Working wonders or potentially harmful? Dr Andrew Rollinson examines the scientific research surrounding biochar to date, including his own personal experiments. Read more …

Energy engineer Dr Andrew Rollinson sets out the case as to why pyrolysis and ‘plastic to fuels’ is not a sustainable solution to the plastics problem. Read more …

On 18th November last year there was a one-day workshop in Sheffield called “Joy in Enough – Awakening to a New Economics”. It was delivered by Green Christian who are a multi-denominational charity that have been operating for over thirty years. Read more …

‘When waste to energy companies propose to build incineration/gasification plants they stipulate that contracts be in place which lock-in local authorities to providing them with a fixed tonnage of waste over the lifetime of the plant (often about 25 years). Read more …

Having grown up in the industrial West Riding of Yorkshire, I was 22 when I first saw the Milky Way. It wasn’t my fault; there was too much light pollution. In places such as this, you may think that on a moonless and cloudless night you can see the stars Read more …

Common Elder (Sambucus nigra) is a familiar sight on railway embankments, urban waste ground, and in hedgerows. This small tree thrives in particular in the north and midlands of England, growing rapidly when cut back and giving off a discomforting dusty smell in the process, along with also being very difficult to dig up. Read more …

In the 1960 film School for Scoundrels, which is based on the Stephen Potter “Gamesmanship” books, there is a scene where Ian Carmichael (formerly one of life’s failures) is playing tennis with Terry Thomas. Carmichael has just finished a course in lifemanship Read more …

Flanked by an advert for the Ocean Club honeymoon resort in the Bahamas, with young bride and groom toasting a glass of champagne, Brides – “the UK’s number 1 bridal magazine” announces to its readers that “Planning your wedding starts here” Read more …

When building works were completed on the Queen’s Mill in 1888, it became the world’s largest water powered stone grinding flour mill. The water wheel was a 20 foot diameter piece of iron and timber Victorian engineering, large for its type and with high efficiency features. Read more …

In December 2011, South Africa welcomed the United Nations Framing Convention on Climate Change. The host city was Durban, where a number of years before, and just after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela had Read more …