Commercial Buildings

* Reduce lighting levels in foyers, stairwells and corridors.
* Turn lights off when leaving building, turn on again when cleaners arrive.
* If people are wearing shirtsleeves, reduce heating levels until it is comfortable in a jacket.
* Investigate whether heating is turned on too early before work.
* Ensure all computers are turned off when users leave for the day.
* Parliamentary buildings should lead the way!

Industry

* Solutions are more site-specific but include some of the above, plus ensuring motors are not left running when not needed.

Local Government

* Same as commercial buildings, plus
* Checking maintenance on all water and sewage pumps.
* Turning off every second street light in areas where pedestrians are not at risk.

Households

* Don't leave hot water tap running or dripping.
* Turn lights and heaters off when leaving room.
* Turn home computer off when not using for several hours.
* Keep lid on jug and pans when cooking.
* Do wash clothes in cold water.
* Turn TV off at wall, not just at set.
* Use draught stoppers on doors and keep doors shut in rooms you are heating.
* Dry washing in the sun when you can.
* Save dishes and clothes wash until you have enough for a full load.

None of this is new, none of it is rocket science. There is no single magic bullet. But all these measures together will bring the lakes up and the prices down, and reduce the chance of blackouts later in the year.

Ends

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>