Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

"In the 1900s, energy shortages led to breakthroughs in the use of fluorescents. In more recent years it has been all about improving affordability and efficiency. But what's the next bright idea in lighting? Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are where it's all at. OLEDs are an emerging technology that deliver bright, thin, highly efficient displays with excellent colour purity. "

"The biggest impediment to climate action these days is not because of the human frailties that science is hell-bent on resisting - those alleged failings of opinion, belief and emotion. Ironically, it's exactly because we are still trying to suppress them that we are now stalled."

"On average, the seas are expected rise by one metre by the end of the century. This means the relocation of 500 million people whose homes and land will be inundated. There are currently no plans to manage this. Johannes Leutz is studying the best way to tackle these approaching massive problems."

""The world is making policy decisions which mean that coal usage, in my view, will progressively decline. It's a long-term structural change and that should not be dismissed as something that is purely cyclical." (Colin Barnett, West Australian Premier. 29 July 2013) Something deep and long-lasting is changing the thermal coal market, and the effects are already evident in Australia. Reportedly, over the last 12 months, 10,000 jobs have been cut in the coal industry, even though production has increased. Why? Because miners are desperate to staunch their losses as the price they're getting for their coal has plunged by around 40%."

"The technical solutions needed to reduce greenhouse gases at a speed capable of preventing catastrophic climate change are now well known. The recently launched University of Melbourne research report, Post Carbon Pathways shows the key features of the post-carbon economy road map are now widely understood. We need rapid replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy; rapid reductions in energy consumption and improvements in energy efficiency; and the drawdown and sequestration of carbon into sustainable carbon sinks."

"First, the bad news: because of climate change and worsening water pollution, algae, the world's fastest-growing photosynthetic organisms, are proliferating worldwide. A few of these are of the toxic blue-green variety. The good news is that some strains of algae can be converted into an alternative source of renewable energy that is commercially viable."

"These weather maps are produced from computer models and are used by forecasters to develop the official weather maps, which contain added features such as cold fronts". Use Play & Stop buttons to watch how the models think the next 7 days might play out.

"Warming oceans are affecting the breeding patterns and habitat of marine life, according to a three-year international study published today in Nature Climate Change. This is effectively re-arranging the broader marine landscape as species adjust to a changing climate. Scientific and public attention to the impacts of climate change has generally focused on how biodiversity and people are being affected on land."

Are you excited by insulation? No? Would you like a house with virtually no heating bill? Yes? Have you heArd of a passivhaus? They're quite wonderful. A passive house (passivhaus) is a super insulated energy efficient home. The reason why you should want one is they have tiny heating bills, minimal cArbon footprints, Are flooded with natural light and enjoy superior levels of comfort to normal homes.

"There's currently a very big difference between what the major parties contesting the election are planning to do for our environment. Here's where the major parties stand as at 12 August 2013. We'll update this snapshot over the course of the election campaign. Hopefully there are some big, positive announcements to come!"

"Fracking is a controversial topic. On the one side the gas drilling companies, on the other citizen opposed to this drilling method. Politicians are also divided on the matter. We try to take a neutral look on fracking. It is relevant for all of us, because of high prices for energy and the danger for our drinking water. This video focuses mostly on the debate currently ongoing in europe. In a lot of european countries there is a public outcry against fracking, espacially in germany. But the facts in this video are relevant to all of us."

"THE United Nation's latest investigation into climate change reportedly admits the world has been warming at only just over half the rate it had claimed in 2007. According to the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, a leaked draft of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest assessment of the state of the climate and global warming - ar5 - says the earth has been warming at a rate of 0.12C each decade since 1951. But it says the last major IPCC report, released in 2007 and called ar4, claimed the planet was warming at a rate of 0.2C every decade." See also http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/sep/16/climate-change-contrarians-5-stages-denial

"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"."

"Researchers at the University of Alberta are developing a new kind of silicon-free, spray-on solar cell, which promises to be much cheaper than more conventional solar cells. The solar cells are flexible enough to roll up and use in such things as window blinds, according to CBC. They can even be applied using spray coaters used for the touching-up of automotive paint."

"Sales of two-wheeled vehicles are outstripping four-wheeled vehicles across the continent. Now we'll get to see what a widespread biking culture really looks like."

"In its draft form, the fought-over paragraph declared that, to have the best chance of not exceeding the international target for global warming of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, society can burn no more than about 1 trillion tons of carbon, in the form of fossil fuels, and spew the resulting gases into the atmosphere. More than half that carbon budget has been used already. Moreover, the draft made it clear that if countries want to be safe and take account of other gases that are warming the planet, the carbon budget would be even less than a trillion tons. At the rate things are going, we will exceed the budget in 30 years or fewer."

"All over the world, people are learning to work with each other, technology, and the earth, to create systems that are better, cheaper, and more resilient than conventional systems. Join us as we explore what lies beyond sustainability. A more peaceful, abundant, beautiful world is possible. Welcome to the Symbiosis Project."

"There have been fierce arguments this week about whether it's opportunistic to discuss climate change in connection to the devastating New South Wales fires. Amid all the bluster, it's surprising that we've heard so little from one group of experts: frontline emergency service workers, including the firefighters risking their lives for the rest of us. Yet if you do ask for their opinion - as we did for a study released in June this year - many, ....... , are not reluctant to talk about climate change. In fact, quite a few of the emergency workers and planners we interviewed said we should be talking about it more, if our communities are to be better prepared for disasters like the one unfolding in NSW right now."

"Bill Gates sees meat alternatives a a big part of the future of food. On his blog, The Gates Notes, there is a feature called The Future of Food, where he explains how food scientists are starting to reinvent meat, and how this could help the whole world. Gate explains that worldwide meat consumption has doubled over the past two decades and is expected to double again by 2050 when, as we know, world population is expected to reach at least 9 billion. It is just over 7 billion now."

"The 'Pathways to Deep Decarbonisation in 2050: How Australia can prosper in a low carbon world' report, released 23 September 2014, presents an illustrative deep decarbonisation pathway for Australia - just one of many possible pathways - developed using a combination of well-established modelling tools to identify feasible and least-cost options.  This work finds that Australia can achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and live within its recommended carbon budget, using technologies that exist today, while maintaining economic prosperity. Major technological transitions are needed in some industries and many activities, but no fundamental change to Australia's economy is required. The technologies required for decarbonisation are currently available or under development. The analysis shows that deep decarbonisation requires neither substantial lifestyle changes nor large changes in Australia's economic structure."