The Nissan Leaf is the World's First Mass Produced 100% Electric Vehicle

Nissans state-of-the-art new electric car, the Leaf, has just been released for pre-order in the UK.

Customers residing in UK can now book the world’s first mass-produced 100 percent electric vehicle. Pre-orders for this new attractive vehicle started on September 1, 2010.

Users can simply sign up online through the company’s UK Leaf reservation website and put down a refundable £257 deposit. This particular step is touted to be the foremost formality to receive one of the first Japanese-built Nissan Leafs. Users who have carried out the very above mentioned step will be allowed to test-drive their prospective purchase by the end of this year, at which they will need to formally confirm their order.

“The Nissan Leaf is a milestone in Nissan’s history. Launching in Japan and the US in the coming weeks and UK, Portugal & Ireland early next year, Nissan is the first manufacturer to bring credible and affordable electric vehicle motoring to the mass market,” shared Paul Willcox, Managing Director of Nissan Motors (GB).

“The Nissan Leaf is generating huge interest across the world, with more than 25,000 customers already putting down deposits in the US and Japan. We know that the benefits of electric mobility have struck a chord with motorists in the UK and initial interest across retail and fleet channels could result in demand outstripping initial supply,” added Willcox.

To brush through the brilliant execution, the recently unleashed Nissan Leaf comes equipped with cutting-edge technology, thereby making it affordable when placed on a comparison scale with a conventional compact family hatchback. The car also features the capability to run for less than 2 pence per mile, depending on an individual’s electricity tariff and time of charging. Advantages like reduced servicing costs, exemption from London’s congestion charge, zero vehicle tax and zero benefit in kind for company car drivers are also rendered by the new electric vehicle.

“The way we all get about accounts for about 25 percent of the world’s carbon emissions and so this needs to be tackled on all fronts. We need less car travel, better forms of car travel and more public transport options,” commented Dax Lovegrove, Head of Business & Industry at WWF.

Adding grace to the market with five fetching exterior colors and one high-specification trim level, all models will be making the scene with air conditioning, satellite navigation, a parking camera as standard, and smartphone connectivity. With the latter one, users can conveniently keep a tab on charging levels along with heating or cooling the interior of the car remotely via their mobile device.

Further, Leaf’s AC motor pretty impressively generates 80 kW of power and 280 Nm of torque, touted to be sufficient for a maximum speed of more than 90mph and it can travel up to 100 miles on a full charge.

The new Nissan Leaf is priced at £23,990. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in March next year.

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When you think of a music festival, many people will think of nature-loving hippies at places like Glastonbury and Woodstock. But in fact, due to the enourmous amount of energy it takes to light and sound up to ten different stages at once, music festivals can contribute tonnes and tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere.

This year though, some of the UK’s biggest festivals are striking back, with massive events such as The Big Chill, Latitude, Bestival, Reading & Leeds and Lovebox joining a campaign to cut carbon emissions.

Starting with Bestival on the Isle of Wight last weekend, 10 festivals have joined the Guardian-supported 10:10 mission to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 10% during 2010.

The venues – hosting a wide variety of bands and artists including Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Elbow, Lily Allen, The Prodigy, Hot Chip, Florence & The Machine, The Flaming Lips, Spandau Ballet and Seasick Steve – have joined up as 10:10 begins a wave of international launches from France to the west coast of the United States.

Each festival has agreed to cut its emissions from power use for lighting, sound systems and stalls, from waste and from water use. Innovations include a solar-powered stage on the Isle of Wight to recycled or compostable cups and cutlery at Latitude, Reading and Leeds, and composting toilets at Bestival. They will be helped by low-carbon music industry specialists Julie’s Bicycle.

The announcement follows research by Oxford University which showed that the combined emissions from 500 festivals in the UK was 84,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in one year – more than the annual emissions of several small island states.

Tom Findlay, one half of electronic music duo Groove Armada and the founder of Lovebox, said the appeal of the 10:10 campaign was that “it makes change feel achievable”.

