

Identifying a downward trend is a case of "people coming at the data with preconceived notions," said Peterson, author of the book "Why Did They Do That? An Introduction to Forensic Decision Analysis."

Hop aboard the biomethane bus

A team from the University of East Anglia has adapted a single decker midi bus to run on biomethane and diesel. The bus can run for at least 60 percent of the time on gas from landfill or special anaerobic digesters.

The coming energy gap

The government's new energy adviser has warned of a potential energy shortage by 2016, as old coal and oil power stations are taken out of use. He blames public opposition to new wind farms, nuclear plants etc. for slowing the building of renewable energy sources.

I've got a solution for this, which I have put forward before. It's partly a bribe, but it's also a way of cutting the national energy bill and promoting renewables. The government should extend its schemes for subsidising houseowners' efforts to cut consumption and begin microgeneration. As more people become eligible for insulation or solar grants they will see the benefits of lower consumption in their bank accounts. Not only will this go viral and convince ever more people that they need to work toward energy independence, it will make them more open to larger renewable energy schemes.

Paying out more, and larger, grants to homeowners will be more expensive in the long term than just trying to force through wind farms or nuclear against current levels of opposition, but it will also have more immediate positive effects. Those who take advantage of the schemes will see a benefit in their fuel bills within a quarter and a large proportion of the money paid out will go to small companies, keeping them afloat in the recession and finding its way back into the economy faster than a huge sum to a big construction conglomerate would.

Hair solar

A Nepali teenager has come up with a way to use hair to replace silicon in solar cells. The melanin in the hair is photo sensitive and a conductor, and can be bought for pennies a kilo. Panels could be made for £23, or less when production is scaled up.

There's no real explanation of what Milan Karki has done to the hair to take advantage of melanin's attributes. If I find them I'll investigate further.

Redesigning Farmers' Markets

GOODblog ran a competition to generate ideas for invigorating farmers' markets and has posted the winners and finalists.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Vertical Gardens

Wired takes a look at the wall mounted gardens of Patrick Blanc. Impressive. Next time I'm in London I'll try to visit the Atheneum Theatre to check out its eight story living wall.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Interactive flood maps

I may have linked to these before. See how your home, or anywhere else in the world, will be affected by rising sea levels. Both the places I consider home- in Manchester and the Lake District- are out of reach of even a 14 metre rise, for what little comfort that provides.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The rules for debating with climate change deniers

Climate change deniers have rules that they expect you to stick to when debating their latest weak attempt to disprove the theory. They look a lot like the ones posted here.

And please note, that when I say evidence, I mean:

1) Nothing that was recorded by instruments such as weather-stations, ocean buoys or satellite data. Since all instruments are subject to error, we cannot use them to measure climate.

2) Nothing that has been corrected to account for the error of recording instruments. Any corrected data is a fudge. You must use only the raw data, which is previously disqualified under rule #1. Got that? OK, moving along…

3) Nothing that was produced by a computer model. We all know that you can’t trust computer models, and they have a terrible track record in any industrial, architectural, engineering, astronomical or medical context.

4) Nothing that was researched or published by a scientist. Such appeals to authority are invalid. We all know that scientists are just writing these papers to keep their grant money.

I still occasionally interact with some folks online for whom the rules above aren't satire. A good response- which they'll still ignore, of course- is given by one of the commenters on the post-

Mole, you’ve also got to factor in the consequences of inaction into the assessment of data.

If, for example, despite the existing scientific evidence, you personally would ONLY be satisfied by a longitudinal study over the next 30 years – well, what if it turned out todays’s scientists were actually right, and waiting for that study took us through the tipping point?

Why would policy makers be wise to adopt your approach?

See – even if I am wrong, cleaning up carbon emissions will do no harm. Clean the air up a bit, less pollution, fewer illnesses among kids, etc. No problemo.

If you are wrong, however: life on this planet could well be reduced to a few green sites supporting half a billion people – instead of 6 billion – by next century.

You see why doubt-mongers are losing this debate? And that that is a good thing?

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

All new homes to be "zero carbon" by 2016

The Government has released a white paper that calls for all domestic buildings to be zero carbon by 2016. There isn't a definition for "zero carbon", however, though it's likely to mean buildings which are net-zero carbon over a year. New public buildings will be held to similar standards within a few years.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The XR3 hybrid is ugly but efficient

The XR3 diesel electric hybrid three wheeler has a claimed consumption of 125 miles to the gallon (US gallon, I assume) and is soon going to be mass produced. The XR3 started out as a set of plans so you could build your own. I found it whilst browsing the designer's other creations such as the XR2 recumbent bike.

It's cool that such a car is going into production, but does it have to look like one of the background vehicles from a 1980's science fiction movie?

Technorati tag: Hybrid

The Armadillo- permaculture for the trailer park

The Armadillo started life as one of the thousands of trailer homes purchased to house families displaced by HUrricane KAtrina and other natural disasters. Now it's a mobile composting and permaculture centre, with water catchment and a vertical garden.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Global Warming Art

MAking climate change almost look pretty, Global Warming Art presents the data as clearly as possible.

Note I found Global Warming Art whilst researching a reply to this post. As I had comments deleted the last time I questioned the veracity of that particular graph, here's what I said-

Thanks for the links, but I couldn't find the graph in your post or the figures used in it. You should know that a number of the theories championed by Easterbrook have been examined and shown to be lacking.

