Global Cool

On your bike

info — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:52:46 +0000

Free bicycle hire for all might seem like a utopian pipedream, but it’s already happening in Paris and could be a reality in London as early as next summer.

The Parisian Velib - a contraction of velo libre meaning free bicycle - is now celebrating its first birthday and has become a huge hit in the French capital. Users, known as “Velibeurs”, pay a small subscription fee after which the bikes are free to use for the first half hour, with prices rising thereafter to encourage short journeys.

The cycles, which come in a deliberately unfashionable grey, clunky design to deter thieves, are picked up from and returned to self-service stations on almost every street corner in the city centre. A staggering 50,000,000 trips are estimated to have been enjoyed by Parisians in the first year alone.

The revolutionary scheme echos Amsterdam’s White Bicycle Plan in the 60s when anarchist groups painted 50 old bikes white and distributed them around the town to be used by whoever fancied them. Predictably they were all half-inched within days - or confiscated by the police depending on who you believe.

Thanks to technology and a computerised tracking system, the Velib looks likely to be a far more permanent proposition, although there have been teething problems. Around 3,000 bikes have gone missing and there have been incidents of “bike rage” at over-subscribed parking stations - notably those at the bottom of steep hills where lazier users have simply freewheeled from the top.

Nevertheless, Londoners could soon be enjoying a similar system to the one in the French capital thanks largely to Ken Livingstone becoming a rabid fan of the concept. “I was really excited when I heard about it ,” said the then Mayor in an interview with Thom Yorke earlier this year. “It’s made a massive difference,” he enthused to the Radiohead warbler, “a real psychological difference.”

Fortunately his successor, Boris Johnson, is sticking to Ken’s plans to introduce a London-wide variant. “The new Mayor had a presentation on the Velib a couple of weeks ago,” confirms Green Party London Assembly member Jenny Jones who is pushing for the scheme’s delivery. “He made an election promise to have it introduced next summer.”

Although many details still have to be ironed out, Jenny believes a London hire scheme could be even bigger than that enjoyed in Paris, particularly if integrated with the Oyster card: “Bikes are often the quickest way to travel in cities, so it makes sense to provide them as a new form of public transport, especially when the bikes can be used as part of a longer journey by bus, tube or train.”

Despite being well-known as a keen cyclist himself, gaffe-prone Boris’s green credentials have taken some flak in his first few months as Mayor. Critics point to his plan to scrap the congestion charge extension and his promise to allow motorbikes to use bus lanes, against the advice of the London Cycling Campaign. “He’s made some stupid decisions in my view,” says Jenny who is producing an assessment of Boris’s first 100 days as Mayor, due to be published at the end of this month. “He hasn’t got a very good scorecard.”

And so it came to pass…

info — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:35:16 +0000

If you’re that blase sort of person of the opinion that global warming will only make the summers hotter and at worst drown Norwich, then think again. Global Warming could be coming for you. Or so scientists at the University of Texas are telling us.

The significant rise in temperatures over the next half century is likely to make the dreaded kidney stone, also called renal calculi, a reality for millions of people. In America, scientists predict that by 2050, kidney stone cases will rise to an additional 1.6 to 2.2 million, seeing a 30 per cent growth, particularly in areas in the south, such as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. The area often known as ‘the Bible Belt’ has already been dubbed ‘the Kidney Belt’ by those in the medical profession.

“This study is one of the first examples of global warming causing a direct medical consequence for humans,” said Margaret Pearle of the University of Texas. “There is a known geographic variation in stone disease that has been attributed to regional differences in temperature. When people relocate from areas of moderate temperature to areas with warmer climates, a rapid increase in stone risk has been observed. This has been shown in military deployments to the Middle East for instance.”

“This will come and get you in your home,” added Dr. Tom Brikowski, an associate professor at the University based in Dallas. “It will make life just uncomfortable enough that maybe people will slow down and think what they’re doing to the climate.”

“Similar climate-related changes in the prevalence of kidney-stone disease can be expected in other stone belts worldwide,” the study said.

According to Wikipedia, “The existence of kidney stones has been recorded since the beginning of civilization, and lithotomy for the removal of stones is one of the earliest known surgical procedures. In 1901, a stone was discovered in the pelvis of an ancient Egyptianmummy, and was dated to 4,800 BCE.”

The offending stones, which are formed from dissolved minerals in the urine, can be extremely painful, with some unfortunate souls who have been shot exclaiming that their kidney stones were actually more excruciating than taking a bullet.

