Burma is in the news and the UN waffles in the severest terms. Mugabe is stealing everything with any value in Zimbabwe and getting away with it, whilst African leaders either applaud or "energetically" use quiet diplomacy to stop him - quiet diplomacy is political-speak for "do bugger all whilst planning my next overseas trip with my mistress."
Politicians to a man or woman suffer from the same malady, whether in Africa, Europe or America. This is a self-belief in their own importance and the deservedness of the special, frequently luxurious lifestyle now availed to them.
As a sometime voter, I actually do not care whether my elected representative and servant to the people is revered by his fellows for fine clothes, expensive vehicles, the coolest, toughest-looking bodyguards and often gorgeous, "obliging" political assistants to accompany him or her on their travels.
But go to Westminster, the UN in New York or even the Kremlin and you will immediately notice the aura of power. The atmosphere is far from that of diligent public servants of humanity attempting to make a better world for all the inhabitants they represent. A combination of fashion show and fine wine club, with a whiff of armaments fair would be more accurate.
This charade, whilst in many parts of the globe, young children starve, women are raped and monks are beaten to death as a result of political agendas.
We face a threat to the very survival of our species in the form of global warming and climate change, that in terms of the time lines of our planet, is upon us now. The response from our illustrious fat-cat politicians, is to place flags beneath the North pole; to eye Iranian oil and gas reserves, whilst planning attack; to supply Typhoon fighters to oil rich nations and blatantly overlook proven corruption.
I am so sick of hearing, watching and reading about one group of people getting it over another group of people.
Is it beyond us to unite as a species to tackle the real threats for the future of us all. Global Warming - Climate Change - Energy Starvation - Population Explosion.
Since the industrial revolution we have grabbed and consumed the world's resources with all the restraint of a binge-drinker in a distillery !
The seas are bare of fish, oil has peaked and yet we seem intent on charging over the environmental cliff like drug crazed Lemmings. And for most of us, ours is a complicity in this process, through total apathy.
We need to tell the elected leaders of the World what we ordinary, less privileged citizens DEMAND of them. And the great news is, we all have access to the tool to do it - the Internet.
Never before in history has it been possible for people around the world, with just one common thread, humanity, to join together and impose their will on shoddy world leaders. Make your voice heard. Email your friends, wherever they may be. Use blogs, letters to the press, anything and everything available to speak out; but do not do NOTHING. Remember, the dinosaurs were once top of the food chain!
Time to stop and think...and for Homo sapiens to start really living again !
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
£40 000 Grant for Green Community Project
Grant for green community project in Devon.
A small community has been given more than £40,000 to set up a renewable energy initiative.
The Beech Hill Community in Devon will be powered by its own wind turbine, solar panels and log-fuelled boiler.
They have been given £35,600 from the EDF Energy Green Fund and £7,000 from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.
The 14-strong group who live at a large house at Morchard Bishop set in seven acres have taken out a loan to fund the remainder of the £90,000 project.
Residents at Beech Hill already grow their own fruit and vegetables, eat communal meals, host a village composting site, car share, recycle waste, keep chickens and use a natural sewage treatment system. The group said renewable energy had to be their next step.
BBC
There are a number of funding organisations offering money to assist in green energy projects. In the long run, not only will this community live without adding to the greenhouse gases, global warming and climate change, but will not be having to pay out the quarterly electricity and gas bills the rest of us do.
If they had to borrow £50 000 to pay for the balance of the equipment, that could be financed off a mortgage scheme, with a monthly repayment in £350 region.
Now the average family of 4 pay £150 a month for energy, so when you consider that 14 are being provided with energy for a hypothetical £350 a month, it is economically sound to make this shift in energy source.
It is important not to ignore the potential for funding and tax breaks on offer to businesses and residences for implementing state of the art green energy technology.
Start by doing a carbon footprint calculation today.
Denny
A small community has been given more than £40,000 to set up a renewable energy initiative.
The Beech Hill Community in Devon will be powered by its own wind turbine, solar panels and log-fuelled boiler.
They have been given £35,600 from the EDF Energy Green Fund and £7,000 from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.
The 14-strong group who live at a large house at Morchard Bishop set in seven acres have taken out a loan to fund the remainder of the £90,000 project.
Residents at Beech Hill already grow their own fruit and vegetables, eat communal meals, host a village composting site, car share, recycle waste, keep chickens and use a natural sewage treatment system. The group said renewable energy had to be their next step.
BBC
There are a number of funding organisations offering money to assist in green energy projects. In the long run, not only will this community live without adding to the greenhouse gases, global warming and climate change, but will not be having to pay out the quarterly electricity and gas bills the rest of us do.
If they had to borrow £50 000 to pay for the balance of the equipment, that could be financed off a mortgage scheme, with a monthly repayment in £350 region.
Now the average family of 4 pay £150 a month for energy, so when you consider that 14 are being provided with energy for a hypothetical £350 a month, it is economically sound to make this shift in energy source.
It is important not to ignore the potential for funding and tax breaks on offer to businesses and residences for implementing state of the art green energy technology.
Start by doing a carbon footprint calculation today.
Denny
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Do Women hold the Keys to Reducing Carbon Footprints
Latest research indicates women between 25 and 50 spend more time on the Internet than men in the same age brackets.
Women in many households are strong influencers in the choice of domestic appliances, cars, in fact almost all lifestyle related decisions.
"Mother" Nature reflects the female nurturing role in regards to life and the environment.
So clearly, all the evidence is that women hold a unique balance of qualification, experience and influence to direct the assault upon global warming and climate change.
Are you up to the challenge, girls?
Denny
Women in many households are strong influencers in the choice of domestic appliances, cars, in fact almost all lifestyle related decisions.
"Mother" Nature reflects the female nurturing role in regards to life and the environment.
So clearly, all the evidence is that women hold a unique balance of qualification, experience and influence to direct the assault upon global warming and climate change.
Are you up to the challenge, girls?
Denny
Skin Treatment needed to offset damage from Ozone depletion, aggravated by Global Warming.
The Hole in the Ozone Layer
Reducing our carbon footprints and co2 emissions are hot news these days. The hole in the Ozone Layer was in the news long before climate change and global warming became the tags applied to our collective worries about the harm mankind was doing to the atmosphere.
The Ozone Layer absorbs between 97% and 99% of the Sun's high frequency ultra-violet light, UV, which is linked to increases in the frequency of skin cancer.
The influence of global warming and climate change upon the Ozone layer, is only recently becoming clearer.
Stratospheric winds: every 26 months the tropical winds in the lower stratosphere change from easterly to westerly and then back again, an event called the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO). The QBO causes ozone values at a particular latitude to expand and contract roughly 3%. Since stratospheric winds move ozone, not destroy it, the loss of one latitude is the gain of another and globally the effects cancel out.
Greenhouse gases: to the degree that greenhouse gases might heat the planet and alter weather patterns, the magnitude of the stratospheric winds will certainly be affected. Some of the more popular scenarios of global warming predict cooler stratospheric temperatures, but more research needs to be done to vindicate these predictions.
Ozone gas is created by UV radiation from the Sun and fluctuates according to an 11 year cycle. High solar activity is linked to an increase in ozone, but man-made chemicals, such as CFC's, as well as chlorine and bromine, destroy Ozone through a photo-chemical process, leading to less UV light being absorbed and potentially increased resultant temperatures.
Ozone depletion can be significantly reduced by a major limitation to CFC production. Health care costs of skin treatments necessary due to UV damage will be cut and much suffering alleviated.
Identifying and acting upon problems that have achievable solutions, from an economic and life quality viewpoint, are key to success. It is hard to sell the current generation unpalatable lifestyles or economic hardships simply for the benefit of "future generations". The perils of global warming and climate change must become personalised, with people claiming ownership to creating a bright future for their own offspring, at the forefront.
Reducing our carbon footprints and co2 emissions are hot news these days. The hole in the Ozone Layer was in the news long before climate change and global warming became the tags applied to our collective worries about the harm mankind was doing to the atmosphere.
The Ozone Layer absorbs between 97% and 99% of the Sun's high frequency ultra-violet light, UV, which is linked to increases in the frequency of skin cancer.
The influence of global warming and climate change upon the Ozone layer, is only recently becoming clearer.
Stratospheric winds: every 26 months the tropical winds in the lower stratosphere change from easterly to westerly and then back again, an event called the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO). The QBO causes ozone values at a particular latitude to expand and contract roughly 3%. Since stratospheric winds move ozone, not destroy it, the loss of one latitude is the gain of another and globally the effects cancel out.
Greenhouse gases: to the degree that greenhouse gases might heat the planet and alter weather patterns, the magnitude of the stratospheric winds will certainly be affected. Some of the more popular scenarios of global warming predict cooler stratospheric temperatures, but more research needs to be done to vindicate these predictions.
Ozone gas is created by UV radiation from the Sun and fluctuates according to an 11 year cycle. High solar activity is linked to an increase in ozone, but man-made chemicals, such as CFC's, as well as chlorine and bromine, destroy Ozone through a photo-chemical process, leading to less UV light being absorbed and potentially increased resultant temperatures.
