NEWSLETTER

March 2012Issue 18

DIARY DATESAll Month Australian Women’s History Month

2 Schools Clean Up Day2 World Sustainable Energy Day4 Clean Up Australia Day

4-10 Sea Week7 Electric Vehicle Festival Teachers

Workshop9-11 Fair Share Festival

11-17 Groundwater Awareness Week21 World Forestry Day & Harmony

Day22 World Water Day & Close the Gap

Day23 World Meteorological Day & Ride to

School Day31 Earth Hour

Welcome to our first newsletter for 2012. We are safely ensconced in our wonderful new offices in the IDC building on University Drive and are enjoying the company of other outward look-ing units of the University organisation. We hope you join us soon to see for yourself and to celebrate the house-warming. December and January were filled with the business of moving in and now we look to a bright year of activities.

On the horizon are a stand at the Smart Energy Expo in Newcastle, a marquee at the Tocal Field Days, presentation workshops at the Alternative Futures Conference in Newcastle, our own Hunter Valley Electric Vehicle Festival and another “Best Practice Ecological Rehabilitation of Mined Lands” conference that we will hold in Singleton in September. Throughout the year we will continue our push to promote the growth of sustainable manufacturing industries in the Valley under the banner “Diamonds from Coal”. Our ongoing conservation project on the Don-aldson Conservation Trust lands west of Minmi is at an exciting stage, led by Dr Steve Lucas, and we envisage that this will expand with collaborations with NPWS, OzGreen and Conserva-tion Volunteers Australia.

Of course all of these activities require money and we are actively seeking grants and dona-tions to fund the above as well as biodiversity and sustainability research students. Your contri-butions of any magnitude would be gratefully appreciated.

2012 is the Australian Year of the Farmer. It is a celebration of the vital role farmers’ play in feeding, clothing and sheltering us all. I encourage you all to visit your local farm gate to buy your produce, patronise the “Farmer’s Markets” at the Newcastle Showground, or at a venue near you.

Tocal Agricultural College is also a wealth of information on all things agricultural. If you have never visited Tocal, make 2012 the year that you go there. On 4-6 May, Tocal has its Field Days of which we will be participating again this year. It is a haven of activity and a great day out for families, and a way to help support the vital work that Tocal do in assisting and teaching to our farm communities.

Professor Tim Roberts, Director

2012

InSIDE ThIS ISSuEPage Topic

2 My Trek in the Ganesh Himal2 St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock

Inspires Students through Dynamic Education Experience

3 Environmental Sustainability Programs on Campus

4 Newcastle Comunity Consultative Com-mittee on the Environment

5 Calling for Entries to 2012 Electric Vehicle Prize

6 TFI Scholar Annelie Moberg Has paper published

6 Carbon Valley 20507 Transition Newcastle: Take the

Challenge7 Robin McDonald Memorial Region-

al Research Scholarship8 Call for EOI for Best Practice Mine

Site Rehabilitation Conference 2012

9 uTwitch: Chasing Birds on Campus9 Earth Hour 2012

10 Clean Technology Programs10 Clean Up Australia Day11 HEDG Presentation on Coal Seam

Gas12 Mineral Carbonation Large Scale

Safe & Permanent Storage of CO2

12 Fair Share Festival

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Lomas Sustainability Park, is an initiative of St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock and represents a fresh and dynamic approach to 21st century education. Situated on 41 ha. in Nulkaba, Lomas Sustainability Park is part of a new chapter in education currently being written in the Hunter district. And, as in any good story, a number of narratives are being interwoven .... all impacting and strengthening each other. Each of these narratives has their own dynamic and exciting story. These include:

The Educational narrative which is about ensuring education is geared towards preparing students for the challenges of today’s world i.e. developing the learning capacity of every child. This also includes shifting the emphasis from teaching to learning and being prepared to realign classroom practice, professional development and wider community engagement to achieve this. This journey has begun...

The Social narrative which involves responding to the

In the summer of 2011-12 it was my good fortune to trek in the Ganesh Himal before commencing UoN funded research into landscape stewardship models.

Opportunities arose to explore Lama community traditions imbedded in the sub-limely beautiful landscapes of the remote Tsum Valley of Nepal.

In medieval-like villages, many days walk from the most basic services, we came across satellite discs and solar pan-els, with small hydro electricity generators and phone access to the world.

