Climate cold shoulder

Here's an interesting Radio 4 program on what lies beneath widespread denial of climate change. Laurie Taylor talks to Sally Weintrobe, the editor of the first book of its kind which explores, from a multi disciplinary perspective, what the ecological crisis actually means to people. In spite of a scientific consensus, many continue to resist or ignore the message of climate communicators - but why? What are the social and emotional explanations for this reaction?
 
What is this climate problem anyway? The key stores in the global carbon cycle are shown in the image I've drawn (below, click to enlarge). The arrows representing the flow of carbon between key stores are annotated with the mechanism of transfer.

 

Key aspects to note: Chalk and limestone and fossil fuels are very large carbon stores formed over very long periods but when used they very quickly release carbon to the atmosphere. Burning forests and changing land use by logging and then farming beef or soya both very quickly releases carbon into the air and cuts the rate of carbon removal. Ocean capacity to absorb and store carbon is decreasing as it’s warming up, and oceans are acidifying. The result of this and more: carbon concentration in the atmosphere is rising. 
 
People, especially those living in the most economically developed societies, currently impact heavily on the carbon cycle. Total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per person per year in the UK are now more than 10 tonnes, when a sustainable level is 2 tonnes. Elsewhere in the economically developed world it can be higher than this eg in the USA.
 
 In constructing homes, factories, roads...people consume huge quantities of fossil fuel and cement (see image). Extracting/producing, transporting and using fossil fuels and cement in itself releases large amounts of carbon.
 
In heating and lighting homes and using many gadgets people consume large amounts of natural gas and electricity (largely produced by burning fossil fuels in power stations).
 
In transporting themselves around by car and their factory mass produced and consumed goods around the globe by heavy lorry, planes and ships, huge amounts of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel are burned, emitting carbon.
 
Demand for land is high and growing eg to feed a growing world population and to meet high demand for meat. Beef farming in particular is land and energy intensive - large scale deforestation (see image) has occurred to make land available for it.
 
One reaction to all this: the UK Climate Change Act, 2008 under the last Labour Govt, which sets a carbon reduction target of at least 80% by 2050 from 1990 levels, and carbon budgeting. However, the Coalition Govt has, amongst a long list of green failures: dropped the pledge to cut EU emissions by 30% by 2020 and is instead getting the EU "back on track" to cutting energy consumption by 20% by 2020; abandoned a planned rise in the renewable energy target; axed a commitment to replace air passenger duty with a per-flight tax; severely limited the scope of green financial products supposed to enable people to invest in green infrastructure; favoured greater reliance on finite and climate change causing natural gas; favoured fracking for shale gas....see here for more. 

Find out more on climate change from: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/sci_nat/04/climate_change/html/climate.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/

Tackling transport

Copy of my comment on this story, trying to bring Bristol City Council Cabinet Member and Cllr Gary Hopkins (pictured) back reality through proper transport performance indicators for our city:

@ gary_hopkins - can I remind you that we need to see positive transport outcomes in Bristol eg traffic reduction, significantly lower congestion and delay, much lower air pollution, carbon emissions falling in line with what best science says is needed and in line with the Climate Change Act...We simply aren't seeing significant improvements in the major performance indicators. I also remind you that part of the current transport plans includes building new roads - hardly likely to produce the transport outcomes I've indicated. If you have solid evidence to the contrary then I'd like to hear it.

Cllr Hopkins reply simply made no comments at all about traffic reduction - and no comments at all about carbon emissions. On congestion he said, rather lamely, ‘...conjestion [his spelling] and delays are down but not by as much as they should be because the dividends of these are for the time being being swallowed by First instead of being passed on to customers.’ This appears not to be about overall congestion and delays but in any case admits there is no significant reduction.

On air pollution he admits there is still a problem but that the European green capital assessment rates Bristol as best (!!!). In his words, ‘Air pollution is still a problem but it was interesting that the technical assesment for European green capital rated us best of any entrant on that area. The BRT will run on non fossil fuel and will make a significant contribution.’