Ozone depletion can be significantly reduced by a major limitation to CFC production. Health care costs of skin treatments necessary due to UV damage will be cut and much suffering alleviated.
Identifying and acting upon problems that have achievable solutions, from an economic and life quality viewpoint, are key to success. It is hard to sell the current generation unpalatable lifestyles or economic hardships simply for the benefit of "future generations". The perils of global warming and climate change must become personalised, with people claiming ownership to creating a bright future for their own offspring, at the forefront.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Huge effort urged on global warming.
The US needs to unleash “the greatest concentration of economic activity since we mobilised for World War II” by embracing new energy technology and regulatory incentives to tackle global warming, according to former US president Bill Clinton.
Speaking to the Financial Times on the eve of the Clinton Global Initiative – the annual New York conference of the ex-president’s global business philanthropy group – Mr Clinton strongly disputed the view that tackling climate change would reduce economic growth.
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He contradicted a recent United Nations report that said tackling global warming would involve a sacrifice in economic growth. Mr Clinton also sided with China and India, which he said could not fairly be expected to cut their carbon emissions un-less wealthy countries such as the US first took the lead.
Later this week, George W. Bush is to host a Washington summit on global warming, which will include the leaders of India and China. The CGI is also focusing on climate change in addition to global health, education and poverty alleviation. Mr Clinton will host his first Asian CGI – in Hong Kong – next year.
“There’s way more economic opportunity than cost here, and I think unless we take the lead in the United States, we’ll never get the Indians and the Chinese to do it,” said Mr Clinton.
“But we will never be able to persuade them of that until we put our money where our mouth is . . . There’s money in this. This is economically smart.”
Citing a recent CGI initiative in which Mr Clinton persuaded five banks to stump up $5bn (€3.5bn, £2.5bn) to refit urban buildings that would be paid back by utility savings over time, Mr Clinton said the US should move rapidly to upgrade its regulatory targets to improve energy efficiency.
He cited the UK and Denmark as having created new jobs through new technology investments that had enabled them to avoid the stagnation in median wages that had affected America’s middle classes since 2000.
“In this decade, the UK has had rising median incomes and no increase in inequality because they’ve found a source of new jobs.”
He said Europe’s better focus on energy efficiency explained why it had created 13m new jobs between 2000 and 2005 compared with 8m in the US.
By Chrystia Freeland and Edward Luce in New York
Published: September 23 2007 19:51 | Last updated: September 23 2007 19:51
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
May the ordinary citizens start to show the politicians the way ahead.
Denny
Speaking to the Financial Times on the eve of the Clinton Global Initiative – the annual New York conference of the ex-president’s global business philanthropy group – Mr Clinton strongly disputed the view that tackling climate change would reduce economic growth.
ADVERTISEMENT
He contradicted a recent United Nations report that said tackling global warming would involve a sacrifice in economic growth. Mr Clinton also sided with China and India, which he said could not fairly be expected to cut their carbon emissions un-less wealthy countries such as the US first took the lead.
Later this week, George W. Bush is to host a Washington summit on global warming, which will include the leaders of India and China. The CGI is also focusing on climate change in addition to global health, education and poverty alleviation. Mr Clinton will host his first Asian CGI – in Hong Kong – next year.
“There’s way more economic opportunity than cost here, and I think unless we take the lead in the United States, we’ll never get the Indians and the Chinese to do it,” said Mr Clinton.
“But we will never be able to persuade them of that until we put our money where our mouth is . . . There’s money in this. This is economically smart.”
Citing a recent CGI initiative in which Mr Clinton persuaded five banks to stump up $5bn (€3.5bn, £2.5bn) to refit urban buildings that would be paid back by utility savings over time, Mr Clinton said the US should move rapidly to upgrade its regulatory targets to improve energy efficiency.
He cited the UK and Denmark as having created new jobs through new technology investments that had enabled them to avoid the stagnation in median wages that had affected America’s middle classes since 2000.
“In this decade, the UK has had rising median incomes and no increase in inequality because they’ve found a source of new jobs.”
He said Europe’s better focus on energy efficiency explained why it had created 13m new jobs between 2000 and 2005 compared with 8m in the US.
By Chrystia Freeland and Edward Luce in New York
Published: September 23 2007 19:51 | Last updated: September 23 2007 19:51
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
May the ordinary citizens start to show the politicians the way ahead.
Denny
Parts of UK struck by Tornadoes !
Tornadoes hit UK
A series of tornadoes has struck communities across England, damaging homes and vehicles and uprooting trees.
The Met Office confirmed that a squall hit Northampton, where falling branches damaged an empty school bus.
It also said that a violent storm damaged gardens and homes in Luton, Bedfordshire. Part of a factory roof was blown off in Breaston, Derbyshire.
BBC
Just another normal Autumn day in U.K.
PS: Don't mention climate change!
Denny
A series of tornadoes has struck communities across England, damaging homes and vehicles and uprooting trees.
The Met Office confirmed that a squall hit Northampton, where falling branches damaged an empty school bus.
It also said that a violent storm damaged gardens and homes in Luton, Bedfordshire. Part of a factory roof was blown off in Breaston, Derbyshire.
BBC
Just another normal Autumn day in U.K.
PS: Don't mention climate change!
Denny
Should we prepare for Huge Increases in Oil and Gas Prices?
I wrote my blog the other day without knowledge of this article being published in the Independent on Sunday. Seems I am not the only one thinking upon these lines.
Oil industry 'sleepwalking into crisis'
Former Shell chairman says that diminishing resources could push price of crude to $150 a barrel
Lord Oxburgh, the former chairman of Shell, has issued a stark warning that the price of oil could hit $150 per barrel, with oil production peaking within the next 20 years.
He accused the industry of having its head "in the sand" about the depletion of supplies, and warned: "We may be sleepwalking into a problem which is actually going to be very serious and it may be too late to do anything about it by the time we are fully aware."
In an interview with The Independent on Sunday ahead of his address to the Association for the Study of Peak Oil in Ireland this week, Lord Oxburgh, one of the most respected names in the energy industry, said a rapid increase in the price of oil was inevitable as demand continued to outstrip supply. He said: "We can probably go on extracting oil from the ground for a very long time, but it is going to get very expensive indeed.
"And once you see oil prices in excess of $100 or $150 a barrel, the alternatives simply become more attractive on price grounds if on no others."
Lord Oxburgh added that oil majors must invest more heavily in developing viable alternatives to oil and gas. "If you look at it from oil companies' point of view, effectively what they're doing at the moment is continuing business as usual, and sticking their toes in the water in a number of areas which might become important in future.
"But at present there is a relatively poor business case for making significantly greater investment in these new areas."
Commenting on whether "peak oil" – the point when global oil production goes into terminal decline – was likely to be reached in the near future, he said: "In a way it scarcely matters; what really matters is the gap between production and demand. I don't know whether there is going to be a peak in world oil production, whether it's going to plateau and then slowly come down.
"It could well plateau within the next 20 years, and I guess I would be surprised if it hadn't."
By David Strahan and Andrew Murray-Watson
Independent Newspaper - 17th September 2007
A gradual change in the way we live will help ease our path to these inescapable facts. What can we do now?
1. Insulate the house and lower the central heating thermostat 1 degree.
2. Buy a smaller, ideally diesel engine car, drive slower, accelerate more gradually.
3. Car share to work. 71% of UK employees go to work by car. (RAC survey)
4. Make a habit to walk and cycle short journeys.
5. Replace light bulbs with low wattage types - they are now getting much cheaper.
They also last much longer!
These suggestions not only make financial sense, but will help reduce co2 emissions and global warming rates, thereby impacting upon climate change.
Small changes that will make a long term difference. Most habits are sub-conscious, so perhaps the answer is to try to adopt some good ones?
Denny
Oil industry 'sleepwalking into crisis'
Former Shell chairman says that diminishing resources could push price of crude to $150 a barrel
Lord Oxburgh, the former chairman of Shell, has issued a stark warning that the price of oil could hit $150 per barrel, with oil production peaking within the next 20 years.
He accused the industry of having its head "in the sand" about the depletion of supplies, and warned: "We may be sleepwalking into a problem which is actually going to be very serious and it may be too late to do anything about it by the time we are fully aware."
In an interview with The Independent on Sunday ahead of his address to the Association for the Study of Peak Oil in Ireland this week, Lord Oxburgh, one of the most respected names in the energy industry, said a rapid increase in the price of oil was inevitable as demand continued to outstrip supply. He said: "We can probably go on extracting oil from the ground for a very long time, but it is going to get very expensive indeed.
"And once you see oil prices in excess of $100 or $150 a barrel, the alternatives simply become more attractive on price grounds if on no others."
Lord Oxburgh added that oil majors must invest more heavily in developing viable alternatives to oil and gas. "If you look at it from oil companies' point of view, effectively what they're doing at the moment is continuing business as usual, and sticking their toes in the water in a number of areas which might become important in future.
"But at present there is a relatively poor business case for making significantly greater investment in these new areas."
