Petrol prices have risen again in the UK. Campaigners call on the government not to raise duty, but surprisingly little is said about switching to higher mileage models. I’ve been looking at Volvo, who have a good reputation in this regard. The new Volvo V40 gives fuel consumption of 78.5 mpg. —— In the 1980s we… Continue reading
Browsing Category Environment Blog
Pollock: from humble discard to top spot on the menu
In an average day out and about, how often do you make ethical decisions? You care for the homeless, so shouldn’t you buy that Big Issue? And why not stop for that chugger (street fundraiser), who only wants to persuade you to make a direct debit to some extremely good cause? It’s time for a… Continue reading →
Can’t commit to an electric car just yet. Why not hire one?
In the big electric car debate, two inconvenient truths confront each other. As far as the naysayers are concerned, range matters. Nissan claim 110 miles for the Nissan LEAF. (People who have driven it say it’s a less, sometimes a lot less, particularly if you drive on motorways, use the air conditioning and blast… Continue reading →
Which is more important – a car’s top speed or its Co2 output?
The Week includes a weekly “New Cars” section, a useful digest of what motoring journalists are saying about the latest models. Useful, that is, unless you’re interested in the one detail which we are said to to care about more than anything else as drivers, the cost of fuelling our cars. Very often these vital… Continue reading →
Driving down low carbon avenue
Car manufacturers aren’t required to stress the green credentials (or, more generally, the lack of them) in their adverts. So despite the consensus view among scientists that burning fossil fuels is bad for our planet (Lord Lawson, opposing views are available) copywriters don’t do much to promote the eco-friendliness of the vehicle. They have very… Continue reading →
Pagan power – church takes energy from the sun
It would be wrong to overwork the metaphor of the Church of England turning to that most pagan of symbols, the sun, rather than prayer, for salvation. It’s a neat solution nevertheless, solving the perennial problem of paying to heat a large, cavernous and extremely old building with solar power. The successful scheme to… Continue reading →