Green capital assessment rates Bristol’s air pollution as best! This only goes to show how low their standards are. No evidence in his comment to back the claim that BRT will make a 'significant contribution'. It’s mere assertion therefore.

Cllr Hopkin’s denied it was mere assertion and gave some additional waffle and opinion but did not actually give any data or reference to data to back his assertions. It’s note-able that he simply did not comment at all on traffic reduction and on carbon emissions from transport which I specified along with air pollution and congestion as performance indicators. What forecasting/modelling has been done that shows that current transport plans will produce significant reductions in these? Does Cllr Hopkins have this data??

What Cllr Hopkins seems unwilling to recognise and acknowledge is that key transport outcomes such as overall traffic flow, air pollution, congestion and delay and carbon emissions are very unlikely to significantly improve under current transport plans such as GBBN and BRT with its associated road building. In fact some of them may well get worse. An RAC Foundation report in 2011 said there will be four million more cars will be on the roads in the next 25 years. It goes on to forecast a 43% rise in traffic volume by 2035. Department for Transport figures show that by 2035 traffic will rise by nearly 50% and delays more than 50%on average (more here). To make real and lasting improvements realities have first to be acknowledged.

Some useful information on transport in Bristol here.

Eco-city??

The Post reports that Bristol has been shortlisted to become a flagship European city which could trigger a financial bonanza worth millions of pounds.

We are one of just three cities – together with Copenhagen and Frankfurt – which have reached the final stage in the selection process to become European Green Capital in 2014...(more)

In terms of outcomes Bristol is in no sense green. Its ecological footprint is several times the land area it occupies, which means the city is parasitic and has impacts far and wide. In terms of carbon emissions, on average the annual total carbon emissions equivalent (direct + indirect) per person is around 12 tonnes - a sustainable level is thought to be 2 tonnes. This puts the nature of this competition in some perspective.

None of the cities in the competition is sustainable, though some are less unsustainable than others. Its always been about the least un-green rather than being genuinely green cities.

If Bristol wins and additional investment is attracted and this is well directed into strengthening the local economy, empowering local communities, adding to energy and food security, establishing a decent integrated transport system, protecting what's best about the city, such as its green spaces...then that will certainly be welcome. Lots of ifs here though!

See: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/index_en.htm

Carbon Centre

At last! More serious attention is being given to the accurate measurement of carbon emissions. One might well ask why it's taken so long when our society has been committed  since the late 1980s - in words at least - to sustainable development. Sustainable carbon emissions are the number one performance measure within sustainable development...

A new UK facility aimed at improving measurement of carbon emissions and boosting development of clean technology is due to open. The Centre for Carbon Measurement will be based at the National Physical Laboratory in south-west London. It will raise accuracy of climate data, support better emissions monitoring to ensure a fair carbon market, and verify claims made about low-carbon products...more

Climate and carbon

This week is Climate Week. I'm all in favour of raising awareness of climate change and the need for urgent action on a significant scale though I find that many of these sort of initiatives provide more opportunities for greenwash and greenspeak than real, concerted green action. I note that significant contributors to climate change such as Tesco, EDF, H&M...are sponsors of the week!!! I have serious doubts about the policies of Govt, councils and business on carbon reduction and climate change - they are too small scale and too slow and so dont match best science. We are missing out on good, sustainable economic development as a result too. Many approaches dont show joined up thinking eg more products are being marked with their carbon footprint but shoppers dont have any information to tell them what is too high or too low a footprint and there is no requirement for them to stay within a carbon budget in any case. Anyhow, here's a screencast I've made giving an essential guide to carbon footprinting - call it one of  my contributions to the week:

Zero Carbon Britain Day Saturday July 16th

...There are, in fact, a lot of things we can do to reduce our emissions. A list of what you can do is too long for this post but I would suggest insulating your house, unplug things that arent needed, cut flying. Get a more efficient car, boiler, light bulbs, fridge etc. Use a shower not a bath, uses less water and less energy to warm the water. Choose local food and services Eat more vegetables, and be more choosy about meat, chicken has less emissions than beef, the smaller animals are better...

