AboveCapricorn

Tropical Vegetation Soaks Up More Carbon Than Previous Estimates

2012-02-03T11:51:00.005+09:30

The lush vegetation wrapping the center of the globe is one of the most important features for regulating a stable climate in the world.

Much excess CO2 emissions from industrialized regions find their way to the equator to be absorbed by abundant CO2-consuming plant life. However, as large tracts of tropical rainforest are cut down in the Amazon, Congo, and Southeast Asia, worries have grown that this vital region may turn from a carbon sink to a carbon source. Those worries can be put at ease somewhat thanks to a recent study from the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC).

Their report suggests that carbon storage of forests, shrublands, and savannas in the tropics are 21 percent higher than previously believed.

Larger carbon storage equates to a larger capacity to absorb and retain greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. The loss of carbon storage due to deforestation is still a concern, but has been overestimated. In fact, the net flux of carbon into the atmosphere from tropical vegetation loss is overestimated by up to 12 percent.

Data used excludes any information from Australia, so estimates may be somewhat inaccurate. Even so, it does conclude that the tropical forests are a very major carbon sink.

The full published article is here
http://eorder.sheridan.com/3_0/display/index.php?flashprint=1608

Kenaf Fibre in Cars

2012-02-01T22:23:00.005+09:30

While the use of kenaf as a fibre filler in manufacturing has been spoken about for some time, little action has occurred so far.

Ford has just announced that finally, kenaf fibres will be used as part of their sustainability / recycling approach with their new US produced Ford Escape.

They do not indicate if it will be locally grown or imported, however.

Kenaf has had a topsy - turvy production in Australia, with early hopes [ 1970s] failing to develop. Maybe some reasonable use in sound deadening in automotive and manufacturing might mean potential new markets in Australia. It can be grown in many areas of north Australia, with or without irrigation, so there is potential for efficient and profitable Australian production.

More about the US story on kenaf here -

http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/01/ford-kenaf-plant-materials-new-escape/

Giving Weeds a Nuke - with Microwaves

2012-01-31T12:25:00.003+09:30

There have been some applications of microwaves in agriculture with insect control in grain storage, hard seed breakdown [and that was an area we did R and D on as well], product drying and similar issues having been areas of some success.

Recently some funded research by RIRDC has been targeted at weed control, through desiccation as well as aiming to control and kill seeds in the shallow surface layers of soil.

A recent press release has indicated this might be delivering some promising results at least at a modest scale. Getting it upsized to field use will be an issue, as the "device" will need to allow modest travel speeds while delivering adequate rates of energy to kill weeds and soil borne seeds.

But.........it does provide a new option in thinking. While steam is used as a non herbicide option, it is slow to use. And there is some pressure to develop new options because of developing concern over glyphosate resistant annual summer weeds in many cereal growing regions.

Read more here -
http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/grains-and-cropping/general/giving-weeds-a-nuke/2431010.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

US Cattle Identification Systems Seen to Be Poor

2012-01-18T21:30:00.004+09:30

While the Australian NLIS system is not perfect, it is in place and generally works ok, and is now part of a solution for export of live cattle to Indonesia.

But cattle identification in the US [a serious meat competitor to Australia] has recently been of some concern to researchers.

And the following brief report sums this up nicely -
Economists at Kansas State University have released a study that examined cattle identification (ID) and traceability systems around the world and found that the US lags behind both major beef exporting nations and beef importers in the development and implementation of cattle ID systems, according to Glynn Tonsor, a Kansas State economist involved in the study.

The implications "are particularly troubling," he said.

US cattle prices last year were record high, in large part due to beef exports, but the comparative disadvantage regarding U.S. cattle ID "puts these and future US beef export gains at risk," he said.

Furthermore, U.S. consumers have largely trusted US beef producers and have not pushed the industry to adopt cattle ID, he said, but this may soon change as consumers become increasingly interested in traceability.

The US beef industry would be well served to give implementations in this study "serious thought," Tonsor said, before a lack of ID and traceability costs business at home and abroad.

Source: http://www.feedstuffs.com

There are a few novels that paint a grim picture of the US animal abattoir system and offer some dubious views of the security and integrity of the system. And there have been a few serious issues in relation to meat quality at consumer outlets, especially fast food venues, in recent years in the USA. And remember, the US had meat exports banned to a number of Asian countries for some years over mad cow disease.

As said, NLIS is not absolute, but it generally now works. It seems that all is not well in the US however!!

Indonesia - Australia Cattle Issues - Should Australia Say "Sorry"?

2012-01-04T11:26:00.003+09:30

The tension between the two countries over the cattle trade is still simmering along.

It is stupid to believe that the recent cut to import quotas by Indonesia is not in someway related to the earlier Australian ban on export of cattle, at least if you have much knowledge of dealing with Indonesia. Yes, they want to be self sufficient in meat production......but will they be there so soon? Most do not think so.

A recent article reproduced here does think Australia should be a little apologetic. I also think that Australia has behaved somewhat naively over the whole issue, maybe driven by home politics and 'niceties". What cannot be denied, is that if you produce cattle for meat, then they WILL be slaughtered, somewhere. Doing that well is important though for both animal welfare and better meat quality.

Read the article and wonder.

Australia should say sorry for Indonesia stunt

CLIVE PHILLIPS, PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF ANIMAL WELFARE AND ETHICS, UOQ
03 Jan, 2012 04:00 AM

INDONESIA's decision to cut live cattle imports from Australia is the clearest example yet of the significant and long-lasting damage that June's export ban did to relations with our nearest neighbour.

Rarely in history has there been an example of two neighbouring countries being so diametrically opposed in so many ways culture, geography, socioeconomic status, religion and population density. We may therefore expect some difficulties when dealing with trade between the two countries in such a sensitive commodity as live cattle.

However, the affront to Indonesian pride by Australia's ban on the trade, apparently without consultation with Indonesian authorities (let alone Australian cattle producers), has set back the trust between the two countries a long way. To act in this way with our closest neighbour, one of the world's major trading nations since the seventh century, was disrespectful.

It provided the perfect incentive for Indonesian authorities to reaffirm their intention to become self-sufficient in beef production, an aspiration they have held for at least 30 years.

The only way in which this can happen is by cutting down native forest in less populated islands, such as Sumatra, Irian Jaya and Kalimantan in Borneo, thereby providing jobs to the rural poor, stemming the migration to cities and reducing reliance on imports to maintain food security.

Indonesian authorities have been settling people from highly populated Java to Sumatra for more than four decades, and with United Nations assistance, provided them with cattle from which to make a living. The transition from forest fringe, small-scale agriculture to cattle farming has met many difficulties: disease outbreaks in the cattle, poor productivity, unsuitable ecosystems for livestock farming, soil erosion and lack of forage for the animals.

I was in Borneo recently and listened with concern and dismay as a Malaysian Government minister announced his country's intention to cut down forest and introduce widespread livestock production units throughout its section of the island within 20 years.

The Indonesian Government knows that this is their right, too and not just in Kalimantan, Indonesia's section of Borneo.

They are planning to do the same on the lesser populated outer islands.

After all, western countries cut down most of their forests centuries ago. But there are so many reasons why this should not happen in the current era.

The Indonesian rainforest has major benefit as a carbon dioxide sink, counteracting the damaging effects of global warming.

It is a massive reserve of biodiversity, including endangered species of great value, such as the Sumatran tiger, orang-utans, leopards and pigmy elephants, and it is a potential focus of ecotourism.

Eliminate these for cattle farms and you have demonstrated a major breakdown in modern society's ability to manage the planet's most valuable resources.

Australia can far more efficiently produce the beef that Indonesians desire in the vast savannahs of the north of our country.

There are still concerns about the sustainability of the farming method, the output of pollutants from the cattle and the welfare of the cattle. But if beef has to be produced, let it be produced in the region better suited to the farming system.

If the Australian people insist, and they should, meat can be sent over as carcases rather than live animals. With the development of refrigeration capacity in Indonesia, this will pose few difficulties.

The cattle farmers of northern Australia have had a clear signal to accelerate the reinstatement of abattoirs in their region.

We might also advise Indonesia on the wisdom or otherwise of moving to a Western-style diet, with increased meat consumption per head and the associated health problems. This would require tact and diplomacy when a significant proportion of the population was malnourished.

The Federal Government should approach the Indonesian Government with great humility and respect in negotiating the conditions for the cattle trade between the two countries. Indonesia's rain forests are a treasure that Australia knows the world can ill afford to sacrifice. It also has a long history of confrontation with western colonial powers that Australia has to overcome.

The mishandling of the live export ban should be publicly acknowledged by the Federal Government, and an apology presented to the Indonesian Government.

This, together with a major initiative to place the trading and cultural exchange activities between the two countries on a strong growth trajectory over the next decade, may yet restore relations. "Coveting thy neighbour's ox" is no longer a sin; it may yet prove to be a means of establishing an "entente cordiale" between the two countries.

Clive Phillips sits on the Live Exports Standards Accreditation Group, a federal government subsidiary. Since 2000 he has received funding from: University Federation for Animal Welfare, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Meat and Livestock Australia Livecorp, the Australian Veterinary Association, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Wombat Recovery Program, the RSPCA, ARC Linkage, Morris Animal Foundation. "

from Queensland Country Life online.

Do not forget the recent news in the Australian media about rabies on Bali and potential spread to the east, including Irian Jaya [ West Papua]. We need to be on good terms with Indonesia for our benefit too!

New Australian Windturbine Design

2011-12-20T22:52:00.001+09:30

Australia has done something right in the wind energy area.

An Australian company called Renewable Energy Solutions Australia Holdings Ltd. (RESA) has created what it says is a super quiet and efficient wind energy turbine.

Suggestively called Eco Whisper, the wind turbine employs 30 smaller ones capped with a specially designed cowl ring that keeps them silent in most meteorological conditions. A cone shape allows the blades to automatically rotate into the direction of the wind, with no need for a heavy tail structure.

Besides being more silent, the blades are more efficient, too. RESA says the turbines increase efficiency by 30 per cent at average wind speeds, and will keep rotating even when winds are very slow.

Main features:.20kW horizontal axis wind turbine.Virtually silent operation.6.5m blade diameter.21.1m height.30 blades extending outwards.Dynamic slew drive.Solid, lightweight structure.High performance in all wind conditions

The manufacturer says EcoWhisper is suitable for commercial, manufacturing and industrial sites, airports, ports, mining resource facilities, council sites and industrial development sites. It can also be installed on shopping centres, industrial parks, schools, universities and others. Off grid rural communities could also benefit.

It sounds like an exciting new development in wind turbine design!

New World Record Export Shipment from Darwin

2011-12-06T12:26:00.002+09:30

Larger shipments of live cattle [similar to the photo] seem to be the trend with Wellard's MV Ocean Shearer, once again setting a new world record for the largest shipment of live cattle on a single vessel. It sailed from Darwin on 3 December 2011 with 25,817 cattle, easily beating the ship's previous record of 24,683 head set in September earlier this year.

The vessel loaded in both Broome and Darwin, and was loaded by three different exporters, including Wellard. Wellard's consignment of cattle was sourced from a range of individual producers and the company's own floodplain blocks east of Darwin. About 9000 steers and heifers were loaded in Broome and 15,500 cattle were loaded in Darwin. The vessel will unload in the Indonesian ports of Jakarta and Panjang.

There is strong demand from Indonesian importers and consumers, as well as the exporters ability to put the shipment together, with appropriate sized animals, although the onset of the northern Australian wet season was starting to restrict supply. Wellard expects to continue to export cattle during the wet season.

Wellard can be flexible whether to use a larger vessel, or switch to one of the newer, smaller vessels. Previously exports have ground to a halt during the wet season, but the production and transport systems have evolved to ensure it is a year-round trade now. Cattle will be supplied to Indonesia and other South East Asian countries, providing an end market and price competition for cattle which are on either side of the Indonesian 350kg weight limit.

The MV Ocean Shearer, which is the largest livestock vessel in the world, was again loaded at about 80 per cent of her capacity when she sailed, allowing the on-board stockmen and crew to allocate each animal significantly more space than the Australian regulatory standards prescribe. Typically, animal losses on a short voyage to Indonesia from Darwin are extremely low, usually well below 0.5%

Climate Change Reprise

2011-11-30T09:02:00.005+09:30

Unfortunately the Australian Financial Review newspaper usually has a pay firewall. But they seem to have relented over this article now available here -
http://afr.com/p/lifestyle/review/rethinking_climate_scepticism_2oSrxbSmLf4FhjNRyzAQpN

By Mark Lawson, and in the AFR on Friday November 25 2011 it is an excellent overview of the current state of climate debate and climate science as well as climate change issues, and worth reading.

There has been a lot of editorial comment about the article, mostly positive, over the past few days.

Take the chance and read it......... free.

Real Men Eat Beef

2011-11-23T12:04:00.003+09:30

With world beef demand expected to increase over the next 25 years, maybe this is humorous enough to warrant a run on the blog!

Compadre zoysia - Turf in the Darwin CBD

2011-11-15T15:23:00.003+09:30

Compadre zoysia used as full sod, has been a preferred option for use by the Darwin City Council on a number of projects within the city area.

One of these has been a significant upgrade to the frontage areas of businesses along one side of Smith Street, the main street of Darwin. This area in the centre of the CBD has many people walk beside, and over, the grass every day.

The Compadre zoysia has been in situ now for well over 12 months and is approaching the second wet season.

It looks great! Does not require frequent mowing , and according to many nearby business owners is a substantial improvement on the previous landscaping.

The turf has maintained a tight sward and has almost no foreign species in the grass areas, with the exception of a just a few small forbs, normally easily removed by hand or an occasional spot spray with an appropriate herbicide. Or by using a long term residual herbicide, to give complete control for many months. That is low cost and easy, even for councils!

Zoysia turf is also finding use in areas such as median strips, roundabouts and similar areas where both modest installation costs plus low maintenance costs are critical, yet it provides an excellent visual amenity, but low growing, so good line of sight vision is maintained , an important issue for road area use.Compadre zoysia..........a great choice for your landscaping!

National Recycling Week

2011-11-11T22:48:00.005+09:30

Do you recycle?

Most Australians recycle paper especially newsprint, where about 75% or more is recycled. Office paper is also generally recycled or shredded, mostly, for security reasons, often after reuse for scribbling notepads.

And we do reasonably well with aluminium cans too.

South Australia has container deposit legislation and the NT is about to introduce the same broad system of container deposits. South Australia has very high rates of recycling of a wide range of containers, much higher than other states of Australia. Attributed almost entirely to the legislation, and there is a thriving industry around the system as well. Drum Muster handles recycling of agrochemical containers very well.

Organic or green waste recycling is well established around many areas of Australia with various degrees of success, with South Australia actually having a deficit in supply.......yes there is more demand than supply!! Horticulture is a big user, particularly the vineyard industries of the State, with the same industry in other states also a big user of mulch and composts.

Yet there are poor examples around Australia, with tyres [ see photo of a smart way to recycle tyres] and e-waste notable examples. Additional tyres are now shredded or chopped and exported for further processing, but generally we seem to generate a lot of waste tyres still. E-waste is a growth area, and so far the problem continues to grow, although some progress is being made locally on some modest areas.

November 7 -13 is Australia's National Recycling Week. Do your bit........every bit of recycling counts.

More information is here - http://recyclingweek.planetark.org/fff/ with the Friday File Fling a fun way to get into recycling.

Australia and Now California - Have a Carbon Reduction Plan

2011-10-25T07:10:00.004+09:30

It has received almost no media attention in Australia, yet California, which is said to be the world's 8th largest economy, has late last week, passed the final draft of a "cap and trade" program to provide financial incentives for polluters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Some parts of the plan will commence in 2012, major parts including compliance for some of the worst polluters, including power plants, commence in 2013, and others to commence in 2015. The plan will cover 85% of the emissions in California.

The broad thrust of the Californian scheme is generally similar to that proposed for Australia, with the start of the market mechanism, after a few years of the mandated carbon price, planned for mid 2012.

With California's economy being considerably larger than Australia's, this is a big step for them, and some hope the rest of the USA might follow in time.

I am amazed that this move in California continues to receive such little attention from the media and pro carbon adherents in Australia to add weight to their arguments.

More media information from the US here - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/business/energy-environment/california-adopts-cap-and-trade-system-to-limit-emissions.html

and here -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/california-cap-and-trade_n_1022314.html

There are quite a few sceptics, believing it will not work, but many think it might.

Stunning - Rapid Uptake in Indonesian Abattoirs

2011-10-20T07:56:00.001+09:30

Pre slaughter stunning is rapidly being introduced into Indonesian abattoirs, with about 70 expected to have the operations in place by the end of the year, whereas only seven were using the technology earlier in the year.

Some delays have been caused by bureaucratic issues in Indonesia, and security requirements /concerns over the equipment, but the stun gun equipment is being deployed quite quickly.

By early next year [remember most of the live export trade to Indonesia slows dramatically between November and February] around 90% of animals will be stunned before slaughter.

Not surprisingly, there has also been a boost in positive responses from local workers involved in the abattoirs citing productivity improvements , superior animal processing speeds, and ease of animal handling.

More detailed information is here - http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/livestock/cattle/stunning-turnaround-in-cattle-welfare/2327943.aspx?storypage=0

While 2011 has been a real problem year for the northern beef industry and live exports, these improvements could see a better year ahead.

