Glossary
AGO - the Australian Greenhouse Office, part of the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Water Resources, delivers the majority of programs under the Australian Government's climate change strategy. AGO is the key national agency on greenhouse matters, and is responsible for both the co-ordination of domestic climate change policy and for managing greenhouse gas issues.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) - a chemical compound composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms, hence CO2. It is present in the Earth's atmosphere at a low concentration of approximately 0.03-0.06 percent. Plants use CO2 to produce nutrients. Humans and animals exhale CO2 during breathing. CO2 is a major greenhouse gas.
CFL, Compact Fluorescent Light bulb - A CFL is an energy-saving, long-life fluorescent light bulb that fits into a standard light bulb socket. The tube is filled with a gas that emits light when an electrical charge is applied.
Climate - meteorological conditions, including temperature, rainfall and wind, that characteristically occur in a particular region.
CRT, Cathode-Ray Tube - used in most television sets built to date, it is an electronic display device in which a beam of electrons is focused on a glass viewing screen to produce an image.
CSIRO - the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is Australia's national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world with more than 50 sites throughout Australia and overseas. CSIRO provides scientific solutions to industry, governments and communities around the world.
Ecological footprint - a measure of the area of land and water a human population would hypothetically need to provide all the resources required to support itself and to absorb its wastes.
Ecosystem - the collection of living and non-living components and processes that make up any part of the living world. Elements of an ecosystem include plants, animals, water and soil.
Global warming - the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans over recent decades.
Greenhouse gas - gases that are a natural part of the atmosphere. They absorb and re-radiate the sun's warmth, and maintain the Earth's surface temperature at a level necessary to support life. Human actions - particularly burning fossil fuels, agriculture and land clearing - are increasing the concentrations of the gases that trap heat within the atmosphere. This is the enhanced greenhouse effect, which is contributing to a warming of the Earth's surface.
Halogen light - the halogen lamp, also called the tungsten-halogen lamp, the quartz-halogen lamp or the quartz-iodine lamp, that uses a tungsten filament sealed into a small glass envelope filled with a halogen gas such as iodine or bromine. These are commonly also used as downlights.
Incandescent light bulb - a source of artificial light that works by incandescence. An electrical current passes through a thin filament, heating it and causing it to glow. The enclosing glass bulb prevents oxygen in the air from reaching the hot filament, which otherwise would be destroyed rapidly by oxidation.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. The role of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. The IPCC does not carry out research nor does it monitor climate related data or other relevant parameters. It bases its assessment mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific/technical literature.
Inverter - an electronic device for converting direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). Inverters are used in a wide range of applications, from small switched power supplies for a computer to large electric utility applications to transport bulk power.
KW/h - The watt-hour (symbol Wh) is a unit of energy (a CFL bulb, for example, might require 11 watts to operate). It is commonly used in the form of the kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is 1,000 watt-hours.
Liquid crystal display (LCD) - a thin, flat display device made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector to present an image. It uses very small amounts of electric power and is therefore suitable for use in battery-powered electronic devices.
Mean - the mid-point between the highest value and the lowest value in a range of data.
Mulch - in agriculture and gardening, mulch is a protective cover placed over the soil, primarily to reduce water evaporation. A wide variety of natural and synthetic materials are used, including shredded bark and leaves.
Photovoltaic - a solar power technology that uses solar cells or solar photovoltaic arrays to convert energy from the sun into electricity. Solar cells produce direct current electricity, often converted to alternating current using an inverter. Photovoltaic systems are different to solar hot water systems, which absorb the sun's rays directly into the water-carrying tubes contained in the panels.
Plasma TV - a type of flat panel display now commonly used for large TV displays. Many tiny cells located between two panels of glass hold a mixture of gases which is electrically turned into a plasma which emits light to display an image.
Star rating - Helps you find the most efficient appliance (brand or model) for your home. Energy ratings range from one star to six stars, with six stars being the most energy efficient. The Star Rating of an appliance is determined from the energy consumption and size of the product.
Watt - (symbol: W) a unit of power, equal to one joule per second. A human climbing a flight of stairs is doing work at the rate of about 200 watts; a highly trained athlete can work at up to approximately 2000 watts for brief periods. A small automobile engine produces 25000 watts (approximately 33 horsepower) while cruising. A typical household incandescent light bulb uses 40 to 100 watts, while an equivalent CFL bulb might use just 11 to 18 watts.