The 10:10 campaign director, Eugenie Harvey, said that festivals helped the campaign reach new groups – particularly younger music fans at events like Reading and Leeds – and helped discard the image that all campaigns to tackle climate change preach denial and dismal living.

“Cutting carbon isn’t all about staying at home and giving stuff up,” said Harvey. “British summertime’s all about getting out there and enjoying it while it lasts. And enjoying it all with 10% less carbon, well, who can argue?”

As the festival season gets underway, 10:10 has announced that four new international campaigns are being launched in France (where events are headed by Earth from Above photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand), Germany, Portugal and Washington state in the US. This brings the total number of countries to 10: the Netherlands, Norway, Ghana, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK have already joined up.

The London-based campaign group said it is talking to another 17 overseas groups in Australia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, China, Nepal, Nigeria, Serbia and Spain. Other plans include a day of global action on Sunday 10 October – dubbed 10:10:10.

“As soon as we get over the excitement of one country wanting to start their own 10:10 operation, another gets in touch,” said Lizzie Gillett, campaign director for 10:10 Global. “It goes to show 10:10 is inspiring people to make a genuine difference through simple changes.”

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Two of the world’s largest sporting events — the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa which starts this week, and the 2012 Olympics in London — are facing environmental challenges particularly as they try to offset millions of tons of CO2 emissions, largely due to travel.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is expected to generate more than 2.7 million tons of CO2 emissions, which is eight times more CO2 emissions than the 2006 World Cup held in Germany, according to a recent Feasibility Study for a Carbon Neutral 2010 FIFA World Cup, reports MediaGlobal.

The breakdown: Nearly 900,000 tons of CO2 emissions will be produced by local transportation, the construction of stadiums and the energy use associated with the football matches and accommodations, while another 1.9 m tons will come from travel, reports The Guardian.

The South African Department of Environmental Affairs has made significant efforts to offset the carbon emissions with the support of UN organizations including UN Environment Programme (UNEP), as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), reports MediaGlobal.

Examples cited in the article include the installation of solar panels on public streetlights, traffic lights, and billboards in the six South African host cities. The combined installations will reduce 244 tonnes of greenhouse gas emission a year, according to UNEP.

Some of the nine host cities for South Africa’s first World Cup also have built new stadiums that feature natural ventilation, rain water capture and energy efficiency.

Two of the biggest projects implemented to offset carbon emissions was the creation of a rapid transit system of buses in some cities and the improvement of infrastructure for pedestrian walkways and bicycle circulation, however, it is unclear whether the wealthier residents will use public transportation, reports The Guardian.

An analysis of the environmental projects will be conducted at the end of the games to determine which ones worked and which ones did not.

In an Ernst and Young report, “Action amid uncertainty – the South African business response to climate change”, all survey participants stated that national policies were critical to guiding and shaping the company’s climate change strategy and policy, reports Engineering News.

The South African Department of Environmental Affairs is expected to release the country’s draft climate change policy by July 2010, after which a white paper would be produced by the end of the year for ratification by the Cabinet in early 2011 to make it legally binding, according to the article.

A key finding reveals that 80 percent of the South African companies surveyed plan on increasing spending on climate change initiatives between 2010 and 2012, while 90 percent report that their future investments would target energy-efficient measures.

London is facing similar environmental challenges. Five years ago, when London won the Olympic bid for the 2012 Olympics, the UK government vowed to make the Olympic Park a “blueprint for sustainable living” and make London’ the greenest city in the world, but since that time have only made incremental changes including Hopkins Architects’ lightweight velodrome with natural lighting and ventilation and NORD’s substation, which used demolition scrap, according to Fast Company.

There are plenty of failures including the Olympic Park’s energy hub running on gas instead of biogas and scaled back wind-power projects, according to the article.

In addition, a report released by the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 indicates there is “no comprehensive plan” for new waste management in east London or for Olympic Park’s “blueprint for sustainable living,” reports The Guardian.

While achievements include lower-carbon cement, low-toxin plastics and a zero landfill waste target, the Olympic Park is using lots of steel including the aquatic center and the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower in the park.

