A report from the Centre for Alternative Technology concludes that a massive expansion in offshore wind, a switch to electric vehicles and steps to halve household energy demand would make the country “zero-carbon” by the end of the next decade and without the need to rely on nuclear power.

The study said energy demand in buildings could be halved if changes such as; improved insulation, eliminating draughts and improving the efficiency of heating technology came in to effect.

It will need “whole house” refurbishment to upgrade energy efficiency and for new homes to be built from natural materials such as wood and straw to lock in carbon in an effort to cut overall emissions.

The report also said there should be a switch to electric vehicles, which would generate 50% less carbon dioxide than petrol or diesel cars.

As the grid is “decarbonised”, electrical vehicles will be even more environmentally friendly, however this will raise a huge demand for electricity, so, “smart charging” will be introduced in which they are charged up overnight when power demand is low – which will limit the extra pressure on the grid.

Domestic flights would be replaced with bus or rail travel, with fewer journeys taken overall.

After looking through some of the previous blogs I decided to write one that relates to how we can reduce the pollution in our cities and ultimately the global production of greenhouse gases. I came across several different methods in which a car can use hydrogen as a full or partial fuel and they all have there pro’s and cons.

The first is the more obvious and seemingly more popular one. The fuel cell has been around for a long time the principal was published in 1838 by Christian Friedrich Schönbein and was quickly taken up by Sir William Robert Grove, who in February 1839 invented the first fuel cell using very similar materials to the one’s we use today.

Cars today that use fuel cells have some catching up to do before they become a good replacement for the modern combustion engine. The efficiency of fuel cells has already been proven, between 2002 and 2007 several buses and taxi’s using fuel cells as a power source were driven around London. It is expected that by making the switch we could cut our greenhouse emissions by half.

Another option is using hydrogen as a direct fuel in other words replacing petrol and diesel with cars that burn hydrogen instead, you lose some of the efficiency from using a fuel cell but you get much more power (280hp) as apposed to the equivalent fuel cell (80hp). Right now it is unknown which one will win over but in the mean time it looks like the petrol and diesel engines will hang around till approximately 2030.

Another option which I recently found is instead of introducing fully hydrogen cars immediately, hydrogen can be generated on the go using only distilled water and electrolyte. While researching I came across a petrol/diesel and hydrogen hybrid system which can be attached to almost any car which still burns petrol/diesel but at a reduced rate. It does this by instead of burning air and fossil fuel it burns air, petrol/diesel, pure oxygen and hydrogen.

The system attaches directly to your air intake and tricks the car into thinking less air is going into the engine so the car then puts in less fuel. Hydrogen and oxygen produced from the hybrid system are fed into the engine through the air intake and the car benefits from burning a cleaner fuel along with a moderate power gain from burning a more volatile fuel and you the consumer don’t need to go to the petrol station as often. In some case studies, some cars are found to have gained an extra 20MPG just from using this system and some rumours say cars that are already efficient will gain a lot more.

The American Department of Energy has announced funding for a variety of energy-efficient building technologies and training courses to create skilled environmental jobs and workers.

There will be a $76m fund that will be divided between 45 companies developing technologies to upgrade the environmental credentials of America’s buildings, there will also be 13 training courses to ensure people will be qualified to build and install them in commercial properties.

“These projects will help the United States lead the world in advancing energy-efficient technologies,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

“Energy-efficient commercial buildings will help our country cut its carbon emissions and energy costs while the training programs will upgrade the skills of the current workforce and attract the next generation to careers in the emerging clean-energy economy.”

39% of the USA’s total greenhouse gas emissions, 50% of its sulphur dioxide and 18% of its NOx emissions are released by domestic and commercial buildings.

There is a wide variety of technologies being funded; from analytic tools to building components, more insulation and better ventilation will all help lower the environmental impact.

10:10 campaigners believes that if we set our clocks to 1 hour ahead of GMT in the winter and 2 hours ahead of GMT in the summer can save almost 500,000 tonnes of carbon.

It would only require a slight change in clock as currently, the United Kingdom sets clocks to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in winter and adds an hour in the summer.

A spokesman said: “We would still put our clocks forward in spring and back in autumn, but the sun would rise and set one hour later throughout the year, which would mean that more people are up and around when there is daylight.”

“This timekeeping regime is known as Single Double Summer Time or SDST and yes, we find that name confusing too.”

If successful the campaigners believe it could save ‘at least’ 447,000 tonnes of C02 pollution – equivalent to more than 50,000 cars driving all the way around the world – each year.

We would also benefit from the lowering of electricity bill by maximising daylight hours and reducing peak power demand.

