How Important is Climate Change to Australian Voters?

A new Australian poll has found climate change is a big issue in voters’ minds, as Labor hastily reassesses its climate policy before election day. A very high number – 78% – said climate change would influence their vote. Meanwhile, the Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed policy commitments from the Australian Greens to cut pollution, make clean energy cheaper and protect our oceans.

Cathy Alexander for AAP (5 August 2010):

A poll has found climate change is a big issue in voters’ minds, as Labor hastily reassesses its climate policy before election day.

The poll of 2200 people, commissioned by conservation groups, found 78 per cent said climate change would influence their vote.

Almost half said the issue would be a strong influence, with younger people, and those learning towards Labor or the Greens, most concerned.

Climate change has proved difficult for Labor after it dropped its promise to start emissions trading earlier this year.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s climate policy is centred on a citizens’ assembly to look into a carbon price, which has been widely criticised and appears to have contributed to a slide in the polls.

Labor is understood to have reassessed its climate policy in recent days and may make further announcements.

Possibilities include incentives to discourage land clearing, and spending more money on climate schemes.

The Auspoll was taken in late July and was commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and WWF.

ACF executive director Don Henry said the poll showed the public was not happy that both parties were “missing on climate”.

“Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott aren’t taking climate change seriously but Australian voters think they should be,” Mr Henry said in reference to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

The Liberals plan to spend money on storing carbon in soils and trees if they win the election.

Source: www.news.theage.com.au

ACF Announcement( 1 August 2010):

The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed policy commitments from the Australian Greens today to cut pollution, make clean energy cheaper and protect our oceans.

“ACF strongly supports the environmentally and economically responsible commitment by the Greens to protect special areas in our oceans,” said ACF Executive Director, Don Henry.

“The Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster is a stark reminder of what can happen when fragile marine environments are left unprotected. Setting up a large network of marine sanctuaries will reduce the risks of devastating oil spills and protect our unique marine life for the benefit of all Australians.

“The Greens policy of cutting energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2020 would reduce power bills for households and businesses and is very welcome.

“Australians want our leaders to make clean energy cheaper and help us save energy.

“ACF welcomes the commitments by the Greens for increased investment in urban light rail systems and to investigate the feasibility of high speed rail to connect our largest cities. We urge the major parties to follow this lead by committing to re-balance the national transport budget – with two thirds being invested in cleaner, faster and affordable public transport systems – by the end of the next term of government.

ACF’s independent election scorecard places the Greens on 81 points out of 100 while Labor and the Coalition are lagging behind on 33 and 15 respectively.

“Australians want our leaders to reduce pollution and protect our environment and at the moment, the Greens are leading on ACF’s scorecard with Labor doing poorly, and the Coalition very poorly.” 

Source: www.acfonline.org.au

Brisbane Protests Climate Inaction & Sydney Promotes Energy Action

Thousands of Queenslanders are taking to the Brisbane streets on Sunday 15 August, to call for action on climate change echoing a call from business, economists, scientists and environmentalists dismayed at the lack of effective policy proposals during the election campaign, while in Sydney the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan will be launched at a free public forum in Sydney Town Hall on Thursday 12 August. 

Thousands are expected to join this “Walk against Warming” which will take place from 11am on Sunday 15 August, in the Brisbane CBD.

The peaceful walk will give people of all ages and backgrounds a chance to express their desire for meaningful and effective policies to reduce the effects of human-caused climate change.

“We don’t need a citizens’ assembly. The overwhelming majority of Australians want action NOW to slow climate change. We could make the transition to a clean economy totally powered by renewables by 2020. That would be a decisive step toward a sustainable future. There is no excuse for further inaction,” said Ian Lowe, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation and Head of Griffith University School of Science.

Latest figures from the US Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show the world is currently experiencing its hottest period since records began in 1880.

According to NOAA, the combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record at 16.2°C – 0.68°C above the 20th century average of 15.5°C.

Labor’s flagship policy announcement is a pledge to create a “citizens assembly” of 150 randomly selected Australians to talk about climate change and decide if and how to act.

The announcement was greeted with derision by environmental groups. Greenpeace described the move as one of “spin, cowardice and inaction” and Australian Conservation Foundation said it was a slow way to address an urgent problem.

“The single most effective action the next Government can take is to put a price on carbon. That will make pollution more expensive and encourage clean and green industries and a healthy future for Queensland” said Toby Hutcheon, Executive Director of Queensland Conservation Council

Last month, an Auspoll survey revealed that 79 per cent of Australians wanted to see a price on carbon pollution.  LNP leader Tony Abbott has said he would abolish any plans to put a price on carbon, claiming that major emerging economies such as China would never agree to one.

However, it has emerged in recent weeks that China now wants to introduce emissions trading before 2015. Europe and New Zealand have already introduced emissions trading schemes.

In the run-up to the election, the Australian Industry Group has warned that “substantial uncertainty over the timing and direction of climate policy is a serious barrier to investment in energy and other major industries across the economy”.

“We have seen hundreds of small and large companies’ line up to lose money trying to innovate in a policy vacuum.  Business is willing to produce clean tech and a healthier economy, consumers want those outcomes, and the government is just playing way too safe and is far behind its community.” said Colman Ridge, organiser of the walk and founder of Greenfest.

Organisers will also be giving away leaflets in packs of 50 to willing walkers who wish to campaign their home street in the last week of the election.  This action is expected to raise questions in over 100 000 homes in South East Queensland about the importance of a price on pollution and why our leaders are not delivering effective policy.

Source: www.walkagainstwarming.com

Media release rom Beyond Zero Emissions (5 August 2010):

Turnbull, Carr to launch 100% renewables plan for Australia

In the midst of a Federal Election and with the major party leaders equivocating on climate change, the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan will be launched at a free public forum in Sydney Town Hall on Thursday 12 August at 6.00 pm. 

