Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Auto - Green Incentives - Really ??
When is a bail out not a bail out? When it is a green incentive scheme, apparently.
To the surprise of no one, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) confirmed this week that sales of new cars during March were through the floor again as cash strapped motorists resolutely refuse to head to the showrooms.
Right on cue, the sorry state of the industry prompted fresh calls for a "scrappage scheme" similar to those already in place in Germany and France which offer motorists a cash handout if they trade in old vehicles for new models.
In an attempt to strengthen its case, the motor industry has argued (apparently with a straight face) that such a scheme would be "green" as it would incentivise motorists to scrap older, more polluting models and purchase cleaner, more fuel efficient cars.
You would be forgiven for thinking then, that the car industry is proposing that you would only qualify for the hand out of around £2,000 if you traded in your old car for a relatively low emission model. Sadly, you would be wrong.
Under the SMMT's proposals, which are apparently being given serious consideration by the government, trading in any car registered prior to 2000 when buying any new or nearly new car would qualify you for the incentive. This is a "green" incentive scheme where you could trade in a two door runabout for a gas guzzling 4x4 and receive £2,000 off the purchase price.
The environmental campaigner George Monbiot has already delivered a comprehensive evisceration of the flawed logic behind the scheme, but it is really worth highlighting again quite how ridiculous it is from an environmental perspective. These proposals are the worst type of "greenwash": misleading, opportunistic and capable of blocking genuinely green proposals.
A spokesman for the SMMT insisted that the reality is that the incentives would "be more attractive to potential buyers of smaller cars" and that they would help deliver a net cut in emissions as "a modern new car is more than likely to be a lower emitter (and safer) than the one it would replace because of advances in engine technology".
This is probably the case, but an effective incentive scheme should look to maximise emission reductions, not deliver improvements that would happen over time anyway as old cars are naturally replaced with newer models.
Monbiot is right in his assertion that incentives for green cars are never going to be particularly cost effective, but if we must deliver some kind of boost for the auto industry then the government should call car companies' bluff and provide a real green incentive scheme that only rewards the manufacturers that recognised the long term sales trends and delivered more fuel efficient vehicles.
Why not follow Japan's lead and offer subsidies on hybrids and electric cars? Or alternatively introduce a scrappage fee, but only if the car being purchased has emissions that are significantly below the average of 160g/km.
The car industry would argue that a "restrictive" incentive scheme such as this would not prove as effective at bolstering sales. But what is restrictive about making the greenest third of the market, say, more attractive to consumers?
After all, it was the car industry that asked for a "green incentive" scheme, what could it possibly have to complain about if it got one?
Of course, manufacturers of less fuel efficient models would bleat about the market being tilted against them. But it is already tilted against them as a result of their failure to realise that people increasingly want green and fuel efficient cars - incentives for more fuel efficient cars would simply move it a few more degrees in favour of those companies producing the low emission vehicles that all but the most myopic climate change deniers now accept are required.
If, what the car industry wants is a bailout, then it should ask for one (though it is hardly the most deserving cause out there), not attempt to conceal its true intentions behind a green veneer that only serves to reduce the chances of us getting a real green car incentive scheme.
Related Links:
http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=239182
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/10/car-scrappage-payments
http://www.smmt.co.uk/home.cfm
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2240025/struggling-car-firms-green
Source: Businessgreen
To the surprise of no one, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) confirmed this week that sales of new cars during March were through the floor again as cash strapped motorists resolutely refuse to head to the showrooms.
Right on cue, the sorry state of the industry prompted fresh calls for a "scrappage scheme" similar to those already in place in Germany and France which offer motorists a cash handout if they trade in old vehicles for new models.
In an attempt to strengthen its case, the motor industry has argued (apparently with a straight face) that such a scheme would be "green" as it would incentivise motorists to scrap older, more polluting models and purchase cleaner, more fuel efficient cars.
You would be forgiven for thinking then, that the car industry is proposing that you would only qualify for the hand out of around £2,000 if you traded in your old car for a relatively low emission model. Sadly, you would be wrong.
