Adrian Hollister's UK Blog - Green Issues

New casualty figures show need for 20 mph limits

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:44:00 +0200

From the Green Party Web site I found this article.. "New road casualty figures from the Department of Transport show that 20 mph limits in towns and cities are urgently needed, the Green Party Deputy Leader said today.

Adrian Ramsay was commenting on figures released today for road casualties in 2007 by the Department for Transport.
These figures show that pedestrian casualties are much higher for areas with high levels of deprivation, many of which are urban areas with low levels of car ownership.

The new statistics, analysed by deprivation score, show that the number of pedestrians killed or injured on the roads rises from 21 casualties per 100,000 people in the least deprived areas to 70 casualties per 100,000 people in the most deprived areas – more than a threefold increase for the poorest neighbourhoods.

A key policy of the Greens is to make 20 mph the default speed limit on residential roads in urban areas to reduce the number of deaths and injuries.

Adrian says: "Today's figures show that this is a social justice issue as well as a safety and environmental issue. It is shocking that the number of pedestrians killed or injured is so much higher for the most deprived areas."

“Greens across the UK are campaigning for 20 mph to be the default limit in built-up areas and Green Councillors putting forward these proposals to many local authorities.

“With a default 20 mph speed limit, fewer road humps are needed than with limited ‘home zones’, and it is easier to communicate the message that 20mph is the appropriate speed on residential roads where children and people of all ages need to be able to walk about safely.

“Lower speed limits don’t just create safer streets for everyone, they also mean better air quality and lower carbon emissions as they encourage more people to walk and cycle."

In May this year, after becoming the official opposition on Norwich City Council, Norwich Green Party succeeded in getting agreement from the Norwich Highways Agency Committee to introduce a 20mph limit across unclassified residential roads in the city. The Highways Committee has now agreed to introduce the first phase of this scheme by the end of this financial year.

Green Council groups in Lewisham, Hackney, Camden, Leicester and on many other councils across the country are also pushing for the measure, and a city-wide 20 mph speed limit was a key policy in the Greens’ London election campaign in May.

The city of Graz in Austria has half the rate of road deaths compared with similar cities in the UK, thanks to a speed limit on almost all roads of 30 kph (19 mph). When the new speed limit was introduced in 1992, there was a sharp decline of 24% in serious injuries on the roads. Collisions involving pedestrians fell 17% over ten years."

Newbury Farmers Market

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:54:00 +0200

Not sure how many of you have been to a farmers market, but the one in Newbury has to be one of the better ones. On the first Sunday of each month they hold the market. Parking is free and it's a minute walk from the train and bus stations. We did a little bit of leafleting and a whole lot of chatting to people there. Some of the most teasing stalls included some English wines and some stunning bacon rolls. We ended up with a bag more than full from there, with veg, some wonderfully tasty bacon and other treats. The disappointment was a cake from the cake stall - it had no taste and was of poor quality. This was outweighed by some hedgehog bread rolls for the girls - great idea and tasty too.

So after some wonderful bangers and mash, my recommendation from this months Farmers market are the bacon and sausages from Stark House Farm in Headley. They can be contacted on 01635 268 205.

The Kremlins are back!

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:11:00 +0200

Kremlins are back

I couldn't help but giggle at this cartoon from Schnews. "GAME, OSSETIA, MATCH - Georgia, the West-friendly state in the Caucuses, is invaded by Russia. The geo-politics of the oil-rich former Soviet states is not the walk-over which US and Western think it is, as Russia re-asserts it's position in the area.."

It's company car time again - but which car?

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:19:25 +0200

I've had my company car (a Toyota Prius) for four years now and it's going back soon. The car has been utterly reliable - it's never broken. The fuel economy is good, the noise it produces is very good, and it fits Adrian Hollister + family & dog with no problems. The down side is that it's quite expensive for a company car. To help me decide I've test driven a couple of other cars - the BMW 320d, an X type Jag, and one of the new Ford Focus slightly more efficient 1.6D cars.

The beemer was just boring. Boring boring boring. No sat nav, no... well anything. It felt like the seats were optional, the noise was terrible - tractors down my road are much quieter, and the fuel economy worse than the Prius (with the same driving style and roads). The Jag just felt cramped and the family decided against it. The Focus seems smaller than the Prius and again it came with no basic's (my personal opinion is that sat nav and bluetooth integration are mandatory and actually very cheap for the manufacturers to provide). Fuel economy was great, so overall it's OK but nothing stunning.

Disheartened by the marketing hype on the BMW and the massive cost of the add-on's for both the BMW 320d and the Ford Focus I gave up for a bit. We had a quick look at a C30, but it's too small and CO2 output is very high; the same seems to apply to most of the other cars we looked at that would fit our family.

So what was the decision in the end? Well we are getting another Prius. The reasons in order of preference: Sat Nav, Bluetooth built-in, not waking up the family driving away in the morning (cos it's so darn quiet), watching the tyre fitters trying to work out how to drive the car on to the ramp (seriously - this is a hoot), low CO2, utterly reliable and good fuel economy.

Downland snow in April

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:18:27 +0200

Woke up to quite a bit of snow today up here in the downloads of West Berkshire. It's a bit odd to see so much snow so late in the year but all the kids around here are making the most of it.

