|
On Monday November 13th the fuel queues returned to City Road, but unlike
those of September, these weren't caused through fuel shortages, but because
Greenpeace were giving away diesel to taxi drivers totally free of charge! And
not just a sample either, up to thirty litres (aprox 7 gallons) for each cab
prepared to join the queue. And what a queue it was! At one point it grew so huge that it caused a traffic jam back as far as Kings Cross! The police had to be called and an agreement made to limit the taxi queue to about 8 cabs at a time. The original message had gone out via the DaC data terminals as soon as Greenpeace's co-ordinator, Laura Yates, gave the up-till-then secret nod to DaC Board Member Tom Whitbread - who had been informed several days earlier to be ready. The garage at the northern end of City Road opened at the same time. So what was the catch? Well there wasn't one except that the diesel concerned wasn't the usual type, but a form made entirely out of vegetable oil instead of petroleum. Greenpeace claim that worldwide use of bio-diesel would result in a reduction of air pollution and global climatic change. Call Sign asked Greenpeace's Laura Yates to explain what bio-diesel is and how successful the day had been. After all, we've had free theatre tickets, but never free diesel! "The day itself has been a huge success", Laura told us. "It was beyond out wildest dreams. Drivers not only filled up, but took an interest in why we were doing it and what bio-diesel was." Laura went on to explain that bio-diesel was the name for fuel made from vegetable oils. It is made either directly from crops such as rapeseed, sunflower and Soya, or by recycling cooking oil. Bio-diesel is non-toxic, biodegradable and importantly to DaC drivers, can be used in normal diesel engines. Laura added that Bio-diesel was not zero emission, but the environmental impact of this fuel is much lower than that of petroleum-based diesel. Laura explained that the impact on global climate change of bio-diesel is half that of petro-diesel. Bio-diesel produces virtually no emissions of sulphur or hydrocarbons and emissions of air pollutants such as carbon monoxide and particulates are also significantly reduced. Additionally, bio-diesel is the |
GIVING AWAY BIO-DIESEL ON DAC'S DOORSTEP!
|
|
|
only alternative fuel to pass the strict standards of the US Clean Air
Act. The US Government approved the fuel after it was shown to pose no
health threat and to reduce air toxin emissions by 90% when compared with
petro-diesel. Bio-diesel is now used for bus and truck fleets across America
following the US Governments decision to release $150 million to help
farmers produce the fuel. No funds whatsoever have been released to help UK
farmers produce bio-diesel which could start to replace petro-diesel
immediately, with significant environmental and health benefits. Greenpeace
asks for the UK Government to set up a Green Fuel Fund of around £500 million
to support the production and use of bio-diesel.
Bio-diesel Use and Cost in Germany and France |
CALL SIGN WELCOMES A NEW
|
|
 |
Powered by NetXPosure |
Copyright © 1997-2000 Dial-A-Cab Ltd, All rights reserved.