View The IBM Solar Collector on Eco Citizen Australia

There’s enormous potential to harness vast amounts of solar power energy. Although up until this point, the problem has been how to tap into our cardinal fireball’s reserves while not melting ourselves and the equipment in the process. However, IBM believe they’ve recently solved this problem with the advent of their solar collector.

This solar collector is a High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system comprised of chips that can safely concentrate the sun’s power by 2000 times more than conventional solar chips. These triple junction photovoltaic chips, which are each a centimetre square, are fitted to microchannel-liquid cooled receivers.

The exquisite part of IBM’s solar collector is that these microchannel receivers, teamed with the thermal chips, are able to convert roughly 80% of the sunlight captured into energy (as opposed to roughly 30% in other concentrated solar systems). This is because the microchannel cooling mechanism pumps liquid coolant in to extract heat “10 times more effective than with passive air cooling”.

Initially, IBM adapted the cooling technology for supercomputers like Aquasar and SuperMUC to be used in conjunction with photovoltaics. According to IBM, their HCPVT system is not only a more efficient method of extracting heat, it sustains a much cooler temperature to prevent the chips from frying.

The company says these chips could even operate safely at temperatures up to 5,000 times that of the sun. Furthermore, the leftover heated wastewater from the microchannel receivers can be purified through a desalination system and converted to drinking water – up to 30-40 liters of water per square meter of the receiver area in a day. The potential of such a product, for developing countries particularly, is huge.

An added advantage of the HCPVT solar collector is that it will be cheaper to set-up compared with its solar harnessing counterparts. As of April 2013, designers are aiming to make the total cost three-times cheaper than comparable systems by using lightweight concrete and foil instead of glass and steal.

Andrea Pedretti, chief technology officer at Airlight Energy, says “the small high-tech components, in particular the microchannel coolers and the molds, can be manufactured in Switzerland with the remaining construction and assembly done in the region of the installation. This leads to a win-win situation where the system is cost competitive and jobs are created in both regions”.

Presently, IBM are testing a prototype of the system in Zurich, which became possible after the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation provided scientists with a three-year grant for US$2.4 million. It’s hoped that after successful trials, researchers will build the IBM solar collector in places such as Africa, the Arabic peninsula and South America.

View The IBM Solar Collector on Eco Citizen Australia

View GoodLife Pizza on Eco Citizen Australia

Australia’s first certified organic pizza bar in Adelaide prides itself on the combination of good food and good friends, which it aptly terms the good life. Named GoodLife Pizza, the store is spreading its message via healthy, quality food in a form just about everybody loves. Now with three stores across Adelaide, it appears everybody wants a slice of the good life.

Located in North Adelaide, Glenelg and central Adelaide, GoodLife Pizza has earned its name, partly through the close connections it’s established with the farmer’s markets of Barossa, Willunga and Adelaide’s Central Market. GoodLife’s co-owner, Jake Greenrod, says “we have the flexibility to change specials depending on what our trusted suppliers bring in that’s interesting”.

Believing good living is synonymous with good food, GoodLife Pizza became Australia’s first NASAA (National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia) certified organic pizza place in 2004, while it’s extended its efforts to become carbon neutral in 2008. Any carbon expelled through its business endeavors is offset through the NSW Carbon Abatement Scheme. It’s all part of the good life.

Getting down to the pith of the GoodLife, its pizzas are seasonally rotated, with nine on offer and four being vegetarian. All pizzas contain gluten and yeast, although the outlet attests they offer those with an intolerance alternative options such as warm free range chicken or smoked salmon salads. GoodLife can also make small, gluten-free pizza bases for an extra charge (albeit small).

GoodLife Pizza’s current menu, as of April 2013, contains free range roasted duck pizza – with shiitake mushrooms and spring onion ginger jam; in-season roasted organic vegetable pizza; the Hahndorf spicy salami pizza – with organic kalamata olives, organic red onion, fresh baby bocconcini and basil; and the Spencer Gulf monster prawns – with double organic tomato sauce, organic red onion, fresh chilli and basil. Gustoso!