Hosted by the journalist and broadcaster, Quentin Dempster, the speakers will include:

• Malcolm Turnbull, MP for Wentworth
• Bob Carr, former NSW State Premier
• Scott Ludlam, Greens Senator for WA
• Matthew Wright, Executive Director, Beyond Zero Emissions
• Allan Jones, Sustainability Expert, City of Sydney
• A technical panel including  Keith Lovegrove (Solar Thermal Group Leader, ANU), Lane Crockett (General Manager, Pacific Hydro), Roger Dargaville (Energy Systems Analyst, Melbourne Energy Institute), and Prof Robin Batterham (Kernot Professor of Engineering, The University of Melbourne).
•  

The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan shows that the technology required to move Australia to a 100 per cent renewable energy future within ten years is already commercially available. The only major obstacle to achieving this goal is the political will of the major parties to take us there, a point driven home by Melbourne Energy Institute Director Professor Mike Sandiford: “The technology required is already available, and the cost is not prohibitive. What is lacking is the political will and social drive to make it happen.”

The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan is a research collaboration between Beyond Zero Emissions and the University of Melbourne Energy Institute. The plan shows how cost and variability are not obstacles to achieving zero emissions within ten years, and that electrification of Australia’s transport system needs to be part of the whole package.

Beyond Zero Emissions Executive Director and lead author Matthew Wright says the new PM should seriously consider the Zero Carbon Australia’s findings when developing its climate policy: “Our research shows that baseload renewable energy is now available and that Australia can start building a renewable energy system right now. Australia needs a nation-building climate change project with the scale and vision of a Snowy Mountains Scheme for the 21st century. This approach can win the hearts and minds of Australians and put us on track to restore a safe climate. It’s in the country’s interest and in all the political parties’ electoral interests to do so,” says Wright.

The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan (ZCA Plan) will be made publicly available at this event and can be downloaded or purchased from the BZE and Melbourne Energy Institute websites, www.beyondzeroemissions.org and www.energy.unimelb.edu.au.

The plan will be launched at a free public forum incorporating a panel discussion from 6:00-8:00 pm on Thursday 12 August at Sydney Town Hall, 483 George St.

Source: www.beyondzeroemissions.org

London Yes to Wind Turbines; Lend Lease Yes to Solar

Australian property developers have ruled out building towers with wind turbines, after the world’s first skyscraper with three rooftop turbines was unveiled in south London. The Strata, dubbed the Razor because of its sharp edges and slick silver tower, like a futuristic building plucked out of Blade Runner. Meanwhile,  the push by construction and property giant Lend Lease into the solar energy business is seen by Giles Parkinson in Climate Spectator as one of the most significant interventions to date in Australia’s nascent renewable energy market.

Glenda Kwek in Sydney Morning Herald (30 July 2010):

Australian property developers have ruled out building towers with wind turbines, after the world’s first skyscraper with three rooftop turbines was unveiled in south London.

The Strata, dubbed the Razor because of its sharp edges and slick silver tower, looms over Elephant and Castle in Southwark like a futuristic building plucked out of Blade Runner and dropped into 1970s Britain.

It’s a striking symbol of what eco-construction can achieve, but property developers here are looking to other technologies to boost the green credentials of their buildings.

The 148-metre apartment block, nicknamed The Lipstick by London mayor Boris Johnson, boosts eye-catching turbines with nine-metre-long blades, which are set to generate up to 8 per cent of its energy requirements.

Its developers, Brookfield, have also forgone air-conditioning for a natural ventilation system.

Strata is London’s tallest residential building, and part of the Southwark area’s billion-dollar redevelopment towards becoming a sustainable growth region, where less carbon is released than used.

Other building projects around the world are also embracing eco-construction, including the visually stunning Rotating Tower, a wind-powered building that constantly changes its shape, and Gwanggyo, a green self-sufficient city just south of Seoul in South Korea.

In Australia, developers are excited about similar projects that would cut the energy consumption of commercial and residential buildings, although wind turbines do not play a part.

“We looked very seriously at wind turbines,” says Brian Churchill, property portfolio manager for Local Government Superannuation (LGS) Scheme, one of Australia’s big property owners.

“The publicity far outweighs the actuality in that it is not nearly as successful, simply because you don’t get wind blowing all the time.

“When we did the feasibility survey in Sydney, we found that you wouldn’t be producing that sort of level of power … so the outcome didn’t justify the investment.”

Churchill’s organisation is among four other property owners that have pledged to go green by 2012.

With support from the federal government’s Green Building Fund, the LGS plans to retro-fit a 1986 office building at Berry Street in North Sydney with a tri-generation plant, using mainly Australian technology, by December 2011.

Its generators will feature the country’s first installation of engines developed by Australian company Bennett Clayton, which use natural gas but emit “virtually no greenhouse gas emissions”, Churchill says.

“They burn gas, but they are so efficient that the exhaust from that … is absolutely clean.

“It’ll not only be energy efficient but it’ll also be greenhouse gas efficient. Our emissions will be 70 per cent below what you need to achieve for a five-star rating from NABERS [the National Australian Built Environment Rating System].”

The project will use energy efficient lights from EnviroLight, another Australian company, which Churchill says are 30 per cent more efficient than the currently popular environmentally friendly T5 lighting.

The air-conditioning system will use the Shaw method, another Australian technology set to cut 25 to 30 per cent off your energy bill.

Importantly for Churchill, the Berry Street building shows “older buildings can perform in light of these new technologies coming through”, and at an affordable cost.

He says while the Property Council of Australia estimates capital costs of between $600 to $900 per square metre to get an older building up to a five-star rating, LGS has managed to achieve the same goals with only $100 to $200 per square metre.

It would take less than five years to recoup the costs through energy savings, he says.

“We have changed the paradigm that you’re probably better off pulling down an old one and putting up a new one, to saying you’ve already got a sunk carbon cost in the existing building, if you can retro-fit it efficiently, and using these technologies can get you there … pretty economically.”

Matthew Nolan of Charter Hall Group’s property services department, says that, while the Razor does serve as a symbol of what microgeneration can do, a focus on macro-generation, such as making power plants more efficient, has more lasting benefits.