There has been a 25 year global ban on commercial whaling, which may be about to come to an end. In Agadir, Morocco a meeting that finishes today which will judge whether or not to they will allow Norway, Iceland and Japan to legally hunt whales around Antarctica and elsewhere for 10 years in exchange for a slow decline of the numbers killed.

88 countries who are members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will have the final say on whether the proposal will be approved or not.

The EU, led by Britain, is united with their opposition to rule against the ban being lifted, the US on the other hand strongly backs the proposal if certain guidelines are followed.

Australia and the Latin American countries appear to be setting a higher bar for approving the deal than other anti-whaling nations such as the US and New Zealand.

South Korea, meanwhile, may vote against anything that doesn’t give it similar whaling rights to Japan, while the positions of nations such as China and Russia are hard to gauge.

Greenpeace, WWF and Pew Environment Group, which are three of the world’s largest international non-government groups, raised a few eye brows over their stance; they say they are prepared to see the commercial whaling ban lifted if 6 conditions were met, they are;

• An end to hunting in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary
• No international trading of whale meat
• IWC science must be used to set limits
• No hunting of endangered species
• An end to use of the scientific whaling regulation
• If there is a majority, all governments must agree not to lodge an objection

Well to be honest I’m well out of my comfort zone with this topic, I’m by no way a vegetarian, so for me to pass judgement on another who wants to eat a different animal would make me hypocritical. With that said Japan Iceland and Norway bon appetit.

Here is the first blog written by one of our newest emlpoyees Ash Forshaw, he’s only been here 6 weeks and he continues to progress and gain more confidence, we would be greatful for your feedback on Ash’s first blog, thanks.

In the broad expanse of the Northern Pacific Ocean there exists the northern Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a slowly moving, clockwise spiral of currents created by a high pressure system of air currents. The area is like a oceanic desert, filled with tiny phytoplankton but few big fish or mammals. Due to a lack of large fish and light breezes, it is not a hot spot for fishermen or sailors, so they rarely travel through the Gyre. But there is something besides plankton that lurks the pacific: TRASH, millions of pounds of it, most of it plastic. It’s the largest landfill in the world, and it floats in the middle of the ocean.

The Gyre has actually formed two large masses of ever-accumulating trash, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches, sometimes collectively called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Eastern Garbage patch floats between Hawaii and California: scientists estimate its size as two times bigger than Texas other scientists say it is 700,000 square kilometers (270,000 sq mi). The Western Garbage Patch forms east of Japan and west of Hawaii. Each swirling mass of refuse is massive and accumulates trash from all over the world. The patches are connected by a thin 6,000 mile long current called the Subtropical Convergence Zone. Research flights showed that significant amounts of trash also accumulate in the Convergence Zone.

Most of the trash floating in the pacific is plastic.  To be exact 90% of trash floating in the world’s oceans is plastic. The United Nations Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean hosts 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. In some areas, the amount of plastic outweighs the amount of plankton by a ratio of six to one. Of the more than 200 billion pounds of plastic the world produces each year, 10 percent ends up in the ocean. Seventy percent of that eventually sinks, damaging life on the ocean floor. The rest floats, much of it ends up in the Gyres and the massive garbage patches that form there, with some plastic eventually washing up on a distant shore.

This obviously has an effect on the wildlife some of these long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals, and their young, including sea tutles, and the black-footed albatross. Besides the particles danger to wildlife, the floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from the seawater, including PCBs, DDT, and PAHs. Aside from toxic effects, when ingested, some of these are mistaken by the endocrine system as estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected animals. These toxin-containing plastic pieces are also eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by larger fish. Many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals. Marine plastics also facilitate the spread of invasive species that attach to floating plastics in one region and draft long distances to colonize other ecosystems. Research has shown that this plastic marine debris affects at least 267 species worldwide and a few of the 267 species reside in the North Pacific Gyre.

Personally I think this should have been dealt with earlier instead of letting it escalate into an environmental disaster. They only started the cleanup in 2008 where they were able to gather 6.8 million tonnes of trash, mostly from inland waterways, in 104 countries which just shows how many countries this is affecting.

LET’S TAKE ACTION NOW

The North West is bracing itself for a drought this summer. Usually one of the wettest parts of the country, it has seen less rainfall in the past five months than in the past couple of decades.

Reservoir water stocks are beginning to run low however it’s a long way before the taps run dry. John Sanders from United Utilities which provides most of the regions water has urged for the public to use water sparingly but offered reassurances that there is no imminent drought worries.

“We are certainly not applying for drought permits – nor are we about to introduce a hosepipe ban,” he said.

“[But] if this dry weather continues we have strategies in place to maintain essential supplies to customers.”

“We are following our normal plans for dry weather conditions, which include making use of our highly integrated supply network to balance supply and demand across the region.”

