Potential £25-a-day congestion charge
by Rachel Thomas
Ken Livingstone, major of London, today said that within the next month he aimed to approve £25-a-day congestion charge plans for the highest polluting vehicles entering the capital. Within the pages of the New Statesman, Livingstone made predictions that this policy would be an important issue within the approaching mayoral elections. Livingstone defended his record as running a left-wing administration that has pursued pioneering policies in areas including equalities, climate change and ...
Biofuels breakthrough in Ireland
by David Masters
Irish companies have made a green breakthrough by using a fast growing, perennial grass as biofuel to generate electricity. JHM Crops and Quinn's of Baltinglass supplied the national grid with the grass, called miscanthus biomass. It was then successfully fired with peat at the Bord na Mona powerstation, generating green electricity. Chief executive of JHM Crops, Joe Hogan said that this breakthrough represented an "important" day for his company. ...
Wind farm in Scottish Isles may still go ahead
by David Masters
A BBC report claiming that the decision has already been reached to turn down a £500 million wind farm development of 181 turbines on the Scottish Isle of Lewis has been denounced as untrue by the Scottish Executive. Radio nan Gaidheal, the BBC's Gaelic news service, last week reported that the Scottish parliament is "minded to refuse" the development, which would rank among the biggest wind farms in Europe if it ...
Northern Irish schools told to green up their act
by David Masters
Schools and Universities in Northern Ireland are being offered new guidance to help them reduce their environmental impact. Recent research found that schools and universities in Northern Ireland use 744 million KWh of energy every year, costing £36.5 million and pumping 164,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In an attempt to reduce this, The Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland has published a new guidance pack for educational establishments, ...
Hypersonic Mach 5, Hydrogen powered plane.
by Alan HartenToday's airliners area huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and a major burner of oil based fuels. In the not too distant future, new airliners will be green, non-polluting, and incredibly fast. One concept aircraft that will probably soon receive massive funding is the A2, this new hypersonic jet airliner, capable of reaching 3,400Mph, a speed known as Mach5, and carrying up to 300 people, is being developed by a company ...
Outdoor heaters could become a thing of the past
by Rachel Thomas
Outdoor patio heaters could shortly become history should MEPs choose to ban them today. The EU parliament is likely to back a resolution that will require the use of low energy efficiency appliances to be phased out, specifically targeting patio heaters. The motion urges the EU to act promptly to introduce minimum standards for energy efficiency. The motion also discusses such appliances as television ‘decoder’ boxes, light bulbs and air-conditioning whilst additionally calling ...
Bush wants America to be front-runner in green energy
by David Masters
George Bush's annual Presidential speech on Monday included climate change and energy as one of several key domestic and foreign policy topics. The speech's main emphasis was on America's need for energy security, and to reduce its dependence on oil. Bush pledged that the US will "continue leading the way" in developing cleaner and energy efficient technology, and that the use of nuclear power should be increased to reduce ...
Biomass fuels the way forward in Ireland
by David Masters
Businesses, schools and hospitals in Ireland are being offered grants to install biomass-fuelled and anaerobic digestion combined heat and power units (CHPs). The new renewable energy grant scheme was announced by Energy Minister Eamon Ryan, who also explained how farmers will be integral to the success of the scheme - as in the future their crops, forests and cows will enable them to produce their own energy. Mr. Ryan said that "We ...
Businesses urged to use ‘retread’ tyres
by David Masters
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is encouraging business to replace worn out tyres with retreads. These are tyres which have had their worn tread rubber replaced, extending their life, and can be up to 10% cheaper than new budget tyres. Retread tyres are made using similar compounds to new tyres. They are legally required to be manufactured with the same performance criteria and safety standards as brand ...
Head of UN Aid concerned about climate, and cost of food
by Alan Harten
John Holmes is the Undersecretary for the UN Humanitarian Affairs, and Emergency Relief Coordination. And he is publicly voicing his concerns, over what he, and presumably the UN consider to be, rapidly rising prices of basic foodstuffs, worldwide. On Tuesday, he also stated his worries about the increasingly extreme weather conditions globally that are the cause of more frequent and more intense, humanitarian disasters, all over the world. A massive 14 ...
