Northern Ireland's First Carbon Neutral Home

Northern Ireland’s first carbon neutral home, has been officially opened by Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie. The five bedroom, 2,500 sq ft property has been built by Sky Developments, a specialist development company working in the field of low carbon and passive status housing. The building was constructed using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) and incorporates the latest state of the art technologies to assist energy efficiency.

“I have been most impressed by what I have seen. This building showcases to stunning effect the innovative, energy saving technologies now available. All involved are to be congratulated for bringing such a challenging project to fruition.”
Margaret Ritchie, Social Development Minister

The minister took the opportunity to highlight a number of initiatives already developed by her own department to further increase the sustainability and energy efficiency of social housing.

The New Housing Agenda gives a high priority to the provision of more energy efficient housing. From April this year, a new higher Code for Sustainable Homes has applied to all new social housing, meaning that in effect homes built now are 25% more energy efficient than ever before.

Stephen McCready and Alan Johnston, directors of Sky Developments, say the 2,300sq ft home is so energy efficient that Northern Ireland Electricity will owe the householder £200 at the end of the year because it will produce so much energy it will feed the surplus back into the grid. The house’s carbon-neutral status means it has been granted an A Energy Performance Certificate. The average home in Northern Ireland are rated E.

The “green house” uses four main methods to keep costs at less than zero:

• the roof has been constructed of photovoltaic panels designed to resemble black slate tiles that harness the sun’s rays for electricity;
  
  
• structural insulated panels (SIPS) make up the shell of the house, with their superior heat-retaining ability cutting down on the need for electricity;
  
  
• an air source heat pump uses wind energy to pump out water at 37 degrees;
  
  
• quadruple glazing in each window blocks out the cold.

Sky Developments are about to start building 40 energy-efficient affordable homes in Newtownards using SIPS and the zero-carbon prototype as inspiration.

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CO2/kWh

Supplier	Coal	Natural Gas	Nuclear	Renewable	Other	CO2	Nuclear Waste	Disclosure Year
British Gas	18.0	56.0	20.0	4.0	2.0	0.382	0.0022	2007
Ecotricity	23.8	22.8	25.9	24.1	3.3	0.316	0.0029	2007
EDF Energy	47.0	29.0	17.0	5.0	2.0	0.540	0.0018	2007
Good Energy	0.0	0.0	0.0	100.0	0.0	0.000	0.0000	2007
Green Energy	0.0	68.0	0.0	32.0	0.0	0.136	0.0000	2007
npower/RWE	44.0	37.0	13.0	3.0	3.0	0.543	0.0015	2007
Powergen	42.0	36.7	14.2	3.6	3.5	0.530	0.0020	2007
Scottish & Southern Energy	30.6	57.8	0.8	10.2	0.6	0.489	0.0001	2007
ScottishPower	55.2	36.7	1.0	6.8	0.3	0.630	0.0001	2007
Utilita	33.0	39.0	21.0	4.0	3.0	0.460	0.0025	2006
UK average	35.8	38.8	18.6	4.7	2.1	0.461	0.0025	2007

CO2 in Kg/kWh

MPG Marathon 2008

The real benefits of ‘smarter’ motoring came into sharp focus this week when competitors in the 2008 MPG Marathon proved beyond doubt that skilful eco-driving can dramatically reduce the cost of motoring and cut the amount of CO2 emissions produced by Britain's 30 million motorists.

The 40 teams taking part achieved an average improvement of 23 per cent over the manufacturer’s official combined figures and, if replicated by all of Britain’s car and commercial vehicle drivers, would save a total of £8.2 billion per year in fuel costs.

Eighty drivers and navigators took part in this national initiative, a round trip between ALD Automotive’s headquarters in Fishponds, Bristol and Shrigley Hall, Macclesfield to establish whether eco-driving can squeeze more miles per gallon (mpg) out of their vehicles than conventional motoring. The objective was to ‘save pounds and the planet’ as the drivers put the manufacturer’s own estimates of fuel consumption to the test – and won.

The achievement was all the more impressive as the drivers had to deal with the glare of publicity and congested roads during the two-day endurance trial. Twenty two manufacturers agreed to publicly have a variety of their hatchbacks, saloons and commercial vehicles put through their paces by automotive journalists, 'green' organisations and motoring safety bodies, including the AA, over this gruelling 400-mile round trip.

