Lifestyle Green 2008 Officially Launched

The second LifestyleGreen Show sponsored by NIE Your Energy was launched this week. This year’s event, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14, September will take place with event partner, Castle Espie, at their popular Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) centre on the shores of Strangford Lough.

As one of the UK’s leading conservation organisations, which boasts the largest collection of ducks, geese and swans in Ireland, WWT actively saves wetlands for wildlife and people across the world. Perhaps one of the finest examples of wetland habitats in Europe, Castle Espie is a tranquil and family friendly oasis. Visitors will find out more about Irish wetlands, and how they can preserve this rare heritage for future generations.

NIE Your Energy will once again ensure visitors receive a free energy-saving bulb. The Forest Service Northern Ireland, will also give a free tree sapling to help offset carbon expended on each journey to the centre.

“The LifestyleGreen Show last September was the first of its kind anywhere in the UK or Ireland. The unique event aims to draw members of the general public who may not normally be attracted to green events. The analogy of ‘four seasons in one day’ seems an apt way to sum up the impact of climate change. We are already in the danger zone. All our actions today are inextricably linked with the environment around us - and, ultimately, the legacy we leave for our children and our children's children. It’s time to do something positive and I believe dedicated eco-events like this create an educational and captivating platform to do just that. The show will offer the opportunity to participate, debate and leave with more than food for thought about how, individually and collectively, we can all mitigate the dire consequences of runaway climate chaos and become part of the change for a better future.”
Gill McNeill, Event Organiser

“NIE Your Energy will be joining forces with a range of other renewable and energy saving organisations to host the NIE Your Energy marquee. Reducing your carbon footprint, or in other words reducing your impact on the planet and climate change, is in the news a lot these days. Visitors to the NIE Your Energy marquee can find out how we can help them reduce the size of their footprint. As a starting point, NIE Your Energy will be giving out thousands of free energy saving bulbs to visitors to the Show. We will also have details of grants and schemes to help with the cost of things like household insulation, helping people reduce their energy use and therefore their carbon footprint.”
Wilma Stewart, NIE Your Energy

“Highlighting positive action to combat climate change underpins the ongoing work of the World Wetlands Trust. We are pleased to host The LifestyleGreen Show this year.”
James Orr, WWT Castle Espie Director

Attractions at Castle Espie this autumn will include everything from ancient crafts to renewable energy, a first in Ireland in sustainable building techniques and food for body and mind in the health and slow food zones.

Additionally, talks and debates on ethical living and the opportunity to learn old skills will be complemented by live music, stilt walkers, clowns, craft-making - and much more!

Normal Castle Espie admission charges will apply, with no extra cost for LifestylGreen Show admission A family day out with a difference!

Belfast Telegraph in Energy Saving Bulbs Giveaway

Following suit with mainland newspapers, such as the Sun who carried a similar campaign, which saw newspaper sales increase by 408 000 copies, taking the daily circulation to almost 4m. The Sun turned half of its front page green for the promotion, which offered the eco-friendly lightbulbs to readers who bought the paper at more than 4,000 independent newsagents and stores including Tesco, Asda, WH Smith, Sainsbury's, Somerfield and Morrisons.

The Belfast Telegraph campaign runs in a similar way with many newspaper outlets giving a free bulb with the purchase of a paper today (Wednesday 16 April). The campaign hopes to give away enough bulbs to reduce Northern Ireland CO2 emissions by 500t per annum.

Adding her weight to the campaign the Minister for Social Development in Northern Ireland backed the campaign adding how she hopes to help further reduce energy consumption in the province, which has the highest CO2 emissions in the UK.

