Honda CR-Z - A true hybrid sports car

Posted on June 26, 2010 at 10:18 PM

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I got my first look at Honda's new hybrid sports car at the weekend - the CR-Z. I have written about this awesome machine previously but today was my first chance to see one up close and to actually sit in it and, not surprisingly, as I am a fan of the Japanese firms' cars and their green technology...it is beautiful!

As you can see from the above image, it looks incredible and sits very low to the ground. Hidden beneath this exterior is a 1.5 litre petrol engine topped up with an electric engine with the electric part kicking in to add power when needed.


The car has three buttons on the dash that allow selection of one of the three modes - Econ, Normal or Sport. Sport obviously being the most punchy and Econ maximising the fuel efficiency. However, even in Sport mode the CR-Z does almost 40mpg. The model I saw (above) was the top-of-the-range GT edition, replete with lots of muscular carbon fibre, which retails for c£28,000.

Needless to say, I would like one!

A 'Green' Budget - maybe...

Posted on June 24, 2010 at 10:11 AM

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The emergency budget unveiled by George Osborne on the 22nd of June has been questioned as it failed to address anything green or related to boosting sustainability within its text.

However, I would argue that in these times of cutbacks, spending rationalisation and public sector austerity the budget could be argued as being at best good for green issues and at worst ambivalent.
Many people had raised concerns that big ticket green schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive could have been slashed to save money but were thankfully left alone. Major funding schemes such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment and Feed-In-Tarrifs were also left untouched. Perhaps this was due to the fact that the funding from such schemes often comes from the general public's utility bills and was therefore a secure supply.

However, with all the worry about where the multi-billions of pounds of savings are going to come from to get the economy back on an even keel, perhaps this was the best we could have hoped for....

(Image courtesy of mirror.co.uk)

Dirty fuel...dirty consequences...

Posted on June 11, 2010 at 10:23 AM

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The ongoing catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico involving the oil leak that has resulted from the tragedy of the explosion on the BP Deepwater Horizon platform is a glaring example of our increasing need to move away from fossil fuel sources. Not only is the environmental and economic impact of this terrible crisis immense in size but the lasting legacy is likely to be even greater.



The environmental impact will be huge – the damage to the ecology and marine life in the Gulf of Mexico will be devastating. One can only hope that BP and the US Federal Government fulfils its promise to provide extensive support for the clean-up operation and that Mother Nature intervenes, as seen with the MV Braer spill near Shetland in 1993, and helps overcome the oil with some stormy weather.


The damage to the reputation of BP, a previously blue chip company, particularly in the USA, will no doubt leaving lasting harm to their all-important share price but this pales in comparison to the devastation left by the oil spill across the southern coast of the USA. No doubt there will be ongoing coverage of the impact on sea life and National Geographic and Discovery Channel will have a field day.


What this tragedy also illustrates is a lack of preparation for the ‘what if…’ scenarios that might present themselves during heavy industry activity such as this, particularly that which involves such potentially hazardous material extraction located close to such environmentally significant locations. The importance seems to have been placed on getting the oil out of the ground and generating revenue more than planning for any worst-case situations. Hopefully the solution to the spill can be propagated throughout the world to help stop any future oil leaks having a similar impact.


People may have issues with wind farms or other green technologies but if a turbine stops working it doesn’t devastate local communities or hundreds of miles of coastline….it stops working, sends a signal to a monitoring system that it has faulted and an engineering team is dispatched.

(Image courtesy of BBC website and NASA)

140mph motor bike...pure electric

Posted on June 10, 2010 at 4:32 PM

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There doesn't get to be much cooler looking green technology than this motorbike in my book.

The real kicker...it's electric...zero emissions!


Built by MotoCzysz, a US bike manufacturer, the E1pc will do 140mph (at present) and is doing the Isle of Man TT race this week.

It is powered by a 500 volt engine and has 12.5kWh of on-board grunt. A Toyota Prius has 1.3kWh of power! No wonder it does 140mph!


Hopefully some awesome YouTube video will be forthcoming but in the meantime I have included one on the videos page of any early shakedown test. The quicker these bikes come to market the better....

Olympic Wind...or hot air?

Posted on June 8, 2010 at 3:48 PM

I am gutted to see that the London Olympic Games' Olympic Delivery Authority have now shelved their plans for a wind turbine at the Olympic Park.

What better advert for wind power and Green Britain would there have been than to see one spinning happily above the Olympic Games venue? However it seems that the dreaded health and safety has intervened again to hobble the Olympic dream of 20% renewable energy to the Olympic Park.
The intention now is to look at CHP and solar pv to help fill the gap but one can't help but feel that this is an opportunity missed.

IT PV?

Posted on June 3, 2010 at 12:49 PM

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In a fascinating yet understandable development, a number of IT-centric fabrication firms are moving in to solar photovoltaic panels.



As an example, National Semiconductor, known more for pc and automotive technology have recently unveiled their SolarMagic system aimed at maximising the power output from panels to boost yields and speed return on investment.

This interesting development seems logical as IT firms have long looked to (and more often than not succeeded) boost output from smaller more efficient slivers of silicon and have a familiarisation with the raw material unlike any other industry. This can only be a good development for both industries as innovation will undoubtedly follow and flow between both.

One can see it leading to a reduction in energy demands in IT, a critical aim for pc chips to maximise performance and cooling, and also boosting development of low carbon technology output efficiencies. This ability to do more with less will be a win-win for all concerned and mutually beneficial for the green and IT industries…and leaves us wondering if we will be able to overclock our panels in future?!