[lyner]

Just what is that expression meant to indicate?
I defy anyone to live an entirely carbon neutral existence if they are in the UK; we stopped mud huts - or even wattle and daub - some years ago. That's where the rot set in.

It amused me that the spec of the homes in the proposed Eco Towns will be less demanding than the proposed spec of all new homes in the future.

[ukmicky]

It cant be done even if we were to live in mud huts we would have to burn wood for our cooking and heating. I think when they talk about being carbon neutral they are talking more about big corporations who can offset their carbon footprint by  donating money to schemes that help the less well off counties invest in greener cleaner energy production.

The best i can do to be carbon neutral is take my car out of gear and roll down the hills.

[RD]

It cant be done even if we were to live in mud huts we would have to burn wood for our cooking and heating...
The best i can do to be carbon neutral is take my car out of gear and roll down the hills.

What if you fuelled your mud hut and car on electricity generated by nuclear / hydro / geothermal power ?

[that mad man]

It has no meaning, its just a current "buzzword" that politicians and the media like to use to sell policies, and I mean SELL as its mainly about profit, that's what carbon trading is all about. As you suggest there is no such thing as being carbon neutral.

To build hydro power you need carbon based energy to do so, to generate nuclear power means you must have used carbon power first, to make an electric car must means using carbon based power. The list goes on and on!

Just where I live we have some newly built eco-homes, low carbon footprints my ass! They took over 12 months filling in old mine workings pumping in cement to fill those holes to make the ground stable. The cement that is used to fill the holes (portland cement) takes a lot of power and energy to produce, and I do me a lot, the filling and renovation to build those home cost over £500,000.

I remember something you said a while ago, "the greenest car is the one you already own"

Very true!

[lyner]

On the same lines - for the first time in quite a while, we booked flights to Krakow and, to salve your conscience, you can pay someone, somewhere, about £8 to make up for burning your particular bit of aircraft fuel.
What a joke; I've been doing my bit for ages by NOT FLYING AT ALL.