Business Recognises Costly Climate Risks

Business people are not scientists or politicians. But they are paid to evaluate risk and to recognise opportunity. That’s why business has a strong interest in a successful conclusion to next month’s climate change conference in Copenhagen. This from Richard Lambert, Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry.

Richard Lambert is Director-General of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry)

 Business people are not scientists or politicians. But they are paid to evaluate risk and to recognise opportunity. That’s why business has a strong interest in a successful conclusion to next month’s climate change conference in Copenhagen.

Either the world moves together in an orderly fashion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by way of the legally binding obligations of an international treaty, or it risks a disorderly transition, with countries moving at their own pace and making their own arrangements. At the extreme lies the risk of belated — and therefore very costly — reactions to sudden shifts in climate conditions around the world.

Globally co-ordinated actions are important for businesses based in Britain. The EU is committed to ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and to making polluters pay. If other regions do not follow, European industry would be at a serious competitive disadvantage, and manufacturers of commodities such as steel or cement would shift production elsewhere, risking many thousands of jobs. We would still need lots of cement in this country: shipping it in from distant ports would not help the planet.

The opportunity for business lies in the immense new markets opening up for low-carbon goods and services. The potential is measured in trillions of dollars, and countries such as China and Korea are now moving aggressively to build capacity in the green economy. UK businesses aspire to be leaders in this new world, and want a clear regulatory framework on which to base investment plans. Sectors where the UK could build a competitive advantage and create jobs include offshore wind, low-carbon vehicles, carbon finance and clean coal.

So the big question for business is: what will success next month look like? We will not get a fully fledged treaty: there is too much unfinished business to complete the job. But the meeting can produce positive results, provided it hits five prime targets.

First, the momentum of negotiations must be maintained. That means presidents and prime ministers must attend in person and deliver a firm political agreement that will be the stepping stone to a treaty as soon as possible next year. Worthy declarations of intent will not be enough to drive investment in research and technology on the enormous scale required to build a new kind of economy.

So Barack Obama must, as a minimum, commit to delivering the provisions of the Waxman-Markey climate change Bill, and leaders from the developed and developing world must guarantee the promises they have already, or will shortly, make to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

The numbers will have to be clear: global emissions should peak around the year 2020, then decline steadily to a point where, by 2050, they are less than half today’s levels. Change on this scale will require carrots and sticks, best achieved by putting a price on emissions that rewards efficiency and punishes profligacy.

So the second big challenge will be to lay the foundations for a global market for carbon, by developing schemes that cap emissions and create a market for trading in carbon permits, suchas the EU’s Emission Trading System. The value of a global carbon market could be well over $2 trillion by 2020.

Next, Copenhagen must reach outline agreement about the scale of the resources that rich countries will pass to the developing economies to ease their transition. China is setting its financial demands too high, and the US has yet to put a realistic offer on the table. They will probably need to converge on about €100 billion a year by 2020, with roughly half of that coming from the proceeds of emissions trading. Negotiating how this bill will be carved up among the rich countries will be one of the trickiest tasks of the conference.

Technology resources will have to be transferred to the poorer countries, as well as cash. But businesses would strongly object if governments from the developed countries agreed simply to hand over intellectual property, which is not theirs to give away.

Establishing a cross-border regime to curb emissions from aviation and shipping is target No 4. A way will have to be found to include them in a global cap and trading scheme to provide incentives for fuel efficiency.

Challenge No 5 is particularly important for businesses in the UK. The EU has undertaken to cut emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, or 30 per cent in the event of a successful global agreement. The higher figure would encourage others to be more ambitious, and would provide powerful incentives to develop new technologies and to drive energy efficiency.

But the big worry is that the higher target — coming on top of the EU’s costly renewable policies — could drive carbon-intensive industries out of Europe. So other countries would have to make strong commitments to contain emissions before British business agreed that this extra step was justified.

All this adds up to a very complex set of negotiations next month, and will call for political leadership of the highest order. Businesses in Britain are clear about the risks of failure and the rewards of success, and are developing products and services that will enable consumers everywhere to make the choices that will lead to a sustainable and rewarding future. Muddling through is not an option.

Having studied history at Balliol College, Oxford, Richard Lambert joined the Financial Times in 1966. He edited the Lex column in the 1970s, becoming financial editor in 1979. In 1982 he moved to New York as the bureau chief, returning to the UK a year later as deputy editor. He became editor of the Financial Times in 1991 and during his 10 years in this role launched the US version of the newspaper.

In August 2002 Richard spent a semester at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In 2003 he was asked by the chancellor to write the Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration.

A member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee from Spring 2003 until Spring 2006, Richard took up the post of director-general of the CBI in July 2006.

Among a number of other non-remunerated roles, Richard is also a trustee of the British Museum and became chancellor of the University of Warwick in August 2008.

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk and www.cbi.org.uk

Carbon Capture Through Bio-Sequestration

The opportunity for Australia to remove 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from the atmosphere will be lost if the Government does not include agricultural and biological sequestration offsets in the emissions trading scheme. So says Environment Business Australia CEO Fiona Wain.

Bio CCS – commercial scale demonstration of biological sequestration of CO2

The opportunity for Australia to remove 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from the atmosphere will be lost if the Government does not include agricultural and biological sequestration offsets in the emissions trading scheme.

Members of Environment Business Australia’s Bio-CCS group say that biological sequestration methods provide cost effective and environmentally beneficial  ways of safely drawing vast amounts of ‘legacy’ carbon from the atmosphere.  By 2020, or much earlier with a strong policy framework, more than a quarter of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions can be abated or drawn back into biological and terrestrial cycles.

EBA’s Bio-CCS group says a price on carbon is vital to ensure that offsets have market value and to cover the initial cost of ‘natural infrastructure’ development.  But once this is developed the lifecycle cost of carbon offsets can be provided for a fraction of the predicted costs of other solutions such as geological sequestration. 

The proposed Bio-CCS approaches include algae sequestration of CO2 from coal-fired power plants; improved rangeland management to encourage photosynthesis of CO2 to below ground sequestration in root systems;  selection of crops that offer high ‘plantstone’ yield where carbon is encapsulated permanently in silica; application of brown coal, other organic residues, and naturally occurring nutrients/biology to boost soil resilience and improve crop growth and soil carbon; and direct algal sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere over deep ocean areas to  sequester carbon in the deep ocean and promote fish stocks.

