Geographies of energy transition: the case of high-performing commercial office space in the central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne,Australia     

Chantel Carr  Robyn Dowling 《The Australian geographer》2019,50(1):29-48

As a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, Australia committed to reduce emissions significantly by 2030. In a country highly urbanised and dependent on fossil fuels as its primary energy source, one key avenue for meeting these commitments is energy transition in the built environment. Australia has emerged as a leader in the design and construction of high-performance buildings in the premium commercial office sector. In this paper, we address a significant gap in understanding the diverse mechanisms through which building energy transition is being constituted in this sector, focusing on Sydney and Melbourne. In the absence of substantive publicly available data, we draw on mixed methods comprising a database developed around high-performing CBD office buildings and qualitative interviews with a range of sectoral stakeholders. We characterise the building stock in each city, and document five trends constituting energy transitions. We demonstrate that building energy transitions are not only shaped purposefully by dominant governance regimes but also by opportunistic responses to specific material and commercial conditions and legacies in each city. Thus the urban built environment affords significant opportunity for energy transitions, but pathways towards such transitions are necessarily multiple and ultimately shaped by material as well as institutional geographies.  相似文献   

‘Let this forest for ever rest’:* tracking protest and identity in Australia’s forests     

Thomas O'Brien 《The Australian geographer》2019,50(3):365-380

ABSTRACT

Exploitation of natural resources has long been a flashpoint for contention in Australia. This is clear in the case of forest management, where groups advocating protection have faced off against state and industry actors. The move towards multifunctionalism that recognises different values in the management of natural resources has led to a search for alternative solutions. In the case of forestry, introduction of Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) in the 1990s sought to devolve responsibility to the States, while striking a balance between economic and environmental considerations. The aim of this paper is to identify how forest activism has developed since the RFA process began and its significance in relation to changes in land use. The paper draws on a protest event catalogue of forest-related events over the 1997–2017 period to identify the intensity, tactics and location of such actions. The findings suggest that state action has reduced the intensity of contention, in line with changes in resource management practices. However, they also point to the importance of identity and its link to the social construction of resources in determining the ability of actors to de-escalate and find solutions.  相似文献   

South Australian geology and the State Heritage Register: an example of geoconservation of the Naracoorte Caves complex and karst environment     

I. D. Lewis 《Australian Journal of Earth Sciences》2019,66(6):785-792

South Australia’s State Heritage Register contains 2294 listed places, the majority of which are from the ‘Built’ environment, ranging from settlers’ huts, community buildings, historical industrial sites to magnificent stone mansions. Only 96 places are linked to the ‘Natural’ environment. The Register listings protect heritage places from alteration, damage or removal without formal prior consultation, compulsory under the South Australian Development Act. ‘Natural’ environments are landscape-based and oriented towards Geological, Archaeological, Palaeontological and Speleological heritage (‘GAPS heritage’). A process to provide a greater balance between ‘Natural’ and ‘Built’ listings has initiated a series of State Heritage ‘Natural’ environment assessments, mostly of single sites. Two individual caves in the Naracoorte Caves National Park are already entered in the State Heritage Register as single sites. However, an innovative broader multiple-site nomination has focused on the many different but significant GAPS features contained within the 25 caves of the Naracoorte Caves National Park, providing a further level of protection for the land and the caves’ exteriors and interiors. The example of the Naracoorte Caves draws attention to the number of important land and coastal karst (limestone) features across South Australia that were generated by steady geological uplift of three large sections of Oligocene–Miocene limestone—the Nullarbor Plain, the Murray Basin and the Gambier Karstfield (which includes Naracoorte and Mount Gambier), resulting in specific karst forms worthy of a broader coordinating management approach across South Australian karst parks.  相似文献   

Root‐zone moisture replenishment in a native vegetated catchment under Mediterranean climate     

Xiang Xu  Huade Guan  Grzegorz Skrzypek  Craig T. Simmons 《水文研究》2019,33(18):2394-2407

The root‐zone moisture replenishment mechanisms are key unknowns required to understand soil hydrological processes and water sources used by plants. Temporal patterns of root‐zone moisture replenishment reflect wetting events that contribute to plant growth and survival and to catchment water yield. In this study, stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes of twigs and throughfall were continuously monitored to characterize the seasonal variations of the root‐zone moisture replenishment in a native vegetated catchment under Mediterranean climate in South Australia. The two studied hillslopes (the north‐facing slope [NFS] and the south‐facing slope [SFS]) had different environmental conditions with opposite aspects. The twig and throughfall samples were collected every ~20 days over 1 year on both hillslopes. The root‐zone moisture replenishment, defined as percentage of newly replenished root‐zone moisture as a complement to antecedent moisture for plant use, calculated by an isotope balance model, was about zero (±25% for the NFS and ± 15% for the SFS) at the end of the wet season (October), increased to almost 100% (±26% for the NFS and ± 29% for the SFS) after the dry season (April and May), then decreased close to zero (±24% for the NFS and ± 28% for the SFS) in the middle of the following wet season (August). This seasonal pattern of root‐zone moisture replenishment suggests that the very first rainfall events of the wet season were significant for soil moisture replenishment and supported the plants over wet and subsequent dry seasons, and that NFS completed replenishment over a longer time than SFS in the wet season and depleted the root zone moisture quicker in the dry season. The stable oxygen isotope composition of the intraevent samples and twigs further confirms that rain water in the late wet season contributed little to root‐zone moisture. This study highlights the significant role of the very first rain events in the early wet season for ecosystem and provides insights to understanding ecohydrological separation, catchment water yield, and vegetation response to climate changes.  相似文献   

