City of Greater Shepparton council slowly going green

Greater Shepparton City Council buildings are gradually becoming greener.

Saving power: Solar panels are being
installed on Greater Shepparton City
Council assets.

Solar panels are being installed on the council assets in an environmentally sustainable push, but also in a reaction to escalating power prices.

Chief executive Peter Harriott said the Eastbank Centre had been completed and the council’s Doyles’s Rd complex would soon be finished. But it is planning more. Mr Harriott aspired to solar being installed on one council asset or building each year.

He said potential savings from the installations depended on power prices.

‘‘If they go through the roof, we save a big percentage,’’ he said.

A tendered contract Mr Harriott awarded under delegated authority is listed as ‘‘Design and construction of solar PV systems at Doyles Rd Complex and Mooroopna Hub’’.

The awarded lump sum contract is valued at almost $225 000.

In March last year, the council also awarded a lump sum contract of about $225 000 for solar installation on its buildings. In November last year, the council predicted the amount it paid for power might increase by up to 50 or 60 per cent in coming years.

A parliamentary inquiry in Shepparton into the health of regional councils’ finances in 2017 heard from council representatives about the impact rising power prices had on finances.

Story by Thomas Moir from The Shepparton News - “Council slowly going green.”

Bill and Melinda Gates Unveil Big Plan for the Environment

In their annual letter, Gates and his wife Melinda hone in on what he says are the “five grand challenges” to combating climate change and global warming: agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation. Bill Gates wrote that Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the $1 billion fund he’s a partner in, will be using the “five challenges” as a guide for all future investments they make, which will focus on where emissions come from.

Bill Gates - five grand challenges.

“It’s important that people know that electricity, it’s only a quarter of the emissions,” Gates said in a promo video for the letter. “Things like cement, steel, meat—there’s a lot of other activities that are generating 75 percent of it.

Reads the story from the The Daily Beast by Molly C. Enking - “Bill and Melinda Gates Unveil Big Plan for the Environment.”

Floods in US state of Maryland cause havoc

ROARING flash floods struck a Maryland city on Sunday hit by similar devastation two years ago, its main street turned into a raging river that reached the first floor of some buildings and swept away parked cars, authorities and witnesses say.

Floods reaching the first floor rush down Main St in Ellicott City
after heavy rain soaked the region around Baltimore in the U.S.

News outlets showed photos and video of sudden, violent floodwaters surging down Main Street in Ellicott City, some 13 miles (20 kilometers) west of Baltimore. The community, set along the west bank of Maryland’s Patapsco River, was also stricken by deadly flash flooding in July 2016.

This time, witnesses say, the flash flooding came with a roar of onrushing water after hours of heavy rain had soaked the region around Baltimore.

Read the AP story from perthnow - “Floods in US state of Maryland cause havoc.”

Energies and societies

The different energies we use don’t merely power our lives, they shape them – from the buildings we live in to the foods we eat and the alliances and enmities we form in (geo)politics. Yale Climate Connections here highlights books that explain the connections between energy and society and review the social history and impacts of fossil fuels. The second part of this bookshelf feature will address books dealing with how renewable energies will reshape America and the world.

Books for your bookshelf from Yale Climate Connections.

The descriptions of the books are drawn from copy provided by the publishers. When two dates of publication are included, the second marks the release of the paperback edition.

Read the Yale Climate Connections story by Michael Svoboda - “Energies and societies.”

Why the ecocity needs to be a just city

(This is one of a series of articles to coincide with the 2017 Ecocity World Summit in Melbourne)

Why is it easier to imagine an ecocity – full of lush green spaces and buildings, footpaths and bike lanes, outdoor goat yoga and dog parks – than a just city where everyone belongs? Why is it difficult to imagine a city where there are no great disparities of income or of access to convivial life because these have been equitably distributed?

Why is it easier to imagine a green ecocity than a just city where everyone belongs?

The prospects for rebuilding the city along ecological lines is enchanting. But ecocities, like smart cities, frequently devolve into a techno-fetishist fantasy, (un)wittingly abetting gentrification – from the sell-off of public housing in cities like Sydney to violent informal housing eradication in places like Jakarta.

Part of what’s required here is to connect the currents of imagination shaping the ecological future of cities with other conversations that are more focused on the future of employment and industry and the possibilities for greater equity. Thinking these disparate ideas together will take some work. Fortunately, it’s well under way in cities around Australia and the world.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a Senior Research Fellow from the Institute for Culture and Society at the Western Sydney University, Stephen Healey - “Why the ecocity needs to be a just city.”

Making Every Day Earth Day Through Sustainable Building Design

To mark Earth Day 2017, we want to help raise awareness about the impact that buildings have on the environment and why we need to take action now before it becomes too late. The below infographic emphasises the extent to which buildings are affecting our planet.

Join us on our quest to fight climate change. Scroll to the bottom or click here to get our special Earth Day give-aways to empower you to take on our challenge of making Earth Day Every Day.

Consider this - “Making Every Day Earth Day Through Sustainable Building Design.”