Sustain Myself

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from GetUp about the governments climate action decision. I was astonished that the ‘educated’ decision would be to cut emissions by 5% by 2020 with an option to go up to 15% if they were pushed by other nations…

As Simon, in his email from GetUp stated "Many Australians voted for change at the last election on the promise of strong action to solve climate change." – Kevin was supposed to be this fantastic move towards a greener future but has so far fallen short on this. Strangely, everybody seems to have a similar opinion;

Greens, Coalition join forces on emissions inquiry
Emissions scheme ‘not enough’ to save reef
Rudd does too little on climate change
Scientists call for stronger emissions targets

Why is this so difficult for the government to do? I understand the implications surrounding jobs and our economic future, but the fact is that many scientists already believe that humans will not survive the 21st century. How important are the jobs and economic stability of the country then, Kevin?

See the GetUp Campaign and please donate!

Our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has just stated that he has changed the conditions of the $500m sustainable energy fund. Originally it was to be $500m over six years, starting in 2009, but he has now made the funds available immediately and for the next 18 months. This is awesome news as it means that the government is starting to act on being at the forefront of combating climate change. I have a feeling that a few countries are becoming competitive about the seriousness of their actions surrounding reducing their carbon footprint and that’s great. Even if they make these changes for the wrong reasons (i.e. being competitive)  that’s ok by me as its not as bad as not making any changes at all.

Victoria still has the worst bill of health in Australia, even though it has a few wind farms, this is mainly due to its use of Brown Coal. Hopefully these funds can help reduce Victoria’s carbon emissions.

Great step forward. This type of thing really excites me.

Rudd announces renewable energy funds

It seems that I keep going over the same discussion with people every few weeks. The discussion is the use of ‘clean coal’ technology. The Australian Government in its budget this year decided to put stupid amounts of money into ‘clean coal’ technology instead of spending it on already proven clean energy methods such as wind or solar. The thing is, that there is simply no such thing as ‘clean coal’. As long as we continue to burn coal, it will contribute nasties to the environment, why can people not see that? Burning anything is bad for the environment.

Clean coal is simply coal that has been washed and treated to reduce the level of impurities present.

Video source: treehugger

I recently bought a new book from Todae as I continue to believe that I will be able to build my own grid connected solar power on my roof without spending the stupidly large amounts asked by solar power companies. The book is great and is already teaching an absolute electricity novice all about what is required and how to go about doing it. Unfortunately, because I will be installing it myself, I will not be able to claim the $8000 government rebate as it only applies to certified installers. I will write a full review on the book here soon and I will also keep you all up to date with my progress.

Don’t believe the hype. ‘Clean Coal’ is an oxymoron.