The BBC has reported today that climate Change is affecting the global economy. This is the first report issued on Climate Change by an economist, Sir Nicholas Stern, rather than Environmental Scientists.

Global warming and climate change have recently been highlighted by Al Gore in his movie ‘An Inconvenient Truth‘. This report supports the stance that climate change will affect us in our lifetime. Our Global Economy has the potential to crash by 20% unless action is taken now, and the rich western countries, UK included, need to take positive action to prevent sea levels rising, water shortages, wildlife extinction and millions of people becoming refugees in their own homes (BBC).

This is all very worrying; so what is the Government urging us to do to prevent these catastrophic outcomes from happening. Well, by 2010 the Government would like to see 5% of all vehicles running on biofuels. Currently only 0.5% of all vehicles are running on LPG in the UK. Targets to reduce European emissions by 30% by 2020 have also been set. You can easily calculate your cars emissions and compare your reductions if running on LPG. Further actions will focus on establishing trade links with Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica to ensure sustainable forestry and working on clean coal technologies in partnership with China.

The following chart was taken from the Stern Review highlighting the part that transport is playing towards emissions. Transport accounts for 14% of our Global emissions.

Sir Nicholas Stern, the author of the report, stated that “We have the time and knowledge to act but only if we act internationally, strongly and urgently “. But that wasn’t the only statement that made an impact. Most notably Mr Blair admitted that “This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime,” and he continued to say that “For every £1 invested now we can save £5, or possibly more, by acting now.
We can’t wait the five years it took to negotiate Kyoto - we simply don’t have the time. We accept we have to go further (than Kyoto).”

Perhaps if there is a financial gain involved, people might be more inclined to take action now rather than later. There must be an immediate growth down-scaling if we’re expecting to have growth in the future. We can no longer wait and see, we must act here and now.
Read a summary of the 700-page report here or contact Fuelture for more information on how to cut your emissions.

When big wigs like BP start to seriously talk about CO2 offsetting then it definitely looks like the momentum behind carbon offsets is sustainable. Companies like Terrapass in the US and Climate Care in the UK have been pushing carbon offsetting for wee while now.

BP has just announced (see this Guardian article) that they will be encouraging UK motorists to neutralise carbon emissions from their vehicles. The plan is that BP will match payments made by customers that seek to offset their emissions, investing the funds in low or zero car bon emission projects. This seems like a great idea but are consumers likely to bite? Or is this likely to be more of a PR exercise? Only time will tell.

Just one more thought though. How much would it cost BP to offset CO2 emissions from the products that it produces today?

A recent BP report stated that the carbon dioxide produced by its products was 606 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2004 ( this excludes carbon dioxide produced from oil and gas that the company buys and sells) – see this interesting article about these numbers.

Using today’s CO2 spot prices in Europe, a tonne of CO2 cost 16.6 Euros (around $21.23).

How much would BP have to spend to offset the CO2 from its products? My calculations come up with $12.9 Billion! Now, how does that compare with the record profits generated by the company in 2005?

The company reported $16.2 billion in profits in 2005. How would the company’s shareholders feel about channeling 80% of its profits into zero or low carbon projects? Hmmmmm.

In a sense BP is right, we all have to do our bit.

Interesting thoughts here:

• Desmogblog
• Shit Sandwich

The Met Police already have LPG patrol cars operating in London and now have plans to introduce hydrogen fuelled cars into the fleet. The Honda Hybrid’s are still under development but hopefully by 2010 a total of 70 hybrids will be patrolling the streets of Greater London. The cars are getting modified to withstand gunfire and crashes. Not only are these cars cheaper to run, they are also a lot more environmentally sound. A Scotland Yard spokesperson stated that the volatility of the oil market and the issues surrounding global warming have brought on this change to the cars.

“Intellectually exhilarating. “An Inconvenient Truth” is a necessary film.”

The New York Times

Al Gore has made a film depicting the future caused by global warming; extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and deadly heat waves. Does sound like all the usual ingredients of a movie blockbuster, although did over 600 people not die in India this year due to the heat?

Al Gore’s movie has received very powerful reviews, urging people not to miss this movie. There has been a lot of online interest surrounding the movie and the issues is brings up. Watch the clip and decide for yourself if you want to see the movie and face the truth.

The BBC report that alternative fuels have now graced the floors of the London Stockmarket. Alternative Fuel Companies are now listing on the Stock Market to generate funds for future developments. Fossil Fuels have always been our number one, however supply is depleting, prices are soring and climate change is happening.

There is a massive space arising in the market for alternative fuels, LPG and Biodiesel are two solutions to fossil fuel. There is a mass supply of LPG in the UK, it’s cheap and produces much less harmful emissions into our atmosphere. Biodiesel again is less harmful to our environment.

In regards to the benefits of alternative fuels, the availability and investiment into new developments, the BBC commented that:

“Motorists who feel a pang of guilt every time they fill their tanks with pollutant-laden fossil fuels may soon find that they no longer have an excuse for not switching to cleaner alternatives.”

The European Union’s emissions trading scheme is starting to behave like a true stockmarket with its own bubbles and crashes. A radical drop in prices will break any trader’s heart (if she is wrongly positioned in the market) and a 55% drop in prices is indeed a massive crash. Ouch! The FT reports today that the “CO2 emission futures for December 2006 delivery fell to a record low of 14 Euros…from a record high of 31 Euros reached (only) last week“. There is definitely a lesson here for all of us! You can monitor CO2 emission prices here.

According to the FT the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says that “the car industry needs to reduce carbon dioxide emissions five times faster than last year and sell 20 times as many alternative fuel vehicles to hit targets for cutting greenhouse gases“. This almost seems like mission impossible when you take into account the fact that there is very little being done to promote alternative vehicles in practice.

Simply walk into your nearest car dealership and request an electric, LPG or bioethanol vehicle. You’ll probably receive a funny look and a strong pitch to buy a diesel car. You can’t blame the dealers since they simply want to sell what is available on their forecourt (or cars that can easily be sourced). Obviously, they are also big fans of cars that they can service with minimal training hassle.

While the mainstream industry is carrying on as usual, you will find that we at Fuelture are rolling up our sleaves to provide a network of LPG car dealers that can provide you with LPG cars, a service network to take care of your LPG cars during their working lives, and LPG fuel cards that also quantify your emissions savings. Our company is built around two buzz phrases that go hand in hand: “REDUCE COSTS” and “LOWER EMISSIONS“.