For him, the development of Barangaroo at East Darling Harbour is where a whole host of green building initiatives can be tested.

“If you look at Barangaroo, that’s live scale. It’s a great opportunity to make a statement on how things are developed.

“It’s trying to make sure you are going to get something that provides more than just symbology, that you are actually going to get a decent benefit out of the money you are investing.”

Source: www.smh.com.au

Editor’s note: Australian property developers should know that the very innovative ANZ Building in Melbourne’s Docklands has roof mounted wind turbines to further supplement the electricity being generated onsite for use within the building. Solar is also incorporated in the building, as well as a tri-generation plant. Electricity is generated onsite using natural gas instead of alternatives such as brown coal which is the dominant fuel source in Victoria and which has a significantly higher carbon intensity. The heat from the process feeds the air conditioning absorption chillers in the summer and the boilers for heating in the winter.

Giles Parkinson in Climate Spectator (6 August 2010):

The push by construction and property giant Lend Lease into the solar energy business could be one of the most significant interventions to date in Australia’s nascent renewable energy market.

The move is based on a couple of simple premises. The most important of these is the belief that, within a few years, solar photovoltaic technology will match, and then displace, wind energy as the most cost-effective and efficient renewable energy source in Australia.

If that comes to pass, it could turn most forecasts for the build-out of renewable technology in this country on their head, and Lend Lease will be in a position to become a dominant player in what will rapidly become a multi-billion dollar a year solar PV market.

Lend Lease has been quietly working on its plans for the past 12 months, ever since it signed a deal with the world’s biggest solar PV maker, the US-based First Solar, to install 10MW of its panels on the roof-tops of its commercial building portfolio.

The two companies found that there was a meeting of minds, culture and ambition, and Lend Lease has now signed a deal to become the local partner for the distribution and installation of First Solar’s thin-film solar panels, whose modules are scalable from roof-top solar to commercial and industrial scale installations, and to large scale utilities.

Lend Lease, of course, has capabilities across all three markets; from its Delfin home business, to its large commercial and industrial property portfolio, and its construction business, where it has already been involved in two large-scale utility proposals that have been shortlisted for the federal government’s Solar Flagships program – one with AGL and First Solar and the other with TruEnergy and First Solar.

For good measure, Lend Lease has decided to take a completely new business approach to the solar PV market and, rather than focus on direct selling like the current incumbents, it has signed an alliance with a yet-to-be-named major bank and an energy utility (one would presume AGL or TruEnergy) to tap into their multi-million customer bases to market and distribute the product. It has also struck an alliance with the Norwegian firm REC, which will provide silicon-based solar panels.

Lend Lease notes that, even with the rapid boost in the solar PV market in the last 18 months aided by the proliferation of state-based feed-in tariffs, less than 3 per cent of Australian householders will have rooftop solar by the end of the year. The market is ripe for the picking.

“This will be a steep change in the domestic market,” says Chris Carolan, the head of Lend Lease Solar, who was the project director for Australia’s first 5 star CBD building, The Bond, the company’s headquarters. “No one saw Bond coming, no one knew what green star was,” he says. “We want to make the same impact with solar PV.”

Carolan expects the “tipping point” of the solar PV market in Australia will occur at around 2014. That will follow three years of anticipated and consecutive 20 per cent rises in local energy costs (mostly to fund grid upgrades) and declining costs in solar. First Solar is already the market leader in costs, has forecast a 20 per cent reduction in costs per year for the foreseeable future and has achieved a 6 per cent fall in the last quarter alone.

The economics of the venture will be boosted by the Brumby government’s large-scale solar target of 5 per cent by 2020, and the country’s first large-scale feed-in-tariff, an initiative Carolan expects will soon be followed by other state governments.

The 5 per cent Victorian target alone equates to around 2000MW of solar by 2020. Given that it will take a few years to roll out the first projects, that equates to a billion-dollar industry in Victoria alone.

Carolan says that quicker approval time, scalability and the wide availability of sunshine will make it a more compelling energy source than wind. And solar may have a price advantage too.

Lend Lease will also be able to bring its financial strength and its impeccable ratings to bear – something that many utilities would be unable to emulate – and its entry to the solar energy market has an even broader significance.

Firstly, it makes a nonsense of the argument that the only companies with the balance sheet and the motivation to bring such industries to life are those that are currently in the generation game, and should therefore be somehow protected because of this. Let’s strike that off the list of justifications for carbon price compensation packages.

Secondly, Lend Lease is putting itself in a prime position for what many describe as the next industrial revolution – an event marked not just by the introduction of new technologies, but also new business models.

And while Lend Lease may be the first large Australian industrial group to take such an initiative, it is in good company – GE, Siemens and a host of Asian companies such as Samsung, LG and Panasonic are taking a similarly proactive approach to the so-called green economy.

Carolan is being coy about targets for market share and financials, but he is starting the business with 30-odd staff and expects to boost this to more than 100 within six months.

Lend Lease has been working assiduously at the task, using 250 of its staff as “guinea pigs” so that Lend Lease could learn the business while installing solar PV on their rooftops. One thing it learned was that it was not satisfied with industry standards, so it is establishing a Lend Lease solar academy.

“We’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Carolan says.

Source: www.climatespectator.com.au

Coming Clean on Energy Stocks & the Conservation Corridor

Clean energy stocks have made up some lost ground in the past month, with the global New Energy Index up 10.3 per cent in July, according to Giles Parkinson with his Green Deals update in Climate Spectator, while CE Daily reports that the Northern Territory Government will set up a carbon fund to support conservation and carbon sequestration projects in a “conservation corridor” running from the Territory to South Australia, enabling companies to offset their emissions or their biodiversity impacts.

Green Deals in Climate Spectator Giles Parkinson (4 August 2010):

Clean energy stocks have made up some lost ground in the past month, with the global New Energy Index up 10.3 per cent in July, compared to a 5.6 per cent gain for the broader MSCI global index, and 7 per cent and 4.5 per cent gains for Wall Street and the ASX respectively.  There are some solid reasons for this change of sentiment, according to Geoff Evison, the head of clean energy fund Arkx.