While seven vehicles achieved more than 70 miles per gallon, eight amazingly secured more than 80 miles per gallon, a record for the event which is in its sixth year, but the overall winning position went to the Toyota Yaris driven by Andrew Andersz which achieved a staggering 84.66mpg.

Second place went to Sue and Joanne Cooke in the Mazda2 1.4 Diesel with 84.58mpg. James Sutherland and navigator Richard Hill, who have won the last two MPG Marathons, failed to achieve their ‘hat trick’ in the Toyota Aygo Blue although it came in fifth place with 82.39mpg, a 34.18 per cent improvement over the manufacturer’s combined cycle figures, and using just 22.71 litres of petrol. This was the best figure achieved by a petrol-engined car in the event.

The MPG Marathon also sought out the drivers most capable of improving on the fuel consumption figures claimed by the manufacturer.

A Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with a manufacturer’s combined mpg of 19.2, managed to achieve 30.96mpg, an improvement of 61.26 per cent, despite its massive seven-litre engine. Driver and navigator Richard Hammond and Carla McAlpine proved that even so-called ‘gas guzzler’ sports cars can be driven more economically.

Second place in the percentage improvement class went to Christophe Duprat from ALD Automotive International and French motoring journalist Emilie Eyzat in a Honda Accord, with an MPG of 73.98, an improvement of 49.16 per cent.

Another entry of note was the Ford Focus driven and navigated by Devon and Cornwall police officers Martin Davis and Malcolm Curnow who achieved a fuel consumption of 62.43mpg against the manufacturer’s figure of 54.2mpg, an improvement of 15.18 per cent on the standard Focus, although more significant because the vehicle would be heavier with additional equipment. The force is attempting to cut its £2.3 million annual fuel bill because, with a fleet of 1200 vehicles, officers drive an amazing 29 million miles per year as a result of there being more miles of roads in the two counties than in the whole of Belgium. AA president Edmund King, sharing the driving with BBC Transport correspondent Tom Symonds, achieved 73mpg in a new Fiat 500, an improvement of 9.01 per cent.

It’s not what you drive, but how you drive that makes the difference and once again the combined efforts of all the participants and sponsors delivered a first class, educational event which has proved, if proof was needed, that skilled driving techniques work and can make a dramatic impact upon miles per gallon.

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2008 Fleet Hero Awards

Tonight will see the London Transport Museum host the third annual Fleet Hero Awards, organised by the Energy Saving Trust in association with the Department for Transport, and in partnership with Fleet News, Guardian and The Observer.

The awards ceremony looks to recognise the achievements by organisations large and small in reducing their energy consumption and carbon emission in business travel, through a variety of categories;

• Best Large Fleet
  Addison Lee
  Amey
  Ocado
  
  
• Best Medium Fleet
  Centre Parcs
  James McNaughton Group
  London Borough of Islington
  
  
• Best Small Fleet
  Commercial Group
  Green Tomato Cars
  The Royal Parks
  
  
• Grey Fleet Champion
  Arval
  Inchcape Fleet Solutions
  VT Education and Skills
  
  
• Business Mileage Champion
  Addison Lee
  Environment Agency
  Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
  
  
• Leadership Award
  Commercial Group
  Government Car & Despatch Agency
  Green Tomato Cars
  Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust
  
  
• Industry Supplier Award
  Arval
  BMW
  Masternaut Three X
  
  
• Smarter Driving Award
  Arval
  Gateshead Council
  Government Car & Despatch Agency
  
  
• Innovation Award
  Centre Parcs
  GreenRoad Technologies
  Modec

Previous winners include BSkyB, Saninsburys Online and London Borough of Islington.

There is a real message to all the glitz and glamour, whether you manage a fleet of over 500 vehicles, or have a small fleet of 10 or 20 cars or vans, the Energy Saving Trust can help turn your transport operations green.

With funding from the Department for Transport, the Energy Saving Trust provides public and private organisations of all sizes with free, expert and tailored advice to help reduce running costs, cut carbon emissions and enhance corporate social responsibility.

If your organisation has a fleet of 50 or more cars and vans under 3.5 tonnes you are eligible for a Green Fleet Review - an independent, environmental review of fleet operations providing a comprehensive report on the following:

• Fleet carbon footprint
• Vehicle allocation policy
• Fuel economy
• Mileage reimbursement policy
• Driver education
• Mileage reduction strategies
• Best practice grey fleet (business mileage in private vehicles) principles
• Latest health and safety and duty of care issues

Since 2004 over 300 organisations from every industry sector have benefited from this service.