Sound common sense and a joint desire between Australian beef producers and Indonesian lot feeders and processors [ of which many involve Australian companies too] to see the trade continue may see this trade grow in 2012, and with superior animal welfare in place.

Totally banning the trade, which is the avowed aim of some, is still possible but is really a bit silly given the minuscule animal transport losses and improved animal welfare in Indonesia. Afterall, the animals are destined to be slaughtered for consumption. We just need to do it as sensibly as one can.

First Stage of Legislation for a Carbon Tax Passes Today.

2011-10-12T21:08:00.003+09:30

The lower house of the Australian Federal Parliament has passed the 18 pieces of legislation that will constitute the carbon tax laws in Australia. the current opposition has vowed to rescind the laws if elected to government. It will be interesting, to say the least.

Following that, the legislation was then introduced into the upper house [ Senate] and is expected to pass through there next month.

Lots of media coverage online........and they have the space to have a lot of words too!

For example - here http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/carbon-plan/green-light-for-carbon-tax-red-flag-for-industry/story-fn99tjf2-1226164872713
and also here - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-12/uhlmanns-interview-with-greg-combet/3555570 .

Will it make a difference to carbon emissions worldwide? Absolutely not!

But it places Australia on a path towards lowered carbon intensity, and it is believed it will generate jobs in newer low carbon industries, seen as industries of the future.

Time will tell who is correct.

A US Farmer's View on Biotech

2011-10-11T01:01:00.000+09:30

Too often the urban public attack farmers and agriculture - as producing too much, too little, or poor food sources.

A farmer has hit back - quietly and with dignity.

Read more here - http://westernfarmpress.com/print/government/gmos-biotechnology-offer-agricultural-blessings?page=1

pointing out a few fundamental flaws in some of the arguments used to condemn farmers and the crops and livestock they grow.

Well worth a brief read.

Fixing Salvinia Issues at Gunn, Palmerston, NT

2011-10-10T23:37:00.001+09:30

Salvinia is a nasty, super spreading – even choking – weed.

Over the past few years an infestation has been developing at the lakes at Gunn, in Palmerston, and is now quite significant, covering the lakes [ see lowest lake below]. The lakes are designed as a stormwater buffer, so water levels can rise and fall quite a lot in the wet season.

Late last year Palmerston City Council instigated using their aquatic weed muncher to remove much of the debris across these lakes. Unfortunately, some salvinia remained.

A program which we ran, was used to spray and mop up the balance. That was the theory...... but then it rained and rained, with last wet season being extraordinarily wet, and consistently wet. Too wet for regular satisfactory spraying.

So the salvinia regrew.......and once again dominated the three lakes.

The weed eater is back in action , and the upper lake is now quite clear of salvinia, with the two lower ones likely to be cleaned up this week.

But there is a new activity........the salvinia weevil, a very potent biocontrol agent has today been released into the bottom lake with additional material to be added over the next few weeks in both the lowest and middle lakes, with some destined for the top lake as needed. Biocontrol of salvinia has been very successful at a number of locations around both Australia and in the Northern Territory.

To aid establishment a small amount of salvinia plants will be left behind during the weed munching, to provide a focus for the spread of the biocontrol agent, and these plants will be held in place with a floating boom. Over time, assuming the biocontrol agent establishes successfully, this plant mat will also disappear, and the weevil will spread out onto any remnant salvinia around the lakes.

The biocontrol agent will not necessarily totally eliminate the salvinia, but it will normally, over some time, reduce the salvinia to a small, almost negligible amount.

A monitoring, spray and clean up / collection program will also continue, but concentrating on the smaller scattered fronds that seem to congregate around the edges, readily blown by wind.

This combined program is hopeful of eliminating the salvinia over the next 12 months, and at worse, at least reducing the salvinia to a very minor issue.

The lakes may then bloom again with the stylish water lilies that are quite common, and salvinia will not be very noticeable.

Food Security Critical for China

2011-10-06T09:38:00.006+09:30

A recent post highlights that Australia is selling off resources to China - land resources for agriculture especially.

[see - http://abovecapricorn.blogspot.com/2011/09/should-australia-be-selling-farm.html ]

Not all are happy over this issue.

China, as distinct from Australia has some clear policies around food security and imports of minerals, with a distinct focus on extra-terrritorial acquistion of the means of production - of both.

See more here - http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/finance/china-aims-for-selfsufficiency/2268434.aspx?storypage=0

In this article Prof Mike Berrell, Director WADEmatheson and Executive Dean, Holmes Institute, Australia, an expert on Chinese business practices says Australia’s lack of strategy and vision for a sustainable agricultural industry, was flagging in comparison to China’s global approach.

He said for the Chinese to be purchasing prime agricultural land outright entails risks for Australia due to loss of control in what is emerging as a global strategic industry.

This would be especially the case if the ventures were 100 percent Chinese invested, he said.

Despite China's recent efforts to reduce carbon emissions, China's current commitment to sustainability does not extend to agricultural practices, he said.

“Joint ventures in the area would be preferable to 100 percent Chinese foreign ownership - the latter of course suits China,” he said. “Australia must be absolutely clear about how such ventures are to move ahead and establish strict guidelines for ownership - perhaps make sustainable agriculture a strategic industry is the same way has China has its “strategic industries”, which fall outside normal investment guidelines.”

A significant issue in this is that most players from China are state owned, effectively an arm of the sovereign government of China. While other parts of the world have previously invested in Australian rural properties and industries, and many still do, [think the UK and the USA] they are almost always privately owned companies, or private individuals, and from countries where government intervention in industry is minimal.

This is a serious issue for Australia, a nett food exporter, with other sovereign countries owning our food production resources.

The image also shows that it is not just China - an example of the options that Singapore is pursuing in a similar fashion.

Should Australia be concerned over the whole theme of extra-territorial agriculture?

Using Livestock to Reduce Carbon Emissions - YES!

2011-10-05T18:19:00.004+09:30

Cows have been pilloried as the great methane producer, and as the most potent greenhouse gas emitter of all. There are a lot of cows around the world!

Recent thinking now says that it is not cows as the culprit, but rather their management, particularly when fire is included in the system, as it commonly is.

Reduce the use of fire, often used to remove excess forage, while enhancing the consumption of forage by livestock in a way that encourages regrowth eg Savory grazing system option may offer a smart option to actually reduce greenhouse gas production, even if the forage is of poorer quality at times.

It is known that higher digestibility forage does reduce methane production in the livestock gut system, although not all plants have high digestibility, particularly in the tropics. But independent of that, livestock act as the great recyclers of carbon, by consumption and manuring, rather than seeing it lost in a fire.

It is a complex argument, with more detail here -
http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/livestock/cattle/cows-conserving-carbon/2307077.aspx?storypage=0

But the essence of it is that cows might actually be useful in the soil carbon story!

About time there was some enlightened thinking, for livestock is definitely NOT going away anytime soon

Carbon Science - There is More Phytosynthesis Occurring!

2011-09-30T10:49:00.003+09:30

It is not all doom.....recent experiments and measurements have shown that current phytosynthesis - globally - is about 25% more than has previously been calculated.

The work is based on isotopic analysis of atmospheric carbon dioxide, but essentially follows flows of oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out and through the atmosphere.

Plants take up CO2 and emit oxygen, and from that, using isotope analysis total phytosynthesis is estimated..........and it is a lot more than previously thought.

It will have considerable effect on the performance of the climate change models, but this nett phytosynthesis increase still has to be incorporated into the large and complex models used.

Read more details here in a CSIRO media release-
http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/new-leaf-turns-for-carbon-science/2308093.aspx?storypage=0

BUT.....is it possibly related to more CO2 in the atmosphere boosting plant utilisation, seen as a response to more CO2 in the atmosphere? That is not mentioned.

And there is more as well - http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/43340 with this story also reporting an increase in plant productivity via uptake of carbon - essentially the same data as above but reported in a different way, referring to productivity of land plants. Remember, they produce oxygen!

Should Australia Be Selling the Farm??

2011-09-29T22:57:00.004+09:30

Not according to a leading American resources analyst, anyway. And many Australians probably agree.

Leading American investment analyst James Dines has criticised Australia for allowing China to buy large swathes of its natural resources in what he calls "resource imperialism".

Australia was in danger of squandering its "irreplaceable inheritance ... traded for easily printed paper", Mr Dines said.

Mr Dines, the keynote speaker this week at the RIU Victorian Resources Roundup conference, told an audience of mining executives, brokers and investors that the end of capitalism as we knew it had arrived and that we were in the second great economic depression.

His entertaining, if alarming, speech would have prompted mixed feelings among a crowd that included executives with a strong Chinese presence on their share registries.

State-owned Chinese companies are also becoming a major foreign investor in Australia.

Mr Dines, editor of the Dines Letter and author of numerous books, described natural resources, including farmland, as a source of real wealth that should be kept for "your descendants".

By pursuing resource imperialism, China was building stockpiles of commodities well above its immediate needs, such as rare earths - it already produces 97 per cent of the world total - and copper.

The Australian Foreign Investment Review Board blocked a $252 million bid by state-owned China Nonferrous Metal Mining to acquire Australian rare earth miner Lynas in 2009.

So, what is motivating China?

The world's most populous country wants to secure its resource needs for centuries to come.

More in the article here -
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/national/10369499/australia-shouldnt-sell-farm-analyst/

And it is not only Australia.......China [mostly through state owned enterprises - and that is the nub of concerns] is much more active in many less developed countries, especially in Africa and South America, even Afghanistan which seems to have some large mineral deposits that are largely unexplored, and which the Chinese are eyeing off.

Some say they have stuffed their own land for agriculture and horticulture with poor farming practices and pollution and they need to find other soils........to do the same???

Definitely resources imperialism!

Potential New Cacao Varieties

2011-09-27T10:34:00.010+09:30

Do you like chocolate? Delicious not so sweet dark chocolate?

Over the past few years we have seen increases in interest in wine varieties, followed by new and different olive oil flavours. Coffee is going the same way, with new blends, varieties and types offered in the market place, to titillate and entrance consumers and coffee lovers.

Watch this space..........chocolate may be next!

Recently reports of work by USDA staff in conjunction with several other agencies as well as commercial choclate company partners have been chasing new and different types of cacao.......the source tree for chocolate.

While West Africa is the source of much of the world supply of cacao, the centre of diversity is actually in south America, and up into lower central america, areas now being investigated for additional genetic diversity in cacao.

The researchers found hundreds of new cacao tree samples during the trips. One of these, discovered by collaborators from Maranon Chocolate, was Pure Nacional, an old, very rare, and highly coveted variety that has garnered a great deal of interest from makers of fine-flavoured chocolates. Chocolate is produced from cacao.

This industry covets new and unique flavour sources.

Usually, cacao trees are found along rivers, but these gems were found at a higher altitude than normal, and in Peru instead of Ecuador or Venezuela.

The industry flourished in Africa as commercial plantation trees in the new World succumbed to some nasty plant diseases. These new collections may offer some advantages for Peru to create a niche industry for the new cacao varieties.

Cattle Slaughter in Indonesia - Issues of Truth

2011-09-23T00:04:00.001+09:30

While resumption of trade of live cattle to Indonesia has resumed, the slaughter issues that led to the cessation of the trade are still making news.

There is a Senate inquiry running now in Australia and there have been significant doubts raised during hearings over the veracity of the video footage used / shown.

While the issues over veracity are both technical and animal behaviour related, they do pose some curious issues, issues that lead to more doubts about the origin and honesty of the video footage.

I do not know.......but some do believe the video footage may not be entirely truthful. If so........then the whole episode is a bit of a rort.

Whether that is the case does not necessarily indicate that slaughter could or could not be improved.......it could be and probably should be. And remember that good slaughter practices lead to better outcomes for the animal and the meat quality after slaughter.

This whole saga has a long way to run yet.

But while the live cattle trade has recommenced, it will not recover the prior volumes quickly. All those animals have grown and many now exceed the 350kg limit. More to read here:

http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/livestock/cattle/abc-footage-under-fire/2299722.aspx?storypage=0

There are many other articles available too.

The cost to Australia is very large, and damage to relations with Indonesia cannot be easily costed in monetary terms. NT cattle producers have, however, lost a lot of money, money that will not be reappearing any time soon.

Fake Agrochemicals - Farmers BEWARE

2011-09-22T08:50:00.003+09:30

It had to happen........the rural and related agrochemical and fertiliser industries are worth many millions of dollars and both agrochemical and fertiliser sales annually are also worth millions of dollars, even in a relatively smallish market such as Australia.

A recent scam involved sales of dirt.......yes common soil.......as a marketed and manufactured fertiliser from an overseas source, with the material actually making it to a rural location before detection. That also was a major biosecurity concern, as well as a straight out scam.

With input costs a major factor in producing crops, shaving these by a few dollars can be important. But the new scam is to produce suspect agrochemicals for sale. They do not perform as expected and often on investigation, formulations are just plainly wrong, or they even are made using dodgy liquid ingredients including tainted and dangerous wastewaters, or may not even contain the active technical ingredient, or contain by product chemicals that could damage crops.

Yes, there are successful low cost reputable formulators, capable of offering suitable agrochemicals at discounted prices, and supplying to Australia. But it is very necessary to be sure about who you are dealing with and their reputation, both technically and financially.

Needless to say, China seems to be a source, but some eastern European operators are also involved.

The old maxim applies .......if it seems to good to be true, it probably is too good to be true!!

This is expanded further in a recent on line article:
http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/grains-and-cropping/general/fake-chemicals-pose-risk/2299664.aspx?storypage=0

It should also be remembered that any agricultural chemical used in Australia should have been assessed and given the okay by the relevant Australian authorising agency, the APVMA.

If in doubt have a look at their web site, www.apvma.gov.au and this statement is off the web site -
'Before an agricultural or veterinary chemical product can be legally imported, supplied, sold, used, promoted or advertised in Australia, the APVMA must register it. Part of the APVMA's role and responsibility is to monitor and enforce compliance of agricultural and veterinary chemical products in the market place."

SO BE AWARE.

Carbon Farming and Cattle - Can Co-exist

2011-09-21T13:40:00.005+09:30

It is not all gloom and doom in the cattle and carbon equation. There seems to have been a position developing that would exclude any mutual benefit. This need not be so.

When cattle are grass grown, then these two issues can be developed alongside one another, according to some advocates. There is a new and potentially exciting market developing for grass grown livestock. This is a niche position that the north of Australia should be aiming to occupy.

Is this a line of production that could be developed for the new AA processing facility in the Darwin region? Afterall, it is possible to develop and finish cattle with high growth and liveweight gains using a leucaena / grass mix.......a mixed pasture possible to use in the region.

A recent article adds to this issue.
http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/grains-and-cropping/general/life-down-on-the-carbon-farm/2292929.aspx?storypage=0

It is worth reading some of the articles within the link to the carbon ranch below.
------------------------------
Life down on the carbon farm
MATTHEW CAWOOD
20 Sep, 2011 04:00 AM

"Personally," says American conservationist Courtney White, "I think an answer to the climate crisis is to eat more meat—from a carbon ranch".

Mr White's concept of the "carbon ranch" is an opportunity to unite a range of solutions to various challenges, including climate change, farm productivity and regional economic decline.

Currently, Mr White said, "the carbon landscape is broken into pieces, and we often pit each carbon use against each other".

Mr White will tell Australian audiences that carbon can be managed and exploited in ways that unite these uses into a single theme of regeneration of landscapes, communities and economies.

The executive director of the Quivera Coalition in the American South-West, Mr White has been instrumental in developing a rancher-conservationist alliance that has successfully sidestepped the toxic wrangling of landholder-environmentalist relations to produce results satisfactory to all.

He will be talking about the Coalition and the carbon ranch at the Carbon Farming Conference, to be held in Dubbo, NSW, on 27-29 September.

Mr White has developed a "carbon map" to show that rather than a series of separate issues, carbon is common factor across all landscapes and endeavours, from wilderness to city and everywhere in between. "We have to start with the idea that we can put this puzzle together," Mr White said.
He believes that uniting carbon-related issues within the overall framework of climate change can bring exponential benefits to landholders and the regions they live in.

Some progressive ranchers have already begun drawing those pieces together, Mr White said. They are using rotational grazing to boost grass productivity, moving to grassfed beef production versus the lotfed beef more common in the US, selling direct to local urban consumers, and paying attention to ecosystem services.

Some landholders are also engaging with the energy question, including a young New Hampshire farmer he recently met who is growing 100 per cent of his farm's energy needs on 10 per cent of his land.

Sequestering more carbon in the landscape is only half the equation, Mr White said. The other half is lowering farming's emissions footprint.

Lowering emissions through changed energy use, restoring ecological functions and overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is relatively straightforward, in Mr White's view.

More challenging is the question of ruminant methane, an issue that as led to the "eat less red meat" theme now common in discussions of climate change. "For the purposes of a carbon ranch, the methane emission issue is just one part of the overall 'footprint" assessment," Mr White said.

The real challenge is not necessarily to reduce methane production - although that can help with productivity - but to reduce overall farm emissions to the point of becoming carbon-neutral or carbon-negative. At this point, methane emissions become less relevant, leading to Mr White's observation about eating meat from a "carbon ranch".

Along with its direct contribution to addressing climate change, Mr White's vision of the carbon ranch also includes a range of "co-benefits" from uniting the carbon landscape. They include improved ecosystem services, habitat protection, rural economic development, maintenance of culture and diversity, and greater opportunities for succeeding generations.

