Hunter Valley News
Wednesday 11/4/2007 Page: 5
A NEW meeting format for Scone Chamber of Commerce & Industry saw 50 people attend a business dinner last Wednesday. night to listen to guest speaker, project director of Kyoto Energy Park, Mark Sydney.
Members and friends of Scone's Chamber put their support behind the first in a series of business dinners at a packed Airlie House dining room. Chamber president, Michael Johnsen said the role of the chamber was to lobby and to facilitate. "Tonight is an example of the chamber's facilitation role," he said. The evening was promoted as an opportunity for members to hear first hand about a very new concept for the Scone district.
The proposed Energy Park, would have up to 37 wind turbines operating at Middlebrook and Mountain stations, located approximately 10km from Scone's Central Business District (CBD) In addition to turbines, there is potential in the future, for a closed loop hydro and solar thermal array, visitors centre and managers' residence.
NSW has no such Energy Park but plenty of wind farms at present. Provided it gains approval from the NSW Department of Planning by the end of the year the turbines could be ordered and erected at Scone in three years time.
Mr Sydney estimated that one wind turbine would cost between six and $10 million but that money would be paid off in three months through profits from the energy it created. Mr Sydney's company would rent the land the turbines are placed on. Referring to a wider vision, Mr Sydney said it was- a paradigm to see agriculture and farming continue alongside the Energy Park. "What we're trying to do is to keep agriculture and add a new element to that land," he said.
He highlighted the benefits of aligning the region with renewable energy and adding diversity to the Hunter Valley's other energy industries, as well as the possibility of the Energy Park becoming a tourist attraction. Mr Sydney said he liked to think his development company Pamada, which also manufactures products for the renewable energy industry, was transparent in their dealings with the community and invited them to ask questions at any time.
While the audience waited to ask their questions at the end of the evening instead of interrupting the speaker, they did not hold back. Community members wanted to know how much noise turbines would create, who the investors behind Pamada were, was the concept open for public ownership, what colour the turbines would be and how their views would be affected. After his straightforward speech that addressed what the project was and when it could occur, Mr Sydney, tackled the more pressing issues on the minds of Scone residents.
On noise, Mr Sydney said the recommended distance from a wind turbine should be located from a residence was one kilometre. He went on to say the closest residence was one and a half kilometres from the proposed Energy Park and the second closest two kilometres. While, Mr Sydney would not answer who was investing in Pamada, he revealed he was a major investor and explained it was Australian owned.
He explained that the working title, 'The Kyoto Energy Park' was named three years ago and highlighted the possibility of a name competition if the park is approved. "`Kyoto' was used in the title with the deliberate intention to be provocative," he said.
On the topic of public ownership, he outlined it was not an option in the case of the Kyoto Energy Park. Mr Sydney said in his opinion white coloured wind turbines on an agricultural backdrop were 'majestic' constructions and encouraged others to view them the same.
Mr Sydney said CSIRO wind monitoring data from the past eight and a half years showed Scone to be a very good site for wind. "Its not great- Tasmania is great. But in the Hunter Valley you've got really big demand and Tassie doesn't." The application for the Energy Park was submitted to the NSW Department of Planning last November.
Pamada plan to facilitate meetings of community leaders straight away should Kyoto Energy Park gain approval, in order to finalise a copy of the park's Foundation Charter, which is currently in draft format.
Friday, 20 April 2007
First sod turned for $200 million Barunga Wind Farm
Yorke Peninsula Country Times - Kadina
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 3
Four years after the process began, the first sod has turned for TrustPower's $200 million, 42 turbine wind farm on the Barunga Ranges - perhaps the last such construction in Australia for some time.
Located west of Snowtown, the development is Stage One of what eventually could be a 130 turbine wind farm for the New Zealand based company that now owns (original proponent) Wind Prospect's interest. The two companies had combined forces to go through the planning and approval process. Since planning started, however, wind farm investment has been stymied by the Federal Government's failure to raise the MRET (Mandatory Renewable Energy Target) and complicated by new technical requirements for ESCOSA ' (Essential Services Commission of SA).
Chief Executive of TrustPower, Keith Tempest, says "it has been frustrating at times" during those four years. "I suspect this could be the last wind farm constructed under the MRET in Australia," he said. "There are some state-based schemes coming on board, but there is nothing as at today to make us build again - it is just not financially viable. If the Federal Government came up with a new renewable scheme it would inject confidence to invest in the industry. "However, we have a long term view and commitment. It has always been about community and environment.
We estimate the project could bring $1 million into the community and create 170 jobs during peak construction times, with four full-time employees at completion." The turbines, to be built by Suzlon Energy Australia - a new entity in Australia - at Hallett (just north of Burra), will be able to generate 2.1 MW each, providing a capacity of 88 megawatts or enough to power 60,000 homes. Stage One should be fully commissioned by around this time next year.
If the entire project goes ahead, landowner, Sally Michael, will have 12 turbines on her property at the southernmost point of the wind farm. "We are thrilled. It's income that doesn't rely on rain and there's always plenty of wind. It might allow our son to be a farmer if he wants - it takes the pressure off," she said.
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 3
Four years after the process began, the first sod has turned for TrustPower's $200 million, 42 turbine wind farm on the Barunga Ranges - perhaps the last such construction in Australia for some time.Located west of Snowtown, the development is Stage One of what eventually could be a 130 turbine wind farm for the New Zealand based company that now owns (original proponent) Wind Prospect's interest. The two companies had combined forces to go through the planning and approval process. Since planning started, however, wind farm investment has been stymied by the Federal Government's failure to raise the MRET (Mandatory Renewable Energy Target) and complicated by new technical requirements for ESCOSA ' (Essential Services Commission of SA).
Chief Executive of TrustPower, Keith Tempest, says "it has been frustrating at times" during those four years. "I suspect this could be the last wind farm constructed under the MRET in Australia," he said. "There are some state-based schemes coming on board, but there is nothing as at today to make us build again - it is just not financially viable. If the Federal Government came up with a new renewable scheme it would inject confidence to invest in the industry. "However, we have a long term view and commitment. It has always been about community and environment.
We estimate the project could bring $1 million into the community and create 170 jobs during peak construction times, with four full-time employees at completion." The turbines, to be built by Suzlon Energy Australia - a new entity in Australia - at Hallett (just north of Burra), will be able to generate 2.1 MW each, providing a capacity of 88 megawatts or enough to power 60,000 homes. Stage One should be fully commissioned by around this time next year.
If the entire project goes ahead, landowner, Sally Michael, will have 12 turbines on her property at the southernmost point of the wind farm. "We are thrilled. It's income that doesn't rely on rain and there's always plenty of wind. It might allow our son to be a farmer if he wants - it takes the pressure off," she said.
Energy reform report not credible
Australian Financial Review
Thursday 19/4/2007 Page: 59
The Energy Reform Implementation Group's recommendation that state governments privatise energy assets lacks credibility if it ignores encouragement of green energy use, including wind and tidal turbines, hot fractured rock and solar power, as well as nuclear. If governments are sending mixed signals under existing technology, ERIG is premature in deciding either way on the issue of public or private ownership.
Thursday 19/4/2007 Page: 59
The Energy Reform Implementation Group's recommendation that state governments privatise energy assets lacks credibility if it ignores encouragement of green energy use, including wind and tidal turbines, hot fractured rock and solar power, as well as nuclear. If governments are sending mixed signals under existing technology, ERIG is premature in deciding either way on the issue of public or private ownership.
Salting it away for non-rainy day
Australian
Thursday 19/4/2007 Page: 2
AUSTRALIA'S driest capital yesterday officially opened the nation's first desalination plant, as the West Australian Government committed hundreds of millions of dollars to building at least one more in the near future. Premier Alan Carpenter said the "rainfall-independent" water supply would provide 17 per cent of Perth's needs, 144 million litres of drinking water each day.
Although the other states were bickering over options to address their growing water crises, Mr Carpenter said he was certain Western Australia would build more desalination plants in the near future. "There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that we will have another desalination plant, at least of this scale, on the coast north or south of Perth in the not too distant future, and in the longer term we will have several," Mr Carpenter said at the opening of the $387 million Kwinana plant, 40km south of Perth.
The Government was also in the process of assessing the environmental impact of tapping the South-West Yarragadee aquifer. Water Corporation chief executive Jim Gill has warned the Government needed to make a decision on Yarragadee by the end of next month to ensure severe shortages were not experienced in 2009.
Questioned on the cost of water from the desalination plant, Mr Carpenter said West Australians had to get used to the fact the days of cheap water were over. "The days when we were getting water for virtually nothing from dams overflowing from rainfall and run-off would appear to be over," he said. "Every other option is considerably more expensive. Water prices are going to continue to rise." He said water from dams cost about 16c per kilolitre compared with about $1.15 per kilolitre for desalinated water.
The Kwinana desalination plant is the third biggest in the world behind two massive plants in Israel and the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest desalination plant in the world to be powered by renewable energy the plant buys its power from the Emu Downs Wind Farm 245km north of Perth.
Federal Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull was also spruiking water plans in Perth yesterday. Mr Turnbull announced $6.19 million in funding for a water-sensitive urbandevelopment project slated to save two billion litres of water a year. The development will include 15,000 new housing lots southeast of Perth and will use stormwater capture and groundwater for non-drinking purposes such as gardens, toilets and washing machines.
Comparing the project to Perth's new desalination plant, Mr Turnbull said it was low energy, low-cost and sustainable.