The Bio-CCS group emphasises that including biological offsets in the CPRS does not require agriculture’s emissions to be included in the near term.  The benefits include the opportunity to repair seriously degraded soils and increase agricultural productivity and drought/salinity resilience.  Farmers would also benefit by providing commercial offsets while industry makes the transition to a low carbon future. 

The group has been meeting with politicians keen to see responsible amendments to the CPRS to facilitate biological sequestration because of the national benefits to Australia and the opportunity to export knowledge and technology to other countries with soil degradation problems in particular Africa, China, India, Middle East and the USA.

Biological sequestration can offer solutions at scale and at speed, however, they should be part of a holistic approach to tackling climate change that includes energy efficiency; reduction of emissions from industry sectors, transport and cities; and fuel and energy switching to low/zero carbon emission sources.

Australia’s current greenhouse gas emissions are close to 600 million tonnes per annum.  The Bio CCS approach could cut Australia’s total emissions by at least 25% within a decade and has great application for other countries especially China, India, Africa and the USA.

The companies outlined below are the initial proponents of three major Bio CCS demonstration projects in Australia that will demonstrate the scope, scale and speed of biosequestration of carbon dioxide at point of emission and drawdown of ‘legacy’ carbon from the atmosphere.  The projects are in Victoria, South Queensland and Western Australia – and are open to all biosequestration systems, companies and farmers.

Each of these regional Bio CCS projects offers the opportunity to sequester 50 million tonnes of CO2 per year, and in the process to rebuild more productive agricultural soils, and to give farmers access to the carbon offset credits market.  And in the case of oceans – to help rebuild dwindling fish stocks.

However, this potential will only be realised with Government leadership on far-reaching policies including early incentives to catalyse change and unleash investment into capital expenditure – costs that will be recouped as operating costs decline, agricultural productivity increases, and a price on carbon takes effect giving value to biosequestration offset credits.

By treating CO2 as a feedstock and removing excess CO2 from a waste and pollution chain, biosequestration of carbon in soils, plants and oceans offers major commercially viable offset credits to the carbon market.  It is therefore very important that biosequestration be included in Australia’s emissions trading scheme. Reductions of CO2 created by all forms of biosequestration should receive similar legislative recognition as afforded to geological sequestration.

Australia has some 450 million hectares of grasslands and 25 million hectares of cropping lands and around 120,000 innovative, adaptable farmers.  Australia’s stable political and economic status also allows us to be genuine world leaders in regenerative grazing management and biological farming/fertilisation systems.  This is an opportunity to:

•           Improve the environmental, financial and social sustainability of farming enterprises

•           Create high quality long-term jobs in regional and rural Australia

•           Show that an energy intensive nation can make the transition to a low carbon economy.

The original UNFCCC agreement in 1992 stipulated that all carbon sinks (biological – terrestrial and oceanic) should be included within the framework so that the full carbon cycle is appropriately represented. Australia is well placed to lead the world in implementing all forms of biological sequestration and to transfer this knowledge to the developing world – Bio CCS should therefore form an integral part of the CPRS.

UNFAO are calling for soil carbon to be recognised in Copenhagen to provide incentives to farmers worldwide to improve food supp Richard Lambert is Director-General of the CBI ly/security.  The CSIRO  has confirmed that at least 25% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by biosequestration.  CSIRO has also confirmed that soil carbon can be measured – an international protocol is now needed to coordinate accountancy. 

Over a multi-year cycle Australian Government carbon accounting estimates show that drought and bushfires do not increase the average greenhouse gas emissions – in fact, biosequestration systems improve agricultural resilience to these natural events. In the USA the Waxman-Markey Bill includes agricultural offsets and soil carbon benefits. Scientists are increasingly warning that the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases must peak as quickly as possible and then be reduced.  

Biosequestration provides a large part of the solution to achieving this reduction in GHGs in time to avoid dangerous climate tipping points.

The Bio CCS group acknowledges the important work being done nationally and internationally on forestry, re-afforestation and deforestation land-clearing avoided but emphasises that soil, ocean, crop, native vegetation sequestration of carbon should be given the same policy support domestically and internationally.

Founding members of the Environment Business Australia Bio CCS group:

MBD Energy

Andrew Lawson, Managing Director

Email – andrew.lawson@mbdbiodiesel.com

Phone – 03 9415 8711

Website – www.mbdenergy.com

Ignite Energy Resources/LawrieCo

Dr John White & Adrian Lawrie

Email – john.white@igniteer.com

Phone – 03 8600 7000

Websites – www.igniteer.com & www.lawrieco.com.au

Soil Carbon

Tony Lovell, Managing Director

Email – tonyl@soilcarbon.com.au

Phone – 07 5553 7900

Website – www.soilcarbon.com.au

Plantstone Technology

Professor Leigh Sullivan, Southern Cross University

Email – sulfate@bigpond.net.au

Phone – 02 6628 1521

Website – www.plantstone.com.au

Ocean Nourishment

John Ridley, Managing Director

Email – john.ridley@oceannourishment.com

Phone – 02 9518 6150

Website – www.oceannourishment.com

Environment Business Australia

Fiona Wain, CEO

Email – fiona.wain@environmentbusiness.com.au

Phone – 02 9358 1800

Website – www.environmentbusiness.co.au

Anna, Algae & Anglo All Together

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh officially opened a world-leading algal bio-fuel research and development facility at Townsville’s James Cook University, on the same day mining giant Anglo American snapped up a 20% stake in Melbourne-based MBD Energy, which is developing multi-billion-dollar algae farms to capture and sequester emissions from coal-fired power stations.

Queensland Government announcement (20 November 2009):

Premier opens new green technology facility in Townsville

Premier Anna Bligh today officially opened a world-leading algal bio-fuel research and development facility at Townsville’s James Cook University, that could hold the key to rapid reductions in carbon emissions from coal fired power stations.

Ms Bligh said the revolutionary algal carbon capture and storage (BIO-CCS) technology is already proving successful in trials and will soon be rolled out at three coal fired power stations, including Tarong Power Station near Kingaroy.

“This technology has the potential to revolutionise carbon capture in Queensland and around the world,” Ms Bligh said.

“The facility is doing important work, using algae as a carbon-capture method, which will add to our options in dealing with Co2 emissions.

“Essentially, the algae eats the Co2 and excretes biofuel and stockfeed – so the Co2 is captured and turned into something we can use.

