I don’t need to type out what I think of the Chinese government already before this, never mind after, or how its oil monopolies are like the rest of the world’s oil giants. The numbers from their actions speak for themselves. [Envirostats author]

- Worldwatch Institute, Dec 6 2007

Good effort, and some is better than none, but missing the point. Where are the stats about the perchlorate and particulate matter generated? Or about increases in both the days after such an event? 

Happy New Year, everyone! Thank you for reading Envirostats. May your year be full of good health, green joy and prosperity. [Envirostats author] 

The City of Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks display is regarded as the largest and most technologically advanced annual fireworks display on the planet.

* The display draws larger crowds than in New York, London, Paris or Berlin, with more than a million people watching from the Sydney Harbour foreshore.

* Fifteen months of design, planning and preparation for the Bridge Effect.

* Approximately 11,000 shells, 10,000 shooting comets, and a total of 100,000 individual pyrotechnic effects will be incorporated into the display.

* 112 firing points on the Sydney Harbour Bridge itself

* More than 60,000 metres of wires and cables are required to interface with the computers to launch the display

* Fourteen 20 foot shipping containers full of pyrotechnic equating to 112,000kg of equipment.

* A pyrotechnic crew of 40.

* The fireworks on the Bridge and barges are fully digitally launched, requiring 12 computers that will shoot a total of 9,200 cues.

* The 9pm show will use four fireworks barges.

* There are seven barges for the midnight show, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

* Fireworks will be seen off eight city rooftops.

* The 2007 Bridge Effect, designed by Brian Thomson and bridge lighting display by Martin Kinnane, is approximately 36m x 36m and weighs more than 40 tonne. It is installed on the bridge in approximately 22 nights over a three month period.

* 9,000m of rope light will be used to construct the effect. It is attached to a panel and truss system which uses over 50,000 cable ties.

* Programming the effect takes a year of planning and five days on-site using over 300 individual circuits.

* More than 4km of power cable is required to power the effect which will use up to 25,000kw of green power from set up to dismantle.

* The fireworks display is designed by Sydney’s Foti International Fireworks. This is the sixth year in a row that the company has been involved in the event. The Fireworks Director for the midnight fireworks is Fortunato Foti and Tino Pangallo for the 9pm Family Fireworks.

The City is doing it’s best to ensure a greener Sydney New Year’s Eve as part of the City’s continuing commitment to a sustainable future by:

• Using GreenPower, which will save approximately 60 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year;
• Recovering and recycling 80 per cent of rubbish collected from the event;
• Using recycled water collected from the City’s rainwater tanks, recycling plants and pits for street cleaning after the event;
• Distributing personal ashtrays on the night to help reduce littering of cigarette butts;
• Nominating WWF-Australia as the official Charity of 2007 Sydney New Year’s Eve. Their vision is to save life on Earth and create a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

New Year’s Eve is a time for everyone to think about our future and take action to fight global warming.

On the night, please consider the environment by placing your rubbish in the bins provided or taking it with you and disposing of your cigarette butts in the bin.

Please also leave the car at home and catch public transport, walk or cycle.

- City of Sydney, official PDF, Dec 23 2007

Compare to Australia’s 14% total emissions by its sheep, cows and other farm animals in Stat 0645.

The source story was about how the British agriculture industry could be realistically carbon neutral with a whopping 75% of emissions possibly reduced by stimulating both on-farm and centralized anaerobic digestion facilities from current manure management practices in dairy, cattle and fattening pig enterprises.

I’ll believe that when I see it. If it were so effective, why isn’t everyone on this? It’s an intuitive guess, of course, to doubt some scientist’s claim, but I’m posting it. Tell me when I’m wrong. [Envirostats author]

- Reuters, Dec 10 2007

Great context by Statistics Canada that provided the figure, because probably until you read what 1 petajoule meant, it was just some big amount of energy. Many other great statistics from the source’s analytical summary is below. The source report link is at the end and contains even more with over 120 pages of analysis on Canadian and provincial energy statistics.

