Ecos articles from December 2008

Ecos archives from December 2008

The new shape of things to come.(Editorial)(Editorial)
December 1, 2008... This issue begins with news of Dr Graeme Turner's fascinating and timely work to validate the projected 100-year global economic scenarios modelled, back in 1972, in Limits to Growth--probably the highest selling environmental book of all time....

Compelling case for pre-emptive action and deeper cuts.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An Australian scientist has validated an early computer model developed for the 1972 book Limits to Growth, which challenged a core assumption of free-market economic theory--that the Earth's resources can infinitely...

Taking a chemical load off the Great Barrier Reef.
December 1, 2008... WWF Australia and the Organic Federation of Australia have welcomed the Queensland Government's recent announcement to protect the Great Barrier Reef by regulating the use of agricultural chemicals in the region. At the same time, the...

Solar-hybrid fridge for rural India.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A solar-diesel refrigerator that is a hybrid of conventional compressor-based refrigeration and thermoelectric materials (semiconductors that convert electricity into cooling and vice versa) is being developed by US-based Promethean Power for...

Low-carb building news.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The commercial property sector is integral to climate change mitigation, according to a new report, 'Commercial property and climate change: exposures and opportunities', from the Total Environment Centre. The...

Desert 'riches' the key to our future?(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... At a recent symposium in Alice Springs, Australian physicist Dr Barrie Pittock presented a vision of the nation's deserts as vast power plants providing clean, renewable energy not only for Australia, but also for Asia, at the same time...

Plants to wean chemicals industry off crude oil.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... CSIRO is working with a large biotechnology consortium to help develop crops that will produce plant-derived oils as alternatives to the crude oil extracts currently used in the chemicals industry. The consortium aims to modify non-food...

Salt-tolerant wheat hybrid and saltbush for farming salinised land.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Researchers from the Universities of WA and Adelaide have used traditional crossbreeding techniques to develop a salt-tolerant wheat hybrid that could allow farmers to crop land lost to salinity. Working through the Future Farm Industries...

Renewable-energy network to drive electric cars.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... By 2012, Australia could be equipped with an electric vehicle (EV) recharge grid powered by renewables that would provide electric car recharge spots at designated parking lots in residential areas and offices. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Australian hybrid car battery goes global.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Japan's Furukawa Battery Company and East Penn from the United States have licensed CSIRO's UltraBattery technology for commercial production and distribution to automotive and industry sectors in North America, Mexico, Japan and Thailand. ...

Water yield 'supermodel' travels to WA.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Following the success of the CSIRO-driven Murray--Darling Sustainable Yields project (see ECOS 141), the Australian Government is providing $5.19 million for a similar large-scale, water yield assessment to be...

Buying into food's impact: Australian consumers are starting to understand the true cost of the food they buy, and that particular choices can significantly reduce environment and health impacts.(Focus: FOOD MANAGEMENT)(Cover story)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As the intersection of water, energy, environment and population demand tightens global food markets, studies are showing that what we eat can have much more environmental impact than driving or powering our homes....

Food policy imperatives in a warming, drying world: under growing carbon, water, energy and nutrient constraints, food security and community well-being demand new planning. Andrew Campbell feels Australia is well placed for innovation, and its benefits.(Focus: FOOD MANAGEMENT)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We have recently been reminded of how easily the immediate swamps the important. Collapsing world credit markets and myopia on Wall St are of course important, but in the long view they are but an arte-fact of a...

Climate change raises the disease threat.(Progress)
December 1, 2008... One of the unexpected effects of climate change may be an increase in new infectious diseases which could target native wildlife and stock, as well as humans. In September this year Australia's leading biosecurity managers and researchers met...

Amazonians' black magic has multiple benefits.(Progress)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Biochar, similar to the charcoal used by Amazonian cultures to invigorate their crops, is receiving attention as a potential solution for sequestration of significant amounts of carbon. Employing it in agriculture...

