Don't walk

"Food production is now so energy-intensive that more carbon is emitted providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shops than a car would emit over the same distance. The climate could benefit if people avoided exercise, ate less and became couch potatoes. Provided, of course, they remembered to switch off the TV rather than leaving it on standby."

Walking to the shops ‘damages planet more than going by car’

Hmmm...I go to the gym, and use energy (treadmills using electricity) to burn energy. May be I should just sit at home and blog.

The article goes on to shatter a few more green myths like:

"— Paper bags cause more global warming than plastic. They need much more space to store so require extra energy to transport them from manufacturers to shops

— Organic dairy cows are worse for the climate. They produce less milk so their methane emissions per litre are higher

— Someone who installs a “green” lightbulb undoes a year’s worth of energy-saving by buying two bags of imported veg, as so much carbon is wasted flying the food to Britain"

Of course, the commenters in the discussions have thrashed the research, saying the calculations don't take into account the energy that went into making the car, producing and transporting the fuel, etc. Also, not everyone eats beef and beef as a source of all the calories for our body is pretty inefficient.

Again, in the case of the organic dairy cows, what about all the food and other supplements that are provided to a regular dairy cow versus what an organic dairy cow consumes?

It is difficult to go down the energy chain and exactly audit the consumption. It would be prudent to try to conserve energy through little things like switching the lights off when we leave a room, switching the monitor/computer when not in use, etc.