Further south we explored Taru cultural connections in Chitwan province where protected area management has displaced tens of thousands of people who are in the process of adapting to forced relocations, living with recovering white rhino populations and establishing community forest programs within a holistic land-use reform program.

In Kangchenjunga (eastern Nepal), Sherpa communities are vested with control of world heritage values and desig-nated conservation landscapes.

From initial meetings with key players it is apparent that internationally funded pilot programs in these areas may have useful implications for others seeking to balance resource demands and environmental impact in a changing global economy.

This will certainly be the case if Tshering Doma Sherpa and Min Gurung (guides), (Khandra Phembu) the Sacred Himalaya /WWF Kangchenjunga Community Conservation Area Management Committee Chair and Sujeet Kumar Shrestha (Project Manager), or Ram Kumar Aryal (Chitwan’s National Trust Administrator) are able to realise their aspirations for the people and landscapes of Nepal.

My Trek in the Ganesh himalby Peter Stevens, PhD Candidate, TFI

St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock Inspires Students through Dynamic Education Experienceby Malcolm Bromhead, Principal St Philip’s Christian College

needs of people who may not automatically fit within mainstream education and those who may find them-selves on the fringe. A DALE school (dynamic alternative learning environment) which aims to meet the needs of students who find the normal classroom too difficult at times has already been established. Links have also been established with overseas schools in order to assist them. Other initiatives will include a Young Parents Pro-gram, an Early Learning Centre, a Trade Training Centre.

The Community narrative includes partnering with com-munity and business groups in order to develop a range of facilities to meet educational and community needs. These to include a large auditorium, a Sports Centre, community playing fields and a Parent Centre for the ongoing educational needs of parents.

The Faith narrative includes recognising the wonderful world we have to explore and study and ensuring that liv-ing in harmony with the world and its environment is seen

3as important and is part of the learning experience of every child. This narrative is also about giving people the space to delve into the deeper questions of life in-cluding issues of faith

as well as recognizing that community and love are at the heart of our expression of faith. Therefore learning to live extends to serving the needs of others in an attitude of mercy, justice and forgiveness.

And, finally, the Environmental narrative which is about exciting students to recognise that this story is not just about acquiring information but is also a story to be lived. We would like our college to be a model for learning for staff, students, families and the wider community.

Our aim is that we can have the whole site powered by renewable energy (water, wind, solar, ceramic, hydro, ki-netic and bio-gas). We are currently installing solar pan-els and actively investigating wind turbines. This unique utilisation of renewable energy will require an on-site facility that seamlessly controls the College’s electricity generation and distribution system. This will be the Sus-tainability Centre. The College would also benefit from sharing its ‘energy knowledge’ by creating a research fa-cility where the renewable energy ‘story’ unfolds through curriculum-based theoretical and practical research.

Our aim, therefore, in developing the Sustainability Centre is for sharing our environment story with the wider community and with students involved in ongoing research and teaching. The designs for this building are currently being prepared and we are seeking funding for this project.

Carpooling Service

The University provides an on-line carpooling service. This free service allows staff or students to register a car journey to or from Campus with the aim of sharing the trip as either a driver or a passenger. It is an effective, safe and convenient way of establishing carpools for regular, daily commuters but also allows carpooling for more casual and one-off arrangements. Carpooling has the po-tential to reduce carbon emissions, reduce traffic conges-tion and is an important component of a holistic transport strategy. For further information or to register got to http://newcastle.mycarpools.com.au/

Landscape Management Plan – Callaghan Campus

A Landscape Management Plan (LMP) for the Callaghan Campus is currently being developed. The objective of the LMP is to provide comprehensive yet practical guide-

Environmental and Sustainability Programs On Campusby Elfi Blackburn, Environmental Manager university of newcastle

The Sustainability Centre will also be featuring the wider issues of flora and fauna found on the property as well as issues related to social sustainability in acknowl-edging the role of the Wonnarua people.

Our design for buildings is also part of the Environmental narrative. Not only must they actively assist in the learning process for students but we are also seeking that they be energy efficient. That is why all the L.E.D. lighting is being used on the site.

We are also developing our Environmental Discovery Walk. This is a 5.3km walk to encourage students and community to understand and appreciate the variety of flora and fauna found along the Black Creek flood plain with special reference to the Wonnarua people.

Reflections on the Lomas Sustainability Park Project.

