China's current rate of energy sector growth is equivalent to the whole of the UK's energy sector per year. What is the point, therefore, of a UK effort to reduce CO2 emissions if the focus is not on exporting technology and knowledge to China (and India)? The UK could switch off its entire CO2 production immediately, a goal far beyond the aspirations of the most ardent environmentalist, and merely shift the CO2 timeline by 12 months.
Instead, if they want to make a difference, the UK and others must concentrate on global technology and market solutions that the high-growth world will adopt.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Go-oogle
I wish there was one place to go to plan a route. You could call it go-oogle.
You'd say "I want to go from 23 Acacia Avenue to Rijswijk" and it would give you a route optimised for time, cost, CO2 or Ozone profile, as you wished, covering taxis, trains, flights, boats, subways and so on. Maybe it could search interesting events and suggest a lay-over at a hotel for a concert the night before.
I'd like it to know things like it takes 2 hours to check into an international flight and 45 minutes between a domestic landing at London Stansted to get to the train platform for London. I could tell it that but the database would build up even more quickly if people shared this kind of knowledge.
Another way of looking at it is an expanded Expedia or Transport for London (which does a reasonable job of integrating buses, trains and the Underground metro).
It would get the bulk of it's data from online sources, much like the way I imagine Froogle works. A table and a bit of dynamic programming would work wonders.
You could improve your company's costs by understanding the implications of flying to the outskirts of a city and taking a cab, as opposed to taking a train to the centre.
Revenue from online advertising of travel services in the normal Google style, as well as local services at either end or along the route. It could sell tickets or link to ticket vendors. It could suggest lay-overs to take in concerts.
I wish the future would happen sooner.
You'd say "I want to go from 23 Acacia Avenue to Rijswijk" and it would give you a route optimised for time, cost, CO2 or Ozone profile, as you wished, covering taxis, trains, flights, boats, subways and so on. Maybe it could search interesting events and suggest a lay-over at a hotel for a concert the night before.
I'd like it to know things like it takes 2 hours to check into an international flight and 45 minutes between a domestic landing at London Stansted to get to the train platform for London. I could tell it that but the database would build up even more quickly if people shared this kind of knowledge.
Another way of looking at it is an expanded Expedia or Transport for London (which does a reasonable job of integrating buses, trains and the Underground metro).
It would get the bulk of it's data from online sources, much like the way I imagine Froogle works. A table and a bit of dynamic programming would work wonders.
You could improve your company's costs by understanding the implications of flying to the outskirts of a city and taking a cab, as opposed to taking a train to the centre.
Revenue from online advertising of travel services in the normal Google style, as well as local services at either end or along the route. It could sell tickets or link to ticket vendors. It could suggest lay-overs to take in concerts.
I wish the future would happen sooner.
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