This week: Bradford on Avon going for carbon neutrality! Plus... Offshore wind could power every UK home, green banks, no tanks and Shell over a barrel...

BRADFORD ON AVON AIMING TO BE CARBON NEUTRAL
Bradford on Avon’s climate action group, Climate Change Bradford on Avon, is working on an ambitious plan to commit BoA to working towards becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The group is currently inviting the town’s people and organisations to join them in developing a declaration and plan of action. There'll be a grand signing in December to coincide with the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen. You may not live in the town, but their online survey reveals the scale of their thinking...
http://climatefriendlybradfordonavon.co.uk

NEW SAINSBURYS “THREATENS MOORLAND ROAD SHOPS”
Sainsburys is looking at taking over the old Woolworth store on Moorland road. The comments at the foot of the Chronicle story range from welcoming cheaper competition to despair at a Bath “sponsored by Tesco Express and Sainsburys Local".
http://tinyurl.com/try-something-old

GREEN CLEANER
Green Bath News has leaned of the newly established Green Cleaning Company, which offers domestic cleaning in Bath and
 the surrounding area from £9.50 per hour, eschewing harsh chemicals in favour of “environmentally friendly and natural ways of cleaning”
. If you need a cleaner, that does sound fair enough. Anyone
 interested should call Annabel Wynne on 07917 125378.

POLITICIANS MAKE CASE AHEAD OF BRT MEETING
The planned Bus Rapid Transit comes before planning councillors next Wednesday. Perhaps the scheme would have more support if it had a less rubbish name.
http://tinyurl.com/crunch-meeting

BROWN’S £60 BILLION PLAN TO BREAK CLIMATE DEADLOCK
News from further afield. Gordon Brown is attempting to break the deadlock in the climate talks by proposing a £60 billion international fund to help developing nations adapt. Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace: “At last a G8 leader is talking about the right order of magnitude, billions instead of millions.” Go Gordon.
http://tinyurl.com/60bn-plan

MORE OFFSHORE WIND FARMS COULD POWER EVERY BRITISH HOME
A strategic environmental assessment carried out for the Government has reported that a further 25 gigawatt expansion on top of the 8 gigawatts already built or planned could also provide the UK with 700,000 new jobs and £8 billion in annual revenue.
http://tinyurl.com/the-breeze-knees

ROYAL BANK OF SUSTAINABILITY?
The now largely publicly owned Royal Bank of Scotland should be transformed into 'bank of sustainability' with a brief to back renewable energy, improve public transport and housing, says the Sustainable Development Commission, the Government's independent watchdog on sustainable development. Bring it on!
http://tinyurl.com/green-banking

US CLIMATE BILL PASSED
Though after all the horse trading, compromises, gifts and concessions, it’s somewhat watered down....
http://tinyurl.com/bill-passes

NUCLEAR TRYING TO ‘MUSCLE IN’ ON RENEWABLE AGENCY
France, a major user and exporter of nuclear technologies, has been accused of trying to steer the International Renewable Energy Agency, the new intergovernmental organisation for promoting the adoption of renewable energy, towards promoting atomic power.
http://tinyurl.com/atomic-battle

BIOFUELS COULD CLEANSE CHERNOBYL BADLANDS
Land contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl disaster could be cleaned up by growing biofuel crops that suck contaminants out of the ground. But can this be safe?
http://tinyurl.com/biofuel-treatment

WOODLAND BIRD POPULATION DECIMATED
Bird census data gathered between 1967 and 1999 has revealed that changes in winter habitats has caused a massive collapse in woodland bird numbers. The nightingale, whose population fell by 95 per cent over the study period, is the biggest victim...
http://tinyurl.com/birds-in-trouble

GREENWASH OF THE WEEK
A new report by Friends of the Earth International has condemned arch-greenwashers Shell over its expanding fossil fuel investment and continued poisonous gas flaring in Nigeria and for dragging its feet in carbon reduction talks. Paul de Clerck of FoE International: “Shell attempts to paint itself as a sustainable company when in reality it is the dirtiest oil producer of all.”
http://www.foeeurope.org
Meanwhile, a separate report by Amnesty International has said Shell’s oil operation in Nigeria has created a “human rights tragedy” by depriving tens of millions of people of their basic rights to safe food and clean water.
http://tinyurl.com/amnesty-anger

