Cyclists and the Costa sustainability

Cycling east along Selborne Road E17 yesterday I encountered an obstruction in the form of YJ58 UOH. As the driver was in his cab I preferred to use one of his 'blind spots' to take a pic from the rear (many lorry drivers are camera shy and some shout very rude words).

The company this driver is working for is passionate about equity, sustainability and the environment (their coffee comes from sustainably grown beans sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms). Such a shame these values don’t extend to the Costa vehicle fleet. The signing here is clear enough: a double-yellow line ‘no waiting at any time’ parking restriction, apart from it being a bus lane with a continuous white line and the only other permitted users being taxis and cyclists. The driver had parked on the footway (another offence) and was also blocking the dropped kerb which allows cycling access to the Town Square. Clearly a driver in need of serious re-education.

I was inspired by this experience to check out the world of Rainforest advocacy. It led me to this.

Linda has a passionate interest in electric cars and all things environmental... Every time I turn the key in the ignition, I experience the thrill of “riding the rays” while avoiding the corner gas station. One of our recent utility bills indicated that we owed $1.95 for two months of powering our 3,000 square- foot home and sending the electric vehicle down the freeway at ticket-inducing speeds. It really doesn’t get any better than that

Bless.

more 'Green Olympics' news!

The 2012 Olympics could fall short of its environmental pledges, the London Assembly has warned.

London 2012 pledged the Games will be the most sustainable in recent history. But the Going for Green report said a lack of electric vehicles, air pollution and renewable electricity targets were areas of concern.

Such a shame about the ‘electric vehicles’ which everyone knows are the only Green way of moving around a city like London.

Luckily the Olympic car parking projects (like this one and this one) and private road space for VIPs in limos (yes, that’s 2.5% or 1 in 40 of London's roads) will not be affected.

Onwards to the car-centric ‘Green Olympics’!

Garden wall collides with electric car

This was the horrific scene when an electric car fell apart in a crash that killed the driver.

The 47-year-old woman was thrown clear of the Reva G-Wiz when it hit a garden wall in Hendon last night at about 6.45pm.

No other vehicles were involved in the collision at the junction of The Vale and Hendon Way which left the vehicle in two pieces. Adjoining roads were closed for several hours.

The tiny Indian-made car has been seen in increasing numbers on the roads of the capital because it is exempt from the congestion charge and parking fees and has been adopted by celebrities including Jonathan Ross and Kristin Scott Thomas.

‘Cycling revolution’ news update

We’re talking London here, people.

“We want to inspire people to explore alternative transport that is more environmentally friendly. We can't keep using up the world's resources and pumping pollution into the atmosphere.

How true!

And the exciting news is that they’re closing off The Mall for a fabulous parade of…

Electric cars.

Electric cars are getting far more affordable and we will be explaining that. The government gives people £5,000 to buy an electric car at the moment.

“They make perfect runarounds in London because you don't have to pay the congestion charge.”

And they’re so Green, are they not?

Not.

The elephant in the room with electric vehicles is the question of where the electricity comes from. With the UK government mandating 10% from renewables this year, that means 90% of the fuel used to generate the electricity to charge the batteries to give you that "amazing [va-va-vooom] drive with great range and performance" will come from old technologies, like coal and natural gas (which is a 25 times stronger greenhouse agent than CO2).

There are also the environmental costs involved in manufacturing a car. The environmental impact begins with mineral extraction and the production of the raw materials that go into the parts of a car: iron ore (turned into steel), aluminium and copper. Batteries require lead and acid. Cars also require plastics, mostly made from petroleum. All these processes involve energy consumption, air pollution, and the release of toxic substances. Car scrappage involves the disposal of many wastes.

Finally, it’s utterly absurd that anyone should be using cars to travel short distances around a dense, compact city like London, and whether it’s an electric car or a conventional one is irrelevant. London needs to radically reduce its dependency on car and bus travel and replace these journeys with cycling and trams.

But, hey, everything to do with cars is ‘Green’ nowadays innit.

The Honda Formula One team are to replace advertising and sponsor logos on their car this season with a giant picture of the Earth to raise awareness of environmental issues.

Unfortunately Europe’s corporate environmentalists buy into electric car crap