With the advent of the discovery of global warming, the UK has gone into a mad frenzy to single handedly save the planet.
This little country is being driven by the media to reduce their energy emissions with the finger mainly pointing at the every day citizen to do their bit for the environment.
Although I do agree that global warming is a serious issue, I also realise that the planet is also at the end of an ice age and no matter what we do - its inevitable that the world will get hotter, its just we don’t want ourselves to be the main cause.
Reducing energy consumption seems like a very good idea, after all - if the UK becomes eco friendly, we can point our fingers at other countries and say ‘You did this!’.
You can take the Climate Challenge, read the ten useful tips to reduce the amount of energy you use around your home (PDF).
Reducing your energy usage by accusing your TV’s standby button does not seem a viable answer and they don’t even mention power induction of switching a TV on compared to leaving it on standby overnight.
Perhaps replacing your ability to get out of your chair and physically power off your appliances will also save energy and reduce carbon emissions …replace your standby devices with a standby device using Bye Bye Standby and also don’t forget to Unplug Your Chargers.
Matthew Parris a columnist of The Times talked to the Friends of the Earth in an article called ‘The truth about those little red lights: a tale of power and poppycock‘.
“In a way it doesn’t really matter. In the meantime the Government should act.”
It seems as if our local Welsh energy supplier is already trying to do their bit for the environment (see: SWALEC Fuel Mix Disclosure), perhaps not by committing to use 100% renewable and clean energy (after all - no one wants to live near wind turbines and the magical 100% renewable energy figure will not be achieved in our life time) but by subjecting our electricity supply to regular brown outs.
I am a living, breathing human being and a consumer in the western world - but it seems that the media suggests its just us alone that can reduce the production carbon emissions.
At the current time of writing, the National Grid real time demand data tells us it is supplying us with 50319MW of electricity at 49.95Hz of which System Transfers:
- N.Ireland to Great Britain: -402MW
- France to Great Britain : 603MW
- North-South: 9517MW
- Scot - Eng: -550MW
For every kWh of electricity I consume, my CO2 Emissions are approximately 0.520 kg but does not include the fact that 89% of energy I pay for is not from renewable or clean sources, neither is it all produced in the UK and neither is it a steady supply free from brown outs - and the price we pay continues to rise!
I’m not even going to rant about other countries wasting energy or not taking part in greener planet campaigns, I pay for my electricity the same as everyone else and if we all reduce our consumption then there will be less need for those unsightly wind farms and less need for industries to change their attitude.
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