The technology used to power the city of San Fransokyo in Disney’s most recent animated feature film Big Hero 6, seems far fetched, but Continue reading Disney’s Big Hero 6 tech is not that far away
Tag Archives: Clean Energy
Google’s new space-age city is the coolest office ever
Google is designing new headquarters, and they are going to be amazing. This film (above) talks about the architects’ ongoing design Continue reading Google’s new space-age city is the coolest office ever
What our top CEO’s think about sustainability, energy and women in the workplace.
As a way of kickstarting the year, Tony Boyd and Michael Smith of the Australian Financial Review decided to survey some of Australia’s top CEO’s from banking, resources, media, property, insurance, infrastructure and retail to find out their predictions for 2015. The questions asked are Continue reading What our top CEO’s think about sustainability, energy and women in the workplace.
TED Talks: Five climate change lessons from the Amazon
A new TED Talk just released (above) brings us the story of Brazil’s fight against deforestation, and shows us how the lessons learned can be applied to global climate change mitigation. Filmed late last year, the talk is presented by Tasso Azevedo, the man responsible for spearheading Brazil’s anti-deforestation operations, who now works internationally on global climate change and reforestation efforts. Continue reading TED Talks: Five climate change lessons from the Amazon
What you need to know about Australia’s clean energy
Earlier this week we talked about Australia’s energy mix in the context of the global renewables market, but it’s important in this conversation to understand our own energy market. Currently our renewable electricity generation stands at 14.76% of total output, and the breakdown of that mix is below:
Australia’s total electricity consumption stands at 213,500 Gigawatt hours (GWh). Renewable energy accounts for 34,750 GWh of this, producing enough power for 4.9 million households for a year (2013 figures). Hydro, wind and solar PV will be the focus of our discussion as they make up 93% of our current renewable output. Continue reading What you need to know about Australia’s clean energy
Global Renewable Energy: How does Australia stack up?
The beginning of a new year is as good a time as any to take stock of where we are as a nation and see how our fledgeling renewable energy industry stacks up against other countries’ markets. This is a difficult comparison to make, given the vast differences in geography, population, development and technological capability that we find across our globe. To paint a more rounded picture, we will look at the general state of renewable energy amongst the top 20 nations, ranked by Nominal GDP
(for this discussion we are using nominal GDP as it doesn’t take into account inflation – something that would have a volatile effect if we were reviewing GDP over a period of time rather than at just its current value).
In this ranking from the World Bank, Australia’s GDP is ranked 12th, making us relatively on par with Canada and Spain, who are, as it turns out, model bedfellows. Renewables (particularly hydro power) contribute 16.9% of Canada’s total energy supply, whilst accounting for a whopping 59% of its electricity generation. Spain paints a similar picture, with around 50% of its electricity coming from renewables, predominantly hydro and wind power (2013 figures).
So how does Australia sit comparative to its global neighbours? Continue reading Global Renewable Energy: How does Australia stack up?
The hills are alive, with the sound of backflips
SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEK. So lets start at the very beginning – a very good place to start. Earlier this week, the Federal Government’s energy policy took another hit, this time from Nobel Laureate and former US Energy Secretary to Obama, Dr Steven Chu, who was in town to accept an honourary Doctorate from ANU is an advocate of urgent transition from fossil fuels to nuclear and renewable energy to combat climate change. Continue reading The hills are alive, with the sound of backflips
US/China deal throws Abbott off balance
The news on everybody’s lips at the moment is, of course, the landmark decisions revealed yesterday by the US and China. For those who missed it, US President Obama announced that the USA would cut its carbon emissions by 26%-28% (from 2005 levels) by 2025, and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China would peak emissions by 2030, and aim to get 20% of its energy from clean/zero-carbon emission sources by the same date. Continue reading US/China deal throws Abbott off balance
Leonardo DiCaprio’s new movies stir up a storm
If you haven’t already seen it, here’s a series of new films narrated by Leonardo Di Caprio. We all saw him speak at the UN Climate Summit in September this year, as a UN Messenger of Peace, however Leo has been busy doing much more to change the hearts and minds of people everywhere. His own not-for-profit, the Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation has been protecting Earth’s last wild places and implementing solutions that create a harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world” since 1998. Continue reading Leonardo DiCaprio’s new movies stir up a storm
6 green innovations that make the world a better place
Last week, Sustaining People looked at 6 websites to inspire and innovate, so this week we thought we would turn our eye to green technology around the world that does the same thing, but also has the potential to sustain. Some of these inventions are operational, others are dreams that are slowly being realised. Some look as though they belong in a sci-fi movie. Take this first one for instance…
1. Altareos Energies
Altareos Energies is a really exciting wind power tech company that provides us with an alternative to current grounded wind turbines. Groups opposed to windfarms say they are an eyesore and affect birdlife, but the Altareos Buoyant Airborne Turbine (BAT) integrates ‘proven aerospace and wind turbine technology’ to create a floating power generator that can take advantage of the stronger and steadier winds that flow at altitudes over 300m (1000 feet). Continue reading 6 green innovations that make the world a better place
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