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admin /9 November, 2007
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, Victoria, 9 October 2007 John Brumby, brought the House up to date on the food bowl project and related water issues.
Opposed to ceding powers over water to the commonwealth: Brumby said: "It is worth pointing out right at the outset that the Victorian government has always been opposed to ceding constitutional powers over water to the commonwealth. Had we done that, the 200 gigalitres of water recently sought by the commonwealth government to put down the river to Adelaide would already have been taken from Victorian farmers…Victorian farmers in northern Victoria would have already lost 200 gigalitres of water, which would have been taken from them with no compensation, to be held in reserve for potential use by South Australia next year.
Water leakage and loss unacceptable: "…The food bowl project is about generating savings from water which is lost through the nation’s largest irrigation system. We know that up to 800 gigalitres of water each year — about twice what Melbourne uses in a year — is lost from that system through seepage, leakage and evaporation. In a world which is growing shorter and shorter of water, that sort of leakage and that sort of loss are unacceptable
admin /9 November, 2007
BEIJING – Seven farmers from central China face trial for fighting officials who tried to take control of a lucrative lode of dinosaur fossils, state media reported on Wednesday.
The seven were accused of mobilizing residents of Shaping Village in Henan province to trash a police vehicle and fight officials after authorities tried to seize the fossils, the official China court news Web site reported.
After the big dinosaur bones were discovered in March 2006, the government told the farmers to hand over any rare and valuable fossils they had already hidden away.
admin /1 November, 2007
The Permaforest Trust – Centre for Sustainability Education, in partnership with National Environment Centre campus of the Riverina Institute of TAFE, is now offering accredited, specialist sustainability training for transition to a low carbon future from its Byron Bay campus in northern NSW, Australia. Learn permaculture skills, relocalisation strategies and systems thinking to proactively meet Continue Reading →
admin /27 October, 2007
In Dangerous Aspiration: Beyond 3ºC Warming in Australia, author Dr A. Barrie Pittock said that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) held ice equivalent to 5 or 6 metres of global sea level.
Ice sheet likely to disintegrate: As it was largely grounded below present sea level it was considered more likely to disintegrate than the rest of Antarctica. This was because, as global sea level rose, more of the ice would float, reducing resistance to outflow from the interior. Moreover, recent rapid disintegration of floating ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula had shown that these ice shelves held back outlet glaciers. The glaciers had subsequently increased their flow rates.
Rapid beak-up mechanism: The rapid disintegration of the ice shelves was caused by a mechanism not presently included in glacial models. Surface meltwater in summer penetrated into crevasses, leading to the crevasses opening up and splitting off long thin icebergs unlike those that normally broke off ice shelves. This process was clearly visible from satellite photos taken by NASA. It raised the possibility that a rapid break-up mechanism might operate in the future on the much larger Ross and Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelves, which presently held back the large outlet glaciers from the WAIS.
Read the report online
admin /27 October, 2007
Assuming a carbon price of $10 a tonne, the cost of BlueScope’s emissions would have been worth about 17 per cent of the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), wrote John Breusch in The Australian Financial Review (24/10/2007, p. 7).
Other companies similarly affected: OneSteel would have been the next most affected company, with emissions costing about 8 per cent of EBITDA, followed by Alumina at 7 per cent and Qantas at 6 per cent. In the resources sector, BHP Billiton’s emissions would have been worth about 2.5 per cent of EBITDA, compared with about 2 per cent for Rio Tinto
admin /27 October, 2007
Hon Louise Pratt, (ALP, East Metropolitan) speaking in the Legislative Council of Western Australia, on Thursday 6 September 2007 said under the Energy Use in Houses Code, a new house must have a low greenhouse emitting hot water system. It could be a solar hot water system, a five-star rated gas hot water system or a high energy efficient electric heat pump.
Stage 1 limits water use: "5 Star Plus introduces stage 1 of the Water Use in Houses Code. It will apply to all new houses from this month. It provides for limiting water use through efficient three or four-star rated taps, shower and toilet fittings.
Pool blanket requirement: "The code also requires that new swimming pools be fitted with a pool blanket, which will assist heated pools to retain their heat and will prevent water evaporation.
Energy waste reductions: "It will also reduce energy waste by requiring the distance of taps from the hot water source to be limited. They are fundamental measures to improve energy efficiency; they are not revolutionary. They are simple measures to include in our building codes.
