Diesel pollution 'clogs arteries'

Diesel fumes appear to combine with artery-clogging fats to raise the risk of heart disease, research published in the online journal Genome Biology suggests.

UCLA scientists found the two act in concert to switch on genes that cause potentially dangerous inflammation of the blood vessels.

The results suggest that government incentives - such as cheaper road tax - to encourage people to buy diesel cars in order to reduce carbon emissions is likely to be having a directly adverse effect on human health.

Yet it's far from proven that reducing human carbon emissions will have any effect whatsoever on the planet's climate.

Lead researcher Dr André Nel, an expert in nanomedicine, said the impact of diesel particles and cholesterol fats combined was much greater than the impact of each in isolation.

He said: "Their combination creates a dangerous synergy that wreaks cardiovascular havoc far beyond what's caused by the diesel or cholesterol alone."

Both are sources of molecules called free radicals which cause cell and tissue damage, and can trigger the inflammation that leads to artery disease.

The researchers combined the pollutants and fats and cultured them with cells taken from the inner lining of human blood vessels.

A few hours later, they extracted DNA from the cells for genetic analysis. They showed that the genes that promote cellular inflammation had been activated.

Then they exposed mice with high cholesterol to the diesel particles, and saw that some of the same genes were activated in the animals' tissue.

Dr Nel said: "Exactly how air pollutants cause cardiovascular injury is poorly understood.

"But we do know that these particles are coated with chemicals that damage tissue and cause inflammation of the nose and lungs.

"Vascular inflammation in turn leads to cholesterol deposits and clogged arteries, which can give rise to blood clots that trigger heart attack or stroke."

If the government turns out to be wrong about the cause of climate change, and global warming is not related to man-made carbon emissions, then they will have to take responsibility for pursuing policies likely to have caused thousands of people major health problems.

This study certainly destroys any claim by London mayor Ken Livingstone - in seeking to reduce the number of petrol cars on the road through congestion charging, yet needlessly packing the roads with diesel buses - to be motivated by a desire to improve air quality or human health.

EU pays to be lobbied on global warming

The EU Referendum blog has a story today that gives a very revealing insight into how global warming obsessives and politicians have organised themselves into a mutually-supportive society at taxpayers' expense.

It's a perfect demonstration of exactly how, consequently, the global warming agenda has become so prevalent among political decision-makers, despite the science behind it being far from conclusive.

Friends of the Earth Europe, a leading group in lobbying the EU for oppressive taxes on car users and the car industry in the hope of combatting global warming, apparently received an astonishing €635,000 in funding from the European Commission last year.

Together with funds from the German, Austrian and Dutch ministries of environment, plus contributions from the United Nations Environment Programme, this accounted for over half of the group's income, making it primarily a taxpayer-funded organisation - not an independent grass-roots environmental campaign group as it likes to style itself.

FoE forms part of the "civil society" caucus to which the EU Commission pays special attention, as part of its programme to encourage "participative democracy" – its response to the low turn-out for EU parliament elections and the fact that Commission members are unelected.

So FoEE gets access to high-level decision-makers, plus some very helpful funding to promote their global warming agenda.

The Commission gets to say it's 'responding' to a group supposedly arising from "civil society" to justify the needlessly oppressive regulations and higher taxes it wants to impose.

Read more here.

Global warming to go into reverse?

The BBC reports today on a new scientific study that purports to show that changes in the Sun's output cannot be causing modern-day climate change.

The study has been carried out by Mike Lockwood, from the UK's Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, together with Claus Froehlich from the World Radiation Center in Switzerland.

Their main argument is that, in the last 20 years, the Sun's output has declined while temperatures on our planet have continued to rise.

While the authors concede that most of the 20th Century saw a slight but steady increase in solar output, and even that cosmic rays may have affected our climate in the past, they point out that in about 1985 that trend appears to have reversed and solar output started to decline.

