Hi Darryl >Thanks, Keith. I think it's coming along. Of course, I still have a >little more than 11 months to finish it up. Good thing, as we seem to >have some other priorities to work on. For instance, this was part of >our day yesterday. >http://www.econogics.com/blog.htm > >I appreciate the link, it should help spread the message.
I haven't got that far yet though, I got waylaid. It'll take a few more days now. But as you say, the year is still young. >Heated toilet seats are a rare luxury here. But then, most of us have >central heating, so the seat isn't usually that cold. > >As for 10n10, it'll be a bigger challenge for some of us than others. >The further we are along the curve away from dependence on fossil fuels, >the tougher the next 10% will be. > >However, it's the objective that's the key; we're all on this planet >together. Sounds like you are a lot further along the curve than most >of us; we're definitely still burning petrol, but less than we used to >consume. Maybe someone on the list can come up with some options on >heating to help you displace some of the kerosene use. Hypothermia is >definitely not part of the plan. Nah, there's no good answer, not in this house. We've checked it all out all too thoroughly, believe me. By the way, I was a little hasty in my previous message - I said we haven't bought any petro, but I meant petro-diesel, for the TownAce, and I should have said so. In fact we do use gasoline for the K-truck, but the K-truck hardly uses any fuel anyway. It's only 550cc, very economical, and we don't use it that much, mostly for short hops, 10 minutes to the local centre, or 20 minutes to the next small town, which has the nearest train station. Buses are sparse here, and it's too mountainous for bikes, at least for a creaky old fart like me. Something else I should have said was that we're just about finished our work here now and we're planning to leave Japan sometime this year, which will definitely expand our carbon footprints well beyond any offsets we might merit by eschewing the electric toilet. That'll be it as far as this old house is concerned, nobody else will live here after we leave. Why not? Because it's haunted. Or so the locals say. Even Midori didn't want to be alone here at first unless I was with her. So it'll just stand here empty until it tumbles down. Better than the landfill I suppose. Actually there are lots of abandoned old houses in the villages, they don't have to be haunted, it's the rural decline. >We can be smarter than this (business as usual on the greenhouse gases >front). I hope we will choose to be. I think it's moving that way, once you get down to the people level. People are choosing to be smarter, large numbers of them. I think a lot of people are thinking similar thoughts to 10n10, and doing something about it too. Washington and Wall Street though... Best Keith >Darryl >10n10.ca > >Keith Addison wrote: >> Hi Darryl >> >> www.10n10.ca is looking good, well done. I'll upload a link and >> description at JtF. >> >> For our part, our carbon footprint isn't too bad, probably better >> than most. We haven't bought any petro for more than six years, we >> grow almost all our own food, we compost everything (THE best way to >> capture carbon). >> >> We live in a 100-year-old wooden farmhouse, which is GOOD, according >> to a recent feature article in the Japanese press, because wood is a >> renewable resource, it said, and it also said that most Japanese >> houses are wooden, and they last an average of 30 years before >> they're replaced. That might be so in the cities and suburbs, but >> most of the rural population lives in these 100-year-old houses, same >> as ours. They were built in a huge post-Meiji rural restoration >> scheme. Unlike our house though, most of them have been extensively >> restored and modernised, so they're warm and comfortable. The current >> debate in our house is whether it's warmer in the kitchen or the > > fridge. Or colder rather, "warmer" isn't the right term at all. >> >> So, we earn a plus because our house has lasted 3.3 times longer than >> it should have, and a big extra plus because of something the feature >> article didn't say, which is what happens to the wood when an old >> house is demolished and replaced: it gets landfilled. :-( The article >> also didn't say that, while the post-Meiji rural houses were built >> with local wood, Japan imports most of its wood these days, preying >> on other people's forests, not necessarily sustainably. High carbon >> costs (maybe we get a few extra points by default). >> >> Here's a toss-up: do you think the very footprint-unfriendly fact >> that, in spite of the wood stove in the kitchen (used only on really >> cold evenings because of a high hassle factor), we have no choice but >> to use kerosene space heaters in the living rooms (unless you'd >> consider hypothermia a choice), is offset by the brownie-points we >> score for not using, never having used, and having no intention of >> ever using the electrically-heated toilet seat in the loo (which is >> outside and is even colder than the kitchen/fridge)? >> >> Heated toilet seats are de rigueur in Japan. Is that the case in >> Canada too? Sweden? >> >> No offset, eh? The kero's worse? 