Focus on Singapore as Global Green Building Hub

For the first time, the World Green Building Council International Congress will take place in Asia in the lead up to World Green Building Day on 23 September. It is one of a trio of eco-events in Singapore next month to create Southeast Asia’s biggest and most important gathering of ‘green’ builders and property developers ever organised. Meanwhile, Australia is putting renewed focus on greening existing building stock.

WorldGBC International Congress: 13-15 September, Singapore

Southeast Asia’s premier Build Eco Xpo, BEX Asia is back from 13-15 September at the new Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Focused on green building architecture, design, products, practices and technologies for environmental sustainability, BEX Asia 2010 provides a platform for industry practitioners, professionals and key buyers across the region to network and do business with Southeast Asia’s developing economies.

The four-day event is being staged alongside the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) International Congress 2010 and the inaugural Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) ‘Green Building Conference’.

It will be the first time the WorldGBC International Congress has taken place in Asia and is part of the lead up to World Green Building Day on 23 September.

In partnership with the SGBC and Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA), the trio of eco-events combine to create Southeast Asia’s biggest and most important gathering of ‘green’ builders and property developers ever organised. Participants will have the opportunity to meet and engage with invited experts at workshops, tours and talks scheduled throughout the four days.

Over 200 exhibiting companies from more than 20 countries internationally will showcase their latest environmentally-friendly building technologies, products, concepts and solutions at BEX Asia 2010. Major players to showcase include BASF, Carrier, EnGro Corporation Limited, Johnson Controls and Trane.

“BEX Asia is quickly establishing itself as a must-attend event in the industry by offering a platform for exhibitors to present their products and to educate potential customers on the benefits of their solutions,” said Michelle Lim, Managing Director of Reed Exhibitions

In tandem with growing global concern and commitment to environmental sustainability, BEX Asia has gone from strength-to-strength since its inception in 2008. It has grown from 100 exhibiting companies in the first year to more than 200 in its third year, and from 4000 visitors in its first year to an expected 7,000 this year.

“We expect the momentum to continue this year with possibly another record-breaking turnout,” added Ms Lim.

About WorldGBC International Congress

The WorldGBC International Congress forum, a series of sessions from senior government officials, industry experts and a minister from China, India, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia will also play a poignant role during the event. Discussion topics will include: A World Green Building Campaign, Tackling Global Climate Change, Meeting Local Priorities; Rating Tools and Common Carbon Metric; Policies Paradise (with UNEP); Innovations in Financing Green Solutions.

One of the highlights of the show will be “Leadership in Green Building Lecture Series 6″ led by green building experts from around the world including David Johnson, Westcoast Director, San Francisco of William McDonough + Partners, and Bill Odell, Director, Science and Technology Group The HOK Group.

SGBC’s inaugural “Green Building Conference” on Day Three will tackle various debates pertaining Zero Energy Buildings and Cutting Edge Green Building Technologies and Designs, with practical application through case study analysis.

Source: www.sgbc.sg

Report from RMIT (25 August 2010):

Greening the existing building stock

What does it take to make old buildings green? How can we encourage innovative renovations and retrofits to improve the nation’s environmental footprint?

The challenge of transforming existing buildings for a sustainable Australia will be explored next week at the 8th annual Green Building and Design Conference (Friday, 3 September – Saturday, 4 September).

RMIT University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, will introduce the Victorian Minister for the Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Innovation, Gavin Jennings MLC, to give a welcoming address.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle will welcome delegates and speak about the City of Melbourne’s 1200 Buildings initiative – a program that places the city at the cutting edge of the global green building movement.

Keynote speaker, RMIT Adjunct Professor Alan Pears AM, will examine ways for renovators and project teams to ensure that renovated buildings become assets for the future, rather than liabilities.

The conference aims to bring together architects and designers, policy makers, energy consultants, building owners and the building industry to explore innovative trends and practices in building retrofits.

An outstanding line-up of speakers from the residential and commercial sectors, as well as private and public institutions, will detail case studies of building adaptation and elaborate on closing the gap in energy and water efficiencies between old and new buildings. Site visits on Saturday, 4 September will complement the program.

The Green Building and Design Conference is presented by RMIT’s Centre for Design and School of Property Construction and Project Management, and is sponsored by Sustainability Victoria.

What: Green Building and Design Conference 2010
When: Friday, 3 September, 8.30am (Keynote Speech: 9.20am)
Where: Village Roadshow Theatrette, State Library of Victoria Access through Entry 3, La Trobe Street, Melbourne 

Source: www.rmit.edu.au

GBCA media release (26 August 2010):

The GBCA is exploring a new approach in addressing existing buildings within its Green Star suite of rating tools. This approach would allow a Green Star tool for existing buildings to:

- address building operations and maintenance, including performance benchmarking;
o incorporating NABERS metrics where available
o incorporating other reporting standards where appropriate
- address many different building types – not just office buildings;
- be comparable to Green Star Design and As Built ratings;
- assess individual buildings and entire portfolios;
- be cost-efficient and user friendly in its delivery;
- reward environmental performance that exceed standard practice;
- recognise market leadership in holistic building operations and management.

The scope of the tool is to be developed based on the guiding principles above and in consultation with a Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG). The SRG is made up of organisations that would potentially use a Green Star tool for building operations – portfolio managers, facilities managers, maintenance organisations and building owners.

It is expected that the scoping phase of the Green Star ‘existing buildings’ project and the SRG involvement will last 3 to 6 months. Following the scoping phase, and approval by the GBCA Technical Steering Committee and Board, a Technical Working Group (TWG) will be assembled to allow wider industry consultation and to address specific technical issues relating to existing buildings.

