Gordon Brown Outlines Climate Plans

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Gordon Brown has outlined his plans for the British fight against climate change, fronted by a "green hotline" to advise people on how they can reduce their impact on the environment. The new Green Home Service, a website, telephone hotline and advice centres will be a "one-stop-shop" for advice and information on a range of issues including reducing waste and saving water.


In essence this seems like a government funded carbon copy of the independent Energy Saving Trust, and whilst I'm sure the Green Home Service will provide a competent and worthy service to the public on a range more diverse than currently captured by the EST. It still remains that people will need to seek advice before they change their habits, rather than implementing legislation, funding nationwide initiatives, or implementing voluntary agreements with retailers which forces change. Within his speech he cited that a third of households in the UK will be offered assistance to make carbon reductions in the next three years, equivalent to about 2.2 million homes per year. Potentially leading to reductions of 6m tonnes of CO2 per year by 2010, or 1.1% of total UK CO2 emissions.

"I believe it will require no less than a fourth technological revolution. In the past the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, the microprocessor transformed not just technology but the way our society has been organised and the way people live. Now we're about to embark on a comparable technological transformation to low carbon energy and energy efficiency and this represents an immense challenge to Britain, but it is also an opportunity."
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister, United Kingdom

In addition to the new information service, there was also plans to further co-operation with other countries including Japan and the US to establish a new "funding framework", to help developing countries adjust to low carbon growth, adapt to climate change and tackle deforestation.


In recent months the government has come under increased scrutiny over reports published regarding its commitment to, and likely failure in meeting targets regarding renewable energy. Currently approximately 5% of UK energy is provided by renewable energy sources, however Gordon Brown hit back at these critics stating Britain was absolutely committed to meeting our share of the EU's 2020 renewable energy target, further suggesting it could mean the UK will have to produce between 40 and 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. An exceptional target which almost seems pie in the sky to some. BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin said this would be "staggering", but he said that the government was seeking to negotiate down the EU target.


However this part of the speech will be seriously considered tomorrow as Gordon Brown's government reveals whether consent has been granted to a new coal fired power plant in Kingsmill, Kent (beside an existing inefficient coal-fired power plant). The existing power plant provides up to 7.5% of the UK's current electricity demand by burning 750 tonnes of coal per hour. The proposed new power plant from electricity company E.on would improve efficiency by 20%, equating to carbon emission savings of 2m tonnes a year, however if the proposal is rejected the existing plant will need to close as it will not meet with legislation regarding emissions. This is a scenario facing half of UK coal fired power stations. With the closure of nine nuclear power plants over the next ten years this will result in a reduction in production of electricity of 30%. Eyes will be carefully watching the news tomorrow to hear the result.


There was many other initiatives mentioned in the Climate Change Bill regarding consultation with the British Retail Consortium to phase out plastic bags, a major expansion that will see five million more homes offered discounts of up to 100% on cavity or loft insulation, and another three million offered cheap or free low-energy light bulbs and other appliances. Over the next decade, every household will be offered a smart meter that shows people the true extent of their energy use, encouraging frugality.


With the suggested measures it seems difficult that these will equate to a faction of the 60% reduction in CO2 emissions proposed by 2050.


The reactions to the speech have been varied with quotable regular Philip Sellwood, Chief of the Energy Saving Trust commenting on his blog;

"This Green Homes Service will form the first genuine one-stop-shop for citizens to access advice on all matters 'green' - whether that is energy efficiency, renewable energy, travel, water efficiency and waste reduction. At a time when both Government and particularly Defra's budgets are under such pressure, credit must go to Defra for holding out for this additional funding over the next three years. Sorry if this sounds a bit like I'm being a cheer leader for Hilary Benn, but sometimes even the Government gets things right! I know that's not a very fashionable view these days, but let's at least give a small round of applause on this dark, grey and wet Tuesday!"
View Greener Homes Are In Sight!

