Archive for September, 2007

Does my carbon footprint look big in this?

16 September, 2007 at 8:25 am · Filed under carbon footprint, co2, green, pollution, travel

I’ve just been enjoying an article on bbc.co.uk about a long-distance bus service from UK to Australia, run by a company called Ozbus. You can find the article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6996233.stm.  It sounds a fascinating trip, and makes me wish I was already retired and could try it, but rather spoils the story at the end with a last-minute attempt to pay lipservice to greenery.  There is, apparently, only one brief flight involved.  That may be good, but the bus is going to create a whole lot of CO2 in its 15,000 mile journey. 

So why is the bus element of the CO2 generated totally ignored, while the effect of a brief flight picked upon?  There are other factors affecting the volume of CO2 generated by the trip.  I suppose the bus is in good mechanical order, but that sounds to me like the comsumption of at least 2,500 gallons of diesel.  I don’t know what the plane trip will take – it depends on the aircraft type, its engines, how high and fast it flies, and so on.

Can anyone tell me what the per-capita fuel cost is on a non-stop flight from Heathrow to Australia?

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Green taxes

13 September, 2007 at 12:31 pm · Filed under green tax, public transport

I am pleased to hear a few politicians accepting that when they mention Green taxes, we, the electorate, only hear the “taxes” bit.  Sadly, the government has a bad record in this area.  Motorists are already taxed far beyond the amount that is poured back into transport – most recent figures I have seen suggest an annual contribution to the Exchequer by motorists of over £30 billion.  Even with all that, they are failing to make public transport more attractive than car owning, simply because public transport in the UK is poor and expensive, and suitable only for those with a lot of time on their hands.

Here I write as a recent convert to motorcycling, having abandoned public transport as either too expensive or too slow.

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Introduction

13 September, 2007 at 12:09 pm · Filed under ecological, green

I think I am now completely tired of the logically null and numerically illiterate nonsense that I see so much of about “green” matters.

I don’t care whether we are talking about articles that say “Buy this to help save the planet, or better still, buy two” or the hair-shirt brigade who imagine that if we all give up enjoying ourselves we will struggle through our current climatic difficulties.  Some of the writers make sense, but many don’t.  “Green” is not just a hot topic, it is also somewhere between a fashion and a fad, and I admit to envy of those people who now find themselves able to make a living out of the whole movement.

I plan to offer constructive comment where possible, but destructive derision in the majority of cases.

 From time to time (and not that infrequently) I come across some pronouncement so short-sighted and stupid, that I cannot resist giving vent to a loud cry of “Bullshit”, and it is to Green bullshit that this site is dedicated.

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