You know, our Canadian media might not cover a lot of our environmental statistics like some other countries’ media, but our statistics agency in Statistics Canada is second to none. Too bad some of our other federal departments don’t jump on these to put out announcements and their own articles with more in-depth coverage of some specifics. [Envirostats author]

Most of the 2.0% decline was due to declining consumption in the nation’s industrial and residential sectors that was more than the 2.0% net, but offset by increases in consumption in the transportation sector, particularly fuel used to pipe natural gas, as well as a small increase in the commercial and public administration sector.

Energy use derived from the three main fossil fuels – natural gas, refined petroleum products and coal – declined 1.0%, due to reductions in demand from the pulp and paper, chemical and residential sectors.

The industrial sector, the biggest user of energy, consumed 2.6% less in 2005 than the year before. The reduction was due primarily to two industries: pulp and paper, and chemical. Historically, the industrial sector accounts for just under one-third (31%) of total energy consumption, the highest proportion of all sectors.

Demand slipped 1.1% in the residential and agriculture sector, which accounts for about 20% of total consumption.

Energy consumption increased 1.8% in the transportation sector and edged up 0.5% in the commercial and public administration sector. The transportation sector, the second largest user of energy, accounted for about 30% of final demand.

Crude oil production falls

Canadian companies produced about 146 million cubic metres of crude oil in 2005, down 2.1% over 2004. (A cubic metre contains 1,000 litres). This amounted to about 401 000 cubic metres a day.

While decreases were recorded for all types of crude oil production, the most significant decline occurred in synthetic crude oil where a facility fire hampered output throughout the first three quarters of 2005.

However, production levels in the fourth quarter were strong reflecting the return to normal production in the oil sands area combined with the start up of production at the White Rose Field in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

Alberta’s oil sands remain an important source of crude oil production. In 2005, they accounted for over 39% of total crude oil and equivalent production, up slightly from 38% in 2004 and well above the proportion of 28% in 2000.

In 2005, the oil sands produced 149 000 cubic metres of oil a day. In 2006, this figure had jumped to an estimated 159 000 cubic metres of oil a day, roughly 50% of Canada’s total crude oil production.

By 2010, oil sands production is forecasted to surpass 477 000 cubic metres of oil a day, or 67% of total Canadian crude oil production. Capital investment is expected to reach an estimated $11 billion in 2006 and $16 billion in 2007.

Exports of crude oil, primarily to the United States, decreased 2.4% from 2004. These exports now account for more than 62% of all Canadian production.

The US Midwest is still the most significant market for Western Canadian crude oil, consuming 57% of total exports to the United States. According to the United States Energy Information Administration, Canadian crude oil now represents 16% of total US demand for imported crude oil.

In 2005, average Canadian crude oil prices rose to more than $52 a barrel. This was a 30% increase over 2004, and more than double 1990 prices.

Natural gas production posts modest gain

Natural gas production increased 2.0% in 2005 from 2004. Despite record gas drilling activity in the last three years, production gains have been modest as a result of lower productivity from maturing wells.

Natural gas exports reached 4 066 petajoules in 2005, up 1.1% from 4 022 petajoules in 2004. Slightly higher production levels combined with lower domestic demand, due to milder weather in Canada, resulted in higher exports in 2005.

Well over half (56%) of total Canadian natural gas production goes for export. In the United States, Canadian natural gas accounts for 17% of total American demand for natural gas.

Canada’s trade surplus for crude petroleum, refined petroleum and other products, natural gas, coal and electricity reached $53.0 billion in 2005, up from $43.5 billion the year before.

Marginal increase in electricity production

Electricity production from primary sources (hydro, nuclear, wind and tidal) increased 5.7% in 2005 as water conditions continued to improve in many parts of Canada. Nuclear generation posted a marginal increase in 2005.

Hydro generation accounted for 59% of electric power in 2005, the largest source. Nuclear energy provided about 14% of total Canadian electricity production.

However, in Ontario, nuclear power accounts for more than 51% of total electricity generation, enough to supply all the homes in the province.

Nationally, electricity generated using fossil fuels declined marginally in 2005, due to higher generation from primary sources and rising thermal fuel costs.

Although electricity generation from wind, solar and tidal continues to increase, total generation from these sources currently represents less than 0.5% of total generation.

Two large wind projects started up in late 2005: a 99-megawatt project located in St. Leon, Manitoba, and the 150-megawatt “Centennial project” in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

Electricity demand increased 1.2% in 2005, mainly the result of increased demand by smelting and refining.

