$10b payout for the worst polluters? What a waste

COMPENSATION for what? The owners of our dirtiest coal-fired power stations have their hand out for another $6.5 billion in public funds, on top of the $3.5 billion they will get to help them adjust to the proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS).
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Google Earth climate change 3D map unveiled

Google is using its Google Earth mapping tool to simulate on a 3D map of the world the predicted effects of climate change until the year 2100.

Using data provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the search giant created new layers for Google Earth showing the range of expected temperature and precipitation changes under different global emissions scenarios that could occur throughout the century.
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Fears home insulation boom creates a climate where fungi flourish

As interiors become more tightly sealed from the outdoor elements through Government-mandated energy-efficient reforms, an increasing number of homes are displaying symptoms of an affliction thought to have disappeared half a century earlier: extreme condensation.
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Reading this article I had a big laugh! Coming from a country in Europe where everything is insulated not to get valuable hot air from the central heating getting out in winter; double glazing, bats between the ceiling/roof and walls, door strips, etc. Aircondition is a new thing getting installed in more homes now people get more money and matrialistic but nobody had airco before in The Netherlands as it doesn't get that hot in summer.
And I've never heard about this extreme condensation problem. I think bad installers of insulation and communication how to ventilate might be the problem.

'Radioactive dust storm threat' if mine goes ahead

An Academy Award-nominated documentary maker claims the red dust dumped onto east coast cities yesterday is a reason to be concerned about BHP Billiton's proposal to turn South Australia's Olympic Dam uranium mine into an open-cut mine.

David Bradbury has made four documentaries on the nuclear issue and says figures in the company's environmental impact study suggest that 70 million tonnes of radioactive tailings will be dumped at the minesite each year.
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Yesterday: The day the country blew into town

GM canola found outside containment area

GENETICALLY modified canola has already escaped from its containment areas in southern NSW, just over a year after a moratorium on growing the crop was lifted by the State Government.
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I am always checking on the labels if the stuff is GM free, but it's not always clear. And as was shown yesterday on the news that it's very hard for farmers to get GM free food for their stock which is alarming. I wrote last month on this blog there is a company dominating the world market... scary!

Australia in for warm spring, says BoM

AUSTRALIA is in for a warm spring.

The Bureau of Meteorology's three-month national weather outlook, issued today, predicted temperatures would be above average for almost all the country.

Victoria was tipped to be especially hot - the chance of it being warmer than usual is above 80 per cent.

Pretty much everywhere else was also forecast to be warm, with the exception of northern WA.

Southern WA was tipped to have very warm nights, according to the October to December forecast.
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Can you believe that? I am still wearing my uggies and woolen jumpers....

Solar banana farm defies the sceptics

A banana grower in Western Australia has found a way to save big dollars on his power bill and make a little extra on the side.

Chris Boston has installed over 120 photovoltaic solar panels on his nine-hectare banana plantation in Carnarvon.

He says solar provides power to irrigate the crop, and the rest is supplied back into the grid, saving him $9000 a year in energy costs.

"When Lex Fullarton and I first started putting it in, we were considered total fruitloops for having been so silly to put money into it for such a terrible return," he says.

"But now its changing very quickly and its turned out to be a very good investment."
More here

Birth control 'could combat climate change'

CONTRACEPTION advice is crucial to poor countries' battle with climate change, and policy makers are failing their people if they continue to shy away from the issue, a leading family planning expert said.

Leo Bryant, a lead researcher on a World Health Organisation study on population growth and climate change, said the stigma attached to birth control in both developing and developed countries was hindering vital progress.

"We are certainly not advocating that governments should start telling people how many children they can have," said Mr Bryant, an advocacy manager at the family planning group Marie Stopes International, who wrote a commentary in the Lancet medical journal.

Mr Bryant said 200 million women across the world want contraceptives, but cannot get them.

