TV advert gives energy saving advice
by David Masters
The government has launched a new TV advert advising people how to cut their heating bills and help the environment. Gordon Brown has pledged £1 billion towards making British homes more energy efficient, and the TV adverts will be a key part of this ACT ON CO2 campaign. The advert has been put together by top British film director Shane Meadows, famous for box office hit This Is England, and more recently ...
Government ‘truthfulness’ on eco-towns questioned
by David Masters
The Government has been caught out exaggerating the environmental credentials of one of its proposed new eco-towns. An advert asking for opinions on a proposed eco-town near Lichfield in Staffordshire said the 5,000 home development, named Curborough, would be built on a brownfield site. The advert read: “An eco-town near you? Curborough, Staffordshire where a bid has been made for 5,000 homes on the brownfield site of the former Fradley airfield.” A complaint ...
Company Lets You Choose Holiday Brochure Pages
by Alan Harten
At one time you would run down to your local travel agent in March and come back armed with so many holiday brochures it would take you until the end of the summer to read through them. That has slipped away over the last couple of decades, at first as tour operators wanted to reduce overheads on these often wasted holiday magazines, and now at least one company is seeking to ...
Navy to recycle battleships in Liverpool
by David Masters
A UK-based company has won the contract to recycle the Royal Navy’s decommissioned battleships in Liverpool. Bidding for the contract – which included strict environmental guidelines – was won by British company Leavesley International. Falklands War veteran HMS Intrepid, which arrived in the Mersey last week, will be the first warship to be recycled by the company. Fifty onsite workers will be employed to take the former assault ship to pieces, a ...
Chemical equator keeps pollution north
by David Masters
A group of UK scientists has completed important research into a phenomenon known as the ‘chemical equator’ that prevents pollution from the industrialised north invading the atmosphere of the southern hemisphere. Previous research into the chemical equator led scientists to believe that it followed the line of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a cloudy belt around the earth that separates the weather systems of the northern and southern hemispheres. However, chemical researchers ...
Green building takes off worldwide
by David Masters
A worldwide study of the construction industry has found that businesses in the sector expect more than 60% of their projects to be focused on green building within the next five years. Almost a third of respondents in the McGraw Hill Construction Analytics survey said over 10% of their domestic projects are already environmentally friendly. According to McGraw Hill, the survey is the first study of its kind to investigate green building ...
EA: No more coal power before CCS
by David Masters
The British Government has been told by the chairman of the Environment Agency (EA) that no new coal-fired power stations should be built in the UK until carbon emissions are able to be captured and stored. Until research into the viability of carbon capture and storage (CCS) on a commercial scale is complete, the EA Chairman Lord Chris Smith has warned that burning coal to produce electricity would be too damaging ...
EU Car CO2 to go Down 17% in 4 years.
by Alan Harten
It all ended with a surprise vote in the Environment Committee of the European Parliament on the proposed limits on CO2 emissions from cars. Contrary to expectations, the MPs voted against a gradual introduction of a cap on greenhouse gas emissions that will see a 17% overall reduction in vehicle gas emissions. The biggest objectors to the plans were the big German manufacturers who managed to get Germany's chancellor, Angela ...
Waste criminals investigated CSI style
by David Masters
The Environment Agency (EA) has warned waste criminals that it plans to start using hi-tech ‘CSI techniques’ to catch them out. Forensics, crime mapping and handwriting analysis will all be used to help the EA stamp out the practice of dumping rubbish illegally. Half of the illegal waste sites found in England and Wales during 2007/8 were closed down or brought up to legal standard. This is not enough for the EA, ...
GM plants benefit surrounding crops
by David Masters
Researchers in China have found that the benefits built in to genetically modified crops can help plants in neighbouring fields. Chinese GM cotton had been modified to produce the insecticide Bt – which was found to protect the GM crops, as well as ordinary crops in nearby fields. Analysing data collected since the GM cotton was commercialised in 1997, Dr Koingming Wu found that pest populations in the regions where the GM ...
