It's Salmond's Oil

Photo by Genghiskhanviet

Last week I mentioned that there seems to be a mind-set that Scotland is a world expert in drilling for oil offshore, and so therefore nothing could possibly go wrong in the North Sea on the same scale as the recent Gulf of Mexico disaster.

After all, haven't we got incredibly strict safety laws after the, er, last thing to go wrong?

The First Minister, Alex Salmond, demonstrated in the Scottish Parliament today that he, too, believes that nothing can ever go wrong with an oil rig in Scottish waters purely by the magic of being in Scottish waters.

His EU colleagues don't agree. They want a moratorium on deep-sea drilling in European waters.

As journalist Hamish MacDonell put it on the BBC straight afterwards, and again in this Caledonian Mercury piece, Salmond was asked by Patrick Harvie to choose between the environment and oil.

He chose oil.

It's probably just as well that he cancelled his trip to the Maldives. Can you imagine him trying to explain that he was sorry that they were about to lose their homes, but he wanted to start a giant oil fund that could be used to keep the Scots in the manner to which they had become accustomed, with shiny new roads and bridges and airports and...

Would Anyone Like Any Toast?

At one point during his speech yesterday, new Labour leader Ed Miliband told his party that they needed to change their attitude from the current one of "knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing".

While I'm sure the Labour rank-and-file were happy to get their scolding, it reminded me of something which was featured on this week's edition of Click, the BBC's technology show.

The Toaster Project sees an artist called Thomas Thwaites try to build a toaster, from scratch.

Now you might be thinking, that's easy. Buy a plug, buy an element, buy a spring...

Thomas obviously decided that was too easy as well. When I say he's making it from scratch, I really do mean from scratch - he mines the raw materials himself!

So why go to all the trouble of making a toaster? In part, he's trying to highlight the scale of global industry, and the fact that we think very little about what we do to the planet just so that we can buy a toaster for £3.99.

While there's no picture of the finished "product" on the website, Click does show it during their segment which you can see here - just don't expect shiny moulded plastic!

And definitely don't expect this:

No To Nuclear

Photo by jack_spellingbacon

The Scotsman have conducted a poll on nuclear energy and the result shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone.

Only 18% of Scots want new nuclear power stations when the current ones are decommissioned.

Actually, when I say it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone, the Tories and Labour might have a sharp intake of breath when they see that figure. They've been campaigning for new nuclear power stations.

Traditionally, nuclear, whether energy or weapons, has been one of those issues where the chip on the collective Scottish shoulder gets an airing.

Your typical Scot looks at a map of where nuclear power stations are, then looks at how far away they all are from London. They look to see where the nuclear weapons are based, and wonder why they're not parked in the Thames.

And then they come to the conclusion that they're being treated like fools.

In the month when it is revealed that the site at Dounreay will be out-of-bounds to the public for the next 300 years, and with the seabed around the area covered in radioactive material, is it any wonder that people look on nuclear plants with suspicion?

The advocates of new nuclear plants claim that those of us who believe Scotland can be powered by renewable sources of electricity are living in cloud-cuckoo land, when in reality it is they who are disconnected from both economics and common-sense.

New nuclear power stations would require massive subsidies, and take years to build. Certainly, the current two plants would be shut down long before any new plant is operational.

By that time, Scotland would be well on it's way to producing more renewable energy than it needs, sending it to other countries connected to the North Sea Supergrid.

Nuclear has had it's day - and that day was back in the 1950s.

Green In The Media 27th September - 3rd October

Tuesday 28th September

The Born Free Legacy
On: BBC 4
Time: 21:00 to 22:00 (Also 2355, 0255, Wed 0115, Sat 2345)
Born Free caused a sensation when it was first published in 1960. The book and the film that followed made a massive impact on conservation and science and our fundamental attitudes to wild animals and the environment. This documentary tells the story of the lives and legacy of George and Joy Adamson and Elsa, the orphaned lion cub they raised and successfully returned to the wild. The seismic shift in popular attitudes towards wild animals that the book and film caused are as controversial today as they are celebrated.

Highgrove: Alan Meets Prince Charles
On: BBC 2
Time: 00:20 to 01:20
The Prince of Wales takes Alan Titchmarsh on a tour of Highgrove House - his own personal retreat and family home. Prince Charles gives a remarkably informal and candid interview about the outlet for all his gardening aspirations, offering a rare insight into a royal passion. The Highgrove estate has become synonymous with all things organic, and Alan finds out from Head Gardener Debs Goodenough and her team what inspired the beliefs of the most hands-on royal gardener in history. Celebrating 30 years of royal gardening at the estate, the documentary features excerpts from a performance of The Highgrove Suite, commissioned by His Royal Highness and composed by Patrick Hawes.

