Hydrogen

The increase in the price of oil is a boost to those involved in alternatives. Hydrogen is one of a number of avenues being explored. The fact it releases nothing more than water when burnt probably gives it an edge, in terms of public perception at least, over alternatives.

It faces many challenges however. At present most hydrogen is made from fossil fuels, though it can be produced (at greater cost) using electrolysis, biomass, or genetically engineered algae. Storage is also a problem. Despite containing more chemical energy by weight than any other substance, by volume it is five times less powerful than natural gas.

Despite these problems major car manufacturers are showing an interest in hydrogen.

BMW have a prototype vehicle. Despite storing liquid hydrogen at -253C in a 170 litre pressurised tank it delivers a range of only 124 miles. Needless to say this would also raise the bar in terms of the technology required to refuel vehicles such as this.

Honda have gone one step further and begun the first commercial production of a vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cells. These use hydrogen to generate electricity and Honda claim a three fold improvement in efficiency over petrol engines.

Whether these vehicles are positioned to give their makers a genuine competitive advantage (anticipating a move towards mainstream adoption of this fuel), or to enhance their green credentials, is not clear. US actress Jamie Lee Curtis will, however, be among the first to take delivery of one of Honda’s vehicles.


Without taking anything away from Honda or BMW who have put up their money where others have only good intentions, the use of hydrogen as a fuel would be nothing new. Despite the well known application of hydrogen within the airship industry, a lesser known fact is that in the 1950s it was used as a 50% component of town gas in Britain.

Crude Bacteria

The prospect of producing fuel from bacteria was floated a long while ago but one company has managed to deliver something of a minor miracle in the form of a bacteria that will provide a near identical substitute for oil itself:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece

Just a couple of concerns.

Are we confident these beasties won't escape, become out of control, and start cultivating lakes of crude on a scale usually reserved for washed up oil tankers?

The process is - apparently - carbon negative, so assuming they will be a raving success will they simply tilt the problem in the other direction. I.e. from an atmosphere suffering a carbon surplus to one suffering a carbon defecit?

Carbon depletion - coming to this world soon?

Hypermiling

The price of oil continues to increase. The knock-on effect of this is felt throughout the world and it highlights the extent of our energy use as well as our dependance on one particular source.

Everything we do is somehow dependant upon some form of fossil fuel from food production to taking a trip to the [heated] swimming pool [in a car].

Some might argue that higher energy prices will lead to better habits. People may demand more energy efficient devices, may cut out energy for certain purposes, and learn to make better use of what they do consume.

One of the largest energy consumers are transport and heating. For most people today transport means the car. Higher fuel costs cause people to think harder about how they use their cars. For example whether a journey is really necessary, or whether a journey could be shared.

However some journeys, like travelling to work, are harder to compromise. Nevertheless drivers don't have to be the victim, they can do something themselves to combat rising fuel prices by changing their driving habits.

This is made even easier these days with many modern cars being supplied with devices to monitor fuel consumption as standard. Some provide an indication of as many as three measurements; real-time, journey, and intra-journey. Irrespective of their degree of sophistication they all provide an indication of how much distance is being covered for a given unit of fuel, a useful guage. These devices provide a reasonably accurate means of feedback to the driver whom wants to reduce their fuel usage.

Some drivers take fuel efficiency to extremes, and the term 'hypermiling' has been coined to describe the techniques they apply. If you cannot avoid a car journey you might like to bear in mind some examples that hypermilers employ to minimuse thier fuel usage:

• Don't put more energy into the car than is necessary
• Don't take more energy out than is necessary
• Keep a constant speed
• Don't accelerate unduly quickly
• Choose the best time to travel whenever possible (i.e. avoid the worst of the rush hour if you can)
• Indicate your intentions to other road users (it will help them save fuel too!)
• Do not sacrifice safety for the sake of saving fuel; free-wheeling can be dangerous, tailgating can be dangerous, and turning off your engine is most definitely dangerous
• Spend to save - sometimes gaining a little speed (safely) may save overall, for example to avoid a situation that would otherwise cause you to have to stop your vehicle
• Put space between you and the car in front (even if this involves slowing down) to make it less likely you'll have to stop/start
• Keep your tyres at their reccommended pressure
• Don't carry unnecessary weight in the car (you should keep that spare tyre but the rear seats can go!!)
• Speeds in excess of 60mph are more expensive to maintain due to wind resistance
  
• Straighten out bends
• Don't labour the engine and do not over-rev the engine
• Get a car with an 'ecconomy guage'
• Get an ecconomical car (diesel or a hybrid/ lightweight / small engine)
• Read what other drivers are doing and try anticipate them but not to second guess them, assuming a driver is going to take a turn just because their indicator is on is no guarantee that they will
  
• Shop around for the cheapest fuel

If you do change your driving habits don't do it at the expense of driving safely. Always play within the rules and safety first! Also show consideration for other drivers. For example driving considerably below the prevailing traffic (especially on single-lane roads) might do wonders for you saving fuel but can annoy other drivers.

