ET, recycle that phone...

Wind turbine destroyed after 'octopus UFO' seen in sky

Interesting possible explanation from the media to this incident.

I wonder if advanced cultures have no knowledge of wind turbines; hence the unfamiliarity leading to the impact (though after a few billion miles dodgy asteroids I'd have thought a turbine blade might be easily dodged).

Maybe they looked at the enviROI? Not sure being unable to cope with ice is too encouraging, what with the climate change we're experiencing.

I wonder if the actual reason will be shared? If it is mundane I doubt it.

Gaurdian - UFOs crashing into wind farms: has the Guardian solved the mystery? - QED

Telegraph - 'UFO' turbine debris sent to German forensic scientists

Times - We just can’t get enough of those little green men - best explataion yet as 1st comment to this

One can but hope...

Will We Be Green in 2009?

Some interesting, and encouraging (I was about to shut up shop) signs for genuine green initiatives as far as the consumer is concerned.

Quite a lot bears out what we've been banging on about anyway.

Or... we could end up with a multimillion £ recycling campaign when they have nowhere to put what they've got already, and a bunch more 'our CEO drives a 7litre hydrogen-powered limo', like that has any end-benefit value or relevance to the poor consumer trudging the aisles.

What do you reckon?

There is a free report available.

enviROI is even more important now

Catching up on the last few weeks' papers' 'green' pages has not been fun.

Not just because the news is pretty dire, but more because of many authorities reactions to it.

There are too many to post here, but just as an example of situation and reaction...

Telegraph - First glimpse of rubbish mountains caused by recycling industry slump

Daily Mail - Recycling crisis: Taxpayers foot the bill for UK's growing waste paper mountain as market collapses

Telegraph - Waste Watch: waste, litter and wind turbines

Reduction and reuse anyone?

Numbers games

I am guided in the value of much that is 'green' by enviROI.

Whilst based on a rather less than thrilling hypothetical (I hope) concept, I found this, and the comments provoked... interesting:

The carbon footprint of nuclear war

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

Poles apart.

That seems to be the situation between those who generally accept that any, or part of, observed climate change is man made (or man worsened), and those who categorically do not believe mankind is having any impact on our planet's climate.

As an example, here are two articles, both from today's Belfast Telegraph.

Scientists prove that climate change IS man-made. Now that's a BIG claim, and it is one of the few occasions that I've actually seen the term 'prove' used. The article refers to new computer models that look at Arctic and Antarctic (which is now actually warming, contrary to some reports from recent years) temperature variations. The conclusion? "In both polar regions the observed warming can only be reproduced in our models by including human influences – natural forcings [increases] alone are not enough." (I have to admit that I find it difficult to accept 'proof' from a computer model; a plausible projection, another small piece of the evidential jigsaw, or a supporting statistical conclusion, yes, by all means; but 'proof'?)

Yet in the same publication, an article by Sammy Wilson (no less than N. Ireland's environment minister) who believes that man-made climate change is a con. “I think in 20 years’ time we will look back at this whole climate change debate and ask ourselves how on earth were we ever conned into spending the billions of pounds which are going into this without any kind of rigorous examination of the background, the science, the implications of it all. Because there is now a degree of hysteria about it, fairly unformed hysteria I’ve got to say as well."

I'll leave you, the reader, to examine the evidence for yourselves, and to draw your own conclusions. My wish for the new year is that we can get back to reasoned debate and away from the hysteria and spin that has consumed this (potentially devastating to mankind) topic over the last couple of years.

For those who do not understand the consequences of increasing amounts of CO2 in our atmosphere, the Economist provides a simple to understand article 'The Curse of Carbon' which describes what may happen if ocean acidification continues unchecked. It also suggests what the implications of sea-level rises might be. Well worth a read.

Will the argument ever be concluded? Time alone will tell.

A happy new year to one and all.

A contender for headline of the year?

"Ice rinks cancel sessions because of ice" ??!!!***

Brilliant! I'm full of cold and flu and feeling miserable but that put a big smile on my face.

Seems the parking lots were too icy and dangerous - full story from the South Bend Tribune.

Seasonal Stories

There are always a few odd-ball and unusual news stories at this time of year, and this year has been no exception. So, just to raise an eyebrow or two, or even to provoke a little smile, here are a few from around our little planet.

Reuters - Virgin Mary gives birth to Jesus - well, it was Christmas!

Daily News Brooklyn - Santa Claus gets parking ticket - seems that traffic enforcement officers anywhere in the world have no sense of humour and not an iota of seasonal goodwill.

Telegraph - I've seem some strange sights in my life - but a purple squirrel?!!

