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The Generator news service publishes articles on sustainable development, agriculture and energy as well as observations on current affairs. The news service is used on the weekly radio show, The Generator, as well as by a number of monthly and quarterly magazines. A podcast of the Generator news is also available.
As well as Giovanni’s articles it picks up the most pertinent articles from a range of other news services. You can publish the news feed on your website using RSS, free of charge.
 

  • Home power generation now cheaper than the grid

    Home power generation now cheaper than the grid

    Biosolar's Leigh Storr
    Leigh Storr correctly predicted rooftop solar would undercut grid connections in 2016

    Storing electricity generated during the day for use overnight could save householders one quarter of their electricity bill, an article in New Economy claims this week. The exact saving depends on the level of government rebates and electricity charges and feed in payments. Both storage and generation solutions for domestic electricity continue to develop rapidly with a wide range of batteries available for the home and new photovoltaic roof tiles from Tesla, that make the entire roof a giant electric cell. Solar providers have been claiming for some time that the cost of local generation would eventually drop below that of the grid. That point has been reached.

    How battery storage can cut home electricity bills by one quarter

    The combination of PV+battery+grid is $123 per year cheaper than the cheapest grid-only offer ($1,645 per year) and $449 lower than the median grid-only offer. In other words, our typical 4,800 kWh household can beat all contemporary grid-only offers by installing a PV+battery system and selecting the best retail offer to provide their residual grid consumption and to export their PV production surplus.

    http://reneweconomy.com.au/battery-storage-can-cut-home-electricity-bills-one-quarter-73736/

    http://westender.com.au/capital-growth-constraint-biosolar/

    https://www.tesla.com/solar

     

  • Only the rich can afford privacy says Sorghoian

    Only the rich can afford privacy says Sorghoian

    Your smartphone security is a civil rights issue The smartphone you use reflects more than just personal taste ... it could determine how closely you can be tracked. Privacy expert Christopher Soghoian shows the glaring difference between the encryption used on Apple and Android devices and urges us to pay attention to a growing digital security divide. "If the only people who can protect themselves from the gaze of the government are the rich," he says, "that's a problem." http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_soghoian_your_smartphone_is_a_civil_rights_issue
    Your smartphone security is a civil rights issue

    The stark difference between Apple and Android security is the first sign of a growing digital divide where on the wealthy can afford privacy, according to Christopher Soghoian, technologist at the Amercian Civil Liberties Union. Mr Soghoian says that Apple users pay for a premium for the improved security on their devices and the gap is growing. He told a TED talk recently, This is not a technology problem this is a civil rights problem.” Mr Soghoian invented the Do Not Track technology, employed by most websites to recognize people who wish not to have their online activity monitored.

    Your smartphone security is a civil rights issue

    The smartphone you use reflects more than just personal taste … it could determine how closely you can be tracked. Privacy expert Christopher Soghoian shows the glaring difference between the encryption used on Apple and Android devices and urges us to pay attention to a growing digital security divide. “If the only people who can protect themselves from the gaze of the government are the rich,” he says, “that’s a problem.”

    http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_soghoian_your_smartphone_is_a_civil_rights_issue

  • California legalises marijuana

    California legalises marijuana

    Map of pot laws in USA
    25 states in the Union have legalised medical marijuana, 8 states have legalised recreational use.

    California voted to legalise marijuana for recreational use during the US election last week, joining Washington and Oregon to make marijuana legal along the length of the US West Coast and providing huge momentum for the legalisation movement. It is expected that California will raise one billion dollars each year in revenue from the measure. Other states passing similar legislation during the federal election include Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts. Florida, North Dakota and Arizona voted for the legalisation of marijuana for medical use but not recreational joining 19 other states with such laws. Eight states, including Alaska and Colorado, have legalized recreational use. Generating one third of the US economy and home to one in eight US citizens California has a significant role in influencing other states.

    Marijuana legalised

    California, the first state to approve medical marijuana two decades ago, was among five states weighing whether to go beyond medical use and permit pot for adults for recreational purposes. The other states were Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada. With California “yes” vote, recreational cannabis will be legal along the entire West Coast, giving the legalization movement powerful momentum.

    http://www.fox5ny.com/news/216285833-story

     

  • NASA animates disappearing ice

    NASA released this week an animation demonstrating the shrinking of the Arctic ice cap. The impact on European and North American weather systems is likely to be dramatic.

    The full background and other graphical information is available at the NASA website

     

  • Monsanto ecocide trial garners global attention

    Monsanto ecocide trial garners global attention

    A People's Tribunal in he Dutch Capital, The Hague
    A People’s Tribunal in he Dutch Capital, The Hague

    Activists staging a mock trial of Monsanto for Crimes Against Humanity in the Hague have successfully garnered world attention, forcing the company to release a statement and Forbes Magazine to run an article on the situation. The objectives of the mock trial are to test the legal strength of such a case thereby building a framework for hearing charges of ecocide. Monsanto point to misinformation about GMO products as proof that the activists are simply fear mongering. They do not address the charges of undermining food security by forcing small farmers to become dependent on their patented seed products.

    Monsanto Goes on Trial for Ecocide

    A people’s tribunal against Monsanto began Friday in The Hague, with representatives from hundreds of organizations coming together to put Monsanto on trial for crimes against humanity and ecocide. “If Mother Earth could speak, Monsanto ought to be in jail long before now,”

    http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Monsanto-Goes-on-Trial-for-Ecocide-20161014-0007.html

    Monsanot NOT on trial – Forbes Magazine (Note the personal attack on Ananada Shiva and the unapologetic defense of Monsanto)

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/kavinsenapathy/2015/12/07/no-monsanto-is-not-going-on-trial-for-crimes-against-humanity/#2889e3e42d14

  • Starvation may double within a decade

    Small farms with diverse crops ensure food security
    Small farms with diverse crops ensure food security

    Speaking at World Food Day last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said that Climate Chaos will play havoc with agriculture, reducing food production and creating an extra 100 million starving people before 2030.

    A report on Agro-ecology by Friends of the Earth released concurrently echoes these findings while highlighting the role of diversity and small scale farming in protecting food security.

    “Government support for agribusiness is most likely blocking rather than aiding the achievement of food security and food sovereignty,” wrote Friends of the Earth publisher Kirtana Chandrasekaran.

     

    http://www.foei.org/news/need-agroecological-revolution-governments-investing-agribusiness

    Millions Face Hunger by 2030 Without ‘Deep Transformation’ of Agriculture:

    Over 120 million people could be forced into extreme poverty by 2030 as a result of climate change on small-scale food producers. Abrupt changes would make adequate adaptation almost impossible with major declines in crop yields and increasingly high and volatile food prices. “In the longer run, unless measures are put in place to halt and reverse climate change, food production could become impossible in large areas of the world.” The report cites diversifying crop production, better integration of farming with the natural habitat, agroecology, and “sustainable intensification” as strategies to help small-scale farmers adapt to a warming world. The report notes that subsidies for fertilizers and pesticides hinder the progress of more sustainable, organic farming.

    http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/17/millions-face-hunger-2030-without-deep-transformation-agriculture-un

     

    As our new report shows, investing in agroecology requires a drastically different model than the agribusiness led version many Governments are currently pursuing.

    In the rush to expand investment in agriculture, Governments are falling over themselves to sign trade and investment agreements and court agribusinesses.

    http://www.foei.org/resources/publications/publications-by-subject/food-sovereignty-publications/agreements-block-agroecology-and-food-sovereignty