For Publication : Letter to the Editor
Saving Energy could Save Business and Save Society

Dear Madam / Sir,

What are the Government of the United Kingdom thinking by claiming Antarctic territory ? They may well have done it with a view to oil, gas and mineral mining rights, but exactly how much benefit will it give us ?

Even though oil exploration continues apace, discoveries are dropping. It seems unlikely that the polar regions will yield much petroleum or Natural Gas.

It may be possible that there are vast lakes of frozen sub-sea methane to mine for energy, but it would be uneconomic to do so, as well as hazardous to the Climate.

It is unlikely that there are high-quality uranium seams to mine in Antarctica, and little if no coal. Antarctica cannot help us with our future energy needs at affordable prices.

In the Financial Times newspaper of 16th October 2007, John Authers in "The Short View" said : "This wasn't supposed to happen. Crude oil hit new highs yesterday...oil prices should be enjoying a seasonal decline...The tension between Turkey and Iraq appears to explain why oil is rising..."

In the Guardian newspaper on 17th October 2007, the article "Hauliers lead industry outcry as oil breaks records to nudge $88 a barrel", Terry Macalister wrote, "[OPEC] has increased its price target but kept its production levels steady to gradually ratchet up the value of crude..."

It's not conflict between foreign nations that's driving up the price of oil.

It's not OPEC that's forcing our hand.

The facts are that rising international consumption of crude oil and Natural Gas is provoking the early onset of Peak Energy.

The price of energy is going to continue to rise sharply, and take minerals prices up with it.

It's also taking up the price of food up with it, where intensive farming relies on petroleum by-products for fertiliser and pesticides.

Worldwide, Climate Change is also driving up the price of food, even where farming is not reliant on oil.

Ordinary householders are going to suffer a triple-whammy from rising oil prices : more expensive travel, more expensive energy bills and more expensive food.

Higher relative energy prices will cause increased unemployment, the collapse of the debt pyramid, and a slow-down in production and construction.

We desperately need to control our energy use, internationally, nationally, locally.

Hundreds of thousands of offices, schools and public buildings have just hit the ignition key on their heating systems for the onset of "winter".

How hot is your office ? Why should it ever be more than 18 degrees Celsius, the optimum working temperature for human beings ?

What is the heating strategy of your office building, your school, your hospital, your town hall ? How are your facilities team going to manage the bills ?

Please join us in the BLACKOUT this year on 31st October 2007, when we are asking everyone, including maintenance guys, to turn off the burn, hit the lights and put in place a plan to save energy, and save money on energy bills.

With the predictable downturn in the economies from the rise in energy prices, energy costs could become as important as labour costs.

If you have an energy conservation plan you could be saving your business as well as your budget. And communities that save energy, save services and security.

BLACKOUT BRITAIN on 31st October 2007 between 4pm and 5pm for a hallowed hour of Climate calm.

Ms J. Abbess

Letter to the Newspaper Editors : 16 October 2007

Cutting Down on Energy : For Publication

To : The Editor, for publication

Dear Madam / Sir,

Are your readers aware of the mismanagement of the energy supply being committed in their name ?

A good proportion of the energy used at power plant becomes heat that is simply released into the air, or drained into the rivers and sea.

Big energy plants are wasteful and it is ridiculous to think of building more.

What we need are combined heat-and-power plants in town centres, and wind farms on the coasts and at sea.

Eventually we could be looking at marine power, but that has still to be tested.

In the meantime, we can encourage ourselves, our businesses, our schools, our hospitals and our other public buildings to save energy.

"Insulation, insulation, insulation" should be a policy mantra.

Cutting down on heating, lighting and power bills is the surest way to avoid costly national energy mistakes.

Fuel for energy plants and transport is becoming more expensive, almost by the day, and there are reports of Natural Gas supplies coming to an end in some supplier nations.

To show we mean business about cutting down on energy, we are asking your readers to join us in the BLACKOUT on 31st October between 4pm and 5pm.

We wish you a HAPPY BLACKOUT - a hallowed hour of darkness.

Ms J. Abbess

Letter to the Newspaper Editors : 15 October 2007

For Publication : Letter to the Editor

Dear Madam / Sir,

A constant supply electricity, is, of course, a mark of how well a society has developed. We can rely on the powers-that-be to provide us with power. Imagine if the electorate could no longer bank on an early morning cup of tea, or bank on cash out of the wall...

