HTAG Guildford - Global Warming from Stephen Wright

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Global Warming from Stephen Wright

GLOBAL WARMING No. 1

Introduction.
If global warming predictions are accurate we must reduce our carbon emissions as quickly as possible. Only Governments can make big changes but the actions of large numbers of individuals, translated into political pressure, just might persuade the US, China and India to play their part; cynicism or fatalism would be a big mistake. What follows are some ideas which I hope will be useful but you should consult the National Energy Foundation website National Energy Foundation website and obtain expert technical advice before making expensive alterations.

Our energy consumption is affected by what we do at home, what transport we use and by our lifestyle choices. Public opinion will influence businesses and politicians at all levels.

In the home
Reducing losses.
From 1 June 2007 an Energy Performance Certificate will be required for almost every house when it's put on the market.
If you haven't already done so lag the hot water tank, lag the loft and install cavity wall insulation; you will recover the cost of these measures very quickly and grants may be available.
Double glazing has a long pay back time but if installed only in the warmest rooms it's likely to be more cost effective especially if you have to replace single glazed windows anyway; draught proofing would save more energy and cost a great deal less.
To find out for sure where heat is escaping you could pay for a far IR scan of the house. ITS Thermography Services Inc will do this for about 450. Visit their website for more information. Reductions are available per house if you persuaded neighbours to join you.

As insulation improves it becomes more difficult to reduce losses. There is more scope for using less energy.

Using less energy
Find out how much energy you're actually using. An Electrisave monitor is easy to install and use and gives a continuous display of the electrical power being used on a portable monitor - 65 from ethicalsuperstore . You won't need it all the time and you could share it with friends. A plug-in mains power monitor (14.99 from Maplins) allows you to measure the power from individual devices.

Most of us do not need the central heating on all day in all rooms. Turn the thermostat down a little and heat only those rooms which are frequently used.
Fit thermostatic radiator valves to help control individual radiators automatically.
Old domestic machinery may be inefficient. Replace them with "A" rated ones especially if, like fridges and freezers, they have to be left on all the time. Manage without a tumble dryer if you can.
Have a shower not a bath.
Remember that at a cost of 12p per kWh the cost of leaving on a 60W lamp, day and night, for a year is about 60 so it's worth turning off devices on stand-by even if the power they consume seems trivial. A three socket intelliplug (15 from www.doctorenergy.co.uk) turns off two peripheral devices automatically when the main one is turned off.
Replace filament bulbs with low power versions. The choice is becoming wider all the time.
Boil only as much water as you need. Use either a small travel kettle (about 16) which will boil very small amounts up to litre max or a modern kettle with a flat heating surface which requires litre min to be safe.
Cook with a Remoska (a pan sized oven). The standard size costs 80 from Lakeland and uses 450W.
Wind-up technology and rechargeable batteries are improving. I have a wind-up LED torch (17.99) which works so well I don't think I shall have to buy ordinary torch batteries any more.

Using less fossil energy
Switch to a green source of mains electricity - see the good-energy website, or the rspbenergy website, or the National Energy Foundation website or the npower website. Even if there isn't quite enough green energy to go round it will encourage companies to produce more.
Install solar panels. Solar panels which heat water directly will cost about 3300 and provide roughly 65% of the hot water.
Visit the Department of Trade and Industry website and go to files/file16544.pdf for a careful study in 2002 of 8 different kinds. Solar photovoltaic panels convert the sun's radiation to electricity and cost about 7000 per kW so they are much less cost effective - see the Green Energy website . The sunnier it gets the better value both kinds of solar panels will be.
An efficient log burning stove is broadly carbon neutral and is easy to light. But if you have to buy logs the running cost is a little higher than an equivalent gas fire and the logs have to be stored somewhere. There is a good argument for incinerating biomass such as waste paper instead of transporting it across country for recycling. Maybe Guildford's waste paper could be used as fuel in the new Civic's biomass furnace.
Small wind generators are not yet very effective and many urban sites will not be suitable.

Transport
Human beings can do less mechanical work per unit of fuel than some machines so a form of mechanical transport is sometimes the sensible choice. But:
Cover short distances on foot or bike. Even in Guildford many journeys are almost on the level.
Use public transport wherever possible. It is discouraging that for long distances flying or going by car is often cheaper than the train. The seat61 website is an excellent site for planning rail journeys.
Buy a more fuel efficient car or a power assisted bike. Accelerate and brake gently. Drive more slowly; the drag at 50mph is about half that at 70mph.
Share car journeys if you can.
You could avoid the hassle of car ownership altogether, and save some of the cost of depreciation, maintenance, insurance, road tax and parking, if you joined a car hire scheme like Surrey Car Share .
Travel less by air. The various energy off-set schemes on offer are of dubious value.

Lifestyle
There are already too many (6 billion) people for the planet to support and the population is predicted to increase to 9 billion. The replacement fertility rate in US, Japan and Europe is about 2.07 children born per woman. Of the 25 countries in the EU the highest figure is 1.87 for Ireland so the population of Europe is already declining. To reduce the world's population we must try to reduce the birth rate in poor countries and the best way to do that is reduce child mortality. Family size in the UK fell dramatically at the turn of the last century when most British children survived. Jeffery Sachs, the 2007 Reith Lecturer, suggests that supplying free malaria nets for each vulnerable African family is not only ethical but would be an extremely good long term investment.
Give to a charity which will make a real difference to Third World child mortality
Grow your own food and reduce food miles. You can grow more than you think especially if you have an allotment. Buy local food; it usually costs less energy to produce than that imported.
Eat less meat; animal protein requires more energy and water per kg to produce than vegetable protein. Try not to waste food. It is an affront to the hungry and the energy used to produce the food goes into the bin as well as the food. Most unavoidable kitchen waste can be composted.
Recycle what you can and reduce the rubbish which has to be carted away to landfill. Collect rain water. If we have long dry summers we shall need much larger water butts to store the winter rains.
Why drive to the gym when you can exercise for nothing by using the stairs, and not the lift, walking home with the shopping and washing the car by hand?

Political
I will put on the HTAG website details of local shops and businesses which have taken seriously the need to conserve energy. It is in everyone's interests, including the business's, that shops do not leave lights and TVs on all night and jam their doors open in winter and allow warm air to escape.
Use shops which are helping the environment
Require your local and national politicians to explain their policies on climate change. GBC is doing quite a good job. Visit Guildford Green Life's website for further information.
Rapid technical improvements may be made in photovoltaic cells, fuel cells, thermonuclear fusion, carbon capture, wave power. Otherwise we shall have to build a new generation of nuclear power plants if we are to meet our carbon reduction targets.

This is an inconvenient truth.
Stephen Wright
May 2007
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to John Bannister, Bill and Jennie Kyte, Simon Page, Nigel Platt and others for their help in drafting this document. They would each like to rewrite some of it and I am responsible for any remaining blemishes. I will update it as the battle against global warming gathers pace and new techniques become available. For regular more detailed information join the Guildford Environmental Forum.

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