Tesco claims airfreight greener...

...than locally produced

Tesco boss Terry Leahy has announced research funding for a Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester to look such things as the environmental impact of flying food around the world. Suggesting that buying food locally may be more harmful to the environment. Leahy said: "We're seeing a lot of knee jerk responses. It may be that farming from further afield is actually environmentally better, we'll have to wait and see the numbers ".

On Wednesday's Today programme (BBC radio 4) Terry Leahy referring to energy efficient light bulbs claimed that "many house holds can't take the new form of light bulb." (Energy efficient bulbs are made with both of the standard fittings - screw or bayonet.)

Tesco is a pioneer of the out of town super store, necessitating more car journeys by individuals. It has also pioneered the corporate cornershop and is accused of 'landbanking'* thereby placing further pressures on local amenities.

Supplying it's giant out of town/edge of town shops is a fleet of lorries run on 50percent bio-fuels. On Tuesday the OECD released a report titled "Biofuels: is the cure worse than the disease?"; questioning the wisdom of subsidizing an energy intensive crop that is increasingly being grown in place of crops for human consumption.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/listenagain_archive.shtml http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2007/OECD_Biofuels_Cure_Worse_Than_Disease_Sept07.pdf

*Landbanking is the practice of large retailers whereby highstreet buildings/shops or out of town plots are bought but not used. Thus depriving competitors (big or small) from locating themselves in a particular area. Where buildings or plots are leased on it is on the proviso that they are not used for commercial purposes in competition with the owner.


share this Share this page

news News

Britain fails to follow swarm
No pesticide ban despite action elsewhere in Europe

news Teatime

Pee in the shower
...save water

blog Blog

Low Tech security solutions baffle Met
Police and Government to be given lessons in briefcase tech