Participants needed for “pervasive mobile game” on the Penine waterway…

Posted on April 10, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Via facebook message-

We’re looking for participants to help in the delivery of a pervasive mobile game which takes place on the Manchester Pennine waterway. The game has been devised by international artists TRES, a Mexican collective whose research looks at the political and material implications of waste as residue of contemporary civilization.

There is more info in the link below, and also info on how to sign up.
http://www.andfestival.org.uk/events/roughfish/

Thanks
Alice, AND

Rough Fish / TRES Art Collective | Abandon Normal Devices
www.andfestival.org.uk

Posted in Upcoming Events, volunteer opportunity | Leave a comment

Christian Aid Day of #Climate Action, 17th June

Posted on April 9, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Christian Aid – Day of Climate Action – 17 June

Dr Rowan Williams, Chair of Christian Aid, said, ‘It’s time to regain a sense that our relationship with the earth is about communion, not consumption’.

On 17 June, Christian Aid will come together to tell the newly elected government to stand up to vested interests and make climate change their number one priority. Christian Aid would like you to go and tell your MP and the government that the time for climate action is now.

You can sign up at christianaid.org.uk/speakup or contact the local regional coordinator, Bex Turner on rturner@christian-aid.org or 01925 582 817.

Thanks,

Bex

Posted in Campaign Update, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Polar Bear Facepalm: “Green Climate Fund” can support… coal….

Posted on April 4, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Not making this up.

polarbearfundingcarbon

Posted in Polar Bear Facepalm | Leave a comment

London protest about UK’s dirtiest power station, April 22nd

Posted on April 3, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Normally Manchester (the clue is in the name) Climate Monthly steers clear of London-based protests. Why this exception then? Blame it on nostalgia; In January 2006 (almost a decade ago!!) there was the first organising meeting for “Camp for Climate Action”, here in Manchester (at MERCi). The site and ‘target’ of that first camp was Drax Power Station. Drax – predictably enough – is in far better shape than the climate movement. So it goes…

This EARTH DAY pull the plug on the UK’s Dirtiest Power Station! #AXEDRAX!

Join Biofuelwatch, London Mining Network, Fuel Poverty Action and more in London, 11.00-13.00, onWednesday 22 April at the Drax AGM, the Grocer’s Hall, Princes St, EC2R 8AD, for a lively protest to expose and oppose burning biomass and coal.

At 13.00 we will decamp to DECC with as many banners as we can and deliver an international NGO letter demanding DECC stop subsidising burning trees and coal in the name of renewable energy and carbon saving.

#AXEDRAX will unite Coal and Biomass campaigners with others who believe that UK energy policy is stupid and unjust.

For forests, communities and the climate, it’s time to #AXEDRAX!

Tell us you’re coming at biofuelwatch@ymail.com

Spread the word: https://www.facebook.com/events/318444765019328/

See www.axedrax.org.uk

Join the London Biomassive https://www.facebook.com/LondonBiomassive to plan and do.

​

 

Here’s a blog I did for Fuel Poverty Action.

‘RENEWABLES’ SUBSIDISE THE BURNING OF MORE COAL!

Drax has recently become the biggest burner of wood (biomass) to generate electricity in the world.
It claims this is for environmental reasons. But without biomass Drax would have had to close because of failure to meet EU sulphur pollution regulations (according to Vince Cable). Government renewable energy subsidies will extend the coal burning life of this dinosaur till 2027. This is neither renewable nor low carbon!
From 2016 Drax Power Station stands to get £660m year to burn imported trees, driving deforestation, biodiversity loss, toxic local pollution and increased climate emissions. DECCs own Biomass Carbon Calculator shows that some of their feedstock is up to 3 times worse than coal when all the emissions associated with logging are taken into account. So this meets neither climate nor conservation, nor pollution, nor energy security goals. 
 
It does however meet our EU Renewable Energy Targets of 15% of primary energy from renewables by 2020 which are completely, idiotically, decoupled from carbon saving or energy efficiency targets! It also helps ‘keep the lights on’ – that old-think phrase that presupposes that current demand must be met rather than reduced. But it is a colossal waste of money and energy.
 