Other Reactions to the Prime Ministers Speech;

"Six months in the job of prime minister, and Brown has finally got around to talking about climate change. Whilst I welcome plans to consider tightening the 60% target, the government is playing catch-up - and asking another committee to look at the figures won't help. To make real headway on curbing our emissions, we need to act now. We do not have time for yet more commissions and reviews, for more political delay. Today's speech was sorely lacking in real measures to reduce our emissions."
Caroline Lucas, Green Party


"In March, Tony Blair committed the government to an EU target for 20% of Europe's energy to come from renewables. Since then the government - and particularly the dinosaurs in the DBERR (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) have tried to wriggle out of it. It is good to see Gordon Brown recommit to this and get the renewables revolution back on track."
Keith Allott, WWF UK


"It's good news that the government will not renege on its EU renewable energy targets. But we need to look at the small print to see whether Mr Brown is really prepared to meet 20% of our energy from renewables without counting nuclear power as the French are doing. The government blithely talks of the opportunities created by green industries yet refuses to promote fledgling initiatives properly. Boasts of a new Green Home Service seem shallow when recent cuts to the New Millennium Grants will dissuade many homeowners from installing energy saving measures in their homes."
Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrats


"After a summer of lobbying, wriggling and confusion, the government's apparent change of heart on renewable power is fantastic news, but will only be credible if new policies emerge to actually meet targets. Britain lags a long way behind most of our European neighbours on renewable power, despite having the greatest wind, wave and tidal resource in Europe. We should be able to contribute our fair share of the EU-wide renewable energy commitment and source at least 20% of our energy from renewables by 2020."
Tony Juniper, Friends of the Earth


"It's positive that the prime minister has raised the bar ahead of the Bali conference by talking about an 80% cut in UK carbon emissions by 2050. Oxfam believes that only an 80% cut in rich countries' emissions will be enough to stop the worst impacts of climate change. The world's poorest people - already hard hit by climate change - depend upon rich countries like the UK moving first and fastest to set a clear course for a low carbon economy."
Phil Bloomer, Oxfam

Buy One Get One Tree

Innocent the ethical smoothie maker have launched a campaign to plant at least 100 000 trees in Africa (where they grow their mangos) and India, that's enough to cover 200 football pitches. From each 1 litre pack a tree will be planted by entering a unique code on the back of the pack, registering takes less than a minute and you can gift your tree to someone else if you wish, especially coming in to the Christmas season.

You can keep an eye on the treeometer on the home page of the microsite which keeps tally of every tree planted real time, 87 763 as I look now, and details the latest planters name. If you want you can travel to the virtual forest and search for your tree.

I love this new sustainability effort by Innocent, they are a leading brand and have ethics and sustainability at the core of their business practice, they have 100% recycled packaging (not kids cartons ... yet), all their bananas are Rainforest Alliance certified, and after releasing their huge carbon footprint label are now working with our suppliers and bottlers to achieve a reduction of 15% in 2007.

"It may all sound a bit Miss World, but we want to leave things a little bit better than we find them. To do business in a more enlightened way; where we take responsibility for the impacts of our business on society and the environment, and move these impacts from negative to neutral, or better still, positive. We call this our drive for sustainability."
Innocent Drinks

Click here for why trees are good and why Innocent is ethical.

The tree planting project will be carried out by Carbon Clear, an offsetting company, whose projects include retrofitting mini-taxis in the Philippines and low smoke cooking in the Sudan. Whilst I fully support the project I am sure we are all aware of the Coldplay incident which has tarnished the reputation of carbon offsetting via tree planting in the last few years (their offsetting was provided by Future Forest, a British company, recently renamed CarbonNeutral). I'm sure however the project will be managed efficiently by both Carbon Clear and Innocent for the long term under the scrutiny of Innocent drinkers and Innocent themselves.

Tesco currently have innocent smoothies at 2 for £4.

Carbon Footprint of Searching

I have now arrived back home from my jaunt half way across the world which in several ways was enlightening and action packed, yet emission full, but neutralised. I have some photos to upload later including initiatives like "No Straw Day".

But no sooner than I am back home is a new search engine is launched, once again this new venture is promising to offset CO2 emissions and for free. From the calculations of the company that developed the site, a search query emits less than a single gram of CO2. With the use of personal computers this rises up to almost 18g (based on the most energy consuming desktops).

For each query completed through the Carbon Neutral Search Engine they will offset CO2 emissions by a minimum of 100g via Climate Care. Having tried out the site from the Blackle.com style black background with similar totaliser, it seems to be a different way to make a small difference. Just a quick calculation on the back of an envelope if the 37 billion searches that Google processed in August were carried out through the site, that would result in 370 000 tonnes of CO2 offset, not to mention by the end of the year Google will be carbon neutral themselves, so in some cases this would result in additional carbon savings, although small as the search is powered by Google.

Still a little grudging towards offsetting, having checked out the Climate Care website when thinking about my flight offsetting they did change my perception somewhat, with projects not just having emissions reductions but in many cases helping in developing nations improve standards and quality of life, and in any case project which can be combine all this, added with the free use from completing a daily task providing the user with service, is a positive way to make a small difference on a daily basis without contemplation.

