Global Warming
Anon.
The following does not necessarily represent the views of the Voice for Arran. Any responses to the article can be sent to the Voice for Arran at info@voiceforarran.com or through the contact form on the Voice for Arran website.
It is frankly a pretty stark mirror we need to hold up to ourselves if we are to understand and take in the real dangers of global warming. We have all seen and heard the platitudes and governmental warnings about global warming and the need to keep temperature rise below 1.5 degrees – a purely arbitrary figure and one which is rapidly becoming meaningless. Looking back over the last few decades we have seen accelerating greed amongst our peers and ourselves – oh yes ourselves – as we begin to embrace what is said to be good practice in terms of dealing with global warming – but we are not even scratching the surface of what is required. When global warming bites it will be very unpleasant – people will starve and real poverty – no, real poverty will prevail. We will not be able to buy what we want or need because it simply will not be there to be bought.
We are watching the bread basket of Europe being raped by an invading country and we wring our hands in anguish but frankly the real anguish is yet to come – it will come when there is no bread to put on the table, when Africa experiences widespread famine – widespread – not just Sudan and Ethiopia – it will be widespread and then it will be our turn a few years later.
In the 80s my boss lived away from where he worked and had a weekly commute of some 90 miles each way to get home and back again for the weekend. He drove a Peugeot 205 diesel – it was all he needed and it took him to work and back again for a mere 90 miles to the gallon – that’s 40 years ago – do we have any car at the moment coming off the production line that does that? Let alone a small 5 seat family car. We happily pat ourselves on the back when we can afford a decent hybrid that does a ‘tiny’ 40 to the gallon, or an electric vehicle that can do 0 – 60 in under 4 seconds – what’s the point of that? We congratulate ourselves on buying the latest electric car – but do we really understand the cost of it? There are two, arguably three, basic costs when acquiring and operating a capital asset. There is the cost of acquisition, the cost of operation and the cost of maintenance. If we look at those in terms of carbon footprint for a car then we can see that if we add together the cost of acquisition and the cost of maintenance and divide that by the period of operation – maybe in years, maybe in miles. We can then add the per mile cost to the acquisition cost divided by the mileage life and that gives us the cost per mile of operation. Bearing in mind that the capital cost of acquisition starts when the designer first switches on his desk light and from that point forward the acquisition cost of each item can be calculated – total cost of development and manufacture divided by the number of items sold – all in the usual way. So that is a lump sum carbon footprint to be added to the operating cost carbon footprint – but nobody talks about the acquisition carbon footprint – thus we are just duping ourselves – because we are only looking at half the story – maybe less than half – but we persuade ourselves it is the whole. On top of that we are quietly shelving thoughts about the cost of producing batteries which will soon be coming in volume to their first replacement requirements. Anyone thought of the availability of the battery refurbishment materials or the cost of those materials, or the cost of manufacture of those batteries? Not really. In fact it is a fairly good indication of the carbon cost of production – more production cost – bigger carbon footprint.
Let’s look at the operating cost then – do we need to speed around the country at 70 MPH? No – other countries manage to do it quite a bit slower and this is reflected in fuel consumption. If we find ourselves short of fuel out on the road and have to make it to a filling station what do we do? Speed up and try to get there as quickly as possible? No, quite the reverse – we slow down to what we think is the most economical speed – probably around 40 to 45 and we bumble along secure in the knowledge that we are doing our best and are likely to get there without running out. Compare that to the world’s situation – at least the human population’s situation – we are running out of resource because we don’t have enough to meet our ever increasing needs (or is it greeds?) – do we slow down on the road – not a bit of it. Does the government realise there is something that has to be done and can be done. Do they bring in legislation to preserve what little – yes it is little – fuel we have left. Does any government bring in legislation to slow cars down, to limit the outrageous size and power of engines – not a bit of it – they just wring their hands and announce that we are unlikely to meet the climate targets. And sanction the acquisition of high performance cars with race track acceleration figures. Well of course we won’t do anything if they do nothing!! A bold step like max speed 45 MPH, like 100hp max for a motor car engine, and what would be the effect – well first of all people would be more relaxed on the road, they’d plan their journeys a bit better, there would be fewer traffic jams, fewer accidents caused by excessive speed, less pothole damage – fewer admittances to A&E, and yes, far less fuel needed. Apart from that no advantage whatsoever!! It’s all there for the taking and what do we do? – precisely nothing!
