Government U-Turn on Aviation and Shipping Emissions

The Government has made a U-Turn on the exclusion of aviation and shipping carbon emissions after 50 Labour MPs pressed for the sectors to be included in the Climate Change Bill, which sets a target to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, which was announced earlier this month.

The government agreed to redraft its bill, which was given a third reading by 463 votes to three - a majority of 460 - in the Commons. It accepted an amendment requiring ministers to take into account projected emissions from the sectors when setting future budgets that will cap emissions.

The government has resisted calls in the past to include aviation and shipping, saying it would be nearly impossible to allocate responsibility for international emissions to individual countries.

The government's advisory committee on climate change, headed by Lord Turner, recommended last month that the sectors must figure in climate change targets while arguing that they would not be able to meet the 80% target by 2050.

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Mini E To Be On Roads By 2009

The BMW Group will be the world’s first manufacturer of premium automobiles to deploy a fleet of up to 500 all-electric vehicles for private use in daily traffic. The MINI E will be powered by a 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor fed by a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery, transferring its power to the front wheels via a single-stage helical gearbox nearly without a sound and entirely free of emissions. Specially engineered for automobile use, the battery technology will have a range of more than 240 kilometers, or 150 miles. The MINI E will initially be made available in the US to select private and corporate customers as part of a pilot project in limited geographical areas in the US states of California, New York and New Jersey. The possibility of offering the MINI E in Europe as well is currently being considered. The MINI E will give its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 19 and 20, 2008.

The MINI E’s electric drive train produces a peak torque of 220 Newton meters, delivering seamless acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.5 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 152 km/h (95 mph). Featuring a suspension system tuned to match its weight distribution, the MINI E sports the brand’s hallmark agility and outstanding handling.

By introducing the MINI E, the BMW Group is underscoring the resolve with which it works towards reducing energy consumption and emissions in road traffic. The BMW Group is drawing on its unique technological expertise in the field of drive systems to develop a vehicle concept enabling zero emissions without renouncing the joy of driving. Putting some 500 cars on the road under real daily traffic conditions will make it possible to gain widely applicable hands-on experience. Evaluating these findings will generate valuable know-how, which will be factored into the engineering of mass- produced vehicles. The BMW Group aims to start series production of all-electric vehicles over the medium term as part of its Number ONE strategy. The development of innovative concepts for mobility in urban areas within the scope of “project i” has a similar thrust, as its objective also includes making use of an all-electric power train.

Based on the current MINI, the car will initially be available as a two-seater. The space taken up by back-seat passengers in the series model has been reserved for the lithium-ion battery. A full recharge draws a maximum of 28 kilowatt hours of electricity from the grid. Based on the car’s range, a kilowatt hour translates into 5.4 miles. Besides the benefit of zero-emissions driving, the MINI E thus offers significant economic advantages over a vehicle powered by a conventional internal combustion engine as well.

The MINI E has already gone through the major phases of product development for mass-produced vehicles and passed numerous crash tests on the way. Aspects investigated besides passenger protection were the impact of collision forces on the lithium-ion battery and finding a non-hazardous location for it in the car. The MINI E’s energy storage unit emerged completely unscathed from all of the crash tests mandated by US standards, which are especially high.

Production of the approximately 500 cars will take place at the company’s Oxford and Munich sites and is scheduled for completion before the end of 2008. MINI’s UK plant will be responsible for manufacturing the entire vehicle with the exception of the drive components and the lithium-ion battery, with the brand’s series models rolling off its assembly lines concurrently. The units will then be transferred to a specially equipped manufacturing complex situated on BMW plant premises where the electric motor, battery units, performance electronics and transmission will be integrated.

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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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Belfast to Lisburn in 10 Minutes by Train

I was told by a friend who regularly travels from Belfast to Lisburn that unusually the train takes minutes, on further probing of the point they said, four minutes. Every time I tried to take the express service, I always characteristically of me missed it.

