Intermittent

The argument put forward for nuclear as the magic CO2 bullet is that energy sources such as wind power are intermittent and would therefore need to be backed up by coal or nuclear anyway. However, research at Oxford University has produced a plan for using these supposedly unreliable generation systems. A combination of wind, micro Combined Heat and Power and solar produces an overlapping and always on set of supplies (the wind blows the most at the times of year, and even the times of day, when it's most needed and the heating's on most at the same time as light is required). Throw tidal and wave energy into the mix and you're heading for a perfect solution.

Technorati tag: Wind Power, Renewable Energy

Cell Sufficiency

Off-Grid has a primer on how fuel cells work.

Technorati tag: Fuel Cell

UFO

Hippyshopper has been trying out the Eco Ball washing powder alternative and thinks they're an effective, perfume free and money saving option. If I had £35 (3p a wash) I'd give them a go.

Eco Balls

Technorati tag: Washing

Trickle up

"Middle Of the Road and Off the Grid." You could call them Moogs, Wired coins the term "hygrid". Ordinary households across the US are aiming for energy independence with solar power, wind turbines and wood burning stoves. They're still connected to the power lines, because sometimes they can't produce quite enough power and sometimes they have a surplus to sell back, but their bills have plummeted.

This is energy policy I want to see my government backing. One or two Smith or Patel families in each neighbourhood slashing their energy bills by over a half would do more to speed uptake of energy saving and micro generation than any amount of woolly promises Tony could make. Once again- don't waste money trying to sell nuclear power- fund a few power stations in Acacia Avenue and see the benefits roll in.

Technorati tag: Micro generation, Hygrid, self sufficiency

Native American wind

NativeEnergy, a leading national renewable energy company, is supplying Renewable Energy Credits or "Green Tags" to neutralize all carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution generated by travel and venue energy use for the 2005 Institutional Investors Summit on Climate Risk, the first "climate neutral" event ever held at U.N. Headquarters. Throughout the day today top institutional investors representing more than $5 Trillion in assets will discuss the financial risks and the investment opportunities posed by global climate change during an invitation-only summit at U.N. Headquarters in New York City. The Summit was organized by Ceres, the coalition of investor and public interest groups, who is co-hosting the event with the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships.

www.nativeenergy.com/

www.ceres.org/

Technorati tag: Green Tags, Renewable Energy

Rotary

The Rand Cam rotary engine is lighter, more efficient and easier to maintain, with only two moving parts, the vanes and rotor, compared to 40 in a simple four cylinder engine. It also works particularly well with clean burning fuels such as hydrogen and propane.

One of the most anticipated uses for the new technology is among the blossoming hydrogen-powered automobile industry. The development of the Rand Cam(TM) engine has sparked considerable interest among environmentalists and eco-friendly manufacturers because of its ability to operate using a clean-burning hydrogen fuel cell. "Hybrid electric vehicles and engines that run using cleaner-burning fuels such as hydrogen, propane and natural gas are the future of the automotive industry," said John Robertson, CEO of Reg Technologies and its US subsidiary, REGI US. "Our society has recognized the benefits of exploring hydrogen-based technologies, and we are happy to be contributing towards the development of more sophisticated engines that operate using hydrogen and other clean burning fuels."

via Jalopnik

Technorati tag: Transport, Fuel Efficiency

Know your enemy

Earth Shakers: The Counter-Enviro Power List
With "the death of environmentalism" being debated across the land—and with the mainstream movement under siege from without and within—it's time to meet the winning side in America's new green wars. Here they come, ready or not: the 20 most powerful voices leading the environmental counterrevolution.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: Environmentalism

Grant

Biomass- coppiced willow etc.- is the UK's prime source of renewable energy. DEFRA even has a dedicated grant scheme.

Technorati tag: Biomass

Motes

Swarms of small, wirelessly connected sensors are to be deployed in forests and other habitats to provide deeper, more consistent readings of the environment. They'll give longer term data, can track animal movement through body heat and are to be deployed throughout America (maybe the rest of the world can roll out their own versions, I'd love to be able to log on to a real time sampoling of the barrier reef for example) for a "long-term investigation of temporal, climate or human impact".

"The potential for environmental science is amazing," said Dr. Alexandra Isern, a program director at the National Science Foundation. "With this technology, we can start to understand what is an event and what is normal. We're recognizing more and more how different processes in the environment operate at different frequencies. To comprehend that, you need to take measurements all the time."

Technorati tag: Environment

The Results are in

GreenHybrid.com provides lots of information about owning a hybrid vehicle, including fuel consumption figures garnered from over 5 million miles of driving. It looks like the Honda Insight is the way to go, with Ford and Lexus' offerings doing no better than a normal car (though, to be fair, the Lexus data is based upon the mileage of only two vehicles, a larger pool of data would be preferable).

via Slashdot

Technorati tag: Transport, Hybrid Vehicles

The long-time-coming crisis

Steven Grant has a sharp, if bleak, take on the US's prospects as far as fuel goes. It's about half way down the page.