For example- Mid century cooling- http://scienceblogs.com/illconsidered/2006/03/what-about-mid-century-cooling.php - CO2 isn't the only thing controlling the planet's temperature, during this period the global dimming effect of particulates overwhelmed it. Various other of his arguments, such as that it's a natural cycle or all down to sun spot activity- and several other points- are addressed in articles linked to on this page- http://scienceblogs.com/illconsidered/2008/07/how_to_talk_to_a_sceptic.php

But back to the graph at the bottom of your post. I wanted to address it because it just looks wrong. Not the numbers are wrong or it's wrong because I don't agree with your position, but wrong as a graph. Look at the red trend line. Before 2005 it's steady, the wild variations of individual data points don't make it jump around. After 2005 it's following the data points almost exactly. The red line is based upon average anomalies over a given period, but it looks like the averaging was done over a far shorter period post '05 than pre. If the average reacts that drastically to a dip in the recorded anomalies then it should also have kicked sharply up for the El Nino year of 1998 and less sharply down for 1985 (La Nina) and 1993 (Pinatubo volcano).

Basically I think someone has fudged the post 2005 trendline. Or, more bluntly, I think that graph is a lie. I'd recommend checking its provenance before using it again. For graphs of temperature change created from publicly available figures you could try http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Temperature_Gallery

Technorati tag: Climate Change

Eight home energy projects

After the build your own windmill projects, here are eight energy saving or generating projects you might like to try. It's unlikely many people will be won over by the human powered washing machine, but my parents have a stream on their land that would benefit so much from a water wheel.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Build your own wind turbines

Windmills aren't the best solution for urban microgeneration- nearby buildings tend to make the airflow too rough for them to run efficiently. But they are cool technology if you happen to live far enough away from your neighbours and can get away with erecting a mast. So, to inspire you, here is the Instructables page on DIY wind power.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

What should the US do with General Motors?

The United States government has bailed out General Motors and now holds a majority stake in the company. Should they use that power to demand some serious changes to the company's output and outlook? Michael Moore has a vision for a reconfigured GM that involves mass transit and renewable energy.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Feed in tariffs for microgeneration start next year

I missed this when it was announced, but from next April homeowners with microgeneration systems will be guaranteed a payment for electricity they generate and feed into the grid. Exact details haven't been released, and this article in the Guardian has some suggestions on that front.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Dick Strawbridge on how it's easy to be green

Top eco-warrior Dick Sytrawbridge addresses some of the common misconceptions about making your home low energy and eco-friendly.

4) Most eco-renovation take decades to pay back the cost

Every time we decide to make an investment in an eco-project, the subject of payback comes up. It is possible to do the sums, and before we spend any hard earned cash I like to make sure that it's a good investment. For example, loft insulation can pay for itself in two winters, and with the 2010 feed-in tariff I would expect solar PV to pay for itself in about seven or eight years, and a DIY solar thermal system to heat your hot water should have paid for itself in four or five years. But surely this is missing the point: when it comes to environmentally friendly projects we seem unable to accept the fact that it can be an investment and will add to the value of the house. What is the payback time for a new bathroom or kitchen? If you install solar photovoltaic panels you can reasonably expect them to easily last 25 to 30 years. Everyone knows a new kitchen makes a house more saleable, but in the current economic climate, how much more saleable is a house that will cost the new owners very little to run or may even generate an income?

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Car free Times Square

Sections of Broadway in Manhattan, starting with Times Square, are going to have car traffic restricted to make the place friendlier for pedestrians and ease congestion.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Anaconda wave power generators

Anaconda wave power could be available commercially within five years. One proposal would see shoals of the rubber tube devices tethered alongside offshore wind farms so they can use the same connections to shore.

Technorati tag: Wave Power

The electric Le Mans car

Joining the ranks of ever greener motor sports is Green GT, with their battery powered Le Mans prototype. Amongst their plans they would like to start a Green GT series, the races would be silent but for the squeal of rubber on the road.

Technorati tag: Electric Car

C,mm,n- the open source eco car

C,mm,n (pronounced common) is a Dutch project to design an intelligent electric car which can be built, and modified, by anyone. Some of the pages haven't been translated yet, so I don't know whether some of my questions have been answered or not. I'd like to know if they're working on a drivetrain that could be transplanted into other bodies, ripping out the fossil fuelled motor and putting an electric one in its place, or whether the car only really works as a whole.

And if you built one of these for personal use, would you still get the government's proposed grant for buying an electric vehicle?

Technorati tag: Electric Car

The Ampera, Vauxhall's electric car

Vauxhall have unveiled their planned electric car, the Ampera. It's actually a hybrid of sorts. The wheels are driven by electric motors and an overnight charge will be enough for a journey of around 40 miles, after which a petrol powered generator takes over.

It's certainly better looking than a Prius, in concept car mode anyway. What they really need to do is give it a felx fuel engine, or one of the multi fuel motors Lotus have been working on.

Technorati tag: Electric Car

Old meets new in an eco house

Few people can afford to spend £800,000 on a house, even one that's going to start paying for itself with the electricity it generates. Architect Richard Hawkes did, and the result is stunning. The timberal roofing is a modern take on an old technique, and will be planted for added insulation. Heat will be stored during the day to be released when it cools, a simple idea made more efficient with new materials.

Few of the technologies Hawkes uses could be affordable to the average housebuilder, but the principles can be adapted for the lower end of the market.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

TH!NK electric suburb to city car

Norwegians will do anything if you tell them they can't.

via Jalopnik

Technorati tag: Electric Car

I don't think climate change deniers understand economics either

Because the folks at Stop the ACLU have a habit of deleting my comments when I take their arguments apart with logic, here's the reply to this post. It's a simplistic argument, but they're simple people.

