August Climate Update: Events, Campaigns and Fundraising

A brief update on UK climate change campaigns.

Friends of the Earth continues it's Clean British Energy campaign at it's annual conference in London on the 24th of september. For the first time ever this is a joint 'conference and open day' with all welcome; you neednt be a FOE member.

UK rail fairs continue to rise(1,2) at inflation + 3% as the coallition govornment fails to integrate climate change policy goals with its policy on transport. Sustainable transport for all? Not at these prices. The Campaign for Better Transport continues its Fair Fares Campaign. Please show your support. And why not give them a few quid while you are at it?

Greenpeace's amazing international Save the Arctic campaign is growing fast--now with over a MILLION signatures!-- but like all growing projects there are growing requirements for financial support.

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Exploiting vested interests.

I just found a fascinating article in the WSJ about the fact that electricity companies are considering a big buy of electric cars for there staff. Apparently electricity companies who stand to profit from growing electricity demand and greater stability--are considering giving the nascent industry a boost.

Utilities would take possession of vehicles when they debut, likely in 2010 or 2011 if development efforts stay on track for cars such as the Chevy Volt, Saturn Vue or Ford Escape.

"If we get enough of us together, we could put in a very large order and maybe a big down payment," says Dick Kelly, chief executive of Xcel Energy in Minneapolis.

"I would do it," says Gale Klappa, CEO of Wisconsin Energy, adding that his utility has about 3,000 vehicles in its fleet and replaces 20% each year.

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Climate Change Committee: Include Aviation and Shipping and make it 80 not 60% cuts!

As part of the climate change bill the government set up and advisory committee, which Gordon Brown tasked with finding a suitable target. Well, they have, and the target is 80% reduction by 2050 including aviation and shipping.

That sort of demand is 10 a penny from the likes of the sustainable development commission, environmental audit committee and various NGO's but this is coming from the very organisation setup to offer advice on the climate bill...it would be odd if the advice where ignored.

• Press Association

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Transit resurgence.

There seems to be something of a transit resurgence going on globally. This story is of a line extension in Tokyo. However this trend is not localised to the either the developed or developing world, everyone is struggling with oil prices of arond $140 a barrell. The various reasons for redesigning the transport infrastructure of cities are explained by Lester Brown in this earth policy institute article.

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California uses more oil that China; a LOT more!

Here is an interesting fact that should supprise you if you read mainstream media coverage of China.

"According to the California Energy Commission, the state with its 37 million people uses more gasoline and diesel than any other country on Earth except the US as a whole. That's more than India with its 1.1 billion people. More than China with its 1.3 billion (California is 2.8% of China's pop.). So while demand has been increasing in China and everybody's talking about that, they forget to look at absolute numbers: 20 billion gallon of gasoline and diesel are used each year in California, 6.7 billion gallons more than in 1988."

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Paddling in deep waters.

Here is a an excellent article by Johann Hari in the Grauniad.

Meanwhile- China's neaveau riche are perplexed at the high price of filling up their new cars, American farmers are angry that their grain fed, BSE riddled cattle are not welcome once they've travelled half way 'round the world to South Korea, Israel practices bombing runs for Gearge's farewell bash and the Big Oil Giants return to Iraq after 35 years lusting on the sidelines.



But on the other hand - Good news for a future on two wheels as history's third-best-ever invention gets some much needed support.

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Porche: Carbon Dinosaurs

Porche are suing the Mayor of London, Ken Livingston, for imposing a higher congestion charge on polluting vehicles. In the process of this Urban Dinosaur hunt we had quite a few positive comments and no antagonism. We where there for some time and i only noticed one potential customer taking a look through the windows. Interestingly, one investor (we where in a very pricy area of London) stated that ii am very right wing' but just couldnt understand why the govornment hadent introduced 75MPG requirements as 'we have the technology'. It's a funny old world.

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The woman who stops traffic.

The woman who stops traffic, is a program about a woman who campaigns to free our streets of unnessicary traffic and replace it with healthier low impact methods of getting around. I like the title, it suggests a femme fatale, but the woman in question, Kris Murrin, is actually reducing pollution, increasing excercise and in doing so saving lives.

The Woman Who Stops Traffic is on Tuesday night 9pm on C4, and follows Kris Murrin to make the town of Marlow car free for one day.

The scheme was remarkably successful and even ended up with funding commitments for cycleways and related facilities from the local council. Check out a video clip of the program here.