Source: www.gbca.org.au

Putting Green in the Spotlight for Viewers, Tourists & Drivers

In an exciting new development for the sustainable tourism industry, EarthCheck has partnered with Travel Wild to launch a series of television shows that will air on the Discovery Travel Channel, highlighting tourist destinations that have taken sustainability to heart. And the Holden Service Centre Environment Award, sponsored by Double-E EnviClean, is the first environment award to recognise the achievements of car service centres in Victoria, providing leadership to achieve positive outcomes for the environment, waste reduction and improved safety.

Earthcheck reports:

In an exciting new development for the sustainable tourism industry, EarthCheck has partnered with Travel Wild to launch a series of television shows that will air on the Discovery Travel Channel, highlighting tourist destinations that have taken sustainability to heart.

EarthCheck is widely acknowledged as the global leader in sustainable travel and tourism environmental management systems, with more than 1000 organisations in over 70 countries using their science and technology. Among these are market leaders such as ACCOR, InterContinental Hotels Group, Sandals Resorts International, Banyan Tree and Club Med.

In a world increasingly confused by varying shades of green, the EarthCheck brand offers consumers a simple way to quickly recognise those companies that are operating to international best practice standards and have had their eco credentials independently verified.

Fronted by effervescent presenter Lin Sutherland, Travel Wild currently airs on the Discovery Travel Network and has a potential footprint of 100 million viewers worldwide. The show has traditionally shone the spotlight on Australian destinations, but series two will broaden its content focus to include exotic destinations from Mexico to the Maldives and beyond.

Coupled with the show, the Travel Wild website () will allow viewers to find out more about the properties and tours profiled, as well as access special EarthCheck deals.      

Travel Wild is currently on air and Series Two is in production.

Source: www.earthcheck.org and  www.travelwild.tv

A report from Melbourne:

Double-E EnviClean, the supplier of EE-EnvicLean® Super Dry Encapsulant for Liquid Spills, in partnership with the Holden Dealers Service Managers Association and the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) has announced a call for entries from Holden Service Centres in Victoria and Tasmania to enter the Holden Service Centre Environment Award.

The Holden Service Centre Environment Award is the first environment award for Holden service centres to recognise the achievements of Service Centres in changing their practices and providing leadership to achieve positive outcomes for the environment and Service Centre operations in areas such as waste reduction and improved safety.

The award will be conducted under the auspices of the Holden Dealers Service Managers Association and will initially be open to all Holden Service Centre teams in Victoria and Tasmania.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with an innovative company like Double-E EnviClean for an award that recognises the great work Holden Service Centres are doing in achieving positive outcomes for the environment and their service centres,” said Richard Rayner, President of the Victorian Holden Dealers Service Managers Association.

The Environment Award will recognise service centre initiatives in waste water reduction and the reduction of waste. Assessment and judging of entries will be conducted by a panel including members from the Holden Dealers Service Managers Association, a representative from EE-EnvicLean and VACC’s Environmental Advisor.

“Training and innovative awards programs such as this assist businesses in the automotive trades to incorporate processes and practices that avoid, reduce, reuse, recycle and dispose of their wastes in an environmentally sensitive manner, said Sarah Thomas, VACC’s Environmental Advisor who is soon to launch the Green Stamp Plus environmental accreditation program at VACC.

Entries open on August 1 with the leading three service centres to be announced at the Holden Dealers Service Managers Association annual dinner on 3 December, 2010. A special judges discretionary award category has also been created in recognition of an idea or initiative that breaks the mould.

About Double-E EnviClean – Double-E EnvicLean Pty Ltd is the manufacturer and worldwide distributor of the revolutionary EE-EnvicLean® Super Dry Encapsulant for Liquid Spills and innovative liquid waste management products and services that meet the highest environmental standards.

About Green Stamp Plus – Green Stamp Plus accreditation is encouraging automotive businesses to comply with environmental laws and more importantly, rewarding the many that have gone beyond their legislative requirements. The accreditation for automotive trades has been developed with state and territory Motor Trade Associations, and the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

Source: www.enviclean.com.au and www.greenstampplus.com.au

Lucky Last Word on The Greenest Way to Go

The world’s first water cremation centre on the Gold Coast is offering a liquid alternative to cremation and burial, using a process it hopes will revolutionise the funeral industry.

Aquamation Industries chief executive John Humphries says the service, at the Eco Memorial Park at Stapylton, appropriately near Dreamworld, is the first of its kind in the world.

“Aquamation is a more natural, ethical and environmentally friendly alternative to cremations and uses water instead of fire to return a body to nature, Mr Humphries said.

This has been reported  in New Scientist and around the world, even in Queensland by Courier Mail.

In his book “The ABC of Carbon”, Ken Hickson drew attention to various ways to green up the end of life as we know it, from eco friendly coffins to eternal reefs. There’s even advice on how to turn ash  into diamonds. Have a look at Funeral Rights and Funerals Recycled.  Read More

Wendy Zukerman in New Scientist (19 August 2010):

Want to leave a light footprint on this Earth when you die? Perhaps you should consider “aquamation”, a new eco-alternative to burial and cremation.

With land for burials in short supply and cremation producing around 150 kilograms of carbon dioxide per body – and as much as 200 micrograms of toxic mercury – aquamation is being touted as the greenest method for disposing of your mortal remains.

The corpse is placed into a steel container and potassium is added, followed by water heated to 93 °C. The flesh and organs are completely decomposed in 4 hours, leaving bones as the only solid remains.

This is similar to what’s left after cremation, where the “ashes” are in fact bones hardened in the furnace and then crushed.