“It’s another great example of the ground-breaking research that’s occurring in Townsville and throughout Queensland.

“As our state continues to grow and coal remains a key export, it is essential we come up with new ways to manage the impact of that growth on our environment.

“There has been much talk about preventing climate change, but here in Queensland, we are taking action.

“We are getting on with finding solutions through smart state thinking that could open whole new opportunities for our industries, as well as local communities.”

Ms Bligh said the 5000 square metre research plant has proven capable of producing 14,000 litres of oil and 25,000 kilograms of algal feed for livestock from every 100 tonnes of carbon consumed.

“My Government kick started this research in May last year with a $160,000 grant and there has also been significant private investment leading to the opening this new facility.

“The emerging success of this project is great news for the people of Townsville, building a reputation for the city as the home of emerging green technology.”

The Premier congratulated MBD Energy and James Cook University for leading the world in this research.

“BIO-CCS will now step into the next phase of development with MBD partnering to construct test facilities at our Tarong Energy Power Station, along with two other coal fired power stations in NSW and Victoria.

“MBD will be investing $2.5 million to help bring this technology to life at Tarong Power Station.

“The trial aims to capture 700 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and if successful could expand over the next five to ten years to consume more than half of Tarong’s problem flue-gas emissions.

“Its early days for this technology – but this is carbon capture which has massive potential. It’s in Queensland’s interests to make coal plants cleaner.”

MBD Energy Limited Chairman, Jerry Ellis predicted that BIO-CCS and Algal Synthesiser technology would emerge as a vital and viable CO2 abatement technology option for all existing coal and gas fired power stations, smelters and refineries around the world.

“Our fully enclosed and continuous cycle system has been designed to mimic the fundamental processes of the Earth’s natural carbon cycle but do the job in a matter of hours rather than millions of years,” Mr Ellis said.

“Best of all, the valuable commodities produced by Bio-CCS with an MBD Algal Synthesiser, more than pays for the comparatively modest infrastructure investment required.”

James Cook University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Sandra Harding, said that the University’s specialist Algal Synthesiser team, led by Professor Rocky de Nys and Associate Professor Kirsten Heimann, have provided a tangible demonstration of the JCU’s commitment to high quality and high impact work that will make a difference.

“With the strong support of the Queensland Government we have forged a partnership between academia and industry through MBD Energy which will have long term and far reaching consequences,” she said.

“Professor de Nys and Associate Professor Heimann and the team they’ve pulled together from around the world are helping create a new and sustainable industry that has the potential to be a major contributor to reducing greenhouse gases.”

Professor Harding said that the Facility was already creating jobs and providing crucial practical experience for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Source: www.statements.cabinet.qld.gov.au and  www.mbd.comenergy.com 

The Australian reported (20 November 2009):

MINING giant Anglo American has snapped up a 20 per cent stake in Melbourne-based MBD Energy, which hopes within five years to be developing multi-billion-dollar algae farms to capture and sequester emissions from coal-fired power stations.

The emergence of Anglo American as a cornerstone investor in MBD Energy is the latest in a series of deals in which mining groups and utilities have taken positions in new technology that could cut their greenhouse emissions.

Algae is being discussed with great enthusiasm among the energy utilities, which see it as a cheaper, more effective and more immediate solution to reducing greenhouse emissions than geological carbon capture and sequestration.

Privately owned MBD will today announce that Tarong Energy is to become the third coal-fired utility in Australia to agree to install a pilot plant for its technology, along with Eraring in NSW and Loy Yang A in Victoria.

MBD hopes to have all three pilot plants up and running within six months, followed by 80ha facilities by 2011.

If the plants prove successful, MBD Energy managing director Andrew Lawson said, the company would be able to commit to multi-billion-dollar projects that could capture half the utilities’ emissions and produce valuable bio-products such as fuel, plastics and feedstock.

A 5000sq m test facility at James Cook University has produced 14,000 litres of oil and 25,000kg of algal meal from every 100 tonnes of CO2 consumed.

Anglo American is also considering MBD technology to reduce emissions from its coal mining operations, although this time using oxidising bacteria rather than algae to capture methane.

“Despite the usual risks associated with emerging technology, the MBD Energy project has the potential to mitigate Anglo American’s carbon footprint,” Anglo chief commercial officer Neil Dhar said.

Mr Lawson said two energy companies – one a leading Australian group and the other an international group – were also conducting due diligence on becoming cornerstone investors alongside Anglo, with only one likely to be chosen.

Anglo American’s initial investment is believed to be less than $10 million, but it has agreed to provide expansion funds as its rolls out its technology.

Source: www.theaustralian.com.au

Searching for the Yellow Brick Road

Starting two to four years from now, the world will need to build the equivalent of all the world’s existing renewable energy capacity every year just to compensate for the decline of oil. So says Chris Nelder in the Green Chip Review.

What Peak Oil Can Do for Climate Change

By Chris Nelder in Green Chip Review (20 November 2009):

With all eyes focused on the Copenhagen climate summit in less than three weeks, perhaps it’s time for the peakists to find a new purpose.  The reason is simple. Money isn’t interested in problems; it’s only interested in solutions. And wherever capital goes is where the changes will be made.

The public also has little appetite for unpleasant stories, even true ones. The message is: Don’t tell us what we can’t consume — tell us what we can consume. Tell us our grid power costs are going to go up because of climate change and we’ll fight it. But help us buy efficiency improvements and renewables that will pay for themselves in fuel savings, and we’ll support it all the way.

A new Pew study on “apocalypse fatigue” highlights the problem nicely. The public’s confidence in the global warming problem has fallen sharply this year, even as momentum built toward Copenhagen.

Guilt and deprivation simply don’t sell like opportunity does. That’s why trillions of dollars are pouring into cleantech annually, while the peak oil community continues to go begging for a few dollars to staff a small office and keep a web server running, all while battling a constant onslaught of misinformation placed in the top mainstream media by very deep-pocketed vested interests.

That’s why I said last week that the IEA was shrewd to turn its annual World Energy Outlook into a stalking horse, masquerading its alarm about peak oil as an earnest appeal to address climate change.

It’s also why I applaud Chevron’s new commitment to offer mentoring, resources, and financial support to the Cleantech Open through its $240 million venture capital arm. Chevron has long held the lead among its peers, I think, for engaging with the public on the energy challenges ahead with their “Will You Join Us?” campaign.

