September 2nd, 2009
The BioCube
“Gold Coast-based company has launched the BioCube. The fully integrated compact biodiesel processor, half the size of a shipping container, is capable of providing 300 to 400 people with energy; particularly suited for small developing communities.”
The BioCube generated an unprecedented interest from Green Times readers in Australia and all over the world! In this article, Liz Hoyland, writer from AusIndustry Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, show an amazing example of sustainable source of affordable clean energy, aimed at developing countries. This article truly is an inspiration.
Read more http://www.greentimes.com.au/energy/the-biocube.html
Tags: BioCube, biodiesel processor, developing countries, energy, Gold Coast, Liz Hoyland, Queensland
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August 31st, 2009
On Monday August 25 the Australia – Israel Chamber of Commerce hosted the event “ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme): Transformation to a Competitive Low-Carbon Economy.” The panel consisted of the Hon Greg Combet MP, Minister assisting the Minister of Climate Change, John Conner, CEO for The Climate Institute, Nathan Fabian, CEO for The Investor Group on Climate Change, and Greig Gailey, President of the Business Council of Australia. The panel was moderated by Margot O’Neill who is the climate change reporter for Lateline.
The event was attended by several Australian heavyweight companies such as Sanyo, ANZ, Comm Bank, SAP, and the GreenTimes team (Leor Shavel and Marion Di Benedetto co-founders of Green Times and Mark Herman from the Chamber of Commerce, picture above) just to name a few. The panel discussed topics such as consumer and business certainty moving into a low carbon economy, private business responsibility in creating low carbon initiatives, and the global consensus for a fixed carbon price moving into our daily lives within the next decade.
If businesses aren’t preparing for a low carbon economy and factoring in carbon for their future expenses, they will be hit hard due to their lack of responsibility in these times, mentioned Combet. The problem that I personally see is that our government change their minds all the time after taking forever to actually implement positive changes. This does not create confidence in private business to go ahead and invest in low carbon processes because depending on who is in government at the time, things always get shifted in some way or another. Combet also said to “not underestimate the prime minister when it comes to sustainability”. The fact is, businesses need to get prepared now in order to not suffer further loses in future. In truth, a low carbon economy will be a more economical way of life, for consumers and businesses alike. Businesses need confidence that the government will look after them during the initial transformation period in order to prevent imports from taking over our economy. With a solid compensation process now in the works, we are hopefully one step closer to a more sustainable future.
I don’t feel the 200+ guests left the event with any more certainty they came in the room with, just more doubt on when we can start seeing lasting change. It is clear that we are taking steps into a low carbon economy, but it may be taking too long with all the constant debate along the way. We need to adapt a let’s do this NOW and get it done attitude and lock it in for a fixed amount of time or until our targets are met. We must consider to be more aggressive to create change that can reduce our carbon impact NOW. Every day we are polluting our planet and each day that passes makes the road to and eco-friendly planet feel like its further away, simply because we are still harming the planet more than we are healing it! Only time will tell, which is not on our side at the moment.
Tags: businesses, climate change, economy, Emissions Trading Scheme, ETS, Greg Combet, Greig Gailey, investment, Israel chamber of commerce, John Conner, Leor Shavel, low-carbon economy, Margot O'Neil, Marion Di Benedetto, Nathan Fabian, sustainable future
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August 26th, 2009
In the past 2 weeks, we’ve asked Green Times visitors if they make a conscious effort to reduce their water use. This question came to us following the huge campaign ran by the New South Wales government over the past couple of months. The water for life campaign (www.waterforlife.com.au) shows the journey of a water drop. It is an extremely well presented campaign that is both informative and motivating to act and indeed reduce water usage.
