Monday 12 May 2008

Like Water for Oil

More and more I have seen autoshows talking about displaying and making technologies available for consumers when it comes to transportation. In most European countries the public transport works on electricity sources from hydro power but what I am really getting at is the recent talk of cars fucntioning on a hydro engine. The possiblity to run a car on a resource that covers more than 75% of our earth's surface should be looked out more closely given that the only emission would be water vapour.

Its a £1Billion Plan to be the Eco-Boo

I have studied the recent accounts by Gordon Brown's government and am appalled to think that they are even considering to re-install coal power plants to generate electricity for England. E.On wants a deal with the government and everyone seems to be looking the other way despite having the knowledge that during and after the industrial revolution the sky in England on most occasion was black but not do to the weather so much as the amount of coal burning facilities based mostly in London. They can't be real, this idea is not going to help reach guidelines set by the EU to cut down on greenhouse emissions.

Global Warming up the Death Toll

I know everyone out there is happy to see the sun shining but sceintists claim that too much heat could claim the lives of the elderly and even the young. Greenhouse gasses are the reason why heat waves are going to be the next big natural disasters warned Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

Recently I did a little tour around the web to look for sites that could give an accurate calculation of my carbon footprint. To my surprise there a lot out there. Google even has there own although I wouldn't necessarily advise anyone to use it. I did find one that particularly caught my eye because it not only calculates it but shows it in relation to the average in your area vs. the average of the country you live in as a whole. All in all an interesting site that also gives you pointers as to what you can do in order to cut down on your emissions.

Eco-Science and Eco-Technology

All of the biggest minds of our time are trying to bring our world into a concious state of developing new ways of living in a more sustainbable manner. More and more architects are working together with technology experts and sceintists to re-produce the future of living. Even Hollywood has claimed a place in this new market for a sustainbable futrure.

Rice or Biodeisel, Cyclone or Money?

The recent cyclone that hit Bangladesh has utterly wiped out millions of people and everyone surely knows that the death toll alone and the country's lack of interest in the immediate aid of its people is shocking alone. If you look in the months before the cyclone you will see an alarming idea onset by the growing number of rice fields being bulldozed away by the militant rulers to make way for bio-diesel crops. Let alone reminding oneself that we all have to change what we put into the air doesn't mean that people have to die in the process. The double edged sword of politics seem ever more to reap the benefits either way.

Global Warming up new Disease Issues

I recently got a bit upset when somebody said to me that global warming was alright because the old would die off and the young would have a party everday as the sun continued to glare even more intensly upon the planet. I used to work as a private secratery to a United Nations official who constantly warned me the dangers of global warming as far as the growth of bacteria. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta or the CDC has always been at the head of U.N. efforts to curb disease in places such as Africa and other underdeveloped nations but recently their has been a big issue on the growing number of people infected with malleria and new strains killing off huge numbers of people. A special chemical used by organizations to fight the mosquitos who infect people with malleria is just as harmful as the overpopulation of these mosquitos and this comes at a time when we are supposed to be finding new ways of combating difficulties like the one these international organizations are trying to fight, but do our solutions always have to be at the cost of the planet in such an obvious manner.

The Earth as a Spirit

I have done a lot of research or shall I say spiritual searching into understanding how I can subconsciously and consciously make a difference on the planet and have found that living with the Earth is like living with yourself except that rather than understanding its function in a material sense we must now learn how to disregard the material sense of the world we live in. Civilization has led us to believe through decades of training that the journey starts outside of the place we are, but many of our problems begin with trying to make an outward journey to explain how we can sustain life.

"A Crude Awakening"

The more and more I think about sustainablity the more I think about what we have done with industralization on a whole. Do we have enough to supply to the more growing nations who emminate our western culture? How long will it be before the blood of the earth becomes extinct. I watched a docementary film recently that opened my eyes to the eye watering facts of these questions and what we can expect to happen is not as disturbing as the fact that the government has been aware of the outcome for quite some time. Oil? Yes, it will run out but not because we haven't extracted enough, of course we didn't think about supplying it for anyone else like lets say China or India who seem to be the next on the high emissions list right next to the leader the United States.

Hydro Power

Using water as a power source has been achieved by Norway at a 100% even if they are giving the rest of Europe their oil. Besides Norway, such countries as Switzerland and Sweden seem to be leading the way in their use of thier resources. Hydro power is one of the oldest power resources we have and the tecnology that has gone behind it to make it more consumer useful hasn't stopped since its first use in irrigation wheels used to ground grain.