There’s also breads, dips, salads, desserts, coffee, an extensive wine list and a good selection of beer and cider. Each pizza base is also prepared with local organic flour, filtered water and fresh yeast, before it’s left to rest for over 24 hours. After all, love is part and parcel of the good life.

Accolades awarded to this prestigious pizza parlour include Gourmet Traveller’s Best of the Best Awards in 2006 and 2007; the vote for “top pizza in Australia” by Virgin Blue Voyeur Inflight Magazine in 2004; and more recently, GoodLife Pizza was voted Best Pizza Restaurant by Restaurant and Catering Australia in 2005, 2007 and 2010.

To try a slice of the good life, take a look at their website.

View GoodLife Pizza on Eco Citizen Australia

View Petroglyphs of Burrup Peninsula on Eco Citizen Australia

When Australia indigenous art is considered many people jump straight to thoughts of painted rock art but a large amount of indigenous art in Australia exists in the form of engravings called petroglyphs.

On a trip in April 2013 to the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of North Western Australia I was lucky enough to see some of these petroglyphs which are estimated to be up to 30 000 years old. The Ngayarda language name for the Burrup Peninsula is Murujuga, which translates to “hip bone sticking out”.

The low rainfall and hard rock of the Pilbara region mean less erosion and better preservation of the petroglyphs. The Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago contain the world’s largest known gallery of petroglyphs, estimated to be up to 1 million carvings.

The rock carvings are an important part of the archaeological record of the area alongside camp sites, quarries and shell middens.

The large scale industrialization of the area due to iron ore and natural gas resources are creating a lot of activity in the area and studies of the petroglyphs are ongoing. The Burrup Peninsula has been listed in the National Trust of Australia Endangered Places Register.

For now the petroglyphs exist alongside large scale industry backed by massive multinational companies. There have been reports of large scale damage to petroglyphs by industry in the area including claims petroglyphs have been destroyed due to expanding industry, crushed for roadfill and bulldozed to make way for roads and train lines.

For now this thirst for resources exists alongside an amazingly vast collection of Australia Indigenous rock art and the Burrup has previously been placed on the World Monument Fund list of 100 Most Endangered Places in the World .

Here are some shots of petroglyphs snapped during the trip. Note the distinctive shapes of kangaroos, turtles, fish, boomerangs, bird prints and strange mythical figures.

For further reading have a look at:

Between a Rock and a Hard Place – Victoria Laurie

Burrup Peninsula Rock Art Among World’s Oldest – Jude Dineley

Archaeology and rock art in the Dampier Archipelago

View Petroglyphs of Burrup Peninsula on Eco Citizen Australia

View VioFlame Ethanol Fireplaces on Eco Citizen Australia

With electricity prices becoming as aggressive as the cane toad population in Queensland, it can pay to reevaluate your household appliances. This is particularly the case with heating, which can take up a greedy portion of a household energy bill. Of the numerous energy efficient heaters springing up on the market, one group worth considering are the VioFlame ethanol fireplaces, which burn cleanly and are energy efficient.

The VioFlame, made by Black and Stone, comes in a range of styles catered to individual circumstances. As Black and Stone’s Managing Director Graham Brake says, “it’s important to choose the right heating source for your home.”Firstly, there’s ethanol fireplaces that can heat a whole house or just a room, and each model is designed to minimise cost and maximise energy efficiency. However, the truly swell thing about these hot little numbers is their open flame, which proves beguiling and homely while being cheaper and cleaner than burning either wood or coal.

Furthermore, while you’re choosing a cleaner energy product by buying an ethanol fuelled heater, they’re also an extremely mobile choice. With the freestanding or wall-mounted models you can whack one almost anywhere.

