Media Coverage

Style Magazine, Sunshine Coast, 6 April 2008

Green machine 
By Janine Hill

Apollo diamonds, bagasse, cork. You might think you’ve heard everything that there is to be said about climate change, but have you heard how these words fit into the scheme of things?

Probably not, which is the reason that Ken Hickson has wrapped them and another 149,997 words into a new book, The ABC of Carbon.

The book, which he expects to be released this month, is a reference guide to carbon and carbon dioxide, and the consequences of both for the climate and the environment overall.

It summarises a good 200-plus climate change topics in alphabetical order, and is a fusion of his interest in the environment and his skills as a man of words.

Ken, who has a background in journalism and public relations and is an adjunct professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast, was inspired to write the book after attending a climate change conference organised by the Sunshine Coast Environment Council and Maroochy Shire Council last year.

“I really convinced myself that I had to get involved and do something,” says Ken, an earnest fellow who looks more retired businessman than greenie.

“I realised while I was at the conference that there was a business opportunity as well as an opportunity to get more involved and do something to create greater awareness.”

At that stage, Ken was the Sunshine Coast Literary Association’s chairman of events, which included WARM (the Writers Artists and Readers Month), so it was natural for him to look at writing a book.

He was encouraged in his endeavour by Justin Holbrook, an environmental scientist and the president of The Sustainable Business Alliance and, after refining the idea, he hit the keyboard.

Environmental matters are not new to Ken. He was a communications advisor and honorary representative for the World Wide Fund for Nature in Singapore and is governor of WWF Australia.

Prior to starting the book, he had launched a consultancy, ABC Carbon, providing advice to businesses on how climate change could affect them, and had also written a book, Flight 901 to Erebus, an account of a major airline disaster.

The ABC of Carbon was a learning experience for Ken, who initially planned to write 50,000 words but ended up writing 150,000.

Climate change is a growth area as far as research goes, and every topic led to another topic. The more research Ken did, the more he came to realise the seriousness of scientists’ warnings and the world’s predicament.

“The more I got into it, the more I realised that not only was there a lot happening … there was enough evidence to show that it was going to be a major problem for the world. There was evidence that it was starting to happen.”

He talks as easily about glaciers melting in the Himalayas and deforestation in Indonesia and South America as the rest of us do about the weekend football scores or home loan interest rates.

Looking at the effects of carbon and carbon dioxide emissions prompted Ken to look at techniques to minimise the impact of our carbon output on the environment through carbon capture and carbon sequestration.

He also expanded his outlook to consider alternative energy sources such as wind, waves, solar, gas and bio-fuels.

“There’s a lot of work going on, not only in Queensland but also around the world, cleaning up our act and making better use of what we are using,” he says.

“What the book is, is a collection of things that are being done by countries, organisations and people, to look at alternative forms of energy, making better use of energy now, how we can cut down our energy use. If we can make better use of our fossil fuels, that’s important.”

He says there has been a shift in thinking, with climate change now accepted by many people as a fact rather than a theory. He believes that Al Gore made the difference when it comes to greater awareness and understanding of climate change.

“The scientific community has admitted that they haven’t done the best job of communicating climate change… They spent so much time studying the facts that they forgot to tell people,” he says.

“It really wasn’t until Al Gore … that it was brought to the attention of the world’s population.”

Ken might not be the next Al Gore, but he’s doing his bit to make sure that as many people as possible are aware that every time they start the car or turn on the air-conditioning, it stands to affect the climate and the future of the world.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering: Apollo Diamond manufactures diamonds synthetically from carbon, instead of mining them; bagasse is a sugarcane waste product now being sold by mills for livestock feed or ethanol fuel; and cork, produced from the bark of the cork oak tree, is a renewable resource that provides a sustainable income and ecosystem in countries such as Portugal.

The ABC of Carbon is available online at the pre-publishing discount price of $25. Go to www.abccarbon.com. It will also be available in future from selected bookshops.

Media Release

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