First among these is data showing that the build-out of renewable energy projects has exceeded that of conventional fossil fuels for the second year in a row in Europe and the US, and is expected to do so on a global scale in 2010. The second is the extraordinary build-out of renewable energy, particularly wind, in China, which has now forecast some 600GW of renewable energy capacity by 2020, and has separately predicted clean energy investments of $US740 billion over the next decade.

Arkx’s own return in July was 4.8 per cent, taking its 12 month figure to 15.2 per cent. Its star performers in the latest period were The Arkx Clean Energy Fund, which also rose for the month, closing up 4.85 per cent. Among the fund’s standout performers were Chinese energy measurement company Wasion Group, which jumped 25.6 per cent, and German solar energy company Roth & Rau, which gained 13.7 per cent, helped by predictions that solar installations worldwide would jump 70 per cent in 2010 to more than 12GW.

PV powers on

The boom in rooftop solar photovoltaic energy systems in Australia appears to be continuing unabated, albeit at a smaller scale. Wilson HTM analyst Jenny Cosgrove has lifted her estimates for installed capacity for calendar 2010 to 68MW as at the end of July, up from a previous estimate of 48MW at the end of June. Cosgrove notes that the number of renewable energy certificates generated from small-scale solar PV jumped 27 per cent in July to 2.1 million, taking total RECS created across all technologies for the year to date to 20.3 million, well in excess of the legislated requirement of 12.5 million. 

Which explains why the RECs price remains stuck around the $40 mark, still well below the level needed to provide a financial incentive for a wind farm developer. Cosgrove also notes that the number of RECs generated from win power were down 30 per cent in July from the same month a year earlier, suggesting weaker wind conditions. Total RECs this year from wind power were little more than half for the same period last year, even though the wind capacity has risen nearly 10 per cent over that period.

Geodynamics’ search

Leading geothermal energy developer Geodynamics has launched the search for a new CEO to take over from interim boss Jack Hamilton, who assumed the mantle following the departure of Gerry Grove-White last month. Geodynamics expects to find a replacement by year-end, by which time it will have a fairly clear idea on the prospects of pursuing its dream of unlocking up to 6000MW of clean, baseload energy from the vast resources of geothermal heat locked in granite formations some 4-5 kms underground in the Cooper Basin. Work has recommenced at the Jolokia well to undertake crucial fracturing simulations which will indicate not only the extent of the resource but also the company’s ability to release the energy and to deliver energy to the grid.

New name, new power

The newly rebranded geothermal developer Earth Heat Resources has made further additions to its portfolio of global projects, announcing it would seek geothermal exploration permits in Kenya and continuing its work in Djibouti. Earth Heat, which recently changed its name from Fall River Resources as part of its transformation into a “new energy company”, believes Africa may hold immediate possibility in geothermal projects and gas fired power generation because of its lack of energy resources. It is also pursuing a coal bed methane opportunity in Botswana, and recently signed a farm-in agreement to the Copahue project in Argentina, which aims to establish a 30MW facility from the nearby volcanic resources. Geothermal projects in Argentina are awarded offtake agreements of up to $US120 per mw/h, the company says. Earth Heat also has exploration interests in the US and Australia.

Source: www.climatespectator.com.au

CE Daily Reports:

Northern Territory to establish conservation and carbon fund

The Northern Territory Government will set up a carbon fund to support conservation and carbon sequestration projects in a “conservation corridor” running from the Territory to South Australia. 

Companies seeking to offset their emissions or their biodiversity impacts will be able to contribute to the fund. 

“The funds created could then be used to improve land management practices, leading to more carbon locked up in our soils and native vegetation and the added benefit of improving conservation outcomes,” said NT environment minister, Karl Hampton. 

A spokesman for the minister told CE Daily the carbon fund will finance conservation and sequestration projects in the ‘Trans-Australian Eco-Link’, a conservation corridor which will stretch 3,500 km from the top of the Northern Territory to the South Australian coast. 

The Territory and South Australian governments are each contributing $1.8 million to establishing Eco-Link by 2012. 

“New conservation areas have been added to the link and more are being established,” the spokesman told CE Daily. 

“Work will proceed as a priority to put the fund in place as soon as possible.” 

The Trans-Australian Eco-Link will be an extension of the Territory Eco-Link, a 1,600 km conservation corridor announced last year as part of the NT Climate Change Policy.

Source: www.cedaily.com.au

The world is facing the monumental challenge of doubling its food production by 2050 with fewer resources. More than 1800 scientists gathered in Brisbane this week for the 19th World Congress of Soil Science, with food security a key focus. With the global population expected to top 9.2 billion by 2050, the world will need to repeat the Green Revolution that saw food production double between 1960 and 1985. But with less land, water and fertiliser available, the focus will have to be on working smarter.

AAP Reports (2 August 2010):

The world is facing the monumental challenge of doubling its food production by 2050 with fewer resources, scientists say.

More than 1800 scientists in Brisbane this week for the 19th World Congress of Soil Science, with food security a key focus.

With the global population expected to top 9.2 billion by 2050, experts say the world will need to repeat the Green Revolution that saw food production double between 1960 and 1985.

But with less land, water and fertiliser available, the focus will have to be on working smarter.

The chief of the CSIRO’s land and water division Dr Neil McKenzie told the congress that Australia currently feeds 60 million people but faces major challenges to increase production.

“Maintaining adequate food production levels in light of increasing population, climate change impacts, increasing costs of energy, constraints on carbon, land degradation and the finite supply of productive soils is a major challenge,” he said.

“Despite great improvements in crop production, Australia faces specific issues related to soil degradation.

“As many as 25 million hectares are affected by acidity and large areas have unsustainable rates of soil erosion.”

In opening the conference, Queensland Governor Penny Wensley said soil scientists must engage the public if they are to meet the demands of the planet for food and sustainability.