Thursday 19/4/2007 Page: 2
AUSTRALIA'S driest capital yesterday officially opened the nation's first desalination plant, as the West Australian Government committed hundreds of millions of dollars to building at least one more in the near future. Premier Alan Carpenter said the "rainfall-independent" water supply would provide 17 per cent of Perth's needs, 144 million litres of drinking water each day.Although the other states were bickering over options to address their growing water crises, Mr Carpenter said he was certain Western Australia would build more desalination plants in the near future. "There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that we will have another desalination plant, at least of this scale, on the coast north or south of Perth in the not too distant future, and in the longer term we will have several," Mr Carpenter said at the opening of the $387 million Kwinana plant, 40km south of Perth.
The Government was also in the process of assessing the environmental impact of tapping the South-West Yarragadee aquifer. Water Corporation chief executive Jim Gill has warned the Government needed to make a decision on Yarragadee by the end of next month to ensure severe shortages were not experienced in 2009.
Questioned on the cost of water from the desalination plant, Mr Carpenter said West Australians had to get used to the fact the days of cheap water were over. "The days when we were getting water for virtually nothing from dams overflowing from rainfall and run-off would appear to be over," he said. "Every other option is considerably more expensive. Water prices are going to continue to rise." He said water from dams cost about 16c per kilolitre compared with about $1.15 per kilolitre for desalinated water.
The Kwinana desalination plant is the third biggest in the world behind two massive plants in Israel and the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest desalination plant in the world to be powered by renewable energy the plant buys its power from the Emu Downs Wind Farm 245km north of Perth.
Federal Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull was also spruiking water plans in Perth yesterday. Mr Turnbull announced $6.19 million in funding for a water-sensitive urbandevelopment project slated to save two billion litres of water a year. The development will include 15,000 new housing lots southeast of Perth and will use stormwater capture and groundwater for non-drinking purposes such as gardens, toilets and washing machines.
Comparing the project to Perth's new desalination plant, Mr Turnbull said it was low energy, low-cost and sustainable.
Climate change may worsen instability
MSNBC.com
April 17, 2007
Climate change threatens to prolong the war on terrorism and foster political instability that some governments will be unable to cope with, an influential panel of 11 retired US generals has warned.
"On the simplest level, it has the potential to create sustained natural and humanitarian disasters on a scale far beyond those we see today," said the panel, which includes retired General Anthony Zinni, former commander of US forces in the Middle East, in a new study. "The US must commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilise climate change at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability."
Their urgent warning comes on the eve of a special UN Security Council meeting on the security implications of climate change, convened by the UK in an attempt to bring home the wider ramifications of global warming. But many Security Council members have expressed scepticism at the link, and only a handful of foreign ministers will attend Tuesday's meeting despite appeals by Margaret Beckett, the UK foreign secretary. The US will be represented only by its UN ambassador.
The new US military report, however, which was commissioned by the government-financed Center for Naval Analyses, lays out strong support for the link. It describes climate change as "a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world", which will "seriously exacerbate already marginal living standards in many Asian, African and Middle Eastern nations, causing widespread political instability and the likelihood of failed states".
Making matters worse, the military experts warn that climate change offers a challenge much more complex than conventional security threats because of its potential to create "multiple chronic conditions, occurring globally within the same time frame". As governments fail, they say, the US may be drawn more frequently into unstable situations abroad, and at home could experience "mounting pressure to accept large numbers of immigrant and refugee populations".
Admiral T. Joseph Lopez, the former commander-in-chief of US Naval Forces Europe and of Allied Forces, Southern Europe, said: "Climate change can provide the conditions that will extend the war on terror. In the long term we want to address the underlying conditions that terrorists seek to exploit, but climate change will prolong those conditions. It makes them worse."
Jonathan Pershing, a director at the World Resources Institute, an environmental think-tank in Washington, said the report marked a "major shift in thinking. It will garner attention to climate change in policy arenas that have not looked at these issues in the past, which is very important".
Douglas Johnson, research professor of national security affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute, said: "A few years ago, no one gave a flip ... Now, [climate change] is becoming a serious possibility, so we ought to have a plan for it." "We will pay for this one way or another," said Gen Zinni. "We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, and we'll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or, we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll."
© The Financial Times Ltd.
April 17, 2007
Climate change threatens to prolong the war on terrorism and foster political instability that some governments will be unable to cope with, an influential panel of 11 retired US generals has warned.
"On the simplest level, it has the potential to create sustained natural and humanitarian disasters on a scale far beyond those we see today," said the panel, which includes retired General Anthony Zinni, former commander of US forces in the Middle East, in a new study. "The US must commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilise climate change at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability."
Their urgent warning comes on the eve of a special UN Security Council meeting on the security implications of climate change, convened by the UK in an attempt to bring home the wider ramifications of global warming. But many Security Council members have expressed scepticism at the link, and only a handful of foreign ministers will attend Tuesday's meeting despite appeals by Margaret Beckett, the UK foreign secretary. The US will be represented only by its UN ambassador.
The new US military report, however, which was commissioned by the government-financed Center for Naval Analyses, lays out strong support for the link. It describes climate change as "a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world", which will "seriously exacerbate already marginal living standards in many Asian, African and Middle Eastern nations, causing widespread political instability and the likelihood of failed states".
Making matters worse, the military experts warn that climate change offers a challenge much more complex than conventional security threats because of its potential to create "multiple chronic conditions, occurring globally within the same time frame". As governments fail, they say, the US may be drawn more frequently into unstable situations abroad, and at home could experience "mounting pressure to accept large numbers of immigrant and refugee populations".
Admiral T. Joseph Lopez, the former commander-in-chief of US Naval Forces Europe and of Allied Forces, Southern Europe, said: "Climate change can provide the conditions that will extend the war on terror. In the long term we want to address the underlying conditions that terrorists seek to exploit, but climate change will prolong those conditions. It makes them worse."
Jonathan Pershing, a director at the World Resources Institute, an environmental think-tank in Washington, said the report marked a "major shift in thinking. It will garner attention to climate change in policy arenas that have not looked at these issues in the past, which is very important".
Douglas Johnson, research professor of national security affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute, said: "A few years ago, no one gave a flip ... Now, [climate change] is becoming a serious possibility, so we ought to have a plan for it." "We will pay for this one way or another," said Gen Zinni. "We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, and we'll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or, we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll."
© The Financial Times Ltd.
Wednesday, 18 April 2007
All power to super dump's stench
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 1
THEY call it the void. A giant open-cut mine on the outskirts of Goulburn is slowly filling with Sydney's waste, but this super tip is also a new source of green power. When the switch is flicked at a small power plant nearby in about six months. methane from the decomposing waste will be burned to generate electricity.
The food scraps and paper a growing number of Sydneysiders throw out will be used to generate the electricity to power their homes. Methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. About 20 per cent of human-induced global warming since pre-industrial times has been attributed to methane emanating from landfills, coalmines, oil and gas operations, and agriculture.
Capturing the gas and using it to generate electricity prevents it from entering the atmosphere and displaces electricity that would otherwise have been generated by coal-fired power stations. What is good for the environment is also good for companies such as Veolia, the international waste and water group that owns the Woodlawn tip at Goulburn. Once viewed as nothing more than a problem that had to be buried, literally, waste is increasingly considered a valuable resource, Veolia says.
The company hopes to make money not just from selling methane-generated electricity into the national electricity grid, but also from turning organic waste into fertiliser. Hot water from waste processing could also be used to establish greenhouses and fish farms. Unlike traditional landfills, which capture the methane only when a tip is full, Veolia's team of engineering and environmental managers want to generate as much methane as possible and suck it from the decomposing waste while the tip fills.
They have designed a system of pipes that run horizontally and vertically through the waste that pumps the gas to their nearby power plant. Leachate in the pit - created when rain percolating through the waste reacts with decomposing material - is pumped through the layers of rubbish to speed up the decomposition, which in turn generates more methane.
Veolia has entered a long-term contract to provide the electricity to EnergyAustralia, which estimates that capturing gas from the landfill will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 800,000 tonnes a year and generate 20 megawatts an hour, or enough green electricity a year to power 30,000 homes. Veolia also has State Government approval to build a 25-turbine wind farm near the Woodlawn tip, which would generate another 50 megawatts an hour.
But a $50 a tonne levy imposed by the NSW Government on waste that goes to landfill has prompted Veolia to look at ways of using some of the waste instead of burying it. Veolia's ambitious plans have not been without problems. Clyde and Auburn residents went to court several years ago in an unsuccessful bid to stop the construction of a waste transfer station at Clyde, from which the waste is sent by rail to the tip.
Veolia defends the efficiency of its transport system. It says the trains that transfer almost 9000 tonnes of waste from Clyde every week have taken 39,000 truck movements off the roads. South-western Sydney is likely to get another waste transfer station similar to that at Clyde under the company's plan to build a recycling plant at Woodlawn. The transfer station is expected to handle an extra 240,000 tonnes of rubbish a year that would travel to Woodlawn by rail. However, it is likely the waste would be delivered to the transfer station by trucks.
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 1
THEY call it the void. A giant open-cut mine on the outskirts of Goulburn is slowly filling with Sydney's waste, but this super tip is also a new source of green power. When the switch is flicked at a small power plant nearby in about six months. methane from the decomposing waste will be burned to generate electricity.The food scraps and paper a growing number of Sydneysiders throw out will be used to generate the electricity to power their homes. Methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. About 20 per cent of human-induced global warming since pre-industrial times has been attributed to methane emanating from landfills, coalmines, oil and gas operations, and agriculture.