My Most Polluting Purchase

I have just made one of the most polluting purchases I will make this year, something that emits 25g of CO2 per second, the equivalent to eating a packet of Walkers crisps every three seconds. 1.5kg of CO2 per minute, similar to boiling a kettle for one hour. 90kg CO2 per hour, one percent of the annual carbon footprint of the average person in the UK. And 2.18 tonnes of CO2 a day, the same as a 11975.2 miles flight from London Heathrow to Hong Kong.

Well actually, if you had not guessed from the picture that is what I have purchased, a flight from London Heathrow to Hong Kong with British Airways, of course in cattle class, not that I could afford Club World or First (not that I would reject a free upgrade), my excuse is cattle class of course is somewhat more "environmentally friendly", but that is a very empty excuse at that and to hide my overwhelming guilt. Whilst the trip will be a mixture of business and pleasure, I can't help but feel guilty for the cardinal eco-sin I have committed upon the planet after considerably galant efforts from the initiation of this blog. Offsetting seems the only way to free my conscience. Whilst I am not a fan of offsetting, in this case it seems the only fast track route to eco-heaven, and possibly to dissipate the guilt from my mind.

So how exactly can I offset 2.18 tonnes of CO2, well British Airways have partnered with Climate Care to allow passengers to offset their emissions for a nominal fee, in my case a mere £16.84. That is a fast track way to a guilt free flight. Like similar offsetting schemes the money is invested into projects around the world; Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, or Forest Restoration.

Technically my £16.84 will purchase about 22 energy efficient bulbs to reduce carbon emissions in one project. I think this is my gripe with carbon offsets, they seem so trivial and uninspiring, but if it reduces emissions surely it is a good thing.

To calculate your carbon emissions from British Airways flights visit the British Airways Carbon Calculator.

If you can inspire me to use £16.84 more wisely to offset 2.18 tonnes of CO2 emissions (or more), tell me how, and I may just consider your proposal. Add your ideas to the blog responses section.

Easyjet Show Off Their Green Credentials

easyJet are keen to show off their green credentials by launching "easyJet and the Environment" section on their website. Here they make three promises towards social responsibility and the environment, to be environmentally efficient in the air, on the ground, and to lead the aviation industry in shaping a greener future.

easyJet one of Europe's leading low-cost airlines has grown to servicing over 38 million passenger journeys annually, however their business structure, whilst based on cost minimisations, also reduces their footprint on the environment. They are one of the most environmentally efficient airlines and operate 137 of the cleanest, quietest aircraft available with an average age of just 2.3 years. easyJet’s efficient business model (higher seat densities and higher load factors) means that traditional airlines emit nearly 27% more emissions per passenger kilometre than easyJet flying the same aircraft on similar routes.

The easyJet carbon offsetting (“ECO”) scheme was launched last month. The easyJet Carbon Calculator will calculate every passenger’s emissions in a reliable and robust way, based on sector length, load factor and fuel burn. The airline expects the average contribution for a return journey to be around £3. This sum is added to the cost of the flights and paid for in one single transaction. easyJet will invest the money contributed by its passengers to buy CO2 emission credits from the Perlabi Hydroelectric Project in Ecuador, a UN approved Certified Emission Reduction scheme, acting on a not-for-profit basis. Citigroup, a leading financial services provider and a prospective project participant, will sell the credits from the Perlabi Hydroelectric Project directly to easyJet.

Emissions Per Passenger On Three easyJet flights;

• LTN (London Luton) - CDG (Paris) - 56kg CO2 (£0.73)
• BFS (Belfast International) - SFX (Berlin) - 102kg CO2 (£1.33)
• EDI (Edinburgh) - MAD (Madrid) - 149kg CO2 (£1.94)

"That's why easyJet's new offsetting scheme is a really positive step forward. We particularly welcome its exemplary decision to use only certified offset credits that meet Kyoto standards, meaning that its customers can be sure that the carbon reductions are real, clear and accountable. These are the same kind of credits the Government uses to offset its emissions from air travel and is in line with the standard we aim to set through the Government's upcoming Code of Best Practice for offsetting products and will give consumers the clarity they want when offsetting."
Hilary Benn, Environmental Secretary

Offsetting the Week

This week we learned from Cambridge Econometrics that the UK government were well on their way to failing to meet targets for reductions in carbon emissions by 2020, this came a day after Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) suggested that rich nations could pay poor ones to reduce their emissions for them. A bit like carbon credits. These comments didn't go unnoticed by environmental groups who hit out at the suggestion, and called on rich and poor nations to both cut emissions together. A logical idea when you consider that developed countries make up the majority of CO2 emissions, therefore any reduction by poor nations, who often have the lowest emissions would have a negligible effect on overall emissions in the short term.

