Early to bed and early to rise

The Japanese government has launched a campaign encouraging people to go to bed and get up early. The Morning Challenge campaign, unveiled by the Environment Ministry, is based on the premise that swapping late night electricity for an extra hour of morning sunlight could significantly cut the nation's carbon footprint. A typical family can reduce its carbon dioxide footprint by 85kg a year if everyone goes to bed and gets up one hour earlier. It is the latest initiative tackling climate change to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25 per cent from 1990 levels within the next decade.

Pond power

Driven by fluctuations in oil prices and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are intensifying efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum. As it turns out, algae - slimy, fast-growing and full of fat - is gaining ground as a potential renewable energy source. Experts say it is intriguing for its ability to gobble up carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, while living happily in places that are not needed for food crops. While no one has found a way to mass produce cheap fuel from algae yet, the race is on. University labs and start-up companies across the country are getting involved.

Eco-shop

A businessman in Berlin has leapt on the "green" bandwagon by offering discounts to clients who can prove they arrived by public transport or bicycle. "Everyone's a winner," explained Regina Goetz, who runs the business in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg, a district in the former East Berlin.
"It's pretty difficult to park around here. So we came up with the idea of an eco discount of five euros (£4.50) to anyone who leaves the car at home," Ms Goetz. "The crisis has slashed our turnover to half in the last year. But the discount has proved a roaring success," she said.