Yesterday for the first time used the express service on the C3K CAF trains, and thought I would time the journey. It took just over ten minutes, an average of 47mph for the 7.8 mile journey (assuming road distance), not bad point to point, and during peak travel hours, a fast an efficient alternative to the car.

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Can You Afford to Fill Up? ... No, Try Our Petrol Saving Tips

BBC One's topical weekly investigative current affairs programme, Panorama, this week took a look at the price of petrol, how it is affecting the motorist and what can be done to encourage us to use less fuel and greener alternatives.

You can view the program on BBC iPlayer, until Monday 04th August (UK Only).

Changing your car to a new environmentally friendly model may not be easy for us all. But there are some ways you can reduce your fuel consumption, save money and help the environment too. The following simple tips could save the average driver £180 a year and reduce your CO2 emissions by 200kg per year.

• Do You Need to Drive?
  Short journeys that are generally less than two miles cause the most pollution and are inefficient in terms of fuel consumption. A straining cold engine will produce 60% more pollution than a warm one. A cold engine uses almost twice as much fuel and catalytic converters can take five miles to become effective. Walk or cycle where possible instead.
  
  
• Gear Changes
  Change up before 2,500rpm (petrol) and 2,000rpm (diesel).
  
  
• Plan Ahead
  Anticipate road conditions and drive smoothly, avoiding sharp acceleration and heavy braking. This saves fuel and reduces accident rates.
  
  
• Air Con
  Use air conditioning sparingly as it significantly increases fuel consumption.
  
  
• Kill Your Speed
  The most efficient speed depends upon the car in question but is typically around 55 - 65mph. Faster speed will greatly increase your fuel consumption.
  
  
• Don't Wait Around
  Drive away immediately when starting from cold - idling to heat the engine wastes fuel and causes rapid engine wear.
  
  
• Aerodynamics
  Roof racks, bike carriers, and roof boxes significantly affect your car's aerodynamics and reduce fuel efficiency, so remember to remove them when not in use.
  
  
• Plan Your Route
  Plan your journeys to avoid congestion, road works and getting lost. Sat Nav and online map services such as Google Maps can help you find the way.
  
  
• Tyre Pressure
  Under-inflated tyres are dangerous and can increase fuel consumption by up to 3%.
  
  
• Switch Off
  Stuck in a jam, switch the engine off if you expect to be there for more than a minute or two. Cutting the engine will save fuel and reduce emissions.
  

Maximising Efficiency

Increasing passenger numbers on any mode of transport effectivily increases the efficiency of the vehicle and reduces average energy used per passenger km. This video clip from Japan shows how they maximise efficiency out of peak hour trains, if not resulting in an uncomfortable ride, it's a pitty these aren't sites to often seen in the UK (more people using the trains, oppose to people being pushed in them).

How Can Two and Four Wheels Coexist?

With the increase in bike usage around the world, there has come issues of capacity and infrastructure, however there has also come a social ill. Swarms of cyclists have ventured onto the intimidating multi-lane roads of Los Angeles on a regular basis, breaking the law by passing stationery cars and infuriating motorists at the same time. Officials are so worried by the culture clash or cyclists and motorists, that they have drawn up a Cyclists' Bill of Rights, and initiated discussion on how LA's roads can be harmonised so that two and four wheels can co-exist together, as well as implementing a bike task force. Two cyclists have already been hospitalised as a result of a motorist deliberately breaking sharply in-front of them, for which criminal charges are already being processed.

How will Budget Airlines Compete As Oil Price Rises?

With the soaring oil prices over the passed 12 months, and higher fuel bills for the majority, how are budget airlines going to compete, let alone survive in the uncertainty of the future?

Europe's biggest budget airline Ryanair, carrying 49m passengers annually, announced today that it could make an annual loss of 60m euros. Ryanair's fuel bill now represents almost 50% of its operating costs, compared with 36% last year. Shares fell by 22% on the news, and competitors BA and EasyJet were down 5% and 8% respectively. EasyJet, have also announced that their profits for the year could be half of expectations.

