Solid-State Dynamic Nuclear Polarization at 263 GHz: Spectrometer Design and Experimental Results

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) experiments transfer polarization from electron spins to nuclear spins with microwave irradiation of the electron spins for enhanced sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Design and testing of a spectrometer for magic angle spinning (MAS) DNP experiments at 263 GHz microwave frequency, 400 MHz 1H frequency is described. Microwaves are generated by a novel continuous-wave gyrotron, transmitted to the NMR probe via a transmission line, and irradiated on a 3.2 mm rotor for MAS DNP experiments. DNP signal enhancements of up to 80 have been measured at 95 K on urea and proline in water–glycerol with the biradical polarizing agent TOTAPOL. We characterize the experimental parameters affecting the DNP efficiency: the magnetic field dependence, temperature dependence and polarization build-up times, microwave power dependence, sample heating effects, and spinning frequency dependence of the DNP signal enhancement. Stable system operation, including DNP performance, is also demonstrated over a 36 h period.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH grant EB-002804)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH grant EB-002026

Australasia

Observed changes and impacts Ongoing climate trends have exacerbated many extreme events (very high confidence). The Australian trends include further warming and sea level rise sea level rise (SLR), with more hot days and heatwaves, less snow, more rainfall in the north, less April–October rainfall in the southwest and southeast and more extreme fire weather days in the south and east. The New Zealand trends include further warming and sea level rise (SLR), more hot days and heatwaves, less snow, more rainfall in the south, less rainfall in the north and more extreme fire weather in the east. There have been fewer tropical cyclones and cold days in the region. Extreme events include Australia’s hottest and driest year in 2019 with a record-breaking number of days over 39°C, New Zealand’s hottest year in 2016, three widespread marine heatwaves during 2016–2020, Category 4 Cyclone Debbie in 2017, seven major hailstorms over eastern Australia and two over New Zealand from 2014–2020, three major floods in eastern Australia and three over New Zealand during 2019–2021 and major fires in southern and eastern Australia during 2019–2020

Challenges of WASH in remote Australian Indigenous communities

Health and well-being are influenced by access and quality to safe drinking water, wastewater treatment, and hygiene practices and settings. This is recognised in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals for water and health. As a signatory to the UN Goals, Australia has a commitment to ensure the access and quality of these resources is attained for all, including Indigenous Australians living in remote communities. This research sought to identify the status of water, sanitation and hygiene services within remote communities on mainland Australia. Interviews were conducted with representatives of organisations providing water, sanitation and/or hygiene to communities. The quality and access of WASH services in remote Indigenous communities were revealed in this research as lacking at times in many communities. The qualitative results indicate that drinking water supplies can be contaminated by microbes or naturally occurring chemicals, wastewater treatment can be poorly maintained with irregular monitoring, and the health of residents is negatively impacted by crowding in houses, which affects residents' ability to maintain healthy hygiene levels of people, clothing, bedding and infrastructure. Effective responses require a collaborative and systemic approach by the respective government agencies responsible that effectively partner with – and adequately fund – Indigenous communities to provide options that are ‘fit for purpose, place and people’

Can the "social licence to operate" concept enhance engagement and increase acceptance of renewable energy? A case study of wind farms in Australia

Social licence to operate (SLO) is the ongoing acceptance or approval for a development that is granted by the local community and other stakeholders. From the current media and political attention on Australian wind farms, it appears that many specific wind farms, or indeed the industry as a whole, may not hold an SLO with affected stakeholders. This research was undertaken to examine whether the SLO might be a useful framework to enhance engagement and increase societal understanding of wind farms. Twenty-seven interviews across nine wind farms were conducted with stakeholders representing wind companies, local government authorities, local opposition, local support and turbine hosts. The interviews revealed a complexity of concerns that informed the stakeholders' perspectives, including "game-changing" issues that may stand to significantly increase wind farm acceptance. The results are presented with practical steps towards the development of a preliminary working model of an SLO for Australian wind farms that addresses identified concerns. The emerging concept of SLO appears to provide a useful framework for wind farm developers to incorporate an improved model of consultation that engages local communities in ways that could enhance transparency and local support, and complement formal regulatory processes. © 201