Low-energy funeral

Aquamation uses only 10 per cent of the energy of a conventional cremation and releases no toxic emissions, says John Humphries, chief executive of Aquamation Industries in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, who developed the technology. The decomposition process, called alkaline hydrolysis, “simply speeds up the natural way that flesh decomposes in soil and water”, he says.

Similar methods for decomposing corpses have been developed elsewhere, but they decompose corpses at much higher temperatures. For example,Resomation, based in Glasgow, UK, dissolves bodies in sodium hydroxide at 180 °C.

By decomposing pig carcasses at different water temperatures, Humphries found that the higher heat was unnecessary and that 93 °C was the most efficient temperature for body decomposition.

Life from death

There are recycling possibilities too. Humphries says that aquamation, unlike cremation, will not destroy artificial implants such as hip replacements, allowing them to be reused. And after the body is decomposed, “the water is a fantastic fertiliser”, he says.

Since his company began offering the process last month, 60 people in Australia have nominated aquamation for the disposal of their own corpse.

“This is a great initiative,” says Barry Brook, a climate scientist at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. “It’s easy to dismiss these small-scale technologies as trivial, but if you add enough small-scale solutions together they can add up to something meaningful.”

Source: www.newscientist.com

AAP reports in Courier Mail (12 August 2010):

The world’s first water cremation centre on the Gold Coast is offering a liquid alternative to cremation and burial, using a process it hopes will revolutionise the funeral industry.

Aquamation Industries chief executive John Humphries says the service, at the Eco Memorial Park at Stapylton near Dreamworld, is the first of its kind in the world.

But he expects around 30 centres around Australia will offer the option within 12 months.

“Aquamation is a more natural, ethical and environmentally friendly alternative to cremations and uses water instead of fire to return a body to nature, Mr Humphries said.

“And within a year we would expect you would be able to have this done anywhere in Australia.”

The process, called alkaline hydrolysis, relies on the same natural forces by which which a dead animal is returned to nature in the bush, he said.

“So we’ve put this totally natural process into a stainless steel tube where the body is washed for about four hours; it’s the same natural breakdown of tissue, just at a faster rate, and even the Catholic church has now approved it,” he said.

Mr Humphries said the equipment he invented was based on an experimental unit in the US that uses extreme pressure and temperature to destroy the infectious remains of cattle with mad cow disease.

“We haven’t invented the process, nature discovered that,” he said.

“We’ve simply re-designed the equipment so the water breaks down the cells and brings the body back to the chemical component it’s made up of, leaving only white chalky bones which are returned to the family in an urn, like ashes.”

Aquamation costs about the same as cremation, but without the 200kg of greenhouse gas emissions produced in a cremation, he said.

“It’s expected that in America, within about 10 years, there won’t be cremations because the public reaction to this process is just overwhelming,” Mr Humphries said.

He said the technology was also an answer to new European regulations that state mercury pollution has to be reduced at crematoriums by 2012.
 

Source: www.couriermail.com.au

Ignore  ideas at your peril!

Isn’t it a pity when we see great examples of innovation, enterprise and clear thinking – even leadership – from the private sector and not for profit organisations, which get totally ignored by the powers that be – or would be. Here we have a brilliant plan for a Zero Carbon Australia, backed by science and business – and the odd politician – that was started by one young man, Matthew Wright, who we profile. Then there’s a ten-step plan from Michael Molitor (in Lucky Last) which could put Australia at the forefront of the world’s biggest economic growth opportunity and to help ensure that a widespread global carbon correction is avoided. The best the Labor Government can come up with is an endorsement of carbon farming – which was promoted by Malcolm Turnbull two years ago. The Climate Change and Business conference was very cool on Australia, but decidedly warmer for New Zealand and China. There’s an Australian business – now based in Singapore – which has built the biggest tidal turbine to produce clean energy for Scotland. As a global miner, Rio Tinto is making surprisingly positive sounds in favour of a price on carbon, while the first of the big four accounting firms has committed to clean tech growth. Electric cars are showing how to go around the world in 80 days, while China is taking drastic action against polluters and boosting green building (and clean energy). The US has a new plan to consider that’s good for the pocket and the environment, and scientists in Australia and New Zealand are standing up to the senseless challenge of the sceptical coalition. Some things never change! – Ken Hickson

Profile: Matthew Wright

As chief executive of the Beyond Zero Emissions group, Matthew Wright claims the multi-billion dollar Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan  was more realistic than Australia’s continued dependence on foreign oil supplies and fluctuating fuel prices. ”If you’re going to secure Australia’s energy future, then you’re going to do that with risk-free renewable energy that has no fuel costs.”

Report from Hatch Generation:

Matthew Wright is an advocate of climate and energy solutions.  He has been working with government and industry to educate and enable the execution of renewable energy, water saving and energy efficiency. He is the lead campaigner with the climate advocacy and awareness group, Beyond Zero Emissions & hosts the Beyond Zero radio show biweekly where he interviews leading world experts on climate science and solutions.

Matthew and the Beyond Zero Emissions team are at the forefront of Australia’s climate science, solutions and politics. They are currently working on a blueprint to completely de-carbonise the Australian economy by 2020. Called Zero Carbon Australia (ZCA), the project draws on the wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise of individuals in the Australian community to develop this transition plan.

Prior to that he was in Technical Sales in Mission Critical server architecture at Reuters, servicing amongst others the Finance Sector.

Source: www.hatchgeneration.com.au

Ben Cubby in Sydney Morning Herald (13 August 2010):

AUSTRALIA could switch completely to renewable energy within a decade by building a dozen vast, new solar power stations and about 6500 wind turbines, according to a major new study.

