Tag Archives: carbon
A new report by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization, proposes a climate-change stopgap: by controlling two noxious ground-level pollutants, black carbon (or soot) and ozone. Reducing levels of these substances would slow the rate of climate change in the first half of the 21st century while carbon dioxide levels are brought down over the longer term. Both black carbon and ozone contribute to climate change but both could be reduced relatively easily and inexpensively. Black carbon particles attract heat, warming the air around them if they remain suspended, and melting snow and ice if they … Continue Reading
The Chinese government has ordered over 2,087 firms in high-polluting and energy-intensive industries to shut down outdated plant by the end of September. Companies that fail to do so risk having bank loans frozen, approvals for new projects and land purchases refused and their electricity cut off. Companies effected produce steel, coal, cement, aluminium, glass and other materials and include plants owned by China’s biggest steel maker, Hebei Iron and Steel Group, and the nation’s biggest aluminium maker, Aluminum Corp of China. The reason for the dramatic action is that China’s average energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product … Continue Reading
Researchers led by Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, have published a paper in the journal Nature showing that marine phytoplankton have declined substantially in the world’s oceans over the past century. Phytoplankton are the basis of the entire marine food chain. They produce around half of the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere and drive the ‘biological pump’ that fixes 100 million tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide a day into organic material, which eventually sinks to the ocean floor. The scientists found that the average global phytoplankton concentration in the upper ocean currently declines by around … Continue Reading
The world’s worst underground coal fires are in Inner Mongolia. Some have been burning for 50 years. The amount of coal being burned is estimated to be about 20 million tonnes a year. The Inner Mongolia regional government has now announced plans and financing of 200 million yuan ($au36 million) to begin extinguishing the fires. According to the plan, half of the fires could be extinguished by 2012 simply by digging coal out of the path of the fires and covering the fires with sand. The government said that the fires were caused by "improper mining practices" and "dry weather" … Continue Reading
Scientists from the University of Michigan and Oxford University have reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that they have developed a way of efficiently turning carbon dioxide into cabon monoxide (which can be used as a fuel) using visible light. The scientists used an enzyme-modified titanium oxide and a photosensitizer to make the conversion to carbon monoxide. The conversion needs to be done in an oxygen-free environment and the carbon monoxide needs to be managed because it is poisonous. But the researchers say that the product can be used not only to produce electricity or hydrogen but … Continue Reading
The International Energy Agency, which provides energy statistics and projections to 28 industrialised countries, has issued a report warning that every year of inaction in cutting carbon emissions will cost the world an additional $US500 billion. The IEA estimates that in order to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees, non-fossil fuels will need to provide at least 32 percent of total energy and the share of new cars with internal combustion engines will have to fall to less than 40% by 2030. The IEA says that to achieve this the world needs to spend a total of … Continue Reading
Babelgum.com has produced and posted online a stunning 30-minute video about Canadian tar sand mining. They describe it as "The first original production by and for Babelgum, ‘Downstream’ focuses on the controversy surrounding the development of Alberta’s oil sands. This beautifully photographed documentary is an eye-opening investigation into one of the world’s most polluting oil operations. It includes interviews with ecologists, Canadian politicians, local residents and a very dedicated doctor, discussing the environmental, economic and health issues surrounding the oil sands development.." This follows a 20-page story by National Geographic about what has been called "the most destructive project on … Continue Reading
Scott Heckbert, an environmental economist at the CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Division in Townsville, estimates that traditional Aboriginal burning practices in Australia’s savannah country could reduce national greenhouse emissions by nearly five megatonnes a year and trigger a $52 million-a-year industry employing 1,000 people. Despite the huge economic cost of fires in the more populated areas, such as the recent Victorian bushfires, 90 per cent of Australian wildfires actually occur in the continent’s far north. Each year large swathes of savannah are deluged by rain during the wet season This boosts the growth of native grasses. Traditionally, Aboriginal people have burned … Continue Reading
On August 11, our meeting discussed how business enterprises will benefit from rethinking their processes in an economy, which must consider finite natural resources and the need to strive for a sustainable future. Helen Weston gave a talk about how to understand the new government policies, including the new carbon pollution reduction scheme and what these policies mean for small businesses. Helen has a broad business background and is applying her experience to the development of methods of reducing the cost and optimising the business opportunities of carbon reduction strategies and sustainability practices.
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
