Carbon Footprint Australian Government Not Doing Enough

When it comes to fostering the use of renewable energy, it is an undeniable fact that the Australian Government are all talk and very little action.

The Australian coal industry is the beneficiary of a taxpayer-funded $300 million discount on diesel fuel. At least $9 billion of taxpayer subsidies are palmed across to fossil fuel industries, greenhouse gas increasing, polluting, carbon footprint bloating fossil fuel giants.

Meanwhile the development, construction and funding of renewable energy in this country creeps along at glacial pace with little or no help from our State or Federal Governments.

For heavens’ sake, we are a renewable energy goldmine here in Australia. With our hot climate and endless open spaces we have enough sunshine (plus room to capture it) to power the entire country hundreds of times over. We’re an island with endless coastal breezeways that would be wind farm paradise. And, did I mention we’re an island? Tidal and ocean current energy sources completely surround us. We have got renewable energy potential coming out of our proverbials.
Instead, the Federal government directs public money at the ratio of 28:1 towards fossil fuel use over renewable energy use.

All it takes is a government with the gumption to divert the funds away from the coal, gas and oil industries and into the renewables industry. The Howard Government has left us languishing behind the rest of the world and it seems no-one is willing to make the effort to catch up.

To give you an example of how pathetic some of our governments around the country are, you need go no further than the New South Wales Government’s sorry excuse for a Renewable Energy strategy. What does the Iemma government come up with? Committees, billions pumped into new baseload power stations, calls for private sector to fund infrastructure costs. And when they get to Clean Energy, the first thing mentioned is Clean Coal – in other words carbon capture. Rather than reduce the use of coal powered power plants, the Iemma Government wants to

1. Increase their use and
2. Rely on an, as yet, unproven form of locking away the carbon emissions they will produce.

On December 10, 2007 the NSW State Government announced a total of $160 million in additional funding for clean energy. You know what $160 million will get you? If you’re lucky you may just get an 80MW wind farm out of it. Basically, a good start.

But wait, you keep reading and of that $160 million, the state government is setting aside $100 million of it for the Clean Coal Fund. So once again, the coal industry gets the bulk of the funding rather than putting it where the future lies, in renewable energy.

Are CRAGs the Latest Fashion?

The spread of Carbon Rationing Action Groups (CRAGs) across Britain is a sign that the idea of reducing your carbon footprint is becoming more firmly entrenched in the psyche of the wider community. According to Andy Ross who is said to have reduced his own carbon emissions by more than 80% over the last 2 years, there are around 16 groups in the UK with the same number in the process of forming.

How Does a CRAG work?

Essentially, everyone who becomes a member of the group adheres to a carbon ration. The group has a nominated carbon accountant who records each member's car mileage, household bills, air travel, etc. This is then converted to CO2 and recorded.

As a point of reference, the average carbon footprint for Britons in 2005 was 5.5 tonnes. This is then used as a baseline for group members who then aim to reduce their footprint by a certain amount per year, say, 10%. Some groups then set up a fee system whereby they pay a fine for every kilo they break their ration by. This fine acts as a kind of carbon offset.

At the moment it's a small proportion of the population who have become CRAGs but it's an important demonstration of the public will and it also sends a faint message to the government that people are willing to take action towards the global warming issue.

For some CRAGgers, the changes to their lifestyle are going beyond simply fitting an energy efficient lightbulb or turning down the thermostat. Some are selling the car and car-sharing, others are thinking of selling their single occupancy flats and sharing with friends.

Lifestyle changes are the most difficult to catch on, but it's these small steps that could generate a greater wave of change. Watch out for the new CRAG in your neighborhood.

Carbon Hero Will Track Your Carbon Footprint

A new innovation to help calculate your carbon footprint from travel has just moved a step closer to being released to the market. Carbon Hero is a small handheld device, resembling a mobile phone, that uses ssatellite navigation technology to determine the carbon footprint created by the travel you do.

In 2006, Andreas Zachariah gave life to the idea of a small, compact device that could track carbon emissions released into the atmosphere by measuring both the distance travelled and the mode of transport used. That idea earned him a regional prize in the 2007 European Satellite Navigation Competition and last year, Carbon Hero was awarded the British Standards Institute prize for Sustainability Design in July.

Andreas Zachariah describes reasons for using Carbon Hero like this, “If you go on a diet you want to see if all that effort has made a difference so you weigh yourself. The beauty of our system is that it’s easy; you have a ’weighing scale’ on you all the time giving you your carbon footprint. When you make the effort to walk instead of taking the car you can immediately see the result, so it feels more worthwhile doing it and you are more likely to stick with it,”

Zachariah and business partner in the project Nick Burch have filed a patent for the invention and plan to have Carbon Hero ready for beta-testing in a company in April 2008. With companies find it increasingly necessary to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and the efforts they are making to reduce their carbon footprint, they will be able to use Carbon Hero to document the carbon emissions produced from business travel.

At this stage there has been no indication on a probable price of the Carbon Hero.

Much more detail can be found her at the Carbon Hero website.

The full press release can be found at Science Daily.

Virgin Atlantic Biofuel Flight

A Carbon Footprint Step Forward, Or Not?

I think one notable point can be made from the story that has been picked up be every news agency around the globe today – Virgin Atlantic and Sir Richard Branson make great headlines.

The story is, of course, that a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 has made a test flight from London to Amsterdam powered by biofuel. At least, that’s the headline. The reality is that the plane contained a 20% biofuel mix in one of its four main fuel tanks. The biofuel was made from a mixture of coconut and babassu oil.

Sir Richard Branson, in his statement to the media (yeah, surprise, surprise, Branson talking to the media, wonders never cease) said, “The demonstration flight will give us crucial knowledge that we can use to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint.”

Colour me unimpressed because herein lies the problem. The whole biofuel continues to rage over whether biofuel actually makes any difference at all in terms of lowering carbon emission and reducing the carbon footprint of a company.

Virgin, in using coconut and babassu oil have taken the issue of using potential food source and food crops out of the equation, but studies still suggest that clearing land for these crops can generate more carbon emissions than the savings made out the other end.

Biofuels still have a long way to go before the claim that using some in a test flight will lead us towards cleaner flying has wings. Great marketing for Virgin though and considering the guy making the pretty speeches after the demonstration and the frenzy of news coverage…well, I’d just say mission accomplished.



As for the carbon footprint, I think it might be sticking around at Virgin for a little while longer.