Examples of what should be done to combat climate change

• Well managed public transport systems are undeniably more efficient than the use of individual vehicles. Governments around Australia need to invest more in public transport infrastructure. People also need to change their mindset from thinking that public transport is only for those who can't afford to drive. Millions of people needlessly driving their cars to work in cities each day is damaging the planet! In fact by leaving your car at home and walking or catching a train you're actually doing something good for yourself too - more exercise and less traffic stress. If you don't like travelling on trains in peak hour, then negotiate with your boss to start work half an hour later (and work a bit later in the arvo to make it up). (Some good news is that recent high petrol prices may force people to change their habits and drive less)
  
  
• Solar water heating is currently not very economically attractive to users because electricity companies provide generous off-peak rates for electricity. If off-peak electricity gradually became more expensive then there would be an incentive for house-holders to make their next water heater purchase a solar water heater - thus saving enourmous amounts of green house gas emissions across Australia. An alternative would be to provide higher rebates for installing solar water heating.
  
  
• If energy storage technology improves significantly then many households could probably generate and store almost enough electricity to power their needs for lighting and appliances. Additional electricity could be purchased from the grid on cloudy or high energy use days. An efficient gas stove could be used for cooking. If every household (and workplace for that matter) was designed like this then centralised energy production requirements would be significantly reduced. Houses and offices should also be designed to be energy efficient and well insulated to reduce the need for heating and cooling. Roof tiles with built-in solar cells should become standard and increased rebates offered to households that use them instead of normal tiles. (Interesting fact: On a sunny day Australia's entire current electricity generation capacity (45 000 MW) could be replaced by solar power if there was 16 square metres of panels for every person in the country).
  
  
• Serious research and development funds need to be allocated by the governments to find ways to reduce green-house emissions from electricity production and transport. Whether this be from more efficient fuel usage, different fuels (e.g. gas, ethanol and perhaps hydrogen), or the use of more renewable energy sources (e.g. solar, tide, wave, wind). Putting money into improving the whole energy production and consumption chain will inevitably result in many clever ideas to make things better. (Unfortunately the Australian government seems to be so much in love with burning coal that it tries to marginalise and under-fund alternate energy research. This needs to change!)
  
  
• The governments need to invest in advertising campaigns to convince people of the benefits of saving energy and driving less whenever they can. Maybe with a bit of encouragement Australia can become a world leader in efficient energy use and technologies, and prove that we really are the clever country!
  
  
• Many industrial processes are large energy users and therfore have a large scope for improvement in terms of energy effiiciency. And often its well worth the effort because it will improve their profits over time by reducing energy costs.
  
  
• Once we have got our own house in order in terms of reducing green-house emissions we need to offer assistance to developing countries to improve the efficiency of their energy production and use - after all it is a global problem which needs a global solution.