Wednesday 29th September

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30 (Also Thu 1330)
Carbon Capture and Storage could solve the fossil fuel problem and the UK is set to become a world leader in the field. Tom Heap finds out if this quick fix can ever really work.

Thursday 30th September

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:32 to 11:00 (Also 1530, 2030, 0130, Sun 0630)
One Planet looks at how we use our planet.

Friday 1st October

Rain
On: BBC Radio Scotland
Time: 11:30 to 12:00
Ford Kiernan and James Young star in Bruce Morton's black comedy about climate change. As the rain continues to fall on the West of Scotland, a retired chemist decides to head out to sea on a second-hand tugboat - accompanied by a young man on community service and a mysterious cargo in the hold.

Bang Goes the Theory
On: BBC 1
Time: 19:30 to 20:00
Jem travels to Scotland to check out the latest green technology - wave power.

Unreported World
On: Channel 4
Time: 19:30 to 20:00
Malaria Town.
Channel 4's critically acclaimed foreign affairs strand returns for a new series with a report from northern Uganda and the town known as the 'malaria capital of the world'. Reporter Oliver Steeds and director William West investigate why this preventable and treatable disease is still such a problem. They reveal that that corruption is behind the theft of malaria treatment, and how organic products sold on Britain's high streets also play a role in the continuing the pandemic.


Excerpts taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from
http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=20818
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

The Week In Green Numbers

42 Megatonnes CO²

- carbon cost of UK shipping, if you include imports into the UK (which the government doesn't) #

1,314 MW

- power generated by offshore wind turbines in the UK #

1,100 MW

- power generated by offshore wind turbines in the rest of the world #

500 metres

- depth to which Chevron wants to drill for oil off the Shetland Isles #

£320 per year

- new cost of parking in Edinburgh for the most polluting cars. The least polluting will be charged £15 #

The Scottish Government: Making Unambition An Art Form

Photo by alancleaver_2000

I've often said on here that it is a folly for governments to set targets for themselves that are easily achievable. It does nobody any good, and stymies ambition.

If you know you're going to achieve something with the minimal of effort, then you'll put the minimal of effort into "achieving" it.

When it comes to climate change, we can't afford to put the minimal of effort in. We've got to be ambitious in our mindsets.

This Scottish Government has been increasingly unambitious. They were cajoled and harassed by the rest of parliament into upping their carbon reduction limits to 42% by 2020. Yes, they're the highest in the world but they could be so much more.

And then they announced that they would only go for a 0.3% reduction in 2012, after a 0.5% reduction next year. Basically, they were going for the low-hanging fruit. They knew they could achieve this, so that's what they said they would aim for. No ambition was involved in the decision.

Study after study has shown that Scotland could have so much renewable energy that it wouldn't know what to do with it all. A new study, released by the government today, reveals that the country could produce 123% of it's power with renewables. The current target is 50% by 2017.

So if the current target is 50%, and we could produce 123%, then surely the government should get some ambition and announce that's what their new target will be?

Ah, no. That's just crazy talk. Their new target is 80%. Cos it's achievable, see?

Nazi Seagulls From Hell: Evidence Of WMD

It appears that we were right to be fearful.

Scientists have found evidence of the seagull population breeding biological weapons to use against us.

Specifically, antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

It can be only a matter of time before the Nazi Seagulls From Hell unleash this bacteria on the human population, with devastating results.

And the thing is, we've only ourselves to blame. If we hadn't been so laissez-faire with our antibiotics, then resistance wouldn't have built up in the scavenging gulls.

Save yourselves, while there's still time...


You can read the whole Nazi Seagulls From Hell series of posts here.

Down, Down, Deeper And Down

Photo by Tuftronic10000

The oil company Chevron have a drilling ship off the Shetland Isles this morning, and obviously Greenpeace couldn't pass up the opportunity to protest against deep-sea drilling in the North Sea, so they've managed to chain a couple of activists to the ship.

It's a symptom of peak oil and the desperation of the oil companies that they have to go deeper and more extreme to get their hands on the fossil fuel. We've seen over the last few months just how disastrous that can be, so it beggars belief that the UK government is quite willing to let companies drill deep in our waters.

There seems to be a misguided mindset that because we've been using oil rigs in the North Sea for forty years, we've seen it all before and therefore can cope, unlike those idiotic Americans who can barely spell "rig".

Like I said, that's a misguided opinion and a dangerous one to have. Pride comes before a fall.

They're Taking The Piss

Photo by Michel Filion

This could cause a wee problem...

Imagine urine a train late at night, heading home after a few jars with some friends. The shaking and shoogling of the train is causing some discomfort, so you decide to empty your bladder before your back teeth start to float.

Unfortunately, you're on a Southern Train. And they've decided that actually you don't need a toilet. So you're screwed.

This decision seems to have been made by an accountant. After all, look at how much space a toilet takes up! You could fit another few seats in there!

It was probably the same accountant that persuaded Virgin they didn't need much room for luggage on their long-distance trains. And the same accountant who decided that cleaners were an unnecessary luxury on CrossCountry , two years after all the bins were removed to provide the extra luggage space he said wasn't needed.

As for the crew, I'm assuming that they're going to be issued with nappies to wear for their whole shift?

Green In The Media 20th - 26th September

Tuesday 21st September

Saving Species
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 11:00 to 11:30 (Also Thu 2100)
Brett Westwood examines the world of nature and the challenges of wildlife conservation. Saba Douglas-Hamilton reports from Samburu national park in Kenya where she and her family have studied the elephants and lions for decades. They see pressures of climate, local people and a new tide of foreign hunters impacting on the wildlife. Saba reports it is the local tribes people who hold the key to looking after their precious wildlife and the international community to address the global issues of climate change and an worrying increase in poaching of large animals, especially elephants. In the same national park we hear of work by Earth Watch supporting local people to protect the rare Grevy's Zebra. And we report on a controversial project to re-introduce lions back into Zimbabwe.

Live Liberal Democrats 2010
On: BBC Parliament
Time: 14:30 to 18:00
Live coverage of proceedings at the Liberal Democrat Party conference in Liverpool, including a speech by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne MP.

Nuclear Waste
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 20:00 to 20:40 (Also Sun 1700)
BBC Environment Correspondent Richard Black asks which communities across the UK will volunteer to host permanent deep storage of the country's most dangerous radioactive waste. He investigates the objections communities have to siting waste storage in their backyard, and asks how these can be overcome. Richard visits the Onkalo site in Finland, where the world's first geological repository is due to open for business in ten years time. He finds out why the Finns were so enthusiastic about volunteering, even competing, to host this nuclear waste store and considers how the same process to identify a site here in the UK could unfold over the next 12 months.

Wednesday 22nd September

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30 (Also Thu 1330)
In the 19th century we defeated the great urban killers, cholera and TB, by redesigning our cities. Can we battle the modern menace of obesity in the same way? Tom Heap reports.

Thursday 23rd September

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:32 to 11:00 (Also 1530, 2030, 0130, Sun 0630)
One Planet looks at how we use our planet.

Highgrove: Alan Meets Prince Charles
On: BBC 2
Time: 20:00 to 21:00
The Prince of Wales takes Alan Titchmarsh on a tour of Highgrove House - his own personal retreat and family home. Prince Charles gives a remarkably informal and candid interview about the outlet for all his gardening aspirations, offering a rare insight into a royal passion. The Highgrove estate has become synonymous with all things organic, and Alan finds out from Head Gardener Debs Goodenough and her team what inspired the beliefs of the most hands-on Royal gardener in history. Celebrating 30 years of Royal gardening at the estate, the documentary features excerpts from a performance of The Highgrove Suite, commissioned by His Royal Highness and composed by Patrick Hawes.

Friday 24th September

Escape to the Country
On: BBC 2
Time: 17:15 to 18:00
Shropshire.
Series in which prospective buyers are helped to find their dream home in the country. Alistair Appleton is in Shropshire helping a couple seek out a 'green' country dream. They have big ambitions and need a property from which to run an environmentally friendly B and B, self catering lets and sustainable eco lodges. But when they set eyes on a grade II listed, 600 year old farmhouse with brick barns to convert and three acres, all within budget, they can't quite believe their luck.

Saturday 25th September

British Isles: a Natural History
On: Yesterday
Time: 16:00 to 17:00 (Also 2000)
Our Future.
Alan concludes his journey and asks what the future might hold for our landscape and its wildlife: global warming, a big freeze or something much more sinister?


Excerpts taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from
http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=20818
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

The Week In Green Numbers

14.7°C

- global temperature for Jan - Aug this year, tying with 1998 as the warmest year on record #

85%

- share of the market that the railway has for travelling Manchester - London, up from 69% two years ago #

13,200

- estimated number of deaths in the US this year from fine particle pollution from coal plants #

4.76 million km²

- this year's summer minimum of Arctic ice, the third smallest since satellite measurements began #

300 years

- how long the Dounreay nuclear plant site will remain out of bounds to the public after demolition #

Time To Enforce The Blackout?

Photo by The Wandering Angel

It's basic common sense, not just environmentally but economically too:

If you don't need the light, then don't turn it on.

Highland Council are looking at ways to cut their expenditure so have consulted local residents on their street lighting. They were asked their opinion of three options:

• Switching the lights off completely in the wee hours
• Dimming the lights
• Switching off every second light

The last option seems to be the most popular, switching off every second light. I guess when it comes to being in public in the dark, we all revert back to a childlike state where we need a nightlight comforter!

Working shifts I get to see quite a lot of places in the dead of night. In the centre of Edinburgh, very few people would even notice if the street lighting was switched off completely between 1am and 4am, particularly in the summer when it's never completely dark.

Hopefully other councils will take note of Highland's consultation and enact their own measures on street lighting.

Monday, Monday, Tastes Good To Me

Ever wanted something a bit more from your Veg box? Ever thought that it was all very well eating potatoes from just 3 miles away, but you really need to jazz up your meals?

Step forward Greener Monday, the new venture from the good people of Greener Leith, Edinburgh's second best green blog*. Every month, they'll mail you a box of produce all made from within a 100 mile radius of Edinburgh.

Not trying to compete with the local veggie box schemes, the Greener Monday box will contain things like preserves, oil, jam and chocolate.

Yeah, okay, maybe jam and chocolate would be jazzing up your potatoes a little too much! You can find out more about Greener Monday here.


*You've got to keep these people in their place, you know?

The War On Ridiculous Cars

Photo by Magnus D

A couple of months back, I was standing in the car park of York station on the phone (it's the quietest part of the station!) when I burst out laughing. I was watching a man trying to park his oversized 4x4, and making a complete mess of it solely because the damn thing was too big.

When I say it was oversized, I'm not exaggerating. It was taller than me, and looked like you'd need a step-ladder just to get into it. The guy noticed me laughing, and was scowling at me as I explained what I was watching over the phone. Much to his annoyance, I kept up my running commentary, deliberately calling his car "the tank".

There was no need for the size of his car, particularly in an urban setting. Even if he was a farmer, he would have needed to never run it on the road to justify it, but he quite clearly wasn't a farmer. And the "car" was spotless.

Photo by b a r t

There's been a sea-change in recent years which has seen 4x4 and SUV "Chelsea Tractors" ridiculed by the mainstream, a far cry from the early 00s when no self-respecting Sloane would be seen dead in anything else. I'd like to think it's because of the planet, but I know that realistically it's because a) oil prices are high, and b) fashions have moved on.

The war against ridiculous cars has stepped up a wee notch in Edinburgh, too. The Council is to, finally, propose introducing variable parking charges throughout the city. Rather remarkably, a majority of parking permit holders were in favour of the scheme which will see charges double for the most polluting cars, and prices fall if your car doesn't pollute too much.

Perhaps it will make those who insist on driving a living-room-on-wheels think twice about whether they actually need it.

Photo by IndyDina with Mr. Wonderful

In The Navy

Photo by easylocum

When I was in my late teens, I ran away to join the Navy.

Well, okay, I didn't run away. But it sounds more romantic than "I filled in an application form".

I went as far as having a rather bizarre medical for them. I'm not sure whether hopping the circumference of the room while completely naked was standard procedure, or was just for the amusement of the male doctor and female nurse.

My application was not to be - perhaps telling the Navy that I was a member of Greenpeace set off alarm bells for them. But I've had a soft spot for the Senior Service ever since, while my feelings for the army and air force are, at best, "meh".

In the early 90s I visited Plymouth naval base for one of the Navy's open days. You were allowed to crawl over ships from a lot of countries, and what struck you most was that they all looked the bloody same! A Dutch destroyer looked the same as an Australian destroyer, which looked the same as a British destroyer. I remember thinking back then that all the world's navies could save themselves a small fortune by just buying a job lot of grey warships and divvying them up amongst themselves.

The one ship which stuck out was the biggest in the port - the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. I got to stand at the top of the take-off ramp and wonder what it would be like to fly a Harrier off the end of it. But I was also wondering what the damn thing was for. It was just under a decade since the Falklands War, but already the world was changing. The big draw at that year's Navy Days was supposed to be a Soviet ship, but the week before they suddenly discovered that the Soviet Union didn't exist any more.

The news in Scotland over the weekend was dominated by aircraft carriers. The Royal Navy wants two new ones, and has signed contracts to have them built. The new UK government aren't so sure they're value for money.

And I have to admit I kind of agree with them. When I look at the video animations of the new carriers, my heart beats at the shiny. My head, on the other hand, wonders whether a 20th Century way of projecting power is really what is needed in the 21st Century.

Their cancellation, we are told, would devastate the Scottish shipyards, so all the political party leaders are trying to come up with a joint strategy to fight for their retention.

They should also be coming up with a strategy for re-tooling the shipyards should the orders be cancelled. The Wall Street Journal reports that the offshore wind industry is being strangled at birth through lack of resources. Surely it would be better to retool the shipyards and retain the engineering skills, rather than wait for the Navy's next order?

Another thing that has puzzled me has been the harping from the sidelines that the First Minister, Alex Salmond, is not the best person to be leading the fightback. Caron, for example, has said twice in the last few days that

it's ironic to see an SNP First Minister who wouldn't be building any aircraft carriers in an independent Scotland

Well, of course he wouldn't. Most countries around the world manage to survive quite happily without aircraft carriers. What would Scotland actually do with an aircraft carrier?

Come to think of it, what does the UK actually do with their aircraft carriers?

In a world where an entire country can be brought to its knees by a few computer hackers, surely a Navy is about protecting home waters against the infidels rather than projecting overwhelming force on the colonies?

That's something a Scottish Navy, built on the Clyde, could do easily. Hey, we might even specialise in building boil-in-the-bag warships for every other navy in the world.

Documentary Makers Arrested At Trump Estate

Photo by Boss Tweed

Is The Donald beginning to lose the media in his battle for the Menie estate?

Last week, his goons had two journalists arrested as they filmed a local resident. You can read the full story here, but basically they were accused of "bursting into" an office, filming documents and filming someone who was working there.

The film-makers say that they were given permission to enter the building after the local manager agreed to an interview, and they never filmed any documents.

It should certainly be an interesting film, but the story is indicative of Trump's lack of media management.

For someone who isn't shy of publicity, he has a talent for saying whatever bubbles out of his stomach, and for surrounding himself with others who do likewise. The slightest whiff of bad publicity has his management team screaming blue murder.

I've noticed a slight change in the attitude of the media in the last six months. They used to be all over The Donald, declaring how wonderful his golf course is going to be. Lately, they've given more prominence to the anti-Trump campaign.

Could it be that the Trump Organisation has pissed off one Scottish journalist or newspaper editor too many?

Green In The Media 13th - 19th September

Wednesday 15th September

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30 (Also Thu 1330)
Dr Alice Roberts investigates whether working from home could help us cut down significantly on our carbon emissions. Flexible working is one of the most sought after job perk for city employees, and it seems to stand to reason that doing away with daily commutes and overly air conditioned high rises would save CO2. However a recent study found that home workers typically produce almost a third more CO2 in a year than employees based in the office. Dr Roberts takes some real life case studies to find a definitive answer to how carbon efficient working from home really is. And, which innovative solutions in Green IT, social networking and even decarbonised transport might really revolutionise the way we work.

Thursday 16th September

Live Energy and Climate Change Questions
On: BBC Parliament
Time: 10:30 to 11:30 (Also 0100, 0330)
Live coverage of questions in the House of Commons to Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne and his ministerial team.

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:32 to 11:00 (Also 1530, 2030, 0130, Sun 0630)
One Planet looks at how we use our planet.

Countryfile
On: BBC 1
Time: 01:55 to 02:55
Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury explore the coast and countryside around St David's in Pembrokeshire. Julia goes whitewater kayaking, and discovers how the area's fierce tides can generate clean, green power. Meanwhile, John Craven is just along the coast in Milford Haven investigating the legacy of the massive oil spill there fifteen years ago.

Saturday 18th September

Ramblings
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 06:07 to 06:30
Series exploring the British countryside. Clare Balding takes a walk on Hampstead Heath with a group of inner city Londoners who are being encouraged to discover the green places of their city, often for the first time.


Excerpts taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from
http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=20818
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

The Week In Green Numbers

18%

- proportion of grade schools in Japan which feed the children whale meat #

200,000

- people employed in the wind power industry across Europe #

40.5 GW

- power provided by British wind farms last Monday #

10 metres

- size of a giant leylandii bush in a garden in Plymouth #

20.0%

- reduction in Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions #

The Water Of Leith Is Not A Toilet!

It was a nice day yesterday so, not wanting to miss any late-summer sun, I managed to tear myself away from the computer.

My usual 3-mile hike (or, occasionally, cycle ride) takes me along Slateford Road, through the Water of Leith. and then back along Gorgie Road.

The Water of Leith is stunningly beautiful during the summer months, and there are sections where, if aliens plonked you down at that point and you had no idea where you were, you would not guess that you were right in the middle of a city.

Unfortunately, signs of humanity intrude in many different ways. I've never understood the mentality of people who tidy all their rubbish into a plastic bag...and then hang that bag over a fence and leave it there.

I know that Crafty Green Poet and her legions of volunteers do a sterling job in trying to keep the Water of Leith clean and tidy, but it's still heartbreaking to see plastic bottles caught in branches overhanging the river.

I did get a giggle, though, at this sign at the Gorgie Road end of the footpath. A piece of graffiti I can approve of!

Whitelee Expands

You may have noticed in the news yesterday that Europe's largest onshore wind farm, Whitelee in Scotland, is about to get bigger.

They've been given permission to install another 75 turbines, increasing the overall output to 539 MW.

The publicity should be good for their new visitor centre as well, which I've had in the back of my mind to visit but unfortunately it's not served by public transport. Surely there's scope for a free bus from Kilmarnock train station?

And all this comes as we discover that the UK's wind farms produced record output on Monday - 5% of the whole day's electricity to the grid. A start, as I said when renewables provided 100% of power to the North of Scotland last week.

But if you can't make it to Whitelee, then why not the next best thing: YouTube! And in this video you can hear just how windy it is...and see just how big the turbines are when you're standing right underneath one:

Scottish Emissions Down 20%

The Scottish Government have released figures today which show that they're halfway to their 42% by 2020 emissions reduction target.

Except, they haven't.

What they've released are figures which show that if you add in carbon trading from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, then Scotland is halfway to its goal.

But a real-life reduction in emissions is something to be proud about, and the new report (for 2007-08) shows that:

Overall emissions for the year dropped 3.0% to 56.1 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO²_e)

This constitutes a (suspiciously round!) 20.0% reduction since 1990.

What went down:

International Aviation -12%
Energy Supply -6%
Business & Industrial Process -4%
Agriculture -3%
Transport (excluding International Aviation & Shipping) -2%

What went up:

Public +7%
International Shipping +5%
Residential +4%
Waste Management +4%

When you compare them to 1990 levels, they're almost all looking good:

Energy Supply -13%
Business & Industrial Process -37%
Agriculture -22%
Transport (excluding International Aviation & Shipping) +7%
Public -23%
International Shipping -17%
International Aviation +157%
Residential -2%
Waste Management -52%

Your eye is immediately drawn to the International Aviation figure. Oh dear.

But there's also a need to do more on the Residential front. Dropping just 2% in 20 years is almost shameful given how much the general public needs to do to get the country where it needs to be. In fact, the Residential figure rises and falls year-on-year seemingly without any influences on it. It's time to insulate every home in the country!

You can read the whole report for yourself here (pdf).

Green-Sky Thinking From The Scottish Government

Photo by Randy Lemoine

Yesterday's Sunday Herald was like an environmental porn mag.

Their environment correspondent Rob Edwards had managed to get his hands on a leaked Scottish Government report which detailed things they could possibly do to reduce carbon emissions.

It's legally mandated that Scotland must reduce these by 42% by 2020. Unfortunately current government policies will fall far short of this target. So some green-sky thinking was needed.

Rather unimaginatively, most of the initiatives in the report tackle car use:

Stricter enforcement of current speed limits
Cutting speed limit from 70mph to 60mph on some roads
Introducing variable speed limits and average speed enforcement
Road pricing costing motorists an extra 5p/km
£300-a-year workplace parking levy
50% increase in on-street parking charges
Boost membership of city car clubs
Free training for motorists on “eco-driving”
£5,000 grants for buyers of low carbon vehicles
Improved travel planning by households, businesses and schools
Incentives for councils to invest in low carbon cars
Improvements in van and road freight efficiency

Road pricing is an idea whose time will come for whatever UK government is brave enough to implement it in place of Road Tax - I can't really see a Scottish Government imposing it unilaterally. On the other hand, a UK government might be happy to use Scotland as a test case for it.

Average speed cameras could be in place relatively quickly on all our motorways. The report reckons by 2012. It always amazes me how people can argue that they have a right to break the law in their car by going as fast as they can. Surely average speed cameras are something that no opposition party can oppose?

As for Free training for motorists on “eco-driving”, I have to admit I don't see the point. As far as I'm aware, this has now been implemented into driving lessons (or is it just some enlightened motoring schools which teach it?), and if not then that's when to do it.

So now that we've hit the motorist, let's look at the public transport proposals:

Big increases in spending on cycling and walking facilities
New fund to improve provisions for buses and taxis
Major investment in high speed rail and other rail improvements
Incentives to shift freight from road to rail and water
Using planning policy to reduce need to travel

Hmm, not as fleshed out. But here's an idea I'll give them for free. Instead of using money to train motorists on "eco-driving", why not provide every household with a printed bus timetable for their nearest stop? If someone sees that there's a bus that can get them to work for 9am in almost the same amount of time as they take in the car, they'll be more likely to use it. If they're ignorant of the timetable, they won't use the bus.

Onto farming and land use:

Encouraging farmers to cut pollution and waste
Grants for anaerobic digestion facilities for farmers
Immunisation programme for cattle diarrhoea
Linking farm subsidies to cutting climate pollution
Incentives to plant 15,000 hectares of new woodland a year
Restore peat bogs to store carbon

The National Farmers Union are upset at the idea of losing their subsidies, and I partly agree with them that there should be more carrot and less stick in almost everything, not just their industry. But sometimes, there comes a point when you have to use the stick.

Waste:

Bans on dumping food and recyclable waste as landfill

This should be a no-brainer, but I'm surprised that it's their only policy on this issue (although admittedly they did publish a Zero-Waste Plan earlier this year). How about a ban on incinerating waste as well?

Housing & Buildings:

Energy saving schemes for homes
Doubling energy standards for new buildings
Leaflet campaign to boost energy efficiency
Improved energy efficiency in non-domestic buildings
New standards to cut emissions from social housing
Energy-saving loans for businesses

According to Rob Edward's article, the government seems finally ready to implement the Scottish Green's long-asked-for policy of improving insulation in every building.

I'm also intrigued by their 'New standards to cut emissions from social housing'. Here's another idea I'll give them for free: mandate that all white goods and electrical items in ALL rented accommodation, private or public, must be less than ten years old. I once rented a flat in Edinburgh where the fridge was older than I was! This policy ensures relatively energy-efficient appliances throughout vast swathes of our housing sector. (Although I'll acknowledge that I'm ignoring the environmental costs of dumping so many old white goods at the same time!)

So there you go, 30 things that the Scottish Government themselves have come up with and are prepared to discuss. I just wonder how many of them will get implemented?

Green In The Media 6th - 12th September

Westminster is back from their summer break, giving us our first look at Environment minister Caroline Spelman at the despatch box.

Oh yeah, and I'm on TV this week too, but out of sheer badness I'm not telling you when, where or why!


Monday 6th September

Uncertain Climate
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 09:00 to 09:30 (Also 2130)
In the second of two programmes, BBC environmental analyst Roger Harrabin investigates whether the arguments surrounding climate change can ever be won. He questions whether his own reporting - and that of others - has told the whole story about global warming, and whether the scientific reviews underway will restore shaken public faith in climate science. He speaks to Tony Blair, Lord Lawson, Sir Crispin Tickell and Steve McIntyre and discusses how decisions can be taken about climate policy in the face of increasing scientific uncertainty. Is the 'resilience' strategy, which aims to prepare systems which can cope with whatever the climate throws at them, the way forward?

Wednesday 8th September

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30 (Also Thu 1330)
Oil and Gas - Back to the Land.
The Deepwater Horizon disaster proved the dangers of searching for our oil and gas in ever more challenging environments. Tom Heap asks if we can find them closer to home, exploring the extraordinary land grab taking place in both the US and Europe as companies buy up the rights to explore vast tracts of land in search of unconventional oil and gas.

Thursday 9th September

Live Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
On: BBC Parliament
Time: 10:30 to 11:30 (Also 0100)
Live coverage of questions in the House of Commons to Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Caroline Spelman and her ministerial team.

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:32 to 11:00 (Also 1530, 2030, 0130, Sun 0630)
One Planet looks at how we use our planet.