Under the SMMT's proposals, which are apparently being given serious consideration by the government, trading in any car registered prior to 2000 when buying any new or nearly new car would qualify you for the incentive. This is a "green" incentive scheme where you could trade in a two door runabout for a gas guzzling 4x4 and receive £2,000 off the purchase price.
The environmental campaigner George Monbiot has already delivered a comprehensive evisceration of the flawed logic behind the scheme, but it is really worth highlighting again quite how ridiculous it is from an environmental perspective. These proposals are the worst type of "greenwash": misleading, opportunistic and capable of blocking genuinely green proposals.
A spokesman for the SMMT insisted that the reality is that the incentives would "be more attractive to potential buyers of smaller cars" and that they would help deliver a net cut in emissions as "a modern new car is more than likely to be a lower emitter (and safer) than the one it would replace because of advances in engine technology".
This is probably the case, but an effective incentive scheme should look to maximise emission reductions, not deliver improvements that would happen over time anyway as old cars are naturally replaced with newer models.
Monbiot is right in his assertion that incentives for green cars are never going to be particularly cost effective, but if we must deliver some kind of boost for the auto industry then the government should call car companies' bluff and provide a real green incentive scheme that only rewards the manufacturers that recognised the long term sales trends and delivered more fuel efficient vehicles.
Why not follow Japan's lead and offer subsidies on hybrids and electric cars? Or alternatively introduce a scrappage fee, but only if the car being purchased has emissions that are significantly below the average of 160g/km.
The car industry would argue that a "restrictive" incentive scheme such as this would not prove as effective at bolstering sales. But what is restrictive about making the greenest third of the market, say, more attractive to consumers?
After all, it was the car industry that asked for a "green incentive" scheme, what could it possibly have to complain about if it got one?
Of course, manufacturers of less fuel efficient models would bleat about the market being tilted against them. But it is already tilted against them as a result of their failure to realise that people increasingly want green and fuel efficient cars - incentives for more fuel efficient cars would simply move it a few more degrees in favour of those companies producing the low emission vehicles that all but the most myopic climate change deniers now accept are required.
If, what the car industry wants is a bailout, then it should ask for one (though it is hardly the most deserving cause out there), not attempt to conceal its true intentions behind a green veneer that only serves to reduce the chances of us getting a real green car incentive scheme.
Related Links:
http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=239182
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/10/car-scrappage-payments
http://www.smmt.co.uk/home.cfm
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2240025/struggling-car-firms-green
Source: Businessgreen
Friday, April 17, 2009
Earth
NASA continues its hunt for Earth-like planets - DailyTech
CNET NewsNASA continues its hunt for Earth-like planetsDailyTech,�ILThe NASA Kepler planet-hunting telescope has successfully transmitted its first images back to program directors on Earth, as the US space agency continues to hunt for Earth-like planets. "Kepler's first glimpse of the sky is awe-inspiring," Kepler ...NASA: Kepler begins search for other Earths ComputerworldHel-lo gorgeous: Kepler takes first images in hunt for Earth-like ... Examiner.comBid to find Earth-like planets The Press AssociationWired News�- Space.comall 284 news articles
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Sunday, April 12, 2009
Lawns of the Middle East
I remember the hours I spent in Doha, Quatar on one of my trips to India, and was taken aback by the greenery I found there. Despite the weather conditions, people in the middle east, have been spending abundent resources to stay on par with their western or eastern competition, in maintaining the ambience and landscape around their well endowed hotels. Water being the most difficult resource to accomodate in the dessert ridden lands of the middle east, maintaining a green patch - could be quite a daunting task.
Here is an article that I stumbled upon, identifying some recent changes in this trend.
Read on....
Source: Treehugger
In England, where the manicured lawn came into fashion in the 17th century, natural rainfall is generally enough to keep the grass growing all year long. In contemporary America, where lawns cover an area roughly the size of New York State, lawns are hardly ecological: unproductive monocultures, lawns account for more than half of domestic water consumption and require polluting fertilizers, pesticides and lawnmowers.
In recent years, lawns have become fashionable in other parts of the world as well, including the Middle East. However, in this parched region, where water is perennially in short supply, lawns may now be on their way out of style.
I can't account for every country in the region, but I can report that in the UAE and in Israel, lawns have become a standard part of the local landscape. In Egypt and Jordan, less so.
