This week we speak with Ph.D. researcher, Babet de Groot.  We discuss:

• the plastic problem
• ocean gyres
• Biodegradable vs. degradable
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the difficulty in controlling/governing plastic in the mid-ocean.
• UN Conventions for Ocean Plastic
• NSW Plastic Discussion Plan

Babet is currently researching at the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney.  Thanks for joining us Babet! Let us know what you think by tagging @lifeonplaneta_podcast on your socials.

3:53 - The struggles of doing honors versus a thesis.

6:00 - Working at GHD

7:02 - What Babet does?

7:17 - Marine Plastic Pollution

7:41 - What is an ocean gyre?

9:07 -Degrading versus biodegradable

10:38 - Photodegradation (plastic degradation)

14:00 - Great Pacific Garbage Patch

20:00- UN Conventions for Ocean Plastic

27:00 -NSW plastic discussion

33:00 - Whose responsibility is it to deal with waste?

36:41 - China’s operational national sword

39:22 - Social and economic effects of plastic pollution

55:03 - Common but differentiated responsibility 

57:15 - Transboundary issue of problem

1:02 - Plastic Myths

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Heidi talks to the listeners for a short rant to discuss the David Goggins Challenge she and her friend Diana are doing this week. She also gives an update about Life on Planet A and what is in store for the future.

 Heidi and Diana wanted to run the 4/4/48 challenge to raise money for Deadly Science.

Deadly Science's aim is to provide science books and early reading material to remote schools in Australia. As of now, they have shipped over 16,000 books 500 telescopes and other STEM resources to over a hundred schools with more to come.

The Deadly Science LTD Charity started after Corey Tutt found out that some schools were completely under-resourced this is what created what is now known as DeadlyScience.

We know from personal experiences that books & resources change lives, and these kids deserve nothing but the best. DeadlyScience wants to ensure all schools have access to our history of Science by providing resources that connect schools to the First Scientists of Australia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

To raise money for Deadly Science we will be running 78 km. If you want to join us for parts of the run on it starts Friday, March 6th at 8 pm and/ or you can donate to Deadly Science- our goal is to raise $3,000. In total, we will be running 78 km or 48 miles and we want people to join us for each of the 4 miles we do along the way.


So What is the 4/4/48 running challenge?

The 4/4/48 running challenge requires you to run 4 miles, every 4 hours, for 48 hours. This was made by David Goggins, a tough ex-Navy Seal.

Why is the 4/4/48 running challenge difficult?

At first, the idea of running 4 miles, every 4 hours, across 48 hours seems easy. For those who run regularly, 4 miles isn’t a huge distance. However, the number of times 4 miles is required across the 48-hours quickly makes the feat grueling as those undertaking the challenge clock up almost 50 miles. That’s nearly 2 whole marathons in 2 days.

One reason some find this challenge difficult and refuse to undertake it is the frequency required. Because you have to run 4 miles every 4 hours, it means you can’t get quality sleep. Sure, you might get a decent 2 and a half hours in but alarm bells will soon awaken you from a peaceful slumber and you will need to do your 4 miles. Sounds like hell to a lot of people.

We will be doing this to raise money and get our friends and family to push themselves outside their comfort zone. We will be posting more information soon about the route we will be taking and where everyone can join us along the way if they want to run parts of it with us!

Donate to the (not so) run fun here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fun-run-deadly-science-fundraiser?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

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Heidi spoke with Saul Griffith this week and had a great chat about life, climate change, hydrogen, and some of the work Saul has done throughout this career. It was a pleasure speaking with him and this is one of my favorite chats so far.
A bit of background on Saul, he is an inventor and entrepreneur but was trained as an engineer.  He received his Ph.D. at MIT in the junction between materials science and information theory. Prior to MIT,  he studied in Sydney, Australia, and at UC Berkeley in metallurgical engineering.
He founded and co-founded numerous technology companies based in the Bay Area. These include Treau, Sunfolding, Roam Robotics, Fablight, Wattzon, Canvas Construction, Makani Power (acquired by Google), Instructables.com (acquired by Autodesk), Squid Labs, Howtoons, Optiopia, and Potenco.

Currently, he is  Founder and Chief Scientist at Otherlab, an independent R&D lab that helps government agencies and Fortune 500 companies understand energy infrastructure and build transformational technologies that bring us closer to 100% decarbonization.

Thank you for all the work you do Saul!

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Part 2 or our talk with Tierney George - a graduate transport engineer at GHD, she is passionate about creating a safe, efficient and sustainable transport future

She wrote a thesis entitled, "The contribution of zero emission vehicles in meeting Queensland’s carbon targets". The reason that this is an important topic is that transport is one of the top three polluting sectors in Australia. However, Tierney in her thesis tells us that emerging technology such as electric vehicles and hydrogen fuels may assist in changing this scenario.

Her project sought to answer the question of if and how Queensland can reach zero transport emissions by 2050, with a particular emphasis on the impact of electric passenger and low emission freight vehicles. It investigated whether it was possible for Queensland to eliminate transport tailpipe emissions by 2050. It was confirmed that the goal could not be achieved under business as usual conditions, and that government controls on vehicle sales and registrations would be required. To attain near complete emission abatement by 2050, sales of light internal combustion vehicles would need to cease by 2030. Similarly, the sale of heavy vehicles with internal combustion engines would need to end by 2035, with the remaining ICVs in the 2050 fleet to be de-registered.

She recommends at the end "that policy makers consider boosting investment in the electrification offreight vehicles as well as the industry sectors that underpin the development of a successful hydrogen fuelled fleet." As well, future studies may consider repeating this process for the remaining vehicle categories,motorcycles, buses, and non-freight trucks, to develop a complete profile for the entire roadfleet. Further, the work may be adapted for non-road transport.