The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan – a collaboration between Melbourne University’s Energy Research Institute, the environment group Beyond Zero Emissions and engineers Sinclair Knight Merz, puts the cost at $37 billion in private funding and public investment every year for the next decade.

The price tag may make it sound like a pipedream but the scheme earned the endorsement of the federal Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull who added his support at a forum at Sydney Town Hall last night.

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”The work they have done is important,” Mr Turnbull said. ”It provides the most comprehensive technical blueprint yet for what our engineers, our scientists, can begin to do tomorrow.”

Mr Turnbull contrasted the Coalition’s ”direct action” plan with Labor’s policy, which he claimed would lead to longer delays in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

”I believe our long-term global goal is to very substantially reduce our emissions, a goal that will require almost all of our stationary energy to be produced from zero or near-zero emission sources,” Mr Turnbull said.

”This report demonstrates we could already be technologically ready to do that.”

The plan has also been endorsed by Australia’s former chief scientist Robin Batterham, and a senior official at the International Energy Agency’s renewable energy division, Cedric Philibert.

However, the National Generators Forum, which represents power station owners, and the office of the federal Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, were decidedly lukewarm about the plan when asked about the findings last month. Under the plan, 60 per cent of the nation’s electricity would be sourced from 12 huge solar thermal power plants, which use Australian-developed technology to store heat in molten salt, allowing them to operate for long periods when there is no sunshine.

The remaining 40 per cent of the power grid would be filled by about 6500 wind turbines at 23 large-scale wind farms dotted mainly around the coast.

The plan would generate 325 terawatt hours of electricity a year, meeting the nation’s entire power demands in the year 2020, if a comprehensive energy efficiency plan is also factored in. Any shortfalls could be made up by biomass energy generation, using a portion of the stubble from the nation’s wheatfields.

To properly harness all the renewable energy, the report calls for the unification of Australia’s three separate electricity grids and some new transmission lines to link the new power stations to capital cities, at a total cost of $92 billion.

If the cost of completely transforming the energy sector was passed directly on to households, it would add 30 per cent to the average utility bill.

Matthew Wright, the chief executive of the Beyond Zero Emissions group, claimed the report was more realistic than Australia’s continued dependence on foreign oil supplies and fluctuating fuel prices.

”The fact is, from an energy perspective, we are in big trouble,” said Mr Wright when he briefed staff from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Environment and Water on the plan yesterday.

”If you’re going to secure Australia’s energy future, then you’re going to do that with risk-free renewable energy that has no fuel costs.”

Source:  www.smh.com.au

Beyond Zero Emissions is an Australian-based, not-for-profit climate change campaign centre founded by Matthew Wright and Adrian Whitehead. An editorial by Matthew Wright was published on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s editorial website Unleashed.

The group advocates reducing human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to ‘zero and below’ by implementing structural changes to stationary energy, transport, agriculture, logging, housing and construction, etc. and by implementing energy efficiency measures.

They subscribe to the view that 2010 atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are at a dangerous level (approximately 390ppm) and growing, and that even when the goal of a zero emissions global economy has been achieved, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide will still need to be reduced to a safe threshold. They state that given 350ppm was the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at which the disintegration of the Arctic sea-ice began, and a level somewhere between 280ppm (pre-industrial level) and 325ppm is considered to be a safe threshold, reducing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to this threshold is desired.

They believe that this will be achieved using methods such as ending the logging of native forests and by the widespread production of crop-residual agrichar.

The group advocates reducing human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to ‘zero and below’ by implementing structural changes to stationary energy, transport, agriculture, logging, housing and construction, etc. and by implementing energy efficiency measures.

Zero Carbon Australia 2020 is Beyond Zero Emissions’ plan to decarbonise Australia in 10 years, with the goal of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions from electricity (stationary / energy sector) and transport.

Source: www.beyondzeroemissions.org

Carbon Farming Gets a Belated Boost From PM

A new carbon farming initiative is on the cards. Is this the best alternative to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme that Prime Minister Julia Gillard (pictured here in a goose caricature by artist Anthony Pascoe) can come up with? Along with a community assembly to decide on climate change policy, it’s the Labor Party’s last offer before it goes to the polls this coming Saturday. Environment Business Australia CEO Fiona Wain says it’s “a significant step towards recognising the immense value of the natural processes of carbon management”.

Lucy Knight in Stock & Land (15 August 2010):

A NEW carbon farming initiative has been unveiled by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, during her first rural visit of the Federal election campaign near Ballina on Saturday.

Sporting a brand new pair of RM Williams boots, the Prime Minister promised that a re-elected Labor Government would legislate rules that recognise various types of carbon credits that could be generated, and in turn sold, by farmers on the domestic and international markets.

This is despite the fact that flawed international accounting rules still exist for agriculture, after a failure to reach agreement on better recognition of agriculture at last year’s United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen.

That means the scope for these incentives announced by the Prime Minister will largely be limited to the voluntary domestic market, however there would be some international market opportunities in the area of forestry.

Ms Gillard, flanked by Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, and Minster for Climate Change, Penny Wong, announced that farmers that help reduce and store pollution would receive credits that can be sold in Australia and overseas.

Ms Gillard said the incentive would provide new opportunities for Australian farmers, adding the Government would help facilitate the sale of the carbon credits.

“Farmers and landholders will benefit from a new income stream, and the environment will benefit from reduced pollution,” Ms Gillard said.

“There will be no restriction on the number of credits that can be generated, with initial conservative estimates suggesting it could be worth about $500 million (to farmers) over 10 years.”

