VCE Environmental Science

Paul Gilding (writer, advisor and advocate for action on climate change and sustainability) writes in his blog, “The Cockatoo Chronicles” the following…”I believe humanity has entered a period of great economic and social transformation, what I call the Great Disruption. The global economy has now hit its ecological and resource limits so it can grow no more, triggering the global ecological and economic crisis now unfolding as the current system breaks down. The exciting thing about this moment is that the crisis presents an historic and exciting opportunity to build a new approach to economic and social development for humanity.” You can hear him speak at an ABC forum here: Background Briefing: The Great Disruption.

 Another interesting article about the fate of humans on our planet, written by Peter Spinks, here: Doomed by Life.

Image Source: Piotr Fajfer / Oxfam International 

This picture is from a series called “Climate Change Canvas” from artists all over the world, put together by Oxfam International to raise awareness of the human impact of climate change, especially in our poorest communities.

Graeme Daniel has compiled a list of links to sites about adapting to climate change, including policies in different countries, economic perspectives, agriculture, food and water resources, strategies and planning, books and news articles. This up-to-date and extensive list also includes regions at risk by country.

Earth Hour is all about sending a message that even small acts can make a difference - switching off a light might not seem like a big deal, but if everyone in a school, town, city or country turns off their power, people take notice! This Saturday, 28th March, wherever you are at 8.30pm, turn off the lights and do something without using electricity. You could play a board game, listen to a friend play some guitar, go for a walk or just watch the stars! Your light switch is your vote for planet earth – send a message to our government and politicians around the world that you care about climate change and you want them to take action against greenhouse gas emissions.

Image Source

The Age Education – “Tapping into a core promise”

Geothermal Energy Resources of Victoria (by SKM) 2.29 MB pdf file

“Hot rocks concentrated in the upper five kilometres of the Earth’s crust interest us the most,” Dr McLaren says. “Geothermal is one of the most viable alternative energy sources in terms of providing base-load power. It’s a simple and environmentally friendly process where water is circulated through the hot rocks and the steam produced turns turbines to generate power.”

“Geothermal energy in Portland has been utilised since 1983. Portland draws its water supplies from deep bores drilled some 1400metres below the natural surface. Portland has four bores and the temperature of the water in the bores is 56 to 59 degrees centigrade which until 1983 was cooled by forced ventilation cooling towers to 26 to 34 degrees before being placed in the City’s water reticulation system for consumption.

Since 1983 a system has been developed utilising one of the bores and extended to heat various Council facilities, such as the Municipal Offices, Civic Hall, CEMA Arts Centre, Senior Citizens Centre, Portland Leisure and Aquatic Centre, Municipal Library, Tourist Information Office, History House and a Multi-Purpose Building.

Reticulation to the facilities is by underground piping. The water is then returned after the heat has been extracted from it, to the cooling tower where it is placed over the tower to further cool and remove any H2S gas and some iron. Then, it is placed into the city’s water reticulation system for consumption.

Since the installation, the system has now been extended to a number of customers including the Portland and District Hospital, Richmond Henty Hotel Motel and the Police Station. At present, only approximately 25% of the heat energy is utilised, with existing bores possessing considerable spare capacity. Hotter temperatures are also available, with the digging of deeper bores. This surplus that is available, and the accessibility of hotter temperatures, could possibly be used for further business developments in the future, such as Aquaculture and Health Spas. There is considerable local expertise and skills with the existing systems that can be utilised by newcomers to the industry.”

Submitted by Garry Purton, Manager for Economic Development and Tourism to the MRET Review

(19th May, 2003)

Calls to reopen geothermal heating plant. (ABC News, April 29th 2008)

Investor search continues for Hot Rocks. (ABC News, 19th February, 2009)

Cool Melbourne Resources:

• Gas
• Geothermal

This collage of words was created using “Wordle” and words from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Summary Report – Causes of Change. It provides a snapshot of the main theme – that the observed increases of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are most likely caused by humans.

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Professor Ross Garnaut has warned that the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu’s wetland system and the Murray-Darling Basin are all at risk from the warmer, drier temperatures and rising sea-levels caused by climate change. Professor Garnaut released his draft review of the social and economic effects of a carbon emissions scheme yesterday. “The risk can be substantially reduced by strong and early action by all major ecomonies”, he said in a speech to the National Press Club.

On the same day, Origin Energy has finally committed to building a $640 million gas-fired power plant at Mortlake. The 1,000 MW facility will be built in stages and, when completed, will produce enough electricity to power up to 1.5 million homes. Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor, claims that the gas-fired plant will emit 70% less greenhouse gases than a brown coal fired plant.