World Trends
The United Nations estimate of future world population is 9.3 million by 2050, rising to 10.1 billion by 2100. However, the U.N. figures are given with a very wide range of uncertainty – between 6.2 billion and 15.8 billion in 2100. A new model developed by a team from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the CEU-San Pablo University, both in Spain, indicates that the U.N.'s low estimate for 2100 (a population of 6.2 billion) is more likely – with the population by 2050 being similar to, or even slightly lower than, the present 7.1 billion. Félix F. Muñoz, … Continue Reading
Lester Brown, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, discusses the global struggle for food security, which is the subject of his latest book "Full Planet, Empty Plates".
When the Texas company, re:char, wanted to ship their biochar kilns to Kenya, they found the usual options were wasteful and costly. They concluded that it would be much more efficient to manufacture near to the customers. To do this, in a place with little industry or infrastructure, re:char designed a fully functioning, off-the-grid, solar powered factory inside a shipping container. One re:char "shop-in-a-box" is able to produce more than 300 biochar kilns a month. The company envisages a global network of shop-in-a-box factories able to quickly create and improve upon the product. A new version of a product would … Continue Reading
The British government is to make publicly funded scientific research available for anyone to read for free by 2014. Under the scheme, research papers that describe work paid for by the British taxpayer will be free online for universities, companies and individuals to use for any purpose, wherever they are in the world. Tensions between academics and the larger publishing companies have risen in recent months as researchers have baulked at the high journal subscription charges their libraries have to pay. Under the new scheme, libraries will not have to pay for subscriptions but authors will pay "article processing charges" … Continue Reading
The U.S. Labor Department recently announced the results of its first ever survey on green jobs in the United States. Green jobs accounted for 2.4 percent of total employment in 2010, or approximately 2.3 million jobs. The following graph shows job category growth as measured by LinkedIn. Jobs in renewables and the environment are growing at a rate which is an order of magnitude faster than any other category. This video looks at some case studies of green job growth.
Microsoft is creating a "carbon price and charge back model" that will levy fees on each of its various internal business groups for the emissions they generate. The company expects that this will result in its becoming carbon neutral by its next fiscal year. Each Microsoft business unit will be responsible for the carbon that it generates – creating incentives for greater efficiency, increased purchases of renewable energy and better data collection and reporting. To achieve this, Microsoft will create a new, internal price on carbon. The price will be based on market pricing for renewable energy and carbon offsets … Continue Reading
This video from www.everythingisaremix.info/ explains it all: .
We have just seen widespread protests aginst the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act. Proponents of these Acts claim that they want to encourage creativity by protecting the rights of authors, artists and musicians. But copyright law is not about protecting authors, artists and musicians. It is, and always has been, all about protecting the income of publishers. When printing presses arrived in England in the late 16th century, they created an industry. Printers soon wanted to prevent others from competing by printing the same books that they had published. So they convinced the government to … Continue Reading
Measured by income, the top 1% of Australian income earners get more than $250,000 a year. That is, if you earn less than $250,000, you’re in the 99%. In terms of household wealth, the richest 1% of Australian househlolds have net assets totalling more than $5 million. So, if you’re worth less than $5 miilion, you’re part of the 99%. But are the 1% geting more than their fair share and, if so, how much? The percentage of the nation’s wealth owned by the top 1% has followed the same pattren in all of the Anglo-Saxon countries. From "Distribution of … Continue Reading
Could the current scandals surrounding Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation organisation be a sign that printed newspapers are in their death throes? Dubious behaviour in a corporation and its management is often a sign of a failing business desperate for revenue. Printed newspapers are a relic of the industrial age and News Corporation seems to be an organisation whose thinking has has not progressed beyond that age. Another sign of desperation and old-fashioned thinking is the Murdoch plan to charge for access to his news web sites. Other businesses are able to thrive on the Internet without doing this … Continue Reading
Videos
Renewables News- Dysol Aiming to Print Storage with Solar CellsAustralia's Dyesol Limited has acquired an equity stake in Printed Power Pte Ltd, a spinoff company of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Printed Power is focussing on integrating dye solar cell technology with printed storage and power management systems to … Continue Reading → […]
- CSIRO Printer Makes 10m of Solar Cells a MinuteCSIRO researchers have built a gigantic printer that spits out solar cells at a rate of about ten metres a minute. The printer system uses existing technology to embed polymer solar cells (also known as organic solar cells) in thin … Continue Reading → […]
- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted WaterScientists from Deakin University, together with French colleagues, say that they have manufactured a lightweight and reusable material that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in a wide range of spilt oils, chemical solvents and dyes, while repelling … Continue Reading → […]
- Dysol Aiming to Print Storage with Solar Cells
