The Facts

     Research suggests that three quarters of the 540,000 tonnes of green house gases caused by the UK music industry each year, come from the live sector.  That’s roughly a whopping 390,500 tonnes; with the main source of green house gases coming from combining audience and performer travel to the music venues in question.

     Every year the UK hosts a numerous amounts of festivals; from Glastonbury to Bestival to Download; so what are the festival organizers doing to help reduce green house gases?

 Midlands Music Festival

     Next month, Tamworth Castle will host the Midlands Music Festival; a two day musical extravaganza, featuring stars such as The Saturdays, Chipmunk and Alexandra Burke.  Event organizers, Just1Life have worked tirelessly with Tamworth Borough Council to make the festival as green as possible.

     Recycling will be actively encouraged over the weekend; as refuse containers will be placed next to concession stands and catering concessions have agreed to segregate the waste they produce.

     The main concession stands will supply food in eco-friendly packaging, with recycling points being set up for cans and plastic cups; all in a bid to reduce the amount of rubbish being sent to landfill sites by the 44,000 festival goers. 

     Noise levels are also being monitored by Tamworth Borough Council to make sure that there is minimal noise pollution to the surrounding areas.  However, most importantly, to help reduce green house gases; the Pleasure Grounds site where the festival is taking place; is located near to both railway and bus stations, allowing for many visitors to use public transport.

     Steve Johnson of the Midlands Music Festival says:

‘It’s been a challenge to make the Festival as ‘green’ as we can.  The entire venue has been designed around the natural contours of the Castle Grounds, taking the area’s flora and fauna into consideration.  We’ve also stipulated that energy-saving lighting and eco-friendly fuels like bio-diesel are used wherever possible.’

 ‘We’ve worked with the Council to make sure the event parking is as close as possible to the venue, meaning we don’t need anything like bus transfers to and from the site.  Along with the train and bus stations being so close, we’re hopeful that fuel and harmful emissions will be greatly reduced’.

 Tickets

The Midlands Music Festival takes place on 17^th and 18^th July 2010 at Tamworth Castle Pleasure Grounds, in aid of premature baby charity Just1Life.  Tickets can be purchased here.   (www.themidlandsmusicfestival.co.uk)

Map of Some of the Festivals which take Place in the UK

View Festivals In the UK in a larger map

 Experts are concerned that because the cars are so silent; pedestrians, especially those who are blind or partially-sighted, may unwittingly step out in front of the cars.

 It is with this in mind that researchers are looking into placing speakers into electric cars, which face the direction the car is travelling and alert pedestrians to the car’s presence.

 Noises

It’s thought the noises might be similar to those heard in Star Wars and other futuristic films.  Other options are said to be a loud car engine sound, so as not to confuse pedestrians.

 Whilst many see the idea as a good one; there are growing concerns that instead of reducing noise pollution whilst car makers have the chance; they will instead be adding to the noise pollution with unusual and unexpected sounds.

 Warwick University

Warwick University is currently trialling a number of sounds in conjunction with electric vehicle makers. Professor Paul Jennings, from the trial team at the University told Birmingham Recycled;

 ‘Electric cars are inherently quiet at low speeds.  This has great potential benefit in reducing levels of disturbance from traffic noise.  However sound also acts as a warning to other road users.  It signifies the presence of a vehicle, its speed, direction and acceleration’.

  ‘ The aim for our research is to learn how to design appropriate sounds that give sufficient warning, whilst having minimal detrimental impact on the environment.  We intend to take on this new challenge by adapting the tools and techniques for optimising interior vehicle sounds that have been developed with our partners’.

The vehicle, made up of 21 different cars runs on chip fat and vegetable oil, but still reaches speeds of 110mph.

Created by environmentalist Buzz Knapp-Fisher from Pembrokeshire, the ‘Womble Truck’ is named after the famous television series, in which the characters collected and recycled rubbish to make inventions.

