UK Has Made More Cuts To Green Funding

Last July the British government announced cuts green energy funding (See here). This, you may remember, from a government who boasted they'd be the greenest ever.

Now I hear they've slashed funding to the Energy Saving Trust (EST) by half. The EST was set up to advise individuals, businesses, and communities on how to save energy and cut carbon emissions. Their website has a wealth of information, they have a free helpline, and they organise free tutorials for people wanting to set up 'green communities' (e.g. villages, streets, neighbours who want to pool their resources to set up micro-generation schemes etc.).

I know the government feel the need to cut costs 'for the good of the country' but this strikes me as a false economy: If businesses can find energy efficiencies, and many companies are finding substantial efficiencies, they increase profits. One way or another, those profits end up boosting taxes. The same argument can be made for all those companies getting extra work as a result of the EST's advise (e.g. The boiler, heat pump, and solar panel fitters).

No, I think the government have got it wrong, again.

Newcastle Hopes To Go Geothermal

A project has just started in Newcastle, UK which may bring geothermal energy to a large part of the city.

Engineers are drilling a 2000 metre borehole which scientists from local universities hope can be used to heat water to 80 degrees C and provide heating for large numbers of buildings in the city centre.

The £900k project is set to be completed this June. If it works as expected, it could be a model for cities across the UK, if not the world.

More here.

The Science Behind Global Warming

I'm gradually working my way through this series of in-depth lectures on the science behind global warming.

They're very good - Giving you a solid grounding in what you need to know about the subject, if that's what floats your boat.

Warning: It involves a bit of basic chemistry, physics, and maths, so you may find the lectures hard work at times; Also, these lectures need to be downloaded to your PC, a process that can take at least 10 minutes per lecture, and each one lasts up to an hour. So it's a bit of a commitment, timewise.

That aside, I really recommend them.

Myths and Half-truths About The Toyota Prius

If you're a regular visitor to this blog you may have noticed I quite like the idea of getting a Prius as my next car. Of course, that all depends on whether I can find a used one at a price I can afford....

Until then, I've been doing some research to see if a Prius is really for me. After all, there's not much point in buying a low emissions car, if I can't stand driving it, or it's unreliable.

I'm discovering some interesting things. For instance, Toyota, like most Japanese motor manufacturers, build some of the most reliable cars going (See here) so Prius's show up in many top 10 reliable car lists (e.g. Which? and MSN cars) [Note: The Honda Insight - also a hybrid - is nearly always number one!].

Another thing I've discovered is that, the moment you mention the word 'Prius' around a car enthusiast, they'll gleefully tell you something like "You do realise the Prius has a bigger carbon footprint than a 4x4/SUV?" or "the mine where they dig up the nickel for the batteries is destroying the environment".


So I decided to look into these claims:

1) They have a larger carbon footprint than a Hummer (Myth)
This claim is based on a study by CNW Marketing Research, Inc. which attempts to work out the total amount of energy used in the lifetime of many cars from their design to their eventual disposal. According to it's findings, some 4x4s (or SUVs as they're called in the States), have a smaller footprint than the Prius.

One reason for this topsy-turvy conclusion is they've made the assumption that a Prius will have a much shorter working life than a 4x4 e.g. The Prius is assumed to have an average life of 109,000 miles whilst a Hummer gets 379,000 or 3.5 times the life of a Prius. That skews the end result in favour of the Hummer because it's based on dividing the total energy by the number of miles! 

A full rebuttal of this myth can be found here. That's not from a green website but an ordinary car review site called 'thecarconnection.com'.

Footnote: CNW have since revised their data and now place the Prius ahead of the Hummer.

2) Mining nickel for their batteries destroys the environment (Myth)
This claim seems based on a report from the Daily Mail which implied that Toyota was getting it's nickel from a mine which was destroying the local environment. In fact, Toyota have only been buying nickel from there in significant quantities for the last few years, whilst the environmental destruction happened over 3 decades ago. Full details here.