Under the incentive, reforestation would be considered an eligible early means of generating credits, and there is scope for other projects which reduce emissions from livestock, fertiliser use and manure management, savannah burning, legacy waste in landfill and deforestation.

The initiative will be funded from re-allocated money in the Government’s renewable energy future fund.

The National Farmers’ Federation said in a statement that the announcement “recognises that carbon abatement through the agricultural sector is an opportunity that should not be ignored”.

But NFF pointed out that the international community is at varying stages in their efforts to reward the carbon abatement that agricultural and land use management delivers through the proactive efforts of landholders across the globe.

“The international marketplace for carbon credits has been stunted in the wake of the lack of progress at Copenhagen, but the market may certainly develop in the future and so today’s announcement is prudent in gearing farmers up to engage as and when markets develop,” NFF said.

“The rules underpinning these markets can often be confusing and difficult to interpret at a practical level.

“This initiative will hopefully deliver some clarity for Australian farmers about what practices delivered on farm will be compliant with the international carbon markets.”

NFF said in order to maximise the opportunities for Australian farmers through carbon farming, two key ingredients are still required – the Government must continue to actively pursue changes to the flawed international carbon accounting rules to ensure that they appropriately acknowledge the positive carbon mitigation practices undertaken by farmers.

NFF said extra funding would be needed to optimise the mitigation opportunities through land use and livestock management.

“The ALP has positively acknowledged their support for more R&D funding in this area today but we are still looking for robust funding commitments,” NFF said.

The Coalition and the Greens both criticised Labor’s plan, with Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt arguing the deal short changes farmers.

“Labor’s claim that the Coalition scheme would not allow Australian farmers to access carbon markets is a fabrication,” Mr Hunt said.

“Our scheme offers the added benefit of access to funds through our $10.5 billion over 9 years Emissions Reduction Fund.

“Julia Gillard’s scheme short-changes farmers by offering them only a fraction of what the Coalition plan could deliver from the ERF.”

Greens deputy leader Christine Milne said Labor’s scheme would cause “more problems than it solves because it doesn’t understand either the climate challenge or land management”.

“The government is dancing around the climate crisis, coming up with more ill-thought-out nonsolutions because it refuses to do the right thing – protect our forest carbon stores and introduce an effective, well-designed price on pollution,” Senator Milne said.

“Those in the offset market we have spoken to this morning are crying out for more detail. It sounds like, at best, this announcement is not new, it is simply trying to address the vacuum left when the Greenhouse Friendly scheme ended in July leaving businesses in the voluntary carbon offset markets in limbo.

“We are also concerned that it could create more problems for farmers and other land managers if it focuses solely on carbon without at the same protecting farming land, water and biodiversity from perverse outcomes.

“Farmers across Australia will also be confused, and troubled that this could cause the same problems for them as managed investment schemes. Schemes designed by the city for the city without thinking about the impact on people on the land have a bad history.

“Perhaps worst of all, this is yet another new badly-designed climate promise funded by taking money away from renewable energy.”

Source: www.farmonline.com.au

Environment Business Australia (EBA) welcomes Labor’s Carbon Farming Initiative

“The outline that has been presented in the policy statement by Prime Minister Gillard is a significant step towards recognising the immense value of the natural processes of carbon management. We are also pleased that the technologies and approaches will be subject to scientific peer review” said Fiona Wain, CEO of EBA.

EBA formed a Bio-CCS Group in 2009 to support companies developing biosequestration projects to reduce CO2 emissions and CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.

As well as providing a fast-acting carbon sink, soils with higher carbon levels are more productive and more drought and erosion resistant. This is why the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is undertaking extensive work on soil carbon as a way to combat desertification and to increase food production.

Man-made, or anthropogenic, CO2 is the main greenhouse gas and its accumulation in the atmosphere is the key trigger to climate change. Reducing the pollution associated with excess emissions has multiple benefits to the environment, the economy and society.

Taking CO2 from the atmosphere and using it to rebuild soil carbon levels through photosynthesis can help soil fertility and food production. In addition farmers can earn additional revenue by trading the carbon offsets they create.

Capturing CO2 from coal-fired power plants and other major emitters and using it as a feedstock to grow algae that is then turned into biodiesel, animal meal and soil fertiliser is another carbon sink process that can help farmers.

The major benefits of the broad Bio-CCS approach is that farmers can select the approach that bests works for their land:
• Plantstone crops – crops that permanently trap carbon in silica granules. No need to change the crop just select the hybrid that produces food and provides a carbon sink at the same time
• Natural fertiliser that rebuilds soil structure while carrying beneficial biota (tailored to specific soil types). Natural fertilisers continue to build soil health and productivity
• Improved rangeland management giving land the opportunity to regrow native grasses and vegetation and put down deeper carbon-storing roots systems
• Tree-planting alongside cropland/rangeland agriculture

For too long farmers have been vilified for greenhouse gas emissions. A portfolio of policies to support soil carbon as part of a national action plan to tackle climate change will benefit farmers and farming communities.

There are many ways to measure soil carbon. At present there is no formally recognised international protocol. It is anticipated that the FAO’s work will result in soil carbon measurement having a protocol recognised under the UNFCCC, the UN’s climate change body.

Source: www.environmentbusiness.com.au

China Shuts Dirty Factories & Encourages Green Buildings

China’s government has ordered 2,087 steel and cement mills and other factories with poor energy efficiency to close as it struggles to cut waste and improve the country’s battered environment.

The “backward” facilities produce steel, coke, aluminium, paper and other materials and must close by late September. Meanwhile, Australian companies in the sustainable design and building sectors can make a lot of headway in China when benefiting from the right connections, relationships and events, according to Nigel Haywood in China Connection from Beijing.

