Hot New Docs

Process magazine: June issue

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:12:00 +0000

Source: CSIRO
"The June 2009 issue of Process looks at a diverse range of projects that aim to improve the environmental, economic and social sustainability of Australia's minerals and coal industries."

Metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria for ethanol production

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:07:00 +0000

Source: Energy and Environmental Science, vol.2 (2009)
"Development of renewable energy is rapidly being embraced by our society and industry to achieve the nation's economic growth goals and to help address the world's energy and global warming crises. Currently most of the bioethanol production is from the fermentation of agricultural crops and residues. There is much debate concerning the cost effectiveness and energy efficiency of such biomass based ethanol production processes. Here, we report the creation of a Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 strain that can photoautotrophically convert CO2 to bioethanol.

Urban congestion: why "free" roads are costly

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:57:00 +0000

Source: Australian Treasury
"Many see traffic jams as a fact of city life, but its root cause is overuse of a common resource – the urban road network. Putting a price on access to roads at busy times could encourage individuals to change their travel plans, according to this report. Most roads are nominally ‘free’ to drive on, resulting in demand for many roads that exceeds capacity at relatively predictable times. This means that motorists do in fact pay – in wasted time – to drive on ‘free’ roads at peak periods, which disrupts the flow of people and goods in the economy, harming productivity and growth – as well as frustrating all road users."

Green building and development as a public good

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:53:00 +0000

Source: Canadian Policy Research Networks
"In Green Building and Development as a Public Good, Mike Buzzelli argues that green building and development faces a classic policy paradox: we collectively agree that improvements are needed in the built environment but we are caught in a whirlwind of information and debate about how to move forward. We are motivated to “be green” but challenged by implementation."

Moving cooler: an analysis of transportation strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (summary)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:36:00 +0000

Source: Natural Resources Defense Organisation
"The first-ever comprehensive analysis of transportation efficiency and its relationship to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and consumer savings was released by a diverse group of stakeholders committed to addressing climate change. Sponsored by transportation experts, industry, environmental organizations, federal agencies, trade associations and leading foundations, the report provides an objective and scientific analysis of the effectiveness and cost of almost 50 scalable transportation strategies, both alone and combined, to reduce GHG emissions."

"True" conservation progress

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:28:00 +0000

source: Wentworth Group of Scientists
"Hugh Possingham’s latest paper, “True” Conservation Progress, appearing in Science (Vol 323, 2 January 2009), explains that success in conserving biodiversity is best evaluated with a metric based on the concept of a conservation balance sheet."

Climate change adaptation actions for local government

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:22:00 +0000

Source: Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation
"The report says many Australian sectors and systems are highly vulnerable to climate change, including the functions and responsibilities of local government. It says local government’s response to climate change requires a dual approach:
- management and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation); and
- making adjustments to existing activities and practices so the potential impacts of climate change can be reduced (adaptation).
The report says mitigation and adaptation measures should be considered simultaneously because they are complementary rather than exclusive. It looks at the potential impacts of climate change on a wide range of services that councils provide including infrastructure and property services; recreational facilities; health services; planning and development approvals; natural resource management and water and sewerage services."

Gearing up: business readiness for climate change

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:16:00 +0000

Source: KPMG
"A major national survey into business readiness for climate change shows that while businesses are beginning the journey of adapting to emerging carbon constraints, there is a lack of understanding about the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) and a worrying surge in regulation associated with greenhouse gas emissions. The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) / KPMG report “Gearing Up: Business Readiness for Climate Change”, is based on a survey of around 400 businesses in the manufacturing, construction and services sectors. It examines what stage businesses are at in adapting to emerging carbon constraints; how well businesses are prepared for the introduction of a national emissions trading scheme; and the extent of regulatory burdens in this area."

State of denial: the impact of the CPRS on state government budgets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:02:00 +0000

source: Australia Institute
"While the Commonwealth will receive a windfall of more than $10 billion per year in revenue from auctioning pollution permits, state and local governments will transfer more than $2 billion a year to the Commonwealth Government. In addition, the states will be liable for tens of billions of dollars-worth of expenditure associated with adapting to climate change because the federal government, which is giving away more than $10 billion in compensation to households and polluters each year, will not be providing state governments with any financial assistance to meet either the direct costs of the CPRS or the need for urgent investment in adaptation infrastructure."

The impact of traffic emissions on atmospheric ozone and OH: results from QUANTIFY

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Source: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol.9,no.9 (2009)
"To estimate the impact of emissions by road, aircraft and ship traffic on ozone and OH in the present-day atmosphere six different atmospheric chemistry models have been used. Based on newly developed global emission inventories for road, ship and aircraft emission data sets each model performed sensitivity simulations reducing the emissions of each transport sector by 5%."

Accelerating smart grid investments

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Source: World Economic Forum
"The smart grid will enhance the way that utility companies manage assets and offer consumer-relevant products and services, how consumers interact with their energy supply, and how governments respond to the challenge of maintaining security of supply and reducing carbon levels while managing costs of energy delivery. However, a number of factors are holding back this transition and may ultimately act as a limiting factor to the broader drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This paper seeks to define smart grids and present a recommended design philosophy, identify the barriers to adoption and, finally, suggest potential strategies to address the challenges."

Climate change reference guide

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:03:00 +0000

source: World Resources Institute
"The one-stop resource of essential facts on Climate Change... including
Critical climate change facts at your fingertips; Sources of climate change; Measuring climate change; Consequences of greenhouse gas buildup; Climate diplomacy; Climate change glossary."