Capturing the gas and using it to generate electricity prevents it from entering the atmosphere and displaces electricity that would otherwise have been generated by coal-fired power stations. What is good for the environment is also good for companies such as Veolia, the international waste and water group that owns the Woodlawn tip at Goulburn. Once viewed as nothing more than a problem that had to be buried, literally, waste is increasingly considered a valuable resource, Veolia says.
The company hopes to make money not just from selling methane-generated electricity into the national electricity grid, but also from turning organic waste into fertiliser. Hot water from waste processing could also be used to establish greenhouses and fish farms. Unlike traditional landfills, which capture the methane only when a tip is full, Veolia's team of engineering and environmental managers want to generate as much methane as possible and suck it from the decomposing waste while the tip fills.
They have designed a system of pipes that run horizontally and vertically through the waste that pumps the gas to their nearby power plant. Leachate in the pit - created when rain percolating through the waste reacts with decomposing material - is pumped through the layers of rubbish to speed up the decomposition, which in turn generates more methane.
Veolia has entered a long-term contract to provide the electricity to EnergyAustralia, which estimates that capturing gas from the landfill will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 800,000 tonnes a year and generate 20 megawatts an hour, or enough green electricity a year to power 30,000 homes. Veolia also has State Government approval to build a 25-turbine wind farm near the Woodlawn tip, which would generate another 50 megawatts an hour.
But a $50 a tonne levy imposed by the NSW Government on waste that goes to landfill has prompted Veolia to look at ways of using some of the waste instead of burying it. Veolia's ambitious plans have not been without problems. Clyde and Auburn residents went to court several years ago in an unsuccessful bid to stop the construction of a waste transfer station at Clyde, from which the waste is sent by rail to the tip.
Veolia defends the efficiency of its transport system. It says the trains that transfer almost 9000 tonnes of waste from Clyde every week have taken 39,000 truck movements off the roads. South-western Sydney is likely to get another waste transfer station similar to that at Clyde under the company's plan to build a recycling plant at Woodlawn. The transfer station is expected to handle an extra 240,000 tonnes of rubbish a year that would travel to Woodlawn by rail. However, it is likely the waste would be delivered to the transfer station by trucks.
$850 per megawatt back to community
Goulburn Post
Monday 16/4/2007 Page: 4
Lachlan Shire councillors on Thursday voted to levy monetary contributions from wind farm builders to fund its community enhancement program. Gathering for a planning committee meeting in Crookwell. councillors voted to levy an annual fee of $850 per megawatt per farm. While a levy payment was originally recommended to be $1000, it was pointed out at the meeting the NSW Department of Planning's own recommendation for such levies was $833.33 per megawatt. It was moved by Cr Garry Cosgrove and seconded by Cr Sandra Bill that the levy generally follow the State's recommendation and on the vote it was set at $850. indexed as at March 31. 2007.
Speaking after the meeting. Council's general manager John Bell said the payment would be linked to the life of the respective projects. "We think it is a fair community amount and the money gained would be spent in the general area of the respective wind farms." Mr Bell said. "Councillors thought that if we are going to have wind farms, then there should be some community benefits and we clearly already have the support of the Department of Planning on this matter." The spokesperson for the Friends of Crookwell, Humphrey Price-Jones, said the $850 levy would not placate people, particularly those directly affected by wind farms.
"This in no way pays for the damage done to individual farms or farmers. Rather, it will benefit ratepayers in general," Mr Price-Jones said. "What the council should be doing is opposing wind farms tooth and nail because none of them to date comply with its own control plan. "The State government seems to be acknowledging how communities have been given this enormous problem and wants to placate people by identifying a source of money." Mr Price-Jones pointed out no work had as yet started on Taralga. Crookwell 2. Walwa or Cullerin wind farms but "some people's lives have already been damaged by the stresses associated with them".
A spokesperson for RES Southern Cross, one of the companies wanting to build a wind farm in the shire, could not be reached for comment on the levy's fiscal practicalities.
Monday 16/4/2007 Page: 4
Lachlan Shire councillors on Thursday voted to levy monetary contributions from wind farm builders to fund its community enhancement program. Gathering for a planning committee meeting in Crookwell. councillors voted to levy an annual fee of $850 per megawatt per farm. While a levy payment was originally recommended to be $1000, it was pointed out at the meeting the NSW Department of Planning's own recommendation for such levies was $833.33 per megawatt. It was moved by Cr Garry Cosgrove and seconded by Cr Sandra Bill that the levy generally follow the State's recommendation and on the vote it was set at $850. indexed as at March 31. 2007.
Speaking after the meeting. Council's general manager John Bell said the payment would be linked to the life of the respective projects. "We think it is a fair community amount and the money gained would be spent in the general area of the respective wind farms." Mr Bell said. "Councillors thought that if we are going to have wind farms, then there should be some community benefits and we clearly already have the support of the Department of Planning on this matter." The spokesperson for the Friends of Crookwell, Humphrey Price-Jones, said the $850 levy would not placate people, particularly those directly affected by wind farms.
"This in no way pays for the damage done to individual farms or farmers. Rather, it will benefit ratepayers in general," Mr Price-Jones said. "What the council should be doing is opposing wind farms tooth and nail because none of them to date comply with its own control plan. "The State government seems to be acknowledging how communities have been given this enormous problem and wants to placate people by identifying a source of money." Mr Price-Jones pointed out no work had as yet started on Taralga. Crookwell 2. Walwa or Cullerin wind farms but "some people's lives have already been damaged by the stresses associated with them".
A spokesperson for RES Southern Cross, one of the companies wanting to build a wind farm in the shire, could not be reached for comment on the levy's fiscal practicalities.
How solar ran out of puff
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 12
The president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Professor Ian Lowe, remembers a time when solar had all the answers. "In the 1970s, the case for solar energy was the case against all other forms of energy," Lowe says. It was the superstar solution to the energy crisis. The expectation was that because solar offered no-risk electricity generation and would never run out, it would swiftly dispatch coal-fired electricity to the dustbin of absurd human inventions. And with our climate, it seemed better suited to conditions in Australia than almost anywhere else.
But 30 years later solar is the renewable power that never grew up - at least in Australia. While global growth in the installation of rooftop solar panels is estimated at 40 per cent a year (and higher in booming solar markets such as Germany and Japan), in Australia it is about 16 per cent, says the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. And that growth is on such a small base that solar barely registers in figures from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economics figures on how our electricity is made.
Of the nearly 8 per cent of Australian electricity generated by renewables, 6.5 per cent is hydroelectricity, 0.8 per cent is bioenergy (power from reusing waste), wind accounts for
0.6 per cent and less than 0.1 per cent is generated by solar power. The rest of our power is coal-fired electricity, which, Lowe points out, compares poorly to countries such as New Zealand (mostly hydroelectricity), Norway (where renewables account for a third of electricity generation) and Iceland (three-quarters).
Nowhere is the good news/bad news nature of the solar story more evident than at the University of New South Wales's world-renowned School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, which claims its many solar-cell breakthroughs have generated "approximately $1 billion" in sales worldwide.
The school's researchers have collected a swag of prestigious awards, including the Alternative Nobel Prize, the Australia Prize and the World Technology Award. One of its graduates, Zhengrong Shi, heads one of the largest solar energy corporations in the world, China's SunTech Power Holdings. He is worth a reported $2.7 billion.
But ask its head of school, Dr Richard Coricish, why more Australians aren't installing grid-connected solar systems at home and his frustration is obvious. "If you don't include the environmental costs of coal-fired electricity when comparing them with solar, it becomes very difficult. [Saving money] is not what motivates me and if that's all that motivates the consumer, then perhaps solar isn't for them.
"I don't want to sound too negative because it's an exciting time for us - the world is beating a path to our door. But the [Australian] situation does frustrate me." Corkish is right: unless you are going to add the environmental costs of coal-fired electricity to your power bill, it's hard to justify installing solar panels. Yet.
The problem is the cost of installing a grid-connected solar system - between $9000 and $40,000, depending on the size of your house and family. Even when you take into account the maximum $4000 federal rebate, it's an investment many ordinary, debt-ridden home owners can't justify. The price tag is inflated by the cost of producing refined silicon (which is also in demand for semiconductor manufacture in the electronics industry), which accounts for about 40 per cent of the cost.
Most estimates show it takes between 20 and 30 years for a grid-connected solar system to "pay for itself' - that is, to recoup the initial outlay through savings made compared with existing bills. As a result, only 30,000 Australian households - out of 8 million - have installed solar panels.
Apart from reducing the up-front cost of the systems, which is being explored through research, one of the best ways to increase uptake would be if governments changed the electricity pricing structure, says Duncan Macgregor, of the solar hot water and solar panel installer Going Solar. At present, electricity retailers such as Origin Energy pay people with solar panels about the same rate for feeding surplus solar-generated power back into the grid as they charge for coalfired electricity. This is despite the fact that they on-sell solar-generated electricity - branded GreenPower - at a premium to environmentally conscious consumers.
At least two state governments are planning to adopt "feed-in tariffs", which increase the rate home owners are paid for producing electricity from solar panels. Last year South Australia announced a plan to double the rates solar users are paid for generating surplus power. The Victorian Government has also introduced legislation in Parliament which is expected to extend existing feed-in tariffs for wind energy to solar from next January.
