Weaning the world off oil | John Sauven
August 31, 2010 by drjohnmcgowan
Filed under Green Energy
Greenpeace’s occupation of an Arctic rig carries a simple message: stop drilling for fossil fuels
Ten days ago I received a letter from Cairn Energy, the British company at the centre of Greenpeace‘s current direct action in the Arctic. I was told that its drilling operation is “relatively straightforward” and that the blue whales, polar bears and kittiwakes in Baffin Bay are safe, because, according to Cairn, “our programme is conventional”.
This industry has lost its grip on reality. Anyone who has seen the remarkable images coming from the Arctic over the last few days will know how unusual, dangerous and extreme this business has become. While icebergs the size of football stadiums are towed out of a rig’s path, ships equipped with high-pressure water cannons blast smaller chunks into submission. And all the while the clock is ticking. As the winter freeze edges nearer, this frantic exploration company rushes to finish the job before sheet-ice cuts off the region completely.
One hundred and fifty years since the first oil well was drilled in the US, this industry has reached the end of the line. The Arctic is said to contain about 90bn barrels of recoverable oil, which is enough to keep the thirsty world going for oh, three or four years. As climate change warms the icy seas, more areas become accessible to drilling. As this oil is extracted and burned, the warming accelerates and more companies pile in. A neat circle, but one that risks engulfing us all.
Climate change is a clear and present danger, and a series of brutal “weather events” this year should serve as the final warning. We are careful to point out that no single flood, storm or drought can be blamed on climate change, but the trend is getting hard to ignore. We are faced with a choice: act with real urgency to move away from fossil fuels and develop the clean tools that will help us completely rebuild our economic system, or carry on squeezing out the last drops and hope for the best.
Cairn Energy is betting on the status quo. Its letter informs me that the company is basing its plans on an International Energy Agency report which suggests that, by 2030, fossil fuels will still supply about 80% of the world’s energy. What it doesn’t say is that this “scenario” – the most pessimistic of several the IEA has produced – could lead to six degrees of warming by the end of the century.
Six degrees sounds manageable. It is not. These companies are relying on us to keep quiet while they take humanity to the brink. Our climbers are on that rig with a simple message: Go beyond oil.
Earth4Energy Review
August 31, 2010 by Theodore Jackson
Filed under Green Energy
If you are the type of “environmentally conscious” person who wants to do your part to save the planet while simultaneously saving yourself a lot of money then you should do the earth and yourself a big favor and order Earth4Energy. Why? Because it will provide you with all of the necessary info to build windmills or solar panels on your own.
Earth 4 Energy provides step by step instructions on building windmills and solar panels. Whether you choose to build solar panels or windmills is up to you, but depending on where you call home one or the other of these choices may make more logical sense.
Of course if you live in a really sunshiny area such as Austin, Texas then you will likely want to go the solar panel way. But if you live town where there’s not a lot of sun then you will most likely want to go the windmill way.
Regardless of which method you use, you should be able to construct your renewable electricity generator for about $200 which is really quite an amazingly good deal when you think about how much money you will save on your electricity bill monthly. And if you are able to generate excess power you can actually sell the extra electricity back to the power company and make a profit!
It is understandable if this sounds “too good to be true” but the cool thing is that this guide is completely satisfaction guaranteed and it has a 60 day cash back period for refunds so if you try it out and you’re not completely happy with the guide, you can very easily get all your cash back.
This basically means that you have absolutely nothing to lose by trying it out. But you have a whole lot to gain. You will be doing your part to stop global warming (you will be “greener” than Al Gore himself!) and you will also be saving yourself a lot of money.
Along with Downloading Earth4Energy you may also want to check out this EcoVillage in Southwest Virginia.
Greenland’s prime minister lambasts Greenpeace for raiding Arctic oil rig
August 31, 2010 by drjohnmcgowan
Filed under Green Energy
Kuupik Kleist claims environmental campaigners are damaging country’s economy by occupy drilling platform
The premier of Greenland has accused Greenpeace of threatening the safety of oil workers and the environment after four activists forced a controversial deep sea exploration rig in the Arctic to shut down today.
Just before dawn, the four campaigners used three high-speed inflatable boats to evade the Danish navy, before clambering on to the British-owned rig and slinging mountaineering-type platforms underneath the rig about 15m above the sea. The raid forced the Edinburgh-based oil exploration firm Cairn Energy to suspend drilling, escalating tensions between the Greenlandic government and Greenpeace.
