The Drones are Coming - VERY Rapidly

Drones have been a major success in military areas in recent years.  And this success is now rapidly translating into commercial areas.

I wrote a blog some months ago on this topic and even in this brief period, a lot has been happening.

In Australia, regulations are developing although slowly, but aim to minimise rules for low power short range drones, often small quadricopters.  While of some commercial interest, it is larger units that are increasingly of interest commercially, and the area where they potentially pose some airspace problems.

Areas of use include mining and agriculture / pastoral use, ecological studies and remote sensing for R and D purposes, real estate photography......use your imagination!  And of course commercial spying, and related issue including police and related agencies use for traffic monitoring in real time anywhere, survelliance activities, and no doubt customs and border patrols.

Last week the ABC produced another informative article and tv segment on the issue.

Be aware........it could be coming to get you.

Read more here -

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-01/drones-set-for-large-scale-commercial-take-off/4546556 

Urban Stormwater Management – Smarter Solutions and Better Stormwater Use

While almost no urban sewerage system in Australia is designed to also handle stormwater, as is the case in some older cities, particularly in the USA, the management of stormwater productively is quite a challenge.  With our increasingly hard surfaced cities, the stormwater system has grown, usually channelling away water that previously would have often dissipated within the landscape where it was generated, often even into the ground, or at least nearby.

While there are places around Australia where the stormwater is planned to move and actually recharge local aquifers, with Mawson Lakes near Adelaide a good example, as is some stormwater even around Palmerston, recharging the aquifer under the city in the wet season.  Normally, most stormwater runs off, and is lost to local use.

With about 80% of contaminants on hard surfaces, being moved with the first flush of rain [even more in the tropics with the first break storms of the wet season], colleting that and filtering through land and used by plants is a major and distinct improvement to the quality of stormwater discharged into nearby rivers, creeks and ultimately the harbours and oceans.  Most of the pollutants are remediated by soil borne organisms.

But driving that change is difficult as engineering has dominated how urban stormwater has been managed and the usual method has been pipe, or surface hard channel it, away.

More localities are reconsidering this however, through design modification to use plant based drains and detention areas before excess water flows elsewhere.  Volumes handled by expensive engineered solutions are often decreased as is cost, and water is used productively near where it is produced.

Better design can actually increase volumes handled by bioengineering approaches, so often even reducing overall costs.  This type of approach may even be retro fitted at modest cost or with little disruption to existing facilities.

It is more difficult in monsoonal areas with major differences in urban water between the wet and dry seasons, but it is possible to modify designs to at least allow a reduction in irrigation in the early and late wet seasons by better using locally generated surface waters locally with better design of roads and local parklands.

Some projects have been finished in Sydney as well as overseas. There are some smart designs on the web site of www.atlantiscorp.com.au  used in Sydney, an Australian company in this design space.  See more here -  http://www.atlantiscorp.com.au/solutions/civil-engineering/road-solution-drainage .

More are being planned, with some further details here –

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/to_tackle_runoff_cities_turn_to_green_initiatives/2613/

And then there are green roofs, aimed at collecting and using water that falls on buildings and preventing much of that getting to street level – it helps cool buildings too, reducing heat load on concrete roofs.  More of these options are developing.

 

We just do not do enough of these more appropriate solutions here in the NT. 

Increases in Aussie Beef to China

While the export of live cattle to indonesia and even elsewhere is slowing [ and it is the wet season too], there are some very significant increases occurring in sales of Australian beef to China.

Probably more importantly, it is in less expensive cuts, and not necessarily in the highest priced cuts eg scotch fillet or rump steak which often dominate boxed beef often sold to Asian markets.

It augurs well for potential sales from new abbattoirs in north Australia, especially the one near Darwin, which will hope to process some animals that may have gone to Indonesia.

China is showing an appetite for Australian beef that is rivaling its desire for our mineral resources.
A surge in exports to the Asian giant in the first two months of 2013 on the back of spectacular growth last year is causing Meat and Livestock Australia to step up promotion of our red meat products, mainly through the food service and restaurant trade,  and beyond Beijing and Shanghai to other lesser know cities here in Australia such as Tianjin, Hangzou and Shenzen.  MLA marketing manager Micheael Edmonds said China's beef buying patterns were beginning to show real promise for Australian exporters, who are still struggling to lift volumes in the sluggish Japanese and Korean markets.   "There's been a lot of talk about the opportunities in Asia but now we're really starting to see significant growth and some runs being put on the board," Mr Edmonds said.  "We saw it over 2011 and 2012 where China was without a doubt the shining light in the Asian region. "And there are opportunities at both ends of the market for both grass-fed and grain-fed product, with manufacturing beef and shin-shank filling the bulk commodity cuts and significant movements of brisket, once traditionally bound for Japan, now heading to China where they are fetching better prices."
Data released by MLA last Friday shows China flexing its buying muscle in February, with beef exports estimated to go close to exceeding the 10,000 tonne shipped weight mark by the end of this past week.

