Grand Designs Live goes eco-friendly
by David MastersVisitors to the Grand Designs Live exhibition in London last week were treated to a tour of some of the world's most eco-friendly housing designs. Homes at the exhibition included dwellings constructed with straw bales, and houses built with logs. All of the houses included environmentally friendly fixtures and fittings. Amazonails, a non-profit organisation from Northern England, said that they designed the straw house with traditional values in mind. Seminars offered visitors ...
Greenwash knocks consumer confidence
by David MastersThe Greenwash Guide - a new online report released by Futerra Sustainability Communications (FSC) - reveals that only one in ten consumers trust environmental claims made by advertisers. Meanwhile, of the advertising agencies interviewed for the guide, eight out of ten said that they had an internal sustainability policy. However, only four agreed to give information on actual products - and only one of those four said that it plans ...
Ireland’s biggest stadium goes carbon neutral
by David Masters
Ireland's biggest sporting stadium, Croke Park, is to be carbon neutral by the end of 2009 according to a joint announcement by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and the Electricity Supply Board (ESB). Croke Park, Dublin, is the sixth biggest stadium in Europe. It is home to the GAA, and hosts the Gaelic games, including the annual finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and the Senior Hurling Championship. The ...
Japan proposes 80% cut in emissions
by Alan Harten
The Prime Minister of Japan, Yasuo Fukuda, intends to cut the nation's emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 80% by the year 2050. These new steps aimed at reducing Japan’s contribution to global warming, are expected to be announced in detail during June. Japan had previously been pushing for 50% reductions over the next 42 years. It is not yet clear if Japan is talking about reductions from present levels ...
Fart tax on Estonia’s cows
by David Masters
Farmers in Estonia are to be taxed for the greenhouse gases produced by their cows. The new measures, dubbed the 'fart tax', mean that Estonian farmers will be penalised for the methane and carbon dioxide produced by their cattle. An average cow produces 1,500 litres of carbon dioxide and 350 litres of methane every day from burping and flatulence. Methane is over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping ...
English households recycle 33% of waste
by David Masters
New statistics released by the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defra) reveal that the level of household rubbish recycled in England has risen above 33%. The most up to date quarterly figures submitted by local governments to the central WasteDataFlow database show that between October 2006 and September 2007 English households recycled an average of 33.2% of their rubbish. This is a significant increase on the 30.6% rate between ...
Poorest children worst hit by global warming
by David Masters
A new report by UNICEF UK outlines how the poorest and most vulnerable children in the world are the most likely to be adversely affected by climate change. 'Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility' has been published on the ten year anniversary of the UK government signing the Kyoto Protocol. It calls upon the UK government to take immediate action against climate change, and to make children worldwide its first ...
Prince’s eco-town gets the all clear
by David MastersSherford, an eco-town partly designed by Prince Charles's architectural foundation, has been granted final approval by the local planning authority. The development, to be built near Plymouth, Devon, will include 5,500 homes powered by nearby wind turbines and on-site solar heating. Cars will be banned in some areas, and where they are allowed, pedestrians and cyclists will be given priority. Dubbed 'Britain's greenest settlement', Sherford will feature 5,500 homes for 12,000 ...
Tesco launches carbon footprint label
by David Masters
Tesco is to become the first supermarket chain in the world to label its own-brand products with a carbon footprint. 20 of Tesco's own-brand products - including potatoes, light bulbs, detergent and orange juice - are to display carbon footprint labels as part of a two year trial undertaken in co-operation with the Carbon Trust. The Carbon Trust's 'Carbon Reduction Label' lets consumers compare the carbon impacts of different products, helping them ...
EDF to take over British Energy?
by Alan Harten
EDF is expected to convene a Board of Directors meeting on either Wednesday or Thursday with regard to a possible bid for the British power provider British Energy. This could be done through the creation of a joint venture company that would be 25% owned by Centrica, another British provider of gas, and the other 75% of the company would be controlled by French company, EDF. EDF is considered by ...
