All the 'news' that's fit to be... minted?

Newsnight last night seemed to have an odd set of priorities, if you look at some blog comments. I tended to agree.

We all seek the holy grail of a slot on national TV, but what chance do we have if those with deeper pockets seem to have magic ways to not only gain better access, but a pretty blank canvas handed them as well.

There has always been a fine, and difficult to navigate line between 'news' and 'current affairs'.

News is pretty simple. Stuff happens and your report it... who, what, why, where, etc.

Current affairs drifts into other territories, and much muddier waters (to mix my metaphors) once a product or service that is there to be sold (and hence can benefit from being seen and/or talked about) is involved.

While 'the arts' have always had a pretty easy ride (they are still flogging their wares after all), most still seems fair enough in the name of public information and/or entertainment.

But lately it does seem that a lot of PRs have a pretty direct line to the BBC's producers.

Especially those from the, much grubbier, corporate world. I was watching BBC Breakfast's 'business' section this morning, and there was some CEO so desperate to score just one more sale that whatever topic was being discussed he might as well have run a sales video. Even the presenter was embarrassed, if too late to intercede.

I even recall a while ago Sir Michael Rose was allowed on with a rack of garments and given public broadcast time to flog 'em for Xmas like some market trader.

Yes, there is a balance to be struck, and in return for a story about their stuff you do give an opportunity for profile. But really guys, are they slipping bungs out now or what? Or is it just sooo much easier (and in these cost-cutting days cheaper) to let your mates from the lobby firms pitch an idea, set up the meet and provide the script?

Maybe we need a story on payola rearing its profitable, if ethically-questionable head again. And even if no money exchanges hands, who knows what mutual back-scratching deals get done over a nice lunch in SoHo? On 'ex's, natch.

Share and share... not alike?

Still smarting a bit from being told that I wasn't going to get any NGO-assistance to move to a revenue-generating model because... I didn't yet have enough revenues.

That's up there with the one a few years ago that rejected my application because it was 'too left filed and nothing like it had be doen before'. It's name? The Creative Innovation Fund.

I was pondering this as I watched today's BBC Breakfast local/Midlands section, with a report on a Birmingham Council carshare initiative (no link I can find, thanks to the woeful BBC online search - subject to confirmation, it might be referring to this).

Any road up, seems that this initiative has been in place a while now (and I'm betting with a few more folk and a few more involved than any that has come my solo, mostly self-funded way), and has netted... 60 sign-ups. This puts me in mind of a press release for a national green online effort recently that was trumpeting 50,000 monthly hits . That's... not great, bearing in mind I'm gunning for 500,000 unique visitors, which is a lot different (and tougher) measure.

The platitude offered was that such things are 'slow-burners'. Well yes, that's what I have been saying about us, but this slow burner seems to be doing a lot better than many, yet can't get arrested, yet bazillions get poured down green holes to a very questionable enviROI+ degree at the drop of an inter-departmental hat... er.. memo.

The even more annoying thing is that I have in the wings tripsplitters, which is a whole new take on car sharing that I really think could work and make some serious money, and acts in complement to the Junkk.com local postcode facility.

To get this off the ground I would need help, mainly in time (but that is, at the end of the day, still money). But considering the effort to reward ratio of applying for help from these bodies, and where their heads are at as to what you get and how they connect you with the right folk to help the ideas person turn it into a business, I am not so keen any more.

If ever there was a system designed to drain the creative soul out of an innovator, these seem to be perfectly crafted for the task.

For every snake... a ladder

I think I'm losing my touch with funders. Another bites the dust:(

This one also looked promising, as it was a local (well, regional) award designed to offer creative/media enterprises a chance to run a feasibility study on what they could do to improve revenues.

Now if ever there was something Junkk.com could do with, that was just what the doctor ordered! We've awards up the whazoo, tripping over nice PR at every turn... but... no major advertisers... yet. And there's no doubt the site needs a spring clean.

And again with the funding types the sticking point seemed to be I didn't already have what I was applying for the funding to put in place to get. Frankly if I was well on the way to having my media sales act together I really wouldn't need to bother with such funding. It's always welcome and gratefully-received, but is one heck of a lot of effort often for not that much to warrant what goes in.