The MLA forecast for 2013 was 35,000 tonnes, but this could easily be exceeded based on current sales.   MLA chief economist Tim McRae said the growth was even more extraordinary given that prior to last year, which saw 32,900 tonnes exported, the largest calendar year total to China was only 7200 tonnes.

AAco had been making noises about a surge in sales to China, prior to the finalisation of the plans for the local processing facilities, and they may well be correct.

BUT....... could we also see the fickle nature of big sales to China, similar to mineral sales.  Or will they produce enough red meat, both beef and lamb, from land purchased in Australia by sovereign companies, bypassing any Australian profit, in a type of vertical integration system??

Will EU Overfishing Finally Be Curtailed?

Australia has been called the lucky country often and for many and varied reasons.  On the world fishing scene we are a minnow, maybe a baby sardine - whatever, pretty small!

But strong efforts over recent years have reduced our fishing effort to encourage additional fish stocks in the region, and in the north ther eis a strong effort to protct Australia's sovereign fishing territory from outsiders and even local overfishing.

Europe has for many years been radically reducing their fishing stocks, even to the point where some fisheries have disappeared.  Fishing effort has increased, but still smaller numbers and smaller fish are being caught.

Getting agreement has been impossible among the EU nations not to mention the fact that some major fishing nations are operating but are outside the EU.

It seems that change is possible, and while tough there seems to be finally a realisationtha tunless radical steps are taken there will not be any fishery remaining - of almost any type- in a relatively few years.

A recent report here -

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/will_reform_finally_end_the_plunder_of_europes_fisheries/2623/

seems to finally offer some hope that the reforms needed to reduce fishing effort, eliminate or better manage by-catch, and put fishing on some sort of a program to be sustainable, might, just might get support.

It is not necessarily liked, but desperate measures seem to be needed to revive european fishing, otherwise there will be no commercial fishing within a few years.

Factual material about by-catch managment in Europe makes Australian northern fisheries management angelic in comparison,not to mention some of the great inventions developed locally in the NT to improve by catch managment, which seem to operate very effectively.

In Australia the fishery is not necessarily that bad [although previously at least one - the orange roughy fishery was nearly fished to extinction, until changes were made], but recent declarations of fishing exclusion zones around the continental areas of Australia have also been met with a harsh response from parts of the fishing industry here.  Yet there is reasonably strong evidence that exclusion zones can actually improve nearby areas as populations grow and spill over into areas outside the exclusion zones.  Yes, I have considerable sympathy for a few players who have been fishng responsibly and may have their livelihoods severely screwed up - they need to be assisted in some sort of transition.

BUT we must avoid the horrible demolition of fishstocks that has occurred in European waters over the past 50 years, and to start now to acheive a sustainable Australian fishery. 

Lamb from Australia to India

While one door closes another may be opening.  Australia is having difficulties selling beef or live cattle to Indonesia, but it seems another market for meat might be lamb sales to India.

Will not help northern cattle producers, but this could be an interesting option for sheepmeat producers.

It is understood that Australia is planning to sell boxed lamb meat.

The fairly dry media release follows -

Trade Minister Craig Emerson and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig announced today that Australia had secured market access for Aussie lamb to India.  Australian lamb is being allowed into India free of quotas, based on Australia's compliance with India's food safety requirements.

"I am advised that Indians are fast developing a taste for our world renowned lamb, and that a number of Australian exporters are looking to this growing market," Dr Emerson said.  "India's economic growth is creating a rapidly expanding middle class that is looking for quality products of the sort Australia readily provides."  "India already has a middle class of around 170 million," he said.

selected lamb meat cuts
 

As the Government has highlighted in its White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century, Asia will soon be home to the majority of the world's middle class.  "Working with India to have our lamb enter this massive market is exactly the sort of cooperation we are seeking with the countries of Asia to drive Australia's prosperity," Dr Emerson said.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, said it was great news for Australian farmers.  "Australian farmers produce high quality lamb," Minister Ludwig said.  "The Gillard Government is committed to helping them take their product to the world and India is an important new growth market.  "I look forward to continuing to work with Australian producers and the Trade Minister to get the best results for Australian exporters."

