Kookaburra

Cockamamie Business

The latest figures for the Australian Bureau of Statistics show we're eating more dead cows.

The trend estimate for cattle slaughterings rose for the fifth consecutive month, to 706,000. This was the highest figure recorded since records began in 1979.

The trend estimate for beef production rose for the sixth consecutive month, to 189,000 tonnes. This was the highest figure recorded since records began in 1979.

[ABS - 7218.0.55.001 - Livestock and Meat, Australia - Electronic Publication, Nov 2006]

That's a run rate of 8.4M cows killed each year or one about every 30 seconds.

Now we like to air condition - though the air has no ozone ring
Still they're chopping down the forest for mcdonalds and the burger king
Eating cows with such persistance - doesn't offer much resistance
To this cockamamie business

George Harrison | Cockamamie Business lyrics:

Oh it's a cockamamie business alright particularly when firstly there is no nutritional need to eat meat (don't take my word for it - look for yourself and ensure you ignore the interested parties such as meat promoters).

Secondly there are many related health issues to a Western meat/milk centric diet. Read The China Study - based on 20 years of research by a partnership of Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. From the book blurb

The China Study is not a diet book. Consumers are bombarded with conflicting messages regarding health and nutrition; the market is flooded with popular titles like The Atkins Diet and The South Beach Diet. The China Study cuts through the haze of misinformation and delivers an insightful message to anyone living with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and those concerned with the effects of aging. Additionally, he challenges the validity of these low-carb fad diets and issues a startling warning to their followers.

(Best sung to Lesley Gore's hit - It's my blog and I will preach if I want to - it's 5:21AM and I didn't sleep well!)

I am not a picture of health (need to lose some weight and do more regular exercise) but I have been vegetarian (no meat, no fish) for 16 years and have certainly not suffered for it and I can sleep easy knowing I am not contributing to the senseless slaughter of sentient beings. Pity I can't seem to sleep for other reasons - poor recent sleep pattern, related to work, not a guilty conscience.

Europeans despair at resorts without snow

Europeans despair at resorts without snow | Science & nature | The Australian:
SKIERS heading to the European Alps for Christmas will be sorely disappointed, with resort operators staring at bare slopes as a result of the warmest winter temperatures in 1250 years.

Microsoft could save 45 million tons of CO2 emissions

Travis Daub at "Foreign Policy Passport" believes "Microsoft could save 45 million tons of CO2 emissions with a few lines of computer code"

Most machines already possess software that allows them to run more efficiently—to "sleep" in a low-power mode when not in use—but few people enable this feature.

So, Microsoft should issue a software upgrade to every computer running Microsoft Windows worldwide. The upgrade would adjust the machine's energy-saving settings for maximum efficiency.

Microsoft estimates that it costs $55 to $70 per year for an average business to allow one computer to sit idle. Multiply that times 100 million computers and you realize that the world spends $5 to $7 billion* dollars every year powering inactive computers. Shifting 100 million computers into low-power sleep mode for 12 hours per day could easily cut worldwide C02 production by 45 million tons per year. That is equivalent to wiping away a year's worth of CO2 produced by every household and industry in a country the size of Ireland. Dozens of power plants would no longer be needed.

Personal Kyoto

While my country's Federal Government [Australia] and the USA admin won't ratify the Kyoto Protocol that's no reason for each of us not to take up the challenge of reducing out green house gas emissions. I am doing my bit (low wattage fluro lights, drive a small hybrid car) but I don't have a good way of measuring how I am going.

If you live in New York City you can use Personal Kyoto -- a website that "provides New Yorkers the means to measure, track and share their progress towards meaningful electric use reduction."

The creator of Personal Kyoto is open to bringing the services to other cities but needs local technical help - read on.

I'm the author of Personal Kyoto and I appreciate the link and the comments [at this O'Reilly Post]. Regarding the question of bringing it to London (or any city for that matter), I am totally soliciting other software developers out there who might be interested in working with me to move it beyond New York. PK works by grabbing data from the local utility (ConEd in the case of NYC) via a user's online account, so there's no need to create new physical meter reading systems. It just uses the utilities already existing system.

Posted by: Ben Engebreth at September 29, 2006 08:45 AM at http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/09/personal_kyoto.html

Can you help adapt Personal Kyoto for your part of the world?

