Something Will Not Turn Up

It has taken the United Nations many years to reach the conclusion that I reached ten years ago: the people of the world must move away from fuels which when burnt emit large volumes of carbon dioxide. It seems odd to me that this simple and obvious statement has taken the UN many years to conclude, but obvious and universal truth can be hard to recognise, especially when the obvious conclusion of such truth requires people to change their behaviour.

Should Subsidies for Renewables be Paid out of Central Taxation?

Energy bills have been rising since 2005 which means that in the United Kingdom people are paying more and more each year for their electricity, gas and heating oil. The rise has been exacerbated by the government imposing levies on energy bills to pay for things like wind turbines and photovoltaic electric solar panels. Now it is being suggested that instead of the renewable subsidies being paid out of levies on electricity bills, they should be paid out of central taxation. Is this suggestion the right way to deal with subsidies for renewables.

Why we should spend on Renewable Energy

There is a kind of unreasoned hysteria which affects some people when it comes to measures to control climate change. Those who do not think climate change a threat are doomsayers; they hold that if we spend our money on solar panels and wind turbines it will bring economic ruin, as these devices are far too expensive to be justified. They argue that such expenditure will make our lives unduly expensive and make our industries and services uncompetitive. In fact the doom and gloom spread by these ideas is at least as doomy and gloomy as the doom and gloom spread by environmentalist who want to control climate change and have nations invest in clean renewable energy.

The Pollution of Photovoltaics

I have previously explained that there is “clean” renewable energy and “dirty” renewable energy. Clean renewable energy produces little pollution and almost no emissions and includes wind turbines, solar thermal panels (that produce heat) and dirty renewable energy includes energy produced from wood burning. The distinction is important because the point of renewable energy is to produce fewer emissions and less pollution. Originally I had classified photovoltaic panels as “clean” but the latest news suggests that photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity, are really a very dirty form of energy.

How to reduce shipping and aviation emissions

The economics of living and the economics of business are the major barriers to preventing the climate from rapidly changing. Every household and every business tries to spend its money wisely and budgets for what it should spend. Installing solar panels at home or making energy efficiencies in a business cost money and even though in the long run the measures may well save money, it is always difficult for people to make the decision to tie up capital today for a better tomorrow.

Taking the wrong path

Whichever way you look at the problem of global warming you have to conclude that the human influence is significant and substantial. It is perfectly possible that there are many influences that are making the climate warmer – I have written about virtually all of them on these pages and the list has ranged from sun activity to magnetic polar shifting. However as humans, as powerful as we think we are, we cannot change the sun or influence the earth’s magnetic polarity. The only element that we have the means to control is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that we create.

Ten things you need to know about modern solar water heating

Solar water heating is the most cost effective form of clean renewable energy that a householder can get. If you are thinking about becoming “greener” and investing in a solar system, then this guide will help you.