STANDBY POWER Your home entertainment and computer systems are never really ‘off’.
                         Standby power creates harmful greenhouse gasses as well as costing you money. 
                         In fact, according to Sustainability Victoria 10% of residential power is wasted by standby power
                         So switch off your appliances at the source to save energy. All energy used contributes to greenhouse gas
                         emissions. 

                         THE TRUTH ABOUT HALOGENS
                    Halogen down lights are branded as low voltage but that doesn't mean low energy. A typical single halogen              down light uses more energy than a 60W light bulb. The halogen down lights use 50 watts, and the                     transformers (thin black boxes laid in the roof) use 10-15 watts! to see how much halogens really cost                   cost you...  Change your halogen down lights with low energy down light kits and save 80% energy
                         and $12 per light per year plus they last 5 times longer.  The kits are available from $20 each

                         COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMPS AND Mercury
                         Mercury is an essential ingredient in most energy efficient lamps. The amount of mercury in a
                         CFL’s glass tubing is small, typically about 4mg, and is being constantly reduced by the
                          manufacturers.  Some CFLs are now as low as 2mg. The mercury vapour in the lamp is absorbed
                          by the phosphor coating on the inside of the glass tube over the life of the lamp. When it runs out
                          the lamp will fail to work properly.
                         There are no mercury-free fluorescent lamps. Some may be labelled as low mercury, and
                          maybe some even claim to be mercury free, but it isn’t possible.

                          However, CFLs present an opportunity to prevent toxic mercury from entering the air, where it
                          most affects our health as it then gets into waterways. The highest source of mercury in the air                      comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal, the most common fuel used in the Australia to   
                          produce electricity. A US study found that a power plant will typically emit 10mg of mercury
                          to produce the electricity to run an incandescent bulb compared to only 2.4mg of mercury to
                          run a typical CFL for five years. So the CFL produces 36% less mercury overall compared to                       burning the extra coal. With CFLs lasting longer and the amount of mercury coming down, the gap                    will get even bigger.
       
                         Mercury however, is a toxic metal, and every product containing mercury should be handled with                   with care. It is released into our environment when products with mercury are broken, disposed
                         of improperly, or incinerated. As energy efficient lighting becomes more popular, it is important
                         that we dispose of the products safely and responsibly.

                          Where Do Carbon Emissions Come From?
                          Whenever we use electronic devices at home, drive the car or travel by plane, carbon dioxide is 
                          emitted into the atmosphere. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that is released when fossil fuels such as coal
                          are burnt. Greenhouse gases act like a blanket around the Earth, effectively overheating it causing
                          irreversible and catastrophic changes to the climate. This is also known as our carbon footprint.
                          The current amount of carbon being put into the air is 385 parts per million (ppm) - higher than ever in
                          the past 800,000 years. In 2005 the US released 6.1billion tonnes of CO2 emissions. Australia's carbon
                          intensity of energy (amount of carbon burned as fossil fuel per unit of energy) is 20 per cent higher than
                          the world average, and 25 to 30 per cent higher than values for the USA, Europe and Japan.          

                          Under these current conditions more people will be affected by climate disruptions than war.
                          It is suggested that in human terms the effect on the planet will be like cutting off oxygen during an
                          asthma attack.
                          The Arctic tundra is now starting to melt, triggering the release of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times
                          more powerful than CO2, from thick layers of thawing peat. read more
                          Just one degree is likely to reduce Queensland highland rainforest by half [Austral Ecology, 26, 590-603].
                          With one degree of warming, world cyclones would be more severe and small islands states abandoned.
                          as seas rise (it's already happening). Ice sheets around the world would suffer severe losses: landslides
                          in the European Alps are already serious as permafrost melts and retreats upwards; the Kilimanjaro ice
                          sheet which has been intact for at least 11,000 years is on the way to disappearing. 80% is already lost
                          in the last 100 years [Science, 298. 589-93]. and the rest will be gone by 2015-2020, bringing forest loss
                          to the surrounding area. The Arctic's ice cover is retreating more rapidly than estimated by any of the 18
                          computer models used by the 2007 IPCC assessments; [Geophysical Research Letters 1 May 2007]. British
                          researchers calculated that an increase of just one degree of warming would eliminate fresh water from a
                          third of the world's land surface by 2100. More than 60 climate action groups are urging the Federal
                          Government to raise carbon emission reduction targets. (ABC 9th March 2009).
                     Help us to keep on with the battle so we can win the war Donate.....
 
                          We must all protest tirelessly to change the path of governments.                          

