UK’s greenhouse gas emissions rose by 3.1 per cent in 2010 compared with the previous year, the latest figures from the Department of Climate Change (DECC) show.

The final figures for UK’s emissions show that the DECC previously underestimated the levels, with the new calculations stating that the UK emissions of the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol came to 590.4 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2010.

Carbon dioxide itself was the main greenhouse gas emission, accounting for 84 per cent of total UK emissions, or 590.4 million tonnes. The rise has been largely blamed on the residential sector, in particular, the demand for residential gas driven by a cold winter. Emissions linked to household energy use went up by 15.8 per cent while emissions from the energy supply sector. increase 3.1 per cent. Emissions from other sectors remained relatively unchanged from 2009.

Residential gas use, combined with electricity generation increasingly switching from nuclear power to coal and gas sources, drove the increase in carbon dioxide emissions.

While the cold winter may be taking the blame for the increase in emissions, it nonetheless marks a hard start in the job for the new energy secretary, Ed Davey.

Commenting Davey said:  “Emissions were up in 2010 because of the exceptionally cold weather and greater use of fossil fuels. One year won’t knock the UK off meeting its long term emission reduction targets, but it serves to underline the importance of the Coalition’s policies for insulating homes to cut bills and emissions and moving to greener alternative forms of energy.”

However environmental groups say that the winter cold snap doesn’t justify the emissions rise.  Louise Hutchins from Greenpeace said: “This was meant to be the decade when we slashed our emissions and sparked a green jobs bonanza, but instead we’re seeing progress stalling. The fact that the latest jump in figures is partly down to the cold snap in 2010 is no excuse, after all Sweden has higher energy costs and colder winters but their bills are lower because they have better insulated homes.

“To copy their success the government’s flagship green deal will need more resources, and that requires greater political ambition. Ed Davey gets it, now let’s see him deliver.”

The first ever Pay as You Go scheme for electric car charging in the UK is now being trialled in the North East.

Run by Charge your Car (CYC), the North East’s Plugged in Places programme, the new pay-as-you go system is designed to make it easier and more convenient for electric car drivers to use public recharging posts.  What’s more the new system will give drivers visiting the region access to charging posts, as there is no requirement for CYC membership to make use of the local facilities.

EV drivers will be able to access the Pay as you Go chargers through an automated text service, similar to those used in some car parks. Drivers will be able to pull into a bay, text the number and be charged accordingly before charging their vehicle.  A number of the North East’s most frequently used standard and quick charging posts are being used in the trial which will run until April.

Charge your Car project manager Josey Wardle says that by testing the new Pay as you Go technology, the next stage in EV charging will move one step closer: “Although Plugged in Places has come a long way since it launched two years ago, with 300 EV charging posts in place throughout the North East alone, as yet there is no agreed way forward in terms of interoperability between UK schemes, making it difficult for visitors to move from one region to the next.

“By undertaking this trial, the North East is leading the way in developing an all inclusive system, as it will help us to better understand how this technology can work.  There are many logistical elements to the Pay as you Go scheme so we want to ensure that any system we put in place functions properly and has tangible benefits to the driver, the Charge your Car scheme and EV post holder.”

The trial is now underway and drivers can identify the Pay as you Go posts on the charging point map located on the website www.chargeyourcar.org.uk

The North East Charge your Car project was launched in early 2010 after North East England was named as one of the first three areas to become a ‘Plugged-in-Place’ receiving government funding to support the installation of charging posts in car parks, on streets, at residential and commercial locations.

Grants are available for any organisation wishing to have a charging point installed on their premises.  For further information on the funding available visit www.leadthecharge.org.uk.

One of the world’s largest car sharing services, run in conjunction between Daimler AG and Europcar, has expanded to Lyon in France.

Two hundred smart fortwo models will be available for visitors and residents in the city to make use of, as part of the car2go short-term hire service.

The car2go service prides itself on its flexible nature, as the first car club scheme to operate without fixed rental locations, allowing car2go members the opportunity to spontaneously rent vehicles anytime and anywhere, dropping the cars off anywhere within an operating area of 44 square kilometres of the Lyon city centre.

The service is already operational in other European cities such as Ulm and Hamburg in Germany; Vienna in Austria; and Amsterdam in Netherlands. It also have operations in North America including Vancouver, British Columbia and San Diego, California.

