Sustainability is a significant term. Nonetheless, the role is specific to environmental sustainability, on a sociological and economic sustainability context.
In the market, the “green” initiative has been an area of debate, conjecture and development for many, many years. As media technologies have developed, green marketing initiatives have been refined and convayed in an increasingly narrow context.
In the 1970’s, melbournians where involved with many of environmental movements, including conference festival otherwise known as confest. This festival has continued for many years, whilst I was younger I also attended with a significant troop of friends.
Many of the lead speakers within the current environment, could be identified as “dark green” activists, as they often refuse to listen to science or claim to understand it, whilst talking about broad topics with little specification, with the best of intentions as they continue their activitism with a goal of healing the world from its evils.
It is a fact that our economic, social and political environment currently rely’s upon the use of non-renewable resources. It is also a fact that these non-renewable resources are assisting Australia’s economic platform, as it continues to operate in a largely materialistic social environment, sustaining our cultures economic mechanisms; allowing us to be clothed, have shelter, be feed and have the opportunity of good health-care and the ability to support a family.
In the last 50 years, technology has made products much more available to consumers. It is unlikely that retail economics will change dramaticially in the next 50 years. Therefore, it is essential that we find better ways to use our resources and prosper in an increasingly international social-economic environment.
The science, intellectual capacity and development of professional methods to develop solutions for our societies, when considering environmental sustainability, could be beneficially labelled “light green”; a term to describe the individual interested in creating solutions and actionable works, while still maintaining a good grip on the commercial mecahnics underpinning out society and methods to evolve it.
A History of Contribution
I find it difficult to remember the entire project’s I’ve been involved in overall, that’s why i’ve got this blog. Nonetheless, here are some of the more recent ones.
Sustainability and E-Learning
In 2008, made an investment into an organisation called “Global Green Plan”. The founders of the Global Green Plan, developed plans to establish a range of initiatives ranging from an educational curriculum established in Williamstown High School, through to the start-up works for local community centre, which was designed to provide a community engagement strategy, in-conjunction with the curriculum’s delivery. Other plans and under-performing products included green bins, energy companies, carbon concepts, etc. etc.
I worked on the project freely for a number of months (about six months), investing cash into the project to pay their phone-bills, and to sponsor the attendance in the world sustainable buildings conference in 2008, where they needed promotional materials and copies of the curriculum printed, as well as assistance for representation at their booth.
The tasks I completed throughout the period ranged from strategic, business consulting works developing new economic models for the business (aiming to turn the business around, into a cash-flow positive position) to cleaning the williamstown customs house building, in an effort to get it ready to open; as well as web-development and video transcoding to initiate the build of an e-learning platform, marketing and promotions capability for the firm and its proposed membership revenue business system.
Soon after my investment FujiXerox invested into the business, culminating the collective works with an event where Dame Elizabeth Murdoch was announced as the patron of the Global Green Plan, as part of a broader school based event with speakers locally and remotely, with speakers such as Penny Wong and Isabel Lucas. This event was also marketed in connection to a letter Dame Elizabeth wrote to Michelle Obama, requesting action on climate change.
As another consequence of this work, I held a consultation with Telstra Corporation, endavouring to produce a method for e-learning curriculum materials to be sponsored by Telstra, and for this platform to be made available to students, using a 24/7/365 wireless network card, integrated with the e-learning platform, as well as schools and the school based filter. The development of this proposed platform is a work in progress.
Energy Technology and Transportation
In 2003, I purchased a Series 1, XJ6 jaguar the last car manufactured by the founder, with the specific intention of replacing the drive-train system with more recent, Hybrid Technologies.
Between roles, and during any other downtime periods, I researched technologies that could offer a suitable platform overall.
I found Wheel Motor Technology, being developed in the University of Queensland as well as other companies overseas. Having had some experience with the CSIRO, I was aware of the battery based technology; however, I was also aware of the difficulties facing battery use in these environments, including; charge, tempreture, availability, recycling and non-renewable components used within the battery technology. So, I started to look at ways to generate enough electricity, and regulate the power input.
This later led me to investigate ultra-capacitors and Micro-Turbine Engines.
Turbines are extremely efficient at the right speed. They can also operate on a range of fuels, with relatively little modification. However, it is not suitable to spin them up and down, with acceleration and de-acceleration. Through the use of ultra capacitors, it would be possible to create a “power store”, where energy generated from the wheel motors, any heat-conversion and direct electricity produced from the proposed micro-turbine, could be used to power the vehicle.
As an effect, the turbine could then be computer controlled to operate at optimal efficiency, as required to power the drive train and maintain optimal charge in the ultra-capacitor array. Through chance, I met a lady from the CSIR (south african equivalent to the CSIRO) who suggested they might have some micro-turbine units available for use on this project. However the project never proceeded beyond these concepts.
Works were pursued with the US based LincVolt Project, who have been working with a South Australian company. I spoke to this firm on several occasions, seeking to further investigate these concepts; however not much really happened. Last time we spoke I was advised they were in the process of raising capital, which is a positive outcome for their works.
To summarise this experience, although I found advanced technologies that were capable, (with investment), to produce a conversion solution for existing vehicles; the commercial desire to create these forms of solutions for the existing vehicle market seems lacking in the local market. New vehicles featuring technologies sourced from overseas will, most likely, be the course of least resistance for the introduction of more sustainably powered vehicles for the local market.