Dr Emerson was in India last month for talks with his counterpart on the trade and investment relationship between the two countries.

India is Australia's fourth largest export market and the two-way trading relationship currently stands at around $18 billion.

So if visiting India and staying in hotel accomodation your next lamb korma curry might be Australian meat.

Indonesian Meat Market Rumblings - Diverse Views Abound

Recent interviews with senior agricultural economists in Indonesia seem to caste doubts on the ability of local production to meet demands within the next five years.

This is in contrast to some official government views that indicate all is well - or if beef is short -" to eat rabbit".

Indications are already being discussed that Australia's live cattle imports to Indonesia will be reduced again this year and next year.

Most observers seem to be aware that beef prices have risen very substantially in and around Jakarta, and that is causing a lot of angst to consumers.  Eating rabbit rendang just does not just seem right, with the traditional beef rendang seemingly on the outer, due to costs.

More on this issue here, based on interviews in Indonesia.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3695806.htm

The Indonesian government might not like this type of reporting but I think we are now approaching a time when the gloves are really coming off, and local issues will be even more apparent in Indonesia.

There is a willing supplier [Australia], willing buyers, now with better slaughter procedures, but Indonesian official thinking does not now, nor did not then, like how Australia went about the whole issue of cattle export to Indonesia.

Australia will suffer, is suffering, and there does not seem any light ahead.  With Northern Territory cattle producers suffering most, and with dramatic falls in cash flows and NT property prices.  Even a new abattoir now planned to open late in 2013 near Darwin, will not fix this problem.

Recycling Green Waste into Black - Biochar

Biochar offers some strong positives for use in agriculture, and not only in boosting highly durable long lasting soil organic carbon.

There are many articles on the subject, and Wikipedia has a good overview - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar.  I have some previous blog posts as well on soil carbon and biochar.

The article below comes from the online edition Qld Country Life and due acknowledgement is made to them.

But it is a report on a forum in which the message is being delivered to Australian farmers that biochar is not some pie in the sky airy fairy technology.......it might be real, very soon and here.

It is true that delivering adequate carbon to larger farms is a difficult and costly issue with even the logistics expensive.  But systems similar to that below will evolve, and maybe quicker than peope realise.

Using pyrolysis is a reasonably well understood process system so marrying that into a field suitable system requires application and not inconsiderable $$.  But doable.

This is a reasonable step on an evolving process.

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


Revolutionary recycling

       

14 Feb 2013

 

 

TO farmers in the Burdekin it may have looked like something out of a Dr Who episode - but it is possibly the forerunner to one of the most revolutionary machines to hit the agriculture industry in decades.

A farm may never use one, but research shows that the product the unusual looking machine produces – biochar - can increase the fertility of the soil, increase moisture retention and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Biochar is a form of charcoal and is produced by heating organic matter in a low oxygen environment. The process is termed pyrolysis which is “a thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures without the participation of oxygen”. Pyrolysis can even be achieved by microwaving.

Biochar has the potential to help mitigate climate change, via carbon sequestration. It can increase soil fertility, increase agricultural productivity and provide protection against some foliar and soil-borne diseases.

The man behind the biochar producing machine at the Ayr CFI forum is Dr James Joyce. Dr Joyce did his PhD on biomass gasification and, noticing a great biomass in sugar cane trash, set out to design a pyrolysis unit that met the criteria of low capital and operating cost, mobility, flexibility and ability to handle un-shredded cane trash.

The result to date has been a series of biochar machines of various sizes. His company BIG (Black is Green) presently has two machines in Canada, one in Hawaii, Germany and Wales and two in India.  The machine not only turns potentially methane emitting, green waste into stable charcoal or biochar, the heat it produces during the process can be used to generate electricity.

One problem he has come across is finding locations with a good supply of biomass where electricity generated can be uploaded into the main grid.  The machine can convert 1.2 – 1.5t/hr of green, agricultural or industrial waste (7000-10,000t per annum) into 0.2-0.3t/hr of biochar.

Currently there is a gate price of $700/t for biochar with most outlets selling biochar at $1000-$2000 per tonne.

In Europe 80 per cent of the biochar produced is being mixed into stock feed with experiments revealing impressive weight gains and health benefits in ruminant animals.