This project has been emerging for the past four years. The first students to move on site will be the Senior School in April 2012. Despite many challenges and facing many sceptics the College’s plans are now coming into fruition. All this from a school which only had 25 students seven years ago and now has 500 students.

The Lomas Sustainability Story is still in its embryonic stage and is open to partnering with other institutions and universities. The College enjoys working with other likeminded people who are enthusiastic and love shar-ing their stories. That is why the College leadership team loves being involved with the Tom Farrell Institute and is exploring more ways of working together.

lines for the maintenance and protection of the campus bushland, riparian zone, ovals, swales as well as the constructed garden beds along paths, carparks and build-ings. Safety, bushfire risk, protection of habitat, financial, social and ecological sustainability as well as develop-ment pressures will form important considerations in the development of the LMP.

The LMP will also include an off-set strategy for the replacement of trees removed due to construction works. The off-set strategy will identify suitable locations for the off-set plantings to accommodate Newcastle City Coun-cil’s requirement for off-sets of two trees to be planted for every one removed.

Bush regeneration – Ourimbah campus

In late 2010 a bush regeneration project funded by the Hunter and Central Rivers Catchment Management Au-thority (CMA) was completed at the Ourimbah Campus. A team of professional bush regenerators were engaged to

continued over page...

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newcastle Community Consultative Committee on the Environmentby Stephanie Bako, TFI

Late last year the New South Wales Government established the Newcastle Community Consultative Committee on the Environment (NCCCE), an advisory committee located in the Hunter. The group was founded by the Minister for the Environment Robyn Parker in response to the chemical leaks at Orica’s Kooragang Island plant and will ideally prevent any more accidents of this magnitude from occurring again. According to Ms Parker, the committee will allow people living in the Hunter region to “engage with their industrial neighbours, the environmental regulator and key stakeholders on local environmental issues”. In other words, the committee will act as a point of contact between the community and industry by enabling locals to identify significant environmental and amenity issues associated with industrial activities, and will assist industries in understanding the concerns of those in the community. Another key role for NCCCE is to advise the Minister for the Environment on how the community wishes to remain informed on an occurring environmental incident and other existing, new, or developing environmental issues. The committee will also inform the community and those in the industry of the responses made by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to issues raised during meetings.

The committee consists of nine members including Newcastle’s Lord Mayor John Tate as the Chair, the Minister’s community representative Paul McBain, and community representatives Keith Craig and Kate Johnson. Other mem-bers of the NCCCE are the environmental representative Zoe Rogers, industry representatives Graham Woods, Paul Thomas and Nick Godfrey-Smith and the representative for Newcastle City Council, Adam Gilligan. It has been said that a balanced approach and honest dialogue by these members should inspire positive environmental results for the Hunter. One of the first delegations for NCCCE is to oversee air-quality monitors to be installed at Stockton and May-field, which will include monitors to detect chemicals such as ammonia that leaked at the Orica plant months in 2011. These monitors form part of the Lower Hunter environmental monitoring network to be piloted in Newcastle, which will also include monitoring sites at Newcastle West and Fern Bay. To be finalised by the end of 2012, the stations will be established and operated by the EPA who will then conduct regular reports based on generated data. In the meantime, a temporary monitor is to be installed by the EPA before the end of March.

Image: Air quality monitoring sites in the Lower Hunter.

The Orica leaks that occurred on August 8 and 9 also led to the implementation of pollution laws that fine com-panies up to $2 million if they do not report significant pollution incidents to relevant authorities within a certain time period. The world’s biggest manufacturer of industrial explosives is still encountering issues at its Kooragang Island plant, as seen by the recent nitric acid leak that

occurred the day before Valentine’s Day. New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell warned Orica the Kooragang Island plant will be closed if there are further leaks, though in the meantime increased communication and transpar-ency between the industry and community needs to be sustained by both Orica and the committee. Given that the NCCCE has been established for a period of time now, their effectiveness will be determined by how they mediate the backlash of this accident and possible future incidents. Judging by the frequency of environmental accidents in recent months, the committee will have a role to play now and in the future.

remove or control weeds within approximately 3 ha of the riparian zone. The initial high impact bush regeneration stage has now been superseded by a maintenance pro-gram that will focus primarily on removing weed seedlings and herbaceous weed species with the aim of preventing re-infestation.

