Not according to the Observer. Instead it predicts a rise in electricity bills by £100 per year for every household to pay for plasma TVs, high-end PCs and mobile phones and a rise in energy use from 1,000 kWh per year at present to 1,700 kWh in 2020. This is likely to wipe out any advantages from improvements in the improved efficiencies of fridges, dishwashers and washing machines.
Are gadgets getting more energy efficient?
June 30, 2009 by keithscWoking Albion Square Canopy
June 30, 2009 by keithsc
The Albion Square Canopy has been a controversial project since it was first approved in 2004. It was conceived as a gateway to the town and as a solar power project generating an estimated 51,000 to 58,000 kWh a year. The project was overspent by £1,165,000. In 2008 it generated 45,123 kWh. The local Friends of the Earth came out against the project while the Local Agenda 21 group supported it. A report in Woking news and Mail estimated that “the figure equates to powering a 100-watt light bulb for 59 days” – clearly a huge underestimate. My maths calculates it as 18,801 days or 51 and a half years for 24 hours a day. Opinion in the town is divided as to its worth.
This week’s environment news.
May 24, 2009 by mattNews for this week from Low CarbonEconomy.com
| Scottish Power turns on largest onshore wind farm in Europe Europe’s largest onshore wind power project has commenced operation in Scotland. |
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Bacteria used to create ethanol for biofuels US research suggests that the answer to the world’s fuel problems could lie in bacteria. |
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Funding awarded under Scottish Biomass Heat Scheme Scottish businesses have been given funding to install biomass heating systems. |
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Rannoch River hydro project approved in Scotland Scottish ministers have given the green light to a hydro-based renewable energy scheme in the Highlands. |
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US couple offer advice on giving up CO2 The Hrens have written a book about their efforts to adopt a fully carbon-neutral lifestyle. |
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UK DECC is least green of all government buildings Headquarters belonging to the UK government’s climate change department are among the least energy efficient in the public sector. |
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EC inviting bids for energy stimulus funding The EC has launched a call for funding proposals from energy projects across Europe. |
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Obama fuel efficiency targets welcomed by environmentalists Fuel efficiency targets for US cars could have a significant impact on reducing the nation’s carbon footprint. |
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UK car scrappage scheme dealt severe blow Two leading car-makers have pulled out of the scrappage scheme but the industry remains confident of its impact. |
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Electronic gadgets contributing to rising emissions Increasing usage of electronic devices needs to be addressed if global carbon emissions are to be tackled. |
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UK government accused of underestimating smart meter costs Ernst & Young has suggested the UK’s smart meter scheme will cost much more than the government expects. |
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Conservative Party backs geothermal technology in the UK The leader of the Tories has pledged his party’s support to developing deep geothermal power in the UK. |
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Pimp my Eco-pad
May 23, 2009 by earthpal
Not only is Marcus Brigstocke a very funny and talented comedian, he’s also a climate comedian. No laughs at the expense of the environmentalist but in support of them. It must be very hard to write material that will make people laugh while trying to sneak an eco-message into it. Marcus pulls it off.
I love his video. He takes us round his home, in the spirit of MTV Reality TV and shows us some of the eco-renovations that he’s made in an effort to ‘do his best’. Very funny.
Prince’s Rainforests Project
May 5, 2009 by earthpal
The Prince’s Rainforests Project (PRP) today launched a worldwide campaign to raise awareness of the issues of our dwindling rainforests and the impacts of widespread deforestation and destruction.
Kudos to Prince Charles. He has made a video to help launch the campaign and he gives a sincere and not-that-cheesy plea on behalf of our most vital resources, the rainforests. A well presented video with an accurate and vitally important message.
Oh, and please disregard the silly green puppet frog at the end. The cute and cuddly real amphibians featured in the video are fine but they should lose the felted frog. That really is cheesy.
“The future of the Rainforest is our future too.”
The Prince’s Rainforests Project
Mirror, mirror on the wall ….
May 3, 2009 by matt
image: whyevolution.com
Charles Siebert writes;
The first live chimpanzee to set foot on Europe’s shores arrived in The Hague in 1641, on board a Dutch merchant ship returning from Angola. The only known visual record of this unwitting pioneer’s existence is an engraving done that same year by the Dutch physician and anatomist Nicolaes Tulp. Not a chimpanzee so much as an ape-human hybrid.
Sadly a familiar occurrence within today’s equally distorting framework of trying to coerce evolution in a direction it didn’t quite go for chimps, by making them be us: living on our turf and terms, dressing in our clothes, acting in our films and commercials, suffering in our research labs.
