It is a nonsense to debate about new energy sources when we are wasting energy and have not much sense of what it is right energy management.

The simples and most visible expression of such waste can be seen on our streets at least in Adelaide. Just go out at sunny day on the street and see how many street lamps are turned on. They are on 24/7/365. When authorities lied on radio, that they care about energy and in particular street lamps, and will pay $10 for each reported and not fixed lamp within a week, I have reported some 80 of them one day on my trip on bicycle to city and home. I estimated some 5 percent of all street lamps are in this category. After my long pursuit I gave up when minister have said to me: it is not mine but your problem. The lamps everywhere are still on.
What's wrong with it? Waste of energy, overloading line, faults,
and demoralisation of children as well as increased pollution.
There are plenty more than just public street lamps fully on. There are plenty of commercial lamps like that. But it must be my only problem. Yes, federal politicians also think that it is my problem.

We have to add to this topic, very inefficient home insulation. For example I wanted to buy double glazed window panels to upgrade my home (years ago) and I was laughed by professionals who reckoned that we do not need it here in Australia.
We need to assess our transport from energy usage point of view.
Just imagine the efficiency of the car of 1tonn or more carrying 100kg passenger. Now same passenger cycling to work and back on less than 20kg bicycle. How much energy and material used to manufacture the two vehicles and then to use them. If you use car non stop you can easily get depression. When you have depression, cycling may alleviate it and prevent obesity, and less road damage and pollution and so on.
Shall we continue energy (mis)management next time as well?

mmistrz - I couldn't agree more - the starting point is energy conservation. If we conserved energy, in the ways that you suggest, and in so many other ways, that would form the bulk of the solution to global warming.

What is needed is a conserver society, rather than a consumer society. But - that would require a cultural and economic change which might take centuries, or decades at the very least.

In our addiction to energy use, we can still develop clean energy, while at the same time pushing for eneergy conservation.

One example springs to mind - the initiative of Vienna, in Europe, where they recently installed solar-powered street lights. These lights successfully provided night lighting, even after a succession of cloudy days. If Vienna can do it - why not Adelaide?
Christina Macpherson www.antinuclear.net

Most people ignore the cost of energy in their everyday decisions. Coal fired power plants emit about half of our total CO2 emissions. Electricity savings represent the single easiest way to reduce emissions. The only way to do this effectively is to increase the price. We need to tax CO2 emissions.

The peoples of today are individualy acting to conserve energy. Conserving energy reduces Global Warming as less fossil fuels require burning.

Missing from the equation is energy consevation by the energy providers. For instance much electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels to drive turbine technology that was invented before man orbited the earth, landed on the moon of drove across mars.

In september 2007 the government report from ABARE states that new technology having greater efficiency and therefore less fossil fuel burnt was being suppressed by government.

Should we then not question government motive for this.

There are plenty of parts missing. Efficiency improvements in industry is another big one. There is only one way to get at the effectively.

Also, as far as personal contributions go, without being able to put it into perspective it is difficult for people to reduce their emissions in a rational manner. Most likely they will ignore the cheapest and easiest ways to reduce emissions while going to great effort and cost to make minimal reductions.