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Weekly Greenhouse Round-Up

Sally Hill | 02.07.10

This post from Martin Wright at Forum for the Future, written amidst the climate science controversy in the press earlier this year, hit the nail on the head:

If Climate Change Didn't Exist Would We Have to Invent It?

The essence of the article, highlighted in the cartoon below, is that the changes required to adapt to climate change need to take place whether it is real or not.

The adjustments needed to address climate change are also necessary to reduce our toll on resources, stabilise the condition of the planet, and they're not actually so bad for our quality of life either.

Here are the links we loved this week:

Scotland's Big Tent Festival Adds Summer School to Promote Green Living
The weekend-long celebration of green and sustainable lifestyles launches new skills workshop
(Treehugger)

You Ask, They Answer: Slow Food UK
Q&A with the British wing of the Slow Food movement
(The Guardian)

Zero Carbonista: Wind Car Update
The latest from Zero Carbonista's wind car, racing in the Bridgestone Eco Rally
(Zero Carbonista)

Government Commission Urges Rapid Setting Up of Green Investment Bank
New UK Green Investment Bank to support low-carbon infrastructure ecological projects
(The Guardian)

Bridgestone Eco Rally 2010 to Showcase Cutting-Edge Car Design
Sustainable transport in action, a showcase of cutting-edge and super-fast eco cars
(The Telegraph)

Are Blue Bike Lanes Better Than Black?
Recent Guardian study shows that drivers give less room to cyclists when there is a painted bike lane
(Treehugger)

Sales of Small Wind Turbines Up, Even in Soft Housing Market
More people are turning to wind power: lower risk and less cost, what's not to like?
(CleanTechnica)

Organic Farming's Balanced Ecosystems Naturally Control Pests Better Than Monoculture
In case you needed another reason to favour organic farming over chemical agriculture
(Treehugger)

Eco Rally
The official site for the sustainable vehicle event

Book of Green
New Book of Green resources for your life, plus there's a great contest to win eco prizes

Weekly Greenhouse Updates | Share +
eco rally, renewable energy, climate change, sustainability, biodiversity, book of green, links, green investment, festival, cycling

‘I will never, never buy a petrol car again’

Sally Hill | 04.08.10

Robert Llewellyn, Chris Huhne, Kevin McCloud, Lisa Rogers, Peter Curran and Patrick Head offer their take on alternatively-powered vehicles in this video from the 2010 Eco Rally - in which they all participated.

The journey of both hydrogen and electric cars going from Brighton to London is held to nudge the public consciousness closer toward letting go of our addiction to fossil fuels.

Inspiring stuff.

Green Living | Share +
eco rally, renewable energy, electric cars, hydrogen cars, fossil fuel

Greenhouse Weekly Roundup

Sally Hill | 24.09.10

Thursday was 'switch on' day for the world's largest offshore wind farm off Kent and with it, Britain took a huge step forward on renewable energy.

The wind farm can generate enough power to supply 200, 000 homes and nudged Britain's total wind power capacity to 5 gigawatts, or enough electricity for 5 million people.

There was a resounding response online along the lines of 'we need more' and  'it's a good start'.

Let's hope our leaders are listening and this heralds the start of something big.

Here are the links we loved this week:

Read more

Weekly Greenhouse Updates | Share +
renewable energy, rapanui, wind power, solar power, feed-in tariff, no impact man, renewables, offshore wind

Va Va Voom

Anna Shepard | 05.11.10

Guest post by green writer Anna Shepard

Forget the myth of hair shirts and worthiness that plagues the green movement. Last night, at Somerset House, it was all glitz and glamour, champagne and canapés, and at the heart of it, one very stylish sports car.

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Eco Heroes Environment Green Living | Share +
ecotricity, wind car, renewable energy, dale vince, wind energy, nemesis, damon hill

UK Government Threatens Future of Solar in the UK

Sophie Rivett-Carnac | 14.02.11

The government has made a damaging decision to pull the plug on large scale solar feed-in-tariffs, threatening the growth of renewable energy in the UK.

This week, Chris Huhne, Britain’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, announced the government would start its first review of the feed-in-tariff scheme for small-scale, low-carbon electricity generation. This news comes earlier than expected and will lead to uncertainty within the UK renewable market, in particular for solar PV.

Read more

Eco Commmunities Environment Green Living | Share +
renewable energy, solar power, feed-in tariff, carbon reduction commitment, government

Millions Watch Collapsing Cooling Towers

Greta Jonyniate | 12.03.12

Want to watch cooling towers collapse? It may seem like an odd question, but over 2.2 million people have watched Ecotricity’s latest video, which features personified cooling towers being brought down with controlled explosives. Over 50,000 people have shared the video on Facebook.

Why so popular? Whilst there is no exact set of rules to making a viral video, Ecotricity’s video makes it seem simple. Take an underappreciated trend on Youtube, ie. videos of collapsing buildings, which attract hundreds of thousands of viewers, link it to the green movement in a way that seems completely natural, and add a little bit of absurdity to raise a smile.

The video is in aid of the energy company’s campaign to “Dump The Big Six.” Ecotricity want to see consumers and businesses stop using npower, SSE, E.ON, British Gas, EDF and Scottish power and move to more sustainable energy sources. Whilst the UK average for renewable energy in a provider’s fuel mix is just 7.9%, Ecotricity relies on renewable sources to create 54.1% of its energy supply. Ecotricity hasn’t just hit the government’s demand that 15% of energy comes from renewable sources by 2020, they have … well, demolished the old guard and ushered in the new.

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ecotricity, renewable energy, wind energy, youtube, energy, green energy, viral video, solar enegery