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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.
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Will Emerging Markets Make Renewable Energy More Democratic?

admin /5 June, 2009

June 4, 2009

Will Emerging Markets Make Renewable Energy More Democratic?

by By Jennifer Kho, Contributor

California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

Think of the renewable-energy market as an oligarchy, with a handful of countries making up by far a super majority. The top 10 wind countries, for example, represented a whopping 87.8 percent of the wind market last year, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). And in solar, even just the top two markets — Spain and Germany — accounted for 72.9 percent of the total world market, with the top 10 making up 96.5 percent, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association.

“I think the solar industry will be really surprised at how low solar prices can go. “It will open up new markets that we haven’t even considered.”

— Jenny Chase, Manager, Solar Insight Service, New Energy Finance

A Moral Dilemma

admin /4 June, 2009

A Moral Dilemma

Where does the responsibility for action rest —nationally or internationally, and to what extent are assistance programs appropriate?

In a real sense, all nations or regions start equally —with the same opportunities. How the opportunities are pursued —the FP and living standard seen today— is arrived at from choices and decisions made by local inhabitants. The unequal distribution of natural capacity and other resources is not a relevant factor; resource levels only impact, even then indirectly, the sustainable population level not the Footprint and living standard.

Sustainablity Initiatives

admin /4 June, 2009

Sustainability Initiatives

Can the push for sustainability be led by government, or do all sections of the communitiy need to drive the process?

Sustainability Initiative – Earthbeat, 27 March 2004

Sustainability is an all-encompassing concept and requires an extraordinary reorientation of Australian society and how it functions. It’s not something that a national government can do on its own.

Sustainability needs to be a community led process. Part of that is to do with the nature of Australian politics; all political parties are sensitive to community views.

Sustainability is about pushing forward into the future, about new thinking. We need to look to communities and to the private sector and to our universities for the kind of innovation and leadership that sustainability demands.

Learning to live with climate change will not be enough

admin /4 June, 2009

Learning to live with climate change will not be enough


A leading environmentalist explains why drastically reducing carbon dioxide emissions now will be easier, cheaper, and more ethical than dealing with runaway climate destabilization later. By David W Orr of Yale Environment 360, part of Guardian Environment Network
From Yale Environment 360, part of Guardian Environment Network
Wednesday June 3 2009
guardian.co.uk

 The awareness that humans could alter the climate of Earth has dawned slowly on our consciousness. In 1896, Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius deflected his anguish over a failed marriage into remarkably tedious and, as it turned out, accurate calculations about the effect of CO2 emissions on climate. It was an oddly therapeutic thing to do, but it had no more effect on public attention than the smallest cloud on a distant horizon.

Green energy overtakes fossil fuel investment, says UN

admin /4 June, 2009

Green energy overtakes fossil fuel investment, says UN Clean technologies attract $140bn compared with $110bn for gas, coal and electrical power   Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 June 2009 17.18 BST Article history Green energy overtook fossil fuels in attracting investment for power generation for the first time last year, according to figures released today Continue Reading →

Australia Feels Chill as China’s Economic Shadow grows

admin /4 June, 2009

From New York Times

Australia Feels Chill as China’s Economic Shadow Grows 
By MICHAEL WINES 

(NB Rudd is already fluent in Mandarin, makes one think)

SYDNEY, Australia — If outlanders tend to associate Australia with kangaroos, broad-brim leather hats and an opera house, many Australians are different. They think of iron ore and bauxite, copper and coal, nickel, gold and uranium, a trove of mineral riches that is their nation’s birthright and the bedrock of its prosperity.

Uneasy Engagement

Seller’s Remorse

This is the first in a series of articles examining stresses and strains of China’s emergence as a global power.

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Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg News

Australia vetoed part of a $1.8 billion bid for Oz, a large zinc miner, because the military raised the prospect of Chinese espionage at an Oz mine not far from an aerospace test site.

Readers’ Comments

Readers shared their thoughts on this article.

Which explains much of the breast-beating that has ensued since the Chinese announced plans this year to buy a big chunk of it.

Since three state owned Chinese companies said they would buy stakes in Australia’s storied mining industry totaling $22 billion — as much as China’s entire investment here in the last three years — some of this nation’s 21.3 million people have reacted with aggrieved nationalism.

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