Prius c - small package, big savings!

Each year, my business takes a few more steps to further reduce the impact on the planet, within the budget and being mindful of wasting existing resources.

So this year, with a new vehicle becoming a necessary item for business use, I did some research on available options at this time in Australia.

I set out to find a vehicle to be used primarily for city driving with the occasional longer trip, carrying mostly one or two people.  The criteria was for a vehicle that was small, flexible with a hatch shape, extremely fuel efficient for city driving, comfortable for two, but small enough to claim the full range of available inner city parking spots.

As a passionate advocate of our need to reduce the use of oil, I am very aware that burning this valuable resource in transport is reducing its availability for much more important industries in the future, industries such as those producing medicines or food. And – I am also mindful that the cost of fuel is headed in one direction!

After researching available fuel efficient and fully electric options, I chose the Prius c, a petrol electric hybrid small hatch car manufactured by Toyota.  In the longer term, and most likely for the next vehicle purchase, a fully electric vehicle will be higher on the list – but the Prius c ticked all the boxes now.

This model of the Prius is new, just released in Australia this year, and, as I understand on limited supply.  Since taking delivery of mine (the I-tech model) less than a week ago, I have definitely been impressed with my car.

Firstly, before it even left the dealer’s showroom, the Prius c already had downloaded my phone address book, and it seems to have all electronics that we call essential, and certainly makes for a useful and safe driving experience. 

And it is a really clever little car – you start to see how this works after a few days of driving, in that it uses the energy normally wasted when we apply the brakes or slow down, to recharge the battery.   The car’s system works out when it uses battery or when it uses petrol, so I do not have to think about that, and the fuel use will be massively less than the previous car.

The finish is nice, with lots of sections everywhere for all the bits and pieces that are essential to me, especially when the car is also my outbound office.
 

First impressions – for the business person travelling around, mostly on their own, with need to carry standard amounts of displays or stock, the Prius c I-tech is one to add to your list, and definitely one that will reduce your business fuel costs and more importantly, your business carbon footprint.

Pic of my Prius c taken by Mary

To believe climate change or not to believe

At a recent family festive gathering, I was inclined, over a glass of red, to engage with some of those gathered about the issues of limits to growth and climate change. 

As a passionate reader of the climate science literature and a concerned advocate in my normal circles, I was surprised at the lack of understanding and was faced with the challenge that I was a “climate believer”, which is the alternate term used when one is not a “climate denier”. 


 Now this term sits very uncomfortably on my head, as I no longer believe in the cultural myths from my childhood, including those of red chubby men or bunnies in hats or virgin births. As an adult, I choose not to wear this tag of “believer” of any unknown, rather to define my level of understanding or, in the case of the stock market, open heart surgery, or wine making, my lack of understanding. Pondering on this dilemma, I came across the term “Climate Literate” which I now assume. 


 Certainly, I am literate in several areas, although not always a specialist. I am literate in the English language, and literate in skills to run a small business, and somewhat literate in aspects of the solar industry. Over the past five years, I also have read extensively about climate changes on the planet, both the writings of climate scientists as well as those who deny the climate science. 


 In the future, in such social situations, I will refer to myself as “climate literate” and offer to pass information to those who do not yet have such literacy. It is not now a matter of belief, urban myth, or fairy story that we are influencing the climate - although I do accept that science should always be updating the information and revising as new data comes to hand. 


 Knowledge is knowledge at that time, and facts are the best available based on peer reviewed research done under controlled situations. At this time, in 2012, the most accepted knowledge derived from an overwhelming majority of scientists is that the climate is changing rapidly as a result of our actions, and that this carries significant risks. 


 It is about time that we stopped “believing in fairy stories” and that we all seek to become climate literate, learners not believers, planet carers not climate deniers.


Image Decorations taken by Author 

Australia's Fair Share of Carbon Reduction

Today I attended a City of Sydney Business Forum Lunch where Prof Ross Garnaut of the Garnaut Climate Change Review was the guest speaker.

Prof Garnaut spoke about his most recent report and commented that with our resources boom, we have “the best of times” economically to bring in a price on carbon. He commented that inaction would be counterproductive and that Australia needs to do a fair share on a global basis.

While some areas will have a small negative effect, Prof Garnaut also added that some areas of manufacturing could see a positive effect from the introduction of a carbon tax. Innovation, particularly in the energy generation areas, would benefit directly.

He commented that, “the story of carbon pricing will in future be the story of innovation”.

As I see it, any business planning to be part of the future of Australia, should be thinking about this new carbon economy and the important steps to help achieve our “fair share” of the reduction in global emissions.

My pic 21 June 2011

Act Now and Spread the Word

This week, I attended some of the Sydney Writers festival events, including an evening session in Sydney Town Hall called "You've Been Warned" which was a joint presentation and Q&A by three Authors, Paul Gilding, Naomi Oreskes, and Curt Stager who discussed the issues around climate change and the current political climate where delay and denial are given place.