In India biochar has become extremely popular in home gardens from which owners not only feed themselves but obtain an income from selling the produce.

Whichever way you look at it, biochar production appears destined to become a major industry throughout the world for use as a soil conditioner/ fertiliser, stockfeed additive and as a way of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Investors in this technology are surely on a win-win situation.    

What is biochar?
Biochar is a stable form of charcoal produced from heating natural organic materials (crop and other waste, woodchips, manure) in a high temperature, low oxygen process known as pyrolysis. Biochars can be produced from a variety of organic sources or feedstocks.

Due to its molecular structure, biochar is chemically and biologically in a more stable form than the original carbon form it comes from, making it more difficult to break down. This means that in some cases it can remain stable in soil for hundreds to thousands of years.

The production of biochar via pyrolysis also yields bioenergy in the form of synthesis gas (or ‘syngas’). Syngas consists of a variety of gases which in turn can be captured and used to produce heat and power.

Not all biochars are created equal

There are many different types and qualities of biochar. The key chemical and physical properties of a biochar are greatly affected by the type of material being used and the conditions of the pyrolysis process (i.e. temperature and time).

For example, biochar made from manure will have a higher nutrient content than biochar made from wood cuttings. However, the biochar from the wood cuttings will be more stable over a longer period of time. The two different chars will look the same but will behave quite differently.

Similarly, biochars produced at higher temperatures (700°C compared to 400°C) are more porous and more adsorptive. These biochars have greater potential to adsorb toxic substances and could be used to help rehabilitate contaminated environments

Understanding the characteristics of a particular biochar is important to match it to the requirements of its end use.

Livestock Shipping within Indonesia to be Boosted

While Indonesia does not want to continue the live cattle trade between Australia and Indonesia, and is promoting self sufficiency there is currently a big black hole in the internal cattle transport within Indonesia, as well as some doubts that they can actually produce enough animals, even in the long term, to meet demand.

It will have to be by ship, between the eastern islands and west Java, and today in Darwin the Indonesian transport mnister who was here to see how Australia transports livestock, announced that new ships and ports were being built to handle the cattle.

Several large vessels able to carry 1500 head each plus port facilities at Sumba in NTT [ Nusa Timor Tenggara] and near Lampung in west Java, are planned.  Realistically, they are 18 - 24 months away, maybe longer.

Who knows how much the beef demand will increase during this time?

It was an absolute essential option if animals were to be moved from production areas in NTT [ mainly Sumba] to west Java where the demand is growing.  Also relevant is the issue of flooding around Jakarta, with the capital also possibly being moved elsewhere, which could also influence the live cattle trade centres.

It will be interesting to see how this develops, and how good will be the handling, transport and slaughter procedures.

cartoon copyright news ltd

Updated Reports Seem to Confirm Mad Cow Disease [ BSE] in Brazil

A convoluted story some 2 years in gestation it seems, yet recent reports from a number of sources would seem to confirm that Brazil has some BSE in the beef herd.

Recently a number of SE Asian and Middle East countries have essentially banned further imports of Brazilian beef, and more countries seem to be joining the list.

A bit of a disaster for Brazil with suspected cattle in Parana state, in the rich agricultural areas of the SW of Brazil.

There are numerous media reports, many from December 2012 onwards when first indications of confirmation seems to have reached the media.  A lot more since then.

What might this mean for both Australia and the US in relation to Asian markets?

A relevant media release is here -
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/12/boys-from-brazil-kept-mad-cow-secret-for-two-years/

and here -
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/01/three-more-countries-place-restrictions-on-brazilian-beef-for-bse-concerns/

http://beefmagazine.com/foreign-trade/world-s-response-brazilian-bse-case-measured?page=1

This story is evolving steadily, with more information likely over coming weeks.  The next report is from OIE, and is less alarmist, but I am sure that many countries will still close off beef from Brazil.

http://www.oie.int/for-the-media/press-releases/detail/article/bovine-spongiform-encephalopathy-bse-case-in-brazil-frequently-asked-questions-and-answers/

Brazil is hoping the next meeting of OIE will clarify their status - hopefully as low risk.  But markets are funny at times, with customers maybe preferring non Brazilian beef........no matter what.  Perception is an odd characteristic. 

Capturing CO2 with Nickel

Sounds as if serendipity is alive and well..........but the concept works and is cheap and easy.  If it works well once scaled up then the implications are potentially major.......think of all the power stations around the world! 

