It’s spring! And indeed it is a gloriously warm and sunny day here in Perth, Western Australia on the 1st of September.

The garden is feeling it and thriving on the home-made compost we add regularly and the soil is still holding moisture from the winter rains, under all that mulch. Vegetables include cabbages, broccoli, silverbeet, beetroot, onions, tomatoes, lettuce (tons of it from last year’s self-sown seed), garlic and parsley. Passion fruit and Cape gooseberries are doing well.

But is this a Utopian dream of eating what you can grow yourself, when living in the city?

Half the world’s population lives in cities and its people rely on their food being brought in. What happens when, say a fuel shortage happens? Starvation within three days.

Now there is also a growing movement of city community gardens and farms, which address that problem.

An added benefit of this movement is that we can relearn to be in touch with soil, fertilizer, growth, seasons and cycles, rebuilding our inner capacity for caring about our environment.Because in cities many people never see where their food comes from, and what it takes to grow it.

Such care, based on real needs, not just wants, is the richest of renewable energies that we have left mostly untapped. With it we can do anything. Even build towards a sustainable, flourishing planet.

What do you think?

Want to save on your energy bill fast? You can.

Energy auditing is an Earth-friendly career.

Cannot afford a hybrid or electric car? Convert your car to electric!

The Climate Institute of Australia has released an important report about the effects of climate change on mental health. It seems that climate change effects are affecting our levels of anxiety, fear, maybe depression. Children are particularly affected.

So the circle is unbroken. Human-caused climate change is a product of an unbalanced world attitude to life and living on this finite planet. A kind of mental illness underlying our unsustainable world culture.

Now the effects of our individualistic ways of living contribute to further mental instability. Where to from here? Can we not read the many signs thrown at us every day?

What do you think?

Wishing you well!

Want to make a planet-healing contribution AND have a rewarding career? Take an online energy audit course.

Take some anxiety out of rising energy prices. Choose your best rate for lower energy costs here.

You know there is no such thing as a quick fix – least of all in climate change where longer-term human behavior has produced current problems.

But with a man-made thing like money it’s different. You can actually achieve lower energy costs in your home and business within minutes. We’ll return to that.

Generally, we know that if we want to work towards a sustainable world we need to do two things:

1. Save energy. We generally use far too much – much more than we really need. You will know all the usual energy saving tips such as getting an energy audit done and implementing its recommendations. Then come turning the thermostat down, the extra jumper and so on…

2. Changing the way we think about ourselves and our place in the world.

But, to come back to the quick fix: yes, by regularly comparing your gas and electricity prices, choosing the cheapest/best-for-you rate and switching to your preferred energy supplier you can make substantial savings. Hundreds of dollars, Pounds or what have you, in fact.

switching is easier than you might think, with no cost to you. It can be done quite painlessly online. You get the same gas, electricity and keep the same meter. What’s different is you have just achieved home energy savings, or in your business, the difference of which you will feel straight away.

Don’t forget, energy price rises are here to stay. Switchin energy supplier is just getting the cheapest price on a continuously climbing curve. Do the energy saving stuff too to keep happy!

Saving energy through energy audits is a first-line strategy, before you even start thinking about getting solar panels, solar heating or wind power connected to your home.

A typical home energy audit identifies around 30% of energy savings. That could be 30% off your power and heating bills for a start. And you can include savings on water use too.

Furthermore, various cities and states offer free energy audits to the householder – where the auditor gets paid by them. Of course there is a follow-up cost for you in acting on the energy auditor’s recommendations. But that’s way cheaper than going for the renewable technology options first.

Even so, various places have free energy efficient light bulb replacement schemes. Caulking your windows and taping gaps under your doors is not going to break the bank. And there’s help out there… Energy efficient mortgage loans and tax deductions for energy efficient homes and businesses are available. So are energy efficiency personal tax credits and many states and localities offer subsidies and other support with weather stripping and caulking.

You’d be mad not to take advantage of these schemes while they are here.

It’s no wonder that energy audit training is filling a growing gap in qualified people entering this career or as an energy-saving business.

Energy audits are not necessarily complex. Got your R20 roof insulation? Energy efficient windows? Blocked all drafts? But there is more. Do you know which appliances take most power? Time to replace those guzzlers with energy star rated ones? Which times you run your washing machine or dishwasher at the cheapest rates?
By all means, after you took care of all that look into renewable energy too and save money and greenhouse emissions.

Neither side of politics in Australia has the conviction, nor the guts, to display leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The American Republicans oppose Obama’s modest cap and trade scheme.

Any points of light, before the lights go out?

The Greens propose a 100% renewable energy scenario for Australia. Is this realistic?

Well, ask the Europeans.

According to the European Climate Foundation Europe can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent. It will thereby reduce its energy bill by 350 billion euros (US$476 billion) per year. All this can be done by 2050 if it acts within five years.

Not bad.

This means the 27-nation European Union will to lower its carbon- dioxide discharges by 20 percent from 1990 levels Pollution is to be reduced by 80 percent to 95 percent in the next forty years.

The Foundation is adamant these goals are realistic. It believes zero-CO2 electricity can be provided as reliably and economically as now.

It is not surprising that energy auditing is the Foundation’s first-line defense strategy. It is being subsidized and practiced in many countries.

Don't be disheartened!