Incidentally Personal Kyoto is funded by the non-profit Eyebeam OpenLab which is dedicated to public domain R&D. Check out there other projects - I am particularly fond of MintyBoost and how it breaks the consumer cycle.

New car bad; water storage good

Sadly as a product of an automotively-addicted childhood I really struggle to end my fascination with new cars (which just burn more cash and contribute to driving us to the brink of extinction even faster). I am extremely fortunate to be driving the magnificent Toyota Prius which currently is averaging a trifling 5 litres / 100 km -- If Toyota made a hybrid 7 seat people mover I'd trade in the family car (Honda Odyssey) in a moment.

But rather than a new 'motor' perhaps I can distract myself with something more essential - food and water

Here's something I didn't know --

Food supplies are shrinking alarmingly around the globe, plunging the world into its greatest crisis for more than 30 years. New figures show that this year's harvest will fail to produce enough to feed everyone on Earth, for the sixth time in the past seven years [1]. Humanity has so far managed thanks to stockpiles built up in better times - but these have now fallen below the danger level. [ Source: The Independent 4 September 2006]

It's not only food that's at risk there's also getting enough water - Australia is facing our worst drought ever. Meanwhile we still bathe in drinking water and for most of us we do nothing to harvest the rain that falls on our roof. (At least we have drinkable water unlike so much of the world).

Well I have been trying to do my bit having produced some homegrown vegetables - not enough to live on but a start. Real soon now I will have my spring/summer crop in and we will see how we go this time around. I will certainly not be the first in the street with tomatoes.

As for water harvesting I really have not thought hard enough yet - ideas from anyone willingly accepted. I have room for rainwater tanks and I can certainly treat some greywater with the right technology.

For some inspiration check out Gardening Australia presenter, Jerry Coleby-Williams website detailing his sustainable house in suburban Brisbane.

[1] If grain was diverted directly to humans rather than feeding chickens and cattle which are then eaten by humans, the story might be different. A cow is a very inefficient converter of grain requiring 16Kg of grain to produce 1Kg of beef -- oh and consuming lots of water in the process. I have nothing against cattle - I just don't think it makes sense to eat them.]

A new breed of clean diesel cars

Fortune Magazine: The Axis of Diesel -- "Mercedes, GM, even Honda, is betting on a new breed of green diesels. The goal? To leave hybrids in the dust." A new breed of clean diesel cars leave hybrids in the dust. - October 16, 2006

Electric supercar - high performance, low environmental cost

Environment Unlimited
"Until now, electric cars have been slow, odd-looking and severely limited by their short battery life. But this racy little number - which can outrun a Ferrari - could change all that. "

It's USD$100K but it is a flagship for the future and the first 100 have all been sold.

An inscrutable youth

A great post about a 7 year old (and her Dad's) viewing of An Inconvenient Truth. Must take my eight year old - I wonder how she will change my habits!

Must see - An Inconvenient Truth

I recently had the pleasure of catching Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, on an international flight. It presented a well reasoned argument as to why the climate is changing and why we all must do something about it now. It's a tough subject shrouded in myths and misinformation. Gore does a great job of cutting through all of that presenting effectively some key points that really drive the message home.

In Saturday's The Age a collection of emminent scientists interviewed in The Age all rated it's science between 4-5 stars, with the most damning comment being that he had simplified the science. The same scientist conceded that he managed to maintain its fundamental accuracy. [The Age article]

The movie opens in cinemas in Australia on 14 September [Yahoo.com.au listing].

As the famous movie reviewer, Roger Ebert says, "In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."

Rather than merely being a doomsayer, Gore presents positive ways in which we can address this looming crisis. I can only echo the thoughts of many, many others who have recognised what a loss it was to us all and the planet that Bush beat Gore in 2000. It is not an issue of politics - it's one of ignorance of this growing crisis and a lack of leadership in moving to address it. The Australian people also suffer from a lack of political leadership on this issue. Let's hope enough people see the film and choose to do something about it.

Al Gore visits Sydney

Carbonsink is an excellent new blog from my long time correspondent, "David from Manly". There's lot of great back reading to be had on the oil/energy/climate crisis but it's worth visiting right now to get the latest on what Al Gore is up to while in Sydney Mon & Tues this week.

Al Gore will appear on The 7.30 Report at 7:30pm and on Enough Rope at 9:30pm on ABC TV tomorrow night (Monday 11 September)