Ms Wensley, a former Australian ambassador for the environment, said scientists have an important public advocacy role in the face of “growing disconnect between food production and consumption on our heavily and increasingly urbanised planet”.

“Soil scientists and researchers leave (public advocacy) to others at their peril,” Ms Wensley said.

Keynote speaker Dr Robert Zeigler, the director general of the International Rice Research Institute, said breeding better rice varieties and developing more efficient water management systems would be critical.

“Yield growth rates for rice have stagnated due to decades of neglect in research and infrastructure, and area expansion has nearly stopped,” Dr Zeigler said.

“Projected demand will outstrip supply in the near-to-medium term unless something is done to reverse current trends.”

The congress will hear that Australia, with its phosphorous-deficient soils, will face particular challenges from diminishing global reserves of phosphate rock, used to make fertilisers.

Dr Eric Craswell, from the Australian National University, said mined phosphate rock was critical to food production because there was no substitute for phosphorus.

“Phosphorus cannot be synthesised or manufactured in a laboratory and without sufficient phosphorus we cannot grow crops,” Dr Craswell said.

A recent estimate suggests that global production of phosphorus fertilisers will peak in 2033, and will be one third of that peak level by the end of the century.

“Irrespective of when the peak occurs, exploitation of a non-renewable resource such as phosphate rock will peak and prices will increase as it becomes more scarce,” Dr Craswell says.

He said more research is needed to improve the efficiency of phosphorus fertiliser manufacturing and application, phosphorus recycling, and the efficiency with which crops utilise phosphorus from the soil.

A team of soil scientists and agronomists from the Queensland government is developing more effective diagnostic soil tests for assessing the status of available phosphorus and more efficient phosphorus fertiliser application methods.

Dr Philip Moody, the principal soil scientist at the Department of Environment and Resource Management, will present a paper on the team’s work.

Source: www.news.brisbanetimes.com.au

Communicating Science Effectively is a Big Challenge

The public is growing wary of science because of the occasional misrepresentations from the media. Journalists do not shoulder all of the blame, however, says environmental scientist Andrew Revkin. Scientists should strive to be more proactive with sharing evidence-based information, reaching out to science communicators, policymakers and the public.

From the Ecological Society of America (2 August2010):

Addressing environmental challenges and controversies through science communication

Successful environmental strategies are tied to engaging society in science

What can we do for the environment? What can individual scientists, agencies and institutions do to improve the quality of environmental decision-making?

These are among the questions explored by scientists and communications experts in a Special Issue of the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA) peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Submissions are based on a 2009 conference held at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

We can communicate effectively

Scientists need to consider their audiences when talking about their research. Members of the press benefit from concise and clearly-explained research just as much as their readers do.

In his guest editorial “Into the Breach,” Andrew Revkin, writer for The New York Times’ blog Dot Earth and Senior Fellow for Environmental Understanding at Pace University, cites the challenges of science communication “in this world of expanding, evolving communication paths.”

The public is growing wary of science, he notes, because of the occasional misrepresentations from the media. Journalists do not shoulder all of the blame, however, says Revkin. Scientists should strive to be more proactive with sharing evidence-based information, reaching out to science communicators, policymakers and the public.

In the article “Communicating with the public: opportunities and rewards for individual ecologists,” Michael Pace from the University of Virginia and colleagues explain how scientists can engage non-academic audiences in their work.

Researchers should recognize and pursue opportunities for public outreach, and perhaps more importantly, their institutions should acknowledge such efforts in merit evaluations. In addition, Deanna Osmond from North Carolina State University and colleagues outline the benefits of working with interface organizations—typically, nonprofits committed to disseminating and translating science for the media, stakeholders and policymakers—in “The role of interface organizations in science communication and understanding.”

“The gap between scientists and decision makers is well-known and well-established,” says Peter Groffman, from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and Guest Editor of the Special Issue, “but it is not impossible to overcome. Interface organizations, for example, can be critical tools for connecting research to untapped audiences using the most effective outreach strategies.”

We can inform policy with science

There are other benefits to scientists clearly communicating evidence-based information to the public, says Gene Likens from the Cary Institute. In his long bid to spur legislation addressing acid rain, Likens used several outlets, such as the media, to translate his research and relay his message. In his online-only article, which also forms part of the Special Issue, “The role of science in decision making: does evidence-based science drive environmental policy?” Likens cites his experiences with acid rain as a case study for the successful inclusion of science into policy making.

As he writes in the article, “communication is frequently hindered because scientists and non-scientists ‘speak different languages,’ the former often using acronyms and specialist jargon.” He strongly advises scientists to tailor their message for policymakers, as opposed to the more “technically-oriented managers.” In short, he says, for the message to reach policymakers and for them to be able to reference it, “scientists need to have unassailable data, perseverance, good communication skills and an understanding of policy.”

We can educate children through the arts

Children can become alarmed as they learn about the widespread environmental challenges society faces. According to Diane McKnight from the University of Colorado, Boulder, this effect, called ecophobia, can be counterproductive in inspiring children to explore nature. In another online-only article “Overcoming ‘ecophobia’: fostering environmental empathy through narrative in children’s science literature,” McKnight recommends children’s books and fictional tales that both describe the wonders of Earth and describe the science behind these natural processes.

Similarly, in “Four cultures: new synergies for engaging society on climate change,” Matthew Nisbet from American University and colleagues emphasize the importance of integrating the multi-disciplinary expertise of the four major academic cultures—including environmental science, philosophy and religion, social sciences and the creative arts—to more effectively communicate about environmental issues.

“Right now, in their outreach efforts the four major disciplinary cultures tend to work in isolation,” says Nisbet. “What we need is a new system of incentives and rewards at universities and at funding agencies that allows these disciplines to accomplish collectively what none are capable of doing alone, namely, building a new communication infrastructure surrounding climate change, especially at the local level.”

