Trees, February 2006 February 18, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Camden, Trees , add a commentIt’s still winter and, at least from a distance, the trees are still bare.
The first signs of spring are around, if you look closely. In a couple of weeks, everything will be starting to bud and bloom.
Harrington Square is still bare too, but it won’t be long now.
Very, very cute February 16, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , add a commentOkay, every now and again I’m allowed an incredibly cute picture of an ickle pud. I’m tempted to describe it as kitty p**n, but for the weirdos who would appear on the list of search terms in my stats.
BG Group, at 673p February 15, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Green in the City, Investing , add a commentI made my first share investment the other day, buying a small stake in BG Group (British Gas) at 673p and woke up yesterday morning to find myself down about £20, so I hope it was a good idea.
Investors Chronicle tipped them last week, and their fundamentals seem strong. And of course, with gas prices increasing rapidly and most of the UK now tied into this for heating fuel, they’re on a roll right now. I’m not convinced that gas prices will continue to rise beyond the short (1 year) term - there is a big Norwegian field, the Ormen Lange, due to come on stream in 2007, but long term, there is money here.
This may seem like an odd investment for a self-confessed greenie, but there are a few things to consider. First of all, BG is on the FTSE4Good, which doesn’t really mean much as all sorts of polluters are in there, but at least indicates that they have some level of commitment to social responsibility. Secondly, natural gas has the lowest carbon-emissions per calorie of any fossil fuel so it ain’t great, but it could be worse. It is the conversion of British heating and power generation from coal to gas which has made us able to claim to have done so well in reducing emissions.
I’m also interested to see that they’re a major sponsor of micro-combined heat and power units, and will be releasing their product to the general public in 2007. That may be something of a cynical ploy, and I wonder how hard they are lobbying the government to, for instance, allow the owners of microCHP to be paid for the electricity they feed back onto the grid.
It’s actually rather difficult, if you’re investing via an ISA as I am here, to be very green with your shareholdings. ISA rules don’t allow AIM shares to be included, and larger companies are not exactly what many people have in mind when they think of a ‘green’ investment. Most socially responsible funds include some very unlikely players - Tesco’s, BP, Vodafone. Each of these companies is at least considered to be better than others in their sector, is on the FTSE4Good and has some level of social responsibility activity and reporting.
Fresh Air February 14, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , add a commentNow, I’ll be able to spend an evening in the pub without having to wash hair and clothes afterwards.
No more that nasty, hungover feeling the next morning that seems to happen even if I’ve not had that much to drink.
No more wanting to go out with a smoking friend, but having to either put up with the awful stink or ask them to give up what’s obviously a pleasure.
No more sitting down for a meal only to find that, half way through, the person at the next table has decided to light up.
From Summer, 2007, no more smoking in public enclosed spaces in England and Wales.
Happy Birthday Eniac - 60 years old today February 13, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Internet , add a commentEniac, the first electronic computer, was unveiled in February 1946.
Real Climate review of ‘Revenge of Gaia’
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Environment, Reviews , add a commentFor a far more scientific take on James Lovelock’s Revenge of Gaia than my own reviews, pop over to Real Climate and take a look. This site is excellent for explanations of climate science which are understandable by the lay reader with an interest in science, a GCSE level background and a willingness to concentrate for a few minutes.
The writer’s interest is in the climate science arguements made by Lovelock, rather than the political ones, and he makes some interesting points. His criticism that Lovelock has a tendency to argue by analogy is a very true, because it proves nothing although it provides a way to understand something which is proven by some other method. The book is not an academic treatise though, and Lovelock is trying to explain difficult concepts to a lay audience.
I’m not convinced by all of his points, but then I’m not a scientist and its very difficult to really assess the scientific content of the book or any rebuttal of it from a lay point of view. I don’t see what CO2 absorbtion by rock weathering has to do with the ability of the planet to absorb excess CO2 generated by humans though. Rock weather takes of the order of thousands of years, and anthropogenic CO2 has mostly appeared in the last 200 with a small contribution before that from agriculture etc.
And he quotes Lynn Marguilis ‘Gaia is simply symbiosis as seen from space’ - I rather like that.
Sweden to be oil free by 2020 - What about the UK? February 12, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Environment , add a commentTreehugger had an interesting post a couple of weeks ago, which I’ve only just come across, about Sweden announcing their intention to become oil free by 2020, without the use of nuclear power.
It’s a long term goal, and perhaps more aspirational than acheivable, but how refreshing to see a government that’s trying to find a good answer to their oil problems rather than just giving up and heading for the nuclear option. Sweden has a few advantages for renewable energy over the UK - lots of big rivers, lots of geothermal power, and a rather smaller population - so it may be easier for them, but can we not consider it too?
After reading James Lovelock’s book, Revenge of Gaia, last week (see earlier blog) I have become quite depressed about the whole thing. His arguements for nuclear are convincing, but isn’t that a terribly defeatist attitude? Surely there must be a better way?
