The biodiesel-powered boat Earthrace has set a new record for the quickest journey around the world by a powerboat.  The Earthrace boat has been traveling around the world for more than two years to raise awareness for biologically produced fuels, such as fuels made with cooking oils, plant matter and fats.

The record breaking journey took 60 days, which is an impressive 14 days less than the previous record, set in 1998 by a boat named Cable & Wireless Adventurer.  Over the next few months the boat will be touring Europe to continue to raise awareness for biologically produced fuels, before travelling to Australia for the 2009 Auckland International Boat Show.

Mercedes are determined to make their model range run on alternative fuels in order to improve costs, become more eco-friendly and because the oil supply will eventually run out.

Mercedes are set to invest around £7billion before 2014, having already invested £2million on their new long-term Sustainable Mobility plan.  This money will be spent on making current Mercedes engines even cleaner and more fuel-efficient while increasing the amount of hybrids, emission-free electric cars and clean-fuel gas engines and the further development of battery and hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Ibuyeco is the headline sponsor of the festival, which is being held over the weekend of 5th and 6th July.  The festival showcases a range of ecclectic music, including acts such as KT Tunstall, Beverley Knight, Crowded House, Paul Simon and The Bangles.

Hugh Phillmore, Cornbury Festival Organiser, commented: “We understand that bringing all the family and camping gear to Oxford for the weekend will mean most visitors have to use a car. It’s great then that ibuyeco, headline sponsor of the festival, is supporting our efforts to make Cornbury greener by offsetting CO2 emissions caused by families’ travel to the event.”

Ibuyeco offers insurance packages which offset 100% of a vehicle’s CO2 emissions for the duration of the policy. For every 1kg of the emissions produced by your vehicle’s driving each year, ibuyeco we arrange for 1kg to be saved by a climate friendly project elsewhere in the world.

After recycling the metal, low level nuclear waste will be taken to the nearby storage facility at Drigg.  Studsvik say the operation will be completely safe and monitored on a regular basis.

A spokesman for Studsvik, which operates similar facilities in Sweden, said it would serve the UK’s nuclear industry, whose sites are now being decommissioned under the control of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

He said: “To meet the government’s decommissioning targets, new facilities need to be constructed to provide alternative methods for cleaning the materials that will be removed during the decommissioning process. (more…)

The Isle of Man is set to stage the worlds first ever Clean Emissions Grand Prix on the island next year.  The TTxGP event is scheduled for June 2009 and will provide an exciting opportunity for leading global innovators in racing and clean emission technologies to compete and prove to the world that being green does not mean being slow. (more…)

1. Only use your car if it’s necessary. If the destination is close by, walk or bike it.

2. Keep your car well maintained. A poorly tuned engine can up fuel consumption by a massive 50 per cent.

3. Plan your journey. According to the RAC, British drivers waste the equivalent of 267 Olympic swimming pools of fuel going the wrong way. (more…)

The carbon sucking devise will be capable of capturing a tonne of CO2 from the air per day, and will be small enough to fit inside a shipping container.  The initial cost of the device would be around £100,000, but this would be more than offset by the amount of carbon each unit would trap, the scientists assert.

The new invention could make the team of US scientists eligible for the Virgin Earth Challenge, where Richard Branson pledged $25 million to the inventor of a way to remove a billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

The team is also working on ways to dispose of the pure CO2 gas produced by each scrubber.

Lackner told the Guardian newspaper: “I wouldn’t write across the front page that the problem is solved, but this will help. We are in a hurry to deal with climate change and will be very hard pressed to stop the train before we get to 450ppm [CO2 in the atmosphere]. This can help stop the train.” (more…)

The electric version of the black cab will be able to run for at least 100 miles on a single charge of its lithiumion battery. The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) estimates that the average taxi driver drives around 120 to 150 miles a day.

Aside from the environmental benefits, the main advantage of the new electric taxi for drivers will be the running costs. (more…)

Collecting garbage and recyclables in California is about to get a lot cleaner, thanks to a joint venture between Linde North America and Waste Management that will create the world’s largest facility to convert landfill gas into clean vehicle fuel.

Waste Management, North America’s largest waste management company, and Linde North America – part of The Linde Group, a leading global gases and engineering company, today announced a joint venture to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, located at the Altamont Landfill near Livermore, California to convert landfill gas into a clean vehicle fuel. The project offers a unique opportunity to “close the loop” by fueling hundreds of collection trucks with clean fuel produced from garbage. (more…)

Acciona Energia, the leading wind power company, has announced a 500 million euros investment into 2 new solar thermal plants in Palma del Río, Cordoba, in southern Spain.  Each plant will have a capacity of 50 megawatts and together they should be able to power around 75,000 homes a year.  The solar energy plants should be operational by 2010. “The plants will cover the area of about 260 hectares, or 364 soccer fields, comprising 1,520 solar collectors and a truly mind boggling 364,800 mirrors which will focus the sun’s rays into the collectors. ”