Greenwash advertising complaints hit record high
by David Masters
2007 was a record year for the Advertising Standards Agency, who received more complaints than ever before about greenwash in adverts. Complaints increased almost fourfold on year. In total, 556 complaints were submitted about 408 adverts; this is compared to 117 complaints about 83 adverts in 2006. With the environment high up the agenda for many consumers, companies are keen to promote their green credentials. However, many of the claims that companies ...
Farming experts call time on biofuels
by David Masters
International agriculture experts are calling for an end to biofuel production because of soaring corn and wheat prices that have led to famines and food crises in many parts of the world. Researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have said that if crops grown for biofuels are redirected back into the food market, corn prices could fall by up to 20% and wheat prices by up to 10% ...
The other ‘can’ film festival
by Alan Harten
As the “A-list” of the movie world converge on a small coastal city in France, to over indulge in another annual celebration of movie achievements at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, not to be out-done, Britain is preparing for the very nearly as glamorous Can Festival. This begins on May 8th, at Leicester Square’s renowned Prince Charles Cinema, which will be playing host to the world's first, and only, Can ...
US and Europe should cut biofuel production
by Alan Harten
America and Europe need to reduce their cultivation of biofuel crops; this is the opinion of American economist Jeffrey Sachs. He believes that they are having an adverse affect on the supply of basic foods and are the cause of a growing crisis in food price increases. Mr Sachs, an advisor to the UN Secretary-General, claims that the current situation does not make sense and there is a looming crisis for ...
National Trust introduce 5p bag fee
by David Masters
The National Trust last week introduced a 5p charge for plastic carrier bags in all of its shops. This makes them the latest in a series of companies and organisations - including Marks and Spencer, and Help the Aged - to ban free plastic bags. The banning trend started because of a Daily Mail campaign against the plastic bag 'blight'. The campaign led to a government announcement promising to impose plastic ...
Undercover leisure venue has high green IQ
by David MastersThe biggest undercover entertainment venue in Europe is to incorporate 'intelligent building' technology that will give feedback on its environmental performance. Rotherham Borough Council recently granted planning permission for the £300 million 'YES!' project, which is to be built on a 327 acre greenbelt site in South Yorkshire. The 1.2 million sq ft centre will include hotels, restaurants, bars, conference rooms, and other leisure facilities, leading to 2,700 jobs for the local ...
Shell leaves UK renewables in jeopardy
by David Masters
The Government has been left fuming with embarrassment after Royal Dutch Shell announced its decision to pull out of backing the world's largest proposed offshore windfarm. The £2 billion windfarm - dubbed the 'London Array' - is to be built on the Thames Estury, and will provide up to 1% of the UK's electricity needs. Shell has announced it is withdrawing its one third stake in the project, and instead is investing ...
Al Gore raises $683 million
by Alan Harten
Al Gore’s baby, the Climate Solutions Fund, has managed to raise a whopping $683 million in funding through Generation Investment Management, and that is just the initial funding round, of shaking its tin cup. The soft closure of the Al Gore chaired, Global Equity Strategy fund has left it with $2.2 billion in the bank. They also intend to grab up to $5 billion by 2010, and this makes it ...
Tyne shoreline closed by chemical leak
by David Masters
Members of the public in Newcastle are being warned to stay away from a 600 metre stretch of the River Tyne after hazardous chemicals were discovered on the site during a local authority survey. Signs have been erected along the adjacent path warning passers-by not to venture down to the shoreline. The area - popular with fishermen, dog walkers and families - is the site of an old tar factory that closed ...
Will we get a break from global warming?
by Alan Harten
Increasingly, in recent decades the world has been setting new temperature records. According to a new study released on 1 May in the international journal "Nature", temperatures may stop increasing for the next decade. This is a natural climate fluctuation in the expected long-term warming trend over the coming decade. This is what climate researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Marine Sciences in Kiel, Germany now believe. Previous papers on ...