* More details of Courtney White's "carbon ranch" concept can by found at www.awestthatworks.com/carbonranch.html

* Details of the Carbon Farming Conference can be found here.

More Energy from Wind Turbines - Focus the Wind

2011-09-12T12:39:00.004+09:30

Wind turbines are a common enough device today, and produce significant amounts of energy world wide.

The Japanese are claiming a new modification can increase output energy by 2x to 3x with some modest modifications.

Essentially a wind lens that focuses the wind to improve performance. Read more here:
http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/09/wind-lens/

It consists of a focusing ring around the outside of the turbine blades, which creates a low pressure area and subtly then pushes more air over the turbine blades. The youtube video at the link is a positive endorsement, and if able to be scaled up, the technology would be a very significant enhancement.

It might be that more effort could be directed at the smaller domestic to mid scale turbines used in cities and small rural areas eg farms. These models have notoriously performed well below nominal output ratings as stated by the manufacturer, although the "cleanliness" of the wind flow can be a big issue in urban areas. It has been turbid flow, so the wind turbine performs badly.

I can see more rapid development in these smaller units with this design option, allowing development of larger ones over time.

If it works at a larger size, it would be a very big move in increasing turbine efficiency.

Sediment Socks Work Better with Compost

2011-09-07T00:06:00.002+09:30

Compost socks

Using a sand filled coil as an environmental salvation tool is quite common. Seen round the streets and building sites these long thin “socks” are a common tool for erosion and sediment management in almost any site where sediment movement could be expected.

Traditionally, it was sand that went into these socks.

But performance can be enhanced, by the simple change from sand to compost or fine pasteurised mulch products. That is a simple and easy change to make, and it may cost nothing different.

An even better option can be to add some of the bioremediation type products available that have oil and hydrocarbon remediation attributes. There are a few brands available, but an easy one available in Australia is Enretech -1 , a powdered product that can be added to the sand or even the mulch mix.

Fine hydrocarbon materials, metals and rubber , commonly moved off roads in wet weather will be trapped by the socks and the hydrocarbons bioremediated, avoiding their movement into waterways.

The mulch is superior to sand in capturing the hydrocarbons, and as good or better in slowing sediments in general.

And costs about the same as sand filled socks.

So.........think about the issue and make the switch to a better sediment sock!

Additional details on installation and use are here -http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/menuofbmps/index.cfm?action=factsheet_results&view=specific&bmp=120

and are applicable almost anywhere around the world.

Problems with Glyphosate??

2011-09-05T13:56:00.004+09:30

This article appeared in a recent on-line edition of Queensland Country Life. It is an important issue and needs a wide readership as the use of glyphosate is of considerable importance for weed control, plant health and overall yield performance.

While the issue is aimed at broad acre farming it is probably of as much or more relevance for the urban use of glyphosate, especially by local councils, where the indiscriminate use is seen as great waste areas around the local posts and trees, often resprayed every year, even though there is NOTHING growing, and the bare areas are getting larger!!

Glyphosate is a very good agrochemical.........more careful use is needed.

There has also been a series of articles I have seen suggesting that glyphosate has even more sinister effects, including effects on people. Some of these have been a bit outrageous, but often there can be some truth hidden within the rants.

However, the issues with more general nutrition effects have a degreee of documentation. But it is about over use........and not sensible usage, including various rotation systems.

Maybe the Otto von Liebig's and the scientists at Rotheamstead of the 1800s were right afterall about sensible sustainable farming!!

Glyphosate: friend or foe?
MATTHEW CAWOOD
05 Sep, 2011 04:00 AM

Glyphosate, the chemical underpinning the world's most productive farming systems, may becoming an agent of harm, a visiting US scientist believes.

"Glyphosate has been a very powerful tool for us in weed control, but it's been seriously abused by continued overuse," said veteran American plant pathologist, Dr Don Huber. "I feel that's one of the main reasons that we're seeing a lot of other factors come to threaten the sustainability of our production."

Dr Huber links glyphosate to the increasing severity of diseases like fusarium and take-all, and the explosion of Goss's wilt of corn and Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) in soybeans in America's mid-west.

Now retired from his career as a plant pathologist at Purdue University, but retaining the title of Professor Emeritus, Dr Huber is in Australia to air those concerns at the invitation of Owen McCarron, director of the IPM Masterclass series.

If it is allowed to accumulate in the soil, glyphosate doesn't just kill weeds, Dr Huber told Rural Press.
The chemical is a strong chelator, meaning that it can bind positively-charged mineral ions in the soil to its own molecules, making the mineral unavailable to plants. It is known to have an affinity for copper, zinc, manganese and molybedenum, among others.

"Glyphosate can make a number of elements unavailable for the plant to use, so there are many of the physiological functions of the plant that are compromised," Dr Huber said "In that compromise period that plant becomes very susceptible to diseases, fungal diseases especially."

Glyphosate also affects important soil organisms in different ways, according to Dr Bob Kremer, a microbiologist with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service and adjunct professor at the University of Missouri.

In the soil, where it is carried by spray, rainfall or plant roots, the chemical is an energy source for some microbes - including those responsible for its degradation in the soil - but a killer of others.
Among the organisms that flourish in the presence of glyphosate appear to be certain strains of fusarium, which in European studies were shown to multiply in the presence of the compound, Dr Kremer told Rural Press.

That appears to line up with old Canadian research which found that wheat sown in fields that had been fallowed with glyphosate was more susceptible to fusarium head blight than control wheat plantings.

"(The researchers) hypothesised as the susceptible weeds died, it built up the fusarium populations and then when the wheat was planted later, there was a higher instance of fusarium head blight compared to fields that did not receive glyphosate treatment," Dr Kremer said.

Other organisms are suppressed by glyphosate, including the rhizobium bacteria reponsible for nodulation in legumes and the the algaes that are an important soil glue.

But Dr Kremer said the research needed to clarify these effects isn't being done. When he wants to interpret some of his own observations, he often has to look at research done decades ago.
And yet, he acknowledged, some of these processes, and glyphosate's chelation effect, have the potential to be highly damaging to crop profitability.

Dr Huber became interested in glyphosate when, after a long career in plant pathology, he and his colleagues saw crop diseases that had been adequately managed for decades suddenly burgeon out of control. Goss's wilt of corn, for instance, was first discovered in the US in 1969, but only in the past few seasons it has emerged as a major pest of the Mid-West corn belt.

Dr Huber believes that genetic modification for glyphosate resistance contributes to disease vulnerability.

"Just the presence of the glyphosate resistance gene reduces the efficiency of the plant for many of the micronutrients - like manganese, iron - up to 30 or as much as 70 per cent, depending on the original variety," he said. "When glyphosate is applied there will be an additional reduction in uptake and efficiency of micronutrients that are immobilised by the chemistry."

He is calling for "much more prudent use, and certainly much greater research to establish glyphosate's safety".

"There are a lot of indicators that it's not nearly as benign a product as we thought. With the growing residues that we're finding in our soils and crops and feedstocks, there's a very serious concern for the health and safety aspects of the products."

* Dr Huber will be talking in Bendigo, Vic. on September 5 and Corowa, NSW, on September 7. For more information call Oen McCarron on 0419 006 100 or email owen@ipmmasterclass.com

[ from online edition of Qld Country Life]

Wagyu Cattle Oil - for Cooking!!

2011-09-03T00:05:00.000+09:30

If you like beef you probably have heard of Wagyu cattle. The fabled highly marbled cattle originally from Japan with superb meat quality.

An Australian company has developed a boutique world class cooking oil - yes, cooking oil - from wagyu cattle with some pretty interesting properties.

http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/state/livestock/cattle/wagyu-oil-set-to-sizzle/2277740.aspx?storypage=0

is the link to a recent article about the product.

While I do not see it suddenly overtaking olive oil as a preferred option for most culinary purposes, it might offer some superior options for use with meat in roasts or grilling, or maybe in meat dishes where butter may have been the fat material preferrred for use in casseroles or similar dishes.

Chefs do seem to think it might be useful.

It is new, it is Australian and it does sound interesting.

Watching Tropical Weather

2011-09-02T10:18:00.005+09:30

For those in Australia's tropics another wet season is approaching quickly, and weather conditions seem to have recently changed to being warmer and more humid, a foretaste of the approaching build up weather.

Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones are different names for similar major tropical weather events - depending where you are located.

Keeping watch on these systems is becoming more sophisticated, with more information also readily available to the public via web sites. I remember observing Cyclone Thelma as it barrelled around the north coast of Australia a few years ago, wondering if our home in Darwin would be impacted.........all from a laptop computer in an upmarket hotel room in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, SE Asia. More tools are now available.

One data tool I had not seen previously is demonstrated for Hurricane Irene, truly a very large diameter system of current note.

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/43182 will take you to the introductory area with a further link to NASA in the USA.

This shows a combined mapping of wind and rain data for hurricane Irene, and some hints of real time data on cloud heights being linked to intensifying wind patterns, while they were happening.

Will this be available for Australia as well this cyclone season??

Carbon Farming Coming Soon to Australia

2011-08-26T11:46:00.003+09:30

CFI bill passes: On-farm carbon mitigation to be rewarded
24 Aug, 2011 10:11 AM

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has acknowledged the passage of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) through the Parliament, enabling farmers to be rewarded for carbon mitigation practices undertaken on-farm.

“The NFF has been broadly supportive of the concept and intent of the CFI from the outset as positive recognition of the major role agriculture can play in mitigating carbon emissions through on-farm management,” said NFF President Jock Laurie.

“We have long said that voluntary, market based mechanisms, using a carrot rather than a stick approach to carbon abatement, is the best way to engage with farmers in this challenge. The CFI fits this description.

“The NFF has also been consistent in saying that Australian farmers are under no illusions that the CFI will transform farm income, especially not in the short- to medium-term.

“However, with a continued focus on productivity-based research and the development of methodologies underpinning abatement projects, we hope that the CFI can mature to draw a meaningful contribution to Australia’s carbon mitigation effort,” Mr Laurie said.

“It is positive that the CFI legislation passed late yesterday has addressed a number of the key concerns raised by the NFF, particularly surrounding the potential for shifting regional land use away from agriculture and towards forestation. “We know that this Bill has undergone extensive debate and scrutiny and for this reason we feel confident that many of the potential pitfalls in this relatively new and complex area of carbon abatement have now been ironed out. “However, we will continue to closely monitor outcomes under the CFI to ensure that no unintended consequences emerge in regional Australia to the detriment of our farmers. “It is now vital that the Government intensifies its education process to ensure that farmers who decide to engage with the CFI do so with complete and unbiased information about the responsibilities that come with the program,” Mr Laurie concluded.
NFF Source: http://www.nff.org.au
---------------------------------

While a positive move, there is much to be done especially around determining soil carbon and its movements.

A new process currently under final development at the University of Sydney does seem to offer some possibilities on the measurement aspects. But......will it apply around Australia?

Indian Sandalwood Thriving in NW Australia

2011-08-15T16:44:00.008+09:30

For a long time now many have said that investing in tree crops will not be profitable, nor will it be sensible - you might just lose all your investment.

Work that we investigated in the early to mid 1990s seemed to indicate that there might be a place for some serious investment in tree crops in northern Australia - expensive, high quality cabinet timber trees and sandalwood were the two most promising we believed based on the research work, but were not short term money making investments.

Both appeared to have excellent mid to longer term prospects, for investment, based on continuing demand, in fact likely increasing demand, and declining production in many natural areas as well as potential for growth in the warmer north and north west of Australia. It was relatively untested, apart from some small areas of African mahogany being grown, some as ornamentals, and a few sandalwood trees around the areas. At that time sandalwood oil was around $US 400 a litre. We envisaged these trees being part of a complex rural enterprise, involving livestock as well. But it has mostly developed as a larger enterprise, and without the livestock most commonly.

Yes, African mahogany trees have been harvested and sent off for processing. Quaintly though, the ones in Darwin - and many are very large, although not always ideal for long furniture timbers, still get cut down and chipped, and are used for mulch.

[It is a bit crazy these resources are not used more effectively. A few parts get made into some local furniture, but really not much is used].

Initial trials have been successful on the mahoganies - these are really thinnings from tree plots still expected to grow for another 10 years plus.

A recent announcement has also indicated that sandalwood can also perform well. They are not large majestic trees, are somewhat complex to grow as they are a hemiparasite, a bit insignificant to look at really, and the photo shows that of a tree in Indonesia. Fairly typical looking tree.

[press release 2 August 2011 from TFS below]

The world's largest producer of Indian sandalwood says yield results from a trial harvest have proven the industry will be more than profitable in Western Australia's Ord Valley.

The harvest, from the Department of Agriculture's research station near Kununurra, found trees between 19 and 23 years of age were averaging 1.2 litres of sandalwood oil.

The oil (Santalum album) is currently fetching a record price of $2,100 per litre.

TFS executive chairman Frank Wilson, says the results are pleasing and will hopefully silence some critics.

"When we first came to the Ord, there were a lot of devil's advocates suggesting Kununurra trees wouldn't produce any oil, and they were also suggesting the only trees that would produce oil were those trees which were very small and stunted because they had been stressed," he said.

"Both of those myths have been scotched by these results and what we're showing is that Kununurra trees are producing large quantities of high quality oil."

Tropical Forestry Services (TFS) began planting Indian sandalwood in 1999, and now owns and manages around 5,000 hectares in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The trees produce an oil used in products such as incense, perfumes and soap.

Mr Wilson says his company is hoping to conduct its first commercial harvest in 2013, with trees that
are 14-15 years of age.

He says the company is predicting those trees will produce 0.85 litres of oil, but is confident yields and tree size will continue to improve as the industry develops.

"Ever since sandalwood was first trialled in Kununurra, there have been major improvements in silvicultural techniques, soil selection and host selection, so better yields are a natural consequence of those improvements over time."
--------------------------------------------

It is interesting to note that the trees at the Department of Agriculture certainly had a hard time in their early growing years, effectively being neglected and ignored for quite a few years. It was always a big question - can trees in Kununurra produce and yield well enough to be successfully grown??

Afterall, trees are cut down / removed entirely at harvest, and that trees can can take 20 - 30 years or more to grow to maturity. It is a long time to wait and see what happens!!!

Some core samples a few years ago from the Department trees seemed to partially indicate positive yields, but it is really encouraging to see how sucessful these sandalwood yields are.

Live Cattle Exports from Australia Recommence

2011-08-12T12:26:00.004+09:30

Yes, it is true!

This week live cattle exports to Indonesia resumed. Elders was the first company to move cattle, about 3000, followed by a shipment from another operator.

While there have been changes to procedures to allow traceability, the actual processes in the shipping, feedlot and in the abattoir were already satisfactory. No changes needed.

This whole exercise has been a crazy affair.

The latest twist has been implications that an Indonesian abattoir worker in the cruelty videos, was actually paid to be cruel to the animals. This accusation was made in a Senate hearing this week, but it is still a definite foggy area.

If you know Indonesia, then one would not be surprised if it was true. Payment, small to large, to achieve an outcome is VERY common. It would not be a surprise at all. No doubt the whole issue will be muddy, but the story at the Senate hearing did seem plausible. The people involved in the video are indignant about the accusation, saying it is not true........this has some time to run yet!

Whatever happens, it is highly unlikely that numbers of stock exported will be anywhere near the predicted numbers in early 2011, possibly less than 25% of the numbers expected. But really, it is almost an unknown!

The latest theme has been Senator Xenophen [who is vehemently opposed to live export of cattle] writing to major supermarkets urging them to buy braham cattle meat for their hamburgers. Still a problem, Senator........they have to move stock around 3 -4000kms to market at high cost, and possibly could lose money doing so.

This issue will no doubt move off the media agenda, but the issue is still a live problem, impacting horribly on most if not all in the northern cattle pastoral industry. And will do so for some years.

Climate Change - Are Renewables Going to Make a Difference

2011-07-22T11:50:00.006+09:30

The Dane, Bjorn Lomborg is a well known, and respected climate sceptic.......or he was. I recall reading that he was now accepting of climate change, but the following article does call into question the economic pathways most suitable to achieve a lot' with using renewable energy. Especially the economic policies used to achieve take up of the concepts.

Read here - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/commentary/bootleggers-hijack-climate-change-debate/story-e6frgd0x-1226099304031

He seriously questions the role that renewable energy systems can play in reducing fossil fuel use, and ultimately carbon emissions. Particularly the economic costs of using renewable energy such as wind and solar. Many others might agree directly with this view, and others strongly support the same general view by suggesting that carbon capture and storage must be made to function, as coal will need to play a role in stationary energy production, including electricity, for many years yet.

Here in Australia, a monster user and producer of coal, there has been a degree of support for the develpment of the zero emissions stationary energy plans developed over the past several years and formalised in a document available here -http://beyondzeroemissions.org/zero-carbon-australia-2020

I would agree they do seem economically and conceptually feasible, but significant changes must be implemented in regard to distribution networks for example. And more investment is now going into that area, but not necessarily to meet this concept plan. Lack of vision is a serious impediment to implementation of this concept. Spain has been investing in base load solar systems successfully, as shown in the photo.

Many would argue that nuclear energy will be needed around the world to meent energy needs. And that is low carbon emissions. Recent events eg Fukishima in Japan, will affect ideas on that too.