Whilst Ryanair are shouting that they wont be increasing fares or adding a fuel surcharge, industry experts have suggested that average fares will rise this and next year by over 10%, the number of flights and seats will be reduced and even some airlines will end up in the aeroplane graveyard that was once a distant memory. We have already seen two airlines meet this demise this year, in the shape of low-cost airline Oasis Air, flying from London to Hong Kong, and low-cost business only airline Silverjet.

Airlines have anounced that they will be reducing the capacity available over the next year, so will this have a positive environmental impact?

According to DEFRA research the average short-haul flight is 500km, with CO2 emissions for that flight of approximately 65kg. If the airlines reduce the number of flights and seats, etc in a uniform and efficient way, the three mentioned above would reduce the total number of seats by approximately 7.5m, and CO2 emissions by 500 000 tonnes.

In the airline industry the price demand ratio is, for every 10% increase in prices, a typical 6.5% fall in passenger numbers is experienced.

How to Fill the Other Half of the Train?

Today it was announced that Northern Ireland Railways operates its train service with a capacity averaging 50%, or the equivalent to 257 000 empty seats per week. The figures were taken from an average week in 2007.

Which Line Performed Best?

• Londonderry Line - 70%
• Portadown Line - 50%
• Bangor Line - 36%
• Cross-Border Rail Service - 35%

Northern Ireland has one of the lowest uses of public transport, at half the UK average, however since 2001, NIR has seen a 50% increase in passenger numbers, with a 23% increase in the last two years. A considerable achievement, with factors including new rolling stock, and a faster, more efficient service. In comparison to other cities, a train every half-an-hour (off-peak), city-to-city may be a factor reducing the use of the service.

If the trains were full, it would be equivalent to reducing 156 707 car journeys a week, or 8.15m a year in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately supply and demand pricing in the public transport sector is not correlated with train fare pricing. Fare reduction often leads to increased pressure at peak periods, with minor traffic increases in off-peak services. This could reduce CO2 emissions by in excess of 15 000 tonnes annually based on small cars emitting 99gCO2/km.

How Much Can I Save?
Following on from my attempt last month to quantify the annual savings by using public transport, Translink have came up with their own figures below. Taking several typical Belfast commuter routes, Translink compared the total cost by car (AA ‘cost per mile’ data, plus parking charges) against the cost of the public transport option. In each case, commuters fare much better with public transport, with big savings to be made in the course of a year:

• Antrim Road to Belfast City Centre by Metro – save £1532.70 per working year (10 months)
• Newtownabbey to Belfast City Centre by Metro – save £2510.30 per working year
• Lisburn to Belfast City Centre by NI Railways – save £2274.30 per working year
• Carrickfergus to Belfast City Centre by NI Railways – save £2666.20 per working year
• Bangor to Belfast City Centre by NI Railways – save £2572.10 per working year
• Larne to Belfast City Centre by Ulsterbus – save £3748.50 per working year
• Magherafelt to Belfast City Centre by Ulsterbus – save £3962.70 per working year

What About the Future Rise in Fuel Tax?
An increase in fuel taxes is often connected with the hypothesis of a triple dividend: Apart from the modal-shift-effect, which relieves the environment as well as the infrastructure, and the fiscal effect, which should increase the public revenue, the movement of passengers to public transport systems should decrease its deficit. However, this calculation fails because higher fuel prices increase peak-hour transit use but not leisure or off-peak transit. But the typical attribute of peak traffic is above-average marginal costs and below average revenues. Therefore, higher fuel taxes will increase public transports deficit rather than decrease it. The fiscal lucrativeness of higher fuel taxes will be significantly lower than is often expected.

How Can NIR Fill the Other Half of the Train?

