2011: Arctic Temperatures Continue To Rise

One of the things that really concerns me about climate change is that it all seems to be moving way too fast in the Arctic.

Make no mistake: The ice in the Arctic is one of our best defences against global warming (By reflecting solar energy back into Space like a giant mirror). Without it, things will go to a whole new level.

It's now been reported that 2011 was the warmest yet in the Arctic (2.28 C above the base period of 1951-1980) beating the previous record set by 2010. This continues a disturbing trend that's been going on since the late Seventies (See the graph below).

Not surprisingly, sea ice extent (the area of sea covered by ice), as measured by satellite, reached it's second lowest level in 2011, whilst the volume of ice, reached a record low.

That's bad news for us because it means there's less ice reflecting solar energy away and more open water being warmed up. Result: More global warming. Not to mention what it's doing to the local wildlife, weather systems, and, presumably, ocean currents.

A warming Arctic has a further implication: Thawing permafrost. Permafrost is, as it's name suggests, ground that is always frozen. Now, however, large areas are thawing out in the Summer. "So what?" you might say. Well, this is releasing previously trapped carbon (in the form of methane) back into the atmosphere "at levels that are cause for serious concern.". (According to experts from Permafrost Carbon Network). Methane is many times more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas and there is A LOT of the stuff currently locked up in the permafrost.

The bottom line is this: A disappearing Arctic ice cap and thawing permafrost could accelerate global warming beyond the point where we could control it.

UK Government Loses 2nd Court Case Over Feed-In Tariffs

Recently I reported that the UK government had been taken to court over the way it had cut feed-in tariffs (solar subsidies) from £0.43 per kW to £0.21 last December.

They lost that court case, so they went to the Court of Appeal just over a week ago, and the result has just been announced: They lost again.

Unfortunately, the government have decided to prolong the uncertainty for all concerned by taking their appeal to the Supreme Court.

The "Greenest Government Ever" (Their words, not mine) seem to be doing their best to undermine confidence in green industry, so stifling investment and growth.

This lot haven't got a clue.

More detail here.

Lighter Later Bill Fails

Here in the UK, there has been a campaign to move the clock forward by 1 hour throughout the year.

The campaign goes by the name of Lighter Later and is the brainchild of the 10:10 organisation, a team whose main aim is to encourage everyone to cut their carbon footprints by 10%.

However, the campaign, and the Lighter Later Private Members Bill that grew out of it, has gained widespread support from over 120 MPs in the Commons, 90 national organisations, the UK government and opinion polls.

Why? Because it has a lot of benefits besides carbon cutting by 500,000 tonnes per year:

• Save 80 lives a year on the roads and hundreds of injuries.
• Lower all our electric bills by maximising use of available daylight hours.
• Create 60,000–80,000 new jobs in leisure and tourism, bringing an extra £2.5–3.5 billion into the economy each year.
• Reduce crime and the fear of crime.
• Encourage people to exercise more.
• Save the NHS millions by reducing road accidents.
• Improve the quality of life for older people.
• Reduce the effects of seasonally affective disorder.
• Match daylight hours more accurately with when most people are actually awake.
  

(More detail on the benefits here)

So, with all those benefits and such widespread support, you'd expect the Bill to have got through it's third reading today (20th Jan. 2012) with ease.

Sadly that was not the case, as a group of 10 MPs deliberately wasted time so that it never made it to a vote. More here.

That's UK democracy in action for you: It doesn't matter about the thousands of people who supported this bill or the millions that would have benefited from it, when you've got a handful of MPs who just don't want it.

Disproportionate power in the hands of a few.

How Much Electric Do Solar Panels Create?

The answer to that depends on 2 things: How much sun the panels are getting; and how 'big' the solar panel system is.

Let's take my family's solar panels as an example.

We have 12 panels (covering a roof area of about 20 sq. metres), each with a capacity of 245 watts. This gives a total capacity of 2.94 kilowatts (kW). In other words, in good, sunny conditions, it will generate 2.94 kW per hour.

However, as you know, it is not always sunny, the length of daylight hours (outside the tropics) changes throughout the year, and so does the height of the sun above the horizon. All of these factors, plus others effect the amount of electric you get.

We had our system installed the day before the shortest day in the year. So even though the shortest day was wall to wall sunshine, we only got 5 kW. That's still a third of our daily Winter usage but we can expect a lot more from a similar day in Summer.

In the 3 weeks we've had the panels, the daily amount generated has varied from 0.4 to 6.7 kW with an average of 2.3 kW. Our electric meter regularly 'stands still', even in the depths of a British Winter and, on the best days, it's managed to do this with a TV, PC, numerous gadgets on stand-by, and the tumble dryer all on at the same time!

We're definately looking forward to the Summer.....

More about our system here.

How We've Cut Our Heating Bill

Regular readers of this blog will know that we've been trying to cut our fuel bills without having to throw big money around.

The graph you see above represents our gas usage over the last 2 years and, as you can see, we've achieved a sizeable cut so far - over 20% if you ignore that peak caused by last year's harsh winter - and the graph continues to fall.

Although we've got gas heating, what follows applies whatever fuel you use.

The most cost effective way of cutting your fuel bill is to insulate your home as I explain here. Basically, the insulation can pay for itself within 2 to 3 years and will not break the bank. Without it, you're spending a fortune heating the street outside!

If you can't afford it then, if you're a UK citizen, you will be able to make use of the Green Deal next Autumn, which'll make it even easier to insulate your home.

Anyway, what the graph has shown me is that it wasn't until we insulated our loft that we really began to make savings: Even with the cavity wall insulation, double glazing, and draft proofing, there was no 'lid' on our house, so all the heat just went out through the roof. The 2 month period over which the loft work was done, marks the beginning of that steep decline you see in the graph.

The lesson seems to be that, whilst any insulation is better than none, you won't see the full benefit until you've sealed all the leaks.