GREEN INVENTION OF THE WEEK
We’ve featured kite turbines before but these ones, tapping into high- jet streams that apparently hold roughly 100 times more energy than all the electricity being consumed on Earth, fly so high that cruising airliners would have to steer around them...
http://tinyurl.com/jet-stream-energy

NINETY-NINE PER CENT OF EARTH MAPPED
The first pictures from the Global Digital Elevation Model, created using nearly 1.3 million images collected by a Japanese camera on board Nasa's Terra spacecraft, have been released.
http://tinyurl.com/earth-shots

TURBINES NOT TANKS
We should be spending tens of billions a year to prevent climate ­breakdown, but how? Mmm. Defense snaffles 12 per sent of state spending – a bigger budget than any department has except health and schools. Of the £38bn the MoD spends every year, almost all of it is wasted, George Monbiot suggests...
http://tinyurl.com/tanks-into-turbines

This week's Green Digest was compiled by Gideon Kibblewhite. Let Gideon know if you've seen a story you think he should cover. This digest appears every Tuesday, except when it's a bit late. To subscribe visit greenbath.org/og, create a user id if you don't already have one and subscribe to Bath Green News.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

greenbath.org is sponsored by Ace Energy, your local renewable energy experts. Call 01225 729005 to find out how you could cut your carbon footprint and save money.

This week: Bath’s new Cycling Tsar, Sizewell’s dirty laundry, 40C summers, NIFYs and a greenwashing palm oil company...

HIGH COURT HALTS SPATIAL STRATEGY
The Government has been forced to put the South West Regional Spatial Strategy, which plans for up to 21,300 new homes in B&NES, on hold after the High Court ruled that its equivalent plans for the East of England failed to meet EU environmental planning regulations.
http://tinyurl.com/homes-on-hold

NEW CYCLING TSAR WANTS BATH TO GO DUTCH
B&NES has a new Cycling Champion – and Cllr Roger Symond wants us to “aspire to the cycling culture of our twin city of Alkmaar in the Netherlands”. That would indeed be great, so let’s hope he can get some real backing. For more about Cllr Symonds’ “Plan of Action”, plus details about how to make your views known to him, visit the Council website here...
http://tinyurl.com/cycling-champion

INTEREST FREE LOANS FROM CARBON TRUST
The Carbon Trust is offering small and medium-sized businesses free loans to upgrade to more energy-efficient equipment. Loans can be repaid over a period of up to four years, and the Trust says that many of their borrowers have found that their energy savings more than cover their repayments. Call 0800 085 2005 for details about the sorts of equipment that qualifies and for information about eligibility. Further details online here:
http://tinyurl.com/energy-saving-loans

TfL CHIEF TALK TO TRANSITION
Commissioner of Transport for London and chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport Peter Hendy is giving a talk to Transition Bath on Wednesday 24 June from 8pm at Widcombe Social Club. Should be interesting – he’ll be talking buses and about the powers available to local government to encourage people onto public transport.

40C SUMMERS ON THE WAY
And now the weather. Britain will soon face fearsome heat waves during summer, when rainfall could drop by between 11 and 27 per cent, meaning drought. Winter rainfall is set to rise by between 11 and 23 per cent, meaning floods. Crikey.
http://tinyurl.com/talk-about-weather

ELECTRIC CARS FACE DRIVING TEST
The Technology Strategy Board, the body that advises the Government on the exploitation of new technologies, is launching a £25 million test of the latest generation of electric cars on Britain’s roads to discover “what works and what doesn’t”.
http://tinyurl.com/electric-meter

AUSTRALIA IN POLITICAL TURMOIL OVER EMISSIONS MEASURES
Kevin Rudd, Labour prime minister of massively coal-dependent Australia, is facing stiff opposition from Conservatives over his ambitious domestic emissions trading scheme. The country now faces an early election with climate change the central issue.
http://tinyurl.com/oz-climate-row

