In central London on the evening of Tuesday 27th October, 8 green leaders will present their view on the future of their industry. To those in the know, it’s quite a star-studded occasion. Green Tomato Cars will give their view on the future of sustainable transport, Ed Gillespie from Futerra will speak about ethical communication and consumer attitudes, and Terra Plana will comment on how its ethical footwear will evolve. Sam Kimmins, Sustainability Adviser at Forum for the Future, will give his take on the future of sustainable construction. Other presentations will be from Germination (a cutting-edge event company furthering social progress), innovative web community Project Dirt, The Hub (a shared workspace concept for social entrepreneurs) and sustainable lifestyle magazine Sublime.

Each of the 8 presentations will last no more than 8 minutes, and to keep things highly visual, no more than 5 words per slide are allowed. It means that 80% of the ideas in a normal presentation can be communicated in 20% of the time. The evening will be held at St Giles Cripplegate Church in Barbican, EC2. Further adding to the creative spirit, guests are invited to help reduce waste and bring their own reusable vessels for wine.

Inspiration and insight won’t just come from the presenting businesses either. Up to 250 keen, green thinkers and doers are expected to attend, so there’ll be food for thought in the conversations and networking, too.

Want to know more and book your ticket? Here are the details you need to know:

When: Tuesday 27th October
Start time: 6.30pm for a 7pm start (drinks will be available – you’re encouraged to bring your own cup for extra green points!)
Where: St Giles Cripplegate Church, Barbican, London, EC2Y 8DA (for map click here)

Tickets are limited, costing £9.50 in advance or £15 on the door.

You can buy your ticket here: http://futureofgreen.eventbrite.com

To find out more, click on http://www.insider-worldwide.com/trend-evening-green-futures/

Are you one of those people who would prefer not to have a car but aren’t quite sure how life would work without one? Or maybe you’re just dreaming of ways to be greener but don’t have a clue how you can change the way you live? I have a couple of copies of “Do Humans Dream of Electric Cars?” to give away to two EcoStreet readers who would like to know more about liberating themselves from our car culture. To stand a chance of winning a copy, please leave a comment about your favourite form of transport. The draw will take place on the 31st of July 2009. Winners will be contacted by email.

Do Humans Dream of Electric Cars? is a fun book using lively illustrations and some pretty cool art to demonstrate the many alternatives to the car as a form of transportation. There are plenty of positive ideas for individuals, organisations and communities at large to lessen their impact on our planet. The book has a UK bias, but some of the statistics aside, it is as relevant to the South Africa driver as it is to the British, even more so now that we’re going to be getting some pretty fantastic new public transport in the form of the BRT.

Do Humans Dream of Electric Cars? is published by award winning green publisher Alistair Sawday in association with Sustrans, the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity.

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But even though I am almost 13,000 kilometres from where the Bike to Work action has been happening this week, I couldn’t help but get caught up in the thrill of hitting the road on my bicycle, wind in my hair, mud spatter on my face (it’s winter here). Here are some of the online highlights of the week.

Two cycling related videos that rock:

Puncturekit from woody on Vimeo.

Blog posts to get you on your bike:

Green blogger Chris Baskind wrote some great Bike to Work material this past week at his Lighter Footstep blog.
But won’t I stink if I ride my bike to work
Twelve Reasons to Start Using a Bicycle for Transportation
A Quick Primer on How to Ride Your Bike to Work

Treehugger explains How (not) to lock your bike to ensure you still have one for the way home.

Cape Town Daily Photo featured a cool cycling photo depicting Biking and Cycling around Cape Town during Bike to Work Week, although I think it was coincidence.

Some cool cycling accessories from around the world:

London Cycle Chic – for London ladies who like to look good while cycling, Caz is the epitome of stylishness on a bike.

Cicle – check out their shop for some groovy bicycle related T-shirts, this one especially.

For parents, the awesome TAGA baby stroller that converts into a baby transporting trike:

And finally

For Cape Town’s southern suburb cyclists who need a bit of encouragement to get cycling to work, how about joining one of the Critical Mass rides every last Friday of the month from the Baxter Theatre at 06:45, meeting up with another group at the CTICC at 07:15.

