Could this be the future of Formula One racing? Green, motor racing fans will be hoping so. Unveiled at the International Low Carbon Conference at Birmingham's NEC it's an all-electric prototype racing car, dubbed the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV.

Project pioneer Lord Drayson, former Minister for Science and Innovation, said he hoped the vehicle would break lap records for electric vehicles at tracks around the world.

Says Lord Drayson: "Electric racing is really taking off with the launch of the new FIA Formula E World Championship for electric racing cars planned for 2013 and we are delighted to be able to showcase at this conference the work we are doing to prepare for this exciting new championship.

"Electric racing is a major new business opportunity for motorsport and underlines the growing commercial potential of green racing with new drivetrains, new materials, new fuels and new aerodynamic developments that will be highlighted at the conference. It is an exciting time to be a race engineer."

Adds Robin Brundle, Lola Group managing director. "This innovative new project will evidence several new technologies with a variety of well-known technical suppliers, to show that zero carbon, clean racing can be fast and exciting whilst offering a stimulating engineering challenge."

The Lola-Drayson is expected to hit the track for testing during the last quarter of this year before competing at the FIA electric car championship in 2013.

London's latest double decker bus has hit the streets of the UK capital for the first time, after first being revealed back in November 2010.

Described as a true "21st century bus" and the "most environmentally friendly of its kind", it's the first time in 50 years London has had a bus designed specifically for its streets.

Built by Wrightbus in Northern Ireland and set to be operated by Arriva, it's green credentials boast a hybrid set-up that promises twice as efficient fuel consumption over a standard diesel bus at 11.6mpg.

Test showed the bus emitted only 640 grams per kilometre (g/km) of carbon dioxide and 3.96 g/km of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). These figures are less than half the carbon dioxide emitted by a current diesel bus (1295g/km), and under half the NOx emitted too at 9.3g/km.

The bus will serve the 38 route from Victoria to Hackney as of February 2012, and is one of 8 new designs set to hit the tarmac in London next year.

"Christmas has arrived early in the form of this revolutionary new bus whose gleaming coat of red paint and sinuous curves will brighten the day of all who see it humming along our great city's streets," said Boris.

"It is the latest, greatest masterpiece of British engineering and design, and I am certain it will become a much-loved and iconic vehicle akin to the legendary Routemaster from which it draws so much inspiration."

But forget all that; the best bit, as true Londoners will attest to, is that the jump-on platform a the rear of the bus is back! Sure, it's now doored as standard, but will bring back many happy memories to those who ran and caught a ride at the very last minute, Indiana Jones style.

Via: TFL

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With a number of recent developments propelling hybrid cars into the forefront of public attention, people are beginning to consider updating their existing vehicles to more eco-friendly models. But how exactly do hybrid cars work? And what are the benefits which they offer motorists?

Hybrid cars are different from electric cars in that they operate using both an electric motor and a traditional petrol powered engine. This means that they are able to offer high levels of performance whilst keeping environmental effects low.

How Do They Work?

The initial energy of a hybrid car is generated by the petrol engine in the same way as a conventional car. The difference lies in what happens to this energy after it has been expelled. Rather than being wasted, as with normal cars, hybrid cars recapture it and use it to recharge the battery which powers the electric motor.

The electric motor is designed to boost the power and performance of the car, meaning that the traditional engine is not required to do as much work. This means that the car continues to perform at a consistently high level but uses less petrol, making it have better fuel efficiency and lower carbon dioxide emissions.

What Are The Benefits?

Of course, the main benefits of hybrid cars are those which relate to the environment. Low emission cars are those which emit lower levels of carbon dioxide from their exhaust fumes, thus lowering the harmful effects on the environment.

Alongside these benefits, hybrid cars also have a number of economical advantages for their owners. A number of hybrid cars are exempt from costs such as the congestion charge and may be subject to reduced rates of road tax. This means that drivers can reap financial benefits whilst protecting the environment.

What Types of Hybrid Vehicle Are Available?