"The less we use today, the more will be available for future generations. From April, I will increase my Department's spending on fuel poverty by a further £0.5m bringing the Department's commitment to tackling fuel poverty to £35.4m. Alongside this, I will future-proof all new social houses against fuel poverty by ensuring that those built from this month will be required to meet standards that will mean that they will be 25% more energy efficient. My department will continue to examine the potential for extending innovation partnership arrangements with Northern Ireland Electricity and others to speed up the replacement of Economy 7 heating systems, targeting those with particular health needs and piloting renewable energy technologies as a means of tackling rural fuel poverty."
Margaret Richie, Social Development Minister

MSC Napoli Dismantling Nears Completion

The dismantling of the MSC Napoli nears completion at Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast. The project has kept 80 shipyard workers busy, essentially "building a ship in reverse", the project has recovered 60 000 tonnes of ship-grade steel which will be reused in other building projects worldwide. Once the drydock is cleared it will be then used for a project constructing 60 wind turbines for a wind farm off the south west coast of Scotland.

Picture: Upgrading the Network

Translink are upgrading the rail network in Northern Ireland between Ballymena and Coleraine in an attempt to improve travel times and comfort.

How Much Electricity Does a 32" Sharp LCD TV Use?

LCD TV's are extremely popular at the moment as they are cheap and affordable. We tested the 32" Sharp GD8E LCD TV with built in digital television receiver.

In Stand-by; 3W
Digital TV; 85 - 87W
Non-Digital TV; 155 - 160W

For information on the electricity consumption of other products check out "How Much Electricity Does a ... Use?"

Please Note the energy use figures are taken from an energy monitor and are not scientifically analysed, therefore the range and margin of error is greater. If you would like a specific product tested let us know and we will endeavour to check it out.

Do Prisons Hold the Key to Reducing Carbon Emissions?

Prisons may not be the ideal place to live, but could aspects of prison life help to adapt and influence change, reducing CO2 emissions, and kickstarting a low carbon economy?

With our prisons at breaking point, and new "super-prisons" planned to make up the shortfall, one aspect of prison life that provides inspiration to the world of green is that communal living and working, can help reduce CO2 emissions, eliminating the need for commuting, providing an increased efficiency of energy use, and reducing the initial energy expenditure per capita in construction of the building.

The Prison Service's population as at 22nd February, was 82,068 in England and Wales, exceeding its own "operational capacity" by 96. However, they clocked up a carbon footprint of 97 923 tonnes last year, up 0.14% from 97 784 tonnes in 99/00, not bad considering the increase in prison numbers. Or an average annual emission per prisoner of 1.2t of CO2, or 3.27kg per day. Whilst this figure does not take all emissions into consideration, such as from the production of goods or food, the emissions per capita of the population is substanially lower than those of the national average.

Whilst it may be hard-pushed to find a situation where communal living and working could co-exist as a single entity opposed to the totally separate entities that they currently fulfill in our lives, but could some of the solutions of prison life be implemented into our own current lives, such as working from home. If each of the ten million office workers in the UK were able to work from home, the reduction based on the average commute of 8.5 miles, could potentially see 119m miles of commuting via car removed from UK roads, and reduce CO2 emissions by 7m tonnes annually. In addition to this, it would also save car commuting office workers 2.6 billion hours a year from travel.

"Drivers would rather sit in their cars twice as long than change jobs, move house or change their work base"
Edmund King, RAC Foundation

The blame for the rise of CO2 emissions over the past year were partly attributed to the increase in the number of prisoners having access to "solo showers", whilst this increase is significantly modest it certainly is not an issue for contention, unlike that of showers at 30 000ft.

Could you live with the people you work? Or is communal living destined to fail?

Picture: Segen Install World's First Commercial Tidal Turbine

Pictures: taylorkeogh.com

Pioneering renewable energy developer, Marine Current Turbines, has successfully completed the first installation phase of the 1.2MW SeaGen Tidal System into the fast-flowing waters of Strangford Narrows.

The crane barge, “Rambiz”, is set to sail for Belgium after safely positioning the 1000 tonne structure onto the seabed in the early hours of Wednesday 2nd April morning and releasing its four moorings on Thursday. SeaGen’s location is roughly 1km south of the ferry route between Strangford and Portaferry, approximately 400m from the shoreline.

When fully operational later in the summer, its 16m diameter, twin rotors will operate for up to 18-20 hours per day to produce enough clean, green electricity, equivalent to that used by a 1000 homes. This is four times greater than any other tidal stream project so far built.