And next year the cap will be 49ppm, so you'll either have to waste more money so you can waste money. Or you could exhibit common sense and cut your pollution by cutting energy use, which a good businessman should have been doing anyway. Efficiency savings affect your bottom line, even without a cap and trade. So if you're not looking into them then you should rebrand Teach Enterprises as Company Pointlessly Wasting Money.

I don't understand your reasoning. You moan about government interference and the government taking your money when most governments are giving away money that you could use to become independent of them. Take the governmentgrant and invest in energy efficiency and microgeneration. Do it well enough to produce more electricity than you need and energy companies are becoming obliged to buy it back off you. Your paying less tax on the energy you use and the energy companies have less money and lobbying power. If you still don't want to admit that you're doing it for your children and a better environment just pretend you're doing it to be selfish. Whatever.

The polar bear cartoon is cutesy, it's good to see you've embraced recycling by repeating the Very Cold Winter meme endlessly. However, Australia is in the midst of the worst heatwave in at least 70 years. You haven't mentioned this. I guess you only want to point out the weather anomalies that seem to support your argument.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Some interesting links on climate change

Behemoth of the blogosphere BoingBoing has a guest blogger on board this week who has posted a collection of climate change denial posts. Cory Doctorow has come back with a bunch of posts about the science of the subject. For instance-

The Discovery of Global Warming - a history, a hyperlinked text because there were/are so many pieces of research going on concurrently and independently that an attempt at a linear history of the subject wouldn't work.

What we've learned in 2008- discoveries in the field of climate change last year.

Climate Change Economics. This looks like heavy going, but it's all about the economics around cutting green house emissions and discussion of different incentives to do so.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Barrages or lagoons for the River Severn?

I'm not a fan of the proposed Severn Barrage. It's typical government grandiose thinking which will take longer to come online, cost more and be less useful than the alternatives. The main alternative is a series of artificial lagoons on the river, which won't interfere with shipping, have little or no effect on wildlife and provide power for a wider span of the day.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The Solar Fridge

An English student has designed a solar fridge for use in Africa and elsewhere where power supplies are unreliable or nonexistent. It uses evaporation to keep its inner chamber at around 6 celsius and can be fashioned from scavenged materials.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Getting extra energy from natural gas

A company called 2OC is planning to install mini turbines in natural gas pipelines to generate electricity. The gas is at too high a pressure when it comes out of the ground for safe distribution so sites known as letdown stations are used to release the pressure. The turbines would be installed in these stations and could generate as much as one coal or nuclear power station.

2OC admits that this is an expensive way to generate electrity. But it is making use of energy that would otherwise be wasted. The letdown process also has a cooling effect- as the gas expands its temperature drops drastically- and the company are looking at ways to use this such as cooling data centres.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Turning off the lights

The phased withdrawal of incandescent bulbs continues, with 100 Watt and 75 Watt ones no longer being restocked by shops. The complaining classes, as usual, manage to find fault with something that will make them better off.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

New York's LED street lights

New York's next generation of street lights will use lower energy LED clusters inspred by car headlights.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Run your car on coffee

Coffee beans have a high (11-20%) oil content, which can be extracted from the coffee grounds to create biodiesel. Global java production is nowhere near high enough to power everyone, but it could create up to 340 million gallons a year, according to a study- from stuff that has previously been considered waste or compost. People are going to carry on finding clever ways to use stuff rather than sending it to the dump, and that can only be a good thing.

Technorati tag: Biodiesel

A letter from John Leech MP

This is the first response to my enquiry about microgeneration grants, actually an email-

Dear Mr Pattinson,

Thank you for your email. I am happy to chase the issue up for you, but if you are interested in investing in renewable energy yourself, you may also like to refer to the grants section of the Energy Saving Trust's website (http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/proxy/view/full/2019/grantsandofferssearch) where you can find details of grants that you may be able to apply for to help with the cost of any such home improvements.

In the meantime, I will chase up you enquiry with the Rt Hon Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and I will be in touch again once I receive a reply.

In the meantime, however, please feel free to contact me if you think I can be of any further assistance on this or any other matter.

Yours sincerely,

John Leech

The link to the Energy Savings Trust is useful, a quick search took me to www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk for renewables. It looks a lot like the last renewables grant scheme has been relaunched and I just missed it. Householders have until June 2010 to apply, so start working out what you need.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

A letter to my MP

Using the writetothem.com website I've sent an email to my local MP, John Leech-

Dear John Leech,

When the Government announced earlier this year that they wouild be investing several billion pounds in renewable energy there was a hint that there would be a new round of grants for home owners to buy solar panels and other energy saving/ generating technologies. However, I have not heard any more about these payments since.

Would it be possible for you to raise the issue with the relevant department or official and find more details of the proposed schemes? This may not seem like the appropriate time to be paying out such grants but I believe they would help stimulate the economy by giving money to an important sector of industry and saving homeowners money.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Pattinson

Hopefully the grants have started up and I just haven't seen the announcement. If not then I'll have to think of ways to get the issue raised more forcefully.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Britain leads the world in offshore wind power

With the latest batch of offshore wind turbines to come on line Britain has overtaken Denmark to become the world leader for offshore wind. However, we lag behind Europe in overall renewable energy generation and most of our turbines are built abroad.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Towards more efficient solar power

P Z Myers reports on research that could lead to near 100% efficient photovoltaic cells. It's still at an early stage and very small scale, but it sounds promising.

