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Japan’s dress-down drive saved power worth 240,000 homes
AFP via Terranet
Japanese Environment Minister Yuriko Koike promotes the “Cool Biz” fashion campaign at a departement store in July 2005. Japan’s summer dress-down campaign, aimed at easing global warming, reduced power consumption by enough to supply more than 240,000 households for a month. Japan’s summer dress-down campaign, aimed at easing global warming, reduced power consumption by enough to supply more than 240,000 households for a month.
The “Cool Biz” campaign was promoted by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has appeared in casual shirts without ties since June and through campaigning for an election Sunday. He encouraged his cabinet to follow his example along with Japanese businessmen, whose taste for suits even in the steaming summer has been blamed for wasteful air conditioning.
Thanks to the campaign, about 70 million kilowatt hours of electricity was estimated to have been saved between June and August, enough power to supply 240,000 families for a month, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said. The campaign “helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 27,000 tons,” a TEPCO spokesman said. …
(12 September 2005)
Organic Agriculture Enters Mainstream
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, ISIS
Scientists who should know better – if only they had kept up with the literature – continue to tell the world that organic agriculture invariably means lower yields, especially compared to industrial high input agriculture, even when this has long been proven false (see for example, “Organic agriculture fights back” SiS 16 [1]; “Organic production works”, SiS 25 [2]).
Researchers led by David Pimenthal, ecologist and agricultural scientist at Cornell University, New York, have now reviewed data from long-term field investigations and confirmed that organic yields are no different from conventional under normal growing conditions, but that they are far ahead during drought years [3]. The reasons are well known: organic soils have greater capacity to retain water as well as nutrients such as nitrogen.
Organic soils are also more efficient carbon sinks, and organic management saves on fossil fuel, both of which are important for mitigating global warming.
But by far the greatest gains are in savings on externalised costs associated with conventional industrial farming, which are estimated to exceed 25 percent of the total market value of United States’ agricultural output.
(12 September 2005)
“Green” gas station opens, selling only renewable fuel
Staff, Ottawa Business Journal
Ottawa drivers can now fuel up at a gas station that pumps only renewable fuels.
Topia Energy has opened what is says is Canada’s first “green” gas station. The GreenStop offers biodiesel fuel made from used cooking oil and vegetable fats, as well as two blends of ethanol.
“GreenStop is Canada’s first challenge to the gasoline monopoly of your corner gas station,” says Topia Energy president Govindh Jayaraman.
The green theme also extends to fresh, organic veggie, beef and chicken wraps, natural cola, and environmentally friendly coffee. The company also used re-cycled materials to construct GreenStop, which was once an old gas station, and makes wide use of recyclable products in other areas as well. …
(7 September 2005)
Victorian govt. backs car sharing
Vic. Min. for the Environment, Press Release
Melbourne’s first car sharing programs that encourage inner-city residents to walk and ride more, and drive less, today received $260,000 in Bracks Government funding. Launching Flo CarShare in Carlton today with Lord Mayor John So, Environment Minister John Thwaites said car sharing offered a practical and affordable alternative to car ownership. …
A car share service in San Francisco has found that people use cars 47 per cent less after joining.
Flo CarShare has received $160,000 through the newly established Sustainability Fund and $50,000 from the Victorian Greenhouse Strategy. GoGet Car Share has received $50,000 through the Victorian Greenhouse Strategy. Both schemes also receive $60,000 City of Melbourne Small Business Development Grants.
Flo CarShare operates in Fitzroy and St Kilda, and has set up a new service in Carlton. GoGet has a car pool in Westgarth and will be setting up services in Carlton and Fitzroy shortly.
The Bracks Government’s Sustainability Fund is financed from a portion of landfill levies and supports projects that foster sustainable use of resources. …
For more information about Flo CarShare visit www.flo.net.au or GoGet at www.goget.com.au.
(19 September 2005)
Its an entirely inner city focus so far, which is sensible in terms of likely adopters. Both new services enthuse about expansion.-LJ
Put that light out!
Prescott plans ‘energy police’ to make us go green
Melissa Kite, The Telegraph (UK)
‘Energy wardens’ will police homes and offices to ensure that they do not waste gas and electricity under a radical plan being considered by John Prescott. An extraordinary blueprint being studied by the Deputy Prime Minister suggests conserving energy by monitoring the habits of home owners in the same way that air raid wardens made people turn off their lights during the Blitz.
Householders will also be forced to conduct an “annual energy audit” of their homes, defending the amount of fuel they have consumed. The spectre of a force of “green police” is painted in a study warning that Britain risks catastrophe if it remains dependent on Middle East oil and urging a rapid shift to renewable energy and conservation.
The paper, entitled Britain’s Energy Future, Securing the Home Front, by the former Labour minister Stephen Twigg and the Foreign Policy Centre, compares a future energy crisis to the Second World War aerial bombardment. It says: “The stakes are as high and the solution will be found only when UK citizens and corporate entities (government included) start acting as if the stakes are that high.”
“The mentality at community and householder level must be similar to that of the war years or Britain will have no energy future.” The study paints a doomsday scenario of Islamic extremists controlling the world’s oil supplies. Britain must prepare for an “inevitable shock to energy supply in coming years”, it says.
(18 September 2005)
Haven’t read the whole Twiggs/FPC report (73pg pdf available here) but no mention found of Hubbert, depletion, peaking etc, only supply interruption.-LJ
