After last week’s hypermiling post, I decided to look into other ways of cutting down on the amount you spend (and burn) at the petrol pump. Hypermiling, after all, can get you a long way, but eventually you need to stop off for fuel, and in the vast majority of cases that means money, pollution and a continuation of the endless fuel consumption cycle which everyone is so concerned about right now. There is, however, an alternative, and it needn’t be as pricey as you think.

It may seem too good to be true, but it is perfectly feasible to give up your gas-guzzling car, and still get around town quickly, easily, and without resorting to stuffing your head into the unwashed armpit of a fellow commuter on the morning train. The number of electric vehicles in on the increase, and this is only set to continue as people realise the benefits that are to be gained by going electric. Until now, however, vehicles such as the Toyota Prius(approx. £13,000 and up) and the Vectrix scooter(around £7,000) could be seen to be a little out of most people’s price range. However, there is now an alternative which may just make going electric a much more appealing option.

The Ego StreetScoota, despite its ridiculous name, is a fully electric moped which rocks in at a frankly amazing £999.95… yes, you read that right - a fully functional scooter which will never need a visit to your local petrol station, all for about the same price as a years worth of travelling on the London Underground. If that’s not reason enough to get one, I don’t know what is.

According to the manufacturers, the Scoota can reach a top speed of 30mph, has a range of around 40miles, and costs a teeny, tiny, frankly measly 8p to charge fully… all with the added benefit of not having to pay road tax, getting cheap insurance (normally around £100-£200), and receiving free parking in most cities. I can’t actually think of a reason not to buy one.

Check out the Busycle!

Pretty awesome mode of transport.

Just think how much fun we’d have if we replaced all our public transport with these!

Perhaps Boris should replace his bendy buses with lots of Busycles! Cleaner, greener and the streets of London might be a lot less meaner too if everyone had to work together to get around!

http://www.busycle.com/

Hypermiling - the latest buzz word on the green motoring circuit - is not, as you might think, some crazy Star Trek inspired commuting technique, but it is, in fact a way to ensure that drivers get maximum fuel efficiency whilst driving, thereby lessening the effect on the wallet of rampant oil price increases, and helping save the planet at the same time.

The slighty controversial techniques are already gaining a huge following in the USA, and are now starting to creep into Europe, with many followers boasting of meeting and even exceeding the usually unattainable advertised miles per gallon of their vehicle of choice. Serious proponents of the art have gained almost unbelievable results, as is the case with Bill Kinney, who at Hybridfest 2007 gained an average of 168mpg from his Honda Insight Hybrid, which has an advertised fuel economy of 84mpg.

Find out how after the jump

Find out more about Trevor Baylis’ brand new Mini Eco Radio in an interview posted over at Ethical Superstore.

The  Eco Mini Radio is Trevor’s smallest ever wind up radio, but this time it’s augmented with a solar panel and the option to charge via USB.

Trevor also talks about his plans for the future, including the wind-up mobile phone, and a solar powered GPS!

Read the full Trevor Baylis interview here »

Just a quick follow up to last week’s post on the Green Computing Debate hosted online by The Register.

The debate brought up some excellent points, and thankfully managed to (by and large) avoid cliche. Survey results presented by Dale Vile of Freeform Dynamics showed that despite significant growth in eco-awareness, many businesses are still ignoring ecological concerns in their day to day work. Sadly, greenwashing is still prevalent in many workplaces, when a true greening of the business could be just as straightforward.

Representatives of both Dell and Intel showed what they are currently doing to ensure their product is the greenest of them all, and their future plans look very promising indeed, both concentrating on better power management systems. Albert Esser, of Dell, looked at why better power management systems are important, whilst Kevin O’Donovan of Intel explained how these systems might be implemented. All in all, they were two very promising presentations.

Tech kit gets old quick. We all know that. Louise Richards of Computer Aid International spent fifteen very interesting minutes looking at possible solutions to the endless cycle of buy-use-dump-replace. A highly recommended presentation.

The whole debate has been archived on The Register, so if you fancy taking a look, head over to The Register Green Computing Debate, and take in some of the presentations.