| World WildLife Fund
Alert! The WWF PowerSwitch may well be switching you off.
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Power Power Power
Power Yes, you got it! The WWF PowerSwitch website welcome page uses the symbol “Power” no less than 24 times and yes, every time it is working to reinforce public perceptions that the the Bulk-electricity sector is the source of power in our world. It is an exquisite example of one of the prime principles of the PR industry in action – repeat-link repeat-link repeat-link. And repeat-link in as many different ways as possible. This page accomplishes this superbly. The subtext of Kyoto is totally wrapped and defined by the Bulk-electricity sector, thereby diminishing the level of debate on climate issues. My summary conclusion is that the WWF PowerSwitch education resource contains fatal flaws and will result in a very large environmental footprint. The ultimate objective of the WWF website is to promote uses of energy that maintain the global environmental balances that make life comfortable for the human species. It attempts to do this by alerting us to the differing impacts of our use of Bulk-generated electricity from different forms of generation. Readers may be interested in my analysis of the New Zealand Government sponsored programme, PowerSwitch. The Government here is sponsoring agencies such as the NZ Consumers Institute and the Citizens Advice Bureaux to promote it. Arguably it is propaganda to obscure the fact that the NZ Electricity Reforms legislation enacted in the 1990s disenfranchises and disempowers most citizens. By effectively removing the rights of people to participate in the Electricity Market, the Reforms cripple sustainable development. NZ PowerSwitch has only one bottom line - the price per unit of electricity. It punishes the most civic/environmentally caring companies while rewarding the least caring/most polluting companies. I apply the same
analysis to the WWF PowerSwitch. Refer to
the NZ PowerSwitch article for more detail. Rather than repeat some
arguments, I have simply selected a sample of symbols I consider Energy
Gobbledygook and prepared them in the format for inclusion into the
register of Energy
Gobbledygook. The reason why the WWF can
generate a very large environmental footprint is because its audience is
“concerned people”, people who will write and talk about the issue.
Many will be impressionable students and their teachers. Media/education
authorities such as the WWF have a far
greater impact on the shape of the popular images of energy and our
options than do spokespeople for an industrial sector.
The PR industry is well aware of this. It knows the most potent agencies for delivering their
messages are consumer organizations. In short, when the WWF says it is “partnering with electric utilities and retailers in various countries”, analysis shows it is colonised by them. They provide the vision and leadership of the WWF effectively and it is a very limited vision. Analysis Framework Energy
use in
planning, consultation and construction. PowerSwitch
is a computer programme. Most of the information and skills are
available online or in
existing publications such as share brochures. Unless personale were
imported from other centres, the creation of the resource should not
have involved air travel etc.
Energy
use during
the lifetime of resource: Updating
and reprogramming can be done from any computer and centralised website
hosts use electricity efficiently. Disposal of the resource can be
achieved with the touch of a delete button.
Energy
use in direct
transportation for duration of resource: Access
to SwitchPower is via the internet. Energy
use promoted
by design of resource for duration of resource: The
telecommunications basis of PowerSwitch provides a good model of how
information can be communicated with the effective use of electricity. Energy use leveraged off sponsorship for duration of resource by sponsors: Includes suppression of public awareness of environmental impact of activities of sponsor, facilitation of approval of activities by regulatory authorities and enhancement of image (language) engineering to serve sponsors interests. The WWF SwitchPower education programme is not available in New Zealand. This is my area of greatest expertise. Indirectly I have some knowledge of Australia as Origin Energy and Prime Infrastructure have recently assumed control of significant sections of New Zealand’s Bulk-electricity and gas sectors. I also worked under NGC, till recently owned by Australia Gas Light (AGL). Hence I am aware of how company information is carefully tailored by the PR industry to maximise short-term profits for principal shareholders (Investment Bankers) by providing the most positive spin on company activities to legislators, regulators, small shareholders and the general population. The WWF mentions it too had to rely on company statements to small shareholders as companies either did not respond or their plans and projections were shielded by considerations of “commercial sensitivity”. The Australian SwitchPower linked me through to GreenPower. Its ratings are based on the National Green Power Accreditation Document. The use of the symbol “Green Power” is a major alert to the fact that the resource has its genesis in the Bulk-electricity sector interests. In both Australia and New Zealand, the last two decades have seen a large increase in the levels of Energy Gobbledygook and the sophistication of Greenwash. Investment in Supply- side options of Bulk-electricity has increased dramatically at the expense in investment in Demand-Side (energy efficiency practice etc.) and distributed generation. The ratio now is $100s to $1. Key national statistics reveal the failure of such resources as GreenPower to achieve their stated objectives. NZ CO2 emissions have increased as much as 40% since 1990 (See Footnote).Our methane emissions are even greater than our CO2 and this is a much more potent Warmer Trace Gas. Every country has different legislation and customs. Bulk-electricity companies exploit these using a range of custom-designed methods It requires people with intimate knowledge of these to evaluate the sector impact in that country. They need knowledge of company politics, Government politics, fuels and resources used by the sector, the technology the company promotes and suppresses, the companies use of sponsorship and association to lever off environmental education resources, etc. If the New Zealand situation is any example, then companies are able to gain very large leverage off Environmental Education programmes for Greenwash and general marketing purposes. Researchers may find discussion in Energy Gobbledygook and Electric Thinking helpful Footprint: Large-potentially massive.
