A s part of its environment policy and in a bid to reduce carbon footprint, the Force India Formula One team on Friday announced its part nership with Vectrix UK Ltd, producers of the world's first high-performance, zero emission, electric motorcycle. Vectrix will supply the team two Force India-branded electric maxiscooters to use at races, tests and at its Silverstone factory. The pioneering bikes run exclusively on battery power, which is recharged by plugging the onboard charger into any standard electrical outlet.

Fewer gas outlets, lower mileage are prompting auto drivers to go back to petrol SEVERAL autorickshaws in the city are back to using petrol tanks even after converting to LPG, citing problems with using the more ecofriendly fuel. ''I converted my autorickshaw to gas a few months ago following a government order last year, but I cannot use it. It gives lower mileage than petrol and there are very few gas outlets in the city. I have switched back to petrol,'' said A Sommaya, who is operating at Sowcarpet auto stand.

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has so far handed over about 50,000 environment friendly CNG rickshaws worth more than Rs 5.5 billion to applicants all over Pakistan under its Rozgar scheme. This was stated by the Group Chief Consumer Banking NBP Aamir Siddiqui in an interview here Monday. He said that about 75,000 applicants have been registered so far under the scheme involving a total amount of Rs 7.5 billion. He pointed out 20,000 registered applicants are waiting for the deliveries of CNG rickshaws from the manufacturers.

Is my sustainability work consonant with the gravity of the climate crisis and the urgency of the ecological challenges we face? At Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), as a complement to our work on renewable energy hedges, we are working to transform energy use on campus. One project underway is a system of grid-tied electric vehicles (Vehicle to Grid or V2G) combined with a solar photovoltaic charging system and smart computer control.

CNG-run city service buses have continued flouting government order for not increasing the fares on the pretext of CNG price increase as they have already been charging between Tk 2 and Tk 5 more on various routes. Passengers on Sunday complained the CNG-run buses had continued taking increased fares they started charging after the April 25 price increase. The government on Saturday revised upwards the fares for CNG-run auto-rickshaws and taxi cabs, but kept CNG-run buses out of the process because of their higher profitability compared with buses run on diesel.

Germans should buy more fuel-efficient cars, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, even though her government is fighting European Union efforts to force down carbon dioxide emissions. Merkel, who regularly defends Germany's powerful luxury car industry against European Commission plans to clamp down on CO2 emissions, said more efficient cars could provide an answer for two problems: higher energy prices and climate change.