“We are excited to make our French debut in a city which is well-known for its innovation in the sector of urban transportation,” said Marcus Spickermann, Chief Financial Officer of the car2go Group. “More than 60,000 customers worldwide are using car2go in their daily lives, and we are convinced that car2go is a perfect fit for Lyon residents too.”

Lyon residents can register at www.car2go.com, and at the new car2go shop at Le Terra Mundi – 2 place de Francfort in Lyon.

The German city of Düsseldorf is expected to be the next place to gain a car2go service. A total of more than 2,000 car2go vehicles are now on the road and more than 60,000 members have registered for the service worldwide.

For those that fear the uptake of low emission vehicles has been too slow, there is good news- young consumers are more interested in alternative power cars than conventional models.

According to new research from Deloitte, 59 per cent of Generation Y (aged 19-31 years) people prefer alternative powered models, with hybrid models appealing to 57 per cent of respondents to the survey. Sadly though pure battery electric vehicles got 2 per cent of the vote; but just 37 per cent said they preferred pure, conventional combustion models instead, according to CBS News.

Research giant Deloitte estimates that Generation Y consumers will account for one in four cars bought this year, and 40 per cent of cars bought over the next ten years, making them very important to the car industry and likely to play a very important part in deciding future production levels for alternative fuel cars.

What’s more Generation Y consumers consider fuel efficiency to be the most appealing quality of a car, with close to half (49 per cent) of them willing to pay up to $300 more for each mile per gallon of improvement that a hybrid model offers over a conventional car.

Of course, these young, savvy consumers also expect their cars to be packed with technology too, with touch screens and multimedia systems also very important when considering their next car. Respondents to the survey included Gen Y people from the US, UK, France, Germany and China.

General Motors (GM) has released its first sustainability report since emerging from bankruptcy protection.

The ‘new’ GM, which emerged from bankruptcy safeguards in 2009, now plans to put sustainability at the heart of its business as GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson explains: “Sustainability feeds our bottom line and sustaining a profitable business is our ultimate responsibility.

“Profits enable reinvestment – in R&D to reimagine a car’s DNA; in cleaner, more fuel-efficient technologies; in plants that better conserve resources; in improved vehicle safety; in job creation and stability; and in the communities in which we live and work.”

The new report details the firms progress in four areas; design, build, sell and reinvestment.

According to the report, what GM needs to grow its business is aligned with the needs of society – namely energy alternatives and advanced technologies that help reduce dependency on petroleum, improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, and bold thinking about personal mobility in the 21st century.

“GM’s success depends in part on offering vehicles and services to solve these challenges while meeting customer needs,” said Akerson.  “The Chevrolet Volt is a great example. During a time when we were fighting for our life as a company and managing through a global economic downturn, we still managed to launch one of the most environmentally sound and transformational vehicles in history.”

Sustainability highlights from GM’s operations around the world in 2010 and 2011 include:

• Surpassing its goal for half its global manufacturing operations to be landfill-free by the end of 2010 by recycling, reusing or converting to energy all wastes from daily operations. To date, 81 manufacturing facilities have earned the designation.
• Recycling 92 per cent of the waste generated by all of its worldwide facilities combined.
• Repurposing oil-soaked booms used in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill into air deflectors for the Chevrolet Volt.
• Earning the title of 2010 clean-tech patent leader by the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index for fuel cells, hybrid electric vehicles, solar energy and  advanced technology improvements.
• Progressing in water conservation, renewable energy use and wildlife habitat preservation around the globe.

In the report, GM also announces its commitment to the following new set of environmental stewardship goals during the next decade. These goals include:

• Reduce energy intensity from facilities by 20 per cent.
• Promote use of 125MW of renewable energy by 2020.
• Reduce carbon intensity from facilities by 20 per cent.
• Reduce volatile organic compound emissions from assembly painting operations by 10 per cent.
• Protect water quality and reduce water intensity by 15 per cent.
• Reduce total waste from facilities by 10 per cent.
• Promote existing landfill-free facilities while working to achieve 100 landfill-free manufacturing sites and 25 non-manufacturing sites.
• Promote and engage in community outreach on environmental and energy issues by completing one outreach activity per plant on an annual basis.
• Secure Wildlife Habitat Certification (or equivalent) at each GM manufacturing site where feasible by 2020.