The Sciency Bit

Made up of a Morris 1000, a Reliant Robin, a Vauxhall Viva and many other cars, the ‘Womble Truck’ only cost £250 to purchase.  Mr Knapp-Fisher began the vehicle’s environmental makeover by replacing the engine with a bio-diesel engine before converting the car to run entirely on chip fat.

Speaking of the vehicle, Mr Knapp-Fisher says, ‘I rigged up a system where I could run straight chip fat.  If the temperature is high enough then it will start and run entirely on chip fat’.

Future

The next step for Buzz Knapp-Fisher is to create an electric art car.  He’s already bought the battery and with the help of his non-profit company ‘Guardian Angels’, Mr Knapp-Fisher aims to prove to people that you don’t need oil to move.

Car-Puccino

Mr Knapp-Fisher’s ‘Womble Truck’ isn’t a far cry from the recent ‘Car-Puccino’ created by the BBC’s ‘Bang Goes the Theory’ team.  The team created a car that ran purely on used coffee grounds, which converted heat energy to hydrogen gas.

The ‘Car-Puccino’ travelled from London to Manchester and was due to stop off at Birmingham’s ThinkTank; however a breakdown on the M6 meant the ‘Car-Puccino’ missed it’s Birmingham date.

The study, compiled by Alan Tubb (and cited Michael Jefferson) of the Campaign to Limit Onshore Wind Development (CLOWD) revealed that more than 20 of the 250 British wind farms produce less than a fifth of their potential output power.

Efficiency

The ‘normal’ turbine efficiency of Britain’s onshore wind farms is around 25%-30%, but the Blythe Harbour site in Northumberland is only thought to be operating at 7.9% of its maximum capacity.  Even Britain’s largest wind farm in County Durham only achieves 18.7% output.

The report states that:

‘Entec/Nuon Uk Ltd. have claimed that the proposed development would serve the needs of 10,000 average households in terms of electricity requirements.

In fact the most optimistic realistic assessment is for 6,330 households’ requirements to be met.  The outcome could be as low as 4,924 households.’

Public Reaction

With the lack of power being produced by these wind farms; it’s no surprise that the public are beginning to lose faith in wind farms and question why beautiful landscapes are being destroyed for little in return.

John Staples, from Windermere in the Lake District said:

‘I’d hate to think that parts of the Lake District’s beauty were being destroyed to build wind farms.

Surely offshore wind farms make more sense than onshore ones; as the wind is stronger offshore.

I’d like to think that one day we’ll be living off renewable sources, but the latest statistics make me doubtful’.

Birmingham

Currently there aren’t any wind farms in Birmingham and  Birmingham City Council refused to comment on whether any wind farms were due to be built in or around the City.

They also refused to comment on whether they believed wind farms reached their full potential.

The device, created by UK based company Xeros Ltd, reduces it’s water consumption by utilising tiny nylon beads as cleaning agents.

The nylon beads attract stains away from clothes and when the washing cycle is complete; the beads drain away with the small amount of water ready to be reused.

The Beads

Stephen Burkinshaw, a Polymer Chemist at Leeds University, is the man responsible for the nylon beads. He spent 30 years working on the technology, starting with the dyeing of plastics and resulting in plastics ‘attracting’ dyes and stains.

When the beads reach 100% humidity, their structure changes, so the stains are ‘sucked’ into the centre of the beads and are not deposited back onto clothes.

The beads are also recyclable; so when they become full of stains and dirt, they are recycled into car dashboards for example. Eventually Xeros want to create technology inside the machine’s themselves for recycling the nylon beads.

Savings

Not only will the Xero’s ‘Waterless’ Washing Machine save water; it claims to save pounds, by reducing utility bills by 30%. Xeros Chief Executive Bill Westwater said:

‘The net saving in water, detergent and electricity and including the cost of beads, we calculate, is about a 30% saving for the user.’

In the UK, laundry is said to account for 15% of household water consumption, suggesting that if everyone in the UK converted to the new Xeros washing machine; the reduction in emissions, would be the same as removing 1.4 million cars off the roads.