Hybrid vehicles are available in a number of different formats and styles, meaning that there is a model suitable for all needs. Even a 4x4 car can have lower carbon dioxide emissions to make it more environmentally friendly, meaning there is no excuse for motorists not to protect the environment.

An example of one hybrid car available in a number of formats is the Honda Insight. This vehicle comes in a number of different models, such as the SE, SE-T, ES, ES-T and EX. These are all individually priced and will come with different features and will boast different carbon emission and fuel efficiency levels.

They all utilise a 1.3 petrol hybrid engine and their mile per gallon ration varies from 61.4mpg to 64.2mpg, depending on the particular model. All of the models are rated as "B" in the VED banding system, meaning that their road tax costs absolutely nothing each year. The cheapest of the models is the SE which costs under £17,000. The SE comes with a number of interior features designed to offer improved comfort, such as climate control, active headrests, arm rests and audio controls integrated into the steering wheel.

A number of car manufacturers have made electric, hybrid and low-CO2 emitting vehicles over the past few years, including the likes of Fiat, Honda and Citroen, as well as more niche brands like Tesla Motors.

Most people see these cars as brilliant ideas, but they're often considered a bit too pricey or high maintenance, so reserve a space in the idea of the perfect world we'd all love to live in, where there's also global peace, no diseases and calorie-free cake.

Well now it seems that the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wants to make that dream a reality after he unveiled ambitious plans to ensure all taxis in the city are electric in ten years, a project he's dubbed Source London. Wow that guy loves transport doesn't he?!

The announcement was made at EcoVelocity, a huge motor show specialising in electric and low-carbon motors. The show will be running at Battersea power station this weekend and looks like it'll be interesting to lovers of design, green tech AND fancy cars.

By Becca Caddy

[Via Metro]

So you're en route to doing a spot of environmentally-friendly shopping and for the most part, you'll be using your own two feet to get around. Again, for the most part. You may have not yet found a comfortable green alternative of transport so the bus or car will just have to slightly cramp your sustainable lifestyle. Well here's something that just may save you and I a guilt trip...

It's GOGREENCAR. A green alternative to cabs, the service operates a 40-strong fleet of hybrid cars that boast 60% less pollutant emissions than the regular black cab. GOGREENCAR was founded in 2007 and, like all green initiatives, is a case of fuelling wonderfully massive environmental change through little schemes and great passion.The service is economical as well as ecological, claiming to charge rates that are easy on the wallet. Plus, they are a gigantic leap up from the Hackney cabs first mentioned four years ago, claiming to emit 98% less Nitrogen Oxide.

So which HEV did the eco-friendly service opt for? The top-selling Toyota Prius of course, in addition to Lexus RS. GOGREENCAR's site reminds us the Prius uses a fuel-efficient electric motor, and its engines drives the generator to both power the electric motors and charge the battery. Acceleration is supplemented by more battery power and any energy recovered, for instance from braking, is kept for later use. The Prius is THE number one choice for enviro-friendly car services.

Having said that, there are other environmentally-friendly cab services like Climatecars and Greentomatocars, taking online bookings and calls for both corporate and private hire. Also, GOGREENCAR offer a weekly prize draw to win a free trip in their GOGREENCAR!

Festival season has begun! It's time for weeks and weeks of enjoying live music and chilling with your friends with an organic cider or three. Festivals also mean camping - unless you've booked yourself in at a local B&B - and having your usual beauty routine put on hold.

If you're heading off to Glastonbury next week or any of the other happenings this summer, we've gone searching for gadgets and clothes that let you enjoy the days while still being environmentally friendly.

Ford have reinvented their classic Focus car this year for the Geneva Motor Fest by whipping out the internal combustion engine and replacing it with a battery. Their new Focus Electric is run completely on electricity and has no carbon emissions.

It's not just a model for the show either - it's going into production this year and will be available in the US and Europe by 2013. It's one of five electrified vehicles they hope to deliver and the flagship vehicle for the manufacturers.

