Britain’s first hydrogen fuel station will open in Birmingham tomorrow, in the first stage of a motoring-technology revolution that will potentially pave the way for the commercial production of fuel cell-powered vehicles.
The station will open at Birmingham University, which is conducting trials with a fleet of five fuel-cell vehicles, with a further three hydrogen stations planned for London and there likely to be at least twelve stations countrywide by 2010.
For more than a decade, the car industry has seen hydrogen and fuel cells as the holy grail that will help fuel the future and while manufacturers have displayed dozens of fuel-cell concept cars in the past, these have been reluctant to put ideas into mass production without an infrastructure to support them.
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Thursday 17 April 2008
Wednesday 16 April 2008
Major housebuilders told to share commercial secrets
Major housebuilders have been told to reveal their commercial secrets to help smaller developers meet energy efficiency targets.
The Energy Savings Trust (EST) has asked developers it works with to "open their books" and show others the mistakes made and lessons learned on the road to zero carbon.
The trust expects large developers to shoulder the financial costs associated with experimenting with new technology and pass the information on to others.
EST housing development manager Mat Colmer said: "It is imperative because smaller housebuilders have limited resources and experience, which means you have to go for the easy targets."
Home Builders Federation technical director Dave Mitchell said collaboration in the construction industry was at an all-time high and developers had formed groups to liaise with suppliers on how to reach targets.
full article
The Energy Savings Trust (EST) has asked developers it works with to "open their books" and show others the mistakes made and lessons learned on the road to zero carbon.
The trust expects large developers to shoulder the financial costs associated with experimenting with new technology and pass the information on to others.
EST housing development manager Mat Colmer said: "It is imperative because smaller housebuilders have limited resources and experience, which means you have to go for the easy targets."
Home Builders Federation technical director Dave Mitchell said collaboration in the construction industry was at an all-time high and developers had formed groups to liaise with suppliers on how to reach targets.
full article
Tuesday 15 April 2008
Forecast for big sea level rise
Sea levels could rise by up to one-and-a-half metres by the end of this century, according to a new scientific analysis.
This is substantially more than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast in last year's landmark assessment of climate science.
Sea level rise of this magnitude would have major impacts on low-lying countries such as Bangladesh.
The findings were presented at a major science conference in Vienna.
The research group is not the first to suggest that the IPCC's forecast of an average rise in global sea levels of 28-43cm by 2100 is too conservative.
The IPCC was unable to include the contribution from "accelerated" melting of polar ice sheets as water temperatures warm because the processes involved were not yet understood.
full article
This is substantially more than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast in last year's landmark assessment of climate science.
Sea level rise of this magnitude would have major impacts on low-lying countries such as Bangladesh.
The findings were presented at a major science conference in Vienna.
The research group is not the first to suggest that the IPCC's forecast of an average rise in global sea levels of 28-43cm by 2100 is too conservative.
The IPCC was unable to include the contribution from "accelerated" melting of polar ice sheets as water temperatures warm because the processes involved were not yet understood.
full article
Biofuel: the burning question
The production of biofuel is devastating huge swathes of the world's environment. So why on earth is the Government forcing us to use more of it?
From today, all petrol and diesel sold on forecourts must contain at least 2.5 per cent biofuel. The Government insists its flagship environmental policy will make Britain's 33 million vehicles greener. But a formidable coalition of campaigners is warning that, far from helping to reverse climate change, the UK's biofuel revolution will speed up global warming and the loss of vital habitat worldwide.
Amid growing evidence that massive investment in biofuels by developed countries is helping to cause a food crisis for the world's poor, the ecological cost of the push to produce billions of litres of petrol and diesel from plant sources will be highlighted today with protests across the country and growing political pressure to impose guarantees that the new technology reduces carbon emissions.
On the day when the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) comes into force, requiring oil companies to ensure all petrol and diesel they sell in the UK contains a minimum level of biofuel, campaigners condemned as "disastrous" the absence of any standards requiring producers to prove their biofuel is not the product of highly damaging agricultural practices responsible for destroying rainforests, peatlands and wildlife-rich savannahs or grasslands from Indonesia to sub-Saharan Africa to Europe.
A study by the RSPB published today criticises the introduction of the RTFO as "over-hasty" and "utter folly". The conservation body said there is already widespread evidence that biofuel production is destroying vast areas of unspoilt habitat and has made at least one species extinct.
full article
From today, all petrol and diesel sold on forecourts must contain at least 2.5 per cent biofuel. The Government insists its flagship environmental policy will make Britain's 33 million vehicles greener. But a formidable coalition of campaigners is warning that, far from helping to reverse climate change, the UK's biofuel revolution will speed up global warming and the loss of vital habitat worldwide.
Amid growing evidence that massive investment in biofuels by developed countries is helping to cause a food crisis for the world's poor, the ecological cost of the push to produce billions of litres of petrol and diesel from plant sources will be highlighted today with protests across the country and growing political pressure to impose guarantees that the new technology reduces carbon emissions.
On the day when the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) comes into force, requiring oil companies to ensure all petrol and diesel they sell in the UK contains a minimum level of biofuel, campaigners condemned as "disastrous" the absence of any standards requiring producers to prove their biofuel is not the product of highly damaging agricultural practices responsible for destroying rainforests, peatlands and wildlife-rich savannahs or grasslands from Indonesia to sub-Saharan Africa to Europe.
A study by the RSPB published today criticises the introduction of the RTFO as "over-hasty" and "utter folly". The conservation body said there is already widespread evidence that biofuel production is destroying vast areas of unspoilt habitat and has made at least one species extinct.
full article
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