In London they are known as “Chelsea tractors” or 4X4s and in America as SUVs. Whatever you want to call them, the mayor of London has them in his sights. He has already called people who drive them “idiots”. Yesterday Ken Livingstone yesterday unveiled plans to charge the highest polluting vehicles £25 a day to … Read More
The Financial Times has reported how a “drive to convert American motorists to diesel will take a big step forward during the next few days as a more environmentally friendly version of the fuel goes on sale. The clean-burning ultralow sulphur diesel emits only 15 parts per million of sulphur, compared with 500 parts for … Read More
The times really are a’ changing. The state of California has launched an unprecedented lawsuit against the six largest carmakers in the US for allegedly contributing to global warming. The state has accused Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan of creating a “public nuisance” and costing it millions of dollars. Environmental campaigners have … Read More
Slowly but surely people are beginning to talk about a taboo- what happens when the oil runs out. What are we going to do? How are we going to live? How will we feed, power and house ourselves? How can we transition our society away from oil to a secure energy future? These kind of … Read More
Car manufacturers in Europe were given a severe warning from the European Commission yesterday that they face stringent new laws if they fail to live up to their commitments to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
Costing a mere $100,000, built by Lotus in England using components from around the world, and designed in Silicon Valley, the Tesla Roadster is ripping up preconceptions that electric vehicles are as slow and boring as golf carts. This one accelerates from 0-60 mph in four seconds – quicker than a Ferrari Spider – and … Read More
I know I am in danger of becoming a BP-bore, but I am not the only one with an unhealthy obsession with oil companies and the way they operate. There was a fascinating piece earlier this week in the New York Times (reprinted in Truthout) by John Kenney who worked on the BP advertising campaign … Read More
McDonalds may be giving away free Hummer models to kids, but sales of SUVs (4x4s) in America have slumped 28 per cent in the last year. Now for the first time in recent years, SUV sales are now beginning to slow down in the UK. It may mean our love affair with gas-guzzling cars is … Read More
The New York Times reports on the growing moves to convert coal to oil. The paper points out that the coal in states like Illinois have more energy than all the oil in Saudi Arabia. The technology to turn that coal into fuel for cars, homes and factories is proven. And at current prices, that … Read More
Sometimes it’s the simple things that are best. By just using low-energy light bulbs and other efficient lighting systems we could prevent some 16 billion tons of carbon from being emitted over the next 25 years, according to a report by the International Energy Agency. Just using widely available technology would save more than £1,300bn … Read More
