News

It will come as little surprise to anyone who rides a bike, but cycle lanes can make roads more dangerous for cyclists. A study by Leeds and Bolton universities has come to the conclusion that ‘cycle lanes do not appear to provide greater space for cyclists in all conditions’. The researchers attached a camera to the back of a bicycle and...

France has stolen a march in the fight against climate change by announcing a new carbon tax on the use of oil, gas and coal. The new tax will be introduced gradually from 2010 and will charge householders and businesses the equivalent of £15 per tonne of emitted CO2. Most electricity in France is excluded from the carbon tax because it is...

Cities across Britain are set to have electric and hybrid vehicle charging points. The plan to install re-charging points in Birmingham, Glasgow, Coventry, Milton Keynes, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Oxford and Sunderland was announced at the Low Carbon Vehicle Event 2009 as part of an £11 million scheme. David Clark, chief executive of Energy...

Talks to address the problem of climate change could be in trouble, David Miliband has said. The foreign secretary commented that climate change talks later this year in Copenhagen are in the balance. He said that suspicion between some nations and problems linked to the economic downturn could affect the discussions. Mr Miliband warned:...

The AA fears that the growth of 20mph zones could be environmentally damaging, according to an article in the Daily Telegraph this week. According to Edmund King, president of the organisation, carbon emissions are likely to be higher at lower speeds because cars are normally driven in a lower gear, and higher revs pump out more emissions...

Cities around Britain are to join forces in calling for a high-speed rail network. Authorities in Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are outline their vision at a conference in London today (September 9th). Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, and Conservative...

As mobile phones become widespread so the need for telephone boxes dwindles, but resourceful town planners in Madrid have found a new use for them as re-charging points for electric vehicles. Phone box sites relatively easy to adapt as recharging points because they tend to be located close to the roadside and already have their own...

The latest offering from McLaren claims to have lower carbon emissions per horsepower than any other car on the market, including hybrids. The fact that the new car, which is currently referred to as the MP4-12C, produces 600 horsepower means it remains a high polluter, but the formula 1-derived engineering that enables it to be relatively...

Although its name appears to change on an almost annual basis – it was launched two years ago as the Freewheel, but has since been rebranded as the Skyride at the new sponsor’s request – the mass-participation bike ride that takes place in London on Sunday 20th September looks set to attract over 40,000 cyclists. The Freewheel is a 14km...

An airline has made transatlantic flights without passengers in order to clean its planes. Delta has flown its aircraft from the US to London so that they can be disinfected. These planes then make the trip back to the US before then heading on to Australia. This has occurred due to regulations regarding the risk of dengue and malaria in...