Oil industry, take note: That’s how you bridge the great divide between the Greens and the Browns — by putting some oil industry profits into the solutions for a world after cheap and easy oil. Here are a few key concepts from the peak oil study that should inform climate policy.

All of the Above

First, solving the energy crisis isn’t an either Green or Brown proposition, but all of the above. There is a dangerous paradox here that the peakists can help the world avoid.

Climate activists need to realize that the renewable energy revolution can only be built on the back of fossil fuels. It will take vast amounts of oil, gas, and coal to mine raw ores, crush them, transport them, smelt them down and turn them into stock, transport them again, and turn them into end-products. . . then transport them again. We have no idea how to do all that without petroleum fuels, gas, and coking coal.

Therefore, in order to build a vast new infrastructure of solar and wind generation, ubiquitous rail transport, plug-in and natural gas vehicles, the next-generation grid, and so on, and do it at a reasonable price, we’ll have to ensure that fossil fuels receive vigorous and sustained investment.

Here’s a rough, rule-of-thumb way of expressing the supply dilemma:

We have to fill a 25% gap in 25 years, a 50% gap in 50 years, and we need to be off fossil fuels completely by the end of the century.

Here’s another rule of thumb: Starting two to four years from now, the world will need to build the equivalent of all the world’s existing renewable energy capacity every year just to compensate for the

decline of oil.

Meeting that challenge with renewables and efficiency would solve the emissions problem as a side effect, only it would do so by harnessing the profit motive — not by penalizing production. That’s how capitalism works best.

If we allow climate policy to pour cold water on the fire of fossil fuels, we would extinguish the growth in renewables too. Failing to maintain a steady supply of fossil fuels, even as they peak and decline, their prices rise, and their availability shrinks, would subject the cleantech industry to devastating boom and bust cycles.

Count on Less Fuel. . . and Less CO2

It’s fairly astonishing, but none of the climate change models take the peaking of any fossil fuels into account. They all project — over a period of 30 years or more! — fairly simple growth curves for population and the global economy, assuming that sufficient oil, gas and coal will be available to satisfy demand at historically normal prices.

As the peakists know, nothing could be further from the truth.  If my current understanding of the situation is even close to correct — peak oil circa 2005-2012; peak gas 2015-2020 and peak coal 2025-2030 — then the climate models are not accurately modeling 78% of the global energy supply over the next 30 years.

Accordingly, the CO2 projections must be wrong. Ultimately, the population-based forecasts must also be wrong. The peak oil study can help correct these glaring flaws by offering better data to the CO2 emissions models.

Easier to Switch than Fight

Resisting the policy focus on climate change, and resisting the truth about peak oil, the fossil fuel industry has become its own worst enemy.By perceiving these issues as threats, the Browns have created a vicious cycle.

Fighting the renewable energy revolution sows public opposition, adds cost, and delays the deployment of renewables, which makes the CO2 problem worse. The worse the CO2 problem gets, the more it costs them.

If instead the Browns acknowledged that the future of fossil fuels will be increasingly difficult and expensive, and that CO2 is a problem they need to own, it would feed a virtuous cycle.

Peak-adjusted fuel models would lower the projected CO2 emissions, reducing the cost of mitigation and buying a bit more time for the transition to renewables. It would give the energy industry a clear mandate to invest more in renewables, and do so in a measured, less disruptive way. In turn, the accelerated adoption of renewables would reduce CO2 projections and feed further investment, reducing CO2 even more.

Hopefully, the peakists can help the fossil fuel industry come to terms with a decarbonized future, and in so doing, ensure its long term survival.

Incentivize, Don’t Penalize

Perhaps the most important way that the peakists can help the climate change cause is by changing the focus to what goes into the engine, instead of what comes out of the tailpipe.

By contrast, focusing on the renewable generation side — what goes into the engine — results in increasing amounts of power that was clean to begin with, at ever-declining costs, and could create a long-term growth opportunity for the energy industry.

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

It doesn’t really matter if Copenhagen is deemed a failure or a success. And it doesn’t really matter if we take a backwards approach to the renewable energy revolution. The only thing that matters is that the world continues to make progress in the right direction. Here, the peakists have an important

role to play.

Somewhere over the rainbow, down a long and winding Yellow Brick Road, is energy’s Emerald City, and we’ll need the pragmatic peakists to lead us there. With their help, the Greens can get their heads out of the clouds, the Browns can move their rusting limbs again and learn some compassion for the earth, and the policymakers can find some courage.

Source: www.greenchipstocks.com

Just weeks before the crucial climate talks in Copenhagen, the world’s leading green building organisations we have reached a landmark agreement to begin to speak one international language to describe the carbon footprint of buildings in a robust and consistent way. Romilly Madew, Chief Executive of the Green Building Council of Australia reports.

Green Building Council announcement (16 November 2009):

Today the world’s leading green building organisations have reached a ground-breaking

agreement to adopt a common global language for the measurement of the carbon footprint of

buildings.

Just weeks ahead of COP15 in Copenhagen, this is a critical and timely step that will enable the

world to realise the unparalleled, cost-effective carbon mitigation potential of buildings, which

account for around 40% of the world’s energy use and 33% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The ‘common carbon metric’ will be piloted by the leading green building rating tools, and made

available to all those who are dedicated to promoting the understanding and development of a

green, low-carbon and sustainable built environment.

The metric is recognised by the UNEP Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative, and will be

highlighted before decision-makers at the conference in Copenhagen in December.

Tony Arnel, Chair of the World Green Building Council said:

“The significance of this agreement should not be underestimated. The coming together of so

many leading green building organisations is unprecedented and appropriate at this critical

moment in the world’s response to the global challenge of climate change.

“Buildings account for a third of global carbon emissions and as the IPCC has demonstrated, provide by far the most cost effective carbon reduction potential.

“The World GBC is delighted to have been able to play a part in this historic development and to welcome BREEAM to work in partnership with the family of leading rating tools operated by Green Building Councils.”

Romilly Madew, Chief Executive of the Green Building Council of Australia said:

“Just weeks before the crucial climate talks in Copenhagen, we have reached a landmark

agreement – to begin to speak one international language to describe the carbon footprint of

buildings, in a robust and consistent way.