Finally don't forget to ask yourself whether you really need to use a car for that journey.

Going for a walk, a run, or taking your bicyle will not only save you fuel it's good for your health!

Dumping with Style

Top marks to those behind the creation of the 'mounds' at Northala Fields, Greenford, Middlesex in the UK. Faced with the problem of what to do with 000s of cubic metres of spoil from nearby construction works (Wembley Stadium and White City) the London Borough of Ealing commissioned a grand design that is creative, artistic, practical, sustainable, as well as being an impressive feat of engineering.

http://www.art2architecture.co.uk/current/northala.htm#
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/275147

Rather than dump the spoil into a hole in the ground it is being used to build four large mounds to enhance the quality of life of those in the vicinity of the A40. To call them mounds is perhaps to mislead. They are conical in shape, and aside from being pleasing to the eye they will help dissapate noise from the busy A40 that runs alongside it.

treboona@googlemail.com
http://www.treboona.com

Recycling Maths

How much do you recycle? Try some of these numbers for size...

Recycling electronics

Dumping 315 million computers into landfills creates 1.2 billion pounds of lead, 2 million pounds of cadmium, and 400,000 pounds of mercury being dumped into waste streams.

Recycling aluminium

Recycling aluminium uses 95 percent less energy than making it from ore. A recycled can saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for up to 3½ hours.

Recycling paper

Recycling one ton of paper will save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, 7000 gallons of water, and 60 pounds of air pollutants.

Antarctica and its wildlife has looked after itself for millions of years. It's somewhat perplexing then to read the following statement in the article below:

"Why the white wilderness needs our care"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7317421.stm

Whatever 'care' we can muster in respect of the environment seems always to be dwarfed by the mischeif we create. If Antarctica were able of speak for itself it would most certainly tell us the best care we can take of it is for us to leave it alone.

Given its growth in status as one of the last un-plundered paradises on earth, it is unlikely we could ever stop ourselves:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/antarctica.html

Is it about time we faced up to the notion that plundering is not a viable way forward for us. We need to think in terms of sustainability in everything we do.

The Cost of Living

We have become so adept at extracting fossil fuels from the ground they are the cheapest and most convenient way to produce energy that we know of. Yet at the rate we are using them up, all that trapped energy millions of years in the making will be consumed within in a couple of centuries.

We're also finding our addiction to fossil fuels is the cause of changes to the earth's environment which has implications for us and every other living thing on the planet. If we try to give them up now we may escape the worst of what is predicted to happen to us over the coming decades.

It's not easy though. We are on the whole a lazy bunch and don't do 'global co-operation' very well. One thing everyone understands however is money, how much things cost, and this is often used by governments to change our habits. The cost of energy if increased substantially would lead to a change in our behaviour, we would:

• Demand more efficient machines
• Make better use of the energy we have available (i.e. we would waste less)
• Cut out trivial applications altogether (bye bye patio heaters)

Higher energy costs will also improve the case for renewable energy sources to the point where they compete on grounds of cost. This should translate into greater R&D spend which in turn should lead to better performance. The earth receives more than enough energy every day in terms of energy from the Sun. We just happen to be especially bad at harvesting it.

It's unlikely that sufficiently high energy prices can be levied by any single government. Governments are tied too closely to the populations that elect them to sustain significantly higher energy prices. The pressure to remain competitive keeps this in check.

There are however at least two other routes to higher energy prices which include; the natural depletion of fossil fuels due to use, and international co-operation which will ensure a level playing field between countries. One of these will win through. Given the speed with which countries act in concert in these matters (or lack of it) versus growth of economies such as China and India, it could well be a disparity between demand and supply that forces humanity's hand in this matter. I.e. our supply of fossil fuels run short of demand.

We shouldn't really care too much how the end is achieved, but it would be nice to know that reason and co-operation could triumph over some of our more negative traits.