CARBON COUNTDOWN
"If Bush and Blair aren't going to make it happen from the top down, citizens can and will make it happen from the ground up."
Whether you are blogging your experience of appropriate living, busy getting on with the alternative energy DIY or just concerned about the future of our planet for our children and grandchildren - welcome to Carbon Countdown.
Check on the newest postings sharing our practical experience of how best to live well while reducing our carbon emissions.
26.02.2007
Biodiesel@MIT is a group of MIT students, faculty, and staff whose goal is to install a biodiesel processor on the MIT campus as part of the MIT Energy Initiative. The processor would convert waste vegetable oil from campus dining facilities into biodiesel to be mixed with regular diesel fuel and used in the institute's diesel-powered Tech Shuttles.
more...Related topics/regions: [United States] [Transport] [Renewable energy]
Image: Fuel from fat © Agricultural Research Service / U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
25.02.2007
When companies sell the public carbon offsets, carbon savings expected to be made in the future are counted as savings made in the present. This is known as future value accounting and is the same technique used by Enron to inflate its profits with such disastrous consequences.
more...
When companies sell the public carbon offsets, carbon savings expected to be made in the future are counted as savings made in the present. This is known as future value accounting and is the same technique used by Enron to inflate its profits with such disastrous consequences.
Image: Con trails from aircraft
Related topics/regions: [Climate change] [Pollution]
24.02.2007
Does offsetting your carbon sins have any benefit other than to salve a guilty conscience? asks Mark Lynas.
more...Related topics/regions: [Transport] [Climate change]
Image: Does planting trees make you carbon neutral? © People & the Planet
23.02.2007
President Bushs Texas ranch is off-grid and eco-friendly. Does he know something we dont? Is he prepared while the rest of us are doomed?
more...
President Bushs Texas ranch is off-grid and eco-friendly. Does he know something we dont? Is he prepared while the rest of us are doomed?
Image: Bush in the bush
Related topics/regions: [United States] [Renewable energy] [Politics]
23.02.2007
Greens need to fly to help save the planet, but cannot all do so without destroying the planet. Is there an answer? Several, actually.
more...
Greens need to fly to help save the planet, but cannot all do so without destroying the planet. Is there an answer? Several, actually.
Image: Airplane in flight
Related topics/regions: [Transport] [Climate change] [Environmental activism]
22.02.2007
Scottish ministers have announced funding for what has been described as the world's biggest wave energy farm.
more...
Scottish ministers have announced funding for what has been described as the world's biggest wave energy farm.
Image: The Pelamis wave device on tow
Related topics/regions: [United Kingdom] [Oceans] [Renewable energy]
22.02.2007
Australia has announced plans to ban traditional light bulbs in a move Prime Minister John Howard called a practical step toward slowing climate change. Incandescent filament lightbulbs will be phased out by 2010 in favour of the more fuel-efficent compact fluorescent bulbs.
more...Related topics/regions: [Australia] [Climate change] [Pollution]
Image: Your days are numbered, bulb © Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
21.02.2007
from The Man in Seat Sixty-One:
Award-winning website dedicated to helping you find and book alternative ways to travel: trains and ships.
more...
Award-winning website dedicated to helping you find and book alternative ways to travel: trains and ships.
Image: Eurostar seat 61
Related topics/regions: [Europe] [Transport]
21.02.2007
from Saving Without A Budget blog:
Theres one of two ways for you to invest your hard earned money 'greenly'.
more...Theres one of two ways for you to invest your hard earned money 'greenly'.
Related topics/regions: [Finance] [Environment]
Image: Make bags of 'green' money
20.02.2007
from Green Options blog:
Animation works wonders at getting messages across, and cartoons are increasingly popping up in spreading the word about environmental issues.
more...
Animation works wonders at getting messages across, and cartoons are increasingly popping up in spreading the word about environmental issues.
Image: SustainLane Unsustainables
Related topics/regions: [United States] [Environment] [Information & media]
20.02.2007
from MSNBC:
Al Gore has announced plans for a 24-hour concert series on all seven continents to highlight the dangers of global warming. See also OneWorld's Recommended Events.
more...
Al Gore has announced plans for a 24-hour concert series on all seven continents to highlight the dangers of global warming. See also OneWorld's Recommended Events.
Image: Al Gore, rock promoter
Related topics/regions: [Climate change] [Information & media]
19.02.2007
from Gristmill:
Global warming is happening, but there's nothing we can do about it. Might as well just batten down the hatches and hope for the best. Right? Wrong, says David Roberts.
more...Global warming is happening, but there's nothing we can do about it. Might as well just batten down the hatches and hope for the best. Right? Wrong, says David Roberts.
Related topics/regions: [United States] [Climate change]
Image: We can lick global warming © SaveOurEnvironment.org
19.02.2007
from about my planet:
Combined heat and power - also known as 'cogeneration' and 'micro CHP' - is now becoming a viable way to both heat and power your home.
more...Image: CHP unit
Related topics/regions: [United States] [Energy]
18.02.2007
from truthout:
A great primer with plenty of practical, essential details. It will help those who have not yet fully considered the future they will inhabit.
more...A great primer with plenty of practical, essential details. It will help those who have not yet fully considered the future they will inhabit.
Related topics/regions: [United States] [Climate change]
Image: Adapting to a post-oil world © Global Witness
17.02.2007
from Celsias:
Do you struggle over the decision to shop local or support the poor in distant lands?
more...
Do you struggle over the decision to shop local or support the poor in distant lands?
Image: Planet and food miles
Related topics/regions: [Transport] [Trade] [Environment]
16.02.2007
from Treehugger:
The new cold cathode bulbs offer several big advantages.
more...The new cold cathode bulbs offer several big advantages.
Related topics/regions: [Energy]
Image: Energy saving light bulbs, on and off © Peter Armstrong
16.02.2007
from ecolocal:
Edinburgh's new green building code shows how construction in the UK is going to look over the next few years.
more...Image: ecolocal logo
Related topics/regions: [United Kingdom] [Cities] [Shelter & housing] [Environment]
15.02.2007
from Green Options:
A new technology that could make large-scale geothermal energy widely available. It could supply all US electricity demand.
more...
A new technology that could make large-scale geothermal energy widely available. It could supply all US electricity demand.
Image: The inside of our planet is very hot
Related topics/regions: [United States] [Energy] [Renewable energy]
15.02.2007
from Treehugger:
Wave power deserves a bigger share of the spotlight: a Google Talk (video) by Max Carcas of Ocean Power Delivery on a neglected resource.
more...Wave power deserves a bigger share of the spotlight: a Google Talk (video) by Max Carcas of Ocean Power Delivery on a neglected resource.
Related topics/regions: [Oceans] [Renewable energy]
Image: Wasted energy! © Greenpeace UK
14.02.2007
from timesunion:
'The British Guardian newspaper was almost gloating about the bad news in the IPCC climate report... Fortunately, there is a solution, one that is grippingly unoriginal, requires no special knowledge of economics and is easy for any country to implement.'
more...'The British Guardian newspaper was almost gloating about the bad news in the IPCC climate report... Fortunately, there is a solution, one that is grippingly unoriginal, requires no special knowledge of economics and is easy for any country to implement.'
Related topics/regions: [United States] [Energy] [Economy] [Climate change]
Image: Taxing carbon pollution a solution


