Reasons to be slightly worried about the state of the planet, the future of humanity and all that...(no 1 in an occasional series)

Pilot: 'Sorry for the slight delay ladies and gentleman - just waiting for our load data to come through. Because of the increased load we are carrying tonight we'll either have to wait for a space on the other [longer] runway. Alternatively we'll have to wait another 10 minutes or so while we burn off some fuel...'

10 minutes later - 'Quick update ladies and gentlemen. Over the last 5-10 minutes we've managed to burn off some 1000-2000 litres of fuel so we are able to take off in the next few moments...'

Energy crisis? What energy crisis?

Take one of the Earth's most precious (and unrenewable) natural resources; expend a huge amount of financial resource getting it out of the ground (not to mention the environmental costs of extraction); ship it half-way round the world (more financial and environmental costs); refine it (few nasty chemicals I'm afraid); slap it in a road-tanker for a few hundred miles; pump it into the plane and then...ermm burn it off because you packed a few extra suitcases....it makes perfect sense doesn't it?

All of a sudden my little pile of newspapers and cans in the corner of the kitchen seem a bit pathetic!