State vs State renewable race hotting up in Australia
The recently elected Labor Government in Queensland has committed to generating half of its electricity requirement using renewable sources by 2030, and to ensuring that 1 million Queensland homes have rooftop solar systems by 2020 (currently 400,000 homes have these systems).Energy Minister Mark Bailey confirmed...
What is the real threat to grid reliability?
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Power Plan limits the carbon emissions from the existing plants in each state, based on each state’s ability to move away from coal to natural gas for generation, to increase the efficiency of the remaining coal fired...
Why air quality is the (sometimes smelly) other elephant in the room in Australia
In the past few weeks the costs associated with poor air quality in India and Europe have been published in terms of health effects, lost productivity and ultimately, mortality. In a previous blog I discussed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to Delhi being pronounced...
Four reasons why graphene is the green material of the future
Graphene is one of the few commodities that has been exciting explorers and investors alike in a time when others are floundering in Australia and internationally, and it could well prove to be one of the greenest ever known. It is the thinnest material on...
Urban Heat Islands can modify temperatures thousands of kilometres away
The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is a phenomenon that has been studied for a number of decades, however a newly discovered relationship between meteorology and an UHI has been found to result in weather altering temperature changes thousands of kilometres away. Researchers from the...
Renewables are powering the internet
Few people would deny that the internet plays an increasingly significant part in our daily lives in many ways and contexts. Greenpeace has called on internet providers to lead the way with respect to renewable energy. Following feedback from Greenpeace supporters, over the past few...
Path to a modern green economy not on drawing board in Australia-Federal Budget 2015
According to the Climate Institute, the 2015 Federal Budget announced tonight (May 12) doesn’t inspire confidence regarding plans for a modern green economy in Australia. According to CEO John Connor, the Budget continued the attacks on both climate and clean energy programs and increased pressure...
What are the issues associated with Urban Heat Islands (UHIs)?
Following on from my previous blog in which I briefly introduced the concept of urban heat islands (UHIs), in this blog I will outline the issues associated with them. I will focus on four main issues-higher energy consumption, higher greenhouse and air pollution emissions, impaired...