As a driver of an ordinary petrol Smart car, I'm quite excited by the arrival of an electric version - and not before time. Unfortunately, only 340 electric Smarts - called Smart fortwo electric drives - are currently being trialled on UK roads, but it's a start.
The move coincides with Smart's Plugged-In report which shows that 86 per cent of Londoners think it's the community's responsibility to make sure residents live greener lives and 66 per cent of Londoners think the area in which they live would be less polluted with more electric cars.
The first two lucky folk to get the keys to the new electric Smart were the owners of ethical store and design consultancy Eco Age, Livio Firth and Nicola Giuggioli. "The smart electric drive is the perfect city car, you can park it anywhere and it has zero emissions so we can drive around guilt free," says Nicola Giuggioli.
See the video below which includes interviews with Kulveer Ranger (Transport Advisor to the Mayor of London), electric car nut Quentin Willson and some of the first trialists, including the wonderfully named TinyTaxi.com.
It's not too late to get on your bike. Team Green Britain Bike Week (19-27 June) is challenging everyone to rethink their everyday journeys and switch to cycling as the most convenient way to get around.
Throughout the week, villages and cities across the UK are hosting free cycling events with the theme of 'everyday cycling, for everyone'. Events are open to all from total novices to passionate cyclists and will inspire everyone to hop on their bikes and discover the benefits of swapping four wheels for pedal power.
Says Victoria Pendleton, World and Olympic champion cyclist who is supporting Team Green Britain Bike Week: "I would encourage everyone to get involved with Team Green Britain Bike Week. By choosing to cycle to the shops, school or for leisure, you'll find you get to your destination quicker, save money, get fit and reduce your carbon footprint all at the same time. If everyone were to swap one car journey a day for a bike trip, think of the collective benefit - to our planet, our pockets and our health!"
To find your nearest event, simply visit www.bikeweek.org.uk and enter your postcode. If you'd like to take part but don't have a bike, simply search for your nearest bike rental outlet on the website.
There seem to be few Londoners left who still battle with public transport and are yet to be converted to the cycling revolution. Either they feel that work is a little 'too far' to arrive there solely on their own steam or they believe that getting on a bike is certainly going to end with them arriving at work a sweating heap or, worse, with a broken limb.
Technological development serves yet again to convert the unconvertible with the 'electric' bike. From now on that burdensome hill can be conquered without groaning through flaming thighs, by switching on the electrics allowing you to scoot up with ease. The easier, more effortless electric cycle allows you to roll up to work sweat free and smelling fresh.
It's also apparently safer to travel by electric rather than pedal bike, although I'm not sure I fully follow the logic here. Either way, if you think the electric bike is for you, check out these options.
Today (17th June 2010) is Green Britain Day. Curiously sponsored by EDF Energy (not particularly green and not British either!) the idea is to help people to do what they can to reduce their carbon footprint. Presumably use less EDF Energy for a start!
Throughout this week 'celebrities' including Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton and designer Wayne Hemingway have been showing off their dream bikes at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden as part of a series of events taking place to highlight climate change. For further details of events go to Green Britain's Facebook page here.
Other events at the museum include unicycle performances and workshops, and an exhibition of new artworks by over 50 leading illustrators.
Says Victoria Pendleton: "If everyone were to swap one car journey a day for a bike trip, think of the collective benefit - to our planet, our pockets and our health! I hope people come along to see all the bicycles and dig deep to raise money for the social enterprises who created them."
Green Britain Day coincides with a new European-wide study which shows that high levels of scepticism and indifference among Britons hamper efforts to go green. Less than one third of Britons believe the issue is 'serious and urgent', requiring 'radical steps'. And just over half of Britons are 'quite' or 'very concerned' about climate change compared to Spain which topped the pool with over three quarters saying they were quite worried.
Climate change minister Greg Baker said: "I think the British are inherently quite sceptical about theoretical politics and science and maybe are a little more cautious than some countries in Europe."
Next week sees Team Green Britain Bike Week (19-27 June) which is challenging everyone to rethink their everyday journeys and switch to cycling as the most convenient way to get around. To find your nearest event, visit www.bikeweek.org.uk or find them on Twitter here.
Well, we've all got excuses for not cycling more. "It's cold", "I've lost my helmet" and "it's a 30 mile round trip" (well that last one is fair enough). But with environmental concerns and better bike lane provision, bike use has crept up in Britain over the past few years, writes ShinyShiny's Anna Leach.