UoN was recently advised that a further application for funding to extend the bush regeneration of the riparian corridor by another 2 ha was successful. This project will not only restore functionality of the riparian zone and en-hance habitat but also ensure that the transport of weed seeds into the regenerated riparian area downstream is disrupted and the risk of reinfestation minimised

Sustainable Transport Management Plan

The development of a Sustainable Transport Manage-ment Plan (STMP) is currently in progress. The STMP will address all modes of transport including cars, buses/trains, walking and bicycles and will allow the University to deliver sustainable transportation programs over the next 10 years. The aims of the STMP are to minimise traffic congestion on and off campus, deliver adequate carparking, enhance wayfinding and provide a safe and sustainable road and path network within the campus that will encourage walking and bicycle riding between campus facilities. The linchpin of the STMP will be a staged action and implementation plan outlining a suite of comprehensive capital works, operational and advocacy/education programs that will ensure the aims of the plan can be realised.

...continued from previous page

5

The 2012 Electric Vehicle Prize

Sunday 26th August 2012

newcastle Kart Racing Club Mount Sugarloaf Kart Raceway, Cameron Park

Register at www.hunterevfestival.net

The Electric Vehicle Prize competition is one event in the 2012 Hunter Valley Electric Vehicle Festival and is designed to drive both innovation in electric vehicle design and regional skills development.

The EV Prize is open to all comers and includes:

• A cost capped single seat division including a schools cup (currently held by Belmont Christian College) • A dual seat lightweight electric car division • A demonstration division including an electric superbike demonstration race

Further information about the festival and the EV Prize Rules and Guidelines can be found on the festival website www.hunterevfestival.net

EV Prize Schools Cup – for Teachers and high School Students

The EV Prize gives students and teachers the opportunity to build and design their own electric vehicle and compete in a ‘battle of attrition’ for the 2012 EV Prize schools cup.

The aim of the EV Prize competition is to constructively educate students about the benefits of electric vehicles and electric infrastructure through their own learning processes and creations. It is an opportunity for students to think like entrepreneurs and push the boundaries of vehicle design whilst working together, connecting with emerging local industries, and having 'hands-on' fun.

High school teachers and students from all around the Hunter are encouraged to enter.

EV COnSTRuCTIOn WORKShOP MARCh 7 email Dani for further details

Teachers and students interested in finding out more about the EV Prize competition are invited to attend an “EV Con-struction Workshop” on March 7 at the University of Newcastle, which will feature electric bikes (and their designers and builders) from the 2011 EV Prize competition, technical experts on lithium ion battery technologies, an overview of the 2012 EV Prize Rules and Guidelines, and a discussion on funding sources.

To register attendance at the "EV Construction Workshop" please email Danielle.Lloyd-Prichard@newcastle.edu.au by Friday 2nd March. The workshop is free and a light supper will be provided. Registered participants will be notified of the workshop location by email.

SPOnSORShIP PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE. PLEASE SEE PAGE 12 FOR FuRThER DETAILS

CALLInG FOR TEAM EnTRIES InTO ThE 2012 EV PRIzE

6The paper titled: Simulated cell trajectories in a stratified gas–liquid flow tubular photobioreactor, written by An-nelie K. Moberg & Gary K. Ellem & Graeme J. Jameson & Joseph G. Herbertson was published in the Journal of Applied Phychology which was published online on 20 December 2011. DOI: 10.1007/s10811-011-9765-1

Abstract

The fluid dynamic environment within a photobioreac-tor is critical for performance as it controls mass transfer of photosynthetic gases (CO2 and O2) and the mix-ing environment of the algal culture. At a cellular level, light fluctuation will occur when cells move between the “light”, well-illuminated volume of the culture near the light source and the “dark”, self-shaded zone of the culture. Controlled light/dark frequency may increase the light to biomass yield and prevent photoinhibition. Knowledge of

TFI Scholar Annelie Moberg has paper published in Journal of Applied Phychology

Last year was an eventful year for the Carbon Valley 2050 project with the launch of the inaugural three-day Hunter Valley Electric Vehicle Festival. The success of this festival will continue in 2012 and see the project have an even larger presence in the community, judging by the planned conferences and workshops over the following months. Energy efficiency, emissions reduction, biofu-els, and clean technology solutions are just a few of the industry development areas the Tom Farrell Institute for the Environment is pursuing in 2012. This is part of the Institute’s goals to engage government and industries in sustainable thinking.

