Bears killed because of food waste
Brown bears have reappeared in the wild in Switzerland in recent years. In the light of experience the authorities have decided to update their 2006 bear policy. The revised "Bear Strategy Switzerland" defines what measures should be taken with problem bears.
Swiss Info reported that the Federal Environment Office plan, in force since 2006, now contains cohabitation guidelines that pay particular attention to rubbish management. Easy access to food from household waste was a key reason that two Swiss bears became dangerously unafraid of humans and had to be killed.
To view the full article go to: http://www.swissinfo.ch
Story sourced via www.resourcesnotwaste.org
Recycle water by mining sewer and catching rain in Victoria
By 2015, 70% of Melbourne’s wastewater should be recycled, and the Victorian Government needs to eventually move toward 100%, prohibiting wastewater discharge into the sea or waterways. Groundwater systems need better protection, and water bills should be weighted towards consumption to prompt behavioural change, according to a paper by the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
The committee, chaired by former government minister John Pandazopoulos, laid out 48 recommendations in its wrap up of the 18-month Inquiry into Melbourne’s Future Water Supply. (For the report go to: http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au)
The recommendations included:
• Stormwater harvesting: between 400 and 550 GL of stormwater runs down the drain annually now. This can cover the annual shortfall expected under projected demands in 2055, of between 210-302 GL, nearly twice over. It also said that stormwater harvesting in new inner city developments can cut potable water demand by 35%. Current stormwater reuse is only 0.25%.
• “The Victorian Government has met its water recycling target of 20% of total sewage inflows to Melbourne’s two largest treatment plants by 2010,” the report said. “The committee recommends that this target is changed to 50% by 2012 and 70% by 2015.”
• the contract for the Wonthaggi desalination plant be designed to allow the volume of water the plant supplies to be varied, so as not to provide disincentives for water conservation and the development of other water supplies – including stormwater and recycling – for Melbourne;
• a moratorium on the issue of all new bore construction and groundwater extraction licenses in aquifers covered by Greater Melbourne;
• the Victorian Government commit to finding a use for all treated wastewater and allow none to be dumped into waterways
• a Statewide Urban Stormwater Strategy to be completed urgently;
• green loans and other financial incentives to promote water efficiency and conservation; and \
• a pricing structure for water where a fixed component is charged for the provision of water and sewerage services, and a variable component charged based on water used and sewage discharged.
Photo courtesy of Stockxpert and story sourced from http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=1003186
Innovation in Construction and Engineering
Ralph Kerle, executive chairman of The Creative Leadership Forum interviews Megan Motto, CEO, Association of Consulting Engineers Australia about innovation in construction and outlines ideas of how we can increase engineers profitability through collaboration with other sectors including finance and architecture
To see the video of the interview go to: http://www.thecreativeleadershipforum.com/
Paperless proof, the e-government magic act
In all sorts of dealings and transactions between government departments, between businesses and government bodies, and between individual citizens and government, verification of identity and proof of what has transpired is needed.
As a rule, this has usually meant forms have to be filled in, signatures dated and the completed forms must be physically posted or delivered. A few years ago, a French government initiative set out to develop a secure online platform to handle electronically the many transactions between local communities, or collectives, and the central government and particularly the interior ministry.
These include the ‘collectives’ having to inform the ministry of all decisions they take, and also to notify the central government of all births, deaths and marriages that occur.
French public financial institution Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations set out to develop and test the Fournisseur d'Accès Sécurisés Transactionnels (Secure Access Gateway Provider) platform or FAST.
Automated, secure document exchange: The system is able to provide automated and secure document exchange, legally recognised acknowledgement of receipt, electronic certificates and signatures, secure encryption of information, as well as traceability, time-stamping and archiving of electronic documents.
This means collectives all over France no longer have to post off copies of life-event certificates to Paris, but simply file them electronically via the FAST platform. Individual citizens benefit in a number of ways, such as no longer having to provide a physical copy of a birth certificate when making a benefit application.
Now the magic of the system is being brought to the rest of the European Union thanks to a project funded under the EU’s eTEN program for market validation and implementation, the FASTeTEN project.
The project’s technical coordinator, Jean François Navarre, says in France a whole host of new e-government functions have been made possible by the platform and a private company has been established to market these services both in the country and around Europe.
“While this means FAST is not free, people wanting to use it will improve their performance and save themselves money,” he says.
Spanish region, English city: The EU-funded project, which got underway in 2008, has two very different trials of the platform’s capabilities on the go.
One is in the Spanish region of Valencia, where it is being used with the local government’s e-procurement platform to provide a new level of security by generating legally binding proof of both calls for proposal and of transactions.
The second is in the English city of Sheffield, and the objective here is to develop from scratch a new procedure for the management of contacts within organisations. This is being done by a pilot system to manage the contacts between schools and parents.
Jonathan Gay, the project partner in charge of the Sheffield trials, said: “We took stock of the paperwork being used in the local school system to see what could be put onto the FAST platform to reduce the need for parent-based signatures.” Then 10 schools were selected to trial a cross-selection of applications.
For more on this story go to: http://cordis.europa.eu. Story sourced via www.sustainabilitymatters.net.au.
Using fly ash waste to fight fire
More than 13 million tonnes of fly ash residue from burning coal is produced in Australia each year. Most of the time it never goes much further than the local landfill or at best becomes a cement additive, but a PhD student at Perth’s Curtin University of Technology has used the flaky waste by-product to develop a form of fireproof concrete with a far lower carbon profile.
William Rickard began working on the fireproof concrete about a year ago with the goal of providing an environmentally friendly solution to homes and businesses alike. Most of the time fly ash is either dumped in landfills or used as a filling agent during the manufacturing of cement. But a fair proportion never gets that far. Aerial images from Google Earth of at least two Queensland coal-fired power stations, Callide and Tarong (see photo), reveal large deposits of fly ash near the plants.
Rickard’s fireproof concrete – made from geopolymer cement – releases nearly 80% fewer emissions during manufacturing compared to standard Portland concrete. But that’s not its only plus, says Rickard, who cites the Victorian bushfires earlier this year as a key motivation to develop fireproof concrete from “cheap, readily available materials”.
“While also being as strong as regular cement, geopolymer cement has exceptional fire resistance and will maintain its strength during a fire, while traditional cements break down,” he said.
For more on this story go to: http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=1003502
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