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Energy
Five years ago, who thought that energy and how we produce it would become the most important issue we face? Ten years ago we didn’t even know where electricity came from. How many of us ever gave a thought to the relationship between our energy use and our environment.
"For too long, we have failed to give a value to our climate. We have failed to put a price on pollution. We have overlooked the Earth’s atmosphere with regard to greenhouse gases with no accountability for what happens next." - Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change, 2008
MYTHS
We don’t use much energy. We don’t produce many greenhouse gases in energy production. A lot of the energy that we do use comes from clean sources like wind and solar.
FACTS
Australia has one of the highest rates of greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the world, and Queensland has one of the highest rates in Australia. It’s official: we are the world champions of - pollution. We are the worst when we need to be the best.
How did this happen? How did we become world leaders in pollution? Blame our coal: we are cursed with an abundance of coal in Queensland. We simply have a lot of the stuff and no real political motivation to try anything else, even if it is better for our environment. In fact, more than that, successive governments up here in Queensland have seen coal as a solution to our energy needs. On top of that, the folks running the show have been pushing coal as a major money-spinner to export.
So we are now addicted to the mining of coal, the burning of coal for electricity and exporting coal so other countries can make a mess of their environment too. Politicians are weird: they're apparently OK with us trashing our environment for the sake of selling a few chunks of dirty coal to some faceless multinationals.
So to recap: Grab a shovel, dig a hole, and put it in the barrow – genius. One day soon we will all be living around the edge of a big hole. Ahh, the serenity.
Our horrendous worlds'-worst-practice situation can be fixed, but we will need everyone to help with this one. It is time to stand up to the government and the polluters and say "enough is enough".
OK, let's end on some good news: Queenslands are turning to GreenPower in droves, and we're on course to become the state with the highest share of green power customers by 2010! What a great result!
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." - Mark Twain
Latest information
And now for some good news about energy...
June 28th, 2010
Let's face it: green fatigue is real. It's hard to keep caring when all you hear is bad news. And that's why we all need a bit of good news. We need to be reminded that good things are happening, and the world isn't falling to pieces just yet.
Solar's hot, even when the sun is not
February 2nd, 2012
Generally speaking, in the darkest, cloudiest hour on the gloomiest day, your solar system will be generating as much as 25 per cent of a normal clear day output. On a day with light cloud cover, your system could be achieving as much as 50 per cent of a normal clear-day's hour of production.
White's all right for a cool change to city's buildings
January 27th, 2012
A joint study by Melbourne University and the City of Melbourne has found that white roofs can make buildings up to 4 degrees cooler inside and allow for 10 per cent more working hours within a comfortable temperature range.
What the Frack?
January 20th, 2012
The recent press about the potential of shale gas would have you believe that America is now sitting on a 100-year supply of natural gas. It's a "game-changer." A "golden age of gas" awaits, one in which the United States will be energy independent, even exporting gas to the rest of the world.
Back from the future as energy experiment ends
January 19th, 2012
AFTER an 18-month experiment in a futuristic house packed with high-tech gadgets and its own powerplant, a Sydney family is looking forward to moving into a century-old weatherboard cottage in the Blue Mountains.
UN chief calls for stepped up action by governments, private sector to boost clean energy
January 18th, 2012
Governments and the private sector must ramp up their investments into sustainable energy as part of a larger effort to alleviate poverty around the world and combat climate change, the U.N. chief told an energy conference Monday.
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