Dame Ellen (among others) still has some studying to do!
The news this week has been full of SustainabilityLive!, or at least the green press has and the mainstream will follow once the MP expenses scandal no longer sells copy. Some good came out of it but, regrettably, a lot of outdated and misinformed truisms were paraded for the sake of making a splash.
Some of the harsh facts that we, in the business community, face were reiterated to good effect: by 2050 the UK will no longer have its own energy resources to create and supply electricity to the natiion.
Let’s hope the Eastern block don’t turn off any taps, since we are the second last stop on the fuel line (Ireland’s really over a barrel!). UK refineries could cut their carbon footprint by as much 24%, saving resource and money, claims IChemE researcher, Dr. Philip Holmes, in a statement that goes a long way to keeping the focus on the organisations that can make a real difference.
Dame Ellen MacArthur, the renowned yachtswoman, has added her name to the list of celebs championing the carbon reduction cause and gave a, by and large, positive presentation at the event, but betrayed what is the main failing of this type of activity.
Having set the stage with her own journey of realisation, she then went on to include in her call to action (with visual aid support), the installation of wind turbines on domestic roofs.
It has been long established that the average British home can generate just enough juice to power one (maybe two) low energy bulbs… hardly a cost efficient solution in view of the carbon destruction involved in the manufacture of these things.
In a separate announcement, TV designer Kevin McCloud has just launched the Great British Refurb Campaign, again putting the pressure on the residential consumer to make their homes more energy efficient.
In view of the fact that 68% of the electricity the residential user pays for never actually reaches his/her home, should Mr. Grand Designs not be looking further up the energy chain and get the power generators to clean their house first before picking on an already heavily burdened end user?
What these instances demonstrate is that celebs should stay in the classroom a little longer before stepping up to the podium and saying something that may only serve to damage their reputation down the road.
I like Ellen MacArthur, I think she’s the walking epitome of a go-getting attitude that is an inspiration to people in an economic environment that can all too easily sap what little confidence entrepreneurs in this country still have left.
Let’s stop picking (however positively it may be packaged) on the end user and the little man and bring the focus squarely back to the destructive and wasteful energy generators and large corporate users; when it comes to carbon reduction, it is not relevant to follow the adage of “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”. They won’t.
So, Ellen, Kevin and other celebs who have been, or are being, wooed into lending their name to green schemes – stay in the classroom a little longer and continue your studies, do your due diligence, and make sure that you are backing a campaign that is founded on hard fact and designed to deliver significant benefits.
