Drax Power Station Begins Energy Efficiency Plan

Whilst you can not support a company which emits in excess of 20m tonnes of CO2 annually, you can commend them for actions they take to reduce their impact and improve efficiency. Drax Power Station, Selby, North Yorkshire is the largest coal-fired power plant in Europe with a maximum capacity of 3,945 MW, providing 7% of the UK's power, and burning up to 36 000 tonnes daily.

Drax has made an early start in its £100m plan to upgrade turbines, and installing its first high pressure turbine this month. Once complete, these upgrades will reduce the plant CO2 emissions by 1m tonnes of CO2 annually, the equivalent to removing 360 000 cars from UK roads. Drax also plans to produce 10% of its electricity from burning biomass, and recently surpassed 4% from burning olive and sunflower waste. This will further reduce the CO2 emissions from the plant by 2m tonnes per annum.

Whilst this wont appease the protesters who attended the plant in August 2006, it is a small step towards reducing the emissions generated by UK population through electricity production, and until renewable energy or other forms of zero emission energy is utilised to make coal-fired plants redundant its unfortunate that Drax will continue to emit emissions.

eurostar Carbon Neutral from November, and A Little Faster

eurostar have decided to offset their CO2 emissions in full as from November 14th 2007. As part of their new ten point plan to "tread lightly" on the environment and reduce their emissions by 25% directly through efficiency and waste reduction by 2012. Consequently, changes across all areas of their business, from the big things like energy efficiency, paperless ticketing and waste management, through supply chain selection to smaller cultural changes like recycling in their offices.

Ten-Point Plan

• Reducing paper usage by switching to e-tickets and bar code ticketing downloaded to mobile phones; undertaking direct marketing via email and web-based information; and where paper is unavoidable, sourcing from sustainable forests or recycled paper, and recycling all used paper
• Separating, sorting and recycling all on-board waste, including food waste, by the most appropriate methods
• Ensuring on-board disposable items (e.g. cups, plates, napkins) are either biodegradable (made from maize extract) or fully recyclable
• Replacing train air-conditioning refrigerants with the less environmentally damaging chemical R134a by 2008 – seven years before the EU deadline
• Refurbishing or de-branding and recycling used staff uniforms
• Sourcing on-train food from local sources in UK, France or Belgium wherever available, including organic suppliers, or Fairtrade for overseas supplies
• Ensuring that lighting, heating and mechanical plant at stations, depots and offices are as energy efficient as possible; developing a ‘switch-off’ culture; and sourcing electricity from greener sources of energy
• Reusing water from train-washing at the new Temple Mills maintenance depot, and investing in rainwater collection to further reduce consumption
• Sorting and recycling waste from stations, offices and the Temple Mills maintenance depot, with the goal of zero disposal to landfill; and with 80 per cent of waste to be recycled by 2009
• Helping travellers reduce CO2 emissions when accessing Eurostar services by providing journey planner information and ticket sales for public transport options, and developing new travel initiatives and partnerships

It is faster to travel by train from London to Paris, than plane, after the opening of new high speed lines where trains can travel at up to 186mph, from the new home of eurostar at St Pancras. The journey from Paris to London, took a mere 2 hours 3 minutes and 39 seconds. The expected average journey time will be about 2 hours 15 minutes. Construction of the line and revamping St Pancras cost £5.8bn in public funds. Of the funding, £800m went on redeveloping St Pancras station, meaning the cost of installing the line was about £73.5m per mile. This compares with £28.4m to build a mile of a three-lane motorway in 2005, according to a Parliamentary answer from May last year.

"Today marks Britain's entry into the European high-speed rail club. Journey times to Paris, even for people travelling from Yorkshire, would be broadly the same as for those flying due to lengthier check-in times at airports."
Richard Brown, Eurostar, Chief Executive

Anticipated Journey Times

• London-Paris 2 hrs 15 mins
• London-Brussels 1hr 51 mins
• London-Lille 1hr 20 mins

Not only is it faster, it is also more environmentally friendly, even without the full offsetting of emissions, per passenger eurostar emissions are only 10.9kg of CO2 (London - Paris, Return Journey). In comparison, easyJet who I highlighted yesterday as being one of the most efficient airlines, emit 112kg of CO2 for the same return journey, plus this does not include the emissions from getting to out of city airports. To offset each passengers emissions will only cost about nine to twelve pence. Seven services to Paris and five to Brussels will start running from Ebbsfleet from 19 November and a ticket office has been opened at Bluewater Shopping Centre two miles from the station. Eurostar tickets from London to Paris start from £59 return.

"Doing nothing is not an option. What Eurostar is doing is a plan for the future."
Stuart Rose, Marks & Spencer, Chief Executive

Easyjet Show Off Their Green Credentials

easyJet are keen to show off their green credentials by launching "easyJet and the Environment" section on their website. Here they make three promises towards social responsibility and the environment, to be environmentally efficient in the air, on the ground, and to lead the aviation industry in shaping a greener future.

easyJet one of Europe's leading low-cost airlines has grown to servicing over 38 million passenger journeys annually, however their business structure, whilst based on cost minimisations, also reduces their footprint on the environment. They are one of the most environmentally efficient airlines and operate 137 of the cleanest, quietest aircraft available with an average age of just 2.3 years. easyJet’s efficient business model (higher seat densities and higher load factors) means that traditional airlines emit nearly 27% more emissions per passenger kilometre than easyJet flying the same aircraft on similar routes.

The easyJet carbon offsetting (“ECO”) scheme was launched last month. The easyJet Carbon Calculator will calculate every passenger’s emissions in a reliable and robust way, based on sector length, load factor and fuel burn. The airline expects the average contribution for a return journey to be around £3. This sum is added to the cost of the flights and paid for in one single transaction. easyJet will invest the money contributed by its passengers to buy CO2 emission credits from the Perlabi Hydroelectric Project in Ecuador, a UN approved Certified Emission Reduction scheme, acting on a not-for-profit basis. Citigroup, a leading financial services provider and a prospective project participant, will sell the credits from the Perlabi Hydroelectric Project directly to easyJet.

Emissions Per Passenger On Three easyJet flights;

• LTN (London Luton) - CDG (Paris) - 56kg CO2 (£0.73)
• BFS (Belfast International) - SFX (Berlin) - 102kg CO2 (£1.33)
• EDI (Edinburgh) - MAD (Madrid) - 149kg CO2 (£1.94)

"That's why easyJet's new offsetting scheme is a really positive step forward. We particularly welcome its exemplary decision to use only certified offset credits that meet Kyoto standards, meaning that its customers can be sure that the carbon reductions are real, clear and accountable. These are the same kind of credits the Government uses to offset its emissions from air travel and is in line with the standard we aim to set through the Government's upcoming Code of Best Practice for offsetting products and will give consumers the clarity they want when offsetting."
Hilary Benn, Environmental Secretary

What's in Season from Your Local Farmer in September?

Vegetables
Beetroot
Broad Beans
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Carrots
Celery
Cucumber
Leeks
Onions
Parsnips
Peas
Peppers
Pumpkin
Savoy
Scallions
Sweetcorn
Tomatoes

In Season All Year
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Pammphrey
Potatoes
Red Cabbage
Soup Veg
Swedes

Fruit
Bramley Apples
Plums
Raspberries
Strawberries

Meat
Beef
Chicken
Lamb
Pork

Other
Eggs
Milk
Oats
Other Grains

Please note the above selection of foods is based on what is in season in the United Kingdom.