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The UK’s carbon emissions are set to fall again slightly in 2010 after the recession drove dramatic declines of around 10 per cent last year, analysts said yesterday.

But the country is likely to miss its targets for cutting emissions and boosting renewable energy by the end of the decade unless the new coalition government urgently puts ambitious low-carbon policies in place.

The report from Cambridge Econometrics predicts that despite modest economic recovery this year, emissions are likely to fall by around 1.5 per cent this year due to the knock-on effects of the recession and less use of coal – which is currently fairly expensive – for energy generation.

Based on policies already in place, the analysts forecast that the UK is likely to meet its first two five-year “carbon budgets” over the coming decade, but will exceed the third, which runs from 2018 to 2022, and miss its legally-binding target to cut emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.

The report also warns that on current policies, renewables will only account for seven per cent of UK electricity supply this year, short of the 10 per cent target, and will contribute 16.5 per cent by 2020 – a little over half the previous government’s goal of 30 per cent.

Cambridge Econometrics said the failure would be largely due to the fact that fossil fuels would remain an important source of electricity generation and new gas-fired power stations, rather than renewables, would help fill the gap created as older coal and nuclear plants close.

The UK will also fall far short of its EU target for 2020 to meet 15 per cent of all energy needs, including heating and transport, using renewables, the report predicted.

On the basis of policies which are in place or set out in detail, just six per cent of the UK’s energy demand will come from renewables by the end of the decade, with the 15 per centr target a “daunting challenge” for the new government, the study said.

Paul Ekins, professor at the University College London, who is co-editor of the UK Energy and Environment report, said: “The outgoing government is to be applauded for setting statutory carbon targets and budgets, but the new administration will need to appreciate the difference between setting targets and having firm policies in place that help to achieve them.

“The challenge now is to ensure that the 2020 targets are met by policies that cause emissions to fall substantially in a context of economic growth.”

He said the UK looked set to miss the legally-binding 34 per cent goal by around two per cent, and would become an increasingly large purchaser of emissions allowances under the EU carbon trading scheme. While the UK would meet its EU target to cut emissions by 16 per cent by 2020, and the recession would reduce energy use and emissions in the short term, the country’s “current and firmly announced policies” would not be enough to bring emissions within the third carbon budget,” he said.

“However, if the previous Government’s aspirations are followed by the incoming administration devising concrete policies that substantially increase the share of renewable energy in heat supplied and transport by 2020 and beyond, then the official carbon budgets could be achieved,” he said.

“The central forecast, therefore, implies that the incoming Government will need urgently not only to set out the details for the ambitious carbon-reduction policies it has inherited, but also move swiftly to their implementation if the UK is to achieve the statutory goal of a 34 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. “The achievement of the 2020 target would make it more likely that the UK will be on track for its longer-term target of an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050.”

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General Motor’s Joint-Venture partner in China, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) rolled out a concept alongside GM’s EN-V at Expo 2010 which in many ways is more ground-breaking than the EN-V. The idea behind the YeZ Concept is that it will photosynthesize, absorbing carbon dioxide from surrounding air and emitting oxygen back into the atmosphere. Among the many futuristic aspects of the YeZ (Chinese for “leaf” as Nissan already uses the name for a clever green concept that is heading for production) is a roof that incorporates solar panels and wheels that incorporate small wind turbines to harvest energy from the environment. And if you think this is not within reach by 2030, think again – artificial photosynthesis has proven elusive, but there’s every indication it will be a commercial reality within two decades.

SAIC and GM share an impressive pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai and as with many World Expos prior to this one, the share and functionality of what we’ll be driving 20 plus years is being envisioned on the General Motors stand. GM first participated in a world Expo in 1931 and its futuristic visions are this time set in the year 2030.


So although we’re totally sold on the EN-V, we also acknowledge that the functionality of the YeZ is probably going to be more than viable twenty years from now, albeit without SAIC’s optimism that the car won’t need to be plugged in. Not much info has been made available in the YeZ, but SAIC claims it will “work during both sunny and overcast days while also being able to leverage wind power”, enabling “mobility with zero greenhouse gas emissions.”