Related:

• Could you reduce pollution, and if so by how much, an application to let you find out.
• Who is Kris Murrin?
• Start your own car free campaign!

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Jaime Lerner

With maverick flair and a strategist's disdain for accepted wisdom, Jaime Lerner re-invented urban space in his native Curitiba, Brazil. Along the way he managed to revolutionize bus transit, awaken green consciousness in a populace accustomed to litter and blight, and change the way city planners and bureaucrats world-wide conceive what's possible within the tangled structure of the metropolitan landscape.

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London Congestion Charge: FOE vs Porche

Friends of the Earth vs Porche on the London congestion charge.

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An electric car is now cheepest car in the world!

When the TaTa was released in India recently the world shared mixed feelings. A modern day Model T ford, a mass produced peoples car. The TaTa represents progress and opportunity for many Indians and a dangerously unsustainable development for some in the developed world. 
Clearly both of these sentiments carry some truth. Private car ownership is a damaging ideal, 
adoption of western levels of personal transport at current efficiencies cannot possibly occur on this planet for the billions of poor. There will be debate over the details but planning, mass transit, and improvement of car efficiencies will all have a role in facing this challenge.

The TaTa facinated me because, although the worlds cheepest car, it is also one of the most efficient at around 70 miles per gallon. This sort of low energy usage means that to electrify the veichle and move towards a cleaner transport future is a lot easier than with high performance cars typical in the UK or US. Now a very similar car to the TaTa has been released,
the Tara Tiny, and it is electric, and it is cheeper. The thing the frustrates me is that
 these cars aren't available in Europe or the US. Why not?

To be clear, these cars do not perform well by conventional standards. In the UK, and i`m sure
around the world, the car industry sells power as the charachteristic to covert. We are bombarded with adverts of sporty cars sticking to the road around winding hills. At the same time, many people experiance the exact opposite--logjam. For many people in cities small monouverable cars that dont destroy air qaulity, that are fuel efficient, that are exempt from local congestion charges, these are the cars that people want. It's about options, we are being given numerous options all of which try to ballance one factor or another against performance. It's choice of a kind--like 30 types of Darwin's finches of the Galapagos islands--what i want to see is real choice. I want to see whole groups of cars that ballance family suitability, style, etc., against efficiency and low impact driving. I want to see a jungle of automotive diversity!

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London continues sustainable transport plans.

Since London announced it's climate change strategy, a strange thing has happened, actions to implement that strategy have been taken! That is perhaps only strage if you are used to national politics and broken promises. In London Ken Livingston is putting on a good display of what can be done.

London recently joined Paris in winning the Institute for Development and Transportation Policy (ITDP) sustainable transport award for it's congestion charge, bus service development and cycling improvements. Now London is replicating the scheme that jointly won Paris that same award. The Velib system is a automatic bike hire service with regular docking stations. The exact details of the London system have not been released but 6000 bikes will initially be available. Bike can be picked up by using a credit card which charges a deposit, this is then repaid at the end of the ride. In Paris the first half hour is free and then there is a constant rate per half hour untill three hours at which point the hourly rate increases. The bike is intended for short trips and works as a compliment to underground and bus services.

But the Velib scheme is only part of the overall cycling stragegy, which accoring to the Mayors office has five main elements:

1. A Central London bike hire scheme, similar to the recently launched Paris scheme, with up to 6,000 bikes located across docking stations every 300m so Londoners and visitors have quick and easy access to a bike. This will be supported by a series of easily navigable routes so that people can enjoy London’s sights by bike.
   


2. Around a dozen radial Cycling Corridors for commuters to provide high-profile, easy to follow cycling streams into central London.
   


3. The creation of a series of Bike Zones for shoppers and the school run in Inner and Outer London, with cycle priority streets, 20mph speed limits and quick, clear and simple routes that link key local destinations and open parks and waterways for cyclists.
   


4. The expansion of the Legible London signage system to help people make short trips around the capital on foot, rather than driving, or taking the bus and tube.
   


5. Working with the London Boroughs on the establishment of 200 Streets of Gold – urban makeovers which link key local destinations like stations, schools and shops in inner and outer London with high quality walking facilities, delivering improved pavements, seating and crossings alongside regeneration measures.
   

