The 'Pedal for the Planet Challenge' gave politicians the opportunity to climb aboard two specially adapted bikes to see how much energy they could produce. A WWF expert then converted the pedal power into equivalent watts needed to power standard appliances. WWF Cymru was highlighting the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and produce energy from alternative sources, which do not produce carbon dioxide, the main climate change gas.
Environment, Planning and Countryside Minister, Carwyn Jones, topped the leader board on Monday with 11,724 – enough watts to power a sheep shearing machine and a microwave. This set the standard for a fierce battle, with each main political party taking the competition very seriously. It took David Davies, the Conservative AM and MP a second
attempt to beat the Minister's top score, setting a new benchmark of 12,449.

Morgan Parry, Head of WWF Cymru commented, "We found our Pedal for the Planet challenge to be a very effective way to communicate and raise awareness of how much energy is needed to power appliances in our homes and how they produce carbon dioxide emissions, the main climate change gas.

"The average Welsh household now produces more carbon dioxide emissions per year than the average car and our homes are responsible for nearly a third of all CO₂ emissions, so changing the way we all use energy is crucial if we want to prevent climate change."

The politicians made up a fifth of WWF Cymru's challengers, other races included NFU Cymru going head to head with FUW and supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury. NFU Cymru and Tesco took the title of 'Pedal for the Planet Champion' in their races. Over 300 members of the public also took part with the youngest competitor aged 8 and the oldest 77 years old.

Leader Board –

1. David Davies (Cons) – 12,449
2. Carwyn Jones (Lab) – 11,724
3. Nick Bourne (Cons) – 11,535

John Griffiths (Lab) – 11,462
Mark Isherwood (Cons) – 10,794
Glyn Davies (Cons) – 10,149
Mike German (Lib Dems) – 9,953
Lembit Opik (Lib Dems) – 9,646
Peter Black (Lib Dems) – 9,354
Alun Ffred (Plaid) – 9,262
Helen Mary Jones (Plaid) – 8,716
Eleanor Burnham (Lib Dems) – 8,577
Mick Bates (Lib Dems) - 8,399
Christine Chapman (Lab) – 7,851
Kirsty Williams (Lib Dems) – 7,727
Laura Anne Jones (Cons) – 7,345

Climate change facts –

• If everyone in the UK installed one energy saving light bulb, we'd save enough CO₂ to fill the Royal Albert Hall nearly 2000 times – and CO₂ is the main cause of climate change.
• If every household installed three energy saving light bulbs, the energy saved a year would supply all the street lighting in the UK.
• Low energy light bulbs last longer, save you money and reduce CO₂ emissions.
• The average UK home produces more CO₂ per year than the average car – our homes are responsible for nearly a third of all CO₂ emissions, so changing the way we use energy is crucial if we want to prevent climate change.
• Climate change is real – the world is warming faster than at any other time in the past 10,000 years.
• Climate change is caused when greenhouse gases like CO₂ build up in the atmosphere and stop heat escaping form the Earth – this causes our atmosphere to warm up.
• The total amount of CO₂ pumped into the Earth's atmosphere is huge – an estimated 700 tonnes a second – that's enough to fill 700 hot-air balloons per second!