Regular walking and cycling fosters good health says NICE

April 30th, 2012 by National Institute for Health and Clincial Excellence

Walking and cycling should be encouraged throughout the community and should become the norm for short journeys, says the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), in draft guidance published on 24 April 2012 for consultation.

Regular physical activity is key to achieving and maintaining good health. It can help to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes by up to 50%, and is also important for good mental health.

Michelle Duquemin walks over six miles every work day between her home and her work in St Peter Port. (click image to expand - ©RLLord)

But we know that at present people in Great Britain are not doing enough exercise. Continue reading

WorldWatch Institute’s State of the World 2012 outlines what is needed for global sustainable prosperity

April 30th, 2012 by Worldwatch Institute

(click on book cover to go to publisher's website)

Over the last 50 years, the world’s middle and upper classes have more than doubled their consumption levels, and an additional one to two billion people globally aspire to join the consumer class.

The planet cannot maintain such increases in resource demand without serious consequences for both people and ecosystems, concludes the Worldwatch Institute in State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity.

The book, the 29th in a series that Worldwatch began in 1984, stresses that we must act quickly to redefine our understanding of the “good life” and redouble our efforts to make that life sustainable. Continue reading

Record number of bicyclists in 2012 30in30 challenge to raise money for Les Bourgs Hospice

April 29th, 2012 by Ian Brown

(click on jersey logo to go to the 30in30 website)

The fifth annual 30in30 Challenge, organised by Ian Brown of Ian Brown’s Cycle Shop, begins on 5 May 2012.  A record number of participants, including 33 first timers, will ride their bikes for one hour each day over 30 consecutive days to raise money for Les Bourgs Hospice. Each rider aims to get 30 sponsors at £1 each day for Les Bourgs Hospice.

The event begins with a participants’ group breakfast at St Emilion Café at 8.00 am.

The previous four challenges have raised a total of £210,321.04. With a target of £50,000 for this year the 30in30 challenge should pass the one quarter of a million pounds mark raised for Les Bourgs Hospice since 2008. Continue reading

Transport without oil by 2030

April 2nd, 2012 by Guy Dauncey

Guy Dauncey is creator of the Earth Future website and author of numerous books, as well as The Earthfuture blog and The Climate Challenge blog.

Guy Dauncey conducted a webinar on ‘Transportation without oil – 23 steps to a sustainable energy future’, and made the content available on slideshare without commentary, and on Vimeo as a recorded presentation.

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Transportation without Oil: 23 Steps to a Sustainable Energy Future from BC Sustainable Energy on Vimeo.

Extended-range electric Vauxhall Ampera is European Car of the Year

March 31st, 2012 by General Motors

Vauxhall Ampera (click image to expand - ©General Motors)

The Vauxhall Ampera, European Car of the Year 2012, has a sophisticated propulsion system, which offers drivers all the benefits of electric driving, without any of the range anxiety associated with pure electric vehicles (EVs).

The Ampera is not a hybrid. Electricity powers the wheels of the Ampera at all times, with a 16kWh lithium-ion battery pack feeding an advanced 150PS electric drive unit, delivering between 25 to 50 miles of battery-powered electric drive and zero tailpipe emissions. Continue reading

Dangerous air pollutants must be reduced to safeguard public health

March 21st, 2012 by European Respiratory Society

Car exhaust gases are a major source of Guernsey's air pollution. Cars emit benezene, nitrogen dioxide, Benzoapyrene and particles (PM 10s and PM 2.5s) (click image to expand - ©RLLord)

Urgent action is needed to reduce the high concentrations of dangerous air pollutants in Europe, according to experts writing in the European Respiratory Journal on 1 March 2012.

The European Respiratory Society‘s Environment and Health Committee are urging policymakers in Europe to introduce changes that will ensure the air that we breathe is safe and clean.

The call to action comes ahead of the upcoming review of air quality legislation in the European Union (EU) before the 2013 Year of Air.

In the editorial, the ERS committee argues that any new legislation must strive to ultimately bring air pollution levels in Europe down to the already adopted World Health Organization (WHO) limits and international commitments made by EU leaders. Continue reading

Car clubs help improve London air

March 18th, 2012 by Carplus

(click on report cover to go to Carplus report download page)

Car Clubs make a considerable contribution to improving air quality and reducing carbon emissions in London, according to new independent research published by the Transport Research Laboratory.

Building on studies done for each of the last three years, TRL have reaffirmed the positive effect of Car Clubs, as Londoners are shown again to be selling private cars, or deferring purchase, and joining a Car Club. Continue reading

Daimler’s car2go car sharing service UK debut in Birmingham

March 17th, 2012 by car2go

Why have the cost of owning a car when you can use one at your convenience? Car2go launches in Birmingham in the autumn 2012 (click image to expand - image ©Daimler)

car2go has won a tender offer from Birmingham City Council to set up an urban mobility scheme.

car2go is the world’s first mobility program with maximum flexibility and without fixed rental locations.

More than 70,000 people are already using the service in Continental Europe, USA and Canada.

Birmingham is going to become the first home of car2go in the United Kingdom. Continue reading

When fuel prices rise people would consider abandoning car ownership

March 14th, 2012 by Oliver Wyman

Urban dwellers in Western Europe and Asia would seriously consider a change in their primary mode of transport – including abandoning auto ownership – according to a recently released study by Oliver Wyman and the ESB Business School Reutlingen (Germany).

If the fuel price rises appreciably people will change the way they get around (click image to expand - ©RLLord)

The “Future of Mobility” found that, if fuel prices rose significantly by 2030, approximately 77% of the survey’s 3000 respondents would change their mobility behavior by switching to a smaller car, switching to an electric car, or abandoning car ownership entirely and replacing it with a mixture of transport modes.

Respondents in Shanghai (91%) and France (82%) were particularly open to changing their mobility patterns. High-income respondents (71%) were the least likely demographic segment to consider a switch. Continue reading

Electric vehicle use in commercial fleets

March 12th, 2012 by Energy Saving Trust

(click on report cover to go to The Climate Group report download page)

Electric vehicles (EVs) can be commercially viable in business fleets today, states a collaborative report, “Plugged-in Fleets – A Guide to deploying electric vehicles in fleets” published in February 2012 by the Energy Saving Trust, The Climate Group, Cenex, and with support from TFL and TNT’s ‘Planet Me’ division.

Financial considerations aside, EVs offer drivers a smooth, quiet, driving experience and give all of us cleaner air in our towns and cities, so everyone benefits. Continue reading