British researchers have discovered that sea urchins use nickel particles on their exoskeletons to effectively capture CO2 and turn it into a solid form, an intriguing finding that could offer an inexpensive way to capture and store carbon from fossil fuel-fired power plants.

Scientists from Newcastle University were studying how marine organisms absorb CO2 to make shells and skeletons when they discovered that sea urchin larvae have a high concentration of nickel on their exoskeletons, which helps them absorb CO2.  When the researchers added nickel nanoparticles to CO2-saturated water, they discovered that the nickel completely removed CO2 and turned it into calcium carbonate, a chalk-like mineral.

Current efforts to capture and store carbon dioxide from power plants involve either pumping it underground or using an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase to convert it to calcium carbonate.  But both methods are expensive, and the Newcastle researchers say that using nickel to capture and store CO2 bubbled through water could be a thousand times cheaper than employing carbonic anhydrase. “

 

It seems too good to be true, but it works,” said Lidija Siller, a physicist at Newcastle.

 

The research was published in Catalysis Science & Technology.

 

 

New Ideas - Where do Winds Come From?

Not only do trees fix carbon and produce oxygen; a new and controversial paper says they collectively unleash forces powerful enough to drive global wind patterns and are a core feature in the circulation of the climate system.

If the theory proves correct, the peer-reviewed international paper co-authored by Australian scientist Douglas Sheil will overturn two centuries of conventional wisdom about what makes wind. And it will undermine key principles of every model on which climate predictions are based.

The paper, Where do winds come from? A new theory on how water vapour condensation influences atmospheric pressure and dynamics, is not designed to challenge the orthodox view on climate science. But Sheil, a professor of forest ecology and conservation at Southern Cross University's School of Environment, Science and Engineering, says he is not surprised that is how the paper has been received internationally.

Boiled down, he says, bad science is protecting shoddy climate models.

The paper, lead authored by Anastasia Makarieva, sparked a long-running and furious debate about whether it should be published at all. At the end of a bruising assessment process the editorial panel of the prestigious journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics chose to publish and be damned.

This above is a brief extract from the Weekend Australian article on the subject.

It is controversial, but then so was Copernicus's assertion that the earth rotated about the sun, while Galileo also had a few controversial ideas and theories, since often proved true.  Science advances by new ideas being developed and then tested........let's wait and see what occurs as a result of this paper.

See more here - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate/branching-out-on-climate/story-e6frg6xf-1226566999146

and the paper is here - http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/13/1039/2013/acp-13-1039-2013.pdf  including a brief abstract.

and more comment here - http://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/makarieva-et-al-make-the-headlines-with-where-do-winds-come-from-paper/

Certainly generating a lively debate so far.  Data though, is plausible......will be more to come for sure.

China - Friend or Foe?

For Australia this is a very pertinent question.  We sell a lot of resources to China and import considerable amounts of finished goods.  There has been somewhat of a question mark about Chinese companies involved in electronics and communication equipment with one recently being excluded on security grounds from the new NBN network in Australia.  And there is a lot of chatter about the illicit cyber activities of China.

A recent US publication seems to state in no uncertain terms that China's territorial ambitions are somewhat worrying.

See below where part of the material is reproduced.

----------
The US trade publication Defense News last week posted a video on its blog from a US Naval Institute conference featuring an extraordinarily blunt assessment of China's maritime strategy and ambitions from US Navy Captain James Fanell, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence and Information Operations for US Pacific Fleet. The moderator describes Fanell as the 'top intelligence officer' in the Pacific Fleet, which means he is advising some of the US military's senior decision-makers on China's military strategy and capability.

Fanell's language is, well, bracing. He calls China 'hegemonic' and says it displays 'aggression'; he claims China 'bullies adversaries' and that it has become a 'mistrusted principal threat'. Watch Captain Fanell's presentation from about 21 minutes into the above video, or read below for some more select quotes:

• '(China's) expansion into the blue waters are largely about countering the US Pacific fleet.'
• 'The PLA Navy is going to sea to learn how to do naval warfare...Make no mistake: the PRC navy is focused on war at sea, and sinking an opposing fleet.'
• On China Marine Surveillance, which supervises and patrols China's claimed maritime territory: 'If you map out their harassments you will see that they form a curved front that has over time expanded out against the coast of China's neighbours, becoming the infamous nine-dashed line, plus the entire East China Sea...China is negotiating for control of other nations' resources off their coasts; what's mine is mine, and we'll negotiate what's yours.'
• 'China Marine Surveillance cutters have no other mission but to harass other nations into submitting to China's expansive claims...China Marine Surveillance is a full-time maritime sovereignty harassment organisation'.