Anyway, one ingenious gadget that might tempt you away from the car more is the GoCycle a battery-assisted bike. What with it being National Cycling week next week, we thought it was time to revisit this invention first launched in 2009.
You can pedal it as normal but hold the power button on the left handlebar down to give you an extra boost. You can keep it pressed on at all times and it speeds up your performance particularly over long straight patches, or just turn it on when you want a boost coming out of corners or accelerating away from a stop. ANYWAY - here are two of the demonstrators having a little race...
The GoCycle can be bought for £45 a month, or for £1,495 outright. See Gocycle.com.
It has to be recharged from a mains supply for 3 hours, hits a max speed of 15mph and can last for up to 20 miles, depending on pedal input and terrain.
Usually, the thought of going to Bracknell to test drive a Volvo wouldn't fill me with that much excitement.
Fortunately this invite was a little different because it was to check out a car that to all intents and purposes looks and feels like a petrol car, only gets its power from the electricity mains.
At a time when most energy efficient cars are either 'hybrid' vehicles like the Toyota Prius using a mixture of electricity and petrol, or smaller electric cars like the G-Whizz, the Volvo C30 Electric stands out for being, well, a normal Volvo C30 family car - at least at first glance. Of course there are lots of differences that the boffins from Gothenburg could bore you stupid about over a pint of overpriced Swedish beer.
Open up the bonnet, for example, and rather than a big oily engine you are greeted with what can only be described as a giant fuse box with lots of neat orange cables. And running through the centre of the car under the floor is a big heavy Lithium Ion battery, like you find in a laptop or in a mobile phone, only much, much bigger.
This provides the charge for the car. Volvo claims the C30 Electric car can currently has a range of 150 Km and needs to be charged for around 8 hours using conventional AC power mains (there is a 1 hour quick charging point on the car but as yet there aren't any places where this could be used.)
As you might expect from a brand so closely with safety, Volvo has done a lot of safety checks already. You only have to type 'Lithium Ion Battery Explode' into YouTube to see the dangers of using electricity which means that a lot of work has gone into ensuring that if the car is hit that the battery doesn't go up in flames. Always an added bonus!
This means, for example, ensuring that the passenger seats aren't pushed into the middle of the vehicle where the battery is situated if it's hit from the side. So far 11 vehicles have been crash tested but there are bound to be many more before the vehicle goes into mass production in 2014.
So how does the Volvo perform? Rather well I thought. The weirdest thing about it was it was so quiet that I hadn't even realised I had turned the engine on. (Pedestrians will definitely have to learn to look for cars when crossing the road rather than just listening out for them if they want to avoid being bounced over the bonnet of an electric car.)
The automatic vehicle handled rather well considering the extra weight of the battery and added safety features and I managed to get the car up to around 100Km/h (62 miles per hour) on a test track designed to look and feel like a normal single carriageway road without even noticing.
Volvo claims that top speed is around 130Km/h and it can go 0-62 miles per hour in 11 seconds. Obviously that doesn't make it the quickest car in the world, but it does offer much better performance than today's electric cars. Volvo reckons its performance is roughly similar to a 1.6 litre diesel engine car which sounds about right.
The first batch of production models will be available from next year, but with the Lithum Ion battery alone currently costing $80,000 I'm guessing the Volvo C30 Electric won't be exactly cheap though official prices have yet to be announced. For the rest of us mere mortals without money to burn I think it will be at least a three year wait before this particular electric dream becomes a reality.
So would I buy one? Well yeah, providing it is affordable (ie. not considerably more expensive than a petrol car) and easy to fill up. After all one of the biggest challenges will be providing enough points where you can charge the vehicle.
Those with their own garages will be able to use their own home's mains power but for those who have their cars parked on the street it's simply not practical to have cables running across the pavement! For electric cars to really represent the future a lot of work has to go into building the infrastructure first.
Below check out our rough cut YouTube videos from the test driving day.
The multitude of slanderous campaigns and squabbling fights are escalating, the leaders ferociously scratching their way to the top post as the election day draws ever near.
If you still remain undecided on which one of those blokes on telly shouting at each other you would like in the top seat, then here's a quick green related guide to help you on your way.