“The coming together of the world’s leading rating tools and other organisations that represent the best scientific and technical minds and advocates of green, low carbon buildings from around the globe, is a real and timely breakthrough. It demonstrates the importance of the World Green Building Council and its member Councils which have played a key role in facilitating this.”

Andrew Aitken, Green Star Director of the Green Building Council and involved in the technical

development of the metric said:

“With the development of rating tools worldwide, it is crucial we speak of carbon in a consistent

and common way. This agreement to will go a long way in supporting Developing Countries to

develop a consistent framework.”

Donna McIntire, Program Officer for Buildings and Climate Change, the UNEP Sustainable Building

and Climate Initiative (SBCI) said:

“UNEP is delighted to represent the importance of this work in Copenhagen through its

Sustainable Building & Climate Initiative to support the critical role of buildings in reducing carbon

emissions. Common metrics are the keys to consistent measurement and reporting of

performance – opening the door for flexible mechanisms and entry into the carbon market. Thisagreement around the common carbon metric is timely and poised to transform the building

sector to a position of true leadership for the development of a sustainable built environment.”

Alfonso Ponce, Secretary of the Sustainable Building Alliance (SB Alliance) said:

“This represents an important moment in the evolution of the science and practice of green

building. A coming together of technical minds, worldwide experience and a collaboration of

organisations with global reach, provide a robust and dynamic launch pad to take buildings to the

heart of global carbon mitigation action.”

Source: www.gbca.org.au

This Business of Reducing Emissions

If Victoria’s “Grow Me the Money” program was replicated across the country, Australia would be a third of the way towards meeting its 2020 emissions reduction target,  while Dr Tim Flannery believes large animals like cattle and sheep are essential to restoring the health of the planet and reducing greenhouse gas levels.

Mathew Murphy in The Age (19 November 2009):

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called on its Australian counterparts to implement basic carbon-saving measures that it calculates could deliver a third of the Federal Government’s 2020 emissions reduction target.

An analysis by VECCI shows that about 46 million tonnes of carbon a year could be saved if Australian business was to match its business-run sustainability program.

VECCI’s ”Grow Me the Money” program, which began in 2007, is a free initiative aimed at helping Victoria’s small to medium-sized businesses become more sustainable while improving profits.

VECCI’s analysis shows participants are saving an average of $6600 a year and reducing their carbon footprint by 28 tonnes a year.

The chamber’s chief executive, Wayne Kayler-Thomson, said Australia’s 2 million businesses were responsible for half the nation’s 600 million tonnes of annual emissions.

He said that if the Grow Me the Money program was replicated across the country, the Federal Government would be a third of the way towards meeting its 2020 emissions reduction target of 138 million tonnes, or 5 per cent below 2000 levels.

Source: www.businessday.com.au

Vernon Graham for The Land/Farmonline (18 November 2009):

ENVIRONMENTAL scientist, Dr Tim Flannery, believes large animals like cattle and sheep are essential to restoring the health of the planet and reducing greenhouse gas levels.

Dr Flannery said the planet and its atmosphere had evolved through the interaction between plants and animals.

He said 99 percent of gases we breathed were produced by plants and animals but about 200 years ago humans discovered fossil fuels which, “combined with our destruction of living things like forests and soils, had pumped tens of billions of extra tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere”.

The forum at which Mr Flannery was speaking last week was organised by Meat and Livestock Australia in a move to get on to the front foot in the increasingly noisy debate about whether people should become vegetarians to save the planet.

The five environmentalists on the panel were the Climate Institute’s Corey Watts, Murdoch University Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, Nick Costa, NSW livestock producer, Sam Archer, the MLA’s Beverley Henry and Dr Flannery.

There was general agreement with Professor Flannery that large farm animals helped retain fertility in the land and recycled carbon but also that they had to be better managed and bred to maximise their environmental benefit while reducing methane gas emissions.

He backed cell grazing where stock are rotated around paddocks to ensure desirable grasses and herbs survive.

Dr Flannery and Mr Watts opposed including agriculture in the Federal Government’s carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS), saying such a regulatory framework would be a nightmare if imposed on family farmers.

Instead agriculture should be opened up for carbon offsets.

Dr Costa declared red meat could be “nutritious, clean and green” and MLA managing director, David Palmer, said livestock industries had cut greenhouse gas emissions by 7.5pc since 1990.

During the same time emissions from electricity generation had risen by 49.5pc and transport by 26.9pc.

Source: www.theland.farmonline.com.au

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

A new generation of “green” automobile tires that can boost fuel efficiency without sacrificing safety and durability is in the research pipeline, while there’s a new Dutch treat on the way: a tax on how far and when you driver older, fuel in efficient cars to encourage less polluting, lower carbon-emitting transport. Pictured is Duracar Quicc! an all-electric delivery van developed in The Netherlands.

Michale Bernstein for the American Chemical Society:

Developing ‘green’ tires that boost mileage and cut carbon dioxide emissions

A new generation of “green” automobile tires that can boost fuel efficiency without sacrificing safety and durability is rolling their way through the research pipeline.

The new tires could help add an extra mile or two per gallon to a car’s fuel economy.

That’s the topic of the cover story of the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, (C&EN) ACS’ weekly newsmagazine.

C&EN Senior Editor Alexander Tullo explains that rolling resistance — the friction that tires encounter when rolling — are a major factor in a vehicle’s fuel economy. It can determine up to 20 percent of fuel economy.

Overcoming it accounts for 4 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels.

For years, tire makers and their raw material suppliers have been eyeing lower rolling resistance as a way to boost fuel economy and promote a cleaner environment.

But they have been thwarted by a principle in the tire world called the “magic triangle of tire technology.” It holds that an improvement to rolling resistance has to come at the expense of wet-road grip and durability.

That barrier is now falling, thanks to the development of new materials, including new forms of silica and nanomaterials. These new materials include a nanogel that improves abrasion resistance, grip and rolling resistance of tires as well as a newly-developed resin that helps tires retain air longer.

But there’s a catch: Motorists still will have to keep tires properly inflated to take full advantage of the new technology, the article notes.

The full story is available at http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/87/8746cover.html

Source: www.eurekalert.org

Dutch Treat: Pay-As-You-Drive Taxation Proposed

By Bill Moore

When you think of The Netherlands, many images come to mind: the colorful canals of Amsterdam, the quaint windmills, the thousands-upon-thousands of bicycles.