The Chinese are moving to develop thorium nuclear reactors. They have several notable features that could lead to wider interest. They do not generally have self sustaining fission- ie need some nuclear fuel to keep them going, and they produce very modest radioactive level and relatively short half life waste products [a strong point]. Curiously, Australia has a lot of thorium resources, and even more curiously it can occur with rare earth minerals and Chinese are investing in some of the mines with rare earth/ thorium resources too. Is this coincidence??

Genetics and You

2011-07-20T09:58:00.005+09:30

Lets have a slighlty more light hearted look at the world of agriculture today. No more live cattle trade issues today!

Modern genetics traces back to the work of Gregor Mendel in the mid 1800s on the heritable colour traits in peas.

Modern plant breeding has achieved a huge improvement in plant performance of our major food crops. We all benefit from that work of agricultural scientists and allied scientists, and food today is a much smaller cost percentage in our budget.

Even Google must think this is something worthwhile........see their "adjusted" logo celebrating Mendel's 189th birthday on July 20.

Live Cattle Trade to Indonesia - One Month After THE Ban

2011-07-13T10:48:00.003+09:30

The article on the ABC web site is absolutely a terrible coverage of the real issues and facts. While I think the article is quite cleverly written it is long on Australian political rhetoric and short on real coverage. Some clever words that add little to the issue.

Many of the comments cover the real issues - driven by the need for more beef by the Indonesian consumer. This will NOT come from Indonesian cattle for quite some time [ as identified very correctly with a bit of maths on the breeding herd of Indonesia by several comments].

See here - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-07/team-australias-cattle-concessions/2785988

Australia's northern cattle producers are on notice to improve slaughter methods in Indonesia. There is a strong commercial imperative for this, if meat quality is to be improved, and a higher proportion of unbruised meat to be available. This is in addition to any issues of animal cruelty.

BUT.......it is Indonesia, not Australia and through all the rhetoric it is obvious that Indonesia is far, far from happy over how the whole issue was handled. It will bite back.......possibly in an unexpected way, with consequences for Australia.

The whole issue is a disaster for beef production in the north, while at best a topic of conversation over a latte for a few days, for the urban dwellers of the south of Australia. It has not gone away.

And it will take quite some time to fix. Even with best intentions.

It does seem though that relations between the local producers and Indonesian feedlot operators is still strong. They do have a common cause..........retaining the live cattle trade. It is a plus for both, and they will strive to see it continue.

Australia Will Have a Carbon Price - It's Official!

2011-07-10T14:40:00.008+09:30

As of about four hours ago Australia will have a carbon price of $23 a tonne, and it will commence in July 2012.

Has been an open secret all week, but it is now confirmed. No doubt there will be more details to come, both in the near term as well as before next year.

Read a brief overview here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/07/10/3265732.htm

Indonesia Issues Import Permits for Australian Live Cattle

2011-07-09T01:01:00.002+09:30

It was going to happen........eventually. The need in Indonesia for these live cattle to meet the demand for meat is considerable and their recent absence has seen meat prices rise significantly in Jakarta.

It will still take some weeks though for the trade to actually recommence. Vessels have gone elsewhere, cattle are no longer readily available to ship and possibly of equal importance, some may even have put on weight here in Australia and now be overweight for the trade [remember max weight is 350kg live weight].

Indonesia is claiming that the national herd is rising in numbers and that 2014 will see them self sufficient in cattle numbers, according to a recent cattle census. Given rising beef demand, I am not so sure. And I am fairly certain that many Australians close to the trade would agree with my views. Investment by both Australia and Indonesia in the industry is likely to increase.

BUT......it is good news. And maybe a bit of jolt - there is a need for more markets to be developed and other options for handling the northern cattle herd.

More detail here - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/07/08/3265184.htm

What a giant stuff up by the Australian Agriculture minister. A performance well suited to a dummy spitting kindergarden pupil, not a minister of the crown. Diplomatically inept is being polite.

No one wants or condones the animal cruelty shown on TV. Given other news today about journalistic horribleness in the UK, let us hope this is not a slide to the bottom of the gutter in reporting, as there have been questions over the methods of obtaining and reporting on the video footage used in the Australian TV program. Indonesian abattoirs were awful operations last time I was in one, a few years ago. But nothing like the cruelty shown on TV.

If this new era can improve slaughter performance - that has to be positive for less animal cruelty.

On an economic basis, efficient rapid slaughter improves carcase quality, with less damage and better meat.

It should be a win - win outcome.

Renewable Energy Gets a Boost in Australia

2011-07-08T12:53:00.004+09:30

Announced today, Australia is to get a new major renewable energy entity. The Australian Renewable Energy Authority, ARENA. See the major news channels for more details.

see here - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/07/08/3264589.htm

There has also been some very interesting comments on the whole approach, by experienced commentators.

see here - http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2787108.html
and here - http://www.electronicsnews.com.au/news/engineer-s-perspective--what-limits-distributed-re?utm_source=20110708&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletters

These are very early days, but with a carbon price set to be announced in a few days, maybe the wheel is turning a few more cogs.

There are a lot of renewable energy technologies - going far past the wind and solar thinking, to wave and tidal power, into algal biomass for fuels, weed and waste plant biomass for energy, anaerobic digestion, composting and many more.

Watch the performance of the new ARENA with interest. It has a clear mandate - renewable energy.

Australia Lifts Live Cattle Export Ban to Indonesia

2011-07-07T01:01:00.000+09:30

Welcome news announced 6 July, that limited resumption of live cattle trade will recommence.

Short on much detail and curiously comes after media reports that Indonesia has announced significant reductions in possible import licence number as they say their own herd has increased. They also announced reductions in boxed chilled beef imports fom Australia as well.

Maybe it has, maybe not......but demand for beef in Indonesia continues to grow.

Some more details on both parts of the equation are here:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/07/06/3262895.htm for live cattle trade

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/9795221/indons-confirm-cut-to-cattle-imports/ Indonesian beef imports from Australia to be reduced

This saga is far from over and there will be much more to come yet. It may get off the front page of news broadcasts but it has not gone away. With northern producers already missing over a month of exports, and only limited resumption of animal shipments, there will be an awful lot of angst around, and many will still be losing a lot of money over the issue, and substantially reduced animal numbers will be exported in 2011.

A Letter from Indonesia on the Live Cattle Issues

2011-07-06T00:11:00.000+09:30

This letter was originally penned around the middle of June 2011, but has appeared in several different media sources. It was in the NT News newspaper in Darwin on Saturday July 2, as one of several articles on the live cattle export and slaughter debacle.

It is a sensible and rational response, based around practical and pragmatic actions to redevelop the live cattle trade to Indonesia.

This is a very major issue, with Indonesia no doubt feeling VERY miffed over the whole issue. The name Australia is not a top flavour there. What other issues will it next effect?

Read the letter in full at this link:
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Letter-from-Scot-Braithwaite-pd20110613-HRUYH?OpenDocument

Several other versions seen online have comments and responses, with some very negative to his views. Search on "Scot Braithwaite letter" for many more sites with the letter published, and responses.

More Live Cattle Issues - Culling will Start Soon

2011-07-05T22:04:00.003+09:30

Apparently now deferred, but not cancelled. A WA grazier was about to commence culling of 3000 cattle tomorrow, as he needs to reduce stock numbers on his property and now cannot sell them to Indonesia.

Sad, but more culling will also follow.

If animal welfare was an issue in Indonesia, watch north Australia over the next 5 months, especially after September as feed and water disappear, at the end of the dry season. Shooting cattle to reduce their suffering WILL be needed. A lovely animal welfare issue, right here in Australia.

Zoysia tenuifolia - Use as Ornamental Grass

2011-07-04T01:02:00.001+09:30

Think of zoysia and you think of fine, good looking turf areas. They are seen as an option for replacement of other warm season grasses due to their low maintenance and low fertiliser demands.

But there is another zoysia that offers an alternative for grass cover that really needs no mowing, or well, almost no mowing or cutting!

This option may be well suited to median strips, roundabouts and other areas such as rockeries where the landscaping needs to be very low maintenance. The grass may also be suited to small Japanese gardens, courtyards within commercial buildings, and similar areas. There may be particular options where the species could be well suited to use on green roof developments in the tropics and sub tropics.

It is VERY slow growing, which is both a plus and a minus. Slow growth will certainly be an issue trying to establish an area of the grass, unless there is an adequate supply of plugs, stolons or even established plants used from small pots to give you a high plant density at planting. The slow growth is a virtue once you have it planted though – very low maintenance.

Zoysia tenuifolia – sometimes called no grow grass, slow grow grass, petting grass – usually has a puffy appearance once established, almost like ‘hills and valleys”, which can be quite attractive. It provides extremely high ground cover, with virtually no mowing or cutting required. Leaves are short, and often a little stiff / spikey.

On the other side of the ledger...........when you do need to cut the area, it can look awful, as you tend to expose the deep mat of stolons below the grass surface, showing the cut edges. This cutting is often an annual or biennial event.

It is well suited to tropical and subtropical areas, and maybe on protected sites in warm temperate areas. It is strongly shade tolerant . You occasionally see this grass being sold as “petting grass” for use as an indoor plant.

Low maintenance, low to medium water use, shade tolerant, low growing – medium to high potential for wider ornamental use.

Live Cattle Trade - A Producers View

2011-06-25T23:17:00.003+09:30

A lot of words have flowed over the past few weeks on this topic.

The quality of the debate has been extremely partisan, and northern cattle producers feel rather miffed. Most comment against the existing trade has come from southern Australia.

One needs to differentiate the trade in live animals, and their slaughter. Does not seem to have been done by most anti the current practices.

Where were all the gurus offering to build abattoirs and facilites for local north Australia processing over the past 20 years or so so that the animals could be processed here? Talk is cheap.......show me the $$$$ for an abattoir in Darwin, Broome, Wyndham or Kununurra, let alone Karumba in Queensland. NEVER HAPPENED.

There have been more serious discussions over the past 2-4 years, and maybe one will get built.......but not before sometime in 2012. Oh, by the way.........that meat is probably not going to Indonesia anyway.

Read the article by a local NT Cattle producer, about 100kms south of Darwin.

Very poignant and pertinent!
Link is here - http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/06/25/243211_opinion.html

Live Cattle Trade to Indonesia

2011-06-24T23:01:00.003+09:30

This issue will NOT disappear, with the WA government now pressuring the Australian government to get it sorted out VERY SOON.

Lots of stories in the various press formats still, and no doubt will continue.

More here...
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/wa-premier-colin-barnett-wants-live-cattle-exports-to-indonesia-resumed/comments-fn59niix-1226081320373

The tenor of the comments particularly from the urban areas indicates little real knowledge of the issue generally.... just that it has to cease.

Some commenters make a case for "structural adjustment" in the northen cattle industry, funded by the government. Sounds fine, but would be monumentally expensive, and take years and years, not to mention a lot of R and D to produce different cattle, better pastures etc. The farms are not factories; cattle are not machines.

In a world needing food the loss of this product in Indonesia is likely to be of dire concern.

Will Indonesia be now as co-operative in dealing with other issues of joint concern - people smuggling, cross border animal and plant disease work, military co-operation. Face needs saving!! And fast......

Live Cattle Exports - Some Real Facts

2011-06-21T13:07:00.003+09:30

"During 2006, 99.82% of cattle and 99.1% of sheep that were loaded onto livestock export vessels in Australia arrived in importing countries in good health after being well looked after during the voyage.

These figures represent a positive ongoing result for the Australian livestock export industry, but industry is committed to continuing to improve. That is why industry, with the Australian Government and AQIS, actively invests in initiatives to improve animal welfare."

The data above came from from an Australian website on animal transport care - both in trucks and ships.

Some data being bandied about by the anti livestock export mafia refer to losses around 5%..........that is NOT correct, particularly for short haul cattle exports from northern Australia to SE Asia. The real figures for that trade are probably even less than the 0.2% above.

Australia's Tropical Beef Herd - Methane Emissions Lower Than Current Estimates

2011-06-04T00:02:00.002+09:30

New CSIRO research indicates that the amount of methane emitted from cattle fed on tropical grasses in northern Australia is up to 30 per cent less than figures currently used to calculate the northern cattle industry's contribution to Australia's greenhouse gas accounts.

Speaking at a recent Lansdown Field Day near Townsville, Queensland, CSIRO research leader Dr Ed Charmley said the findings would help to refine the nation's greenhouse gas accounting."

Measurements from cattle in CSIRO's custom-built respiration chambers show that Brahman cattle fed a wide range of tropical grasses emit up to 30 per cent less methane than previously determined. "While you always have to be cautious in extending lab data to the field and across an industry, we have been able to cross-check our findings with methane detecting laser systems used in the field."

These findings, while not changing the actual emissions, could have significant implications for calculating the emission footprint of the northern cattle industry and also for Australia's greenhouse gas accounts. "Methods used to determine these national greenhouse gas accounts are regularly reviewed and if the new data are confirmed via this review process, future accounts will be adjusted to reflect the lower emissions for the northern beef herd," Dr Charmley said.

With about half of the nation's beef herd located in northern Australia, current greenhouse gas accounts indicate that methane from the northern cattle industry contributes about 4.5 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. As a by-product of digesting plants, ruminant livestock such as sheep and cattle produce methane and, of those, beef cattle produce the most - about 200 grams a day, or about 1.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per animal every year."

CSIRO research also shows that northern cattle fed on a diet of predominantly Leucaena, a legume tree, emit less methane than cattle grazing on tropical grasses," Dr Charmley said. "What this nutrition research is showing is that there can be win-win scenarios for the industry and the environment if we can redirect the breakdown of plant material in a way that reduces the amount of methane produced while improving the amount of energy or weight gain that animals get from their feed. "We are addressing cattle methane emissions from several angles - from examining the gut microbes that produce methane from ingested pasture and alternative diets, to a landscape focus on northern Australia's extensive grazing systems using state-of-the-art technologies, such as lasers and wireless sensor networks, to measure and model cattle methane emissions under tropical conditions."

The Lansdown Research Station is a key part of CSIRO's broader research programs on livestock production and emissions reduction in agriculture.

Lansdown Research Station is funded by the Australian Government's Climate Change Research Program, Meat & Livestock Australia and CSIRO and is one of five national research hubs and demonstration sites for practical methane management on-farm.

While this CSIRO press release is encouraging news for the northern beef producers, it is still to be verified in other research.

It seems to also confirm that using higher digestibility forages - in this case leucaena, a legume, it is possible to further lower methane emissions. This is similar to broad results from research work in temperate regions on dairy cows where lowered methane emissions were also corelated strongly with use of higher quality [ digestibility] feed.

There has been a trend in the past 20 years to push for more grass in beef pastures as compared to earlier periods of northern development when pasture legumes were seen as more important - then related to higher protein levels in the diet. Unfortunately, most grass now eaten by stock is on the dry side, with quite low digestibility, especially in more extensive pastoral regions. Changing digestibility can be done through plant breeding, but that is unlikely to happen any time soon. Tropical grasses also tend to be of lower digestibility intrinsically than temperate pasture species.

Leucaena is a viable option in many areas, although getting pasture areas established is time consuming and costly. It does have well proven performance in growing and finishing stock across many regions of north Australia. Superb results were achieved about 25 years ago in the Ord Valley at kununurra, but not too many producers are using the system - why would you, when live export has been the normal practice and there is little bonus for good quality finished cattle, with high carcase quality, in the north of Australia.

Lowered estimated methane emissions might quell some of the wild statements made about how awful the beef herd is environmentally though!

Organic Eggs - NOT ALL Are Really Organic

2011-06-03T00:02:00.001+09:30

According to the Cornucopia Institute (CI), a non-profit which promotes economic justice for family scale farming, all organic eggs produced in the USA are not alike.

They recently released the report - Scrambled Eggs: Separating Factory Farm Egg Production from Authentic Organic Agriculture.

The report contains an Organic Egg Scorecard that rates 70 name brand as well as additional private label organic egg producers based on 22 factors that the organization deems critical to the typical organic consumer. The main rating criteria include outdoor access, outdoor management, indoor quality of life and welfare, and organic principles of farm interdependence and ecological sustainability.

The highest rating, five eggs, goes to companies CI considers ethical family farms, companies that go beyond national organic standards. Most of these companies are small, local distributers.

The producers given the lowest rating, one egg, are those CI believes are in violation of organic standards of animal welfare and/or were not transparent with their practices during CI's research. Sadly, many of the single-egg brands are the ones most easily available to consumers. Whole Foods' 365 brand, Trader Joe's brand, O Organic by Safeway, and Costco’s Kirkland brand all received a single egg for their sup-par performance.

The report, conducted over a one year period, details how organic egg producers vary greatly in their interpretation of the Federal USDA Organic Standards, "Paths are diverging in the organic-egg-producing community: One path affords more outdoor access and more diversity on the farm; and another path has led to large-scale industrialization motivated by profit."

While Australia has quite strict rules about what is organic and its labelling, it is quite possible that similar issues occur here.

Normally a producer is "Certified Organic" which includes strict inspections and using verifiable organic inputs, and the "Certified Organic" term is used. Claims about "organic" products are often just "claims", unless they are certified as organic.

So be careful........organic eggs ain't always organic eggs!

Strategic Agricultural Land to be Protected from Gas Mining

2011-05-31T15:15:00.005+09:30

Stunning new protection for strategic agricultural land has been announced for Queensland.

It is aimed very squarely at coal seam gas mining, and the potential for damaging land - land of high value for agriculture.