Business Week Reports from Beijing:

China’s government has ordered 2,087 steel and cement mills and other factories with poor energy efficiency to close as it struggles to cut waste and improve the country’s battered environment.

The “backward” facilities produce steel, coke, aluminum, paper and other materials in areas throughout China and must close by late September, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced Sunday.

Authorities said last week that a five-year plan to improve energy efficiency suffered a setback this year as China’s economic rebound and a construction boom boosted demand for steel, cement and other energy-intensive products.

The plan calls for a 20 percent reduction in China’s energy consumption per unit of economic output, or energy intensity, by the end of this year. The government said in March it had cut energy intensity 14.4 percent by the end of 2009 but it said last week that energy intensity crept up 0.09 percent in the first half of this year.

China overtook the United States last year as the world’s biggest energy consumer, though with a larger population it still is well behind in consumption per person, according to the International Energy Agency.

China’s surging energy demands have alarmed communist leaders, who worry about dependence on imported oil and gas from volatile regions such as the Gulf and pollution damage to scarce water supplies and forests in a densely populated country.

The country’s growing presence in international energy markets has prompted complaints that it is pushing up crude prices and making supply deals with international pariahs such as Iran and Sudan.

China is the world’s biggest steel producer and a major producer of other industrial materials as well. Its newest facilities are equipped with the latest technology but there are thousands of small, outdated paper mills and other businesses that local authorities are reluctant to close for the sake of jobs and tax revenue.

In the latest crackdown, the facilities would lose their certification to emit pollutants at the end of September, utilities would cut off power supplies and banks would be ordered to stop dealing with them, the ministry said.

Its list included 762 cement factories, 279 paper mills, 175 steel mills, 192 coking plants and an unspecified number of aluminum mills.

Provinces with the biggest numbers of affected facilities are Henan in central China and Shaanxi in the north, both traditional centers for heavy industry, with more than 200 each.

Beijing warned in March that China was lagging on efficiency due to its stimulus, which was based in part on pumping money into the economy through massive spending on building new highways and other public works. Banks also were ordered to lend more to support private sector construction.

That set back government efforts to shift the economy away from heavy manufacturing and toward more technology-based businesses and cleaner service industries.

The economy grew by 11.9 percent in the first quarter over a year earlier and by 10.3 percent in the second quarter. Stimulus spending and a flood of lending by state banks helped to boost growth from a low of 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

Chinese industries use 20 to 100 percent more energy per unit of output than their U.S., Japanese and other counterparts, according to the World Bank. Chinese officials say energy use is 3.4 times the world average.

Source: www.businessweek.com

China Connections Magazine (July-August 2010):

Australian companies in the sustainable design and building sectors can make a lot of headway in China when benefiting from the right connections, relationships and events writes Nigel Haywood from Beijing.

Since launching its program of economic reform over 30 years ago, economic growth in China has been averaging 10 percent each year with the Chinese economy doubling in size every seven to eight years. Since 1978, China’s economy has increased 16 fold, leaving little doubt that at some point in the future it will surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy. 

Central to continued economic growth in a post global financial crisis world will be a further economic transformation based on sharply increased internal domestic demand, higher incomes and higher standards of living. This, in turn, will require significant social reforms and a massive mobilisation of the population from rural to urban settings.

To underscore this, the United Nations forecasts that by 2050, China’s population will be 75 percent urbanised, which equates to a movement of 500 million people into urban centres over the next 40 years – or roughly 23 times the entire current population of Australia. Comprehending the enormity of this challenge is difficult from many perspectives.

How do you meet the housing an infrastructure demands from such urbanisation and what does it mean in terms of additional floor space?

Interesting questions – and once again, the statistics are quite frankly mind boggling. By 2030, Chinese urban floor space is projected to double, expanding by some 40 billion metres² to a total of roughly 80 billion metres².  To put it in an Australian context, that equates to roughly 4,500 times the total square-metre capacity of Sydney. It is no surprise then to note that by 2030, China’s construction industry will account for around 20 percent of total global construction activity and be valued at about US$2.5 trillion.

It is fairly safe to say that this additional floor space will be significantly different to the existing building stock. The United Nations Environment Program estimated in 2007 that buildings in China accounted for 42 percent of total energy use. Although the carbon footprint of China’s buildings is considered to be about one-tenth that of the United States, it is clear that this is increasing as urbanisation and living standards increase. Impressive commitments in the international sphere with regards to climate action have been made by China, including a target of reducing its carbon emissions per unit of GDP (carbon intensity) by 40 percent to 45 percent before 2020 based on 2005 levels. 

To achieve this goal, a systematic approach to addressing the energy intensiveness of new construction in China will need to be adopted. Whilst this approach is likely to be multi-faceted and certainly challenging to achieve, there are already signs of action. 

Emergence of the China Green Building Council and China’s aspirations for ascension to membership of the World Green Building Council are clear signals that China is taking responsible and measured steps to address the energy efficiency of its massive construction sector. More, however, needs to be done and with this comes tremendous opportunities. Australia has already been active in influencing the development of China’s Green Building Council and also China’s “Green Star” building rating system.

Australian design and architectural practices were also well represented at a recent Beijing Institute of Architectural Design forum which examined the issue of sustainable building and design. This two-day forum, which was part of Australian Sustainable Building and Design week, covered significant ground and gave an opportunity for a sharing of experiences and approaches on the issues of sustainability and green building. Approximately 14 Australian organisations were represented at the forum.

