Comments on: Scientific breakthrough or monumental PR stunt? http://jamesbarbour.org/blog/2006/08/25/scientific-breakthrough-or-monumental-pr-stunt/ Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:39:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: James http://jamesbarbour.org/blog/2006/08/25/scientific-breakthrough-or-monumental-pr-stunt/comment-page-1/#comment-116 James Wed, 30 Aug 2006 09:15:31 +0000 http://jamesbarbour.org/blog/2006/08/25/scientific-breakthrough-or-monumental-pr-stunt/#comment-116 And good questions all of them. Charging stations can be found in London if you're determined - lots of NCPs have them, for a start - although part of the attraction of the Vectrix for me is that my 36-mile round-trip commute should be well within its range. So provided I remember to plug it in at night I should be OK. As for working out consumption, BP have set the ball rolling with www.targetneutral.com, although this focusses solely on car emissions rather than on domestic consumption. You're right, though, the emissions of my Aprilia - and even my Volvo - pale into insignificance when you look at, for example, the exponential growth in air travel. Equally do my energy-saving lightbulbs really help save the world while we continue to light up Picadilly Circus 24 hours a day? Perhaps not, but the alternative - of doing nothing - is really no alternative at all. And good questions all of them. Charging stations can be found in London if you’re determined – lots of NCPs have them, for a start – although part of the attraction of the Vectrix for me is that my 36-mile round-trip commute should be well within its range. So provided I remember to plug it in at night I should be OK.

As for working out consumption, BP have set the ball rolling with http://www.targetneutral.com, although this focusses solely on car emissions rather than on domestic consumption.

You’re right, though, the emissions of my Aprilia – and even my Volvo – pale into insignificance when you look at, for example, the exponential growth in air travel.

Equally do my energy-saving lightbulbs really help save the world while we continue to light up Picadilly Circus 24 hours a day? Perhaps not, but the alternative – of doing nothing – is really no alternative at all.

]]> By: Jonathan Simpson Tarling http://jamesbarbour.org/blog/2006/08/25/scientific-breakthrough-or-monumental-pr-stunt/comment-page-1/#comment-115 Jonathan Simpson Tarling Wed, 30 Aug 2006 07:51:04 +0000 http://jamesbarbour.org/blog/2006/08/25/scientific-breakthrough-or-monumental-pr-stunt/#comment-115 Interested by the new Vectrix. Shame you have to travel to Florence to find a recharging station. Do you really think these electric vehicles will take off? Will it depend on the public or private sector, or both, getting behind the idea and providing drivers with enough recharging stations? Is there a good site out there helping a household work out its ecological footprint re: cars driven, energy consumption etc? My guess is your Aprilia is not all that much a villain in the first place. Sorry, more questions than answers, but perhaps not as unanswerable as other questions posed in the blog... Interested by the new Vectrix. Shame you have to travel to Florence to find a recharging station. Do you really think these electric vehicles will take off? Will it depend on the public or private sector, or both, getting behind the idea and providing drivers with enough recharging stations? Is there a good site out there helping a household work out its ecological footprint re: cars driven, energy consumption etc? My guess is your Aprilia is not all that much a villain in the first place. Sorry, more questions than answers, but perhaps not as unanswerable as other questions posed in the blog…

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