Friday, January 02, 2009

First Irony Alert of the Year

And, bless, it goes to.... The Guardian...

Tell Obama what his inauguration means to you and win a ticket to the proceedings


Winners will be given airfare...

New Year recycling

While I was away I noticed something that I couldn't resist commenting on...

Next year on Newsnight ... possibly the return of Ethical Man.

If you are doing another 'Ethical Man', while I appreciate all the useful information that was/is/will be shared to help make informed environmental commitments, it would be useful if the options laid out are balanced and have the full enviROI consequences, pro and con, laid out. Try finding a reporter qualified to report and challenge the issues, and able to appreciate the irony of standing on ice floes to which they have flown, to decry the consequences of the rest of 'us' flying.

So.. no more 'analysts', please.

Plus, as purely personal opinion, when it comes to the gimmick, I do rather question the eventual message sent out that whatever a family does commit to can be picked up and then dropped once the show run is over. That rather errs on 'do as we say, and did for a wee while because it ticks a box'. A planet is for life, not just a special segment.

I think the facts, and objective consequences, being laid out will suffice.

And if a Newsnight twofer is still deemed necessary, might one hope for more moderate (or at least a change from the usual researcher's speed-dial suspects) debaters be invited to discuss any disputed issues?

A Plane Stupid or Greenpeace spokesperson vs. a big oil or airline lobbyist frankly leaves the likes of me stuck in a no man's land as the two extremes trade global warming absolutes at each other.

You can't appreciate the subtle hues of green if they are only presented in black or white. Much like most other topics.

Serve the interests of the public (those who can only afford small hatchbacks rather than Priuses), not market rate pay grades driven by ratings.

Carbon Negative Cement?

Sound a bit far fetched?

Given that cement, the backbone of almost all of mankind's basic building blocks, accounts for some 5% of global CO2 emissions (that's more than the entire aviation industry), any breakthrough in reducing the cement industry's emissions ought to be very welcome.

Well, step forward a new cement from Novacem that not only reduces CO2 emissions during production, it also absorbs CO2 as it hardens, arguably making it carbon negative. Full story from Aggregate Research.

"Novacems cement, based on magnesium silicates, not only requires much less heating, it also absorbs large amounts of CO2 as it hardens, making it carbon negative. "

It will be very interesting to see just what the EnviROI of this new product might be, but it sounds to me like it could be a BIG winner, not just for Novacem, but also for the environment.

The clue is in the headline

Rubbish answers

Looks like the box ticking and target meeting is going great already.

Shame about the enviROI.

I still think reduction and reuse might be better than mnay of the efforts devoted to recycling.

New year. Happy?

Sitting in my thermals having got bored staring at the ceiling since pre-dawn.

Jet lag is no fun. And switching off the central heating during a freeze maybe was not a smart move.

We arrived back on New Year's Eve having been t'other side of the planet for a few weeks.

The plan had been that we'd spend a family Xmas here that worked on all sorts of levels, eco and financial, as Mama & Kong Kong were meant to come here, representing a 50% reduction to planet and pocket.

Sadly Mama having a heart attack kind of threw a spanner in those plans, and new ones had to be made quick-smart.

Anyway, she is recovering well, we'd like to think in some measure to having her dearest nearer, so it was worth it. Sorry if things went very quiet.

But I'd like to take this opportunity to again thank Dave of Solarventi for keeping the blog ticking over so well while I was away. Much appreciated.

So... what have we come back to?

Looking at this, it may be a New Year (Happy's all round), but I can't say that the prognosis for much by way of new thinking to improve things seems much in evidence as yet...

Indy - Climate scientists: it's time for 'Plan B'

Read the piece, and then the comments. This is what the best of our governments, scientists and media can come up with to inspire the public in 2009 (OK, it's just a paper in a country, but I have seen little else of not so far)????!

My resolution... a lot less talk; a lot more doing. That may well mean less blogging, but it is hard to resist:)

Indy - What can we do to save our planet?

Gaurdian - Climate change policies failing, Nasa scientist warns Obama

Gaurdian - 95 months and counting