Commenting on whether "peak oil" – the point when global oil production goes into terminal decline – was likely to be reached in the near future, he said: "In a way it scarcely matters; what really matters is the gap between production and demand. I don't know whether there is going to be a peak in world oil production, whether it's going to plateau and then slowly come down.
"It could well plateau within the next 20 years, and I guess I would be surprised if it hadn't."
By David Strahan and Andrew Murray-Watson
Independent Newspaper - 17th September 2007
A gradual change in the way we live will help ease our path to these inescapable facts. What can we do now?
1. Insulate the house and lower the central heating thermostat 1 degree.
2. Buy a smaller, ideally diesel engine car, drive slower, accelerate more gradually.
3. Car share to work. 71% of UK employees go to work by car. (RAC survey)
4. Make a habit to walk and cycle short journeys.
5. Replace light bulbs with low wattage types - they are now getting much cheaper.
They also last much longer!
These suggestions not only make financial sense, but will help reduce co2 emissions and global warming rates, thereby impacting upon climate change.
Small changes that will make a long term difference. Most habits are sub-conscious, so perhaps the answer is to try to adopt some good ones?
Denny
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Last chance over Iran.
Condi Rice is apparently being given a final chance by Dick Cheney to get sufficient support to back a political stranglehold on Iran or to step aside for military action to begin. The Iranians are also uttering threats along the lines of Saddam's, echoing the run up to the Iraq invasion.
We must not lose sight of the facts relating to energy and the world superpowers determination to jockey for a position of influence in the Middle East nor Iran's real reason for developing a nuclear arsenal.
Oil reserves need to be considered in terms of conventional and non-conventional reserves, the cost of extraction and processing differentiating between the two. The cheaper and technically more accessible reserves are obviously more sought after and Iran has the second highest reserves of conventional oil and gas reserves. This makes it a focus for the West. The fear of Iran being allied to Russia, who already are poised to dictate an uncertain future supply scenario for Europe, is more than the present White House staff can permit.
In terms of coventional reserves, Saudi Arabia is No.1, with Iraq No.3 and Qatar's North field considered to be the single largest gas field in the world. Currently, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are relatively pro-West, but the future of Iran and Iraq and the potential for unfriendly developments can't be ignored, especially with increasing fundamentalist influences upon the Middle East.
This leads to an ever greater need for alternative energy sources to be developed so as to reduce our reliance upon fossil fuels. Whilst oil companies are so influential, this development is likely to be hampered.
Once again, there is only one course of action for ordinary people to follow and that is to reduce daily energy consumption. As we stand, oil is fetching record high prices - imagine what will happen when the USA and Israel attack Iran !
Global warming and climate change must be slowed down and yet we see far more attention being paid by world leaders to securing medium term supplies of fossil fuels, than addressing the catastrophic longer term threat posed through climate change.
The runaway train of fossil-fuel-fed industrialisation will approach the end of the track at fatal speed, if gradual braking is not applied by a concerned public.
Have you put in place a high recycling and lower energy consumption strategy yet? If not, join www.reduceco2.co.uk and do your bit for the future.
Denny
We must not lose sight of the facts relating to energy and the world superpowers determination to jockey for a position of influence in the Middle East nor Iran's real reason for developing a nuclear arsenal.
Oil reserves need to be considered in terms of conventional and non-conventional reserves, the cost of extraction and processing differentiating between the two. The cheaper and technically more accessible reserves are obviously more sought after and Iran has the second highest reserves of conventional oil and gas reserves. This makes it a focus for the West. The fear of Iran being allied to Russia, who already are poised to dictate an uncertain future supply scenario for Europe, is more than the present White House staff can permit.
In terms of coventional reserves, Saudi Arabia is No.1, with Iraq No.3 and Qatar's North field considered to be the single largest gas field in the world. Currently, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are relatively pro-West, but the future of Iran and Iraq and the potential for unfriendly developments can't be ignored, especially with increasing fundamentalist influences upon the Middle East.
This leads to an ever greater need for alternative energy sources to be developed so as to reduce our reliance upon fossil fuels. Whilst oil companies are so influential, this development is likely to be hampered.
Once again, there is only one course of action for ordinary people to follow and that is to reduce daily energy consumption. As we stand, oil is fetching record high prices - imagine what will happen when the USA and Israel attack Iran !
Global warming and climate change must be slowed down and yet we see far more attention being paid by world leaders to securing medium term supplies of fossil fuels, than addressing the catastrophic longer term threat posed through climate change.
The runaway train of fossil-fuel-fed industrialisation will approach the end of the track at fatal speed, if gradual braking is not applied by a concerned public.
Have you put in place a high recycling and lower energy consumption strategy yet? If not, join www.reduceco2.co.uk and do your bit for the future.
Denny
Saturday, September 22, 2007
We must face the Decline of an Oil Rich World.
When Mike Bowlin, Chairman of ARCO, said in 1999 that "We've embarked on the beginning of the last days of the age of oil," he was voicing a truth that many others in the petroleum industry knew but dared not utter. Over the past few years, evidence has mounted that global oil production is nearing its historic peak.
Oil has been the cheapest and most convenient energy resource ever discovered by humans. During the past two centuries, people in industrial nations accustomed themselves to a regime in which more fossil-fuel energy was available each year, and the global population grew quickly to take advantage of this energy windfall. Industrial nations also came to rely on an economic system built on the assumption that growth is normal and necessary, and that it can go on forever.
When oil production peaks, those assumptions will come crashing down.
As we move from a historic interval of energy growth to one of energy decline, we are entering uncharted territory. It takes some effort to adjust one's mental frame of reference to this new reality.
Try the following thought experiment. Go to the center of a city and find a comfortable place to sit. Look around and ask yourself: Where and how is energy being used? What forms of energy are being consumed, and what work is that energy doing? Notice the details of buildings, cars, buses, streetlights, and so on; notice also the activities of the people around you. What kinds of occupations do these people have, and how do they use energy in their work? Try to follow some of the strands of the web of relationships between energy, jobs, water, food, heating, construction, goods distribution, transportation, and maintenance that together keep the city thriving.
After you have spent at least 20 minutes appreciating energy's role in the life of this city, imagine what the scene you are viewing would look like if there were 10 percent less energy available. What substitutions would be necessary? What choices would people make? What work would not get done? Now imagine the scene with 25 percent less energy available; with 50 percent less; with 75 percent less.
Assuming that the peak in global oil production occurs in the period from 2006 to 2015 and that there is an average two percent decline in energy available to industrial societies each year afterward, in your imagination you will have taken a trip into the future, to perhaps the year 2050.
But how can we be sure that oil will become less abundant? Petroleum geologists like Colin Campbell (formerly with Texaco and Amoco) point to simple facts like these: Oil discovery in the US peaked in the 1930s; oil production peaked roughly forty years later. Since 1970, the US has had to import more oil nearly every year in order to make up for its shortfall from domestic production. The oil business started in America in the late nineteenth century, and the US is the most-explored region on the planet: more oil wells have been drilled in the lower-48 US than in all other countries combined. Thus, America's experience with oil will eventually be repeated elsewhere.
Global Discovery of OilGlobal discovery of oil peaked in the 1960s. Since production curves must eventually mirror discovery curves, global oil production will doubtless peak at some point in the foreseeable future. When, exactly? According to many informed estimates, the peak should occur around 2010, give or take a few years.
When the global peak in oil production is reached, there will still be plenty of petroleum in the ground - as much as has been extracted up to the present, or roughly one trillion barrels. But every year from then on it will be difficult or impossible to pump as much as the year before.
Clearly, we will need to find substitutes for oil. But an analysis of the current energy alternatives is not reassuring. Solar and wind are renewable, but we now get less than one percent of our national energy budget from them; rapid growth will be necessary if they are to replace even a significant fraction of the energy shortfall from post-peak oil. Nuclear power is dogged by the unsolved problem of radioactive waste disposal. Hydrogen is not an energy source at all, but an energy carrier: it takes more energy to produce a given quantity of hydrogen than the hydrogen itself will yield. Moreover, nearly all commercially produced hydrogen now comes from natural gas - whose production will peak only a few years after oil begins its historic decline. Unconventional petroleum resources - so-called "heavy oil," "oil sands," and "shale oil" - are plentiful but extremely costly to extract, a fact that no technical innovation is likely to change.
The hard math of energy resource analysis yields an uncomfortable but unavoidable prospect: even if efforts are intensified now to switch to alternative energy sources, after the oil peak industrial nations will have less energy available to do useful work - including the manufacturing and transporting of goods, the growing of food, and the heating of homes.
To be sure, we should be investing in alternatives and converting our industrial infrastructure to use them. If there is any solution to industrial societies' approaching energy crises, renewables plus conservation will provide it. Yet in order to achieve a smooth transition from non-renewables to renewables, decades will be needed - and we do not have decades before the peaks in the extraction rates of oil and natural gas occur. Moreover, even in the best case, the transition will require the massive shifting of investment from other sectors of the economy (such as the military) toward energy research and conservation. And the available alternatives will likely be unable to support the kinds of transportation, food, and dwelling infrastructure we now have; thus the transition will entail an almost complete redesign of industrial societies.
