EcoRadio

Category: News

Add your news
You can add news from your networks or groups through the website by becoming an author. Simply register as a member of the Generator, and then email Giovanni asking to become an author. He will then work with you to integrate your content into the site as effectively as possible.
Listen to the Generator News online

 
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.
 

  • Drilling to begin for Cornwall geothermal power plant in 2011

    Geothermal energy involves pumping water up to 5km underground where it is heated by hot rocks before being pumped back up to the surface to either be converted into electricity or used as a source of renewable heat. In contrast to wind power, geothermal is also able to operate steadily 24 hours a day.

    Cornwall’s big potential

    Most suitable sites for geothermal power are expected to be found in Cornwall, where extensive research in the 1970s and 80s found significant opportunities within the county’s granite bedrock.

    The Department for Energy and Climate has backed both projects with more than £2 million in funding in a bid to kick-start the sector.

    If successful in its exploratory drilling, the Redruth project would produce 10 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 55MW of renewable heat for the local community.

    Ryan Law, managing director of the company behind the project Geothermal Engineering Ltd, said the electricity it could produce over the course of a year was equivalent to 21 wind turbines.

     

  • Parties scramble to win over new voters

     

    “I guess every party’s doing everything that they can at the moment to try and put themselves in a better position.”

    The Labor Party campaign has made no secret it is pouring resources into the group of newly enfranchised Australians.

    The ALP warns its candidates in the marginal seats are hunting down every last vote before Saturday.

     

    Targeting marginal seats

     

    Newspoll’s Martin O’Shannessy is not surprised.

    “I think the parties would be very interested in these voters, especially if they happen to be in marginal seats,” he said.

    “Urban Melbourne would be a very important area for voters who are essentially mostly virgins; that is they have not voted before.

    “If you think that 100,000 of them spread over 150 electorates there’s about 750 per electorate; it doesn’t sound like a lot but there’ll be electorates that move on one and two-point swings and we’re talking very fine margins out there in the marginals.”

    Mr O’Shannessy says in this election an even greater percentage of voters will leave their decision right up to the last moment.

    “By this time in 2007 about 70 per cent of people felt that this was the only party that they were going to vote for,” he said.

    “The balance, not many of them were thinking that another option was possible.

    “At the moment, we’re 10 points below that; the concern for the Government will be that a lot of that is within Labor voters, so concern that people haven’t locked in.

    “Now that does mean that things can change late and it’s certainly making it devilishly difficult for us pollsters to have a nice clear-cut answer before the election.”

    Tags: community-and-society, youth-issues, government-and-politics, elections, electoral-system, political-parties, labor-party, federal-elections, australia

    First posted 3 hours 25 minutes ago

  • Study: Siberian Bogs Big Player in Greenhouse Gas

     

    Both methane and carbon dioxide are key greenhouse gases. They absorb long-wave radiation and trap heat in the Earth’s lower atmosphere. The research team says this makes northern Russian a major player in future global warming scenarios.

    “The study shows the potential role of Siberian peatlands as a major piece of the greenhouse gas puzzle, both in the past and the future,” said Glen MacDonald, chair of geography department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and co-author of the study published today in the research journal Science.

    UCLA researcher Laurence Smith led a 22-member international team to the West Siberian Lowland. The region—a flat, mosquito-infested plain of wetlands, tundra, and scattered larch forests—covers half a million square miles (1.3 million square kilometers), the largest expanse of peatlands in the world.

    “If you pushed all the individual peat bogs together they themselves would cover at least 233,000 square miles [603,445 square kilometers], almost as big as Texas,” Smith said.

    Radiocarbon Dating

    Radiocarbon dating revealed that the bogs were 2,000 to 3,000 years older than previously thought, and researchers believe the bogs may be responsible for a huge rise in atmospheric methane levels (identified from Arctic ice core records) 9,000 to 11,500 years ago.

    Previous explanations for this rise in methane gas included catastrophic releases from the seafloor and emissions from tropical rain forests. “Now we [also] suspect these peatlands,” said Smith.

    Peat forms in cool, wet regions, especially at northern latitudes, where dead plant material doesn’t fully decompose. Over time, peat builds up in layers thousands of years old. Where the ground is particularly soggy and oxygen-poor, anaerobic bacteria attempts to digest organic matter, producing methane gas and a noxious odor.