Addressing this need would slow population growth and reduce demographic pressure on the environment.
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World Contraceptive Use 2001 - Substantial Use Increase in 1990's

Worldwide, 62% or 650 million of the more than 1 billion married or in-union women of reproductive age are using contraception. In the more developed regions, 70%of married women use a method of contraception, while in the less developed regions 60 per cent do. In Africa, only 25% are using it, whereas in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean prevalence of contraceptive use is fairly high-66% and 69%, respectively.
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Huge population boom a massive challenge: Swan

Increasing migration and fertility rates will push Australia's population to 35 million by 2049 - around 7 million more than previous estimates released just two years ago, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.

The Government says its third intergenerational report will show the country's population is expected to grow by 65 per cent by the year 2049.

Speaking today in Sydney Mr Swan said the rising population was one of the biggest economic challenges facing the nation.
Read article
Check other posts on population here.

Update 21 September: Populate and perish: Sydney's time bomb

Update 23 September: Australia's population balloons to 21.8m

Downloadable Design

Ponoko is the grand idea of digital design and manufacture; they make it possible for designers to meet customers, "where creators, digital fabricators, materials suppliers and buyers meet to make (almost) anything." It is a green idea, producing only when something is wanted, transporting ideas instead of physical objects.

Except there wasn't a computerized router or CNC machine on every block, no 3D Kinko's where you could go and print out your object like a couple of photocopies. Until now, with the introduction of 100K Garages, a joint venture between Ponoko and ShopBot, a community of over six thousand fabricators.
Read further

The majority is in Norht America but there is already one available in Sydney, who is starting up the first one in WA?

Better Place

From the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, this video shows Better Place founder Shai Agassi announcing Better Place's newly expanded agreement with Renault that commits both companies to a volume of at least 100,000 electric cars in Israel and Denmark by 2016. He also named new ecosystem players including Continental of Germany, Flextronics, Intel, Microsoft, and TÜV Rheinland to help Better Place scale up global production of its EV services platform and deployment capabilities.

A day in the life with a Better Place electric vehicle (EV)


Check Better Place Australia for more local info.

Gorgon, 20 burning questions

Mining the Gorgon gas field will generate billions of dollars for the Australian economy and create thousand of jobs. But it will come at a cost to the environment?

The Sunday Times environment reporter Narelle Towie answers 20 questions on a resource project tipped to fuel the WA economy for the next 20 years.
Read them here

Sustainable September

Check the events for the coming weeks, there are plenty to chose from!
Click here

World Parks Day 2009

Click on picture to enlarge
For more information click here

One good chair 2009

Finalists to be viewed online.

Each judge chose ten favorite entries and gave them numeric scores. Ranking these scores determined 20 semifinalists, including 3 finalists. Prototypes of the 3 finalists will be fabricated and presented at Las Vegas Market, September 14. Final ranking and prizes will be judged in person at the event.

Volkswagen L1: a third of the fuel of a Prius

Forget the 3.9 litres per 100km of Toyota's famous petrol-electric hybrid. VW's new concept is claiming just 1.2L/100km. JEZ SPINKS reports.

Volkswagen concept car that uses a third of the fuel of a Toyota Prius has been leaked ahead of its debut tonight at the Frankfurt motor show.

The L1 is expected to claim an ultra-low fuel economy figure of 1.2 litres per 100km - slightly higher than the target 1.0L/100km after which the car is named but better than the Prius's 3.9L/100km.
Read article

Waste bins in Perth

Why is it that the most simple issues are not taken care of?

Every day at Perth station I wonder why there are no recycle bins as all what's in the bins there is newspapers, PET bottles and aluminium cans, all very easy to recycle!

Is it so difficult to put a recycle bin there next to a normal bin which they probably only have to empty once a week while the recycle bin will be full every day.

Same story for most of the public space in the city...

Living Energies in the Home and Garden

International teachers are coming to Western Australia for just one weekend at Gidgegannup and Wooroloo this October 3rd & 4th to run workshops with an unusual take on environmental awareness. Alanna Moore and Peter Cowman are heading home from Ireland where they have been involved with teaching low cost building, building biology, living architecture, permaculture design and geomancy, which is the study of the subtle energies of the Earth. Dowsing is the usual mode employed to discover the geomancy, or feng shui, of a place, although it is most well known as a means to divine for underground water supplies.