Urbanisation of the cassowary: impacts and economics

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:58:00 +0000

source: Reef and Rainforest Research Centre
"The Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii or 'cassowary') is a significant keystone species to the natural environment of the Wet Tropics. The cassowary is a major and often sole disperser of seeds for over one hundred species of rainforest trees and vines (BioTropica Australia 2005). Because of the importance of the cassowary to the overall biodiversity of the Wet Tropics, research into the refining, tailoring and application of a market based instrument (MBI) to manage for environmental conservation in developing areas will use a viable cassowary population as the objective of any instrument mix analysed."

Market segmentation study of rural landholders in relation to the promotion of natural resource management on private land in the Wet Tropics region

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:49:00 +0000

Source: Reef and Rainforest Research Centre
"This report describes a series of community sector or group profiles with varying levels of interest and engagement in natural resource management (NRM) activities, based on responses to a survey of rural landholders in the Wet Tropics NRM region of far northern Queensland. Indices were developed to represent landholders' interest in and concern about NRM issues and to represent their level of engagement with (i.e. adoption of) currently recommended practices (CRPs)."

A quiet revolution: city governments tackle climate change

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:48:00 +0000

Source: Australian Review of Public Affairs, July 2009.
"While the introduction of policies to deal with global warming continues to cause angst for the Australian federal government, a quiet revolution has been occurring in the nation’s capital cities. Since the mid-1990s Australia’s city governments have been introducing policies and signing international agreements that seek to reduce the contribution of metropolitan areas to global warming."

A healthier future for all Australians: final report

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:47:00 +0000

Source: National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission
"A Healthier Future For All Australians – the final report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission – provides the governments of Australia with a practical national plan for health reform that will benefit Australians, not just now but well into the future. Major access and equity issues include:
Improving health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ; Improved care for people with serious mental illness; Support for people living in remote and rural areas; Improved access to dental health care; Timely access to quality care in public hospitals."

Breaking through on technology: perspectives from Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:46:00 +0000

Source: Climate Institute
"This paper presents an Australian perspective on the opportunities and barriers to clean technology development, deployment and transfer, both within and between countries. The research is based on interviews with individuals from government, the private sector, academia, industry groups and other stakeholders. The research focussed on five key themes: (i) national priorities for clean technology development and deployment; (ii) barriers to technology development and deployment within Australia; (iii) opportunities and challenges presented by the domestic policy setting; (iv) barriers to technology transfer between countries; and (v) priorities for the post-2012 climate change agreement."

consultation regulatory impact statement: televisions and computers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:57:00 +0000

source: EPHC
"The regulatory impact statement assesses proposed options to address identified problems with end-of-life televisions and computers. This consultation regulatory impact statement does not propose to address the whole issue of end of life electrical and electronic products, but rather it is part of a proposed incremental approach."

Willingness to pay for e-waste recycling: final report

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Source: EPHC
"There is little incentive for businesses to provide e-waste recycling services, as the cost involved in collection and processing far outweighs the possible value of materials recovered. Given that community concern exists about the low level of recycling currently undertaken, this project's objective was to determine if that concern would translate into a willingness to pay (WTP) for higher levels of recycling achieved via government intervention."

Overcoming indigenous disadvantage: key indicators 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:28:00 +0000

Source: Productivity Commission
"In 2002, Australian governments committed themselves collectively to overcoming the disadvantage experienced by Indigenous Australians. As part of this commitment, governments agreed to a regular public report on progress — the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators report. This is the fourth edition of that report. This report is more than a collection of data. It draws on extensive evidence to identify the areas where government policies will have the greatest impact. Over time, the report measures the effects of those policies — and reveals where more effort is required. This was recognised in the updated terms of reference for this report, provided this year by the Prime Minister on behalf of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG)."

Climate science 2008: major new discoveries

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:24:00 +0000

Source: World Resources Institute
"A new report of scientific findings confirms not only that human activity is the primary cause of rising temperatures, but that climate change impacts are accelerating. The compilation of peer-reviewed research includes evidence that melting rates for mountain glaciers around the world doubled between 2004 and 2006, and that more than 28,000 plant and animal species are changing habits due to new climatic conditions."

The UK low carbon transition plan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:14:00 +0000

source: UK Dept. of Energy and Climate Change
"The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan plots out how the UK will meet the cut in emissions set out in the budget of 34% on 1990 levels by 2020. A 21% reduction has already been delivered – equivalent to cutting emissions entirely from four cities the size of London. Transforming the country into a cleaner, greener and more prosperous place to live is at the heart of our economic plans for Building Britain’s Future and ensuring the UK is ready to take advantage of the opportunities ahead."

Key scientific developments since the IPCC fourth assessment report

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:03:00 +0000

Source: Pew Center on Global Climate Change
"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)released its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) in 2007. Since the IPCC considers only published, peer-reviewed science in its assessments, the AR4 did not examine any research published after July 2006. In the years since then, a significant body of new peer-reviewed science has been published, much of which is relevant to policy decisions that will be made before the next IPCC assessment, due in 2014. A brief overview of some key new findings is provided here."

International journal of global warming

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:48:00 +0000

Issues 1,2 & 3 of the International journal of global warming - free downloads.

Border Ranges rainforest biodiversity management plan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:45:00 +0000

Source: Dept. of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
"The Border Ranges Rainforest Biodiversity Management Plan constitutes the formal national regional recovery plan for threatened species and communities of the Border Ranges North and South (Queensland and New South Wales) Biodiversity Hotspot. The Plan considers the conservation requirements of rainforest and closely related species and communities in the Border Ranges region of NSW and Queensland, which is centred on the McPherson Ranges. It also addresses other species of conservation significance so as to manage the area’s biodiversity in a holistic and cost-effective manner."