"It is great news that Marine Current Turbines and British innovation are leading the world in the development of marine energy technologies. It’s this sort of project which will help the UK meet our ambitious targets to significantly increase the amount of energy from renewable sources.
"I am proud that my department has played a part in the development of SeaGen, granting £5.2 million of funds to help take it from the drawing board. Marine power has the potential to make a significant contribution to our energy generation needs, and I hope the success of this project will inspire others to follow its lead.”
John Hutton, Secretary of State for Energy

SeaGen had its final assembly at the Harland & Wolff dockyard in Belfast. Here it was winched onto the crane barge, “Rambiz”, owned and operated by the Belgium company Scaldis, and then transported to Strangford Narrows.

The deployment by the Rambiz and the subsequent installation work is being overseen by MCT’s in-house engineering team and managed by marine engineering specialists SeaRoc Ltd.

The quadropod section that sits on the seabed will now be pin piled. Each of the four pins that secure SeaGen will be drilled to a depth of around nine metres. This work is being carried out by Fugro Seacore Ltd.

SeaGen will enter commercial operation after a commissioning phase of around 12 weeks and supply electricity to the local grid. ESB Independent Energy, the retail subsidiary of ESB, Ireland’s national electricity company, has signed a Power Purchase Agreement with MCT to supply to its customers in the island of Ireland with the power produced by SeaGen.

As a renewable energy company, MCT takes its responsibilities to the environment seriously. It has established a £2million programme to closely monitor the environmental impact of SeaGen, involving scientists from the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and from the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrew’s University (SMRU). The programme includes the presence of a Marine Mammal Observer on SeaGen at all times during the commissioning phase, when SeaGen will only operate during daylight hours, to observe how the Lough’s marine life interacts with the structure. There is also a sonar system monitoring seal movements, operated by SMRU, which has been partly paid for by the Npower juice fund

An official switch-on ceremony will take place in the summer after the commissioning phase is completed.

E.On For Humber

E.ON through its subsidiary company Humber Wind Ltd, has just submitted its planning application for the development of the 300 MW Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm.

The site itself is located near to the north of the mouth of the River Humber, off the Holderness Coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire. It lies just to the East of Spurn Head. At the northernmost point, the site is 8.2km from Easington and 18km from Grimsby.

The area of the site is approximately 35 square kilometres.

The operational life of the project is expected to be 40 years.

The actual proposed site footprint for Humber Gateway was chosen following a lengthy consideration of alternatives and has taken into account shipping navigation and regulartory constraints.

E.ON believes Humber Gateway to be an ideal location for offshore wind energy for a number of reasons, including; High winds, Low waves, Flat and stable seabed and Selection of suitable ports for construction and maintenance.

Extensive discussions with ABP Humber Ports have led to the project being bounded at the south by the shipping lanes approaching the Humber (broadly defined by the ship Traffic Separation Scheme), the 8km coastal exclusion zone set by the DTI.

If planning permission is granted, the Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm would consist of between 42 and 83 three bladed turbines The maximum installed capacity would be 300MW, and this would generate enough clean renewable energy to power up to 195,000 homes.

The application is the first since the business and enterprise secretary, John Hutton, called for more than 33 gigawatts of offshore wind-generating capacity to be installed by 2020. The 300-megawatt production of Humber Gateway would be less than one third of a gigawatt.

The opposition from the MoD is likely to make the application a test of the government's commitment to offshore wind farms. The MoD is understood to have objected to the project because it could cause interference with its radar operations.

If its objections are successful it would halt not only E.ON's plans but also those of other companies that are hoping to build wind farms in the area.

