News
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
Watch Monty Don’s wonderful filming of Cuba’s market gardens on BBC 1 play again (it starts at minute 39) but be quick, it’ll only be there for a few more days. Many of you may know the details - Cuba lost its oil with fall of USSR, then had the Special Period - bit of a euphemism for everyone was very hungry for two years and all got a lot thinner, then they started to use every bit of space to grow food. The costs and practicalities of setting up these organoponicos has been studied by agricultural experts from around the world, and yes it’s really a success, and is sustainable. Redland’s edible gardens are already starting, and Sustainable Redland and the RCAS provide ideal networks for joining up to share knowledge and expertise.
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Thursday, January 24th, 2008
The Evening Post reported on proposals to put a guided bus along the cycle route. Transport research and planning is a complex business. The planners say there is room to put the guided bus whilst still keeping the cycling and walking. Sustrans, who built the cyclepath and have masses of experience in engineering these types of projects, say they have looked at the plans and disagree. They say that a rapid transit is the right idea but that this is not the right route, and they are happy to work with the planners to identify a better proposal. Evidence suggests that if the aim of the proposed bus is to reduce congestion from cars on the roads, then it needs to be on the roads from which the journeys will switch - not on the main cycle and walking commuting route thus displacing even less fossil fuel intensive modes of travel. There is an epetition on Ask Bristol (Bristol’s e-democracy website) if you would like to add your voice to those who feel that the cycle path is an important part of our Bristol transport system, as well as being a resource for keeping us fit and sane through recreational walking and cycling.
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Thursday, January 24th, 2008
A few years ago on Radio 4 you may have heard a fascinating interview with a designer who was working on computer controlled sails for cargo ships. Already the design is now being put into practice, with the maiden voyage of the ship Beluga which set sail from Germany for Venezuela on 22 January. This ship has a relatively small sail, but the long term plan is to develop large sails for huge tankers, with the possibility of cutting fuel consumption by 20 percent. The sail flies like a kite hundreds of meters above the ship.
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Thursday, January 17th, 2008
Transition Bristol is masterminding a virtual orchard for 2008 - thousands of fruit trees planted in gardens across Bristol. You can order your tree through the Transition Bristol online shop (use Redland if we are your nearest pick up point) and then your tree can be collected on Saturday 16 Feb at the Farmers Market. when you pick it up there will be people to explain how to plant it and care for it.
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Thursday, January 10th, 2008
We can expect much debate about the Government’s proposals for new nuclear power. Past programmes of nuclear power were predicted to make electricity so cheap it would not need metering, but proved to be astronomically expensive and the long term disposal of the waste has still not been dealt with. The BBC has some fairly comprehensive coverage.
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Thursday, January 10th, 2008
A report by Oxford academic Dieter Helm and colleagues shows that although it appears that the UK has reduced its CO2 emissions this is something of an illusion. The reason for the reported drop is the ‘dash to gas’, and the export of manufacturing to China. If our consumption is actually taken account of, including the embodied energy in products we import, and our use of aviation and shipping, then our actual climate change contribution may have increased by as much as 19% since 1990.
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Thursday, January 10th, 2008
At Bali an agreement was signed up to by many local government leaders. You can find out more about it here.
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Thursday, January 10th, 2008
A most unusual thing happened recently. A planning proposal last June for a redevelopment on Welsh Back included the felling of a mature London Plane Tree. Lots of people wrote to the planners pointing out the value of urban trees (they cleanse the air, cool the City, improve drainage and reduce flood risk, absorb CO2, provide a habitat for wildlife, and they are beautiful). This resulted in the developers withdrawing the application, saying that now that their attention had been drawn to the impact of the tree felling not just for local residents but also for the wider community they were going to reconsider their plans. They have now resubmitted their plans, with the tree remaining unharmed.
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Thursday, January 10th, 2008
Bristol City Council has allocated extra funds over three years to improve the local train service, mainly thanks to campaigning by Friends of Suburban Railways and many local residents. The promised changes have now been delayed to May 2008 but morning trains have had a slight increase in frequency from December. Please keep you MPs and Councillors aware of the value of this very popular service.
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Thursday, January 10th, 2008
Worries that the leveling off of rates of oil production will drive greater use of even more climate-damaging coal seem to be well founded. A major new open cast coal mine is planned in Wales, badged as environment-enhancing land reclamation. Here’s what George Monbiot had to say about it The New Coal Age.
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