Believed to be a first in the world situation, the Queenslnd Minister for the Environment made the announcement today. Ironically, probably in the shadow of the Indonesian live export cattle slaughter saga, which has been major media news in Australia today, so media may not have picked up on the issue quickly. it is big news!

Anyhow.........read more here.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/cropping-land-protected-from-mining/story-fn3dxity-1226066560517

There will be a lot more written over the next few weeks and months.

This is an amazing win for rural areas, in terms of land protection.

It is early days, but judging on views expressed at meetings I have been to on the Darling Downs, there will be a lot of very pleased rural landholders.

Comedy to Curb Littering and Waste

2011-05-28T00:04:00.000+09:30

Littering is a serious problem in Australia and costs a lot of $$ to repair.

Conventional approaches have not always worked........so why not use comedy?

Keep Australia Beautiful has brought together an unlikely group of Australian celebrities to form a fictitious group called Litterers Anonymous. The comedic new anti-littering campaign aims to lift the profile of littering problems in Australia and will see Keep Australia Beautiful promoting the Litterers Anonymous ‘One Step Program’ which is simply to ‘use the bin’.

This campaign is supported by some of the leading companies in the beverage industry.

Keep Australia Beautiful will be launching the campaign in cinema, TV, radio and online this week at www.litterersanonymous.org.au

Litterer Types:

Wedgers - people who stuff disposable objects into small spaces where they will not be seen, such as behind a seat.

Undertakers – people who bury disposable objects under sand or leaves.

Foul shooters – people who aim for the bin but miss, and leave the object on the ground.

More here -
http://www.insidewaste.com.au/storyview.asp?storyid=2391949&sectionsource=s0

Using Carbon Dioxide for Algal Biofuels

2011-05-26T11:35:00.004+09:30

It seems that Australia is about to move forward several steps in developing commercial use of waste carbon dioxide.

Origin Energy has announced a new medium scale [a prelude to larger scale use if successful] waste CO2 from its power plant to produce fresh water algae, which it then plans to harvest for potential biofuel production.

More here - http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20065708-54.html?tag=nl.e797

[ interestingly - reported in US not Australian media]

At about the same time, a leading US saltwater algal producer has announced a scaling up of existing work in the Pilbara region of WA, which uses CO2 from LNG processing as the accelerator of algal growth.

More here -http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/9328127/algae-fuel-to-diversify-pilbara/

Both are in regions of Australia with plenty of sunshine, especially in the Pilbara.

Coincidentally, the aviation industry announced this week that they saw biofuel as a suitable fuel, with lowered CO2 emissions overall, as a substitute for existing fossil oil fuels.

Australia does have open spaces and sunshine, but so far a timid set of national and state governments, that seem reluctant to embrace non fossil fuels, although industry does seem more active to use them.

There is a major program in the private sector with wide support across industry and academia to develop base load solar thermal power stations, but so far without major support from government. More details are here -
http://beyondzeroemissions.org/blog/zero-carbon-australia-stationary-energy-plan-nsw-elements-110307

And there is a very comprehensive range of documents that do seem to provide evidence and analysis that would support the plan.

Could Australia prosper on waste carbon............after all, we are the highest per head producer of carbon???

Solar Panels with 90% Efficiency - Maybe!

2011-05-18T12:15:00.006+09:30

It could be 5 -10 years away for commercial use, but with conversion efficiency of 90% it does sound impressive.

A new concept, so far restricted to lab scale, that could supplant traditional photovoltaics has been announced. The present photovoltaic systems commonly have efficiencies of around 20% and lower in warm climates.

Some fuel oxide fuel cells have around 85% efficiency of energy conversion, which is very high, but they rely on gas as a fuel source [ see www.cfcl.com.au - BluGen systems]. An efficiency of 90% would be stunning for a solar cell.

Read more below.
-------------------------------

AN associate professor in the University of Missouri (MU) Chemical Engineering Department is developing a flexible solar sheet with more than 90 percent efficiency.

If the technology comes good, it could revolutionise the solar energy industry, which is currently at around 20 percent efficiency with production-level photovoltaics. Scientists working in laboratories have thus far managed up to 25 percent efficiency.

According to Patrick Pinhero, the new technology does not utilise the traditional photovoltaic methods of solar collection, due to its inefficiency and failure to capture much of the available solar electromagnetic spectrum.

The device is a thin, mouldable sheet of small antennas called nantenna. These nantenna are currently used to harvest the heat from industrial processes in an energy harvesting application. Pinhero hopes to extend the concept to a direct solar-facing nantenna device which can collect solar irradiation in the near infrared and optical regions of the solar spectrum.

Working with his former team at the Idaho National Laboratory and Garrett Moddel, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Pinhero and his team have now developed a way to extract electricity from the collected heat and sunlight using special high-speed electrical circuitry. The team also partnered with Dennis Slafer of MicroContinuum to port the laboratory bench-scale technologies into manufacturable devices that can be inexpensively mass-produced.

The team believes it will have inexpensive prototypes for consumers within five years. As part of a rollout plan, the team is securing funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and private investors.

The second phase features an energy-harvesting device for existing industrial infrastructure, including heat-process factories and solar farms.

Stormwater Management - Green Roofs Play a Part

2011-05-17T16:16:00.010+09:30

The concept of using green roofs has more been around overall city heat mitigation, reduced heat absorption on concrete roofs, more oxygen in the city, even reuse of waste water.

Recent work has indicated that the 'green roof" may be significant in stormwater management, a slightly different outcome than was expected.

While Australia and many other regions do not have a single stormwater and sewer pipe system, some cities do. There the collection of stormwater on green roofs appears to greatly reduce the amount of stormwater entering the sewer system, and thus reduces the potential overflow, quite a problem for these types of systems.

In the areas with separate storm water and sewer disposal systems, it would seem that the collection of especially higher intensity storm rain, the event that often overloads streets and stormwater disposal designs, would also be enhanced, and less stormwater would flow through the system. And, even if it was partially reduced, it would most likely time shift and reduce the major flows, after the rain had flowed down through the green roof and then out down a drainpipe to the ground. The green roof would also assist with removal of pollutants, often in the rain in cities.

More details of the study here -http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/42701

Green roofs lend themselves well to regions with some regular rainfall, year round. Has not been much development here in the NT, due to our very strongly seasonal rainfall - wet for half the year, generally totally dry for the other half, so plants require watering then.

There is a good example of a green roof in Singapore, at the Botanical Gardens. It seems to work well.

Camel Burger -To Go, Please

2011-05-09T00:01:00.003+09:30

A lot of camels have been exported from central Australia, averaging around 3000 a year, yet camel populations continue to grow........exponentially........well almost so it seems.

There are a lot, and they mostly are considered as a feral animal issue. Their numbers are currently around one million. And continuing to rise, such that environmental degradation is a very serious issue as well as damage to towns and rural properties. A $19 million project to cull camels has been proposed.[ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/26/world/main5786556.shtml]

Quite a few have tried before to establish an overseas or even local market for the meat. It just has not been successful, and the slaughter process is often the problem. Camels require a specialised abbattoir, sized for them.

This time round, maybe there is more chance of success.

The proposal is to establish an abbatoir at Port Pirie, trucking the camels in for halal slaughter, then export chilled or frozen boxed meat. The proponent has established credentials in the middle east market for other meat products - sheep, goat and cattle so outlets are in place, plus there has been the development of some fast food camel burger outlets in Dubai, with another planned possibly for Abu Dhabi.

It might just be different enough to work.

read more here - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704628404576265783864754552.html

It would assist with reductions in camel numbers in Australia, provide jobs and income for remote areas and feed the Middle East. It might even be considered as organic camel meat. Maybe it has a chance.

UPDATE on 19 May

when Australian stories make it to this level, it is considered big news.

Food Prices WILL Go Up

2011-05-07T01:06:00.001+09:30

Mankind has enjoyed several decades of falling food prices, and relative abundance. Some even say that food prices have really been trending down ever since about the mid 1800s, although there have been some periods where that has not been so clear.

Modern agriculture has improved productivity of most farm animals, crops and even trees and enhanced efficiency of the use of inputs such that more is produced for less.

Recent trends in agricultural productivity increases are much lower, a lot of the productive land is used already, some even disappearing into urban sprawl, and new areas are far less available, or have other constraints eg clearing of rainforest, and may even be less productive intrinisically.

Malthus and his predictions are back in the spotlight.

A recent short article from the Lowy Institue in Australia, a respected academic institue has examined this issue more critically.
link is here - http://lowyinstitute.org/Publication.asp?pid=1565 and the publication can be downloaded as a pdf.

We need 71% more food production to feed the world population of 9.1 billion [estimated] by 2050.

So far, it does not seem to be recognised as a serious issue, with R and D expenditure on agriculture still declining, and some are suggesting that it will be difficult to again obtain the agricultural productivity gains of the past 60 years. These are years in which use of hybrid crops, the development of the "green revolution" in Asia with both wheat and rice, etc etc all took place.

Genetic modification has been embraced by some.......and strongly rejected by others.

Many scientists do think that some form of major genetic advance will be needed to ensure this food will be produced, and that there will be significant changes in how and where food is produced. Will we see more food produced within cities? Many think so, grown in novel ways too.....even vertically on walls, replacing the lawn with a food garden, food grown on building rooftops and there will be greater use of recycled water and nutrients including organic materials eg compost. These are happening in some way already around the world.

At present there is a nett movement of nutrients from farms to cities, and it just about all goes down the sewer or into landfill. That might have to change.

Science might be capable to develop new food production systems but social and cultural adjustments might be needed too. They might be more difficult.

Plastic Bags - Worse Than You Think!

2011-05-06T11:25:00.004+09:30

Many cities, towns and even countries [ China, Ireland, Australia] have banned already or are implementing plastic bag bans.

Sometimes there is opposition, sometimes very strong opposition, but in real terms their use drops enormously after steps are taken to restrict use.

Recent studies also are beginning to show that their impact is probably more damaging than previously thought.

The article link will bring you up to date on more recent studies..........and it is generally NOT GOOD.

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/facing_the_dirty_truth_about_recycled_plastics/2400/

Plastics are a serious issue in relation to disposal and / or recycling, and much more needs to be done in that area.

At least in Darwin they have finally allowed more classes of plastic to be recycled. A good start, I suppose.

Compost Awareness Week - May - 2011

2011-05-05T01:00:00.001+09:30

It is International Compost Awareness Week this week...........with functions around the globe. The USA, Canada, UK and Australia are examples.

The message below is focussed on the East Coast of Australia, but relevant all over Australia.

Composting, the ‘intelligent’ alternative
Tuesday, 3 May 2011

That’s the message from the Centre for Organic & Resource Enterprises (CORE) at the launch of the sixth International Composting Awareness Week (ICAW). Organised in conjunction with Compost Australia (a division of the Waste Management Association of Australia), the week of events from May 1-7 will promote the benefits afforded to us all when our business communities and households get involved in composting.

“Composting is the responsible and sustainable thing to do for our planet,” according to CORE.

The major objectives of ICAW are to increase the diversion of organics from the main waste collection program through increasing awareness and participation in centralised composting, kerbside collections, home composting and community composting.“Each year over half the household garbage we produce is made up of food and garden organics. Most of this organic waste can be recycled by composting it”, said Eric Love, chairman of CORE.“If all this organic material was diverted from landfills and properly composted, it could be used to reverse the affects of climate change.

By applying this compost to gardens, farms and other land uses, millions of tonnes of carbon will be stored in the soil. This acts to lower the atmospheric temperatures that lead to changes in our climate.”

ICAW also aims to increase awareness and knowledge about the correct use of "soil-improving composts"; help reduce and recover food waste; and highlight the environmental and social benefits of composting including the opportunities to reduce our carbon emissions.

“Composting is not new. Compost has been used in crop production for over 4,000 years. Artificial fertilisers only became widely available a century ago. Australia is an old and eroded continent that is suffering from land degradation,” said Love.

Emissions from landfills are part of the Australian Federal Government’s carbon abatement initiative. If everyone composted, the total waste going to landfill could decrease by up to one third and emissions and disposal costs will drop, according to CORE.

Peter Wadewitz, chairman of Compost Australia said, “Compost produced by the recycled organics industry is already providing Australian landscape, horticulture and agricultural industries with affordable solutions to improve productivity and environmental outcomes.“Recycled carbon based products are also being effectively used to treat contaminated stormwater runoff and enabling the water to be reused, or more safely released into our waterways.”

Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre is getting into the action of ICAW by offering talks, demonstrations and tours at its Ingleside/Terrey Hills site on May 3, 4 & 5 (at 10am and 2pm).

It will also give away 500 bags of Kimbriki Compost each day. Peter Rutherford, Kimbriki’s senior ecologist, will demonstrate simple ways to make great compost at home, and explain how this relates to healthy plants and healthy people. Australian Native Landscapes’ soil expert, Rob Niccol, will discuss composting and soil health; explain about the value of compost in larger projects and how it is being used to supplement Australia’s dwindling soil resources. He will also demonstrate the latest in mulch blowing technology and conduct a guided tour of the large-scale compost making operation at Kimbriki.

For more information visit: www.compostweek.com.au

Less Water Use Reduces Energy Too

2011-05-04T03:19:00.002+09:30

Water use and water loss is a major energy cost in many countries.

If just 1% of US homes replaced older, inefficient toilets with dual flush models, the country would save more than 38 million kWh of electricity, the equivalent of 43,000 households’ monthly electrical supply.

While in Australia, dual flush and reduced flush toilets are very common, they are much less common in other countries. As an example, 25 years ago most Australian toilets were single flush, 12L per flush. Best models today are 6L/3L flush with a redesigned efficiently flushed pan, or the more common 9L/4.5L dual flush models. Practically, volumes less than these levels can create congestion problems in sewer lines as the liquids level has diminished so much..........but most countries are nowhere close to the reduced flush volumes now common in Australia.

Big water use reductions are possible, and an important issue, rarely considered is that less water used means much less energy is used. Think electricity for pumping and purifying water as the most obvious point.

Solving leakage is also important in reducing energy use, as a side benefit of reducing water losses. Same issues as above.

Switching to dual flush low volume toilets is a big factor in driving reducing energy use.

More information here -http://www.waterefficiency.net/march-april-2011/detecting-the-unaccountable-1.aspx

Sandalwood Offers a Pathway to Reduced Animal Methane Emissions

2011-05-03T11:03:00.006+09:30

Welsh University discovers way to reduce methane from cows and sheep

Research carried out by academics from Aberystwyth University has resulted in a discovery which could lead both to an improvement in milk and meat production and to a significant reduction in methane emissions from cattle and sheep.

The research team, led by Professor Jamie Newbold of Aberystwyth University, found that by adding sandalwood (or a sandalwood analogue) to animal feed the growth of pathogenic bacteria such as E.coli and Listeria in the rumen is reduced. As a consequence, energy which would otherwise be lost through the production of methane is diverted to increased milk and meat production.

At the same time there was a significant reduction in the emission of methane, a greenhouse gas with 23 times the global warming potential of the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. It is estimated that livestock produce 18% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, more than all forms of transport combined.

Trials in a rumen simulating fermenter (Rusitec) confirmed that Javanol, a sandalwood analogue, reduced methane production by up to 25%. A reduction of 20% in methane emissions was achieved in field trials with sheep when 2ml of Javanol per day was added to their diet.

This is an exciting discovery in two ways," said Dr Ahmed Ali. "Firstly, there would be benefits to the agricultural industry through increased milk and meat production: this increase in productivity would be set against a background of growing pressures on global food supply.
Secondly, there could be a significant reduction in methane emissions."

"Overall, the project is a good example of a University and an SME collaborating on cutting edge research. If this project and projects like this, can be commercialised in global markets, that has to be the way forward for the knowledge economy of Wales."

This might be a plus for Wales, but what about use in Australia, especially those areas of Australia where sandalwood is grown - the NW of Western Australia, SW of WA as well as parts of the Northern Territory. Sandalwood and oil products from the tree are high value materials, strong in demand from perfumery manufacturers.

It is especially important for monsoonal tropical regions, as it is known that methane emissions in livestock increases when animals are on feeds with lower digestibility, a common issue in the dry season when dry feed is most commonly consumed.

Could a small addition of sandalwood or similar materials to metered and medicated water dispensing systems which are increasingly common, offer some options for reducing methane emissions of livestock in north Australia??

Small Business = Technological Cretins

2011-05-01T23:34:00.003+09:30

A recent report has absolutely slammed the uptake of new technology by Australian businesses.

Low use of mobile phones and computers are targetted in the report based on some research by Telstra, Australia's largest phone company.

The figures are quite stunning, [ full news report here - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/small-business-lagging-behind-in-technology-study/story-e6frg90f-1226047835735 ]

Data for a sample of small businesses are that nearly one-quarter did not use a standard mobile phone, while 45 per cent did not have smart phones. One in ten did not have a computer associated with the business. Around half of the businesses surveyed did not have a website or use online transactions in their business.

I can understand the lack of a website - they can be a bit daunting and expensive at times for a decent website, but no online transactions is bit odd. How do they do their banking transactions or employee payments??

While I have no data for the Northern Territory, national figures do seem a bit odd based on what I see in local NT small business, or maybe it reflects the younger population here.

However..........Telstra thinks they may be on a winner in being able to provide services.

Most people just wish they would improve their telephone performance around the country.