Tony Wood, a spokesman for Origin Energy, the largest installer of solar panels in Australia, says the cost of higher rates paid to the providers of solar power is likely to be passed onto customers. This would be done by increasing the distribution network tariff for consumers of coal-fired electricity, because solar electricity systems use energy generated locally. The cost of maintaining the poles and lines of the distribution network is enormous - it is forecast to cost $9 billion over the next five years in NSW alone.
The NSW Minister for Energy, Ian Macdonald, says he prefers to let the market decide which types of renewable fuels to use,"rather than the Government picking winners". He says that the State Government requires that 15 per cent of electricity used in NSW to come from renewable sources by 2020.
The economic story of solar hot water, however, is much more attractive to the average home owner. A solar hot water system costs up to three times more than a gas or electric set-up but, at about $4000, it is still much more affordable than solar electricity. Because of the money saved, a solar hot water system should pay for itself "within five to 10 years", says Stephen Kranch, the national manager of Solahart. And because solar hot water tanks usually last 20 years, installing a solar hot water system can mean free hot water for up to 10 years. "The consumer should look very positively at solar hot water. It makes economic as well as environmental sense," says Ian Lowe.
The Business Council for Sustainable Energy says the number of Australian households buying a solar water heating system more than doubled between 2001 and last year, when it reached 45,700. In total, 348,000 Australian households have solar hot water - but this is still only about 5 per cent of the market. NSW and Victoria are two of the poorest performing states in the uptake of solar hot water, with 2.5 per cent and 1 per cent of households, respectively, owning a solar tank.
Kranch says the price gap between a solar system and a conventional one prevents the market from growing faster. The key to building the market, he says, is introducing a simplified system of rebates. At present, consumers can apply for a state government rebate, which in Victoria is a maximum of $1500. An additional sweetener is offered through a complex system of renewable energy certificates, a carbon trading-type scheme of electronic certificates which are traded between registered organisations and whose value changes depending on supply and demand.
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 12
The president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Professor Ian Lowe, remembers a time when solar had all the answers. "In the 1970s, the case for solar energy was the case against all other forms of energy," Lowe says. It was the superstar solution to the energy crisis. The expectation was that because solar offered no-risk electricity generation and would never run out, it would swiftly dispatch coal-fired electricity to the dustbin of absurd human inventions. And with our climate, it seemed better suited to conditions in Australia than almost anywhere else.But 30 years later solar is the renewable power that never grew up - at least in Australia. While global growth in the installation of rooftop solar panels is estimated at 40 per cent a year (and higher in booming solar markets such as Germany and Japan), in Australia it is about 16 per cent, says the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. And that growth is on such a small base that solar barely registers in figures from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economics figures on how our electricity is made.
Of the nearly 8 per cent of Australian electricity generated by renewables, 6.5 per cent is hydroelectricity, 0.8 per cent is bioenergy (power from reusing waste), wind accounts for
0.6 per cent and less than 0.1 per cent is generated by solar power. The rest of our power is coal-fired electricity, which, Lowe points out, compares poorly to countries such as New Zealand (mostly hydroelectricity), Norway (where renewables account for a third of electricity generation) and Iceland (three-quarters).
Nowhere is the good news/bad news nature of the solar story more evident than at the University of New South Wales's world-renowned School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, which claims its many solar-cell breakthroughs have generated "approximately $1 billion" in sales worldwide.
The school's researchers have collected a swag of prestigious awards, including the Alternative Nobel Prize, the Australia Prize and the World Technology Award. One of its graduates, Zhengrong Shi, heads one of the largest solar energy corporations in the world, China's SunTech Power Holdings. He is worth a reported $2.7 billion.
But ask its head of school, Dr Richard Coricish, why more Australians aren't installing grid-connected solar systems at home and his frustration is obvious. "If you don't include the environmental costs of coal-fired electricity when comparing them with solar, it becomes very difficult. [Saving money] is not what motivates me and if that's all that motivates the consumer, then perhaps solar isn't for them.
"I don't want to sound too negative because it's an exciting time for us - the world is beating a path to our door. But the [Australian] situation does frustrate me." Corkish is right: unless you are going to add the environmental costs of coal-fired electricity to your power bill, it's hard to justify installing solar panels. Yet.
The problem is the cost of installing a grid-connected solar system - between $9000 and $40,000, depending on the size of your house and family. Even when you take into account the maximum $4000 federal rebate, it's an investment many ordinary, debt-ridden home owners can't justify. The price tag is inflated by the cost of producing refined silicon (which is also in demand for semiconductor manufacture in the electronics industry), which accounts for about 40 per cent of the cost.
Most estimates show it takes between 20 and 30 years for a grid-connected solar system to "pay for itself' - that is, to recoup the initial outlay through savings made compared with existing bills. As a result, only 30,000 Australian households - out of 8 million - have installed solar panels.
Apart from reducing the up-front cost of the systems, which is being explored through research, one of the best ways to increase uptake would be if governments changed the electricity pricing structure, says Duncan Macgregor, of the solar hot water and solar panel installer Going Solar. At present, electricity retailers such as Origin Energy pay people with solar panels about the same rate for feeding surplus solar-generated power back into the grid as they charge for coalfired electricity. This is despite the fact that they on-sell solar-generated electricity - branded GreenPower - at a premium to environmentally conscious consumers.
At least two state governments are planning to adopt "feed-in tariffs", which increase the rate home owners are paid for producing electricity from solar panels. Last year South Australia announced a plan to double the rates solar users are paid for generating surplus power. The Victorian Government has also introduced legislation in Parliament which is expected to extend existing feed-in tariffs for wind energy to solar from next January.
Tony Wood, a spokesman for Origin Energy, the largest installer of solar panels in Australia, says the cost of higher rates paid to the providers of solar power is likely to be passed onto customers. This would be done by increasing the distribution network tariff for consumers of coal-fired electricity, because solar electricity systems use energy generated locally. The cost of maintaining the poles and lines of the distribution network is enormous - it is forecast to cost $9 billion over the next five years in NSW alone.
The NSW Minister for Energy, Ian Macdonald, says he prefers to let the market decide which types of renewable fuels to use,"rather than the Government picking winners". He says that the State Government requires that 15 per cent of electricity used in NSW to come from renewable sources by 2020.
The economic story of solar hot water, however, is much more attractive to the average home owner. A solar hot water system costs up to three times more than a gas or electric set-up but, at about $4000, it is still much more affordable than solar electricity. Because of the money saved, a solar hot water system should pay for itself "within five to 10 years", says Stephen Kranch, the national manager of Solahart. And because solar hot water tanks usually last 20 years, installing a solar hot water system can mean free hot water for up to 10 years. "The consumer should look very positively at solar hot water. It makes economic as well as environmental sense," says Ian Lowe.
The Business Council for Sustainable Energy says the number of Australian households buying a solar water heating system more than doubled between 2001 and last year, when it reached 45,700. In total, 348,000 Australian households have solar hot water - but this is still only about 5 per cent of the market. NSW and Victoria are two of the poorest performing states in the uptake of solar hot water, with 2.5 per cent and 1 per cent of households, respectively, owning a solar tank.
Kranch says the price gap between a solar system and a conventional one prevents the market from growing faster. The key to building the market, he says, is introducing a simplified system of rebates. At present, consumers can apply for a state government rebate, which in Victoria is a maximum of $1500. An additional sweetener is offered through a complex system of renewable energy certificates, a carbon trading-type scheme of electronic certificates which are traded between registered organisations and whose value changes depending on supply and demand.
Wind of change
Australian R&D Review
April, 2007 Page: 16
Allco Wind Energy has announced its entry into the large European wind energy market, entering into partnership arrangements with two leading German developers, WPD AG and JUWI GmbH. Allco will acquire a total of 112MW of wind energy in Germany and France, with completion in 2007 and 2008.
With a total installed capacity of 60MW, three wind farms in Germany have been acquired from WPD, with the acquisition of a fourth project, to he completed later in 2007, taking the overall installed capacity to 64MW. Wind turbine generators are supplied by Vestas and Siemens.
An agreement has been entered into with JUWI whereby Allco will acquire eight wind energy projects in Germany and France totalling 48.5MW. The first acquisition of the 6MW Ober Kostenz project in Germany (6.0MW, 3 x Vestas V90 - 2.0MW) has been completed. Wind turbine generators are supplied by Vestas and Enercon.
Link: www.allco.com.au/home.aspx?m=2
April, 2007 Page: 16
Allco Wind Energy has announced its entry into the large European wind energy market, entering into partnership arrangements with two leading German developers, WPD AG and JUWI GmbH. Allco will acquire a total of 112MW of wind energy in Germany and France, with completion in 2007 and 2008.
With a total installed capacity of 60MW, three wind farms in Germany have been acquired from WPD, with the acquisition of a fourth project, to he completed later in 2007, taking the overall installed capacity to 64MW. Wind turbine generators are supplied by Vestas and Siemens.
An agreement has been entered into with JUWI whereby Allco will acquire eight wind energy projects in Germany and France totalling 48.5MW. The first acquisition of the 6MW Ober Kostenz project in Germany (6.0MW, 3 x Vestas V90 - 2.0MW) has been completed. Wind turbine generators are supplied by Vestas and Enercon.