And in this case a lot did. Not just from me, but the consultancy I'd selected to help me knock the site media structure into shape and kick-start some sensible ad sales efforts on top.

So I was feeling pretty glum when I had to share with them the sad news that I was getting anything and couldn't afford to do it on my own.

So imagine how it perked me up to find they hadn't just shrugged their shoulders and moved on, but decided to do a bit more on Junkk.com's behalf spreading a few nice words around, simply because they saw/still see merit in what we're up to. Plus a few more than useful poniters on what might be doen to move things along.

Naturally, with such belief in place they will be the first I call when I do have the money for such expertise.

So, if you are ever in need of some new media specialists, I'd be happy to not only recommend the skills sets and professionalism on offer, but also the commitment of Generator.

Tell 'em Peter sent you. But please, make sure you have a budget first!

Who's in charge of the who should be in charge brigade?

Here's an interesting post: Bypassing the blockage of nations

As much for what is written as the answers it has already acquired.

As one who has long maintained that who we have in charge don't seem to be 'fit for purpose', the notion of of a change seems attractive. However this seems to err more on hiring yet more.... as well as. Not a course I'd honestly favour.

Nice that such issues are being pondered, mind.

Bluebirds over?

We are getting a few climate-related stories at the mo'. Some credible and worrying. Some... less credible and even more worrying because of what fall might follow the set up: 'Big climate impact' on UK coasts

I don't know, so I merely ask, but this - The coasts of Britain, especially England, are being eroded - seems hard to relate to this - Climate change is having a major impact on Britain's coast, the seas around the coast, and the life in those seas, a government-sponsored report concludes.

At least, from what I read here. I would have thought that erosion was a simple fact of geological life, be it by wind or water. Hence my being one of those dubious by folk gunning for compo when they bought their property on the edge without pondering (or getting a survey) what might happen as time passes.

The key is the extent.

That has not come across to me as well as it should. And hence allows some to mock as alarmist what is in fact an ongoing process.

I read on to find out more on how and where seas 'are becoming more violent', but though there was a lot else could not find anything much to back up this claim.

Surely if that is the main issue, it would help to substantiate it better? I roesume such data exists.

ps: I also didn't know until recently that the wartime song was penned by an American, and there are in fact no bluebirds in the UK.

Reporting news, or influencing... making policy?

It's a fine line. I have long considered Newsnight to be one of the few credible broadcast news shows left, but of late there's a lot that really makes me think another media plot is being lost.

First up is a rather odd notion of balance when it comes to their reporting of various members of various political parties not, as such, following various rules. A quick look at the show blog will see how this is going down. I, for one, was not ' glued to my seat ' on the rather minor distraction of the opposition party's possible admin/reporting failures, but a tad more interested in the role of a government Minister in setting up a shell company to conceal massive loans to come almost last in a key, if internal, election.

But as I was pondering the ever more defiant and desperate bunker-bulletins coming out of Auntie to try and prop up their editorial and journalistic standards, I happened across this, by way of a bit of news: Newsnight report leads to cotton ban

It struck a chord, because a wee while ago I cut out an ad about cotton, which bearing in mind the client was unsurprisingly upbeat.

Now, I don't know much about it, but I have this notion that it's not that great a crop eco-wise. For one, I believe (subject to confirmation) that it is water intensives. Hence a mission is embarked upon.

And this piece will form part.

Thing is, while I can appreciate the information, the whole ethical thing comes across just a tad to smugly as another luvvie ban-fest. Which in my book cannot be good unless the complexities are are all ironed out, as to assuage Western guilt in one small area can often have major negative influences in all sorts of others.

Ethanol from household waste and old tyres?

Seems like a good day for interesting developments so far. This one from motortorque.com reports how general motors and Coskata have signed an agreement to utilise Coskata's technology to "derive cellulosic ethanol from household waste, wood, plastic bottles and old tyres using bacteria."

They "believe the process is cleaner than using crops - with one study claiming that study cellulosic ethanol up to 90% less greenhouse gas than petrol and 30% cheaper to produce." "The company says it can turn four tyres into seven gallons of ethanol and two bales of hay into five gallons for under $1 per gallon."

