Sorry, burning our recyclables isn't the solution

Burning recyclable material to produce energy is about as smart as burning your antique furniture to keep warm. Both practices ignore the potential value of what is being burned, instead seeing only a waste product that can be used as fuel. Even so, there have been calls recently for building waste-to-energy plants now that China will no longer receive our waste or recyclables.

A steel recycling plant.

The distinction between waste and recyclable material is not obvious as much of the ''waste'' that currently goes to landfill could be easily recycled here in Victoria.

Let’s start with the low hanging fruit of food waste. Roughly half of what is sent to landfill is food waste, and half of this is generated by households. Already, some councils in Victoria are collecting food ''waste'' from households for composting. The resulting compost is bought by growers who, as a result, enjoy improved soil and more abundant crops. These crops need less water, less synthetic fertiliser, and less herbicide. Another benefit is that carbon is returned to the soil, where it is badly needed, rather than to the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.

Read the story by Vivienne Waller from The Age - "Sorry, burning our recyclables isn't the solution.”

Here’s how a smart water grid could stop global warming

When we think about future energy systems, we usually think only of electricity. We imagine smart power grids that integrate and deliver electricity for different purposes, like powering household appliances and commercial buildings, or charging electric vehicles. What power grids cannot do is dramatically reduce the amount of energy wasted at the source. Here is where the power grid’s twin — the smart thermal water grid — comes into play.

By chanelling surplus heat to where it is needed,
we could limit temperature rises and energy
consumptionat a stroke.

By now, we all know that global warming is slowly boiling our planet. We also understand that it is caused by a long list of human activities, with our insatiable hunger for energy right at the top. Yet our current efforts to counter it are lagging behind the rising temperatures. Renewable energy sources are only part of the solution. The other part is greater energy efficiency. Our houses, shops and factories waste gigantic amounts of energy, often in the form of excess heat. How do we slash this waste? The answer is fairly simple: with a smart thermal water grid.

Read the story from the World Economic Forum - “Here’s how a smart water grid could stop global warming.”