This strategy is getting most of it's funding from the newly announced congestion charge increase for large cars. The idea of increasing charges on cars that emmit large qauntities of co2 is harldy likely to be unpopular amongst environmentalists. However, it is problamatic in the sense that a congestion charge is being used for two policy goals: reducing the number of cars and supporting certain types of cars. Local charges, perticularly in a city like London can have an influence on demand for types of cars but things would be done most effectively by having national policies to discriminate between cars based on pollution, and local charges to deal with demand.

Related:

• CNU 2007 Transportation Summit(includes video).
• Climate Change Action posts on Transport.
• What is the best way to tax cars?

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Former Shell Boss: EU should ban cars that get less than 35mpg

It's a strange day when former captains of industry start looking like hippies. Well, it's a strange day today. The former boss of Shell Oil has just launched an outspoken attack on the EU for it's laxity in dealing with car companies. He has called for a complete ban on cars that do less than 35mpg and a firm framework 'to guide the market'.

It's amazing how radical this sounds to those of us who are used to govornment incramentalism on Climate Change. We are constantly hearing of moving towards fleet wide efficiency targets that are relatively modest...why not just make this simple and ban inneficient cars. This way there will be far greater incentive for innovating in the sports car market; that performance wont be available with petrol anymore electric and hydrogen will have to be seriously invested in.

N.B the way this argument develops is very dependent on the way the idea is put. The fact that this guy is a succsessful businesman from an oil company rules out a lot of argument people would  usually make. It's interesting how badly this has gone down at the Telegraph, but how much better it has gone down at Autocar...quite amazing actually!

Related:
Coverage by BBC
Coverage by The Telegraph

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Battery Factory for Lithium Car Batteries

Treehugger has an interesting article about advances in manufacturing electric cars...

Johnson Controls and Saft are opening a factory to produce advanced lithium-ion batteries for cars in a sign that electric and nextgeneration hybrid vehicles are reaching an industrial tipping point.

This is interestint for several reasons, notably the exlusive manufacturing of batteries for cars on a large scale, but also the manufacture of Lithium batteries with performance beyond that of traditional metal hydride batteries.

Lithium-ion battery packs, which are about half the size and weight of nickel-metal hydride batteries, will power the next generation of hybrid, electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

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A look at the future: transit, transit oriented development and new urbanism.

The US has done a lot of great things, started a lot of great trends and often inspired the world. It also created the concept of Suburbia and has created some of the worlds greatest examples of sprawl, some countires are following suit. But the US is finally moving away from this development trend, largely for demographic reasons.

This lecture explains well the nobel reasons for Suburbia, the subsidies that supported the idea and a discription of some new ways to develop. My favourite quote

"This is not ment to be a political statement, but if we had not faught a war in iraq qw could have put 50 of these light rail systems in place for every week that we have been in Iraq for the last five years."

There is also a discussion of a study carried out into the cost of each additional unit of housing in
a certain city, the outcome is that in the downtown areas at higher density the cost is around 1000 dollars per house for the council. For suburban areas the cost is around 22'000 dollars per unit.

Virginia Tech New Metropolist Lectures Series: "Thinking Big: Leasons from The Washington Metro" podcast, presentation.

To me, the best examples of urban development are transit oriented, having either trams, underground or bus rapid transit at the core. Perhaps the best example of Bus Rapid Transit in the world.

Bus Rapid Transit in Bogota. Video.

One of the best reasons for developing around transit stops is the reduced expenditure
on transportation costs and the consequent greater level of access to jobs for all
sectors of society.

University of Oregon, School of Architechture and Allied Arts. Shelly Poticha speaks on "Building the Livable Region: Transit Oriented Development and Development-Oriented Transit" podcast.

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Sustainable Automobile Transport: Book Review

Sustainable Automobile Transport (SAT) is a good title for a recent book by, Lisa Ryan and Hal Turton, on motorised transport. The title is appropriate as it stretches the idea of sustainability beyond its sensible definition, reflecting a major flaw in the book. The aim implied by the subtitle 'Shaping Climate Change Policy' is inevitably damaged by this basic mismatch between more sustainable technology and real sustainability. In it's most elementary form sustainability is the ability to continue without coming up against the physical limits of a system. Being 'more sustainable' in the context of carbon emissions is just taking a more gradual path towards destabilisation of the climate. I was left with the feeling that i hadn't seen a real path towards sustainability, the real conclusion to be drawn is that automobile transportation is an inherently unsustainable sector and that a more holistic approach that includes mass transit, planning and public education is required. SAT therefore fails in it's main objective but actually offers a very good guide to the more humble task of guiding us towards the most effective policies and combinations thereof to reduce the climatic impact of this highly significant sector.