DAVID MITCHELL BLASTS “NIMFYs”...
“In the face of environmental disaster, when councils are at last prioritising recycling in a way most scientists would describe as "much, much, much, much, much too slowly", people are moaning about ugly bins rather than grasping a fairly simple opportunity to do their bit,” the comedian rages in his Guardian column.
http://tinyurl.com/rubbish-over-rights

URANIUM RUSH
The worldwide rush to nuclear has caused a stampede to secure uranium reserves.
http://tinyurl.com/uranium-rush

SIZEWELL LEAK AVERTED BY DIRTY LAUNDRY
Meanwhile, a report has revealed how a serious nuclear leak at Sizewell was only averted by a chance decision to wash some dirty clothes. What!
http://tinyurl.com/brown-pants

BRITS FLYING LESS BECAUSE OF RECESSION
Proving that too much economic activity really is bad for us.
http://tinyurl.com/flights-down

FAST TRAINS CAN END PLANES, SAYS NEW MINISTER
The new transport secretary, Lord Adonis, says a 200mph high-speed rail network in Britain will spell the end for domestic flights and short flights to Europe. The Government will make a decision on a link from London to Glasgow in 2010. But will they tax air fuel? Without that it's hard to understand the economics of Lord A's prediction.
http://tinyurl.com/age-of-the-train

GREENWASH OF THE WEEK
Astra Agro, a subsidiary of British company Jardine, claims that a "concern for the environment" is "an integral part of all the company's activities". In fact, says the Independent, it is destroying lowland forest in Indonesia, the habitat of the last remaining orang-utans, to grow palm oil.
‘Sustainability’ page on Astra Agro website:
http://tinyurl.com/agro-wash
Story:
http://tinyurl.com/orangutans-plight

GREEN INVENTION OF THE WEEK
Researchers at the University of Leeds have developed a new washing machine that uses plastic beads to help wash a full load with just one cup of water. Is that greenwashing?
http://tinyurl.com/greener-whites

This week's Green Digest was compiled by Gideon Kibblewhite. Let Gideon know if you've seen a story you think he should cover. This digest appears every Tuesday, except when it's a bit late. To subscribe visit greenbath.org/og, create a user id if you don't already have one and subscribe to Bath Green News.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

greenbath.org is sponsored by Ace Energy, your local renewable energy experts. Call 01225 729005 to find out how you could cut your carbon footprint and save money.

This week: Green Bath News at the Meadows meeting, Bonn talks latest, a giant fusion reactor, a HUGE African solar energy plant for Europe, hydrogen cars and much, much (well, a little bit) more...

REBEL TORIES ATTEND MEADOWS MEETING
The five councillors (including two Conservatives) who put their names to a letter complaining that they were "pressurised, encouraged or coerced” into voting yes to for the Bathampton park & ride scheme were at the Save the Meadows meeting last night, where campaign leaders made a powerful case against the plan. Green Bath News was also at the meeting and leaned that, apart from spoiling green belt landscape without proper consultation, while doing nothing to reduce traffic, it’s a really good idea. A detailed account of the meeting, which vowed to fight the proposals all the way, will up on the campaign’s website soon. Up the meadows!
Campaign website:
http://savebathamptonmeadows.org.uk
Chronicle report:
http://tinyurl.com/protest-meeting
“Coercion” story:
http://tinyurl.com/vote-row

TWO TUNNELS OPEN DAY
The Two Tunnels people are opening Combe Down Tunnel to guided walks on the Saturday 27 June between 10am and 5pm. Not surprisingly, places are going fast. Visit the website for details.
http://www.twotunnels.org.uk

GREEN ADVISE FOR BUSINESSES
Business Link South West, a self-help website for small and medium sized businesses, has an excellent page devoted to helping organisations green themselves up. It offers detailed advice on such issues as complying with environmental legislation, writing an environmental policy, setting up management systems, producing environmental reports and using resources more efficiently. The link is below.
http://tinyurl.com/green-i-up