• With the continued increase in oil prices, over the last year there has been a 2% reduction in vehicle miles travelled according to the AA, as the price continues to rise, it has already been shown to affect driving habits, decreasing miles travelled, travelling at off-peak times, walking shorter journeys, driving in a more fuel efficient way. Whilst habits change it does also price those on the lowest incomes out of cars.
  
  
• Implementation of Park & Ride schemes for cars and bikes, have also contributed to the success in previous years. Avoiding city centre parking charges and congestion entering the city. These need to be developed further to reduce the negative impact of parking problems at restricted space sites.
  
  
• Could the next step in helping people get to work be implementation of Green Journey Planners, simply Translink could offer outreach to companies initially in the city centre of Belfast. Offering to look at how each individual travels to work, how much this costs them (in time and money), and a greener and maybe shorter alternative, detailing the annual savings (again in time and money).
  
  
• Reducing the cost of travel, or removing the cost altogether, through government funded schemes. Trialling this in the outset with a free travel day, to see how this affects passenger numbers. Cost could be fractionally offset with advertising, similar to other international transit systems, such as the London Underground or Hong Kong MTR. Long-term, higher footfalls, could lead to increased property rental values.
  
  
• Introduction of simple stored value card such as the octopus or oyster card to enable a simple straight forward journey, reducing staffing needs, all pricing structures reduced to lowest possible fare, time specific pricing. Multi use, in conjunction with bus system.
  

If you have any ideas on how Translink can increase bums in seats, then let them know.

US Embassy Criticises UK Plane Tax

The US embassy in London has criticised a government plan to tax airlines on each plane rather than each passenger, from November next year. In a letter leaked to the Daily Telegraph the embassy disputes the Treasury case that the change is aimed at lowering CO2 emissions.

It says the new tax appears to be just a way of generating extra revenue, and could breach international laws. The Treasury denies it is proposing any tax which could be considered illegal. The embassy letter expresses the "deep concern" of the US government with the Treasury's plans. It lists a number of international agreements that it says would be breached by the new tax. The Americans also say there's no evidence of any environmental benefit, as the extra millions raised would simply go into the government's coffers.

The Treasury's new tax will vary, depending on the size of the aircraft and how far it is travelling. Airlines estimate that under the proposed tax change, the tax payable on a flight from the UK to the US could more than double to £100 per person. The Government says the new tax will help cut emissions, by discouraging airlines to fly planes that are half empty.

But critics say that the tax will not affect budget airlines - as they normally fill their planes to capacity. There are also fears that airlines will avoid British airports - choosing instead to operate from other European airports where they will not be subject to the tax.

Fuel Prices Reducing Car Use

The AA has released figures today regarding how the rise in fuel prices is affecting everyday use of the car. After polling 17, 500 of their members, they found;

• 27% had cut back on other areas of spending
• 16% had decided to travel less by car
• 21% had done both

The average price of a litre of unleaded petrol in the UK is currently 113.01p while the average diesel price is 124.87p. That compares with average figures from three months ago of 104.02p for unleaded and 109.30p for diesel.

"I expect that motorists and diesel users in particular are going to pay more at the pumps in the coming weeks, possibly as soon as the bank holiday, from where they are now. The simple reason is that the wholesale price of oil sent diesel up 3 pence last week and there's more to come."
Ray Holloway, Director, Petrol Retailers Association

Department For Transport figures also support the AA's findings stating that traffic for the first quarter of 2008 had fallen 2% based on the same period last year. Assuming that CO2 reduced uniformly (this is not the case however) this would be an annual reduction of 1.8m tonnes.

Also in the news today is that commuters can spend up to 18 years of their working life travelling to and from work. Most people in Britain spend five years behind the wheel but the misery increases for travellers living in London where traffic chaos is worse.

The average person travelling to work now faces a three-hour round trip, according to the report by the AA and Work Wise UK.

The report aims to persuade bosses to allow more staff to work from home as congestion and delays cost Britain's economy £22billion a year.

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;