EcoRadio

Author: admin

  • Open-source hydrogen car takes to the road

     

    The car, which drove in to the launch event, is capable of a 50mph top speed, 0-30mph acceleration in 5.5 seconds, and has a 240 mile range. The car’s backers say it has greenhouse gas emissions of 30g/km CO2, less than a third of the latest hybrid petrol cars such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight.

    The lightweight Smart car-size vehicle uses hydrogen in a modest 6kW fuel cell, and – in the case of this prototype – uses hydrogen converted from natural gas. Hydrogen can also be created from water using electrolysis and potentially even from biofuels.

    The open-source decision was made to speed the car’s commercialisation, with the company hoping entrepreneurs globally will adapt it to local conditions. Hugo Spowers, a motorsport engineer and the founder of Riversimple, said: “We want competitors, even if they’re in the UK. We believe that open source is commercially the best thing for us to do, as it will help grow the market for hydrogen technology, from parts to repairs and the refuelling infrastructure.”

    Sebastian Piëch, the finanical backer for Riversimple, added: “Now that we have the basic vehicle in place with practical technology, the challenge is to begin the development of a fuelling infrastructure to accompany it.”

    The car, which cost nearly £500,000 to develop in partnership with Oxford University and Cranfield University, is expected to cost £200 a month to lease when it is launched as a production vehicle. The date for UK availability is yet to be announced, but Riversimple is in talks with UK cities including Oxford and Worcester for pilots.

    Hydrogen cars have so far enjoyed little real-world success, due in part to a lack of charging infrastructure, cost and – more recently – a political swing towards electric cars.

    Gordon Brown has publicly backed electric cars as a way to reduce UK carbon emissions, and in April the government announced plans to offer £5,000 grants towards anyone buying an electric car in 2011.

    In the US, the Obama administration recently cut research budgets for hydrogen vehicles. Steven Chu, the US energy secretary, last month said: “We asked ourselves: ‘Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?’ The answer, we felt, was ‘no’.”

    Spowers disputed the notion that widespread hydrogen technology was a long way off. “I agree the passion is swinging away from hydrogen, but the reason is people are sceptical of the near-term possibilities of hydrogen vehicles – people are still clear that hydrogen is the end-game.”

    The Riversimple urban car, he said, proved the technology was available now.

  • Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes

     

    Final Report

    Note: All links are to PDF files.

    Entire Report: Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes

    Plate 1: Map of Arctic Ocean

    Plate 2: Timeline of Climate Events and Time Periods

    For further information regarding this Synthesis and Assessment Product, please contact Dr. Fabien Laurier at SAP-info@usgcrp.gov . Please include “SAPinfo” in the subject line.

     
    This document, part of the Synthesis and Assessment Products described in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Strategic Plan, was prepared in accordance with Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-554) and theinformation quality act guidelines issued by the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey pursuant to Section 15). The CCSP Interagency Committee relies on the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey certifications regarding compliance with Section 515 and Department guidelines as the basis for determining that this product conforms with Section 515. For purposes of compliance with Section 515, this CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Product is an “interpreted product” as that term is used in U.S. Geological Survey guidelines and is classified as “highly influential”. This document does not express any regulatory policies of the United States or any of its agencies, or provide recommendations for regulatory action.

     

     

     

    US Climate Change Science Program, Suite 250, 1717 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20006. Tel: +1 202 223 6262. Fax: +1 202 223 3065. Email: information@climatescience.gov. Web: www.climatescience.gov. Webmaster: webmaster@climatescience.gov
    US Climate Change Science Program Home Page

  • Revealed: climate change impact on the US.

     

    “It is clear that climate change is happening now. The observed climate changes we report are not opinions to be debated. They are facts to be dealt with,” he said.

    The nearly 200-page document is a joint venture between the White House and 13 federal agencies.

    It has been released as the US Congress considers legislation that imposes the first national cap on emissions while also seeking to reduce them.

    Mr Obama’s chief science adviser, John Holdren, says action must be taken.

    “Action needs to include both measures to reduce the emissions of heat-trapping pollution that are driving this problem and measures to adapt to the part of climate change we can’t avoid,” he said.

    The report compiles years of scientific research and updates it with new data, painting a bleaker picture of global warming in the United States than has been done before.

    It reveals that the average temperature in the US has risen 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 50 years, and might rise by up to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100.

    It warns the number of deaths from heat waves could double in Los Angeles and quadruple in Chicago if emissions are not reduced.

    Sea levels are also expected to rise, with the area near New York City one of the worst hit.

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Jane Lubchenco says humans are to blame.

    “We’re also reporting today with greater confidence than ever before that human activities are the main cause of the changes we see underway,” she said.

    “I really believe this report is a game changer, I think that much of the foot dragging in addressing climate change is a reflection of the perception that climate change is way down the road, it’s in the future.