Green Reading: Zero Carbon Britain Day Saturday July 16th



More here http://www.zerocarbonbritain.com/

Living a one tonne life: update on research

Update on this research received: Could a ‘One Tonne Life’ Make it Possible for Households to Reduce CO2 Emissions to a Level That Would Avoid Climate Change?



· Transport emissions drop more than 90%



· CO2emissions produced in the home halved



· Food carbon emissions reduced 84% by going vegan



· Manufacturing of house and goods prevents ‘One Tonne’



Stockholm, Sweden; Monday, 13thJune 2011: “One Tonne Life”, a collaboration project between A-hus, Vattenfall, Volvo Cars and other partners has shown that households could reduce their carbon output from 7.3 tonnes per person to a stable 2.5 tonnes per person, living a comfortable everyday life. Furthermore, more extensive changes prove that it is possible to get this figure down to just 1.5, a level that could help us become carbon neutral and avoid serious climate change according to ‘A One Tonne Future’.



In January 2011, Swedish family, the Lindells, embarked on this six month groundbreaking project to find out if they could reduce their carbon emissions to hit this important target. They were helped in a variety of ways, not least with a climate-smart house featuring solar cells on the roof that were used to recharge the electric car parked in the driveway. The family – father Nils, mother Alicia and children Hannah and Jonathan – undertook this inspiring journey which involved moving to a new, climate smart house and examining each of their everyday habits to find out where they could reduce or, indeed, eliminate their carbon emissions.



The family report that with their energy smart house, appliances, energy meter and electric vehicle, reducing their emissions to 2.5 tonnes did not require any major compromise in their everyday lifestyles. After that, however, things got tougher and living at the 1.5 tonne level was a tough compromise.



The family made most progress in transport and electricity consumption. Emissions from transport dropped by more than 90%, mainly due to the family’s Volvo C30 Electric being recharged with electricity from hydro-power. The family’s house, built by A-hus, produces its own electricity and,with supplementary renewable electricity from hydro-power, carbon dioxide emissions from purchased electricity reduced to almost zero. All told, carbon dioxide emissions from the family’s home were more than halved compared to their emissions level in their previous home.



The family also made immense progress through their eating habits. By meal planning and being more informed about the food we eat, varying the choice of meat and eating more vegetables, it is possible for people to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Towards the end of the trial period, the Lindells ate only vegetarian dishes, and dairy produce was replaced with soya and oat-based alternatives.



In order to reduce their emissions still further, in the final 1.5-tonne week the family reduced the size of their home by closing off one room. They went without TV, shopping and eating out. However, their “rucksack” of 900 kilograms stopped them from reaching the one tonne target. This “rucksack” consists of the CO² emissions that take place when various products are manufactured, such as the house, solar panels, car, furniture and clothes. However, they demonstrated that it is possible to get very close to one tonne, however it does involve a change in lifestyle and the information to make the right changes.



Key features of the One Tonne house



The wooden “One Tonne Life” house has triple-layer walls with exceptional insulation, minimal air leakage and low-energy windows and doors. Through its solar photovoltaic system the house is a net producer of energy. All electricity not consumed by the family was fed into the national grid or used to recharge the electric car. The family’s Volvo C30 Electric emits no carbon dioxide at all when recharged with renewable electricity.



Household appliances account for up to half of a normal household’s total energy consumption, the house is equipped with the latest energy saving appliances from Siemens. To help track progress the Family had an ‘Energy Watch’ system that registers the power usage and compiles data for analysis. This allows consumption to be followed in real time or over a selected time period and learn how their personal habits influence electricity consumption. Experts from the Chalmers University of Technology followed the family in order to ensure a reliable calculation of the family’s carbon dioxide emissions. Methodology can be found here.