Global Energy Resources - The likely economic consequences of the energy downturn are enormous. All human activities require energy - which physicists define as "the capacity to do work." With less energy available, less work can be done - unless the efficiency of the process of converting energy to work is raised at the same rate as energy availability declines. It will therefore be essential, over the next few decades, for all economic processes to be made more energy-efficient. However, efforts to improve efficiency are subject to diminishing returns, and so eventually a point will be reached where reduced energy availability will translate to reduced economic activity. Given the fact that our national economy is based on the assumption that economic activity must grow perpetually, the result is likely to be a recession with no bottom and no end.
The consequences for global food production will be no less dire. Throughout the twentieth century, food production expanded dramatically in country after country, with virtually all of this growth attributable to energy inputs. Without fuel-fed tractors and petroleum-based fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, it is doubtful that crop yields can be maintained at current levels.
The oil peak will also impact international relations. Resource conflicts are nothing new: pre-state societies often fought over agricultural land, fishing or hunting grounds, horses, cattle, waterways, and other resources. Most of the wars of the twentieth century were also fought over resources - in many cases, oil. But those wars took place during a period of expanding resource extraction; the coming decades of heightened competition for fading energy resources will likely see even more frequent and deadly conflicts. The US - as the world's largest energy consumer, the center of global industrial empire, and the holder of the most powerful store of weaponry in world history - will play a pivotal role in shaping the geopolitics of the new century. To many observers, it appears that oil interests are already at the heart of the present administration's geopolitical strategy.
There is much that individuals and communities can do to prepare for the energy crunch. Anything that promotes individual self-reliance (gardening, energy conservation, and voluntary simplicity) will help. But the strategy of individualist survivalism will offer only temporary and uncertain refuge during the energy down-slope. True individual and family security will come only with community solidarity and interdependence. Living in a community that is weathering the downslope well will enhance personal chances of surviving and prospering far more than will individual efforts at stockpiling tools or growing food.
Meanwhile, nations must adopt radical energy conservation measures, invest in renewable energy research, support sustainable local food systems instead of giant biotech agribusiness, adopt no-growth economic and population policies, and strive for international resource cooperation agreements.
These suggestions describe a fundamental change of direction for industrial societies - from the larger, faster, and more centralized, to the smaller, slower, and more locally-based; from competition to cooperation; and from boundless growth to self-limitation.
If such recommendations were taken seriously, they could lead to a world a century from now with fewer people using less energy per capita, all of it from renewable sources, while enjoying a quality of life perhaps enviable by the typical industrial urbanite of today. Human inventiveness could be put to the task, not of making ways to use more resources, but of expanding artistic satisfaction, finding just and convivial social arrangements, and deepening the spiritual experience of being human. Living in smaller communities, people would enjoy having more control over their lives. Traveling less, they would have more of a sense of rootedness, and more of a feeling of being at home in the natural world. Renewable energy sources would provide some conveniences, but not nearly on the scale of fossil-fueled industrialism.
This will not, however, be an automatic outcome of the energy decline. Such a happy result can only come about through considerable effort.
There are many hopeful indications that a shift toward sustainability is beginning. But there are also discouraging signs that large political and economic institutions will resist change in that direction. Therefore much depends upon the public coming to understand the situation, taking personal steps, and demanding action from local and national governments.
We must set an example to our leaders by demonstrating an understanding of global warming, climate change and declining oil reserves, coupled with personal action to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions.
Tip of the Day: Check your Carbon Footprint today!
Denny
Oil has been the cheapest and most convenient energy resource ever discovered by humans. During the past two centuries, people in industrial nations accustomed themselves to a regime in which more fossil-fuel energy was available each year, and the global population grew quickly to take advantage of this energy windfall. Industrial nations also came to rely on an economic system built on the assumption that growth is normal and necessary, and that it can go on forever.
When oil production peaks, those assumptions will come crashing down.
As we move from a historic interval of energy growth to one of energy decline, we are entering uncharted territory. It takes some effort to adjust one's mental frame of reference to this new reality.
Try the following thought experiment. Go to the center of a city and find a comfortable place to sit. Look around and ask yourself: Where and how is energy being used? What forms of energy are being consumed, and what work is that energy doing? Notice the details of buildings, cars, buses, streetlights, and so on; notice also the activities of the people around you. What kinds of occupations do these people have, and how do they use energy in their work? Try to follow some of the strands of the web of relationships between energy, jobs, water, food, heating, construction, goods distribution, transportation, and maintenance that together keep the city thriving.
After you have spent at least 20 minutes appreciating energy's role in the life of this city, imagine what the scene you are viewing would look like if there were 10 percent less energy available. What substitutions would be necessary? What choices would people make? What work would not get done? Now imagine the scene with 25 percent less energy available; with 50 percent less; with 75 percent less.
Assuming that the peak in global oil production occurs in the period from 2006 to 2015 and that there is an average two percent decline in energy available to industrial societies each year afterward, in your imagination you will have taken a trip into the future, to perhaps the year 2050.
But how can we be sure that oil will become less abundant? Petroleum geologists like Colin Campbell (formerly with Texaco and Amoco) point to simple facts like these: Oil discovery in the US peaked in the 1930s; oil production peaked roughly forty years later. Since 1970, the US has had to import more oil nearly every year in order to make up for its shortfall from domestic production. The oil business started in America in the late nineteenth century, and the US is the most-explored region on the planet: more oil wells have been drilled in the lower-48 US than in all other countries combined. Thus, America's experience with oil will eventually be repeated elsewhere.
Global Discovery of OilGlobal discovery of oil peaked in the 1960s. Since production curves must eventually mirror discovery curves, global oil production will doubtless peak at some point in the foreseeable future. When, exactly? According to many informed estimates, the peak should occur around 2010, give or take a few years.
When the global peak in oil production is reached, there will still be plenty of petroleum in the ground - as much as has been extracted up to the present, or roughly one trillion barrels. But every year from then on it will be difficult or impossible to pump as much as the year before.
Clearly, we will need to find substitutes for oil. But an analysis of the current energy alternatives is not reassuring. Solar and wind are renewable, but we now get less than one percent of our national energy budget from them; rapid growth will be necessary if they are to replace even a significant fraction of the energy shortfall from post-peak oil. Nuclear power is dogged by the unsolved problem of radioactive waste disposal. Hydrogen is not an energy source at all, but an energy carrier: it takes more energy to produce a given quantity of hydrogen than the hydrogen itself will yield. Moreover, nearly all commercially produced hydrogen now comes from natural gas - whose production will peak only a few years after oil begins its historic decline. Unconventional petroleum resources - so-called "heavy oil," "oil sands," and "shale oil" - are plentiful but extremely costly to extract, a fact that no technical innovation is likely to change.
The hard math of energy resource analysis yields an uncomfortable but unavoidable prospect: even if efforts are intensified now to switch to alternative energy sources, after the oil peak industrial nations will have less energy available to do useful work - including the manufacturing and transporting of goods, the growing of food, and the heating of homes.
To be sure, we should be investing in alternatives and converting our industrial infrastructure to use them. If there is any solution to industrial societies' approaching energy crises, renewables plus conservation will provide it. Yet in order to achieve a smooth transition from non-renewables to renewables, decades will be needed - and we do not have decades before the peaks in the extraction rates of oil and natural gas occur. Moreover, even in the best case, the transition will require the massive shifting of investment from other sectors of the economy (such as the military) toward energy research and conservation. And the available alternatives will likely be unable to support the kinds of transportation, food, and dwelling infrastructure we now have; thus the transition will entail an almost complete redesign of industrial societies.
Global Energy Resources - The likely economic consequences of the energy downturn are enormous. All human activities require energy - which physicists define as "the capacity to do work." With less energy available, less work can be done - unless the efficiency of the process of converting energy to work is raised at the same rate as energy availability declines. It will therefore be essential, over the next few decades, for all economic processes to be made more energy-efficient. However, efforts to improve efficiency are subject to diminishing returns, and so eventually a point will be reached where reduced energy availability will translate to reduced economic activity. Given the fact that our national economy is based on the assumption that economic activity must grow perpetually, the result is likely to be a recession with no bottom and no end.
The consequences for global food production will be no less dire. Throughout the twentieth century, food production expanded dramatically in country after country, with virtually all of this growth attributable to energy inputs. Without fuel-fed tractors and petroleum-based fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, it is doubtful that crop yields can be maintained at current levels.
The oil peak will also impact international relations. Resource conflicts are nothing new: pre-state societies often fought over agricultural land, fishing or hunting grounds, horses, cattle, waterways, and other resources. Most of the wars of the twentieth century were also fought over resources - in many cases, oil. But those wars took place during a period of expanding resource extraction; the coming decades of heightened competition for fading energy resources will likely see even more frequent and deadly conflicts. The US - as the world's largest energy consumer, the center of global industrial empire, and the holder of the most powerful store of weaponry in world history - will play a pivotal role in shaping the geopolitics of the new century. To many observers, it appears that oil interests are already at the heart of the present administration's geopolitical strategy.
