From previous, 6 Aug 2006: >Imported food releases 90 times as much carbon as locally grown >food. As with food miles, so with fuel miles, they're closely >related issues. > >It's a greening problem: we have to green everything, or re-green >it. Greening cities, greening rooftops, greening wasteland, with >city farms and community farms, composting and recycling all organic >wastes, and greening everything else too. It's happening, fast in >some areas... > >I don't think re-greening the planet is beyond our capacities. We've >been causing galloping soil erosion wordwide for 80 years and more. >Soil loss is one of the chief causes in history of civilisations >failing. If our civilisation insists on failing the same way I'll >change my tune and finally admit that we're as dumb as some people >say we are, because unlike previous civilisations that failed >because they abused their soil, we do know how to do it properly, >and indefinitely. The only reason we don't do it is that it doesn't >suit THEM. World Trade Organisation-brand world trade and the >corporate globalisation style of wealth extraction and cost >externalisation demands a different kind of land exploitation, the >industrialised model. As a result you can stand at just about any >river mouth in the world and watch the farms go by on their way out >to sea. But it all depends on cheap and abundant fossil-fuel energy, >and that's over now - even if the supplies weren't dwindling the >carbon costs are too high. > >So let's take over and green the place again like it should be. It >can be fast - David in the Canadian example sequestered 19 tons of >carbon in 10 years in his garden by making compost. I've sequestered >a lot more than that, I'm not the only one here who could say that, >and I don't know how many people have been inspired to start >composting by visiting the Journey to Forever website, but it's a >lot, though probably not as many as those making biodiesel. We're >not the only ones, there's been a greening movement spreading >worldwide and growing fast for at least 10 years, really gathering >momentum in the last three or four. > >How will a Gaia with a largely repaired lung capacity cope with the >industrial CO2 levels of the Age of Waste? Surely a lot better than >one missing half its topsoil and half its biomass, or whatever it is >now. > >"Four billion years ago, the sun was about 30% less bright than it >is now; yet temperatures were close to those we have today. With the >sun brilliance slowly increasing over the eons, the temperature of >our planet has remained approximately constant and life has >continued to exist." With temporary local difficulties but it always >returns to normal - even when the sun gets hotter. "The method that >Gaia uses to keep the Earth at the right temperature is the control >of the amount of 'greenhouse' gases in the atmosphere; mainly carbon >dioxide (CO2)." >http://www.aspoitalia.net/aspoenglish/documents/bardi/gaia.html >GAIA'S FEVER > >If Gaia can do that it can probably attend to this current small >matter of excess carbon, though it's a little sudden by comparison, >only 300 years or so compared with four billion. Whatever, a >re-greened and thoroughly composted biosphere is surely the first >goal, and it's achieavable.
Best Keith >http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/06/want-to-curb-global-warming-start-recycling-and-composting/ > >Want to Curb Global Warming? Start Recycling and Composting > >Written by Shirley Siluk Gregory > >Published on June 6th, 2008 > >Looking for ways beyond changing lightbulbs and taking the train to >help reduce your carbon footprint? Turns out we all could make a big >difference in greenhouse gas emissions by not throwing out so much >trash and composting our food waste. > >That's the message from "Stop Trashing the Climate," a report >prepared by The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, the Global >Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Eco-Cycle, a >non-profit recycler. The study finds that waste prevention and >increased recycling and composting could reduce as many greenhouse >gas emissions as are produced by 21 percent of the U.S.'s 417 >coal-fired power plants. > >Why? There are two basic reasons. One, by trashing stuff instead of >reusing or repairing it, we create the demand for new resources >and extracting, manufacturing and transporting those resources >generates carbon dioxide. And, two, by tossing biodegradable >materials into landfills instead of composting them, we're creating >emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is shorter-lived but 72 >times more powerful than carbon dioxide. > >"Recycling is as important for climate stability as improving >vehicle fuel efficiency, retrofitting lighting, planting trees and >protecting forests," said Brenda Platt, co-director of the Institute >for Local Self-Reliance and lead author of the "Stop Trashing the >Climate" report. "By avoiding landfill methane emissions, >composting in particular is a vital tactic in the battle to stop >Arctic ice melting. Biodegradable materials are a liability when >buried and burned but an asset when composted." > >The report asserts that "A zero waste approach based on preventing >waste and expanding reuse, recycling and composting is one of the >fastest, cheapest, and most effective strategies to protect the >climate." It also notes that, per megawatt-hour, a trash incinerator >produces more carbon dioxide emissions that a coal-fired power >plant. Incinerators also waste three to five times as much energy as >recycling helps to conserve. > >"A zero waste approach is not only good news for climate stability, >it's also good news for America's businesses and economy," said Eric >Lombardi, a report co-author and director of the Boulder, >Colorado-based Eco-Cycle. > >"Stop Trashing the Climate" urges a local and national 20-year goal >of zero waste. We can get there, the authors argue, by not >subsidizing landfills and incinerators, putting an end to waste >incineration, composting biodegradable materials and expanding the >nationwide infrastructure for reuse, recycling and composting. > >As part of World Environment Day, community supporters of better >recycling and composting lobbied officials in several parts of the >country, including Tallahassee; Providence, Rhode Island; >Bridgeport, Connecticut; Los Angeles; and Massachusetts. > > >http://www.stoptrashingtheclimate.org/ > >Launched June 5, World Environment Day > >Stop Trashing the Climate provides compelling evidence that >preventing waste and expanding reuse, recycling, and composting >programs - that is, aiming for zero waste - is one of the fastest, >cheapest, and most effective strategies available for combating >climate change. This report documents the link between climate >change and unsustainable patterns of consumption and wasting, >dispels myths about the climate benefits of landfill gas recovery >and waste incineration, outlines policies needed to effect change, >and offers a roadmap for how to significantly reduce greenhouse gas >(GHG) emissions within a short period. > >Significantly decreasing waste disposed in landfills and >incinerators will reduce greenhouse gas emissions the equivalent to >closing 21% of U.S. coal-fired power plants. This is comparable to >leading climate protection proposals such as improving national >vehicle fuel efficiency. Indeed, preventing waste and expanding >reuse, recycling, and composting are essential to put us on the path >to climate stability. > >Download the executive summary (PDF, 5 MB); >http://www.stoptrashingtheclimate.org/stoptrashingtheclimate_exsum_lowres.pdf >Print quality version (PDF, 10 MB) >http://www.stoptrashingtheclimate.org/stoptrashingtheclimate_exec_summary.pdf >Download the full report (PDF, 6 MB) >http://www.stoptrashingtheclimate.org/fullreport_stoptrashingtheclimate.pdf >Download key findings and priority policies as a one-page handout >(PDF, 160 KB) >http://www.stoptrashingtheclimate.org/keyfindingsandpolicies.pdf _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