SAT first shows signs of bulking at the scale of the problem we face in the introduction where it states that “Long-term environmental stress is mitigated significantly. In particular, carbon emissions at the end of the are approximately at or bellow today's levels”. Considering that conservative estimates suggest a 60% reduction in GHG emissions globally by 2050 is required a stabilisation of emissions from the transport sector isn't relevant to climate policy. The focus on a horizon going out to 2100 is also insufficiently urgent, climate scientists tell us that the next 20-50 years is the key challenge. It is inconceivable for this reader to contemplate discussion of long term energy scenarios without explicit reference to carbon budgets resultant globa l temperature changes.

I felt that SAT did far better at covering the details of taxes and charges currently levied on drivers. Comparing national policies is often fascinating, in the case of cars the German Eco-Tax was a fascinating instrument which i hadn't heard of before. This tax levied on gas, petrol, diesel, electricity and heating oil, increasing incentives for efficiency, and was given back to society as reduced pension contributions. It has been said before that Detroit is struggling under the weight of health and pansion contributions perhaps a similar deal would work in the US? In fact a whole range of interesting schemes where discussed, from mid-stream emissions trading where car companies are given responsibility for emissions and therefore a motive to reduce emissions, to local congestion charges and raising parking prices.

A good part of this book was devoted to technological development of automobiles but i was personally unconvinced by the projections. I am more concerned by the negative potential of biofuels and more optimistic on the potential of battery powered cars the the authors.

In conclusion, i feel that SAT is a useful book for those working on policies for automobile management, either working for government or for NGO's. For people generally interested in the transport sector and solving it's climate change related issues i would recommend a book taking a inter-modal approach. I also offer words of caution to those who would use this book as a guide to the future of automobile development, this is all rather uncertain at present.

Info:

• Buy on Amazon.
  

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Edward Elgar Pub (December 7, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1847204511
ISBN-13: 978-1847204516

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Hydrogen or Electric? Well we have > 25 electric models ready to go!

While the debate continues on weather electric or hydrogen cars will rule those in favour of battery powered motion have given up the argument and started building cars!

Most of you will probably have heard about a couple of the more high profile models of electric cars. Most famoulsy the diminutive G-Wiz in the uk(well known for congestion charge dodging in the London) and the high spec and predictably pricy Tesla Roadster in the US (0-60, 4 sec!).

A recent article in VentureBeat gives a run down on the 27 electric car companies that they are aware of.

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Quote of the day.

I realised the US "Auto Cities" where sparse but this is quite incredible...

"The urban population density in Houston is lower than the population density in rural Java!"

Source: Bali side event on transport.

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Nano Hypocrisy

I have been watching coverage (celsias, treehugger), of the Tata Nano in despair. There is a claim made, at times, that environmentalism is an attempt by the North to keep the South down. I`m skeptical about this but the hypocrisy shown in relation to the Tata Nano is mind boggling and dosent represent us well.

I was tempted to write an article on this, my angle being: if someone told you that India was going to take on 'Prius or better' emissions standards you would be pleased, right? No, it's not good enough! Or so say some environmentalists, despite the fact that developed nations arent even close to this level of fleet wide performance.

Here is a superb article by the World Watch institute 'Nano Hypocricy'.

The first paragraph sums things up:

"One car gets 46 miles per gallon, features fancy accessories, and sports two engines with a combined 145 horsepower. The other car reportedly gets 54 miles per gallon, runs on a diminutive 30-horsepower engine, and is positively spartan in its interior trimmings. The first is a darling of the environmentally conscious. The latter is reviled as a climate wrecker. These two vehicles are the Toyota Prius and the newly unveiled Tata Nano, dubbed “the people’s car.” Is there a double standard?"

Its only fair to not that there has already been a shot taken at the tata from this site by the highly talanted cartoonist in residence Marc from Throbgoblins International. This would be one of the few times that i havent agreed with his work.

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Green Cluster Bombs, Nuclear Energy, Tatas, Greens good for your (planets) health?

Whilst the media in the UK has been distracting us all with some meaningless minor corruption, (there's plenty more where HE came from) a lot of more important stuff got sidelined.

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