They say it's dynamic and powerful reaching a maximum speed of 136 kph (84 mph) but quiet and sleek as well with an aerodynamic design. Gadget lovers that we are, we like the sound of the personalised interior that will sync with your gadgets and provide intuitivie intelligent driving controls...

Charging times are as laid below....
* Powerful on board charging equipment can charge the Focus Electric in three to four hours, if the car is plugged to an appropriate public charging station
* Connected to a dedicated charging box at home, the charging time will be five to six hours and will range from eight to nine hours from a standard European household plug

We're interested to hear more...

Despite the iPad taking the world with storm, there is sometimes nothing better than to curl up in the sofa with a good book. For anyone interested in great organic British food, check out the third book in Sawday's hugely successful Go Slow series: Eat Slow Britain.

Take a journey to forty-five of Britain's most special places to eat and meet owners and chefs who grow their own food, source only the very best local produce, and who prepare it all with love and flair - all from the comfort of your own home! Eat Slow Britain is published in collaboration with the Soil Association, and also focuses on some of Britain's best organic food producers.

Discover the flavours of British foods, and meet artisan cheese makers, master bakers, farmers and brewers, and get a couple ideas for your holiday next year too.

Available from the bookshop at Sawday's for £12.99 + delivery.

Photos: Sawday's

Everyone knows that getting on your bike is a great way to reduce CO2 emissions while keeping fit. Why not go the extra mile and make your cycling as green as possible.

Mini has made its scooter debut at the Paris Motor Show 2010. with the e-concept range. Clearly aimed at young urbanites, the new range of electric scooters even boasts space on the handlebars to accommodate a smartphone, such as an iPhone.

Various colours are available including yellow/grey and British racing green. The electric motor, located in the rear wheel, is powered by a Lithium Ion battery.

No shortage of electric cars at the Paris Motor Show as you might expect. Some are of a conventional design like the Nissan Leaf which we test drove a little while back. But some are downright wacky like the Renault Twizy (see video below).

Available next year, the idea is that the Twizy will be produced in various designs - just vote for the one you like at the show and the most popular will go into production. Must admit I really like the multi-coloured one but I'm not sure I could see myself driving round London in one.

The irony with advice is that while everyone loves giving it, so few us are actually up for receiving it, writes Ashley Norris. No matter if it does make our lives easier, saves the planet or keep a few extra quid in our pocket, quite often we simply don't want to know.

So the Vexia Econav, a clever new-ish product from a Spanish company claims to be the first to tell us how to drive more efficiently. I can't help but inwardly groan a little. There are two ways of looking at this. One, that is is a genuine attempt by a progressive company to make a difference to consumers and the planet. Or two, that sat navs are all the same these days and too stand out a new company needs to have a bit of a hook.

Fortunately for the Vexia, I think it is more the former than the latter, but whether all this driving advice is going to work is another thing.

So I put the device in the car and fired it up. It locked on to the satellites quickly and presented me with a straightforward interface. It is is not perhaps as elegant as some of its rivals, but I got used to it pretty quickly. Overall the maps are clear and easy to follow and the turn by turn instructions clear and precise.

There are some decent extra features too such as advanced lane guidance - which shows you which lanes you can use when coming to a turning - speed camera alerts and a healthy database of points of interest. As a basic sat nav this works fine.

Fuel efficiency

What though of its driving features? Well the blurb is impressive. It claims to be able to reduce fuel consumption by up to 30% which means reducing CO2 emissions by up to one ton and also saving the user up to £400 per year.

To do this though I have to change gear each time I am told (it calculates which is the best gear by analysing your car's details and pairing it to the road you are driving on) and I am also prompted if I pull away too quickly or stop too suddenly.

The eco features clearly do work, but I think you have to be a certain type of person to live with them. Some people will relish being told when and where to change gear, others will reach straight for the off button.

The latest version of the Vexia's software also has a speed nag built in. This tells you not only when you are breaking the speed limit but how many points you are likely to get on your licence. I wouldn't say it was a useful feature, but the first time you use it does come as a bit of a shock to see how easy it would be lose your licence.