Further information and access to the project’s Flickr and Youtube account can be found here http://onetonnelife.com

Historic climate change deal...observations

Interesting story to say the least, with much of this climate change deal being most welcome. However amongst the quotes in it is this one where a 'senior government figure' said: "This country is now the world leader in cutting carbon emissions. We are the only nation with legally binding commitments past 2020." Excuse me but the UK has not cut its carbon emissions yet AT ALL, not even after 25 yrs of being 'signed up' to sustainable development!! See here and here on how UK carbon emissions have risen by 12% instead of falling by 15 or 16% as politicians have wrongly and misleadingly asserted. Its easy to talk the talk and spin your 'successes' and that's how conventional politicians work -but only real practical actions that achieve good outcomes solve problems.

The deal also includes 'carbon capture and storage technology – which would extract carbon dioxide from coal and oil plants and pump it into underground chambers'. This is not an established technology and of course it allows the ongoing use of mass quantities of fossil fuels which cause climate change.

Historic climate change deal with legal powers agreed by Cabinet Environment The Observer

BBC News - Carbon emissions 'hidden' in imported goods revealed

The extent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions "hidden" in imported goods is growing, according to two studies. Official statistics do not include emissions created by making imported goods but researchers say they should. It comes as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports 26% of global emissions come from producing goods for trade. The Carbon Trust found such "embedded" CO2 could negate domestic carbon cuts planned in the UK up to 2025...The Carbon Trust research, posted on its website as draft findings not for circulation, confirms that the UK has increased emissions since 1990 rather than decreasing them, as politicians typically claim.

What may alarm ministers even more is a projection that the radical CO2 cuts planned by government into the 2020s may be offset by ever-increasing levels of CO2 in imports.

BBC News - Carbon emissions 'hidden' in imported goods revealed

BBC - Richard Black's Earth Watch: H for 'human': The missing climate link?

Governments reliance on technical solutions alone to cut carbon pollution causing climate change is doomed to failure. Technical progress tends to be straight line whereas environmental impacts are growing on an accelerating upward curve (geometrically, exponentially) - one thus cant keep pace with the other. Social, economic, political, behavioural and technical changes are needed in a coherent combination to cut carbon emssions to a level we can sustain. This includes: not thinking that issues can be summed up by a simple equation; tackling multiple causes through joined up thinking; and changing the attitude to wealth that currently dominates in particular.

As many commentators have pointed out down the years, virtually all the hopes expressed by governments in terms of reducing carbon emissions ultimately hang on technology.

It stems from the famous IPAT equation:
Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology

...sometimes expressed as...

Impact = Population x GDP/capita x Impact/GDP

BBC - Richard Black's Earth Watch: H for 'human': The missing climate link?

No Need for Nuclear

Been looking over this campaign website: No Need for Nuclear

Extract
This is a campaign to stop the building of new nuclear power stations.
All but one UK nuclear power stations are due to close by 2023. We think this generation of nuclear power should be the last.

Nuclear power is not necessary to meet the UK's electricity demand, it is more expensive than renewable alternatives, and is not carbon-neutral.

Action
This is a big campaign ask, since the new coalition Government has already decided that the UK nuclear industry should be allowed to grow. This means we're going to need all the help we can get in order to convince them otherwise. Please visit our activism pages to find out how you can help.

The potential environmental costs of space tourism

Caught part of the Radio 4 program Material World last Thurs on the potential impact of space tourism, with soot pollution of the stratosphere being a key culprit. Given that the development of space tourism looks set to accelerate, this research and debate is very important.




The American Geophysical Union is warning that the environmental cost of space tourism will be greater than the $200,000 price tag passengers will be paying to travel on the Virgin Galactic spaceship when voyages begin in 2012. Marty Ross of non-profit research organisation The Aerospace Corporation in California and key author of the AGU's paper, explains why.

