Besides hydrogen double-decker buses, London will get another alternative energy feature on one of its icons.

Blackfriars Bridge, which runs parallel to London Bridge, is undergoing a massive reconstruction. When the new bridge and accompanying train station are delivered to the public, solar panels will (more…)

This summer, The National Gallery in London is engaging public audiences with an 8,000 plant rendering of Van Gogh’s A Wheatfield with Cypresses (1889).

Over 25 varieties of flora are offering museum-goers sweeter, cleaner air and a setting ripe for ecological discussion as the National Gallery forwards their plan (more…)

The city of London, which has set a goal of becoming the “electric car capital” of Europe, has launched a new network of 150 charging stations, increasing the total number of stations citywide to more than 400.

Calling a lack of charging points the biggest hurdle to the wider adoption of electric vehicle technology, (more…)

Converting forms of public transportation over to green technology is a great way of reducing the carbon emissions in a particular metropolitan area. To this effect, many cities around the world have invested in buses that utilize either hybrid systems or fully renewable fuel sources. London in particular has been working on hybridizing their buses, but now has turned their (more…)

A couple of initiatives related to public transport involving solar power and hydrogen fuel bring alternative energy to commuters in two different cities.

Solar Bus Shelter
The City of Corona in California has installed solar bus shelters connected to the grid, writes Energy Boom. They feature (more…)

In a push to improve air quality in London, city officials will require that all new black taxi cabs be electric by 2020. Under increased pressure to reduce the worst air pollution in Europe, London Mayor Boris Johnson says the city will refuse licenses to any taxi older than 15 years beginning in 2012, a move that will remove about 1,200 black cabs from London’s roads. (more…)

A new 42-floor London skyscraper will be the world’s first building to incorporate wind turbines in the design, an innovation developers say will generate 8 percent of the building’s electricity needs.

The Strata Tower, a 408-unit apartment building scheduled to open in July, will be topped with three 19-kilowatt turbines — each with five 29.5-foot blades designed to suck wind from various angles and accelerate it through tubes, generating as much as 50 megawatt-hours of electricity annually.

It will also generate about £16,000 to £17,000 annually through the nation’s new feed-in tariff, the developers say. (more…)

Speaking to a gathering of mayors in Copenhagen, London Mayor Boris Johnson announced plans to add 25,000 charging stations for electric cars across the city by 2015, turning London into a center of plug-in vehicle technology.

By creating the right conditions, Johnson said the city can encourage a “golden era” of electric cars, and he predicted that every resident will be within a mile of a charging point.

Johnson said the challenge of reducing carbon emissions is urgent, but should not require “hair-shirt abstinence.”

(more…)