3) Diesels are more fuel efficient than the Prius (Half-truth)
If you look here, you'll find the top 10 best cars for fuel economy in the UK. The Prius is only number 10 behind 8 diesels and another hybrid (that Honda Insight again). So, yes, there's an element of truth in what they say BUT it's hardly a fair comparison. Just take a look at the list - It's made up of the Citroens C1 to C3 and varieties of the Renault Clio - All 'super-minis', whilst the Prius is a mid-size family car. In other words, it's bigger/heavier. And yet, it's only 3 mpg or less behind the smaller diesels. That shows you just how good the Prius is.

The Battery (The white thing)

4) The batteries don't last and cost a fortune to replace (Myth & Half-truth)
Actually the batteries DO last a long time. Toyota have tested them to the equivalent of 178,000 miles. This is why they're happy to cover them with a 100,000 miles, 8 year warranty. If you check out the Prius owner websites, you'll find the batteries are not an issue. In fact, there are posts about taxi companies with entire fleets of Priuses, many with high mileage, that have never had a problem.

The reason for this? Nickel-metal hydride battery technology has come a long way in recent years. So the things just last.

As for the batteries costing a fortune to replace: This is true if you want to buy new (They cost between £2000 and £3000!). However, you can get ones with low mileage on them (from wrecked cars) over the internet for around £500. You can also get a decent rebate/'bounty' for your old battery from Toyota who want to recycle them.

Another option is to get someone to reconstruct the battery which may work out even cheaper.

-ooOoo-

Bottom-line: There are a lot of myths, urban legends, and half-truths circulating out there about the Toyota Prius. Don't believe anything you hear or see until you've checked the facts.

UK Preparing For Changing Climate

Whilst some of us bury our heads in the sand over climate change, the people that matter are quietly preparing for the challenges of an uncertain future.

We're all aware that governments around the world are trying to come to a global agreement over carbon emissions. Many of those governments are already taking their own steps to curb CO2 over the next decade and beyond.

The UK government is no exception with commitments to cut our CO2 emissions by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. They're even consulting with interesting parties (e.g. businesses, energy providers, and individuals) over the route to be taken to that 2050 goal (See here).

At a lower level, organisations responsible for key parts of the UK infrastructure are reporting what they'd do if the climate goes the way that's predicted. Things like the effects of flooding on the rail system, sea level rise on lighthouses, and rising temperatures on our roads.

Meanwhile, a number of UK engineering bodies have issued a report that looks at the infrastructure as a whole. It warns that, in a modern world, the different parts of that infrastucture have become so interdependant, any failure could cause a cascade effect. For example, if power stations are flooded it could bring down telecomm networks. They say that nations that have robust infrastructures will gain economic advantage because they will attract investment from companies looking for stable places to do business from. They then look at what needs to be done.

So, whilst a sizeable proportion of UK society are in denial over climate change, decision makers are quietly getting on with the job of ensuring future generations are left with a country worth living in.

Insulating Our Loft

Ever wondered how to insulate your loft to the recommended depth and yet still use it for storage? Well, this is how we're tackling that problem at the moment:

We need the loft for storage, so the whole area needs boarding over. But, if we boarded over the current floor joists, it wouldn't allow for the recommended depth of insulation of 270mm (approx 11") - The joists are only 100mm (4") deep which would leave us 170mm short.

We could put down more lengths of wood on top of the joists at right-angles, allowing us to put down 1 layer of insulation between the joists, then another, at right-angles, between the new timbers, and put boards on top. However, building up the floor another 170mm (7") would reduce the amount of useful storage space in our loft too much (Thanks to things like the slope of the roof etc).

So we've decided to raise the floor by about 75mm, giving us room for 175mm of insulation, and put another 100mm of insulation between the roof joists.


Work is currently underway. We hope to be cutting those gas bills very soon....

P.S. The big bonus is that, due to special deals at the DIY stores, we got enough insulation material to do our whole loft for only £90.