In the UK Bike Week runs from the 13th to the 21st of June 2009.

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Hats off to South Africa’s Optimal Energy for developing an electric car with a range that can cope with the distances between towns here. Let’s face it, the 190km that the Tata Indica electric car can stretch to wouldn’t get you from Cape Town to Hermanus for a whale watching weekend. With the Joule on the other hand, you could make it all the way to Oudtshoorn for the KKNK. Of course, you could make the same distance with the Tesla Roadster, but that would cost you a whole lot more, and need to be imported (import duty, massive carbon footprint, etc.).

So the Joule is pretty cool, it’s looks aren’t bad at all, and it is going to manufactured as a six-seater, so it’s perfect for all the rugby/cricket/hockey moms to be driving around town. Best of all, it will take your carbon footprint right down and reduce the pollution that you’re creating for all those little kiddies (and us grown-ups) to breathe in while they’re going about their daily school run. But that doesn’t solve the challenge of how you’re going to get from Cape Town to Splashy Fen without overnighting a couple of times to charge up your car.

There is a solution in the pipeline thanks to EV superhero Shai Agassi and his Silicon Valley start-up Better Place. It’s a prototype at the moment, and in Japan, but perhaps one day we’ll see our cities and towns dotted with battery swap stations like this one.

I think that we’re probably unlikely to see battery change stations in small Karoo towns anytime soon, but in the future, who knows.

Depending on affordability, I’d be interested in acquiring a Joule as our family car when they become available in 2012. In the meantime, I’ll be considering installing solar panels on the garage roof to keep it charged without relying on dirty electricity.

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Take a look:

[via: Inhabitat]

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When petrol prices peaked at around £1.30 a litre in 2008, more drivers became conscious about the expense associated with motoring. As a result many looked at more fuel efficient vehicles – the majority of which offer the added bonus of being much more environmentally friendly.

There are a number of different types of `green cars` on the market including:

Hybrid cars
Vehicles such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic IMA, combine traditional petrol power with an electric motor. They use an on-board battery and a fuel powered source to gain propulsion and recycle energy through a process called regenerative braking.

Electric cars
Charged at home and capable of running up to a certain mileage range. Current models such as the G-Wiz, NICE Mega City and Quiet Car 1 have limited range making them best suited to inner city driving. They are zero emission vehicles if the electricity comes from renewable sources because they don`t produce any harmful emissions of their own.

Fuel cell cars
A gas, normally hydrogen, combines with atmospheric oxygen in a fuel cell creating a reaction that converts into electric power used to power the vehicle. Early models include the Honda FCX Clarity.

How do you insure an eco friendly vehicle?

Generally, car insurance costs for green cars are high because their parts are more unusual and as such they can cost more to repair. However, as these vehicles become more popular car insurance companies are beginning to offer incentives to eco-friendly drivers on the realisation that they are often safer drivers too – for example, an eco-friendly motorist is unlikely to travel at the faster speeds that pump more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Incentives include:

• Percentage discounts if you drive a greener car or travel for a reduced mileage.
• Percentage of profits donated to green charities.
• Fitting a green box in your vehicle. Providers may fit a box in your car which effectively monitors your driving and offers feedback on the journeys you make including how to reduce carbon emissions and drive in a more eco-friendly manner.

Can car insurance help to reduce your environmental impact?

Several car insurance companies are attempting to tap into the green market by offering `carbon offsetting` schemes.

Carbon offsetting involves calculating your emissions and purchasing an equal (or a percentage of, depending on the agreement) number of `carbon credits`. These are carbon reduction projects around the world such as replenishing the rainforest or building wind farms.

The idea is that the project will remove an equivalent amount of carbon to the amount of carbon credits the insurer has to sell. So for example, if one carbon credit is the same as one tonne of carbon dioxide then if a wind farm prevents 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere it will have 10,000 carbon credits to sell.

Therefore, the impact of your driving – which for most is unavoidable – is effectively ‘wiped out’ by the fact that the insurer is cutting out carbon dioxide emissions with other projects.

Who is eco-friendly car insurance right for?

