China revs up hybrid war with first production plug-in car

The F3DM is a small four-door saloon equipped with an electric motor and a 1-litre petrol engine, both of which can drive the car.

With its batteries fully charged it can travel up to 60 miles on electricity alone. When the batteries become depleted the petrol engine takes over. And while the engine can charge the batteries, as in existing hybrids such as the Toyota Prius, the F3DM is intended to be recharged overnight by plugging into the domestic mains.

Initially, the F3DM will be sold in China's metropolitan areas starting in Shenzhen, the company’s home city. The price of 150,000 yuan (£14,400) is little more than half that of the Prius in the Chinese market. BYD expects to have several plug-in hybrid models on sale in Europe and America within three years.

The company says that the key to these products is its “iron battery”. This lithium iron-phosphate battery is related to the lithium-ion cells used in laptops and mobile phones (for which BYD is the world’s biggest supplier) but cheaper to produce, and smaller and lighter than those being adopted by other carmakers.

Toyota and Honda show their latest petrol-electric hybrids at the Detroit show this week but neither the new Prius (coming to the UK in the summer) nor the Honda Insight (on sale in March) are offered with the plug-in facility. The Japanese manufacturers remain uncertain about the safety and reliability of lithium batteries but Toyota expects to have a plug-in version of the Prius available next year.

Beleaguered General Motors will launch its plug-in electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, in 2010. Technically this is also a hybrid as it has a small auxiliary petrol engine, but that does not drive the car – it is there to charge the batteries to extend the car’s range.

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Traditional 100 watt light bulbs to be phased out

Retailers have stopped stocking the bulb, which has been illuminating British homes for more than 120 years, and anticipate that they will have run out within weeks.

The withdrawal is part of a Government campaign, launched by Gordon Brown in 2007, to push people into buying fluorescent bulbs.

It is hoped the switch will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by around five million tonnes a year.

Low energy lightbulbs are small versions of the fluorescent strip lights found in offices and public buildings.

They use just a quarter of the energy of a conventional bulb. Replacing just one ordinary 100 watt can knock £7 a year off a household energy bill.

Under the voluntary ban, retailers have already stopped stocking 150 watt bulbs and agreed to stop replenishing stocks of 100 watt and 75 watt bulbs at the start of 2009.

By 2010 60 watt bulbs will start to be phased out and all incandescent bulbs will be banned by 2012.

A spokesman for Tesco, Britain's largest light bulb retailer, said: "All the 100 watt and 75 watt incandescent lightbulbs will be gone in the next couple of weeks."

However, there is concern that compact fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, making them dangerous to dispose of, and give off a harsh light.

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Amazing discovery of green algae which could save the world

Melting icebergs, so long the iconic image of global warming, are triggering a natural process that could delay or even end climate change, British scientists have found.

A team working on board the Royal Navy’s HMS Endurance off the coast of Antarctica have discovered tiny particles of iron are released into the sea as the ice melts.

The iron feeds algae, which blooms and sucks up damaging carbon dioxide (CO2), then sinks, locking away the harmful greenhouse gas for hundreds of years.

The team think the process could hold the key to staving off globally rising temperatures.

Lead researcher Professor Rob Raiswell, from Leeds University, said: ‘The Earth itself seems to want to save us.’

As a result of the findings, a ground-breaking experiment will be held this month off the British island of South Georgia, 800 miles south east of the Falklands. It will see if the phenomenon could be harnessed to contain rising
carbon emissions.

Researchers will use several tons of iron sulphate to create an artificial bloom of algae. The patch will be so large it
will be visible from space.

Scientists already knew that releasing iron into the sea stimulates the growth of algae. But environmentalists had warned that to do so artificially might damage the planet’s fragile ecosystem.

Last year, the UN banned iron fertilisation in the Great Southern Ocean.

However, the new findings show the mechanism has actually been operating naturally for millions of years within the isolated southern waters. And it has led to the researchers being granted permission by the UN to move ahead with the experiment.

The scientist who will lead the next stage of the study, Professor Victor Smetacek, said: ‘The gas is sure to
be out of the Earth’s atmosphere for several hundred years.’

The aim is to discover whether artificially fertilising the area will create more algae in the Great Southern Ocean. That ocean is an untapped resource for soaking up CO2 because it doesn’t have much iron, unlike other seas.

It covers 20million square miles, and scientists say that if this could all be treated with iron, the resulting algae would remove three-and-a-half gigatons of carbon dioxide. This is equivalent to one eighth of all emissions annually created by burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.

It would also be equal to removing all carbon dioxide emitted from every power plant, chimney and car exhaust in the rapidly expanding industries of India and Japan.
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On yer bike

1. Everyone's at it

If you thought there were more cyclists on the roads recently, you'd be right – biking is booming. In London alone there has been a 91 per cent increase in the number of cycle journeys since 2000, with more than 500,000 trips a day. And, nationwide, Sport England's latest survey, for the 12 months to October 2008, showed 1.8 million of us cycle at least once a week, a significant increase on last year – and that doesn't include commuters. The survey showed recreational cycling is the second-fastest growing sport in the country (after athletics). Meanwhile, membership of British Cycling, the sport's governing body, has rocketed to a record high of 25,000, and new bikes are rolling out of shops at record speed – cycling shop Evans reported a 200 per cent increase in the sales of kids' and BMX bikes pre-Christmas.

. It's better than running.

Or swimming. Running is bad for your joints – marathon runners can lose a centimetre in height during a race. The smooth motion of pedalling makes cycling is much easier on your body. And because your bulk is supported by the bike, you can go for longer. If you ran as hard, you'd fall over. As for swimming – well, you can't swim to work.

15. The weather's good

There are few things more miserable than to look out of one's office window as clocking-off approaches to see streets that had sparkled in the morning sunlight drenched in rain. But, if you think about it, it doesn't rain that often everywhere. Last year Transport for London claimed the average cycle commuter in the capital would only get wet 12 times a year. That's ridiculous but, really, it's not as bad as you think.

16. It's a thrill

Going down Westerham Hill in Kent recently, I grabbed my drop handlebars with white knuckles, stood slightly raised on my pedals, lowered my head and resisted the urge to apply my brakes. Eyes watering, face red and heart racing, I looked at my cycle computer as the road flattened out. I had peaked at 49mph. It's the fastest I've gone on two wheels, and was terrifying, but there are few ways to replicate that kind of thrill. And then there's the buzz that comes with cycling in the city – weaving through rush-hour traffic is surely the finest way to wake up in the morning.

17. The government will pay

Under the Government's Cycle to Work scheme, employers who sign up buy bikes and safety equipment for staff, deducting the cost from their salaries. Because the employer can reclaim VAT and other taxes, you not only spread the cost of the bike but, depending on the scheme, can pay as little as half the price. Several cities have their own schemes. In Edinburgh, schoolboy called Tom Sparks had the bright idea to award points (which can be exchanged for gift vouchers) to pupils who bike to classes. The Scottish Government has invested £10,000 in Sparks' "pedals not petrol" campaign to help extend it across Edinburgh.

18. It's good for the heart

Cycling reduces the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. Cycling at a reasonable pace can burn the energy supplied by a chocolate bar or a couple of alcoholic drinks (about 300 calories), so a 15-minute commute five times a week could burn 11 pounds of fat in a year. Up the pace and stuff your face....

19. It's greener

With just a chain and a couple of cogs linking a rider's legs to the wheels, hardly any effort goes to waste. The energy efficiency of a bicycle has been estimated to be the equivalent of the average car doing 1,600 miles on a gallon of petrol.

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