Power plan maps out route to follow for 100% renewable energy future
A plan to transform Australia’s energy use to 100% renewables was published by GetUp! and SolarCitizens after a modelling study commissioned by the groups suggested such a transition was technically feasible and would be cheaper than the status quo. The “homegrown power plan” explains several policy ideas the two organisations say would achieve a switch to 100% renewable energy while delivering more equitable access to electricity and a fair transition for workers in the fossil fuel industry. The plan proposes changes in three broad areas: regulation, funding and obstacles to the establishment of renewable energy. It recommends amending the national electricity objective, one of the main regulatory instruments that governs the national electricity market. The report argues the country needs a ramped-up renewable energy target, aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2030. “The institute for sustainable future research shows it is 100% doable,” said Miriam Lyons, from GetUp! (Guardian)
Technology & Innovation
UN agency and Google collaborate on satellite data tools to manage natural resources
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Google announced plans to work together to make high-resolution satellite data a common tool in managing the world’s natural resources, to boost efforts towards the pursuit of sustainable development. The UN agency and Google are “ushering in an unprecedented level of environmental literacy,” said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva. The initial focus of the collaboration is in the forestry sector. The agency’s software and Google’s accessible geospatial data archives will allow experts to conduct a mapping and classification exercise, that used to take weeks or months, in a few hours. FAO stressed that opportunities for future collaboration are “vast”. “Partnerships like this bring our products into actual use,” said Rebecca Moore, Director of Google Earth, Earth Engine and Earth Outreach. The partnership with FAO is a way “we can each bring our unique strengths to make a change for future generations,” she added. (Eco-Business)
Environment
Economic losses from natural disasters counted
Natural disasters around the globe have resulted in economic losses of $7 trillion and more than eight million deaths since 1900, according to a new calculation. A team from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, using information on floods, droughts, storms, volcanoes, earthquakes and wildfires concluded that around a 40% of economic losses are ascribed to flooding. Earthquakes accounted for about a quarter, storms for about a fifth, 12% due to drought, 2% to wildfire, and less than a 1% to volcanic eruptions. Although the economic losses have increased during the past century, these losses now represent a smaller fraction of the total value globally of buildings and other infrastructure. According to scientists, this means that we are now doing better at mitigating the consequences of natural disasters. However country by country circumstances vary. For example, in the UK the largest losses tend to be from floods, in Chile and New Zealand from earthquakes and in large parts of central Africa and South America from heatwaves and drought. (BBC)
Businesses must take responsibility to prevent fires
Singapore and Indonesian government officials say companies must ensure that sustainable policies and practices are implemented throughout their supply chain. Speaking at the Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources held in Singapore, the country’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said “Companies must ensure that sustainable policies and practices don’t stop with them, but are implemented throughout their supply chain.” Masagos’s comment follows the announcement, by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, to ban new oil palm and mining permits in a bid to curb deforestation. The Indonesian premier has just appointed former WWF conservationist Nazir Foead to head an agency looking into rehabilitating peatlands in the country. This decision comes after several hotspots have emerged in Indonesia in recent weeks, where a palm oil company has lost major customers following a suspension of the company’s certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) over deforestation practices. (Eco-Business)
Corporate Reputation
Dow’s new microfoam packaging technology to help lessen impact of Rio 2016 Olympics
The Dow Chemical Company has launched a new microfoaming technology for the packaging industry in Latin America. The project is part of a Dow’s programme focused on mitigating the carbon footprint of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “The leveraging of the microfoaming technology as one of the Rio 2016 carbon mitigation projects promotes a rational utilization of packaging and showcases how it can help enable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” said Paloma Alonso, commercial VP of Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics Latin America. This technology reduces greenhouse gas emissions through new production methods that lead to higher productivity and improvements in the extrusion process of films. “As the Official Chemistry Company of the Olympic Games and the Official Carbon Partner of Rio 2016, Dow is engaging the value chain to help us deliver on our carbon-mitigation commitments,” said Tania Braga, Rio 2016 head of Sustainability, Legacy and Accessibility.(SustainableBrands)
Image source: Oil Palm Concession in Riau, Sumatra by Hayden / CC BY 2.0
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