In all cases decreasing environmental impact of your fleet equates directly to cost saving. Your potential savings depend upon your fleet size, the type and size of vehicles you operate and the number of miles travelled.

To find out how much you can potentially save, access the Energy Saving Trust's online Green Fleet calculator.

I'm still awaiting my invite to tonight's proceedings in the post, how could they possibly have failed to send me an invite. Tonight's event however is highlighting how business can and are willing to implement change to reduce their impact on the enviroment and save on costs concurrently. Every penny saved on fuel is a penny more in profit.


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New Energy Efficient Ad On TV Now

Ad Courtesy Of Act On CO2

A £6m TV ad campaign encouraging householders to make steps to make their homes more energy efficient was launched on Wednesday.

Following a rise in the number of people calling energy efficiency advice lines, the adverts, directed by This is England director Shane Meadows, are to air from tonight.

"Apart from the fact that I really liked this campaign because it's funny and well written, I was also interested in making some films that might make a difference to the way people behave. If these films can make a few more people aware of the problem and actually do something, then it's got to be a worthwhile project."
Shane Meadows

The advert shot by Meadows show a father trying to get his family to cut their energy consumption, reducing their gas and electricity bills and reducing their carbon emissions.

ACT ON CO2 advice line from the Energy Saving Trust has reported that the amount of calls it has received has quadrupled since the government announced a £910 million package to help householders become more efficient.

Taking steps such as ensuring all sockets are tuned off, installing insulation and using energy saving appliances are among the recommendations the advice line ACT ON CO2 has been handing out.

"I am encouraged that following last week's announcement, people are looking to take action to cut their fuel bills and save energy at the same time. We now need to build on that enthusiasm."
Hillary Benn, Environment Secretary

The government package aims to make sure all homes have proper insulation by 2020.

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Shipping Plastic Bottles to China Produces Less CO2 than Sending Them to UK Landfill

A WRAP study has found that selling the UK’s used plastic bottles and paper for recycling in China actually saves carbon emissions. Shipping these materials more than 10,000 miles produces less CO2 than sending them to landfill at home and using brand new materials.

The transport issue is just one factor in assessing the environmental impact of exporting materials for recycling. However, it has become increasingly important to understand, as over the last ten years exports of used paper have risen from 470,000 tonnes to 4.7 million tonnes. Exports of used plastic bottles have gone from less than 40,000 tonnes to half a million tonnes over the same period.

This increase reflects the huge rise in household recycling in the UK from 7% to over 30% during that time.

We collect more paper than we can recycle, but there is strong demand for it from growing economies, such as China, where there are not enough trees to make paper.

Plastic bottles are also much in demand from China’s manufacturing industry and there is currently insufficient capacity in the UK to reprocess them here. This study shows it is environmentally less harmful to send that material to China for reprocessing than sending it to landfill in the UK.

This study sought to answer the specific question of whether the CO2 emissions from the transport outweighed the benefits of the recycling. It quantifies the CO2 emissions from transporting one tonne of recovered mixed paper or recovered plastic (PET/HDPE) bottles to China. It assumes that the carbon savings of recycling in China are similar to those identified in other countries, including the UK.

The study showed that the emissions caused by transporting the material to China account for only a small amount - on average less than a third – of the CO2 saved by recycling. However, due to the imbalance of trade between China and the UK, the majority of container ships head back to China empty and they are producing CO2 emissions whether or not they are carrying cargo. If you take this into account, the transport emissions are even smaller - less than one-tenth of the overall amount of CO2 saved by recycling.

This study is not a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), although it forms a necessary part of the evidence base to demonstrate that exporting the material to China is environmentally sustainable. To answer this question in full, further work on the relative environmental impacts of recycling processes in China and the UK would be required.

“It may seem strange that transporting our unwanted paper and plastic bottles such a distance would actually be better for the environment but that is what the evidence from this study shows. As more and more of this material is being sold to China we wanted to know the impact that was having on the environment, and specifically whether the CO2 emissions from the transport outweighed the benefits of the recycling. Although this study is only part of the environmental impact story, it is clear that there are significant CO2 savings that can be made by shipping our unwanted paper and plastic to China. In some cases, we just aren’t able to reprocess everything we collect or there isn’t enough of it to do so. In these cases, shipping it to China, which has a high demand and need for material, makes sense in CO2 terms. WRAP will continue to build both the environmental and economic case for domestic recycling.”
Liz Goodwin, CEO, WRAP

The study was carried out by Oakdene Hollins and critically reviewed by ERM.

