Climate Change at Work Conference (Sydney, Apr 2)

The Workplace Research Centre (WRC) of the University of Sydney will be holding a conference on Climate Change at Work. The conferencewill be about global warming and how more sustainable approaches to energy and resource efficiency is changing jobs, human resource management, workplace relations and skill formation. To register please go to the web link. Hilton Hotel, Sydney.

posted by Chen on March 8, 2008 at 7:01 pm · filed under

World Seed Bank

Seed preservation chambers have been built hundreds of feet inside a frozen mountain in Svalbard, Norway to prepare for future disasters. Ten tonnes of seeds from various crop species were first deposited in the vault, and will be followed by thousands more species, which are yet to be collected and sampled.

posted by Chen on February 29, 2008 at 8:13 pm · filed under

South Australia Leads Water Research

A National Water Quality Research Centre is to be established in Adelaide and is expected to operate from September 2009. The research studies will cover quality improvement of drinking water, sewage treatment and control of algal blooms. A learning hub funded by State Government is also to be set up for education on water use.

posted by Chen on February 29, 2008 at 12:30 am · filed under

Victoria Power & Gas (Melbourne, Mar 12-14)

Delivered by energy industry leaders, the 12th Annual Victoria Power and Gas 2008 will focus on: Long term fuel choice strategies, Infrastructure, assets and risk management, Transmission and distribution, Emissions trading and renewables, Oil and gas outlook.

The three-day intensive conference will be held at Sofitel Melbourne, Victoria (25 Collin St).

posted by Chen on February 28, 2008 at 10:38 pm · filed under

Indonesian deforestation double whammy

A new WWF report shows that carbon emmisions from deforestation, and the burning of carbon rich peat in the land clearing process in Indonesia, are putting that country’s emmisions as high as the USA’s and China’s. The clearing of forests for both pulp and the farming of Palm oil, is also putting at risk habitat for many endangered species, including tigers and elephants.

posted by Vinnie on February 28, 2008 at 9:44 pm · filed under

Libs ditch Nukes

In a departure from Howard policy, the federal Liberal Party has ditched it’s advocacy for nuclear power for Australia. In a shadow cabinet meeting last December, the new opposition party decided that nuclear power was not going to happen in Australia without bipartisan and wisespread community support. No statement was issued at the time the decision was taken.

posted by Vinnie on February 28, 2008 at 8:39 pm · filed under

Geosequestration project set to commence in Victoria

A $40 million trial of the first injection of carbon dioxide into Australian soil is due to begin April 2 near Warrnambool in Victoria’s south-west. Run by the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies, 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be piped underground, with testing to continue over several years.

posted by natasha on February 27, 2008 at 7:41 pm · filed under

Forestry Tasmania sells forest to Gunns

The Tasmanian Government’s department responsible for the use of forests, Forestry Tasmania, have signed off on a deal worth $350million with Gunns Ltd. The deal supplies Gunns with 1.5 million cubic metres of plantation and native forest for the next 20 years.

posted by Vinnie on February 27, 2008 at 1:48 pm · filed under

Labor rules out Nuclear

Following on from last week’s interim report by Prof Ross Garnaut urging cuts as deep as 90% to Australia’s Greenhouse emmisions, Climate Change Minister, Senator Penny Wong, has reiterated the Rudd government’s commitment to excluding nuclear power from Australia’s future energy mix.

posted by Vinnie on February 25, 2008 at 11:53 pm · filed under

Virgin Biofuel flight

A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 has become the first commercial airliner to fly partly on Biofuel. The flight, from London to Amsterdam, was made by a plane that was running three of it’s four engines on conventional aviation fuel, and one engine on a mix of aviation and plant based fuels. Critics, including Greeanpeace however, warn that Biofuels are not the answer, as deforestation for Biofuel crops increases Global Climate Change. Greenpeace went on to call the flight, “high altitude greenwash”.

posted by Vinnie on February 25, 2008 at 11:14 pm · filed under