Where were you last night?

Earth Hour last night was a positive step, and one that now has a global voice. Many households and businesses participated, by turning off non-essential lights and appliances for one hour. Those that did not participate were noticed by individuals (like myself) who took the opportunity to wander around their own community. More people now sense the changes that are imminent, while many others are complacent and expect things to soon "get back to normal".

How likely is that and what is normal? In the February 09 issue of the WME magazine, Australian environmental advocate and business advisor, Paul Gilding states that "the significance of the change we are about to see can barely be overstated; any company that is not preparing for this new world will probably not survive". The normal of the future will be different in political, cultural and industrial terms, according to Paul. To reduce our emissions, Paul noted that we need "a complete transformation of the electricity supply industry, the retrofitting of every building, the replacement of the transport fleet and an end to waste through a system of deposit and take back regulations."

So if you were one of the non-participating businesses or households last night, take some time to review your situation, and how you will manage when the others who have glimpsed the future are headed in a new direction.

Renew with environmentally friendly paint

The latest RENEW magazine has an article about paint by Daniel Wurm from GreenPainters. He talks about how many regular paints "release low level toxic fumes, causing health problems and breathing irritation" plus he adds that there is also an environmental impact whereby volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may react in the environment to form ozone.

Daniel explains that there are alternatives, and his article covers low VOC products and plant based paints, the benefits and some of the downsides. He says "the biggest advantage of plant-based paints is the fact that they largely contain renewable resources, and because the ingredients are biodegradable, almost all waste products can be composted".

For most businesses, painting is an essential when setting up a new premises, or revamping an old one. And it's just as important if you work from home. According to Daniel, "using greener paints doesn't have to add significant cost to the project". For more details check out Green Painters or to read the full article, pick up a copy of RENEW at your local Aussie or NZ newsagent.

Sustainable Future

How to achieve our sustainable future ? A big question but one that needs to be asked at all levels of our society. This week I asked it of some new business owners in my Future Business workshop. We reviewed trends in areas such as population, climate, and energy - to be part of the future, business owners need to consider changes in the environment where their business operates and global environmental changes. And business owners will have an advantage if they understand the new values and expectations of their clients, suppliers, and their staff, especially in delivering more sustainable products and services. Our model for what makes a successful business is changing and developing. Rigid business structures are causing the demise of many businesses, while business owners that adapt to this new sustainable direction are positioned for the future.

And for the magic formula for success, there's no guaranteed recipe -but my tip is to look ahead, and to plan for a sustainable future.

Improve soil productivity with sequestered carbon

Today was a typically beautiful Aussie autumn day, and a trip to Somersby was an enjoyable outing, just one hour north of Sydney, to one of the many factories located in a bushland setting. So what about the sequestered carbon and the soil?

Best Energies Australia claims to have developed some key technologies for a slow pyrolysis process using organic waste as such as greenwaste, poultry litter, nut shells, wood waste or animal manure. The outputs are syngas for electric generation (primarily used on-site) and a biochar end product which both locks away carbon and can be used for soil productivity. We were shown visuals of crops grown using the char under test conditions and the results seem impressive. But more importantly, according to Adriana Downie, Technical Manager, is the potential for the biochar to sequester carbon for thousands of years.

According to Adriana, there is a business opportunity in these waste plants and several potential revenue streams, including income from waste management, energy production, sales of the biochar product, and possibly also income from the carbon offset market. Each plant would have its own mix of revenue streams, and this would depend on local parameters and the type of feedstock.

Best Energies already has a test plant at Somersby - today, it was producing biochar for a small order. There has been considerable media interest in this technology, and now it's time for a larger plant. Contact Best Energies for the financial models, but the reasons to do this may be more than financial. The extra bonus is about becoming a leader in developing a relatively low cost way to reduce our global carbon footprint, at the same time as managing our organic waste and improving our food supply for a growing global population.

My picture of the Pyrolysis plant at Somersby

Clear Nights + Sunny Days = Power

This month's speaker at the Sydney Group of the Alternative Technology Association was Geoff Smith, Professor of Applied Physics at the University of Technology (Institute of Nanotechnology)

Geoff presented a fascinating talk on what is currently being done in terms of heating and cooling, by new surface coatings and materials and by understanding the processes involved. He explained some of the science and he then offered some insights into the potential. According to Geoff: "using what the environment has to offer for cooling is the hidden gem in the renewables toolkit. Not only does it offer totally new paradigms for low or zero energy cooling of buildings ( a “must” for global warming adaptation), but opens the door to new concepts for generating 24/7 electric power at scales and costs which have the potential to undercut all current renewable and conventional approaches. Using the cool in the deep ocean or at height in the atmosphere are known examples; attractive but technically difficult and expensive. Making the most of our radiative links to outerspace and the atmosphere are however much easier. An example recipe: clear night skies plus clear sunny days , add materials knowhow and quite low cost infrastructure covering about 3 sq. km (1km radius) and you should be able to produce between 70 MW and 100 MW of power."

And he added that : "If the system is pressurized with CO2 it could work even better and in the process, sequester a few thousand tonnes of carbon. "

Seems to me that we should be looking all around us for the solutions we need - they may be closer than we think. Just take the time tonight to look up and ponder about that.

Pic ex Flickr Milky Way + Banyanda by Kasi Metcalfe

Reorient and Retool

Thomas L Friedman has this wonderful ability to ask meaningful questions, ones that relate to our shared existence on this planet. In an Opinion article published in the New York Times, he asks the question: "What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession? What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall — when Mother Nature and the market both said: “No more.”

So what are we doing about this? In the same article, he calls himself an optimist, and comments: "People are already using this economic slowdown to retool and reorient economies." By "people", he means the countries that are making huge investments in clean power. It's beginning to happen - but some "people" are lagging behind, and some investments are being used to try to kick start the same system that led us to this problem.

Australia has often been called "the lucky country" - in this next decade we need more than luck, we need to retool and reorient our economy. We have the wealth and the expertise, so what are we waiting for?

To Twit or not to Twit?

Yes, I too have now decided to test my twitter wings - see my twitter page