Nisbet and colleagues specifically recommend increasing the proportion of research grants dedicated to public outreach, suggesting that the funding from individual grants should be pooled at the university level. These resources, say the authors, would be invested in a four cultures faculty committee committed to maintaining local partnerships with the media, museums, libraries, schools, businesses and faith-based organizations. The goal would be to engage all corners of society in environmental efforts.

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The Special Issue of ESA’s Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment explores the ways in which academic institutions, federal agencies, nonprofits and individuals can take part in addressing major environmental problems. The open-access issue is based on the findings of the May 2009 Cary Conference on Effective Communication of science in environmental controversies; it is available online at http://www.esajournals.org/loi/fron.

The Ecological Society of America is the world’s largest professional organization of ecologists, representing 10,000 scientists in the United States and around the globe. Since its founding in 1915, ESA has promoted the responsible application of ecological principles to the solution of environmental problems through ESA reports, journals, research, and expert testimony to Congress. ESA publishes four journals and convenes an annual scientific conference. Visit the ESA website at http://www.esa.org or find experts in ecological science at http://www.esa.org/pao/rrt/.

The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies is a private, not-for-profit environmental research and education organization in Millbrook, N.Y. For more than twenty-five years, Cary Institute scientists have been investigating the complex interactions that govern the natural world. Their objective findings lead to more effective policy decisions and increased environmental literacy. Visit the Cary Institute website at http://www.caryinstitute.org/

Source: www.eurekalert.org

Lucky Last

Singapore is about to go bright green and low carbon

Fresh from his lightning visit to Singapore to speak at the National Sustainability Conference, Ken Hickson reflects on the commitment of the island state to a clean energy, low carbon future and the calibre of its leaders in Government, business and the environment sectors.

Not only speaking about what‘s going on its Australia and around the world, but learning what’s happening in the centre of the Asian universe for sustainability and clean tech.

In Singapore, there is strong focus on Waste and Water Management, as well as Energy Efficiency Programmes, driven by Government, organisations like the Singapore Environment Council, as well as the private sector.

Singapore always welcomes the contribution of industry and business, and whether it is in sponsoring or supporting public education programmes, or investing directly in plant and infrastructure, there is no doubt that considerable progress is being made to go beyond the image of “clean and green” to seriously move towards a sustainable city and a low carbon economy.

This is all the more remarkable because Singapore is the third largest oil refinery centre in the world. It is determined to break its dependence on imported oil and gas by considering alternatives, including innovative solar and waste to energy plans, as well as learn to be much more efficient with how it produces and uses electricity.

Also meeting some great communicators, who are determined to see that Singapore not only does the right thing eco-wise, but also sets some great green examples for the rest of the region:  

• Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Water Resources;
• Simon Tay, Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs;
• Howard Shaw, Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council;
• Ong Seng Eng, Director of the National Environment Agency;
• Lee Chuan Seng, President of the Singapore Green Building Council;
• Lina Goh, Head of the Office of Environmental Sustainability at NUS;
• Lim Chuen Ming, Head, Cleantech at the Economic Development Board;
• John Pearson, Head of Climate Change Network for the British High Commission;
• Mann Young, Head of Sustainability for Len Lease in Asia.

There are also a host of green people with bright ideas, including Bhavani Prakash with her Eco walk the talk; Eugene Tay of Green Future Solutions  and Green Business Times; Olivia Choong of Sustainable PR, and Chris Tobias of eco-business.com.

It was privilege to be part of the National Sustainabiity Conference in Singapore last week. For deep insight into the content of the event, presentations (including my own) and media material, this can all be found at: http://nationalsustainabilityconference.com/news_room.html

What else did I learn about in Singapore?

• Green Bus Trial – plans to run some of the city’s public transport on hybrid technology, reducing fuel use by as much as 30%, as well as trial a zero emission bus developed by the Nanyang Technological University.
• G1 (eco cars) to rival F1 – in the same month (September) as the gas guzzling high profile Formula 1 grand prix in Singapore, will be the city’s first G1 for eco-friendly cars organised by the Singapore Environment Council..
• Clean Tech Park – planned by the Jurong Town Corporation and the Economic Development Board is a 50 hectare eco-business park, aiming to be a choice location for green minded business owners as well as foster research and development in the clean-tech sector.
• World Green Building Council International Congress 2010 (13-16 September) -   In line with the mission of the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) to propel Singapore’s building and construction industry towards environmental sustainability, SGBC is pleased to present the inaugural Green Building Council Conference and the WorldGBC International Congress 2010 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

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Source: www.abccarbon.com, www.nus.edu.sg/oes, www.nea.gov.sg, & www.sec.org.sg

Yes, this is such a late despatch this week, it hardly warrants the title “express”, but we have plenty of excuses, including crossing time zones and even the fact that late news just kept coming in!  Back on cooler but sun-blessed ground in Brisbane this mid-week to attend and speak at the Climate Change@Work Conference, also gave me the chance to catch up on other outstanding social and business matters. Next week, you can expect to find me at the Climate Change and Business Conference in Sydney and, all going well, also attending the Beyond Zero Emissions seminar on Thursday evening. And yes, I am offsetting my air miles!

Sustainability is in the Singapore air
Singapore is in the news because we’re here for the National Sustainability Conference, but we cannot ignore the reports from Australia on the Labor’s excuse for a climate change policy. We offer words of sheer disappointment that the best Julia Gillard can come up with is a “people’s assembly”. The plot for a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions! Not much better news from the US where the Democrats have decided to hold off plans to put its climate/energy bill to the Senate. Sane commentators are looking for someone to blame for this inaction when Washington and half the world are experiencing the extreme weather we can expect from climate change. The hottest half year the globe has ever experienced and measured. Maybe the US EPA boss Lisa Jackson has a way to deal with it. Hope abounds: Like a solar robot-controlled journey from Italy to China. A space plane that runs on hydrogen. Better and cheaper ethanol from sugar to sweeten up the energy supply and a way to utilise CO2 for air conditioning and heating. We cannot fail to mention our find of the week – a very Green School in Bali built with love out of bamboo! – Ken Hickson

