TalkClimateChange » Blue Team - Matt http://www.talkclimatechange.com The Blog that Talks about Climate Change Sat, 31 May 2008 15:46:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 en Renewable Desalination http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/05/12/renewable-desalination/ http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/05/12/renewable-desalination/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 18:42:06 +0000 Blue Team - Matt http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/05/12/renewable-desalination/ renewable desalination As most people know, the British Isles is a rainy place..

One of the first things Boris Johnson has done having been newly elected as Mayor of the self-proclaimed greatest city on Earth (Ed: that’s London - just in case) is to drop the former mayor’s objection to Thames Water’s proposed desalination plant in Barking.

"Thames Water has satisfied me that the desalination plant will minimise its impact on the environment by using renewable energy, and by being used only when absolutely necessary.”  (Times Online)

I can’t help wondering what this renewable energy will be, and how long "only when absolutely necessary" will last?

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]]> http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/05/12/renewable-desalination/feed/ Nationalise Energy Supplies for A Nuclear Future? http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/04/18/nationalise-energy-supplies-for-a-nuclear-future/ http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/04/18/nationalise-energy-supplies-for-a-nuclear-future/#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:59:03 +0000 Blue Team - Matt http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/04/18/nationalise-energy-supplies-for-a-nuclear-future/ iStock_000005844618XSmall Philip Pullman, author of the excellent “His Dark Materials” trilogy, was recently quoted as saying with respect to energy and carbon rations, “We should have a fixed limit and if you use it all up in October, then tough, you shiver for the rest of the year“.  That doesn’t sound so good, but since meeting the twin demand of energy stress and climate change is no laughing matter, something has to give.

UK electricity supplies were nationalised after the second world war over concerns regarding health and security of supply, leading to a massive expansion of infrastructure and energy availability. Considering our current energy and climate problems, and since we like to provoke, we ask here: should energy supply be nationalised to prepare us for a nuclear future?

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]]> http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/04/18/nationalise-energy-supplies-for-a-nuclear-future/feed/ Are We Failing to Observe the Real Issues? http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/26/failing-to-observe-the-real-issues/ http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/26/failing-to-observe-the-real-issues/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:24:08 +0000 Blue Team - Matt http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/26/failing-to-observe-the-real-issues/ istock_000005189959xsmall1-smaller.jpgLast week, I wrote about the frustrations of being an environmentalist that questions the world around him. This Easter weekend, I was presented with an excellent example: the Observer Magazine published “The Climate Change Issue”. Edited by pop star Thom Yorke, with 94 pages at its disposal, this Issue comprehensively failed to mention World Water Day (see below for the significance of this).

There is not enough space here to dissect the magazine line by line, but here are a few things that stood out to me:

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