Geelong Sustainability

"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."

"Despite controversial funding of climate deniers and a management team with a fleet of jets, Google is leading the way on greening its energy supplies"

"There's currently a very big difference between what the major parties contesting the election are planning to do for our environment. And hopefully there are still plenty of big announcements to come over the course of the election campaign! But if you want to be spared all the somersaults and politicking and just get the facts when they matter, sign up to Envirotracker below for an election-eve update on what the major parties are promising for our environment."

"So we have a system of regulation that encourages the network service providers to over-egg their expenditure proposals, and should it ever be demonstrated that the regulator has given them too little in some part of their budget, they get to come back during the regulatory period and apply, successfully, for more. From the network service provider's point of view it's a case of heads I win, tails you lose."

"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."

"Green Cross Australia helps people adapt to our changing climate, in ways that embrace sustainability and community resilience. We are motivated by our understanding of a resource-constrained, warming planet and our belief that this challenge presents opportunities for a bright future. Our mantra, Think + Act + Share = Change, is key to every project we deliver. We believe the power of our projects is empowering Australians to take practical, informed action. So we don't just focus on awareness, we encourage people to take action, and then give them the tools via social and digital media to share their actions with their friends."

"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."

From the Australian Climate Commission comes this page chock-full of infographics related to Solar Energy as it relates to the Australian context

"RATEPAYERS are finally set to get some relief from soaring power bills with the rollout of LED street lighting. The state-owned electricity distributor Ausgrid - which owns and maintains 250,000 streetlights on behalf of 41 councils - has been trialling power-saving LED technology in Australian conditions over the past 18 months. Now councils across Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter will become the first in Australia to be part of a grid-wide rollout of the energy-saving technology."

"South Gippsland is blanketed with more than a dozen licences for unconventional gas exploration - which uses controversial techniques to access hard-to-extract resources. For now, nothing is happening. In August 2012, the state government announced a moratorium on coal seam gas exploration and on the drilling method known as fracking, in which water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground at great pressure to fracture coal or rock, and release gas."

"As a result, British Columbia's greenhouse gas emissions fell 10 percent between 2008 and 2011, as compared to a 1.1 percent decline for the rest of Canada. The carbon tax was introduced right before the recession hit in 2008, so while Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell slightly between 2008 and 2011 in British Columbia, that change was on par with the small decline in Canada's GDP. Thus while it's inconclusive whether the carbon tax is helping or hurting British Columbia's economy, it's certainly not having the seriously damaging economic effect that alarmist opponents claim that carbon taxes will have."

Closed Loop specialise in setting up programs that maximise usage from your existing waste systems. When additional infrastructure is required, we can provide you with state-of-the-art equipment via our local and international relationships.

A Slideshare "Adding some grunt toAustralian Recycling www.boomerangalliance.org.auMarch 2013"

"Published on Jun 18, 2013 Will you have to drive ten kilometres out of your way to return your empty bottles under a national container depsosit system? NO WAY! The Boomerang Solution includes Reverse Vending Machines that would be placed in supermarket carparks and other convenient spots. Check out this awesome video by Tomra, our friends in Norway who are the world's leading supplier of RVM technology."

"Published on Jul 9, 2013 Boomerang Alliance is proposing a convenient and efficient container deposits system for Australia. Here's a key component - a reverse vending machine now operating in Darwin."

"...... it's fitting that a man who produces and uses such massive amounts of energy has made a documentary discussing our energy futures. In Ten Bucks a Litre (8:30 tonight on ABC1), Smith looks at the technologies that could provide our energy over the coming century. He not only looks at them - he drives, flies and fangs them one after the other."

"Published on Jul 26, 2013 To learn more about plastic marine debris and how YOU can make a difference, please go to: http://www.healthebay.org/plastic"

"Floating offshore wind turbines could more than meet the electricity demands of the European Union, according to a new report (PDF) from the European Wind Energy Association, first reported by Business Green. In fact, offshore wind turbines could potentially supply over four times the electricity needs of the EU."

We have selected a cohort of research higher degree students from across the University of Melbourne to share ideas on the meaning of sustainability and to develop strategies for better researching and practising it. This creates a critical mass of future leaders, each of whom will then take the interdisciplinary experience and spread it more widely across our society's sustainability endeavours.