In addition to the BIAD forum, May saw the opening of the ImagineArchitecture exhibition in Beijing. Showcasing the built works of Australian architectural and design practices in China, the photographic exhibition, organised by AustCham Beijing and sponsored by Austrade and the Australian Institute of Architects (with support from BIAD), brought the achievements of Australia’s architectural and design profession to the people of Beijing for the first time. Comprising the works of seven practices, the exhibition is a lasting impression of the ways in which Australian architects have influenced development of the built form in China and evidence of the strong linkages between the two countries from an architectural and design perspective.

Austrade, through the Wanwu initiative, is also encouraging exports and two-way investment between Australia and China in clean energy, green-building and the environment. Through this avenue, it is expected that opportunities for Australian businesses will be identified and pursued.

So what comes next?

The massive scale of China’s construction market presents opportunities for the country to make the quantum leap into eco-cities, potentially by-passing the “green building” phase of development. Much has been made of the opportunities here and there are many eco-city projects on the drawing boards. So what is an eco-city? Put simply, the term ‘eco-city’ applies to the application of principles of sustainable development, urban planning, design, and management in order to balance the economic and environmental needs of society. In other words, the eco-city concept takes a holistic approach to the issue of sustainability. In a country where some 40 billion square metres of floor space is being added over the next 20 years, maybe this is the solution that China needs. I guess only time will tell.

Nigel Haywood has recently completed an assignment for the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, compiling a position paper on behalf of Australian firms in the Green building sphere and how they can best maximise business opportunities – from consulting services to design and build – in China.

Source: www.chinaconnections.com.au

Tide is Turning in Scotland for Turbine from Australia via Singapore

Atlantis Resources Corporation, the Singapore-based tidal power company – which started life in Australia – whose investors include Morgan Stanley and the Norwegian utility Statkraft AS, has unveiled the world’s largest tidal turbine in Scotland. The AK1000 device’s 18-metre (60-foot) rotors have the capacity to generate 1 megawatt of electricity, enough to power at least 1,000 homes.

Bloomberg report by Alex Morales – (13 August 2010):

Atlantis Resources Corporation, the Singapore-based tidal power company whose investors include Morgan Stanley and the Norwegian utility Statkraft AS, has unveiled the world’s largest tidal turbine in Scotland.

The AK1000 device’s 18-meter (60-foot) rotors have the capacity to generate 1 megawatt of electricity, enough to power at least 1,000 homes, the Singapore-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. The turbine will be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Scotland’s Orkney Islands later this year, it said.

“We are at the start of a new industrial boom, akin to the development of the North Sea oil and gas fields,” Atlantis Chief Executive Officer Timothy Cornelius said. “If we receive the same support from all levels of government that the oil and gas industry received to make the North Sea the success that it is, then the future is very bright for marine power.”

The tides around the U.K. may provide enough electricity for 1.4 million homes by 2020, the government said in March. The industry, whose investors include Siemens AG and Vattenfall AB, is still in the development phase. The largest source of tidal power in the U.K. is a 1.2-megawatt twin-turbine SeaGen device installed in 2008 in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, by Marine Current Turbines.

SeaGen’s 16-meter rotors can deliver about double the amount of electricity to the grid in a year as a similarly-rated wind turbine because the tides are predictable and the wind doesn’t blow all the time, according to the Bristol, England- based company’s website.

Source: www.bloomberg.com

Report from Atlantis Resources Corporation (“Atlantis”):

One of the world’s leading developers of electricity-generating tidal current turbines, unveiled the largest and most powerful tidal power turbine ever built, the AK1000™, yesterday at Invergordon, Scotland. The AK1000™ is due for installation at a dedicated berth at the European Marine Energy Centre (“EMEC”), located in Orkney, Scotland later this summer.

Dignitaries, utilities and technology partners from around the world attended the unveiling of the flagship turbine at the Isleburn Engineering facility, taking the only opportunity to view the turbine before it is installed on the seabed and connected to the grid at EMEC.

Despatching 1MW of predictable power at a water velocity of 2.65m/s, the AK1000™ is capable of generating enough electricity for over 1000 homes. It is designed for harsh weather and rough, open ocean environments such as those found off the Scottish coast. The turbine incorporates cutting edge technology from suppliers across the globe, has an 18 meter rotor diameter, weighs 1300 tonnes and stands at a height of 22.5 meters. The giant turbine is expected to be environmentally benign due to a low rotation speed whilst in operation and will deliver predictable, sustainable power to the local Orkney grid.

CEO of Atlantis, Timothy Cornelius, said: “The unveiling and installation of the AK1000™ is an important milestone, not only for Atlantis, but for the marine power industry in the United Kingdom. It represents the culmination of 10 years of hard work, dedication and belief from all our partners, staff, directors and shareholders. The AK1000™ is capable of unlocking the economic potential of the marine energy industry in Scotland and will greatly boost Scotland’s renewable generation capacity in the years to come.”

“ Today is not just about our technology, it is about the emergence of tidal power as a viable asset class that will require the development of local supply chains employing local people to deliver sustainable energy to the local grid. The AK1000™ takes the industry one step closer to commercial scale tidal power projects.”

The AK1000™ nacelle was fabricated by Soil Marine Dynamics in Newcastle in England and the gravity base structure and system assembly was completed by Isleburn Engineering, a member of the Aberdeen based Global Energy Group. Steel for the turbine came from Corus’ Scunthorpe facility.