More here:

http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2010/2010-34.shtml

http://www.aero.org/

http://www.virgingalactic.com/

One Tonne Life

One Tonne Life

Is it possible to live a One Tonne Life today?
One tonne of carbon dioxide per person and year is a major challenge bearing in mind that the global average today is about seven tonnes.
However, house specialists A-hus, power supplier Vattenfall and Volvo Cars believe that with the right know-how, the right technology and confident, consistent behaviour it is possible for the test family to approach the one-tonne target figure without departing significantly from its regular lifestyle or standard of living.
Much of the technology and the solutions the family will use are already available to the general public or will be in the near future. The necessary preconditions are there – right now!

According to The Independent 'Three Swedish companies are looking for an 'average' family to live in Stockholm for six months and reduce their environmental impact.' Click the link to find out more.

Green tips on the theme of clothes

Copy of a short article to be published in the local newsletter/magazine
'Knowledge', part of the regular 'Green Scene' series I write. This one's on the theme of clothes - topical give my recent blog entry on rising food and clothes prices the other day.

Money-saving, no cost or low cost ideas for being green:

*buy second-hand and where affordable buy clothes made from natural and ecological or recycled materials

*put old clothes to new uses and turn into draft excluders, cleaning rags, a patchwork quilt/blanket, furniture stuffing...

*take old clothes to charity shops and good quality recycling schemes like Oxfam, Scope

*think through what you are buying: Do you really need it? Will the item last well?

*don’t wash clothes at 50 degrees, cut the temperature down to 40 or 30 degrees – some detergents are designed to clean well at even 15 degrees

*think about whether what you are buying has been made by oppressed, abused, extreme low paid, slave and/or child labour – ask shops questions and if they don’t satisfy you then buy elsewhere

Nationwide One-Off Screenings - No Impact Man

Screening - No Impact Man
September 7, 2010 - No Impact Man - Bath - The Little Theatre Cinema

[see link for details of other venues screening the film on 7 Sept)

Colin Beavan decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for the next year.

It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, busses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage.

No problem – at least for Colin – but he and his family live in Manhattan. So when his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own.

Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's film provides an intriguing inside look into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation, while examining the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from Colin and Michelle’s struggle with their radical lifestyle change...

Michelle Conlin is Colin Beavan's wife, and had absolutely no idea what she was getting into when she agreed to do the No Impact Project. Along with their daughter, Michelle bears witness – and is obliged to participate in – the experiments in environmentalism that Colin designs for the family.

In the hours when Michelle enjoys life on the other side (with electricity), she is a senior writer at BusinessWeek. There she covers the Working Life, a beat that includes the culture of work, social issues, work-life trends, and the labor market. Michelle has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CBS’s Early Show, ABC's Good Morning America, CNN, NPR’s All Things Considered, NPR's Marketplace, CNBC’s Kudlow & Cramer, Fox News, and MSNBC. She has also been a regular panelist on PBS's To the Contrary and CNNfn's Business Unusual.

No Impact Man: in cinemas from today

The modern day "Good Life" - Time Out

**** - The Times

Synopsis: Can you save the planet without driving your family crazy? In No Impact Man, Colin Beavan decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for the next year.

No problem - at least for Colin - but he and his family live in Manhattan. So when his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own.

---

To find out which cinemas No Impact Man will be playing in, visit gonoimpact.dogwoof.com including the special nationwide screenings next Tuesday 7th September. This will be the only chance for many areas of the country to see the film.

If you sign up you'll be entering a draw to win one of 3 prizes kindly donated by
www.nigelsecostore.com.