Long Chain Omega-3 Oil from Plants - Soon

2011-04-22T01:00:00.001+09:30

A pioneering Australian research alliance is leading the international race to break the world’s reliance on fish stocks for its supply of the vital dietary nutrient, long chain omega-3.

Three Australian organisations recently announced an A$50 million dollar research collaboration which will use leading edge gene technology to develop and commercialise vegetable oil which will contain the same high quality, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) rich long chain omega-3 that traditionally comes from fish.

This collaboration brings together Nuseed (a wholly owned subsidiary of Nufarm Ltd), CSIRO and the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

Already as part of the project, CSIRO scientists have made a significant breakthrough by enabling canola plants to generate long chain omega-3 oils that contain DHA, something that up until now has only been found in beneficial quantities in ocean-based algae and the fish that eat it. Some land-based plants, like flaxseed, can produce short-chain omega-3 oils, but are unable to produce the more beneficial long chain omega-3 oils containing DHA.

Read the Full Article here.

CHOCOLATE TAX??

2011-04-21T12:09:00.012+09:30

Here in Australia, chocolate eggs are very common gifts at Easter, with the egg representing life, as shown by the Christian festivity of the Resurrection, on what is celebrated as Easter sunday.

There has been a call by Tim Costello, the head of World Vision Australia for a tax on chocolate.

No, it is not a crazy thing, but all about the fact that much of the world's chocolate production comes from west Africa, where child slavery and related systems of indentured or sold adult slaves, do much of the work in cocoa production. it is estimated that about 97% of cocoa produced around the world involves child exploitation.

There have been some efforts to overcome the system with Greens chocolate [ based in the UK]attempting to break out of this production cycle, by introducing fair trade type policies around cocoa sales and purchases [ recently written about in Time Magazine], as have Cadbury's.

But the call from Tim Costello is new, and World Vision does have some clout in these issues. Read and hear more here -http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2011/3196200.htm .

It is not a nice issue to contemplate in a comfortable westernised society, but cocoa production does remain as one of the last areas of serious child slavery in the world.

Be aware of that fact as you eat your chocolate Easter eggs............or just about any other chocolate!!

NEW RECORD - World's Hottest Chilli Grown in Australia

2011-04-13T13:56:00.005+09:30

A record worth claiming for some, and totally irrelevant for many others.

Have to have some levity ocassionally.

A chilli grower on the Central Coast of NSW, in Australia has produced what is believed to be the world's hottest chilli, the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T.

"It was like a eating a fruit salad and then it just exploded in my mouth, it was fantastic!" described Marcel de Wit, head grower at the Chilli Factory, the producer who grew the chilli.

This is supposed to be a new record, surpassing the chillies produced in Assam.[ http://abovecapricorn.blogspot.com/2007/08/hottest-chilli-in-world-officially.html ]

Full details of new record here - http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/04/12/3189542.htm

Sustainability - Great Disruption

2011-04-08T17:22:00.004+09:30

In sustainability terms, as well as ecological, a population can grow, reach the limits then decline. For various reasons. Jared Diamond wrote of this theme in his books in the 1990s, as did Paul Erlich to some degree in "Limits to Growth" [1970s].

A recent book by Paul Gilding, "The Great Disruption" adds to the debate about sustainability. The book was reviewed here [ http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/storyview.asp?storyid=2336764&sectionsource=s0 ] during the week, and is now available for sale in Australia. No doubt Amazon will have it also.

The reviewer reckons it is a good read. But maybe they are too similar in views for a dispassionate review. Maybe there cannot be a dispassionate review of the topic.

Read it and comment.

It should stir considerable controvesy.

Mangroves - Worth Loving for Carbon Storage

2011-04-06T12:06:00.002+09:30

Mangroves have been under threat as mankind increasingly lives near the water's edge - especially the saltwater edge!

Maybe recent events such as earthquakes and tsumanis might encourage a rethink living on the edge of the sea, but for now, many areas of mangroves are torn out for development - of various kinds.

One school of thought even suggests that their prsence along coastlines mitigates cyclonic storm surges and related events, preventing considerable damage, even some distance inland. I recall comments about several major storms in Asia where more damage occurred than might be expected due to the removal of protection from mangroves, torn out for aquaculture development.

Land developers commonly remove mangroves to develop canal estates too.

Some recent scientific research on tropical mangrove trees show they are better at storing carbon dioxide than most other forests, and cutting them down unleashes more greenhouse gas than deforestation elsewhere. Mangroves are so efficient at keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere that when they are destroyed, they release as much as 10 per cent of all emissions worldwide attributable to deforestation - even though mangroves account for just 0.7 per cent of the tropical forest area, according to some new research.

Daniel Donato, of the US Agriculture Department's Forest Service and lead author of a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, says mangroves store two to four times the carbon that tropical rainforests do. "Mangroves store a lot of carbon, much more so than most forests on Earth, on a per hectare basis," says Donato. "Since they store so much carbon, there's probably a lot being released from all the mangrove deforestation that's going on."

Yes, if you live near the coast you tend to dislike the mangroves - the source of mosquitoes and sand flies, midges and related biting insects.

Maybe it is better you protect yourself, and leave the mangroves to store carbon and protect us from natural disasters.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/04/04/3181798.htm?site=science&topic=enviro provides more details.

Snail Biosecurity - Even in Singapore

2011-04-01T07:00:00.000+09:30

A visitor to Singapore sees a lot of hard surfaces and little of the green sites.

Seemingly the island appears as a large building, apartment and mall site.

However, surprisingly, the island does have a few biosecurity issues of concern.

A recent article expresses considerable concern over a snail found in some Singapore green sites, such as plant nurseries and remnant jungle areas.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0328-hance_tcs_snail_singapore.html

African land snails are a particular issue of concern to many biosecurity agencies around the world, including Australia. The species in this article is not the normally noted one, but still a potential species of some concern. There are comparison photos in the article.

It is true that plant quarantine is often not an issue of major concern to Singapore, especially for outsiders, but it is for Australia.

The Singapore story seems to implicate plant imports as the source of the snail.

While plant imports to Australia from Singapore are not that common, orchid flowers can be a fairly common passenger item, and there is a history of insects as a free rider on the flowers.

Darwin - watchout for this snail.

Cheap Distributed Energy for Rural Development

2011-03-31T10:05:00.004+09:30

In India, Tata, one of the industrial giants of the country is working through concepts to invest in cheap distributed power supply in rural areas.

The company believes there is a market.......if not today, then soon. And they are positioning themselves to be part of it.

Sure, one thinks of solar powered telephone towers, remembering that the entire microwave repeater system across the north of Australia was run on solar power, and that was 25 years ago. So that is not new.

There are other options too, including local use of biomass produced for fuel such as palm oil, or other crop oils used in small diesel motors to run local cottage industry or produce modest amounts of electricity.

Tata is doing this big time though.

Does their model also offer some hope for many other rural and remote regions across Asia and Africa especially?

Read more here:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20047974-54.html?tag=mncol;mlt_related

Compadre Zoysia - Choice For High Profile Area in Central Palmerston, NT

2011-03-28T16:55:00.011+09:30

As part of the beautification of the central area of Palmerston, the Palmerston City Council has used Compadre zoysia, sown from seed, as a key component of the landscape plan. Seed sowing offered a much lower cost than using turf sod, although slower, yet allowed satisfactory development over about 16 - 20 weeks of an area that will be used for many years. The area links the public bus terminal and many of the current office buildings at the northern part of the central business area, including the Council offices, Goyder building and Post Office.

Both sides of the pedestrian pathway are sown, with trees along the road verge.

The site was prepared and sown in mid 2010, on a reasonably shallow laterite site that had modest topsoil applied.

Although germination and establishment were slower than expected, the cooler conditions of the mid dry season impacted on this with growth quickly improving from September. Slow establishment is common in the Dry season, with almost any turf grass.

The site suffered due to prior rural use of the area, and numerous plants of the pasture species of stylo also established. Several rounds of herbicide sprays to control these weeds, along with sedges that appeared in the very wet conditions of the 2010/ 2011 wet season, were needed to develop a satisfactory turf surface.

Importantly for the Council, it does seem that reduced mowing frequency [about half of normal frequency] is practically possible with Compadre zoysia, achieving a great appearance at reduced mowing cost.

Mowing costs are a major component of long term turf maintenance on commercial areas, and less frequent mowing can reduce overall costs of the area. The aesthetics are superb.........even if it was raining when the photos were taken in mid March 2011!

There have been some initial additional costs with weed control, but they are not huge and mowing less often will recover these costs very quickly.

The area has been established only about 8-9 months, and with the shorter dense turf cover, it does look impressive.

Zoysia Compadre Turf at Darwin Waterfront - Early 2011 Update

2011-03-25T15:57:00.005+09:30

The Darwin Waterfront Project used Compadre zoysia as the turf grass of choice, and it was sown from seed in late 2009. Conditions after sowing were not ideal, in fact definitely difficult, with very heavy tropical strom rain and problems with soil movement that required significant intervention by the contractor. Despite the problems, the area was sown and the Compardre zoysia grew satisfactorily after some repair work following the storm damage. Now, about 16 months later the area is fantastic.

The sown turf has very few weeds, is lush and green, and well used. Mowing frequency has been reduced to a lower level, turf density is very high and the grass provides great lateral density such that it is impossible to see any ground.

A great turf area has been achieved primarily through mowing and allowing the Compadre zoysia to develop its thick carpet of turf.

Especially important, has been the excellent growth in shady areas where ground cover is really no different to open sunny locations. Compadre zoysia is recognised as an excellent shade tolerant grass. It is soft, non itchy and usually well patronised by those using the swimming lagoon and wave pool.

Right now, that is not too many...........the rain has been keeping patrons away, especially tourists who are usually very regular users of the area!

The photos are from early March 2011, after about 3 months of very heavy wet season rain this wet season. There has been no problem with erosion and the grass is ...........well, great

This is a high profile site and Compadre zoysia has shown it can be a very acceptable and desirable turf lawn in the region.

Try it at your site by contacting us at office@abovecapricorn.com.au .

Wind Energy in China

2011-03-16T16:22:00.004+09:30

The wind energy potential in China is very substantial.

The ordinary citizens of most western countries are generally ignorant of the advances that are happening in alternative energy developments in China, with many media stories focussed on energy from coal, and quite dirty energy too. Wind energy particularly has developed enormously over the past 15 years or so. In the mid 1990s, there were the emergence of some significant wind energy projects often funded by the EU or member countries.

Developments since then have been, well, like many things in China - absolutely enormous.

Currently, China's wind power installed capacity has reached 42GW at the end of 2010, and is the largest wind power producer in the world. By contrast Australia's wind energy capacity is about 2GW [2009 data], yet we have significant resources, not being used.

China is expected to increase capacity to 135 GW in 5 years and 513 GW in 20 years, according to some sources. This means in the next 20 years, China will add an average of about 25 GW of wind power installed capacity and invest more than 25 billion Euros in the wind power market every year.

The land-based wind energy resource in the western region of Xinjiang accounts for 37% of the national total. By the end of 2015, Xinjiang's wind power installed capacity will reach 60 GW.

To further enhance these develpment projects a major conference in May is being held in Urumqi [Xinchiang Province] to attempt to bring projects and money together.

China does need clean energy, as much energy currently is from some pretty dirty coal power plants. But.......watch China........I think we shall see a very large incease in alternative energy as a power source, with wind a large part of that increase.

They are planning a lot of nuclear power plants too.............although no doubt like others, the recent Japan incidents might influence their thinking.

Less Greenhouse Gas - Modest Steps and Tangible Actions Work

2011-03-02T10:11:00.007+09:30

A lot of the debate around alternate energy, energy efficiency and even a carbon price or tax has focussed on climate change. That nebulous, end of century effect that no one is really sure about whether real or imagined, and which sceptics of climate change then have great delight in demolishing any argument to do anything about issues now. I am not a sceptic of man driven climate change, but for many it is just a difficult concept.

The ex Governator - or maybe the ex Terminator - has had quite a bit to say over the past few days, while delivering a very well received address at a conference in the US. And it offers some common sense about effecting change.

His premise is that climate change is just too abstract for most people to conceive [ apparently especially Americans] and that those wishing to effect change at grass roots level and in society need to be focussing more on real effects now, tangible things. These include:

job creation from green jobs related to mandated renewable energy use,
reductions in oil use and hence dependence on other countries for energy,
energy efficiency that offers real benefits in reduced costs due to efficency improvements in homes and businesses,
health benefits from reduced use of oil,
vehicle efficiency improvements to reduce fuel use,

among a range of issues.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20037752-54.html?tag=nl.e703

offers a reporters view of the address.

This seems a very pragmatic approach, well wrapped in some humour too, and does offer a way forward at even local levels. Getting back to the old cliche - "act locally, think globally' a catch cry slogan of the environment movement. And implies a degree of personal responsibility, in California's case also in some areas offering state support.

There have been a number of reports available of business case studies that created quite substantial real $$ savings by embracing energy efficiency, for example and many jurisdictions do have programs to assist in taking this approach and actions.

Also read an earlier post - http://abovecapricorn.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-effect-climate-change-now.html

Clean Technology in Mexico - A Lesson for Australia?

2011-03-01T10:26:00.004+09:30

To many Australians, Mexico is not on the business horizon. It might be a fun location to visit......but not for business.

That is a little different in livestock production where there has been a reasonably strong connection between the tropical livestock and pastoral industries for some time. Can Mexico offer some ideas for clean technology devlopment that might be relevant in Australia? They do have a large adjacent market in the US, although some would argue that Australia does have a similar market......the countries of Asia.

Mexico may have a few ideas to also show Australia in relation to development of major initiatives in clean energy including geothermal sources, at least in shallow source areas. Some might counter this and say, so does New Zealand in geothermal sources, with both using hot rocks and steam associated with vulcanism, not a situation seen readily in Australia though.

Mexico has also been ramping up PV use.

http://blog.cleantechies.com/2011/02/28/highlights-cleantech-mexico/

is a recent rticle highlighting developments in clean tech in Mexico.

Could some of this be relevant for Australia?

Carbon Pricing in Australia

2011-02-25T11:45:00.006+09:30

July 2012 will see a carbon price implemented in Australia.

Is it a carbon tax? Well, yes I guess it is. But views as to using carbon tax versus an ETS have evolved and changed over the past several years, with the complexity and bureaucratic shemozzle of an ETS seen as a big stumbling block to any implementation of a scheme about climate change. A carbon tax is seen as economically efficient.

Neither is perfect.

A lot more detail still to come, and a few heads will no doubt get kicked along the way.
It is probably fair to say only the absolute diehard sceptics still subscribe to a view that climate change is not real and happening.....and maybe accelerating, even if there is some noise about normal cyclic movements in climate, sometimes attributed to changes in the solar energy cycles.

An interesting piece has been seen on the ABC web site today:[http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/25/3148883.htm ]

This is a reasonable cover of the issues, without getting into the trade exposed intensive industries arguments that were discussed during the previous ETS discussions.

But this option of a tax can be done now and should send appropriate signals to consumers and industry that there is not a free ride anymore.

It should be an interesting period over the next few years as this evolves......or gets stymied depending on how the political pieces fall.

How to Effect Climate Change - NOW

2011-02-24T10:53:00.000+09:30

While we all wring our hands and think that government and our institutions are doing little about climate change - too hard, too many parties to get to work together and so on, there may be some options that can provide effect in both the near term as well as mid term.

And they use existing technology.........and can be implemented now.

Methane is a clear problem gas in the atmosphere, with much greater greenhouse gas potential than carbon dioxide. While methane from ruminants is often seen as giant problem, it is also a problem from termites. And either issue might not be fixed any time soon, although higher quality feed for ruminants does help in their case to reduce methane emissions.

The following link to a recent report published / presented on 23 February does seem to offer some sensible suggestions.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cutting-black-carbon-methane-immediate-climate-change&WT.mc_id=SA_CAT_TECH_20110222

The issue of methane from landfill is a significant one and in Australia, many of the larger municipal sites do collect and utilise methane, with data available during the now aborted ETS scheme showing about an average of around 65% of produced methane being collected.

Australia is in the small league as regards landfills however, with much more potential in north America.

There is also a developing industry of anaerobic digestion of organic materials to generate methane, prior to aerobic composting. A sensible development, in both rural areas [ dairy herds, feedlots for example] as well as larger urban areas generating food wastes.

We need to start now though, if we are to have a reasonable chance of restricting temperature rise to the two degrees desirable.

Agriculture and Innovation

2011-02-23T14:18:00.001+09:30

Agriculture and horticulture often get some bad publicity as being stuck in using ancient ideas and that people in these industries are old fuddy duddies without much innovation.

I would say that is probably the exact opposite of real world situations. Innovation is alive and very well in these two industries, and seems to have been around for well over a hundred years. While it is often true that farmers are older on average than the population, they still embrace new ideas.

Whether it has been mechanisation and machinery development, application of technology in plant breeding or use of new products including herbicides and pesticides, satellite navigation and related use in yield mapping of paddocks, driverless machinery, use of RFID systems for animal identification and management..............the list can go on, and on!!

This recent snippet reinforces the view that agriculture is VERY progressive, and has been for a very long time. I am sure that even today, the same story can be repeated about Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Argentine, as well as the USA.

February 1911 - Scientific American Magazine

Inventors and Farmers

“In all the history of empire building there is no chapter to compare with that which tells the story of the development of the great West from a vast stretch of prairie, desert and primeval forest into the richest and most extensive agricultural empire in the world.