'In my opinion, China is knowingly, operationally and incrementally seizing maritime rights of its neighbours under the rubric of a maritime history that is not only contested in the international community but has largely been fabricated by Chinese government propaganda bureaus in order to "educate" the populous about China's rich maritime history, clearly as a tool to sustain the Party's control.'
-----------------

Northern and Western Australia has embraced Chinese businesses [mostly state owned enterprises] to invest in resource development, including land development.  Are we adequately assessing the longer term risks versus the shorter term gains, especially in light of assessments such as that above?

Many say it is the same as Japanese investment in the period 1960 - 1980.  But in those times, it was private capital, not government capital that was taking the risk. 

The issue of Chinese investment is something to consider, especially in light of security assessments and I have no doubt that the debate will continue. 

With Chinese New Year rapidly approaching, and a strong Chinese influence in the development of the NT over the past 150 years, we have definitely benefitted from the people of Chinese ethnicity in the NT as well as in cities like Darwin, and there is a strong Chinese influence locally......for the better. 

BUT......private citizens are not the same as a government, in most people's view.  

Bribery and Corruption Rampant in Indonesian Beef Trade

Late last week this story hit the local headlines in Australia, with the detaining of Indonesian nationals in Jakarta apparently attempting to bribe Indonesian government officials over the beef quotas recently established.

It seems it has been around frozen beef quotas, not live cattle but, if you have done business in the country it is known that corruption and bribery have been relatively common.  Sure, attempts are made to eliminate bribery, but more recently, these anti-corruption practices  are starting to reach into relatively high places.

The ABC and the Sydney Morning Herald have run articles on the topic, and, being away overseas, I missed them.

See below is the SMH article -
-------------------
AN INDONESIAN company with deep links to the Australian beef industry has been caught red-handed offering bribes to an Indonesian politician, apparently to circumvent the country's strict quota on beef imports.

A number of Australian exporters use the company, Indoguna Utama, to ship beef to Indonesia, and one company, Mulwarra Export in Sydney, is part-owned by Indoguna's founder, Elizabeth Liman.

Two directors of Indoguna, Juardi Effendi and Arya Abdi Effendi, were arrested by Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission at a city hotel on Wednesday with 1 billion rupiah ($101,000) in cash in the car boot.

They are alleged to have been on their way to deliver a bribe to Lutfi Hasan Ishaaq, the president of the Islamic political party PKS.

Indonesia's agriculture minister, Suswono, represents the party in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government.

Anti-corruption officers sealed the office of the head of Mr Suswono's department, the director-general of livestock and animal health, as part of the investigation.

Mr Suswono imposed strict beef import quotas in the wake of Australia's short-lived ban on live cattle exports in 2011, on the pretext that Indonesia wanted to become self-sufficient in beef.

The quota, applying to live cattle as well as boxed beef, gutted the export trade with Australia and has resulted in shortages of beef in Indonesia, soaring prices and the inclusion of pork in traditional beef meatballs.

The commission's deputy chairman, Bambang Widjojanto, said the bribe was an attempt by Indoguna Utama to get access to a larger import allowance.

The arrests raise the question whether the quota - 32,000 tonnes of boxed beef this year - has become simply a bribe-raising exercise for PKS, which is part of Indonesia's governing coalition, with two cabinet ministers, including the communications minister.

Indoguna Utama lists five Australian exporters as ''partners'', including Andrews Meat in the Barossa Valley, Jack's Creek Wagyu Beef in Queensland, and Western Meat Packers Group in Western Australia. Mulwarra Export's owner, Greg Darwell, told Fairfax Media on Thursday that Elizabeth Liman was a passive minority investor in the company. He said he knew nothing about the bribery allegations, and they surprised him. ''I personally, in the 16 years that I've been owner and runner of Mulwarra, have not directly seen any corruption,'' he said.  His company's exports to Indonesia had dropped by 20 per cent under the quota but, he said, it had picked up markets elsewhere, and was growing.

Another Australian exporter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was ''common knowledge'' bribes were ''part of the trade up there, on a daily basis, quota or no quota''.  ''They're going to desperate measures to get beef into the country,'' the exporter said.