                     What are Carbon Offsets?
                                   Carbon offsets are a way for individuals and companies to compensate for their own emissions by investing
                          in emission reductions elsewhere. We know that there are tipping points in our atmosphere - 3 degrees
                          may be the “tipping point” where global warming could run out of control, leaving us powerless to intervene
                          as planetary temperatures soar in the Earth's systems which, if breached, will send our climate spinning out
                          of control with catastrophic consequences for all of us. If we are to have a reasonable chance of stopping
                          the climate crisis, we must make every effort to avoid these tipping points.
                          That means high-polluting countries like Australia moving towards carbon neutrality as fast as possible,
                          with cuts of at least 40% by 2020, not  5% or even 15% currently being accepted as good enough. the
                          problem is very low on the list of most governments our own included. If the same level of action was
                          taken towards climate change as is taken towards the economy and flu epidemics we would really see
                          results sometime soon. It's time People Power took over and forced governments to take action.
                          World Watch Institute director, Chris Flavin, has called on Australia to stop building new coal plants and
                          immediately begin the process of replacing existing plants with proven zero emissions alternatives such
                          as solar, wind and energy efficiency, as well as switching to electric or hydrogen transport, stopping
                          logging and change agricultural practices to lock carbon in our soils. Also diesel fuel motor vehicles can
                          save up to 25% of fuel consumption. 
                         
                          What does ‘Carbon Neutral’ really mean?
                     Carbon Neutral means offsetting 100% of the activities CO2e (carbon dioxide or CO2
                           equivalent) greenhouse gas emissions after first reducing all possible impacts. i.e. to make
                           an event, product, activity or company Carbon Neutral you need to firstly reduce your emission
                           impacts and then offset the remaining emissions. For example, an event may become Carbon
                           Neutral by:
                               • reducing flights and using one bus instead of several cars (reverting to hybrid cars )
                               • Using recycled paper for brochures and flyers  
                               • using local organic food where possible (less imported goods due to carbon footprint)
                               • reducing waste
                               • using renewable energy solar| wind | geothermal etc
                               • and then, calculating and offsetting your emissions with accredited offsets

                                   MORE EFFICIENT COOLING AND HEATING:
                                   Did you know that heating and cooling can make up to 50 percent of your energy bill each month? If you heat                    heat and cool your home more efficiently by fixing leaks, you’ll save money and reduce your impact
                           on the environment. Plugging up those energy leaks is simple. Insulating your home will keep your
                           house warmer in the winter and help to cool things off in summer as well as reduce your footprint. carbon               
                          Wood: wood is a renewable energy source as it re-grows. It is also carbon neutral as the CO2 it
                          produces when burnt is cancelled out by the CO2 the living tree absorbed as it grew.
                          Use a Modern Low-flow shower head. You may associate a low-flow showerhead with one                     one that reduces your shower to a frustrating trickle. Thankfully, technologies have improved so                       that you can enjoy a high pressure shower while saving valuable water at the same time!

                          LOWER YOUR HOME THERMOSTATS! That’s right, thermostats, plural! Most people
                          have their air conditioners, heater, hot water heater, and refrigerator thermostats set at                      
                          unnecessary high temperatures. Save money on energy costs and help the environment at the same                  time. Look for the most efficient energy Star ratings on fridges and washing machines - the
                          higher the stars, the more efficient the appliance. Front Loaders save on water and energy.

                          GO SOLAR!   - With solar hot water you’ll not only save money, but you’ll help our our                      
                          environment too. According to the Australian Government, water heating is the largest
 
                          single source of greenhouse gas emissions from the average Australian home, accounting for
                          around 28% of home energy use, excluding the family car. It also reduces your energy bills by
                          using the sun’s energy to heat your water
                          According to the Australian Government, a solar hot water system can save between $300 and
                          $700 every year off electricity bills. With savings like these, your solar hot water system could
                          pay for itself more quickly than you think.

                          TREE PLANTING - Benefits Wildlife and the Environment!
                     Research suggests that planting trees and shrubs helps sequester, or capture,         
                          atmospheric carbon, thereby reducing greenhouse gas levels. By lowering carbon levels,
                          trees help reduce the effects of global climate change and attracts small birds back to our                    
                          gardens and forests.  
                                  
                          ENERGEX and Greening Australia are working in partnership to help make selection and planting in                        your garden easy and safe.  There are more than 100 species that carry the safetree seal of                      
                          approval and are available at participating nurseries.

                          The recommended species have the following features: 

  o                    grow less than 4 metres tall

  o                    have a comparatively long lifespan

  o                    a low susceptibility to pests and diseases

  o                    don’t tend to shed material (e.g. branches and fronds)

  o                    suitable for your area and conditions

  o                    non poisonous or spiky

                  Remember – we are what we do!!        