Anti-whaling group forced to halt it’s chase of Japanese fleet
by Rachel Thomas
Sea Shepherd, the marine conservation group, has abandoned its campaign of action against Japanese whales in the Antarctic due to low fuel in it’s ship. The ship is headed to Australia to undergo small repairs, whilst it’s crew aim to obtain enough fuel to continue the gripping chase of harpoons. Paul Watson, captain of the Steve Irwin said that the ship has only enough fuel to be able to reach ...
Innovation for sustainability - can we meet the challenge?
by Grant Draper
Mallen Baker needs to consider the toughest question, with the business environment changing so dramatically. Poverty, along with climate change, shapes the market, something which cannot be changed. Adapting to circumstances and using innovation to fuel success seems to be the corporate response to such problems. Three key elements are to be highlighted, when discussing innovation in companies to approach sustainability: • Boardroom commitment to sustainability helps build a framework for robust corporate governance. • Investors are ...
Biofuel Protests Across the U.K
by Rachael Grant
Biofuelwatch, a volunteer-based campaign group who don’t receive any commercial or government funding, have been planning a week of protests about, not surprisingly, biofuels. Their concerns revolve around deforestation, food prices, and the rising demand of biofuels and the implication this has on the environment, both in the immediate, and the long term future. The week of protests began on Saturday, with a plethora of events planned, including a protest ...
91% of new Government buildings fall short of environmental standards
by David Masters
Only 9% of government building projects are meeting sustainable building standards, according to a report from the Public Accounts Committee. The House of Commons committee of MPs said the government should be leading the way by setting an example in the environmental standards of its projects. £3 billion is spent every year on new buildings and major refurbishments by government departments - and sustainability standards have been set ...
Food and drink market leaders pledge huge cuts in water use
by David Masters
140 million litres of water are expected to be saved every day due to an agreement between food and drink manufacturers, brokered by trade association the Food and Drink Federation. In a bid to reduce their environmental impact, 21 of the UK's leading food and drinks companies have signed up to the pledge to make major cuts in their water usage. They will work alongside Envirowise, a government funded programme that ...
Oprah adds a powerful backing to micro-lending.
by Alan Harten
Oprah Winfrey, daytime talk-show guru has added her not inconsiderable weight, to backing micro-lending in the developing world. This is seen by many as a significant move, her influence is very substantial indeed, mention of a new book on her talk-show instantly propels it is to the top of the bestseller's list. Her extremely broad appeal with the American public is now being used by her to bring attention to the concept ...
US border block threatens the Jaguar
by Rachel Thomas
The jaguar could be the real victim as America hastens to stop immigration over its Mexico border. Kieran Suckling, of the US Centre for Biological Diversity, claims how US plans to build a wall along the Mexico/US border would stop jaguars crossing the border and entering the US. This is all despite plans from the centre to set up refuges that would aim to save the species by creating ...
Reverse in Deforestation Rates Means Amazon Continues Shrinking
by Rachael Grant
Last year, rates of deforestation had dropped for the third consecutive year, but recent news has revealed that this is no longer the case; unfortunately the reverse. Statistics for the August - December period of 2007 have shown that the rates have in fact doubled, and while it's early days, this data suggests that the accumulated rates for the year will end up being high. It has previously been stated ...
Ethical pensions on the rise
by David Masters
In 2000, the government made it compulsory for pension providers to tell customers whether consideration of social, environmental or ethical factors influences the choices they make when investing. Now - according to new research - ethical pensions are becoming the investment of choice for an increasing number of people. The research, conducted by Co-operative Insurance (CIS), a leading personal pensions provider in the UK, found that half of new personal pension customers ...
Scotland to go ‘zero waste’ by 2025
by David Masters
The Scottish government this week revealed plans for a 'zero waste Scotland'. The ambitious target - part of a £150 million drive over the next 3 years - will be achieved through increasing recycling and capping waste incineration. Environment secretary Richard Lochhead announced the plans to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, which aim for recycling or composting of municipal waste to reach 50% by 2013, 60% by 2020 and 70% ...