Alanna is a professional dowser and geomancer, who also specialises in esoteric gardening techniques and she was the founder of the New South Wales Dowsing Society, which is about to celebrate 25 years of existence. Alanna shares her knowledge in several books she has written, her latest being 'Sensitive Permaculture'. Alanna's workshop will delve into the many dimensions of our environment and students will be taught powerful techniques of dowsing for energies.

Peter Cowman is an Irish eco-architect who specialises in teaching people how to avoid the mortgage and design and build their own small, low cost eco-friendly timber homes. "Learning how to be your own architect, much revolves around its invisible aspects", Peter says. "The living nature of architecture allows the home to be a nutrient in peoples' lives." Peter will be explaining how people can take the leap towards sustainability by "activating their sheltermaking genes". He has featured on documentaries on Irish television for his work with sustainable building design and his 'Econospace' cabin design has been greatly welcomed in Australia for its simplicity, ease of construction, energy efficiency and reduced use of timber, compared to standard timber framing.

The contact for enquiries about the workshop weekend is Sharon Ponsford at Studio West Design Tel: 0414 583 510 or 9573 1270

More info on the workshops here.

Australia tops 'climate criminals' list - now world's biggest polluter

It's the one world first that Australia did not want to win - the title of world's biggest polluter.

A report by British risk analysis company Maplecroft has found that Australia has overtaken the United States as the world's largest polluter and is now leading the world in per capita emissions of CO2, topping a list of 185 countries.

The report said Australia's reliance on coal creates an average output of 20.58 tonnes of CO2 per person, ahead of the United States which comes in at 19.78 tonnes.

China is still ranked as the world's worst overall polluter but even then, it has a per capita average of about 4.5 tonnes. In other words, Australia produces nearly five times as much CO2 per head of population as the world's largest nation.
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solar roof tiles

The american company SRS Energy has taken the idea of solar panels design for rooftop to a whole new level by integrating them right into roof tiles. Rather than using flat panels installed over traditional roofing materials, SRS energy has developed solar panel roofing tiles that integrate right into the roof.

The unique design allows the tiles to blend right into the roof, making themselves almost invisible. The tiles are made from a lightweight recyclable plastic that is molded together with a flexible solar cell. While the flexible panel design gathers less energy, it actually reacts to a broader spectrum of light. The tiles are also linked together so that they can operate even if one stops working.
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Bike swap meeting 26 September in Leederville

Click on picture to enlarge for more information.

Why firms go to greener pastures

LAST week's collapse of Solar Systems, Australia's leading solar energy developer, reinforced an unwelcome truth: Australia may well boast a magnificent repository of technological innovation, but the lack of a large venture capital market and minimal government support means it is an inhospitable environment for such emerging technologies to flourish.

It was for this reason that David Mills chose to move his solar thermal company Ausra to the US nearly a decade ago, Dr Zhengrong Shi took what is now one the world's biggest solar PV (photovoltaic) firm Suntech to China, and for Martin Green and his partners to seek funding support for Pacific Solar in Germany. Others have taken a similar path to greener pastures, and more will surely follow.

Solar Systems elected to stay home. But last week, after a fruitless 12-month search for new investors and funding came to an end, directors were forced to call in administrators because the company had run out of cash.
Read article

Climate Crisis 14 October

Ideal product for Islamic countries to save water

A Muslim has do a ritual washing before prayers and wastes quite a bit of water doing this. The Australian/Malasian company AACE WORLDWIDE PTY LTD in Victoria invented the Auto Wudu Washer a few years ago but this is the first time I come across it on a Dutch webpage I regularly read.

The Wudu Washer is the world’s first and only automatic pre-prayer personal washing system introduced to enable an individual to perform the Wudu ablution efficaciously in conformance to Quranic teachings. This is achieved by the use of a purpose built ear, mouth and facial washer unit, a forearm and elbow washing unit and a foot and ankle washing unit all of which are incorporated in a single system. The AWW© performs all these three Wudu functions hygienically, conveniently and efficiently without water spillage.

Copenhagen Green Drinks during climate conference

Copenhagen Green Drinks will be holding a Green Drinks to coincide with the Climate Change Conference, and they welcome any Green Drinkers and GD organisers who will be travelling there for the conference.

