EcoRadio

Category: Sustainable Settlement and Agriculture

The Generator is founded on the simple premise that we should leave the world in better condition than we found it. The news items in this category outline the attempts people have made to do this. They are mainly concerned with our food supply and settlement patterns. The impact that the human race has on the planet.

  • September 28 is Earth Overshoot Day

     

    What is Overshoot?

    Just like any company, nature has a budget — it can only produce so many resources and absorb so much waste every year. The problem is, our demand for nature’s services is exceeding what it can provide.

    In 2008, humanity used about 40% more in one year than nature can regenerate that same year. That means it takes over a year and three months for the Earth to regenerate what humanity is using in one year. This problem — using resources faster than they can regenerate and creating waste faster than it can be absorbed — is called ecological overshoot.

    We currently maintain this overshoot by liquidating the planet’s natural resources. For example we can cut trees faster than they re-grow, and catch fish at a rate faster than they repopulate. While this can be done for a short while, overshoot ultimately leads to the depletion of resources on which our economy depends.

    In fact, overshoot is at the root of the most pressing environmental problems we face today: climate change, declining biodiversity, shrinking forests, fisheries collapse and several of the factors contributing to soaring world food prices.

    Why is Earth Overshoot Day Earlier Than Last Year

    Earth Overshoot day (also known as Ecological Debt Day) was a concept devised by Global Footprint Network partner, nef (the new economics foundation). Each year, Global Footprint Network calculates humanity’s Ecological Footprint (it’s demand on cropland, pasture, forests and fisheries), and compares this with global biocapacity, the ability of these ecosystems to generate resources and absorb waste. Ecological Footprint accounting can be used to determine the exact date we, as a global community, begin living beyond the means of what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year.

    Humanity first went into overshoot in 1986; before that time the global community consumed resources and produced carbon dioxide at a rate consistent with what the planet could produce and reabsorb. By 1996, however, humanity was using 15 percent more resources in a year than the planet could supply, with Earth Overshoot Day falling in November. This year, more than two decades since we first went into overshoot, because we are now demanding resources at a rate of 40 percent faster than the planet can produce them, Earth Overshoot Day has moved forward to September 23.

    How is Earth Overshoot Day Calculated?

    [ world biocapacity / world Ecological Footprint ] x 365 = Ecological Debt Day

    Put simply, Earth Overshoot Day shows the day on which our total Ecological Footprint (measured in global hectares) is equal to the biocapacity (also measured in global hectares) that nature can regenerate in that year. For the rest of the year, we are accumulating debt by depleting our natural capital and letting waste accumulate.

    The day of the year on which humanity enters into overshoot and begins adding to our ecological debt is calculated by calculating the ratio of global available biocapacity to global Ecological Footprint and multiplying by 365. From this, we find the number of days of demand that the biosphere could supply, and the number of days we operate in overshoot.

    This ratio shows that in 2008, in just 267 days, we demanded the biosphere’s entire capacity for the year. The 267th day of the year is September 23.

    If you have further questions about the Ecological Footprint and overshoot calculations, there are a number of resources available through our website to learn more: See the Living Planet Report and the Earth Overshoot Day Media Backgrounder for definitions, data and further information about overshoot. You can also read our methodology paper for a more technical overview of our calculation methods, and visit our glossary page for definitions of terms. If you have further inquiries about Earth Overshoot Day, please contact Nicole Freeling.

  • US buyers seek Aussie ingeneuity

    Landholders are expected to look over the more than 700 exhibitors for new machinery, information, networking or as a break from the stress of farming.

    But it was a delegation of rural machinery buyers from the US which stirred the most dust at the field days scouring for new and innovative implements and machines for export.

    Australian Trade Commission Kansas City district manager, Randall Tosh, said Australian products had always been a stand out, leading innovation in sectors including irrigation and water use.

    “The US market is very competitive and we’re getting offers from lots of countries for machinery,” he said.