Sedimentary and drainage evolution of the Condamine Valley Transition Zone (eastern Australia)     

P. Manchee  U. Shaanan  J. Esterle 《Australian Journal of Earth Sciences》2019,66(4):531-545

The basal succession of the Condamine Valley, which overlays the boundary between the Surat and Clarence-Moreton basins (eastern Australia), contains a clay-rich horizon ‘the Transition Zone’ that marks a pronounced unconformity between the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures and the Quaternary Condamine Alluvium. This paper provides insights into the tectonic and drainage evolution of the Condamine Valley through integrated analysis of U–Pb ages of detrital zircon from three samples (494 concordant analyses), stable oxygen isotope analysis on eight authigenic clay samples, X-ray fluorescence of primary and trace elements, and hyperspectral mineral analysis from two drill cores (Lone Pine 17 and Daandine 164). The Transition Zone is interpreted to consist of both weathered Jurassic sediments and Cenozoic clay deposits. Two sequential cycles of erosion, deposition and pedogenesis, related to geomorphological and climatic conditions are recognised. Distinctive oxygen isotope signatures of the two weathering fronts demonstrated an initial Early Cretaceous phase (δ¹⁸O?=?11.9–15.7‰ VSMOW) associated with laterisation and possible uplift, followed by Paleogene (δ¹⁸O?=?16.4–17.3‰ VSMOW) silcretisation of reworked Jurassic sediments. Detrital zircon geochronology yielded Jurassic maximum constraints for the age of deposition of three samples that are indistinguishable within error, the oldest of which (163?±?8?Ma from the lateritic profile) corresponds to the age of the underlying Walloon Coal Measures. The two overlaying samples from a silcrete profile and granular alluvium yielded overlapping yet younger ages of 150?±?6?Ma and 156?±?9?Ma, respectively. Vitrinite reflectance used as a proxy for the thermal condition of the coal strata enabled an estimated 2–3?km of burial and subsequent (likely Early Cretaceous) uplift. Geochemical insights from the Condamine Valley correspond to broad-scale climatic and tectonic conditions, suggesting that ‘transition zone equivalents’ and corresponding groundwater dynamics may occur in similar sedimentary settings throughout eastern Australia.  相似文献   

Sedimentology of the continental end‐Permian extinction event in the Sydney Basin,eastern Australia     

Christopher R. Fielding  Tracy D. Frank  Allen P. Tevyaw  Katarina Savatic  Vivi Vajda  Stephen McLoughlin  Chris Mays  Robert S. Nicoll  Malcolm Bocking  James L. Crowley 《Sedimentology》2021,68(1):30-62

Upper Permian to Lower Triassic coastal plain successions of the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia have been investigated in outcrop and continuous drillcores. The purpose of the investigation is to provide an assessment of palaeoenvironmental change at high southern palaeolatitudes in a continental margin context for the late Permian (Lopingian), across the end‐Permian Extinction interval, and into the Early Triassic. These basins were affected by explosive volcanic eruptions during the late Permian and, to a much lesser extent, during the Early Triassic, allowing high‐resolution age determination on the numerous tuff horizons. Palaeobotanical and radiogenic isotope data indicate that the end‐Permian Extinction occurs at the top of the uppermost coal bed, and the Permo‐Triassic boundary either within an immediately overlying mudrock succession or within a succeeding channel sandstone body, depending on locality due to lateral variation. Late Permian depositional environments were initially (during the Wuchiapingian) shallow marine and deltaic, but coastal plain fluvial environments with extensive coal‐forming mires became progressively established during the early late Permian, reflected in numerous preserved coal seams. The fluvial style of coastal plain channel deposits varies geographically. However, apart from the loss of peat‐forming mires, no significant long‐term change in depositional style (grain size, sediment‐body architecture, or sediment dispersal direction) was noted across the end‐Permian Extinction (pinpointed by turnover of the palaeoflora). There is no evidence for immediate aridification across the boundary despite a loss of coal from these successions. Rather, the end‐Permian Extinction marks the base of a long‐term, progressive trend towards better‐drained alluvial conditions into the Early Triassic. Indeed, the floral turnover was immediately followed by a flooding event in basinal depocentres, following which fluvial systems similar to those active prior to the end‐Permian Extinction were re‐established. The age of the floral extinction is constrained to 252.54 ± 0.08 to 252.10 ± 0.06 Ma by a suite of new Chemical Abrasion Isotope Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry U‐Pb ages on zircon grains. Another new age indicates that the return to fluvial sedimentation similar to that before the end‐Permian Extinction occurred in the basal Triassic (prior to 251.51 ± 0.14 Ma). The character of the surface separating coal‐bearing pre‐end‐Permian Extinction from coal‐barren post‐end‐Permian Extinction strata varies across the basins. In basin‐central locations, the contact varies from disconformable, where a fluvial channel body has cut down to the level of the top coal, to conformable where the top coal is overlain by mudrocks and interbedded sandstone–siltstone facies. In basin‐marginal locations, however, the contact is a pronounced erosional disconformity with coarse‐grained alluvial facies overlying older Permian rocks. There is no evidence that the contact is everywhere a disconformity or unconformity.  相似文献   

