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abc carbon express is your weekly e-newsletter on climate change issues and opportunities: energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon credibility and corporate sustainability. |
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Issue 94: 2 - 8 February 2010 | |
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| Upcoming Events |
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- Earth Hour, 27 March, Australia & the World
- 2011 Carbon Reduction Expo, 5-7 April at Melbourne Exhibition Centre
- GoingGreenExpo, Melbourne, 30 April - 2 May
- Clean Energy Conference & Exhibition, Adelaide, 3-5 May
- 2010 Healthy Cities Conference, Brisbane, 12/13 July
- EcoGen 2010, Sydney, 5-8 September
- Sustainable House Day 2010, Sunday 12th September
- All-Energy Australia 2010, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, 6/ 7 October
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| Quick Links |
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Leadenhall
Carbon Value
Eco Voice
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| Greetings! |
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Is anybody listening?
It is probably not polite to point it out, but we notice (and report) that seemingly everything green and clean that the Australian Government attempts to promote, turns to dust not gold. Elected with a mandate to deal with climate change, and beyond the quick and symbolic gesture to ratify Kyoto, the Labor Government has had a succession of failures.
A very complicated and costly CPRS is going back to Parliament this week. It is unlikely to pass muster. And this with a mere 5% emissions reduction target. The Greens and the Coalition have some alternative ideas worth listening to.
The Renewable Energy Target for 2020 will not be reached without the Government making it worthwhile for investors. Its REC scheme is failing to do that and the industry wants it changed.
The Green Loan scheme is the latest disaster, as we report this week. We have had earlier on again/off again solar panel incentives, leaving the suppliers and householders confused and annoyed, while the home insulation scheme has been rife with rogues, rorts and regrets.
Voluntary carbon offset providers like Greenfleet are calling for clarity and direction, even though Government has already decided to demolish the very workable Greenhouse Friendly programme.
Is anybody listening? What's needed is some real leadership. In the meantime, read on. There is good news somewhere.
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Profile:Sara Gipton |
 Aren't we lucky that trees don't understand politics? The trees we plant now will grow, taking more carbon from the atmosphere sooner, says Greenfleet's CEO Sara Gipton. But the problem for Australian carbon offset providers, like Greenfleet, is that the Government's ambitious, overarching and repeatedly delayed CPRS has created confusion among those most committed to action on climate change - participants in the voluntary carbon market. Besides, Government has committed to dispose of the very workable Greenhouse Friendly programme without having an alternative in place. Read More |
| Green Investing: Low Carbon Energy Infrastructure |
The World Economic Forum says that moving to a low-carbon energy infrastructure will require global annual investment of around US$500 billion, if the increase in global average temperatures is to be restricted to 2°C, while General Electric ranks first in the sixth annual Global 100 list of the most sustainable firms, as released in Davos. Read More
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| Presidential order: Emissions cuts by 17% & 28% by 2020 |
 The United States pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 17% by 2020 from 2005 levels under an international climate agreement, though it made its commitment contingent on passing legislation at home, while in the same week President Obama ordered his government - "the largest energy consumer" - to reduce its energy use, by cutting everything from the electricity used in office buildings to the petroleum used in fleet vehicles, in an effort to slash its greenhouse gas emissions 28% by 2020. Read More |
Government Green Loans Scheme on the Mat and Counting
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One of the Rudd Government's key climate change initiatives - the $70 Million Green Loans scheme -  is close to collapse amid claims of widespread rorting and mismanagement. It will be lucky to survive past March. Similarities are already being drawn with the bungled $3.2 billion home insulation subsidy scheme, as a Senate inquiry probes accusations of malpractice, rorting and mismanagement. Tuck Thompson reports in the Courier Mail. Read More |
| Met Misses as Media Makes the Message from Monckton's Mouth |
 Over recent months we have witnessed a sustained assault on the reputation of Australian climate scientists led by the media, which magnifies and gloats over every real or confected mistake by the IPCC and promotes the opinions of every mad-eyed denier, including Monckton. Throughout this trashing of scientists, the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology have been missing in action. This from Clive Hamilton. Read More