Technorati tag: Solar Power, EcoHouse

How to talk to a climate skeptic

I think I've linked to this useful collection of counter arguments to standard climate change denial before. But i find myself dropping links from it into occasional comments on some blogs that still use the tired old lines, so I thought I'd highlight it again.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

British Waterways gets into the energy business

British Waterways is looking at ways to install windmills and hydroelectric generators along the banks of the 2,200 miles of rivers and canals it oversees.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Make way for the organic battery

Laccase, an enzyme produced by certain woodland fungi, has been shown to be a potential replacement for catalysts such as platinum in batteries and fuel cells. Deployment is a long way away, but if it happens it could see an end to energy intensive mining operations. Also interesting to note, Laccase breaks down lignin, one of the important steps in preparing cellulose materials for fermentation. So it could have an interim use in the production of ethanol from plant waste.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The Journey to Forever

Journey to Forever is a pioneering expedition by a small, mobile NGO (Non-Government Organization) involved in environment and rural development work, starting from Hong Kong and travelling 40,000 kilometres through 26 countries in Asia and Africa to Cape Town, South Africa.

Our route will take us away from the cities and populated districts to remote and inaccessible areas (usually also the least developed and poorest areas), where we'll be studying and reporting on environmental conditions and working for local NGOs on rural development projects in local communities.

The focus will be on trees, soil and water, sustainable farming, sustainable technology, and family nutrition.

The aim is to help people fight poverty and hunger, and to help sustain the environment we all must share.

The solar still information was found in The Journey to Forever's online library, which I shall have to trawl through for other useful snippets.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Wanna become a solar powered good ole boy?

How to build a solar still to distill alcohol. This is a chapter from a book all about home production of ethanol to run your car, but I'm sure the Dukes would find a way to make moonshine with it. Obviously it works better the more sunshine you get, but I think it would work almost as well with winter sun as with summer, albeit for shorter periods. The active solar still described could have its pump powered by solar cells and theoretically run faster when there's more sunlight, solving the regulation problems.

I'm against the production of ethanol as it's currently envisioned by governments and corporations, because it's taking away chunks of food producing land. The mash for the first brew should come from sugar loaded waste, not from perfectly good food products. On a domestic level would it be possible to make, say, an apple peel (and other compostables) brew that would taste vile but be a good basis for distillation?

Update Onfurther investigation I've found that the book has chapters on fermenting various base materials including starchy sources such as potatoes and cellulose materials including cor stalks and paper.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Hulme has a new eco school

The Rolls Crescent Community Primary School in Hulme has had a £5million revamp to incorporate energy and water saving technologies. All new public buildings should be required to be net zero carbon, or better, before they're given the go ahead. It sounds like a lot to ask, but in the long run it'll save money and set a good example.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The Queen has bought a big windmill

The Queen has invested in what is reportedly the largest wind turbine in the world, to be installed off the North East coast of England. She has previously had a water turbine installed in a wier near one of her castles and I believe the royal households are all going over to energy saving bulbs. All in all a good example to set to we commoners.

via Island of Doubt

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Wind Power

Prepare yourself for the green economy

The UN estimates that there could be millions of green jobs created as the industry grows in the next few years. They call for subsidies to speed up the creation of these green jobs, but also acknowledge that the market will shift in that generation anyway as the cost of gas and oil continues to rise.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Let's form a climate change brain trust

Former UK chief scientist Sir David King is calling for a concerted effort to combat climate change. Especially, as it's his area of expertise, scientific work on the scale of CERN to look for alternative energies and clean up technologies.

Sir David commented that global warming was more dangerous than terrorism whilst he was chief scientist, a comment that anyone with half a brain could see was logical and nowhere near as controversial as some made it out to be. In fact, as it affects the poorer nations more, fuelling feelings of injustice and eventually leading to overcrowding and all the problems that entails, it could be said that climate change is a major factor in increasing terrorism. Fight the cause, not the symptoms.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Obama on energy policy

One of 14 questions about science issues answered by the presidential candidate.

3. Energy. Many policymakers and scientists say energy security and sustainability are major problems facing the United States this century. What policies would you support to meet demand for energy while ensuring an economically and environmentally sustainable future?

America's challenges in providing secure, affordable energy while addressing climate change mean that we must make much more efficient use of energy and begin to rely on new energy sources that eliminate or greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. My programs focus both on a greatly expanded program of federally funded energy research and development and on policies designed to speed the adoption of innovative energy technologies and stimulate private innovation.

First, I have proposed programs that, taken together, will increase federal investment in the clean energy research, development, and deployment to $150 billion over ten years. This research will cover:

• Basic research to develop alternative fuels and chemicals;

• Equipment and designs that can greatly reduce energy use in residential and commercial buildings – both new and existing;

• New vehicle technologies capable of significantly reducing our oil consumption;

• Advanced energy storage and transmission that would greatly help the economics of new electric-generating technologies and plug-in hybrids;

• Technologies for capturing and sequestering greenhouse gases produced by coal plants; and

• A new generation of nuclear electric technologies that address cost, safety, waste disposal, and proliferation risks.

I will also work closely with utilities to introduce a digital smart grid that can optimize the overall efficiency of the nation's electric utility system, by managing demand and making effective use of renewable energy and energy storage.

