Australian Electric Car

Made in Armidale, NSW, the evMe is an electric vehicle available in Australia now. Depending on driving conditions, it has a range of 160-285km, and a top speed of 130 kph.


Being an electric car, instead of a petrol opening, there is a plug to recharge it (from a normal power point). Because of the high efficiency of electric motors compared to petrol motors, the cost of running the vehicle is just 2 cents per kilometre. And, of course, when vehicles are electric, that means they can be powered from renewable energy.

The Forgotten People

This poster is part of an Oxfam campaign reminding people that the effects of climate change will be felt hardest (and first) by the people in developing countries. They (Oxfam) have a heap of info and good stuff at their website.

Turtles and Climate Change

As if we didn't have enough reason to be concerned about climate change, Ruben Meerman (ABC's Catalyst programme) recently did a report on the famous baby turtles at Mon Repos (near Bundaberg).


It seems that increasing sand temperatures are very bad news for baby turtles that are hatching there.

Al Gore's Tips

News is that Al Gore (author of An Inconvenient Truth) will be releasing a new book, focusing more on the solutions to climate change. It will be called "Our Choice" and will be available in November. Of course, the end credits of An Inconvenient Truth contained a range of actions.

The climate crisis can be solved
You can reduce your carbon emissions
In fact you can reduce your carbon emission to zero

Buy energy efficient appliances + lightbulbs
Increase insulation, get an energy audit
Recycle

If you can, buy a hybrid car
When you can, walk or ride a bicycle
Where you can, use light rail + mass transit

Switch to renewable sources of energy
Call you power company to see if they offer green energy
If they don't, ask them why not
Vote for leaders who pledge to solve this crisis

If you believe in prayer,
Pray that people will find the strength to change
In the words of the old African proverb,
when you pray, move your feet

Learn as much as you can about the climate crisis
Then put your knowledge into action

Cost-Effective Electric Cars

A little while ago (here and here), i mentioned Better Place - the company that will provide an electric car network to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Today i saw the following talk by Shai Agassi (the head of Better Place).


It goes for 18 minutes, but is brilliant.

SHW for Queenslanders

You may have heard that the Queensland government is buying 200,000 solar hot water systems (at bulk price) and offering them to Queenslanders. (The talk is that they'll be just $500). You can read about it here, or see the news bulletin here.


To register your interest, visit www.cleanenergy.qld.gov.au or call 1800 243 585. There is no commitment in registering. They'll contact you with further info, and then you can decide.

Exxon Confess

I found the article Who is behind the climate change deniers, courtesy of Gavin at Peak Energy.

The good news is that Exxon (known as Mobil in Australia) have admitted funding groups of climate change deniers. After pressure from shareholders, they have agreed to cease giving millions to the groups that "misrepresent the science of climate change" in "an effort to distort public discussion".

The bad news is that for over a decade, this funding has created false doubt in the mind of the public and the politicians, and prevented actions that would have helped the human race.

Electric Car

I see that Mitsubishi were showing off their new electric car today. The federal transport minister was there, but only to say that the government isn't intending to support it.
Meanwhile, the car (which is due to roll off the production line later this year) has a range of 160km on a 7-hour charge.

Greenpower

With the recent focus on renewable energy, i visited the greenpower website to get the latest figures.
Now over 10% of Australian households are choosing to source their energy from renewables, by selecting greenpower through their electricity provider.

Solar Google

The smart people at Google have covered their entire complex (which they call the Googleplex) in solar panels.
In total there are 9212 panels producing up to 1.6 megawatts of power, which apparently saves Google $393,000 in electricity each year.

Of course, being Google, they have a live webpage that monitors the electricity being produced.

Hot and Cold

I've mentioned the Repower America campaign before. Now they've come up with this new video, about fixing the economy and tackling global warming at the same time.