Famously, the diarist Samuel Pepys underwent what was then a horrendous and hazardous operation in 1657, to have his removed. Following the success of the operation, Pepys vowed to hold a celebration yearly on the anniversary of his ordeal, more sumptuous and decedent than any birthday party.

‘At noon come my good guests,” he wrote jubilantly. “I had a pretty dinner for them, viz. a brace of stewed carp, six roast chickens and a jowl of hot salmon for the first course; a tanzy and two neats’ tongues and cheese second. We were very merry all the afternoon talking and singing and piping upon the flageolette.”

G8 still beating around the Bush

Jeremy — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:33:42 +0000

George Bush finally caught up with the rest of the right-thinking world by acknowledging the threat of climate change at this year’s G8 summit. The talking shop of rich white nations agreed to “share” the “vision” of a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050.

But environmentalists and emerging countries slammed the deal as a fudged compromise that promised too little too late. For starters, no base year was included in the proposal - so it’s unclear whether emissions would be cut from 2008, 1990, or any other random year’s level. More significantly, the G8 leaders also failed to agree an interim target to cut emissions by 2020. The big emerging economies of China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa want the G8 countries to reduce their emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, with a medium target of at least a cut of 25 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.

Climate campaigners were similarly underwhelmed. “Setting a vague target for 42 years’ time is utterly ineffectual in the face of the global catastrophe we face,” warned Friends of the Earth. “Urgent action is needed to tackle climate change and spiraling energy prices caused by our addiction to increasingly expensive and insecure fossil fuels.”

Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists believed that no significant agreement could be made until after the next US election. “President Bush and the Europeans just have a totally different worldview,” he sighed. “Whether it’s President McCain or President Obama, he will be more in synch with the Europeans.” Barack Obama has committed to an emissions reduction of 80 per cent, while even his redneck rival John McCain has agreed to a 60 per cent cut.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has been urging Brits to do their bit by cutting down on food waste. While it’s true that the average UK family chucks out more than £400 of perfectly good grub every year, the PM’s demands sound uncomfortably pious when one considers the smorgasbord he and his chums tucked into on the G8’s opening night. The eight-course feast boasted no fewer than dishes including caviar, smoked salmon and a G8 “fantasy dessert”. This followed a more modest working lunch of a mere six courses consisting of such staple fare as truffle soup and crab.

Methane: Here, there and everywhere

Jeremy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:05:30 +0000

“Monday’s child has learned to tie his bootlace,” sang Paul McCartney on The Beatles classic ‘Lady Madonna’. The yougling will also be refraining from devouring any lambchops on the same day if the legendary titan of popular music has anything to do with it.

Sir Paul is urging Britons to cut out eating all flesh on Mondays, in a concerted effort to cut down on C02 emissions. The initiative is based on a similar scheme that has run successfully in Australia, where families adopt a vegetarian only diet one day a week by forcing a cut back in the process of meat production, thus allaying the onset of global warming.

The singer, who had some successs writing songs with his pal John Lennon back in the 60’s, told The Grocer trade magazine, that if people were unable to cut out animal consumption perminently, then they could at least take easy steps to help in the fight against climate change.

“A lot of people go to the gym on a Monday. With meat-free Mondays, it’s a bit like going to the gym but with the added advantage of protecting the planet,” said Sir Paul, before adding: “One of the most significant conclusions of the recent report on climate change was that we should eat less meat. This is not the Vegetarian Society that said that. It’s the UN.”

Science does appear to back up his claim. According to earthsave.org, “by far the most important non-CO2 greenhouse gas is methane, and the number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture.

“Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year. And this source is on the rise: global meat consumption has increased fivefold in the past fifty years, and shows little sign of abating. About 85% of this methane is produced in the digestive processes of livestock, and while a single cow releases a relatively small amount of methane, the collective effect on the environment of the hundreds of millions of livestock animals worldwide is enormous.”

Vegetarianism is even being hailed as the new Prius, because of it’s benefits to the environment. The ex-Beatle and Wings man owns a Lexus LS600H, given with gratitude for promotional work the popstar recently did, though he was reportedly fuming when the car was flown to him from Japan, doing considerable damage to his personal carbon footprint.

It’s not just the old guard getting in the act; McCartney is the latest celebrity to appear in a Peta advertising campaign donning an ‘eat no anima’l t-shirt, alongside the likes of Alicia Silverstone, Casey Affleck and Forest Whitaker. Fledgling susperstars such as Leona Lewis are getting in on the act too. The singer, a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, recently said: “I am vegetarian so I don’t have clothes, shoes or bags made from leather or suede or any animal products… I’m on a mission”.

