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Aug/Sept 2010 www.esb.ie/em

HEALTH & HABITAT

DO IT EVERY WEEK! make sure you check your tyre pressure …

Look after your tyres and they’ll look after you

If you look after you tyres, they will work more reliably and last longer. Neglecting them could be expensive in the long run and could even cost you your life.

EACH OF your tyres gives you a contact patch on the road of about the size of a large footprint and provide all of the grip for steering, braking and acceleration of your vehicle.

Most car tyres, when new, start off with a tread depth of 8mm. Although worn tyres may be technically legal (above 1.6mm), their ability to perform reduces greatly as their tread depth decreases. At speeds of 100km/h, the stopping distance with a 8mm of tread is about 70 metres, but the stopping distance with a worn tyre with a 2mm tread is 97 metres.

Tyre pressure should be checked once a week, only when the tyres are cold. Tyres become warm as you drive and this causes a slight increase in inflation pressure. Check the vehicle handbook for correct tyre pressure. Remember to check the pressure of the spare tyre too.

Under-inflated tyres cause impaired braking, impaired steering and impaired handling. Running a tyre at a low air-pressure leads to a build-up of heat and increases the risk of a tyre failure. Of course, that could have a severe impact on a vehicle's safety. The loss of vehicle handling control and the increase in vehicle drift rises sharply as tyre pressure is reduced. Low tyre-pressure significantly reduces tyre life.

Findings from safety checks conducted on 52,400 cars in 15 EU countries in 2009 found that 81% of motorists drive on under-inflated tyres. There is a 12-15% increase in fuel consumption with under-inflated tyres. This habit is leading to the annual equivalent of four billion litres of wasted fuel, worth €5.2 billion and 9.3 million tons of additional and unnecessary, CO2 emissions.

Over-inflation of tyres results in the tyre bulging in the centre of the tread pattern so that only a small section is in contact with the road. As much as half of the grip can be lost and the central part of the tread will wear more rapidly. This results in impaired vehicle handling, greater stopping distance and greater risk of a blow-out

Tyres and water

Where there is a film of water between your vehicle's tyres and the road surface, the vehicle's steering and braking is less effective – even at optimum tread depth and pressure. Tyres worn down to below the legal tread-depth limit represent an immediate danger. Aquaplaning is 40% more likely to occur when tyre tread depths are below 1.6mm.

Tracking / alignment

Incorrect wheel alignment (tracking) is another reason for premature tyre wear on vehicles.

Misalignment can be caused by hitting potholes or bumps, or as a result of loose steering, worn shock-absorbers or worn steering components. Your car's wheels should be re-aligned at least once a year or after every 16,000km travelled, (whichever is earlier).

E-marked tyres

It is a requirement throughout the EU that vehicles have tyres that are ‘e-marked’, confirming that the tyres meet minimum EU standard in relation to dimensions, loads and speed ratings.

Tyres which are not e-marked are likely to perform less well and could be at risk of sudden and/or serious deterioration.

Trust your tyres

So remember, check your tyre pressure weekly. Make use of the tyre-tread depth indicator that is inset in the key-rings that were distributed earlier this year by the Safe Driving Bureau, to check tyre tread depth regularly. n

For more information email safedriving@esb.ie or visit the Safe Driving website: http://esbnet/safedriving/

Eco-efficient in Europe

Germany strives towards only using renewable energy sources for its power

Germany is on track to become the first major industrialised nation in the world to meet all its electricity requirements from renewable sources. And the German Federal Environment Agency believes it can be done by 2050.

Germany already gets more than 15% of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources – three times what it produced in 1995.

Today, Germany is a major player in the renewable energy business, a leader in developing new renewable technologies and exporting its expertise around the world.

“A complete conversion to renewable energy by 2050 is possible from a technical and ecological point of view,” said Jochen Flasbarth, president of the Federal Environment Agency last month. “It's a very realistic target based on technology that already exists. It is not a ‘pie in the sky’ prediction.”

Around 40%of Germany's greenhouse gases come from electricity production, in particular from coal-fired power plants.

However, Germany has forged ahead in renewable technology in large part due to the enthusiastic support of the government, which has set the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent (from 1990 levels) by 2020, and by as much as 85% by 2050.

With Germany's power industry encouraged by the country's sweeping Renewable Energy Act, as many as 300,000 green energy jobs have been created in the last decade. Germany has become the world's second-largest generator of wind power (after the U.S.), and it is also the world leader in photovoltaic generation, with plans to add more than 5,000MW of photovoltaic capacity this year to reach a total of 14,000MW.

“Germany wants to harness Energy from the Saharan sun…

Power from the Sahara

Germany is also one of the European nations looking at the possibilities of harnessing the power of the Saharan sun.

The while the difficulties may be daunting, the potential is dazzling. According to the European Commission's Institute for Energy, capturing just 0.3% of the sunlight which falls on the Sahara would be sufficient to meet Europe's total energy requirements.

European energy commissioner Günther Oettinger has predicted that Europe will be importing significant amounts of solar electricity from north Africa within five years.

The German-led Desertec Industrial Initiative aims to provide 15% of Europe's electricity by 2050 using transmission lines stretching across the Mediterranean from north Africa. The €500billion plan is a consortium of some of Germany's biggest companies, including Deutsche Bank, engineering conglomerate Siemens and utility giant E.On.

The other Windy City

Chicago has been known as the Windy City for generations, but New York may soon be a rival for the title.

The New York Power Authority, Consolidated Edison, the Long Island Power Authority and the New York City government are planning to jointly develop an offshore windfarm capable of producing between 350 to 700 MW.

The group has already decided to apply for a 25-year lease from the U.S. federal government to develop the project in the Atlantic east of Long Island.

New York mayor and billionaire businessman, Michael Bloomberg, is an enthusiastic supporter of the plan, which could see the offshore wind turbines turning as early as 2016.