London's gas guzzlers congestion charge scrapped

London Mayor Boris Johnson scrapped not only the £25 planned congestion charge for gas guzzlers (see post and comments here), but also the exemption for cleaner cars emitting less than 120g/km of CO2. Which means that everyone is going to pay the same £8. Hybrids and electric vehicles will still be congestion charge-exempt. I don't agree with Johnson's arguments, but I'm happy with the ditching of a predictable small "breath-my-particles-before-they-empoison-the-environment" diesels frenzy.

Biofuel: filling your tank with hunger

The UN is calling for action to avoid the "silent tsunami of rising food prices which threatens to push more than 100 million people worldwide into hunger" (http://www.un.org/). Protests against rising costs of basic foods already started in Haiti, Mexico, the Philippines, Bangladesh, South Africa.... Sub-Saharan Africans continue their decades-old silent protest, dying slowly, quietly, dryly.
I recall now the bad feeling I had last year when I read about Bush's visit to ethanol-driven Brazil.

Biofuel production is said to be responsible for at least one third of the recent increase in food prices. It was already being called “deforestation fuel”. Now it’s also “hunger fuel”.

But it’s bio. «Quand je dors chez mon copain, on mange tout le temps bio» (Sanseverino, «Cette conne m'ennuie»).

Big political issue

The Vel'ohs are becoming the biggest political issue in Luxembourg City, which demonstrates vehemently the opposition's improficiency. First, someone asked a professional biker to test the bikes and to let us know that they're too heavy and that the brakes are not very good (who cares? they're built to be ridden at a relaxed pace, to cruise along bike paths and enjoy the ride). Now the CSV in questioning the security of payments made with credit cards at the Vel'oh stations.

Vel'oh! hoax

Someone at RTL Radio Luxembourg thougth that the Vel'ohs were just asking for an April Fools' Day hoax ... and shot himself in the foot!

The hoax was about swapping an old bicycle for a Vel-oh!'s annual subscription. The City decided to fight back, and play the game:

"La Ville de Luxembourg s'était inspirée de l'action «poisson d'avril» organisée par RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg le 1er avril pour proposer aux intéressés de déposer leurs vieux vélos le 2 avril entre 15h et 16h devant l'Hôtel de Ville, place Guillaume II. En contrepartie la ville a pu offrir 35 abonnements d'un an à vel'oh!

La ville projette d'utiliser tous ou une partie des vieux vélos dans le cadre de l'action «Mei oder manner», ayant pour but d'engager les enfants des écoles primaires à prendre leurs responsabilités et de susciter leur compréhension envers la nature et l'environnement.

Merci à tous ceux qui ont joué le jeu !" (in vdl.lu)

Vel'oh: Vade retro, satana!

The Wort has just discovered that Luxembourg and the Vel'oh bicycle system will become a lucrative business for JCDecaux, as confirmed by Jean-Sebastien Decaux, the executive director of the company.

I'm outraged. I feel betrayed. We all thought that JC Decaux was a non-profit organization, but no, it's a market economy firm.
I want to scream: "____________" (here you can choose: "¡No Pasarán!" or "Vade retro, satana!")

Diesel taxes in Europe

"The European Commission says the wide variation in rates of diesel (officially known as gas oil) taxes creates distortions in the road haulage market – and also increases environmental damage by encouraging “fuel tourism” by hauliers (i.e. making special journeys or using longer routes in order to fill up in a country with low taxes). Also, since diesel and petrol have similar impacts, especially from the point of view of CO2 emissions, there is no environmental reason for the two minimum rates to differ. The Commission is therefore proposing to raise the minimum rate on diesel up to the minimum rate on petrol."

"Adopting by 447 votes in favour to 64 against with 39 abstentions a report based on a draft by Olle Schmidt (ALDE, SE), MEPs agreed with this in principle, but said the minimum taxes on diesel should rise more slowly, from the current level of €302/1000 litres to the current petrol level of €359/1000 litres by 2015 rather than 2012. Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania should have until 2016 to reach the target. On the other hand, contrary to the Commission proposal, MEPs said Spain, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Greece did not need a transitional period."
(in http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/044-23872-070-03-11-907-20080312IPR23862-10-03-2008-2008-true/default_en.htm)

Think City, please (or else be Smart, or show your iQ)

"TH!NK city demands very little of you. In fact, not much more than a mobile phone. Just an overnight power top-up, and it’s ready to go in the morning. It can travel up to 200 kilometres (124 miles) in city driving on a fully charged battery, with a top speed of 100km/h. It is fun, clean and simple."