Political parties would lose elections if electricity supply was constantly subject to BROWNOUTs and BLACKOUTs. Electricity, therefore, is a highly-charged political matter.

However, the generation of electricity is dangerous for the environment, with its high coal-content, it's really dirty. And to keep the lights on, we are burning vast amounts of Natural Gas as well, imported now that we are energy-dependent.

To draw attention to the need to rationalise our use of energy, we're calling for a BLACKOUT every now and then, a voluntary way to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions, a symbolic, but not meaningless gesture.

Taking part in a BLACKOUT might convince people and businesses to be more careful with electricity in future.

But why do we focus on lighting ? Lighting constitutes about a tenth of the consumption of electricity.

And electrical energy supply is not even the biggest Climate Change problem we have : transport is arguably more significant in terms of Carbon Dioxide Emissions.

And Gas Central Heating makes up about a third to a half of our total Carbon profile.

But you see, lighting is something you can see. It makes for good photographs, good telly. Turning out the lights is a momentous ritual, when we light the birthday cake candles. Turning out the lights is what we do before we dream.

People would not join in if we just asked them to turn off their car engines for an hour, or turn off the heating for an hour. It would not feel eventful. People might get lonely and cold.

Asking people to unplug their computers and televisions and music centres for an hour allows some time for the mind to breathe, but it does not feel like an exciting community activity.

Turning out the lights is a signal, a signal in reverse. An unlight in the brightness, as opposed to a light in the darkness.

And there's another thing. With gas heating and driving, you can stop the burning of Fossil Fuels directly. With electricity, an awful lot of people have to show they can stop consuming, before the plants supplying the National Grid can stop the burning.

Listen hard and you can hear the constant background hum.

We need to reduce our energy demand in order to cut our Carbon Dioxide Emissions.

As individuals for example, we can all drive less, buy less imported products, turn down the thermostat and get good home insulation. We can do this in stages, little by little.

But for electricity, we have to cut our energy use consistently and significantly before change can start to happen.

As the nuclear power plants continue to be de-commissioned, the gap between demand and supply, the "generating gap", will be mostly be filled by burning coal and Natural Gas, all day, all night and the weekends too.

Lighting is only a portion of that demand, that causes that supply, but there is so much waste it's an obvious place to start energy conservation.

It will be hard to stop the building of new power plants unless we learn to turn out the lights.

BLACKOUT BRITAIN with us on 31st October 2007 between 4pm and 5pm for an Hour of Climate Calm.

With regards,

Ms J. Abbess

Letter to the Newspaper Editors : 9th October 2007

BLACKOUT HALLOWEEN : 31st October 2007

Dear Madam/Sir,

As I travel by overground train in the fast-darkening evenings, looking out over the twinkling Financial districts of London, I am reminded again that leaving the lights on when everyone goes home is collective stupidity.

Nobody know where the lighting controls are. Nobody takes responsibility for their use. Nobody has tasked the building facilities group with implementing an energy saving project.

May I ask your readers to assert Energy Intelligence on Wednesday 31st October 2007 and join in the national Blackout between 4pm and 5pm to light up this energy idiocy.

We are staring into the jaws of an energy crisis : Nuclear Power cannot be brought on-stream for at least a decade, and its use is as controversial as nuclear waste disposal, which is suffering from intense drag.

Wind Power is dogged by people rightly opposing large projects with no community involvement. Sea Power is only a twinkle in the eye of a few fevered infrastructural architects.

Nu Coal is not the answer, not without Carbon Capture, and Carbon Capture needs suitable geology and lots of cash. Underground gas pumping is only really economic if it brings up oil, but once a field levels off there's no magic cure.

Added to all of this we are foolishly making ourselves ever more dependent on Russia and the Middle East for Natural Gas.

We need to cap energy demand, and we need to make up emerging shortfalls with fast-to-grid Renewables of all kinds.

If we can, we need to switch from using Fossil Fuels to green electricity, for all applications, including transport. This is the only way to avert a major recession triggered by looming Carbon energy price rises.

When Carbon gets a price, either from full Carbon Trading, Carbon Taxation or Carbon Rationing, we will need to be ready to drop the Carbon or suffer a major economic hit.

We can make ready by being more energy efficient and reducing our demand for Fossil Fuel energy.

Help us make the case for energy sense by Blacking Out on 31st October between 4pm and 5pm.

Yours,

Ms J. Abbess