Overall the Vexia is a sound enough satellite navigation system. If those extra features appeal then it is well worth the additional money you'll pay for it.

Vexia

If you thought that electric cars were just teeny, tiny little things like the G-Whiz which look like they'd turn over if you blow on them, then think again. The latest crop of electric vehicles (and we're not talking hybrids here) are proper cars that look - but don't sound - like the real thing.

Last month, we checked out the Volvo C30 which won't go into production until 2013. This month it's the turn of the Nissan Leaf which is going to be available, albeit in small numbers, from next spring. Like the Volvo C30, the Nissan Leaf looks like an ordinary gas guzzling car, and houses a huge Lithium Ion Battery underneath. It's also a family car with room for 5 people.

It's available in various user friendly colours (black, red, silver, grey) but we took out a metallic blue model from Nissan's Bedfordshire HQ - a left-hand drive sample for Europe and currently the only one in the UK. As you might expect the price of the Leaf is quite steep at just under £24K (£23,990 to be precise), but prices will fall once full UK production starts from the Sunderland plant in 2013.

Until then demand will be met by Nissan's Japanese factories. "We're not expecting the Leaf to take over the road from day one," explains Gabi Whitfield, Communications Director, Nissan GB. However, those wanting to pre-order a model for next Spring can do so from Nissan's website here. Be warned though the website is very annoying with lots of flash animation and electronic voices.

Start me up
Driving a car these days it seems is more like booting up a computer and so it is with The Leaf. Obviously there aren't any gears to contend with, it's just a case of flicking a switch and putting your foot on the gas - sorry electric - pedal. Nissan claims it can go 100 miles on a single charge but this will vary according to the kind of driving you do.

There is an Eco Mode but this will reduce your speed in order to maximise distance between charges. Top speed is 90 miles per hour but on the mean streets of Milton Keynes (or thereabouts) I didn't get close to that. Instead I reckon I got the car up to around 50/60 miles per hour, but I'm sure it can go faster.

What's very odd about electric cars generally I find is how quiet they are, like something out of a sci-fi movie. Nissan have got round this problem for hard of hearing folk and those who generally don't look when they are crossing roads - people like me in other words - by actually introducing noise at lower speeds.

Up to 30 miles per hour the Nissan Leaf emits a whistling turbine type noise. Faster than that the noise of the tyres going around is loud enough to alert you to the fact that a car is approaching. Apparently there isn't yet a standard that manufacturers of electronic vehicles have to follow, but Nissan's idea of introducing a noise at low speeds does seem a sensible one.

That's entertainment
While driving the Nissan is a pleasant enough experience (its low centre of gravity perhaps makes it feel a little more sporty than it really is!) what's really good about the vehicle is its in car entertainment system.

I've had to make do with a CD changer for years now, so I'm easily impressed with a car that has MP3 input jacks, USB sockets and so on. But the Nissan Leaf doesn't just stop there. It also boasts a large colour Satellite Navigation system complete with a map showing the nearest charging points - unfortunately there aren't too many of them yet!!

And apparently the vehicle will even interface with your mobile phone, telling you if it needs charging before you take it out and allowing to put the heating on in the vehicle before you set off on a cold winter morning.

So would I buy the Nissan Leaf? Well at £24K not a chance. I can see that some show offy types with loads of money might splash out on one - in the same way as Hollywood types have been photographed with their Toyota Pious, sorry Prius. But really when you can buy a top end 3 year old petrol car for half the price, it's not an option.

Then again, once mass production starts in 2013 and there are charging points all over the UK then it does become a serious proposition. Whether electric cars are that much better than petrol cars for the environment is of course a massive issue (because obviously the energy needed to power them still needs to come from somewhere), but at least electric vehicles don't chuck out nasty particulates into the atmosphere that can really damage people's lungs. What's more, they should save you money at least in the long term!