The most tragic example of this is Lucy, who lived in the late 1960s and early ’70s. Raised from infancy to age 10 as a human child by the psychologist Maurice Temerlin and his wife, Jane, Lucy made her own meals, mixed her own cocktails, flipped through magazines, slept on soft mattresses, raised a pet cat, learned sign language — and had no contact whatsoever with other chimpanzees. By the time she reached sexual maturity, however, she became more and more difficult to handle, and the Temerlins decided they had to let Lucy go.
The chimp that Tulp, in fear of science, preserved as a mythic human, Temerlin tried to make a human, in science’s name. Lost in the shuffle of either agenda were the animals themselves, creatures we still can’t regard and respect for what they are and just leave alone.
Read more here.
Funding for bees finally announced.
April 22, 2009 by matt
On 21 April, the UK government announced that £10m will be spent on research for pollinators – bees, butterflies and other insects – to see if the decline in UK populations can be halted.
The government is contributing £2m with the rest coming from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and the Scottish Government.
The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) welcomes the announcement that additional money is to be found to fund bee health research. BBKA has recently published its document “Honey Bee Health – Research Concepts” which identifies key research projects to be pursued, covering a range of work from Varroa to viruses, queen bee quality to bee breeding and husbandry to habitat loss.
This new funding will enable Research Institutes to make bids to fund the urgent research work needed to combat the threats facing honey bee health. The BBKA looks forward to playing a full part in identifying and prioritising the research projects to be initiated.
Separately, BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme has announced that it will get its own beehive to watch over this year. This will coincide with a series of programmes and reports regarding bees during 2009.
Greenpeace USA activist training
April 17, 2009 by matt
image: activists today are creative everywhere for all sorts of causes.
From Greenpeace;
Greenpeace is now accepting Fall 2009 applications for the Greenpeace Organizing Term, a semester of intense activist training for college undergraduates, ages 18-24.
The Greenpeace Organizing Term is an opportunity for smart, passionate activists to gain the hands-on experience and skills needed to become an effective advocate for environmental issues, organize their fellow students, and help stimulate real change on issues that they care about.
The students will attend over 50 innovative, hands-on trainings with Greenpeace staff. Students work one-on-one with Greenpeace mentors who provide weekly feedback and personalized training. Students also travel on campaign trips to put their new skills to test and to take real action.
Topics covered during the intense, three month experience include:
-Developing smart campaign strategies
-Grassroots organizing and movement building
-Powerful direct action strategies and skills, including climbing, boat training, and blockades
-Effectively interacting with the media, staying on message and producing great press coverage for campaigns
Students also take part in a week long trip called the Greenpeace Expedition, often in another country, to meet and work with global Greenpeace staff. During this week, students will have the opportunity to experience how different communities are affected by environmental issues. Students will have an opportunity to help support and learn from those communities.
For more information and to apply, visit Greenpeace.
Or join the US Army and get a different level of specialist training. 
Rooftop beehives at Fortnum, central London.
April 9, 2009 by matt
The Carniolan bees – noted for their sweet nature – were first housed in Shropshire, where they produced the first batch of Fortnum’s Bees’ Honey in 2006. Now installed in their new residences on the roof of 181 Piccadilly, they fly high above Mayfair, visiting the grounds, gardens and squares of central London. See beecams.
The bees are supplied by and hives managed by Steve Benbow of the London Honey Company. Steve believes you can get away with putting hives in an urban setting practically anywhere. Steve’s job is to nurture a hard working, placid bee that will fulfil a 500-jar a year quota, but won’t plague the patrons of this exclusive store.
Each hive currently contains 4000 Carnolian bees from the Italian Alps. In this first season on the roof – they will produce 200-300 jars of Fortnum’s London honey. Each of the 4 hives is an individual design painted in Fortnum’s famous eau de nile paint fronted by a triumphal arch styled in Roman, Gothick, Chinese or Muhal.
Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Europe. More excellent photos here.
The honey goes on sale about now at around £10 a jar!
Coffee House 400,000
April 1, 2009 by matt
The Coffee House has reached 400,000 hits this week. Thank you all.
Today is Financial Fools Day (scroll down to event listing), also known as Storm the Banks. The world’s most powerful leaders are here in London. Obama meets the Queen today. Michelle, well she’ll be doing the usual charity lunch with Mrs Brown.
Let’s hope the protestors get their message across creatively. The world’s media is here after all. And if they do manage to storm a bank … there are plenty of people here in London who could do with the cash!