Second, it is essential that we create a strong, predictable market for energy innovations with concrete goals that speed introduction of innovative products and provide a strong incentive for private R&D investment in energy technologies. These concrete goals include:

• Increasing new building efficiency by 50 percent and existing building efficiency by 25 percent over the next decade, and taking other steps that will reduce the energy intensity of our economy 50 percent by 2030;

• Increasing fuel economy standards 4 percent per year and providing loan guarantees for domestic auto plants and parts manufacturers to build new fuel- efficient cars domestically;

• Extending the Production Tax Credit for five years and creating a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard that will require that 10 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025; and

• Ensuring that regulations and incentives in all federal agencies support the national energy and environmental goals in ways that encourage innovation and ingenuity.

I will also encourage communities around the nation to design and build sustainable communities that cut energy use with walkable community designs and expanded investment in mass transit.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Solar planes can stay in the air for days

The Zephyr is a prototype solar powered unmanned aerial vehicle which recently unofficially broke the world endurance record for unmanned flight. Obviously, it's being developed for military use, but the company behind it are predicting civilian implementations. It'll be a long time before the equipment is able to carry large payloads around the world, but high flying drones could be used for pollution monitoring and other forms of information gathering.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Formula Zero- the hydrogen fuel cell racing series

Motor racing is often a testing ground for features that eventually make their way into everyday vehicles. So a zero emission karting series bodes well. The karts run on electric motors powered by fuel cells and compete to see not which is fastest but also which is most efficient. A British team placed third overall in a recent race, behind Dutch and Spanish entries.

Technorati tag: Fuel cell

Pimp my Prius

A trio of Swedish customisers have spent over $180,000 blinging up a Toyota Prius. Of course, all those mods add weight and energy requirements, so it'll certainly be a lot less efficient than a standard version.

Plus, most of what they've done just serves to make a dull car ugly.

It's about time somebody stepped up to make Prii more attractive, but this certainly isn't the way.

Technorati tag: Prius

I prefer the Lib Dem's green energy policy

I'm with Nick Clegg when he talks about how wrong-headed the government is in its championing of nuclear power.

"The thing that I think has gone wrong in this debate is that the government has spooked everyone into thinking that we need nuclear by saying there's going to be a terrible energy gap - the lights are going to go out in the middle of the next decade.

"There's actually no evidence that's the case at all. They've raised the wrong problem in order to push the wrong solution.

"The real problem is that our energy mix is not green enough and we're over dependent on oil and gas from parts of the world that aren't very reliable."

This continued support of nuclear is typical of government. No matter what they may say, they don't want to devolve too much power to their electorate. Everything has to be solved by big, centralised projects that the general population has no say over and which will ultimately come in late and fail to deliver everything they promise. The answer isn't Uranium but a wide spread of projects at the local, and even household, level that will get the public enthused and involved in problems that effect us all.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Greenbird- wind powered record attempt

Wind cars are the future, according to the team behind Greenbird, a land yacht which is due to attempt to break the world record for a wind powered land vehicle. Greenbird uses a rigid wing rather than the traditional sail in its effort to exceed 116mph.

I can see wind vehicles as a a viable transport method for the great expanses of Australia, Africa and even the US midwest. Rigid sails and some sort of computer control would cut down on the need for tacking, but there'd still need to be a bit of room given to the vehicles, so they couldn't cope with crowded roads. Throw in some photovoltaic panelling and combined dynamos/motors in the wheels for electric drive at either end of the journey and it might work.

Technorati tag: Wind Power

Wouldn't you like a solar powered car?

Well, you can have one, for less than twelve pounds. Admittedly, it'll fit in your hand and not be much use for the commute. But you could build a little track and let it race around when the sun shines.

via Jalopnik

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Tidal power gets plugged into the grid

I missed this at the time- it's a couple of weeks old- but Britain's first tidal power generator has been plugged into the national grid. The SeaGen device is in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland and generates 150 kilowatts- which should rise to 300 kilowatts by the end of the summer. The company behind the installation intends to set up a tidal power farm off Anglesey by 2011.

Technorati tag: Tidal Power

Kite Power

Wind turbines are okay, but they're close to the ground, whee wind speeds are relatively low and there can be turbulence to cut their efficiency. If you want to make the most of wind power you really need to go up to 800 metres with a kite.

Technorati tag: Wind Power

"Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter"

Many a true word is spoken in jest. And it's being reported that George W Bush signed off from a G8 meeting by being honest about his appalling environmental record.

via Donklephant

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Advice for Gordon- save the world by bribing the voters

I don't have any particular interest in Gordon Brown staying on as Prime Minister, he's possibly worse than Blair because he's too much of a coward to actually do anything radical. If he were, however, to suddenly develop a spine and display some of the savvy he claims to have there are ways he could get re-elected, boost the economy and start taking big steps towards hitting carbon dioxide reduction targets.

All he has to do is bribe the electorate.

A small number of people choose to ignore the evidence on global warming and will shout about any environmental initiatives no matter that they often have benefits beyond the green. Let's just ignore them. Others are determined to cut their footprint no matter what. These converts deserve rewarding, and will be as a bonus of what I'm suggesting. The largest number of people, across a range of scepticism to understanding, aren't going green because of the initial expense. Also for many of them when Gordon says "Green" they hear the word "Tax".

Give these people the money to go green.

The recent announcement of a £100billion green initiative by Brown did mention solar power and other grants. What's needed is for these to be big enough to cover most of the cost of installing panels, insulation or whatever is needed, because at present the payback in reduced bills isn't enough. Most people would be better off leaving their money in the bank and earning interest. It would also help the uptake if the rates to sell electricity back to the suppliers were better. Let's say that power companies should write off one unit of power consumed for every unit generated- in summer or on a windy day the house could pay for the electricity it used when it was cloudy or still. After the bill balances then the microgenerator can still sell to the power company at, say, half the price per unit they were being charged.

