30 June 2015, 350.org Australia, Aligning Council Money With Council Values A Guide To Ensuring Council Money Isn’t Funding Climate Change. 350.org Australia – with the help of the incredible team at Earth Hour – has pulled together a simple 3-step guide for local governments interested in divestment. The movement to align council money with council values is constantly growing in Australia. It complements the existing work that councils are doing to shape a safe climate future. It can also help to reshape the funding practices of Australia’s fossil fuel funding banks. The steps are simple. The impact is huge.The guide can also be used by local groups who are interested in supporting their local government to divest as a step-by-step reference point. Access guide here
Category Archives: Building Resilience
29 June 2015, Renew Economy, Victorian solar project to create ‘perpetual’ fund for community renewables: A former timber mill in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges could soon host a community-owned commercial solar array, with a tender process for the government-funded and community-led project set to begin this week. The Woodend Timber Mill project, which was awarded a $100,000 grant by the Victorian Andrews government in February, aims to install an initial 30kW of solar PV, and then use the tenants’ electricity payments to reinvest in more solar panels, thus creating a “perpetual fund” for community renewables.
Coordinated by the Macedon Ranges Sustainability Group, the initial 120-panel commercial-sized project is expected to cater to most of the needs of the current tenants at the mill, and potentially attract more to the site, presumably with the promise of lower and more stable electricity bills. Funds generated would be directed to a newly formed Macedon Ranges Renewable Energy Fund. “We are hoping to reinvest this money on other solar projects and we intend to do that after consulting the Macedon Ranges community on where an appropriate site may be,” Group renewable energy adviser Barry Mann told the Herald Sun. Read More here
23 June 2015, IIASA, A new resource for clean energy systems: IIASA researchers have contributed to a major new reference work on renewable energy, climate mitigation methods, and sustainable energy. The world’s energy supply is a complex system, linked to climate change, the environment, and poverty. TheHandbook of Clean Energy Systems, a new six-volume reference work, provides a comprehensive view of current research on clean energy, ranging from technology for different types of renewable energy to questions of energy storage, and long term sustainability. IIASA researchers from the Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) and Energy programs contributed to five chapters in the work, which was published last week. It complements the IIASA-coordinated Global Energy Assessment (2012), which explored energy system transformations for achieving goals on climate change, energy access, and energy security. Read More here
13 May 2015, Climate News Network, Green city offers clean alternative to tar sands boom: Canada has been called an international pariah for its climate change policies, but now one of its major cities is aiming to be the greenest in the world by 2020. In a country reckoned to have the worst climate policies in the industrialised world, one big city is setting out to defy central government and become 100% carbon neutral. Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada, wants to establish itself as “the greenest city in the world by 2020” by demonstrating that economic growth and the welfare of its citizens depends on developing renewables, rapid transit systems, and promoting cycling and walking to curb car use. It is one of dozens of cities worldwide working towards improving the life of their citizens while reducing fossil fuel use, but it claims to have the most ambitious targets. Read More here