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What is the Carbon Footprint of ...

We have compiled a list of the carbon footprint of as many items as we could find we have also included the source of the information. The idea is so that we can make informed decisions about what we eat, purchase and buy. However, it does have to be said that carbon emissions from these items can vary from producer, town, city and thus the information was true for only the time that the production cycle was analyised and therefore should not be taken out of context.

Household

Tesco 60W Pearl Lightbulb - 34g of CO2 per hour use (The Carbon Trust)
Tesco 100W Pearl Lightbulb - 55g of CO2 per hour use (The Carbon Trust)
Tesco 11W CFL Lightbulb - 6.5g of CO2 per hour use (The Carbon Trust)
Tesco 20W CFL Lightbulb - 12g of CO2 per hour use (The Carbon Trust)
Tesco 60W Spotlight Bulb - 34g of CO2 per hour use (The Carbon Trust)

Tesco Non-Biological Liquid Capsules - 700g of CO2 per wash at 40C, 540g of CO2 per wash at 30C (The Carbon Trust)
Tesco Super Concentrated Non-Biological Liquid Wash - 600g of CO2 per wash at 40C, 440g of CO2 per wash at 30C (The Carbon Trust)
Tesco Non-Biological Liquid Wash - 700g of CO2 per wash at 40C, 560g of CO2 per wash at 30C (The Carbon Trust)
Tesco Non-Biological Tablets - 850g of CO2 per wash at 40C, 690g of CO2 per wash at 30C (The Carbon Trust)
Tesco Non-Biological Powder - 750g of CO2 per wash at 40C, 590g of CO2 per wash at 30C (The Carbon Trust)

More Products to Follow ...

If you know of any other research regarding the carbon footprints of products please contact us with the information to add it to our list.

How Much CO2 is in Your Breakfast Cereal This Morning?

According to New Scientist (13th September 2008), a bowl of cereal has the same carbon footprint as a 7km journey in a 4x4. According to reporter Bijal Trivedi, our shopping baskets are spewing greenhouse gases, but it's easy to cut out the culprits.

333g of CO2eq is emitted to make one hard-boiled egg. Compared with a bowl of cereal with milk at 1224 grams.

There's lots of other exciting reads in the feature article, for more information, you can check the New Scientist website.


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Delivered Milk is Cleaner, Greener and Easier to Swallow

Since the early 90's, milkmen have struggled to remain competitive in the market against the convenience of 24/7 supermarkets with loss leading pricing tactics. This has inevitably saw a decline in the number of milkmen in the UK by over 10 000 in the last ten years, as more people turn to the supermarkets and existing clients (as they were often elderly) pass away. It's a tough life for milkmen rising as early as 2am, to go to the dairy to load their floats with the milk for the day. A job they love, but under the pressure from the supermarkets, one which pays a standard wage. Self-employed, to make a living they need to sell at least 500 gallons a week, they have little time off, even during bereavement and illness.

But as people try to green their lives some are turning back to the milkman as a way of receiving their milk fresh and green daily (or we hope).

The latest figures from WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, suggest that the UK milk industry is responsible for 130,000 tonnes of plastic waste, every year. To put that into perspective this is the more than the amount of plastic that is required for the total annual use of plastic bags in the UK.

Or ... 19 066 667 600 bags ... to be precise is the milk industry equivalent.

Plastic is a funny substance and can't really be recycled more than once, so there are limitations as to the amount of times it can be reused, and even more limitations on the types of products that they can replace, not to mention the way in which the plastic is collected, sorted and recycled. It takes 1.75 kilograms of petroleum (in terms of energy and raw materials) to make one kilogram of HDPE.

Or ... 228 229 285 litres of petroleum ... enough to power a Peugeot 107 for 3.08 billion miles.

Milkmen use cute clinky glass bottles (not all, best to ask first, avoid shock later), these can be reused twenty times before they need to be recycled. They also are virtually infinitely recyclable, although quality tends to degrade after the seventh time. The added advantage is the milkman collects the empty bottles on his next delivery, this allows the bottles to be effectively removed from all waste streams.