But it also has nearly 8 million automobiles; and with a population 7.2 million households, which equates to at least one car per family. And it is not uncommon, according to the Dutch Roadgeek blogger, to see anywhere from 600 to 1,000 accumulated kilometers of traffic jams during rush hour across The Netherlands, based on Tom-Tom data.

In order to try and stem this polluting, enervating, productivity-robbing flood, the government ministry in charge of trying to solve the problem has proposed replacing the current automobile tax scheme, which levies fees when you buy the vehicle and annually when you register it, with a ‘pay-as-you-drive’ proposal.

A government-mandated GPS data logger will keep track what time of day you drove. Driving during rush hour will cost more than non-rush hour periods. Driving further will cost more than driving fewer miles.

But it gets even more interesting than that. In order to continue to encourage more efficient, less polluting, lower carbon-emitting cars, the Minister also is proposing the fees be adjusted as to how old the car is and how much carbon it produces. Older cars will pay more than newer cars. Lower carbon cars will pay less than higher carbon producers.

According to H.J. Bakker, the director of Elec-cars Nederland, the Dutch government still has to approve the scheme and if it does, it will first be implemented in commercial trucks (lorries) starting in 2011. Personal automobiles will be required to adopt the system in the 2012-2013 time frame.

He stresses, “The government can only see how many miles you drove and the time you did that, and not where you drove these miles,” hopefully allaying privacy concerns.

Of course, under this regime, small electric cars and trucks, like the Dutch-developed Duracar Quicc! delivery van pictured above, would score very high in not only low operating costs, but also in terms of its local emissions. What needs to be further clarified is how are emissions from the nation’s power plants calculated?

Here’s what the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Agency reports on The Netherlands’ electric power grid mix as of August 2009:

Year-to-date, coal-fired plants contributed 44.4 percent of the Nation’s electric power. Nuclear plants contributed 20.4 percent, while 23.2 percent was generated at natural gas-fired plants. Of the 1.1 percent generated by petroleum-fired plants, petroleum liquids represented 0.7 percent, with the remainder from petroleum coke.

Conventional hydroelectric power provided 7.1 percent of the total, while other renewables (biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind) and other miscellaneous energy sources generated the remaining 3.6 percent of electric power.

The city of Amsterdam has announced it wants to see 40,000 electric vehicles on its streets by 2020 and upwards of 200,000 EVs by 2040. Presumably they will qualify for the lowest fee rate compared to gasoline and diesel-fueled vehicles based on their overall CO2 emissions per kilometer. If they travel, however, during rush hours, they likely are going to pay the same fee as their petrol-fueled counterparts.

Assuming the Dutch government approves the new “Pay-As-You-Drive” plan, it will be instructive for the rest of the world, especially in nations where traffic congestion is equally problematic.

Source: www.evworld.com

Green with Envy for Gold Coast

Greenstock is a new event that will transform the Gold Coast from an icon of the high-carbon economy to a world leader of the low-carbon economy, says Colman Ridge, who is also organising this year’s Walk Against Warming in Brisbane on 12 December.  Look out for Captain Paul Watson at a Brisbane function for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on 24 November.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is inviting people to an evening with Captain Paul Watson.

On the 24th of November, Sea Shepherd Brisbane will be holding a fundraiser at the Museum of Brisbane from 6:30pm until 8:30pm, in support of Sea Shepherds upcoming Whale defense campaign, Operation Waltzing Matilda.

To reserve your tickets e-mail: australia@seashepherd.org

Silent Auction and news on the upcoming Antarctic Campaign with special guest speakers Terri Irwin & Amy Barker

Time Magazine proclaimed Captain Paul Watson as one of the top twenty environmental heroes of today.

By Graham Readfearn in Courier Mail (18 November 2009):

THE bureaucrat investigating the SuperGP debacle has been handed a blueprint for a festival that could revitalise Gold Coast tourism.

Greenstock could replace roaring V8s with a more planet-friendly event, with the potential to draw young environmentalists from around the globe to share knowledge and see acts such as Sting, Justin Timberlake, and Kings of Leon.

The $20 million plan by Brisbane-based entrepreneur Colman Ridge depends on a $5.8 million injection from the State Government, and has already secured the support of Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke, the United Nations and an international talent agency.

Mr Ridge proposes to roll his successful Greenfest yearly environmental expo, currently held in Brisbane, in with six music and film stages, a major green games event at Main Beach and an “Economy Hub” at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.

On Tuesday, Mr Ridge presented the Greenstock plan to David Williams, the Government-appointed consultant preparing a report on the future of the motor race for Premier Anna Bligh.

This year’s Super GP was hit with controversy when the drawcard international A1GP race was cancelled just days before the event.

“It will transform the region from an icon of the high-carbon economy to a world leader of the low-carbon economy,” Mr Ridge said.

“We are looking for half of what the Government put into the A1GP.

“With the motor race you have a very narrow demographic with fences and road blocks.

“Greenstock is gentler, more inclusive. It’s about having a good time that’s healthy for yourself, your family, the community and the planet.

“We expect to attract 200,000 in the first year and then grow significantly past Indy numbers from there. Super GP was down to just under 200,000 this year. We plan to hand back the highway to the residents of the coast.”

A letter of support from Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency states the company would be willing to help promote the event. Currently on CAA’s books are Justin Timberlake, Sting, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Santana, Kings of Leon and The Spice Girls. Australian acts include The Living End, The Veronicas, AC/DC and Keith Urban.

The United Nations Environment Programme has written to Ms Bligh encouraging support of Greenstock.

Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke, who met Mr Ridge’s team last Friday, said: “I think this is a great proposal – a wonderful alternative and a positive event that would attract great attention. I would be advocating this (to Premier Bligh) for sure.”

Source: www.news.com.au

Where Angels Fear to Tread

Britain’s small wind sector is booming despite the recession as many rural homes, farms or small businesses are putting up turbines to counter higher energy prices and blackouts, while for years one northern industrial city had a reputation blackened by coal dust, clanking shipyards and smoke-belching factories. Now Newcastle is Britain’s greenest city. The Angel of the North is Newcastle’s iconic statue.

Peter Griffiths for Reuters World Environment News (20 November 2009):

For decades, Newcastle upon Tyne was blackened by coal dust and known around the world for its clanking shipyards and smoke-belching factories.But after years of redevelopment following its industrial decline, the northern metropolis has been transformed and was named on Thursday as Britain’s “greenest” city.