Overall, we were a bit surprised by our poll’s results (see results at www.greentimes.com.au). In fact, our poll shows that 23.3% of Green Times visitors do not make a conscious effort to reduce their water use, while 37.2% state that they sometimes make an effort and 39.5% are constantly making an effort. Now, the question is: do people not make an effort because it comes to them automatically, effortlessly?! Or do they not make an effort because they are just too lazy or don’t care?! We like to believe it is the first option although when designing this poll we assumed that people who would say no would be because they just cant be bothered. Either way, it still seems very low to us that just under 40% of the voters actually do make a constant effort to reduce their water use and it appears more and more important to keep promoting the message of water efficiency and show the importance of looking after our natural resources. We are very fortunate to live in a country where drinking water is available to all, yet Australia is subject to intense draughts and limited water supplies in some areas and it is essential that people do not take water for granted and start making a conscious effort to protect this invaluable resource.
Tags: green times, NSW government, polls, resource, water, water efficiency, water for life, water usage
Posted in Green Times Polls | No Comments »
August 25th, 2009
Last Wednesday (19th August) the Sydney Theatre rolled out the green carpet at for the Australia and New Zealand premiere of The Age of Stupid.
The premiere hosted by witty director Franny Armstrong was a real success. The night started with giant penguins and koalas walking the green carpet, members of the audience cycling to the event or even better arriving in solar powered futuristic machines, interviews of Cat empire singer Felix Reibl, director Rachel Ward and husband Bryan Brown, and then the film.
The Age of Stupid staring Pete Postlethwaite as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, takes us back to news footage of the past (our present) asking why we didn’t stop climate change when we had the chance… And it really makes us ask why!?
The film shows the stories of windfarm developer Piers Guy in England, Shell employee Alvin DuVernay in the US, Indian business man Jeh Wadia, medical student wannabe Layefa Malemi in Nigeria, 81 years old French mountain guide Fernand Pareau, and Iraq war children Jamila and Adnan Bayyoud.
The stars of the Age of Stupid are so real it is impossible to stay detached and not relate. They depict a clear and sometimes dark picture of our world. From the old French men in the Alps sharing his life experience seeing road being developed in his pristine mountains, traffic increasing and snow caps melting, to young Layefa who saw Shell coming to Nigeria as an amazing opportunity for her country and who is now washing fish with Omo powder, the stories of the Age of Stupid are real and make us go through a rollercoaster of emotions. And all the way through the film we cant help but ask ourselves why? Why are we so reluctant to change? Why havent we done anything before? and why are we still not doing much when we know the terrible impact our society has on our planet?!
Following the screening, a Q and A session with director Franny Armstrong was a great way to close the evening. The audience got the opportunity to give a surprise phone call to ask questions to Piers (the windfarm developer) in England, as well as asking questions to explorer Eric Philips live in the Artic, and closer to us Green Peace representative and Green Party Senator Milne calling the Australian Government the “House of Stupid”.
The Age of Stupid is a must see!
Tags: australia, climate change, film, Franny Armstrong, green carpet, Green Party, Green Peace, movie premiere, Pete Postlethwaite, Sydney Theatre, The Age of Stupid
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August 18th, 2009
After a short and silent like effort in the US to sell electric cars in the early 90’s, President Barack Obama and his administration have committed $2.4bn in hopes of becoming a world leader in electric and hybrid vehicle development. “We can remain one of the world’s leading importers of foreign oil, or we can make the investments that will allow us to become the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy. We can let climate change continue to go unchecked, or we can help stem it”, the president said.
Michigan received 11 grants worth $1.36bn to develop new kinds of batteries and electric car technologies as well as build new factories to manufacture them. GM received more than $241m to make battery packs for its Chevrolet Volt electric car and build a rear-wheel electric-drive system. Ford received almost $93m mainly to make electric drive axles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles while Chrysler received $70m to build plug-in hybrid electric trucks and people movers. The biggest individual grant went to Johnson Controls for $299m which will provide Ford with batteries for future electric vehicles.
One of the key requirements for companies to get the grant money is that the batteries and other technologies must be manufactured in the US. “I want the cars of the future and the technologies that power them to be built right here,” the President said.
Obama has a a very ambitious renewable energy program, calling for doubling America’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years and one million hybrid vehicles on American roads by 2015. Obama also announced a $7,500 tax credit to encourage the purchase of hybrid vehicles. Initiatives like this that involve consumers directly benefiting in their pockets can really help stimulate change which is what Australia needs to further promote its electric and hybrid car industry.