“We will also make use of reserve groundwater sources to augment supplies if required.”

“While we’re taking action to manage supplies, it is a good time to remind our customers that water is a precious resource.”

The water company has taken a couple of precautions for example they are offering free water saving packs and a water-use calculator to help customers cut their water use.

Clive Gaskell, The Environment Agency’s water manager added: “We are working closely with United Utilities to protect the region’s water supplies in both the short and long term whilst protecting the environment and wildlife.

“We all need to use less water and if everyone makes little changes to reduce the amount of water they use it all adds up to a huge amount of water being saved.”

Virgin racing and tyre recyclers Carbon Green have united in a move that could see top level motor racing becoming a little bit more environmentally friendly.

Both companies have announced the plans June 13 following Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Canadian formula one race.

Carbon Green which is based in Canada, will become a sponsor of Virgin racing and Sir Richard Branson has declared it the ‘first truly green highly relevant’ deal in the sport.

The recycling firm transforms old tyres into useful products and Sir Richard hope the deal with make Virgin Racing more environmentally friendly.

Carbon Green has also opened its first tyre recycling plant in Canada, in south Ontario over the weekend.

Virgin Racing boss, Sir Richard, said: “I am delighted Virgin Racing is partnering with Carbon Green at their home country GP here in Montreal.

“I want Virgin Racing to drive the introduction of green technology into F1 and Carbon Green’s tire recycling company is, I believe, the first truly green and highly relevant sponsor in the sport and I hope only the first of many.

“I also want to congratulate Carbon Green on the announcement of their first production plant here in Canada.”

President of Carbon Green, John Novak, said: “We are thrilled to be in Montreal with our partner Virgin Racing, to witness the return of Formula one to Canada and Virgin’s inaugural race on Canadian soil.

“We have identified Canada as a world leader with very high standards of environmental practices which fits with our expansion plans for our unique proprietary technology that 100% recycles used tires into high grade commodities.

“We are therefore pleased to announce that we have chosen the southern Ontario region as the first location to launch our standardized plant roll-out in North America.”

The world cup is fast approaching so I thought I’d try and find out what South Africa have done in order to lower the environmental impact of the tournament.

An estimated 2.8m tonnes is likely to be released due to the world cup, that’s roughly equivalent to 6,000 space shuttle fights, three quiet years for Mount Etna, or 20 cheeseburgers for every man, woman and child in the UK. An estimated 1.2 million people will see matches live, so that works out at a massive carbon cost of 2.3 tonnes per spectator.

With the support of Global Environment Facility (GEF), the city, Pretoria has launched two projects to help reduce emissions and raise awareness among South Africans and visitors.

In 2008, South Africa began work to update public transportation systems in seven of the nine cities where football matches are being held to lower the potential emissions caused by transportation. The biggest improvements have been the creation of a rapid transit system of buses and the improved infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.

The plan for South Africa is to maximise the potential of the international investment by leaving a legacy for more extensive improvements of public transport in their cities.

Another big step towards lowering emissions comes from the installation of solar panels and efficient light on the streets, stoplights and billboards in the six cities hosting the event. They are also pushing very hard on creating awareness of climate change and how to prevent wasted energy to the public.

When the competition is over an analysis will be conducted regarding the ecological projects that were introduced relating to the World Cup to determine what was successful and what wasn’t.

This week I’ve scoured the internet to find the most unusual building designs from around the Globe, it turns out I needn’t have bothered. All I have to do is look to our cousins from over the Atlantic; I have looked through a host of different building design and compiled my top 3.

Third place is located in Orlando, Florida; is this very appetising McDonald’s restaurant. This does the marketing for itself, anytime someone sees this they’re going to fancy a few French fries and maybe even a shake to go with that!

In second place we have Wonderworks another from Orlando, Florida. This design really turns things onto its head. The three story,  82 foot tall building has been flipped on its triangular top and squashed into the pavement. Inside things get even crazier with a hurricane ride which has winds of up to 65 mph, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake experience and a Titanic exhibit.

The winner caught my eye from the moment I saw it as it is very close to my heart. We all drink a little bit too much, as a collective nation we drink far more than recommended. John Milkovisch from Southern Pacific Railroad has the perfect way to reuse all the beer cans he drinks, he crushed the cans and used them to decorate his entire house it took him 18 years to complete. It may not be the most cleverly designed or particularly abstract in relation to shape. I just love wondering what was going through his mind when he first came up with this plan and obviously BuilderScrap loves any reuse or recycling building projects and this is certainly that. Sadly he passed away in 1988, thankfully a non-profit company has purchased his home and it is now classed as visionary art.

If you have any strange and wonderful architectural designs that you know of why not send them in.