The rapidity and completeness with which this transformation has been effected are chiefly due to the invention of agricultural machinery of wonderful precision and capacity. The mechanical engineer has at once simplified work and increased output from the farm.”

It is still taking place across all the major agricultural producing countries today.............2011!

Origin of Insecticides

2011-02-22T14:05:00.005+09:30

In browsing Scientific American magazine of February 2011, the following brief note appeared in the highlights of 150 years ago - February 1861.

Modern agriculture and horticulture does have a degree of reliance on both herbicides and insecticides, although some would say that is changing as biotechnology makes advances and GM crops advance.

Whether true or not, pyrethrin was one of the very earliest insecticides. And the snippet below provides some interesting thoughts from 150 years ago.

February 1861 - Scientific American Magazine

Pyrethrin Insecticides

“A vegetable powder, under the name of ‘Persian Insect Powder,’ has lately been introduced into the drug market, for the extermination of insects, vegetable parasites, &c.

Until recently, the botanical source of this powder has not been known, except to its maker. For a number of years it was erroneously considered to be a native of Persia, but it has been traced beyond question by Dr. Koch, as having its origin in the Caucasian provinces, and to the contused blossoms and flowers of Pyrethrum roseum and Pyrethrum carneum.

It is of a yellowish, gray color, perfectly odorless, yet slightly irritating to the nostrils; at first almost tasteless, but afterwards leaving a burning sensation upon the tongue.

As its effects for the destruction of bugs, roaches, parasites on delicate plants, &c. have been fully established, and it being otherwise harmless, its introduction into general use would be of great importance to families and horticulturists.”

Waste and Energy Management Gone Crazy

2011-02-18T13:12:00.003+09:30

Stick a fork in it, we're done

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Green the Capitol initiative is over at the House's Longworth cafeteria.

By Charlotte Allen
February 13, 2011

After about a month in control of the House of Representatives, Republicans haven't managed to undo as many deeds of their Democratic predecessors as they'd like. They couldn't get rid of "Obamacare," and they haven't made much headway in slashing the president's $4-trillion budget. But the GOP has succeeded in short order in one critically important venture: getting rid of the "compostable" cornstarch-based knives, forks and spoons that were a universally — and bipartisanly — hated feature of the House cafeteria operation.

The tableware, the color of mucus and as bendable as a pocket watch in a Salvador Dali painting (and thus unable to pierce any foodstuff firmer than the innards of Brie cheese), was the most visible manifestation of recently deposed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Green the Capitol initiative.

That was her carbon-cutting effort to use the food-service and other House operations to fight global warming and a host of other perceived environmental, health and social ills. During the lunchtime rush, you could observe dozens of staffers struggling to stab lettuce leaves and poultry pieces with fork tines that appeared to be double-jointed as well as dull.

But on Jan. 25, Dan Lungren, the GOP congressman from the Sacramento area who now heads the House Administration Committee, directed the House chief administrative officer to trash — so to speak — the composting program, which converts the dining service's cornstarch tableware, along with its biodegradable plates, trays, cups and drinking straws, into garden mulch.

It turns out that the composting program not only cost the House an estimated $475,000 a year (according to the House inspector general) but actually increased energy consumption in the form of "additional energy for the pulping process and the increased hauling distance to the composting facility," according to a news release from Lungren. As far as carbon emissions were concerned, Lungren concluded that the reduction was the "nominal ... equivalent to removing one car from the road each year." He plans to switch the House to an alternate waste-management system recommended by the Architect of the Capitol, in which dining-service trash would be incinerated and the heat energy captured. "Composting releases methane," said Lungren's spokesman, Brian Kaveney, and methane gas, as even the most warming-conscious among us have to admit, traps atmospheric heat far more efficiently than carbon dioxide, the usual bugaboo of the climate-change crowd. Lungren's stick-a-biodegradable-fork-in-it (if you can) stance toward a linchpin of Pelosi's grand green plan marks the latest skirmish in a lifestyle war that may on its surface seem purely partisan: GOP global-warming skeptics versus a Gaia-worshipping Democratic Party.

But I'd say the battle lines are really between an elite determined to impose upon a captive populace its notions of what is good for it — cost be damned — and the populace itself, which would rather not be coerced.

In Pelosi's home territory, the city of San Francisco, composting is mandatory for householders, who face a fine if they throw orange peels into the trash rather than into their city-provided composting bins.

Plastic bags are against the law in large-chain stores, and plastic water bottles are against the law in City Hall. In the name of health you can't buy a soft drink on public property in San Francisco, and soon you won't be able to buy a Happy Meal with a toy at McDonald's for your kid.

The uber-bohemians of San Francisco love this sort of thing; others, maybe not so much.

Green the Capitol was launched in 2007, soon after Pelosi became speaker. The Longworth cafeteria, catering to House employees but also serving the public, was to be the carbon-neutral jewel in Pelosi's green crown. Out went the familiar mystery meatloaf and high-fat coconut cake and in came food that was organic, sustainable, locally grown and fair-traded. I visited the Longworth cafeteria in early 2008, soon after it reopened under Pelosi's rule. Not only had food been replaced with "cuisine" (roasted corn and poblano chili, anyone?), but there was also a sea of didactic signage. One sign reminded you that the beef in the hamburgers was "humanely raised" and "antibiotic-free." Other placards touted "cage-free eggs" and "rBGH-free milk." A poster trumpeted the "pulper," a costly machine that made compostable cubes out of food waste. And then there were the recycling stations, where a lengthy set of rules instructed diners on how to separate trash items and dump them into four different slots (coffee cups in the "compostable" slot, coffee lids in the "landfill" slot).

No sooner did the cafeteria reopen than the grousing began, from both sides of the political aisle.

Some diners tried to puzzle out what turkey escabeche might be and wondered what happened to the fried chicken. Others complained about the new high prices that accompanied the new haute offerings."I just wished my pay improved" along with the food quality, a Democratic aide complained to a reporter for Politico. But the bitterest carping was over that compostable flatware. A Hill urban legend circulated that the spoons would melt in a cup of hot coffee. They don't, but they do bend readily enough to make you think you're Uri Geller.

When I revisited the Longworth cafeteria last week, three years later, I could not help noticing that although the flimsy cornstarch tableware was still in use — it will be retired as soon as the stock on hand is used up — a sea change had otherwise occurred. The sermony signage was gone, as was much of the art-food: the purple Peruvian potatoes and the "panzanella station," where you could build a salad out of arugula, figs and large wedges of stale bread. The salad bar these days is, well, a salad bar, with trays of chopped olives, shredded carrots and garbanzo beans to top the lettuce. Serious efforts have been made to cater to the needs of House employees who can't afford Armani suits. Among the stations with the longest lunchtime lines was one labeled simply "BBQ." Its special was a $5.50 pulled-pork platter with two sides (including classic mac and cheese) and cornbread.

The years from 2006 through 2010, starting with the Democratic takeover of the House and ending with the party's rout after two years of Barack Obama's presidency, were four years of an effort by a know-it-all liberal elite to impose sweeping and extreme social and fiscal measures on a centrist-to-right public: four years of turkey escabeche, so to speak.

Now, with a GOP House and divided government, there seems to be a return to normalcy, and it's beginning with the promise of knives and forks that work.

Charlotte Allen is a Washington writer.
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
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A stern reminder of what can go wrong with crazy ideas poorly implemented and totally out of touch with community ideas.

I am sure a program - a sensible program - could have been implemented in the cafetaria. And afterall, what would be wrong with ordinary plate and cutlery use, and washing them, with a sensible waste management program to handle the organic wastes? It is generally wiser to wash and reuse equipment rather than single use.

As for menu changes, are not they best organised with users views considered? If Jamie Oliver can do it for communities in the US, maybe he needs to be asked about the menus?

Oh well.......it is the USA I guess.

New Red LED to Boost Greenhouse Horticulture Production

2011-02-16T16:27:00.005+09:30

SIEMENS subsidiary Osram Opto Semiconductors has developed a powerful LED for use in plant cultivation.

The new LED emits a deep-red light at a wavelength of 660 nanometers, the ideal light for plant photosynthesis. The LED has an efficiency of 37%, which is one of the highest for a light source of this colour, and yields considerable energy savings compared to conventional lamps. 5000 of the new LEDs were used in a pilot project in Denmark to illuminate a cultivation area of several thousand square meters.

The trial saw power consumption in the greenhouse fall by 40%.

According to Siemens, relatively little of the light used by plants for their growth is from the visible light spectrum. Chlorophyll molecules mostly absorb deep-red and blue light for the purposes of photosynthesis. The efficient red LED from Osram Opto Semiconductors has an emission curve that is very closely matched to the spectral sensitivity of chlorophyll. The new LED is based on the thin-film technology used for high power semiconductor chips.

In greenhouse cultivation, some plants are grown on several levels stacked on top of one another. For this reason, the new LED is available in two variants, each with a different beam angle. The Golden Dragon Plus has a beam angle of 170 degrees and is well suited for use in reflector lamps for illuminating large areas under cultivation. The Oslon SSL LED, with a beam angle of 80 degrees, is designed for use in multi-level applications, such as those for the cultivation of lettuce.

Using LED light, it is also possible to promote different growth phases of the plant under cultivation. Red light, for example, encourages plants to grow in length, whereas blue light fosters bud formation. Controlled variation of the proportion of blue light between ten and 30 percent can reduce the use of fertilizer and other chemicals.

The developers claim that compared to conventional high-pressure sodium lamps, the luminous efficacy of the system as a whole is 60% higher with red and blue LEDs. The diodes have a service life of 100,000 hours for maintenance-free operation for many years.

----------------------

This sounds pretty interesting for greenhouse growers, especially in higher latitudes where daylength and daylight is severely restricted in winter months. Even if only partially as effective as claimed.

As an aside.........I am sure that hydroponic marijuana growers will also find an exciting use for the technology too! [I am not advocating its use] Reports seem to indicate they usually apply the latest and greatest technology.

Olive Oil - From New World Sources WILL Increase

2011-01-27T13:17:00.004+09:30

Sources of olive oil traditionally have been mediterranean countries with Spain [over 30% of production the biggest], Italy, Greece, and Portugal. Our household has commonly used 4L cans from Spain, for example.

But this is changing. California has rapidly been improving oil quality as well as volumes, as has Australia and so too has Chile and to a lesser extent, Argentina. Think those countries where new world wine production has also both been inceasing and being of much better quality. While volumes may not exceed European figures, production will be closer to consumers and as consumers raise their own sophistication, local and smaller volume high quality producers - boutique or somewhat larger - should snare a modest to increasing market share.

In Australia, there are many locally grown and produced olive oil brands now marketed through major retail chains, and quite frankly: - they are very good. Especially for modest volume uses in salads and similar food uses, where flavour and aroma are important. Cheaper imported olive oil still is acceptable for bulk use eg cooking.

A recent article highlights some of the developments in California particularly, but a similar issue has also occurred in Australia with rapidly increasing olive oil quality. There are even speciality shops selling nothing BUT olive oil in many larger cities around Australia.

Think about the wine market............olive oil markets are expected to emulate that development at least in variety, and with better quality, and a wider range of countires of production.

It will be good for ordinary consumers. If you have not tried some of the wider range of specialty olive oils, they are worth consideration. Usually available in bottle sizes of 500ml - 1L, in Australia.

The article highlighting Californian developments is here: -

http://ucanr.org/repository/CAO/landingpage.cfm?article=ca.v065n01p8&fulltext=yes

with similar development in Australia.

Dioxin Contamination in Food Scare - Germany

2011-01-26T11:20:00.000+09:30

China is often accused of lax process and poor management of industrial food processes. The contaminated milk powder scandal is but part of that.

This time it is Germany......and dioxin.

Same sort of issue, a company in this case it seems, opting for cheap ingredients for formulated animal feeds, with the material not suitable for animal use, but only for industrial use. The animal feeds were then used and the dioxin showed up in eggs, pork, etc.

The contamination is nominally small, really miniscule. But modern analytical techniques can detect very very small levels of some of these toxic products, and dioxin is certainly toxic. German authorities are playing it down, stating that levels are extremely low, and NOT a human health threat.......which is most probably true. But perception is EVERYTHING, and the public is very unhappy over the whole issue.

Food safety is a big issue, and Germany is a big organic market, so there are many consumers if not buying organic foods exclusively, do so at times. This will further inflame emotions over the "factory food" catchcry.

In reality............a shoddy, tawdry manufacturer, who it seems is under big pressure and may become insolvent over the issue.

There are many news items with this one a reasonable overview:

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=564818&vId=

This will reopen questions about regulation or reregulation of food quality. Yet, in reality the problem WAS detected, and quickly dealt with. There will be recriminations, absolutely no doubt.

Waste Recycling from a Single Stream

2011-01-25T21:56:00.003+09:30

Sometimes when you are close to an industry you do not see what others see. The commonplace seems ordinary, regular and well, very familiar.

One of my first encounters with a mechanised single stream waste system was about ten years ago, and that system was quite effective, although the operators were sure improvement was possible. But it was very reliably sorting and separating some of the major waste streams, even then, with paper and cardboard, ferrous metals, aluminium, and plastics as standout items easily separated. Although some plastics required hand separation to separate the different classes, if that was a need......and that has not changed.

Although single stream recycling has been around for quite a while, a recent encounter of such a system by a journalist offers a very different insight.............one that the general public probably does not even know, or maybe even care, about. Seen by a journalist's eyes - read about it here, and see the pictures:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20029218-54.html?tag=nl.e703

The marvels of electro-mechanical engineering and process control come together to create a series of belts, magnets, colour sorters and air blast separators, swirling discs and a whole lot more, to effectively separate recycling material, from a single stream. Sure, it is NOT totally infallible and there are some materials still requiring hand sorting, but that is relatively modest.

Most systems using a feed source from a single stream are highly manual.......lots of individuals hand sorting the waste stream. Not so with this system.

While in low labour cost countries this will not displace labour, it is an option worth considering when volumes increase, and recycling can be profitable.

Australian University Bans Bottled Water

2011-01-21T10:57:00.003+09:30

The University of Canberra (UC) is introducing a total ban on the sale of bottled water on its campus.

It is believed to be the largest ban of its kind in Australia and the first across a university.

Read more here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/20/3117523.htm

While at least one Australian town, Bundanoon, has also banned bottled water, this is a very significant acceleration of the trend into a young demographic group.

Yes, some other places are doing similar things, but this one is with the support of the retailers on campus.

Afterall, what is wrong with being self reliant and bringing water from home?

Floods Caused by Mining - Says Brown, Greens Party Leader

2011-01-20T23:06:00.008+09:30

What a giant blooper from a Federal politician who should really have more common sense........simple common sense. It is a time when if you have nothing important to say, then keep quiet.

Bob Brown the Leader of the Greens political party in Australia has blamed the recent floods on the mining industry.......duh!!!!!

The media piece below [reproduced from an online version of Australian Mining News today] says it very well, with the local member for Kennedy in north Queensland dropping some giant brickbats on his head.

What crass, ignorant, stupid statements from a politician who really should know better. Mr Brown, you owe many people an apology over this blooper!

The Bureau of Metereology had already predicted very heavy rains and possible floods for north Australia some months ago, and the actual events affecting Brisbane were related to very unusual circumstances, possibly out of line with normal forecast outcomes, and maybe unpredictable other than with almost direct immediacy as weather events happened.

Comments on the original article are very pertinent and Bob Brown should read and learn something from them.

Is Bob Brown really so stupid??

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Katter slams “inconsistent”, “hypocritical” Greens
By Jessica Burke on 20 January 2011

Greens Senator Bob Brown continues to draw widespread criticism for accusing the mining industry of having a hand in the devastating floods across the country.

Bob Katter, member for the Queensland seat of Kennedy, is the latest to voice his objection to Brown’s comments, saying they are ridiculous and hypocritical.

Earlier in the week the Greens leader suggested the mining industry should foot the bill for the flood clean-up, because the industry is a major contributor to global warming.

http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/brown-s-comments-insensitive--unions

But Katter says the argument shows inconsistency.

"There is a problem that will arise in the oceans that we should be cognisant of," he said.
"But Mr Brown, with all due respects, [has] the hide to say to the Australian people that it's causing massive flooding, when not a year ago and for the last 10 years, they've been telling us that it's been causing the drought on the Murray Darling."

He’s also accused Brown of being insensitive to the devastation people across the flooded areas are suffering. "I react with great anger," he said.

"You can't let people get away with that sort of hypocrisy and misrepresentations to the public of Australia."

Queensland’s Natural Resource Minister Stephen Robertson has also reacted against the comments, saying such comments from the Greens are not helping the situation. "We need to take a sober look as to what occurred, particularly in terms of what the Bureau of Meteorology is telling us," he said. "But to go out there at this point in time and point the finger in particular directions is not good science and I don't think the debate about climate change is particularly well served by those more emotional outbursts that we've been seeing by some individuals."

Unions and politicians have called for Brown to retract or apologise for his comments.

Christmas Break and RAIN

2011-01-10T22:28:00.000+09:30

Yes, one has to have a short break or holiday sometimes. Brisbane was the destination, and it rained a lot, although not as much as right now. Massive floods in the SE Queensland region, with serious implications for agricultural and horticultural production and supply across Australia.

More on that over the next few days........back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder - An Answer ??

