It was on a summer's afternoon in 2005 that Paul Wimbush made his decision. He'd spent the day celebrating Lammas, the original Celtic harvest festival, with friends in a field in Pembrokeshire; as the sun began to fall, a group of them sat down to discuss the implications of a proposed local planning act known as Policy 52. If this neatly titled initiative were to get the go-ahead as hoped, there would ? for the first time since the introduction of the Town and Planning Act of 1947 ? be a piece of legislation in the UK to support the kind of "low-impact communities" that many believe could hold the answer to a number of very real environmental and social problems faced in Britain. "It was," says Wimbush, now 38, "simply too good an opportunity to be missed."
So, I'm told there are a couple of semi-important football matches taking place today. And a game involving ladies who are good at tennis. But we're not that interested, are we? The World Cup and Wimbledon may be their respective sport's grandest contests, but for real heroism, grit and ? let's face it ? controversy, we must turn to the Tour de France, which starts today in Rotterdam.
The increasing costs of energy as a result of green policies could hit the UK's manufacturing sector - just as the country needs industry to help boost the economy, a think-tank warned today.
More than 150 "green" buses are to come into service following £15 million of additional Government funding announced today.
General Electric and a solar technology specialist, Solarcentury, will today launch a scheme to help schools to invest in renewable energy.
Britain's biggest companies are forging ahead with attempts to make their businesses more sustainable despite the worst recession since the 1930s, new research has found.
The minister for Climate Change, Greg Barker, will today launch a consultation on the Government's strategy to boost energy self-sufficiency in communities. The public debate about microgeneration will look at ways to ensure the quality of generating technology and its installation, how to improve available products, and how to develop the microgeneration supply chain while providing more accessible advice.
The sustainable Development Commission is expected to be axed today to save money.
BAE systems has teamed up with the wave energy developer Aquamarine Power in an almost £1m project to produce more reliable alternative energy sources for the UK. BAE and Aquamarine put up £450,000, to match a grant from the Technology Strategy Board. The funding is to support the development of the commercial production of Aquamarine's Oyster wave energy converter.
Money will get you a lot of things, including a 60-ft catamaran built almost entirely out of recycled plastic bottles, held together with organic glue made from cashew nuts and sugar cane. But the joy of stepping on to dry land after navigating such a vessel on a gruelling 128-day journey across the Pacific is one of those things that money simply can't buy.
Boris Johnson's £140m scheme to bring bicycle hire to London is being delayed. Tourists and visitors to the capital will have to wait until the end of August before being able to use the new bikes, which will be available only to pre-registered members when the scheme is launched a week on Friday.
Shortly after 9am on Sunday, a new chapter will begin in European aviation history when flight ZA003 touches down in Hampshire and heralds the arrival of the much-anticipated ? and greatly-delayed ? Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the world's first airliner to be largely built from carbon fibre.
To the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, Paul McAuley is a hero who has helped them stand up to the legions of rapacious mining, oil and logging companies operating in their jungle homeland.
President Barack Obama, under pressure to spur job growth, said today that two solar energy companies will get nearly $2 billion in US loan guarantees to create as many as 5,000 green jobs.
Britain is on the brink of a freewheeling revolution. A bicycle boom is under way across the UK, with more and more people rediscovering the joy of two wheels rather than four. Sales of bikes have soared and cyclists are travelling further, according to latest figures. The rise of pedal power is poised to accelerate, as cities from Bristol to York invest millions of pounds in new cycling infrastructure.
|