Portable power and storage
I became aware of Hydrogen Fuel Cells from an associated company called manhattern scientific. The Company, based in the US had developed many patents for manufacturing Fuel Cells. Further research in the area later found another company called Horizon Fuel Cell, who started their commercialiastion works selling fuel-cell toys.
I have been investigating the possibility of using fuel-cell technology in rural areas, as a replacement for standardised battery power.
Family have an “off the grid” farm in country Victoria. The power system they use is based upon solar power, with a deep-cycle battery array, connected to an inverter. The difficulty with this system, as it has been installed (by solar experts), is that the batteries are housed underneath the solar panels, in an outdoor environment. Due to this, the battery life span is decreased; batteries are ideally stored in a controlled environment of about 20c.
Their farm, and many like it, has dam water. Using an electrolizer and fuel-cell technology, is a plausable method to consider. The proces, would essentially use the solar panels to generate stored hydrogen, which can then be converted back to water (using fuel-cells) providing electricity at times where no solar power is directly available.
I have been discussing this concept with Horizon Fuel Cells, and we are working on a suitable solution to test this theorem.
In summary, this project aims to consider a suitable renewable solution for the storage of energy in the form of hydrogen. In doing so, it is believed that the solution will both generate clean water and electricity, from a stored potential energy state.
Related to this work is additional research into LED and OLED based lighting systems, as well as other appliances that lower the overall use of energy in the household.
Similarly, heating and cooling systems are being researched with a friends father (who started bramar), at this time I have a particular interest in finding out more information, about the mechanisms and power requirements of heat-pump’s.
Urban Water Use
Melbourne has recently been through a property boom. Our population has increased by between 800,000 and 900,000 people within the last ten years. Having worked within the offices of one of the largest Victorian property developers, who has been a key party in the development of environmental leaders in Australia, I am astutely aware of the infrastructure implications this population growth has on the broader local territory.
Sometime in the start of 2006, an English committee was engaged from the UK, to advise Melbourne water on new water management and efficiency initiatives. The leader for this Team is my partners direct reletive and, one day, while he swam in our pool, I was able to discuss some of my ideas in this area.
Bottled Water, and the export of water seemed like an unsuitable business for an environment struggling with a lack of water resources. Post my discussion, the news article discussing their trip, featured a picture of the CTO for Melbourne water, drinking a bottle of Melbourne water, perhaps unrelated, nonetheless humorous.
I also have a idea, about the treatment and recapture of stormwater. Through discussions with a local water manager, I became aware of the difficult issue of the water company apparently not being able to get an EPA license to treat storm water, in some environments.
With an increase of concrete, roofing and other systems for run-off into the storm-water. The produces an effect where less water soaks into the ground, as the concrete replaces the natural environment; a simultanious effect, caused by subdivision and other drivers caused by urbanisation; relates to humidity, as the mechanisms for precipitation within urban environments changes. One key element includes the process where more water, being stored or moved to underground water-tight drainage systems, where it cannot re-articulate back into the local environmental system. Another is the use of pre-existing swamp land and river areas, for urban housing, which drains into the other issue.
Water tanks provide a significant step towards responding to this issue, however as a renter I’m forced to watch my 50 year old fruit trees die in the yard, without any owner interest in implementing such technology. To continue to find ways to respond to this issue, further work surrounding the opportunity to reclaim storm-water and its use within localised parks, gardens and council areas, seems like an ideal method to continue to improve efficiency of our storm-water grid, in association to environmental management.
However my ideas in this area continue to develop and solid solutions haven’t really been identified as yet, beyond the initial ideas.
Geographic Mapping
Councils seem to obtain information about trees, when ther’re scheduled to be taken down. It is also my experience that older trees can become diseased. It was my experience, when living in Balwyn, that a tree chopper (I know their called aborists) continually left me cards, offering to cut down my trees. As a result of the successful work by the aborist around the local area, I developed a new initiatives I mapped into the e-learning project; (which was not further developed) was to do a tree census.
The concept of a “tree census” would be to provide a database of native flora, which can be used to more effectively manage the local flora population. Trees assist with carbon, as well as precipitation. When replacing trees with concrete, the environmental factors within the environment change.
I was recently paid to go and record on camera, the Natural Climate Change Conference.
This was brought together by the old Dean for mathematics, of Monash University. He was fighting to get some form of public recognition for the findings of his work, related to some very specific elements of climate science. With so much climate science in the media, it seemed that there were many experts who were not being effectively represented, due to their specific knowledge in the area; and, related specifications about the terminology, and the problems that related to each term, specifically.
Through his presentation, I learnt about solar flares and how they produce climate effects on the earth. I also learnt about solar cycles. Their discussion particularly related to the natural climate cycles, and new scientific findings in this area.
They were specific in their suggestions that urbanised areas create different environmental micro-climates, as opposed to broader “un-touched” environments. Nonetheless, they were particularly frustrated, that the news publicised every possible environmental issue as an effect of climate change. Climate change, however, is a very specific topic within a broader group of environment and sustainability issues. Climate itself, is affected by these issues, but is not directly related to the poor use of un-renewable resources, clearing of forests, development of ecologically beneficial technology and all such aspects emboded within the context of environmental sustainability.
GreenTV
There is no sustainability TV Channel. I’ve been working on one slowely, but it is taking time. One of my clients / friends in Dubai wants to hold a Dubai Environmental Sustainability Film Festival which I’ve been assisting him with developing conceptually and operationally.