Ethanol fireplaces by VioFlame come in both convection and radiant models. Radiant types heat directly through line of sight, while the convection VioFlame is designed with an internal air path located at both the rear and top of the heater’s firebox. As air is expelled from the unit, more air is drawn in from beneath the firebox to be heated again, and the process is repeated.

VioFlame’s range of products include the decorative ethanol fireplaces – which are glass cased, and again, easily transportable; the indoor fireplaces – which emulate the traditional fireplace (and are also transportable); and the tabletop fires (pictured above) – which create a visual spectacle not unlike that of a princely Roman den.

For more information on VioFlame’s handsome, efficient ethanol fireplaces, take a look at their website.

View VioFlame Ethanol Fireplaces on Eco Citizen Australia

View Forest Rise Eco Retreat – Margaret River Accommodation on Eco Citizen Australia

Ensconced on the edge of Western Australia’s tall timber country, Forest Rise Eco Retreat offers a romantic getaway in thriving woodland surrounds. According to this Margaret River accommodation, “seclusion and privacy are the key words that describe Forest Rise”. Such exclusivity, which is sprawled across 240 acres of private land, contains treats such as spas with heavenly views and gourmet food.

Situated between Margaret River, Yallingup and Brusselton, Forest Rise Eco Retreat is also blessed with arguably the country’s finest wineries and beaches, should you decide to leave the property. A number of luxury, north facing chalets, each with plenary forest seclusion and their own verandah await.

Each chalet, which blends seamlessly with the forest environment, contains candle-lit spas with glass ceilings, and bathroom music speakers for added ambience. There’s also aromatherapy soaps in each chalet, along with a log fire for winter romance, an outdoor bush shower for summer soaking and the option of having gourmet meals prepared in your chalet.

If you’re keen to explore the grounds, there’s mountain bikes at this Margaret River accommodation for hire, as well as a self-guided walking trail that’ll take you past numerous native flora and fauna. There’s even a jetty situated around the ground’s natural lake, complete with an outdoor setting geared for some languid lakeside lounging.

This ecotourism accredited retreat also hosts a thunderingly handsome homestead. Designed for families, small groups or simply expansive living, the homestead is built from timber and rammed earth which incorporates a capacious open lounge, dining area, two master bedrooms and two bathrooms. There’s also a gourmet stone kitchen, heated spa, swimming pool, internet and seclusion that matches that of the petite chalets.

Added on-site indulgences include a breakfast menu, gourmet hampers, massage and spa treatments, and half-day winery tours catered for by Gannaways/Milesaway Tours or Bushtucker Tours. Although with luxury and privacy high on the agenda at this woodland Margaret River accommodation, it’s likely you’ll want to stay in for the night, and the next day, and the day after that.

For more information on Forest Rise Eco Retreat, take a look at their website.

View Forest Rise Eco Retreat – Margaret River Accommodation on Eco Citizen Australia

View Young Aussie green activist needs your vote on Eco Citizen Australia

Aussie ex-pat student, 13-year-old Mia Le Berre is living in Bali with her parents and attending The Green School. Students at the cool school are educated to be aware – environmentally, socially, emotionally and politically. Mia (with a little help from mum) made this video, Green Up & Clean Up. Mia needs your vote to be crowned the Greenest of the Green. PLEASE follow the link and vote for Mia!

View Young Aussie green activist needs your vote on Eco Citizen Australia

View Blue King Brown – Onwards and Upwards on Eco Citizen Australia

Charismatic Australian roots band Blue King Brown, headed by Natalie Pa’apa’a and Carlo Santone, are recruiting two new members to their line up. However, unlike many other bands, the prerequisites for audition are not just someone who can sing, but someone who shares the band’s ideals in the fight for global justice.

Striving to make a difference through their music, Blue King Brown sing about freedom and social equality in places such as Sierra Leone, and in particular – West Papua. Thus the bands’s two new backing singers, Lea and Petra Rumwaropen, are not only good singers, they’re freedom fighters from West Papua.