Tags: electric cars, grant, hybrid cars, incentives, Obama, renewable energy, technology, United States
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August 12th, 2009
Last month we looked at how Ontario (Canada) is rewarding its people for using solar energy. This month we are looking at Israel and its feed-in electricity strategy.
Israel’s bid to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 has prompted them to participate in what are known as feed-in tariffs for electricity supplied by independent private suppliers. These feed-in tariffs apply to electricity that is supplied by renewable or “clean” sources such as geo-thermal power, solar and wind energy, and biomass energy.
Hevrat HaHashmal (The Israeli Electric Corporation) has agreed to participate in this program and is offering attractive prices for entrepreneurs and investors alike. This opportunity will allow consumers in Israel to be able to generate their own electricity using solar power and wind turbines and sell the surplus back to the national grid.
The Israel Public Utility Authority approved the feed-in tariff policy in June, 2008, for small domestic and commercial plants; by agreeing to purchase the electricity within the following guidelines:
* The plan is limited to a total “feed in” output of 50 MW over a seven year period (rates vary if providing wind power).
* The Israel Electric Company is obligated to purchase all photovoltaic (PV) produced electricity at the feed-in tariff rate for a 20 year period.
* A maximum amount of 15 kWp of electricity is to be allocated for the domestic sector, with 50 kWp designated for the business sector.
* The electricity systems must be installed on an already built structure.
* The proposed feed-in tariff rate is to be NS 2.01 per kwh for electricity produced by PV systems. This is a higher rate that that from normally produced electricity which runs to NS 0.50, subject to price adjustment.
Israel is already the world leader in solar hot water systems with more than 85% of dwellings powered by solar hot water, far ahead of the rest of the world. Israel’s landspace for installing residential renewable energy systems is similar to American states such as Arizona, California, Texas, and many others with heaps of sunshine.
The popularity of this feed-in tariff program started in Germany more than 10 years ago and has extended to countries such as Austria, Brazil,Canada, some states in the US and Australia. How do you think Australia’s policies compare to Australia’s plan to cut their carbon emission by 2020?
Tags: biomass, electricity, emission, energy, geo-thermal, greenhouse gas, Israel, reduction strategy, renewable, Solar, wind
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August 7th, 2009
Here is the list of the tweets we selected for this week :
@greenwala A Pictorial Collection Of Tree Houses Located All Over The Globe http://bit.ly/J3dLz
@greendreamin Household waste #art! http://bit.ly/SxwTz
@EnvironUpdates TimesOnline: Tesco hides figures after missing target to reduce plastic bag usage http://tinyurl.com/mc565a Full http://tinyurl.com/m3r2h6
@mae37 Wheat from North America it has been sprayed anywhere from four to seven times. Organic-real food does not have that cocktail of chemicals.
@AusConservation Thanks to all who sent in a submission to challenge BHP’s uranium mine. You can read our submission here: http://twurl.nl/c4lr8z #uranium
You can also follow us on @GreenTimesAUS.
Tags: housing, mining, Organic Food, plastic bags, recycling and waste
Posted in Tweets of the Week | No Comments »
August 6th, 2009
Over the past two weeks, Green Times has been asking its visitors their opinion on the ban on bottled water.
This topic has been all over the news in the past months following Australia’s first ban on bottled water in the NSW town of Bundanoon and we wanted to know what you think. In favour or against the ban on bottled water?
During our 2 weeks of poll, it was really interesting to see how votes were swinging with what was published in the papers. Our first week of poll showed a very shared public opinion with a consistent 50% in favour of the ban and 50% against.
Then came the big news! Bottled water ban saves town ‘up to $2.5m a year’. Our number of voters dramatically increased then with the majority voting in favour of the ban as the final results show.
Overall, a high 72.2% of the population voted in favour of the ban on bottled water.
Do you think that really represents public opinion?
Tags: ban, bottled water, Bundanoon, green times, news, poll, public opinion
Posted in Green Times Polls | No Comments »