'Small' detail missing

However, what they don't acknowledge is that the temperature effects of solar radiation have been shown to lag, one big reason being the time it takes for the heat from the sun, or lack of, to affect the temperature of our oceans.

So the influence on Earth's temperatures from the declining solar output this study highlights may in fact take considerably longer to become apparent in temperature changes.

In essence, Lockwood is drawing his conclusions prematurely.

So far from "settling the debate", as Lockwood rather arrogantly hopes, what he may have in fact revealed in this study is not that global warming is man-made, but a looming cooling trend.

Once again, far from an excuse for politicians to heap excessive financial burdens on hard-pressed car users.

Climate change hits Mars

Mars is being hit by rapid climate change and it is happening so fast that the red planet could lose its southern ice cap, the Sunday Times has reported.

Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.

Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena.

The mechanism at work on Mars appears, however, to be different from that on Earth.

One of the researchers, Lori Fenton, believes variations in radiation and temperature across the surface of the Red Planet are generating strong winds.

In a paper published in the journal Nature, she suggests that such winds can stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planet’s temperature.

Fenton’s team unearthed heat maps of the Martian surface from Nasa’s Viking mission in the 1970s and compared them with maps gathered more than two decades later by Mars Global Surveyor.

They found there had been widespread changes, with some areas becoming darker.

When a surface darkens it absorbs more heat, eventually radiating that heat back to warm the thin Martian atmosphere: lighter surfaces have the opposite effect.

The temperature differences between the two are thought to be stirring up more winds, and dust, creating a cycle that is warming the planet.

MGs in production again at Longbridge

The first MG cars to be built under Nanjiing Automobile Corporation (NAC) control started rolling off an assembly line at the Longbridge factory today.

Welding, painting and final assembly of the revised TF model takes place at Longbridge, with a revised Euro IV-compliant version of the K-Series engine and many other components sourced elsewhere.

The cars are set to be on sale before the end of the year.

The Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) spent £50m buying the MG brand, the manufacturing rights to its range of vehicles and MG Rover's assets.

NAC's chief executive, Yu Jian Wei, said MG had a "glorious past" and Longbridge had an "irreplaceable role in the MG project" and "This is the re-birth of MG."

The revised TF has had some cosmetic changes, mainly to the front bumper and the headlights, but nothing mechanical. The priority was to get it on sale, and to get the assembly procedures and quality control up to scratch, before evolving the car, he said.

Yu Jian Wei told a press conference after the opening ceremony: "In the not too distant future you will be seeing an upgraded TF, a hard top TF and maybe a whole new product.

"The first group of dealers are being selected. There are many applications, both from previous dealers and from new dealers that would like to become MG dealers."

Mike Whitby, the leader of Birmingham City Council, told the assembled dignitaries and journalists: "I was present here on that fearful night when Rover collapsed. The sense of loss was profound. Many thought that today was a day that would never come. We were told that Longbridge had no future as a manufacturing centre by one or two Jeremiahs.

"Today we see the start of the process that will see the return to quality manufacturing on this site."

NAC says it plans to build 15,000 cars a year at Longbridge in an unspecified "first phase"; not many compared to the 100,000 cars that were produced before the plant shut in 2005, and to the 200,000 MGs that the corporation is planning to build at its plant in China.

So far only 130 jobs have been created on a 469-acre site that once employed more than 20,000. When MG Rover collapsed into administration about 6,000 Longbridge workers lost their jobs.

Trade and industry minister Margaret Hodge welcomed the relaunch as "good news for the Midlands, and good news for UK car manufacturing".

Honda nearing capacity at Swindon

Honda's UK factory in Swindon, which builds the Civic and CR-V models, will be working at its peak output of 250,000 cars a year by the end of 2007.

An extra 700 workers have been recruited, bringing the total workforce to 5,000.

Honda is using the Swindon team's expertise to help with the expansion of the company's factory in Turkey, which is gearing up to produce 50,000 cars by the end of the year.

This will bring Honda's total production in Europe up to 300,000.

