John O'Brien is an English businessman and an expert advisor to governments, industry, financiers and the cleantech sector. He is based in New York and is a Managing Director in Deloitte's Climate & Sustainability practice [1] . In this role he leads the firm's Energy Transition and Decarbonisation work. He previously led Deloitte's work on climate in Australia. [2] Before that, he was the managing director of Australian CleanTech which acted as the Australian representative for the Global CleanTech Cluster Association. He was also a non-executive director of Novarise Ltd, an ASX listed company which recycles polypropylene waste in China. [3] [4] O'Brien entered the Australian energy sector in the 1990s and worked for Origin Energy for nine years. [5] He had previously worked in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and Canada where he held various oil and gas industry and consulting engineering roles. [3] O'Brien lectured in leadership and entrepreneurship at the University of Adelaide and was a member of the Premier’s Climate Change Council in South Australia. [6] He has been a member of the board of several CleanTech companies involved in wind farm development, biosensors and plastic recycling. He has served on the board of Renewables SA and as a member of the Clean Technology Innovation Program Committee at Innovation Australia. O'Brien has studied at Oxford, Trinity College in Dublin and the University of Adelaide from which he has received two engineering degrees and an MBA respectively. [7]
O'Brien is the author and editor of the book Opportunities Beyond Carbon - Looking Forward to a Sustainable World which was published in 2009 by Melbourne University Press. [8] He has since published two further books,'Visions 2100: Stories from Your Future' in 2015 and 'Stories from 2030: Disruption-Acceleration-Transformation' in 2021, [9] on the topic of effectively communicating environmental challenges through positive storytelling. Since 2012, O'Brien has written frequently about the cleantech sector for the website, Renew Economy. [10]
The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) is a department of the Government of South Australia. It is responsible for ensuring that the state of South Australia's natural resources are managed productively and sustainably, while improving the condition and resilience of the state's natural environment.
Clean technology, also called cleantech or climatetech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Clean technology includes a broad range of technology related to recycling, renewable energy, information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, grey water, and more. Environmental finance is a method by which new clean technology projects can obtain financing through the generation of carbon credits. A project that is developed with concern for climate change mitigation is also known as a carbon project.
Tyler Jay Hamilton is a Canadian author, cleantech expert and former business and technology reporter specializing in clean technology. He is currently Director of Cleantech at MaRS Discovery District, and a former Adjunct Professor at York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies. Previously, Hamilton was Editor-in-Chief of Corporate Knights magazine, and Climate and Economy Reporter with the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily-circulation newspaper.
Wind power, a form of renewable energy harnessed through wind turbines, stands as a pivotal contributor to Australia's energy landscape. With a total installed wind capacity reaching approximately 9,100 megawatts (MW) as of October 2023, wind power constitutes a significant portion, representing 5% of Australia's total primary energy supply and a substantial 35% of its renewable energy supply. Australia's geographic disposition favors the proliferation of wind energy infrastructure, particularly in the southern regions of the nation and along the slopes of the Great Dividing Range in the east. Approximately half of Australia's wind farms are located near coastal regions.
Mark Diesendorf is an Australian academic and environmentalist, known for his work in sustainable development and renewable energy. He currently teaches environmental studies at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was formerly professor of environmental science and founding director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney and before that a principal research scientist with CSIRO, where he was involved in early research on integrating wind power into electricity grids. His most recent book is Sustainable Energy Solutions for Climate Change.
Renewable energy in Australia is mainly based on biomass, solar, wind, and hydro generation. Over a third of electricity is generated from renewables, and is increasing, with a target to phase out coal power before 2040. Wind energy and rooftop solar have particularly grown since 2010. The growth has been stimulated by government energy policy in order to limit the rate of climate change in Australia that has been brought about by the use of fossil fuels. Pros and cons of various types of renewable energy are being investigated, and more recently there have been trials of green hydrogen and wave power.
The United States produced 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020, the second largest in the world after greenhouse gas emissions by China and among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person. In 2019 China is estimated to have emitted 27% of world GHG, followed by the United States with 11%, then India with 6.6%. In total the United States has emitted a quarter of world GHG, more than any other country. Annual emissions are over 15 tons per person and, amongst the top eight emitters, is the highest country by greenhouse gas emissions per person.
Jeremy Leggett is a British social entrepreneur and writer. He founded and was a board director of Solarcentury from 1997 to 2020, an international solar solutions company, and founded and was chair of SolarAid, a charity funded with 5% of Solarcentury's annual profits that helps solar-lighting entrepreneurs get started in Africa (2006–2020). SolarAid owns a retail brand SunnyMoney that was for a time Africa's top-seller of solar lighting, having sold well over a million solar lights, all profits recycled to the cause of eradicating the kerosene lantern from Africa.
Green jobs are, according to the United Nations Environment Program, "work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administrative, and service activities that contribute(s) substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality. Specifically, but not exclusively, this includes jobs that help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity; reduce energy, materials, and water consumption through high efficiency strategies; de-carbonize the economy; and minimize or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution." The environmental sector has the dual benefit of mitigating environmental challenges as well as helping economic growth.