Please contact Anders Kildegaard Knudsen to get the final details of when and where.

WA COMMUNITY GARDENS FORUM 2009

Friday 18 Sept 5.15 — 7.30pm — Sundowner at City Farm opened by Hon Donna Faragher MLC; Minister for Environment; Youth. Hear from Rob Hopkins, co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and of the Transition Network via video link, along with a video showcase of WA’s community gardens.
Free event. RSVP: by 11 September email or 1300 501 357

Saturday 19 Sept — Skill-Sharing Day at Piney Lakes Environment Centre. Choose 3 of 6 available workshops in the morning, and attend an Open Space gathering in the afternoon on the topic “Growing a strong community garden sector in WA”
Cost is $35/person and registrations close Friday 11th September.

Sunday 20 Sept 10am – 3pm — Bus Tour of Community Gardens. Starts in Fremantle, swings through Rockingham, West Leederville and finishes in Subiaco giving you a real taste of what is possible in community gardening.
Cost is $10/person and registrations close on Friday 11th September.
More info

'Stick-on' solar cells a ray of light for iPod generation

Solar energy stored in tiny plastic cells could soon be used to power homes, mobile phones and even iPods, courtesy of the latest solar energy research underway in Queensland.

The new generation solar cells - made from moulded plastics and far smaller and cheaper than the silicon panels fixed to rooftops - are now less than three years away.

According to the University of Queensland's principal researcher, Associate Professor Paul Meredith, there is no reason why the plastics which now cover many of today's electronic gadgets could not also provide the solar energy to power them.
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Sustainable September

Check the events for the coming weeks, there are plenty to chose from!
Click here

Fears for Rous Head as report reveals toxins

Groundwater and soil under dredged material which forms the reclaimed land at Rous Head contain excessive levels of contaminants such as copper and nickel, according to an internal Fremantle Ports report.

The report says contaminants are at levels nearly eight times acceptable marine water quality standards.

The revelation comes amid fears for marine life as the port prepares to dump one million cubic metres of dredged material 8km off the coast and a further two million into the Rous Head reclamation area.
Read article

Want to go fishing there again?

Rudd hits Youtube with climate message

"It's time for Australia to act."

The scheme was voted down by the Senate last month, but in the clip Mr Rudd vows to try again later this year.

The Real State of WA: Resilience and Prosperity in an Uncertain World.

More information here

Also an amazing film, mentioned before on this blog, has nearly gone unnoticed in Perth:
"The Age of Stupid" is the new four-year epic from McLibel director Franny Armstrong. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?; they had a premier at Carousel cinema on Wed 19th Aug, it then ran in 4 Perth cinemas for 1 week and then stopped.
The global launch is on 21/22 Sept in the US and hopefully we will see the film again in WA cinemas; for more information see the website

Holly Pepper

The talk at the Perth Green Drinks today was on climate change and emerging designer/artist Holly Pepper was showing a movie in which she participated when she worked in Samoa. If you didn't had a chance to come to Perth Green Drinks, which was fully booked again, or want to see it again please have a look at the Oxfam website and click on the movie titled Coral currency takes a dive. (The other movies are also worhtwhile to check out)
For more information on what Holly is doing at the moment check her blog.

Camp for Climate Action

The Camp for Climate Action will be an inspiring few days of workshops and grassroots direct action designed to stop coal mining and it’s use for energy production in the coal capital of WA, Collie, from the 17th of December to the 20th of December (dates may be subject of change).

We are seeking more people to get involved in the organizing of this camp, because we want this to happen but right now, we don’t have enough people to make it happen.

Our collective consists of people from a variety of ages and political leanings, and we want the space to be open for anyone who wants (radical) action on climate change.
More info here.