Nissan's good news for Sunderland

Two bits of good news recently from Nissan and their award-winning car-making facility in Sunderland.

First, the company has announced that thousands of new jobs are to be created through the building of a new £4.5 million logistics centre for processing and distributing parts.

Working with Sunderland City Council and the One North East development agency, in connection with the plan the company will also make improvements to surrounding roads, and build a business park on a 45-acre site to include office space, a hotel, a car showroom and industrial units.

It's hoped around 4,000 new jobs will be created in the area.

Second, it was also announced this week that the Sunderland site - Britain's largest car plant - is now exporting two of the cars it makes back to Japan.

Since March the factory has been building Qashqais for Nissan's home market - the first such move in a decade. But the crossover hatchback has now been joined by the Micra C+C.

An initial batch of 1,500 cars will go on sale in Japan in July.

More than 23,000 British-designed C+Cs have been exported to more than 45 markets since production began 18 months ago.

Nissan's European production chief Trevor Mann said: "Coming so soon after Qashqai, this is great news for our plant.

"To have two of our products competing over there speaks volumes both about the quality of our employees, and the cars they produce."

Nissan's investment and activities in the UK epitomise what politicians put at risk if they succumb to vocal eco-extremists pushing the idea that car users should be hit with punishing tax rises.

That can only make Britain an increasingly hostile environment for cars ... and, inevitably, those businesses and thousands of jobs connected with this country's car industry.

Four million Landies and counting

The four-millionth Land Rover rolled off the production lines this week at the company's factory in Solihull.

The landmark vehicle was a Discovery 3 model, and Land Rover are celebrating by donating it to the Born Free Foundation wildlife conservation charity.

Patron Joanna Lumley (pictured) collected the car on behalf of the charity, which will be used in the UK in projects rescuing stranded or abandoned marine mammals such as grey seals.

Will Travers, Born Free chief executive, said, "This important vehicle will enable us to carry out important frontline conservation and animal welfare missions at will.

"Without Land Rover’s support we simply would not be able to reach some of the off-road remote destinations or tackle some of the rescues that are a vital part of our work.”

Born Free has been one of Land Rover’s Global Sponsorship Partners since 2002. The sponsorship includes financial and vehicle support in the UK, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

In 2006 Land Rover’s support contributed to the rescue and relocation of three lions from a circus in France to Shamwari in South Africa.

Dare we suggest that these charitable activities by Land Rover are likely to be a far greater contribution to helping our environment than most of those who whinge about 4x4s have ever made.

Land Rover has now been building its off-roaders for 59 years, crossing the three-million mark in 2001. The company is currently building around 700 cars a day, employing 10,000 people directly in Solihull, and helping to sustain over 50,000 more jobs in the local and national economy. The company exports 78% of all production.

Censorship row over global warming documentary

Leading scientists have moved to block the DVD release of the controversial Channel 4 documentary 'The Great Global Warming Swindle'.

The programme cast doubt on the science behind popular theories on global warming - claiming climate change has nothing to do with man's actions.

In a letter to the programme's producers and the television regulatory authority OFCOM, 37 global warming experts asked for the documentary to be banned unless 'factual inaccuracies' were edited out, claiming repeats of the show would 'not be in the public's interest'.

In response, the show's producer Martin Durkin claimed the scientists wanted the programme banned only because they "have staked their reputations and built their careers on global warming".

Other observers have drawn comparisons between the scientists' letter and Soviet-style censorship.

The only real fact of the matter is that, whether these scientists agree with the claims made in the documentary or not, they were well-argued claims, by credible people - scientists and leading environmentalists.

This attempt to block such opposing arguments being made available more widely, so that people can make up their own minds on the issue - the idea that humans are causing global warming having had near monopoly coverage in the media for some considerable time - can only enhance suspicions that the science sustaining the man-made global warming theory is indeed as weak as the documentary claims.

London council sets controversial clamping targets

A London borough has set new targets for traffic wardens that will see more vehicles clamped and more drivers facing parking fines.

