A local Liberal Democrat Councillor has called for a new way of looking at Basic Public Transport - we should view it as a Public Service, not as a cash cow for private industry.
Out of sight, over the horizon, possibly out of mind as well - but still pumping out pollutants! There's one massive transport network that needs cleaning up, but which we might have forgotten - shipping. There are 110,700 ships of over 100 gross tonnes ploughing through the world's oceans. Although mile for mile and ton for ton ocean shipping is be far the cheapest way to transport goods, a great deal of energy is needed to push them through the water. Though fitted with enormous, relatively efficient, diesel engines, the "bunker fuel" that most large ships use for fuel is basically the unrefinable junk that the petroleum discards - something like the tar that is used on roads. Not only is it black, sticky and unheathily dangerous, but it is rich in pollutants such as sulphur and produces clouds of black poisonous smoke full of dangerous micro-particles.
Result thanks to @BritainElects
Several European energy companies are currently exploring the feasibility of producing hydrogen out at sea. Although not particularly efficient, electroysis of water to produce hydrogen is a useful way to capture wind energy that might otherwise be in surplus. Batteries could of course be used shorterm energy storage and release, but future projections indicate hydrogen could handle greater quantities of energy over greater timescales and could also be an efficient way to transfer it to the mainland - with one hydrogen pipeline handling the same energy transmission as 5 DC interconnector cables.
Dacorum's Environment Committee this week (2nd Nov) witnessed a missed opportunity, even while COP26 is all over our screens. The Dacorum Borough Council Climate Report - in the context of an emergency DBC Councillors themselves has recognised for 27 months - is desperately lacking on measurable actual Carbon reduction by this Council. The most important part of the report was buried in Appendix 2, point 7. What is Dacorum doing about insulating our social housing? There is an admission that by 2030 only 90% of this key early task will have been done. Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Cllr England called for the Council's own headline approach "Fabric first" to mean something and make urgent progress: "This plan does not say nearly enough about what will be done in the next five years. Aiming for only 90% by 2030 on "fabric first" is failure of itself. And as for not introducing climate-friendly heating until AFTER 2030? There MUST be a commitment to introduce non-fossil-fuel heating wher
What the Government is doing, and why we're opposing it.
October is Black History Month - a chance to celebrate the Black British community, acknowledge their contributions and discover their stories.
Read Ed Davey's speech to the Liberal Democrats' Autumn Conference in Brighton