As important as increasing the grants and improving buy back is selling them properly. Emphasis should be put on giving money back to the consumer and making them independent of big suppliers. Gordon's too dull to do this well, so he'd have to hope he could find a minister who could do it for him. The Tories have already figured out that this is a good sell, with proposals for feeding landfill savings back to households that recycle more. Their ideas about modifying the tax on petrol are based on a similar idea but seem half baked at best.

Of course, per kilowatt generated and ton of CO2 saved an increase in the scope and size of grants for microgeneration will be far more expensive than offshore wind or any other scheme. But no-one ever seems to think about where this money will go. The workers who install photovoltaics, groundsource pipes etc. will all be based in Britain. With a bit of encouragement the companies creating the equipment could all be British as well. They'll all pay tax on their increased income, and boost the economy with their spending, as will the households now with extra cash from the electricity they're saving and generating.

Of course the main reason a scheme like this won't go ahead is because it will do the one thing all politicians are terrified of- it will allow the electorate to become less dependent on the state and the big businesses that pay for all the lobbying.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Opinion, Gordon Brown

Another step toward algae diesel

An American company called Solazyme has announced that its algae derived biodiesel has passed US standards testing and is compatible with unmodified diesel engines. The process can use waste materials and has a big advantage over farmed biodiesel in that it doesn't take capacity away from food production.

via Jalopnik

Technorati tag: biodiesel

The tropical Atlantic ozone sink

Measurements in the Atlantic have shown that the actions of ultraviolet light and sea spray are scrubbing ozone and methane out of the atmosphere in the area faster than expected. Which is fairly good news, if only we can stop pumping out so many pollutants the Earth may clean the rest up faster than we deserve.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Energy independence begins at home

Gordon Brown has announced a £100billion renewable energy plan. The Daily Mail and its readers have reacted as you'd expect, ignoring the boost to the economy from all the jobs created and the opportunities through grants to go energy independent.

So, those of you who can, I'd recommend stealing a jump on the whingers and using their tax money to go off grid. When I researched grants for solar panels last month I found that the existing scheme had been phased out, which was annoying. I'm now willing to give Brown the benefit of the doubt and hope this was because they were gearing up to a new and improved scheme. It isn't easy. I'm not as obnoxiously and knee-jerkingly anti Brown/New Labour as the Mail's readers, but past performance does mark the Government as untrustworthy.

The schemes for householders will be announced later this Summer. I'll be looking out for them and will try to do some number crunching on them when they arrive.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Guerrilla Gardening in Tokyo

Even one of the most densely populated cities in the world still has some space for an enterprising guerrilla to plant tomatoes.

via BoingBoing

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Algae powered adventures in Chicago

In a piece of brilliant education a Chicago science teacher ran a project with his students to see if they could create enough biodiesel from algae to run a VW camper on a 20 mile round trip from their school to the Sears tower and back again. The algae "farm" was set up in a corner of the classroom, using fluorescent lamps to double for sunlight, and the resulting liquid separated in a centrifuge at a proper lab. A writer for Jalopnik was along for the ride as the battered old vehicle puttered its way through the windy city's heavy Friday traffic.

Obviously the small scale set up the students used was probably carbon negative overal, with its reliance on pumps and artificial light, but large scale algae farms could benefit from natural light and wind or solar PV to power any motors.

Technorati tag: Biodiesel

CO2 scrubbers, a step toward a technological fix

A team of Arizona based scientists believe they are close to building CO2 "scrubbers". These will collect the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere using plastic membranes that could later release the gas into greenhouses or other more permanent traps. They're not the solution, millions would be needed to soak up current production levels and I doubt they'll be cheaper than most of the methods used to reduce emissions at source, but they could be deployed as part of a clean up campaign.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The Suzuki Crosscage- a hydrogen fuel cell powered motorbike

Suzuki are at the testing stage with their fuel cell powered motorbike, which sounds like an option for commutes that are too long for cycling (over ten miles I'd say).

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Next generation wind power

Scifi blog io9 looks at a couple of wind power options for domestic use. The micro turbine borders on a joke, but the Phillipe Starck designed transparent turbine is pretty. I'm still not convinced by wind power in suburbia because at least one study has shown that the small windmills erected by house owners don't go high enough to get away from the blocking effects of nearby structures. They might be effective atop taller buildings though.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Mancat saves £300,000 by going Green

Mancat college in Manchester has cut its fuel bills by almost a half by adopting energy saving technology and techniques on its campus.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Build your own biosphere

I used to have a biosphere and loved it. It survived a couple of years despite a very slow leak and more than once being stuck in a box for months after a move. As well as being pretty, they're a neat little image of the world. The video above introduces the concept of building your own biosphere in a Kilner jar. The secret ingredient is pond scum.

This page has more biosphere information, including a series of experiments to see what works best.

via BoingBoing

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Manchester University wins an eco award

Manchester University has won an award for making its student accomodation more environmentally friendly.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The Virtual Forest

The Virtual Forest is a Spanish endeavour to get people cutting their greenhouse gas emissions by appealing to their wallets. The energy saving questionnaire it offers stresses the financial benefits of saving energy as much as the environmental. They also promise to plant trees for you, in Second Life and real life.

The site is bilingual and there are phrases that seem imperfectly translated, but not as badly as I've seen elsewhere. The questions on your energy consumption are also formed from a Spanish perspective. For example, here in Manchester I find I never have need for any form of sun shade to keep the house cool. The cultural differences don't minimise the message however, and I'd really like a Second Life tree.

