There’s an unusual experiment happening right now in Britain’s energy market. It’s being run by the online community activist network 38 Degrees and consumer group Which, in response to high energy prices. They are inviting people to club together to negotiate cheaper prices by mass bargaining. There’s an open market for energy in Britain. You [...]
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The Poor People’s Energy Outlook
Future global energy demand is a much-studied topic. The International Energy Agency can map demand into the next century and attempt to say how that demand will be met. But amongst the wrangling over fossil fuels vs nuclear vs renewable energy, one facet of global demand gets missed out: energy poverty. A third of the [...]
Greedy Lying Bastards, the movie
And the prize for the bluntest documentary title of the year goes to… Craig Rosebraugh for his expose of the oil industry, Greedy Lying Bastards. Well, it’s going to get you noticed at least, although the chances of constructive dialogue with the industry as a result of the movie will be slim indeed. Here’s the [...]
Which is the best energy company?
The energy companies have been in the news in the past week, as some of them have lowered their gas prices – you know you have an energy problem when a gas company lowering its prices makes the national news. There has been much in the media about where to look for the best energy [...]
Unearthing the truth about mining rights
After yesterday’s post on corruption at the micro level, I thought it might be interesting to look at it at the macro level. (Thanks to Ben for the suggestion.) Ipaidabribe works by getting lots of ordinary citizens to record the small bribes they have had to pay in the course of their everyday business. That’s [...]
Offsetting gone wrong
A couple of months ago I expressed my interest in offsetting the carbon emissions I can’t cut, clearing the decks as best I can at the end of the year. I still intend to do so, and am looking into how best to do it. Not all offsetting schemes are created equal, as The Ecologist [...]
Two lessons from Schumacher for stimulating the economy
There are all kinds of things in Schumacher’s writings that are ripe for rediscovery. Here are just two that caught my eye in my recent re-readings as being particularly relevant: The energy connection As a young man, Schumacher studied the problems of his country’s reconstruction efforts after the First World War. Germany’s coal production was [...]
Stop Burning our Trees – corporate lobbying in disguise?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the bus posters I’d seen for a campaign called Stop Burning Our Trees. Among the campaign actions is a petition to ban the burning of virgin wood for electricity generation, and the petition has been promoted through a series of stunts around London. Since the campaign culminates [...]
The climate lock-in
Yesterday the International Energy Agency released their annual World Energy Outlook. Since many world governments take their cues from the agency’s figures, it’s well worth paying attention to what the IEA are saying. This year, they’re warning about a climate change lock-in. It’s not a term I’ve seen used much, but it’s a useful one. [...]
Stop burning our trees – what’s this about?
UPDATE: We’ve had a few answers to this little investigation and I’ve written a follow up post here. —————————————— Walking down the street this week in London, I was overtaken by a bus with a large advert down the side that caught my eye. It had a picture of a little pine tree with a [...]
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