The US is determined to commit to cleaner energy – as reflected in a new report entitled Road Map to Renewal from the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

As part of the report, the Jobs Council outlines the challenges towards energy availability and security, and recommended what it called an “all-in” strategy to drive innovation and investment.

Its intention is to promote efficiency and drive innovation towards renewable energy and vehicle electrification and it believes that America must quickly diversify its portfolio to reduce reliance on foreign oil.

The report included three overriding recommendations:

- Optimise use of all US natural resources: It believes that the US, and the rest of the world, must deliver greater proportions of renewable energy. This includes allowing more access to oil, natural gas and coal opportunities on federal land; making more areas of land available for renewable energy development; and streamlining the permitting process.

- Support efficiency in electricity and transport: It wants real estate agents and auditors to include energy audits in standard practices for buying while also stating the Government should incentivise states to adopt to strict efficiency standards. It outlines the need for more support for electric and hybrid technologies in the transport sector with government research programmes supporting advancements in technologies.

- Drive energy innovation and investment: The Jobs Council outlined the enormous potential of evolving technologies, such as: renewable energy, energy storage, coal gasification, electric vehicles and smart grid and carbon capture. It believes the US now needs policies that will encourage investment in these areas and in power generation technologies, such as: solar, wind, advanced nuclear and gasification.

The government’s plug-in car grants scheme is to be extended to vans, with buyers of electric commercials to be allowed to claim up to £8,000 off their new EV.

Announced this morning by Transport Minister Norman Baker, the new scheme for vans will allow owners to receive 20 per cent off the cost of a plug-in van, capped at top value of £8,000 while electric car buyers will continue to be able to claim 25 per cent of the value of their vehicles, capped at a maximum value of £5,000.

It is a year since the plug-in car grants first launched, with the Department for Transport recently revealing that 1052 eligible sold through the scheme in 2011, taking just £5.26 million of the £250 million allocated for the consumer incentive. With the majority of buyers thought to be businesses, the inclusion of vans into the scheme should help bolster takers for the grants.

Ministers have also re-confirmed there is funding for the schemes has been secured  until 2015.

Transport Minister Norman Baker said: “Electric vehicles are the arrowhead for a low carbon revolution in motoring and as more models come to market we’ll begin to see sales gather pace.

“Car buyers have had a year to take advantage of our grant and now it’s time for van buyers to get their chance to go electric. This is great news for businesses given the lower running costs of these vehicles – fleet buyers tell us that this is one of the most important factor influencing their decision on what to buy.”

Ministers have yet to confirm what electric vans will be eligible for the grants, but like the cars, they will be expected to meet performance criteria to ensure safety, range, and ultra-low tailpipe emissions. Both plug-in hybrid type vehicles and full battery electric vehicles will be able to qualify.

Consumers, both business and private will receive the discount at the point of purchase. There are currently 10 cars eligible for the Plug-In Car Grant – 5 of which came onto the market in 2011, with the other half expected to be available to purchase this year.

From today, van manufacturers will be able to apply for their vehicles to become part of the scheme. The first eligible vans are expected to be announced before the end of the month, with vehicles such as Renault’s Kangoo Z.E likely to appear on that early list.

At least a third of a car’s fuel consumption is spent overcoming friction, according to new research, and reducing friction could play an important role in improving fuel efficiency.

A joint study by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in USA, suggests that new technology could reduce friction by up to 80 per cent in various components of a car, meaning that it should be possible to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by 18 per cent within the next five years.

What’s more, further work in the field in reducing friction could result in a  61 per cent improvement in efficiency within 15 to 25 years.

According to the research, there are 612 million cars in the world today. The average car is calculated as clocking up an average of 13,000 km (8,078 miles) per year, and in the meantime burns 340 litres of fuel just to overcome friction, costing the driver €510 per year.

Of the energy output of fuel in a car engine, 33 per cent is spent in exhaust, 29 per cent in cooling and 38 per cent in mechanical energy, of which friction losses account for 33 per cent and air resistance for 5 per cent. By comparison, an electric car has only half the friction loss of that of a car with a conventional internal combustion engine.

Annual friction loss in an average car worldwide amounts to 11,860 MJ: of this, 35 per cent  is spent in overcoming rolling resistance in the wheels, 35 per cent in the engine itself, 15 per cent in the gearbox and 15 per cent in braking. With current technology, only 21.5 per cent of the energy output of the fuel is used to actually move the car; the rest is wasted.