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| IPCC's Heroic Days Over? What is its Future Role? |
The serious error that led to the inclusion in an IPCC report of mistaken claims about how fast Himalayan glaciers are melting is undoubtedly damaging to the panel's reputation. But it does not in any way undermine the conclusion that human-induced climate change is happening, is dangerous and requires urgent action. But the New Scientist thinks the organisation also needs to be more focused on providing the science that will address emerging policy challenges. Read More |
| Ice Energy Cools the Air On Top & Intel Puts Solar Power Inside Out |
 The Southern California Public Power Authority and Ice Energy are launching a project to shift 53 megawatts of peak-time power consumption to hours of lower demand by deploying units that make and use ice to run air conditioners, while Intel, looking to be a leader in the green energy movement, is getting ready to begin construction on eight solar power installations in separate facilities in four American states. Read More |
Indonesia's Green Investment Fund Will Drive Emission Cuts of 26%
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Hoping to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign Governments, Indonesia's "Green Investment Fund" will finance an ambitious development programme designed to simultaneously boost  economic growth while reducing emissions blamed for climate change. Expressions of interest have already come from United Kingdom, Australia, France, Japan and the United States. Read More |
Korean-Queensland Partnership for Smart Grid, Smart City Solar Bid
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 A Queensland Government consortium has launched a bid for A$100 million in federal funds to build a demonstration smart electricity grid for Australia. Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Stephen Robertson said Queensland's demonstration grid would show how promising new technologies could be successfully applied to the Australian lifestyle, climate and geography. Read More |
| Samoan Houses Built to Withstand Cyclones and a Tsunami |
For Green Cross CEO Mara Bun, who was a judge in the World Bank Development Marketplace's  Climate Change Adaptation competition, a stand out winner was an innovative post-Tsunami initiative to put indigenous knowledge into practice through the construction of three model Samoan houses (Fale) in three coastal sites. Read More |
| Melbourne Event to Attract World's Leading Sustainability Designers |
 "Australia is in a great position to create world-class buildings, urban environments and communities. Green Cities 2010 will establish a common agenda to ensure we capitalise on the huge opportunity facing us and create living environments for future generations to enjoy," said Property Council of Australia CEO, Peter Verwer. Read More
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| Peel this Apple to See if it is Green to the Core |
Even the very British Economist gives Steve Jobs biblical hero cover treatment for his latest revelation,  while the GreenerComputing asks whether Apple's iPad is green enough to be a "game-changer for the planet". Green Pages points out that Apple has filed three new clean energy and energy efficiency patents, creating a new wave of speculation about the gadget company's eco-friendly direction. Read More | |
| The ABC of Carbon - The Book! |
 AUTHOR Ken Hickson describes carbon as "the basis of life on earth'' - it's also the basis of his new encyclopaedic reference book. The timing of The ABC of Carbon couldn't be better as the media noise over climate change and carbon pollution is now a virtual constant, says Graham Readfearn in his review in the Courier Mail and his Green Blog.
This reference book of more than 500 pages has explanations for more than 900 words, phrases, organisations, businesses, people and places from Chapter A to Chapter Z. "There's such a lot of information out there - and a need for better information - which is why I decided to write this book.''
Our Price: A$45.00 Normal Price: A$49.95
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In the End ...... somewhere over the rainbow
From US President Obama, and lesser known UK green investment guru Peter Young (pictured), there's some good advice for the taking. But is Australia ready to move beyond being a giant quarry to a hot house of sustainable, low carbon innovation? We let you decide for yourself after reading the Green Chip column (The Australian 1 February 2010), where Giles Parkinson poses some questions and answers. Read More
I'll be in Sydney on Tuesday 2 February for the Environment Business Australia's special forum on "Financing Low Carbon Projects", featuring the visiting expert Peter Young and on Wednesday 3 February for Bradman Recruitment's Copenhagen Debrief and talk by Greenpeace CEO Linda Selvey.
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Ken Hickson
Editor, abc carbon express
Director, ABC Carbon
Author, The ABC of Carbon
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