            HOW CAN GOVERNMENTS DO MORE TO SAVE THE PLANET?
             It's frequently maintained that very large energy-consuming projects can be rendered carbon neutral by            
                renewables — 48 wind turbines were built in recompense for the coal and gas-fired turbines powering the          
                Kwinana desalination plant near Perth. Unfortunately, at the rate we're seeing reverse-osmosis              
                desalination introduced, wind farms will only marginally succeed in slowing the shameful rate of growth
                in emissions.

                There are several ways to approach the connection between water security and emissions growth.
                One way is to pursue smaller water-energy projects such as water purification plants within small               
                developments dotted across city and regional areas. These would allow a fine-tuning such as a deeper deeper     
                understanding of climatic change emerges.  The small plants would also spread the risk of being hit by a             
                single disastrous event and circumvent transmission line losses (by up to 20 per cent) due to the distance
                of the user from the main generator. It has been suggested that by the government installing
                rainwater tanks in every Australian property there would be no water shortage in the future as each home   
                be almost self sufficient and the problem of low water catchment areas would no longer exist.  

             Wind turbines and solar panels are both good solutions, domestic or commercial, which are not being fully         
                tapped into by government. Australia is the perfect location to use this renewable energy to its fullest        
                capacity and lead the world with the technology. Little is being done in the way of marine power. Wave 
                machines coupled with on-shore desalination plants could, for example, produce potable water for Coastal
                towns.  WA is investing $12.5 million in a new low-emissions wave energy power station off the Albany
                coast. Southern Victoria and Phillip Island could benefit from utilizing geothermal energy with tidal power
                facilities.

     Waste heat from industrial sites is yet another untapped energy source. This can be used to run multiple-
     effect distillation plants (often used in ships and sugar refineries) using seawater or brackish bore water
     as feed. The availability of waste heat and/or combustible gases at refineries, power stations and gas
     plants should not be ignored.

      Finally a hybrid water recovery plant could be linked with a high-efficiency gas-fired power station. In  
      Victoria this could be sited at the Natural Gas Terminal at Longford, and could match Wonthaggi's output
      for just a third of its power demand while deferring the building of a new coal-based power station in the
      Latrobe Valley. The site wouldn't be susceptible to sea level rise being so far from the coast. All these
      options need to be openly considered by the Government if there is to be any serious attempt to achieve
      real carbon reduction in the next couple of decades. An overall distributed power grid may not be as
      expensive as the course it has chosen.

      WHAT IS HAPPENING in EUROPE?
        Germany has invested in a massive programme of installing panels on domestic homes and its pv 
      (photovoltaic) industry now provides jobs for more than a quarter of a million people.
      All new homes built in Germany from January 1st 2009 are required to install renewable energy  
      heating systems under a new law called the Renewable Energies Heating Law.
      The German government's new renewable energy heating law, is part of a comprehensive package that 
      aims to reduce the country's carbon emissions by 40% by 2020. The government is allocating 350 million
      Euros [AUS $650 million] each year in grants for homeowners to install renewable energy systems such
      as solar panels and heat pumps.
      Homeowners will have to use renewable energy sources to meet 14% of a household's total energy
      consumption for heating and domestic hot water.

      The state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany has already passed a law requiring all building 
      plans for new houses submitted after April 1st 2008 to include renewable energy heating systems.
      People building new homes there will have to install a renewable heating technology that can provide 20%
      of the household's heating and domestic hot water needs.
      Spain is also installing large-scale pv collectors in its central plain, making use of the brilliant sunshine it
      receives.
      Australia should be introducing similar laws and investing money wisely to create jobs 
     in the renewable energy field. 

     THE ARCTIC TUNDRA is MELTING, potentially releasing three times more carbon dioxide than
      has been put into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution. methane gases would also be released which is  
      twenty times more powerful than CO2. The warming result of this would make for a catastrophic, unliveable
      environment where even coastal desalination plants would be under the  waves. Most airports would also be
      under water not to mention many coastal cities. i.e. New York; New Orleans; and even London. 
      In light of this there is no justification for a business-as-usual approach to the World economy and
      population growth.

      After all it is the survival of mankind we are facing which is worse than any global financial disaster  
      because without Planet Earth finances really don't count for much.
                           You could say:  We're all dead but Business is Good!

     
      The warnings from scientists are urgent - unless we find environmental solution now our civilisation is
      unwittingly stepping in front of an ecological truck that is about to flatten us. We are robbing future
      generations of resources, damaging the environment and compromising our social stability by increasing
      the gap between rich and poor. If our civilisation is to survive, the time has come for dramatic
      transformation, in how we view and approach our planet - and each other. Not to do so can only end
      in disaster.'
      It is our aim to discover far-reaching environmental solutions for the present crisis. We suggest
      fundamental changes we can all adopt  for a better environment and a healthier society - To do so we
      must take responsibility for better long-term use of our natural resources and inform others about the
      fragility of our world.