Most milkmen in the UK travel on clean green electric milk floats which emit no CO2 emissions other than those from electricity generation, and the milk floats are exceptionally efficient in terms of energy used, compared to petrol or diesel vehicles. One manufacture of these vehicles is Smith, who have diversified into other electric powered commercial vehicles.

We know know the packaging is greener and the distribution, but what about production, either way it is the same, but should we be consuming diary products at all? They are after-all renowned for the carbon intensive farming. The carbon footprint of 1 pint of milk is 596g of CO2.

1.05g of CO2 / 1ml of Milk

Now comes the real choice in what you consume and how it can affect your carbon footprint, organic milk uses three times less energy to produce because it doesn't require energy-intensive fertiliser. This should in effect reduce CO2 emissions by 55%, assuming 83% of CO2 is from production.

0.47g of CO2 / 1ml of Organic Milk (estimated)

So if you don't have a milkman already, it might be an idea to find one, I went in search, if you live in Northern Ireland, you can contact your local dairy, or visit Dale Farm. For the rest of the UK, you can try Find Me a Milkman or Deliver Milk.

Whilst delivered milk is slightly more expensive, this added cost also means you will likely never run out of milk, it's fresh, it's delivered and when saying I'm just going to the supermarket for milk, you categorically spend twenty times that of what you intended to buy in the first place, half an hour in the store and another 15 minutes driving there and parking in the packed out supermarket, and it doesn't come in a cute clinky glass bottle.

If you have a milkman I'd love to hear your comments and the price you pay for a pint of milk to debunk the ideas that milkmen charge exorbitant prices! I have faith.


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How Much Electricity Does a Dell Dimension C521 PC Use?

Computers are part of our every day life, no matter what our occupation. Computers are alledgedly responsible for as much CO2 as the shipping and airline industries, whether it be huge servers needing cooled or your standalone PC at home they take power, some more than others. But just how much power?

We tested a Dell Dimension c521 Desktop PC, manufactured in April 2007. Yesterday we published details of the Dell LCD monitor that came with this PC.

Shut Down; 3W

Start-up; 70 to 105W (Average approximately 81W)

Start-up (Logging into Vista); 100 to 111W

In Vista; 56 - 101W (Average approximately 90W)

Energy Saving Ideas for your PC

• Turn off Bluetooth, Infared and Wifi when not required
• Remove programs from start-up that are not required
• Instead of a screensaver, set up your computer to auto-snooze
  
• Close programs not in use
• Shut down rather than allow the computer to snooze
• Shedule auto-shutdown if you want to finish downloading files
  

Leaving your PC on for a year would use 788kWh and emit 426kg of CO2 and cost about £102.44.

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.

Subway Reduce Their Carbon Footprint by Another Little Bit

Doctors Associates International, owners of Subway, they have over 29,546 franchised units in 87 countries and are keen to promote environmental issues, and through their current slogan "Subway, Eat Fresh, Live Green".

This campaign part of Subway's corporate social responsibility program that is currently under development. You can find some of the exceptionally impressive carbon reduction measures already implemented in our Fast Food with a Conscience.

One new measure implemented by Subway is an increase in content of napkins per case by 17%, without an increase in pack size, up to 5850 napkins from 5000. The idea is 17% less space in storage, trucks, containers, saving CO2 in transport, storage and packaging. Saving about 661 cubic inches per pack. Packs will start arriving to stores later this month. Subway napkins already save approximately 60,500,000 gallons of water and an additional 147,000 trees annually because they are made from 100% recycled fiber processed chlorine free.

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Diageo Invests £65m in Renewable Energy

Plans for a pioneering bioenergy facility at Scotland’s largest distillery, Cameronbridge in Fife, were announced by Diageo this week. Following two years of rigorous research, Diageo - which makes leading global brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray and Smirnoff - has signed a formal partnership agreement with energy management company, Dalkia, to create the new facility.

Costing approximately £65 million, the planned state-of-the-art facility will generate major environmental benefits and is set to place Scotland at the forefront of green technology on the world stage.

The facility will for the first time integrate sustainable technologies – including anaerobic digestion and biomass conversion – on a commercial scale. It will be the largest single investment in renewable technology by a non-utility company in the UK and is set to reduce annual CO2 emissions at the site by approximately 56,000 tonnes (equivalent to taking 44,000 family cars off the road).