RECYCLE WEEK...
Next week is national Recycle Week, during which we are asked to pledge to start recycling things we normally chuck in the bin. To raise awareness of just how much can be recycled, the Council is asking us pledge at www.recyclenow.com to recycle more electrical stuff. Kettles, toasters, hairdryers, irons, cameras and phones are currently B&NES’s least recycled electrical items. During the week, Recycle Now will send information to people who sign-up about the impact pledges have had across the country.
http://tinyurl.com/recycle-your-electrics

SOLAR EUROPE A STEP CLOSER
News from Further afield. A consortium of German companies is planning an astonishing £338bn project that would see could see Europe powered by North African solar energy within a decade.
http://tinyurl.com/sun-wower

LITTLE PROGRESS AT CLIMATE TALKS
The latest round of emissions negotiations have broken up in something like abject failure. "The only thing that they have agreed on in Bonn is that they fundamentally disagree on all issues," concluded an exasperated Regine Guenther, head of WWF Germany.
http://tinyurl.com/talk-zzzz

When we talk of new emissions cuts, from what baseline year do we measure them? That, unfortunately, has been the subject of much argument.
http://tinyurl.com/for-goodness-sake

GLACIERS WILL MELT INTO LAKES WHICH WILL DRY UP
Underlining what is at stake at the talks, following studies in China, scientists are predicting that glacial regions around the world will suffer severe flooding – and then drought, once the ice has melted completely away...
http://tinyurl.com/future-on-ice

CLIMATE RADIO
Climate Outreach Information Network and journalist Phil England have teamed up to produce an interesting website called Climate Radio, where you can download a growing series of informed 30-minute programmes on climate change. Climate Radio has so far covered issue ranging from biofuels to the ongoing post-Kyoto negotiations, and talked to many interesting experts.
http://tinyurl.com/climate-radio

SPIRALLING COSTS HIT FUSION REACTOR
It will be the size of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and weighs the same as a battleship - 36,000 tonnes of metal and instrumentation – but Iter, the experimental nuclear fusion reactor funded by China, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US, is being hit by rising costs and delays. Report and film from the BBC...
http://tinyurl.com/fusion-tower

WIND OPPONENTS JOIN FORCES
Planning permission for new wind farms could prove even trickier to secure in future, following the launch of an alliance of more than 30 anti-wind farm groups promising a "grass-roots revolt" against "ruthless" wind farm developers.
http://tinyurl.com/wind-stink

GREENWASH OF THE WEEK
The Chevron advert below talks of using resources “respectfully”. Meanwhile, the oil giant is currently facing the most expensive environmental lawsuit in history after dumping more than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, leaving local people suffering a wave of cancers, miscarriages and birth defects.
http://tinyurl.com/chevron-advert
Campaign for Justice in Ecuador:
http://chevrontoxico.com

GREEN INVENTION OF THE WEEK
The race to get the first mass-produced hydrogen car on the roads is underway in earnest. Honda says its FCX Clarity will enter mass production in 2018, but thanks to its basic design, former racing driver Hugo Speers hopes to get his Riversimple Urban Car into mass production by 2013.
http://tinyurl.com/h2-race

ALLOTMENTS THE NEW ROCK AND ROLL
Well almost. There are now 30 applicants for every money saving plot – and there’s a 40-year waiting list in one London borough. More allotments for the people!
http://tinyurl.com/growing-pain

This week's Green Digest was compiled by Gideon Kibblewhite. Let Gideon know if you've seen a story you think he should cover. This digest appears every Tuesday, except when it's a bit late. To subscribe visit greenbath.org/og, create a user id if you don't already have one and subscribe to Bath Green News.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

greenbath.org is sponsored by Ace Energy, your local renewable energy experts. Call 01225 729005 to find out how you could cut your carbon footprint and save money.

SAVE THE MEADOWS PUBLIC MEETING
The Save the Meadows Campaign group are organising a public meeting to discuss the Council's decision to concrete over Bathampton Meadows for a carpark. There will be representatives from a range of organisations present who are fighting to stop the application from being approved. All are welcome. It takes place 7.30pm-9.30pm next Wednesday, 17 June at Batheaston Methodist Hall in Northend (just past Wayfield Gardens, on the right). In the meantime, anyone can offfically object to the plans by going to http://www.savebathamptonmeadows.org.uk.