This review was paid for through ReviewMe.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The Oxford Road Green Corridor

Plans are in place to close sections of Oxford Road to all traffic but special buses (and bikes?). The scheme won't begin for around five years and is dependent upon the introduction of a congestion charge and the access to funds that will allow.

Oxford Road is already officially the busiest bus route in Europe. Perhaps it's time to let them take some of it over. The planned closed section covers the only part of the road that I regularly cycle on, from around the University all the way into the centre, so I hope they intend to stick a cycle lane into the mix.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The Rural ZED house- affordable eco-homes

ZEDFactory, a design and build consortium, have announced the RuralZED house. It's timber framed modular design and incorporation of recycled materials make it an affordable net-zero energy home that they hope will lead the way for future developments.

chnorati tag: EcoHouse

Branson's biofuelled jumbo

A Virgin 747 has flown from Heathrow to Schiphol with one of its fuel tanks filled with 20% biofuel. Richard Branson says that commercial flights will be powered by algal biofuel and is investing in alternative fuel development. However, there are questions about the effectiveness of teh systems Virgin will be using, the biggest of which is why aren't they working to cut flights?

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Manchester Arndale to go Green

All the businesses in Manchester's Arndale shopping centre have pledged to go Green, cutting their carbon footprint and increasing recycling. The only problem is that a shopping centre exists to encourage consumption. Before the goods arrive and after they leave they have an impact on the environment, no matter how green the shops that sell them are.

Technorati tag: Shopping

The Leading New York General Contractor Goes Green

I'm not sure what the UK equivalent of a general contractor is, some sort of one stop building renovations. My Home say they're they're the leading general contractor in New York and have announced in a press release that they intend to promote green options for their projects.

There are some deniers whose argumnents have moved on to moaning about the cost of going green. They just can't see, or refuse to acknowledge, the flip side of their argument- that the economy is going to get a boost from all the companies being paid to work on green projects.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Battle of the Green streets

Streets with Green in their name are competing against each other to see which can save the most money and energy. the winning street will get £50,000 toward community projects.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

One solution for city centres

Science fiction blog io9 has concept sketches for a possible repurposing of a mundane and moribund city centre.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Green home blues

The Prince of Wales plans to build a low carbon house out of natural materials, even if that means it won't attain the highest possible green building rating.

Some people are becoming convinced that the Government's stamp duty rebate for zero carbon homes is actually a con. It's possible the scheme will take off slowly, but I would be unsurprised, though a little disappointed, if the requirements for eligibility have been set too narrow deliberately.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Climate change denial can lead to poverty

Iain Martin roles out is a tired old argument that I've heard several times before. So this is as good a time as any to reply.

"but it makes no sense to send our economy, or those of developing countries, into reverse gear on the back of apocalyptic warnings by those who enjoy predicting disaster"

Really? Who is going to build the windmills? Manufacture and mount the solar panels? Build all the low energy houses? Bring existing houses up to standard? Where are they going to spend the billions that stand to be made? What are home owners going to do with the money they save by cutting down on waste?

How blinkered do you have to be to miss the huge opportunities that are available to the early adopters of energy saving technologies? You can finesse your arguments against climate change as much as you want, but you'd be an idiot if you couldn't see the advantages of switching to renewables and becoming more efficient.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

To Timbuktu on Chocodiesel

Biotruck took a biodiesel processing plant to Timbuktu in Mali, so the locals could produce fuel from waste cooking oil. They made the journey carbon neutral by powering their truck with biodiesel derived from waste chocolate.

via BoingBoing

Technorati tag: Biodiesel

Environmental news round up

Nuclear clean-up bill £12bn higher than predicted.

Manchester Council announces carbon cutting plans.

Using thermoelectrics to cut fuel consumption.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Grown up green

grownupgreen aims to encourage people to think and act in ways which protect and improve the natural environment and shows how sustainable development is relevant to all of us.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Grant Management - Green letting agency

Grant Management promise that all the properties they let are carbon neutral because their energy use is offset by buying trees. If that were all it would be nice, but just a bit of canny marketting. However, their About Us section suggests that the commitment goes deeper-

About Our Commitment to the Environment

Grant Management has embraced the environment by achieving carbon neutral status. This was accomplished by reducing the company's carbon footprint and offsetting the balance through tree planting via Global Trees. Additionally, Grant Management has made the properties it manages carbon neutral, recycling, re-using and sharing environmental knowledge and ideas with other individuals and companies.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The useful + agreeable house

The u + a house is a pre-designed (not pre-fab) pod with a skin of aircraft grade aluminium, minimal footprint and built in solar and other energy saving features.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Environmental news round up

Trees absorb less carbon dioxide as the world warms up.

The ability of forests to soak up man-made carbon dioxide is weakening, according to an analysis of two decades of data from more than 30 sites in the frozen north.

Oil price hits $100 per barrel for the first time.

German cities ban the most polluting cars.

Solar school in Trafford.

A School in Trafford is about to become one of the country's 'greenest' when solar panels are installed on its roof as part of a renewable energy drive.

Sale Grammar School is being given the panels, which are worth about £20,000, by the Co-operative Group.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

Comparative Planetology

Kim Stanley Robinson has some interesting things to say about mankinds effect on the environment and the badly thought out assumptions behind some ideas of sustainability.

