CERES electric car project

CERES electric car project vaN

The CERES electric car project is a community-based volunteer initiative at CERES Community Environment Park in East Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia that has recently converted a Citroen Berlingo from a petrol powered motor to an electric motor, paving the way for more environmentally sustainable transport in the future. Funding was generously provided by the Lord Mayor’s Fund & Donkey Wheel.… Continue reading CERES electric car project

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John Brumby

John Brumby standing on a stump in logged Victorian forest.

John Brumby replaced Steve Bracks as the Premier of Victoria in 2007. In 1995 John Brumby was the Opposition Leader of the state Labor Party when the Victorian Liberal Party was in power under Jeff Kennett. At that time Mr Brumby was big on promises to protect Victoria’s old-growth forest. When John Brumby was in opposition,… Continue reading John Brumby

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Stop logging Melbourne water catchments speech, Samantha Dunn

Councillor Samantha Dunn, Yarra Ranges Shire

Speech at a public rally protesting against logging in Melbourne’s water catchments by Cr. Samantha Dunn, Yarra Ranges Shire, Warbuton, November 23, 2008 Council motion It was back in October 2007 when I learnt about the clearfelling proposed for the Armstrong and Cement Creek Catchments. I was shocked, I was angry and I knew that logging… Continue reading Stop logging Melbourne water catchments speech, Samantha Dunn

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Stop logging Melbourne water catchments

Logging in Armstrong Creek catchment, visible from Reefton Spur Rd

Logging is still allowed in five of Melbourne’s water catchments. This logging has been scientifically proven to reduce the quality and quantity of water from the catchments. Melbourne’s water supply comes from uninhabited Mountain Ash (Eucalytpus regnans) forests in the Yarra Ranges. Approximately 157,000 hectares of forest has been protected for harvesting water and these… Continue reading Stop logging Melbourne water catchments

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CERES EcoHouse

CERES house

The CERES EcoHouse is a sustainable display home that provides working examples of sustainable features that can be added to existing housing stock. Owners CERES Community Environment Park Location 8 Lee St, East Brunswick Country Australia Type Sustainable renovation House size Medium, 21 squares Email ceres@ceres.org.au Phone 03) 9387 2609 Summary of house features The house is… Continue reading CERES EcoHouse

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5 star rated houses in Victoria, Australia

House 7 - circa 2006, some eaves

In Victoria all new homes built since July 2004 have been required to achieve a 5 star rating. This means it is compulsory for new houses to have: The average energy efficiency rating of houses in Victoria was only 2.2 stars before the introduction of 5 star standard. From 1 May 2008, the 5 Star standard will be… Continue reading 5 star rated houses in Victoria, Australia

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Geothermal in Australia

Australian heat flow map 1999

Geothermal energy is energy derived from “warm areas” below the earth’s surface. This energy can be obtained by circulating a fluid through pipes between the surface and the warm area below, which can then be extracting using a heat pump. This article describes geothermal “warm areas” in Australia. Geothermal energy in Victoria In Victoria if the geothermal… Continue reading Geothermal in Australia

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Samsø

Samso wind turbines. Credit: Joachim Ladefoged

Samsø is a Danish Island situated in arm of the North Sea with twenty-two villages. For the past decade or so, Samsø has been the site of an unlikely social movement. In the late nineteen-nineties, the island’s forty-three hundred inhabitants had a “conventional attitude” toward energy. Most residents heated their houses with oil, brought in by… Continue reading Samsø

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Philip Sutton

Phillip Sutton, author of Climate Code Red

Philip Sutton (born 1951) is co-author of the 2008 climate change book Climate Code Red, and an environmental and political activist in Australia. He was the Convenor of the Greenleap Strategic Institute and Assistant Convenor of the Climate Emergency Network[1]. Current work Philip Sutton’s work currently focusses on the development of strategies for very rapidly achieving an ecologically sustainable economy,… Continue reading Philip Sutton

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History of Brown Mountain

Brown Mt, WP008. Unprotected old growth Mountain Ash

A short history of Brown Mountain, situated in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Brown Mountain was assessed and listed as an old growth National Estate area by the Commonwealth Heritage Commission in the 1980s. That means it has the same values as a National Park. The management of these areas were handed to the state government which promptly… Continue reading History of Brown Mountain

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