On February 29, Carbon Valley 2050 project manager Dr Gary Ellem will speak at a business breakfast of the Cessnock Chamber of Commerce. Just a few days later on March 2, Dr Ellem will speak at a sustainability work-shop at Singleton Council, which will begin the process of the Institute working with the council to improve sustain-ability outcomes. During what will be a busy fortnight, Dr Ellem will be a keynote presenter at the ‘Use Lean to GO GREEN’ event held on March 7 in partnership with

The Tom Farrell Institute for the Environment and Carbon Valley 2050 by Gary Ellem, Project Manager, TFI

HunterNet and Lean5 designed to help organisations understand green thinking and change management. The TFI will then represent the Carbon Valley 2050 project at the Newcastle Fair Share Festival to be held during 9-11 March at Hamilton Public School.

The Carbon Valley 2050 project will play a part in the Alternative Futures Conference held in conjunction with the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Environmental Strategy (HCCREMS) team and Hunter councils. The event to be held during 21-24 May 2012 at the Newcastle City Hall Precinct will discuss issues such as sustainable development, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and various pathways to sustainability. August will see the Hunter Valley Electric Vehicle Festival come alive and engage schools and members of the community into thinking about sustainable transport in innovative ways. It is clear from these planned conferences and events that Carbon Valley 2050 will continue to grow and further spread the message of sustainability within the Hunter community.

cell trajectories within the reactor is therefore important to optimize culture performance. This study examines the cell trajectories and light/dark frequencies in a stratified gas–liquid flow tubular photobioreactor. Commercially available computational fluid dynamics software, ANSYS Fluent, was used to investigate cell trajectories within the half-full solar receivers at different liquid velocities and reactor tube diameters. In the standard configuration 96-mm solar receiver tube, the light/dark cycle frequencies ranged from 0.104 to 0.612 Hz over the liquid veloc-ity range of 0.1 to 1 m s−1. In comparison, the smaller diameter 48- and 24-mm tubes exhibit higher light/dark frequencies, 0.219 to 1.30 Hz and 0.486 to 2.67 Hz, respectively.

To view the paper, please visit http://www.springerlink.com/content/r288448224717477/

Congratulations Annelie!

n.u.S.E.C. BBQ InvitationNewcastle University Student Environmental Club welcomes ALL! Come along, meet and greet and have a FREE

sausage sanga with purchase of membership

Where: BBQ area behind engineering

When: Noon, Tuesday 20th March (week 4)

Cost: $2 membership gets FREE sausage sanga. $1 for existing members

Vegetarian Friendly ☺

7

Time to take the Challenge

Transition Newcastle is seeking households to participate in the Transi-tion Streets Challenge. Six Newcastle streets will be selected to partici-pate in a challenge to become more energy efficient and sustainable. Could this be your street?

The focus of the Transition Streets Challenge is capacity building within our own streets, inviting immediate neigh-bours to join in practical projects that have benefits for the whole neighbourhood. As participants reduce costs and emissions, mutual support with close neighbours encourages ways of engaging the collective creativity to develop community solutions.

The Transition Streets pilot will run from May to October in six streets across Newcastle. It only takes one enthusiastic person in a street to start the process. Over the next six months each Transition Street will explore energy and water usage, food, waste and transport.

Having gathered support from within Newcastle City Council’s Environ-ment department and some members of Together Today, Transition Newcastle is now seeking expressions of interest.

For further information visit our website www.transitionnewcastle.org.au, email transitionstreets@transitionnewcastle.org.au or contact Emily Grace or William Vorobioff on 4016 9484.

Robin Mcdonald Memorial Regional Research Scholarshipclosing date for applications 31st March 2012

Donor

Hunter Valley Research Foundation (HVRF)

Establishment

This scholarship was established in 2010 to commemo-rate the role Robin Mcdonald played in communicating economic issues to the Hunter Region community and her leadership role at the Hunter Valley Research Foun-dation (HVRF). For information about HVRF visit www.hvrf.com.au.