Sounds a lot better than turning corn into ethanol to me. There are an awful lot of used tyres lying around our planet and anything that can turn household waste into a potentially useful fuel has surely got to be better than dumping it into landfill?

Another new technology ......

.... that just might be a major breakthrough. Introducing the LETG (Light Electric & Thermal Generator), which appears to be a combined hybrid PV (Photovoltaic cell) and thermal energy capture (much like Solar Water Heating arrays) device. See Global Warming Solutions.

"The LETG captures and stores sunlight using a hybrid module design that differs from previous combination module devices, making possible the year-round production of thermal and electric energy. Its spectral-selective thermal liquid circulates on the reception surface of a photoelectric circuit, which makes it possible to increase the quantity and to change the quality of incident solar radiation spectral distribution as well as carry out the thermal energy recovery with minimum loss. To put its potential power in perspective, the LETG can increase electric power 250% and thermal output by 170%."

Their press release (via Fox Business News) claims - "Global Warming Solutions, Inc. ....... today announced successful testing of novel, hybrid (heat and electricity generation) solar modules created for the LETG (Light Electric Thermal Generator) project. The combined energy efficiency of the modules reached values of 85%, even exceeding energy harvesting efficiency of green plants."

Considering that most current photovoltaics are considered to be outstanding when achieving anything approaching 20% efficiency, that's one hell of a set of claims. I will await with interest to see what commercialisation of this technology brings.

UK facing stringent renewables targets

This from the Financial Times (you need to register [free] to read the entire article) suggests that the EU targets that the UK will receive next week are going to be pretty tough to meet.

"officials in Brussels and Whitehall have told the Financial Times that Britain will have to increase its use of renewables as a share of all energy use from about 2 per cent to 13-14 per cent by the end of the next decade."

"Britain has the lowest renewables share of any major EU country: only Malta and Luxembourg have less."

Given that Tony Blair was warned that his agreement to the overall 20% target by 2020 was unachievable, this could get very interesting. "Mr Blair was warned by the former Department of Trade and Industry that the scheme was unachievable and costly, but he overruled ministers."

I wonder what the level of fines the UK is going to have to pay for failing to meet the targets will be?

Seen, but heard enough? And by the right people?

Further to my last post, it's telling that I almost skimmed over this: Founder of bottled water company honoured for work in Third World

I wouldn't call it 'tucked away', but considering what it was/is it will be interesting to see how much coverage this gets elsewhere.

I know a bit about it because I entered myself. Junkk.com and RE:tie. I think we qualified: Its model and eco-friendly bottle technology are highly replicable – one of the key criteria for the judging panel.

Obviously not even close and no cigar here (I am still looking for 'wealthy benefactors'... who may also help with the business side I am so woeful at, plus perhaps knowing a few more of the 'right' folk), but the winner is deserving. Not so sure about some of the other, usual suspects. No probelm with something good that does the job getting lauded, and often, but often it seesm that nominees and winners are more on the basis of familiarity than seeking new possibilities.... who may need and deserve the profile and/or money to get going more.

I am also intrigued as to who constitutes 'the community of 120 social entrepreneurship winners, who will meet before the World Economic forum at Davos next week', and how they were deemed to be so.

ps: On another topic, note this: '...or commercially composted back to soil in just eight weeks.' Which means popping it in your back garden ain't going to do it. Who the heck knows this, and hence does whatever is necessary with whoever can help to actually make it work properly? Surely the disposal system should be addressed to a satisfactory degree before getting too excited by the thing that may be disposed. Or not. Otherwise it's useless.

Stretch to fit

I am all for positives, but some do stretch things a tad: Defra hails 'positive green' readers

The up side is that one in five of the population are 'positive greens', though the definition requires an eyebrow cock between self-perception, research definition and actual enviROI+ behaviour.

Where I am a little intrigued is the the leap from the Indy's readership that I believe numbers a few hundred thousand.

Sounds an interesting report and I'd like to see it. Odd that I have never heard of it 'til now, and it is not linked to.

