Nature never rests, but we need to

Nature never rests.

Strangely, humans, who have disrupted nature, do need rest and so Beneath the Wisteria will be taking a break, having a rest, this month.

Subsequently, we will not gather Beneath the Wisteria in Shepparton’s Maude St mall and so our next gathering will be on Saturday, January 27,  2018, at 11:00 am - hopefully, we will see you then.

And, in the meantime, enjoy whatever it is you are doing and take care.

Summing up this year, 2017, from a climate change point of view, it is worth noting that there has been, in my view, a significant shift in attitudes toward climate change with people being much more conscious of the dilemma and so eager to hear about what they can do to mitigate our carbon dioxide emissions and adapt to the inevitable unfolding societal changes.

Please join us on January 27 discuss 2017 and consider what might eventuate in 2018.

Sam Mitchell, epic solar cyclist, is Geographic Society's young adventurer 2017

A week into the most challenging solar-powered bike ride in the world, Sam Mitchell wasn't at all sure he'd make it.

Sam's bike in the red sand.

The relentless waves of red sand dunes were threatening to break his body and spirit.

Too often there was not enough power, either from his batteries and electric motors or his pedalling, to tow his trailer with its array of solar panels, its load of water containers, his tools, a month's supply of food and all the rest, over a dune.

Sam, aged 21 at the time and from Victoria's Gippsland, was required, again and again, to dismount, unhook his trailer and drag it by hand over a sand ridge, driving his body to exhaustion.

Read the story by Tony Wright in today’s Melbourne Age - “Sam Mitchell, epic solar cyclist, is Geographic Society's young adventurer 2017.”

South Australia goes all out on renewables despite federal focus on coal

October 13, 2017 — The Australian federal government’s love affair with coal has reached new levels in recent years, with federal ministers bringing chunks of the mineral into parliament and donning high-visibility mining vests as pro-coal publicity stunts. Yet against this backdrop, one Australian state has managed to break global records in the renewable energy space.

Recently, South Australia’s state government has announced not one but two record-breaking renewable energy projects: the world’s largest solar thermal power plant and the world’s largest lithium ion battery installation. Together, these projects will help the state surge well ahead of its already ambitious renewable energy targets while delivering a clear challenge to its coal-obsessed federal counterpart.

Read the ENSIA story by Bianca Nogrady - “South Australia goes all out on renewables despite federal focus on coal.”