The scholarship aims to maximise the potential benefits for the Hunter Region of a closer relationship between the University and the HVRF and to lay the foundations for a continuing partnership between the HVRF and the Robin Mcdonald scholars.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for this scholarship you must meet the following criteria:

• Be enrolled in an Honours or Postgraduate pro-gram within either the Newcastle Business School, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, School

of Mathematical and Physical Sciences or School of Design, Communication and Information Technology

• Be an Australian Citizen or Be a Permanent Resi-dent

• Be enrolled full-time

Benefit

Scholarship Amount: $5,000, Number of scholarships available: 1

Contact DetailsSCHOLARSHIPS OFFICER Hunter HubUniversity of NewcastleCALLAGHANNSW 2308Phone: (02) 49216404 or (02) 49216539Fax: (02) 49216937Email: scholarships@newcastle.edu.au

For further information on this scholarship, please visit http://www.newcastle.edu.au/scholarships/EXT_120.html

8

We are seeking expressions of interest for participation in our second conference on best practice to preserve eco-logical diversity when mined lands are rehabilitated. We ran a very successful conference in Singleton in Septem-ber 2011 and EPA has asked the Tom Farrell Institute to organize a followup meeting to be held on 5-6 September this year.

Some 190 persons attended the 2011 event and by every report it was an outstanding success. Attendees were from: the mining industry itself; the professional rehabili-tators; researchers; government departments; and the community.

The format for the 5th of September would be research, policy, future planning, and practical examples presenta-tions for the whole day. This would be supplemented by posters to increase the possible range of topics that could be covered on the day. There will also be a supporting exhibition of booths from commercial and other interests wishing to display their wares and skills in the mine-site rehabilitation industry.

We wish to ascertain your interest and comments and suggestions for our 2012 conference. Would you be:

• interested in presenting your research either orally or via poster display?

• interested in attending?• interested in displaying your products?• Interested in being a co-sponsor, partner through

financial contribution?

CALL FOR ExPRESSIOnS OF InTEREST for the 2nd Annual

Best Practice Rehabilitation of Mined Lands ConferenceIf you attended the 2011 conference we would welcome your feedback and suggestions for how we might make the program better, who we might ask to present a semi-nar etc.

We live in exciting times:

• The government should be releasing the Strategic Regional Land Use Plan for the Upper Hunter soon, and we hope to present some discussion around both agriculture vs mining, and the environment and mining;

• The NSW and Australian Governments are proposing to undertake a strategic assessment for coal mining in the Upper Hunter and some of the key issues for debate will be;

� the scale of impacts � the role restoration and rehabilitation play, and � biodiversity offsets and the perceived impact

offsets have on social and economic fabric etc.

• The need to deliver biodiversity outcomes in produc-tion landscapes

Don't forget to SAVE THE DATE: 5-6 September 2012.Further details or enquiries should be made to Prof Tim Roberts, on 02 49217037 or Tim.Roberts@newcastle.edu.au

newcastle Exhibition Centre (next to the Showground) Saturday 31st March and Sunday 1st April, 2012. 10 am to 4pm

Want to GET SMART about energy? Want to SAVE MONEY?

Join us for our 5th Annual Smart Energy Expo! Your one-stop shop for the latest in renewable energy & sustain-able living. Free Entry!

Meet with the experts and learn about solar hot water, insulation, smart lighting solutions, native plant gar-dening and more... Test drive an electric bike, get advice on sustainable building design., check out the electric cars and magic show. There’s something for everyone!

Brought to you by Climate Action Newcastle. Visit www.smartenergyexpo.com.au for exhibitor and speaker information.

Smart Energy Expo newcastle

During Earth Hour, on the 31st of March, people throughout Australia and around the world will turn off their lights for one hour to represent their concern and commitment to address climate change. We are asking for you to join in by switching off all non-essential lights on this night. By supporting Earth Hour, you are part of a powerful global message that we need action on climate change now. You also demonstrate your company’s commitment to preserving our environment.

Earth hour is a positive message of hope and action, encouraging us to Go Beyond the Hour and to make a change towards living a more sustainable lifestyle. This year we will also be hosting the WWF Earth Hour Awards to unearth and recognize inspiring stories of Australian’s who are “Going Beyond the Hour”, who are leading by example and in-spiring others to do the same. Nominations for this award are open now and will close on the 26th February. For more information on this and Earth Hour Unplugged our new initiative please visit our website.

So, what can you do for Earth Hour in 2012?

• Switch off the lights• Contact and inform staff and students about Earth Hour 2012 and en-

courage them to participate on the 31st of March• Visit our new Earth Hour Australia website www.wwf.org.au/earthhour

where you will find information about this year’s campaign• Download information packs, artwork and template letters to assist you

to notify tenants, residents and customers about Earth Hour.