The proposed facility, which is subject to planning approval, will recover 98% of thermal steam and 80% of electrical power at the distillery. It is an example of Diageo’s commitment to the environment and the use of energy efficiency programmes to reduce energy and water consumption. Dalkia will construct the facility over the next two years and it will then transfer to Diageo under a finance lease, while continuing to be managed by Dalkia.

“This will be a showcase bioenergy facility which harnesses a variety of green technologies in a project of an unprecedented scale. It is without question the right way forward in terms of environmental benefits and secures the long-term sustainability of our operation, moving the site away from reliance on fossil fuels"
Bryan Donaghey, Managing Director, Diageo Scotland.

The bioenergy facility will generate renewable energy from ‘spent wash’ – a mixture of wheat, malted barley, yeast and water - produced during distillation. The spent wash is separated into liquid and dried solids. The liquid is then converted, via anaerobic digestion, into biogas and the dried solids form a biomass fuel source.

Around 90,000 tonnes of co-products, which would have required transport off-site by road, will be turned into bioenergy in the form of electricity and steam for use at the distillery. The facility will also recover almost a third of the site’s water requirements.

"SEPA welcomes the use by industry of efficient, sustainable energy sources. We are very supportive of new and developing technologies that can help protect Scotland's environment and make a meaningful contribution to tackling climate change. Diageo is to be commended for its investment in bioenergy.”
Campbell Gemmell, CEO of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

"This pioneering scheme demonstrates the effective use of bioenergy and highlights our shared commitment to efficient sustainable energy for industry. It will deliver real environmental benefits.”
Frédéric Pelège, CEO of Dalkia plc

The bioenergy project is in addition to a £100 million programme of investment currently being undertaken by Diageo in Scotland. This includes a new distillery at Roseisle in Morayshire which will also feature cutting edge sustainable technology, together with a £40 million expansion at Cameronbridge Distillery due for completion in spring 2010.

Diageo, and partner Dalkia, have been working closely with local and national stakeholders, as well as consulting widely with representatives of the local community, to ensure the full potential of the project is realised.

Cameronbridge currently employs around 100 people and the new bioenergy facility is expected to create up to 20 additional jobs.

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"Cool UN" Initative Starts

Under the new initative the UN's New York headquarters will get hotter in an attempt to make the world cooler. For all of August the UN building's thermostats will rise from their usual chilly 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Centigrade) up to 77 degrees (25 degrees Centigrade).

The main UN premises in Bangkok, which houses over a dozen of the Organization's entities, joined the Secretariat today in rolling out the “Cool UN” scheme.

“Cool UN” is just one of several schemes United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is involved in to slash energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2002, it has cut back electricity consumption by 16 per cent yearly by replacing old and inefficient appliances such as power transformers, elevators, air conditioners, lights and pumps.

ESCAP's service also has pilot solar panels and wind turbines, and water usage has been reduced by 30 per cent every year through new higher-efficiency water closets and using recycled water for the main gardens.

It is expected the programme will reduce CO2 emissions by 300 tonnes and $100,000 this month, with annual savings of 3000 tonnes and $1m, the initative will be implemented all year round.

M&S Make Bras Which are Comfortable on the Conscience

Official Images of the newly opened building may follow soon.

In partnership with supplier, MAS, Marks & Spencer is opened its first ‘eco- factory’ in May 2008. Based at Thulhiriya in central Sri Lanka, the bra manufacturing site is designed to be carbon neutral.

The primary power source for the factory will be green energy from the national grid, supplemented by on-site solar panels. These will supply 10% of the energy.

Every aspect of the building has been designed to minimise its environmental impact. Even the building materials – mainly ‘eco-bricks’ - have low embodied energy. Overall, it will use around 40% less electricity than a standard, similar scale factory.

Planting greenery on and around the site (including the factory’s roof) will create a cooler micro-climate. In addition, the bio-diversity will enhance and revitalise local flora and fauna.

Rainwater harvesting and low-flow fixtures will reduce water usage in the factory by around 50%. Nearly all waste will be separated and sorted for recycling, with anaerobic digestion being processed to produce bio-gas for the kitchens.

For the workers, the natural lighting, views and fresh airflows will provide a comfortable, positive environment. There’s a holistic medical centre on site, too, with provisions to care for the 1300 personnel expected to be working there by 2010.

