
Australian Conservation Foundation
Australia’s new clean energy law, passed through the Senate Nov. 8, is the result of more than a decade of effort by countless Australians who have worked tirelessly for action on climate change.
“Scientists have warned about climate change for decades—in fact the first article about carbon pollution in the Australian Conservation Foundation's (ACF) Habitat magazine was in 1974—and now we have a law to make polluters pay,” said ACF CEO Don Henry.
“So many Australians have played a part in making this a reality—the scientists who sounded the warnings about atmospheric changes and bleaching of coral reefs, the business leaders who stood with ACF and called for a price on pollution in 2006, and of course the millions of people who wrote, visited Members of Parliament, protested and voted for action on climate change.
“This important first step in the process of tackling climate change is for all those who have said yes to a clean energy future.
“I would like to commend all the serving politicians—Labor, Green and independent—who have had the courage, foresight and determination to say yes in the parliament, despite the intense pressure they have faced from a well-funded scare campaign against this law by vested interests who don’t want to change.
“Industries that do want to contribute to creating a cleaner and healthier future for our children and grandchildren now have an incentive to find new, cleaner ways to do business.
“ACF encourages the government to move quickly to establish in law the important complementary parts of the clean energy package, particularly the Clean Energy Finance Corporation—the body that will help harness Australia’s massive untapped, abundant renewable energy resources.”
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The wide ranging plan, entitled Securing a Clean Energy Future, will take effect from July 2012. The announcement comes after months of negotiations led by the Multi Party Climate Change Committee.
The key points of the package include:
• A fixed price of $23 per tonne for 3 years, rising by 2.5 per cent each year
• The scheme applies to the 500 biggest polluters
• The fixed price will be replaced by a market based price as of July 2015, with an overall cap on emissions
• The market based price will have a price floor and ceiling
• CPI is expected to rise by 0.7 per cent in 2012 due to the carbon price
Clean energy support
• The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will be created with $10 billion of funding to invest in renewable energy schemes.
• Existing $3.2billion government funding will be consolidated and administered by the newly created Australian Renewable Energy Agency
• A grant program will provide funding for community energy efficiency programs
• There will be a negotiated closure of 2000 Megawatts of the most polluting power stations by 2020
Governance
• A new independent Climate Change Authority will advise on the setting of an overall emissions cap and other measures to meet emissions targets as in the UK. The final decision on any future cap will rest with Parliament.
Household and industry assistance
• More than 50 per cent of the revenue from the scheme will go directly to households, via tax cuts and additional welfare payments
• The tax-free threshold will triple to over $18,000, a reform that will take around 1 million low income earners out of the income tax system
• Average household costs will rise by $9.90 per week with average compensation of $10.10 per week
• $9.2 billion allocated over the first three years for industry assistance
• Trade exposed industries will get 94/5 per cent of permits for free
• $1.3 billion will go into a coal sector jobs package to help those mines most affected
• $300 million will be put aside to help the steel industry transition
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Wisdom the mōlī, or Laysan albatross, is the oldest wild bird known to science at the age of at least 70. She is also, as of February 1, a new mother.
<div id="dadb2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa2ad8cb566c9b4b6d2df2693669f6f9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1357796504740761602" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🚨Cute baby alert! Wisdom's chick has hatched!!! 🐣😍 Wisdom, a mōlī (Laysan albatross) and world’s oldest known, ban… https://t.co/Nco050ztBA</div> — USFWS Pacific Region (@USFWS Pacific Region)<a href="https://twitter.com/USFWSPacific/statuses/1357796504740761602">1612558888.0</a></blockquote></div>
The Science Behind Frozen Wind Turbines – and How to Keep Them Spinning Through the Winter
By Hui Hu
Winter is supposed to be the best season for wind power – the winds are stronger, and since air density increases as the temperature drops, more force is pushing on the blades. But winter also comes with a problem: freezing weather.