Profile: Lisa Jackson
While the focus has been on the US Senate, the Environmental Protection Agency, under its administrator, Lisa Jackson, has been quietly preparing to crack down on coal, the most carbon-intensive fuel, as never before. She has said the idea that progress on the environment has to hurt the economy is a “false choice” — greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare. Steps are being taken to regulate greenhouse gases from automobiles, power plants and factories as well as mainstream pollutants, which can cause diseases.
By Timothy Gardner in New York Times and International Herald Tribune (26 July 2010):
WASHINGTON — A proposed rule on mercury, a pollutant bad for fish and the people who eat too many of them, could help the administration of President Barack Obama get near its short-term climate goal, even if the U.S. Congress fails this year or next to pass a bill tackling greenhouse gases directly.
Senate Democrats crafting an energy bill have abandoned it until September, and for the rest of the year they probably will not debate climate measures like carbon caps on power plants and mandates for utilities to produce more power from renewable sources like wind and solar.
But while many people concerned about climate control have been focusing on the Senate, the Environmental Protection Agency, under its administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, has been quietly preparing to crack down on coal, the most carbon-intensive fuel, as never before.
Under Ms. Jackson — who has said the idea that progress on the environment has to hurt the economy is a “false choice” — the agency declared late last year that greenhouse gases endangered human health and welfare.
The agency has begun to take steps to regulate greenhouse gases from automobiles, power plants and factories. But its proposed rules on mainstream pollutants, those that can cause diseases, may limit carbon dioxide emissions the most.
While the agency is considering new rules for coal, its proposal for emissions of mercury, which go up smokestacks at coal-fired power plants and enter the environment, could pack a bigger punch.
The rule, which the agency was required by U.S. courts to issue by November 2011, is likely to help push many of the oldest and dirtiest emitters of carbon into retirement.
Environmental groups and a nurses’ group sued to compel the agency to issue the rules, which it has to start enforcing three years after issuing them.
Scientists say mercury from coal accumulates in many fish. Children exposed to the metal, through mother’s milk or by eating contaminated fish, are at risk of learning and developmental problems. Adults who eat too many contaminated fish also face risks.
When combined with the agency’s other current and coming rules on “criteria” pollutants, like ones that cause acid rain and smog, the mercury measure would require utilities to invest tens of millions of dollars on technologies to remove the substances.
Many of those plants are about 50 years old and are already inefficient.
“Those investments are just not going to be justifiable,” said Dan Bakal, director of electric power programs at Ceres, a group of environmentalists and institutional investors.
François Broquin, who has written reports on coal for Bernstein Research, said the combined rules could push as much as 20 percent of U.S. coal-fired electric generation capacity into retirement by 2015. “Obviously that will have an impact,” he said.
Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an environmental group, said that retirement of a large number of coal-fired plants could help the country exceed Mr. Obama’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020, measuring from 2005 levels.
“We’ve thought for a long time that proper enforcement of the Clean Air Act, laws already on the books, can have the unintended benefit of really doing something on climate,” he said.
The World Resources Institute, an international environmental group, said Friday that aggressive action on existing U.S. national rules and state plans could reduce emissions almost as much as Mr. Obama wants by 2020. But it said implementation of the proposed rules on mercury and other issues could get even closer.
Utilities are likely to replace coal-powered plants with plants that burn natural gas, which emits half the carbon that coal does. Alternative energy sources like wind and solar power, which provided most of the U.S. electricity capacity added last year, could also become more attractive to utilities.
To be sure, the rate of retirements may also depend on the price of natural gas, which is relatively cheap now, as new drilling technologies have granted access to vast new supplies.
In addition, coal companies and utilities could sue to stop or delay implementation of the rules.
But several utilities have already announced plans to shut coal plants.
They know the agency is also considering rules like regulating coal ash waste since a dike ruptured in 2008 at a Tennessee Valley Authority coal plant, unleashing a gush of slurry that flattened houses. Cleaning up after the disaster could cost $900 million.
Additional rules on chemicals that cause smog would add new costs, either to comply with or fight in court.
The agency’s rules alone would not get to the huge reductions of 80 percent in greenhouse gases by 2050 that scientists say are required to stop the world from suffering the worst effects of climate change. Ultimately, Congress would have to create a law to achieve those cuts.
Until that happens, the agency’s rules could serve as a bridge.
The rules are also not going to achieve Mr. Obama’s 2020 reduction goals, Mr. Broquin of Bernstein Research said, “but they are a first and important step.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: July 26, 2010
An earlier version of this article erroneously described Lisa P. Jackson as a former chemical engineer. Ms. Jackson received a scholarship from an oil company but never worked as an engineer.
Source: www.nytimes.com

Lisa P. Jackson is the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the Obama administration.
She has 20 years of experience as an environmental regulator and a reputation as a consensus builder. Ms. Jackson brought a more policy-driven approach to New Jersey’s historically politicized Department of Environmental Protection as its commissioner. During her 33 months in that job, the state began conducting compliance sweeps to crack down on polluters in environmentally ravaged sections of Camden and Paterson, ended its controversial bear hunt and unveiled a plan to reduce carbon emissions 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.
Like her former boss, Gov. Jon S. Corzine, Ms. Jackson supported Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton over Mr. Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries. Besides making a $1,000 donation to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2007, Ms. Jackson was an at-large delegate pledged to Mrs. Clinton; only later in 2008 did she donate $200 to the Obama campaign. Shortly after she was named Mr. Corzine’s chief of staff in late October — taking over on Dec. 1, becoming the first woman and first African American to hold the post — she was chosen by President-elect Obama in mid-November to serve on his transition panel for energy and the environment.
She was an administrator in the federal Environmental Protection Agency for 16 years, where her duties included regulating the cleanup of hazardous waste sites under the Superfund program. She also ran various enforcement programs at both the E.P.A. and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, as well as New Jersey’s Land Use Management Program.
The E.P.A. criticized New Jersey in a recent report for moving too slowly to clean up some toxic waste sites. Some environmentalists also say she caved in to pressure from big business by supporting a plan that would privatize cleanup of hazardous waste sites, and from developers by diluting a proposal to enact stricter groundwater quality standards.
Although her tenure at the Department of Environmental Protection involved dealing with an assortment of volatile political issues, Ms. Jackson’s measured approach won praise even from those who opposed her decisions; those diplomatic skills led Mr. Corzine to name her his chief of staff.
Ms. Jackson was born Feb. 8, 1962, in Philadelphia; she was adopted a few weeks later and raised in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans. First in her class at St. Mary’s Dominican High School (she once described her academic career, saying, “I was a straight ‘A’ student a geek basically”), she graduated summa cum laude from Tulane University’s School of Chemical Engineering and earned a master’s in chemical engineering from Princeton University. An avid cook, her signature dish gumbo is a tribute to her Louisiana roots. She is renowned for her annual Mardi Gras party, which she has not thrown since Hurricane Katrina devastated her hometown in 2005.
Source: www.topics.nytimes.com