This groundbreaking development is a logical move on from the success of M&S first eco-stores in Bournemouth and Pollok. Many of the best practices implemented there translated on a larger scale for the factory. Even during the construction stages, Plan A was in consideration – the work was carried out in an environmentally-friendly way, with waste being recycled wherever possible.

The factory is aiming to achieve the highest status in ‘green building’ certification by LEED, a widely accepted international scheme run by the US Green Building Council.

MAS in Sri Lanka will be manufacturing bras exclusively for M&S in a factory that’s aiming to be as green as the surrounding countryside.

Tax Rates for Cars

Car tax - vehicle excise duty - is changing from 2009, with vehicles classified according to the levels of carbon dioxide they emit. The tax applies to cars first registered on or after 1 March 2001.

Tax band	CO2 emissions (g/km)	2009-10	From 2010-11			Typical car	% drivers paying more
		Annual Tax	Annual tax	'Showroom' tax
A	Up to 100	-	-	-		VW Polo Bluemotion 1.4 Tdi (diesel)	-
B	101-110	£20	£20	-		Skoda Fabia Estate Greenline (diesel)	-
C	111-120	£30	£35	-		Mazda 2 1.4 (diesel)	-
D	121-130	£90	£95	-		Kia Picanto 1.1 (petrol)	-
E	131-140	£110	£115	£115		Renault Clio 1.2 Quickshift (petrol)	-
F	141-150	£120	£125	£125		Ford Fiesta 1.2 Zetec Climate (petrol)	-
G	151-160	£150	£155	£155		BMW 3 Series 2.0 320D SE (diesel)	-
H	161-170	£175	£180	£250		Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Climate (petrol)	60%
I	171-180	£205	£210	£300		Vauxhall Zafira 1.6 Life E4 (petrol)	100%
J	181-200	£260	£270	£425		Land Rover Freelance 2.2 TD4 GS (diesel)	100%
K	201-225	£300	£310	£550		Peugeot 407 saloon 2.0 Auto (petrol)	100%
L	226-255	£415	£430	£750		Peugeot 807 2.0 Auto (petrol)	100%
M	Over 255	£440	£455	£950		Land Rover Sport Auto 3.6 TDV8 (diesel)	100%

Picture: Tesco Carbon Labels hit the Shelves

Shoppers can now see the full array of products with carbon labels in store, that Tesco announced earlier this year, and suggestions on which products are greener.

Translink Increase Passenger Fares

Bus and Train fares in Northern Ireland fares are set to rise from the 31 March by 3% for Metro, 4% for Ulsterbus and 5% for Northern Ireland Railways. Unaffected will be the price of most day tickets, Metro multi-journey tickets and rail weekly and monthly tickets would remain unchanged.

In a time when government are alledgedly encouraging people from their cars, an increase in cost of public transport whilst justified by rising fuel costs is unfortunately pressing those existing users and decreasing the financial incentive to switch. Northern Ireland has one of the lowest usages of public transport, at half the UK average, and with that one of the highest rates of car dependancy. This was also a factor in why Northern Ireland council areas were rated so poorly in the Green Barometer III report in November 2007.

However, Translink have (even with past fare rises), seen a considerable rise in passenger numbers and journeys over the past few years with a growth of 20% on Metro since 2005, over 20% on Goldline since 2004 and a massive 40% on NI Railways since 2002.

In other news, they have joined forces with the new £400 million Victoria Square Complex in Belfast to offer employees an opportunity to travel for free. Through Translink’s Corporate Commuter Initiative (CCI) Victoria Square employees issued with travel passes to encourage them to commute to and from work by public transport. This award-winning and incentivised scheme is aimed at increasing awareness and the use of Translink services by businesses across Northern Ireland.

“Our objective is to identify and work in partnership with employers that wish to be environmentally responsible. Together we ensured all personnel had access to timetables and our on site surgeries provided staff with travel information particular to their individual needs. By encouraging staff to trial the bus or train our goal is to persuade many to use public transport regularly to get to and from work. The new Victoria Square will provide over 3,000 jobs and currently have no provision for staff parking therefore we are delighted to work with them in this way to support our ongoing, intensive environmental awareness campaign. Indeed, we welcome the opportunity to work with any local businesses that are committed to developing green travel plans for their staff whether they are new organisations or those relocating staff to new premises,”
Carol Marsden, Brand Manager, Translink