We're also giving away copies of Colin Beavan's book Saving the Planet One Family at a Time. All winners will be selected at random and notified directly by Dogwoof. For a chance of winning either of these fantastic prizes SIGN UP today!!

dogwoof.com

UK politicians hide our total carbon emissions

In debates whilst standing in the local and general elections - and in debates for yrs before then - councillors and MPs have always told me that UK carbon emissions were falling (Kerry McCarthy even sent me a graph in the post). As someone who has worked and campaigned in this area for yrs I've known that this is not the case and have thus argued the toss with people from all the big parties. You can see why the story below might catch my eye then...

BBC News - Openness urged on UK's emissions

The UK government's chief environment scientist has called for more openness in admitting Britain's apparent cuts in greenhouse gases are an illusion.

Robert Watson says that if emissions "embedded" in imported goods are counted, UK emissions are up, not down.

He says the same syndrome is true for other rich nations which offshored manufacturing industry.

That means developing countries - particularly China - are blamed for goods they buy for export to the West.

“We don't have jurisdiction over emissions embedded in imports, they're difficult to calculate accurately”

He said: "At face value UK emissions look like they have decreased 15% or 16% since 1990. But if you take in carbon embedded in our imports, our emissions have gone up about 12%. We've got to be more open about this."...

Click on the BBC link to read more.

Apple blocks iPhones from green ranking scheme | Environment | The Guardian

Apple blocks iPhones from green ranking scheme Environment The Guardian

...The scheme gives phones a rating of zero to five based on their environmental footprint and major manufacturers including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung have signed up. The network O2, which is launching the rating system today, said 93% of the devices its customers use will be covered.
Launched in partnership with sustainability advisers Forum for the Future, the green ranking scheme scores handsets on the ecological impact of their raw materials, the manufacturing process, packaging, how long they are likely to last, energy efficiency and how easy they are to reuse or recycle.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on why the company had decided not to join the voluntary labelling scheme, but highlighted its environmental reporting online.
Many other mobile phone manufacturers, including market leader Nokia, publish similar environment reports online and are taking part in the rankings...

No Impact Man: UK release this Sept.

Dogwoof, a film distributor specialising in social-issue and environmental documentaries and whose previous titles include Age of Stupid, Burma VJ and Food Inc are now preparing their next UK release, No Impact Man. Its a documentary that follows well-known American environmentalist and blogger Colin Beavan and his family as they embark on a year living with absolutely no impact, in Manhattan. This means no cars, no fridges, no TV … and no Starbucks. The film trailer is above and is on You Tube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyzjjpKTv0Y

More details on show dates and venues to follow. Further information:

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

http://gonoimpact.dogwoof.com/

http://www.dogwoof.com/

A SOLAR and pedal-powered party takes place at Bristol's Create Centre on Saturday.

A SOLAR and pedal-powered party takes place at Bristol's Create Centre on Saturday.

The theme of the 'Saturday Sun-day' party is low-carbon living, and there will be a whole host of free hands-on activities, workshops and demos to get people thinking about greener living and help them to 'reduce the use'.

Bristol City Council leader, Councillor Barbara Janke, said: "To make sure we meet our ambitions to be the UK's Green Capital, we need to inspire Bristol people in their communities to make changes to the way they live their lives.

"I hope the event will help people to understand more and find creative ways of signing up to a greener lifestyle."

Children can crawl inside an enormous inflatable 'Explorer Dome' to find out all about earth. They'll also have the chance to make a solar-powered boat, create a recycled mural, and decorate their bikes with the help of local artists, ready for September's Bristol Cycle Carnival.

Story sessions and craft activities will be run throughout the day in Create's brand new library space.
Bristol City Football Club will be supporting the event and sending along a player to sign autographs and take part in some footie fun in the afternoon.

Bite-sized eco-home workshops will offer practical advice on insulating your home, choosing renewable energy and monitoring energy use.

There will also be live music and food and drink.

The Saturday Sun-day is from 10am to 5pm at Create, Smeaton Road, Spike Island, Bristol. Entry is free. To find out more, visit www.createbristol.org.