Link: www.allco.com.au/home.aspx?m=2
Wind of change
Australian R&D Review
April, 2007 Page: 16
TrustPower, which generates all of its electricity from sustainable resources, has added impetus to carbon trading in New Zealand by selling carbon credits to Meridian Energy. TrustPower, which owns and operates 34 hydro generators and the Tararua Wind Farm, has been awarded carbon credits for a number of its sustainable generation development and enhancement projects. The largest completed so far has been the Stage 2 development of the Tararua Wind Farm.
Chief executive Keith Tempest says TrustPower's decision to focus on renewable energy sources has proven to be a sound one, for the company and the environment. "We are pleased that our efforts to concentrate on sustainable generation have put us in a position where we are now able to trade our surplus carbon credits to assist others to gain carbon neutrality or offset their own greenhouse gas emissions. We welcome approaches from any New Zealand businesses that require assistance to gain carbon-neutral status."
In addition to its existing 100% sustainable generation portfolio, TrustPower is on target to complete its Tararua Stage 3 Wind Farm expansion in July and its Deep Stream Hydro project later in the year. It is in the resource consenting phase for a new 72MW hydro project in Marlborough, a 42MW hydro scheme on the west coast of the South Island, and a new 200MW wind farm at Mahinerangi in Otago, adjacent to one of its existing hydro schemes. It has also begun construction of a new 88MW wind farm at Snowtown in South Australia.
Link: www.trustpower.co.nz
April, 2007 Page: 16
TrustPower, which generates all of its electricity from sustainable resources, has added impetus to carbon trading in New Zealand by selling carbon credits to Meridian Energy. TrustPower, which owns and operates 34 hydro generators and the Tararua Wind Farm, has been awarded carbon credits for a number of its sustainable generation development and enhancement projects. The largest completed so far has been the Stage 2 development of the Tararua Wind Farm.
Chief executive Keith Tempest says TrustPower's decision to focus on renewable energy sources has proven to be a sound one, for the company and the environment. "We are pleased that our efforts to concentrate on sustainable generation have put us in a position where we are now able to trade our surplus carbon credits to assist others to gain carbon neutrality or offset their own greenhouse gas emissions. We welcome approaches from any New Zealand businesses that require assistance to gain carbon-neutral status."
In addition to its existing 100% sustainable generation portfolio, TrustPower is on target to complete its Tararua Stage 3 Wind Farm expansion in July and its Deep Stream Hydro project later in the year. It is in the resource consenting phase for a new 72MW hydro project in Marlborough, a 42MW hydro scheme on the west coast of the South Island, and a new 200MW wind farm at Mahinerangi in Otago, adjacent to one of its existing hydro schemes. It has also begun construction of a new 88MW wind farm at Snowtown in South Australia.
Link: www.trustpower.co.nz
Wind farm win
Weekly Times
Wednesday 18/4/2007 Page: 2
THE Victorian Government has approved a 64-turbine, 160-megawatt wind farm at Mt Mercer. about 30km south of Ballarat. Planning Minister Justin Madden said the wind farm would generate enough power for 73,000 homes. The 11th wind farm to be approved in Victoria is expected to take between 12 and 18 months to build and will create up to 120 construction jobs and 1,' permanent positions.
Wednesday 18/4/2007 Page: 2
THE Victorian Government has approved a 64-turbine, 160-megawatt wind farm at Mt Mercer. about 30km south of Ballarat. Planning Minister Justin Madden said the wind farm would generate enough power for 73,000 homes. The 11th wind farm to be approved in Victoria is expected to take between 12 and 18 months to build and will create up to 120 construction jobs and 1,' permanent positions.
Regulation needed for offset schemes
Southern Courier
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 15
The rapidly-sprouting carbon offset industry needs greater regulatory control, climate-change activists and environmental scientists have warned. An increasingly popular concept, carbon offsetting allows the environmentally conscious consumer to pay extra to reduce the destructive capacity of their personal ecological footprint, but there are concerns that loose regulatory provisions endanger the efficacy of such schemes.
Dr Mark Diesendorf, senior lecturer at the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales recently told the Courier: "At present there appears to be no regulatory structure for offsets at all and no real information to guide consumers. There is a desperate need for a serious accreditation scheme for offsets.
"While tree plantations are better than nothing, they are not as secure as, say, purchasing wind energy, as trees can burn down and also once trees are fully grown they cease to absorb carbon dioxide:' The local activist group Climate Action Coogee shares Dr Diesendorf's concerns. "There are some offsetting companies that are not ecologically sustainable and some overseas companies that are causing problems for local communities," said a spokesperson for the group.
"In the long run businesses will have to invest in permanent renewable-energy strategies in order for Australia to make the greenhouse-gas emission reductions that it has to make. We think it is important that regulatory reform kick-starts this process along." Other commentators have warned that throwing money at carbon offsetting may also instil an attitude of environmental recklessness and give corporations the ultimate excuse not to reform their day-to-day environmentally damaging operations.
"Carbon offsetting is a good way to get people thinking about the problems associated with pollution but offsetting is not a solution to climate change," the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Federal Opposition spokesman on Climate Change, Arts, Heritage and the Environment, Peter Garrett, said: "The issue of carbon offsetting will be considered as the Labor Party continues its policy development process in the lead-up to the next election"
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 15
The rapidly-sprouting carbon offset industry needs greater regulatory control, climate-change activists and environmental scientists have warned. An increasingly popular concept, carbon offsetting allows the environmentally conscious consumer to pay extra to reduce the destructive capacity of their personal ecological footprint, but there are concerns that loose regulatory provisions endanger the efficacy of such schemes.
Dr Mark Diesendorf, senior lecturer at the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales recently told the Courier: "At present there appears to be no regulatory structure for offsets at all and no real information to guide consumers. There is a desperate need for a serious accreditation scheme for offsets.
"While tree plantations are better than nothing, they are not as secure as, say, purchasing wind energy, as trees can burn down and also once trees are fully grown they cease to absorb carbon dioxide:' The local activist group Climate Action Coogee shares Dr Diesendorf's concerns. "There are some offsetting companies that are not ecologically sustainable and some overseas companies that are causing problems for local communities," said a spokesperson for the group.
"In the long run businesses will have to invest in permanent renewable-energy strategies in order for Australia to make the greenhouse-gas emission reductions that it has to make. We think it is important that regulatory reform kick-starts this process along." Other commentators have warned that throwing money at carbon offsetting may also instil an attitude of environmental recklessness and give corporations the ultimate excuse not to reform their day-to-day environmentally damaging operations.
"Carbon offsetting is a good way to get people thinking about the problems associated with pollution but offsetting is not a solution to climate change," the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Federal Opposition spokesman on Climate Change, Arts, Heritage and the Environment, Peter Garrett, said: "The issue of carbon offsetting will be considered as the Labor Party continues its policy development process in the lead-up to the next election"
Renewal energy forum
Atherton Tablelander
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 25
WITH all the rain the Tablelands has received, you'd be mistaken for thinking that solar power was futile in this region. Solar power is just one of the more than effective sources of renewable energy residents can tap into to prevent the threat of climate change.
Residents can find out more about sustainable energy - such as the Tablelands' own wind farm at Ravenshoe - at a public forum being held at Atherton State High School on Wednesday night.
Speaking at the forum will be manager of the Queensland Sustainable Energy Industry Development Group, Wendy Miller. She will be debunking some of the common myths about renewable energy and look at its role and energy efficiency locally and globally in its capacity to meet our energy demands, while helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Forum organiser Gabriele Bohnet, from the Tablelands Environment Network, said a large number of people did not realise the options for renewable energy that existed in Australia. "Australia has been a forerunner in this technology, but hasn't been supported by our government," Ms Bohnet said.
Now companies are moving overseas where they have investment which they can't get here, and it is kind of sad." The forum, which is presented by the North Queensland Climate Alliance, will show residents affordable options for acting against climate change, such as installing a solar hot water system.
"I have been living around the Tablelands for the last eight years and during that time I've been living in a house with solar hot water," Ms Bohnet said. "In that house, even on a rainy day, we hardly had to use the gas booster." Australia is estimated to have enough natural gas reserves to last until 2050.
Ms Bohnet said natural gas was also an alternative energy source that was underused by Australians. At the moment our natural gas is exported, which it shouldn't be because it is a clean resource," she said. If enough people turned to cleaner sources of energy, entire communities could help reduce greenhouse emissions. "By using things like energy efficiency bulbs, with solar hot water and other renewable resources we could ultimately save on our power bills," Ms Bohnet said.
The climate change and energy forum will be held at Atherton State High School auditorium, on Maunds Road on Wednesday, April 18 from 7pm to 9pm. Everyone is welcome and a gold coin contribution would be appreciated.
Tuesday 17/4/2007 Page: 25
WITH all the rain the Tablelands has received, you'd be mistaken for thinking that solar power was futile in this region. Solar power is just one of the more than effective sources of renewable energy residents can tap into to prevent the threat of climate change.
Residents can find out more about sustainable energy - such as the Tablelands' own wind farm at Ravenshoe - at a public forum being held at Atherton State High School on Wednesday night.
Speaking at the forum will be manager of the Queensland Sustainable Energy Industry Development Group, Wendy Miller. She will be debunking some of the common myths about renewable energy and look at its role and energy efficiency locally and globally in its capacity to meet our energy demands, while helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Forum organiser Gabriele Bohnet, from the Tablelands Environment Network, said a large number of people did not realise the options for renewable energy that existed in Australia. "Australia has been a forerunner in this technology, but hasn't been supported by our government," Ms Bohnet said.