    “And this report demonstrates, provides the concrete scientific information, that says unequivocally that climate change is happening now.”

    Meanwhile the United Nations is warning of what it calls “megadisasters” in the world’s biggest cities unless more is done to heed the threat of climate change.

    It says tens of millions of people are highly exposed because they live in big cities that would be threatened by rising sea levels or earthquakes.

    And a new report from the Red Cross likens forecasting the impact of global warming to rolling a dice saying: “confronted with global warming, we know the dice is loaded”.

  • Manure to fill gas grid

     

    “Biomethane is a fuel for the future,” Janine Freeman, head of National Grid’s Sustainable Gas Group said. “Not only are we reusing a waste product, but biomethane is a renewable fuel, so we helping to meet the country’s target of 15 percent of all our energy coming from renewable sources by 2020.”

    Biogas is produced through a process called “anaerobic digestion” when wastewater sludge is broken down by the action of microbes.

    The 4.3 million pound ($7.10 million) project should be operational by early 2011 and supply enough gas for about 500 homes. The overall potential of biomethane from a plant like Davyhulme would be to supply about 5,000 homes, National Grid said.

    Unlike electricity generated from wind turbines, biogas offers a steady stream of green energy.

    “Sewage treatment is a 24-hour process so there is an endless supply of biogas,” Caroline Ashton, United Utilities biofuels manager, said.

    “It is a very valuable resource and it’s completely renewable. By harnessing this free energy we can reduce our fuel bills and reduce our carbon footprint.”

    One of United Utilities’ sludge tankers has already been converted to run on the gas and the company expects to save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in fuel costs with the 24 tankers it aims to convert initially.

    It was not clear whether Manchester’s home-made gas suppliers will get a discount on their own bills for their efforts.

    (Reporting by Daniel Fineren)

  • Global warming isn’t real-Fielding

    In Climate Change Minister Penny Wong’s corner were Australia’s chief scientist, Penny Sackett, and eminent climate scientist Will Steffen.

    “Global warming quite clearly over the last decade hasn’t been actually occurring,” Senator Fielding said before the meeting.

    “I also believe there is climate change.”

    The Senate is due to vote on emissions trading next week.

    Senator Fielding recently returned from a self-funded trip to the US where he met with scientists who blame global warming on solar activity.

    He took charts into today’s meeting to show that global temperatures had not increased since 1998.

    He conceded temperatures “may be well above the average” but said they had not gone up any higher lately.

    Prof Steffen emerged from the 90-minute meeting to say that global warming was real.

    While 1998 was a particularly hot year, the decade since had remained warmer than average.

    “The climate’s still pretty warm,” the Australian National University academic said.

    “A lot of the arguments I’ve seen put forward … wouldn’t get through a PhD student at ANU.”

    A spokesman for Senator Fielding said the evidence put forward by his team had given Senator Wong food for thought.

    The Senator felt his key questions had not been answered in the meeting, but he was going to spend some time thinking it over.

    Meanwhile, the consumer watchdog has been asked to investigate whether big business is scaremongering about the costs of tackling climate change.

    The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and the Australian Climate Justice Program have lodged a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

    The complaint alleges some companies are making “exaggerated” public statements about the costs of emissions trading, in a bid to gain more assistance under the scheme.

    But the companies are toning it down to their shareholders to keep up the share price, complainants say.

    The companies named in the complaint are Rio Tinto, Woodside, Xstrata, Boral, Caltex and BlueScope Steel.

    Boral said it strongly refuted the allegations and said it was true that emissions trading would have significant consequences on its operations.

  • Sainbury’s brings green power to the checkout with ‘kinetic plates’

     

    The kinetic road plates are expected to produce 30 kWh of green energy every hour — more than enough energy to power the store’s checkouts. The system, pioneered for Sainsbury’s by Peter Hughes of Highway Energy Systems, does not affect the car or fuel efficiency, and drivers feel no disturbance as they drive over the plates.

    Alison Austin, Sainsbury’s environment manager, said: “This is revolutionary. Not only are we the first to use such cutting-edge technology with our shoppers, but customers can now play a very active role in helping make their local shop greener, without extra effort or cost.

    “We want to continue offering great value but we also want to make the weekly shop sustainable. Using amazing technology like this helps us reduce our use of carbon and makes Sainsbury’s a leading energy-efficient business.”

    The kinetic road plates are one of a number of energy-saving measures at Sainsbury’s new store in Gloucester Quays, Gloucester. The store will harvest rainwater to flush the store’s toilets and solar thermal panels will heat up to 100% of the store’s hot water during the summer, and more than 90% of the construction waste was re-used or recycled.

    David Sheehan, director of store development and construction at Sainsbury’s, said: “The new environmental features within the Gloucester Quays store mark a very exciting time in store development. We are able to use cutting-edge technology to improve our services and the store environment for our customers and colleagues, at the same time as ultimately reducing our carbon footprint across the UK.”