Turning green

Yesterday I lost my virginity – well to be more precise my Hybrid car virginity. A work colleague took a Honda Insight out for a test drive and I hopped in for the ride. Was I impressed? Well it was very plastic inside; it was very quiet in economy mode and the little dials and stuff were impressive. Less impressive were the screams of the engine as it supplemented the system as we climbed a relatively steep hill (at 6000 rpm it reminded me of an electric drill on full power). This got me thinking when in the shower this morning.

The first thought was have I turned green; quite by chance I haven’t eaten any meat for nearly two days, so I must have reduced my carbon footprint considerably, seeing as the production of meat is one of the most energy consuming activities going (as is the refrigeration used to keep it in an edible state). However, the lengthy shower where I have these thoughts probably makes up for any savings.

I also got to thinking about renewable energy sources. I had seen the previous day that the proposed Severn Barrage had been cancelled in favour of several nuclear power stations. As a kid I loved nuclear, it was modern age, it was a symbol of power and it seemed all too good to be true – that was before Three Mile Island and Chernobyl – as an adult I am far more cautious.

Now I can understand that there are ecological reasons behind the cancellation, but are there as big ecological reasons as nuclear waste or accidental radiation release? It is about time governments started selling their green credentials a bit more and actually looked at renewable's in a more proactive manner.