Now companies are moving overseas where they have investment which they can't get here, and it is kind of sad." The forum, which is presented by the North Queensland Climate Alliance, will show residents affordable options for acting against climate change, such as installing a solar hot water system.
"I have been living around the Tablelands for the last eight years and during that time I've been living in a house with solar hot water," Ms Bohnet said. "In that house, even on a rainy day, we hardly had to use the gas booster." Australia is estimated to have enough natural gas reserves to last until 2050.
Ms Bohnet said natural gas was also an alternative energy source that was underused by Australians. At the moment our natural gas is exported, which it shouldn't be because it is a clean resource," she said. If enough people turned to cleaner sources of energy, entire communities could help reduce greenhouse emissions. "By using things like energy efficiency bulbs, with solar hot water and other renewable resources we could ultimately save on our power bills," Ms Bohnet said.
The climate change and energy forum will be held at Atherton State High School auditorium, on Maunds Road on Wednesday, April 18 from 7pm to 9pm. Everyone is welcome and a gold coin contribution would be appreciated.
Monday, 16 April 2007
`Green' business can be a real breeze
Adelaide Advertiser
Monday 16/4/2007 Page: 12
IT IS easy being green if you ask business partners Janie Jenkins and sisters Kylie and Jane Brammy. They have just switched their city physiotherapy practice, Therapia, to 100 per cent wind energy. That said, tracking down an electricity supplier able to offer new wind energy to business customers took a little effort.
''We eventually sourced new wind energy which produces no greenhouse gases from TRUEnergy," Jane Brammy said. "It costs 5c per kilowatt hour extra, which over the year will add up to about $300, but it's worth it because it's an investment in the technology and, ultimately, the planet." The physiotherapy and pilates studio, which is celebrating its first anniversary in June, is keen to be seen as a best-practice model for green business.
Featuring strawbale insulation and skylights, the building embodies the business's green philosophy - it's a converted warehouse.
Monday 16/4/2007 Page: 12
IT IS easy being green if you ask business partners Janie Jenkins and sisters Kylie and Jane Brammy. They have just switched their city physiotherapy practice, Therapia, to 100 per cent wind energy. That said, tracking down an electricity supplier able to offer new wind energy to business customers took a little effort.''We eventually sourced new wind energy which produces no greenhouse gases from TRUEnergy," Jane Brammy said. "It costs 5c per kilowatt hour extra, which over the year will add up to about $300, but it's worth it because it's an investment in the technology and, ultimately, the planet." The physiotherapy and pilates studio, which is celebrating its first anniversary in June, is keen to be seen as a best-practice model for green business.
Featuring strawbale insulation and skylights, the building embodies the business's green philosophy - it's a converted warehouse.
Friday, 13 April 2007
Power glitches beaten
North Queensland Register
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 33
Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution (PTD) has signed a multi-year distribution deal with Australian company Powercorp to distribute its new power quality solution, PowerStore .
Developed and manufactured entirely in Australia by Northern Territory innovators, the PowerStore solution is the first technology of its kind in the world. Designed to absorb and source energy at exceptionally high speed, the product works to smooth all generation fluctuations to maintain utility quality electrical supply.
Steve Robinson, Siemens executive general manager power transmission and distribution, said the new product was a breakthrough for the wind generation and mining industries.
"PowerStore is a true power quality device and the first commercial solution on the market capable of large output." PowerStore addresses the problem of power fluctuation in grids, which is common, and most acute in soft grids, such as remote area isolated networks, mine site electrical distribution and community power supply. The problem also exists in large networks at the end of long distribution lines, at the interconnection point of wind farms and other critical nodes.
Link: PowerStore
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 33
Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution (PTD) has signed a multi-year distribution deal with Australian company Powercorp to distribute its new power quality solution, PowerStore .Developed and manufactured entirely in Australia by Northern Territory innovators, the PowerStore solution is the first technology of its kind in the world. Designed to absorb and source energy at exceptionally high speed, the product works to smooth all generation fluctuations to maintain utility quality electrical supply.
Steve Robinson, Siemens executive general manager power transmission and distribution, said the new product was a breakthrough for the wind generation and mining industries.
"PowerStore is a true power quality device and the first commercial solution on the market capable of large output." PowerStore addresses the problem of power fluctuation in grids, which is common, and most acute in soft grids, such as remote area isolated networks, mine site electrical distribution and community power supply. The problem also exists in large networks at the end of long distribution lines, at the interconnection point of wind farms and other critical nodes.
Link: PowerStore
Farmers to receive windfall
Bendigo Advertiser
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 8
A $250 million wind farm planned for rural Victoria will help drought-proof struggling farms, the company behind the project says. The Victorian Government yesterday signed off West- Wind Energy's plan to build a 160-megawatt wind farm at Mt Mercer, 30 km south of Ballarat.
WestWind Energy plans to build 64 turbines on 2600 hectares of land, which crosses several farm properties. The firm's planning and business development manager, Tobias Geiger, said the project would help droughtproof farms for another two to three generations because of the extra income it would bring the farmers.
Each of the seven landowners will be paid up to $7000 per turbine built on their properties. "Obviously, for the landholders it's a great relief now that it has been approved because it will help them really drought-proof their activities," Mr Geiger said.
Farmer Ian Wylie, who will have 18 turbines built on his property, said the income would help him survive the drought. "It will just mean now being able to get through the drought without having to sell breeding stock, we will be able to buy more feed and keep things going along until the drought breaks," he said. "When the drought does break we'll be able to put in infrastructure so if it does happen again we won't be in strife."
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 8
A $250 million wind farm planned for rural Victoria will help drought-proof struggling farms, the company behind the project says. The Victorian Government yesterday signed off West- Wind Energy's plan to build a 160-megawatt wind farm at Mt Mercer, 30 km south of Ballarat.
WestWind Energy plans to build 64 turbines on 2600 hectares of land, which crosses several farm properties. The firm's planning and business development manager, Tobias Geiger, said the project would help droughtproof farms for another two to three generations because of the extra income it would bring the farmers.
Each of the seven landowners will be paid up to $7000 per turbine built on their properties. "Obviously, for the landholders it's a great relief now that it has been approved because it will help them really drought-proof their activities," Mr Geiger said.
Farmer Ian Wylie, who will have 18 turbines built on his property, said the income would help him survive the drought. "It will just mean now being able to get through the drought without having to sell breeding stock, we will be able to buy more feed and keep things going along until the drought breaks," he said. "When the drought does break we'll be able to put in infrastructure so if it does happen again we won't be in strife."
Mt Mercer wind farm OK
Ballarat Courier
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 2
The State Government approved the 64-turbine wind farm on the recommendation of an independent panel. The 160-megawatt facility, to be built on 2600 hectares of land at Mt Mercer, about 30km south of Ballarat, is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 73,000 hones. The site will also house a major service and maintenance centre for wind turbines in the region creating 12 permanent positions.
Planning Minister Justin Madden said the development, the 11th wind farm approved for Victoria, was an economic and environmental boon. The Mt Mercer wind farm will be a win for the environment, a win for jobs and a win for sustainable development in rural and regional Victoria," Mr Madden said.
"We expect this project alone to save more than 390,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year - that's 11.7 million 'black balloons' that would otherwise be floating up into the atmosphere." Mr Madden said the wind farm was expected to take between 12 to 18 months to install and create up to 120 construction jobs and 12 permanent positions.
The company behind the development, Westwind Energy, said it was "very pleased" with the approval. Business development manager Tobias Geiger said Westwind Energy was an Australian company but part of the German-based Westwind group of companies.
Mr Geiger said Westwind Energy had "generally" received strong support from the local community. He said the company would work to earn the trust of community members who still had reservations.
The Mt Mercer site is 8km of the Enfield State Park and 15km of Meredith, Rokewood, Dereel, Corindhap and Grenville.
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 2
The State Government approved the 64-turbine wind farm on the recommendation of an independent panel. The 160-megawatt facility, to be built on 2600 hectares of land at Mt Mercer, about 30km south of Ballarat, is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 73,000 hones. The site will also house a major service and maintenance centre for wind turbines in the region creating 12 permanent positions.
Planning Minister Justin Madden said the development, the 11th wind farm approved for Victoria, was an economic and environmental boon. The Mt Mercer wind farm will be a win for the environment, a win for jobs and a win for sustainable development in rural and regional Victoria," Mr Madden said.
"We expect this project alone to save more than 390,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year - that's 11.7 million 'black balloons' that would otherwise be floating up into the atmosphere." Mr Madden said the wind farm was expected to take between 12 to 18 months to install and create up to 120 construction jobs and 12 permanent positions.
The company behind the development, Westwind Energy, said it was "very pleased" with the approval. Business development manager Tobias Geiger said Westwind Energy was an Australian company but part of the German-based Westwind group of companies.
Mr Geiger said Westwind Energy had "generally" received strong support from the local community. He said the company would work to earn the trust of community members who still had reservations.
The Mt Mercer site is 8km of the Enfield State Park and 15km of Meredith, Rokewood, Dereel, Corindhap and Grenville.
Sustainable energy has powerful future
Age
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 8
Political clout, not technology, is hindering renewable energy systems, writes Mark Diesendorf.
OPPONENTS of renewable energy from the coal and nuclear industries, and their political supporters, are disseminating the fallacy that renewable energy cannot provide base-load power to substitute for coal-fired electricity. If this becomes widely accepted, renewable energy will remain a niche market rather than achieve its potential of being part of mainstream energy supply technologies.