The Th!nk City will go on sale at the end of 2008. It will run for 200 km on one charge and hit 100 km/h. The price will be around 20 000 euros, plus a 200 euros monthly fee for the battery loan scheme (the company will own the batteries, replace them when needed, and even pay you electricity and insurance bills). It's not cheap. In a 5 years (60 months) scenario, it would cost 20 000 + (60 x 200) = 32 000 euros. Now let's say that we would drive 500 km per month, which I think it's more then enough in a city like Luxembourg. That's 6000 km per year, and 30 000 in our 5 years. How much would we spend with a Citroën C1? The cheapest 1.0 costs 8 750 euros, but you can easily buy it for 7500 euros. I'm not sure about this, but I would say that it would be possible to insure it for 600 euros per year, = 3000 euros in 5 years. Plus maintenance (250 euros per year = 1250 for 5 years) and petrol (let's say 1800 euros during the whole fires years). It all adds up to 13 550 euros, almost half what we would spend with the Th!nk.

Verdict: nice Norwegian clean cute car, but you'll have to go to London to see one in the metal. Only the city congestion charge exemption will justify its price. For a city like Luxembourg, buy the Citroën. Or better: take a bus!

Tata's Nano at Geneva Motor Show

Let's be very politically incorrect: millions of Indians will get one very cute family car, and the world will get more pollution, more CO2 emissions, more demand for fossil fuels. And don't forget that when the catalytic converter fails and it's not replaced, emissions will increase fivefold.

New Ecowhat?! Fiat Bravo 1.6 Diesel Multijet

As you might recall from one of my previous posts, I have serious doubts about the so-called environment-friendly diesel cars. For example, Fiat is launching a new 1.6 diesel engine for the Bravo range, in 103 or 118bhp variants, both Euro 5 compliant, thanks to a new particle filter. AND a third “Eco” model, with the same motor, 103bhp and CO2 emissions of just 119g/km, which is not Euro 5 compliant because removing the particle filter was the only trick Fiat could find to keep CO2 emissions bellow the 120 g/km threshold. The dirty trick will not work in Luxembourg, because the 750 euros reduction from the governmental scheme for cleaner cars can only be granted for a diesel car equipped with a particle filter: “Pour les voitures équipées d’un moteur à carburant diesel, l’aide financière [750 euros] n’est accordée que si les émissions de particules fines sont inférieures ou égales à 5 mg/km, un filtre à particules est dès lors indispensable" (in car-e.lu) .

Dirty skies

Air in Luxembourg City is dirty, and getting dirtier. The average level of nitrogen oxides is around 50 mcg in Hamilius and Bonnevoie, above the european limit of 40 micrograms per cubic meter. Nitrogen oxides means diesel cars.
Because of the way a diesel engine works, with an excess of air inside the engine (rather than "just enough" as in a petrol engine, which is what causes CO emissions), nitrous oxides are more likely to be formed. The nitrous oxides combine with low level ozone to form smog. Diesel engines emit high levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), and in addition, a complex mixture of gases many of which are known or suspected cancer causing agents. Diesel exhaust exacerbates asthma and causes inflammation of the airways. Diesel exhaust is an important contributor to airborne concentrations of fine particle pollution, especially in urban areas.
This means that most european governments are supporting (fiscally or directly) low CO2 emitting diesel cars that are still responsible for deteriorating air quality in major cities. Since diesel versions are more expensive them the petrol versions of the same model, I guess the auto industry bosses most be happy.

New Mazda 2

The new Mazda 2 is out there. It's fresh, it's stylish, and it has a lot of zoom-zoom. Forget its superdull boxy predecessor. With prices starting at 11 450 euros here in Luxembourg (Challenge 1300 cc, 75 bhp), you can expect to see a lot of them leaping around (maybe not in that nice froggy green...). I would recommend the 103 bhp 1.5 cc Sport (14 776 euros), but I guess most of the zoom-zoomers will prefer one of the diesels (1400 cc, 68 bhp, from 12 685 to 15 537 euros).