WE DIDN’T NEED DRAX
When Drax was built campaigners calculated that the capital investment could insulate East Anglia, saving the amount of energy Drax would produce every year. Yet Drax was built to waste energy for 40 years. History is about to repeat itself.
WE DON’T NEED DRAX
According to International Energy Agency figures if we spent Drax’s £660m a year subsidy on energy saving instead we could remove the need for Drax in 5 years! People would be warmer, healthier and better off; the country would need less energy making it more energy secure and easier to supply with domestic renewables; fossil fuels and forests would remain unburnt, the latter helping mop up other emissions. You’d have thought this would be a clear vote winner but politicians consistently fail to act on energy saving and demand reduction.
STOP SUBSIDISING NONSENSE.
Biofuelwatch argues that Environmentally Harmful Subsidies should cease and renewable energy should be redefined to exclude those that do more harm than good such as bio-energy and waste for energy. The government has done some of the science but is dragging its feet on implementing it as policy. But it recently removed some of the so called ‘grandfathering’ which guarantees subsidies till a certain date even if it turns out to be doing more harm than good. And the science is more and more showing that to be the case.

#AXEDRAX

Drax Power Station has led the way for the industry, lobbying, greenwashing, converting and building the necessary infrastructure and clearcutting hugely biodiverse native forests in the southern US and Canada. Drax exemplifies much that is wrong with UK energy policy and renewable energy subsidies.
So we are joining with coal and energy campaigners to tell DECC to #AXEDRAX now and use the money saved to rethink the way that we do energy, moving beyond burning.
Join us on Wednesday 22 April, 11.00-13.00 at the Drax AGM, Grocer’s Hall, Princes St, EC2R 8AD, and then at DECC to expose and oppose all the players in this dangerous false solution! This EARTH DAY pull the plug on the UK’s Dirtiest Power Station. #AXEDRAX.ORG.UK
Join the London Biomassive https://www.facebook.com/LondonBiomassive
For more information on Biomass see the FAQs and other info at http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/biomass-resources/
Posted in Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Exclusive: Manchester City Council ties wage increases for bosses to carbon reductions

Posted on April 1, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

In an unexpected and welcome move, Manchester City Council is to tie the wages of its Executive members and senior management team to the Council’s overall success in reducing carbon emissions.

“We have a bold and innovative vision for Manchester” said Sir Richard Leese, leader of the Council, “and part of that is making it the greenest city in the UK, and a world-leader in low carbon technologies. In 2009 we created the Stakeholder Climate Change Action Plan, which called for the City’s emissions to be cut by 41% by 2020. It’s a plan for all of Manchester, not just the Council. Now we are going to deliver. To push forward on the pace of it, we have decided to tie my pay – and that of my fellow Labour Executive members, and Howard, Jessica and other members of our world-class senior officer team – to cutting back on emissions. And we’re not going to do it by just selling off buildings. We mean ‘business’ – no carbon cuts, no pay rises.”

Details have not been released, but sources indicate that the idea arose from Councillor Kate Chappell, Executive Member for the Environment, who said that she will soon be blogging about the scheme, and the broader agenda of creating a ‘low carbon culture.’

A source within the Labour party told MCFly “It was a bit of a fight, to be honest. Pat and John were not exactly happy about it, but Joanne, Kevin, Angeliki backed it, and they’re a big part of the intransigent ‘green bloc,’ and they carried the day.”

Gavin Elliott, leader of the Stakeholder Steering Group, welcomed the move and felt sure that the private sector would soon be copying the Council’s move, starting with his own organisation, BDP.

A further council proposal – to tie wages to the accuracy of statements given to scrutiny committees – was rejected after a deeply unedifying and depressing battle.

Time-scales are uncertain, but Councillor Chappell said that, recognising the supreme importance of the issue there was “no time to waste,”  the plans would be implemented as quickly as the council’s bureaucratic machinery could manage, probably by 1st April 2016. Or 2017. At absolute worst by 2018. Or maybe ’19.

