Reindeer Island

Another month with a great cartoon from Stuart:


This one is about an island full of reindeer - and the story of what happened to them. A bit of a lesson for us all, i think.

Picking A Better Car (1986-2003)

A friend of mine recently made a second-hand vehicle purchase. It reminded me to write about the Fuel Consumption Guide Database. For vehicles made between 1986 and 2003, this guide lists the fuel consumption for both city and highway driving.


It also has a Fuel Cost Calculator, where you can calculate and compare the yearly fuel costs of different cars, and an Emissions Calculator where you can estimate the greenhouse impact of a vehicle.

After all, this is an important decision. Apart from helping the planet, there's no point getting a car that's $1000 cheaper only to end up paying an extra $500 in petrol each and every year.

Find Flood Funds From Fossil Fuels

Last week, i linked to the Safeguard Our Future petition. Today i see that community action group GetUp is going a step further and raising money to put this cartoon in the paper.


The full poster also points out that more than enough money for large-scale solar power could be raised simply by closing the $600 million tax loophole for crude oil.

SuperBowl XLV - Good For The Planet

Watching this year's Superbowl, i like knowing that it's a climate friendly event. For every unit of energy consumed, the NFL funds the generation of a unit of wind energy, thereby negating their carbon footprint.


Apart from being a great symbolic move, it makes a real difference. The energy used for the Superbowl could power 1500 homes for a year. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles have upgraded their stadium to produce all of its own energy.

Betting On Clean Energy

Found this graphic at New Energy News demonstrating the investment in clean energy by the US and China. The 'jackpot' refers to the global clean energy market, which is predicted to be worth $1.6-2.2 trillion by 2020.


Glad they didn't put Australia on the same diagram - with our measely 1 chip.

Safeguard Our Future

The Australian Government has decided to cut climate change programs in order to fund the flood relief. Community group GetUp has a petition to Safeguard Our Future. They suggest creating a permanent Climate Disaster Fund financed by reducing fossil fuel subsidies, which currently cost the taxpayer over $10 billion a year.


Other groups agree. "events like the recent floods are likely to become more severe and frequent with the impacts of climate change" said Matthew Warren of the Clean Energy Council. "Cutting funding for clean energy projects that will ultimately mitigate this impact is as bizarre as it is counterproductive."

"We do need to rebuild and recover swiftly after the floods, but cutting programs that reduce pollution is not the answer" said Tony Mohr of the ACF. "This summer’s floods are an example of the extreme weather events climate scientists have warned will be more frequent and more severe with climate change."

Don Henry added that funding should come from "cutting subsidies and tax breaks that promote fossil fuel use and greenhouse pollution". He suggested Australia should "take a leaf out of Obama’s book" by ending these polluting subsidies.

Senator Christine Milne was also astounded by the announcement. "It beggars belief that the government would choose to cut climate change programs like Solar Flagships, energy efficiency and the solar hot water rebate to fund disaster relief when such disasters will be made worse by climate change."

Sign the online petition here.

2010 - Hottest Year So Far

It's that time of year again - when the statistics re-confirm just how much we are affecting the climate. And 2010 is a record-breaker.


This graph comes from the NASA temperature analysis. Apart from setting a new high temperature record, now 9 out of 10 of the hottest years have occured since 2000. (And the other one was in '98).

Queensland Floods - Roundup

Recently there has been major flooding here in Queensland. The ABC has some astounding before/after photos here and here.


Once the waters receded there was some talk about climate change. After all, science forecasts say climate change means more extreme weather events.

John Cook (ABC) says for him global warming just got personal.

Graham Readfearn ponders why the premier's inquiry leaves out climate change - especially after the government's own report said "Climate change is also likely to affect extreme rainfall in south-east Queensland" and that "the projected increase in rainfall intensity could result in more flooding events".

The premier wants "mother nature to leave us alone". David Spratt suggests we should leave mother nature alone.

Melbourne predicts that by 2030 the city will flood almost twice as often, with the affected area 25% larger - because of climate change.

But last word should go to CSIRO. They say the effect on individual events is hard to judge, but that in general

"A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and will tend to increase the intensity of extreme rainfall events. It is expected that long-term climate change will result in greater climate variability with more intense extreme events than in the past."

In short, climate change makes crazy weather even crazier.

How Much CO2 Is Created By ...?

Another great infographic from the people at Information Is Beautiful. This one shows carbon emissions from various items and activities - a text, a shower, a soccer world cup ... and a few hundred others.


It's an interactive thing, so you can click on different items, the CO2 'scale', or on an activity categories. There are many items to see and compare, so it can be semi-addictive :)

One interesting comparison was an apple, depending on how much transport is involved. From your backyard-0g, from a local grower-10g, from a supermarket-80g, imported-150g. The pollution can weigh more than the item!

10 Amazing Facts About Renewable Energy

I do a fair bit of bloggging about renewable energy, but recently the people at Greenpeace did a quick summary called 10 Amazing Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Renewable Energy.


It included:
- in 2009, Europe shut down more coal, fuel oil and nuclear power than it built.
- In just 5 years, Portugal leapt from 15% to 45% renewables.
- Globally, subsidies go to fossil fuels over renewable energy by 12:1.
- Iceland's power supply is over 80% geothermal and hydro.

You can find the full list (and links) here.

Easy Energy Cost Calculator

When i'm doing energy assessments, often people like to know how much energy different items use. To save on mental arithmetic, i put this little table together to work out the annual cost (using local electricity prices).


Standby power - If a stereo is using 5 watts (all day) on standby. How much does that cost? $9/year.

Light bulbs - How much do the new ones save? Let's find out. 75W bulb, 5hrs a night, $29. Equivalent CFL (15W) for 5hrs, $6. Saving of $23.

Computers - A laptop consuming 40W for 5 hours a day costs $16 a year to run. (Using the 20W figure and doubling it.)

30 Years Of Change

Still waiting for the official figures about last year, but in the meantime came across this little graphic on treehugger (based on NASA info).

The Church On Climate Change

Last week i was running a session on climate change and 'green living' at a youth conference run by the uniting church. Incase you're interested, their view on climate change is put forward in a piece called For the Sake of the Planet and all its People.

Apparently, they also signed onto this document calling for an urgent price on pollution.
[statement here]

Train Is 8 Times Better

In preparing my recent presentation, i dug out my 2009 post comparing train and car emissions. The calculator has moved, and is now here.


I selected the stations for my train trip to the conference (on the Gold Coast). The emissions saving was 35kg (for a return trip). And with a fare of just $6.93, it was cheaper than petrol.

Thanks NCYCers

This week i had the privilege of meeting some bright young people at NCYC in the elective "Living Green". Thanks to everyone who showed up - it was a pleasure to meet you.