The borough of Kensington and Chelsea has set a minimum target for 2007 in its contract with National Car Parks (NCP) of 306,000 parking tickets and 15,000 vehicles clamped, according to the Guardian.

Minimum targets? How can a public authority legislate for the minimum number of people who should be punished for breaking a law? What next ... minimum targets for the number of people who should be imprisoned for murder?

Under the terms of the deal, wardens will have to issue at least 840 tickets and clamp as many as 36 vehicles each day - or face paying a fine to the council.

Lobby groups and motorists' organisations are calling for better government regulation of parking enforcement and the companies who carry it out amid concerns that targets will lead to unfair ticketing and clamping. At present, parking firms are only subject to voluntary rather than statutory guidelines.

The British Parking Association has launched an investigation into the Kensington and Chelsea contract to determine whether it breaches the organisation's guidelines.

Lotus joins green car-makers

Norfolk sportscar firm Lotus is joining the ranks of car-makers making a significant contribution to reducing the impact of their activities on the environment by building three giant wind turbines on its test track.

The windmills will harness wind-power to generate zero-emissions electricity for the Lotus factory, offices, design rooms and engine test facility.

So much power will be generated, in fact, that the excess will be fed into the national grid to also power local homes.

The announcement comes on top of recent initiatives and investment by a number of other car-makers aimed at making their products and industry kinder to the environment.

This illustrates once again just how unreasonable the demands by eco-extremists to hit the car industry and car-users with excessive 'green' taxes are.

MG set for UK comeback

Nanjing Automobile, the Chinese buyers of MG, have announced plans to bring the TF soft-top sportcar back to the UK.

Production of the TF is already underway in China and Nanjing hopes to start importing bodies and parts into the UK for assembly at MG Rover's old Longbridge plant.

115 people are still employed at the plant, with Nanjing planning to increase this to 800 as other revised MG models are launched.

Restyled versions of the MG ZT and ZS models, to be called the MG 7 and MG 5 respectively, are also on the way, alongside a significantly revised MG ZR, which will be re-badged the MG 3.

The MG 7 is expected to be the first to arrive, by the Autumn, with the 5 and 3 following in 2008.

Biodiesel supercar is Brit first

British firm Trident has broken the supercar mould with its new Iceni, by marrying stunning performance with economy and eco-friendliness.

The key to this triple achievement is the V8 diesel engine that Trident has sourced from GM to power the car, coupled to some clever gearbox engineering to make best use of the engine's monster torque.

The result is that, once installed in a lightweight sportscar as opposed to the Isuzu pick-ups in which the unit is usually found, the 6.6-litre 375bhp V8 can propel the Iceni from 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds, and on to 170mph.

So far, so supercar.

What's different is that this can be achieved while running the car on biodiesel, making the car capable of a planet and wallet-friendly 60mpg.

To prove their point, this month Trident is sending a car from the firm's Norfolk base to Monaco - on one tank of fuel.

Together with required engine service intervals at only every 100,000 miles, a three-year powertrain warranty and bodywork guaranteed against corrosion for life, the Iceni is set to be by far the cheapest supercar to run.

Trident also hold out the prospect of an 'R' model, developing the engine further to achieve a Ferrari-beating 550bhp and top speed of 230mph, cutting the car's 0-60 time to around 3 seconds.

So how much for a stunning 170mph supercar that does over 60mpg? The Iceni's a snip at £60,000 (or £75,000 for the Iceni R). That's the same price as a basic Porsche 911 or half a Ferrari F430.

Global warming?

Interesting story over on the EUReferendum blog today, contrasting the dire predictions from the "global warming scare industry" with problems being caused by unusually thick pack ice off Newfoundland's northeast coast.

While politicians would like to use the outpourings of the likes of Al Gore to justify hitting car users with extreme tax rises and putting unreasonable demands on the car industry, contradictory evidence such as this is seriously undermining their case.

Read more here.