The Hackney born singer, nominated for the forthcoming annual Peta Sexiest Vegetarian awards 2008, doesn’t generally do things by halves, so don’t say you’ve not been warned.

The Great Train Yobbery

Jeremy — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:02:59 +0000

Just days after the Royal Society of Scientists issued a warning that the world needs to deal with the vast amounts of carbon emissions produced by power stations, a group of eco warriors have stormed a train headed for Drax, the UK’s largest powerstation.

It is one of the largest in Europe, producing enough electricity to power six million homes, supplying more than 7 per cent of the electricity, though the bi-product of powering the homes of the British is around 22 million tonnes of C02s according to The Independent. Most of the protesters - believed to be around 20 or 30 - were dressed in white overalls, with one prinked up like a yellow bird - a symbol of the struggle. The hijackers shovelled coal from the train onto the tracks and unfurled a huge yellow banner with the words ‘Leave It In The Ground’ (the name of their organisation) embazoned across it.

Ben Tennyson, a member of the group told assembling reporters: “We’ve stopped this train to prevent it delivering 1,000 tonnes of coal to be burned at Drax and then released into the atmosphere. If we’re serious about fighting climate change, we have to leave this dirty fuel in the ground and invest in clean, renewable energy sources instead.”

The train carrying coal cargo was halted in Rawcliffe, near Selby, by members waving a red flag, in what demonstrators called a “carefully rehearsed procedure”. The group then chained themselves to the train, awaiting the North Yorkshire Police, who seemed wholly unprepared for such an eventuality, though the fact it was Friday 13th was probably not lost on a lot of the officers. The police eventually detained all members of Leave It In The Ground present, though many were not apprehended until nightfall, with the West Yorkshire constabulary carrying out arrests under spotlight.

Superintendent Terry Nicholson of the British Transport Police said: “It’s been a lengthy operation but our priority has been the safety of the public and our officers. We have been dealing with the protesters in a safe and professional manner and we have been arresting people for obstructing the railway.”

Around thirty people are believed to have been taken into custody. The train remains where it was halted presently so that authorities can carry out an inspection.

A spokeswoman for Drax defended the powerstation, by suggesting it was only the largest emitter of C02s because of its size, which casual observers might think a little counterintuitive.

“We are the largest, cleanest and most efficient coal-fired power station in the UK,” she said, “which means that for every unit of electricity we generate we emit less CO2 than any other coal-fired power station in the UK. It is simply our size that makes us the single largest source of CO2 emissions.

“We are investing £180m in reducing our emissions of CO2, through improving our thermal efficiency and co-firing renewable biomass materials. Together those two initiatives will reduce our carbon footprint by 15% or over three million tonnes.”

Charge of the ‘Bright’ Brigade

Jeremy — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:00:55 +0000

Orange may have slid down the telecoms league table in recent years, but the French mobile phone company’s latest venture puts them right at the heart of the cutting edge once again, not to mention in the good books of thousands of young music fans with SRI of the thumbs from too much texting.

The regular festival attendees amongst you will no doubt be aware of how annoying it is to run out of juice at a three or four-day music event. You know the scenario; you leave your chums to check out Jay-Z, then after roaming peripatetically - frantically in search of signal your phone dies, you lose all your mates, your best friend Deborah has your bag, it has all your cash in it, you can’t find your tent, you’re going to have to be extra nice to the nose-ringed guy with the dodgy tattoos at the vegetarian burger stand if you’re going to eat again etc. Sound familiar?

Now Orange have solved one problem, even if your friends can’t be relied to meet you at the Rizla tent. Orange has offered free phone charging at festivals before, but this year’s Glastonbury will be a little different, as they unleash the world’s first giant, fully-renewable mobile phone charger. The seven-metre high renewable recharge “pod” will be unveiled at the Somerset music event, featuring a wind generator and solar panels to harness the weather. So for once you might be hoping for a bit of wind.

Small individual chargers were tried out last year to great success, according to the clever people at Gotwind, renewable energy experts, though the beast they unfurl this year can apparently charge 100 mobiles an hour, and what’s more, each one will be stored in its own individual locker while charging and only you will have the key, meaning your phone won’t be at the mercy of skanks.

According to the press blurb, the energy this mighty contraption generates is equivalent to powering a DJ booth for Groove Armada for an 88 hour set (we’re not sure how they came to this figure or why they specifically picked Groove Armada) and Gotwind are looking to eventually power elements of the Chill n’ Charge tent at all future Glastonbury Festivals.

Hattie Magee, from Orange UK, said: “Mobiles phones are an essential tool for festival survival. With an expected capacity of over 175,000 people spread across a sprawling 900 acres of farmland, keeping in touch with mates around the site, especially when you are covered head to toe in mud, is made that much easier if your phone has battery power.”

