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February 2009 Blog Posts (14)

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Beyond the green facade

It’s easy to get caught up in the current fervour for brand-new ‘green’ buildings, as trendy, eco-friendly commercial and residential developments seemingly spring up across Australia’s cities. They may be aesthetically pleasing (and make nice magazine spreads), but critics argue that this is where their usefulness ends. Instead, tackling the massive inefficiencies in the country’s existing building stock is a better use of resources and a smarter place for sustainable companies to… Continue

Added by Ethical Investor on February 27, 2009 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Flaws in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme

I wrote in support of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) when it was first announced, and before the finer details were apparent. Post the lobbying efforts by those industries with most to lose, and the fine print, I’m starting to seriously doubt whether indeed the CPRS will indeed deliver what its name espouses to – pollution reduction.



As recently advocated by a group of ten prominent economists, there are three key changes necessary for the CPRS to be… Continue

Added by Terence Jeyaretnam on February 26, 2009 at 1:00pm — 11 Comments

$5,500 and a year in jail for being environmentally friendly?

Like numerous people around the world I live and rent an apartment in a large city. We do what we can to limit our impact on the environment. We recycle; use green power and I have even got a worm farm to limit our waste.



I also refuse to use the clothes dryer unless it’s an emergency as it is the most power hungry appliance we use and the average dryer is responsible for about 500kg of C02 per year. In fact dryers alone in Sydney units produce an estimate 80,000 tonnes of CO2 a year… Continue

Added by Lee Stewart on February 24, 2009 at 2:00pm — 10 Comments

Sustainability News Snapshot (17th Feb)

The devastating bushfires took precedence over all news in Australia last week and rightfully so. Since the tragic event the United Fire-fighters Union of Australia have expressed their concern in a letter to the Prime Minister stating a more proactive approach to climate change needs to be adopted to ensure the safety of Australians. Meanwhile the Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment has been defending accusations that better fire management could have prevented the… Continue

Added by Georgia Muir on February 17, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

What is it with photovoltaic (PV) solar power?

What is it with photovoltaic (PV*) solar power? When Bell Labs reported the first silicon photovoltaic cell in 1954, the New York Times were quick to broadcast the imminent end of our dependence on fossil fuels – the energy revolution was fast approaching!



The original Bell Labs cell reached 6%. Five decades later, the silicon solar cell recently passed the milestone of… Continue

Added by Miles Page on February 17, 2009 at 10:30am — 3 Comments

Al Gore: Dreamer or Visionary? The future of Renewable Energy in the USA

Ex Vice President Al Gore set a target last July: In a landmark Washington speech, he launched a project to "Repower America". (Abridged version here) His goal is to convert America's power supply to 100% renewable, non-carbon-based sources within ten years. I highly recommend a listen to… Continue

Added by Miles Page on February 13, 2009 at 8:30am — 2 Comments

Car electronic gates, are made for cars!

The gates of the car parking garage where I work are electronic, they are huge and they take time to open and close. Regardless how well they have been designed to reduce consumption, I sometimes see employees going in and out at times when no cars are using it. Don't employees realize that they are operating a huge machine for such little outcome? Can't they walk up to the front door? I do find this inexcusable, as it is not about a single gate, but about a mindset, the mindset of consumption.… Continue

Added by Ayyash on February 11, 2009 at 7:22pm — 1 Comment

Paper everywhere

This morning I found six full colour brochures from different companies crammed into the letterbox.



This got me thinking further about the bills on recycled paper or 'condensed' version yet still add thick glossy brochures.



Could be interesting to do an analysis of 12 months of letterbox stuffing. Some useful info might be to include:

- Number of pages

- Total weight

- Colour: Single / Full

- Source (eg Brochure accompanying, direct marketing,… Continue

Added by TC on February 11, 2009 at 4:29pm — 4 Comments

Sustainability News Snapshot (10th February)

Last week the Australian government threw more money at rebuilding the economy withgreen initiatives being a large component of the spending. Whilst the government was spending money, protesters created a red human chain around Parliament House to express their disappointment with the carbon emissions reduction target.



Overseas, Sweden lifted a 30 year old nuclear power ban, joining several other EU nations who see nuclear as one solution to climate change and energy… Continue

Added by Georgia Muir on February 10, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Balloon Engines for Solar Power

A Queensland author has proposed a significantly cheaper and more efficient variation of the solar tower concept for generating renewable energy by using a ‘balloon engine’ instead.



In a paper Hot Air Balloon Engine published in Renewable Energy journal, Ian Edmonds of Solartran Pty Ltd outlines a system that can utilize the same thermal updraft principles of a solar tower by using a large hot air balloon, a tethering rope, a generator/ motor drive that is coupled to the… Continue

Added by Eco Investor on February 5, 2009 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Where should I start my sustainability journey?

I know, anything a person does to support sustainability is better than nothing... But I am faced with the issue that I have a limited budget (funny that), but would like to get a water tank installed to save water, put something on my roof to use the sun (but I am not sure if for hot water or electricity), also there is a quite lot of wind where I live and finally the house I bought does not have any insulation. Or sell my bomb and buy an electro car... Could anybody point me (and potentially… Continue

Added by Stefan Goecke on February 5, 2009 at 10:22am — 2 Comments

Richard Buckminster: a visionary in sustainability

With no job and a new baby to support, he became depressed. One day, he was walking by Lake Michigan, when he found himself suspended several feet above the ground, surrounded by sparkling light. Time seemed to stand still, and a voice spoke to him. “You do not have the right to eliminate yourself,” it said. “You do not belong to you. You belong to Universe.” It was at this point, that he decided to embark on his “lifelong experiment.” The experiment’s aim was nothing less than determining… Continue

Added by Terence Jeyaretnam on February 4, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Book Review: Blessed Unrest

Paul Hawken is one of the best-known environmental authors of our time. With The Ecology of Commerce, he opened the eyes of business its impact on the environment, but most importantly, the opportunities available to manage these impacts from a life-cycle perspective. With Blessed Unrest, Hawken has again presented an optimistic view. From a social and environmental perspective, it is a book about what is going right in a resource-constrained, polluted, and decadent… Continue

Added by Terence Jeyaretnam on February 3, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Sustainability News Snapshot (1st February)

The world recession hasn’t brought all dire news. Environmental issues have re-surfaced over the last week or so, with the world paying particular interest to how we are going to address these concerns in the long term. The Australian Federal government has committed over $10million into researching the health implications of rising temperatures and $500,000 on grass roots initiatives at local council level.



Obama has thrown an enormous amount of enthusiasm into his first… Continue

Added by Georgia Muir on February 2, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

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