It pushed last year’s winner Bristol down to second place, with Brighton on the south coast ranked third in the annual list compiled by Forum for the Future, an environmental think-tank.

Newcastle won praise for its excellent air quality, low levels of waste, low carbon emissions and high recycling rates.

“Cities with an industrial heritage face genuine challenges, but Newcastle’s success shows that it is possible to overcome the legacy of the past,” said forum Chief Executive Peter Madden.

The third annual “Sustainable Cities” study ranked 20 places based on 13 factors, including recycling, pollution and how they plan to respond to the threat of climate change.

With a regenerated quayside, new arts centers and a lively nightlife, Newcastle and neighboring Gateshead have radically changed since their industrial heyday.

J.B. Priestley once said the area was “blacker than Manchester and might have been carved out of coal.”

Newcastle rose from fourth place last year and eighth in 2007. Bottom of the pile for a second year running was Hull, followed by Glasgow, Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

Nao Nakanishi for Reuters World Environment News (20 November 2009):

LONDON – Britain’s small wind sector is booming despite the recession as many rural homes, farms or small businesses are putting up turbines in the yard to counter higher energy prices and blackouts.

Orders for turbines with less than 50 kilowatts capacity have soared before the introduction in April of feed-in-tariffs for small renewables, a system similar to those that have propelled wind farm growth in Germany or Spain.

“In terms of UK, orders have tripled already,” said Pete Allen, chief executive officer of Evance, which makes stand alone turbines with capacity of 5 kilowatts — enough to power two average homes in Britain.

“The UK market is set to double next year,” he told Reuters.

It is a sea change in the country, which has failed to speed up construction of onshore farms despite its plentiful wind. Onshore projects have often stalled due to local objections.

To help achieve an 80 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2050 from the 1990 level, the government announced in July it would introduce the feed-in-tariffs for small green generation of up to 5 megawatts. The tariff levels are yet to be decided.

It also comes at a time when a third of Britain’s power generators, including coal and nuclear, are starting to retire, triggering worries over possible power shortages next decade.

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) calculated the feed-in-tariffs would cut pay-back time for turbines of less than 1.5 kilowatts at windy sites to less than 10 years and for 5-6 kilowatt turbines to less than five years.

“With fossil fuel prices inevitably going to increase sharply, interest in self-generation is going to increase,” said Alex Murley, small system manager at BWEA.

“The UK market is already the second biggest in the world, behind the U.S., accounting for 20-25 percent of the global demand,” he added.

The BWEA projects more than 12,000 units of small turbines to be deployed in Britain next year after about 3,500 units — or 7.2 megawatts — were installed last year.

Under the scheme, owners of small renewables are paid a fixed tariff for every unit of electricity they generate. They can avoid or limit purchasing power from the grid. They can also sell a surplus, if any, to the grid for a fixed rate.

“It is the fastest growing part of the wind market,” said Stephen Mahon from Low Carbon Investors UK, a venture capital investing in clean energy, including small wind.

“Globally the market is probably about 150 million pounds…We expect this to become a multi-billion pound market over the next five years,” Mahon told Reuters.

Growth will come mainly from Britain and the United States.

Though Britain has failed to attract leading large turbine makers, such as Vestas or Suzlon, it is home to 18 manufacturers of small wind turbines, including Scotland’s Proven Energy, a world leader in this category.

The country is already the world’s top exporter of small turbines and it is benefitting from generous subsidies in the United States, where the industry is projected to grow 30-folds to 1,700 megawatts by end-2013. It grew 78 percent last year.

BWEA expected British exports of small turbines to exceed 13,000 units next year after a forecast 2009 jump to around 9,500 units this year from around 32,000 units last year.

“We predict a dramatic increase in all regions, particularly the UK,” said Peter Griffiths, marketing manager of Proven Energy. “Certainly there will be a double digit growth in the run-up to UK feed-in-tariffs,” he told Reuters.

Proven Energy, taken over by investment company Low Carbon Accelerator Ltd in October, has sold about 2,500 units of its 3.2-15 kilowatt turbines worldwide since 1992, though most were installed in the past three years.

Source: www.planetark.org

Driving Sustainable Message Home

Sustainable Townsville has set itself some ambitious plans, but it is on the right track and deserves to succeed. With the leadership provided by Jenny Hill and Guy Lane, this tropical north Queensland city is well on its way to get the recognition it deserves. Ken Hickson reports on his visit.

By Ken Hickson

It’s people who make a city and people who make it sustainable.

That’s the message I received loud and clear when I visited Townsville for the first time this week and met the people who want to make it a world leading sustainable city.

I flew into Townsville – one hour forty five minutes from Brisbane – with the express purpose of speaking at the very first event, organised by a group of people calling themselves Sustainable Townsville.

Meeting me at the airport was Guy Lane. Now there’s an enterprising, sustainable superman if ever there was one. He runs My Clean Sky, SeaO2 and Funnel Exchange. He is always promoting other businesses and ideas which are on the sustainable, low carbon track. www.seao2.com

There was a Toyota Hybrid Prius waiting to run me around town, economically and sustainably, of course.

First stop was Mary Who? Bookshop in Flinders Street Mall. Not only was manager Sue Cole wanting for some of my books to be delivered, but on hand ready to buy the first one delivered to Townsville was Louise Scarrone, Managing Director of Sprout, the greener grocers. www.sproutonline.net.au

Also waiting was the media. My visit had been given something of a build up by Guy Lane and others, so there was an interview first with Win Television News (Channel 9) and then Townsville Bulletin. Earlier in the day I had talked on air over the telephone to ABC Radio Townsville.

In fact, I know that at least one person had heard me on the radio and as he was there in the book shop. He wanted a chat and he ended up buying the book as well. He’d been in the mining business and was now retired. The subject of climate change, energy and the environment interested him greatly. (If anyone knows his name. please let me know!)

The next person I met was Jenny Hill. Alongside Guy, she’s the champion for Sustainable Townsville. A city councillor (since 1997) and previously deputy mayor, she is chairwoman of the burgeoning organisation. We chatted about plans for Townsville and checked out the venue – Vine 21 – for the first Sustainable event.

Jenny graduated from LaTrobe University with a Bachelor of Science in 1981, before moving to Townsville in 1982. Jenny also completed a Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine at James Cook University. Previously her employment included mining laboratories, DPI, James Cook University, and the Pathology Department of the Townsville Hospital in Microbiology.