There is much that individuals and communities can do to prepare for the energy crunch. Anything that promotes individual self-reliance (gardening, energy conservation, and voluntary simplicity) will help. But the strategy of individualist survivalism will offer only temporary and uncertain refuge during the energy down-slope. True individual and family security will come only with community solidarity and interdependence. Living in a community that is weathering the downslope well will enhance personal chances of surviving and prospering far more than will individual efforts at stockpiling tools or growing food.
Meanwhile, nations must adopt radical energy conservation measures, invest in renewable energy research, support sustainable local food systems instead of giant biotech agribusiness, adopt no-growth economic and population policies, and strive for international resource cooperation agreements.
These suggestions describe a fundamental change of direction for industrial societies - from the larger, faster, and more centralized, to the smaller, slower, and more locally-based; from competition to cooperation; and from boundless growth to self-limitation.
If such recommendations were taken seriously, they could lead to a world a century from now with fewer people using less energy per capita, all of it from renewable sources, while enjoying a quality of life perhaps enviable by the typical industrial urbanite of today. Human inventiveness could be put to the task, not of making ways to use more resources, but of expanding artistic satisfaction, finding just and convivial social arrangements, and deepening the spiritual experience of being human. Living in smaller communities, people would enjoy having more control over their lives. Traveling less, they would have more of a sense of rootedness, and more of a feeling of being at home in the natural world. Renewable energy sources would provide some conveniences, but not nearly on the scale of fossil-fueled industrialism.
This will not, however, be an automatic outcome of the energy decline. Such a happy result can only come about through considerable effort.
There are many hopeful indications that a shift toward sustainability is beginning. But there are also discouraging signs that large political and economic institutions will resist change in that direction. Therefore much depends upon the public coming to understand the situation, taking personal steps, and demanding action from local and national governments.
We must set an example to our leaders by demonstrating an understanding of global warming, climate change and declining oil reserves, coupled with personal action to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions.
Tip of the Day: Check your Carbon Footprint today!
Denny
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Brown to boycott summit if Mugabe attends.
I should think "Mad Bad" Bob Mugabe must be trembling in his boots, with Gordon Brown threatening to boycott the EU-Africa summit if he attends.
Let's face it, he is a tyrant along the lines of Idi Amin and Pol Pot, responsible for suffering and murder on a scale that should not be permitted by a world that witnessed Adolf Hitler in action. No single mortal should wield such power.
So why has the UN and the West stood by and done nothing to stop his destruction of a country and a people? After all, they are a military pushover.
Well, first there is no oil under the ground in Zimbabwe and second because all the African Union members (the same ones that deliver standing ovations to him) will accuse any interventionists of being imperialist racists.
Saddam was guilty of similar brutality, yet Bush and Blair felt compelled to invade Iraq. It is so blatant that if oil reserves were abundant in Zimbabwe, then "Mad Bob" would be swinging from the gallows by now, Saddam style.
Zimbabwe was once regarded as the bread basket of Southern Africa. Now it is a basket case, with starving people and the world's highest inflation rate.
Well, those worse off in Zimbabwe today (and who have not yet fled across the border to South Africa) are black people, not whites. They may not be Shona tribes people like Mugabe, but they are previously disadvantaged people under the Rhodesian regime.
So he persecutes, tortures and murders fellow blacks, whilst enriching himself and the leaders of the world's superpowers do nothing. Does nobody learn from Neville Chamberlain! They should be ashamed.
At 83, he will without doubt escape justice in this world. Let's hope his Catholic upbringing makes him less certain about escaping justice in the next.
Let's face it, he is a tyrant along the lines of Idi Amin and Pol Pot, responsible for suffering and murder on a scale that should not be permitted by a world that witnessed Adolf Hitler in action. No single mortal should wield such power.
So why has the UN and the West stood by and done nothing to stop his destruction of a country and a people? After all, they are a military pushover.
Well, first there is no oil under the ground in Zimbabwe and second because all the African Union members (the same ones that deliver standing ovations to him) will accuse any interventionists of being imperialist racists.
Saddam was guilty of similar brutality, yet Bush and Blair felt compelled to invade Iraq. It is so blatant that if oil reserves were abundant in Zimbabwe, then "Mad Bob" would be swinging from the gallows by now, Saddam style.
Zimbabwe was once regarded as the bread basket of Southern Africa. Now it is a basket case, with starving people and the world's highest inflation rate.
Well, those worse off in Zimbabwe today (and who have not yet fled across the border to South Africa) are black people, not whites. They may not be Shona tribes people like Mugabe, but they are previously disadvantaged people under the Rhodesian regime.
So he persecutes, tortures and murders fellow blacks, whilst enriching himself and the leaders of the world's superpowers do nothing. Does nobody learn from Neville Chamberlain! They should be ashamed.
At 83, he will without doubt escape justice in this world. Let's hope his Catholic upbringing makes him less certain about escaping justice in the next.
When will Oil reach $150 a barrel?
Oil hits $150 a barrel !
Can you imagine the response in the press when this happens? And happen it will, just exactly when is uncertain.
We need to think about Global Warming and Climate Change of course, but they are more reasons to embrace the www.reduceco2.co.uk philosophy.
The UK have troops in Iraq and Afghanisatan (I meant Afghanistan, but maybe more accurate)currently involved in deadly operations which are not being won. Already it is being planned to start withdrawing from Iraq and the Taliban are waiting for any opportunity to take back power in Afghanistan.
Pakistan, currently the West's greatest friend in the region is starting to succumb to Islamic fundamentalism, with polls showing Osama Bin Laden is more popular than Gen. Musharaf. Iran are building a Nuclear bomb, which Dick Cheney wants to prevent using tactical nuclear bunker-busters. Israel are not going to ignore the threat from Iran either!
A dwindling reserve of oil and greater political instability in the Middle East will send the price of oil and gas through the roof.
So the sooner we start to switch to alternatives to fossil fuel the better. However, the really important idea to grasp is to use less of everything and end this culture of waste and extravagance that fuels the profiteering of big business and government.
Would it really hurt the average household who has the Internet, to reject receipt of paper directories. That would save nearly 1 million trees a year and meaningfully reduce co2 emissions.
Walk more, plan your day more thoroughly to avoid unnecessary car journeys, install low wattage light bulbs and put the central heating on 1 degree less this winter. All these things will be most noticeable to you when your fuel bills are lower!
Gradual self-motivated change in lifestyle is far more palatable than cost induced sudden change. Start taking small steps to a better world today!
Denny
Can you imagine the response in the press when this happens? And happen it will, just exactly when is uncertain.
We need to think about Global Warming and Climate Change of course, but they are more reasons to embrace the www.reduceco2.co.uk philosophy.
The UK have troops in Iraq and Afghanisatan (I meant Afghanistan, but maybe more accurate)currently involved in deadly operations which are not being won. Already it is being planned to start withdrawing from Iraq and the Taliban are waiting for any opportunity to take back power in Afghanistan.
Pakistan, currently the West's greatest friend in the region is starting to succumb to Islamic fundamentalism, with polls showing Osama Bin Laden is more popular than Gen. Musharaf. Iran are building a Nuclear bomb, which Dick Cheney wants to prevent using tactical nuclear bunker-busters. Israel are not going to ignore the threat from Iran either!
A dwindling reserve of oil and greater political instability in the Middle East will send the price of oil and gas through the roof.
So the sooner we start to switch to alternatives to fossil fuel the better. However, the really important idea to grasp is to use less of everything and end this culture of waste and extravagance that fuels the profiteering of big business and government.
Would it really hurt the average household who has the Internet, to reject receipt of paper directories. That would save nearly 1 million trees a year and meaningfully reduce co2 emissions.
Walk more, plan your day more thoroughly to avoid unnecessary car journeys, install low wattage light bulbs and put the central heating on 1 degree less this winter. All these things will be most noticeable to you when your fuel bills are lower!
Gradual self-motivated change in lifestyle is far more palatable than cost induced sudden change. Start taking small steps to a better world today!
Denny
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Smokers cause global warming !
I was speaking to a friend earlier. A reformed smoker, one of the holier than thou brigade ! Ex smokers are so pleased with themsleves, aren't they!
He did make a point though. How many pubs and companies are now installing special heaters outside to prevent their addicted customers and staff catching pneumonia when they need a fix? So now we will see even more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as all the other toxic gases cigarettes are responsible for.
Give it up!
Denny
He did make a point though. How many pubs and companies are now installing special heaters outside to prevent their addicted customers and staff catching pneumonia when they need a fix? So now we will see even more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as all the other toxic gases cigarettes are responsible for.
Give it up!
Denny
The race for the Pole is on!
Interesting report about the North West Passage on Sky News last night.
Global Warming is responsible for melting the ice in the Northern Polar regions 30 years ahead of prediction and immediately the Russians, Canadians and Americans are starting to stake their claims to the territory, currently belonging to the Polar Bears.
