Global Warming: The Real Facts

We invite you to email us your comments and more questions at info@greypower.org.au . We will answer all your emails and publish your questions with our answers here on our website.

Questions and Answers

Q: What can I do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

A: The most important action you can take is to lobby and support politicians who are seriously committed to greenhouse gas emission reductions by the use of genuinely clean energy, because only legislation will ensure appropriate actions will take place.

Other personal actions are:

For as little as $1 per week you can switch to Green Power that provides you with zero CO2 emissions generated power. A solar hot water system will reduce electricity consumption on average by more than 25% per household and provides a payback over a very reasonable time depending on the size of the household. Energy efficient light bulbs and appliances can make a significant contribution to lowering CO2 emissions. Switching appliances off is much better than leaving them in stand-by mode. For less than $50 per year you can buy carbon credits to offset your car's CO2 emissions. Photovoltaic panels can be installed on your roof to produce solar power.
http://www.greenpower.nsw.gov.au/
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs42.htm
http://www.energyrating.gov.au/library/pubs/hhenergy1998.pdf (at page 4)

Q1: What scientific evidence is available to support the current concerns about global warming?

A: The most authoritative scientific body is the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), which was established in 1988 by the United Nations to assess the "risk of human-induced climate change". It is made up of hundreds of scientists who volunteer to collate the latest science on climate change. Their latest report has just been published and paints a grim picture. http://www.ipcc.ch/

Q2: How has the increase in global temperatures been established?

Scientists have measured CO2 levels in ice core samples going back over 650,000 years. They know that CO2 and temperature rises go together. Temperatures have been increasing at an accelerating rate since the industrial revolution.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5314592.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

Q3: How is global warming affecting the planet?

The effects of climate change on our planet include drought, water shortages, extreme weather, sea level rises, vulnerable ecosystems at risk with loss of species, melting of glaciers (6 times faster now than in 1980). In the last 25 years 40% of the Arctic ice has been lost.
http://www.grida.no/climate/vital/30.htm http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/glaciers.html

Q4: How much time do we have to prevent irreversible damage to the planet?

A: Global warming was predicted nearly 40 years ago; very little has been done since then - some scientists claim that we have less than 10 years to make changes; that is seen as the tipping point. Postponing action will lead to more catastrophic consequences and more costly solutions.
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/ stern_review_economics_climate_change/sternreview_index.cfm
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/solutions/now.asp

Q5: What measures can be taken?

A: We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by phasing out the use of fossil fuels. This can be achieved by reducing our energy usage and using other energy sources along with greater efficiency in electricity production and the reduced use of cars, road freight and air travel. Targets to reduce CO2 emissions and use clean renewable energy should be introduced urgently. The introduction of carbon taxes and emissions trading legislation are key to achieving these targets.

Q6: Why not use 'Clean Coal'

A: Extensive research is taking place to sequester (bury) CO2 emitted by coal-fired power stations underground. In theory this is possible but full scale application is not and may never be possible. At best we may expect some application available within about 10 to 15 years, which is too little too late.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_coal

Q7: Can't we use nuclear energy?

A: The use of nuclear energy may reduce greenhouse gas emissions but creates unnecessary risks and hazards because of radioactive waste that needs to be managed for thousands of years and because of potential for unwanted use by rogue parties. Briefly, nuclear is dirty and dangerous. Building a nuclear reactor takes up to 15 years while action on climate change needs to be taken now. The world wide supply of nuclear fuel is rather limited.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power

Q8: What is renewable energy?

A: Renewable energy is energy from sources that are naturally continually renewed, not sources like coal, oil, gas and uranium that are ultimately limited in supply and cannot be renewed. There are many renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, wave, tidal, hydro and bio-energy (burning crop waste).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy

Q9: Can renewable energy replace coal?

A: Yes. Renewable energy can provide strong and steady electricity to supply our base-load needs as well as our peak demand. With efficient promotion and installation of renewable energy sources some coal-fired power stations could be turned off within a few years.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1605734.htm
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/solar-power/news2006-03-21.php

Q10: Isn’t some renewable energy, like solar and wind power, unpredictable?

A: Some solar and wind technologies are already operational in other countries providing uninterrupted power 24hrs per day via intermediate storage of energy. Other renewable sources, like hydro, geothermal and bio-energy are intrinsically highly predictable and controllable.
http://www.math.auckland.ac.nz/~king/Preprints/pdf/WindArt.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_energy

Q11: If renewable energy can provide energy, why don’t we use it?

