Category: Archive

"The report says what the Prime Minister hasn’t said," he said.

"It says that there’s substantial economic potential for the mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades.

"That’s what the Labor has been saying. That’s not what the Prime Minister has been saying."

Jobs

Mr Turnbull says Labor’s plan to reduce Australia’s emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 will cost jobs and have little global impact.

"If you put a heavy price on Australia’s energy intensive industries, those industries will move offshore and their emissions with them," he said.

But Mr Garrett says Labor’s plan is a prudent one.

"It says we need to set targets, we need to reduce emissions and we need to get on with it now," he said.

"And we need to do it in a way that actually recognises that we need to build sustainable economic prosperity as we go."

A study ordered by the Pentagon warns that the rising cost and dwindling supply of oil – the lifeblood of fighter jets, warships, and tanks – will make the US military’s ability to respond to crises around the world "unsustainable in the long term”. The report says the military is using 16 times more fuel per soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan than in World War II. The Pentagon commissioned LMI, a government-consulting firm, to produce the report.

New military energy strategy: Transforming the Way DoD Looks at Energy is intended as a potential blueprint for a new military energy strategy and includes a detailed survey of potential alternatives to oil – including synthetic fuels, renewable biofuels, ethanol and biodiesel fuel as well as solar and wind power, among many others.

The study produced by a consulting firm, concluded;

• that all four branches of the military must "fundamentally transform” their assumptions about energy including taking immediate steps towards fielding weapons systems and aircraft that run on alternative and renewable fuels.

• the Pentagon must "apply new energy technologies that address alternative supply sources and efficient consumption across all aspects of military operations”, the report says.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 2/5/2007, p.8

Pepsico makes largest corporate purchase of renewable energy certificates
Monday, April 30, 2007 –

Energy Certificates Offset 100% of Purchased Electricity Used by All PepsiCo US Facilities



With this purchase PepsiCo tops EPA’s list of top-25 green power purchasers, as well as becoming the top Fortune 500 purchaser. PepsiCo also becomes a member of the EPA’s Green Power Partnership, which is comprised of organizations that voluntarily purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use.

"America is shifting to a ‘green culture,’ with more and more businesses understanding that environmental responsibility is everyone’s responsibility," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By switching to alternative, renewable power sources, PepsiCo is proving that going green can be the choice of every generation."

PepsiCo, which formed its Environmental Task Force in 2001, and its divisions are actively involved in a variety of environmental initiatives and have been recognized for their efforts. For example, Frito-Lay and Gatorade operate two LEED GOLD certified facilities. The US Green Buildings Council LEED Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for evaluating sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere efficiency, material and resource selection and indoor environmental quality. Tropicana’s Ft. Pierce facility has partnered with St. Lucie County to burn landfill gas, a renewable energy source that displaces the use of natural gas, in its boiler.

Earlier this year PepsiCo was recognized as ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for outstanding energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division received the award in 2006.

PepsiCo is partnering with Sterling Planet on the purchase of the RECs. Sterling Planet, a leading retail provider of renewable energy, is identifying and acquiring the RECs for PepsiCo. The company will seek to source the RECs to model PepsiCo’s purchased electricity use geographically.

"We are pleased to join with PepsiCo to make history with this largest-ever purchase of clean, renewable energy certificates. Sterling Planet will be working closely with PepsiCo to support the strategic decision to match the RECs to their geographic use of electricity in the U.S.," said Mel Jones, president and chief executive officer, Sterling Planet. "This approach should help the local communities where PepsiCo has a presence to grow local renewable energy sources."

The Green-e program, administered by the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), will certify that the RECs meet stringent environmental guidelines and will verify that the renewable energy credits being purchased for PepsiCo are retired on PepsiCo’s behalf. CRS is a national non-profit organization working to promote sustainable resource solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.

"PepsiCo is demonstrating environmental leadership and innovation while inspiring other U.S. corporations to take action," said Dan Lieberman, Green-e program manager, Center for Resource Solutions. "This type of commitment from PepsiCo makes tremendous strides toward a clean, renewable energy future for all Americans."

PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, with 2006 annual revenues of more than $35 billion. Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. Its portfolio includes 17 brands that generate $1 billion or more each in annual retail sales.

The Canberra Times, 30/4/2007, p.1

Source: Erisk Net 

Cheap, compact sound weapons: This has inspired engineers at the US Anti-Terrorism Afloat programme, based in Washington DC, to develop a system that used sound waves both to spot intruders and to stop them. Their aim was to make the technology cheap and compact enough to deploy from patrol boats or place on the seabed and control remotely. Conventional ship-borne sonar systems were too cumbersome and power-hungry to be much use here. So the researchers have borrowed some ideas from geologists, who have used sound generators for underwater seismic surveys.

Undersea shockwaves: One system being assessed uses a high-voltage discharge between electrodes – basically a giant underwater spark plug to produce a high-pressure bubble of plasma. As the bubble collapses it sends out an intense acoustic shock wave. The other device is an “air gun” that creates a shock wave by the sudden release of compressed air. The plasma generator could be used to produce a continuous stream of pulses, while the simpler air system produces a sharp burst of noise. One of the main challenges was to control the effect the weapon on a diver. Ideally, the device would emit an audible, low-powered warning when an intruder was sighted but it should also be capable of creating progressively more severe effects if an intruder persists. “At high enough intensity, it would probably cause people to surface.”

New Scientist, 30/4/2007, p.34-35

Source: Erisk Net