Some critics of eco-friendly insurance have labelled it a gimmick as policies can be expensive. The argument is that drivers may be better off finding the cheapest car insurance and putting the money they save towards an environmental project of their own choice.

If you don’t trust yourself to donate on your own, but want to ensure you do your bit for the environment, then shop around for car insurance from specialist insurers including The Green Car Insurance Company, ibuyeco and CIS.

Photo credit: BinaryApe

Car Crunch London will reward those who can prove that they have sold their car with a two year membership of a car club and free driving time, which usually costs from £3.95 an hour.

The aim of the scheme is to reduce the number of cars by 100,000 on London’s roads before the 2012 Olympics.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association said: “For the one in three Londoners who do without a car, and for the many drivers who seldom use their vehicle, sharing schemes make perfect environmental and financial sense.”

How car clubs and car sharing can save you money

Many people now have an informal arrangement with friends or neighbours, but Car Clubs offer a slick, money-saving and green alternative to private car ownership. If you drive less than 6,000 miles per year it is claimed a car club could save you up to £3,500 a year. Many people don’t notice the true costs of running a car, but when you add up the cost of tax, MOT, fuel, servicing, repairs, depreciation and parking you could be looking at over a hundred pounds a week. National car share offers free advice to those who are interested in car sharing.
How can I claim the free driving?

How and when can people apply? The offer is redeemable by sending in a scan of sections 4-8 of the car’s V5 certificate with sections 6 and 8 filled in, proving the sale of the car and applies to cars sold since December 1, 2008.

How much ‘free driving’ is included? Up to £250 worth. Cars start from £3.95 per hour to hire.

ETA

The Electric Car
The UK government are giving £100 million to the fledgling electric car industry to give them a boost into the mainstream. It’s also rumoured that Geoff Hoon is cooking up a scheme to put a fleet of electric cars and vans onto Britain’s streets, giving us the opportunity experience life with electric vehicles and to have our say about them.

Here’s why we need more electric cars on our roads:
0.01% of British cars are electric
No major manufacturers sell electric cars in the UK
20% of carbon emissions in the UK are from road transport

Photo credit: frankh

Flying on Algae Blooms
The Carbon Trust are giving £30 million in grants to people researching and developing biofuel from algae. Biofuel from algae is a preferable option to biofuel from food crops and doesn’t have the same impacts on people and environement because no arable land or fresh water is needed for growing the algae. KLM is currently trialling the fuel, and aims to have 7% of it’s fleet flying on algae derived fuel by 2010.

Read more green motoring news at the ETA. And if you drive a car, seriously consider signing up to the ETA for your roadside assistance. They have a great product at a good price, so there’s absolutely no reason to choose the less than green alternatives.

It sounds almost too good to be true, but true it is. The ETA has confirmed that fewer cards were sold this August in the UK than since the same month in 1966. The drop in sales is being felt particularly by bigger, luxury car manufacturers with Aston Martin sales down a whopping 67%, Land Rover sales down 58% and Jaguar sales down 41%. Car sales on the whole are down only 18.7% since last year, so it concludes that buyers of new cars are going for smaller, more efficient cars to save on fuel and car tax.

If you’re in the market for a car, you may want to consider keeping with this trend to be kinder on the environment and your wallet. The ETA have made it easier by publishing a list of the 10 best and 10 worst cars as far as efficiency and kindness to the environment goes.

10 best cars

1. Toyota Yaris
2. Honda Civic Hybrid
3. Toyota Prius
4. Renault Modus
5. Citroën C1
6. Peugeot 107
7. Toyota Aygo
8. Renault Clio
9. Toyota Auris
10. Suzuki Swift

10 worst cars

1. Dodge SRT10
2. Lamborghini Murcielago Model Year 2007
3. Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
4. Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
5. Bentley Motors Arnage (from 2007 model year)
6. Bentley Motors Azure (from 2007 model year)
7. Bentley Motors Continental (from 2007 model year)
8. Ferrari F430
9. Ferrari F430 Spider
10. Aston Martin Lagonda DBS

[via: ETA]

P.S. If you’re looking for more eco-friendly breakdown cover for your car, the ETA is the best option.

Photo credit: preciouskhyatt