Many now believe oil production reached its peak in 2004 and even Alan Greenspan has admitted the true reason for invading Iraq was Oil. Suddenly, with mankind's belated efforts to reduce co2 and greenhouse gas emissions seemingly too late, the major world powers (and Canada) have reason to hope that access to the Polar region might provide a new source of unexploited fossil fuel reserves.Canada have the second biggest oil reserve in the world in their Alberta oil sands and no doubt see the likelihood of vast reserves further North.
So we have Russia placing a flag beneath the North Pole by submarine, Canada deciding to build a fleet of patrol boats for the North West passage and the Americans thinking they had better get a move on to sort out Iran, so they can focus their efforts North. China is too busy conquering Africa !
Investment in low co2 alternative energy sources may well take a back seat compared to the development of low temperature drilling and mining technology. The fact that this will simply add to the release of carbon into the atmosphere and speed up climate change, will be conveniently forgotten.
How do we, the people whom supposedly elect these governments, step in and make all nations understand that we are not going to allow the greed of our leaders of today, ruin our children's tomorrows.
Perhaps a new international Federation of Green Organisations needs to be founded to co-ordinate a unified strategy to ensure that the long term survival of the many takes precedent over the short term wealth of the few.
Join www.reduceco2.co.uk and add your voice for reason!
Denny
Global Warming is responsible for melting the ice in the Northern Polar regions 30 years ahead of prediction and immediately the Russians, Canadians and Americans are starting to stake their claims to the territory, currently belonging to the Polar Bears.
Many now believe oil production reached its peak in 2004 and even Alan Greenspan has admitted the true reason for invading Iraq was Oil. Suddenly, with mankind's belated efforts to reduce co2 and greenhouse gas emissions seemingly too late, the major world powers (and Canada) have reason to hope that access to the Polar region might provide a new source of unexploited fossil fuel reserves.Canada have the second biggest oil reserve in the world in their Alberta oil sands and no doubt see the likelihood of vast reserves further North.
So we have Russia placing a flag beneath the North Pole by submarine, Canada deciding to build a fleet of patrol boats for the North West passage and the Americans thinking they had better get a move on to sort out Iran, so they can focus their efforts North. China is too busy conquering Africa !
Investment in low co2 alternative energy sources may well take a back seat compared to the development of low temperature drilling and mining technology. The fact that this will simply add to the release of carbon into the atmosphere and speed up climate change, will be conveniently forgotten.
How do we, the people whom supposedly elect these governments, step in and make all nations understand that we are not going to allow the greed of our leaders of today, ruin our children's tomorrows.
Perhaps a new international Federation of Green Organisations needs to be founded to co-ordinate a unified strategy to ensure that the long term survival of the many takes precedent over the short term wealth of the few.
Join www.reduceco2.co.uk and add your voice for reason!
Denny
Monday, September 17, 2007
Looking for low co2 businesses in Devon & Cornwall?
Devon & Cornwall are the first counties in UK to have an online directory of businesses committed to reducing their carbon footprint.
Insist on using a www.reduceco2.co.uk member company and do your bit to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Remember, boycott paper directories and stop deforestation.
Denny
Insist on using a www.reduceco2.co.uk member company and do your bit to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Remember, boycott paper directories and stop deforestation.
Denny
Banking on the Future!
Banking A dirty word this weekend with the run on Northern Rock and now Alan Greenspan predicting doom and gloom for the UK property market is around the corner.
Well, I want to expose a different type of bank. One that uses the latest technology for the good of mankind and the planet.
Bio-Resource Banks
Go to the website of the San Diego Zoo and read about their amazing projects to preserve the species of flora and fauna that are endangered through global warming and mankind's greedy exploitation of every natural resource this planet offers.
http://cres.sandiegozoo.org/index.html
Cres or Conservation and Research for Endangered Species and similar projects are the Noah's Ark of the future. CRES covers 6 key areas;
1.Sustainable Populations
Uniting field and laboratory studies to ensure the long-term viability of captive and wild populations
2.Bioresource Banking
Preserving the legacy of life on Earth by maintaining, utilizing, and sharing genetic resources in support of conservation
3.Wildlife Health
Enhancing the health and well being of captive and wild populations through innovative diagnostics and research
4.Habitat Conservation
Protecting, studying, and managing the natural areas that support plant and animal communities
5.Restoration Biology
Revitalizing functional ecosystems by restoring species to the wild
6.Conservation Education
Inspiring change by educating and motivating people to take action that will protect and nurture the natural world
I was reading on the BBC website about the murder of 9 mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (1% of the remaining animals worldwide) and how the real reason behind it was deforestation for charcoal. A vicious circle of course, Deforestation - Carbon Dioxide increase - Global Warming - Climate Change - and the people seeking the charcoal experiencing drought and flood on unprecedented scale!
This raises the question of how we can change lifestyles outside of the Internet world, where life is savage and hard? I am afraid I doubt we can in time to save the gorillas and so the work of projects like CRES present the greatest opportunity for these animal's long term survival - when they can be re-introduced into a world inhabited by more educated human beings than this generation.
Tip of the Day: Get a dishwasher - and reduce co2 35% less co2 emission if used full and on a low temperature setting than washing dishes by hand. Hooray !
Denny
Well, I want to expose a different type of bank. One that uses the latest technology for the good of mankind and the planet.
Bio-Resource Banks
Go to the website of the San Diego Zoo and read about their amazing projects to preserve the species of flora and fauna that are endangered through global warming and mankind's greedy exploitation of every natural resource this planet offers.
http://cres.sandiegozoo.org/index.html
Cres or Conservation and Research for Endangered Species and similar projects are the Noah's Ark of the future. CRES covers 6 key areas;
1.Sustainable Populations
Uniting field and laboratory studies to ensure the long-term viability of captive and wild populations
2.Bioresource Banking
Preserving the legacy of life on Earth by maintaining, utilizing, and sharing genetic resources in support of conservation
3.Wildlife Health
Enhancing the health and well being of captive and wild populations through innovative diagnostics and research
4.Habitat Conservation
Protecting, studying, and managing the natural areas that support plant and animal communities
5.Restoration Biology
Revitalizing functional ecosystems by restoring species to the wild
6.Conservation Education
Inspiring change by educating and motivating people to take action that will protect and nurture the natural world
I was reading on the BBC website about the murder of 9 mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (1% of the remaining animals worldwide) and how the real reason behind it was deforestation for charcoal. A vicious circle of course, Deforestation - Carbon Dioxide increase - Global Warming - Climate Change - and the people seeking the charcoal experiencing drought and flood on unprecedented scale!
This raises the question of how we can change lifestyles outside of the Internet world, where life is savage and hard? I am afraid I doubt we can in time to save the gorillas and so the work of projects like CRES present the greatest opportunity for these animal's long term survival - when they can be re-introduced into a world inhabited by more educated human beings than this generation.
Tip of the Day: Get a dishwasher - and reduce co2 35% less co2 emission if used full and on a low temperature setting than washing dishes by hand. Hooray !
Denny
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Cornish green wedding goes ahead
The couple share the same environmental values
Dozens of guests watched a Cornish couple tie the knot in what the bride and groom have described as a "completely green wedding."
Russell Geake, 30 and Alexia Muskett, 42, decided to get married after meeting each other at a series of climate change events.
The pair have been determined that their wedding would be as environmentally-friendly as possible.
The couples' outfits were second-hand and they exchanged wooden rings.
Carrier bags The average cost of getting married is thought to be about £17,000.
The couple claim they have saved thousands by doing most things themselves.
Plastic flowers were made by the bride's mother out of old carrier bags, while all the food at the reception has been sourced locally.
Many friends and relatives arrived by public transport and, where that was not possible, car-sharing was encouraged.
The ceremony took place in Porthpean Church and the wedding party had a five-minute walk to the reception.
(BBC Cornwall website)
But was the reception a barbeque on the beach of fish caught by the guests?
Denny
Dozens of guests watched a Cornish couple tie the knot in what the bride and groom have described as a "completely green wedding."
Russell Geake, 30 and Alexia Muskett, 42, decided to get married after meeting each other at a series of climate change events.
The pair have been determined that their wedding would be as environmentally-friendly as possible.
The couples' outfits were second-hand and they exchanged wooden rings.
Carrier bags The average cost of getting married is thought to be about £17,000.
The couple claim they have saved thousands by doing most things themselves.
Plastic flowers were made by the bride's mother out of old carrier bags, while all the food at the reception has been sourced locally.
Many friends and relatives arrived by public transport and, where that was not possible, car-sharing was encouraged.
The ceremony took place in Porthpean Church and the wedding party had a five-minute walk to the reception.
(BBC Cornwall website)
But was the reception a barbeque on the beach of fish caught by the guests?
Denny
North West passage opens due to global warming!
So here we have it. The Arctic is experiencing global warming twice as rapidly as elsewhere. I hope scientists are freezing Polar Bear embryos because we have to face that they will soon be extinct in the wild.
Denny
Denny
What can we implement today to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Every technological innovation in life has a downside. Take the internet. Never before has mankind had access to such an incredible library of information in our own homes. Never has a child had so many opportunities to learn wondrous things at the click of a mouse. And as usual, we spoil it. Never before has so much pornography been fed to people, young and old, in the name of greed and peversity.