Posted in Manchester City Council | 2 Comments

Polar Bear Facepalm: USA #climate politics

Posted on March 21, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Reasons not to bother paying attention to Paris #94.

polarbearmcconnelljpg

Posted in Polar Bear Facepalm, Signs of the Pending Ecological Debacle | Leave a comment

Upcoming Event: “Gas Networks in Britain” #Manchester 22nd April

Posted on March 20, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Tyndall Manchester would like to invite you to attend the next talk in our seminar series ‘Past and Prospective Developments in Gas Networks in Britain’ by Professor Peter Pearson, from the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London on Wednesday 22nd April (room C1, George Begg Building, Sackville Street) at 4.00pm.

 

Past and Prospective Developments in Gas Networks in Britain

Professor Peter Pearson, Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College, London (biography attached)

Projections of low carbon pathways to the UK’s 2050 climate change target suggest a need to go from dependence on natural gas as a heating fuel, to electric heat pumps, biomass boilers, etc. and to undertake gas decarbonisation (via CCS and/or injection of biogas, and conversion of low pressure networks to supply hydrogen). Consequently, the low-pressure gas mains networks might need decommissioning by 2050. At the same time, the international exploitation of shale gas has led to pressures to enhance the short to medium term presence of gas in the energy system. Against this context of a contested transition away from natural gas, the presentation examines developments in British gas networks, from their origin in the early 19th century to their prospects in the 21st. It explores innovation and transformation in the industry, from its original plant-based distributed operation to a system based on local, national and ultimately international networks. It examines what insights or lessons for the future might be gleaned from these past experiences.

 

Please RSVP, or contact Amrita with any queries- tyndall@manchester.ac.uk

Posted in academia, Energy, University of Manchester, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Explaining #climate change in a #Manchester pub – of duvets, sailing ships and coal

Posted on March 17, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Last night I got to do a ten minute “what is my research about” spiel at “PhD in the Pub.” It was followed by a slightly-less-than-20-minute q and a session (because I ‘donated’ some time from that to having folks confer before we began asking questions).

My spiel covered –

“meet someone you don’t know”
“explaining climate change – of Keeling curves and duvets”
“sailing ships and sociotechnical transitions”
“it’s a howdunnit, not a whodunnit or a whydunnit”

The q and a covered technology transfer, polar bears, vasectomies, bureaucracies,  feminism and much more.

Would love to know what you all  think.  If you are reading this on facebook, please comment on the blog (as well).

Posted in academia, Event reports, narcissism, youtubes | Leave a comment

Upcoming Event: “Migratory Birds – poetry and perceptions of climate change Weds 25th March

Posted on March 16, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly
MIGRATORY BIRDS 
Poetry and Perceptions of Climate Change 
WEDNESDAY 25TH MARCH 
Roundtable 
A panel of literary scholars and climate change and bird species experts will address the following questions: 
  • How does poetry represent birds and our relationship to them and how might it change the way that we relate to the natural world? 
  • What impact is climate change going to have on migratory bird species in the North-West and beyond? 
  • What will be lost in terms of the impact on the natural and built environment and in terms of our imaginative and spiritual connection to the world of birds? 
 Contact clara.dawson@manchester.ac.uk for enquiries 
Roundtable 
3-5pm • Samuel Alexander Building • A113 
Carola Luther (Carcanet Press), Dr Stuart Marsden (Manchester Metropolitan University), Professor Michael O’Neill (Durham University), Dr Mark Sandy (Durham University), Dr Michael Traut(Manchester University), Ralph Underhill (Public Interest Research Centre). 
Wine Reception 
5-6pm • Samuel Alexander Builing • North Foyer 
Poetry Reading 
6-7.30pm • Samuel Alexander Building • SG1 
On the theme of birds with Professor Michael O’Neill (Durham University) and Carola Luther(Carcanet Press), introduced by RSPB. 
All are welcome; no booking required 
Posted in Biodiversity, University of Manchester, Upcoming Events | Leave a comment

Upcoming Event: Mon 16th March (tonight!) PhD in the Pub – #climate change and the coal industry

Posted on March 16, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Tonight MCFly editor Marc Hudson will be describing his PhD research as part of “PhD in the Pub“.

It’s free (though he [I!] may make you buy him a pint…

7.30pm at The Church Inn, 84 Higher Cambridge Street. [website]

Posted in Signs of the Pending Ecological Debacle, University of Manchester, Upcoming Events | 1 Comment