Mygreenwheels

So Denmark's going to get an electric car network thanks to Project Better Place. The grid will include about 20,000 recharging stations to be built at parking lots and outside homes and it's expected to be ready by 2011 using excess energy from Danish energy supplier DONG Energy's wind turbines.

Renault will be providing the vehicles and the batteries will come from Nissan, although other car makers and battery producers are going to join the project later. (Did someone mention Think? Surely they'll be a part of it.)

Project Better Place is now reportedly in discussion with 30 countries around the world, so I wish they'd get a move on and start some discussion here in Scotland. Our SNP leader has set his country some challenging targets to reduce our carbon emissions, so he'd about chew off his own arm to get Shai Agassi's network over here. We're also about the same size as Denmark and Israel (but with hilly streets and extremes of wet weather), so doesn't that make us a good target for the scheme?

Maybe I'll be the one to get the discussion started ... after all, only this morning I was invited by Michael Granoff to join him on LinkedIn and he's Head of Oil Independence at Project Better Place, so who knows what will come of that.

Just recalling a recent trip to Denmark, let me share this insight into the character of the place. I was invited to join a Rolls Royce enthusiasts' club outing from Roskilde to a lovely country estate for the day. We three lady passengers settled into our comfortable leather seats and opened a bottle of champagne as we set off. Owner/driver Franz sat proudly with one hand on the wheel and his elbow out of the window, glass of champagne in his other hand, as our cavalcade of Rollers wound slowly and majestically through country lanes. As we rounded one corner a smiling gent at the roadside raised a hand in salute and we all raised our glasses to him in return. "Who was that?" I enquired. "The Chief of Police," replied Franz cheerily. What a great country, I thought.