Labour
if the events of the last 10 years haven't been too detrimental to your welfare then maybe good old Gordon is still in the running for your vote. But how green is Gordon?
Economy:
Given the lovely shape our economy has been pummeled in by it's trusted instructor, we would expect some 'lets take action' style policies on this front. However, what we actually have is some vague plans to cut 'low priority' government programs, with decisions to be made post election. Ooh sneaky. What we want is better provision for health care, education and frontline services, but to pay less for it. But given how far removed the top dog is from the day to day running of the NHS and such like, it's kind of like when you were a toddler and you spent three hours trying to fit the square block through the circle hole. It always ends in tears.
Transport:
The only party to be very 'un-greenly' supportive of a third runway at Heathrow. Though they seem to be trying to slip this through with a policy on electric car charging points and improved commuter services. Lesson to be learned, decoys never work when it's in print.
Environment:
80% carbon cut by 2050 sounds quite promising. But given that we are really only electing them for a time period due to be up long before the 2050 deadline, and we won't really be able to hold them to count, why not just say 100%? You never know, I might believe you.
Jobs:
Focusing on youth unemployment with training places and education, and boosting the job market with vaguely termed 'green jobs'. 250,00 of them and all.
Tax:
50p tax rate for the super earners. Seems fair.
Green Score : 6/10 (It all went wrong at Heathrow)
Track down a rural hideaway with The Soil Association's new Holiday Organic web directory.
All produce foods to the Soil Association's organic standards and the nature of organic farming means they are likely to have a good mix of animals and crops, setting the scene for a fab rustic retreat.
Browse your way down country lanes and through the gates of nearly 200 working organic farms welcoming visitors to tied cottages, farm buildings, campsites and the odd yurt.
Some may give the energetic a chance to get their hands dirty and most will offer a taste of their produce, whether it be breakfast or a full meal from the field, kitchen garden or orchard.
Visitors can browse Holiday Organic by English region, Scotland & Wales, with a particularly strong showing for England's West Midlands and South West, home to a quarter of the country's organic farms. To explore, go to Holiday Organic in the Take Action area of the Soil Association website: www.soilassociation.org.
So, summer is just around the corner....Well, not quite, but post-Christmas is definitely an acceptable time to start getting excited about it without everyone thinking you're insane. Want to see some eco-friendly holiday ideas to inspire your daydreaming? CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW
How do you convert your car to run on mushed-up seaweed? It's not something your average man in the street is wondering, but fortunately some intrepid American fuel-pioneers are, writes ShinyShiny's Anna Leach.
Fed up with the oil industry and pollutant effects of burning petrol, Josh Tickell had been experimenting with biofuels and successfully converted a car to run on waste cooking oil. After concerns that using plant oil created food shortages, they turned their attention to algae. And they reckon that biodiesel created by algae is the answer to the fuel crisis. Well that'd be nice.
In a mini documentary on ViceTV, America's alternative fuel guy shows how you can convert your car to run on alternative fuel. Adding a battery-pack in the boot seems to be the first step, though getting hold of algae gasoline seems to be trickier. Though a group called Solazyme are growing giant vats of algae in the Midwestern desert with an eye to creating biofuel, it's not exactly widely available. Apparently you can condense the oil-making process from 150million years to 3 days. Excellent.
Until some of that seaweedy power liquid ends up in your local fill-up station, it's going to be hard to embrace the algae lifestyle, but it's really interesting. Check out the ViceTV doc below:
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) might sound like a fairly dull organisation. But the group, which pumps around £800 million a year into research and development in the physical sciences, certainly boasts a few people with a sense of adventure.
Take one of its flagship projects for this year - a racing car made of vegetables which runs on chocolate. Created by boffins and students at the University of Warwick, the car is designed to highlight how even the most carbon guzzling things can be greenified.
The Formula 3 racing car is capable of reaching top speeds of around 125MPH despite being composed of a medley of vegetables. The steering wheel is created from a polymer derived from carrots and the bodywork is a mixture of starch and flax fibre. Even the steering wheel lubricants are plant based.
Best of all is the fact that it runs using a biodiesel engine which runs on fuel extracted from chocolate and vegetable oil.
There's more information on the project and the organisation here.
Thanks to £30 million of Government funding, the UK is about to witness thousands more charging points for electric and plug-in hybrid cars. The money is being invested as part of a new 'Plugged-In Places' initiative with British companies being encouraged to get behind the scheme.