Clean Tech Law contemplates a diverse set of legal and policy issues related to the development and commercialization of clean technology. These issues range from conventional natural resources law to cutting-edge intellectual property issues related to synthetic genomics and advanced materials. Clean tech law could also address issues and conflicts surrounding the placement of such technologies.
Greenhouse gas emissions by Australia totalled 533 million tonnes CO2-equivalent based on greenhouse gas national inventory report data for 2019; representing per capita CO2e emissions of 21 tons, three times the global average. Coal was responsible for 30% of emissions. The national Greenhouse Gas Inventory estimates for the year to March 2021 were 494.2 million tonnes, which is 27.8 million tonnes, or 5.3%, lower than the previous year. It is 20.8% lower than in 2005. According to the government, the result reflects the decrease in transport emissions due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, reduced fugitive emissions, and reductions in emissions from electricity; however, there were increased greenhouse gas emissions from the land and agriculture sectors.
Energy in Australia is the production in Australia of energy and electricity, for consumption or export. Energy policy of Australia describes the politics of Australia as it relates to energy.
Eco-investing or green investing is a form of socially responsible investing where investments are made in companies that support or provide environmentally friendly products and practices. These companies encourage new technologies that support the transition from carbon dependence to more sustainable alternatives. Green finance is "any structured financial activity that has been created to ensure a better environmental outcome."
Cleantech Finland is a Finnish national project, backed by the Government of Finland and created as part of Finland's National Action plan to develop the country's environmental business. The network aims to bring together expertise from Finland's clean technology industry and research and to support clean technology companies internationally. Cleantech Finland is owned by the Confederation of Finnish Industries.
LA Cleantech Incubator (LACI) is the City of Los Angeles's official cleantech business incubator established to accelerate the commercialization of clean technology and job creation in the Los Angeles region. LACI's staff of entrepreneurs, market specialists, and researchers combined with its 60+ mentor/advisor network provide expert advice on a full range of issues facing early to growth stage companies, including CEO coaching, financial modeling, business development, IP, and more. The organization is run "by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs" and pursues public objectives by harnessing private methods and resources. In 2014, LACI was ranked by UBI Global as the Number 6 university-affiliated business incubator in the world out of 800+ incubators in 67 countries.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is an Australian Government-owned green bank that invests in clean energy, to help achieve Australia's national goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The CEFC invests billions of dollars on behalf of the Australian Government in economy-wide decarbonisation opportunities. It aims to help transform the Australian energy grid, as well as supporting sustainable housing initiatives, and climate tech innovators.
Thomas H. Stoner Jr. is lead director and a co-founder, along with Nobel laureate David Schimel of the Jet Propulsion Lab (NASA) and other leading climate experts, of Entelligent, a global provider of Smart Climate indexes, predictive equity portfolio analytics and advanced data on climate risk and climate transition. He served as CEO of Entelligent from 2017 to October 2023. Prior to Entelligent, Stoner founded Project Butterfly, a research organization that advocates primarily for the global capital markets as a solution to climate change. The research produced by Project Butterfly led to the creation of Entelligent and ultimately yielded two climate risk patents issued by the USPTO. Stoner is also the author of the 2013 book, "Small Change, Big Gains: Reflections of an Energy Entrepreneur," which includes research about transforming the global energy supply to be more reliant on sustainable fuel sources by the end of the century. Stoner has been a promoter of sustainable development for over 30 years, having built, financed and owned and operated renewable energy projects throughout the Americas. He has led three companies in the clean technology space, including one of the original cleantech venture funds backed by international development banks, including the Multilateral Investment Fund, a division of the Inter-American Development Bank.
Benjamin "Ben" Heard is a South Australian environmental consultant and an advocate for nuclear power in Australia, through his directorship of environmental NGO, Bright New World.
Sundrop Farms is a developer, owner and operator of high tech greenhouse facilities which grow crops using methods which reduce reliance on finite natural resources when compared to conventional greenhouse production. Sundrop Farms opened its first pilot facility in Port Augusta, South Australia, in 2010. This facility was originally designed as a Seawater Greenhouse. However, significant technology changes led to the Sundrop System, and the dissolution of the joint venture with Seawater Greenhouse Ltd. Sundrop Farms commissioned an expanded 20 ha facility south of Port Augusta in 2016. Sundrop Farms has offices in London, UK and Adelaide, Australia. In October 2016, Sundrop Farms was operating greenhouses in Portugal, the United States and had another facility planned in Australia.
The environmental impact of Big Tech is a phenomenon in which many aspects of Big Tech contribute to negative impacts on the environment and climate change. In the big data age, technologists and people in general find it valuable to view emerging technologies with a critical lens, one of which is geared toward the environment. As these emerging technologies become more popular, they consider the extent at which they contribute to changes in the environment and whether they are inherently positive or negative.
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