Analysis of climate change campaigns by Australian NGOs

"Thesis by publication submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy""Final revised version, submitted April 2009"Bibliographical references.For over 20 years, Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) have campaigned for recognition of the threat of climate change and for an adequate political response. Australia has the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Yet, until 2006, Australian Federal Government Ministers were still openly expressing a sceptical attitude regarding the link between human greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. These views contrasted with NGO campaign efforts and growing public concern regarding climate change. In late 2007, Federal election exit polls revealed that climate change ranked as the third most important issue to electorates in marginal seats, and the newly-elected Rudd Labor Government ratified the Kyoto Protocol. This research identified obstacles encountered by NGOs and opportunities available to NGOs to better realise their climate campaign goals. It explored the reasons for the political shift on climate change and the role played by NGOs in this shift. Forty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted. These included interviews with campaigners from seven Australian NGOs, four UK NGOs and six Californian NGOs. Interviews were also undertaken with grassroots climate activists and 'external observers' of the NGO campaigns. The research drew upon social change theory to map the effectiveness of a campaign, or apparent lack of it. Comparative analyses found the apparent achievements by NGOs in the UK and California appeared to stem from more conducive political and policy conditions. To test the theoretical findings, the researcher undertook a participatory action research project to develop and present the grassroots-initiated Climate Protection Bill to Federal Parliamentarians in the lead-up to the Federal election. The greatest current opportunity for Australian NGOs is the recent election of the Rudd Government on a commitment to address climate change. This election result was due, in part, to the long-term, persistent campaign efforts by Australian NGOs.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (272 pages) illustration

Social licence to operate: an opportunity to enhance CSR for deeper communication and engagement

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate how the social licence to operate (SLO) concept is currently perceived and communicated during stakeholder engagement, as an extension of corporate social responsibility (CSR). To ensure an applied exploration of SLO, this paper focused on the wind industry.Design/methodology/approach - Telephone interviews were conducted with 18 wind industry representatives responsible for stakeholder engagement in Australia. Questions focused upon understanding of consultation and SLO, perceptions of SLO in practice, and experiences regarding community engagement.Findings - SLO is broadly understood by the case study wind industry representatives as majority acceptance held by community and other stakeholders, although no common definition was expressed. This indicates that the concept has not transferred clearly or directly to the wind industry. Despite this, the benefits of seeking an SLO through consultative and ongoing communication practices were recognised across the wind industry as a positive risk mitigation strategy.Research limitations/implications - Future research could examine the understanding and communication approaches of SLO in other industries, cultures and geographic locations.Practical implications - It appears the wind industry intends to seek an SLO more broadly from the Australian public, beyond specific projects. This is likely to occur within the context of increased scrutiny on the performance of many industries and by the changing expectations and demands of communities.Social implications - Some wind corporations were considered to have previously conducted poor or shallow consultation, and this was perceived to have negatively affected the reputation of the wider industry. Mismanagement of expectations prior to the development phase was of particular concern to interviewees. Given this, an SLO could be put at risk by the poor or insufficient engagement and communication processes and reputation of their predecessors.Originality/value - The key contribution of this study is to inform CSR practices that seek to engage and maintain high stakeholder support through an SLO approach, where corporate communication is vital

Confronting Climate Change: A Review of Theoretical Perspectives on Environmental NGOs and their Campaign Effectiveness

11 page(s

Planning to engage the community on renewables: insights from community engagement plans of the Australian wind industry

Wind farms in Australia have encountered a range of community responses, sometimes resulting in opposition. This has caused the wind energy industry to evaluate and amend their community engagement practices. Community Engagement Plans detail wind farm developers' internal intentions' for stakeholder communication and engagement. This research sought insights into these intentions and the success of the selected engagement approaches through an examination of 32 plans. The article presents trends in wind developer practice and understanding of community engagement and benefit sharing, through analysis of these strategic documents that are rarely shared externally. The findings reveal a strong intention by wind farm developers to respond to and meet, or exceed, community expectations. The plans were heavily influenced by recent guidance documents from the Australian renewable energy sector and government. Analysing the plans revealed an increasing use of a diversity of community engagement and benefit sharing practices, and a recognition of the value of engaging more meaningfully with local communities. These findings are relevant to wind and other renewable energy developers scoping new or expanded projects, as well as government organisations seeking to maximise the contribution of wind-generated energy

Water and health interlinkages of the sustainable development goals in remote Indigenous Australia

Australia has committed to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals under the UN's 2030 Agenda. However, these goals may not be fully achieved in Australia under current policy settings. Australia reports success in achieving the goal for quality and access to safe drinking water and sanitation (SDG 6), though for Australians living in remote Indigenous communities, the experience is very different. Furthermore, the burden of disease is higher in remote communities (SDG 3). Many of these diseases are waterborne or hygiene-related, including prevalence in some remote Indigenous communities of endemic trachoma eye infection, preventable through access to functioning water services and available soap. This research provides a case for identifying, then understanding the interlinkages between SDGs 3, 6, and others locally, as well as nationally. This will enable governments to enact policies for long-term sustainable solutions for remotely-located and marginalised peoples in Australia in line with Agenda 2030 commitments