WSBTV.com - Now this just about takes the biscuit - a shop-lifting dog caught on video!

Yahoo News - Now I don't think I've ever found anything really useful in a Christmas cracker; and I really felt quite jealous of this particular family at first! Nice ending to the story, however, as the 'windfall' was kindly returned to its rightful owner.

An Ink Saving Font

This is one of those ideas that it so simple it makes you wish you'd thought of it first.

Ecofont, as reported on the EcoGeek site, can save up to 20% of the ink when printing a page of text compared with a normal font. There is a link on the page to where you can download it for free.

Like all the best ideas, simple yet very effective.

Solar Powered Ship Launches In Japan

When I saw that headline, I thought to myself, wow, way to go; on opening the article from CBCNews, I have to admit that I felt a little crestfallen. Seems that the photovoltaics used to provide supplementary power to the vessel's 440V electrical system are capable of providing just 0.2% of the ship's energy consumption.

Ahhh so, grasshopper, remember that big trees from little acorns grow.

Impacts of the smoking ban

These seem to be rather open to debate and interpretation at the moment, as NHS spokespeople claim it has helped significantly, especially in helping people to quit (though if you look at the numbers, I find it difficult to figure out how they substantiate this claim), whilst other evidence suggests, well, exactly the opposite, especially amongst younger people.

And as our Gov ponders the banning of display advertising for all tobacco products, essentially making them a 'hidden behind the shelf commodity' ('anything for the weekend, sir?'), I will pass on this amusing (well, I found it amusing) little story from our local evening paper the other night. The correspondent wrote that he no longer ever visits any of his local pubs and bars because 'bad body odours' (yes, I know exactly what he means, someone with BO is now extremely noticeable) from other people make it insufferable for him to enjoy a beer any more. He makes the point that smoke at least obscured a lot of what he considers to be far worse smells. (To reinforce the point, when asked why she had stopped going to local nightclubs, my eldest surprisingly opined - 'they just stink of stale sweat, puke, and foul farts now, they're horrible places'. )

The thing is, as almost all teenagers are inately rebellious, putting a ban in place on anything seems almost always to encourage them to go against it anyway, doesn't it? But nanny state knows best. Ho hum.

A nail in the coffin of old king coal?

That's what some new scientific research reported by SoftPedia suggests; that coal is far more damaging in terms of CO2 emissions than is burning petroleum or gas.

"by burning fossil fuel, power plants emit 40 percent more deadly CO2 than facilities using natural gas or crude to generate electricity."

"by using oil and gas alone, humankind may be safe from the effects of global warming for a long time".

So we all have to give up burning coal. Hmmmm, I don't think it is going to be quite that simple, even though the evidence is slowly building up - see TreeHugger.

When targets achieve the opposite effect

Seems like the lack of thought behind setting targets has created yet another snafu where the exact opposite of what the target was required to do is happening.

In this particular case, as reported in the Telegraph, councils are rejecting more planning applications purely in order to guarantee that they win the maximum central government grants available.

"More local authorities were meeting the 13 week target set by Whitehall by simply rejecting an application or encouraging the developer to withdraw it. This meant that they qualified for the grant money."

At a time when the building development market has collapsed because of the recession, this is simply absolute madness!! And perhaps I now understand why a guy I know has had his application for a large wind turbine turned down, despite the fact that he lives high up in a remote spot, and none of his neighbours (a handful within a three mile radius) objected!

Just coincidence?

Well, I'll let you judge for yourselves ...... here are a few cards [Explanation later]:-

The Arctic is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world - Telegraph.

Global coral reefs in seriously bad states - facing mass extinction - SoftPedia.

Global methane levels on the rise again - ABC Science.

More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003 - ABC News.

2008 has been the coolest year since 2000 (apparently due to La Nina), but the trend still shows warming and it was actually the 10th hottest year on record - Guardian.

I know we've had the coldest early winter for many years here in the UK, and they've had some horrendous ice storms in parts of the USA; but, to use an obtuse little analogy, if you were playing poker and these were your cards, wouldn't you begin to suspect that you'd got the makings of a pretty strong hand?

Telling it how it is?

This piece from Gwynne Dyer in Monday Morning is short, seemingly well and deeply researched, apparently factual (in as much as you have the right to believe what actually are, or maybe, facts; or not, as the case may be), and downright, well, to say the least, disturbing.

Read the "four harsh truths about climate change" and see if it depresses you as much as it did me.

Talking of targets ........

..... isn't it odd to note that our Gov is still failing to meet its own emissions reduction and renewables targets?

Reported on 24Dash.com.

A case of a classic own goal? Or yet another example of 'don't do as I do, do as I say'?

Here's the Telegraph's take on the same story.