Electric Propulsion

The increasing focus on the climate challenge is spawning amazing ingenuity on a global scale.

I just came across a Ford F-150 prototype looking like a real macho hunk:

Hi-Pa Drive™ F-150
What’s been taken out of this Ford F-150 hinges on what’s been put in. The engine, drive train, gear box and all the related parts have been replaced with the game-changing Hi-Pa Drive™ system. The four electric in-wheel motors that power the fully-electric Hi-Pa Drive F-150 will deliver more than 600 horsepower as well as more torque than the 320 horsepower V-8 engine it replaced. Hi-Pa Drive is helping car designers eliminate oil dependency, carbon emissions and costs, while adding more power, room, performance and design options.

The people making the electric motor can be found here:

http://www.hipadrive.com/index.html

French Taste

 

I wanted to share this interior with my readers. My brother-in-law Albert captured this equisite interior in a B&B we all stayed in for a wedding in Normandie.

The area has a lovely landscape and a very leisurely pace.

The B&B is close to:
View Larger Map

Biochar Information Resources

In the battle to strengthen awareness and galvanize people to action, there are some useful resources on the web that will assist in better understanding the issues:

http://www.biochar-international.org/ 
The International Biochar Initiative

http://www.biocharcentral.com/
This is a new social networking site for the biochar community

www.350.org 
This is a climate action website. They organize events like:

Take Action with 350 on October 24th

I hope this is helpful.

Why we are all required to act

This is why we need to act. Pictures are worth a thousand words.

The Climate: From recognition to effective action

Sir Anthony Giddens, a former Director of the London School of Economics, formulated the "Giddens Paradox". It goes like this:

Since the dangers posed by global warming are not immediate or visible to most people, they ignore them; but waiting for them to become visible and immediate before taking serious action will be, by definition, too late. This is a political and not a technocratic problem, he argues, and those in the climate-change lobby who get impatient with politics are wrong. Even the best technocratic scheme has little chance of success unless a way is found to achieve it through politics...

I would like to add a slightly different nuance, referred to as the "Knagenhjelm Paradox":

Each one of us is not equipped to comprehend the effect of the sum of our individual actions. Each person perceives his/her own actions as marginal and does not have a behaviour codex that will guide their decisions consistent with the cumulatively optimal outcome.

To overcome this conundrum I propose that we must create a political movement with a simple to understand objective:

A Carbon Added Tax (CAT) must be introduced. Governments can decide whether it should be a defined component of existing Value Added (Sales) Tax, or a separately identified component. It should reflect the amount of climate gas produced by the product or service in question.

This tax should be introduced by all countries above a certain GDP/Capita. The revenue should be earmarked for climate mitigation measures. Half should be deployed domestically and the other half in Less Developed Countries to save the rainforest, create CO2 sequestration projects and develop sustainable energy resources.

In developed countries the tax revenue should be used for:

• Feed-in tariffs for sustainable energy such as wind, solar, hydro electric and geothermal
• Removal of all tax on zero emission transport and energy solutions
  
• Cheap loans for insulation of the building stock

These measures must be designed to price harmful solutions out of the market.

This is the beginning of the Third World War. The enemy is ourselves - our own behaviour and everyday choices. As footsoldiers in this most dangerous conflict in human history, we must demand of our leaders that they lead from the front with courage and resolve. If not, they will be replaced by those who will.

Onwards and Upwards!

King of the forests

We are approaching the season when hunters and gatherers prepare to secure the energy supply for the cold season. This noble creature is engaged on exactly the same mission. He also needs to make his best eforts to have enough fat on his loins to get him through the winter alive.

Careful wildlife management will ensure that the deer population will remain healthy and robust, whilst offering some of its surplus protein up to us humans to enjoy with gratitude.

This is far better than cattle force fed on antibiotics and hormones!

A proud skipper with his vessel!

Here is the proud owner and skipper of an 1891 Colin Archer designed pilot vessel, faithfully brought back to its original specification in the eighties. We skirted a very dark storm cloud but were swiped by it resulting in a howling gale and a serious test of the rig, ropework and pulleys. She stood up to the test like a true viking lady should!

It is a true privilege to sail such a fine vessel!