Beyond Zero Emissions
Encyclopedia
Beyond Zero Emissions is an Australian-based, not-for-profit climate change
solutions think-tank founded by Matthew Wright and Adrian Whitehead. The group coordinates research and education into the need to reduce human-caused greenhouse gas
emissions to 'zero and below' by implementing structural changes to stationary energy, transport, buildings, land use, industrial processes and replacing fossil fuel
export revenue. An editorial by Matthew Wright was published on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's editorial website Unleashed.
The Group released the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan in July 2010, a detailed, fully realisable, fully costed 10 year plan to replace all stationary energy needs with 100% renewable energy sources, using only current proven technologies and engineering. This addresses the common perception that renewables cannot replace fossil fuels, either due to immaturity of the technology or due to cost concerns. The group invites pro-bono contributions from engineers and scientists to work on their projects similar to how open source software is developed. The organisation is not-for-profit and relies on donations to fund its research coordinators and media communication coordinators.
are at a dangerous level (approximately 390 ppm) and growing and that even when the goal of a zero emission
s global economy has been achieved, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide will still need to be reduced to a safe threshold. They state that given 350 ppm was the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at which the disintegration of the Arctic sea-ice
began and a level somewhere between 280 ppm (pre-industrial level) and 325 ppm is considered to be a safe threshold, reducing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to this threshold is desirable and necessary. They believe that this will be achieved using methods such as large scale implementation of concentrated solar power plants.
The group advocates reducing anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions to 'zero and below' by implementing structural changes to stationary energy, transport, agriculture, logging, housing and construction and by implementing energy efficiency
measures.
The group gives presentations, runs a discussion group and has two weekly radio shows on 3CR interviewing celebrity guests on climate science and global warming solutions. Interviewees have included: James Hansen
, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
, Wieslaw Maslowski, Ken Caldeira
, David Karoly
, David Mills
, Richard Heinberg
, Arnold Goldman, S. David Freeman
, Bill McKibben
and Tim Flannery
. Matthew Wright and Susannah Powell recently gave a lecture for the Melbourne Free University
.
The Rudd Government
received submissions from Beyond Zero Emissions as a part of the consultation process for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
- Green Paper, and also for Australia 2020.
Beyond Zero Emissions takes part in the yearly Sustainable Living Festival
in Melbourne
. They have promoted the construction of a high speed rail link between Adelaide
, Melbourne
, Canberra
, Sydney
and Brisbane
, which could be powered by renewable energy
sources and complete journeys in roughly the same time as domestic flights.
The groups Executive Director, Matthew Wright recently won the prestigious Australian Banksia Foundation Award - The Environment Minister's Young Environment Minister's Young Environmentalist of the Year award as well as the Australian Clean Energy Industry award - Ecogen Clean Energy Young Industry Leader Award. For the work of the Beyond Zero Emissions' 5 staff and 150 strong volunteer research and administration team.
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
solutions think-tank founded by Matthew Wright and Adrian Whitehead. The group coordinates research and education into the need to reduce human-caused greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions to 'zero and below' by implementing structural changes to stationary energy, transport, buildings, land use, industrial processes and replacing fossil fuel
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
export revenue. An editorial by Matthew Wright was published on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's editorial website Unleashed.
The Group released the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan in July 2010, a detailed, fully realisable, fully costed 10 year plan to replace all stationary energy needs with 100% renewable energy sources, using only current proven technologies and engineering. This addresses the common perception that renewables cannot replace fossil fuels, either due to immaturity of the technology or due to cost concerns. The group invites pro-bono contributions from engineers and scientists to work on their projects similar to how open source software is developed. The organisation is not-for-profit and relies on donations to fund its research coordinators and media communication coordinators.
Principles
Beyond Zero Emissions subscribes to the view that 2011 atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
are at a dangerous level (approximately 390 ppm) and growing and that even when the goal of a zero emission
Zero emission
Zero emission refers to an engine, motor, or other energy source, that emits no waste products that pollutes the environment or disrupts the climate.-Zero emission engines:...
s global economy has been achieved, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide will still need to be reduced to a safe threshold. They state that given 350 ppm was the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at which the disintegration of the Arctic sea-ice
Polar ice packs
Polar ice packs are large areas of pack ice formed from seawater in the Earth's polar regions, known as polar ice caps: the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean, fringing the Antarctic ice sheet. Polar packs significantly change their size during...
began and a level somewhere between 280 ppm (pre-industrial level) and 325 ppm is considered to be a safe threshold, reducing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to this threshold is desirable and necessary. They believe that this will be achieved using methods such as large scale implementation of concentrated solar power plants.
