Day 1963: Green Action

Friday:


Daddy Alex has been full of helpful advice this week with several articles about how to "Vote Gold, Go Green"

(LOOK! Even I'M recycling! I've used some of Mr Balloon's old rubbish!)


Daddy Richard, on the other fluffy foot – or to give him his FULL title Beelzedaddy Richard – has been invoking the powers of the pumpkin of darkness and generally bringing on the APOCALYPSE! Yes, he’s been driving around like some kind of crazy person in PENFOLD, who is Daddy's HUGE LOVELY er VERY, VERY BAD 4x4 TANK! And no doubt trying to squash pretty flowers and cover small children in horrid fumes, to boot!

However, I have now pointed out to him that my flat is right next to the RIVER THAMES, so if Daddy is going to go around melting the ICE CAP then we will all be UNDER WATER, and unlike James Bond, Daddy cannot turn his car into a SUBMARINE.

Properly ASHAMED, Daddy has agreed to do something about it.

We have been downstairs to look at Penfold's milometer and it says that he has driven 22,943 miles which equals 36,923 kilometres (which is not so VERY much when you think that that is over the last seven years).

We checked out Penfold's carbon emissions from this website and learned that they are 265 g/km.

(Penfold is a Vauxhall Frontera, Sport RS, manual, petrol, 3 door estate, if you want to check.)

We have to admit that this is FAIRLY AWFUL. The government's current target for car emissions from company cars (which Daddy has to know because it is to do with TAX) is only 140 g/km. A top of the range Toyota Prius has emissions of 104 g/km.

36,923 kilometres TIMES 265 g/km EQUALS 9.785 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

And so Daddy went to this other website and has bought a Carbon Offset of 9.8 tonnes.

We looked quite closely at the website and decided to go for this one rather than a tree planting project because apparently tree planting is only a temporary solution as the carbon gets released again eventually. We are not sure about this and might buy some trees anyway.

If anyone knows of BETTER carbon offset programs then please let me know!


Also, if people are feeling HELPFUL, does anyone have any advice on which is the most ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY electricity company to switch to? Daddy Richard is quite tempted by the people from Ecotricity, but that is because he likes WINDMILLS. Does anyone know who the best green supplier might be?



I am a bit SURPRISED that people are not more excited about the opportunities that GREENING the energy supply will bring. In SCOTLAND, for example, there is a LOT of wind and plenty of access to sea water. Particularly on the ISLANDS. It would be a good idea to use the WIND ENERGY to separate the sea water into Oxygen and Hydrogen and then sell the Hydrogen for FUEL in new CARS.

(Daddy has tried looking at HYBRID motor cars, but they look horrid, so I hope that Hydrogen cars come in quickly and look NICE.)

If we look to the future, this hydrogen industry could replace the oil industry when the oil under the North Sea runs out!

I think that in making our own clean fuel from a limitless source we have a better answer than importing other countries' oil or gas or toxic, radioactive uranium that is going to run out sooner or later anyway.

I do not want Lord Blairimort building new nuclear power stations. I do not think he would be very good at it – everything ELSE he puts together ends up falling apart! – and he might put the Minister for Magical Accidents in charge!

And I particularly do not want him building a new nuclear power station if it is going to be where Mr Simon suggests in his book!

I do not think GLOWING is a good look for me!