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Biodiesel hailed in London cabs
London black cab company Radio Taxis recently announced that it was giving its 3,000 drivers the option to fill up with a diesel blend containing 30% biofuels.
Nice carbon calculator, if you can find it
The government is doing its best to come up with tools we can use to learn about our effect on the environment, and hopefully minimise it. Back in June, DEFRA launched a great carbon calculator for the home. In mid-July it followed up with an entertaining environmental game.
High speed hybrids
No-one could accuse Porsche’s cars of being sluggish, but they don’t fare so well when considered for their environmental impact. The company’s most efficient model, the Cayman, manages to produce 222g of carbon dioxide for every kilometre. Don’t even ask about the four-wheel drive Cayenne.
Mass exodus
If you’ve ever got oily fingers from a car made before 1985, you’ll remember how much free space there used to be inside the average bonnet. These days, though, power steering, anti-lock braking and all the other things we expect from a modern car make sure that there’s precious little room to wield a screwdriver
Offsets get the green light
Alongside the reformation of the Spice Girls, the idea that we can pay a little extra to make up for our pollution is one of this year’s most contentious issues. Now the government has weighed in, simultaneously supporting the concept of carbon offsetting while having strong things to say about the current provision.
More land speed records?
Toyota’s Prius is probably the best known example of a modern hybrid car, but lately it isn’t just getting attention for low carbon-emissions.
4×4s struggle in adverse conditions
London’s 4×4s may be approaching the end of the road, with the news that residents in Islington have voted in favour of the council’s proposed green parking permit scheme.
Biofuel - worth the wheat?
The BBC reported today that BP is planning a biofuels plant for a site it owns on the outskirts of Hull. If built, the facility will produce some 420 million litres of bioethanol from wheat every year.
Minister animated about CO2
The Government’s carbon calculator, mentioned in our post on Monday, is now up and running. Environment Secretary David Miliband is so excited about it that he interrupted his breakfast
Are ‘friends’ electric?
If it seems that hybrid cars might not save the planet after all, we’re consoled by signs that fully-electric cars may be approaching their mainstream breakthrough.
Anyone who’s visited London in the last couple of years will probably have spotted the odd G-Wiz or Maranello4 scooting about, looking like a Smart car undergoing an awkward adolescence.
