Ecos is one of Australia’s longest running environmental and sustainability magazines.

Now in its 37th year of publication, Ecos has established a reputation for the quality and depth of its coverage of science and sustainability issues in Australia and across the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Ecos has been published bi-monthly by CSIRO, in print and online. However in July 2011 (Issue 161) Ecos published its last print issue and is evolving to become a leading web-only, open access title, publishing articles more regularly. All 5000+ articles in the archive are available to the public, representing a unique historical resource.

Issue 161 (Jun-Jul 2011) features articles on:

• Getting smarter about electricity supply: Ecos investigates the concept of the ‘smart grid’ to upgrade today’s centralised power network, which tends to be over-designed to deliver peak loads. Smart grids – a focus of CSIRO research – rely on distributed networks and smaller scale supply systems – such as solar, cogeneration and trigeneration – integrated via communication technology.

• Mapping the good earth: CSIRO is leading the regional node of a global project to produce the first detailed three dimensional map of the world’s soils, a critical resource for developing countries struggling with challenges like food production and soil stabilisation.

• Farm communities adapt: The Climate Change, Communities and Environment (3CE) project will help South Australian farmers and land managers make more informed decisions about their future, through computer generated maps, being developed by CSIRO, showing how their land might fare under different climate scenarios and carbon policies.

Access Ecos online!