Says Business Minister Pat McFadden: "The move to lower carbon forms of transport is a turning point for the automotive industry, opening up new opportunities for existing UK automotive companies and with the potential to create new jobs and new industries. I urge British companies to get involved and seize these new opportunities for growth and jobs."
Sainsbury's plans to be at the forefront of the electric car revolution. The supermarket chain recently announced that nine stores (in Beckton, Camden, Chiswick, Cromwell Road, East Dulwich, Greenwich Peninsula, Islington, North Cheam and Sydenham) now have charging points for electric vehicles with a further two (in Wandsworth and Whitechapel) opening very soon. This will ensure that London's electric drivers will only ever be a few short miles from the nearest charging point.
The Cheeky girls were there, and so was our sister site ShinyShiny's Anna Leach. We managed to push celebs aside and get a look at Peugeot's new electric car the BB1: branded as half scooter, half car, it fits four people, has handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and the cutest squished windscreen you ever saw. http://www.bb1-peugeot.com
It's all about zero-emission cars at this week's Tokyo Motor Show. With no US and European car manufacturers present, all eyes will be on Japanese car manufacturers, many of which be displaying their electric concept cars.
Toyota - the world's biggest car maker by volume - has said it aims to launch an electric vehicle by 2012 and will display a new version of its electric concept car, the FT-EV II, at the show. And from Honda there's the EV-N, a cute electric concept car that can store a one-wheel personal mobility device inside its door.
At the Tokyo Motor Show Nissan will also put its electric car, the Leaf on display to the public for the first time. The medium sized hatchback, which will go on sale in late 2010 in Japan, is billed as"the world's first affordable, zero-emission car." It can travel more than 160 kilometres (100 miles) on a single charge, at a top speed of 140 kilometres per hour.
Nissan will also show off a futuristic electric concept car that leans to the side when going around bends. Just 1.1 metres (3 feet 7 inches) wide, the Landglider (pictured) seats two people, one in the front and one in the back. Inspired by motorbikes and glider aircraft, it has tilting wheels that enable it to lean by up to 17 degrees.
According to estimates from JP Morgan, hybrid vehicles are estimated to account for about 13% of global sales by 2020 but electric cars will represent just 1% or 2% in that year. "What electric cars have a problem with is lack of a network of charging facilities like the current gasoline stations," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said at a luncheon meeting at the Japan National Press Club earlier this month.
Meanwhile back in the UK, transport secretary Lord Adonis has announced that the North-East is to benefit from the installation of up to a thousand electric charging points over the next two years, writes Paul Ridden.
Locations in Gateshead and Newcastle have been earmarked for the roll-out which is due to kick off in the coming months. Some of the forty points that will initially appear next to public buildings and shops, on kerbsides and in car parks as part of the pilot scheme will be free, with others requiring users to pay an annual subscription for unlimited use.
Officially launched earlier this year the A2B Metro electric bike is now available from several retailers including Harrods (via Cycle UK concession), Selfridges (via Bike Republic Concession) and EV Stores Electric Vehicle retailer on London's Park Lane.
Also new to the A2B range, is the A2B Hybrid. Designed to complement the energy you put into your ride, its torque sensor detects your pedal power directly boosting your effort with Ultra Motor's direct drive electric motor power.
The A2B Metro recommended retail price is £1999.00 and the A2B Hybrid recommended retail price is £1799.00. Dealer details can be found on the Ultra Motor website www.ultramotor.com/uk
The A2B Range from Ultra Motor will also be showing at the London Cycle Show, Earls Court which is open to the public from 9th-11th October. The London Cycle Show's commuter test track will provide visitors the opportunity to trial the A2B Metro.
Click here to see to see the A2B Metro in action on Channel 5's The Gadget Show.
As a driver of an ordinary petrol Smart car, I'm quite excited by the arrival of an electric version - and not before time. Unfortunately, only 340 electric Smarts - called Smart fortwo electric drives - are currently being trialled on UK roads, but it's a start. 
Today (17th June 2010) is Green Britain Day. Curiously sponsored by EDF Energy (not particularly green and not British either!) the idea is to help people to do what they can to reduce their carbon footprint. Presumably use less EDF Energy for a start!
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From: Green graffiti - It's all in the mossage