Green collar workforce the key to a triple bottom line.(Progress)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What will Australia's workforce look like in a low-carbon future? Modelling by CSIRO is revealing how policy choices will shape our economy, workforce and environment over the next 50 years. Human resources are...

Traveston Dam tests our environmental process: continuing debate about government plans to dam the Mary River near Gympie to secure urban drinking water for south-east Queensland has more twists and turns than the tranquil waterway itself.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Stand in the broad alluvial valley of the wending Mary River and it is hard to imagine its farm paddocks, gum trees and scattered homes submerged under five metres of water. But the Queensland Government is...

The quiet education revolution.(Focus: SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When the United Nations introduced the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in 2005, Australia already had many of the building blocks in place to increase learning about sustainable development in...

Students have a wild time with eco-education.(Focus: SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION)
December 1, 2008... Sustainability education offers students and teachers alike wonderful opportunities for spirited and rewarding learning. Raising students' awareness about the environment, biodiversity and why species are threatened is the aim of Western...

The tertiary sector leads change.(Focus: SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION)
December 1, 2008... Tertiary institutions are responding to the need for sustainability practitioners with a range of new courses and adaptations. In her role as a graduate sustainable development adviser at Rio Tinto, Chantelle Gibellini is sometimes...

Time to unleash the power of a green economy.
December 1, 2008... Over the last 40 years many economists, business and government leaders and voters have assumed that the more you do for the environment the worse the economy and unemployment will be. But investment in a 'green economy' is now being discussed...

Emissions rising faster, not falling.(CLIMATE CHANGE BULLETIN)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Scientists from the internationally renowned Global Carbon Project say global carbon emissions rose rapidly last year, with developing nations such as China and India accounting for more than half of the global...

Consumer guide to carbon offset providers.(CLIMATE CHANGE BULLETIN)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The Total Environment Centre (TEC), CHOICE and the Institute of Sustainable Futures (ISF) have launched what they say is the first independent ranking of Australian carbon offset providers--Carbon Offset Watch. The guide ranks 20 of the...

The heat is on Australian fisheries and Antarctic krill stocks.(impact of climate change)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Changes in temperature, ocean currents, rainfall and extreme weather events due to global warming could significantly influence fish stocks and marine ecosystems, according to a report launched recently by the Minister for Climate Change and...

New ethical leadership fellows to be stretched.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Environmental sustainability has featured in the latest intake of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship, Australia's premier national leadership program. Matt Jones, Executive Director of Social Alchemy, consults on...

Rainforest riches we share with New Guinea.(Life in the Cape York Rainforest)(Book review)
December 1, 2008... Life in the Cape York Rainforest Robert Heinsohn and Michael Cermak CSIRO Publishing 2008, Paperback ISBN: 9780643095014--AU$39.95 http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/5972.htm [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a gem of...

Adaptive governance: how and why does government policy change?(DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILITY--7)
December 1, 2008... Tackling our environmental issues and moving society toward more sustainable ways of riving require more responsive forms of governance. Amanda H. Lynch explains how adaptive governance leads to new policy. What does governance mean,...

The human predicament and how we got there.(The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment)(Book review)
December 1, 2008... The Dominant Animal Human Evolution and the Environment Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich Island Press, USA 2008, Hardback ISBN: 9781597260961--AU$59.95 http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/5686.htm [ILLUSTRATION...

Cave stalagmites provide new clues to Australian climate.
December 1, 2008... Cave stalagmites promise to fill a critical knowledge gap in how Australia's rainfall has changed over past centuries, supplementing the 100-year instrumental record with hundreds to potentially tens of thousands of years of rainfall data....

Living today with a future climate.(Research)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Figures released by the Bureau of Meteorology in mid-October indicate the present drought is breaking new records. A new research collaboration is benchmarking today's drying conditions against long-term modelling...

Events calendar.(Calendar)
December 1, 2008... Bioenergy Australia 2008 Melbourne, 8-9 December www.bioenergyaustralia.org/ Emissions Reduction Summit Melbourne, 9-10 December www.informa.com.au/ibcoz/marlin/system/render.jsp?...