A spokesman for the Corruption Eradication Commission, Johan Budi, said its investigation would not extend to any Australian companies, and he did not yet know if the agriculture minister would be questioned.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/beef-importer-with-australian-links-caught-in-quota-bribe-case-20130131-2dnh6.html#ixzz2JuFyh6JN

-------------
This is fairly serious stuff, but the implications are even more sinister with overtones that the beef quota might have been manipulated downwards in broad terms, to elicit bribes from importers, to get around the system.  That might be described as fairly serious organised high level corruption.

Most market analysts believe that Indonesia cannot produce enough beef themselves to meet market demand - by a long way, and for quite a period of time yet.  Even if production went up domestically [ rather than by feeding imported animals] sheer logistics would be inadequate to move animals from eastern areas where beef production is increasing, to the volume demand markets of west Java.

It is a sensitive issue, and local beef prices in Indonesia have risen substantially since curbs were placed on importing both live cattle and frozen beef - with particularly greater rises in low quality meat cuts, those used and favoured by many Indonesians.

This story has quite some way to go yet, I am sure.

Innovation LIVES in Australia

Too often the catchcry has been that Australia is not innovative.  It lacks leading edge action in fields such as electronics and even solar where Australia was once considered a leading edge player or in similar advanced engineering and science fields.  Never mind our leading edge technologies in agriculture!

This may not be as true as many would think.

The opinion piece below by the regional manager for STMicroelectronics a significant world player, is very different and he is adamant that Australia IS an innovation leader in many ways.  BUT - not in necessarily mass market stuff, but in advanced areas where features are more important in a smaller market, that places emphasis on features, ease of use and time saving.  These are more important in non major, but higher cost markets.

Read for yourself -
http://www.electronicsnews.com.au/features/opinion-innovation-distinctively-australian?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Electronics%20Newsletter%20-%20send%20-%3E%201/02/2013%2012:10:09%20PM&utm_content=

There are areas such as RFID use, in agriculture and cattle identification and management as well as transportation systems and logistics, where Australia is prominent, not to mention the company Dyesol as  a leader in solar optics and PV from dye pigments.

It is nice to hear from someone outside the Australian public that looks at things somewhat differently, that it is not all doom and gloom for advanced technologies and, more importantly, their deployment in real world use.  That last issue is an advantage when you are smaller - sometimes a tad easier to get started and then progress to full use.  Think Qantas with automated checkin, automated weighing, telemetry, watering and medication systems in rangeland grazing or even the new self serve immigration gates now more widely used around Australia [ at least for Australian and NZ passport holders].  These are all world leading deployments of the technology.

Asian Monsoon May be Predictable - Early

A lot has been done to advance the predictions about the NW monsoon across Australia.  BUT - this year it seems to be definitely off - but forcasters did indicate that there were no strong signals, so that makes for tricky predicting.

Of more importance has been the machinations of the Asian monsoon which has enormous influences on the agriculture and urban life in the region.  For example, the recent flooding in Jakarta, and seasonal typhoons in the area.

The correlations are not fantastic - with 65% indicated, but refinements are certainly possible.

The news article is worth reproducing  - and for the interested read the full report.  AND -watch out out for more.

Asian Monsoon Predictions Take Great Leap Forward

There are few other weather phenomenon which effect a country's agriculture, economy, and people greater than the Monsoon. The monsoon is defined as a seasonal reversing of wind accompanied by a significant change in precipitation. For many parts of the world, and particularly south Asia, the monsoon provides much needed rainfall. However, the amount of rainfall and number of tropical storms brought about by each year's monsoon has been extremely difficult to predict. Scientists from the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa have made a breakthrough for predicting the summer monsoon rainfall over East Asia as early as the spring of that year.

The East Asian monsoon affects parts of Indo-China, Philippines, China, Korea, and Japan. The researchers found that this monsoon and its related storm activity are controlled by fluctuations in the western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH), a major circulation system centered over the Philippine Sea.

If the WPSH is strong during the summer, the rainfall tends to be above average in East Asia and there tend to be fewer tropical storms that make landfall.

Using computer modeling, they found out that summer fluctuations in the WPSH are over 65% predictable by the spring. Things that make the WPSH stronger than usual include dipolar sea surface temperature anomalies in the ocean. This happens when unusually warm Indian Ocean hits the unusually cool western North Pacific water. If this occurs, there will be greater summer monsoon rainfall over East Asia and the Ganges Valley in India.

