Sales of electric cars plummet in US and UK
Dec 6, 2008 Auto Tech
While the worldwide economic downturn has badly affected auto sales, the electric cars market has seen perilous falls in UK as well as US.
EPower, a retailer selling electric cars in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, has only sold two cars in the past three months. MCEV, the largest electric car dealer in the Pacific Northwest, has seen sales decline to 1-2 vehicles a month, down 80% from earlier this year. Even corporate and government sales — which make up a large percentage of MCEV’s revenue — are also being impacted.
UK sales of electric cars have dropped 58 percent this year. For the first ten months of 2008, a total of only 156 vehicles were sold in the country — nearly all of those confined to London itself. The announcement came just two days after the nation’s Committee on Climate Change predicted electric car sales would increase substantially this year. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Green Automobiles, Green Cars, UK, US
UK govt. committee recommends ambitious emission controls
Dec 1, 2008 Stars, Policy and Finance
Ambitious new targets to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% from today’s levels by 2020 were proposed today by the government’s Climate Change Committee in its report, “Building a Low-carbon Economy - The UK’s Contribution to Tackling Climate Change”.
The recommendation, if accepted by ministers, will mean big increases in renewable energy, home insulation and electric and hybrid cars and vans. Green energy would produce 30% of the UK’s electricity by 2020 and 40% of new cars would be low emissions by 2020.
The report further recommends tough new rules to make coal plants fit equipment to capture and store their carbon emissions as soon as the early 2020s, which would push up operating costs. But the committee estimates the changes would cost less than 1% of the national economic wealth in 2020.
Read more here.
Tags: Climate Change, Greenhouse gases, UK
Algae Biofuels Challenge — the all new ABC
Oct 26, 2008 Green Technologies, Ratings and awards
Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust, UK has announced a Algae Biofuels Challenge (ABC). It promises multi-million pound investment to support the development and commercialization of microalgae biofuel technologies that have the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The ABC is a two phase programme with the first phase addressing fundamental R&D challenges and the second phase moving to large scale production of algal oil. The total programme cost is expected to be in the region of £20m-30m, with up to £10m-16m of Carbon Trust funding. The call for proposals for Phase 1 of the ABC opened on the 23rd October 2008 and closes on 15th December 2008.
Tags: Algae, Green Technology, Microalgae, UK
Electric London cabs - with love, from China
Oct 20, 2008 Auto Tech, Green Technologies
London cabs
According to Financial Times, Geely, the Chinese automaker that co-owns the company that produces black London taxis, has met UK government officials about bringing electric-powered cabs to London.
Geely owns about 23 per cent of Manganese Bronze, the Coventry-based producer of black London cabs, and 51 per cent of a Shanghai-based joint venture with the UK company that will produce the cars in China starting this December. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: China, Geely, Green Cars, London cabs, UK
UK promises 80% emission cuts by 2050
Oct 19, 2008 Carbon Trading Mechanisms, Stars, Policy and Finance
Cut the emissions
Guardian reports that Ed Miliband, the new energy and climate change secretary, accepted the recommendations of the government-appointed Climate Change Committee, chaired by Lord Turner, which said last week that the UK ought to commit to an 80% reduction from 1990 levels for all greenhouse gases and covering all sectors.
Miliband said that the current 60% target would be replaced by the higher goal in the climate change bill. Miliband told MPs that the tough economic conditions were not an excuse to “row back” on the commitment to tackle global warming.
Read the full report here.
Tags: Emission cuts, Emission policy, Miliband, UK
Abu Dhabi funds UK wind power project
Oct 17, 2008 Green Technologies
Wind farms
According to The Telegraph UK, Abu Dhabi’s Masdar, a fund set up by the emirate to channel funds into green projects, is buying part of a stake in the London Array project owned by the German power company E.on.It is a wind farm project in UK, built off Kent and Essex coast.
The London Array, which still needs to clear several planning hurdles, would consist of up to 271 turbines, generating enough power for an estimated 750,000 homes at current average energy use levels. The scheme would be built more than 12 miles offshore. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Abu Dhabi, offshore wind farm, UK, Wind farm