Process magazine: June issue

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

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.

Accelerating smart grid investments

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."

Breaking through on technology: perspectives from Australia

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."

Validation of direct natural gas use to reduce CO2 emissions

Source: American Gas Association
"The American Gas Association (AGA) today called attention to a recent study by the Gas Technology Institute that reports the increased “direct use” of natural gas in homes and businesses will reduce energy consumption, consumer energy costs and national CO2 emissions. Direct use refers to using natural gas in a residential or commercial capacity such as space heating, water heating, cooking and clothes drying. The study, found that when a societal subsidy such as a rebate or a tax credit is put in place to encourage the use of natural gas appliances, significant savings in energy costs, CO2 emissions, energy use, and electricity use can be achieved. "

Juice from concentrate: reducing emissions with concentrating solar thermal power

Source: World Resources Institute
"This report examines Concentrating Solar Thermal power (CST), a renewable energy resource that presents policy-makers and investors with a significant potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector."

Towards a low carbon future

Source: Royal Society
"This document is the report of a two-day discussion meeting Towards a low carbon future that was held at the Royal Society on 17–18 November 2008. The meeting reviewed the current and potential technological options and considers how they can contribute to an integrated energy strategy for the future. The Royal Society has previously commented on how to meet the UK’s energy needs, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The key conclusion arising from the meeting was that there is no single best solution in moving towards a low carbon future: an integrated approach making best use of all available technologies is required."

Power to change: Australia's wave energy future

Source: Carnegie Corporation
"Carnegie Corporation, a world-leading wave energy developer, has joined with WWF to push the benefits of the clean technology to the Aust Govt. A joint report on the industry in Aust, released last month, said "near-shore wave energy" could supply around four times Aust's current national power needs. Western Tas and NSW's southern and central coasts were also "optimal sites for wave energy plants", the report said. Wave energy projects could create up to 3,210 jobs by 2020 and 14,380 jobs by 2050, not only for white-collar workers but for metal workers, welders, builders, divers and maintenance workers."

Current state of development of electricity-generating technologies: a literative review (Lenzen report)

Source: Australian Uranium Association
"A new report spruiking the low-emission nature of nuclear power is not meant to influence current Aust govt policies that oppose a home-grown industry, says the Aust Uranium Assoc (AUA). The report, by Prof Manfred Lenzen of Syd Uni's Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis, acknowledged negative public perceptions about nuclear energy but said the technology was a "clean" power source. "Nuclear power is a low-carbon technology, with current emissions of around 65 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (g CO2/kWh)," the report said. Emission levels put nuclear power on par with wind energy."

Sustainable energy - without the hot air

Source: David Mackay
"This remarkable book sets out, with enormous clarity and objectivity, the various
alternative low-carbon pathways that are open to us."

Electricity from renewable resources

Source: National Academies of Sciences
"A component in the America's Energy Future study, Electricity from Renewable Resources examines the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar-photovoltaic, geothermal, solar-thermal, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources. The book focuses on those renewable sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years and will lead to a substantial impact on the U.S. energy system."

Do LEED-certified buildings save energy? yes, but..

Source: Institute for Research in Construction
"An analysis was carried out of data supplied by the New Buildings Institute and the US Green Buildings Council on measured energy use data from 100 LEED certified commercial and institutional buildings. These data were compared to the energy use of the general US commercial building stock. The authors also examined energy use by LEED certification level, and by energy-related credits achieved in the certification process. On average, LEED buildings used 18-39% less energy per floor area than their conventional counterparts. However, 28-35% of LEED buildings used more energy than their conventional counterparts."

The environment

Time magazine special edition on the environment.

Sustainable manufacturing and eco-innovation: towards a green economy

source: OECD policy brief
"This Policy Brief examines how innovation can result in new technological and systemic solutions to environmental challenges and contributes to a wider range of OECD work aimed at analysing the policies that can efficiently support the development and diffusion of eco-innovation. While industries are showing greater interest in sustainable production and are undertaking a number of corporate social responsibility initiatives, progress falls far short of meeting these pressing challenges. Moreover, improvements in efficiency in some regions have often been offset by increasing consumption in other regions, while efficiency gains in some areas are outpaced by scale effects. Without new policy action, recent OECD analysis suggests that global greenhouse gas emissions are likely to increase by 70% by 2050."

Clean energy lead by example guide

source: U.S. EPA
"EPA’s Clean Energy Lead by Example Guide helps states identify key strategies, resources and tools best-suited to their energy needs. Each strategy has been tested and is proven to be cost effective. The guide was created as part of EPA’s State Climate and Clean Energy Program, which assists states in developing and implementing clean energy policies and climate change solutions."

Climate 2030: a national blueprint for a clean energy economy

source: Union of Concerned Scientists
"Reducing oil dependence. Strengthening energy security. Creating jobs. Tackling global warming. Addressing air pollution. Improving our health. The United States has many reasons to make the transition to a clean energy economy. What we need is a comprehensive set of smart policies to jump-start this transition without delay and
maximize the benefits to our environment and economy. Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy (“the Blueprint”) answers that need."

Liquid transportation fuels from coal and biomass

source: National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
"Liquid fuels from biomass and coal have the potential to reduce petroleum fuel use and CO2 emissions in the U.S. transportation sector over the next 25 years, says a new report from the National Research Council. Even with abundant resources in biomass and coal, however, substantial investments in research, development, and commercial demonstration projects will be needed to produce these alternative liquid fuels in an environmentally conscious way, and at a level that could impact U.S. dependence on imported oil."

Regional employment and income opportunities provided by renewable energy generation

Source: Climate Institute
"This report gives detailed analysis about Australian clean energy jobs.Renewable energy generation is likely to expand markedly over the next two decades. The Federal Government is planning to implement the Renewable Energy Target Scheme (RET), which mandates 45,000 GWh of additional renewable energy generation by 2020."

The CPRS: economic cost without environmental benefit: interim report

Source: Select Committee on Fuel and Energy
"The committee recommends that the government reconsider its proposed approach to how Australia can best contribute to a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.
As the terms of reference are broad, the committee has decided to report in stages. This interim report addresses the following part of the inquiry's terms of reference:
The impact of an emissions trading scheme on the fuel and energy industry, including but not limited to:
(i) prices,
(ii) employment in the fuel and energy industries, and any related
adverse impacts on regional centres reliant on these industries,
(iii) domestic energy supply, and
(iv) future investment in fuel and energy infrastructure.

Catalytic gasification of algae in supercritical water for biofuel production and carbon capture

Source: Energy and Environmental Science, vol.2 (2009)
"There has been growing concern about the way cultivating biomass for the production of agro-biofuels competes with food production. To avoid this competition biomass production for biofuels will, in the long term, have to be completely decoupled from food production. This is where microalgae have enormous potential. Here we propose a novel process based on microalgae cultivation using dilute fossil CO2 emissions and the conversion of the algal biomass through a catalytic hydrothermal process."