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About Blog Central
Blog Central is a space for RMIT academics and senior staff to blog about their areas of expertise and interests.
The views and opinions expressed by the authors on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of RMIT University.
All are welcome to contribute. If you're interested in blogging, please contact Zoë Kleeborn from University Communications.
Category Archives: Sustainability
Is there room for nature in our cities?
Welcome to the CBD. Take a look at all the glass masonry and asphalt. The streets are canyons. Apart from a tree in the footpath, or a Peregrine Falcon way overhead, there’s little nature to be seen. Nature is absent in these landscapes, or more correctly “hardscapes”. This runs counter to the trend to [...]
Posted in Sustainability Tagged Australia, city, design, environment, infrastructure, nature, planning, policy, urban Comments closed
Four years of falling electricity demand: can this continue?
In 2012, National Electricity Market electricity consumption continued its four-year decline. Everyone seems surprised that electricity demand continues to decline despite population and the economy growing. This highlights the limits of economic forecasting and the lack of “bottom-up” modelling based on real activity. Changes in technology mean the energy implications of new appliances have changed. [...]
Also posted in Technology Tagged cooling energy, electricity demand, energy consumption, energy demand, energy usage, fixed energy overheads, heating energy Comments closed
Air conditioning is peaking out, time to rethink cool comfort
As the recent Energy White Paper and Senate Committee report confirm, Australia’s electricity prices are going up. The Productivity Commission states that they have risen by 50% in real terms over the last five years, mainly due to the rising cost of poles and wires. In fact, around one quarter of retail electricity bills go [...]
Also posted in Economics & Finance Tagged airconditioning, carbon pricing, electricity, power Comments closed
Who will hold the balance of power on electricity?
The Senate Select Committee on Electricity Pricing tabled its report in Parliament on November 1. The inquiry found substantial evidence of failures in the rules and operation of the electricity market, even though the electricity sector says it is taking adequate action to deal with a range of issues. The report commented (para 3.101) that [...]
Also posted in Economics & Finance, Politics, Technology Tagged Australia, electricity generation, Victoria Comments closed
Should academics eat their subject matter?
Throughout history we have used animals; slaughtered them, skinned them, eaten them and loved them as companions. We have put them to work for us, confined them to make their meat production more profitable, altered their appearance to suit us and wept with grief when those close to us in the animal world have died. [...]
Also posted in Social Justice, Writing Tagged animals, Minding Animals Conference, understanding animals, vegan, vegetarian Comments closed
Why the carbon-tax ‘python’ won’t squeeze the economy
Some critics of carbon pricing have pointed out that, over time, the carbon price will increase to a much higher level and devastate the economy. Indeed, the image of a python squeezing the life out of the economy has been painted to describe this. However, this view is based on a misunderstanding of how carbon [...]
Also posted in Economics & Finance, Technology Tagged Australia, carbon pricing, carbon tax, energy, greenhouse emissions, unit of carbon Comments closed
The carbon tax needn’t cost you: easy ways to cut energy costs
If Treasury modelling is right, about half of household carbon cost will be included in energy bills, which are now about 3% of household expenditure. That means the carbon cost on energy adds about 0.3% to living costs. And the other half of the carbon cost is spread very thinly over the remaining 97% of [...]
Also posted in Media & Communications Tagged carbon tax, cutting energy, energy cost, Environment Protection Authority, EPA, Greenhouse calculator, household energy Comments closed
Biodiversity offsets: solving the habitat-saving equation
Biodiversity offsets are touted as a new tool for protecting our natural environment. While they have the potential to deliver real gains, understanding the possible consequences of these polices over the long-term raises many challenges. These policies aim to balance biodiversity loss arising from habitat destruction at one location by enhancing and/or protecting similar but separate [...]
Also posted in Business, Economics & Finance, Politics, Research Tagged Australia, biodiversity, carbon, environment, mining, policy Comments closed
Can businesses really plan for the future? Introducing ‘scenario thinking’
We are currently faced with a seemingly endless list of global and local uncertainties. What will the global financial markets do tomorrow, next week, or next month? What is the reality of climate change, and what will its impacts be? What does the future hold for Australia’s resources sector? These issues are of critical concern not just [...]
Bangladesh disaster shows why we must urgently clean up global sweat shops