May 2015

  • A Festival of disruptive Innovation – the DIF

    In case you're wondering what happened to the EMF – the Ellen MacArthur Foundation – here's an update. You'll recall that it began in 2010 with the aim to inspire a generation to rethink, redesign and build a positive future.  The Foundation works with...

  • Another view of renewable energy

    Yesterday, I wrote about some of the positives of renewable energy, including the large strides that China is making.  The latest Economist adds some perspective to those figures with a story of dubious financial activity in Beijing and Hong Kong, leading...

  • Renewables and the economy

    Here are a few factoids: Rooftop solar is growing worldwide by 50% per year. In 1985 solar cost $12 per watt, but today’s prices are closer to 36 cents per watt. Every five hours the world adds 23 MW of...

  • On hearing Cetti's warbler for the first time

    The RSPB says that Cetti's warbler is a small nondescript bird which skulks around, keeping out of sight.  This may be a sound survival strategy.  It has bred here since 1973.  Gary Mantle mentioned it in one of his recent blog posts.  It has...

  • Global energy subsidies – a long road back

    An IMF working paper, How Large Are Global Energy Subsidies?, paints a picture of energy subsidies at global and regional levels by focusing on post-tax subsidies.  These arise when consumer prices are below supply costs plus a tax to reflect environmental damage and...

  • The end of the world is upon us (yet again)

    Have you come across Guy McPherson?  He's an academic interested in climate science / change.  I only know about him because Dave Moreman mentioned him in his encounter with "Ask Gareth" the other day. If you decide you'd like to...

  • The Forestry Commission misses an opportunity

    Superworm is super-long.  Superworm is super-strong.  Watch him wiggle!  See him squirm!  Hip, hip, hooray for SUPERWORM! "Have a forest adventure with Superworm in 2015" – says the Forestry Commission's website.  To aid this, the Commission has published a book by Julia...

  • What happened when Dave asked Gareth "a corker of a question"

    EAUC 's Food for Thought last Friday afternoon was about a question posed to blogger Gareth Kane ( Ask Gareth ...) by Dave Moreman, a senior lecturer at Staffordshire University.  Moreman asked:  How can I teach sustainability when I live unsustainably? The first thing Kane did...

  • Polli:Nation – nice title

    The University of Stirling has for a full-time PhD studentship that will involve evaluating and researching aspects of a school-based citizen science and environmental education project: Polli:Nation – Citizen Science and Environmental Education in the School Grounds . This involves schools...

  • New Standards in Australian HE

    There are new national standards for Environment and Sustainability in higher education across Australia whose role is to "support the design and delivery of innovative higher education in the Environment and Sustainability field".  They are included in the newly published Learning and...