London gives the green light to 2012 eco makeover plans

Nick Varney: 'The Eye is an icon of London'
12 April 2012

London is aiming to transform its green credentials as everything from the London bus to Tower Bridge is given an eco makeover for the Olympics.

Mayor Boris Johnson today pledged that the capital will see hundreds of green projects come to fruition in time for the opening ceremony on July 27.

Mr Johnson said: "I am determined to maximise every opportunity for the Games to present our great city. From Barnet to Bromley, Havering to Hillingdon, people are witnessing real benefits. We have unprecedented investment in our transport network, thousands of jobs created, the transformation of our parks and public spaces and funding for hundreds of sports projects to get Londoners active for generations to come.

"Driving this multi-billion pound transformation is my goal to improve quality of life, support our economy, protect the environment and ensure London is the best big city in the world."‬

Across the capital major initiatives are already under way to bring low energy lights to London's most famous buildings, ensure homes in the Olympic boroughs are as eco-friendly as possible and even to ensure officials and athletes can travel using a fleet of electric cars.

London Councils, which represents all the capital's boroughs, says its members see 2012 as the ultimate shop window.

"All boroughs see 2012 as an opportunity to show their local area off to the world," said a spokesman. "From eco-schemes to park and street makeovers, 2012 has provided a useful goal for councils to work towards and deliver improvements that will last long after the Games have been and gone."

However, some experts say boroughs run the risk of just putting every scheme under the "2012 project" heading.

Simon Mills, head of sustainability at the City of London Corporation, said: "There is a danger with people simply labelling projects as being part of 2012 - we saw the same thing in 2000. These have to be legacy projects for London to bring us into the low-carbon economy. However, that said, there are a lot of excellent projects being proposed."

The Games have already begun to touch almost every aspect of life in London, including the city's road network - which is seeing dramatic changes being put in place in time for next summer.

The £225 million London's Great Outdoors project has already led to initiatives such as the diagonal pedestrian crossing at Oxford Circus and a redevelopment of Brixton town square. By 2012 Exhibition Road, Piccadilly and Pall Mall will see major changes to traffic flow.

However, the work has become a double-edged sword for Londoners as Thames Water increases its roadworks programme before the Games. Transport for London has pledged that, barring emergencies, the capital will remain roadworks-free during the games.

Even the capital's trees have been affected. The re:leaf project has 9,500 of the 10,000 new street trees it committed to plant by 2012.
Olympic Development Agency chairman John Armitt claims sustainability is key to the plans to build the Olympic Park as well.

"Our targets include reusing and recycling 90 per cent of waste, delivering over half the materials needed by sustainable transport, using natural remediation methods to clean soil, barges to take away segregated waste through newly dredged waterways and only legal and sustainable timber sourced through a supplier panel," he said.

"We wanted to lift the bar for the industry and set new sustainability standards, and our contractors and suppliers have more than risen to the challenge. We hope this project becomes a beacon for the planning, design and delivery of future large-scale projects."

The projects turning London green in 2012

Tower Bridge: One of the world's most famous landmarks is to be turned into a giant eco light show under plans backed by the Mayor.
Thousands of low-power LED lights are set to be installed along the bridge as part of a project by the City of London Corporation, City Hall, EDF Energy and GE.

Currently Tower Bridge has traditional, static floodlighting. The new plans, which are yet to receive planning permission will allow staff to alter which parts of the bridge are lit up, and even what colour lights are used. The Corporation said: "This will enable Tower Bridge to respond to special events in a unique and spectacular manner."

Citelum, the firm designing the lights, has previously worked on projects at the Eiffel Tower, the Valley of the Kings in Egypt and the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur.

More importantly, by replacing the high-powered fluorescent lights, the team behind the scheme hope it will reduce energy consumption of the bridge by 40 per cent.

The work is scheduled to start in September and be completed by spring next year, in time for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mayor Boris Johnson believes the hi-tech lighting could make the bridge into a focal point for the capital in 2012.

"I want London to look its very best in 2012 as the eyes of the world are upon us," he said.
"Tower Bridge is one of this city's most stunning landmarks, recognised the world over and therefore deserving of a star role in these year-long celebrations."

Electric Vehicles: 2012 could become a showcase for electric and hybrid vehicles, with everything from the family runabout to the London bus changing beyond all recognition.

Key to the plan is Source London, a network of recharging stations. Although it currently only consists of 150 points, mainly in central London, by 2013, according to Mr Johnson London will have more electric charging points than petrol stations.

More than 1,300 publicly accessible points will be scattered across the capital - in residential streets, at supermarkets, in public car parks and at shopping and leisure centres.

Experts say the move is critical to the widespread adoption of electric cars in London.
"Source London's roll-out of more charging points means electric vehicles are going to become very familiar indeed," said motoring journalist Quentin Willson.

For consumers, 2012 will also see the widespread availability of cars such as Nissan's Electric Leaf, billed as the electric car suitable for the family. In early tests it has performed very well and won dozens of major motoring awards.

EDF Energy has also partnered with Toyota and Mercedes-Benz to bring electric vehicles to businesses and consumers in London in trials funded by the Government's Technology Strategy Board.

Even the London bus is going green, with a hybrid replacement for the iconic Routemaster set to arrive on the capital's streets early next year.
Last week Mr Johnson unveiled the first new bus, which is being tested in Bedfordshire before being unleashed on London's roads early next year.
The Mayor has pledged that by 2012, all newly commissioned buses will be hybrid vehicles.

London Eye: The EDF Energy London Eye was among the first of the capital's landmarks to go green when a new LED lighting system was introduced as part of its 2009 refurbishment.

The change saves 69 per cent more energy than the previous version and allows operators to easily use the LED lights in synchronised displays - which lets the Eye take a starring role in London's New Year's Eve celebrations.

Previously, the Eye was lit by fluorescent tubes and required the manual installation of gels to produce coloured light for special events.

However, it now has more than 640 different lighting units, each of which can be individually controlled. It can also be seen from a mile away.
Even the pods on the Eye were redesigned to make them greener - the £12.5 million capsule upgrade project reduced electricity consumption and the use of refrigerant gas in the climate cooling system by 20 per cent.

Nick Varney of Merlin Entertainments, which operates the Eye, said: "We are proud to be involved in this initiative and to have the opportunity to work with EDF Energy to help make the London Eye, and London itself, more sustainable and environmentally responsible in the future.

The London Eye is a unique attraction and a contemporary icon of London and the UK so there can be no better way to get this important message across."

EDF Energy has also guaranteed that every unit of energy used by the London Eye is matched with energy generated from low carbon sources.

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