Category Archives: Energy and Climate Change

News and articles on climate change, vehicle pollution, and renewable energy.

UK used car market follows new vehicle sales with Q2 decline

September 2, 2017Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Prepping and CollapseJo

According to the latest data released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the UK’s used car market declined in the second quarter of 2017, following record results in the previous year.

The figures suggest that 1,832,400 used vehicles changed hands during the period between April and June 2017, a drop of 13.5%.

The society puts this down to the strong results of Q2 2016 being hard to match and turbulence in the new car market following the introduction of new vehicle excise duty (VED) rates introduced in the country on 1 April. This follows the trend of UK new car sales, which experienced another drop in August 2017.

Overall, for the first half of the year, the number of used car sales fell by 5.1%, with 3,966,356 sales in total. Most of this drop was seen in the petrol market, which declined by 5.1%, whereas the diesel market, which has been much maligned in recent months and will soon see the introduction of manufacturer-backed trade-in incentives in the UK, only declined by 0.1% year on year in the first half of 2017.

Demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) rose 24.2% with electric cars enjoying particularly strong growth – up 79.3%. However, volumes remain low with AFVs currently accounting for just 1.2% of the used car market.

Car makers offer cash incentives to trade in older vehicles

August 30, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentJo

As buyers consider getting rid of their older diesel cars, BMW, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Vauxhall are launching trade-in schemes designed to get more of us driving low-emissions cars

Electric cars charging in Milton Keynes (Image: T. Larkum)

Owners of older diesel vehicles will receive an incentive of up to £2000 when they trade in their old car for a new BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mini or Vauxhall, and up to £7000 towards a new Ford.

The new plans are designed to reduce the pollution caused by diesel cars, as well as increasing the uptake of low-emissions cars in the UK. Despite the sales of such cars rising by more than 30% over the past year, they still account for just 4.3% of the total market.

BMW

To qualify for BMW’s incentive, owners must trade in diesel cars that comply with Euro 4 emissions standards or older – which covers cars registered before September 2009. Owners can check if their car qualifies here. Euro standards set the limits for emissions from new cars, with the first, Euro 1, being introduced in 1992.

Buyers will be offered up to £2000 to trade in their cars – on top of the vehicle’s residual value, as determined by used car experts CAP.

The value of the incentive must be put towards buying a new BMW or Mini. In particular, it must be either a BMW i3, a plug-in hybrid car (such as the BMW 3 Series 330e or the Mini Countryman S E All4) or a car that complies with the most modern Euro 6 emissions limits, with CO2 emissions of less than 130g/km.

That means owners will be able to choose from the majority of BMW’s range, including multiple versions of the 5 Series luxury saloon, which is our Car of the Year for 2017. Some of the brand’s larger SUVs do not qualify, though. BMW says that 80% of its range qualifies for the discount, alongside 70% of Mini models.

BMW also hasn’t specified what it will do with the cars that owners trade in. The oldest models will likely be scrapped – although BMW is keen not to call this offer a ‘scrappage scheme’ – with others sold on as used vehicles.

Climate change to cause humid heatwaves that will kill even healthy people

August 27, 2017Energy and Climate ChangeJo

If warming is not tackled, levels of humid heat that can kill within hours will affect millions across south Asia within decades, analysis finds

Climate Change Impact in Africa (Image: iPhoto)

Extreme heatwaves that kill even healthy people within hours will strike parts of the Indian subcontinent unless global carbon emissions are cut sharply and soon, according to new research.
Even outside of these hotspots, three-quarters of the 1.7bn population – particularly those farming in the Ganges and Indus valleys – will be exposed to a level of humid heat classed as posing “extreme danger” towards the end of the century.

The new analysis assesses the impact of climate change on the deadly combination of heat and humidity, measured as the “wet bulb” temperature (WBT). Once this reaches 35C, the human body cannot cool itself by sweating and even fit people sitting in the shade will die within six hours.

The revelations show the most severe impacts of global warming may strike those nations, such as India, whose carbon emissions are still rising as they lift millions of people out of poverty.

“It presents a dilemma for India between the need to grow economically at a fast pace, consuming fossil fuels, and the need to avoid such potentially lethal impacts,”

said Prof Elfatih Eltahir, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US who led the new study.

“To India, global climate change is no longer abstract – it is about how to save potentially vulnerable populations.”