Comparing rime ice and glaze ice shows how each changes the texture of the blade. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
Ice buildup changes air flow around the turbine blade, which can slow it down. The top photos show ice forming after 10 minutes at different temperatures in the Wind Research Tunnel. The lower measurements show airflow separation as ice accumulates. Icing Research Tunnel of Iowa State University, CC BY-ND
How ice builds up on the tips of turbine blades. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
While traditional investment in the ocean technology sector has been tentative, growth in Israeli maritime innovations has been exponential in the last few years, and environmental concern has come to the forefront.
theDOCK aims to innovate the Israeli maritime sector. Pexels
<p>The UN hopes that new investments in ocean science and technology will help turn the tide for the oceans. As such, this year kicked off the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)</a> to galvanize massive support for the blue economy.</p><p>According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem," <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338255#b0245" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science Direct</a> reported. It represents this new sector for investments and innovations that work in tandem with the oceans rather than in exploitation of them.</p><p>As recently as Aug. 2020, <a href="https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/esg-investors-slow-make-waves-25tn-ocean-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> noted that ESG Investors, those looking to invest in opportunities that have a positive impact in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, have been interested in "blue finance" but slow to invest.</p><p>"It is a hugely under-invested economic opportunity that is crucial to the way we have to address living on one planet," Simon Dent, director of blue investments at Mirova Natural Capital, told Reuters.</p><p>Even with slow investment, the blue economy is still expected to expand at twice the rate of the mainstream economy by 2030, Reuters reported. It already contributes $2.5tn a year in economic output, the report noted.</p><p>Current, upward <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/-innovation-blue-economy-2646147405.html" target="_self">shifts in blue economy investments are being driven by innovation</a>, a trend the UN hopes will continue globally for the benefit of all oceans and people.</p><p>In Israel, this push has successfully translated into investment in and innovation of global ports, shipping, logistics and offshore sectors. The "Startup Nation," as Israel is often called, has seen its maritime tech ecosystem grow "significantly" in recent years and expects that growth to "accelerate dramatically," <a href="https://itrade.gov.il/belgium-english/how-israel-is-becoming-a-port-of-call-for-maritime-innovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iTrade</a> reported.</p><p>Driving this wave of momentum has been rising Israeli venture capital hub <a href="https://www.thedockinnovation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">theDOCK</a>. Founded by Israeli Navy veterans in 2017, theDOCK works with early-stage companies in the maritime space to bring their solutions to market. The hub's pioneering efforts ignited Israel's maritime technology sector, and now, with their new fund, theDOCK is motivating these high-tech solutions to also address ESG criteria.</p><p>"While ESG has always been on theDOCK's agenda, this theme has become even more of a priority," Nir Gartzman, theDOCK's managing partner, told EcoWatch. "80 percent of the startups in our portfolio (for theDOCK's Navigator II fund) will have a primary or secondary contribution to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria."</p><p>In a company presentation, theDOCK called contribution to the ESG agenda a "hot discussion topic" for traditional players in the space and their boards, many of whom are looking to adopt new technologies with a positive impact on the planet. The focus is on reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment, the presentation outlines. As such, theDOCK also explicitly screens candidate investments by ESG criteria as well.</p><p>Within the maritime space, environmental innovations could include measures like increased fuel and energy efficiency, better monitoring of potential pollution sources, improved waste and air emissions management and processing of marine debris/trash into reusable materials, theDOCK's presentation noted.</p>theDOCK team includes (left to right) Michal Hendel-Sufa, Head of Alliances, Noa Schuman, CMO, Nir Gartzman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, and Hannan Carmeli, Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Dudu Koren
<p>theDOCK's own portfolio includes companies like Orca AI, which uses an intelligent collision avoidance system to reduce the probability of oil or fuel spills, AiDock, which eliminates the use of paper by automating the customs clearance process, and DockTech, which uses depth "crowdsourcing" data to map riverbeds in real-time and optimize cargo loading, thereby reducing trips and fuel usage while also avoiding groundings.</p><p>"Oceans are a big opportunity primarily because they are just that – big!" theDOCK's Chief Marketing Officer Noa Schuman summarized. "As such, the magnitude of their criticality to the global ecosystem, the magnitude of pollution risk and the steps needed to overcome those challenges – are all huge."</p><p>There is hope that this wave of interest and investment in environmentally-positive maritime technologies will accelerate the blue economy and ESG investing even further, in Israel and beyond.</p>- 14 Countries Commit to Ocean Sustainability Initiative - EcoWatch ›
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