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Norway Sets 2015 Target
Norway’s Finance Minster, Kristin Halvorsen, has proposed to ban petrol cars by 2015 in order to lower CO2 emissions and encourage car manufacturers to begin making more environmentally friendly models. That would mean only electric, biofuel, hydrogen or hybrid cars could be bought in the Scandinavian country by that date. Speaking about the proposal, Ms. Halvorsen said, “This is much more realistic than people think when they first hear about [it]. The financial crisis means a lot of those car producers that now have big problems know they have to develop their technology, because we also have to solve the climate crisis when this financial crisis is over.” However, the ban would not apply to used cars – petrol or diesel – bought before 2015.

This proposal is both interesting and surprising, as Norway is the world’s sixth-largest oil exporter. Indeed, Ms. Halvorsen ‘s proposition is likely to be subjected to heated debate, as the idea has some opponents, even within the government itself.

Irish Parliament Pushes Government for More Action on CO2
The Irish Government stated last year that it expects 10 percent of the vehicles on Irish roads to be electric-powered by 2020. To bring this about, an agreement has been signed with the Electricity Supply Board to put recharging stations in different locations throughout the country. However, the Oireachtas (Irish national parliament) Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security published a report recently in which it encourages the Government to go even further in its measures to combat CO2 emissions. The authors of the report envisage that by 2020 all new vehicles on the market should be powered by electric engines, with at least 350,000 electric cars already in use by the same date.

To find out more about Norway’s proposed ban on petrol cars and Ireland’s measures to reduce C02, and to see a comprehensive list of quality used cars for sale, visit CBG.ie.

Besides the fact that John McCain is not telling the truth about what Obama said he is also completely wrong about the effectiveness of proper tire inflation.

According to the gas-guzzlers at Auto Alliance of BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Mazda, Mercedez Benz, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen:

• The Department of Energy estimates that 1.2 billion gallons of fuel were wasted in 2005 as a result of driving on under-inflated tires.
• Fuel efficiency is reduced by 1% for every 3 PSI that tires are under-inflated.
• Proper tire inflation can save the equivalent of about 1 tank of gas per year.
• Proper tire inflation also reduces CO2 emissions.
• Experts estimate that 25% of automobiles are running on tires with lower than recommended pressure, because people don’t know how to check their tires or don’t realize that tires naturally lose air over time.

Later at a political rally in Berea Barack Obama responded to John McCain’s attacks:

“They’re lying about what my energy plan is. They’re making fun of a step that every expert says would reduce our oil consumption by 3 to 4 percent. It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.”

And during a town-hall meeting in Indiana today Barack Obama responded even harder:

“Senator McCain’s energy plan reads like an early Christmas list for oil and gas lobbyists. And it’s no wonder – because many of his top advisors are former oil and gas lobbyists.”

You can read all about Barack Obama’s “Energy Plan for America” here.

Unfortunately the Australian Federal Government Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) Green Paper is FATALLY FLAWED and if adopted globally would be a DEATH SENTENCE for the planet’s biosphere.

Australia is referred to as “Downunder” by people in the Northern Hemisphere but in so many things Australian mainstream media and politicians turn the truth upside-down as well – and this is outrageously so in relation to man-made climate change. The Liberal-National Party Coalition State and Federal Oppositions and the Labor Party State and Federal Governments (these major parties being referred to collectively as the Lib-Labs) pay public lip-service to the problem of global warming but their de facto policies support Australia’s world-leading coal exports and Australia’s 92% fossil fuel-based power generation.

An extraordinary “black is white”, “no means yes”, “2 plus 2 does not equal 4”, Orwellian culture is entrenched in Australian public life, this leading to the description of hot, fly-ridden Australia as the Land of Flies, Lies and Slies (spin-based untruths).

This Orwellian absurdity has reached globally-significant proportions with this Australian Government “Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme” Green Paper which in REALITY means that Australia’s ACTUAL greenhouse gas pollution is set to DOUBLE by 2050.

In addition to this Orwellian absurdity of a “pollution reduction” scheme that actually DOUBLES greenhouse gas pollution by 2050, the Australian Government Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) “looks the other way” and “ignores the elephant the corner” in numerous other ways. The Australian Government Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme:

(a) massively ignores leading scientific and economic advice on the urgent need stop greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution and indeed to REDUCE atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) from 387 ppm (parts per million) to a safe level of no more than 350 ppm;

(b) ignores two thirds of Australia-responsible greenhouse gas emission sources, notably coal exports (43% of the total Domestic plus Exported emissions), agriculture (9%), land-use and forestry (4%) and (effectively, via subsidies) transport (8%);

(c) adopts a “cap and trade” Emissions Trading Scheme with an atmospheric CO2 concentration “cap” above 450 ppm (450-500 ppm will kill world coral reefs including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef);

(d) ignores the reality that the “true cost” of coal burning-based power generation (taking the environmental and human impacts into account) is about 4-5 times the “market cost”;

(e) ignores the reality that coal burning kills about 5,000 Australians every year at a risk avoidance-based valuation (EU) of $5 million per person x 5,000 persons = $25 billion per year;

(f) ignores the horrendous realities that Australia’s annual per capita CO2 pollution (27 tonnes CO2 per person per year domestically but 47 tonnes CO2 per person per year including CO2 from coal exports) is 10 times worse than that of China and the World and 40 times worse than that of India;

(g) hands nearly all of the collected pollution licence fees back to polluters, “dirty energy” users and the poor – rather than using it to urgently construct clean energy power stations using current technologies that can ALREADY provide power at a cost LOWER than the “true cost” of coal-based electricity (taking environmental and human costs into account).

Using US Energy Information Administration data, and ignoring huge new Australian coal export infrastructure developments, Australia’s total Domestic and Exported CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning in millions of tonnes (Mt) are expected to climb from 698 Mt (2000) and 910 Mt (2007) to 1,277 Mt (2020, no mitigation) or 1,165 Mt (2020, based on the Australian Government’s promised “20% renewable by 2020”; an INCREASE of 67% over 2000) and thence to 1,371 Mt (2050, based on the Australian Government’s promised “60% reduction of 2000 Domestic pollution by 2050”; an INCREASE of 96% over 2000 CO2 pollution ).

Read the rest of this entry!

German engineers have devised a way of tugging merchant vessels along with huge, computer steered kites, known as Skysails, that catch the ocean winds. It marks the beginning of a revolution in the way that ships are powered. The sails are calculated to be able to reduce fuel consumption by 30-50 per cent,depending on the wind conditions. The system could be applied to about 60000 vessels out of the 100000 listed in the Lloyd’s register.

Orders are already coming in ranging from trawlers to a super-yacht. If the world fleet is equipped with sails, it is calculated that 142 million tones of CO2 could be saved per year!

The sails, made of an ultralight synthetic fibre,are shot up as much as 300m into the sky. They are linked to the ship by a single cordand and are steered by an automatic pilot. Acomputer console on the bridge feeds in data on wind strength and direction. A track running around the ship allows the kites to move and scoop up the wind from every direction.

It seems to be a good start to reduce CO2 emissions, since merchant ships produce more sulphur dioxide than all the cars and lorries on the planet. They also generate about 27% of the world’s nitrogen oxide emissions. If this new method is improved within a short period of time, humanity will be one step closer to saving the world…

Image credit: Tidewater Muse. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license.