But “overwhelmed” is giving in. While we must be concerned, and act, in our own daily lives to make things better, we must also remember what gets people through hard times: good and helpful communication with each other and Humor. Yes, a good laugh can snap you out of it, give you new courage and inspiration to do those things that make a difference.

Christmas, how we treat each other on Earth as it is in Heaven...

it is a new site offering free animated musical ecards right now but that might not last long as they become a popular destination for people-and-planet-putter-togethers,

Interestingly, Earth Ecards does not confine itself to planet Earth. They have animated some of those amazing NASA Hubble space telescope pictures to allow you to send some pretty unique Christmas and New Year cards.

Enjoy!

Happy new Year! Turning over a new leaf with Earth Ecards.

Bioenergy is a very important source of energy in the mix of alternative energies to abate effects of global warming.

Early Bird registration for the Bioenergy Australia 2009 conference is open until the end of October.  You can register online at www.bioenergyaustralia.org.
 
Australia’s premier bioenergy conference, Bioenergy Australia 2009 will be held at the Radisson Resort Gold Coast, Queensland from 9 – 10 December 2009 with a Technical Tour on 8 December 2009.

This year’s program will have over 85 presentations covering policies and programs, bioenergy projects and project development case studies and emerging opportunities.  It will also consider many facets of bioenergy, including:
·         Biomass sources and supply aspects
·         Algae and other future feedstocks
·         Heat and power
·         Energy-from-waste
·         Anaerobic digestion and livestock wastes
·         Gasification
·         Pyrolysis bio-oil and sequestration via bio-char
·         First and second generation liquid biofuels
·         Overarching aspects of bioenergy, such as life cycle emissions and sustainability.
 
Maybe you can attend?
 
Contact:
Dr Stephen Schuck
Bioenergy Australia Manager
c/o Stephen Schuck and Associates Pty Ltd
7 Grassmere Road
Killara  NSW  2071
Tel/Fax: (02) 9416 9246
www.bioenergyaustralia.org
 

There have been some noises from some quarters that green jobs are nothing but blue collar jobs, as if they are not part of a very influential trend in a sustainable future.

As Greenpeace says in its report Working For he Climate – Green Energy Job Creation: As we head towards the Copenhagen Climate Summit, world leaders have the opportunity to stimulate economic recovery while cutting carbon emissions through investing in green jobs in the renewable energy sector.

The jobs that have an environmental benefit can of course be seen as extensions of existing trades like plumbers, electrician and mechanics but when they become applied to low-CO2 generating purssuits and saving energy they are justifiably green jobs. Nothing at all wrong with that.

We must make the change to clean energy if we are to survive on a sustainable planet. Greenpeace’s report Energy (R)evolution says that “the world can achieve a nine-fold increase in its production of renewable energy to avoid catastrophic climate change.” Under this scenario, by 2030, there would be over 8 million jobs in renewable power and energy efficiency. This is over three times the number than would be the case under a business-as-usual approach.

Furthermore this report showed that if we do nothing to change to clean energy we will half a million energy supply jobs disappearing over the time period.

Energy Auditing – A Growing Green Job Sector

Working For The Climate Report here

Well, I don’t want to say “I told you so…” but…

After pulling the residential solar PV rebate scheme two weeks early because of an enthusiastic uptake of the scheme (isn’t that what we want?), the federal government has done it again.

This time it’s the $200,000 grant for solar stand-alone power supplies in rural remote communities. Again, the government says money has run out for this scheme. You greedy people have actually taken the government seriously by taking to this scheme like ducks to water (well, there’s another subject…) and now you cannot have it any more.

Bang goes the lid on the cookie jar.

What’s happening?

Like I suggested before: governments think people must go renewable energy, whether or not it gives out rebates. So it feels it won’t need to do this anymore at a time it has no money left. It has just spent its billions on economic stimulus that encourages the very behaviour that got us into this mess.

So, what to do? Don’t rely on government rebates and solar energy grants anymore.

Live sustainably.

Save up to buy that PV solar panel and get that solar hot water panel with a government rebate right now.

Save energy where you can.

Leave the car in the driveway or share it with others.

Grow some vegetables in your backyard.

Be creative.

Alternative energy is not the only way to lower emissions. human behaviour is number one!

What conclusions to draw from this?

First greenhouse gas levels in the Earth’s atmosphere are a direct result of human activity. Second, humanity has it fully in its power to lower greenhouse gas levels globally. Third, it’s a choice between consumerism or living within limits.

Worldwide Dutch company Shell lowered its emissions by 8.5%. Main reason? Oil production problems, notably in Nigeria. A fertilizer company, DSM, was able to lower its emissions by 21% through application of laughing gas removal technology.

Impressive achievements. Promises of being able to live with effects of global warming.

The Dutch Plan Bureau for Environment states that the economic crisis will help The Netherlands meet its Kyoto target. This target is 6% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions relevant to 1990 levels, by 2012. It fears that a 20% reduction by 2020 will be more difficult to achieve.

We might conclude that for the Earth’s sake, the economic crisis should continue. And by the time this crisis is over, we might have had enough of a prod in the back of climate change effects, to start doing things differently.

Like, consuming necessary things, according to real needs. And real needs will be better assessed by living for the common good, rather than for “number one.”

Sources:

http://www.volkskrant.nl/economie/article1246730.ece/Recessie_levert_schonere_lucht_op