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The car is dead, long live the car!
I gave up my car about a week ago. It's still there, and still runs but I parked it in the garage and closed the door. It will still come out on the weekends, to run up to the shops for a big fortnightly cupboard filler, and the odd family outing, but when it comes to the nine to five Monday to Friday run, it's been permanently decommissioned.
And my decision is entirely based on economics. The price of petrol, and the shear volume of traffic snaking its way down Parramatta Road in the mornings have both become overwhelming. And after years working from home, there's nothing I hate more than wasting time in traffic. This week's petrol budget was spent on pannier bags, and tune up for my once mighty push bike, which is now regaining it's former glory as my principal mode of transport during the week.
About 15 years ago I used to ride my bike to school. I mostly stuck to the back roads, and occasionally rode along the footpath when the roads were too busy. It was about 10 Km round trip and kept me reasonably fit through my adolescence.
By Christine Milne
If climate change were prioritised by Government the way Defence is prioritised, the vision of an energy efficient Australia powered completely by renewable energy by 2020 would be entirely within our grasp.
Martin Ferguson, let the cat out of the bag shortly after the Budget, when he said that carbon capture and storage would be "essential for the long-term sustainability of coal-fired power generation." With those words, he betrayed the fact that his government prioritises the coal sector's profits over climate protection.
If that seems like a long bow to draw, look at the evidence that the Budget presents.
In the vital area of commercialisation of technologies, the myriad of renewable energy options that are ready to roll out now were allocated precisely zero for the coming year, with only $125 million in this term of government. Next to that, the pipedream that is ‘clean coal' received $35 million this year and $250 million this term.
By Tim Hollo
A new Bill by Greens Senator Christine Milne advocates greater financial support for the commercialisation of renewable energy technologies.
Against the backdrop of several appalling Rudd Government Budget decisions that will undermine the renewables industry in Australia even further (some of which are detailed here), Christine Milne introduced a Private Member's Bill in the Senate this morning to establish an comprehensive national feed-in law.
Feed-in laws support the rapid and unlimited growth of the renewables sector by giving certainty to investors, guaranteeing them a market at a set price.
The world's leading analysts predict that energy costs will be eating up more than a third of IT budgets within the next five years, says Sundeep Khisty.
Global warming has emerged as the critical issue of the 21st Century. While governments worldwide debate the best formula to cut greenhouse gas emissions, change is inevitable.
Most world leaders concede that global warming is the fault of human kind and that intervention is a priority.
A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), left little doubt on the issue. Drawing on work by 2500 scientists, the UN-backed IPCC concluded that it was more than 90 per cent likely that recent warming has a predominantly human cause.
It's not for nothing that they call economics the "dismal science". It seems to me that the world's attention to macro economics is what stops renewable energy. I don't know if the following analysis is really new or not, but if it's accurate, then as things stand, no renewable energy scheme stands a chance, regardless of the greenhouse effect.
When you procure and install a renewable energy source, like a wind turbine or hot rocks plant, the financial transactions are simple, limited and rather local:
- build the power plant
- operate the plant (pay a few staff, buy some occasional maintenance).
But our globally favorite energy schemes -- coal, gas, nuclear -- all involve mining and massive ongoing exchanges of finance and resources, both human and physical...
It is very possible to maintain our current lifestyles with the clean energy and associated enabling technologies.
The purpose of building an emissions trading system is to make available to business the lowest cost options to abate greenhouse gas emissions and a critical prerequisite for the smooth operation of a robust emission trading scheme is a national emissions trading registry (Registry) which tracks emission permit creation, transfers and acquittals. Domestic or international offsets are also tracked by the Registry as will any mandatory permits or offsets acquitted for voluntary purposes.
The Australian government has recently released a tender calling for entities to submit proposals for the design and operation of such a Registry. Potential operators will need to demonstrate not only that they can provide the technology and the skills to manage the Registry within Australia, but also that they can create and maintain links with international registries to which the Australian ETS has been linked.
In addition, the Registry needs to support the daily trading of permits and offsets occurring via the various emissions trading platforms. There are at least three registries operating in Australia that facilitate the exchange of mandatory and voluntary environmental instruments.
