Geelong Sustainability

"Ferguson spies a green energy future … and steps on the gas"

Welcome to eFuture, where you can explore Australia's electricity future through to 2050. eFuture is a snapshot of the complex modelling CSIRO carries out every day to support government and industry as they make decisions about energy investment and policy. Based on CSIRO's energy sector model, you can select options and instantly view charts showing changes to Australia's future electricity sources, greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of electricity. With the release of the Australian Government's Energy White Paper (2012), CSIRO is excited to launch eFuture, a way for those interested in energy to explore the future energy scenarios similar to those presented in the Energy White Paper.

"A new project proves what's possible with the benefit of local knowledge."

I am writing with Hurricane Sandy having brought devastation to New York and the East coast of the United States. Much has been written on the politics of climate change. But until a few days ago, a severe weather event affecting the Presidential poll in the world's largest economy and second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, would have been regarded as creative fantasy or another average Hollywood script.

"Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power appear to be the impetus behind a South Australian proposal to substantially drop electricity prices, just as other states are hiking theirs. The Essential Service Commission of South Australian (ESCOSA), which regulates retail electricity prices, has released a draft price determination that proposes an 8.1% reduction in the electricity standing offer, (that is, the default retail price that must be offered to South Australians, at a minimum)."

"For the first time since World War II, bike purchases in Italy have surpassed automotive sales. The bike's growing popularity may be due to several factors, particularly the current economic turmoil in Europe."

This course introduces the academic discipline of sustainability and explores how today's human societies can endure in the face of global change, ecosystem degradation and resource limitations.

""Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation" is a free, open-source textbook available for viewing online or as a download for use on e-readers or printing. First and second-year college students are introduced to this expanding new field, comprehensively exploring the essential concepts from every branch of knowledge - including engineering and the applied arts, natural and social sciences, and the humanities. As sustainability is a multi-disciplinary area of study, the text is the product of multiple authors drawn from the diverse faculty of the University of Illinois: each chapter is written by a recognized expert in the field. Designed for the new generation of e-readers, the book can also be viewed in a browser, saved as a pdf, or printed."

"It will come as no surprise to hear that only a tiny fraction - less than 1 percent - of cars driving along American roads are fully electric. What might be more surprising is the fact that this wasn't always the case. In 1900, 34 percent of cars in New York, Boston and Chicago were powered by electric motors. Nearly half had steam engines. What happened? Why do we end up embracing one technology while another, better one struggles or fails?"

NASA image of the day - "Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - September 26, 2012"

"How solar and EVs will save us"

"The highly anticipated iPhone 5 is finally in millions of people's hands.  Within three days of its September 21st launch, Apple had sold a record-breaking five million units. And within a year, analysts project that sales of the iPhone 5 will reach 170 million. The popularity of the new device got us thinking: how much juice does it take each year to charge a next-generation smartphone? And how does the energy consumption of smartphones compare to that of other consumer electronics? To find out, we got our hands on a new iPhone 5 and also a Samsung Galaxy S III - currently the hottest Android handset - then headed into the Opower Lab for some testing. Here's what we found, and our assessment of what it suggests about the energy impact of our increasingly on-the-go digital lifestyles…"

Each week NASA's State of Flux website features images of different locations, showing the effects of climate change, urbanization, or natural hazards such as fires and floods. If you select the 'map view' option you can view a Google Map of all the locations so far covered. If you then select a marker on the map you can view two images of the location that have been taken at different times. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you can also find a number of links to browse the images by different categories, such as 'extreme events', 'human impacts' and 'top picks'.

"The integration of wind energy generation into the electricity grid in South Australia is a success story. The gross statistic often quoted is the total electricity produced as a percentage of the supply. In the year to June 2012, the electricity generated by wind farms in SA amounted to 3,349 GWh, or 26% of the total supply. This was behind the 50% supplied by natural gas and ahead of coal's 24%."

"The rich are now 288 times richer than middle-class households"