(Natalie Pa’apa’a with the newly appointed Rumwaropen sisters)

The Rumwaropen sisters are daughters of the late Agosto Rumwaropen – the singer/songwriter for the West Papuan band The Black Brothers – who sang about justice, freedom and oppression. The band had considerable influence on the region before they fled West Papua in the late ‘70s (due to safety concerns) and eventually settled in Australia.

Petra says of joining the band, “it remains our passion to continue the legacy our late father left us – to keep spreading the West Papua message through music, especially now with BKB!”

Thus far, Blue King Brown have been hugely influential in highlighting the situation in West Papua to Australian audiences via their emotive music. This latest addition to its lineup looks set to broaden the intensity and scope of its message. “We try and use music as a way to inspire people to remember that they are part of a global community”, says Natalie.

In May of 2013 – Natalie, Lea and Petra will join Julian Marley for a special acoustic set in Melbourne at The Corner on the 9th and in Sydney’s The Metro on the 10th. Blue King Brown will then head to Japan to play a series of shows from the 19th – 24th of May, before returning to Australia to play at the Perisher Snowy Mountains Music Festival from the 7th to the 10th of June.

For more information on Blue King Brown, including tour dates, take a look at their website.

View Blue King Brown – Onwards and Upwards on Eco Citizen Australia

View Garden Life and James Street Reserve Community Garden on Eco Citizen Australia

A community garden can be an important link between people and nature, especially in an inner city suburb like Sydney’s Redfern. Located in the heart of this densely populated city, is an oasis called Garden Life, a business established by talented horticulturist Richard Unsworth, who also co-founded the community garden.

When I first met Richard in 2000, Garden Life had been operating for just a few years. From the outset, the business flourished as Richard combined his love of all things green, his innate talent for horticulture and design into a business that today has many limbs (all puns intended).

Fast forward 13 years and Garden Life now employs more than 15 staff, and just like a beautiful garden, the business has adapted, grown and evolved to its surrounds. The business has recently expanded to new, bigger premises in Redfern, where they have also opened a funky café called Twig, set appropriately in a leafy courtyard.

Importantly, Richard and the team know the value of giving back, with Garden Life involved in the community garden from the outset, called James Street Reserve Community Garden. “We were approached to help with sponsorship of the garden right at the beginning,” explained Richard. “I wanted to get involved to help bring it to fruition, it’s located right at the back of the store in the back lane.

“We help with logistics; picking up and delivering manures, helping build the shed and generally in any way we can,” says Richard. “One of the aspects of the garden that I didn’t expect was how it changes social behaviour in this once barren corner of the city. It used to be a dreadful park, void of any ambience – you certainly wouldn’t want to stop and spend any time in that place as it was at all” explains Richard.

“Now it’s a community garden, it’s a thriving patch of goodness.  People stop and interact with each other.  Grandmothers come and bring their grand kids to show them what a pea pod looks like on a vine.  It’s fantastic and really is the local community in action.

“As well as growing some of our food it has a much bigger function I believe. Hopefully this community garden inspires others to do something similar,” says Richard. “We hold monthly working bees where members can learn new skills and education is big part of it. Jon, our head gardener holds weekly workshops that are open to everyone, the gates are also always open and we encourage people to wander through and check it out. I would recommend to anyone who wants to get involved in a community garden to do it, it’s great for so many reasons!”

For more info checkout the Garden Life website.

View Garden Life and James Street Reserve Community Garden on Eco Citizen Australia

View Vertical Farming – Farmscrapers on Eco Citizen Australia

It’s no secret the world’s population is growing rapidly. In the last 50 years we’ve gone from 3 billion to 7 billion people, which of course puts a strain on our resources, namely food. Common sense would tell you such exponential growth also means less land to inhabit. Although before you get too worried, sit tight, as Dr Dickson Despommier from New York’s Columbia University says he has a solution – vertical farming.