The greatest advances in technology usually result from our species' interest in warfare and getting one over our neighbours. The space race in the 1950's & 1960's was largely funded in USA and USSR out of defence budgets. The financial cost of this technological development has been absolutely massive and many projects have faded away with the easing of cold war tensions.
So when we look at technology in the fight against global warming, we are faced with the reality that economics will undoubtedly limit the development and implementation of effective tools to win this battle.
How can we identify the most effective ways to reduce co2 and other greenhouse gas emissions that are speeding up climate change.
1. Alternative and Renewable energy. Nuclear, wind, solar, wave, hydro - they all have their pro's and con's - either financial or environmental.
2. Taxation and Financial penalty. The favourite method for most governments to pursue.
3. Public Education and Social Pressure. It's taken many years, but finally smoking has reached a low point in legal and social intolerance. Is this the way ahead for tackling the climate change issue.
Which of the above do most of us support as the way forward? Are they all financially viable or do we need to compromise? If so, how do we get agreement between government, vested interest groups (like the large oil companies) and the myriad of viewpoints held by Green activists?
I get the feeling that unless the public are seen to become involved at grass root level and leave the comfort zone of the silent majority, then we open ourselves up to government deciding new, additional and targeted taxation is the only viable remedy to the problem. And we all hate paying taxes !
Tip of the day: Use an online carbon footprint calculator to measure your co2 emissions today.
Denny
The greatest advances in technology usually result from our species' interest in warfare and getting one over our neighbours. The space race in the 1950's & 1960's was largely funded in USA and USSR out of defence budgets. The financial cost of this technological development has been absolutely massive and many projects have faded away with the easing of cold war tensions.
So when we look at technology in the fight against global warming, we are faced with the reality that economics will undoubtedly limit the development and implementation of effective tools to win this battle.
How can we identify the most effective ways to reduce co2 and other greenhouse gas emissions that are speeding up climate change.
1. Alternative and Renewable energy. Nuclear, wind, solar, wave, hydro - they all have their pro's and con's - either financial or environmental.
2. Taxation and Financial penalty. The favourite method for most governments to pursue.
3. Public Education and Social Pressure. It's taken many years, but finally smoking has reached a low point in legal and social intolerance. Is this the way ahead for tackling the climate change issue.
Which of the above do most of us support as the way forward? Are they all financially viable or do we need to compromise? If so, how do we get agreement between government, vested interest groups (like the large oil companies) and the myriad of viewpoints held by Green activists?
I get the feeling that unless the public are seen to become involved at grass root level and leave the comfort zone of the silent majority, then we open ourselves up to government deciding new, additional and targeted taxation is the only viable remedy to the problem. And we all hate paying taxes !
Tip of the day: Use an online carbon footprint calculator to measure your co2 emissions today.
Denny
Saturday, September 15, 2007
What will catch on depends on how painless it is.
There is a local company near Plymouth offering bio-diesel and I imagine they must have invested a fair bit to get the business running. I was tempted to start using it.
After a while I came to the conclusion that the use of bio-diesel would not take off until it is as convenient for the public to get hold of it as fossil fuel diesel. And this is not going to happen any time soon.
Most of the filling stations are owned by the major oil companies and they are not likely to put tanks and pumps selling a fuel in competition to their own diesel on their forecourts.
Only the greenest warrior, with loads of time on his or her hands, will chase around seeking bio-fuel suppliers, especially when the fuel warning light has very obviously been on for 30 miles!
This rule of thumb will apply to all the ideas being suggested to reduce co2 and to enable people to lower their carbon footprint. If it is too much hassle, it will not catch on. The dedicated few, living by the greenest of codes, will sadly not really make a dent in global warming. It is about getting the vast majority of people to make simple, painless adjustments to daily living that will achieve that.
www.reduceco2.co.uk is committed to persuading the majority of people in UK to implement small, realistic modifications to lifestyle that collectively add up to a big impact. Please join in today. Use our directory of members for goods and service supply and tell your friends and family about us as well.
Tip of the day: go to www.metoffice.gov.uk for excellent information on climate change myths and facts.
After a while I came to the conclusion that the use of bio-diesel would not take off until it is as convenient for the public to get hold of it as fossil fuel diesel. And this is not going to happen any time soon.
Most of the filling stations are owned by the major oil companies and they are not likely to put tanks and pumps selling a fuel in competition to their own diesel on their forecourts.
Only the greenest warrior, with loads of time on his or her hands, will chase around seeking bio-fuel suppliers, especially when the fuel warning light has very obviously been on for 30 miles!
This rule of thumb will apply to all the ideas being suggested to reduce co2 and to enable people to lower their carbon footprint. If it is too much hassle, it will not catch on. The dedicated few, living by the greenest of codes, will sadly not really make a dent in global warming. It is about getting the vast majority of people to make simple, painless adjustments to daily living that will achieve that.
www.reduceco2.co.uk is committed to persuading the majority of people in UK to implement small, realistic modifications to lifestyle that collectively add up to a big impact. Please join in today. Use our directory of members for goods and service supply and tell your friends and family about us as well.
Tip of the day: go to www.metoffice.gov.uk for excellent information on climate change myths and facts.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Do you know what happens to your garbage?
How many basic aspects of life is the average person ignorant about?
How are sausages made? How does the internal combustion engine work? What happens to our garbage?
Well I really recommend you visit http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/index.htm
This site if full of useful info and provides an understanding of how we can change our attitude to waste management to reduce greenhouse gas emmissions and slow down global warming.
A few small changes in our daily habits over our lifetime will make a real dent in climate change. The most important element though is to then tell your friends and fellow workers about how easily they can do the same.
Tip of the Day: Tell someone you know about www.reduceco2.co.uk in person, on the phone or via email and help stop global warming.
Have a great day.
Denny
How are sausages made? How does the internal combustion engine work? What happens to our garbage?
Well I really recommend you visit http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/index.htm
This site if full of useful info and provides an understanding of how we can change our attitude to waste management to reduce greenhouse gas emmissions and slow down global warming.
A few small changes in our daily habits over our lifetime will make a real dent in climate change. The most important element though is to then tell your friends and fellow workers about how easily they can do the same.
Tip of the Day: Tell someone you know about www.reduceco2.co.uk in person, on the phone or via email and help stop global warming.
Have a great day.
Denny
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Yell increase turnover to £2075 Million - how many trees paid the price?
Hi
I just read the chairman's statement in the Yell Group Plc annual report. He is pictured with a big smile on his face. No wonder, turnover is up an incredible 28% to over £2 Billion ! And EBITDA grew by 35% to £678 Million! Just imagine the enormous bonuses being paid to senior management.
Now, I just borrowed a neighbour's Yellow Pages, as we refuse to accept these free directories due their impact on deforestation. According to Conservatree, an average of 12 trees are cut down to make 1 ton of paper of the type used in telephone directories.
I weighed the copy of Yellow Pages I have borrowed for this experiment on digital scales and it weighs about 1.6 kg. Now Yell distribute over 20 million copies of their directories free in the UK, whether you use them or not. They are just left on your doorstep. I only use online directories myself, like many other people living in the 21st century, but I can't say no because they are delivered when I am out.
Can someone comment on these figures please. If you multiply 20 million by 1.6kg it gives 32,000 metric tonnes and this means by Conservatrees estimates (www.conservatree.com) about 384,000 trees are cut down to make Yell's print directories.
Thomson Local and BT also deliver their competitor product to your door on the same basis and with less weight per directory, about another 500,000 trees are cut down for this process.
All 3 companies run online directories and so I have to ask, "Why not make paper directories available only upon request and reduce deforestation massively?"
Yell Group point out on their website that many of their directories are recycled and they give about £82,000 to the Woodland Trust each year. This is about 0.0125% of their EBITDA.
So, they have online directories and could provide printed directories upon request only and save hundreds of thousands of trees and make a huge contribution to reducing global warming and deforestation. So why don't they do it? Money.
You have to pay money for most newspapers in print format, but can read them online for free. A reasonable incentive to do so. Is it not time these corporates put the future of our children's tomorrow ahead of their enormous profits of today?
I urge the big telephone directory companies to re-think their product emphasis and put conscience ahead of profits. The fat cats need to understand that global warming and co2 will cause climate change in Bermuda and on the Piste too !
Denny
I just read the chairman's statement in the Yell Group Plc annual report. He is pictured with a big smile on his face. No wonder, turnover is up an incredible 28% to over £2 Billion ! And EBITDA grew by 35% to £678 Million! Just imagine the enormous bonuses being paid to senior management.
Now, I just borrowed a neighbour's Yellow Pages, as we refuse to accept these free directories due their impact on deforestation. According to Conservatree, an average of 12 trees are cut down to make 1 ton of paper of the type used in telephone directories.
I weighed the copy of Yellow Pages I have borrowed for this experiment on digital scales and it weighs about 1.6 kg. Now Yell distribute over 20 million copies of their directories free in the UK, whether you use them or not. They are just left on your doorstep. I only use online directories myself, like many other people living in the 21st century, but I can't say no because they are delivered when I am out.