Unless solar panel efficiency evolves massively in the next two decades, we expect the YeZ will have a regular appointment at the powerpoint, but hey, that isn’t all that bad. At least when you’re producing bulk electricity in one spot, you’re able to ensure the resultant emissions are appropriately handled.

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Prime Minister David Cameron plans to cut government emissions by 10% over the next 12 months.

The new energy and climate change secretary, Chris Huhne, has announced plans to cut government emissions by 10%.

Speaking to staff at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) this morning, with prime minister David Cameron, he announced plans for department headquarters to publish online in real time their energy use.

Mr Huhne, one of five Liberal Democrats in the new cabinet, will also chair a new government steering group – which shall feature representatives from key departments and from the private sector.

Mr Cameron said: “I don’t want to hear warm words about the environment, I want to see real action.

“I want this to be the greenest government ever, taking our lead from 10:10, I commit us to a 10% reduction in carbon emissions across central Government in the next twelve months.

“But I have also made sure all Cabinet ministers are involved, developing plans to show how they will meet their share.

“And the public will be involved too – because we’re going to publish the energy use of government headquarters in real-time, so people can hold us to account for our performance. If we do this, we’ll cut the Government’s energy bills by hundreds of millions of pounds.”

Mr Huhne added: “A lot of progress has been made, but we must now go further, faster and turn targets into real change.

“This is a coalition to provide strong and stable government for this country, the benefits of the low carbon economy are agreed between both parties, this is a priority agenda common to both manifestos.”

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Heating and squishing microalgae in a pressure cooker may be a new and quicker method for producing bio-oil from the organism.

Researchers from the University of Michigan say that the new method of processing the fuel source ‘can fast-forward the crude-oil-making process from millennia to minutes.’

University of Michigan professors are working to understand and improve this procedure in an effort to speed up development of affordable biofuels that could replace fossil fuels and power today’s engines. Algae has been mooted as an ideal fuel solution as unlike traditional biofuel production-it doesn’t interfere with food production.

They are also examining the possibility of other new fuel sources such as E. coli bacteria that would feed on waste products from previous bio-oil batches.

The new method is quicker than the current method of algae-based oil production which relies on the process of drying first before the algae oil can be extracted. The old method relied upon selecting the most oil-rich algae whereas the new method can make use of lower quality algae too while also removing the need for the time-sapping drying step.

“We make an algae soup,” Phillip Savage, Professor in the University’s Department of Chemical Engineering explained.

“We heat it to about 300 degrees and keep the water at high enough pressure to keep it liquid as opposed to steam. We cook it for 30 minutes to an hour and we get a crude bio-oil.”

The high temperature and pressure allows the algae to react with the water and break down. Not only does the native oil get released, but proteins and carbohydrates also decompose and add to the fuel yield.

“We’re trying to do what nature does when it creates oil, but we don’t want to wait millions of years,” Savage said. “The hard part is taking the tar that comes out of the pressure cooker and turning it into something you could put in your car, changing the properties so it can flow more easily, and doing it in a way that’s affordable.”

Unlike fossil fuels, algae-based biofuels are carbon-neutral. The algae feed on carbon dioxide in the air, and this gets released when the biofuel is burned. Fossil fuel combustion releases stored carbon dioxide into the air without ever taking any back.

Savage and his colleagues will continue their research, now hoping to investigate ways to use catalysts to bump up the energy density of the resulting bio-oil, thin it into a flowing material and also clean it up by reducing its sulfur and nitrogen content.

Furthermore, they’re examining the process from a life-cycle perspective, seeking to recycle waste products to grow new source material for future fuel batches. “This doesn’t have to be algae,” Savage said. It could be any “wet biomass.” They are working on growing in their experiments’ waste products E. coli that they could potentially use along with algae.

A $2million National Science Foundation grant supported the project as part of the United States focus on developing biofuel solutions.

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According to an expert group of scientists, engineers and architects from the US, the world’s most powerful country could completely halt CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants by 2020.

