20/08/2010 by admin.

New research suggests that simple energy saving measures at home could cut Britain’s CO2 emissions by a third (40 megatonnes a year). This is much higher than previously thought by the government, as the original figures were based on an average emissions rate for all the different types of power station, whereas the power stations that respond to extra demand are usually the higher carbon coal and gas ones.

This new research comes from the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, and more details can be seen on the Independent website.

Of course, if you want a good list of energy saving ideas in the home, all you need to do is visit the Green Saving Expert website.

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18/08/2010 by admin.

The UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has provided a calculator for anybody to use to see what effect different policies would have on the UK’s energy supply in 2050. The government had set a target of reducing CO2 emmissions by 80% by 2050.

The calculator can be found here.

You can also see how Michael McCarthy at the Independent newspaper got on with the calculator here.

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15/08/2010 by admin.

A worrying report suggests that rice yields in Asia could fall with global warming.

Researchers have shown that as night time temperatures increase, rice yields drop.

More details can be found here.

As world population continues to grow, climate change could have a big impact on future food supplies. It is a time bomb just waiting to happen and could have disastrous effects later this century.

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13/08/2010 by admin.

The first seven months of 2010 had the highest global temperatures since records began in 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They also said that the majority of evidence shows that humans are impacting global warming. More information can be found on Yahoo.

Global climate change is also partly to blame for the Russian heatwave and wildfires around Moscow, according to experts at the UK Met Office and WWF Russia. See the BBC News website for more information.

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01/08/2010 by admin.

In order for the UK to meet energy demands in the coming years, and to meet it’s climate change targets, energy costs will have to rise. Electricity costs could go up by a third, and gas prices could go up by a fifth. More details can be found on the Telegraph website.

The government has said that people will have to make ambitious cuts in their own consumption in order to offset this. Remember that you can find lots of tips on saving energy on the Green Saving Expert website.

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01/08/2010 by admin.

A report compiled by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Met Office has shown that the world is definitely warming. More than 100 scientists from 20 institutions have compiled data for 10 key indicators and all point to the same result. Each of the last three decades has now been warmer than the decade before.

More information can be found on the Telegraph website and the Met Office website.

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16/06/2010 by admin.

The BBC News website shows the breakdown of CO2 emissions in UK homes as follows :

Space Heating = 47%

Hot Water = 22%

Lighting = 6%

Fridges and Freezers = 6%

Consumer Electronics = 6%

“Wet” Appliances = 5%

Cooking = 4%

Phones, wi-fi, etc = 4%

 It would be interesting to see how much this varies from house to house, but at least it gives an idea of where to start with energy savings. The graph of the above can be found here.

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16/06/2010 by admin.

The Energy Saving Trust has created an online Water Energy Calculator which estimates how much water you use, how much energy is used to heat that water, and much CO2 is emitted to heat that water.

The calculator can be found at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/watercalculator/flashcalculator

Once you have given it the required information, it gives advice on how you can save water and energy.

Give it a go and see what you think.

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23/04/2010 by admin.

It is now getting quite common on the motorways and dual-carriage ways in the UK to have long stretches of roadworks, with average speed cameras over the distance (normally set to 50mph). Keeping everyone at a steady speed usually helps the traffic flow smoothly. Although no-one likes being help up, even for a few seconds by driving slower, what impact does this have from a green point of view? A steady speed of 50 mph is probably very efficient for all types of vehicles on the road.

Let’s make some rough assumptions :

Length of roadworks = 5 miles

Number of vehicles = 20000/day

Average miles-per-gallon at ‘normal’ speeds = 35 mpg

Average miles-per-gallon at steady 50 mph = 45 mpg 

 CO2 emissions = 10.9 Kg/gallon

So, normally , the emissions over this 5 mile stretch = 20000 * 5 / 35 * 10.9 = 31142 Kg CO2

At steady 50 mph, the emissions are 20000 * 5 / 45 * 10.9 = 24222 Kg CO2

This gives a reduction of 6920 Kg CO2 every day that this is in place. When you think that these large roadworks are normally in place for months at a time, this adds up to massive CO2 reductions. Something to bear in mind next time you hear someone moaning about the roadworks. It may take them slightly longer to drive the route, but it will save them money and help the environment.

For more tips on greener driving, don’t forget to take a look on the Green Saving Expert website.