2010-12-12T23:33:00.004+09:30

While this area is not my forte, the bee colony collapse disease / disorder [CCD] may have an answer. If the results are true, and treatment is possible.......it will be a major breakthrough in a syndrome that has really flummoxed researchers as well as causing major problems in horticulture production over the past few years.

This text below came from Wikipedia, but I have also seen other data that supports the prognosis, and alludes to relatively simple treatment regimes.

Applying proteomics-based pathogen screening tools in 2010, researchers announced they had identified a co-infection of invertebrate iridescent virus type 6 (IIV-6) and Nosema ceranae in all CCD colonies sampled. These results, if confirmed, may finally offer an explanation for genuine cases of CCD. On the basis of this research, The New York Times reported the colony collapse mystery solved, quoting researcher Dr. Bromenshenk, a co-author of the study, "[The virus and fungus] are both present in all these collapsed colonies.”

More details on Wikipedia.

Strategic Alliance to Build Carbon Management Reforms - Origin and Australian Carbon Trust

2010-11-26T14:53:00.003+09:30

Origin Energy & Australian Carbon to work together on energy efficiency

Australian Carbon Trust and Origin Energy today signed an agreement to develop a strategic alliance for dedicated and more accessible financing, designed to accelerate the uptake of energy efficiency technologies and practices by Australian businesses.

To read the following release click here
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This is an interesting follow up to the previous post.

Origin and its senior executives have long been strong advocates for a realistic carbon management system in australia, becoming increasingly but quietly vocal in most of the right places - where policy change happens. There are many statements on record to support that position.

This is an interesting development that should offer strong support to smaller businesses to also move to better carbon managment practices.

Bring it on!!

Clean Technology Is Still Thriving - BUT a Carbon Price Would Help

2010-11-19T22:24:00.004+09:30

A recent report indicates that the US clean tech industries are still developing, despite a complete failure of policies to develop a carbon price or any real progress on climate change type in the US at national level.

Australia is not much better, given the current policy imbroglio here, after the failure of the prevous government attempts through an ETS - a cap and trade scheme.

But the US industry personnel are still pushing ahead, and many are very positive.

It is not if, but when, in their view, and they want to be around and active. Or they will operate elsewhere - Asia, Europe or maybe China.

This recent article offers some interesting views.

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/green_technology_sector_advances_despite_failure_of_us_climate_bill/2341/

Composting in Australia - More Action Needed

2010-11-18T21:59:00.006+09:30

Breaking down the benefits of composting
Tuesday, 16 November 2010

A press release worth reading.......

Increasing the use of organic compost to intensive agriculture industries such as citrus could save 30% of irrigation water and deliver millions of dollars of extra income through increased crop yields to regions such as the Riverina as well as providing significant carbon abatement and sequestration opportunities for the nation, according to the Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA).

CEO of the WMAA, Val Southam. believes greater investment in the utilisation of organic materials in agriculture may be part of the solution to restoring health to the Murray-Darling Basin without jeopardising the livelihoods of farmers and regional communities.“The economic and environmental benefits of composting are enormous. In addition to improving water use efficiency, there are significant environmental benefits accrued through carbon abatement and sequestration.

Organic material diverted from landfill could abate 2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent every year- approximately 461,893 cars off the road annually.

“Around 420,000 tonnes of compost is used in our intensive agricultural industries per year. Compost improves soil condition by adding organic matter, and a 5% increase in soil organic material will result in the quadrupling of a soil’s water holding capacity. It also suppresses weed growth thus reducing the need for chemicals.” Southam said composting also prevents the loss of valuable top soil and reduces the damaging effects of erosion - savings of between 2.3 and 17 tonnes per hectare of soil loss due to erosion can be achieved. “Our industry is calling on all levels of government to provide R&D funding to fully evaluate the economic and environmental benefits of composting and fund programs which promote awareness of the benefits of compost use in our agricultural industries and wider community,” she said.

Chair of Compost Australia (a division of WMAA), Peter Wadewitz believes there’s much more government, industry and the community can do to increase the use of compost. “At least 20 million tonnes of organic material is available for recycling through composting. Composting organic material such as cardboard and food scraps can reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by as much as 50%. “The Recycled Organics Industry is already processing over 5 million tonnes of organic material annually but the benefits to our environment and economy from increasing this amount are significant,” Wadewitz said. “In addition to increased R&D funding and raising awareness of the benefits of composting, one option may be to establish tax incentives for producers of recycled organic products in more sustainable agricultural production systems,” he added.

Compost for Soils reported that SARDI (South Australian Research and Development Institute) citrus trials (composted green organics, grape marc, animal manure) showed a positive return on the initial investment.An application of 40 m3ha-1 of composted green organics in Loxton North produced the highest benefit at 5.38 – that is, for every dollar invested around $5 is returned to the grower.

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While this information is not new, in our current debate about carbon, and improved productivity in Australian agriculture, this is a very timely press release and should be heeded around the country.

There is so much wasted food and recyclable organics available. There is technology available to do a lot more, from very simple systmes to quite complex operations. Other countries see this as a valuable resource for agriculture, yet we in australia with relatively poor soils and low moisture holding capacity in soils, really do need this material to improve productivity of the land.

And that applies especially so in the tropics, with higher temperatures driving a faster turnover of the soil carbon as well as a faster soil moisture cycle........and even poorer soils in general.

There are structural issues, with local government [or their contractors] often the handler of organic wastes, yet it must have better leadership at State or National level to achieve serious change.

Yes, there are skilled people that could achieve more.........let there be some action along the lines proposed in terms of R and D!!

Erosion and Sediment Control with Recycled Organic Waste - Berms

2010-11-17T14:43:00.007+09:30

The following is very pertinent to the Top End of the NT today, as we experience a major 100mm per hour storm across the Dariwn region.

Where is your soil going today??

Erosion and sediment control, particularly on civil construction sites often seems to start and end with using a silt fence.

While silt fences can be effective, to be so, they require correct installation, and ongoing maintenance. While there are machines to install silt fencing [yes, they do exist!] rarely have I seen one in Australia, and especially on smaller civil works sites, they are, as they say, as rare as hen’s teeth!

Installing a silt fence is a tedious job, particularly the preparation of the footings, in which a lower area is buried, as well as refilling the trench. Mostly, and somewhat sadly, it is often done poorly, and the silt fence is often relatively ineffective.

In Australia with high summer storm rains, and especially so in the tropics, it is quite common to see a silt fence struggle with high rainfall intensity, and they sometimes breach. There are other options that can be simple and easy to install, and repair if necessary.

Top among the options is using a mulch or compost berm or contour bank. Many regions have mulched green waste available, and creating a berm is relatively simple using readily available on site equipment such as a bobcat or small backhoe. Accessing the greenwaste is often through the local council, or sometimes even using on site available cleared green materials can be useful too.
Ideally, pasteurised mulch is the preferred material, with coarse materials suitable. Ground woody waste, even small woody branches are usable. However, where pasteurised mulch is NOT available, unpasteurised mulch can do, although there will be a need to spray and kill any weeds that emerge within the berm – glyphosate is the normal option. Plants developing from the pasteurised mulch are very slow to almost none, although a few plants might be expected from blown in seeds, after a while.

There are some excellent resources on line, but the simple plan is to develop several berms across a slope, on the contour. They should be lightly keyed into the ground, often by building on a ripped base area or similar simple disturbance. Unlike an earth bank, they are supposed to be porous........just that all the water does not flow through at once, and sediment is collected and deposited along the way.

More information here:
http://www.caes.uga.edu/Publications/displayHTML.cfm?pk_id=6296 from Georgia in the US; a sub tropical region of the US

http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/stormwater/docs/nwr/ephcompost04.pdf

http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/menuofbmps/index.cfm?action=factsheet_results&view=specific&bmp=119 - a very comprehensive overview of berm use and construction

http://www.creativeearth.net/stormwater.html - shows how to build a system

When the project is completed, the berm can then be used as part of the organic materials often used on site as part of the landscaping, or often left in place in small drainage lines to continue to function until there is improved cover on the nearby soil areas.

They work extremely well, are cheap to construct and maintain, and VERY environmentally friendly!

Compadre zoysia in Palmerston, NT

2010-11-11T19:10:00.003+09:30

Compadre zoysia a success in Palmerston

The Palmerston City Council needed an attractive low maintenance grass to complement the new landscaping and pathway connecting the main office buildings to the public bus facilities.

The grass of choice was Compadre zoysia sown by seed. Seed was chosen as the large area to be grassed meant that use of turf sod was too great a cost, and that the 12 week development period was acceptable given that this was landscaping expected to remain in place for a number of years.

The use of seed sown Compadre also enabled the Council to better assess the performance of the grass being seed sown, in a fairly prominent location and subject to considerable traffic and use by the public.

The area was sown in the latter part of the dry season and as expected, initial development was slow, although as soon as warmer weather came it soon grew faster and rapidly filled in.

It now has high coverage, is being regularly mown with conventional rotary landscape turf mowers, and is already a great asset along the footpath to the buses.

It is short, does not require much maintenance and mowing intervals could be expected to be longer, yet aesthetic appearance should not decline. In practice, irrigation frequency and water use has also been lower, once the area was well established. It is very dense – one of the variety’s great attributes, and there are few weeds.

It will be expected to further develop over the next month or so with a few minor enhancements including a modest fertiliser application. One or two light fertiliser applications each year of slow release turf fertiliser [ March and August] will be adequate, using rates about 20% of normal couch recommended fertiliser rates.........yes, only 20% of the rates recommended for couch.

Look out for this turf, if in Palmerston, Northern Territory. A very cost effective means of achieving a great high quality turf.

At the time of the photo, it had not been irrigated for about 10 days and had just been mown, hence looking a bit stressed.

Tropical Agriculture Food Production is NOT Efficient

2010-11-05T09:36:00.003+09:30

A recent report indicates the poor efficiency of crop production in the tropics. The conclusion seems to be why bother with food production in this region.

An alternate conclusion may be that the region has not received the same inputs into research and development for food production that has occurred in temperate regions. Another alternate view may also be that inhabitants of the tropics may have been able to obtain a far greater percent of requirements from existing vegetation through more "hunter / gatherer" activities.

If you have lived in some curent societies in rural aras of the tropics that is still very common, with local sourced food very important over and above any crop production.

Yet, modern rice production in some regions of the tropics does have very high grain yields. And it is true the grain yield/ stover ratio in some other tropical crops eg sorghum, millet, tef etc is lower than the temperate zones. Again, is this inherent or just an outcome of less R and D?

Biogeographical studies also tend to conclude that high rainfall tropical regions should concentrate on efficient biomass production [think sugarcane, tree crop horticulture, cocoa,trees for wood] with tropical crop production [annual crop production is inferred] moved to the medium rainfall regions. Those regions also tend to have greater seasonal variability too! Their definition of the tropics is too broad.

The issue of grains for meat production is also not especially relevant for beef and goat production in the tropics, as most is grown on grass........or food residuals, and rarely is grain used for finishing, let alone growing animals!

Read this article linked below............draw your own conclusions.
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http://news.mongabay.com/2010/1102-hance_tropical_agriculture.html

Tropical agriculture "double-whammy": high emissions, low yields

Food produced in the tropics comes with high carbon emissions and low crop yields, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

In the most comprehensive and detailed study to date looking at carbon emissions versus crop yields, researchers found that food produced in the tropics releases almost double the amount of carbon while producing half the yield as food produced in temperate regions. In other words, temperate food production is three times more efficient in terms of yield and carbon emissions.

"Tropical forests store a tremendous amount of carbon, and when a forest is cleared, not only do you lose more carbon, but crop yields are not nearly as high as they are in temperate areas," explains lead author Paul C. West, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in a press release. The researchers found that one ton of food emitted approximately over 75 tons of carbon in the tropics, whereas a ton of food grown in temperate regions released just less than 27 tons of carbon.

The tradeoffs between the release of carbon to the atmosphere and agricultural production are markedly different between the world's temperate and tropical regions. In this representation, for each hectare of land cleared for agriculture, each rail car is equivalent to 68 tons of carbon released to the atmosphere and each bushel represents 3.9 tons of maize produced. "This creates a kind of 'double whammy' for a lot of tropical agriculture: we have to clear carbon-rich ecosystems to create tropical croplands, and unfortunately they often have lower yields than temperate systems," says co-author Jonathan Foley, director of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment. "In terms of balancing the needs of food production and slowing carbon dioxide emissions, this is a tough tradeoff."

Rising human population, increasing consumption of meat (which requires more grain per area), the demand for biofuels, high commodity prices, and economic development plans have pushed many tropical nations to pursue large-scale agriculture over forest protection. However, the authors say the realities of carbon loss in the tropics makes a strong argument for intensifying agriculture on already cleared land, rather than more deforestation. "Our results corroborate recommendations to concentrate reforestation and avoid deforestation in the tropics to have the greatest worldwide impact," the authors write.

But, West admits, "the realty is there will be some of both [agriculture intensification and deforestation]." The authors explain in the paper that "despite the clear benefits of concentrating reforestation and forest conservation efforts in the tropics, several local and regional factors influence implementation. […] Choices are made locally and are influenced by local and regional food security, transportation costs, labor, poverty, and technology rather than global atmospheric carbon. Thus, local and global outcomes must be coupled to manage ecosystem services and assess their tradeoffs."

The study also highlight that agriculture comes with additional tradeoffs on top of carbon including impacting ecosystem services such as "soil and groundwater recharge, runoff, and nutrient regulation as well as ecosystems, species, and genome diversity of landscapes." The broad study looked at 175 different crops worldwide using government data and satellite imagery. "We have a very fine resolution of both what the carbon stocks and the yields are globally," says West. "Spatially, it is much more explicit than anything that has been produced before."

Approximately 20% of the temperate region is used for crops, as opposed to 10.5% of the tropics. In all, deforestation contributes more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than global transportation: 12-20% of the total greenhouse gas emissions are due to the loss of forests. Scientists say that such emissions are driving global climate change.

CITATION: Paul C. West, Holly K. Gibbs, Chad Monfreda, John Wagner, Carol C. Barford, Stephen R. Carpenter, and Jonathan A. Foley. Trading carbon for food: Global comparison of carbon stocks vs. crop yields on agricultural land. PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1011078107.

Can Energy be Less Black in Australia?

2010-11-01T21:24:00.000+09:30

Australia's energy markets, their regulation and development might be in for some serious challenges it seems, right at the nub of change - policy intervention.

Australia has much of our energy production from coal, including some from particularly dirty brown coal. These are all on one side. Shall we say the brown, or maybe black corner.

Then there are the new energy producers, with renewable energy in various forms, but commonly wind in the majority at present, but more alternatives coming, or at worst, gas as the primary energy source. The green corner, you might think.

Lobbying from the black corner has so far been quite successful, with their success relatively undiminished. Even a few more recent successes. There has been a focus on preservation of the policy status quo. BUT.......the green corner is pushing hard, and might be on the cusp of some decent gains.

Read the article here and look at the links. An interesting time is upon us.

http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/storyview.asp?storyid=1564856&sectionsource=s0

Can the politicians yet be convinced that it is within their power to actually do something??

Phytoremediation with Napier grass

2010-10-31T15:28:00.007+09:30

Napier grass for Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation often seems a simple but slow and unobtrusive process. Not visually obtrusive, no flash pumps nor any drill rigs, but a simple plant, just growing and doing its thing to improve soil quality.

Recent research by a group that involves the Australian CRC, CARE – based in Adelaide – has shown that a commonly used tropical pasture grass – Napier grass , Pennisetum purpureum may offer some simple options for phytoremediation of soil in the tropics.

The specific details are detailed in a generic way in the following link on the ABC web site :
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/29/3052165.htm?section=justin

although more details are on this link, direct to the CRC CARE:

http://www.crccare.com/view/index.aspx?id=51669
but the potential seems to operate through metal uptake from soils as well as degradation of some hydrocarbon materials.

Napier grass is a fairly common perennial pasture species used in the tropics, particularly in those regions with rain most of the year. Napier grass which is perennial, has a few relatives in the grass genera that are very deep rooted and do grow on poor, dry soils for example – pearl millet, an annual species. It would be interesting to see how these species perform in the tropics.

There are not many plants considered suitable for phytoremediation use in the tropics so another candidate species is very welcome.

Cannot understand why it is being imported into Australia though, unless these characters are very specific to a new cultivar as would have thought the generic plant was readily available in northern Australia. Bana grass [ same species ] is used commonly as a windbreak grass in north Australia, and there is at least one Australian derived cultivar. See the following for more information:
http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Pennisetum_purpureum.htm
and there is plenty more online.

Vetiver grass [ Chrysopogon zizanoides] also has a reputation as a species with metal accumulation properties, as well as being a great erosion control species and one that will colonise on tough soil conditions. Plenty of information on the web site www.vetiver.org

Endosulfan Registration Cancelled in Australia

2010-10-22T22:15:00.001+09:30

Registration of Endosulfan Cancelled in Australia

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) on Tuesday advised that it had cancelled the registration of the insecticide endosulfan.

This decision followed a recent assessment of new information by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) that the prolonged use of endosulfan is likely to lead to adverse environmental effects via spray drift and run-off.
A full risk assessment conducted by DSEWPC concluded that these long term risks could not be mitigated through restrictions on use or variations to label instructions.

From 12 October 2010, agricultural products containing endosulfan are no longer registered in Australia. The three current approvals for endosulfan have also been cancelled, and the five products containing the chemical will be phased out over the next two years.

Read the Full Report here.