I hope that you will be joining the numerous families and businesses, in thousands of cities all around the world, in turning off their lights on Saturday 31st March 2012.

Please sign up to Earth Hour to register your support. http://www.wwf.org.au/earthhour/

During the preceding months TFI will hold training sessions on 22nd April, 24th June and 16th July. It is hoped that these events will promote interest by staff and students of the uni-versity and by the broader community in the more serious scientific study of the valuable habitats our campuses provide for birds. The study will contribute data for the second edition of “Bushland Campus”, first published in the 1990s to document natural history of the Callaghan campus.

If you are interested in attending the training sessions and competing in uTwitch, please contact Liz Huxtable, 49216654 or elizabeth.huxtable@newcastle.edu.au

9Have you heard of the Twitchathon? It’s a birdwatch-ing race. Birds Australia (now Birdlife Australia) runs the Twitchathon on the last week-end in October each year as a national fundraiser for bird conservation projects. Small teams of birdwatchers (usually 3 to 5) race about the countryside identifying and counting species of birds. The aim is to identify as many species as possible in a

24hr period. There is a simple set of rules to follow and each species identified attracts sponsorship via the teams for Birdlife Australia.

Tom Farrell Insti-tute will run its own version, uTwitch, on the second Sunday in October this year.

For six hours from early morning teams will record bird species they identify on the Callaghan campus. Depend-ing on expressions of interest, uTwitch will be run at the Central Coast too. There will be bird-related prizes for winning teams.

uTwitch: Chasing Birds on Campus 13 Oct 2012by Elizabeth huxtable, TFI

This year, Earth hour is on Saturday the 31st of March at 8:30pm

The race is on to register Clean Up sites for 2012. Mark your calendar - the annual Clean Up Australia Day will be 4 March 2012 and the Clean Up Team has their sights set on increasing the number of site registrations.

In 2011 more than 565,510 volunteers across 7,400 sites removed an estimated 16,464 tonnes of rubbish across Australia. Clean Up Australia's Chairman and Founder, Ian Kiernan AO, is confident that 2012 will be even bigger.

"We're urging all Australians to take notice of clean up hotspots in your local area and let us know where they are - whether you can help out on the Day or not," said Mr Kiernan.

"Your local park, waterways, beaches, road sides or back alleys are key areas and we are asking you to join the team by letting us know where these areas are."

"Everyone can do their bit for Australia, individually or as part of a team. Clean Up Australia Day is a simple way you can clean up, fix up and conserve our greatest resource - Australia."

"Think of the places that are important to you - your local park, sporting fields, beaches, walking tracks, neighbourhood streets and bike ways - and pull togeth-er your own team to join Team Clean Up."

In 2012 hundreds of thousands of volunteers will take to the streets with white and yellow bags and don their gloves to clean up their local community.

Registrations for Clean Up Sites are now open to join Team Clean Up in 2012. To register go to: http://www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au

Over the last 21 years an estimated 237,500 tonnes of rubbish have been re-moved from our environment on Clean Up Australia Day. But with every Austral-ian still producing approximately 2 tonnes of garbage a year, we still have a long way to go.

Registrations for this iconic event are still open!

Join the Clean Up Team by participating in one of the following events:

• Clean Up Australia Day - Sunday, 4 March 2012• Business Clean Up Day - Tuesday, 28 February 2012• Schools Clean Up Day - Friday, 2 March 2012

10The $1.2 billion Clean Technology Program is a part of the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Future Plan and will create incentives for business to reduce emissions and invest in clean energy through three components.

The $800 million Clean Technology Investment Program and the $200 million Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program will provide grants to help manu-facturing businesses to invest in energy efficient capital equipment and low emissions technologies, processes and products. These Programs are expected to be open to applications in early 2012.

The $200 million Clean Technology Innovation Program will provide grants to support business investment in R&D, proof of concept and early stage commercialisation activities that lead to the development of new clean technologies and associated services. This Program is expected to be open for applications in mid 2012.

Register for information with AusIndustry by phone, 13 28 24 or email, hotline@ausindustry.gov.au.

To Register for an information session being held near you, please visit http://www.ausindustry.gov.au/CleanTech/Pages/CleanTech-InformationSessions.aspx

Register your interest in the Clean Technology Programs!