    “The US market has seen it all so we need to stand out in some way by finding the best and most innovative of the industry.”

  • Funny money affects grain too

    GREGOR HEARD,The Land

    The party may be over for high grain futures prices – due to the wider economic crisis, which may see some managed funds lessen their exposure to all markets, including the soft commodities market.

    ProFarmer managing director Richard Koch is warning farmers to brace themselves for the possibility of index funds to exit the sector.

    If this happens, it will have a sharp, negative impact on the grains sector, in spite of the solid fundamentals surrounding the industry.

    “Should the current uncertainty in global financial markets lead to a sharp and significant redemption of investments from Index funds, commodity markets will be unable to escape being caught in the net of the financial market crisis,” he said.

    It could have a monster impact on commodities such as wheat.

    The large capital inflow through the latter half of 2007 and early 2008 is notable.

    It coincided with a large rise in CBOT wheat futures; however, since March, the Index fund position has fallen back to levels more akin to those of 2006 and 2007 and the wheat price has

    contracted.

    “The major concern is that Index funds still hold some 47pc of all open interest in wheat.

    “Should the Index funds decide to exit their positions en masse, wheat futures would take an enormous tumble,” says Mr Koch.

    However, Mr Koch said this was not a fait accompli, and that if the wider market stabilised, the impact on grain futures would be minimised.

    The extent of the exposure to the market crisis is tied up to the large scale investment in soft commodities by the index funds over the past four years.

    Mr Koch estimated US$200-250b flowed into commodities from these index funds alone, in that time.

    This investment has been responsible for inflating the furious growth in grain futures to previously unimaginable levels – but the industry will be anxiously watching to see whether a large scale exit from fund positions will see an equally dramatic drop.

    He said the panic surrounding the collapse of major US investment banks such as Lehman Brothers has seen money now flowing out of the index funds, and therefore out of grain futures, as many of the big gains of the past few years have been turned into large losses in the past few months.

    The big question for the grains industry now is what will happen on global financial markets generally, over the coming months – as the index fund makes up a large part of the liquidity of the major grain trading exchanges.

    A recent US Commodities Futures Trading Commission report pegged the notional value of Index fund trading at US$146b by the end of December 2007 and as high as US$200b by end of June 2008.

    Mr Koch said this significant inflow through the first part of 2008 was a major reason for the jump in commodity prices.

    All of this more recent investment – since the start of 2008 (estimated at some US$54b)– is facing a negative return.

    He said the big concern here is that with the rising cost of credit and more cautious lending profiles, index funds may redeem portions of their investments, both as risk management and to raise liquidity.

    ““There will be investors in index funds who may be forced to redeem their investments in order to shore-up their liquidity positions,” explained Mr Koch.

    “The costs of funds when borrowing is now extremely high in some markets and liquidating assets may be the preferred alternative,” Mr Koch said.

  • 90 percent want GM labelling

    Michelle Sheather, Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner said “it is very clear that Australians want to avoid GM food and want it clearly labelled. However, glaring loopholes in our current labelling laws do not leave shoppers with a choice”
    Current laws exempt oils and products from animals fed GM feed from being labelled. GM canola is now being grown in Victoria and New South Wales for the first time in Australia and will slip into the food chain unlabelled through canola oil which is used in a wide range of products and as animal feed.
    Michael Moore, CEO of Public Health Association of Australia said “It is really difficult to understand why there has been resistance to labelling of all genetically modified food.  It is appropriate for individuals to be able to make their own decisions about what they wish to consume. This is why labelling is a key element of any sensible policy on such foods”
    Michelle added “NSW and Victoria are not using adequate procedures to segregate the GE canola from the conventional crop. This leaves food and feed companies as much in the dark as consumers”.
    Don Lazzaro, CEO of Pure Harvest, one of Australia’s largest manufacturers and distributors of natural and organic food said “In response to consumer demand, labelling laws in Europe now require even highly processed GM ingredients like canola oil, and animal feed to be labelled. This shows that better labelling is practical and cost effective and most importantly, it gives consumers the information they need to make an informed choice.”
    Health experts and concerned groups have joined Greenpeace in launching a national petition demanding the comprehensive labelling and stringent safety testing of GM food.
     
