Aliens on the march – a CSIRO perspective

Invasive alien species remain an “insidious” and under-recognised threat to biodiversity, unlike the more high profile threats posed by climate change to the ecosystem, according to national research organisation CSIRO. Globalisation has helped propagate the problem of invasive species and the impact of these on biodiversity could unravel the benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation work.

Marking the UN’s International Day for Biological Diversity recently, CSIRO highlighted some of the challenges and areas of study.

“The threats are diverse and hard to predict so excellence in risk-based research to make sense of the complexity is essential,” the body said.

The organisation said it is putting “considerable resources” into research on invasive alien species and their effect on the country's biodiversity. Current research targets invasive species already in the country and tries to “anticipate and avert the next generation” of invasive species.

Photos: Environmental Weed Creeper; Crazy Ants

“Our research ranges from weeds, rabbits, carp, ants and risk analysis of potential invasive species to biological collections that underpin much of the research,” said CSIRO Biodiversity research director Dr Mark Lonsdale.

“Our weeds research, for example, ranges from individual weeds such as lantana to the resistance of our ecosystems to weed invasion.”

For more on this story go to: http://www.csiro.au/news/Global-Biodiversity.html

This story sourced through:  http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=1003079

A Newfound Affinity – Church uses Business tools

The American Society for Quality (www.asq.org) reports that while it might be more typical for companies to use affinity analysis for strategic planning, nonprofits and other organizations should not pass up the opportunity to use it in planning strategies for success.

In the following example, 14 church leaders used affinity analysis for strategic planning and gap analysis in an effort to meet the organization’s goal of becoming a healthy congregation.

Using affinity analysis, the group identified areas that needed improvement to achieve a congregation that is growing in size and spirit, which would in turn lead to long-term viability. They took the following steps with a shortened description of each:

Brainstorming: First, the group generated ideas associated with the goal.

Scrubbing: Participants put their notes on the wall and stated their ideas. Others in the group were allowed to ask questions for clarification, but no judgments were made.

Clustering: The group took turns categorizing the ideas according to underlying themes or images. Categories emerged from within other groupings. There was no talking until everyone felt the groupings were complete.

Labelling: Members searched for commonality or grouping factors and discussed labels for each of the categories.

Organizing: Participants moved the sheets so the most important idea was placed closest to the goal.

Proximity: The group addressed the individual items posted and related them to potential areas of improvement for the church.

Planning: The group reviewed the gaps identified, prioritized them based on importance to the overall goal and selected those the group agreed were most important for the coming year. The group developed plans for each of these areas, which included what would be done, who would lead the effort and who would assist, as well as a timeline for completion.

Affinity analysis provided a structured method for developing the strategic plan. It provided a means for generating and categorizing ideas, assessing gaps between the current environment and the desired environment, and laying out the planned activities for meeting the overall goal of having and maintaining a healthy congregation.

I & I Comment: I&I has used Affinity Analysis with organisations and it is a great tool for assisting strategic planning in any type of organization.

For more details on the steps and this process go to:

http://www.asq.org/

New Australian centre for manufacturing research

Federal Innovation Minister Kim Carr has officially launched a $108 million Advanced Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre to foster increased collaboration, innovation, and productivity among Australia’s high-end manufacturers.

“The future of Australian manufacturing lies in boosting our competitive advantage, with more focus on high-tech, high-skill, and innovative-manufacturing. The Advanced Manufacturing CRC is off to an impressive start with up to $30 million worth of projects in the pipeline since becoming fully operational in September last year,” Carr said. “Over the life of the centre, the Australian Government’s $35 million investment - along with the $73 million contribution from collaborating partners - will realise an estimated $523 million in new business and economic activity.”

The centre focuses on increased collaboration, innovation and productivity across sectors like energy, defence, health, aerospace and mining and will offer practical assistance to industry – such as enhancing the skills base of workers, providing over 100 PhD places to educate manufacturing entrepreneurs, researchers and engineers as part of its research programs. The centre is based in Melbourne, with a node in Sydney and plans for other nodes in Adelaide and Brisbane.

This story sourced from: http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=1003081

Waves for future energy at Port Kembla

ABB has announced that its Performance Service Centre located in Port Kembla, NSW, recently completed the refurbishment of Oceanlinx’s 250 kW Wave Energy Conversion unit. The unit, which can save thousands of tonnes of CO2 and SO2 emissions annually, is a full-scale prototype with a commercially efficient system for extracting energy from ocean waves and converting it to electricity, or utilising that energy to produce clean, fresh water from brine. Oceanlinx has a power purchase agreement with Australian utility Integral Energy for the supply of electricity from the 250 kW prototype unit.

How does it work? Oceanlinx’s core technology is an oscillating water column (OWC) device, based on the established science of wave energy, but one which, when compared to other OWC technologies, offers major improvements in the design of the system, the turbine and in construction technique. The technology has been successfully constructed and tested with the first full-scale Oceanlinx wave plant, installed at Port Kembla, producing zero CO2 and SO2 pollution.

Ocean waves contain enormous amounts of energy. As this energy passes the Oceanlinx device, the water inside the OWC chamber which is open underneath the waterline rises and falls compressing and displacing the air inside, driving it past a turbine which is housed at the narrowest point in the chamber.

Since the OWC chamber narrows, the air is accelerated to its highest velocity as it passes the turbine, allowing for maximal extraction of the energy. The oscillatory wave motion causes a similar oscillatory airflow through the chamber, and the turbine converts energy on both up and down stroke. The turbine converts the energy in the airflow into mechanical energy, which drives an electrical generator. The chamber and turbine are the essence of the Oceanlinx Wave Energy System.

Oceanlinx is developing new generations of its wave energy conversion technology with peak power outputs in excess of 1 MW, depending on the wave climate and specific power requirements. Multiple units can be deployed in the same general area, all connected back to shore by the one electrical cable, thus constituting a wave energy array to provide commercial-sized installations of up to 100 MW. The expected global market for wave energy could see a saving of more than one billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year on a like-for-like comparison with coal-generated power.

This story sourced from:

http://www.sustainabilitymatters.net.au/

Your Ideas, Innovations or Events?

If you want publicity for an idea, innovation or technically related event, contact the I&I editor, Colin Seaborn on 4254 0200 or 0419 841829 or click here->

We welcome stories and photos.
If you want to promote your product or service via video please contact YOC office on (02) 4254 0200 or click here->