Heatwaves are already a major risk in South Asia, with a severe episode in 2015 leading to 3,500 deaths, and India recorded its hottest ever day in 2016 when the temperature in the city of Phalodi, Rajasthan, hit 51C. Another new study this week linked the impact of climate change to the suicides of nearly 60,000 Indian farmers.

Aussies Are More Interested In Solar Batteries Than Ever

August 27, 2017Energy and Climate Change, Energy Storage, News, Reviews and CommentJo

With electricity prices on the rise and an uncertain future ahead for Australian electricity, it’s not surprising that more and more Aussies are looking at the option of home batteries. What is surprising is just how fast the market is progressing — batteries are rapidly coming down in price and the numbers suggest they aren’t just for early adopters anymore.

Tesla Powerwall display (Image: T. Larkum)

Before the Tesla Powerwall burst onto the scene less than two years ago, batteries were seldom considered an option for houses with solar panels, unless they were remote or off-grid. Powerwall installer Natural Solar says that only 2-3 per cent of customers even asked about batteries prior to 2015. “Since adding Tesla Powerwall to our energy storage range, the volume of consumer enquiries for battery power and Tesla Powerwall specifically has grown to more than 95% of customers,” explained Natural Solar CEO Chris Williams.

Even the difference between the first, somewhat experimental Powerwall and Tesla’s newer, bigger, better Powerwall 2 is clear. Williams sums it up quite succinctly when he says that the original Powerwall buyers were the early adopters, while their experiences have helped the Powerwall 2 hit the mainstream.

“This is exciting,” Williams said, “as it represents the typical Australian household and consumer, who are making educated decisions based on financials and are trying to offset the skyrocketing electricity bills expected to increase by 20 per cent in the coming weeks.”

While the Tesla brand has something to do with it, there are other reasons Australians have become so interested in powering their homes via batteries. Australian energy retailers recently announced an impending increase on the price consumers pay for electricity — in some places astronomically. On July 1, South Australia will overtake Denmark in having the world’s most expensive electricity. With some new Powerwall 2 customers expecting their power bills to come down to almost nothing, it’s not surprising to see more and more people looking to make that leap.

South Australians in particular have even more motivation to install batteries, in the wake of the state-wide power failures that happened last year. Demand in South Australia has increased by 300 per cent compared to the rest of Australia with 98.5 per cent of those wanting a power back-up in case of further instability. It’s not just households either — commercial enquiries for Natural Solar have seen an 800 per cent increase, with businesses wanting the option to keep their doors open and their lights on even when the grid is down.

Live Or Work On A Busy Road? The Truth About Noise Pollution

August 26, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionJo

Studies conclude there are very real health risks from noise pollution – but EVs are bringing the quiet.

While we’re all aware of the term noise pollution, most of us regard it as just an irritant we have to put up with. The construction site near the office, the busy road near the children’s school, the flight path roaring overhead – such noise, we tell ourselves, is the price we pay for living in densely populated environments like cities.

Yet we might not be quite so complacent if we were more aware how bad noise pollution is for our health. For example, did you know that people living with an average of 55-80 decibels a day are more likely to suffer from high-blood pressure and cardiovascular ailments due to stress? Or that noise over 45 decibels at night can interfere with our sleep patterns, meaning we function less effectively during the day?

Such effects were confirmed in a recent study by Imperial College London, which analysed data from 144,000 adults, reinforcing evidence from the World Health Organisation, which rates noise pollution as the second largest environmental cause of health problems after air quality.

Road Traffic is the main culprit

The vast majority of noise pollution in Europe is caused by vehicular traffic on our roads – about 70 percent of it, according to European Environment Agency (EEA) statistics. Around 100 million people on the continent are subject to road traffic noise in excessive of 55 decibels, with more than 32 million exposed to over 65 decibels, while a good night’s sleep is not possible for around 50 million Europeans because of noise levels.

Concerning though these statistics are, a major solution is already with us – electric vehicles (EVs). As well as being hugely beneficial when it comes to air pollution, EVs produce nowhere near the same level of noise as gas-guzzling vehicles.

Van and taxi drivers offered pathway to electric vehicle transition

August 25, 2017Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionJo

Drivers of old and polluting vans and taxis have been offered fast-track options and incentives to purchase electric vehicles (EVs), with revamps to licensing and a new £42m taxi fund set to increase compliance with the diesel vehicle phase-out.