It’s easy to imagine people who are bored in the modern techno-surround, as I call it, and they’re bored because they have not fully comprehended that they’re still primates, that their brains grew over a million-year period doing a certain suite of activities, and those activities are still available. Anyone can do them; they’re simple. They have to do with basic life support and basic social activities unboosted by technological means.

And there’s an addictive side to this. People try to do stupid technological replacements for natural primate actions, but it doesn’t quite give them the buzz that they hoped it would. Even though it looks quite magical, the sense of accomplishment is not there. So they do it again, hoping that the activity, like a drug, will somehow satisfy the urge that it’s supposedly meant to satisfy. But it doesn’t. So they do it more and more – and they fall down a rabbit hole, pursuing a destructive and high carbon-burn activity, when they could just go out for a walk, or plant a garden, or sit down at a table with a friend and drink some coffee and talk for an hour. All of these unboosted, straight-forward primate activities are actually intensely satisfying to the totality of the mind-body that we are.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The XR-3 Hybrid

The XR-3 plug in hybrid is a self build project that promises between 100 and 225 miles per gallon (US gallons, US=3.785411784 Litres- UK=4.54609 Litres, according to this page). You can pre-order the instructions, $170 for the basic set, $200 for the deluxe version with lots of data on a dvd. There are plans to produce body and chassis parts within the year for those of us who aren't so adept at laying carbon or glass fibre.

via Jalopnik

Technorati tag: Green Transport

The Green car show

Wired went to the International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition to drool over pollution free motoring and photograph lots of cool technology.

Technorati tag: Electric car

Wind power for all

Great Britain could get all its energy from offshore wind farms.

Technorati tag: Wind Power

The power of cheese

An Austrian cheese factory now gets some of its power from a gas burner that uses methane released when whey is heated. The system, created by a Rochdale business, is dual fuel, switching to piped natural gas when methane production is too low, and has helped the factory cut its carbon footprint by 30%.

Technorati tag: Renewable Energy

Chicago's green alleys

Chicago, which claims to have more square miles of alleyway than any other city, is starting to pave them with permeable materials that will reduce run off and cut the heat island effect. They'll also be installing low energy lighting. The initial costs are greater than just relaying concrete or tarmac but cut the risk of flooded basements and other knock on effects.

Perhaps the scheme could be extended to pavement outside the ally and other pedestrian areas. Far too many of the pavements around here drain off into huge puddles on roads or where there are dips. Take it another step further and let's have rules that require these materials be used in domestic paving to mitigate all the short sightedconcreting of front lawns that's become so prevalent.

via Common sense Agriculture, Conservation and Energy

Technorati tag: Drainage

Europe's trees are absorbing more carbon than expected

The forests of Europe are a more effective carbon sink than previously believed. Between 1990 and 2005 they absorbed nearly 11% of emissions, over twice the amount calculated in 1992. Forestation isn't going to solve all our carbon emission problems, but it has to help.

Technorati tag: Forests

Using Africa's sun to power Europe and provide fresh water

Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan has proposed a grand solar power scheme to the European Union. Using cheap land on the African and Middle Eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, a string of concentrating solar power stations could be constructed to generate power for local towns and Europe and run desalination plants to provide fresh water.

It's another grand scheme, and I'm dubious of grand schemes, but it has the benefit of being made up of lots of smaller components. Rather than waiting a decade for one big power plant to come online, as with nuclear or plans like the Severn Estuary barrier, saller plants can be built in shorter time periods and start making a difference immediately.

Technorati tag: Solar Power

Google saves the world

Google is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy technologies. The company has a division which aims to develop renewable energy sources that are cheaper than coal.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The CBI goes Green

The Confederation of Bitish Industry has released a report saying they must do something about climate change. Coming from what used to be an institutionalised denier this is a big step forward. But the details could be more promising. They're calling for the development of nuclear power and have plans to cut 1 million of teh 370million tons of carbon dioxide produced by member corporations. And they may still back such unGreen proposals as airport expansion.

Technorati tag: EcoHouse

The wind up media player

Backed by Trevor Baylis, he of the wind up radio, this media player is a guilt free way to listen to your music collection on the move. One minute of winding gives forty minutes of listening, or you can charge it using a usb cable if you're lazy.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: technology

The future of air travel?

A resurgence in airships has been predicted for years. Maybe if governments could start applying realistic taxes on airlines than super luxury airships would become more viable economically.

Technorati tag: Airship

Training for Green jobs

If you're looking for a job in renewable energy you can now get all sorts of training.

Epogee provide many courses in solar installation.

We offer a variety of DIY training courses which will tell you everything you know to set up your own DIY renewable energy scheme.

We also offer a range of courses aimed at the householder or business owner aimed at reducing the amount of energy used by energy-efficiency improvements and by advising on the practicalities of renewable energy implementation in every-day situations.

The Green Energy Academy provides training for Domestic Energy Assessors and installers of renewable energy technologies-

Solar InstallationCourses
Water Reclamation, including rainwater harvesting systems
Micro Wind Turbine Installation
Ground Source Heat Pumps
Air Source Heat Pumps
Photo-Voltaic Systems
Under Floor Heating
Bespoke Energy Efficiency Courses
Bio Mass Generation

Stroma Technologies also provides training for domestic energy assessors-

STROMA Technology Ltd is dedicated to providing quality accredited training and over the coming months will be expanding into a variety of training fields within the environmental sector. In the foreseeable future, Stroma will become a City & Guilds training centre, allowing us to provide a variety of quality course, in addition to our current BINDT Accredited Training.

Please return to this section for additional information, which will be uploaded as soon as it becomes available.

Technorati tag: Training