Energy in Transition – Hydrogen rush could shift world energy order

In a small room in Delft, Netherlands, a group of engineering students ponder what energy systems might look like in 2050.

Hydrogen supply system at DLR, Germany’s research centre for aeronautics and space. [Source: DLR, via Wikimedia Commons]

Across the North Sea in Stavanger, Norway, students of international relations consider how the world order might shift if there were universal access to renewable energy. More…

Healthy to 100 – Why your grandma doesn’t want to Zoom

June, 73, has been living alone for 20 years. She tells everybody she loves living by herself, but she actually hates it.

Facetime calls are not everyone’s first choice. [Source: Amin SabetFlickr]

The silence of having no one around “becomes too much after a while”. Gurney, in his 90s, has been living in a care home for almost 10 years. More…

Healthy to 100

In nations around the world, both developed and developing, people are living longer.

It’s good news for those hoping to live well to 100, but for economies and families, the implications are dramatic.

People are living longer, and healthier lives. [Source: Michael Joiner, 360info]

As populations shift and families become smaller there are fewer options for older people traditionally cared for by their adult children, driving a crisis in aged care. More…

Healthy to 100

As India’s population ages, family care is waning.

Aged care and the nature of the family unit is undergoing a seismic shift in India.

Families in India are getting smaller [Source: Adam Jones Flickr]

Families are smaller, and many children depart for education or careers.

Eventually the children settle abroad or in another city, leaving behind their elders. More…

Energy in Transition

Meenakshi Dewan age 20 is one of 4 women from the village of Tinginapu, in the Eastern Ghats, Orissa, who has been trained in solar powered engineering. [Source: DFID]

What if women designed the energy transition?

For people in large parts of the world, ‘energy access’ still means packing large bundles of firewood to carry home on their head for cooking and heating.

Some 750 million people still have no access to electricity and it’s often women that bear the brunt of extra chores required to cook and clean without power. More...