"The next generation of large-scale offshore windfarms like Humber Gateway have a vital role to play in the UK's future energy mix. This scheme will displace the emissions of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year and will make a significant contribution to helping the government meet its tough renewable energy targets. E.ON said the MoD had not raised objections when it was initially consulted about Humber Gateway in 2004 and that it was optimistic it could reach agreement. We're speaking to both the MoD and DBERR [Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform] and we're confident that we can find a way forward."
Dr Paul Golby, Chief Executive, E.On

Japan Cuts Petrol Prices

Old news now, but last week eco chic Japan made the backward move of reducing petrol prices by twelve pence a litre, or a cut of about 15% off the cost of a litre of fuel. This price cut prompted Yasuo Fukuda apologised for the petrol bonanza. He asked, How can Japan present itself as environmentally friendly and a reducer of emissions when it had taken the "backward move" of making petrol cheaper? This comes almost a year after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a 50% cut in world emissions by 2050, and expected Japan to play a leading role in such an effort.

Whilst the price cut is expected to be only temporary, due to the Liberal Democratic Party being unable to get through a special tax on petrol and diesel, for the first time in thirty-four years, after losing its majority in the upper house.

A study from 2000, carried out by Professor Stephen Glaister and Dr Dan Graham of the department of civil and environmental engineering at Imperial College, London and published by the Automobile Association, reviews research on the response of motorists to fuel price changes. They show that petrol price increases do have a substantial effect upon consumption a 10% increase in price could reduce consumption by as much as 7%. Whilst this research was conducted for the UK market, that could potentially if replicated long-term could see Japan petrol consumption increase 12% based on my unstatistically back of enevelope reverse of the fact.

Joe Wein’s blog, from Yokohama, Japan commented "I’m utterly unimpressed by how both major Japanese parties have handled this conflict.

Fuel taxes in Japan consist of the basic fuel tax and a “temporary” but de-facto permanent surcharge. The ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) wanted to hold on to the surcharge, as well as to a peculiar rule that fuel taxes must only be used for road construction and repair. This road-use-only restriction was defended by the so-called “road tribe”, an informal group of politicians with cozy ties to construction companies which in turn support their election campaigns.

The opposition Democratic Party, which controls the less powerful Upper House of parliament, called for dissolving the fuel - road construction link, as well as abolishing the surcharge altogether and only keeping the basic fuel tax, as it was until the 1970s.

The two did not compromise in time before the set expiration date and so prices will fall from tomorrow. Most likely the Lower House, which is controlled by the LDP-led coalition, will override the Upper House about one month later and reimpose the higher tax rate. Meanwhile Prime Minister Fukuda offered to remove the road construction link from April 2009 in order to get the opposition to agree to an extension of the surcharge.

While motorists will welcome cheaper fuel, petrol stations are likely to collectively lose about US$200 million over night, as they hold stocks of some 800 million litres of petrol in their underground tanks on which the tax has already been paid and which will not be refunded to them. Motorists are likely to give their business to whatever petrol station that starts selling at the new low prices first, making it near impossible for other stations to pass on to the consumer the taxes these stations have already paid on stocks delivered before April.

To me it makes no sense to maintain the outdated restriction on how fuel taxes can be used, which serves primarily the interests of construction companies, not the general public. Japan as an aging society with a declining population will need more and more cash for supporting elderly people and their health care, not more and more roads. Why can’t taxes be used where they are needed the most? This pork barrel restriction should have been abandoned a long time ago!

On the other hand it would be irresponsible to cut fuel taxes while the government is running a huge budget deficit. It would just mean more red ink, piling up higher debts to be repaid by our children and grandchildren. Also, cheaper fuel today will do little to encourage consumers to switch to more economical cars or public transport and to cut their output of greenhouse gases. Japan is already way behind on its efforts to meet its obligations under the Kyoto climate treaty.

It would make more sense to maintain and even raise fuel taxes and use the revenue to subsidise CO2 conservation measures, from better home insulation to solar collectors for warm water and subsidies for hybrid cars. Thirty years from now the world will live on maybe half the crude oil output per year as today, shared amongst more consumers. Whatever country comes up with intelligent solutions for living with scarce and expensive oil will do best in the 21st century. Trying to sneak back into a “golden age” of cheap fuel is not the way to succeed."