She knows her science and she knows her city. And she knows what needs to be done to make the city move on and upward on the sustainability hit parade.

Here’s a report quoting her on ABC News:

A group promoting environmentally sustainable industries for Townsville says the north Queensland city could become a world leader in the field.

The chairwoman for Sustainable Townsville, Jenny Hill, says she hopes people who attended the group’s first major network event will now promote sustainability issues.

She says when people move to Townsville in the future, they might be attracted by the environmental practices of the city.

“I’d like to see Townsville as being the world leader in sustainable industries and processes, where if you move to this community you know that you’re not impacting on the environment, that the people here, that the processes we have, are not damaging our environment,” she said.

Ms Hill says raising awareness of how Townsville is addressing climate change issues is important to boost the population.

“By promoting Townsville as a smart city, as a sustainable city, we can draw more people into our community and we can show the rest of Australia that hey, you can do things, you can make changes that really don’t impact on your lifestyle,” she said.   

Source: www.abc.net.au

The meeting in question was a popular affair. About 40 people turned up. Ergon Energy was there to lend its support and talk up its initiative, the Network Demand Management programme for energy efficiency in and around the city.

I spoke for about 20 minutes on what’s happening in the world of sustainability, referring to other cities making claims and winning awards for becoming greener, low or zero carbon communities.

Opportunities for businesses to become more sustainable was emphasised and I gave a few good examples from the book and from my research. 

Design and architecture are both important to make our buildings more energy efficient, particularly in the tropics,  and there’s a job to be done to retrofit thousands of buildings around the city (and the nation) which currently accounts for around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Townsville is already recognised as a leading solar city, but there’s a lot happening for the city to tap into with biofuels, carbon farming, transport – a move to hybrids and electric cars. Interestingly, Townsville already has one of the largest fleets of hybrid taxis in Australia.

Who else did I meet?

On hand was Lisa McDonald of Townsville Enterprise. We discovered that we had met two years’ previous at the Climate Change and Business Conference in Brisbane. www.townsvilleonline.com.au

Frank Dallmeyer of Tropical Energy Solutions introduced himself and bought be a drink. He told me his company identifies, promotes and supplies solutions that are clean, reliable, affordable and suit the tropical environments of Australia and the Pacific Region. www.tropicalenergysolutions.com.au

Two fine chaps from Environmental Asset Services – Tony Nielson and Warren “Wazza” Mathieson – were interesting to talk to and they bought my book!. www.environmentalassets.com.au

Michelle Russell, who had been living and working in the area for many months as line producer for the film “Beneath Hill 60”, was back to see how Townsville was facing up to sustainability. www.beneathhill60.com.au

City Councillor and chairman of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee for Townsville – Vern Veitch – was there to keep up with what the business community is wanting to do for the city. www.townsville.qld.gov.au

I talked to Peter Kirkham, who’s currently with Watpac – an active developer in the area -  about his ideas for a sustainable eco tourism resort north of the city. www.watpac.com.au

Daniel Post is an enthusiast for LED energy efficient lighting and works with Ecolight Queensland. He’s also an enthusiast for collecting and restoring old furniture. He also managed to get a copy of my book on ebay for an incredibly insulting price! www.ecolightqld.com.au

With some amazing energy saving solutions up his sleeve is Dion Borg of eNerwise. He assured me the world will hear more soon on what this North Queensland business is up to. www.enerwise.com.au

Debra Burden, who I met when she was previously with Prime Carbon, is now a Bank Manager with Westpac. On a visit to her bank office, we discovered not only the indepth knowledge she has of the whole carbon finance/trading business, but what Westpac is doing to be the nation’s most sustainable bank. www.westpac.com.au

John Lyons is a delight. A former Price Waterhouse partner, he is now retired, but cannot keep his mind and his hands off helping business people progress. He also wanted me to visit his 101 year old house which is surprisingly energy efficient, with its high ceilings and wide verandas, as well as wonderful views over the bay. He is also ambassador for Queensland Museum Foundation www.qm.qld.gov.au

He introduced me to John Patteson, a mature gentleman with young ideas and an energetic plan to deal with plastic waste. In time there will be more to report on this.

Ken Bellamy attended the meeting but as I had a visit planned the next day to his VRM Biologik plant, we caught up then. I heard all about his photosynthesis discoveries, his work in carbon farming and Prime Carbon. I learnt so much about him that he features this week as our profile. Also met Teresa Jessup. www.wrm.com.au

With a bit of light relief but with sustainability still in mind, Guy and I visited Katelyn Aslett, a textile and fashion designer, rapidly gaining an international reputation for turning recycled materials and natural fibres (wool) into fashion statements. www.katelynaslett.com

Zingspace came into view as well, meeting Nigel Grier and his team who’ve just moved into a new space. We talked about his landscape and environmental design work, including work with WWF and indigenous communities further north. He’s also a fan of Greenroofs and other sustainable building design practices. www.zingspace.com.au

In a busy schedule of a little more than 24 hours, there wasn’t much time for sightseeing, but I was able to appreciate that Townsville has a lot going for it. Its seaside location – close to many of the attractions of the Great Barrier Reef – its busy port and ever-present military base, all add to its industriousness, as well as its opportunities to become more sustainable.

It is also a city full of enterprising men and women, young and old, who want to see the place not only grow, but to be a very liveable city.

Last port of call before the airport was the James Cook University where we sighted the biosequestration research project which is underway. It was to be officially opened by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh on Friday (see separate article). It is good to know the university is in such good hands with Sandra Harding as Vice Chancellor.

I promise you’ll be hearing more of Townsville as it journeys on its road to greater sustainability and gains recognition for its efforts.

Here are some words I expressed after my visit:

Sustainable Townsville has set itself some ambitious plans, but it is on the right track and deserves to succeed.

I was impressed by the level of innovation and enterprise evident from the people and organisations I met in Townsville.

With the leadership provided by Jenny Hill and Guy Lane, and the early support you are getting for Sustainable Townsville, I expect to see it achieve a lot.

There is competition at home and abroad for cities and communities to be ranked as “sustainable”, but Townsville has every chance to do this better than most.

It is important to get Government support and funding for projects that you can undertake.

Not only should you be working with your Council and other locals institutions – the University, Townsville Enterprise – but also highlight the work of some of your leading businesses, like Prime Carbon.

Source: www.abccarbon.com