Nissan Leaf

NISSAN LEAF TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Driving range 100 miles (160km)
Max speed 90mph (over 140km/h)
Battery Type laminated lithium-ion battery
Battery layoutunder seat & floor
Length 4445 mm
Width 1770 mm
Height 1550 mm
Seating capacity 5 adults
Max Engine Power 80kW
Max Engine Torque 280Nm
Charging times quick charger: less than 30 min for 80% charge;
Home-use 220V charger: about 8 hrs
On sale in the UK from March 2011
Built in the UK from 2013

Volvo has launched a new initiative to encourage motorists to think about a broad range of health and environmental issues - not just CO2 emissions - when they buy their next car.

At a conference held at 'The Gherkin' in London yesterday, speakers from Environmental Protection UK (formerly the National Society of Clean Air) and from Kings College London talked about the dangers posed in particular by 'nasties' from vehicle exhausts like NOx, Hydrocarbons and Particulates - the key contributors to poor health especially in cities like London.

Professor Frank Kelly of London's King College said that 4,300 premature deaths in London were caused by particulate matter and there were other health issues such as lung disease and asthma associated with vehicle emissions. "The biggest concern is for our children who may not develop full lung function as a result of the vehicles on the road."

Added Ed Dearnley, Policy Officer, Environmental Protection UK: "Just as we had legislation after the Great Smog of 1952, we need new legislation to tackle the problem of air pollution."

Already well known for its record on safety, Volvo is hoping to kickstart the environmental health debate by providing information to car buyers via a phone/PC app in conjunction with www.cleangreencars.co.uk. Rather like the labelling system found on white goods, the idea is that consumers will be able to easily access information on a whole range of car emissions, not just CO2 but also Nitrogen Oxides, Hydrocarbons and Carbon Monoxide which are known to contribute to health problems.

Says Peter Rask, Volvo's Regional President of UK, Ireland and Iceland: "We need to take a more holistic approach, not just look at CO2 emissions...Millions of pounds are spent on issues like obesity and passive smoking, yet the truth is that vehicle emissions are having a massive impact on health."

He adds: "This isn't about reducing the focus on CO2, our campaign is about drivers being given easy access to the complete set of pollutants information so they can make a more informed decision when they buy a new or used car."

However, the big question remains whether consumers will show an interest in wider issues around car pollution without legislation. Admits Volvo's own environmental consultant Dominic Potts who has worked tirelessly lobbying the government for the last 14 years. "Trying to get people interested in what is seen as a very complex issue is very difficult."

In the same way as vehicles with high CO2 emissions are now taxed more, it will almost certainly require legislation before we all sit up and take notice of the broader range of health issues around car pollution.

You can join the debate at www.facebook.com/insidevolvouk and http://twitter.com/insidevolvouk

You can see the YouTube video below:

I really do hope they are. Often when I've caught a plane (which admittedly isn't so much these days, largely because I hate being treated like branded cattle at airports) I've thought surely there must be a way to harness all this sunlight above the clouds, rather than relying on noisy, polluting jet engines. Now it seems we are getting closer to this becoming a reality.

Pilot Andre Borschberg has recently flown a solar panelled plane non stop for 26 hours, completing the longest and highest ever journey for a plane powered by the Sun at an altitude of 8,500m (27,900ft). Called the Solar Impulse, the solar-powered plane has a massive wingspan of nearly 64m (208 ft) and is fitted with 12,000 solar cells which can apparently be recharged so that the plane could fly indefinitely.

"People thought it was not possible but it was important for us to show that it was," said the 56 year old former Swiss airforce pilot. "We enjoyed a gorgeous day in terms of beauty, nature and scenery - it was unbelievable."

Now the challenge is on to go all the way round the world in a solar plane. How much longer before passenger planes could be developed which could harness natural energy from the sun? Will it be in our lifetimes. I would like to think so.

Technical data sheet:
Wingspan: 63.4m
Length: 21.85m
Height: 6.4m
Motor power: 4 x 10 HP electric engines
Solar cells: 11,628 (10,748 on wing, 880 on the horizontal stabiliser)
Average flying speed: 70km/h
Maximum altitude: 8,500m

Computer generated demonstration: