The students who participate in these events are working to send a two-fold message. They are trying to educate the public, to show them that a seemingly niche technology has the power to be a big boon for sustainable development, as well as to show them that green jobs are the way of the future.

This display of dwellings, set up right in the heart of our nation’s capitol is meant to get the attention of folks who drive themselves to work each morning, shutting their garage door, ready for a long individual commute in a vehicle that can hold seven. The message is for everyday people to see possibility.

However this year, the Decathlon was not held without its own bit of backlash towards the green community in the wake of a recently bankrupted solar company. The weather was also trying to work against the event, which opened to rainy, gloomy weather. But the students remained positive and the sun did indeed come out on the event. With it came the eco-conscious from near and far.

For self-proclaimed “greenies”, this is one of the events of the year. In addition to being solar powered, these homes are also carbon neutral. They contain energy saving appliances and the latest in efficiency technology. It is a great way to unveil the latest ideas and findings in the green engineering community. A vast array of technologies – some innovative, some downright strange – are put on display for the public to see and to be viewed for judging.

This event is just one of many that show off the bright minds of the future. As more college students are making a career in sustainable development and engineering, bigger and better ideas will be created, some that could possibly innovate new design techniques. This event is a great way to show the public just what is possible, as well as a great means for those of like-mind to get together and share their knowledge.

Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, gives this inspiring speech in light of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference this December – the last chance we have to take action against “the greatest threat the world has ever faced”.

In the video (above) Nasheed announces that his country, which is under severe threat from climate change, will go completely carbon neutral in a decade. He also asks the world to unite against carbon pollution and decarbonize the entire world economy.

The Maldives approached Chris Goodall and Mark Lynas, two British climate change experts, to develop a carbon-neutral plan for its country. The two came up with a “radical” carbon-neutrality plan that includes 155 wind turbines, rooftop solar panels and a biomass plant that will burn coconut husks. According to Goodall and Lynas the Maldives will become completely carbon neutral by 2020. The plan is expected to cost $110 million a year for a 10 year period.

You can read more about the Maldives carbon neutral plans over at the Guardian.

In a previous post, I noted that the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, like many rock bands worldwide, has been claiming that “carbon offsets” balance the greenhouse gases created during its tours. While not in the least doubting their sincerity, I recommended that they visit the spoof website Cheatneutral.

Now I can recommend something much more substantial and convincing. The Carbon Neutral Myth: Offset Indulgences for Your Climate Sins demonstrates that the carbon offset industry is “state of the art greenwash.” This report argues that offsets place disproportionate emphasis on individual lifestyles and carbon footprints, distracting attention from the wider, systemic changes and collective political action that needs to be taken to tackle climate change. Promoting more effective and empowering approaches involves moving away from the marketing gimmicks, celebrity endorsements, technological quick fixes, and the North/South exploitation that the carbon offsets industry embodies.Author Kevin Smith, a researcher with Carbon Trade Watch, argues that “the only effective way of dealing with climate change is to dramatically decrease our current rates of fossil fuel consumption. Offsets are providing a justification to maintain our carbon-intensive lifestyles, and delaying the profound changes we need to make in our societies.”

When companies like Climate Care and the Carbon Neutral Company sell the public carbon offsets, carbon savings expected to be made in the future are counted as savings made in the present. Offset companies give the idea that emissions are instantly “neutralised” when in fact the supposed “neutralisation” can take place over periods of up to a hundred years. Regular offsetting worsens the problem because the rate at which carbon emissions are ‘neutralised’ is far slower than the rate at which they are generated.

The Carbon Neutral Myth – Offset Indulgences for Your Climate Sins is published by Carbon Trade Watch, a project of the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute. It offers in-depth research and case studies in support of its argument that:

• Offset companies breed complacency by selling ‘peace of mind’ to consumers, distracting from the serious task of tackling unsustainable consumption patterns and business practices.
• Limited research on the climate benefits of tree plantations into the carbon cycle is sold as fact while the offset companies quantify this supposed benefit into a sellable commodity.
• Tree plantations marketed as beneficial for the climate have seen people in the South expelled from their lands.
• Projects that look great on the website or in the leaflet are often, in practice, mismanaged, ineffective or detrimental to the local communities who have to endure them.

The full text of The Carbon Neutral Myth: Offset Indulgences for Your Climate Sins is available online.

Michael Dell, the company’s chairman and CEO, says that “never before in the history of business have we seen such a critical need to build a worldwide community dedicated to improving the environment.” He continued by saying that “leadership starts at home, which is why we [Dell] are going carbon-neutral, but this should only be the beginning of building long-term partnerships with customers, stakeholders and suppliers of all sizes to team up and make a difference for the Earth we all share.”

Dell recently implemented a company-wide power saving program that, according to Dell, will result in a savings of about 13 million kilowatt hours of electricity (about 8,500 tons of CO2). This will also help save Dell about $1.8 million annually.

Dell is also on a pretty good spot on Greenpeace’s guide to greener electronics. But still Dell has no products on the market without the worst chemicals.

In November last year Dell’s Inspiron 531 became the first PC to reach Energy Star 4.0. Dell is also teaming up with ABN AMRO, AMD, Ask.com, Salesforce.com and WellPoint in the “Plant a Tree for Me” program where the companies have committed to offsetting part of their carbon output by planting trees.

Image credit: Joi. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution license.