Wednesday, April 15, 2009

A quick, if not easy fix we can all agree on?

Spam 'uses as much power as 2.1m homes'

That's, ahem... US homes. Maybe Al Gore sized ones?

Or... 'More than 80% of the world's email traffic is now spam and the transmission and receipt of unwanted email gobbles up 33bn kilowatt-hours of electricity a year'

Seems to me that might be worth addressing over some other issues that trouble campaigners seeking a cause.

Good products need better messages

I bang on a lot about the message vs. the messengers.

Usually with an eyebrow cranked at the authors being the ideal choice to champion something green by being a tad less than solid once you scratch the surface.

Not in this case:

Good products need better messages

Gordon Brown (interview, 8 April) is right that we need a "green revolution", based on renewables, energy efficiency and clean coal, if we are to meet our carbon reduction targets by 2020. Capitalising on the UK's research base in renewable energy, low-carbon energy and demand reduction will lead to an economy that is more energy secure and fosters an industry with worldwide export potential.

Other European countries are already well ahead of the UK in implementing green energy industries, building what will surely be a major economic sector within decades.

To achieve this for the UK, we will need a stable and clearly defined policy environment as well as incentives to encourage investment. We will need a large increase in support for R&D and early-stage technological development of low-carbon sources of energy. And we will need to invest in the infrastructure technology which will enable our electricity system to make the most efficient use of new-generation technologies.

The UK engineering community is working together to signpost the pathway to a more resilient future economy for the UK. Key to this is a more joined-up government engineering strategy that drives towards a new, sustainable low-carbon economy while creating successful industries, skills and jobs.

David Brown, CEO, Institution of Chemical Engineers; Tom Foulkes, Director-General, Institution of Civil Engineers; Paul Jackson, CEO, The Engineering Technology Board; Robin McGill, IET Chief Executive; Stephen Tetlow, CEO, Institution of Mechanical Engineers; Keith Read, Chief Executive, Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology; Philip Greenish, CEO The Royal Academy of Engineering, London SW1

No matter how much I might applaud the sincerity and value of what is being penned here, I will be intrigued to see who, from Gordon Brown to the voting public, gets motivated by the words here.