Registrations now open to help Clean up Australia

11HEDGHUNTER EARTH SCIENCES DISCUSSION GROUP

HEDG is sponsored by theGeological Survey of NSW

(Resources & Energy NSW) and the Geological Society of Australia, Hunter Valley Branch

Next HEDG presentation:Tuesday 13th March 2012

Customs House, Newcastle

About the talks: Coal seam gas (CSG) is natural gas, primarily methane, that occurs in coal seams. Historically CSG posed a danger to open cut and underground coal operations, but the application of oilfield technology has led to the development of the CSG industry in NSW. Although the industry is exploiting a naturally abundant and cleaner energy resource, exploration and extraction methods have recently attracted controversy, resulting in a haze of information and misinformation. The purpose of the technical talks tonight is to examine the theory behind CSG extraction, look at current and potential projects in NSW, and hear from AGL about their Hunter Gas Project.

Ricky will discuss the theoretical exploration and extraction of CSG. CSG is held within coal seams by water pressure. By removing water, the pres-sure in the coal seam can be reduced sufficiently to allow the gas to flow and be extracted. All wells require the application of a completion method to allow commercial volumes of gas to flow, the main methods being horizontal drilling, fracture stimulation (‘fraccing’) and under-reaming. Ricky will outline these practices. Ricky will also comment on current and potential CSG projects in NSW, illustrating the potential abundance of resources in NSW.

Chris will present an overview of AGL’s Hunter Gas Project. The project covers two petroleum exploration licences over much of the Hunter Valley, from the outskirts of Newcastle through to Scone and Merriwa. Exploration to date has included drilling of core and stratigraphic holes, seismic surveys and pilot production tests. The project achieved first commercial reserves in October 2010 with exploration continuing to appraise and evaluate the quantity and quality of CSG through the project area.

About the speakers: Ricky Mantaring is the Manager - Petroleum Geoscience Unit in the Division of Resources and Energy, NSW Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services. He has a BSc (Hons) in geology from the University of the Philippines and 25 years experience in the petro-leum exploration industry. He has worked in field surveys, well-drilling, new ventures and promotions for a number of international oil companies and was involved in several major basin analysis and resource evaluation studies. He is an active member of PESA and AAPG.

Chris Holmes is a Senior Geologist with AGL Energy Limited. He holds a BSc in Geology from the University of Wollongong and has 8 years experi-ence in the mining and petroleum exploration industry. Currently, his roles at AGL are the technical lead and project manager for the Hunter Gas Project, part of the Cooper Basin oil and gas exploration project team, and technical resource for the new ventures and business development team. He is an active member of PESA.

Drinks and nibbles at the downstairs bar from 6.00pm. Presentation upstairs at 6.30pm. Please RSVP by COB Monday 12th March to phil.gilmore@industry.nsw.gov.au

‘Coal Seam Gas: In theory and in practice’Ricky Mantaring

(Manager – Petroleum Geoscience, Resources and Energy NSW) and

Chris Holmes (Senior Geologist, AGL Energy Limited)

CONTACT US

The Tom Farrell Institute for the Environment c/o The University of Newcastle, IDC220, First Floor, Industry Development Centre, University Drive, CALLAGHAN NSW 2308 Australia P +61 2 4921 5700 F +61 2 4921 5033 E Farrell@newcastle.edu.au W www.newcastle.edu.au/tfi CRICOS Provider 00109J Editing, Design and Production by Belinda McNab

With Thanks to our Sponsors

TRANSITION NEWCASTLEproudly presents

Hamilton Public School FRIDAY 9 MARCH - SUNDAY 11 MARCH

Transitioning to a connected community;

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Meet people who are passionate about strong resilient communities, social

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Hunter, Central Coast and New England

12 March 2012

Mineral carbonation presents a compelling case for large-scale, safe and permanent storage of carbon dioxide from industrial processes. Known as 'rock weathering', this proc-ess occurs in nature, its products are benign and the global capacity of suitable feedstock for mineral carbonation could sequester all anthropogenic emissions of CO2 for several hundred years.

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When: 8.30am - 6.30pmWhere: Woolcott Centre, 431 Glebe Point Road, GlebeCost: $880 inc GSTDress Code: Smart CasualContact: Skender BreguT +61 2 9351 5284E skender.bregu@sydney.edu.au

Mineral Carbonation: Large-Scale, Safe and Permanent Storage of CO2 an International Symposium

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16-26 August 2012