The recharge Pod will be stationed at the Pennard Hill camping grounds and will be free all weekend. Acts appearing at this year’s event include Mark Ronson, Kings of Leon and the Verve. A Glastonbury Festival spokesman said: “Glastonbury Festival prides itself on being the first festival to host alternative solutions to environmental concerns - the Orange recharge Pod is a great initiative that supports Love the Farm, Leave No Trace and encourages people to open their eyes to the many practical uses of renewable energy.”

The future is indeed bright.

The ‘Royal’ Rumble

Jeremy — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:15:00 +0000

With the G8 summit rapidly approaching, scientists are attempting to ensure climate change is the central agenda of discussions at the symposium for the world’s most powerful leaders, though this time they’ll not be satisfied with placatory noises and no action.

The Royal Society has posted a message on its website calling for immediate action: “Scientists from the world’s leading industrial countries have today warned of dire consequences, particularly for developing countries, unless action is taken to adapt to threats to food and water supplies now and in the future.”

Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, elaborates: “Food and water shortages are now a dangerous reality particularly in many developing countries. In the coming years, they will be aggravated by rising populations, and climate change. These threats must be properly assessed and solutions identified if we are to avoid costly mistakes from investing in technologies and infrastructure that do not take climate change into account.”

Scientists believe they have found part of the solution. In one of the organisations sternest admonishments yet, experts are clear; the world must have a defined plan to fit power stations with the technological capability to capture carbon dioxide to prevent ‘catastrophic’ climate change, and the leading developed nations must act within a year. Britain’s support for the facilities has been blasted as ‘woefully inadequate’ so far; this technology alone could cut global emissions
by up to 50 per cent, experts claim.

The stark message is that those in power must act with urgency; halve global emissions by 2050. Scientists believe this reduction will not be possible unless huge deposits of carbon from coal-fired power stations are not captured and stored, in a process that separates and liquefies the gases.

“Coal will continue to be one of the world’s primary energy sources for the next 50 years,” continues Rees. “If coal burning power plants and industries continue to pump out carbon dioxide unabated we face a growing risk of triggering a dangerous and irreversible change in the climate. Techniques for carbon capture and storage must therefore be
developed urgently.”

The climate is likely to rise between 0.2 and 0.4C in the next two decades.

“So much is at stake that current efforts are quite inadequate. The nations at the G8 summit should commit themselves to a much expanded and coordinated programme. The sooner this technology can be proven and widely adopted, and annual carbon dioxide emissions stopped from rising, the lower the risk of catastrophic climate change,” concludes Rees.

The announcement comes a day after Japan’s prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% to 80% by 2050.

Ground Control to Major Con

Jeremy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:10:48 +0000

While NASA has been proving the sky is the limit for 40 years and beyond, it appears that down here on earth the organisation is not ammune to a little party political corruption.

A damning 42-page report carried out by the NASA Office of Inspector General has concluded that NASA’s press office “marginalized, or mischaracterized” studies on global warming, in order to protect the Bush administration from controversy close to the 2004 presidential election. However it “found no credible evidence suggesting that senior NASA or Administration officials directed the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs to minimize information relating to climate change.”

The IG stated - in the report published on June 2nd - that personnel in the agency’s public affairs office were guilty of “inappropriate political interference” in their attempts to play down climate change findings.

“Climate change scientists and the majority of career Public Affairs Officers strongly believe that the alleged actions taken by senior Nasa headquarters public affairs officials intended to systematically portray Nasa in a light most favourable to administration policies at the expense of reporting unfiltered research results,” and officials “managed the topic of climate change in a manner that reduced, marginalised, or mischaracterised climate change science made available to the general public.”

“Our government’s response to global warming must be based on science, and the Bush administration’s manipulation of that information violates the public trust,” said Democratic senator Frank Lautenberg.

James Hansen, head of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies had warned a year ago that climatological findings were being muzzled by a higher power. This report confirms that to be the case.

“Further, it is our conclusion that the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs’ actions were inconsistent with the mandate and intent of NASA’s controlling legislation–the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (Space Act) and NASA’s implementing regulations–insomuch as they prevented ‘the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination’ of information concerning NASA’s activities and results,’ the report continued. ”

While we could not substantiate that Administration officials employed outside NASA approved or disapproved or edited specific news releases, we do, however, find by a preponderance of the evidence that the claims of inappropriate political interference made by the climate change scientists and career Public Affairs Officers were more persuasive than the arguments of the senior Public Affairs officials that their actions were due to the volume and poor quality of the draft news releases. Although the scientific information alleged to be ’suppressed’ appeared to be otherwise available through a variety of Agency forums, we cannot reconcile that the Space Act would permit any purposeful obfuscation of scientific research by the Agency in any news dissemination forum as ‘appropriate’ under the Act.”