Writing in the June 2010 edition of the American Chemical Society’s journal ‘Environmental Science & Technology’, a team from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and 2030 Inc./Architecture 2030 say that elimination of carbon emissions is possible using technologies that exist already or will be commercially available within in decade.

Pushker Kharecha and colleagues say that the only way to preserve the current environment is to “rapidly phase out coal emissions and prohibit emissions from unconventional fossil fuels such as oil shale and tar sands”.

To phase out CO2 emissions from coal, the authors say an end to subsidies for fossil fuels is needed, along with a rising price on carbon emissions.

Simultaneously, a programme to improve the energy efficiency of homes, buildings and appliances is needed, as well as the electricity transmission network itself.

Coal-fired power stations will need to be replaced with biomass, geothermal, wind, solar and third/fourth generation nuclear power plants, while remaining coal plants will have to be fitted with carbon capture and storage technology.

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The world’s third largest sportswear retailer, Puma, announced yesterday at ‘The Business for the Environment Summit’ held in Seoul, South Korea, that it plans to become the first carbon neutral company in their industry.

‘To be the first carbon neutral company is the next logical step in our mission to become the most desirable and sustainable company in the sport and lifestyle industry,’ Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of Puma, told the press before giving his speech at the summit.

Co-hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Knowledge Economy, UN Global Compact, World Wide Fund for Nature and the United Nations Environment Program, B4E is the world’s biggest summit to discuss a variety of environment-related issues. About 1,000 CEOs and high-profile figures participated in the three-day conference which ended yesterday.

Puma plans to tame its direct and indirect carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by undertaking carbon-offsetting projects in Africa, while considering the needs of local communities and conservation of biodiversity. The company also aims to curb the carbon to be generated by the many Puma-sponsored national soccer teams when they take international and domestic air flights for the World Cup in South Africa this summer.

‘We started a long-term sustainability program to reduce our energy and water consumption, waste and CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2010. But that still leaves 75 percent. We are not quite yet ready to invest into new carbon neutral technologies. So we want to mitigate the remaining parts by offsetting carbon in Africa,’ said Zeitz.

‘Businesses should feel responsible for their carbon footprints. We are also taking UNEP’s challenge to offset our football teams’ international travels to South Africa very seriously. We hope in doing so that we inspire other stakeholders in the FIFA World Cup 2010 to follow suit,’ the executive stressed.

The portfolio of Puma’s offsetting projects follow internationally accepted standards, such as the Clean Development Mechanism and the Gold Standard and Voluntary Emission Reduction standards.

Puma is making efforts to reduce carbon emissions internally as well. It has been collecting Environmental Key Performance Indicators from all its offices, warehouses and stores worldwide for the last five years to determine the company’s total carbon footprint on an annual basis.

The company also established a new Puma Vision Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany last year which is the first carbon-neutral, company head-office in the sporting goods industry. In addition, the company will also require most of its other local offices to switch to electricity from renewable sources.

‘Puma will also support the offsetting of its employees’ carbon footprints by subsidizing those emissions generated on the way to and from work by 50 percent,’ said Zeitz.

Puma’s carbon-cutting policy does not include CO2 emissions through transport and manufacturing of its products, but the company is making efforts in the area by introducing new packaging systems.

One of the key features is the ‘Clever Little Bag,’ a combined shoe box and carrier bag which was unveiled last week. Designed by San Francisco based industrial designer Yves Behar, the bag is supposed to reduce water and paper use by more than 60 percent annually.

Why is it so clever? The designers explained that by providing structure to a cardboard sheet, the bag uses 65 percent less cardboard than the standard shoe box, has no laminated printing, no tissue paper, takes up less space and weighs less in shipping, and replaces the plastic retail bag.

Puma’s apparel collections will be bagged using sustainable biodegradable material as well, replacing current polyethylene, plastic and paper bags. This means that 720 tons of polyethylene bags, 192 tons of plastic and 293 tons of paper use can be avoided every year.

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The roll out of the new packaging system is planned for the second half of 2011.