Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 09/29/2008 9:47:58 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Keeping track of your carbon footprint could become as simple as slipping a mobile phone in your pocket: a London-based start-up company has developed software for mobile phones that uses global positioning satellites to work out automatically whether you are walking, driving or flying and then calculate your impact on the environment.
Carbon Diem's inventors claim that, by using GPS to measure the speed and pattern of movement, their algorithm can identify the mode of transport being used. It can therefore calculate the amount of carbon dioxide that a journey has emitted into the atmosphere – without any need for input from the traveller.
The system's inventor, Andreas Zachariah, a graduate student of the Royal College of Art in London and chief executive of the Carbon Hero company, said that Carbon Diem is the world's first automated carbon calculator.
Because it keeps a constantly updated diary of a person's carbon emissions, Zachariah said that a user can easily track their environmental impact and, if they choose, modify their behaviour to lower-carbon alternatives.
"We're facilitating people to make little changes and allow those changes to be noted and registered and possibly shared," he said. "If lots of people realise we're in this marathon [in tackling climate change] and we're not running alone, then we actually think people will be motivated to stick to changes."
He has tested the software in Nokia and Blackberry phones, using computer algorithms to predict the kind of transport a person is taking. He claims that in tests over the past year, the software was almost 100% accurate in working out when people were on airplanes or trains; it was between 65-75% accurate at guessing when people travelled on buses.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
The sad thing is that somebody is going to make a ton of money on this.
I wonder how long before this turns into embedding chips and GPS trackers directly into human beings...in order to "save the planet."
The day will come when “carbon trader” is equivalent to “snake oil peddler.”
Ah..so now the plan to save the world is ...
“EVERYBODY JUST STAND STILL”
this stuff gets sillier and sillier
And it’s going to figure out whether I’m on a bus or in a car-—how?
Heck, this could help me increase my carbon footprint. I don’t like cold weather.
This is another crap sandwich--carbon footprints!
Getting so crap sandwich is the only thing on the menu. I will be glad if the public gets so sick of it they rise up and yell"We aren't going to take it any more!"
vaudine
Oh, how I do agree with you. These are crazies.
That’s what Gore’s hoping.
“Big Brother is going to be watching you!”
Just another reason to leave the phone off when traveling around the country.
“Carbon Diem’s inventors claim that, by using GPS to measure the speed and pattern of movement, their algorithm can identify the mode of transport being used.”
I like this idea. When the next advocate (and ALL existing ones) spouts off about global warming, they must place their ‘Carbon DEM’ information on the web for all of us to see if they are indeed walking the walk (or flying in a private plane).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.