Rapid Transport Network for Belfast City

Department for Regional Development, announced yesterday a high class bus-based network could cut commuting times while costing significantly less than that of a light rail system similar to that of the Luas in Dublin. Since the Luas was launched in June 2004 some 100 million journeys have been made with 80,000 people travelling on it every day.

Three pilot routes have been considered in the studies: one running from Dundonald in the East to the city centre; one serving the development in Titanic Quarter and onwards to Queen’s University and the City Hospital; and one into the West from the city centre to the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) and beyond into West Belfast.

The report by Atkins & KPMG noted instead of the £590m needed to establish a light rail network, the consultants say a high quality bus-based system with vehicles carrying 120 passengers, could be built for close to a quarter of the cost at £147m, however there should be the option of migrating to light rail in the future should the demand.

Conor Murphy, Regional Development Minister's Statement

"Transportation experts have concluded that the most appropriate system for the city is a modern and high class bus based system. Rapid transit is an exciting prospect for Belfast and I have recently visited the Netherlands and have seen examples of what could be possible here.

It is however, important to share the findings and recommendations of the studies with those who can assist me in reaching a final decision on what is the best system for Belfast. I therefore want to hear the views from a range of key interests taking into account all the facts of the studies, including the likely number of passengers and costs and therefore intend to engage with members of the Regional Development Committee and subsequently with other parties whose contribution will be important and vital.

Many people may not know precisely what is meant by rapid transit but it is something new that we have never had before in terms of public transport. I envisage it as a service offering improved speed, reliability, comfort and access features over conventional public transport. It is a service that should be segregated from other traffic as much as possible with new vehicle designs that enhance the journey and reflect Belfast as a 21st century city.

This is our opportunity to create a new dynamic transportation system for the city, one that helps link people to jobs, hospitals, schools and colleges. One that links communities to the city centre and the emerging opportunities in Titanic Quarter. A system that can be expanded to other parts of the city in due course, a system that attracts drivers out of their cars as they see the advantages of rapid transit.

The Programme for Government highlights rapid transit as a key priority with a commitment to start work on the first scheme by 2011. I have secured £111million for rapid transit and continue to explore opportunities to draw in additional private sector finance."

This development is a new provision for public transportation in Belfast, and from media reports the service is likely to be extremely affordable, as a way of keeping demand for the service and enticing car users on to public transport. Should the scheme be implemented in such a way to achieve its aims it will reduce traffic congestion, journey times and CO2 emissions, providing benefit to the city and the environment.

E-day: Worthwhile or Waste of Energy?

Matt Prescott the mind behind the event recently wrote his comments for the BBC in their ViewPoint section;

E-Day was designed to raise awareness that saving energy offers a quick, simple way of tackling the massive and urgent threat posed by climate change, and makes sense as a way of saving money and improving peoples' comfort in summer and winter.

I hoped to focus attention on how almost everyone can painlessly take greater personal responsibility for reducing their own demand for energy, and so cutting carbon emissions.

I had calculated that if every one of the 22 million households in the UK turned off just one 100 watt light bulb, on the same day, four 500 megawatt coal-fired power stations could be turned off.

I therefore wanted to see whether this information could be brought to life in a way that involved and interested everyone, and whether asking everyone to switch off at least one electrical item for a day could produce a noticeable impact on the country's energy use and carbon emissions.

No-one likes being repeatedly beaten over the head with messages asking them to "make sacrifices for the planet".

So I decided E-Day should be fun - and was able to set it up initially as a comedy-led BBC television programme likely to feature the talents of people like Graham Norton.

After 18 months of work, BBC TV cancelled Planet Relief just as we were getting ready to go into production.

This was apparently because a couple of other environmental projects had delivered poor ratings and there had been a public debate about whether it was the BBC's job to "save the planet".

The cancellation had immediate implications for E-Day - the first being that it was likely to slide into oblivion - but also raised wider questions about the public's appetite for the climate issue.

Opinion polls show widespread concern about climate change, and a significant majority in favour of taking action - so why weren't people watching? Or were broadcasters being too timid?