Electricity grids are designed to handle variability in demand and supply and have different types of power stations - baseload, intermediate-load, peakload and reserve. A base-load station is, in theory, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and operates most of the time at full power.
In mainland Australia, baseload power stations are mostly coal-fired while a few are gasfired. Coal-fired stations are by far the most polluting of all power stations, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. Overseas, some base-load power stations are nuclear-powered.
An electricity supply system cannot be built out of base-load power stations alone. These stations take all day to start up and, in general, their output cannot be changed quickly enough to handle peaks and other variations in demand. They also break down from time to time.
A faster, cheaper, more flexible power station is used to complement base-load, handle the peaks and handle quickly unpredictable fluctuations in supply and demand. These peak-load stations are designed to be run for short periods each day. They can be started rapidly from cold and their output can be changed rapidly. Some peak-load stations are gas turbines (like jet engines) fuelled by natural gas.
Hydro-electricity with dams is also used to provide peak-load power. Some renewable electricity sources have identical variability to coal-fired power stations and so they are base-load. They can be integrated into the electricity supply system without any additional back-up. Examples include:
The inclusion of large-scale wind energy in the list may be a surprise to some people, because wind energy is often described as an "intermittent" source, that is, one that switches on and off frequently.
While a single wind turbine is certainly intermittent, a system of several geographically separated wind farms is not. Total wind energy output of the system generally varies smoothly and rarely falls to zero. Nevertheless, it may require some back-up, for example, from gas turbines.
When wind energy supplies up to 20 per cent of electricity generation, the additional costs of reserve plant are relatively small. For widely dispersed wind farms, the back-up capacity only has to be one-fifth to one-third of the wind capacity. Since it has low capital cost and is operated infrequently, it plays the role of reliability insurance with a low premium.
Of course, if a national electricity grid is connected by transmission line to another country (for example, as western Denmark is connected to Norway), it does not need to install any back-up for wind, because it buys supplementary power from its neighbours when required.
By 2040, renewable energy could supply more than half Australia's electricity, reducing greenhouse emissions from electricity generation by nearly 80 per cent. In the longer term, when solar electricity is less expensive, there is no technical reason to stop renewable energy from supplying 100 per cent of grid electricity. The system could be just as reliable as the dirty, fossil-fuelled system that it replaces.
The barriers to a sustainable energy future are neither technological nor economic, but the immense political power of the big greenhouse gas polluting industries - coal, aluminium, iron and steel, cement, motor vehicles and part of the oil industry.
Dr Mark Diesendorf is the director of Sustainability Centre, senior lecturer in environmental studies at the University of New South Wales, and a member of the Energy- Science Coalition. His new book, Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, will be published by UNSW Press next month.
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 8
Political clout, not technology, is hindering renewable energy systems, writes Mark Diesendorf.
OPPONENTS of renewable energy from the coal and nuclear industries, and their political supporters, are disseminating the fallacy that renewable energy cannot provide base-load power to substitute for coal-fired electricity. If this becomes widely accepted, renewable energy will remain a niche market rather than achieve its potential of being part of mainstream energy supply technologies.
Electricity grids are designed to handle variability in demand and supply and have different types of power stations - baseload, intermediate-load, peakload and reserve. A base-load station is, in theory, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and operates most of the time at full power.
In mainland Australia, baseload power stations are mostly coal-fired while a few are gasfired. Coal-fired stations are by far the most polluting of all power stations, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. Overseas, some base-load power stations are nuclear-powered.
An electricity supply system cannot be built out of base-load power stations alone. These stations take all day to start up and, in general, their output cannot be changed quickly enough to handle peaks and other variations in demand. They also break down from time to time.
A faster, cheaper, more flexible power station is used to complement base-load, handle the peaks and handle quickly unpredictable fluctuations in supply and demand. These peak-load stations are designed to be run for short periods each day. They can be started rapidly from cold and their output can be changed rapidly. Some peak-load stations are gas turbines (like jet engines) fuelled by natural gas.
Hydro-electricity with dams is also used to provide peak-load power. Some renewable electricity sources have identical variability to coal-fired power stations and so they are base-load. They can be integrated into the electricity supply system without any additional back-up. Examples include:
- Bio-energy, based on the combustion of crops and crop residues, or their gasification followed by combustion of the gas.
- Hot rock geothermal power, which is being developed in South Australia and Queensland.
- Solar thermal electricity, with overnight heat storage in water or rocks, or a thermochemical store.
- Large-scale, distributed wind energy, with a small amount of occasional back-up from a peak-load plant.
The inclusion of large-scale wind energy in the list may be a surprise to some people, because wind energy is often described as an "intermittent" source, that is, one that switches on and off frequently.
While a single wind turbine is certainly intermittent, a system of several geographically separated wind farms is not. Total wind energy output of the system generally varies smoothly and rarely falls to zero. Nevertheless, it may require some back-up, for example, from gas turbines.
When wind energy supplies up to 20 per cent of electricity generation, the additional costs of reserve plant are relatively small. For widely dispersed wind farms, the back-up capacity only has to be one-fifth to one-third of the wind capacity. Since it has low capital cost and is operated infrequently, it plays the role of reliability insurance with a low premium.
Of course, if a national electricity grid is connected by transmission line to another country (for example, as western Denmark is connected to Norway), it does not need to install any back-up for wind, because it buys supplementary power from its neighbours when required.
By 2040, renewable energy could supply more than half Australia's electricity, reducing greenhouse emissions from electricity generation by nearly 80 per cent. In the longer term, when solar electricity is less expensive, there is no technical reason to stop renewable energy from supplying 100 per cent of grid electricity. The system could be just as reliable as the dirty, fossil-fuelled system that it replaces.
The barriers to a sustainable energy future are neither technological nor economic, but the immense political power of the big greenhouse gas polluting industries - coal, aluminium, iron and steel, cement, motor vehicles and part of the oil industry.
Dr Mark Diesendorf is the director of Sustainability Centre, senior lecturer in environmental studies at the University of New South Wales, and a member of the Energy- Science Coalition. His new book, Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, will be published by UNSW Press next month.
Extreme heat and cold could spark blackouts
Age
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 7
VICTORIA faces the prospect of power shortfalls next summer if winter proves unusually dry and cold and the coming summer unusually hot. Industry insiders warn that booming demand and a lack of hydro power has left the state vulnerable to power station shutdowns and heat waves.
The National Electricity Market Management Company, which controls the power grid, predicts there would not be enough energy to cope with a one-in-10-year heatwave combined with a major plant failure next summer. The Age understands that NEMMCO raised the issue in a private briefing to electricity generators this month.
Projections posted on the company's website show Victoria will be short of reserve capacity - needed to prevent blackouts during an extreme summer demand surge - by up to 230 megawatts in February and March 2008. NEMMCO chief executive Les Hosking said the prediction was a "first step in a lengthy planning cycle", with a number of options to generate more power before the summer.
But Melbourne-based electricity expert Michael Zammit, whose company runs multimillion dollar demand management programs for the NSW Government, warned that a cold, dry winter leading into a hot, dry summer could have a "devastating" impact on Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
"There would be absolutely no doubt in my mind that there would be rolling blackouts," Mr Zammit said. "We just haven't had enough generation capacity built to keep up with demand." Industry Minister Peter Batchelor said there had been huge investment to increase the state's power supply. "The Government is confident that electricity demand can be met this summer," Mr Batchelor said.
He said that since Labor came to office, Victoria's power capacity had increased by 2000 megawatts, with the upgrade and completion of several power stations, wind farms and the Basslink cable connecting Tasmania with the mainland.
Far from supplying Victoria with cheap hydro power as promised, drought-stricken Tasmania is now using the Basslink cable to import coalfired electricity from the mainland to avoid power rationing over winter. That means one of Victoria's key power transmission safety valves is effectively not operating.
Concern about the power supply follows revelations in The Age yesterday that hefty increases to household power bills are near certain, with wholesale prices up by more than 70 per cent during the past 12 months.
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 7
VICTORIA faces the prospect of power shortfalls next summer if winter proves unusually dry and cold and the coming summer unusually hot. Industry insiders warn that booming demand and a lack of hydro power has left the state vulnerable to power station shutdowns and heat waves.
The National Electricity Market Management Company, which controls the power grid, predicts there would not be enough energy to cope with a one-in-10-year heatwave combined with a major plant failure next summer. The Age understands that NEMMCO raised the issue in a private briefing to electricity generators this month.
Projections posted on the company's website show Victoria will be short of reserve capacity - needed to prevent blackouts during an extreme summer demand surge - by up to 230 megawatts in February and March 2008. NEMMCO chief executive Les Hosking said the prediction was a "first step in a lengthy planning cycle", with a number of options to generate more power before the summer.
But Melbourne-based electricity expert Michael Zammit, whose company runs multimillion dollar demand management programs for the NSW Government, warned that a cold, dry winter leading into a hot, dry summer could have a "devastating" impact on Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
"There would be absolutely no doubt in my mind that there would be rolling blackouts," Mr Zammit said. "We just haven't had enough generation capacity built to keep up with demand." Industry Minister Peter Batchelor said there had been huge investment to increase the state's power supply. "The Government is confident that electricity demand can be met this summer," Mr Batchelor said.
He said that since Labor came to office, Victoria's power capacity had increased by 2000 megawatts, with the upgrade and completion of several power stations, wind farms and the Basslink cable connecting Tasmania with the mainland.