    Smith says the methane spurt during the early Holocene period is probably best attributed to a combination of factors, including warming temperatures and closer plant contact during the early stages of peat formation with the nutrient-rich, mineral substrate.

    Core samples of the peat, which reaches depths of 33 feet (10 meters), revealed that different species typical of low wetland areas dominated at the time. The study team calculates these plants would have produced about six times more methane than today’s bog-dwelling plants such as sphagnum moss.

     

    Continued on Next Page >>

  • Why vote Green this election?

    Why vote Green this election?

    Here’s why.  And if you like the answers, pass them on – because you’re far more influential among your friends, family and colleagues than any amount of political advertising.  Please post this email to your Facebook page, share it, forward it and feel free to add a few reasons of your own.

    Top 10 Reasons to Vote Green this Saturday

    1.     The Greens stand up for what’s right, not just what’s easy. Whether it’s protecting the environment, introducing universal dental care, opposing the war in Iraq or advocating for refugees to be treated humanely, the Greens are driven by values, not polls.

    2.     It’s the Party everyone’s heading to. The Greens are the third largest political party in Australia, with five national Senators, 22 State MPs and more than 100 local Greens councillors already playing a positive and constructive role across Australia. More than a million Australians voted Green in 2007, and we’re the fastest-growing party in the country.

    3.     Break the deadlock in the Senate between the Government and the Opposition. Last time the Government of the day also got control of the Senate, we got WorkChoices. Or, Tony Abbott’s Coalition could easily win control of the Senate, which would deliver Australians nothing but three years of deadlock. We deserve a Senate that will work for us and deliver strong, sensible action – not just spin.

    4.     Provide future generations with clean air, clean water and a stable climate. The Greens will tackle climate change by putting a price on carbon for big polluters in the next term of government. It’s time we created new clean energy jobs and started investing in the economy of the future.

    5.     Make legislation better. When the Coalition tried to block the stimulus package that kept Australia out of recession, the Greens passed it with added environmental and small business benefits. The Greens will do the same thing to improve the mining super profits tax.

    6.     The Greens have vision. When Bob Brown first spoke to the Senate about climate change 14 years ago, his Labor and Liberal colleagues actually laughed at him. Now the Greens are the only party working to end all forms of legal discrimination against Australians based on sexuality. The Greens focus on what’s right for the next generation, not just the next election cycle.

    7.     An environmental party. The Greens have always worked to protect Australia’s magnificent natural environment for future generations – whether that’s protecting our native forests and their wildlife, or our pristine beaches and marine ecosystems. 

    8.     An environmental party and much, much more. The Greens stand for much more than just cutting carbon pollution, securing our water supplies and protecting our environment. Think better public schools, more funding for hospitals and fixing our broken mental health system. The Greens also drive great new ideas, like building high-speed rail between Australia’s major cities, which is now gaining momentum but would never have gotten up otherwise.   

    9.     For a more powerful vote. Another Labor or Liberal candidate will just vote the way they’re told. With the Greens, every vote is a conscience vote. If you’re disappointed with Labor but don’t want Tony Abbott, you can send a powerful message to Julia Gillard. And if your Greens candidate doesn’t win, your vote will simply go to the next candidate of your choice at full value.

    10.  Bob Brown. A genuinely decent politician and the most experienced party leader in Parliament.  

    Together, we can let everyone know that this Saturday, the voters of Australia do have a choice, and who we vote for matters.

    Thank you for spreading the word by forwarding this to friends, posting it to your Facebook page or Twitter account,

    Ebony Bennett
    National Campaign Coordinator
    Australian Greens

    PS. In the final week of the campaign, Tony Abbott is busy telling voters that “our whole standard of living is under challenge” if the Greens are elected and now even the fishing industry has joined the attacks. They’ve announced they’ll spend $180,000 on ads attacking the Greens’ sustainable fisheries policy. Please spread this email and donate to the campaign here to help fight back and power the Greens’ positive message. 

    PPS. You can read Bob’s Address to the National Press Club here or see a short video of Bob Brown outlining key Greens policies here.