Actually, many of the subsequent insights were/are very telling, and frankly deserve greater consideration.

I leave you with this: 'Some people in the greenest categories have higher carbon footprints than others because of their high incomes'. Mainly Indy readers and BBC employees and supporters, I'd hazard all now planning their next skiing trips along with the next ban-it campaign for some minor enviro-nuisance.

It all rather smacks of being happier with looking good rather than doing it to me.

Biofuels not a silver bullet

"Biofuels risk failing to deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from transport and could even be environmentally damaging unless the Government puts the right policies in place"

That's from a report issued by the Royal Society which warns that "without the right support, including of the research and development community, there is a risk that we will miss out on developing the biofuels that could bring greater benefits and that we could become locked in to using inefficient biofuels."

Let's hope that our government, for once, listens, takes note, and acts accordingly. The crazy subsidies that the US government put in place for the production of ethanol from corn has already started to cause a disaster. I hope our lot can learn from that. It's not too much to ask, is it?

Both poles now suffering

We have commented many times on the staggering effect that the warming of our little planet has had on the Arctic ice. At no time had anyone reported or suggested that anything similar was happening in the Antarctic, indeed, some scientific studies reported that the temperature in the heart of Antarctica was actually decreasing and going against the trend of the rest of the planet.

However, that seems to be changing, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience, and as reported by the Houston Chronicle. The study reports that "researchers found that the rate of ice loss in the affected areas has accelerated over the past 10 years — as it has on most glaciers and ice sheets around the world." The areas worst hit are the enormous western ice shelf, which covers an area something like the size of Texas, and the peninsula that points up towards S. America.

Given that Antarctica holds something approaching 90% of the planet's ice that starts to become quite worrying; the loss of the western ice shelf alone could theoretically account for a sea level rise of several metres.

If ever there was one for DDAIDDAIS*

Assuming it's factually true (my faith even in news media's accuracy levels has been tested a tad too often): BIN TAX WILL HIT EVERYONE...UNLESS YOU ARE AN MP

Another wedge between those who are imposing eco 'initiatives' and the odds of those upon whom they get imposed being positively inspired by them.

*Don't do as I do, do as I say

Now who's a lucky monkey?

No, not M&S's version.

Some might recall that a while ago I latched onto a pretty positive fortune cookie that rather specifically indicated a lot of hefty nice stuff in the work arena by year's end.

Well, hard to say that came to pass.

Anyhoo, here's hoping that as the exact reverse happened with this (as Dave cautioned/predicted) then the same will apply here, being that I am a Monkey in the Chinese Lunar Calendar:)

The Monkey will not have an easy year compared to last year. But while the financial loss star will affect your luck this year, you also have some measure of protection with the Golden Deities star. Helpful people will rescue you out of any predicament. There is a tendency for the Monkey to lose his cool this year and this could lead to problems with relationships. So watch your temper. Carry the Four Heavenly King Protection Amulet and wear the Dragon Eye Dzi for protection. Activate Golden Deities luck by inviting a Golden Kuan Yin into your home and display her in the Northeast corner of your living room. Protect your house against burglary by displaying the Black Precious Elephant in the Southwest. For personal luck, wear the "Om Ah Hum" Pendant in gold . To enhance for better income, display a Dzambhala Water Feature in the Southwest of your living room. To enhance for relationship luck and good networking, place glitter lamps in the Southwest 3, Southeast 1 and North 2 corners of your home as this completes the 'Tien Ti Ren' formation which is very auspicious.

Anyone know if Tesco carry a Four Heavenly King Protection Amulet or associated artifacts?

Something for nothing ..... for once, yes!!

I've re-read this twice looking for the inevitable get-out clause, but am unable to find one - it really does look like a genuine something for nothing offer ........ providing you are over 70 years of age (or on certain benefits).

As reported in the The Guardian (article is dated Saturday 12th although it is not yet 17:00 on the 11th Jan?), British Gas are offering free loft and cavity wall insulation [worth an average £600 per house] to anyone over the age of 70, and you don't even have to be a customer of British Gas! It appears to be a subset of the government's CERT {Carbon Emissions Reduction Target} scheme which "obliges energy suppliers to promote reductions in carbon emissions for households. The companies are required to spend £1.5bn over the next three years to install energy efficiency measures in the homes of people on low incomes and the elderly."