"Our findings create a promising way for predicting monsoon rainfall and tropical storm days during the East Asian summer," concludes lead author Bin Wang, meteorology professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and faculty at the International Pacific Research Center. "As a first step, we use global general circulation models to predict the fluctuations in the WPSH, and then in a second step, we use this forecast to predict rainfall and storm days in regional analyses. We have done hindcasts from 1979 to 2009 using this approach and have found substantially improved skills over the use of dynamical climate models in predicting the East Asian Summer Monsoon rainfall and tropical storm activity."

This study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

[ reproduced from ENN, 25 Jan 2013]

Overpopulation Needs to Taken Seriously

Causes need champions.  Whether it be Band Aid and Bob Geldof for the famine work that commenced around the Ethiopian famine in 1984, or even more recent examples of Bono and other celebrities as motivators of supporters and even drivers of the cause, across a wide spectrum of activities.

Overpopulation of our planet has always been a tricky issue in how to deal with it.  Is it real, will it affect the economic development and untimately the political ascendancy of countries or individuals, or will " I " be disadvantaged - a serious idea according to some.

Recently a US celebrity [ Alexandra Paul ] gave a talk to a TEDx meeting at Topango in California.  So who is she you might ásk as I did [ but I am not a TV or film media watcher]?  Check yourself here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Paul
  
Alexandra explains correctly that modern man first showed up on earth 200,000 years ago. By 1830 there were 1 billion people on the planet. Therefore, it took 200,000 years for humans to put the first billion humans on earth. The second billion we added in just 100 years. Now, we add 1 billion people every 12 years. And in 2011, the human population reached 7 billion people.

To give you an example of how fast the population grows, Bangladesh had a hurricane a few years ago that catastrophically killed 139,000 people. As a point for comparison, the population growth in Bangladesh is 139,000 new births every 2 ½ weeks!
In her talk, Alexandra says “forcing people to have fewer children doesn’t work. The fastest, most efficient way to stabilize the human population is to send girls to school and Empower women. And give everyone access to, and education on, birth control".

The talk concludes with her encouraging everyone not be afraid to talk about the overpopulation issue: "It is not about taking rights away, it is about giving opportunities to women, children and future generations".

A video of the talk - click here for video link.

Some consider that we are moving towards an unsstainable population on the planet Earth.  Others are less sure but whatever - discussing the issue and advocating sensible options is vital.  There is no doubt that history would indicate that the solution advocated by Alexandra Paul does have cred, and is increasingly the norm even in those regions of so called less development.  But part of that is also management of many simple diseases.  My own experience of working in less affluent regions is that most families have had some form of child mortality that was caused by easily fixed problems including gastro, measles, whooping cough and similar diseases that are preventable or can be fixed, as well as malaria and dengue [ at least manageable in simple ways to reduce problems].  

Where schooling for girls and education for women in general occurs then family size is regulated, and so population is moderated.

Is it a no brainer to work more towards the goal of female education?

 

Waste Not, Want Not

This adage is best interpreted as - wise use of one's resources will keep one from poverty. For example, to throw out good food—waste not, want not. This proverbial saying was first recorded in 1772 but had an earlier, even more alliterative version, willful waste makes woeful want (1576).

The adage of waste not, want not was generally popularised around food resources.  For that area, it is very true, and maybe some of the current discussions around food waste [around 50% of food is wasted] might do well to remember this very simple concept.  Food wastage is so often related to excess food being present and overeating, at least in western society, and simply remembering this old maxim might allow some better thinking to emerge, with resources, particularly financial ones being better directed.  Think before buying or using more food…….will it be wasted?  Plus some simple options that need to be thought about, such as using leftovers.  Their reuse is unlikely to hurt you and most likely will save money.

But the same maxim also has relevance in business.  Lean business principles have moved beyond the factory floor to become an organizing set of principles and practices applicable to all business operations and activities, including entrepreneurial start-ups. Every idea in your company can benefit from a lean approach, be it a product, process, service, or strategy.  Cut waste, in effect.  Sustainable principles in business in effect also rely on cutting waste.  And that cuts costs.

The Australian focused Do Something web site [ www.dosomething.net.au ] has recently been highlighting reducing use of paper, particularly for small business – driving  a more sustainable approach to business but also offering ideas how paper use can be reduced and business efficiency improved with electronic filing seen as a big potential improvement, due to electronic searching capabilities. Waste not, want not principles in action.  And improving not just the bottom line but that elusive triple bottom line.

How can you and your business implement waste not, want not principles?