It was a very interesting interview - Follow us on @lifeonplaneta on Instagram and Facebook and our website lifeonplanetapodcast.com.au

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This talk is with Tierney George who is a graduate transport engineer at GHD, she is passionate about creating a safe, efficient, and sustainable transport future

She wrote a thesis entitled, "The contribution of zero-emission vehicles in meeting Queensland’s carbon targets". The reason that this is an important topic is that transport is one of the top three polluting sectors in Australia. However, Tierney in her thesis tells us that emerging technology such as electric vehicles and hydrogen fuels may assist in changing this scenario.

Her project sought to answer the question of if and how Queensland can reach zero transport emissions by 2050, with a particular emphasis on the impact of electric passenger and low emission freight vehicles. It investigated whether it was possible for Queensland to eliminate transport tailpipe emissions by 2050. It was confirmed that the goal could not be achieved under business as usual conditions and that government controls on vehicle sales and registrations would be required. To attain near-complete emission abatement by 2050, sales of light internal combustion vehicles would need to cease by 2030. Similarly, the sale of heavy vehicles with internal combustion engines would need to end by 2035, with the remaining ICVs in the 2050 fleet to be de-registered.

She recommends at the end "that policymakers consider boosting investment in the electrification of freight vehicles as well as the industry sectors that underpin the development of a successful hydrogen-fuelled fleet." As well, future studies may consider repeating this process for the remaining vehicle categories, motorcycles, buses, and non-freight trucks, to develop a complete profile for the entire road fleet. Further, the work may be adapted for non-road transport.

It was a very interesting interview - Follow us on @lifeonplaneta on Instagram and Facebook and our website lifeonplanetapodcast.com.au

Here is a breakdown of the podcast:

0:00 - Heidi Introduction

3:56 - What does Tierney think of nuclear?

5:50 - Introduction to Tierney

8:49 - Australia's carbon targets

9:21 - Paris Agreements

11:04 - How Australia is doing against Paris Agreement?

23:57 - Hydrogen

25:25 - Bella Enters the Show

29:40 - Hydrogen Freight Vehicles

32:35 - Transport Sector emissions

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EPISODE #28: Climate and Energy Policy with Richard Merzian from the Australian Institute. Richie Merzian is the inaugural Climate & Energy Program Director at The Australia Institute. Richie is a former Australian Government representative to the UN climate change conference and worked at the Department of Climate Change and the Department of Foreign Affairs for almost a decade on both domestic and international climate and energy agendas.
We speak with him about Australia’s attitudes towards climate change and energy, assessing the fairness of emissions targets, hydrogen, and coal. It was great to speak with him and listen to this podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts. 
#climatepolicy #theaustralianinstitute #Energy #podcast #lifeonplaneta #hydrogen #sustainability

Outline of Podcast:

0:00 - Introduction

10:41 - Intro to Richie

13:06 - The fallacy of coal providing stable jobs

16:42 - How to respond to people who claim coal is important for the economy

17:41 - Jobs generated by Renewable Energy

19:14 - Why are we not transitioning to Renewables quicker?

21:11 - Hydrogen

23:20 - Carbon Capture Storage

31:15 - Individual Impact

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PART 2 of our chat with  Anthony Parrington! For our final episode on Energy we're going to talk about green cement, steel and hydrogen. 

You'll learn:

• What is hydrogen? 
• How do we use it for energy? Get your chemistry hat on tight! We're in for a bumpy ride
• What is green cement and steel (hint: not just a pretty colour)
• Can we store energy in hyrogen batteries? Is this viable compared to storing in electric batteries?

Thank you for joining us Anthony. 

Useful links: 

• Read more about Anthony's work here.
• ABC YouTube video about green hydrogen

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In our final episode for the year, we reflect on this crazy year: we take a look at some of our favourite guests, discuss sustainable gift ideas, New Year's resolutions, and a positive outlook to the future. We are super excited to be making this podcast and want to thank everyone for your support this year! Into the new year, we will continue to make podcasts and learn with you all.  There is no Planet B, so let's learn and save Planet A.

Here is a breakdown of the episode:

0:00 - Heidi Introduction

1:03 - Summary of the world events which happened this year - 2020

5:19 - Thank you to our listeners

6:15 - Lockdown in Sydney

7:21 - Summary of our guests this year

9:30 - Some excerpts of our favorite episodes from the year

19:56  - Discussion on the brand Amazon with Daisy

35:55 - What Bella and I learned this year!

40:11 - Favourite Christmas movies

41:11- Christmas present ideas.

49:30 - New Years Resolution

52:04 -Meaning of Life

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Strap your chemistry hats on because this week we're learning all about hydrogen with engineer and hydrogen expert,  Anthony Parrington.

You'll learn about:

• Basic definitions of hydrogen and fuel cells
• Collecting waste from cows & wastewater to turn into hydrogen 
• Hydrogen is already used in crude oil and petrol production
• Biomass gasification 

Useful links:

• Australias National Hydrogen Strategy
• Video on Hydrogen Strategy
• Read more about Anthony's work here.
• ABC YouTube video about green hydrogen

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This is part 2 of our incredible conversation with Shane Quinnell about renewable energy and the future of energy in Australia. This week you'll learn about:

• What does the future of wind and solar look like in Aus?
• What are the roadblocks slowing down our renewable future?
• Do wind turbines injure as many cats as Trump claims?

Enjoy and let us know what you think by tagging @lifeonplaneta and #lifeonplaneta. Email [email protected] if you have any questions or want to get into contact with Shane.

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