Sustainable House Day 13 September 2009

Houses open between 10am and 4pm

This is the 8th year of the successful Sustainable House Day – where houses across Australia are opened to show you how to live more sustainably.
And this year it’s FREE!Sustainable House Day major partner: Australian Government

“Almost 10 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from households. But every Australian can make a big difference to the environment and their wallets through simple, cost-effective, everyday actions. Visit an open home on Sustainable House Day and go to www.livinggreener.gov.au to find out the practical and often easy steps you can take to reduce your impact on the environment as well as your energy and water bills.”
More information here

Click here to find the houses you can visit in WA like this one in Hamilton Hill and this one in Gosnells.

Every tree saves $420 a year

Tree experts will be told today that the value of trees could increase substantially in the next decade because of the important role they play in tackling climate change.

The National Street Tree Symposium starts today at the National Wine Centre at a time when most of southeastern Australia's trees are struggling to survive in the drought.

The importance of keeping trees alive is the focus of most of the 13 presentations and four workshops by arborists, natural resource economists and environmentalists.
Read article

Just a few weeks ago one of the appartment blocks on Shenton Road in Claremont cut five huge eucaliptus trees similar to these on the picture. I have no idea why they were cut and how they got approaval for it as the trees were not close to the appartments at all. The site looks horrible now and I miss the trees every time I walk past...

Carbon Neutral Expo Fremantle 1 October

The City of Fremantle has just become the first carbon neutral local government in the state and the second in the country! For over a decade the City has been making incremental reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of its corporate operations. With the growing awareness of the potential severity and urgency of climate change however, the City decided that more drastic action is needed. Resolving to become carbon neutral in March, the City become carbon neutral less than 4 months later.

Free Expo
There is a session open to the public from 10am-3pm. This will have stalls all day including: organic wine, local native plants, solar and wave power, free bike sharing and Living Smart. There will also be speakers from 12-2pm explaining the challenges of climate change and some of the responses that our society can make. Entry is free and there’s some great door prizes.

Special Evening Event
In the early evening from 4-6pm, there will also be another session for invited guests. This will have the same stalls, some different speakers (notably CUSP’s Peter Newman), some organic wine and food and local beer. Each invited guest will also have 1 tonne of CO2e offset on their behalf and will be able to take home a local native plant for their garden. You are obviously welcome at this session and I have attached a pdf invite for this. We need RSVPs (to the planning email address in the invite), so that we know how many offsets and trees to set aside and how many we need to cater for.
Freofocus

New website launched

Introducting Irvin The Green Tree Frog
He is your average Aussie Green Tree Frog, however, frogs are far from average; They are the worlds alarm mechanism predicting environmental disaster. Living in both water and on the land, with their permeable skin they are triple susceptible to toxins and other environmental influences making them a crucial first indicator of negative change.

These magnificent creatures saw the dinosaurs come and go, yet today 50% of the worlds 6000 frog species are declared endangered; with causes for this being imposed by various human influences.

So What Can You Do?
Check out this new website!

Perth leads the way in battery recycling

Perth households are now the first in Australia able to safely recycle common batteries.

A new recycling initiative involving all five of Perth's metropolitan regional councils aims to encourage residents to take their used batteries to one of 150 new drop-off recycling bin locations.

WA Environment Minister Donna Faragher said The Metropolitan Household Battery Recycling program was the first community-based program of its kind in Australia
Read article

So far our council, Claremont, doesn't have any indication for a permanent drop-off bin, once a year you can bring your hazardous waste to a collection point, is all...
In most countries in Europe all shops who sell batteries have to take them back to recycle so on every counter you'll find a cardboard box to drop off your old batteries, how convenient is that?

Coles launches reusable bags rewards...

Only for the people who are still not using reusable bags yet... A bit crooked if you ask me. It would be more honest if they rewarded everyone who is not taking the plastic bags, not that I have FlyBuys... I would rather have a discount on my purchases or for every ten plastic bags I avoid an apple or so...

Coles Supermarkets is introducing a number of reusable plastic bags which customers can buy for 15 cents and 25 cents each.

Australia's second biggest supermarket group says free single-use checkout bags will still be available but customers who choose the recyclable bags will be rewarded with five bonus FlyBuys points until the end of the year.
Read article

Sustainable Design Introduction

An introduction to sustainable design by designer and entrepreneur Tom Greenwood. The presentation was originally produced for a design lecture at Aston University. Visit website for more information.