Greenhouse Gas & Rising Sea Levels

European studies reported on the BBC News website indicate that current levels of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere are higher now than at any time in the last 650,000 years.

Additional research, published in the journal Science, suggests that sea levels may be rising twice as fast now as in previous centuries.

Regardless of whether you consider global warming to be a naturally occuring, cyclical event or man-made, surely everyone must accept that humankind should be doing everything possible to reduce greenhouse gas emmisions.

Blair, Bush - are you listening?

Source (opens in a new window): http://news.bbc.co.uk

Heating in Electric Vehicles

OK, firstly I wanted to say that I am not some sort of electric vehicle freak! It’s just that they are on my mind a lot at the moment and hence, a lot of my blog entries are about them, but give me time and I’m sure my blog will become more ‘balanced’.

Now that’s out of the way, one of things that I wondered about electric vehicles was heating.

In a fossil-fuel vehicle (petrol, diesel or even hybrid), the heating both for the comfort of the occupants and also to demist windows for safety, comes from the combustion engine’s cooling system. So, in an electric vehicle, how do you get heat?

I suppose the obvious answer is to use the battery to power an electric heater, but I thought that may take up too much juice and hence lower the vehicle’s range. In search of an answer, I put a question/comment on Danny’s Contentment (owner/driver/blogger of a G-Wiz), about the range of the G-Wiz and heating. Here’s the answer:

Thanks. I’m getting about 35 miles on a full charge. There is a gauge that monitors battery level - it doesn’t drop off suddenly, and a light will flash to warn you that it’s time to plug in. The battery will empty faster depending on driving style, outside temperature and the weight of passengers. It can sometimes be tricky predicting how far you can get from this! The car has a good heater that warms up quicky. It has a normal rear window demister that works well. The heated seats are a great option that doesn’t seem to use much juice.

So it seems that you do use the battery to create heat, and from what users are saying, there seems to be not too much loss of range - so now I know!

Another nice phrase

Here’s another great quote I came across today:

We must become the change we want to see.

- Gandhi

Definately thought (and action) provoking.

Ford’s wrong TH!NKing

Since posting the picture of the Nissan HyperMini recently, I did a bit more searching on the net and found out loads about small electric vehicles. The HyperMini itself was trialled in several major cities in Japan and the USA, but as far as can tell has never been officially on sale, which is a real shame (unless they haven’t been able to set a realistic price). The HyperMini excels both in the design, useful technology and speed/range, making it genuinely practical vehicle.

In the UK, you can buy an electric vehicle called the G-Wiz through GoinGreen who are dealers/importers for the Indian manufacturer, Reva. Although design is very subjective, personally, the design is not to my taste - there are prettier electric vehicles out there, however, as I said design is subjective and clearly, these cars are doing a job, aided no doubt by having to pay no congestion charge, no parking fees and in some car parks, free electricity for recharging too!

The range on them seems to be between 20-40 miles depending on the load, temperature and driving style and they seem based on older battery technology (on the other hand, the range may be fine for typical London journeys). Maybe the fact that they are not technologically cutting-edge makes them reliable and affordable (both important factors), and their popularity has led to a 5 months waiting list - can’t be bad. I found an excellent vblog (Video Blog) by a guy who bought one - take a look at Danny’s Contentment. There is also a thread on the aforementioned blog that mentions that a new type of battery will be available from next year (2006) that will substantially increase both the top speed and range (perhaps that should be speed or range) of the G-Wiz - things are looking good for this little car.

Anyway, back to the title of the article - for a couple of years in the late 90’s, Ford dabbled with electric cars, launching the cute-looking Ford Think City. This was actually developed and produced by a Norwegian company called PIVCO (Personal Independent Vehicle Company) in whom Ford had bought 51% shares. Over 1000 Thinks or TH!NK City (proper name) were produced between 1999 and 2002 until Ford decided to pull out of PIVCO, stating that they wanted to concentrate on other technologies (fuel cells etc). The sad part was that the next generation of the TH!NK CITY was virtually ready to be produced (see photo below). Personally, I think (joke!) Ford was wrong - perhaps the figures don’t stack up for them, being a mega-multinational-conglomerate type of business - who knows. I just hope that PIVCO’s new owners can get the investment they need to get cars into production.