The group advocates reducing anthropogenic
Anthropogenic
Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment includes impacts on biophysical environments, biodiversity and other resources. The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity. The term was first used in the technical sense by Russian...
greenhouse gas emissions to 'zero and below' by implementing structural changes to stationary energy, transport, agriculture, logging, housing and construction and by implementing energy efficiency
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
measures.
Zero Carbon Australia
Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan is Beyond Zero Emissions' plan to decarbonise Australia in 10 years, with the goal of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions from electricity (stationary energy sector) and transport. This report won the 2010 Mercedes-Benz Banksia award for Australian Environmental research.The group gives presentations, runs a discussion group and has two weekly radio shows on 3CR interviewing celebrity guests on climate science and global warming solutions. Interviewees have included: James Hansen
James Hansen
James E. Hansen heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, a part of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He has held this position since 1981...
, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
Hans Joachim "John" Schellnhuber is the founding Director of Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Chair of the German Advisory Council on Global Change. He is also providing advice to the President of the European Union Commission, José Manuel Barroso....
, Wieslaw Maslowski, Ken Caldeira
Ken Caldeira
Ken Caldeira is an atmospheric scientist who works at the Carnegie Institution for Science's . He researches ocean acidification, climate effects of trees, intentional climate modification, and interactions in the global Carbon cycle/climate system...
, David Karoly
David Karoly
David John Karoly is an Australian scientist and academic. He is an expert in climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and climate variations due to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation....
, David Mills
David Mills (solar researcher)
David R. Mills is a researcher who has been active in solar energy research in Australia since 1975, working at the University of Sydney as a Principal Research Fellow till 2005....
, Richard Heinberg
Richard Heinberg
Richard Heinberg is an American journalist and educator who has written extensively on energy, economic, and ecological issues, including oil depletion. He is the author of ten books...
, Arnold Goldman, S. David Freeman
S. David Freeman
S. David Freeman is an American engineer, attorney, and author, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who has had many key roles in energy policy...
, Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben
William Ernest "Bill" McKibben is an American environmentalist, author, and journalist who has written extensively on the impact of global warming. He is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College...
and Tim Flannery
Tim Flannery
Timothy Fridtjof Flannery is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist and global warming activist....
. Matthew Wright and Susannah Powell recently gave a lecture for the Melbourne Free University
Melbourne Free University
The Melbourne Free University is an alternative university created in Melbourne in 2009.-Principles:]The Melbourne Free University is committed to radical equality...
.
The Rudd Government
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
received submissions from Beyond Zero Emissions as a part of the consultation process for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a proposed cap-and-trade system of emissions trading for anthropogenic greenhouse gases, due to be introduced in Australia in 2010 by the Rudd government, as part of its climate change policy. It marked a major change in the energy policy of Australia...
- Green Paper, and also for Australia 2020.
Beyond Zero Emissions takes part in the yearly Sustainable Living Festival
Sustainable Living Festival
The Sustainable Living Festival is a yearly festival held since 1998 in Melbourne at Federation Square and Birrarung Marr along the Yarra River....
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. They have promoted the construction of a high speed rail link between Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, which could be powered by renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
sources and complete journeys in roughly the same time as domestic flights.
The groups Executive Director, Matthew Wright recently won the prestigious Australian Banksia Foundation Award - The Environment Minister's Young Environment Minister's Young Environmentalist of the Year award as well as the Australian Clean Energy Industry award - Ecogen Clean Energy Young Industry Leader Award. For the work of the Beyond Zero Emissions' 5 staff and 150 strong volunteer research and administration team.
See also
- Alliance for Climate ProtectionAlliance for Climate ProtectionThe Alliance for Climate Protection was founded in 2006 by Nobel laureate and former United States Vice President Al Gore. The Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis...
- Climate change in AustraliaClimate change in AustraliaClimate change has become a major issue in Australia due to drastic climate events since the turn of the 21st century that have focused government and public attention. Rainfall in Australia has increased slightly over the past century, although there is little or no trend in rainfall in northeast...
- Climate Code RedClimate Code RedClimate Code Red: The Case for Emergency Action is a 2008 book which presents scientific evidence that the global warming crisis is worse than official reports and national governments have so far indicated. The book argues that we are facing a "sustainability emergency" that requires a clear...
- Fossil fuel phase out
- The Transition DecadeThe Transition DecadeThe Transition Decade is a non-partisan shared campaign which is coordinated by an alliance of Australian community, social, and environmental groups, non-profits and NGO's...