In the UAE, the grass is watered with desalinated water, produced in an energy-intensive and polluting process. In Israel, where natural water sources are slightly more plentiful, there are plans to significantly expand the country's reliance on desalinated water. In the meantime, however, the country is suffering from a prolonged drought, and the push for conservation in the water economy is on.
This makes for some strange headlines. Last week, Haaretz reported on the troubles of the sod sector in Israel, in which at least half of the companies involved in growing and selling artificial grass are in serious trouble. The reason is an official ban on watering public and private lawns by the country's Water Authority, which has been drying up business. "Other than a brief spate of municipal orders before the elections, no city or contractor would order turf that can't be watered," complained one merchant.
Still, there is plenty of evidence that the order is not being followed in many places. Along Tel Aviv's coastline, for example, miles of new lawns were planted recently when the city's coastal promenade was renovated. It will be interesting to see if the city continues to water its new lawns as the arid summer begins this month.
Further proof that lawns have become the default option in landscaping, even when the customer should know better: the Kinneret Administration (in charge of managing the Sea of Galilee, Israel's major water source) continues to cultivate a patch of lawnin front of its offices.
Grass is not the only plant that can be used as a groundcover (and neither are fake lawns, even if they are getting more eco-friendly). There are plenty of native plants and trees that could do the job just as well, and consume far less water.
Perhaps a happy medium could be found: setting aside parts of public parks for grass, and covering the rest with native plants? In any case, the future of the Middle Eastern lawn doesn't look bright.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Treehugging
Tree Hugging to Help Rebuild New Orleans Isn't So Bad After All - FOXNews
Tree Hugging to Help Rebuild New Orleans Isn't So Bad After AllFOXNewsLooking at a muddy field of cypress saplings that should soon grow to rival the 15-footers that one hugged the banks of the lake, it occurred to me that maybe sometimes being a earth-loving, tree-hugging hippie isn't always bad %26mdash; and maybe sometimes it ...
Blog Content Wizard
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Eco News
How to succeed at a job fair; small biz Eco-update - The Associated Press
How to succeed at a job fair; small biz Eco-updateThe Associated PressWhile most businesses said they were going on with Eco-friendly plans, two-thirds of the companies surveyed also said their customers were not willing to pay more for environmentally friendly goods %26mdash; up from 49 percent in spring 2007, the last time the ...
Blog Content Postings
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Green Tips
Five Green Tips for Stylish Home Decorating - Imperial Valley News
Five Green Tips for Stylish Home DecoratingImperial Valley News,�CAPort St. Lucie, Florida - You don't have to sacrifice great style to get a great, Green look in your home. You can use these five simple design Tips from the 2009 HGTV Green Home in Port St. Lucie, Florida. to make your living environment more ...
Blog Content Generator
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Green Living
Arianna Huffington: Slow and steady toward Green Living - Dallas Morning News
Arianna Huffington: Slow and steady toward Green LivingDallas Morning News,�TXBecause, these days, "Green" means a lot more than making your house energy-efficient. It means making sure your house is a healthy place for you and your family. So I arranged to have Deep Green Living, a terrific company founded by Susan Short, ...Arianna Huffington Turns Green Anorak.co.uk (satire)all 4 news articles
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Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Xyclose coversion to Ethanol successful
A German scientist says he has discovered an enzyme that “teaches” yeast cells to ferment xylose into ethanol in just one step.
Goethe University Professor Eckhard Boles, co-founder of the Swiss biofuel company Butalco GmbH, said xylose is an unused waste sugar in the cellulosic ethanol production process during which the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is commonly used for ethanol production. But Boles said current bioethanol production technologies can use only parts of the plants, namely the storage sugars such as glucose, sucrose or starch, and that technology competes with food and feed production.
Boles and his team discovered a new enzyme that, in contrast to current cellulosic ethanol technologies, can convert xylose in a single step and isn’t inhibited by other chemical compounds normally present within the yeast cells. The researchers have filed a patent application for their process.
German Engineering is at it again! Innovation coupled with commitment and consciousness propel such innovative methods, and German scientists are regarded as the pioneers with such methodology !
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