Unlike vertical gardens, vertical farming is more of a green skyscraper than a tall garden. Think of stories of green plants stacked on top of each other, supplying a tower of edibles to a hungry population within local proximity (thereby eliminating the need for food transport). Well that’s the idea anyway.

According to Despommier’s vision, a 30-storey city building, equipped with artificial lighting and advanced hydroponic and aeroponic growing equipment, could feed tens of thousands of the city’s population. There could even be a few of these, placed strategically to reduce carbon emissions and costs associated with food transport.

“Each floor will have its own watering and nutrient monitoring systems”, says Despommier. He adds the health status of each and every plant could be tracked by sensors, which would help managers keep disease and fertiliser usage at bay, all while increasing yield. Despommier adds, “a gas chromatograph will tell us when to pick the plant by analyzing which flavenoids the produce contains”.

Despommier says that “horizontal farming” is failing, and that vertical farming is the key to sustaining our burgeoning population. Furthermore, he argues vertical farming would not only save space, but would yield just as much as their horizontal counterparts which cover five times the amount of land. Despommier even argues the land saved could return to its natural, forested state to combat global warming.

What then, are the down sides to vertical farming? Critics attest a vertical farm would need vast amounts of electricity to power the lights and machinery needed to run it. Bruce Bugbee, Utah State University crop physiologist, says the power demands of a vertical farm exceed that of a typical office building (of equivalent size) by 100 times. However, advocates of the idea believe the farms could run off renewable energy.

Well, it appears that time is nigh – as of April 2013, a 26-storey vertical farm entitled the EDITT Tower (Ecological Design In The Tropics) is being built in Singapore. Funded by the National University, the tower is slated to have over half its surface covered by organic local vegetation. Importantly, around 40% of its power needs are set to run on solar panels, while human waste will be converted to supportive energy via bio-gas.

Vertical farming could well prove a clean method for sustaining global food requirements in the very near future.

View Vertical Farming – Farmscrapers on Eco Citizen Australia

View The critical mass of upcycled fashion on Eco Citizen Australia

Most of us are familiar with upcycled fashion. While it’s not limited to fashion, the term is mostly used to describe re-working a used piece of clothing. This can be done by adding, improving or redesigning a garment to give a new incarnation. Another form of upcycled fashion is making an item of clothing by using pieces of wasted fabric. Both these forms of upcycling are generally done on a small scale or a bespoke fashion.

Upcycled fashion has taken a real hold in the last five years. It’s a direct result in the rise in consciousness regarding waste, consumerism and what part we can play to not add to the already overloaded burden on our environment.

Above and right: Upcycled fashion designs by Reet Aus.

A new concept from a clever European based designer, Reet Aus is industrial upcycling for the fashion industry. Trash to Trend, is the eco fashion label that comes under the umbrella of Reet Aus.

Reet has a Masters in Design and from her studies, has investigated upcycled fashion for the masses. This ‘Mass Upcycling’ concept is specifically targeted at the huge fashion houses that create tens of thousands of garments – and fabric waste. The scale of this wastage can be enormous, for either good or for bad.

Essentially, the mass upcycled fashion business model is the putting together of the producers of waste together with the designers who are committed to incorporating sustainable principles into their designs.

A study was done in Bangladesh, a country that produces extraordinary amounts of waste from their booming textile industry. Some of the world’s most sought after labels are now producing in Bangladesh such as Zara and Calvin Klein, though much of the waste from the textile production is sent to China, usually ending up in landfill.

Reet Aus devised an interactive database, whereby waste availability and users could be connected. This model would enable direct communication between the waste generators and the upcycle designers. Imagine looking for a tonne of denim, finding it quickly and easily – and one could only imagine, inexpensively. The result is the denim waste would be destined for an upcycled design, rather than a dump. Respect to Aus Reet for taking the bespoke upcycling trend to a potentially big-picture solution for the fashion industry.

View The critical mass of upcycled fashion on Eco Citizen Australia