Technologies such as new surface coatings, surface textures, lubricant additives, low-viscosity lubricants, ionic liquids and low-friction tyres could all help cut fuel consumption. Friction could be reduced by 10 per cent to 50 per cent using new surface technologies alone,  such as diamond-like carbon materials and nanocomposites. In 2009, a total of 208,000 million litres of fuel was burned in cars worldwide just to overcome friction; this amounts to 7.3 million TJ (terajoules) of energy. Theoretically, introducing the best current technological solutions in all of the world’s cars could save €348,000 million per year;  with the best solutions to emerge over the next 10 years saving €659,000 million per year.

The recent research report on friction loss in cars s was published in the Tribology International scientific journal.

The range-extended Fisker Karma is the new window display at Harrods in Knightsbridge, London.

The luxury car has taken pride of place in the in the prominent Brompton Road window display, where it will remain until the 4th of February. As Harrods embarks on its Winter Sale, the Karma prepares to go on sale around the world.

Already on sale in the US, the Fisker is priced from $102,000, and will be available at dealerships internationally in the coming weeks.  Harrods owner Qatar Holding is also a shareholder in Fisker Automotive Inc.

Prospective customers visiting Harrods will be able to take a tour of the vehicle, offered the chance to virtually configure their own model and put in touch with their nearest dealership to arrange a test drive.

The Karma is designed to offer strong environmental credentials and yet still offer exciting performance, thanks to its combination of a petrol engine and electric motor and battery. It can travel from 0-60mph in just 6.2 seconds and yet is rated as emitting just 51g/km CO2 by TUV and has been given an 112mpg equivalency rating. The luxury sedan can also travel 50 miles on electric only with zero emissions.

Despite its size, performance, and visual appeal, the Karma is one of the most efficient, low-emission vehicles available today.  It can travel from 0-60 mph in 6.2 seconds yet was recently given an astonishing emissions rating of just 51 g/km CO2 by the TUV and a 112 mpg equivalency rating.

"Harrods is one of the most prestigious retail sites in the world, which is perfect for our car," said Henrik Fisker, co-founder and CEO of Fisker Automotive.  "The landmark store attracts hundreds of thousands of customers from all over the world during January, and we look forward to introducing them to the Fisker Karma."

Harrods Media Sales Director, Guy Cheston, commented: "We are delighted to have partnered with Fisker Automotive to become the first UK retailer to exhibit the Fisker Karma.  This exciting new luxury electric vehicle will take pride of place in our iconic windows and is certain to attract a great deal of interest from our customers."

A brand new electric racing car has been unveiled at the 2012 Low Carbon Racing Conference at the NEC in Birmingham this week.

Developed by Drayson Racing Technologies, the new Lola-Drayson B12/69EV can lap as fast, if not faster than a conventionally powered car and has been demonstrating its 850 horsepower, and 200 mph plus top speed on the track.

Until Sunday (January 15, 2012) visitors to the NEC will have the chance to learn first-hand about the technical innovation behind the ground-breaking vehicle as part of the Autosport International 2012 event taking place there.

Pioneered by former UK Minister for Science and Innovation, Lord Drayson, the B12/69EV is the latest development from Drayson Racing Technologies since he formed the company as a laboratory for developing racing laboratory to pioneer the development of green technologies. Since the company’s birth Drayson racing laboratory to pioneer the development of green technologies. Developed in collaboration with Lola Group, the new electric racing car is the outcome of a partnership first formed in July 2011, with the aim of building an electric-powered LMP (Le Mans Prototype) racing car.

Lord Drayson, President of the Motorsport Industry Association comments: "Electric racing represents a considerable new business opportunity for motorsport and underlines the growing commercial potential of green racing and technology. Electric-powered 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 thrilled to be at the forefront of the push for innovation at such an exciting time for the sport and industry.”

UK Trade & Investment CEO Nick Baird, a key speaker at the conference, said: "This prototype combines revolutionary innovation alongside the development of new green technologies that can be applied across other parts of the motorsport and other sectors. The UK is one of the best places in the world to develop a low carbon business, or indeed, any kind of business. The speed, with which this project has progressed, from initial discussions to unveiling of this vehicle in a matter of months, clearly demonstrates the strengths of the British motorsport sector.”