Wasting heat through open doors

This week I had a meeting with the Carbon Trust, a government-funded organisation that helps businesses move towards a low carbon economy. They offer advice on saving energy, so I thought it was rather ironic that the doors of the large office block where I went were wide open – letting the heat out and the cold in................................

This is not just a problem for office blocks - shops often have open doors to 'welcome' customers, my son's school leaves doors open throughout the winter and many public buildings and hotels are over heated so people open the windows to let the heat out............

Read more about this in my article on Telegraph online by clicking here....

Good riddance to US car companies

I sat next to a chap from Citicorp Bank for Sunday lunch at a pub last weekend. His company was apparently waiting to hear about the $2o billion cash injection from the US government. But he was more struck by the news about America's car giants and their approach to getting a government bail out.

I could hardly believe my ears. With no shortage of regular flights available, all three CEOs - from Ford, Chrysler and General Motors - chose to fly to Washington in their own company private jet. My banker friend said that news of this profligacy flew around the City - the sheer crassness shocking even high earners.

Apart from the cost of three separate jets at an estimated $20,000 a piece, what about the environmental impact? At the very least, these corporate gluttons could have shared a private jet between them.

To me it was symbolic of the American car industry's whole approach to fuel efficiency. They don't understand it. If every car in America averaged 45mpg, apparently they wouldn't need to import any oil. It's currently 25mpg, which is even less than in China. And Americans travel further than the rest of us too - and own more cars.

With less than 5% of the world's population, Americans own about a third of all cars. I don't want to prop up their car industry - let them go. How are we ever going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when the whole world is focused on maintaining current consumption habits at the same level as they are today?

Selling less cars, driving less miles and making cars more fuel efficient will all reduce global warming impact. Let's spend the money on better public transport, re-designing cities and tele-commuting.

So I say 'good riddance' to Ford, Chrysler and GM - and let's get rid of their bosses while we're at it....

Quantumly awful

I'm not planning see a James Bond film again unless it's radically different from Quantum of Solace.

It was awful from beginning to end, starting with a car chase that was impossible to fathom. Which car was Bond in? Who was chasing him? What was happening? Nothing was clear. Part of the problem was the photography - it was so close up and flashed from scene to scene that you couldn't grasp anything. Most of the action scenes were like that.

Even worse than that was that the movie had dispensed with sex and humour. The lead woman, Olga Kurylenko, was incredibly beautiful but was treated by Bond with indifference - dumping her like a sack of potatoes when she was hurt. I missed the other woman because I'd fallen asleep.

Buried somewhere in the plot there was apparently an environmental theme. Something about making vast sums of money out of depriving people of water - as well as a mention of the world running out of oil. I like the idea of these sort of themes in a Bond movie but I only really worked out the plot on the way home talking to the children. What a missed opportunity.

Lots of violence and killing but no romance, technology or jokes. For me it wasn't even redeemed by Daniel Craig - I don't find him attractive. Good riddance to Bond....

Turning on the heat...

My eldest son sent me a text 'demanding' that I put on the heating for half term. I resisted because I'd decided to hold out until November - and even then only when it was really needed...........

Five-and-a-half per cent of UK greenhouse gas emissions comes from home heating.

I don't recommend that everyone takes the same approach as me. But I do think that a lot of people keep their homes too warm, that too much heating is wasted and that putting on an extra jersey or two is not such a great hardship.

Read the whole of this article on Telegraph online by clicking here.