The really nasty action on Ford’s part was that they wanted to recall all the cars (they were all leased for battery cost reasons) and destroy them! What a waste - here were electric cars that people were using on a day-to-day basis, doing a sterling job etc, and Ford wanted to trash them! Eventually pressure from PIVCO led Ford to halt their action and I understand that PIVCO are steadily buying back any vehicles that have naturally come to the end of their lease, refurbishing them and putting them back out for sale in Norway where there is a waiting list.

Anyway, as I mentioned in the thread on the new Honda Civic hybrid, electric vehicles are a great step forward, but should be used in conjunction with new ways of thinking about how we actually use or need transport and of course, consideration towards the methods of electricity generation. For the electric car to be carbon-neutral (in terms of day to day running), renewable electricity sources are an essential.

Links (open in a new window):
Th!nk City (Pivco)
GoinGreen (Reva UK sales)
Danny’s Contentment (a Reva owners vBlog)

Nissan HyperMini NEV

Nissan’s Hypermini was introduced in a limited way in Japan in 1999. It is a two passenger EV (electric vehicle) that can go 60 miles per hour and travel about 75 miles on a single charge.

The vehicle features an in-car navigation and automatic location system which is handled by an operations control centre. In the event of becoming lost, or vehicle running low on power, the driver can contact the control centre for assistance by pushing a single button on the dashboard.

Dimensions (L x W x H) 2,500 x 1,475 x 1,550 mm; wheelbase 1,790 mm; track (front / rear) 1,255 / 1,260; neodynium magnet synchronous motor, with maximum output 20 kW at 15,000 rpm; lithium-ion batteries; inductive charging system; rear-wheel 2WD; suspension (front) independent struts; suspension (rear) independent parallel-link struts; brakes (front / rear) ventilated discs with anti-lock system; tyre size 185 x 55R x 14. Price to be determined.

NEV by the way stands for Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle - the concept that you would use electric or zero-pollution transport to get around your local area/neighbourhood and use other forms of transport (trains etc) for longer journeys.

So why Nissan, have you not got this thing on sale? It works well, it looks great, and could help you steal some environmental points back from Toyota with their Prius!

The Misery of Fireworks

For about two weeks prior to and past Bonfire Night, Nov 5th (plus over Christmas and New Year), we are subjected to a nightly barrage of explosions and flashes as people let off fireworks.

I remember as a kid how I loved to watch fireworks and go to the big bonfire parties in the park and hold sparklers, eat real baked potatoes and so on. These days it seems the only fireworks with any credibility are those that make the most noise.

The problem for me is that the people who let them off are acting incredibly selfishly. OK, they may cite civil liberties and say it is their ‘right’ to use fireworks, but we have to cope with a dog that goes hyper and trembles with total fear. I know we are not alone either, countless other animal-lovers have told us of their tales with frightened dogs, cats, rabbits and so on.

And what about wild-animals? Perhaps already fearful of the noise of shotguns, what must they make of those selfish few who let fireworks off at all hours. Animals don’t know what’s going on and may flee in all directions in fear of their lives.

I wonder also about who makes most fireworks these days. Most probably come in from China and the far east - areas not known for looking after the health, safety and prosperity of their workers. By buying fireworks, we are endorsing these countries and their sometimes bad practices.

Every year without fail, you also hear of the human cost of irresponsible firework use. Just today, 3 days before bonfire night, the BBC News website posted a story of a boy hit in the eye by a firework [ link ].

So, for a few moments of pleasure (!), where you can see a flash of light, a loud noise and the juvenile satisfaction of knowing that behind the curtains, hundreds of people are tutting at you, is it really worth it? Couldn’t you spend your money on something better?

Do us all a favour - if you really need a cheap thrill, stick your hand down your pants and have a fiddle - you’ll be living up to your name.

Thought of the Day by Gandi

Here’s a nice little thought for the day,

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need,
but not every man’s greed.

- Gandhi

Think about it. No really, think about what it means to have things you really need as opposed to those that you don’t. You don’t actually need much do you?

World Vegan Day

Hey, it’s World Vegan Day today. To celebrate, we went to a special meal at the Warehouse Cafe in Birmingham. What a treat - we had five courses, starting with tortilla chips and wraps with salads and pates, soup (choice of spicy peanut or carrot and coriander), main course of tofu jerky, or spinach pie or baked aubergines, or pasta with pine nuts (the may have been more but I can’t remember!), followed by lemon sorbet (dog bum mouth poise - in joke!) and finally chocolate cake or pineapple fritters. All this flavour, all this taste, all this variety for just £15.

Find out more by visiting the website