Anyway - I decided to see whether I could make E-Day work as an independent venture. The environment charities, religious groups, energy companies and scientists I had been working with decided to remain involved, and the National Grid agreed it would still monitor national electricity use - so it seemed viable.

However, I had very little money to make things happen. A couple of charities came through with no strings attached funding, and the damage to my bank account - while still the equivalent of a deposit on a house - looked manageable.

Come the big day, thanks largely to some fantastically talented people giving their time for free, we had a superb website, a fresh and fun launch event at St Paul's Cathedral featuring the premiere of a bicycle-powered cinema, some lovely short films on YouTube and the agreement of some of the large energy companies to use E-Day to promote home insulation.

But the big disadvantage of working outside one of the big media or campaign groups is that you are dependent on others for publicity.

Without publicity, no-one would know that E-Day was happening, and so almost by definition it was bound to fail on both objectives - lowering energy use and spreading awareness.

In the end, this proved the project's Achilles heel.

The Sun covered our "Bjorn The Bear" video, the BBC News website carried a live data feed of electricity use, BBC News 24 filmed the launch, and 15 local radio stations interviewed me.

A Russian TV news channel, with an audience of 100 million, decided that E-Day was important enough to merit 10 minutes of prime time coverage, even during the Russian elections.

MTV phoned up and asked if they could be part of E-Day in the last few hours!

But it was not enough. As Kevin Costner might have said in Field of Dreams: "We built it; but they did not come".

I was deluged with emails saying, in a nutshell: "Great idea - wish I'd known about it".

It didn't help that the National Grid's prediction for "business as usual" electricity demand immediately ran into trouble.

The day was colder than expected, and this meant that more heating and lighting were being used than the Grid's experts had predicted; for a while, the graphs allowed you to conclude that E-Day had raised energy use - and maybe this dissuaded people from taking part.

Towards the end of E-Day, the Grid used actual weather data to update its predictions, and its final figures revealed that electricity use over the 24 hours of E-Day was 0.1% higher than would have been expected.

At first, I was hugely disappointed by this result.

But as the next morning dawned, and hundreds of encouraging emails started to pour in from children, businesses, councils and people overseas, I started to realise just how much had been achieved.

Now, a month or so on, I am able to step back a bit and ask: was it worth it?

First, the positives. Many energy companies, charities, academics and retailers set aside their day-to-day differences and found common cause; that has to bode well for the future.

Through E-Day, five major energy companies simplified the hoops that people have to jump through when they apply for help with home insulation; perhaps this is a model they can take forward now.

They are required to offer these services by law, so they might as well make it as easy as possible.

The together.com coalition of big companies pledged to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of their customers by 1 million tonnes in time for the next E-Day.

Will there be another E-Day, though?

Right now, I don't know. If there is, I hope that the next one will be bigger and better, and able to build on the ideas, lessons, support and interest generated this time around.

The novelty and ambition of E-Day appeared to create a rare set of conditions under which competitors felt they were missing out if they refused to join efforts to save energy and to come up with solutions to climate change.

However, the fact that E-Day couldn't guarantee high-profile coverage meant that many big and wealthy organisations decided they could say "yes" to contributing a low-cost idea and their logo, but "no" to spending any money on publicity.

There are of course other initiatives with similar aims, such as the recent Earth Hour.

All of them are worthwhile; what we must not do in the environmental community is create any sense of competition between them.

If different groups concentrate on promoting just their "own" ventures, none will achieve what they want. We must keep our common goal of reducing carbon emissions in mind.

Hopefully, next time around it will be possible for all the E-Day partners to promote it more whole-heartedly so that all of their customers and members know exactly when it is, what they are being asked to do and what solutions are on offer.

I also hope that a major media organisation or two will turn out to have a serious enough interest in saving energy that we can do something exciting and unique together in time for the next E-Day.

The Daily Mail's campaign to banish plastic bags appears to have borne fruit; the recent Budget gives supermarkets a year to put their houses in order, otherwise legislation will force them to.