There seem to be so many questions, but also many possibilities for reduced oil usage in the UK which, with funding and support, would at least reduce our need for nuclear, if not eliminate it all together
- Wave power on the Severn Estuary could potentially give us 10-12% of our electricity needs (Lovelock) - is that practical? What would the effect be on the ecosystems there? If its this good for the Severn (using, I presume, the Severn bore), are there other estuaries that could be used?
- Reducing the amount of car travel in this society where 60 minute commutes are normal would surely be good for everyone and improve our quality of life enormously. We could do this by introducing a payroll tax on journey times, encouraging companies to recruit locally and locate where people live. Remove the tax advantages of doing high mileage in company cars would help too. Use the money to subsidise trains, or keep the whole thing revenue neutral. What would the effect be of reducing the average annual car mileage by 25%?
- Cogeneration in homes, as I discussed last week, decentralising the supply and therefore reducing the risk of major failure as well as using wasted energy
- Cogeneration in businesses, especially data centres and other highly controlled environments.
- Sponsoring innovation, by funding competitions and providing venture capital for startup companies with good ideas in this area.
- Sponsor local innovation, by funding competitions and giving grants to schools, universities, neighbourhood groups to find local solutions, and then promulgate the best of these to others
- Set up scholarships for engineers and scientists to do research in renewable energy
- Make unmetered schemes, such as the one used by Camden Council for its council house pool heating, illegal and fund the installation of meters. People have got to see the effect of their own consumption
- Remove the VAT on thermal underwear, and get Naomi Campbell to model it.
- Fund this with a windfall tax on British Gas, who’s shares have been rocketing along with the oil majors in the last few months.
Maybe Lovelock, Blair and the other doomsayers are right, and the only way out is to pepper the country with nuclear power plants, but I’m not prepared to just roll over and accept that.
Converted to Mozilla February 11, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Internet , add a commentA few months ago I finally followed the crowd to Firefox, and have never looked back. The only downside is that I need to keep IE going for a few sites I use regularly which don’t work under Firefox. Most of these are ones I need for clients, so I won’t mention them here, but RBoS, you really should do something about your appalling clunky business banking site. It’s easy to use, the tabs are great, and the various addins really make the product. Integration with Google and del.icio.us is easy, but the Smile Project does it for me. It may be my imagination, and I’ve no real evidence to support this, but it seems much more stable as well. My only gripe is that I can’t move the toolbars around, and that area does end up rather crowded.
Last week, I decided to abandon outlook as well. This was harder, because I do use the calendar but I’ve found since I’ve been freelance that my client prefers me to use their in-house calendar so I can be seen on their scheduler. For a diary, I’ve reverted to a moleskin, which superbly integrates all known meeting and calendar tools, and gives me a notebook too. It’s a bit slow and clunky, but battery life is infinite and the handwriting recognition very good. Backups are a problem though.
I’ve converted my email to Thunderbird, and so far that’s working perfectly. All my contacts came across, and the inbuilt RSS aggregator is much simpler than using Attensa for Outlook. It runs more quickly, and it was easier to set up multiple accounts and have them in their own folders rather than having to mess around with rules.
So, I’m a convert. Next stop, OpenOffice!
Malta again - British Jet.com and another good restaurant
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Cafes & Restaurants, Miscellany, Travel , add a commentTrying to do a day trip to Malta is a bit of a drag. It’s too far, and the flights don’t help, so I had to stay over for two nights, which is hardly a problem given the lovely people I get to work with there, and the excellent restaurants.
I flew with British Jet this time, rather than BA. I’d never heard of it either, but it’s a Maltese low-cost airline, running a couple of MD90s, with good service for the cost and a worthwhile alternative to BA or Air Malta. If you’re on your own and want some space, seat 22B is beside the wing exit, and there’s no 22A. Although they claim to be very strict about handbaggage, I was allowed on with 7kgs. They did ask me to put it into two bags so none was over 5kgs, which is fair enough - I don’t want that falling on my head either.
On Friday night I went with my colleague and her husband to Del Borgo, in St John St, Birgu. Birgu is also known as Vittoriosa, and is one of the ‘three cities’, and another of the tiny medieval cities which are a feature of the island. This place is extremely popular, and booking a week or two in advance is highly recommended. We started with shared dips, which came with a mountain of bread and were almost a meal in themselves. The rucola one was creamy and piquant, with the spicy, traditional Maltese broad bean dip a lot stronger and perhaps more of an acquired taste. The third one was more sweet, and with tomato and other ingredients that we couldn’t quite identify. I had thought we ordered hummus, but if so it was an unusual, if very palatable, hummus. We then moved on to a pasta dish of tortellini filled with blue cheese, gorgonzola and artichoke hearts which was creamy and pleasant, but not a highlight.
I was really too full for dessert, but a plate of petit fours was a good way to finish. The wines were Maltese, from the Medina vineyard. We started with a lighter shiraz, and then moved on to a cabernet sauvignon, which was fuller and more oaky. By that time though, I was suffering from the 2am arrival the night before, and feeling a little cold. If I’ve one suggestion for the management, it’s to buy some heaters!
Proof of Global Warming
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Green in the City , add a commentwithout a doubt, this does it!