"This proposal simply won't deliver the cuts we need in time. The scientists are telling us that we need to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) by 50-80% by 2050. Unless rich countries start to wean themselves off fossil fuels right away this won't happen."
Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs responded to the research by Cambridge Econometrics stating the UK had a "good record" on tackling climate change and was on target to "meet and exceed" greenhouse gas reduction targets under the Kyoto protocol. The government's Energy White Paper and other measures meant the country was on track to meet the 2020 goal relative to 1990 levels, it said, even though the UK economy will have doubled in size in the same period.

Whilst we were worried about our emissions at home being handed over to developing nations to deal with, Sienna Miller jetted of to India to "plea", as the BBC put it for residents to reduce their CO2 emissions as part of the Global Cooling Campaign. Visiting the Bandra Kurla slum home to 350 000 people she said the experience was "humbling" and was "embarrassed" to ask for help when the west produce and have produced the majority of emissions. The Global Cool movement is using celebrities and high profile individuals to spread the word about reducing emissions, part of their campaign is trying to empower 1 billion people to reduce their emissions by 1 tonne each.

With all this offsetting news in the media this week, I began pondering something that has been troubling me for quite some time. My holiday plans for this year, although I have yet to book and the holiday will combine business with pleasure, I will go to Hong Kong, of course this is going to be an environmentally unfriendly holiday, and as yet I have not had the courage to calculate the emissions from the flight. An Eco-nightmare you might say.

I therefore want your ideas on the best way to offset a return flight of 5845 miles? I know there are many solutions in the marketplace, and I am not fond of offsetting, but I want to do something original, creative and clever, and do something, rather than do nothing. I have a few ideas of my own, however I want to hear yours. If the idea involves you doing something then I may out source the project to you. So get those energy saving bulbs lighting up with ideas, turn them off though if you don't need them on.

Carbon Hero

The Carbon Hero, winner of the British Standards Institute (BSI) prize for Sustainability Design, is a personal carbon calculator and works by tracking a person through their phone signal every time they go on a journey. This then allows the device to work out the method of transport the user is on, and from that calculate the amount of carbon dioxide going into the air as a result. The invention is in two parts: a keychain which calculates the relative location, velocity and pattern of a user's activity and the mobile phone which displays the carbon used and the amount of credits needed to be purchased in order to offset the amount used.

The device is currently configured to work in the UK, although it has also incorporated 1,000 thousand airports from around the world. In theory, a person can travel anywhere and have their journey included in the carbon footprint calculation as well.

Offsetting With Bamboo

Recently I was considering planting something to help offset my CO2 emissions, not like a forest or anything major, just something for in my small city centre back garden. Trees are certainly not a great choice, and the neighbours might object to anything too large, plus it certainly would not look right.

Whilst trawling around the internet, bamboo seems like the ideal solution to my constraints. Bamboo is quick-growing, versatile , non-timber forest product whose rate of biomass generation is unsurpassed by any other plant. Each year bamboo will increase its total biomass by ten to thirty percent, in comparison trees achieve an increase of two to five percent. In addition to this bamboo offers the versatility that it has a variety of purposes, it has been used in housing, furniture and the construction industry in Asia, where for centuries it has been used to create scaffolding which can tower to hundreds of storeys high. The pictures (not they are big files) are from Hong Kong, of a building around 30 storeys high, as you can see, they have used bamboo scaffolding to create a cocoon around the structure from which construction work can be carried out. Those that have travelled to Asia's major cities will know that buildings like this are a regular occurrence as the economies in these regions continue to develop.

So why choose bamboo over trees? Bamboo minimizes CO2 gases and generates up to 35% more oxygen then equivalent stand of trees sequestering 62 tonnes of CO2 per hectare per year, a forest of young trees sequester only 15 tonnes per hectare over an equivalent time period. Bamboo removes CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis by using carbon as an energy source and converting it into plant tissue which releases oxygen (O2) as a by-product.

There are over 1500 species of bamboo, with mature sizes ranging from 10cm to over 36m (120ft) with a diameter of up to 30cm. It is essential that if you plan to grow bamboo that you seek advice on which type of bamboo is best suited to you as bamboo can grow and spread irratically, overrunning your garden. For more advice on bamboo offsetting visit the Environmental Bamboo Foundation.