Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Happy New Year! It’s that time of year when everyone gets out their crystal balls and starts predicting what the big trends will be and what will have the biggest impact on our lives. My prediction (and I hate to admit this) is that electric vehicles will be a big talking point in 2011.

With hikes in fuel duty and VAT already pushing up petrol prices to record highs and bumper increases in buses, tubes and trains fares, people are going to seriously consider other options. Whilst some cities in the UK already offer eco-alternatives such as biking schemes, many commuters and families will be looking at their car and how they can save money by switching to a less gas-guzzling version.

Now I’ve never been a big fan of electric vehicles but I think if the car makers can get it right, I may be swayed and with support from the Government increasing, the day when electric vehicles become mainstream may be getting closer.

On 1^st January, the UK Government’s new scheme came into effect, offering grants – of up to £5,000 – for electric and ultra-low emission cars. Now that amount of money is not to be sniffed at! Will it work? Will 2011 be the year of the electric car?

I remain unconvinced for now until a car manufacture makes a stunning, long-distance electric car. I would prefer to see investment in high-speed rail links, improvements in road conditions and development of a more pleasant and affordable public transport system. Surely if public transport was more reliable, cheaper and efficient, people would use it more and that in turn would reduce the number of people driving and lower emissions. Sounds simple I know, but it could just work.

Now if this was April 1st, I would have sworn that the story about the Volkswagen Beetle powered by human waste was an April Fools’ Day joke. However, it’s not April and this is not a joke. As reviewed by The Telegraph’s Harry Wallop, the clever people at GENeco, a Wessex Water subsidiary have converted a good old VW Beetle and made it run on biogas.

How we get and use fuel is an ever increasing hot topic with fuel companies looking at how wind and solar power can power our homes and car manufacturers looking at hybrid and electric engines. It seems we have become a nation obsessed with finding new ways of powering our homes and cars.

Personally, I think what we flush down the toilet is called waste for a reason and shouldn’t end up powering my car to the supermarket or the beach but you have to admit with an ever growing population – projections suggest UK population will exceed 65million by 2018 – it seems there will be an endless supply of ‘suitable materials’ that could be turned into biogas for many years to come.