From January 2018, no more new diesel taxis will be licensed in London

Following on from Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s launch of the Air Quality Plan last week, which included a ban on all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040, both Transport for London (TfL) and the Department of Transport (DfT) have launched new EV initiatives.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced on Friday (28 July) that TfL would host a £42m fund to encourage owners of older and polluting diesel black cabs to retire them from the Capital’s fleet.
Owners of black cabs between 10 and 15 years old can check whether they are eligible of a “delicensing” scheme and to apply for a grant worth up to £5,000 to retire a taxi. The three-year scheme will attempt to speed up the process of tackling the illegal pollution levels in London’s air as part of a long-term goal of making the Capital a zero-carbon city by 2050.

“London’s filthy air is a health crisis that needs urgent action,”

Khan said.

“The plans announced by the Government this week go nowhere near the action needed. Cleaning up London’s taxi fleet will play a significant part in our toxic air battle and there will be no new diesel taxis licensed in London by the end of this year.

“However, it is important we financially support drivers to help them retire their oldest vehicles and upgrade to greener models. I hope this fund helps deliver a new generation of zero-emission taxis on our roads and paves the way for the Government to offer a diesel scrappage scheme so all London motorists can ditch their dirty diesels.”

From January 2018, no more new diesel taxis will be licensed in London, and the London Taxi Company officially rebranded after unveiling its new electric model. Taxis are thought to be responsible for 16% of NOx and 26% of particulate matter (PM) road transport emissions in central London.

The Government already offers a Plug-in Taxi Grant, part-funded by the Mayor, which offers up to £7,500 for new EV taxi purchases. When combined with the new delicensing payment, drivers can save up to £12,500 on new purchases.

The electric jolt that roused Big Oil

August 24, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, OilJo

Identifying a tipping point is not always easy. But when one of the world’s most powerful oil bosses says he is in the market for an electric car, there can be little doubt.

The UK’s electric vehicle drive has put the energy sector on the road to change

Ben van Beurden, the Royal Dutch Shell boss, last week delivered the clearest indication yet that the burgeoning electric vehicle industry is already hastening the decline of global oil demand.

“When that will be is not certain. But that it will happen, we are certain,”

he told investors.

It was not so much a foil to the group trebling second quarter profits as a statement of intent: for “Big Oil” it is time to adapt or die, and Shell intends to adapt.

The Anglo-Dutch giant is already shifting its focus from drilling for oil to natural gas, but within the next year Shell will unveil early plans for a deeper presence in renewable energy and the electrical chain to tap the boom in electric vehicles.

“Everyone is repeatedly surprised at how fast electric cars are coming forward,”

Professor Dieter Helm told The Telegraph in April. The number of new registrations of plug-in cars has grown from 3,500 in 2013 to more than 100,000 at the end of May.

“But the political pressure to adopt this technology is increasing all the time. It’s not due to concerns over climate change – it’s city air pollution,”

he said.

Shell boss Ben van Beurden CREDIT: EPA/BART MAAT

And so it was in the UK last week when the Government’s bid to tackle the country’s worsening air pollution followed the example set by France two weeks earlier in pledging to halt the sale of combustion vehicles by 2040. At the same time, government put the battery boom front and centre in its industrial strategy with £246m of funding for research and development.

Petrol-diesel car ban: Government plan dismissed as ‘smokescreen’ after key air pollution policies dumped

August 21, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionJo

The Government’s plan to ban new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040 has been dismissed as a “smokescreen”, with ministers accused of condemning people to living with killer air for years to come.

Green groups and opposition politicians united in criticism after it emerged that key policies to cut the estimated 40,000 premature deaths from toxic air every year had been dumped.

A plan for a Government-led “scrappage scheme” – to get diesel cars off Britain’s roads quickly – has been rejected as poor value for money, it emerged.

Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, also shelved proposals to charge drivers to enter the most-polluted towns and cities, shifting the responsibility on to local councils and imposing tests.

The missing elements of the long-awaited air quality plan became clear after Mr Gove grabbed the headlines with a repeated announcement that new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be outlawed in 23 years’ time.

Areeba Hamid, a clean air campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:

“We cannot wait nearly a quarter of a century for real action to tackle the public health emergency caused by air pollution.

“It means that children across the UK will continue to be exposed to harmful air pollution for years to come, with potentially irreversible impacts.”

Anna Heslop, a lawyer for ClientEarth, said:

“They need to be doing things in the coming weeks and months that are going to fix the problem of polluted air in towns and cities around the UK.”