Solar Power in the UK?!

I heard recently that some home owners in central London have and use the energy created by solar panels. Although, I prviously though having solar panels in England might not be the best way, due to the fact that it is more often the case that in England there is lack of sun. The man on the radio claimed that the only time he had a problem with catching enough energy was during the winter months, but that he stored most of his energy in the summer, taking cold baths since it was hot enough outside. It made sense to me because he was being sensible about when he used hot water or even his electiricity, he also made a point about not being at home during the day, which also saved energy and even more so during the summer. Heating your home and water, or for the use of energy there are plenty of companies that now specialize in installing systems for people.

Liquefaction

Liquefaction is a term used to describe what happens to looses soil when an earthquake is emminant. I recently have been watching episodes of Earth on More 4 which aims to open people's minds to what is happening to the planet we live on. There are very beautiful footages of the planet at work. Some depicting the wrath of the planet and others explaining how the planet works to heal itself. If you thought the Anartic Ice Caps melting was a problem, think again dirt crashing down like liquid is just one more of those things you rarely hear about but happens most often because the soil in earthquake places are loose and dry.

Times are a Chanigin' (for the worse)

My whole idea about conducting this blog was to give people an idea of what we do as humanity to make a greener start on life. The rubbish I took photos of in the beginning of this blog all sustain the amount of mistakes every one seems to make in their free time but time has so much to do with how we as a "civilization" have unwantingly become apart of the problem. After WW2 western civilization was all the more hungry for an easier life and all the rationing has tightened the buckle on just about everybody. The Americans won the race for mass production and pushed it towards its people in very little regard for whether or not we would run out. Running out of resources only tackles the fringes of the problem; because the real problem is a generation of people trained to live in an unsustainable fashion. Simplicity has been replaced by commonplicity...if its broken throw it away and buy a new one!

Writers and the Solution

Recently their has been a wave of sustainable ideas spilling forth from the scribes of writers trying to get their words in about ecology and way we can all start doing something to change the world we live in. Even Penguin one of the largest publishing companies has decided to make a special edition of books that will be printed on 100% recycled paper. "How Can I Stop Climate Change?" By Helen Burley & Chris Haslam

Eco-Housing

Combating consumerism is one thing but human living is just as important if not one of the most important issues concerning the world. We have enough technology to make sustainable living spaces not just for the sake of ecology but for the cost effectiveness of the creation of such spaces. The ancients probably were a whole lot more sustainable than we are today because they used things from nature to construct thier living spaces and quite often their spaces laste longer. It might have taken patience to produce their living spaces but they were capable of sustaining their life in harmony with their surroundings.

Sustainable Gadgets

So talking about ecology may help us scrutinize consumerism but what is consumerism doing to scrutinize the amount of garbage we produce. I do a lot of eco-traveling which consists of either walking or horse riding and of course car pooling which does its part but I often find that sustaining the amount of energy for documenting my travels is anti-ecological as much as anybody driving their car up and down a road 5 miles to attain their daily goods. In the last year I have done research on sustainable energies for people who travel. I had previously heard of the Trevor Baylis wind up radio but hadn't quite understood the mechanics behind it. After finding that solar panels were expensive and usually unreliable unless they were in a stable place I realized that the best source of sustainable energy we possess as humans is our movement our energy as beings. The wind up radio is good for a lot of things but I like listening to my music on my travels and most of the time go nuts when I am out in the middle of a Forest wanting to call somebody. The Trevor Baylis Eco_MP3 Player does several things that cut down my necessity for plugging into a power outlet. It recharges my mobile, plays mp3, has a built in light, and although bulky cuts down on unnecessary trips to the city to use electricity.

Stuff Piles up and what is there to do...

Ecology is about our ecosystem and its lifeforce that sustains human life. Unfortunately the ammount of people living on the planet today all buy and accumalate loads of things. Consumerism is not a sustainable commidity especially since the main commidity used to produce consumerstic products has a larger negative effect on our enviroment not just in the sense of production but also in its consumption.

No More Money for Eco-Projects

Apart from companies in the UK like E.ON who works with Shell there has been a lack of interest in finding sustainable energies. Last month even Gordon Brown decided to go back to coal with E.ON talking of a capturing device to store the emissions given by burning coal.
The UK is the only country in the EU that has not taken on the guidelines stated in the lowering of emissions supposedly ready by 2020.