To me, this shows that simple, focused campaigns with significant media coverage, designed to help the environment, can be effective and popular.

Comic Relief and Children in Need successfully campaign against poverty and child abuse; so I hope that backing sensible measures to save energy and urgently tackle climate change, to the level the science indicates to be necessary, will not frighten anyone in the British media for much longer.

Meanwhile, our leaders need to lead and our governments to govern, while customers and voters need to demand and support efforts to save energy and tackle climate change without delay.

In the end, bringing carbon emissions down as far as we need to will require not an E-Day but an E-lifetime; and we should grasp every chance we have to spread the word and start on the small steps that will make the big challenges we all face less daunting.

The Fastest Way to Cross London

With the AA having announced the average speed in Central London having fallen to a meager 10mph, it reminded me of an episode of Top Gear which aired last year, the episode was repeated this week, and is available to view on the iPlayer as of writting.

Many races have been performed before pitting cars, bikes and public transport together in a bid to see which method of transport is the fastest, but the BBC Top Gear team added a boat.

Starting from Kew Gardens, the most westernly point on the North Circular, the team were to travel across London one of the world's busiest cities, to the City Airport. The most easternly point on the North Circular. Of course you will have to watch on BBC iPlayer or YouTube to find out who wins, if you even need to watch.

But here is some screen shots;

The AA Trial Electric Bikes

Chronic congestion has reached record levels in some cities, so the AA is introducing patrols on electric scooters and motorbikes to tackle the problem.

The UK's biggest breakdown organisation will use Vectrix electric bikes to cut through traffic and reach breakdowns in central London up to 25 per cent quicker, getting members and other traffic moving again with minimum delay.

The trial is in central London, where traffic speeds in the morning peak are at their lowest in 40 years. If it is successful, the bikes could be rolled out to other major cities revealed today by the AA, in conjunction with Trafficmaster, in a "City Speed League Table";

The average traffic speed across London is 16.9mph. But during peak periods in central London this slows to just 10mph – the same speed as horse-drawn carriages a century ago.

City & Speed

Bristol 16.8
Glasgow 17.3
Southampton 17.8
Liverpool 17.8
Manchester 18.3
Cambridge 18.8
Birmingham 19.4
Sheffield 19.6
Cardiff 21.8
Newcastle 24.0

"On busy city roads, one flat tyre can delay thousands of motorists and further aggravate congestion. By cutting through traffic, AA bike patrols will reach breakdowns more quickly and get our members and other drivers back on the move with the minimum delay. We need radical action to beat record slow traffic in our cities and decided that two wheels are quicker than four. By fixing breakdowns more quickly, we will improve service to our members, and help reduce congestion and emissions. Our analysis of traffic speeds in major cities shows that congestion is not just a London problem with Bristol bottom of the league, and Glasgow, Southampton and Liverpool less than 1 mph quicker than London."
Edmund King, President, The AA

The bike patrols will target 'quick fix' breakdowns such as flat batteries, wheel changes and simple electrical faults. These problems cause over a third of the 3.6 million breakdowns attended by the AA each year, often causing lengthy traffic jams.

The new bikes – which include environment friendly zero-emission electric scooters – are expected to cut up to 25 per cent from peak time breakdown wait times, which average around 50 minutes in central London. The AA's response times are already market-leading as supported by a recent Which? survey.

The AA is making significant investment in further improving its response times and fourteen experienced AA patrols have been selected to ride the motorbikes, supported by a dedicated motorcycle recovery van in London. This will be supplemented in the coming months by five dedicated motorbike repair and recovery vans. They join a fleet of over 500 AA van patrols who cover central London and inside the M25.

Whilst I oppose the thought of supporting car use, the AA provide a service which assist motorists and reduces congestion, congestion itself is a major contributor to increased transportation CO2 emissions, and may be responsible for over 9m tonnes of CO2 annually in the UK. Compounded with the statistics from the AA on average speeds in our major cities, it seems that now is the time to get out of the car and search for an alternative to the gridlock. Getting on your bike you wouldn't be hard pushed to exceed 10mph for central london, and with a bit of effort 16.9mph for all of london. Switching to public transport, you can somewhat relax, sit back and enjoy the ride, and if this wasn't proof enough see my next post about Top Gear.