Energy use promoted by use of symbols and evocation of flawed images of energy: Includes uses of symbols (words, illustrations, graphics, etc) designed to enhance use of forms of energy dominated by sector interest. To the extent they devalue scientific principles of energy; the resource will have a negative impact on the environment. I have simply chosen a selection of the counterproductive symbols used on WWF SwitchPower to illustration the potential impact of the education resource. I will let them speak for themselves. The impact of the symbol “SwitchPower” is so large, analysis would take many pages. I will restrict my comment on it and let the rest of the analysis reveal why the symbol is fatally flawed. WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 Comment. Translation WWF PowerSwitch website Feb 2005 Highlight quote. “From coal to clean. Wind and solar power generation provides a clean energy alterative for future generations Ó Adam Oswell" Comment The statement also makes a very confusing use of the symbol “solar power”. Does it refer to the kWh generated by the sun or the electricity generated from solar energy? If it is the former use, then the idea of generating wind is difficult to make sense of. Also the solar-based generation (including wind and tidal) involve cleaner, not clean activities. The Bulk-generation of electricity from wind and direct solar sources has significant environmental costs. They still require a considerable amount of energy to construct and operate compared to small-scale distributed generation, ‘smart’ management systems and sane dwelling design. Translation WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 Comment This message is further confused by the use of the term “global warming”. To my knowledge there is no crises in global warming with sun spot activity being at comfortable levels at present. Some scientists believe it may increase in the near future and this could have serious implications for communications and electricity networks. It is possible the WWF is referring to a potential crisis for humanity caused by Human-induced Climate Change. Translation WWF PowerSwitch website Feb 2005 “A new report by WWF shows that the power sector, the biggest single contributor to climate change, is failing to act responsibly in the face of the greatest threat confronting the world in the 21st century.” Comment. The use of the symbol “climate change” is equally destructive. Most people understand that without climate change we could not exist. Our life is dependent on the transfers of thermal energy around the planet to maintain its over-all climate balances as it rotates around the sun. Finally, assuming the WWF is only referring to the Bulk-Electricity sector, then the statement may be inaccurate and misleading. It is possible the largest “power sector” is the automobile sector. Some suggest that the combined power of the automobile motors manufactured in 2003 alone was greater than the combined power of all the generators in the Bulk Electricity sector on Earth. In terms of impact on the atmosphere, the automobile sector probably has a far greater impact once all costs are included such as construction, maintenance, distribution, urban development and general infrastructure. Translation WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 Comment: Similarly there is no such thing as renewable energy as energy is by its very nature constantly renewed. The focus should be on conserved renewable forms and sources of energy. The title Ranking Power supports in most profound ways the Bulk-electricity sectors attempts to dominate public consciousness on numerous levels. In the WWF ranking, the majority of the most sustainable uses of energy forms, and the energy carrier, electricity, in particular are not even given a ranking. Finally the use of the term “greenhouse gas emissions” is most unhelpful. It evokes maladaptive images of greenhouses for no justifiable reason. Its blanket use of the “greenhouse gas” symbol obscures the role and the range of Warmer Trace Gases. For instance, we simply do not know the impact of human activities on the dominant Warmer Trace Gas – water vapour. Translation: WWF PowerSwitch website Feb 2005 “Campaign launches are occurring in over twenty countries today – sending a clear signal that the power sector must change.” Comment. Translation: WWF
PowerSwitch WebsiteFeb 2005 Comment. Energy efficiency is behaviour that enhances the quality of life, not reduces it, as this use implies. Translation. WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 Comment Translation WWF PowerSwitch website Feb 2005 “…power lines” Comment A second reason is that soon it may be possible to transmit broadband data through the local grid. This gives the owners of the grid extraordinary control over communities. *”An interesting feature of the New Zealand Electricity Market is that on average, for every extra kWh sold the generators get the revenue from 5 kWh! And, whenever an energy user saves 1kWh, all the other user’s electricity costs drop by the equivalent of 4 kWh". Source Rob Bishop - Sustainable Energy Forum 24 Feb 05. Translation WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 This is a link on a side bar of the web page. As such it has a more potent role than the mass of text it wraps. It gives the symbol use exponential power. In this case it is making powerful links between people and the WWF’s definition of power i.e. electricity sourced off the Bulk Electricity sector. This use of symbol and the resulting link enhancement actually dis-empowers people. It obscures the fact that in many of the countries surveyed by the WWF, communities have been disenfranchised from their local and national Electricity Market. As part of this process communities have lost their capacity to invest energy efficiency measures, intelligent communication with the grid and small-scale electricity generation. The website does contain small text acknowledging the vital role democracy plays in promoting sustainable uses of electricity. However the dominant impact of the site works to support the short-term interests of the principal shareholders of the Bulk-electricity sector. This small segment of the population works at every level of politics, legislation, media and society in general to control electricity use for their own benefit. The website is fundamentally a powerful tool supporting this group on all the levels mentioned. Translation WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 Comment I think the WWF is attempting to communicate that when we alter the gas balances in the atmosphere and oceans we alter the thermodynamic balances that enable us. This could result in more extreme weather, including severe cooling effects in some regions. WWF’s own text reveals the difficulties their use of the symbol ‘global warming’ creates e.g. “Ironically, this effect of global warming could be a new Ice Age in the part of the northern hemisphere.” Expressed more accurately there is no need to plead irony. Translation
WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 Comment Of greater practical concern is the way this use of the symbol "energy" is associated with deprivation. It plays into the hands of marketeers who define their products as energy and create cultures of exclusivity and deprivation fear around them. Translation WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 Sidebar web links Comment. It is accurate to say humans are at risk because of our activities. We are. However to say nature is also at risk is to elevate humans above nature. Certainly we can alter environmental balances and destroy those that sustain us. We then die out as a civilisation, if not as a species. Nature is far more enduring than the human species. Translation: WWF PowerSwitch
website Feb 2005 Comment Similarly there is considerable confusion in the symbol “the planet’s energy future.” Most astrophysicists concur that there is sufficient energy to enable the universe for some billions of years into the future. Most also anticipate Earth will exist for many millenium. It is more helpful to set the international stage for the use of Renewables as part of our use and conservation of the forms of energy that are the most vital for the existence of humanity. Translation: ********************** Summary comment: Footprint: Large-potentially massive.
General Comment This site, though clearly extremely well intentioned, is perhaps too smart for its own good. In attempting to be punchy and communicate very valuable concepts to the wider public it has become a powerful agent of Energy Gobbledygook and subverted its objectives. I recommend teachers do not refer to students to it for communicating social studies or science, particularly environmental science. It has considerable value for advanced students studying media processes as an example of the colonisation of environmental agencies by industrial sectors. This said it is a major advance on the New Zealand Consumer Institute’s PowerSwitch site. This not only contains all the above counterproductive elements but also actively punishes Bulk-electricity companies that are attempting to reduce risky activities and rewards those that are promoting the most risky activities. At least WWF is attempting to provide an extra level of information about the activities of the Bulk-electricity companies and their impact on the environment. The WWF appears oblivious to the most profound pollution factor in our environment. This is the corruption and destruction of vital scientific symbols of the nature of energy and power. As a result the agency is a major polluter of the images that drive our activities. As the WWF is a world-esteemed authority on the communication of environmental issues then its use of symbols to portray energy and power have a profound impact and the agency has an enormous environmental footprint. On the website Jennifer Morgan says, “ These companies lack the accountability needed to win public trust and are vulnerable to charges of arrogance.” This may be true but equally the same comment can be applied to the WWF. So far receipt of my observations to its Europe based members and to its New Zealand counterpart have not been even acknowledged. As an important communicator the WWF must be accountable for its use of symbols. It must also review its portrayal of the role of the human species. We are part of nature, not apart from nature, less still above nature as its choice of symbols suggests. The WWF needs to establish a clear understanding of the nature of energy and power. Humans can only use energy. They cannot create or renew energy. All forms of energy have their own form of power. The website asks, “What’s the problem?” Nowhere does it mention that image pollution is the problem – that popular understanding of science is being corroded by environmental agencies around the world by their choice and use of key symbols. It is hard to believe the statement on the website, “Since our beginnings in 1978, we have sought to maintain the role of science and scientific analysis of environmental issues as the basis for our work.” It is as though the environment does not include human imagery of how it works. When the WWF says, “ WWF believes that changing the current energy model is essential for sustainable development and poverty alleviation” it may be speak truer than it knows. Its own definition of energy and power as the Bulk-electricity sector is ripe for review. Till this occurs the WWF PowerSwitch website will have a massive environmental footprint. WWF says,"WWF is working to kickstart the transition to a new "People Power" model to replace both state monopoly and the blanket privatization that succeeded it". There is the very real possibility the WWF is bootlacing such a transition and erecting significant blocks to it. So Readers Take
action: Footnote. To my knowledge there is no science in the communication of climate issues. I have pointed up confusing examples in my analysis. I will pick on a couple of other confusing statements: “Burning fossil
fuels creates carbon dioxide (CO2) – the dominant greenhouse gas” The “greenhouse
emissions calculator” has to be seen as very misleading in that
context. What does it mean “Your current CGH emissions in CO2”?
Footnote: New Zealand CO2 emissions Correction to Greenpeace's Press release on "NZ's Kyoto Integrity at Stake" In the press release on the Marsden B power station
from Steve Abel
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