Running a business in Australia’s energy sector is difficult. Proprietors have to contend with intense competition, rapid technological change, climate change, natural disasters…even complaints about rising…
Campaigns to switch off won’t work until they fit in with the ways we already behave.
Andrew Huff
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions requires behavioural change. But how do we get individuals into this habit or, for that matter, any habit that reduces energy consumption? Two academic disciplines concern…
We are all now used to an international standard of cooling comfort: 22 degrees celsius.
bondidwhat/Flickr
For the past few weeks, billboard posters across Doha have promoted the International Climate talks with the < 2°C logo - a reference to the ambition of maintaining average global temperatures less…
Buildings in New York are given an environmental energy rating. Less than 750 buildings in Australia have been similarly rated.
L C Nottaasen/Flickr
Improving the health of our building operations is one of the most effective, current ways to reduce our impact on climate change. And just as in medicine, being able to diagnose and improve health requires…
The internet of the future could consume 10% of the world’s electricity supply.
rachel_titiriga
Despite its new economy sheen, the internet represents a surprisingly large old economy drain on energy resources. Industry and academia must work together to ensure the internet is a positive contributor…
Tony Abbott described the carbon tax as a python that would strangle the economy, but it’s more of a lolly snake.
Flickr/anenomeprojectors
Some critics of carbon pricing have pointed out that, over time, the carbon price will increase to a much higher level and devastate the economy. Indeed, the image of a python squeezing the life out of…
Other countries laugh at the energy performance of Australian buildings.
purplemattfish/Flickr
A mere 26 years after appliance energy labelling was first introduced in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia is about to move to a national legislative framework for appliance energy efficiency. A…
Switching off the beer fridge in the garage when you’re not using it could save you as much as you’ll spend on the carbon tax.
Keenan Brown
If Treasury modelling is right, about half of household carbon cost will be included in energy bills, which are now about 3% of household expenditure. That means the carbon cost on energy adds about 0.3…
Australian researchers are looking for ways to reduce the energy consumption of aluminium smelting.
AAP
The Australian aluminium industry is in the doldrums. A high dollar, low prices and Asian competition are threatening the industry, with older plants in New South Wales and Victoria under threat of closure…
Embrace the blazing sphere.
AAP/EPA/NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory
John Gardner, US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare joined Lyndon Johnson’s cabinet in 1965 to help create a ‘Great Society’ to end poverty, promote equality, improve education, rejuvenate cities…
Emissions spiked, thanks to more intensive energy use.
Louis Vest
Recessions are not the way to permanently cut greenhouse gas emissions. Global emissions surged during 2010, cancelling out the reductions from the global financial crisis (GFC). Emissions took off in…
Can a whiter roof make your home cooler? What about your whole city? The existing literature and theory suggests that increasing the albedo - or reflectiveness - of a building will reflect incoming sun…
An “eco village” in the UK. With the right policies, energy-efficiency has a future in Australia.
telex4
Mandatory energy efficiency ratings for houses have been in force in parts of the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe for some time and appear to have gained general acceptance. New homes in particular…
There’s no shortage of hype around thorium, but how justified is the excitement?
AzureGrackel
You have probably heard at least a little about thorium. There are certainly advocates out there who strongly believe it could help solve the world’s energy problems. The idea is that thorium-based nuclear…
Energy production worldwide has become even more reliant on coal.
Joost J Bakker IJmuiden
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: A paper published yesterday shows global industrial emissions of carbon dioxide, overwhelmingly from fossil fuels, jumped by 5.9% from 2009 to 2010. This is a big increase…