Kuupik Kleist, the government’s socialist prime minister, denounced the campaigners’ actions, claiming they were damaging the recently independent country’s economy and ignoring the strict environmental and safety regulations Greenland had imposed on oil companies.
“This is clearly an illegal act, ignoring the rules of democracy,” he said, in a statement. “The cabinet regards Greenpeace’s action as very serious and an illegal attack on the country’s constitutional rights. It is worrying that Greenpeace, in their hunt for media exposure, violate security rules made to protect human lives and the environment.”
The Greenpeace action follows a standoff between the campaigners’ ship Esperanza and an armed Danish frigate and Greenland police vessels in Baffin Bay east of Greenland, where Cairn Energy is hoping to uncover major new reserves of oil or gas.
For the last nine days, the Esperanza has been closely shadowed by the frigate and Danish commandos while it circled a 500m exclusion zone around the rig, waiting for the chance to launch its direct action.
Cairn, which is drilling in an area known as “iceberg alley”, announced last week it had detected gas in a shallow sands and prompted alarm among environmentalists.
Campaigners warn this will lead to a dangerous rush to exploit one of the world’s last major untapped oil and gas fields in one of the planet’s most fragile locations. Greenpeace has described the site as a key battleground in the climate change campaign.
The US Geological Survey estimated last year that there may be 90bn barrels of oil and 50tn cubic metres of gas across the Arctic. Several multinational oil companies, including Exxon, Chevron and Shell, are waiting for permission from Greenland to begin deep sea drilling around its coast.
Sim McKenna, a US Greenpeace campaigner and one of the four activists occupying the platform, said Greenland and Cairn were being “reckless” with a fragile and pristine environment. “We intend to stay here for as long as possible and as long as necessary to stop this reckless drilling,” he said.
“The BP Gulf oil disaster showed us it’s time to go beyond oil. The drilling rig we’re hanging off could spark an Arctic oil rush, one that would pose a huge threat to the climate and put this fragile environment at risk.”
Greenpeace hopes it will be able to occupy the platform until the end of the week. It hopes a long delay before drilling resumes will prevent Cairn from striking oil or gas before the intense Arctic winter sets in, forcing a halt to the exploration effort.
The activists have food for several days, and are wearing Arctic survival suits against the freezing temperatures, but are precariously tied to the underside of the rig. Sources in the area said winds of up to 50mph were forecast were forecast for Thursday.
Morten Neilsen, deputy police chief for Greenland, said rescue vessels were standing by in case any of the climbers fell. He said all four would be arrested and prosecuted, but he refused to say whether they would be forcibly removed. “What we intend to do, how and when, is an operational detail it wouldn’t be smart to advise Greenpeace about,” he said.
Cairn Energy argues that Greenpeace has exaggerated the significance of its exploration and its risks. There are two major oil and gas fields already in the Arctic, at Sakhalin in eastern Russia and Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, providing 10% of the world’s oil.
Greenpeace argues that deep sea Arctic drilling is extremely perilous because of the sea ice and intense weather conditions in the region. It believes the risks posed by this operation go “far beyond” the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the Arctic an oil spill would destroy the region’s vulnerable and as yet untouched habitats, while the cold water would prevent any oil from quickly breaking down. Any emergency operation to tackle a disaster would encounter huge technical and logistical problems in such a remote area.
We Can Save The Planet By Installing Double Glazing
August 31, 2010 by Joe Mulroy
Filed under Green Tips
TweetInstalling double glazed windows in your home or office can be a great way to reduce your carbon footprint. A Carbon footprint is calculated by working out how many tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are produced by the activities of a person or company. Installing double glazing can be a great way to cut down on these carbon emissions.
The quickest and easiest way to work out your own carbon footprint is to go online. Rather than sitting down with a piece of paper, there are many websites now which will calculate it for you by asking you some simple questions. Such as how many holidays you take each year, and questions about your home. This is your primary footprint.
As well as this, it works out the secondary carbon footprint, which consists of the impact of the products used on the environment. This means whether you buy local produce or buy mostly expensive things which need to be shipped in. Both of these things together constitute the entire carbon usage.
Double glazing is an excellent way to trim down your carbon footprint. They act as insulators for your home. They trap air between two panes of glass – a sort of mini greenhouse effect, and keep your house warmer.
By using double glazing you immediately cut down how much energy is lost through your windows. You immediately cut down your heating bills, and immediately reduce the size of your carbon footprint.
Double glazing is indeed a quick and energy efficient way to transform your property from one which leaks heats through the windows into one which conserves heat. And if we all do this, we all help to save the planet too.
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