Sticking with the motor vehicle, we all complain about the deterioration of our vehicles, how they rust, how the fabric of the vehicles is not what it used to be and so forth – well in this present day and age there is no good reason for this. There are huge laboratories out there dedicated to producing preservatives of all sorts. We are far better equipped to preserve materials and fabrics used to manufacture goods – but what do we do – we cut corners, skimp on finish and hey presto – nothing lasts. Frankly it should – it really needs to now more than ever it did and we still do nothing – we simply scrap the vehicle and go out and get another. Remember the acquisition cost to be amortised over the life of the vehicle that I mentioned before – if we can double the life of the vehicle then we halve the manufacture carbon footprint per mile – but we don’t bother – again legislation could deal with this but what does government do – still nothing…. Now, were the government of the day to put a levy on the manufacturer for each year that the car is scrapped before it reaches, say 25 years, then that would concentrate the mind!!
So the thought process for transport could be:
Do I need a high powered vehicle?
How long will my vehicle last?
Do I need a huge engine?
Do I buy an uneconomical vehicle – I can afford to run it but can the world?
Do I race around at high speed?
Is the journey necessary?
And a few more points you can think of for yourself…..
We all know that it is quite possible to plant a tree without flying an aircraft – but in order to salve their consciences airlines promised to plant trees for carbon offset – well it may work – but only 30 years down the line when the tree matures. At the end of UK lockdown everyone was so relieved that it was all over that they decided to reward themselves with a holiday – and what did they do – over one weekend 10% of the British population got on an aircraft to give themselves pleasure – and to hell with global warming – after all they knew that trees were being planted and it would be alright – well it wasn’t and it isn’t. Not one of those trees planted (apparently) at that time has yet done a little bit to control global warming. But all those travellers pleasured themselves and to hell with global warming – still are!
That is why the problem is not recognised, some recognise it and bleat but collectively we set out to ignore it and make matters worse.
Look at the spiralling cost of following fashion – perfectly serviceable bathrooms and kitchens are consigned to the scrap heap because someone simply wants to change the colour or have one like the glossy advertisement, or they just want a change – nobody considers the carbon footprint of the change. There’s the cost of design, manufacture, materials, transport, tooling, the loss of timberlands etc etc etc – and what do we think about – only let’s have a nice new kitchen / bathroom / man cave / suite / mattress / whatever. All of this totally unnecessary change is literally costing the earth and society is accelerating the global warming process. Trouble is WE ARE ALL GUILTY to a greater or lesser extent. And then what do we do with the old one – well it goes in a skip doesn’t it? Job done. And after the skip…………?
Food! Yes, in the UK we can grow our food, but every year we have a problem harvesting it. So instead we try to blame global warming on farting cattle… People used to come from eastern Europe to harvest, now not so much so. In the more distant past holiday periods used to coincide with harvest time – not any more, no fear, we’re off to Lanzarote or wherever to get pissed. So what happens – swathes of jungle in far off lands are reduced to monoculture to produce fashionable oils and foods and the biodiversity so vital to planet health is destroyed. Flowers are flown from central Africa. We get soft fruits from the southern hemisphere out of season and we get loads of these commodities and we buy them in huge excessive amounts and gorge ourselves and get ourselves hideously obese. Type 2 diabetes rules and we lean heavily on the NHS and overwhelm it and we claim mental anguish because we can’t stop filling that hole in the front of our face and it’s not our fault – Oh REALLY?
There’s loads to do – stuff that we can all do to stave off global warming – but frankly we can’t be convinced because we’re too selfish and it’s someone else’s fault – someone else’s problem – someone needs to do something – yes, dead right, that someone is YOU and I.
Featured image by Chris Gallagher on Unsplash.com