Shell research biofuels at British universities
by David Masters
A department at the University of Manchester has been selected by Shell to help with its biofuel research. The Centre of Excellence in Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacture (CoEBio3) at the university will be one of six partners to help Shell develop the future of biofuels. It will be one of two partners in the UK, the other being Exeter University’s School of Biosciences. Since being set up in 2006, CoEBio3 has become ...
Chrysler to Offer Three Green Electric Vehicles
by Alan Harten
The Chrysler group plans to produce electric models, Chrysler EV, Dodge EV and Jeep EV. Specifically, the group has already proposed a model aimed at buyers in North America that will be available in 2010. They will be available in Europe sometime after 2010. In addition, the company insists it will have a hundred electric vehicles in regular use road tests in 2009, in the form of fleets of ...
Sainsbury’s hides bags under the counter
by David Masters
As of October 1st, Sainsbury’s will become the latest retailer to hide plastic bags at the till in a bid to get customers to re-use their carriers. Customers wanting an orange Sainbury’s bag will not have to pay, but will have to ask the cashier for a bag. Those re-using old carrier bags will be rewarded with extra points on their Nectar loyalty card, a scheme that has been in place since ...
Companies must act now to avoid CRC fines
by David Masters
A new report has warned that the government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) initiative is unlikely to cause carbon emissions to fall within the next five years. Research by Verdantix found that 4,000 of the 5,000 businesses and organisations taking part in the scheme will fail to reduce carbon emissions during the first phase of CRC, which will run from 2010 to 2013. Verdanix discovered that most companies are unaware of their energy ...
NASA Use Baby Toy To Save The Planet
by Alan Harten
Gyroscopes that propel astronauts in face crushing spins, Saturn Five rockets that defy gravity to escape the ground, spacesuits that can keep a man alive in the dangerous empty atmosphere of space; these are the kinds of scientific innovations that we associate with NASA. Now they bring us another earth shattering scientific marvel, the rubber duck. NASA scientists are making use of the bath time toy in a serious and highly ...
Government backs nuclear and coal
by David Masters
A senior government minister said today that the UK must embrace nuclear power to ensure the country’s energy security. Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Manchester, business secretary John Hutton urged Britain to enter a ‘renaissance in nuclear power’, and added that the use of coal will remain ‘critical’ over the coming years. Hutton justified his remarks by saying that a failure to compete in the international battle for energy security ...
Common Birds Disappearing At Alarming Rates
by Alan Harten
Across the globe so called “common birds” are suffering such a catastrophic decline in numbers that many of them can no longer be considered common. Many of them are becoming rare and some may even soon become extinct. This is very much a global event and many newspapers recently reported the massive decline in UK species found in every garden, such as sparrows and blackbirds. These birds are suffering serious decline ...
Garden roof-tops to green up London
by David Masters
The Environment Agency (EA) is encouraging developers and landlords in London to green up their roof-tops as a way of mitigating the effects of climate change. Speaking at the World Green Roof Congress this week, representatives from the EA will outline their vision of vegetation covered roof-tops across the British capital. Roof gardens, according to the EA, provide natural insulation, slow down water run-off, help to reduce the risk of flooding, and ...
London on Tap urges bottled water boycott
by David Masters
Londoners are being urged to ditch the bottle and drink more tap water, in a campaign organised by Thames Water. The London on Tap campaign aims to raise awareness amongst Londoners about the environmental consequences of drinking bottled water, as well as promoting the quality of the city’s tap water. In addition, London’s eateries and watering holes are being asked to stop stocking bottled water, and serve tap water instead. To promote the ...
Bizarre Call By UK Companies To Halt Climate Change
by Alan Harten
Some of the best known British high Street names have joined to lobby the government to do something about the climate situation. The group includes retail giants Tesco and B&Q, as well as Lloyds TSB and more surprising companies such as the British Airports Authority and, even more controversially, E.ON the international power company. The group has called for what it refers to as "urgent and comprehensive" action from all political ...