Goodbye to the quiet, pleasant suburb that once was Headington (Oxford). I had to laugh at the Oxford Mail’s puff piece of the time (4th January 2016) for the new Barton Park (Oxford) development and its “waterfront” villas. The only waterfront will be the expanded […]

Five days in the wild with Woodland Ways 11 September 2017. Just back from a five-day course in the wilds of Leicestershire run by Woodland Ways. They call it an Intermediate course. With my bones still aching, I’d call it pretty advanced. And although I enjoyed the course, I’m still […]

    Monday 19th June 2017. Today I received the latest air-quality bulletin from the Belgian Interregional Environment Agency, which supplies air-quality warnings that focus particularly on nitrogen dioxide, particulates and ozone. The warnings for the coming days go from poor, to very poor, to just plain ‘bad’. What is […]

Air pollution levels around the world have already disrupted much of nature – now they threaten life itself. And diesel cars are the culprit. My opinion …

Brussels, 03/03/2016. Those prized Burgundy or summer truffles apparently have something more than just the ability to add flavour to fine dishes – they can also resist radioactivity!. Swiss and German researchers have analysed Burgundy truffles collected across regions of central Europe, and found that unlike other fungi, they possess […]

Brussels, 02/03/2016. The European Parliament’s car-pollution inquiry committee (better known as Dieselgate), set up to investigate last year’s scandal on particulate pollution from cars, has just met for the first time. The committee is set to deliberate for 12 months. Its brief is to investigate the regulatory breakdown in the […]

Brussels, 26/9/2015. Updates: 23/02/2016  C4 Dispatches: Dirty Secrets: What’s Really in Our Air? 23/02/2016  New Scientist: Carbon emission cuts could save 300,000 US lives by 2030. I do so loathe diesel cars. As a motorcycle rider, I have wondered for years why certain cars were unpleasant to follow in traffic. […]

New EU regulations are coming into force on 29th September 2014 to boost the viability of alternative fuels for vehicles across Europe. EU member states will require national action plans to show how they are building refuelling and recharging points (electricity, natural gas and hydrogen).

        A new study published in the Hydrological Sciences Journal examines the increasing frequency and severity of flooding, and concludes that there are clear links to population density and human activity. The report’s key conclusions are that flooding is mostly caused by what we do to or […]

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an internal-combustion engine that emits less than half the CO2 compared to a regular vehicle engine without compromising performance. This corresponds to fuel consumption of less than 2.4 l per 100 km. Starting from a VW Golf diesel engine, this natural-gas/diesel hybrid makes use […]