First decline in volumes of motor gasoline sales in 14 years

Volumes of motor gasoline sales declined in 2005 for the first time since 1991, possibly the result of soaring prices at the pump. Canadian drivers consumed more than 40 billion litres of motor gasoline, down slightly from 2004 levels.

Gasoline prices across Canada peaked in September 2005. In Montréal, prices reached an average of 118.5 cents per litre for regular unleaded at self-service stations. In Toronto, they averaged 107.2 cents, in Edmonton 102.2 cents and in Vancouver 112.7 cents.

Total demand for all refined petroleum products increased marginally in 2005 over 2004 levels.

Coal production, exports and consumption decreases

Coal production slipped 1.0% in 2005, the result of slightly higher imports.

Final demand for coal by the manufacturing sector declined 1.4% from 2004. Exports of coal fell 6.2%, due primarily to lower demand for Canadian coal from Japan.

Saskatchewan fastest growing province in energy consumption

Energy consumption declined faster than the national average in six provinces: British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Alberta.

Saskatchewan’s growth in consumption led the pack, increasing 2.9% from 2004. Higher demand for natural resource-based products, combined with agricultural gains, contributed more to the growth of the economy than any other industry.

Energy use by all sectors, or “final demand”, declined 3.8% in Prince Edward Island; 2.2% in British Columbia, 1.1% in Alberta and Nova Scotia, 0.6% in Quebec, and 0.5% in New Brunswick.

The decline in Alberta was due primarily to lower energy use in the oil-producing province’s pulp and paper and chemical sectors. Alberta accounted for 18% share of total national consumption.

Energy consumption edged up 0.2% in Ontario , which accounted for over 34% of the country’s entire energy demand. Consumption in Quebec fell slightly, putting its share at 21%.

- Statistics Canada’s newsletter, The Daily, Dec 20 2007

- Report on Energy Supply-demand in Canada 2007, by Statistics Canada (0.8 MB)

Tons are suspected to be metric tonnes due to the kilograms used in other parts of the article despite the tons spelling.

World population of 6.6 billion was used to get some per capita statistics not mentioned in source article.

I don’t know what is a sufficient amount of grain per person, but the more important issue is properly distributing this resource. Despite less food being available per person than in 1986, far less if you factor in the biofuels demands because the world didn’t have that resource withdrawal to any significant extent in 1986, there is no big famine in the much more evident media these days than was in the 1980s when there seemed to have been a famine in Africa for most of the second half of the decade.

Despite growing harvests, several factors are actually decreasing the amount of grain available per person as food, which peaked at 376 kilograms in 1986:

• Industrial livestock production requires large amounts of grain, particularly corn. Grain, in conjunction with soybeans, provides the primary source of livestock feed: in total, roughly one third (35 percent) of the world’s grain becomes feed.
• Ethanol and other fuels now consume 17 percent of the world’s grain harvest. Worldwide, the amount of course grains (a group that includes corn, barley, sorghum, and other grains fed mainly to animals) converted to energy jumped 15 percent in 2007 to 255 million tons, although this is small compared with the 627 million tons devoted to livestock feed. The 255 million tons is course grains only, not all grains.
• In recent decades, annual growth in grain production has at best matched each year’s population growth.

The low stocks and strong demand combined to push prices of all cereals to new highs in 2007. At harvest time, the U.S. corn export price was up about 70 percent from the previous year, while the U.S. hard wheat price averaged 65 percent more than a year earlier.

Other key trends in the Vital Signs Grain Update include:

• At 784 million tons, the record 2007 corn harvest was buoyed by growing use of the grain to produce biofuels, which prompted farmers in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina to plant more land for corn. The U.S. alone is responsible for over 40 percent of the global corn harvest and half of world exports.
• The global rice harvest was up slightly to 633 million tons, while wheat also increased modestly (by 2 percent) to 605 million tons.
• Corn, wheat, and rice account for about 85 percent of the global grain harvest by weight, with sorghum, millet, barley, oats, and other less common grains rounding out the total.

Comments in italics by Envirostats author.

- Worldwatch Institute, Dec 12 2007