ELECTRIC METERS FROM TRANSITION
Transition Bath’s Energy Group are running a project to help people reduce their electricity consumption. They have purchased a number of monitoring meters that are available to borrow for a small contribution to Transition Bath. To find out more, visit http://www.transitionbath.org.uk/projects.html. Meanwhile, as a result of the recent Energy Group talk by Ian Walker of CaSa Architects on eco refurbishment, a group of people are tackling their own homes together. More at http://www.transitionbath.org.uk.

IT’S JAM BUSTING JUNE AGAIN!
This year Jam Busting June, during which the Council tries to get lots of filthy cars off the roads, coincides with Bike Week, which tries to get us on our bikes. There are a number of cycling events, including a Bristol-Bath Cycle Path Family Cycle 'Dino Tour', in the area. For more details, click on the links below...
http://tinyurl.com/on-your-bikes
http://www.jambustingjune.com

GET KNIITTING
This Saturday, 15 June, in Green Park Station foyer, knitters are clicking their needles for World Wide Knit in Public Day. Go along and join in, especially if you’re a bloke with hands like a bunch of bananas.

EURO ELECTIONS
News from further afield. Gaining 10 more seats in the European parliament, European Green parties enjoyed wildly fluctuating fortunes in last week’s elections.
http://tinyurl.com/euro-wins

GREEN GROUPS OFFER MOCK CLIMATE TREATY
As the vital post-Kyoto discussions go on, green groups including WWF and Greenpeace have published a mock treaty which binds newly industrialised countries like South Korea and Saudi Arabia to tough emissions targets.
http://tinyurl.com/job-done

CONSERVATION COULD EARN MORE MONEY THAN CASH CROPS
A proposed scheme that would pay countries to leave their rainforests alone could generate more income than palm oil production.
http://tinyurl.com/cash-for-trees

COW METHANE EXPERIMENT
In a bid to stop them belching the potent greenhouse gas methane, cows at 15 Vermont farms are being fed grain feed plants like alfalfa and flaxseed – which unlike corn or soy, mimic grasses the animals evolved to eat long ago.
http://tinyurl.com/bovine-diet

GREENING OF THE ARCTIC
Will the shrubs and forests that will spread across a warming Arctic offset the release of the permafrost's rising carbon? The answer, say scientists, is not for long...
http://tinyurl.com/carbon-fate

SHELL PAY OUT OVER SARO-WIWA MURDER
Shell has shelled out $15.5m (£9.6m) to settle a lawsuit alleging that Shell conspired with the military government of Nigeria to capture and hang writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria.
http://tinyurl.com/shell-settle

BURGER KING ROW
A Memphis-based company which operates 40 Burger King bars has refused to take down roadside signs proclaiming "global warming is baloney”...
http://tinyurl.com/burger-bother

GREENWASH OF THE WEEK
In 2006, the president of Formula 1's governing body, Max Mosley, promised a "green overhaul" for the sport. Where is it?
http://tinyurl.com/f1-fumes

GREEN INVENTION OF THE WEEK
The world's first floating wind turbine has been launched, raising the possibility of wind farms far out to sea.
http://tinyurl.com/ocean-turbines

GREENING THE DEVELOPING WORLD
Interesting piece in the New York Times about climate change and the developing world and the possibilities of making mico-generation in poorer countries a priority.
http://tinyurl.com/poor-deal

This week's Green Digest was compiled by Gideon Kibblewhite. Let Gideon know if you've seen a story you think he should cover. This digest appears every Tuesday, except when it's a bit late. To subscribe visit greenbath.org/og, create a user id if you don't already have one and subscribe to Bath Green News.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

greenbath.org is sponsored by Ace Energy, your local renewable energy experts. Call 01225 729005 to find out how you could cut your carbon footprint and save money.

This week: Regional spatial strategy under spotlight at Bath conference, supermarkets ducking their responsibilities, the mathematics of meths, hot rocks in Cornwall and much more...

