Olympic Buffoonery - Not Saving The Planet

Congratulations to the "brains" behind the decision to use three Hydrogen-fuelled taxis to ferry Olympic VIPs and other assorted hangers on around various Olympics venues.

The cabs can only be refuelled at service stations that offer hydrogen as a fuel.

Can you guess where the nearest service station that offers hydrogen is children?

Yes, that's right, Swindon - which is (cough) 130 miles away!

Seemingly (as per the BBC) the designated hydrogen fuelling station, at Lea Interchange near the Olympic Park, has had to close for security reasons.

Therefore the taxis are loaded on a transporter to take them to Swindon.

Well done lads, a great idea that has definitely contributed to "saving" the planet!


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It's A Wrap!

Dow, the chemical company with an "interesting" history, will be allowed to promote and display its logo on certain sections of the Olympic Stadium after winning the right to produce the £6M "wrap" that will cover the exterior of the stadium.

Seemingly once the games are over the "wrap" will be "repurposed", whatever that means in plain English!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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The Golden Cheesegrater

Congratulations to London 2012 organisers, who have unveiled the Golden Olympic torch that will be used to carry the Olympic flame around Britain next year in the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

Aside from the fact that (as it is studded with holes) it looks like a giant cheese grater, it also apparently fails wrt its green credentials.

Seemingly organisers had led people to believe that the torch would be the first low carbon one.

Guess what?

They reneged on their promise, it isn't!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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The Green Olympics?

Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, has been warned that the increase in traffic (as a result of the London Olympics in 2012) will breach pollution limits.

The result?

London will be fined £300M by the EU!

Now worries, just add that to the Olympic "budget"!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Pathetic!

I see that the IOC are considering sacrificing the traditional Olympics opening and closing ceremony fireworks displays on the altar of "environmentalism".

Maybe, if the IOC were that concerned about the environment, they should consider abandoning the games altogether given the energy used, resources wasted, air pollution etc to host, attend and compete in the games?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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The Oilympics

Lord Coe, Chairman of the London Olympics, has defended BP's sponsorship of the games and stated to the BBC that the oil spill in the Gulf "does not make a difference to us at all".

BP is a top tier sponsor of the 2012 Games.

London and Florida will both have their own legacies to look forward to.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Failed

In April I noted that the lofty plans by the ODA to use the canal system to supply raw materials for the Olympics site were unsustainable.

"..the financial downturn has scuppered the plans to carry out the necessary dredging work. Therefore the tide is only high enough to carry barges for a few hours each day..."

Today The Times reports that the plans have "failed".

By the way, it cost us £20M.

How many more Olympic promises will fail?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Piss and Wind

As with all plans of mice, men and the ODA things do rather tend to fall apart when confronted with reality.

Such fate befell the grandiose plans of the ODA to construct a 120M wind turbine at the North end of the Olympic park, which was meant to supply 20% of the Olympic park's energy during the games.

David Higgins, CEO of the Olympic Delivery Authority, confessed to defeat the other day stating that the scheme was "no longer feasible".

Seemingly new health and safety measures had meant the original design was no longer viable, and the preferred bidder had pulled out.

No other contractors had come forward.

Another Olympic dream bites the dust!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Unsustainable

The Telegraph reports that two years ago Aggregate Industries was awarded the contract to supply aggregate materials (eg concrete, gravel, stone and sand) to the Olympic Park. A key element, so people were given to understand at the time, of the contract was that 99% of the materials would be transported by sustainable transport methods. Within this figure, 25% (250,000 tons) would come by barge via Prescott Lock on the River Lea.

However, Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, has revealed that during 2009 a pathetic 600 tons of material had been transported to the Olympic Park by water.

For why?

It seems that the financial downturn has scuppered the plans to carry out the necessary dredging work. Therefore the tide is only high enough to carry barges for a few hours each day.

However, Aggregate Industries will not face sanctions, it seems that the ODA did not make it a binding requirement of the contract (even though it was a key part of the contract).

I wonder how many other Olympics contracts have been so "naively" negotiated by the ODA?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Environmental Legacy

The Daily India ran this story back in February about the contamination of the London Olympics site, that seemingly is buried beneath a plastic sheet.

How true is this story, and how much of a hazard does this present given that there is meant to be a "legacy" after the games?

"The entire Olympics site in London has reportedly been built on top of a thin plastic sheet laid at a depth of less than three feet to separate the surface soil from potentially heavily contaminated ground below.

According to reports, it has been revealed that London 2012 chiefs have covered up land that is possibly contaminated with asbestos and radioactive materials with a huge and bright orange sheet.

Spanning more than 600 acres it is buried at a depth of 31inches to protect the health and safety of future builders and homeowners. It is designed as a warning marker layer to anyone digging the foundations of new homes and offices that they must follow special precautions if there is a need to excavate more deeply, the Express reports.

While "clean" soil and debris have been placed above the sheet, anything below it has to be considered hazardous unless proved otherwise."

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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The "Green" Olympics

In an attempt to close the stable door after the horse has bolted, the London Assembly is now looking into the the environmental sustainability of staging the London Games in the hope of being able to match the extravagant promises made five years ago that London 2012 would be the greenest games ever.

The London Assembly's environment committee is examining what progress the Olympic Organising committee and the GLA are making in their green preparations.