      With a few steps in the right direction and by following countries like Germany and Spain we could 
      contribute to the solution to global warming and at the same time provide jobs for thousands of people...    
               
                      So Remember -  we are what we do!!

       SAVE THE FORESTS. - Forest Aviary Project

AN ENVIRONMENTAL TIME BOMB?
In many of the world’s vegetated areas, the time between birds that protect the environment disappearing and the trees dying can be 5 to 25 years. This fact has gone unnoticed until recently although the clock has been ticking for some time. Billions of tonnes of trees will die, and the clock is accelerating. To date there is no global plan to combat this potentially catastrophic problem. 3rd Planet Solutions hopes to change that.
Australia has some of the most magnificent and bio-diverse forests in the world. They contain some of the largest carbon banks on Earth, helping to reduce climate change as well as maintain our water supplies. Trees are the natural food and home of many species including birds. Some use them directly for food, some indirectly. Many use them to build homes, as we sometimes do. Some use them for protection.
We all breathe the oxygen trees give off. Trees also help to keep our oceans alkaline enough to support fish. Birds are the farmers that help maintain our forests. Without suitable birds, global warming cannot be halted on projected trends. The birds now need our help to maintain the forests and in some areas re-grow them. As a wildlife photographer and environmental engineer, I have noticed the disappearance of small birds from our forests over the past 3-5 years and an increase in the death of many trees. The two are closely related...

Yet despite this in April 2009, the Victorian Minister for Agriculture, Joe Helper released the draft strategy that includes 'a proposal to allow the use of forest residues for power generation'.  The plan claims only 'forest residue' will be used, but 85% of native forest logged in Victoria ends up as woodchip, waste and sawdust.  Wood Chipping drives the logging of native forests in Victoria, Burning native forests for power is an insidious plan that is neither clean or green, nor is it renewable. Logging and land clearing emit as much greenhouse gas as our road, rail, sea and air traffic combined. The world needs rainforests. It's bad enough that they are being cut down in developing nations, but the practice continues in first world nations as well - countries that can afford alternatives and choices - and that is simply an environmental obscenity.

Some insects kill plants they use for food even if they only use very little of it which is the kind of bio-diversity we can do without. On the other hand, Kangaroos emit less than one tenth the amount of methane of sheep or cows.
At 3rd Planet Solutions we are about focused diversity and effective earth management, making the best use of human and financial resources. For that we need support, cooperation and a willingness to find a middle road.
If we use insecticides to control insects, we can also kill the bees and the birds, and we eventually poison our water supplies as well as our food. The result is:- fruit crops fail as pollination stops. In a farm valley in China this has already happened. Every fruit tree in a large fruit growing area has to be hand pollinated, a very expensive and time consuming option. Bees are disappearing from many parts of the world. As the clock ticks, so will our food disappear. In 1978 it was calculated the world first exceeded its resource sustainability levels, and by 2006 we exceeded it by 30%. This clock is also accelerating. 
In many parts of the world birds are disappearing at an astonishing rate. In some areas, including Australia, 97% of bird species have disappeared in 50 years, and in others up to 70% of critical bird species have disappeared in just a decade. This is a ticking time bomb, with a result that could make any financial crisis look almost insignificant   
In USA, millions of pine trees are dying every year from beetle infestations, and in China beetles killed the trees planted to slow the horrendous advancement of the desert. In Australia, 90% of isolated farm trees may be dead by 2050. In all these cases the lack of suitable flying insect predators (i.e. birds) contributed to these devastations that are worth billions in carbon credits, and contributing to global warming. Within a few decades billions more tonnes of forest will be dying, and without poisoning ourselves, there will be little we can do about it unless we start an aggressive program to provide support for appropriate birds – NOW! -
The urgency of this cannot be underestimated.
At the rate birds are disappearing, many forests may have suffered accelerated death due to higher temperatures, less reliable water, and almost no protection from insects. Around 100 grams of small birds can protect 100 tonnes of forest from insect devastation, a very cost-effective option. The climate will get tougher on birds too, so they will need all the help they can get. Our help.
 

THE FOREST AVIARY PROJECT (FAP). – A project by 3rd Planet Solutions
Birds are a lot like us. They require suitable infrastructure to provide their home, food and transport routes.  For many species of birds the requirements vary, just like us. The current urban trends favour larger more predatory birds at the expense of the more useful smaller ones. Farming does the same. Birds can do a number of important services for humans:

• Protect the forest,

• Pollinate the forest

• Spread the forest.

• They help us to breathe

Please contact us with any Expression of Interest at ……………
                                                        info@thirdplanetsolutions.com  

To perhaps slightly modify a phrase once uttered by Churchill
“Never in the field of human existence has so much been owed by so many to so few".   

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