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The Greenpeace ship, The Arctic Sunrise, was deliberately rammed and
damaged by the Nisshin Maru, the factory ship of the Japanese whaling
fleet. The Greenpeace web site is keeping the world up to date with
their peaceful pursuit, monitoring of the number and types of whales
killed and with attempts at preventing the killing of whales in the the
Southern Ocean. This is happening now. Go to their web site:
www.greenpeace.org for continuous updates.

Research institute, Integrated Sustainability Analysis, at Sydney
University has developed a software tool for calculating the
ecological footprint of any organisation. The reports
on Australia’s ecological footprint, Balancing Act, that
was released last May in conjunction with the CSIRO used the
same methods employed in the new
software. The user-friendly software, known as the Footprint Machine,
is aimed at local governments and small to medium enterprises.

The
tool has been used on Fraser Island’s Kingfisher report to rate each
item on the menu according to its impact on the environment.
Apparently beef is the most resource hungry food on the menu.

Building developers carving new
suburbs out of semi-rural environments will spend $37billion on
energy infrastructure in the next fifteen years, according to
environment business magazine, WME. They can reduce this investment
by generating electricity on site, using natural gas or alternate
energy, the magazine reports.

Australian company, GridX has developed
a system that provides heating and cooling to homes in the locality
as a byproduct of electricity production. Each unit feeds up to 12
homes with a network of generators able to be strung together to
service localities of up to 200 homes. Developers investing in the
system can further offset their costs through the sale of electricity
to the owners of the houses, effectively a captive market.

Queensland’s average electricity demand was highest in three
summer months and up in all 12 months of 2005.

SA average demand was down in 10 of 12 months in 2005, with two
winter months and one summer month in three highest demand range.

The three winter months continue to have highest average demand
in NSW, with top month’s average 7.5pc higher than top summer
month.

Vic average demand was down in 7 of 12 months in 2005, but not
surprisingly it was the three winter months that remain the
highest.

More sophisticated modelling required for confirmation: A
zero-dimensional model, however, excludes the atmosphere and,
crucially, the role of clouds. It would be interesting to see if more
sophisticated models predict a similar magnitude of cooling.

New Scientist, 26/11/2005

Source: Erisk – www.erisk.net

EU funding: It might seem like an exercise in scientific theory
destined only for high-tech laboratories, but the creators and the
European Union (EU), which funded the Norwegian research, believe the
idea’s time might have come.

Different methods used: The two projects used different methods
to harness the electricity – the Dutch apply something called reverse
electrodialysis while the Norwegians use a kind of osmosis.

Reliance on membranes: However, both methods rely on membranes
or thin films made of special material used for chemical separation. In
the Dutch project, separation was done by membranes using an electrical
current.

Process like putting frankfurts in hot water: The Norwegian
device applied pressure to force the water through membranes. Its
inventors liken the process to making a hot dog. The skin of the
frankfurt acted as a membrane, allowing more water in than the amount
of salty water it let out. This increased the pressure inside and the
hotdog burst.

Still a long way to go: The two inventions still had a long way
to go before they could be applied commercially. The Wetsus project,
supported by a consortium of Dutch companies, had yet to be tested in a
pilot plant.

Norwegians have two small-scale plants: The Norwegian project
was more advanced. It started in the 1990s and its creators had already
installed two small-scale plants, but had yet to build a bigger
demonstration plant to boost production.

Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate
Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change
Control (UNFCCC). 27 December 2005. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153
Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999.
Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int

Erisk Net, 7/1/2006