Posts Tagged ‘Olympics’

London to get billions for investment in time for 2012

November 3rd, 2009

With less than 1,000 days until the start of the 2012 Olympics in London, excitement is already growing over what will be a huge boost for the local visitor economy. To mark the occasion, Visit London has released a report outlining how visitors to the capital will benefit from £11 billion in investment over the coming years. The improvements are already starting to take shape, including the East London Line railway extension, new cycle tracks and walkways, the renovation of the Savoy Hotel and a new urban park being built in East London. In Spring 2011 the Cutty Sark will be reopened after being damaged by fire in 2007 and a new wing of the Tate Modern will be opened in time for the start of the Olympics. These are new and exciting times for such an historic and fascinating city such as London and I’m keen to see how these new developments will improve an already amazing city!

New giant solar energy system

February 19th, 2009

Yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Alice Springs hotel in Australia, the largest building-mounted solar energy system in the southern hemisphere was switched on. The new energy system costs $3.3 million but will hopefully reduce the hotels energy consumption by 40 to 80 percent, depending on the time of year. Their energy efficiency programme also hopes to cut energy consumption by a further 18 percent. 3110 light bulbs will be replaced with energy efficient options as part of the energy efficiency programme, as well as the replacement of shower heads with new energy efficient ones to save water and gas. The amount of water saved is enough to fill over 30 Olympic swimming pools. The rooftop solar panel system will save the most amount of energy, reducing the hotels annual carbon footprint by 420 tonnes of CO2. I find it commendable that such a high profile hotel chain is doing something to save energy and the planet.

Have you saved enough for Beijing?

August 9th, 2008

According to Sainsbury’s Travel Money, those flying to Beijing to watch the Olympic Games will have to make sure they have enough spending money when they get there! On average, travelers to Beijing will need £1,074 in spending money. However, Sainsbury’s Travel Money estimates that 90% of the money will be spent on hotel bills as prices have increased by around 452% due to the Olympics!! Although the hotel bills may be expensive, in comparison to other major cities across the world, Beijing is fairly cheap. Thankfully I am not one of those going to watch the Olympics in Beijing, so instead I can just watch it on TV for free and save my money! :D