Britain's green shame

Jonathon Porritt steps down from Blair's sustainability commission with UK still second-worst greenhouse gas emitter in Europe
When it comes to environmental sustainability, the prognosis is grim: Britain is "winning battles, but still losing the war".

The UK is failing to hit a raft of key targets on sustainable living, according to a new report to be published this week. In its critical analysis, released on Wednesday, the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) warns that progress on a number of green targets has been "undermined by stasis or even reversion". Jonathon Porritt, outgoing SDC chair and one-time "green guru" to Tony Blair, claims sustainability plays second fiddle to the drive for consumption-driven economic growth. "The thing that stands out is the very limited progress we've made on reducing inequity in our society... it's a startling indictment of this Government that more people will be living in fuel poverty at the time of next election than were living in fuel poverty in 1997," he said.
Britain remains well behind most European countries on supplying renewable energy, which accounts for less than 2 per cent of overall energy consumption, according to the report, which also predicts the proportion of energy produced by renewables in 2020 will be just 5 per cent – far short of the EU target of 20 per cent. And while recycling is on the increase, there is a long way to go to meet the 40 per cent target by 2010, with the UK heavily reliant on landfill, says the report.
full article

Round-the-world solar plane

Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard has unveiled a prototype of the solar-powered plane he hopes eventually to fly around the world.

The vehicle, spanning 61m but weighing just 1,500kg, will undergo trials to prove it can fly through the night.

Dr Piccard, who made history in 1999 by circling the globe non-stop in a balloon, says he wants to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies.

The final version of the plane will try first to cross the Atlantic in 2012.

It will be a risky endeavour. Only now is solar and battery technology becoming mature enough to sustain flight through the night - and then only in unmanned planes.

But Dr Piccard's Solar Impulse team has invested tremendous energy - and no little money - in trying to find what they believe is a breakthrough design.

"I love this type of vision where you set the goal and then you try to find a way to reach it, because this is challenging," he told BBC News.
full article

Washing machine that uses one cup of water

An environmentally-friendly washing machine developed in Britain that uses only one cup of water to clean clothes could be on sale next year.The appliance, which could save billions of litres of water a year, has been developed at the University of Leeds.
It uses less than 10 per cent of the water of conventional machines and 30 per cent less energy by replacing most of the water with thousands of tiny reusable plastic beads to attract and absorb dirt under humid conditions.Xeros, the company behind the technology, will start selling the machine to commercial customers such as hotels and dry cleaners before taking the idea to ordinary household consumers
Only a small amount of water and detergent is needed to dampen the clothes, loosen stains and create the water vapour that allows the beads to work. After the cycle is finished, the beads fall through a mesh in the machine’s drum and can be re-used up to a hundred times.
Xeros has signed a deal with GreenEarth Cleaning, an environmentally friendly dry-cleaning business, to sell the technology across North America.
Chief executive Bill Westwater said: “We’ve got an eye on the consumer but it will take time and we hope commercial success could act as a springboard to move into the consumer market.
full article

Energy bills to hit £4,000 a year

Household annual energy bills could rise to more than £4,000 in 10 years' time, almost four times higher than they are today, according to new research.Forecasters from uSwitch.com concluded that on current trends, the bills would reach £4,185 by 2020, compared to £1,243 at present.
The research from the price comparison service is based on pricing trends over the last five years, taking into account inflation and the cost of cutting carbon and improving energy efficiency.On top of that, the government's committment to securing the country's longer-term energy supply, allowing them to roll-out smart meters in homes, will cost taxpayers an additional £548 a year, meaning the cost of energy to each household could be as high as £4,733 within a decade.
The uSwitch.com analysts also believe that the eventual end of the recession, which they predict will happen in 2011-2012, will see a global increase in energy demand, driven by rising economies such as China and India, which will put upward pressure on prices.
Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com, said the figure was a "wake-up call" and households would have to adapt accordingly.
"The Government has been banging the drum for energy efficiency for a while now, but consumers have been reluctant to spend money on these measures," she said. "As a result, energy efficiency has been massively underperforming even though it is one of the biggest defences we have against escalating energy costs.
"We also have a competitive energy market, and yet less than 5 per cent of consumers are on the most competitive energy plans – most people are paying far more than they have to for the energy they use.
"This has to change. My advice to consumers is to invest in making your home more energy efficient, reduce the amount of energy you use and make sure you are paying the lowest possible price for it. Big projects such as a new energy efficient boiler or home insulation can be expensive, but the savings you make through cutting the price of your energy could be reinvested into energy efficiency measures so that you reap even greater rewards in the future."
full article