Will the US Energy Climate Bill Ever Come to Pass?
As Senator John Kerry promises he’ll be back to try to get his comprehensive bill before the end of the year, Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times wonders who to blame as Democrats once again abandoned efforts to pass an energy/climate bill that would begin to cap greenhouse gases and promote renewable energy. “The best thing about improvements in health care is that all the climate-change deniers are now going to live long enough to see how wrong they were.”
Business Week (23 July 2010):
Bloomberg — U.S. Senator John Kerry said Democrats may take up his comprehensive climate-change bill in a lame-duck session after the November elections, while calling on President Barack Obama to escalate his advocacy for the measure.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday introduced a more limited energy bill that doesn’t include a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, citing the lack of support for a broader bill.
The bigger measure “is not dead,” Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt” airing this weekend. “If it is after the election, it may well be that some members are free and liberated and feeling that they can take a risk or do something.”
Kerry, who co-authored the Senate climate measure with Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, urged Obama to lobby for the bill in private meetings with undecided senators and at public events.
“People have to know it really counts,” said Kerry, 66.
On climate legislation, Kerry said Democrats have “well over 50” votes for a cap-and-trade program that requires power plants to buy and sell carbon-dioxide pollution rights. At least five Democrats from rural and Rust Belt states say they won’t support the plan and no Republican supports the bill, which will need 60 votes to pass the Senate.
“There is basically sort of a political shutdown going on here in Washington,” Kerry said.
Scaled-Back Legislation
The scaled-back legislation introduced by Reid mandates new offshore oil and gas drilling regulations, energy-efficiency programs and incentives for natural-gas-fueled vehicles. The bill will also increase the $75 million liability cap for companies that cause oil spills.
Legislation passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in June would eliminate the cap entirely, while Republican proposals would double the current cap to $150 million or expose a company to damages equal to the last four quarters of its profits.
Kerry said the Senate is more likely to raise the cap than eliminate it entirely.
“We ought to find out what the political market here and the Senate will bear and get to a realistic figure,” he said.
Source: www.businessweek.com
By Thomas L. Friedman
New York Times News Service (27 July 2010):
When I first heard Thursday that Senate Democrats were abandoning the effort to pass an energy/climate bill that would begin to cap greenhouse gases that cause global warming and promote renewable energy that could diminish our addiction to oil, I remembered something that Joe Romm, the climateprogress.org blogger, once said: The best thing about improvements in health care is that all the climate-change deniers are now going to live long enough to see how wrong they were.
Alas, so are the rest of us.
I could blame Republicans for the fact that not one GOP senator indicated a willingness to vote for a bill that would put the slightest price on carbon. I could blame the Democratic senators who were also waffling. I could blame President Barack Obama for his disappearing act on energy and spending more time reading the polls than changing the polls. I could blame the chamber of commerce and the fossil-fuel lobby for spending bags of money to subvert this bill.
The truth is, the public, confused and stressed by the last two years, never got mobilized to press for this legislation. We will regret it.
We’ve basically decided to keep pumping greenhouse gases into Mother Nature’s operating system and take our chances that the results will be benign – even though a vast majority of scientists warn that this will not be so.
Do not mess with Mother Nature. But that is what we’re doing.
Since I don’t have anything else to say, I will just fill out this column with a few news stories and e-mails.
Just as the U.S. Senate was abandoning plans for a U.S. cap-and-trade system, this article ran in The China Daily: “BEIJING – The country is set to begin domestic carbon trading programs during its 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015) to help it meet its 2020 carbon intensity target …”
A day before the climate bill went down, Lew Hay, the CEO of NextEra Energy, which owns Florida Power & Light, one of the nation’s biggest utilities, e-mailed to say that if the Senate would set a price on carbon and requirements for renewal energy, utilities like his would have the price certainty they need to make the big next-generation investments, including nuclear. “If we invest an additional $3 billion a year or so on clean energy, that’s roughly 50,000 jobs over the next five years,” said Hay. (Say goodbye to that.)
Making our country more energy efficient is not some green feel-good thing. Retired Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson, who was Gen. David Petraeus’ senior logistician in Iraq, e-mailed to say that “over 1,000 Americans have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan hauling fuel to air-condition tents and buildings. If our military would simply insulate their structures, it would save billions of dollars and, more importantly, save lives of truck drivers and escorts. … And will take lots of big fuel trucks (aka Taliban Targets) off the road, expediting the end of the conflict.”
The last word goes to the contrarian hedge fund manager Jeremy Grantham, who in his July letter to investors, noted:
“Conspiracy theorists claim to believe that global warming is a carefully constructed hoax driven by scientists desperate for … what? Being needled by nonscientific newspaper reports, by blogs and by right-wing politicians and think tanks? I have a much simpler but plausible ‘conspiracy theory’: The fossil energy companies, driven by the need to protect hundreds of billions of dollars of profits, encourage obfuscation of the inconvenient scientific results. I, for one, admire them for their PR skills, while wondering, as always: “Have they no grandchildren?”
Thomas Friedman is a New York Times columnist.
Source: www.nytimes.com