Size no obstacle to safety

The latest version of Land Rover's smallest 4x4 model, the Freelander 2, has been awarded the maximum five stars for adult passenger safety by independent car safety experts Euro NCAP.

It also achieved an impressive four marks for child protection.

Land Rover claims the recently-launched Freelander 2's success is down to its special inner 'safety cell', which is protected by crumple zones front and rear and ultra high-strength door beams.

Occupants also benefit from seatbelt pre-tensioners and seven airbags.

The Suzuki Grand Vitara, also recently tested by NCAP, fared similarly well. Suzuki's compact 4x4 achieved a four star score for adult safety.

The Vitara also performed exceptionally well at pedestrian protection. Its three star score means it leads even many superminis in the pedestrian safety it provides in the event of a collision.

The results are a major set-back for the claims of anti-4x4 campaigners that cars like the Freelander and Vitara are unsafe simply because of their bulky styling or, even more irrationally, because they are driven through four wheels rather than two.

Brit-built Astras to stay

General Motors has confirmed that the next-generation Vauxhall/Opel Astra will be built in the UK.

GM's new 'family' of compact cars - to include the Astra, upcoming Saab 9-2 and a Saturn-badged model to go to North America - is scheduled for 2010, and will be made by Vauxhall's 2,200 employees at their Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire, as well as at plants in Germany, Poland and Sweden.

However, production at GM's plant in Antwerp, which currently makes Astra variants including the estate and coupe-convertible, will be discontinued. Around 1,400 people will lose their jobs in Antwerp this year as Astra production is wound down.

Cowley builds millionth Mini

This month, the millionth 'new' Mini has been built at the brand's plant in Cowley, near Oxford.

The car in question was a Cooper S model in Pepper White, with a unique Almond Green roof and matching leather upholstery (pictured). It will be sent to Mini owner BMW's Mobile Tradition heritage division for use in promotional activities.

BMW currently employs over 4,700 people at the Mini factory in Cowley, where it has the capacity to build 200,000 cars a year. Production is set to increase to 240,000 when the new Clubman estate goes into production later this year.

Nearly 80% of Minis are exported. Mini sales continue to rise since the launch of the Mk2 version last November; 7,854 were sold last month, an all-time record.

EU chief's hypocrisy on car emissions

The president of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has been forced to defend himself against charges of hypocrisy for owning a so-called 'gas-guzzling' 4x4.

While driving a 4x4 is not an activity that someone can come under fire for on this blog, the problem lies in Barroso's abject double standards.

For himself, he chooses the safety, style and driving experience of a 4x4.

But at work heading the European Commission, he piously lectures us all about the urgency of cutting car emissions. Worse, he busies himself making excessive laws aimed at forcing the rest of us who aren't paid out of an apparently bottomless pit of taxpayers' money into tiny city cars, by steadily making anything else unaffordable.

Barroso, who owns a Volkswagen Touareg, said: "I have never spoken of myself as an example to anybody - today's moralistic approach is not mine."

But this is more than a tad rich, coming from the head of a body that, despite its democratic illegitimacy, constantly makes moral choices in a wide range of policy areas and enforces them on us all through EU-wide laws.

Barroso's VW 4x4 emits an above-average level of CO2 of 356 g/km - well above a 130g limit Brussels is seeking to impose on the car industry by 2012. Taken as a whole, the EU Commission's car fleet of 85 vehicles has an average emissions level of more than 258g/km.

Are they doing anything about that? So why should we make sacrifices in our choices?

'Collective action' EU-style

In response to the hypocrisy charge, Mr Barroso bizarrely insisted that fighting climate change was about "collective action" and voiced concern that a focus on an individual's CO2 usage could be a "slippery slope".

Yet most people would understand the simple idea that 'collective action' actually results from the choices of large numbers of individuals.

And few are likely to heed 'encouragements' to make certain perceived pro-environment choices when those doing the encouraging (or more accurately in this case, enforcing through EU law) don't take their own words seriously enough to act on them.