Another saving that will be made through the Xeros washing machine; is that of dry cleaning bills, as the device is safe to wash ‘delicates’ in.

Future

Many companies are already interested in backing Xeros and helping with the funding of a consumer version of the machine; but the main problem now faced by Xeros is changing the public’s minds on laundry and how we wash our laundry. Speaking of this issue, Westwater said:

‘For millennia, people have been washing their clothes with water and a bit of detergent and suddenly we’re coming along and saying that most of that water can be replaced by these beads.

That’s a big leap in the consumer’s minds.’

The official reason for the microchip scheme is to show which house each wheelie bin belongs to, presumably in order to reduce wheelie bin theft.

However, privacy campaigners and members of the public are becoming concerned that the Government will use the microchips as a way of spying on waste consumption and recycling habits; resulting in ‘pay-as-you-throw’ taxes.

In the past year, the number of Councils using microchip technology in Wheelie Bins has increased to 68.

Big Brother Watch

Privacy campaigners, ‘Big Brother Watch’ have put together a report entitled ‘Lifting the Lid’, which shows which councils have introduced the scheme; why and the results.

Speaking of the microchip scheme, Dylan Sharpe, Campaign Director of Big Brother Watch has said,

‘In the past 12 months we have witnessed 26 councils install microchips in their residents’ bins, yet no council has dared to start charging for the amount we throw away.

With central government and the EU putting councils under pressure to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, it is only a matter of time before the majority of bins are microchipped and ‘pay-as-you-throw’ schemes become commonplace’.

Birmingham

The nearest area to Birmingham that is part of the microchip scheme is Tamworth, as Birmingham doesn’t even use wheelie bins.

When asked if Birmingham would ever use wheelie bins and if they would be chipped; Birmingham City Council refused to comment.

The aim is to make roads safer for all road users, particularly cyclists and pedestrians.

The 20mph speed restriction has already been trialled with great success in Portsmouth, Hull and parts of London, so it’s natural that Birmingham be the next city for the speed restrictions to take place in.

Driving at 20mph will allow traffic to flow more smoothly; resulting in less braking and gear changes. It will also attract more people to cycling and walking as the streets will be safer: consequentially leading to a decrease in CO2 emissions.

Even though Britain’s roads are considered to be some of the safest in Europe; a child pedestrian is three times more likely to die on Britain’s roads than in Italy and twice as likely as in France.

However, it’s been shown that when the speed limit is reduced to 20mph there is 70% drop in accidents to child pedestrians (Transport research Laboratory).

Speaking of the 20’s Plenty scheme, Joe Peacock from Birmingham Friends of the Earth said:

‘This is a great opportunity for Birmingham City Council to tackle two of the biggest problems facing us now; obesity and Climate Change.

If we can make the roads safer for people to walk and cycle they will exercise more and emit less CO2, so it’s a win-win situation.’

In a short time, Muath has achieved what many hope to achieve in their lifetime, his work even resulting in recycling sorting centres in Jiddah.

How did he do it?

Mauth explained to me the attitude to recycling in Jiddah, when he started his project in 2006:

‘It’s very negative; neither the Government nor the people seemed to care.

The people in power were only interested in self glorification and publicity and established recycling companies were all in it for profit: actually they ended up causing more damage than good’.

This attitude meant that Mauth realised he had to aim his scheme at young children so that they could in turn educate their parents.

A curriculum was created; which was based on a series of interactive workshops and aimed at 6 to 7 year olds. Workshop activities included: making fertiliser from organic food waste and creating a logbook of where things come from.

Mauth put the success of the workshops down to their subtle approach:

‘Global warming is not mentioned; we use phrases like ‘I’m not alone’ to describe sharing resources and really our agendas are quite hidden’.

Currently, the workshops are being trialled in 30 schools in Jiddah and if the trials prove to be successful then the curriculum will go national.

The Green Drinks meeting ended on a high as everybody contemplated recycling lessons being on the curriculum in Britain and the effects it would have.

The next Green Drinks session is on Tuesday 2^nd March at 6pm, at Locanta Restaurant.