    The full Newspoll survey and summary can be found at:
    http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/resources/reports/GE/rpt-gmpoll-190908
    The petition: GM food: Our right to know” can be viewed at: http://www.truefood.org.au/OurRightToKnow/
    So far 20 organisations including the Public Health Association of Australia, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and the State Conservation Councils have endorsed the petition.

  • Scientists announce super food quest

    From the CSIRO
    A team of Australian scientists has joined forces in a collaboration that will utilise state-of-the-art technology and materials science to determine the molecular structure of the protein components in some of our most common foods.

    This research will help food manufacturers understand the links between the nanostructure of foods containing protein and their associated physical and biochemical properties, thereby enabling them to predict and control the behaviour of raw materials and ingredients during food processing.

    The partnership brings together the food and materials science research capabilities of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), CSIRO’s Food Futures National Research Flagship, and The University of Queensland’s Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences.

    A number of leading food companies including; Fonterra Dairy Co-operative Limited, George Weston Foods, Meat & Livestock Australia, Manildra Group and Dairy Innovation Australia, have also joined as commercial partners.

    Dubbed the ‘Protein Syndicate’, this consortium has commenced research projects that will provide Australian scientists and food manufacturers with the ability to design consumer-friendly foods with improved taste, texture and nutritional qualities.

    Research team leader with the Food Futures Flagship, Dr Ingrid Appelqvist, says the consortium aims to determine the behaviour of a range of food proteins and predict their response to formulation variables likely to be found in food manufacturing processes and products.

    “Over the next two years we’ll be investigating the molecular structure and functionality of a variety of food proteins with sources ranging from grains to dairy, meat and legumes,” she says. “Our ultimate goal is to design new, highly nutritious ingredients that can be dried and rehydrated without reducing their quality and functionality. There are a whole range of potential advantages to come from this research.”

    Food science project leader at ANSTO, Dr Elliot Gilbert, says his team will use neutrons produced by the OPAL reactor to take sophisticated measurements. “While using neutrons to study food may seem unusual, they have the unique ability to identify the location of different atomic or molecular components in food,” he says.

    “This will allow us to unlock the secrets of complex food structures, discover how these are altered by food processing and how modifications affect nutrition and long-term health. The work will be complemented with state-of-the-art X-ray scattering facilities.”

    The Director of the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences at The University of Queensland, Professor Mike Gidley, says the Centre will use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and other techniques to identify the molecular basis for the materials and processing properties of proteins in the presence of limited water.

  • Farm power fronts BHP

    High on the list of concerns is the threat of long wall and open cut mining causing catastrophic damage to vital groundwater aquifers.

    Landholders reiterated their long-standing call for an independent study into the impact mining would have on the catchment and wider Murray-Darling Basin.

    Caroona Coal Action Group president, Spring Ridge farmer, Doug Ranken, led the call for an independent inquiry.

    Adding their support were federal Independent Member for New England, Tony Windsor, Greens MLC, Lee Rhiannon, Nationals MLC, Trevor Khan, and Constitutional Property Rights Association member, Bevan O’Regan, of Narrabri.

    Mr Windsor told the rally the mining industry didn’t want an independent study into the impact of mining on groundwater systems because it knew there was no guarantee there would be no long-term damage.

    “If you have a hydrological system and you cut across it, what impact does that have hundreds of kilometres away? We don’t know; there is nowhere in the world where that information is available.”

    Mr Windsor said the ground-swell of support for the landholders’ cause and the large turnout at the rally were a turning point in the debate.

    “I have absolutely no doubt you will win this based on the sustainability issue, the stupidity of trying to mine in these sorts of systems and the impact it will have on the whole Murray-Darling Basin,” he said.