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"Good News Friday, April 25 {Solar Power, Extreme Green Buildings, Growth of Renewables}"

"The United States has seen quite the bike boom over the last decade or so, and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. According to the Christian Science Monitor, bike commuting grew by 47% nationwide between 2000 and 2011. Unsurprisingly, it was Portland, Oregon that took the lead with 250% growth, followed by Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and New York City. Still, only 1% of Americans are biking on the regular, compared to 26% of people in the Netherlands, 10% of Germans, and 19% of the Danish population. The growth in the United States is of course still positive, and a great indication that there will be widespread public support as more cities begin to integrate cycling into the transportation grid."

"Global greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels reached the highest levels in human history last year, driven predominantly by Chinese growth, and are projected to surge even further in 2013. New data from the Global Carbon Project - a team of international scientists who track global emissions - finds carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels and making cement grew 2.2 per cent in 2012 from the previous year. In 2013 a further 2.1 per cent rise is expected. But the latest data suggests the world's emissions could be slowing. The approximate 2 per cent growth in 2012 and 2013 falls short of the 3.1 per cent average annual rise since 2000. CSIRO climate scientist Dr Pep Canadell - who is also executive director of the Global Carbon Project - told Fairfax Media the emissions rates of the past two years could be the tentative signs of a global slow down."

"This smart garden uses cutting-edge research in plant biology for higher yields, faster growth and more nutritious produce. It provides plants with the perfect amount of water, light and nutrients at up to 80 percent less than the cost to set up a comparable hydroponic or aeroponic system. It features professionally selected seeds that grow in the nanotech Smart Soil growth medium, ultra-efficient grow lights and electronic precision irrigation (EPI) that makes it possible to use up to 95% less water than traditional farming methods."

Uploaded on Nov 8, 2010, this video won 2011 BEST NONPROFIT VIDEO AWARD Fossil fuels have powered human growth and ingenuity for centuries. Now that we're reaching the end of cheap and abundant oil and coal supplies, we're in for an exciting ride. While there's a real risk that we'll fall off a cliff, there's still time to control our transition to a post-carbon future.

"From his own patch of turf in Coburg, Emilio Fuscaldo can see south all the way to the skyscrapers. The grass is on his roof. It's one of only a few residential green roofs in Melbourne. Mr Fuscaldo is the founder of Nest Architects; his motives were both private and public. ''It's incumbent on architects to practise what we preach. I wanted to show that you can devote a large percentage of your budget to sustainability,'' he says. ''You can compromise on other things, such as kitchens, cupboards and tiles, and still achieve a beautiful result.''"

"A new report released by the United Nations calls on world governments to change the way they do business, end fossil fuel subsidies and factor in social and environmental costs into the measurement of economic activity. It notes that the standard method of calculating economic growth through measures such as GDP ignores the impacts on the planet and food and water resources."

Welcome to the Anthropocene is a website which is designed to improve our collective understanding of the Earth system. The site aims to inspire, educate and engage people about humanity's impact on Earth. Its unique combination of high-level scientific data and powerful imagery will help people visualize and better understand humanity's geographic imprint in recent time. Watch a 3-minute journey through the last 250 years of our history, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the Rio+20 Summit. The film charts the growth of humanity into a global force on an equivalent scale to major geological processes.

Investment in renewable energy infrastructure is outstripping that for fossil fuels. Investment was equal in 2008, but the balance has swung since. During 2011, globally, $40 billion was invested in fossil fuels. $260 billion was invested in renewables.  In the past year the price of photo voltaic cells has dropped by 50%. Peter Newman describes the growth of investment in renewable as exponential. He says we are living through one of the most dramatic periods in history as fossil fuels are being phased out.

The Committee for Bellarine is an Incorporated not for profit organisation dedicated to the Bellarine Peninsula Region by pursuing and encouraging a sustainable approach to growth

"In the American West, wildfires are essential for keeping forests healthy. But the same fires that help release nutrients and promote new plant growth can also wipe out thousands of acres of forest and cause millions of dollars in damage. Since the 1970s, wildfires have been on the rise and some of this is due to a warming planet. But increased wildfires because of hot climate is not the whole story. Here we look at the way climate can affect vegetation in the West, and what influence this has on wildfires. Drought and rainfall can have very different wildfire outcomes depending on where you look in the West."

"The fact that the business-as-usual pursuit of profits and growth is destabilising life on earth is no longer something we need to read about in scientific journals. The early signs are unfolding before our eyes. And increasing numbers of us are responding accordingly: blockading fracking activity in Balcombe; interfering with Arctic drilling preparations in Russian waters (at tremendous personal cost); taking tar sands operators to court for violating indigenous sovereignty; and countless other acts of resistance large and small. In Brad Werner's computer model, this is the "friction" needed to slow down the forces of destabilisation; the great climate campaigner Bill McKibben calls it the "antibodies" rising up to fight the planet's "spiking fever"."

"Ask a Wall Street analyst and all but the most extreme contrarians will tell you that over the long run, the market is going to go up. Sure, over the last century there have been some downturns, and some flat periods of little growth, but if you invested over the long haul you were virtually guaranteed to make money. Now consider the question: Is the planet warming?"

"Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan is turning to renewable energy, and especially solar power, in a big way. By the end of 2012, Japan had already installed 7.4 gigawatts of solar power capacity, but that's set to double this year, according to analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. This stellar pace of growth in solar power is set to make Japan the second-fastest growing solar market in the world, second only to neighboring China. It will also make the country the holder of the third-largest total installed solar capacity, behind Germany and Italy."

"Giles Parkinson First, the good news. Australia will, as expected, comfortably meet its Kyoto emission reduction target, and won't get into trouble with the international community when its report card is due at the end of 2012. Even though emissions from the electricity sector will have grown by 51 per cent from 1990 through to 2012, the last-minute deal negotiated at Kyoto by Senator Robert Hill - which allowed Australia to claim reduction of land clearing after levelling half of Queensland just before the baseline year - means it will deliver on its generous national quota of 108 per cent of its 1990 emissions. It will likely come in at just over 106 per cent, and will no doubt give itself a gold star for doing so. Now, the bad news. The task of meeting Australia's pledge to the Copenhagen Accord has just gotten a lot harder. The government's latest emissions trajectory report reveals emissions growth shows little sign of abating in the short term, and may accelerate because of the impact of the massive LNG projects off the north-west of the country and increased coal exports."

Coinciding with World Environment Day, the World Bank Group is announcing a new strategy to make sure development doesn't come at the expense of environment.

"Australia is set to get more solar power into the grid with two new large scale PV farms. AGL Energy Limited recently announced that two large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects have managed to secure funding thanks to agreements with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the New South Wales (NSW) Government. The projects are expected to produce approximately 360,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year, which is enough to meet the needs of over 50,000 average homes in the Australian region of New South Wales."