Global warning

"Who will fix the world?" Ben, my four-year-old son, asked while I was trying to explain what global warming and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth are about.

The answer is us. Because we're also the culprit. Gore said: "Each one of us is a cause of global warming, but each of us can make choices to change that".

Ben fell asleep 15 minutes later, despite all the information he could get from the movie.

So how do we fix the world?

Gore continues: "With the things we buy, the electricity we use, the cars we drive, we can make choices to bring our individual carbon emissions to zero." He should've done this movie before running for the U.S. president. World could've been a little better and more peaceful now.

Anyway, here are six things we can do to slow down global warming:
- Electricity end-use efficiency
- Other end-use efficiency
- Passenger vehicle efficiency
- Other transport efficiency
- Renewables
- CCS & Supply efficiency

CCS = Carbon Capture and Sequestration. More about CCS.

It can be as simple as using energy-saving bulbs, unplugging electronics from the wall when not used, or eating less meat.

At the same time, perhaps we can make use excess rainfall in this region. I initially thought business, but after seeing the movie, it should be for human being.

See An Inconvenient Truth trailer here.

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Indonesia post-oil

In one of his posts, Indonesia an oil-rich country?, Philips, interestingly started the post with his opinion on Playboy Indonesia magazine, cited an interview from Warta Ekonomi about Indonesia's oil reserve - that it will last only for the next 20-25 years.

Even now Indonesia is already a net importer of oil. How will it be 25 years from now? Importing 100% oil requirements? How will it pay?

Is the government aware of this?

But there's a potential solution. Water. More specifically, from the rain.

Indonesia is among the countries that will get more rainfall due to global warming; while other regions will have their rivers, lakes and aquifers depleted. As water availability is very likely to increase, it could be the new oil for Indonesia. Perhaps 25 years from now we can trade water for oil.

Of course, selling water from rainfalls is not straightforward. For the time being, some people have tried this in smaller scale. But if there is a good business case, or a case for survival, it's worthwhile for the government to explore and develop.

So it seems that water could be the 'gold' of the future - especially with rich countries also face the problems of water stress. Even now some people are selling water with premium, like what Jakartass found (scroll down to March 4).

Anyhow, it's still 25 years from now. The government perhaps should think about how to manage the potential flood from the increasing rainfall.

We don't want to end up with no oil and flood, do we?

What's sad is that one major cause of global warming is us burning the fossil fuel - coal, gas, and oil.

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Jakarta flood - the aftermath

Many people here in Malaysia asked about the Jakarta flood. Not much I could tell about it, other than what I saw on the TV and read on the internet. I think pictures from Javajive and Marek Bialoglowy capture most of it.

One of my close relatives' home was badly hit by the flood. The family stayed at my parents' for a couple of nights, and the last two weekends my family has been going there to help clean the house. Almost everything is gone or no more usable. Sofa, mattress, TV, refrigerator, clothes, documents... We're now trying to get their life started and going again.

Letter from a Sun's reader questions the RM3.6 billion fund to help mitigate flood in Johor. That's about USD 1 billion (Malaysia's 2005 GDP was $290 billion.) The letter nicely put it that the flood could've been prevented if developments around Johor had been properly assessed.

"... The root cause is no doubt due to corrupt practices. The government is trying to fool people by putting the blame on global warming."

Quite a similar situation to Jakarta. What about the fund for tsunami , earthquake, and others?

Will the government ever learn?

Because anything that can go wrong, will -- at the worst possible moment.

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