Discovery 300TDI Waste Veggie Oil Conversion - the update

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:49:00 +0100

It's been a while now since I've been running on waste veggie oil, virgin veggie oil and diesel in my Landy. The 300TDI engine is just so basic it seems to lap it up without any concerns, but about 10K miles on here is my summary to date:

My random notes:

a. I replaced my heater plugs as the starting was a nightmare - whilst doing this I discovered that none of the heater plugs were actually glowing or getting warm! and by the look of some of them, they hadn't been for some time (well before the veggie conversion I'm guessing). New plugs are in and everything starts first time - even on pure veggie oil at 3-8 degrees outside temp.

b. IMHO technically Waste Veggie Oil is much much much better. It seems to burn cleanly, give good performance and leave little smoke. Normal virgin veggie oil is ok and seems to give a performance akin to Diesel but I've only gone through a small amount of the stuff. Of course the best way to use veggie oil has to be by using local waste veggie oil - so I'm not sure if I'm evaluating my estimate of performance of the waste oil on my moral interest in localisation. Either way it does seem to be the best.

c. The glow plug part of the veggie oil conversion seems to provide the best boost in starting and early running performance. The hot water side helps later (but almost by then the engine is already warm and handles it much better anyway).

d. Best ratio of veggie oil to diesel so far: Warmer temps (+10 degrees C) 100% veggie oil no problems. Cooler (0-10 degrees C) 60% Diesel 40% Veggie Oil. Cold (-8 - 0 degrees C) 98% Diesel 2% Veggie Oil. There is nothing scientific about this - this is just what I've experienced. With my heater plugs changed it may well allow me to run higher mixes.

e. Be pragmatic - use an injector cleaner regularly, don't expect miracles, and don't expect to make all your money back in one or two tanks - it's about the environmental savings as well you know.

f. Last thing... getting hold of waste veggie oil is getting very difficult!

Turn the Lights Off at Night Newbury

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:38:17 +0100

I've been interested in the question of street and shop lighting for some time and I've never quite got to grips with why people and businesses seem compelled to leave the lights on all night.

I'm in the lucky position of being north of Newbury in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Our village and the surrounding villages have no street lights. Everyone who is going to be out at night carries a torch, even visitors learn quickly that a torch helps them back to their car. We look up and see a blackish sky, but we can easily see the yellow glow of Newbury, Reading etc.

Driving around the towns you see offices, shops and even houses leaving on lights when they are not in. It would be very interesting to see if one of the smaller towns such as Newbury could enforce or persuade local businesses to turn the lights off at night. Perhaps an incentive around the business rates would interest them? It would also be very interesting to see if people who are used to street lights could survive again with few or no street lights on a night. Is safety really the concern or just fear of the dark?

Health Risk from breaking Low Energy light bulbs

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:28:31 +0100

"The Environment Agency has called for more information to be made available on the health and environmental risks posed by low-energy light bulbs."

BBC News reports on the mercury in Low Energy light bulbs.

Environment Agency Web Site

Is this really a concern though? I just wonder how many nasty chemicals go into the production of standard light bulbs as well.

Landrover Discovery 300TDI running on 100% SVO (straight veggie oil)

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:28:00 +0200

I've been running the landy on 50/50 veggie to diesel with no problem, but now the colder mornings are creaping in she is starting to get a little grumpy. Once warmed up the landy performs as usual without any clear difference (although people do feel compelled to tell me that it smells like a chip shop). I've added a heater element around the fuel filter which just cut's off by thermistor when it reaches 90 degrees and kicks back in at 70; but this is just not enough for the colder mornings and days.

So, I've invested in something to make the veggie oil a little bit warmer (and therefore runnier) - it's from Vow2. I've bought the VOW2DW+ unit which heats the oil from a couple of glow plugs and plumbs into the heating system of the engine. It pre-heats fuel on the way to the filter and warms it nicely on route to the pump and injectors.

Continue reading "Landrover Discovery 300TDI running on 100% SVO (straight veggie oil)"

Sustainable Development

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:42:00 +0200

One great thing about being part of the Green Party is the people I get to meet. It must be the only political party out there where all the members have such a enthusiastic, keen and personal interest in green issues, our society and wellbeing. I had a great chat with Stan Green last week about the green party, green issues and I managed to get a sneak preview of his ideas for an eco community site based on his stunning EcoSphere design. I would very much encouage councils and government to start pushing for this type of development as it is a sustainable and practical way of moving forward with our housing issues.

Please take a moment to check out the Sustainable Development web site.

Greenie with a Land Rover

nospam@example.com (Adrian Hollister) — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:50:38 +0200

Oh how completely mad it seems, but yes, I've sold the car and got a landy. A 12 year old Land Rover Discovery. So what on earth is Adrian Hollister, a green bigot, doing with a diesel drinking pollution monster? Ok here is my rationale....

1. Re-use. The Landy is old - 12 years old. More than my old car would have made (before falling apart). So in my mind it's a question of re-using something that can be readily repaired. Most car's now are disposable - they last 5-10 years before they are scrapped and crushed. Very few Land Rovers get to the crusher, most are kept on the road and for this alone I think it would be worth a greener credential.

2. Alternative Fuels. Very few other car's adapt so well to running on other fuel types. The Disco can easily be converted to run on straight veggie oil (SVO), but is just as happy with bio-diesel's.

3. Need. Unlike most we do have a couple of acres of land and access is via a mud track. Not much else would get there so easily and not much else would be able to carry so much equipment up there.

4. Community. There is a great Land Rover community out there. Mechanics are local, garages are local, the business and the knowledge is spread from local communities to the world via forums and events. There is a great spirit of community in the Landy world.

Am I serious though? Attributing green credentials to a Land Rover?