Euro corporatism exposed

Actually Barroso's response provides a chilling exposé of the corporatist mindset of those running the EU, in which 'collective action' comprised of individuals acting in common (for example, in voting for those who govern them) plays no part.

Rather, collective action EU-style is derived through the interaction of bodies taken to speak on behalf of groups of individuals. We individuals ourselves are expected to just do what the annointed 'collective' says.

Hence Barroso's idea that there's no need to focus on individuals, or being remotely credible in front of us.

Certainly, with such a 'don't drive what I do, drive what I say' mindset in evidence at the top of the EU and no appreciation of there being a problem in such an attitude, it's no wonder the EU-led way in which its member countries are increasingly governed is being described as 'neo-feudal'.

Rapide growth planned at Aston Martin

More Aston Martin news in The Times today, which reports that the company plans to step up production by more than a quarter in the next three years.

Growth will be driven by the start of production of two new models - the DBS of latest James Bond fame and the four-door Rapide - taking the marque's range to seven cars.

Ulrich Bez, chief exec of Aston Martin, said that the Rapide would add another 1,000 - 2,000 cars to its record 2006 total of 7,000.

The sportscar maker expects to take on at least 200 more workers at its Warwickshire plant as a result, with the facility having to be expanded with a new production line and developments to the body and paint shops.

Mr Richards reassured Aston Martin fans that the new owners were committed to the company long term and would not be seeking a quick turnaround like many private equity groups.

He said: “The car industry and this business require long-term investment. You can’t come in and out in two to three years as some private equity groups do.”

Ford also owns Jaguar and Land Rover in the UK, but Lewis Booth, head of Ford Europe, yesterday said that there were no plans to sell those companies too.

Aston Martin has very little in common with other Ford brands so was seen as the easiest to sell. Land Rover and Jaguar and Ford-badged cars share a great deal of parts and design.

Back to British

Luxury sports car maker Aston Martin is heading back into British hands. Ford have sold the company to a UK-led group for £479 million.

The buying consortium is led by Dave Richards, boss of respected motorsport specialist Prodrive.

The American car giant has had a big stake in Aston Martin since 1987, buying the company outright in 1994. Under Ford's ownership, the company reported record sales of 4,500 cars in 2005.

But with the onset of Ford's financial troubles, the group decided to sell Aston Martin. Ford lost more than $12bn in 2006, and faces huge restructuring costs. However the group has still held on to a £40 million slice of the company.

The sportscar specialist will remain at its purpose-built factory in Gaydon (Warwickshire), which employs 1,800 people.

Prodrive success

Under the leadership of Dave Richards, Prodrive has built a formidable reputation in motorsport, running the Aston Martin racing team in the sports car series around the world as well as the highly-successful Subaru rally team.

Dave Richards also managed the BAR Formula One team from 2002 to 2004, taking the team from eighth to second in the manufacturers world championship in that period, before Honda took a greater role in the team. Richards was also a leading figure in the Benetton F1 team in the late 90s.

Prodrive owns a slot to enter the 2008 F1 World Championship, but the consortium has called 'unfounded' speculation that Prodrive may now brand its cars Aston Martin.

Also in the consortium with Dave Richards is John Sinders - a banker in finance and shipping who spends his time between Texas and Dubai - and two Kuwaiti investment companies.

Future challenges

Looking ahead, the biggest question facing the new owners is whether, without the backing of a well-funded major car group enjoyed by many of Aston Martin's main rivals, the new owners will have enough cash to spend on developing the brand's cars to keep them ahead of the competition.

A further threat is looming EU car emissions regulations. If these are implemented on a per-manufacturer basis, that would present a major problem for independent sportscar makers unable to meet such rules by balancing the inevitably higher emissions of their products with the low-emissions city cars also produced by a large car group.

For the company to survive under such an imposed EU regime, huge investment would be needed to produce low-emissions powerplants that nevertheless maintain the required level of power and performance.