Geelong Sustainability

"The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea has been working on extending the range and convenience of operating electric buses. Two new buses are now being trialled in the city of Gumi that use technology in the road to wirelessly charge their batteries."

"Renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydro power could supply electricity at prices comparable to fossil fuels by 2030, according to a study commissioned by the federal government. Modelling by the Australian Energy Market Operator shows that 100 per cent of power from clean energy would be technically viable by 2030 - although with a price tag ranging from $219 billion to $252 billion."

"The Darebin Fruit Squad, a crack team of volunteers who, for free, harvest excess fruit and advise on tree maintenance. Leaving residents a box or two, they donate the leftover produce that would otherwise rot to the needy through charities such as Second Bite and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. The volunteers, in return, get free TAFE-level horticulture training."

"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!"

"Smartphones, laptops, tablets, digital TV. You may not have considered it, but all those devices require a lot of energy to operate, and gobble it up even when they sit idle. In fact, the iPhone uses more electricity than a refrigerator. A medium-sized, energy star fridge uses 322 kilowatt hours (kWh) each year. The average iPhone? 361." See the full report at http://goo.gl/FstidW

"Uploaded on Aug 24, 2010 Visit http://nourishlife.org. What's the story of your food? With beautiful visuals and inspiring stories, Nourish: Food + Community traces our relationship to food from a global perspective to personal action steps. Narrated by actress Cameron Diaz, Nourish features interviews with author Michael Pollan, sustainable food advocate Anna Lappé, eco-chef Bryant Terry, pediatrician Dr. Nadine Burke, and organic farmer Nigel Walker. Stay tuned for new videos by connecting with Nourish:"

"As I write these words, 7.4 per cent of the electrons powering my laptop come from wind farms - travelling at the speed of light between hundreds of silently whirring generators and the complex electronics in my computer. The output of wind farms over the past nine days - the span of National Science Week - has been particularly excellent, and it's worth diving into some data to have a closer look."

"The monthly solar power generation record has been shattered in Germany, again. The country measured over 5.1 terawatt hours (TWh) of solar power in July, according to data gathered by the EEX (Energy) Transparency Platform. It's an impressive result, considering Germany gets less than half the sun available in some sunnier parts of the world."

"The planet is building up heat at the equivalent of four Hiroshima bombs worth of energy every second. And 90% of that heat is going into the oceans. Right, now I've got your attention."

"Can "direct action" cut Australia's carbon emissions for the price Tony Abbott says it can? Climate change minister Mark Butler says not. Last week he welcomed "new independent modelling", which he said showed the Coalition's policy would "cost billions of dollars more than Tony Abbott claims and has no chance of meeting Australia's emissions reduction target"."

"Monsanto, whose name is synonymous with GM crops, confirmed that it is withdrawing all of its EU applications for approval for new crops. The decision is understood to affect as many as 10 applications for approval for new GM crops. It is understood that Monsanto is pulling all of its applications for crops in frustration at delays over clearing existing crops at EU level."

"The world's largest home-furnishings chain, Ikea, is set to buy a wind farm in Ireland from Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd, Bloomberg has reported. This is part of a plan by Ikea Group to invest $2.5 billion in wind and solar assets by 2015. The 7.65 megawatt wind farm, being built by Mainstream, is expected to begin generating power by 2014. Ikea will take ownership at that point."

"Megan Clark has recruited Dr Maurice Moloney to the role of Group Executive, Food Health and Life Science Industries. Maurice brings with him a significant breadth of experience in the plant biotechnology area and a strong background in research delivery. Maurice will take up the role in November 2013. Dr Moloney has been the Director and Chief Executive of Rothamsted Research near London, UK since 2010.  Rothamsted is the oldest and largest agricultural research centre in Europe, with a mandate for food security, agricultural sustainability and adaptation of agriculture to the consequences of both climate change and depletion of fossil fuels."

"Obama has set a new goal of having 20 percent of the federal government's energy use come from renewable power by 2020, which includes the Army, Navy, and Air Force deploying a combined 3 gigawatts of renewable energy by the end of the decade."

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.

"Earlier this year, the 1 millionth Australian household - about one in nine across the country - installed solar photovoltaic panels. There are half a million with solar hot water services too. The process doesn't always go as expected, for reasons both practical and political: rebates and feed-in tariffs have been in flux in every state. But now there are so many systems on roofs, solar homeowners are gaining a stronger public voice."

"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."

"Based on guidance I put together to assist interested laymen, journalists and others trying to understand the knotty problem of wind energy and its health impacts, I've done a very rough application to most of the major pieces of evidence referenced in the discussions. This material will be updated periodically as I assess more material and as new evidence is presented."

"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.

"Climate change has reduced ice in the Arctic to record lows in the past year, forcing animals to range further in search of food"