WAITROSE BATH DELIVERING BY ELECTRIC BIKE!
The Bath branch of Waitrose has begun trialling the supermarket’s new fleet of electric delivery bicycles. You certainly can’t knock that. Now all we need is streets that are safe to cycle on!

BRISTOL FESTIVAL OF NATURE
This weekend Bristol’s Harbourside hosts the annual Bristol Festival of Nature. A flock of environmental and conservation organisations will be at the event putting on animal encounters, exhibitions, films, talks and workshops.
http://www.festivalofnature.org

BATH DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
Bath Preservation Trust is organising a one-day conference at the Countess of Huntington's Chapel on the Paragon on Friday 12 June on the sustainability of the Government’s house building strategy. Speakers include Keith Bradley of Bath architects Feilden Clegg Bradley, creators of an award-winning housing scheme in Cambridge. More details here...
http://tinyurl.com/creating-new-communities

PASSIVHAUS TALK
Transition Bath are hosting a talk by architect Alex Towler at United Reform Church Halls (Grove Street entrance) on Monday 6 July at 7.30pm about Passivhaus buildings, which use sun, insulation, glazing and heat exchange systems to warm and cool them at minimal energy cost. Entrance a mere £2.

WORLD LEADERS KEEP TALKING FOR CLIMATE DEAL
News from further afield. The pressure mounting, world leaders could meet for an unprecedented three summits this year in their search for a tough Kyoto replacement.
http://tinyurl.com/mounting-pressure

ILLEGAL BEEF AND LEATHER BEING SOLD IN BRITAIN
Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons and Marks and Spencer are selling ready meals, pies and other products containing beef raised on illegally cleared rain forest. Meanwhoile, Gucci, Prada, Nike and Clarks Shoes are buying illegal leather...
http://tinyurl.com/stolen-woods

WORLD’S INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLES OVERTAKES FOSSIL FUELS  
China, India and other developing countries are fast catching up on the West in switching to greener energy production.
http://tinyurl.com/green-futures

PENTAGON POSTS NUCLEAR “TREASURE MAP FOR TERRORISTS”
Details of US nuclear sites, including maps showing the location of fuel for nuclear weapons, have been accidently posted on the internet.
http://tinyurl.com/nuclear-leak

WARMING KILLING 300,000 A YEAR
Climate change is already causing heatwaves, floods and forest fires that are causing hundreds of thousands of deaths a year, according to the first comprehensive study of the human impact of global warming.
http://tinyurl.com/human-cost

“METHS IS BEST”
The methanol economy, say its supporters, could be with us much sooner than the hydrogen one.
http://tinyurl.com/methamatics

HOT ROCK GAMBLE IN CORNWALL
Work has begun on an expiremental geothermal energy plant to power the Eden Project in Cornwall and its nearby community. The plan is to extract heat from hot dry rocks at a depth of 3.5 kilometres – but some similar projects elsewhere have resulted in spectacular disasters.
http://tinyurl.com/trouble-in-eden

GREENWASH OF THE WEEK
Scottish Power has proudly unveiled to the media a carbon “capture and storage” system for its coal plant at Longannet near Fife. The energy company neglected to mention, however, that the carbon captured will be released into the atmosphere...
http://tinyurl.com/carbon-stink

GREEN INVENTION OF THE WEEK
LED lights are more than twice as efficient as compact fluorescent bulbs, currently the standard for greener lighting. And they're compatible with dimmer switches, contain no mercury and virtually last forever.
http://tinyurl.com/leading-light

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES THREATENED BY WARMING
Climate change is endangering our past as well as our future...
http://tinyurl.com/killing-time

This week's Green Digest was compiled by Gideon Kibblewhite.  Let Gideon know if you've seen a story you think he should cover. This digest appears every Tuesday, except when it's a bit late. To subscribe visit greenbath.org/og, create a user id if you don't already have one and subscribe to Bath Green News.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

greenbath.org is sponsored by Ace Energy, your local renewable energy experts. Call 01225 729005 to find out how you could cut your carbon footprint and save money.