Ecos articles from December 2007

Ecos archives from December 2007

Making the connections.(Editorial)
December 1, 2007... Appropriately, this issue covers more ground on climate change and mitigation measures. Our switch of government comes in parallel with confirmation of accelerating climate change effects (see page 4) and, significantly, the fourth meeting of...

Shrinking timeframe to prevent dangerous climate change?
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A growing number of scientists are echoing the concern raised in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s Fourth Assessment Synthesis Report that climate change is happening faster than at rates...

Regional initiatives to protect coral reefs.(Coral Triangle)
December 1, 2007... After this year's APEC meeting in Sydney, Indonesian Prime Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced Pacific Rim endorsement of an initiative to protect the 600 million hectare Coral Triangle. The six Asia-Pacific countries bordering the zone...

Fund to save forests for carbon sequestration.
December 1, 2007... The World Bank has announced it will set up a new fund to subsidise developing countries to protect and replant tropical forests for carbon sequestration. The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) is on the agenda for the United...

New standard and big investment for wind energy.(Clean Energy Council launched Certified Wind Farms Australia )
December 1, 2007... The Clean Energy Council has launched the world's first wind farm accreditation system, Certified Wind Farms Australia (CWFA), which should ensure that future wind farm developments not only conform to best practice, but also include effective...

Novel enzymes the key to biofuels from trees and grass.(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... New Zealand Crown Research Institutes Scion and AgResearch are working with the US-based Verenium biofuels company to genetically engineer new enzymes for converting cellulose from trees and grass into bio-ethanol, which could fuel the entire...

Reminder about solar hot water rebates.(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Federal Government's Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) has sent out a reminder about its $1000 rebate on new solar hot water systems, provided that the applicant household: * is switching from an electric...

Need for more energy awareness by Australian companies?
December 1, 2007... Is there a disconnection between corporate 'green' energy efficiency rhetoric and reality within Australian firms? According to a recent report by management consultancy Proudfoot, many Australian businesses--including those in the energy...

Double the value for power from domestic solar.(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... The South Australian Government recently introduced solar 'feed-in' legislation that allows homeowners with solar photovoltaic panels to receive double-value credits for power they feed in to the grid. Under the legislation, homes with...

A youth-powered tsunami recovery: after the 2004 Boxing Day tidal wave brought a halt to traditional life, villages in south-western Thailand are being led by an innovative student-driven learning program to recover their livelihoods and develop solution-finding skills to better manage local natural resources.(Chaluaywan Panya)
December 1, 2007... In an open studio space just a few blocks from Bangkok's pulsing Khao San Road, Chaluaywan Panya--known simply to her friends as Tui--sits and talks with a quiet contentedness. She's pleased with the recent progress of 'Youth Leverage', the...

Seeing the wood for the trees: what to look for when purchasing carbon credits: while paying for tree-planting or buying renewable energy credits has become a popular way for people and organisations to offset carbon emissions, not all carbon offset options are the same.(Focus)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After the Kyoto Protocol sanctioned greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets as a way for governments and private companies to earn greenhouse gas credits for trading, offsetting became a key part of major emission trading...

The dangers of short-termism.(Comment)(Essay)
December 1, 2007... If confirmation was ever needed, the recent federal election campaign has demonstrated just how dangerous our craven idolatry of 'here-and-now' short-termism has become. After months with reality suspended, the new government now has to...

Counting whales in the ice.(Progress)(Reprint)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For the first time, Australian scientists will use aircraft to count minke whales in the pack ice around Antarctica. Since 1978 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has been counting whales in the Southern...

Population survey pilots an unmanned aircraft.(Progress)(Reprint)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Robotic aircraft or 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicles' (UAVs) could soon take to the skies in the name of marine mammal research, if a pilot project to test the technology succeeds. Through the Australian Centre for...

Chain reactions: a long-fought campaign to preserve a pristine and remote stretch of the South Australian coastline--home to the endangered osprey and white-bellied sea eagle--is highlighting the critical national issue of coastal development impacts. Local groups are rallying the state government over the need for a development management plan covering four largely undisturbed bays.(Cover story)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The spectacle of a remote chain of bays glittering in the morning sun may be an uplifting and sought-after sight for humans, but for original wildlife inhabitants--like birds of prey and sea lions--it's the absence...

Energy superpower--or sustainable energy leader? 2: In this second instalment, Michael Smith and Karlson Hargroves look at two key planks to Australia becoming an 'energy superpower' through a sustainable energy approach--energy efficiency and the viability of renewables in delivering base-power loads.(Focus)(Essay)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Last issue (Part 1, Ecos 139) we explored the idea of Australia as a new type of 'energy superpower' capitalising, in today's carbon-constrained world, on technologically savvy, low- or no-carbon energy sources...

Correction.(Focus)(Correction notice)
December 1, 2007... In the first part of 'Energy superpower--or sustainable energy leader' in Ecos 139, p. 20, Barry Jones from the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association was mistakenly identified as the former Labor Party politician with the...

The new conservation stewards: as Australia's biodiversity faces the double pressures of a changing climate and higher levels of human encroachment, disjoint national parks and reserves simply won't provide enough refuge. James Woodford reports on the vital role that private landholders are playing in national conservation plans, and how their efforts might be rewarded.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the more common but remarkable Australian animals is the greater glider--a spectacular marsupial with a body the size of a cat, weighing as much as 1.7 kilograms and able to glide up to 100 metres. It is...

Making sure your home is not energy sink: 3: in this final instalment of his three-part series illuminating energy savings around the home, Peter Seligman provides more insights into heating, carbon offsets and alternative energy sources.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This time, we'll look at space heating. In Melbourne you need it, if you don't want to be the bad guy who goes around telling everybody to put on jumpers instead of heating the house. Our house is heated by gas, and...

A new ecological 'bible' for the 21st century.(The Ecological World View)(Book review)
December 1, 2007... The Ecological World View Charles Krebs CSIRO PUBLISHING 2008, Paperback ISBN: 9780643093805--AU$79.95 Available from CSIRO PUBLISHING: www.publish.csiro.au Local call: 1300 788 000 World-renowned ecologist...

The real word on climate change.(RealClimate website)(Website overview)
December 1, 2007... Of all the issues facing humanity today, climate change and global warming are probably the most important for all of us to comprehend as clearly and accurately as we can. Given the ever-closing horizons for action to prevent dangerous climate...

Climate change and oceans: getting back to baselines.(Research)
December 1, 2007... Science is starting from scratch when it comes to understanding climate change impacts on Australian marine ecosystems, according to CSIRO's Dr Anthony Richardson who is a member of the team behind the recent report, Impacts of climate change...

High-level urban monitoring.(Research)
December 1, 2007... A consortium of organisations including CSIRO has received funding through a Western Australian advanced computing initiative to develop a high-powered 3D visualisation and digital aerial imagery system to improve the monitoring, planning and...

No easy solutions to Kakadu's feral animal problem.(Research)(Kakadu National Park )
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cane toads, swamp buffalo, feral pigs... some of the most visible 'wildlife' in World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park happen to be the rampantly successful progeny of feral animals introduced by European...

Events calendar.(Calendar)
December 1, 2007... Security for Development Brisbane, 29-31 January www.gdnet.org/middle.php?oid=1220 World Wetlands Day 2 February www.ramsar.org/wwd/8/wwd2008_intro.htm Australian and New Zealand Biocontrol Conference Sydney,...