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31/03/2010 by admin.

The confused.com website has come up with a list of the Top 10 Energy Saving Gadgets.

Some are more useful that others… take a look here to see the list.

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31/03/2010 by admin.

The people over at 10:10 have a campaign to keep the UK’s clocks one hour ahead all year round, so winter would be GMT +1 hour, and summer would be GMT +2 hours. This would move one hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, when most people would be awake to enjoy it.

You can find more info, and can sign up, on the 10:10 Lighter Later website.

What has this to do with Green Saving?

They have listed many benefits of this change, but the main one is cutting at least 447,000 tonnes of CO2 pollution each year. The list of benefits can be found here. Another key benefit is that it will save 100 lives each year by making the roads safer.

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09/03/2010 by admin.

The average CO2 emissions for new cars in the UK in 2009 dropped by 5.4% from 158.0g/km in 2008 to just 149.5g/km.

This compares with 177.6g/km in 2001, and has been dropping every year since.

This large drop is partly thanks to the scrappage scheme. The average emissions of cars bought through the scrappage scheme so far is a low 133.3g/km, which is 26.8% less than the old, inefficient cars being scrapped.

All of this is good news. Hopefully they will keep on dropping each year in the future as well. The EU has set a target of 130g/km for new car emissions by 2015, and at this rate we should hit it.

More details, including emission rates for each year, can be found on the What Car website.

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09/03/2010 by admin.

The UK Met Office has said that it is now even clearer that it is human activities that is behind climate change, after analysing 110 research papers on the subject.

More details can be found here.

The UK Met Office section on Climate Change, which includes much more information, can be found here. 

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06/02/2010 by admin.

A Populus poll for BBC News of 1001 adults in the UK shows that the numbe of people sceptical about climate change is rising. In November 2009, 83% agreed that climate change was happening - this has dropped to 75% in February 2010.

Also, the percentage of people who think that Climate Change is mainly man-made and not natural is dropping, from 41% to 26% - more details can be found here.

Personally, I think a lot of this is due to having the coldest winter and most snow in the UK for many years. It will be interesting to see another poll in a few months time.

Also, it just shows that more education for the whole subject is needed.

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04/02/2010 by admin.

As from April, UK homeowners who install solar panels or wind turbines will be able to claim cashback on the electricity that they create.

More details can be found on the Department of Energy aand Climate Change website, and on the BBC News website.

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31/12/2009 by admin.

Just like to wish you all a very happy new year.

Looking forward to a green 2010.

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15/12/2009 by admin.

There are some very interesting world heat maps here, showing how the temperature around the world is expected to rise in 10 year steps from 1995 to 2095. It actually shows two maps for each one - the left hand side shows what happens if we do nothing - with the average global temperature rising by 4C by 2100. The map on the right shows what happens if emissions peak in 2015 then reduce, resulting in average global temperatures rising by ‘just’ 2C by 2100.

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11/12/2009 by admin.

The UK Met Office have said that carbon emissions must peak by 2020 if temperatures are to rise by no more than 2C. What is quite worrying is that even if they peak in 2020, there is still a 50% chance that the temperature rise will be above 2C. If they peak later than 2020, even just a few years later, the odds of staying below a 2C increase quickly get much worse. This shows just how urgent and serious the situation now is.

More info at BBC News.

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08/12/2009 by admin.

The World Meteorlogical Organization and the UK Met Office have said that this decade (the years since 2000) has been the warmest decade since instrumental records began in 1850. On average, this decade has been 0.18C warmer than the 1990’s, and about 0.44C above the long-term average.

Also, 2009 looks likely to be the 5th warmest year on record.

More info can be found on the BBC News website.

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27/11/2009 by admin.

With the oil crisis in the 1970s, some countries reduced their national speed limits in order to reduce the amount of oil used. Maybe it is time to do this again. This would be an easy, cost-effective method to reduce emissions, and these reductions could be realised from day one of this new policy being passed. Current speed limits around the world can be found on the Wikipedia website - I think a global limit of 60mph would be quite effective, without affecting driving times too much.

On the AA website, they say “According to the Department for Transport driving at 70mph uses up to 9% more fuel than at 60mph and up to 15% more than at 50mph. Cruising at 80mph can use up to 25% more fuel than at 70mph. “

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