If I appear to have no sympathy for this, it's because I don't. For a minimum of 30 years, we've known the energy crisis was the coming state of things, not just a brief blip during the Carter years.

This is also why I have no sympathy for tobacco companies or tobacco growers. There's an 1888 medical textbook that directly links tobacco to cancer, specifically lung cancer so the terminal health risks of the weed were known long before the '50s. Did tobacco companies expand into other areas and divest themselves of tobacco? No. Did tobacco farmers phase out tobacco crops in favor of other cash crops? No. If you have decades to deal with a problem, and you don't, when someone comes along and says "Take care of it right now!" do you have the right to bitch there's not enough time? Of course not.

Technorati tag: Transport

Everybody's windmill

It's not for everyone but the Scottish Executive is pushing to have local authorities allow residents to put mini wind turbines on their roofs. Personally, I'd find these five bladed turbines a pleasant and inspiring sight, and they're practically noiseless, but there will always be NIMBYs.

Gillian Bishop, a spokesman for Views of Scotland, an umbrella organisation representing wind farm protesters, said the devices would achieve little and could be more controversial than satellite dishes.

“It seems so much effort for so little power,” she said. “They are just twiddling around the edges and I think if these things are spinning around all over the place it could drive neighbours crazy.”

via Sustainablog

Technorati tag: Wind Power

New Clear

I can see, in the simplistic way that politicians have of viewing things, how nuclear power is an answer to CO2 emissions, but I can also see how it should be a long, long way down the list of things they can do. Government, and far too many activists and lobbyists, take a blinkered view of the problem. They can only think in terms of National Grid level generation. The first step toward cutting CO2 generation is making sure we use less. I don't have the figures in front of me, but I can confidently say that for the price of one nuclear power station we could install enough lagging, double glazing and low energy bulbs to save more electricity than the plant would generate. Hell, we could probably do it with the amount that's going to be wasted on the PR nightmare of selling nuclear power to the masses.

So here's my plan, if there are any politicians reading- increase the minimum insulation requirements for all new builds; give every new house a full set of low energy bulbs; offer the same for existing houses, and actually sell it rather than having it hidden in the documentary equivalent of a sullen mumble; expand the grants system for installing solar systems; and show you're committed by getting those Greenpeace blokes back on top of Prescott's palace to wire up the solar panels.

The plan will need finessing, of course, and it could be a hard sell. But think of it like this, if you can be the MP who saved householders hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year you know you're going to get re-elected. Leave the nuclear dreams to people with no imagination.

Technorati tag: Carbon Dioxide, Nuclear, Politics

Backyard Biodiversity

Wild About Gardens is a scheme to track the wildlife resident in Great Britain's 15 million gardens.

We'd like to build up a source of local knowledge about wildlife in gardens, and this is where we need YOU. You can provide us with valuable information about the wild creatures and plants in your garden. All you need to do is register and join our conversation.

via WorldChanging

Technorati tag: Wildlife, Gardens, Biodiversity

Two Wheels Good

Manchester Bike Week is from June 11th to June 19th.

Technorati tag: Manchester, Cycling

The biodiesel lorry is coming

Cambridge University has mounted a biodiesel refining plant on the back of a lorry so it can go to farms and convert rape oil to fuel at source. The portable refinery is the first in the world that can continuously produce fuel, rather than having to be emptied and cleaned after every batch.

A little bit at the end, however, has me pondering the mathematics of commercial biodiesel-

The government has made this market profitable by giving a tax rebate of 20p on every litre sold compared with commercial diesel. Tesco has begun selling a form of bio-diesel in some garages. It contains 5% bio-diesel and costs 2p a litre more than the 100% petrol version giving Tesco a substantial profit on each litre.

Unless I've read that wrong, or it's badly phrased, Tesco are taking advantage of a rebate and buyers' goodwill to gouge a profit whilst looking green. Surely they could make it a win-win by selling 5% biodiesel for a couple of pennies less and still make more per litre because of the rebate.

Technorati tag: Biodiesel

National Health

The sort of development you hope Tony was talking about when he said that public sector buildings would work toward sustainable development. A County Antrim hospital is to get a quarter of its electricity from a windmill.

Technorati tag: Wind power

Brightening

The results of a ten year study show that, in some parts of the world, a greater amount of sunlight is reaching the Earth's surface. This could be a sign that global dimming is being reversed due to stricter pollution controls and the collapse of the Soviet Union's dirty industries.

Of course, there isn't enough data to tell how this is going to affect global warming. I'm trying not to take the pessimistic view.

Technorati tag: Global Dimming

Sustainable Development

The Government's sustainable development site. If only they'd made more noise about it when I was looking into the green credentials of the three main parties I might not have been so damning of Labour. I still wouldn't have voted for them, but that's a different matter.

via Worldchanging

Technorati tag: Sustainable Development

Hydraulic SUV

As well as the hydraulic transmission system being developed by Vincent Carman it seems the US government, in the form of the EPA, is getting in on the act- Hydraulic Hybrid SUV.

via Jalopnik

Technorati tag: Transport, Fuel Economy