Green Options

For those eager to absolve the carbon guilt caused by yet another international flight, Heathrow airport is trialling an innovative electric car shuttle fleet to ferry passengers to and from the business car park.

Seeing as Heathrow is the world’s busiest international airport, I suppose the effort is a little bit like launching an attack on a saber-toothed tiger with a blunt knife, or maybe a feather duster… But hey, maybe I’m being unfair - I suppose you’ve got to start somewhere right? And I admit, the system does seem a bit nifty - if not quite as good as the Johnny Cabs (video) in Total Recall.

Cops based near Oxford in the UK have revealed that they are unable to to use flashing blue lights on their new electric car - in case it drains too much power from the battery.

The Thames Valley police force is testing out the £20,000 ($33,000) Mitsubishi iMiev in an effort to improve its environmental credentials. Apart from this quite obvious setback, they have been pleased with the silent, emission-free car, capable of travelling 100 miles on a single charge (with the lights off).

Britain’s first IVF white rhino calf has been born at the Colchester Zoo.

The history-making calf is named Zamba, and was welcomed into the world on October 3, following a 16-month pregnancy. His mother, 11-year-old Cynthia, was in labor for three hours and was able to deliver the calf on her own. Zamba’s father, Simba, had died in April at the age of 41.

Looking to create products for the real world as soon as possible, a new research center in the UK is aiming to speed up the development and installment of a variety of low carbon technologies to ensure a greener future for us all.

This new £50 million ($80 million) center hopes to do this through more coordinated and focused efforts from four universities and a regional development agency. The four universities that have teamed up are Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and Yorkshire, and they are working with the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward. The name of the new center is Centre for Low Carbon Futures (CLCF).

This week in the journal Nature scientists give the most comprehensive view of thinning ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica to date.

Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the University of Bristol analyzed 50 million satellite measurements (from NASA) to show the massive ice loss on these polar giants.

The result are surprising, even to the scientists.

Here’s one for the “surprising” list: a consortium of researchers and business partners at the University of East Anglia in Britain has found that they can convert diesel buses to run on either diesel or methane for a “small fraction of the cost” of purchasing a natural gas-only bus. The implications for Britain’s (and the world’s) fleets of already-existing diesel buses are huge.

The buses will run on biomethane — which is methane captured from landfill decomposition or other sources of surface biological decomposition and not derived from buried fossil sources. Methane is a large part of what makes up natural gas. According to the consortium, the converted bus will reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases by about half when compared to a standard diesel-only bus.

The converted vehicle was originally part of the local bus fleet run by the Anglian Bus & Coach company. After conversion of the standard Mercedes diesel engine, the bus now runs from 60-80% of the time on biomethane and the rest on diesel. Having the option to switch back and forth provides flexibility to the bus operator in the case of a shortage of either fuel.

This column highlights the top economic stories of the week.

Having children is the surest way to send your carbon footprint soaring, according to a new study from statisticians at Oregon State University.

The study found that having a child has an impact that far outweighs that of other energy-saving behaviors. More on this story here.

A quarter-century ago, in the wake of America’s first energy crisis, a young scientist named Amory [...]

According to the most recent data estimates, roughly 70 million sharks are caught (and killed) each year, most of this is for food, some for sport, and sadly, some just out of fear.

But most of the commercially fished sharks are in fact killed for their fins only–their mutilated carcasses are simply tossed overboard. This is known as “finning”. The fins make their way into a dish known as shark fin soup–a prized delicacy in Japan but also in some Scandinavian countries and in Germany. And as its popularity increases, so do catches–and almost any shark will do (100 out of 400 species are presently exploited for food, according to the Shark Foundation). According to the IUCN (which tracks endangered species with its annual “red list“) and governmental and NGO conservation groups, one third or more of all shark species are endangered.

The Hazel Dormouse, once widespread throughout the UK, is now vulnerable to regional extinction. Fortunately, an ongoing reintroduction plan is helping to increase the numbers of Britain’s only native dormouse species.

Loss of hedgerows and fragmentation of woodland habitat has nearly wiped out the Hazel Dormouse from Britain. But, thank to the PTES’ Hazel Dormouse Biodiversity Action Plan, this species is being reintroduced to the wild.

At the latest dormouse release organized by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), 11 male and 14 female Hazel Dormice were released “somewhere in Warwickshire.” These young dormice were comprised of animals from wild animal parks and several private breeders, ensuring genetic diversity in the new population. They have been microchipped to enable ongoing monitoring.

For the first two weeks, the dormice will live in large cages as they become accustomed to their new surroundings, receiving food and water daily. Then, the cage doors will be open and the little mammals will be able to explore the surrounding woodland on their own, and eventually live independently.

A UK company has launched a new device that allows users to cut-off their water supply at the flick of a switch, drastically reducing wasteage and giving a significant boost to water conservation efforts.

Instead of scrabbling around looking for the stopcock, the new Surestop device allows users cut supply instantly, saving water loss, and consequent damage, whilst giving householders direct control over water consumption.

Now the company hopes to expand into areas crippled by drought, where water conservation is a pressing priority.

Divisions within the EU have led to an agreement which ignores Carbon Dioxide as a pollutant and allows member nations to delay implementation of stricter emission standards.