What happens if they find that progress does not match the promises made five years ago?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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LOCOG A Study In Perversity

The Telegraph reports that over 1,500 formal objections have been lodged with Greenwich Borough Council against LOCOG's planning application to use Greenwich Park for 2012 equestrian events.

Amongst the objections is one from ICOMOS-UK whose parent body, the International Council of Monuments and Sites, is advisor to UNESCO who designated Greenwich a World Heritage Site in 1997.

ICOMOS-UK believe that the equestrian Olympics will deter tourists, and that significant damage could be caused by equine and spectator infrastructure.

LOCOG insist that Greenwich is the only option as there is no "fall back" venue. Yet, perversely, LOCOG's own environmental statement shows that Windsor scores higher than Greenwich Park on facilities and the ability to host the contest.

Do LOCOG actually know what it is doing?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Sea Change?

The organisers of the London Olympics, LOCOG, have achieved something of a coup in creating an apparent sea change in attitude amongst the residents of Greenwich wrt plans for using Greenwich Park to stage the equestrian events for the London 2012 Olympics.

In October a survey, organised by the London Assembly, put opposition to the event at 68%. However, LOCOG's own survey released yesterday shows that 85% of residents now support the scheme; if the park is only closed for 6 weeks.

Great!

Except for one small problem.

LOCOG's planning application states that closure of parts of the park will begin in "spring 2010," but the grassland will not be fully restored and reopened until "November 2015."

Lorries will be driven onto the park 6,420 times - an average of 43 to 58 per day - during the set-up and removal of the main showjumping arena. This phase will close large parts of the park for a total of eight months in 2012.

In other words, LOCOG's survey is misleading, as it didn't provide the respondents with accurate information.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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NOGOE

NOGOE (No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events) is a community action group whose members believe Greenwich Park is not a suitable venue for the 2012 Olympic equestrian events.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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A Blight on The Landscape

Cabe, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (the government's architectural adviser), has vented its spleen on the £355M Olympic media centre (where the journalists covering the London 2012 Olympic Games will sit).

Cabe describes the building as being "monolithic", and notes that the building will be a blight on East London's already ugly landscape:

Paul Finch, chairman of the London 2012 design review panel, is quoted in The Times:

"People could be forgiven for wondering why sheds have been removed from the Lower Lea Valley in the name of high-quality urban regeneration, only to be reinstated at a much larger scale."

Money well spent then!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Horsing Around

The hapless and hopeless Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell, and LOCOG have something of a fight on their hands wrt their plans to use Greenwich Park for the 2012 equestrian events.

A campaign, No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events (NOGOE), has been set up to fight the plans. Thhe campaign group has a number of high profile supporters such as Dr David Starkey, Sir David Nicholas, former head of ITN, Sir Frank Berman QC, a former legal adviser to the Foreign Office, and Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield, a former chief executive of the Property Services Agency.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Blue Skies

Contrary to the expectations of some people before the games, the air quality in Beijing has actually been reasonably good thanks to the anti pollution measures taken by the authorities and a heavy storm that blew it away.

The skies above Beijing are currently clear and blue.

International Olympic Committee's medical commission chairman, Arne Ljungqvist, said:

"The information so far is very encouraging. The recent... days have had very good air conditions indeed.

There is no indication that there will be a problem in the near future."

However, World Health Organisation China chief Hans Troedsson noted that pollution in Beijing still presented long-term health risks to residents.

Olympic Medals Won

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Haze Returns

Despite a recent bout of clear skies and breathable air, with the Olympic games due to start this Friday, Beijing has woken up today to a return of the dreaded haze. This despite that fact that organisers have closed factories and removed over 1.5 million cars from the roads.

There are now plans being considered to seed the clouds to induce rainfall to clear the skies.

Failing that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that it may reschedule endurance events, such as the marathon, to prevent health risks if the pollution continues.

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An Olympic Thirst

The Beijing Olympics, which begin on 8 August 2008, are adding to China's water woes.

The San Fransisco Chronicle reports that the games are expected to increase Beijing's water consumption by at least 5%, and that reserves are being drawn down from neighbouring towns and provinces.

The article then goes on to state that:

"According to some environmentalists:

-Half of China's 617 largest cities, including Beijing, face water shortages.

-At least 300 million people do not have access to safe drinking water.

-90% of cities' groundwater and 75% of rivers and lakes are polluted.

-Chinese industries dump 40 billion to 60 billion tons of untreated wastewater into rivers and lakes every year.

-90 million people are exposed to water pollution on a daily basis.

-Beijing golf courses use 21,900 acre-feet of water each year."

Let us hope that the money earned from the Olympics will be used to address these issues.

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The Final Month

With just one month to go before the opening of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the final touches for the games are being put into place.

Venues and transport facilities are, on the face of it, ready; something that was not a certainty in Athens four years ago. However, there is still much concern about the air quality in Beijing.

The past few weeks has seen Beijing enveloped in smog.

Beijing has budgeted $12BN to clean up the environment before the games, part of that has been allocated to improving air quality.

The IOC maintains that most athletes will be unaffected by pollution. However, those taking part in endurance events lasting more than one hour could be at risk and events may have to be rescheduled.

Given the extensive preparations for the 2008 games, it will be a major disappointment to the organisers if the abiding memory of 2008 was the smog.

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