Demographic and Economic Changes in Remote Australia     

Bernice Kotey 《The Australian geographer》2015,46(2):183-201

Varied distribution of resources, populations and Indigenous people result in significant socio-economic differences among statistical local areas (SLAs) in remote Australia. These differences indicate that the experience of change at the height of the resources boom will differ among SLAs in the region. Using hierarchical cluster analysis with Ward's minimum variance method, four socio-economic clusters were identified among the 197 SLAs in the region. The first was the most disadvantaged, with limited resources and human capital and the highest percentage of Indigenous people. The other three clusters improved in sequence, with the fourth having the most resources with the highest employment rate and income but least number of Indigenous people. Multivariate analysis of variance with main and interaction effects showed changes in demographics, industry structure, human capital and income over the period of investigation for the region as a whole and differences in the extent of these changes among the clusters. Policy interventions in the region are suggested for each group to match its specific needs.  相似文献   

Private agri-food governance and greenhouse gas abatement: Constructing a corporate carbon economy     

《Geoforum》2015

Private sector actors are playing an increasingly significant role in the definition and governance of ‘sustainable’ agri-food practices. Yet, to date little attention has been paid by social scientists to how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are addressed as part of private agri-food governance arrangements. This paper examines how private actors within agri-food supply chains respond to emerging pressure for measures to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture. Drawing upon the Anglo-Foucauldian governmentality literature, we introduce the notion of the corporate carbon economy to conceptualise the practical techniques that enable private agri-food actors to make GHG emissions thinkable and governable in the context of existing market, regulatory, and supply chain pressures. Using a case study of the Australian dairy industry, we argue that private agri-food actors utilise a range of techniques that enable them to respond to existing government environmental regulations, balance current market pressures with future supply chain requirements, and demonstrate improved eco-efficiency along food supply chains. These techniques – which include environmental self-assessment instruments, tools for measuring GHG emissions, and sustainability reporting – have little direct relevance to the ‘international climate regime’ of carbon trading, and carbon markets more broadly, yet individually and in combination they are crucial in enacting an alternative regime of GHG governance. In concluding, we contend that the growing use of sustainability metrics by international food companies is likely to have the most powerful implications for GHG governance in the agri-food sector, with potentially far-reaching consequences for how future action on climate change is rendered thinkable and practicable.  相似文献   

澳大利亚西北陆架深水盆地油气分布规律     

冯杨伟  屈红军  张功成  郑艳荣 《地质科技情报》2011,30(6):99-104

澳大利亚西北陆架边缘海型被动大陆边缘是目前全球深水区油气勘探的热点地区之一,近年来的一系列深水(＞500m)油气重大发现使其备受关注.澳大利亚西北陆架油气分布总体上具有显著的不均一性.平面上呈“内油外气”的分布特征,油气主要分布于富烃凹陷的凹边隆和凹中隆.远岸带深水区发育大型、超大型气田且成群成带分布,近岸带浅水区以发育中、小型油田为主,亦成群成带分布.纵向上呈“上油下气”的分布特征,天然气和凝析油主要富集于上三叠统和中-下侏罗统,石油主要富集于上侏罗统和下白垩统.  相似文献   

Curious Indeed,or Curious in Deed? Some peculiarities of post-settlement relations with an antipodean river     

Stephanie Lavau 《The Australian geographer》2011,42(3):241-256

Prominent in many historical accounts of European first contact with Australian nature are stories of encounters between European curiosity and curious Australian biota, such as the platypus and the eucalyptus. In this paper, I argue that post-settlement relations with the Goulburn River, one of the largest rivers in south-east Australia, likewise attest to the centrality of curiosity in early European engagements with Australian landscape. In mapping several relational ontologies of the Goulburn River, I attend to the socio-material practices in which this river has been performed as different and as normal. My interest is in a specific form of difference, that of antipodean difference: the river as topsy-turvy, backwards, unusual, or inverted in relation to some presumed norm, whether that norm be rooted in memories and experiences of European rivers or imaginings of an original state of nature. This is a story of how an extraordinary river became ordinary, and of how we might understand antipodean difference as curious in deed (i.e. as performed), rather than as curious indeed (i.e. as an innate quality of Australian nature).  相似文献