Choosing A Bike

I recently bought a bike, and went in blind, purchasing a bike that was on the face of it, pretty. Whilst I am very happy with my purchase, my bike is a beast. I asked Paul Dorn from blog Bike Commuting Tips for his suggestions on selecting a bike.

Just about any bicycle will work for commuting. I've traveled to work on a mountain bike, a road bike, a hybrid, and even a fat-tired cruiser. The important thing is to get a bike you feel comfortable on. Find a reputable bike shop, consult with the sales staff, think about how you might use the bike, how far you'll be going, what you might need to carry, what conditions you'll be riding in, and so on.

My present commuting bike is a hybrid, which I'd recommend for most everyday urban riding needs. In much of the world -- in such countries as Japan, China or Holland -- the bicycle is valued as a utilitarian vehicle. And bikes sold in those countries come equipped with fenders, bells, lights, kick-stands, racks, and, very important, chainguards. In the US the bicycle is generally considered a toy, a recreational device, or as exercise equipment. Something you load on top of your car, like skis or a surfboard, and travel to some remote area to "play." That's why bike shops are filled with mountain bikes. They thrive on selling the "sport" of cycling. Travel they leave to other vehicle retailers, i.e. auto dealerships. This is a big mistake.

Don't buy a mountain bike just because the sales person has lots of them to sell. Mountain bikes are fine for many things, even commuting. However, most people never get near a trail with their mountain bike. Those fat knobby tires may really dig into the dirt on a stretch of fire road. But they add lots of rolling resistance on pavement. (They might suggest that the knobby tires are more "flat resistant." Don't believe it. I can tell you from experience that large glass fragments, nails and pushpins can puncture mountain bike tires too. As you'll see later, flats are really no big deal.)

If you think most of your riding will be done on asphalt streets, then consider a hybrid, touring, or a road bike. They're generally made with larger, easier rolling wheels, with street "slicks" or other tire made for riding on pavement, and offer a longer wheelbase for a more comfortable ride. The bike pictured here, inspired by European commuting bikes, is set up well for everyday travel. If you're considering buying a new bike to begin commuting, here are my suggestions for factors to consider; here are my bicycles, complete with reasons and rationalizations.

Minnesota cyclist John Faughnan has a great article on the advantages of using touring bikes for everyday commuting. Many cyclists also happily enjoy commuting on recumbent and fixed-gear bikes; I don't usually recommend either for new cyclists. But for many people, the comfort and ease of a recumbent or the simplicity of a fixed-gear would be appropriate.

In short, my point is: get the bike that suits you. There's no need to have the latest, the most exciting, the most colorful, the most expensive bike.

Showers at 30,000ft - Just Plane Stupid

I recently found myself reading an article from the Times about how Emirates are to include showers in their new luxurious first class cabins on board the the Airbus A380. Whilst the height of luxury at 37 000ft, this will rack up a huge carbon footprint, just a mere 881kg of CO2 per shower assuming the extra tonne of water is completely used at 40 litres per shower and 25 showers per journey. Each shower on board is the equivalent to heating water in a domestic water heater for 544 hours.

The showers, part of cabins in first class designed by BE Aerospace will first make an appearance on the Dubai to New York route on October 01.

“It’s symptomatic of who really benefits, the richest 18% in this country take 54% of all flights. The government is telling us to take fewer flights, but the huge increase in air traffic is not due to ordinary people going on family holidays, but because of excessive flying by the moneyed classes. Is this the type of development the aviation industry really needs?”
Robbie Gillett, Plane Stupid

I don't often agree with the antics of Plane Stupid, such as their protest last month atop the House of Commons, and hence the carefully worded post that followed. However, I don't think there is an environmental group or person who could justify such extreme gluttonous expenditure for such a minor pleasure.