A: Renewable energy is working elsewhere but is threatening the market share of the existing coal and nuclear industries, which are fighting back by belittling renewable energy technologies and sending the erroneous message that renewable energy can’t deliver.
http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/global/downloads/australia_uranium_report06.pdf
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/experts-explode-ziggys-nuclear-power-theory/2006/12/11/1165685616752.html

Q12: What are typical greenhouse emission and renewable energy targets.

A: The EU has set an emission reduction target by 2020 of 20% less than 1990. Many countries have set binding renewable energy targets for 2010: Austria 78%, Portugal 45.6%, and Sweden 60%. These countries are already close to achieving this. Nationally Australia does not have emission reduction targets and the renewable energy target is a 2% increase over 2001 levels by 2010. This will keep the overall level at a “stand-still” of 10.5% of total energy consumed. SA NSW and VIC have legislated renewable energy targets of 20% by 2014, 15% by 2020 and 10% by 2016 respectively. Tasmania already achieves 81%.
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/res/index_en.htm (- table 4)

Q13: What impact will a reduction in the use of fossil fuels have on the Australian economy?

A: Australia is perfectly situated to develop and apply solar and wind energy. Embracing these business opportunities will build expertise that can be used to replace potential reduction in coal and uranium export. A 20 to 40 year planning horizon provides enough scope for this transition. This can be managed with no effect on employment because over that period close to half the coal workforce of 30,000 will retire. The others, less than 1000 per year, could be employed in renewable energy business.

September 2007: Additional questions

Q14: What is the impact of crematoria on greenhouse gas emissions

A: The average cremation process produces about 0.25 tons of CO2 per person. This is equivalent to the average living person’s emissions for 1 month. In the UK there were 424,956 cremations in 2004, emitting approx 106,000 tons of CO2, which is equivalent to the total emissions of 13,250 households for a full year.

http://www.ellesmereportstandard.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?sectionid=5381&articleid=2185979 http://money.guardian.co.uk/ethicalliving/story/0,,1594865,00.html

Q15: After the Franklin dam rejection there was a proposal to build a coal fired power station in Tasmania. What is Grey Power’s position in this matter ?

A: That power station was never built because there was no need for additional power generation. For future energy needs renewable energy should be used. Wind may be a suitable option for Tasmania.

Q16: There are rumours that China is using a new methopd of using uranium for power generation.

A: Our research confirms that China is developing its own nuclear technology.

The plan is to build 31 of the new type 1,000MW nuclear reactors by 2020. Each of these has roughly double the capacity of our traditional coal fired power stations.

http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=132&storyCode=2045246

Q17: Why would geothermal and biomass be the preferred first renewable energies to be used in Australia

A: Next to wind these two clean energies are the most promising for Australia to complement and replace fossil fuelled energy generation. The estimated geothermal reserves in Australia, especially beneath the Great Artesian Basin are huge and its economic development may well be competitive with base load generation from coal. Based on data from over 3,500 boreholes, conservative estimates of the Australian geothermal resource suggest the energy available for electricity generation is 23 million petajoules, or 7,500 years of Australian energy consumption at the current level.

It is harder to find an accurate estimate of potential biomass power generation capacity, but figures from other countries suggest that more than 50% of total energy needs can be satisfied from biomass.

Both geothermal and biomass are promising to be competitive with fossil fuel energy generation and more competitive than solar.

http://www.rise.org.au/info/Res/geothermal/index.html http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/renewable/recp/hotdryrock/one.html http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenmp.nsf/childdocs/-F3E8F7FE27CEB5ABCA2570030000808E http://www.ga.gov.au/minerals/research/national/geothermal/index.jsp  

http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/AFT/04-031.pdf http://www.premiers.nsw.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/CC0A236E-103F-40CA-BF90-7C0F8AFD65C8/0/BioEnergy220607dnd.pdf

Q18: Does the use of geothermal energy  cool down the core of the planet.

A: Yes, but it is negligible. The total heat energy stored in the earth is almost limitless. The earth will cool down anyway over a very long period and the use of geothermal energy will have virtually no impact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_power http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-160643.html

Q19: Do individual households have enough space to install sufficient solar panels to provide their own electricity ?

A: Generally people owning an average block of land with a free standing dwelling would have enough area on their roofs to do so. But it would cover a large part of the roof and it would be quite expensive. For the average household to be self sufficient one would have to install a capacity of almost 4000W. This could be done with 22 panels of 175W each, covering an area of almost 30 square meters.

http://www.aussiesolar.com/

http://www.todae.com.au/comersus2/store/comersus_listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=68&gclid=CNzxzova_o0CFQHmhgodnl2eNw