In further news regarding the Bush administration and climate change, Senate Republicans have derailed the Climate Security Act of 2008 that would have required the United States to make major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The vote felltwelve short of the sixty-vote threshold it needed to succeed, though President Bush had vowed to veto the bill even if Congress had approved it.

Scotch on the rocks (with no ice)

Jeremy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:06:01 +0000

Dubious national stereotyping aside, there is a great lineage and association between Scotland and the world’s finest whisky, though that conjugal felicity between man and distillery could be endangered as the climate heats up. In the next seven decades the Scots may have to get used to becoming synonymous with that most popular of French pursuits, winemaking. We’ll give you a moment to get your head around that one.

Indeed, it will be more difficult to grow the indigineous ingredients required for your finest malt in the highlands as temperatures soar, and importing them may prove a conundrum if air travel is severely restricted in the future. A distinct possibility.

“In Scotland by 2080 the increase will be something like two degrees, which means you would certainly be able to produce wine,” said Professor Richard Selley, of Imperial College London. “Of course it will not be ideal for wheat and barley so we will all be drinking Icelandic whisky.”

Come again? That’s right, our harder-to-reach northern neighbours in Iceland, home of reindeer, thermal springs, deceased quiz master Magnus Magnusson and kookie, seminal pop genius Bjork, will have thousands of miles of arable land perfect for the arduous process of whisky making, while the Great Glen and the Campsie Fells will be all vineyards, producing pinor noir and chardonnay. Who knows, your great, great grandchildren may even toast their children with Scotch champagne on their wedding day…

And if all this seems a little far fetched, you only have to ask the experts. Professor Shelley believes the first grape production vineyard could open within the next five years. David Williamson, of the Scotch Whisky Association, is certainly taking it all very seriously.

Williamson said: “The industry relies on its local natural environment. We watch very carefully the impact of a whole range of environmental circumstances.

“At the moment the industry is examining its environmental sustainable strategy looking forward a number of decades.”

Get on the bus and cause no fuss

Jeremy — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:34:53 +0000

While some believe Google practically runs the planet anyway these days, the IT company and its directors are still attempting to make sure that said planet is a better place despite all the unparalleled success… from the grassroots up.

Like the solarsystem, Google seems to be ever expanding, but that’s not to say the company is not interested in staff issues and green issues, such as travel to and from work at the mothership in California. And so the search engine-cum-mapping-to-medicine-behemoth set about ways to improve the quality of Goggler’s lives from the San Fransciso Bay area; from Santa Cruz and San Jose right up to its Mountain View HQ.

It wasn’t an original idea, but most good ones aren’t. In 2004 Google started operating its own bus service, taking employees out of their cars, thus dramatically reducing Co2 emissions. Since the introduction of the scheme, around 1,200 of the company’s staff now board the bus, and this seems to be having a far reaching effect. Google’s good influence is rubbing off on other giants in the technology sector, including rival Microsoft.

The Microsoft Connector started last September, and according to Laila Stevenson, communications manager in real estate and facilities, the numbers taking up the scheme instead of getting in their own vehicles is increasing daily. The service in Redmond, Washington purports to take 240,000 cars off the road a year.

“It’s estimate that each employee riding Connector will save 30lbs of carbon emissions each day,” Stevenson states. Another pertinent factor is the price of oil right now which seems to be ever on the increase, with many employees claiming they’re saving around $100 a month. Bus benefits include free wi-fi and power outlets for gadgets, plus lots of staff apparently play cards, listen to music or read. Google says “perhaps the best thing is it gives you back up to two and a half hours a day.”

Not to be out done by their US business counterparts, initiatives are being introduced in the UK by large corporations as well. The insurance people Zurich, have signed up to a government scheme to promote green commuting. The company’s environment adviser Aurthur Champion says: “In Fareham we’ve introduced coaches, which are supplied by a local company.

“They lay on this kind of service either in conjunction with local government or independently. It’s good for the environment, people get to work on time and it makes life easier for everyone.”

And if you’re perhaps from the inner city, and the idea sitting on a bus in traffic doesn’t fill you with untold excitement, then you can always dodge through the gridlock by biking to work. Even better still, if you don’t actually own a bike then your employer can probably help you out. Cyclesheme users not only generate nada carbon dioxide, they also get fit in the process.