Trees have the answer to everything

A clean source of fuel is just one of the promises held out by scientists on a mission to emulate trees' ability to harness and store sunlight, writes Deborah Smith. The answer to many of the world's problems lies all around us, gently waving in the breeze. Trees, with their green leaves, are not just things of grace and beauty, they are the smart end product of more than 2 billion years of evolution, producing food and fuel almost out of thin air, from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. They have a lot to teach us. And some scientists - led by an Australian researcher - believe it is time for a global project to emulate their impressive natural feat as quickly as possible. This month, world experts in artificial photosynthesis - along with lawyers, ethicists, photovoltaic specialists, quantum physicists and school students - will gather on Lord Howe Island to discuss the latest research and plan for the future. Associate Professor Thomas Faunce, who has organised this inaugural conference, Towards Global Artificial Photosynthesis, says capturing, converting and storing energy from the sun, as plants do, is one of the most important technical challenges of the 21st century. "It is perhaps even more important for human health than was decoding the human genome," says Faunce, of the college of law and the college of medicine, biology and the environment at the Australian National University.

Turnbull decries war on climate science

Opposition frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull has hit out against climate change sceptics on his side of politics, saying there has been a "war on science" that contradicts common sense. He also warned the Liberal Party against veering too much to the right, using his popularity as a moderate in the New South Wales seat of Wentworth as an example of wresting votes from Labor. Asked at the National Press Club if Coalition members such as Barnaby Joyce who hold extreme views on climate have fuelled a war on science, Mr Turnbull said: "You've got to take the science seriously - and I do." Saying that "it's no easy matter for scientific research to be peer-reviewed and published", he described accepting the science as "common sense". "I do think there has been a war on science to some extent, an attack on climate scientists. Ignoring what the CSIRO says and ignoring what leading scientists say and discounting it all is silly." He likened climate change denial to "ignoring your doctor's advice on the basis that someone down the pub told you his uncle Ernie lived to 95 and smoked a packet of cork-tipped cigarettes every day and drank a bottle of whisky".

A Hamburger Chain That Asks Its Customers To Not Order Hamburgers

When a sustainability consulting firm told Swedish burger chain Max Burgers that its main problem was selling beef, the company actually started trying to sell less of its main product. Okay, you're a burger chain. Hearing all this talk about sustainability, obesity, and the locavore movement, you hire a consulting firm to help you deal with the pressure to change. What do you do when the consulting firm comes back to you and says: "Your problem is you make hamburgers"? For many chains, the answer might be to fire the consultant. But as Harvard Business Review blogger Andrew Winston reports, the Swedish franchise Max Burgers took the news (delivered by sustainability gurus at The Natural Step) to heart, and began to minimize its reliance on the core product. The company adopted a lot of standard-issue sustainability measures--deploying solar panels, planting trees in Africa to offset its carbon footprint--but in addition, Winston reports, the company took the astonishing step of trying "to influence its customers to buy less meat." Not only its competitors' meat, but Max Burgers's own meat, as well. The chain did this by adding lots of non-beef items, like chicken, fish, and veggie sandwiches, to the menu. They also, writes Winston writes, "prominently display climate footprint data in store (there's transparency for you), and suggesting customers buy [non-beef] sandwiches periodically (a là Meatless Mondays)." In essence, the chain doesn't merely tack on healthy and sustainable items to its core menu, but instead re-envisions the entire customer experience in the context of healthy, sustainable eating.

Source: http://www.greentimes.com.au