For once I'm almost lost for words .... a genuine case of something for nothing!
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Addendum:
Actually there IS a teeny-weeny little catch in there - the rest of us will pay for it! I quote - "Ofgem, the energy regulator .............. said this week that around £38 is being added to each household's gas and electricity's (I assume they meant to include 'bills' here) to pay for the Cert scheme."

At least it's a start, and given that £1 in every £3 spent on heating homes is lost because of inadequate insulation, it will have quite an impact on household CO2 emissions, at least for the over 70's.

Snow in Baghdad!

Yet another example of our climate going crazy, just like the cold snap that killed 20 people in India at the new year.

This from Reuters reports that despite all the strange climatic things happening (we mentioned the problems that they were having at the ice carving festival in Harbin only the other day), the planet is still inexorably warming.

If all you fight are corners, the rest of the room gets ignored

Newsnight - Galloway v Frum - not an eco aspect in sight, but goes to the set up for debate we are subjected to these days.

What a spectacular show... and follow up... if all you are gunning for is to win is a ratings war with the WWF.

A typical Newsnight twofer sandwich, with unpalatable, rock hard, entrenched extremes pitched either side of a soft,squishy bland centre.

All I got was a series of dogmatic vitriol that informed me little as I trusted no one's 'facts', or that they might be called to account on them, and hence all that was spewed around were just so many rabble-rousing words. As with so many issues, the choice of messenger can too often colour the message, as 'colourful' seems to be the dominating characteristic being sought by the 'expert' guest booker.

Par for the course.

Is it not possible to get a few more, or at least more rounded (even if it means possibly less 'entertaining") folk on to debate such important topics - such that one feels a slim hope that the issues are being discussed rationally and hard questions are being posed with cool heads, all moderated by someone who actually might attempt to get to to some decent answers and insights?

Thought not. Ho hum. Ding. Round #287.

Interesting comments on Peak Oil

I stumbled across this pretty much by chance. From GoldSeek - The Casey Files.

It's the transcript of an interview between Doug Casey (of Casey Research) and Matt Simmons, one of the world leading authorities on investing in energy businesses, and founder and chair of the world's largest energy investment banking company.

Simmons reckons that Peak Oil was reached in May 2005, and that overall production can at best stay at current levels, rather than increase at all.

On sour, heavy oil (such as from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada - "With the heavy oil out of Canada, you have to expend energy to make it ooze out of the ground, and once it’s oozed out of the ground, you still have totally unusable oil."

On Liquefied Natural Gas - "the problem with LNG is that if we try to develop a spot market out of LNG, the odds of it ending in bankruptcy are about 90%."

On natural gas as a means of generating electricity - "using natural gas for electricity turned out to be an unbelievably stupid decision. Using electricity for heat was equally stupid. Natural gas should be refined to one use and one use only, and that’s creating instantaneous and high-efficiency heat."

On corn based ethanol - "Corn-based ethanol was just a terrible, tragic mistake..........Even worse, it’s a very low-quality source of energy. Low BTU, highly corrosive, you can’t mix it with anything, it was just a terrible idea."

And he introduces the concept of liquid ammonia as a fuel, something novel to me.

Informative, concise, factually packed and thought provoking; thoroughly recommended and well worth the read.
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Oh, and potentially quite useful if you have (unlike Peter and myself) a substantial wallet-full to invest.

Study hard and get a white collar job

That's what my father told me when I was about 10 years old. Coming from a poor family he had himself fought his way up into the academic world from beginnings as a joiner; and he insisted that he did not want his kids getting blue collar jobs.

Well, it now seems there is a third option (OK, Fourth if you include dog collars as worn by many members of the various religious fraternities). We have reached the age of the green collar worker. Full story from Yahoo News.

However, it's a real shame that most of the 'green collar' jobs here in the UK seem to be as members of various quangos, generally doing little more than bean counting, that have little or no direct envROI impact. (As already pointed out by Peter back in August).