“The AK1000™ development program has injected over £5M to date into UK Plc’s renewable energy sector and has provided employment across a broad range of sectors including design, engineering, fabrication and project management. We are at the start of a new industrial boom, akin to the development of the North Sea oil & gas fields. If we receive the same support from all levels of government that the oil & gas industry received to make the North Sea the success that it is, then the future is very bright for marine power and even brighter for Scotland”

Source: www.atlantisresourcescorporation.com

Rio Tinto Energy Boss Calls for a Price on Carbon

A surprising admission from one of the world’s largest mining companies. Transition to a low-emission global economy is “vital”, says Rio Tinto’s energy chief Doug Ritchie. He also said climate change “represents uncertainty and potential volatility to the mining industry”. But a price on carbon is necessary to encourage the development of low-emissions technology and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Mr Ritchie told a coal industry conference in Brisbane.

David Fickling on Dow Jones Newswires (16 August 2010):

Transition to a low-emission global economy is “vital”, Rio Tinto’s Doug Ritchie said today.

At the same time, the miner’s energy chief said climate change “represents uncertainty and potential volatility to the mining industry”.

A price on carbon is necessary to encourage the development of low-emissions technology and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Mr Ritchie told a coal industry conference in Brisbane.

Rio Tinto is one of Australia’s largest producers of the thermal coal used in energy generation and of the coking coal used in steelmaking, alongside Xstrata PLC and BHP Billiton.

Australia’s mining industry campaigned heavily against the country’s proposed emissions trading scheme ahead of the Copenhagen climate change conference last year.

The law was eventually blocked in the senate after the government’s opposition deposed its leader, Malcolm Turnbull, who supported the legislation, in favour of current leader Tony Abbott.

Most mining companies claim to support Australia’s climate change efforts, while opposing the specific legislation proposed by Canberra.

Mr Ritchie criticised the approach of many companies to such issues.

“It’s not enough to just complain about our legislators having short-term, politically expedient policies,” he said.

“Yes, we need long-term vision from our policy-makers to address the big issues – however, this is where we need to work together as an industry to help create awareness, informed debate, and meaningful discourse.”

However, Mr Ritchie said that, while the future of energy needs to be about “sustainable practices” that would lead to “a carbon-neutral world”, policy measures need to be gradual to succeed.

A doubling of the cost of power to reduce emissions “would not be a vote winner”, he said, adding that domestic electricity bills had risen by 30 per cent in the last two years to fund new electricity infrastructure.

Source: www.theaustralian.com.au

Australian Academy Of Science Climate Change Statement

Professor Kurt Lambeck says the complexity of the issue may be one reason both sides of politics seem to have shelved the issue of climate change. “I suspect both sides find it hard to understand what they should be doing. Some time ago the major parties both recognised that climate change was a real threat and that action needed to be taken. But we’ve lost that consensus between the two parties.” He was commenting in the Australian Academy of Science statement.

By environment reporter Sarah Clarke on ABC News (16 August 2010):

Some of the nation’s top scientists have united in a new climate statement which issues fresh warnings about the dangers of global warming.

The statement released by the Australian Academy of Science is a first for the organisation and details the key evidence identified globally by climate scientists.

It says carbon emissions need to be cut by more than half by 2050 if there is to be a good chance of keeping temperature rises to less than two degrees.

It also says global emissions must peak within a decade and decline rapidly if dangerous climate change is to be avoided.

Kurt Lambeck from the Australian National University says current misinformation is confusing the public debate and the warnings need to be identified.

“It’s because we’ve been concerned about the nature of the climate change debate in recent times,” he said.

“We see the quality of the science improving with time but the debate seems to be degenerating in some ways.”

Professor Lambeck says one of the reasons behind the degeneration is that the science is very complex.

“Climate science is really at the sort of intersection of a whole lot of basic science areas,” he said.

“Now a lot of people understand elements of those basic sciences but they don’t understand the complexities that occur when you try to put it all together.

“People get confused over those minor, what are essentially secondary issues and in that process the whole level of the debate degenerates.”

Professor Lambeck says the complexity of the issue may be one reason both sides of politics seem to have shelved the issue of climate change.

“I suspect both sides find it hard to understand what they should be doing,” he said.

“Some time ago the major parties both recognised that climate change was a real threat and that, you know, action needed to be taken.

“But we’ve lost that consensus between the two parties.”

‘Severe’ impact

Professor Lambeck says the statement looks at global temperatures, which he says have increased by “about a degree” over the last century.

“A degree doesn’t sound like very much but it appears that its impact on regional climate can be quite severe,” he said.

“Now when I say one degree, that is the global average surface temperatures.

“There are parts of the globe that have been subjected to much larger changes in more recent times.

“Whether that’s part of a long term trend or whether that’s part of some of the natural variability or whether these are oscillations, that’s something that we don’t know yet because our records are too short.”

Scientific questions

The statement makes the point that no scientific conclusion can ever be absolutely certain.

But Professor Lambeck does not think that leaves the conclusions open to sceptics and critics.

“The underpinning parts – the fact that CO2 is increasing, the fact that CO2 increases results in global temperature rises, the fact the CO2 has a long residence time in the atmosphere – these are facts that are extremely unlikely will ever be overturned by new information,” he said.

“Where the scientific questions arise is in the feedbacks that occur between the various components.

“We’re not totally clear on that and we may not have the right way to put that into our forecast.

“But these are factors that will affect the rate at which things will change.

“They’re extremely unlikely to affect the change in direction of what we are observing.”

The Greens say the report shows the major parties need to do more to deal with the threat.

Greens Senator Christine Milne says the big parties are acting as if climate change is not real.

“Both parties are trying to ignore climate change and this is big turnaround from 2007 when the Labor Party told Australians that it was a great moral imperative and they would act on it,” she said.

“Part of the reason for that is the sceptics campaign that has been aided and abetted by Tony Abbott and the Coalition.”

Source: www.abc.net.au