'Tis the work of the devil that >> biodiesel won't travel up a wick. >> >> As for 10n10, we'll try, but no promises. >> >> All best >> >> Keith >> >> >>> I guess it will surprise no one that I am skeptical to cynical of the >>> value of this bit of spin. I suppose some will want to credit Obama >>> with putting lipstick on a pig for the "agreement" reached at Copenhagen. >>> >>> That the agreement is non-binding, and the targets are essentially set >>> for higher emissions than under Kyoto, despite the evidence amassed >>> since that accord, strikes me as a Faustian deal. >>> >>> Because the agreement is non-binding, it's just a screen to hide behind >>> while we play out a climate change version of the tragedy of the commons. >>> >>> Darryl >>> www.10n10.ca >>> >>> Keith Addison wrote: >>>> EERE's view, FWIW... >>>> >>>>> A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) >>>>> <http://www.eere.energy.gov/>Office of Energy Efficiency and >>>>> Renewable Energy (EERE). The EERE Network News is also available on >>>>> the Web at: >>>>> >>>>><http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/enn.cfm>www.eere.energy.gov/news/enn.cfm >>>>> >>>>> January 06, 2010 >>>>> >>>>> News and Events >>>>> >>>>> President Obama Spearheads a Climate Agreement in Copenhagen >>>>> >>>>> President Obama visited Copenhagen, Denmark, on December 18, 2009, >>>>> and met with the heads of state from Brazil, China, India, and South >>>>> Africa to reach a climate agreement called the "Copenhagen Accord." >>>>> The agreement emerged as the primary achievement of the United >>>>> Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The non-binding >>>>> agreement calls for deep cuts in global emissions of greenhouse >>>>> gases so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2°C, >>>>> and it calls for industrialized countries to determine their >>>>> economy-wide emissions targets for 2020 and submit them to the >>> >> United Nations by the end of January. A number of developing >>>>> countries, including the major emerging economies, also agreed to >>>>> list their voluntary pledges to reduce emissions by the end of >>>>> January and agreed to communicate their efforts to limit greenhouse >>>>> gas emissions every two years. >>>>> >>>>> The Copenhagen Accord also calls for international support of a >>>>> comprehensive adaptation program and of mitigation efforts by >>>>> developing countries. The accord commits developed countries to >>>>> provide new and additional resources approaching $30 billion for the >>>>> 2010-2012 time period, balanced between adaptation and mitigation. >>>>> Developed countries also committed to a goal of mobilizing $100 >>>>> billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing >>>>> countries. The accord establishes a new Copenhagen Green Climate >>>>> Fund to coordinate the distribution of a significant portion of this > >>>> funding. According to the secretariat of the U.N. Framework >>>>> Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Copenhagen Accord was >>>>> agreed to by a majority of countries, although the entire Conference >>>>> of the Parties to the UNFCCC (consisting of 194 countries) agreed >>>>> only to "take note" of the accord. The next Conference of the >>>>> Parties will be held in Mexico, starting on November 29, 2010. See >>>>> the UNFCCC press release >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>(<http://unfccc.int/files/press/news_room/press_releases_and_advisories/application/pdf/pr_cop15_20091219.pdf>PDF >>>>> 178 KB), pages 2-4 of the Copenhagen Accord >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>(<http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf>PDF >>>>> 182 KB), and other products of the Copenhagen conference on the >>>>> <http://unfccc.int/>UNFCCC home page. >>>>> <http://get.adobe.com/reader/>Download Adobe Reader. >>>>> >>>>> President Obama called the agreement a meaningful and unprecedented >>>>> breakthrough. "For the first time in history, all major economies >>>>> have come together to accept their responsibility to take action to >>>>> confront the threat of climate change," said the president, but he >>>>> also acknowledged the agreement as a first step. "Going forward, >>>>> we're going to have to build on the momentum that we've established >>>>> here in Copenhagen to ensure that international action to >>>>> significantly reduce emissions is sustained and sufficient over >>>>> time. We've come a long way, but we have much further to go." See >>>>> the >>>>> >>>>> >>>>><http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-during-press-availability-copenhagen>President's >>> >> comments on the White House Web site. >>> >>> -- > >> Darryl McMahon > >-- >Darryl McMahon > >The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy (in trade paperback and eBook) >http://www.econogics.com/TENHE/ > >Journey to Forever reviews The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html#tenhe _______________________________________________ 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/
