$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.
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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.
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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.
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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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