London housing group to save 2,500 tonnes CO2

The Peabody Group, which owns and manages over 19,000 homes in London, has just signed what's being described as one of the largest solar deals in the UK.

The £18.5 million agreement heralds the start of a 39 week intensive solar panel installation period on Peabody properties across 25 different London Boroughs.

Totalling 6MW of installed panels generating capability, the Group are hoping to reduce their housing stocks carbon emissions by 2,500 tonnes per year.

The initiative will also cut energy bills for lucky residents involved in the scheme.

The Peabody Group was founded by American Banker, diplomat and philanthropist George Peabody back in 1862.

It now owns and manages over 19,000 homes across London.

photo credit: jim bahn

Electric car charging points in London to get Boris Boost

TreeHugger reported last week how London is all set to get over a 1,000 new electric car charging points by 2012.

Currently there are just 250 accessible to the public but this will increase to over 1,300.

In fact, there will be more charging points than petrol stations, and if that statistic leaves us petrol heads scratching our heads, then it's worth remembering that there are already over 17,000 hybrid vehicles being used in Greater London.

Electric car owners already escape the congestion charge and there is also the 'Plug-in Car Grant' incentive which puts £5,000 towards the cost of a new electric vehicle, making them a little less extortionate in price when compared with their still cheaper petrol / diesel engines versions.

It all reminded me of a recent conversation with a fellow driver over the fuel pumps... He had pulled up in his Aston Martin beside the LPG pump and was muttering that the pump was not working.

He disclosed that he worked in London and that LPG pumps were notorious for not working / being out of LPG. The problem is so severe that he had a list of around 6 'local' garages that had LPG pumps when in London so if one wasn't working, he could navigate to another.

Of course, once you've left the city, finding an LPG pump that was working got a little trickier. Especially if you were low on fuel.

photo credit: david villa

All Hail London's new cycle hire system.

The Guardian ran a very interesting article on the new London cycle hire scheme last week.

The capitals new cycle hire scheme is the second largest (after Paris) and The Guardian refers frequently to comparisons between the two cities and how London will need to learn from Paris mistakes.

There was one little nugget of information buried away at the bottom of the article which I found the most worrying.

The column refers to figures in Paris which suggest that car traffic levels haven't been affected but that public transport - buses and tube have seen falling levels of use as these users have switched to the new cycle hire.

If the purpose is to promote green transport, then it really does need to be aimed at those that would drive or take taxi's. Whilst it's nice to see users of public transport taking to the slightly healthier option of cycling. I say slightly healthier because you're still pedalling around next to fume chugging vehicles, not to mention the safety issues when you mix motorised vehicles and cyclists - especially on cramped roads like London's. These people were already using public transport - no need to change their habits surely?

And of course, the Guardian's test run was conducted on a bright sunny day. What happens when it rains?

I'll end positively by saying that i really hope the scheme takes off - lessons learnt by the French are incorporated quickly, theft and vandalism is a minimum and the running costs don't escalate and that Londoner's (and visiting guests) get on their bikes.

Click here to read The Guardian's full article.

London's cycle hire scheme will launch on the 30th July - that's later this week.

photo credit: tejvanphotos

Wind farm scuppers plans for island airport

The London Daily News reported earlier this week how a plan to build six runways on a small island in the estuary off the coast of Kent may have received it's final blow after funding was secured for a 1GW offshore wind farm.

The London Array could be the world's largest wind power generator producing 1GW of energy - enough to power nearly a million homes.

The first phase of the development is due to be operational by 2012, providing a capacity of 630MW which amongst other things will be used to provide power for the Olympics.

You can read the excellent and enlightening article in full on the London Daily News website - click here.

photo credit: sawyerlaw

Energy Doctors to be pioneered in London

Spotted on the 'Gov Monitor'...

Energy ‘doctors’ and loans for solar panels are among the green projects which will be pioneered in 10 ‘low carbon zones’ in the capital, the Mayor of London announced today.

Speaking at the London Congress, a meeting of the Mayor of London and the capital’s 33 boroughs at the Guildhall, Boris Johnson announced the 10 successful boroughs which have won funding to become ‘low carbon zones’.

They are: Barking Town Centre (Barking and Dagenham),Muswell Hill (Haringey), Archway (Islington), Brixton (Lambeth), Lewisham Town Centre (Lewisham), Wandle Valley (Merton), Ham and Petersham (Richmond), Peckham (Southwark), Hackbridge ( Sutton) Queen’s Park (Westminster).

I'm sure the rest of the country will be watching eagerly.

To read the full story here on the Gov Monitor website, click here.

photo credit: adrianrbarnes