Australia's Biggest Wind Farm

Recently Victoria's Macarthur 140-turbine wind farm was officially opened. Providing enough power for 220,000 homes that means each turbine makes enough power for a town of 1500 homes (around 4000 people).


Though it's a lot of area, the land can still be used for sheep and cattle grazing as before - and the farmers receive payment for the use of their land (about $5,000 per MW). By my maths, that would mean farmers of this region would be receiving about $2.1 million each year, from the 420 MW wind farm.

For me this sounds like such a great story. Producing sizeable amounts of renewable energy and providing a second source of income for the farming community. In fact, sometimes, during tough farming years, windpower can save the farm.

PS. While this is the biggest wind farm in Australia (hopefully a record that is soon beaten) the world's biggest is much larger - 1064 MW in India.

Chasing Ice

Chasing Ice is an extreme documentary, by a guy who decided to photograph climate change as it happens. In unbelievable locations, he sets up cameras to do time-lapse photography as the landscapes disappear.

In the trailer, he remarks that this landscape may never be seen again in human civilisation, but that it's captured "here" (as he holds up his camera memory card).



Even if the movie never makes it to Australia, the trailer alone has some stunning scenes.

See the Chasing Ice website for details on screenings and releases.

The Most Ridiculous Thing At Work

We've all seen ridiculous things at work. One of them is energy wastage. It's funny when we see other things being as obviously wasted as energy is.



This ad is the sequel to the Most Ridiculous Thing (home version) in the Powersmart campaign in Canada. I love the tag line:

The most ridiculous thing about wasting power is that for some reason we don't think it is ridiculous.

Low-price Energy Meters at Aldi

One step to saving energy at home is to know where your electricity is going. From Saturday (while stocks last) Aldi have these energy meters for $14.99.


To me that sounds like a good price, I got mine for $30 a few years ago, and (from the picture) this one looks to have much the same functions.

If you get one, here's how to convert the reading (in Watts) into a more meaningful number, like financial cost.

Dollars per year = Watts x hours of use per week x 0.052 x 0.25378
The last number is the price of electricity in dollars, which may differ depending on where you live.

PS. The Aldi sale appears to be an energy theme - there are also LED bulbs available again.

Do The Math movie launches internationally

Tonight is the official international launch of the new documentary movie Do the Math. It will screen at a variety of venues around town. Find a screening near you. Here's the trailer for the film.



Next month, the star of the film, Bill KcKibben will be on tour in Australia.

UPDATE: The screenings are over, but the movie is still available online.

What 400 means

This is probably a more concise explanation (than my earlier one) of the effects of carbon dioxide levels reaching 400.


Thanks, Climate Reality Project.

Big Fuel Discount! (not for you)

You might be happy with the 4-cents-off-petrol voucher you get from the supermarket. But that's nothing compared to the discount mining companies get. While you pay full price for your fuel, mining companies can claim back 32 cents per litre from the government!


Mining companies use a lot of fuel. That creates a lot of greenhouse emissions - and there's little incentive for them to be more efficient, because their fuel is so heavily subsidised.

To make things worse, the taxes on us have to be higher - to make up for the fuel tax not paid for by the mining companies.

This photo was going around facebook, as part of a campaign to get this perverse subsidy removed in this year's federal budget (announced tonight).


Related Posts: 2 Billion Dollars - Why you pay more

A Sad First for Humanity.

This week the level of carbon dioxide in the air reached 400. [Check out the live charts]

How significant is that? Well it's never been this high in all of human history. In fact, it's only been in the last 50 years that it has got much above 300.


What does all this mean? What can we compare it to?

270-280 was the level before the industrialised age.

299 is the highest archeological (ice core) reading - this occured about 330,000 years ago. (Again, before humans)

350 is the upper limit of what is considered at all safe. (And the reason 350.org chose that name)

400 is where we are now, and that is predicted to be 450 by 2037.