Can someone comment on these figures please. If you multiply 20 million by 1.6kg it gives 32,000 metric tonnes and this means by Conservatrees estimates (www.conservatree.com) about 384,000 trees are cut down to make Yell's print directories.
Thomson Local and BT also deliver their competitor product to your door on the same basis and with less weight per directory, about another 500,000 trees are cut down for this process.
All 3 companies run online directories and so I have to ask, "Why not make paper directories available only upon request and reduce deforestation massively?"
Yell Group point out on their website that many of their directories are recycled and they give about £82,000 to the Woodland Trust each year. This is about 0.0125% of their EBITDA.
So, they have online directories and could provide printed directories upon request only and save hundreds of thousands of trees and make a huge contribution to reducing global warming and deforestation. So why don't they do it? Money.
You have to pay money for most newspapers in print format, but can read them online for free. A reasonable incentive to do so. Is it not time these corporates put the future of our children's tomorrow ahead of their enormous profits of today?
I urge the big telephone directory companies to re-think their product emphasis and put conscience ahead of profits. The fat cats need to understand that global warming and co2 will cause climate change in Bermuda and on the Piste too !
Denny
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Who out there has used a carbon footprint calculator?
Hi
Let's face it, we all seem to lead hectic lives. Never enough time to get round to many of the things we mean to do and going to bed telling ourselves we must definately do them tomorrow !
So how are we going to find the time to use a carbon footprint calculator and find out just how much carbon dioxide we are responsible for emitting?
Well, I guess it comes down to prioritisation and that is established by personal motivation. Like when it is 8pm on the night before your anniversary (which you forgot until 20 minutes ago) and you are racing to the stores to find that essential something to save your hide ! Boy, are you motivated and there is only one thing that matters.
What we must face up to, is that if we do not come up with meaningful ways to reduce co2 and cut global warming, then the Government will. And their preferred way is taxation!
Increased airport taxes to make you think twice about that break in the sun; implementing SPECS technology to charge us for road use by the mile; waste collection charges; and this took me just a few seconds to think up, so just wait until a Parliamentary committee sit down for 3 months to brainstorm.
For those of us whom are already embracing a new carbon friendly lifestyle, we have discovered the motivation, but if you haven't yet, then make a priority of calculating your carbon footprint today. And prevent a future of government induced motivation through your wallet.
Have a great day.
Denny
Let's face it, we all seem to lead hectic lives. Never enough time to get round to many of the things we mean to do and going to bed telling ourselves we must definately do them tomorrow !
So how are we going to find the time to use a carbon footprint calculator and find out just how much carbon dioxide we are responsible for emitting?
Well, I guess it comes down to prioritisation and that is established by personal motivation. Like when it is 8pm on the night before your anniversary (which you forgot until 20 minutes ago) and you are racing to the stores to find that essential something to save your hide ! Boy, are you motivated and there is only one thing that matters.
What we must face up to, is that if we do not come up with meaningful ways to reduce co2 and cut global warming, then the Government will. And their preferred way is taxation!
Increased airport taxes to make you think twice about that break in the sun; implementing SPECS technology to charge us for road use by the mile; waste collection charges; and this took me just a few seconds to think up, so just wait until a Parliamentary committee sit down for 3 months to brainstorm.
For those of us whom are already embracing a new carbon friendly lifestyle, we have discovered the motivation, but if you haven't yet, then make a priority of calculating your carbon footprint today. And prevent a future of government induced motivation through your wallet.
Have a great day.
Denny
Can anyone think of a slogan everyone in UK will remember to reduce co2 and global warming?
Hi
Public involvement is the key factor in reducing carbon footprints.
Can anyone suggest an easy to remember statement for us all to live by and become the standard of our committment?
How about the 5 R,s to reduce Global warming.
Respond - Reduce - Recycle - Restore - Reward.
Respond to the challenge each day - Reduce our consumption and waste - Recycle as much waste as we can - Restore the environmment around us - Reward member businesses by putting them on your shortlist of suppliers.
I like the sound of this.
Denny
Public involvement is the key factor in reducing carbon footprints.
Can anyone suggest an easy to remember statement for us all to live by and become the standard of our committment?
How about the 5 R,s to reduce Global warming.
Respond - Reduce - Recycle - Restore - Reward.
Respond to the challenge each day - Reduce our consumption and waste - Recycle as much waste as we can - Restore the environmment around us - Reward member businesses by putting them on your shortlist of suppliers.
I like the sound of this.
Denny
Monday, September 10, 2007
Which is greatest threat to us? Terrorism, Pandemic Flu or Global warming?
Hi
Just back from Cornwall where I visited an elderly relative. She is 85 and has a memory like the KGB archives! She was talking to me about people and events more than 60 years ago with more clarity than I have about yesterday.
One thing struck me though when we chatted about current affairs and clearly the flu epidemic of 1918 was far more real to her than terrorism or global warming. Despite the tv news and papers and she does not even comprehend the internet. As a little girl, the generation who had lived through that pandemic had brought it to life for her in a way that modern media could not do with global warming.
And you know, maybe that's part of the problem. The effects of climate change and global warming are hard to grasp for most of us, just like the Boxing Day Tsunami was, unless you experienced it first hand.
So which of the 3 things in the title do you identify with as the biggest threat to our future security? Terrorism, Pandemic Flu or Global Warming?
The day after the 7/7 bombs, many people cancelled travelling on buses, trains and the tubes for fear of terrorism. A considerable reaction to a perceived threat, yet the statistical chance of being a victim was very remote. But they took action to reduce the threat?
But what is the statistical chance of you or a family member ultimately being affected by global warming? And what action are you taking to reduce that threat?
Have a great evening.
Denny
Just back from Cornwall where I visited an elderly relative. She is 85 and has a memory like the KGB archives! She was talking to me about people and events more than 60 years ago with more clarity than I have about yesterday.
One thing struck me though when we chatted about current affairs and clearly the flu epidemic of 1918 was far more real to her than terrorism or global warming. Despite the tv news and papers and she does not even comprehend the internet. As a little girl, the generation who had lived through that pandemic had brought it to life for her in a way that modern media could not do with global warming.
And you know, maybe that's part of the problem. The effects of climate change and global warming are hard to grasp for most of us, just like the Boxing Day Tsunami was, unless you experienced it first hand.
So which of the 3 things in the title do you identify with as the biggest threat to our future security? Terrorism, Pandemic Flu or Global Warming?
The day after the 7/7 bombs, many people cancelled travelling on buses, trains and the tubes for fear of terrorism. A considerable reaction to a perceived threat, yet the statistical chance of being a victim was very remote. But they took action to reduce the threat?
But what is the statistical chance of you or a family member ultimately being affected by global warming? And what action are you taking to reduce that threat?
Have a great evening.
Denny
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Our first blog posting!
Welcome
We have set up www.reduceco2.co.uk to try to get small to medium size businesses and their customers in touch with one another using a commitment to reducing co2 footprint as a fundamental of selectivity of suppliers of goods and services in UK.
Members will be rated on their goals and achievements in reducing co2 and how they communicate and inspire others to do the same.
The public are encouraged to use the power of their money to ensure that they only select businesses who are doing their bit to improve their co2 emissions and as such promote responsible business practice.
73% of the 4 1/2 million business entities in UK are 1 - man bands and 47% of the 22 1/2 million people working are in entreprises with less than 50 employees, so this is a huge sector that is largely overlooked by the corporate campaigns.
We are not trying to impose regulation, but to empower individuals to use their buying power to motivate businesses to make reducing co2 and limiting global warming as a priority. To make it a matter of business survival now, as opposed to survival of life on the planet later.
If you run a business and would like to join, drop us an email.
Whatever, go to the site and have a look and tell your friends and family about the initiative.
look forward to hearing from you
Denny
Enviro - tip of the day: Use on line directories and boycott outdated print directories and phone books that are responsible for huge areas of deforestation.
We have set up www.reduceco2.co.uk to try to get small to medium size businesses and their customers in touch with one another using a commitment to reducing co2 footprint as a fundamental of selectivity of suppliers of goods and services in UK.
Members will be rated on their goals and achievements in reducing co2 and how they communicate and inspire others to do the same.
The public are encouraged to use the power of their money to ensure that they only select businesses who are doing their bit to improve their co2 emissions and as such promote responsible business practice.
73% of the 4 1/2 million business entities in UK are 1 - man bands and 47% of the 22 1/2 million people working are in entreprises with less than 50 employees, so this is a huge sector that is largely overlooked by the corporate campaigns.
We are not trying to impose regulation, but to empower individuals to use their buying power to motivate businesses to make reducing co2 and limiting global warming as a priority. To make it a matter of business survival now, as opposed to survival of life on the planet later.
If you run a business and would like to join, drop us an email.
Whatever, go to the site and have a look and tell your friends and family about the initiative.
look forward to hearing from you
Denny
Enviro - tip of the day: Use on line directories and boycott outdated print directories and phone books that are responsible for huge areas of deforestation.
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