When it comes to green and environmental issues, airports and aeroplanes are usually seen as the villain of the piece. However new research shows that in terms of carbon emissions, the sector may not be so bad after all.

American researchers have found that the US health sector is responsible for nearly a tenth of the country’s carbon emissions – almost three times the amount of carbon that the airline industry pumps out. Despite this disparity, the health care sector hardly ever gets flack for it’s less-than-green credentials whilst the airline industry seems to have more than it’s fair share of criticism.  Read more... (220 words, 1 image, estimated 53 secs reading time)

Tyre manufacturer Yokohama is now selling tyres that consist of 80 percent non-petroleum materials. The main ingredient in the new tyres is orange oil.

Yokohama have named their new tyre the Super E-spec and it has already been received well in the automobile industry – the Super E-spec won the Popular Mechanics Editor’s Choice Award in 2008.

The tyre uses orange oil, a sustainable product, alongside natural rubber to reduce the amount of petroleum used in making the tyres. The tyres are also said to have a 20 percent reduction in rolling resistance therefore giving consumers better fuel efficiency.  Read more... (198 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

British newspaper The Times recently devised a test to see if the Toyota Prius’s green credentials were really as great as they are made out to be. To do this, the Times team decided to pit the Prius against a BMW 520d on a run to Geneva.

The Prius has been the car of choice for the majority of greenies for a while thanks to it’s massively heralded green credentials – in fact, more than a million Prius’s have been sold worldwide since it’s introduction to the motoring public in 2007. Celebrities have also been flocking to buy it, with Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio both seen behind the wheel of one.  Read more... (367 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Richard Branson oversaw a successful trial of a Virgin 747 plane partially running on biofuel blends over the weekend. However, he admitted that the fuel tested probably couldn’t offer a green solution for airlines.

Boeing and Virgin trialled the biofuel in a joint operation – the biofuel itself was derived from coconuts gown in the Philippines and babassu palm oil. Babassu palms grow wild in Brazil and the fuel derived from these trees is therefore sometimes deemed more ‘eco friendly’ than other biofuel resources.  Read more... (245 words, estimated 59 secs reading time)

Hybrid and electric vehicles are gaining in popularity and are becoming a symbol for the environmentally conscious consumer. However it isn’t all good – blind people have started to criticise the technology.

The problem is that at low speeds, electric and hybrid cars make virtually no noise. This means that they pose a hazard to blind people who rely on their ears to determine when a road is clear of traffic and therefore safe to cross.  Read more... (369 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Hydrogen power actually makes a lot more sense for trains than it does for cars – no need to add hydrogen pumps to gas filling stations and smaller distribution networks needed (only certain train depots need to be retrofitted and have hydrogen deliveries).

So it makes sense to look at hydrogen power for trains, and this is precisely what the Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty has suggested. It has been reported that he has already been in talks with Bombardier, a train manufacturer, to build a hydrogen train. It is envisaged that a new line will be built between Montreal and Toronto. McGuinty is hoping the first train will be in service by 2010.  Read more... (239 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Hoping to match it’s success with hybrid cars, Japan is bringing hybrid trains to the world. This week, the first diesel-electric hybrid train is being put into commercial service, taking regular passengers on a short mountain route. “It’s part of our efforts to be green,” Yasuaki Kikuchi, a spokesman for the East Japan Railway Company explained.

Compared to cars, trains are actually a fairly green option and give out relatively few carbon emissions. However, reducing emissions is always a good thing and the East Japan Railway Company are not the only ones looking at hybrid power – Amtrak in America and Deustche Bahn AG in Germany are both said to be investigating the possibilities of hybrid trains.  Read more... (408 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Finally – a green car which isn’t boring! Researchers at Warwick University in the UK have unveiled their new one-seater racing car. Dubbed the ‘Eco One’, it is one of the greenest, most eco-friendly cars around:

- The tyres are made partly from potato starch, chosen because it improves fuel economy be producing less friction on the road.
- The bodywork is made from pulped hemp injected with resin from rape seed oil
- The brake pads are made from cashew nuts – the shells are ground and blended to make a resin
- The fuel is a biofuel made from fermented wheat and sugar beet
- The oil is uses is plant-based.  Read more... (284 words, 1 image, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

Scientists have found a way of turning plant sugars into a fuel which is just as powerful as petrol. Researchers have found that fructose, the sugar that gives fruit such as apples and oranges their sweetness, can be converted into a fuel that can be burned to release energy.

In recent times, scientists have been looking for a substance that does not rely on crude oil as the source, aiming for a replacement based on plant matter which is more environmentally friendly. And it seems that this wish has come true. The researchers have discovered a process for turning fructose into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). This is a liquid fuel which has as much energy as petrol, and 40% more than ethanol.  Read more... (238 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Honda are looking to become the first Japanese manufacturer to produce passenger vehicles with low-pollution, fuel-efficient diesel engines according to a report. They are hoping to release these new vehicles into Japan and North America within the next few years.

The planned vehicles are meant to emit 20% less carbon dioxide than their petrol-powered equivalents and they will have substantially less emissions than other current diesel powered cars.

Honda are not the only ones looking towards a greener future -Toyota are already working on developing their current hybrid technology for their next generation cars, and Nissan are also looking to enter the green car market.  Read more... (110 words, estimated 26 secs reading time)