So how bad is 400?

As I mentioned earlier, levels have been around 400 before. More than 3 million years ago. That world was 3-4°C warmer (almost 10 degrees warmer near the poles) and sea level was 5-40 metres higher than now.

I think it's time we got serious about eliminating carbon emissions.

[Related link: 400 vs 350 in one picture]

How to Insulate Your Home

With winter coming on in Australia, many people are thinking about keeping warm and saving money. So the ATA has put together this webinar on insulation.


Sustainable building specialist Tony Isaacs discusses the different types of insulation, and give recommendations for different climates and house types. The ATA also has other webinars, such as lighting and energy efficiency.

The ATA also run an event called Speed Date a Sustainable Designer. It's for people building or renovating a home, and provides the chances to have some 15 minutes "dates" with some of Australia’s best green designers.

The Most Ridiculous Thing

The Canadians have this great ad. I like the tag line:

The most ridiculous thing about wasting power is that for some reason we don't think it is ridiculous.

It's part of the campaing for Powersmart, and it's one of those ads that's funny because it's true. We wouldn't waste other things the way we waste energy.

For instance, old-style lightbulbs use 5 times the energy of CFL spiral-style bulbs. It's hard to think of anything else where we would buy 5 times as many as we need.

UPDATE: See the sequel ad - the workplace version.

Christian Climate Change Action Kit

For people and churches looking to put their faith into action, there is the Christian Climate Change Action Kit. Its a practical and spiritual guide for Christians taking action on climate change.


The kit has been designed to help people understand the connection between the faith and action on climate change - and to take steps in church life, personal life and community life, to reduce our negative impact on creation.

The guide also explains the science, and morality of acting on climate change - and gives plenty of spiritual resources (including prayers and sermon ideas) as well as practical ones.

You can download the kit now.

Earn $100 by helping a friend

Part of what makes Every Rooftop a social venture is the word-of-mouth spreading of the idea (as opposed to annoying ads on tv). As an incentive, if you refer a friend to the program, you'll get $100.


It seems similar to the tupperware model - where the host of the party is rewarded if the guests spend a certain amount of money. Except in this case your friends end up with lower electricity bills, and can create solar energy. Now that's a win-win situation :)

"Do the Math" Movie

If you can't make it to a Do the Math live event in Australia, the next best thing is to see the movie. Here's the trailer.



It's pretty clear what it's about. "If it's wrong to wreck the climate, it's wrong to profit from that wreckage." Our continuing support of fossil fuels is the moral catastrophe. The climate catastrophe occurs if we continue to burn all the fossil fuel there is - or even a half of it. The vast majority needs to be left in the ground.

Understand what needs to happen. See the movie and Do the Math.

Weathergirl loses it

What if a weather presenter actually told us how it is? Instead of the polite banter with the news host ("It's a hot one tomorrow, Bob") they explained why the weather is changing permanently. That's the basis for this skit.



The premise seems to be that after years of ignoring important issues to present shallow meaningless news, one presenter finally bursts out with the real story. It's amusing to watch the other guy's reaction. I also liked the ending. That kind of stuff is what keeps important stuff out of the news.

Church pulls out of fossil fuels

The Uniting Church has put its money where its mouth is. The NSW meeting of the church voted unanimously to end investments in fossil fuel companies - effectively blacklisting the industry. The motion was suggested by Justin Whelan of Paddington Uniting Church.


The move is in line with the church's ethical policy of not investing in industries that do harm - and the "climate change emergency" is harm on a massive scale.

"The priority for the Uniting Church was to get its own house in order, and to practice what it preaches about environmental responsibility,"

Justin Whelan also called on other states to follow.

[Related Links: ABC report - Detailed church rationale - Fossil free campaign]

PS. If this action of the church inspires you, why not move your own superannuation investment to a sustainable option (if your company has one). If they don't, perhaps move to someone like Australian Ethical.