Hinting at future court action, she added:

“We will be holding the Government to account on this. They have been in breach of these limits for seven years – and we will continue to do that.”

Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, tweeted:

“Fear that new car petrol/diesel ban in 23 years time is smokescreen for weak measures to tackle 40,000 deaths a year from air pollution now.”

And Jenny Randerson, the Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman, accused ministers of “betrayal”, calling for all new diesel sales to end much faster, by 2025.

Diesel and petrol car ban: Plan for 2040 unravels as 10 new power stations needed to cope with electric revolution

August 20, 2017Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Plans to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2040 in a bid to encourage people to buy electric vehicles are a “tall order” and will place unprecedented strain on the National Grid, motoring experts have warned.

Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, has warned that Britain “can’t carry on” with petrol and diesel cars because of the damage that they are doing to people’s health and the planet.

“There is no alternative to embracing new technology,”

he said.

However the AA warned that the National Grid would be under pressure to

“cope with a mass switch-on after the evening rush hour”,

while Which? Car magazine warned that electric cars are currently more expensive and less practical.

According to a National Grid report, peak demand for electricity could add around 30 gigawatts to the current peak of 61GW – an increase of 50 per cent.

The extra electricity needed will be the equivalent of almost 10 times the total power output of the new Hinckley Point C nuclear power station being built in Somerset.

National Grid predicts Britain will become increasingly reliant on imported electricity, which will rise from around 10 per cent of total electricity to around one third, raising questions about energy security.

Just 4 per cent of new car sales are for electric vehicles, and concerns have also been raised about whether Britain will have enough charging points for the new generation of cars.

Diesel drivers on congested roads in towns and cities across the UK face new pollution taxes and could also be barred from travelling at rush hour.

Ministers have identified 81 major roads in 17 towns and cities where urgent action is required because they are in breach of EU emissions standards, putting people’s health at risk.

The air quality strategy urges local authorities to first try to reduce emissions by retrofitting the most polluting diesel vehicles, changing road layouts and removing speed humps.

However it concedes that as a last resort councils will be allowed to impose tough restrictions on the most polluting diesel vehicles as soon as 2020 to bring down the levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions.

The strategy stops short of meeting the demands of motoring groups for a diesel scrappage scheme, under which diesel drivers would receive compensation for trading in their polluting vehicles.

Britain to ban sale of all diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2040

August 19, 2017Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionJo

Plans follow French commitment to take polluting vehicles off the road owing to effect of poor air quality on people’s health

Britain is to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 amid fears that rising levels of nitrogen oxide pose a major risk to public health.

Car exhaust pollution (Image: Wikipedia)

The commitment, which follows a similar pledge in France, is part of the government’s much-anticipated clean air plan, which has been at the heart of a protracted high court legal battle.

The government warned that the move, which will also take in hybrid vehicles, was needed because of the unnecessary and avoidable impact that poor air quality was having on people’s health. Ministers believe it poses the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK, costing up to £2.7bn in lost productivity in one recent year.

Ministers have been urged to introduce charges for vehicles to enter a series of “clean air zones” (CAZ). However, the government only wants taxes to be considered as a last resort, fearing a backlash against any move that punishes motorists.

“Poor air quality is the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK and this government is determined to take strong action in the shortest time possible,”

a government spokesman said.

“That is why we are providing councils with new funding to accelerate development of local plans, as part of an ambitious £3bn programme to clean up dirty air around our roads.”

The final plan, which was due by the end of July, comes after a draft report that environmental lawyers described as “much weaker than hoped for”.

The environment secretary, Michael Gove, will be hoping for a better reception when he publishes the final document on Wednesday following months of legal wrangling.
A briefing on parts of the plan, seen by the Guardian, repeats the heavy focus on the steps that can be taken to help councils improve air quality in specific areas where emissions have breached EU thresholds.

Measures to be urgently brought in by local authorities that have repeatedly breached EU rules include retrofitting buses and other public transport, changing road layouts and altering features such as roundabouts and speed humps.

Reprogramming traffic lights will also be included in local plans, with councils being given £255m to accelerate their efforts. Local emissions hotspots will be required to layout their plans by March 2018 and finalise them by the end of the year. A targeted scrappage scheme is also expected to be included.

Some want the countrywide initiative to follow in the footsteps of London, which is introducing a £10 toxic “T-charge” that will be levied on up to 10,000 of the oldest, most polluting vehicles every weekday.