E Numbers: An Edible Adventure
On: BBC 2
Time: 20:00 to 21:00
Sweeteners.
Food writer Stefan Gates continues his quest to uncover the truth about those notorious food additives, E numbers. He looks at E number sweeteners used to replace sugar and also learns about the chemicals used to hold our food together. Stefan looks at how E numbers keep the ice out of ice cream, discovers the seaweed that's an E number found in our cakes, and even undergoes MRI scans in an attempt to discover whether E number sweeteners are clever enough to fool our brains.

Sunday 12th September

Countryfile
On: BBC 1
Time: 19:00 to 20:00
Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury explore the coast and countryside around St David's in Pembrokeshire. The pair go whitewater kayaking, and discover how the fierce tides in that part of West Wales can generate clean, green power. Meanwhile, John Craven is just along the coast in Milford Haven investigating the legacy of the massive oil spill there fifteen years ago.


Excerpts taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from
http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=20818
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

The Week In Green Numbers

68%

- number of people who said they would buy more organic produce if it were cheaper #

26,000

- estimated number of Asian elephants in India #

12.8°C

- lowest temperature recorded in the UK during August, the coldest in 23 years #

10,000 tonnes per year

- amount of mussels which a Scottish company plans to produce by moving to the South of England #

84%

- decrease in heat absorbed through a building's roof by putting plants on it #

Start Organic Fortnight In Porty

Today sees the start of the Soil Association's Organic Fortnight, encouraging folks to try organic products.

Most people automatically think of food when you say "organic", but the Soil Association are attempting to broaden people's horizons by getting them to think about their make-up or clothes.

But if it is organic food you're after and you're resident in Edinburgh or East Lothian, then a brand new organic market starting in Portobello is perfectly timed.

Promoted by PEDAL, there's a list of stalls which will be available here.

Normally I'd encourage you to use the Edinburgh Farmers Market on a Saturday, but why not do something different this weekend, take a trip to Porty, browse the market stalls and the High Street shops, and maybe make the most of the predicted 20°C weather by strolling on the beach.

You might even get to laugh at some numpties losing their oversized car to the Portobello waves, like in this video. The last line from the guy taking the video sums it up perfectly:

Warm Welcome, Fond Farewell

It's always nice to see a new face in the Green blogosphere. It's nicer when it's provided by some of your favourite bloggers.

James from Two Doctors, Malcolm from The Burgh and Jeff from SNP Tactical Voting have united to form a crime-fighting superhero unit that should prove unstoppable. Once they get the tights on.

Actually, I think that part was supposed to be kept secret. Their "cover" is to start a new blog called Better Nation. If you like your Scottish and UK politics with a greenish hue, then go and say hello.

Unfortunately, it does sound the death knell for their individual blogs but I'm hoping their distinctive voices will shine through, and give the online Scottish politics scene a good kick up the erse.

Ferry Fare Scheme Used As Election Bribe?

Photo by Donald Macleod

Blatant electoral bribe, or subsidy that has proven so popular it should be extended?

Actually, it's probably both.

The Scottish Government have announced that a scheme to lower ferry costs to the Western Isles will be extended by a year. The Road Equivalent Tariff tries to base the cost of ferry fares at what the equivalent price by road would be.

It's a good idea, and VisitScotland reckons it has been successful in bringing more tourists to the Isles.

Unfortunately, it's just a pilot scheme at the moment. Hopefully the government will not only approve the RET to be used permanently, but extend the scheme.

And therein lies the political problem - the Western Isles are mostly an SNP fiefdom. The Northern Isles - a LibDem stronghold - is not part of the RET and therefore misses out on the funding.

And that extension to the pilot just happens to cover the period through next year's elections.

You can see why the LibDems are crying foul, and I reckon they have a point. It's a blatant "bribe", but it's also a great scheme which should be extended to all of Scotland.

So, Stewart Stevenson, how about bribing the rest of the islands too? You never know, you might even oust the LibDems from Shetland and Orkney...

Energy Demand Met By Renewables For First Time

A huge milestone was reached in Scotland on Sunday morning.

Between 8am and 9am, renewable energy managed to supply 100% of the electricity consumed across the north of the country. That includes the cities of Perth, Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen.

Okay, so you can look at the timings and say that it's a Sunday morning with very few people up and about yet. But still, it's a good start and as more onshore and offshore wind comes on-stream then we can only improve.

It also puts to bed the lie spread about by the anti-windfarm brigade that wind turbines don't work and don't provide enough energy to be useful.

There is, however, a long way to go before renewable energy can completely cope with the demand from the traditional "half-time cuppa" during the ad break of Coronation Street!