After the excellent discussions, one of the questions related to what the individual could do to play their part in the changes that are essential and urgent, to at least minimise the impact of a warming planet. The answer that came was good, and pointed to the role that we all have to play in our own communities, but there was no time to elaborate on how.

We all consider these issues when we vote, in choosing what to read, and we listen to others, but that's only part of what we can do. Action is important and that can start anywhere.

We each have a talent, and so that's the first place to start with change. Look at your work, and how that can change. Does you office recycle, or could you suggest lighting improvements? If you are in a trade, how could that change, eg use sustainable paints, or think of your next vehicle in terms of reducing fossil fuel use? Could your factory fit solar panels, or change the hot water system? If you work with others, such as a teacher, or health worker, set an example of how you travel and how you consume.

But most of all, tell others what you are doing and why! Act now, and spread the word. Actions can start small, like turning off devices at night, or taking the bus, or eating less meat. But actions only begin to impact when you tell others, and share what you are doing. A friend recently told me that she only buys wine from her local area, because she knows that it takes so much energy to transport heavy bottles. Each of us can find personal ways to change, and to make a point through individual actions. And speaking about our actions is empowering, and an important part of the process to change the perspective of others in the society.

Global Thinking, Global Citizens

Earlier this month, I presented a talk on Global Thinking, and why Unlearning is the starting point.

The talk referenced the book by Mark Gerzon, Global Citizens, who agues that "our vision of the world is outdated".

We all like to view ourselves as global thinkers, travelling around the planet Earth, aware of other cultures, keeping up to date on what happens in various regions across the world. But no-one has a passport saying “global citizen”. We are all nationals of defined countries, travelling with views of those nations, and thinking in ways that we have learned from our families, our education and faith systems and influenced by our particular domestic politics.

All of us have worldviews that we have created in our minds. These are “simplified narratives” that help us make sense of the world. Our circumstances and education systems teach us to live and think within various borders, such as those defined by Mark Gerzon as “Individual, Tribal, Religious, National, and Corporate”. Mark Gerzon argues that we all live within “a combination of these borders”, and that they prevent us from thinking globally.

Our economic wealth, minerals, food, and water derive from the environment. New economic models that understand that the economy depends on the environment must evolve globally. But first, we will need to pass through an uncomfortable time, an uncertain time, a time of unlearning.

Unlearning opens options. As Jedi Master, Yoda said to Luke Skywalker, who was faced with a task that seemed impossible, “only different in your mind! You must unlearn what you have learned”.

So are you really a global thinker, or are you one who wishes to share their comfortable and non sustainable reality and values, with others?

pic The World ex Flickr by Homies in Heaven

Coal Power revisited

It's easy to dismiss coal fired power production, and to wave a verbal wand to remove it entirely from the planet - but it's not going to happen soon. And "soon" is what we need, so all solutions, including interim and transitional ones, must be on the table.

While we are refining and exploring new ways to power the world, there also needs to be fast and effective solutions for the existing coal fired power industry. Australia has coal - we use it, export it, and profit from it. So it is heartening to see that we also are exploring ways to reduce emissions, and leading this field is the work done by the CO2CRC team in Melbourne who recently reported a breakthrough in CO2 capture.

In late November, I also attended a talk on Capturing Carbon Emissions by USYD Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Deanna D'Alessandro, who is pioneering a method to "sponge" carbon emissions, and this, and other initiatives need to be fast tracked.

Another Australian company, MBD Energy are also working on Carbon Capture, using algae for production of algae oil and algae meal.

We may reach a point one day, when the techniques being developed by researchers in the non-trendy areas are essential to removing the excess greenhouse gases STILL being emitted. I am not a fan of putting all eggs in one basket, so we need to encourage our talented people into a variety of areas - wind, solar, geothermal, marine, cogeneration, energy storage, and also into bioengineering and solutions for managing what we continue to do, and have done with coal.

At the same time, I would advocate for a level playing field, where subsidies on sunset industries are replaced by research grants to help them transition, and provide the continuity of supply that is essential for our societies.

Peak What?

The concept of Peak Oil is now well into mainstream communities, or so I thought. Last night I found myself at a function seated next to a well educated, newly retired IT professional, who seemed to be totally unaware of Peak Oil and its implications.

We are in the era of information, and we debate about how much we are told. Certainly, everyone in the group knew about Wiki-Leaks! But not Peak Oil? The media loves sensation, what's happening day by day, and that fills the news.

So how do we focus the important stuff, like Peak Oil, and how can this topic attract attention and compete with the daily dramas?

The end of the era of low cost oil is changing our way of life. Individually and globally, we need to be aware of this massive social transformation and the impact on us all. Understanding Peak Oil is the first step in adapting, by developing new options for travel and transport, and by re -shaping our many other oil dependant areas such as food production. Important issues are on the horizon but they are not on the front page of most newspapers nor on the evening TV news.

It seems, that many of us are just like the eyes in the rock, locked into seeing only what is put in front of us - with no interest in what is the reality.

PIc by Mary /Sculptures by the Sea 2009 Sydney