Far from supplying Victoria with cheap hydro power as promised, drought-stricken Tasmania is now using the Basslink cable to import coalfired electricity from the mainland to avoid power rationing over winter. That means one of Victoria's key power transmission safety valves is effectively not operating.
Concern about the power supply follows revelations in The Age yesterday that hefty increases to household power bills are near certain, with wholesale prices up by more than 70 per cent during the past 12 months.
Ballarat wind farm approved
Age
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 2
THE State Government has approved another wind farm for Victoria - this time on a sheep fans near Ballarat. The 64-turbine facility will be built by WestWind Energy on a 2600-hectare property at Mt Mercer and is expected to generate power for more than 70,000 homes.
Planning Minister Justin Madden said the $250 million project would provide substantial economic benefits and slash 390,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Mt Mercer is the 11th Victorian site approved for wind fauns, with four now operating.
German-owned WestWind Energy has a proposal for a second wind farm north-east of Mt Mercer, which is still waiting for planning approval. The new wind farm is expected to play a key role in meeting the Government's Victorian Renewable Energy Target which requires energy retailers such as Origin Energy and TRUEnergy to purchase 10 per cent of power from renewable sources by 2016.
But the Government's "obsession" with wind farm technology has been criticised by Landscape Guardians spokesman Tim Le Roy, who said Victoria should be investing in geothermal energy.
A day after the Government announces a huge hike in electricity costs, they throw more of Victoria's money through the $2 billion wind subsidy program at an energy source that is proven to be unreliable and more expensive," Mr Le Roy said. About 30 houses are within a three-kilometre radius of the proposed wind farm and residents argue the sight and sound of the 100-metre-high turbines will significantly reduce their land values.
Friday 13/4/2007 Page: 2
THE State Government has approved another wind farm for Victoria - this time on a sheep fans near Ballarat. The 64-turbine facility will be built by WestWind Energy on a 2600-hectare property at Mt Mercer and is expected to generate power for more than 70,000 homes.
Planning Minister Justin Madden said the $250 million project would provide substantial economic benefits and slash 390,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Mt Mercer is the 11th Victorian site approved for wind fauns, with four now operating.
German-owned WestWind Energy has a proposal for a second wind farm north-east of Mt Mercer, which is still waiting for planning approval. The new wind farm is expected to play a key role in meeting the Government's Victorian Renewable Energy Target which requires energy retailers such as Origin Energy and TRUEnergy to purchase 10 per cent of power from renewable sources by 2016.
But the Government's "obsession" with wind farm technology has been criticised by Landscape Guardians spokesman Tim Le Roy, who said Victoria should be investing in geothermal energy.
A day after the Government announces a huge hike in electricity costs, they throw more of Victoria's money through the $2 billion wind subsidy program at an energy source that is proven to be unreliable and more expensive," Mr Le Roy said. About 30 houses are within a three-kilometre radius of the proposed wind farm and residents argue the sight and sound of the 100-metre-high turbines will significantly reduce their land values.
Thursday, 12 April 2007
70% Of Navarra's Power Comes From Wind, Solar
TreeHugger.com
The region of Navarra, in Northeastern Spain, better known in the U.S. for the “running of the bulls” in Pamplona. But in this region, approximately 70% of the electricity comes from the wind and the sun. With no coal, oil or gas of its own, this mountainous region deliberately went for renewable energy in the late 1980s.
The first wind farm was built in full view of the regional capital Pamplona, so that people could get used to it. Now, with some 1,100 windmills dotted all over Navarra, this tiny region is capable of generating more electricity from renewable sources than big EU countries like France or Poland. Navarra plans to reach 100% renewable energy generation by 2010.
Quoting Oana Lungescu (BBC News): “In a growing trend in Spain, the solar park is a co-operative, with 750 individual owners. The cost of a panel starts at 50,000 euros, but with a tax break from the regional government and a guaranteed annual income there is a long waiting list of willing buyers”.
The region of Navarra, in Northeastern Spain, better known in the U.S. for the “running of the bulls” in Pamplona. But in this region, approximately 70% of the electricity comes from the wind and the sun. With no coal, oil or gas of its own, this mountainous region deliberately went for renewable energy in the late 1980s.The first wind farm was built in full view of the regional capital Pamplona, so that people could get used to it. Now, with some 1,100 windmills dotted all over Navarra, this tiny region is capable of generating more electricity from renewable sources than big EU countries like France or Poland. Navarra plans to reach 100% renewable energy generation by 2010.
Quoting Oana Lungescu (BBC News): “In a growing trend in Spain, the solar park is a co-operative, with 750 individual owners. The cost of a panel starts at 50,000 euros, but with a tax break from the regional government and a guaranteed annual income there is a long waiting list of willing buyers”.
Natural N power `just 3 years away'
West Australian
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 12
People could be using "green nuclear" energy in their homes within three years as entrepreneurs rush to produce zero-emissions electricity. Geodynamics Ltd told the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday it had sped up plans to harness the heat generated by natural nuclear activity deep beneath the country's central desert.
The company plans to pipe high-pressure hot water from the granite bedrock 4km beneath the Queensland-South Australia border, where the slow decay of potassium, thorium and uranium generates temperatures as high as 3000.
"The granite is hot because of the natural nuclear activity in there," chief executive Adrian Williams said. "It's green nuclear." Dr Williams expects the Geodynamics to send electricity to the national power grid by 2010 and later directly to western Sydney. By 2015 it could produce as much power as the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme.
Some scientists say hot-rocks technology could deliver huge volumes of economically viable power, thanks to the continent having the hottest and most geologically favourable granite deposits on Earth. "There's enough energy to run the country for thousands of years," said Prame Chopra, a scientist who sits on the Geodynamics board.
According to a conservative estimate by the Centre for International Economics, Australia has enough geothermal energy to meet electricity consumption for 450 years. The industry has strong backing in Canberra. "I've been a fan for a long time," Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane said yesterday.
The granite in South Australia's Cooper basin contains "fractures" that hold super-hot, high-pressure water. It could power a steam turbine then recycle water back into the bedrock for reheating. The hotter the water, the more efficiently it can be converted into electricity.
Australia is home to the world's six listed hot fractured rock geothermal energy companies. One, Petratherm, recently signed a memorandum of understanding to supply geothermal electricity to SA's Beverley uranium mine by late 2009. Torrens Energy, which listed on the stock exchange three weeks ago, is exploring hot sites near Adelaide.
The main impediment to the renewable energy industry is that the nation's electricity is among the cheapest in the world, thanks to huge deposits of coal. But geothermal energy is set to be economically viable after a moderate cost is imposed on greenhouse gas emissions.
Geodynamic, aided by $11.8 million in Federal grants, said it would produce one megawatt of electricity for about $45 an hour compared with coal power of about $35. Prime Minister John Howard's task force on nuclear energy estimated the cost of nuclear energy at $40-$65,"clean coal" at $50- $100 and photovoltaic solar energy as high as $120.
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 12
People could be using "green nuclear" energy in their homes within three years as entrepreneurs rush to produce zero-emissions electricity. Geodynamics Ltd told the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday it had sped up plans to harness the heat generated by natural nuclear activity deep beneath the country's central desert.
The company plans to pipe high-pressure hot water from the granite bedrock 4km beneath the Queensland-South Australia border, where the slow decay of potassium, thorium and uranium generates temperatures as high as 3000.
"The granite is hot because of the natural nuclear activity in there," chief executive Adrian Williams said. "It's green nuclear." Dr Williams expects the Geodynamics to send electricity to the national power grid by 2010 and later directly to western Sydney. By 2015 it could produce as much power as the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme.
Some scientists say hot-rocks technology could deliver huge volumes of economically viable power, thanks to the continent having the hottest and most geologically favourable granite deposits on Earth. "There's enough energy to run the country for thousands of years," said Prame Chopra, a scientist who sits on the Geodynamics board.
According to a conservative estimate by the Centre for International Economics, Australia has enough geothermal energy to meet electricity consumption for 450 years. The industry has strong backing in Canberra. "I've been a fan for a long time," Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane said yesterday.
The granite in South Australia's Cooper basin contains "fractures" that hold super-hot, high-pressure water. It could power a steam turbine then recycle water back into the bedrock for reheating. The hotter the water, the more efficiently it can be converted into electricity.
Australia is home to the world's six listed hot fractured rock geothermal energy companies. One, Petratherm, recently signed a memorandum of understanding to supply geothermal electricity to SA's Beverley uranium mine by late 2009. Torrens Energy, which listed on the stock exchange three weeks ago, is exploring hot sites near Adelaide.
The main impediment to the renewable energy industry is that the nation's electricity is among the cheapest in the world, thanks to huge deposits of coal. But geothermal energy is set to be economically viable after a moderate cost is imposed on greenhouse gas emissions.
Geodynamic, aided by $11.8 million in Federal grants, said it would produce one megawatt of electricity for about $45 an hour compared with coal power of about $35. Prime Minister John Howard's task force on nuclear energy estimated the cost of nuclear energy at $40-$65,"clean coal" at $50- $100 and photovoltaic solar energy as high as $120.
Wind turbines `will not change' Moyne
Warrnambool Standard
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 10
WIND turbines being proposed for a development near Hawkesdale will be invisible from the Tower Hill lookout and a landscape expert believes the 31-tower project won't change the character of Moyne Shire.
Landscape architect Allan Wyatt told a panel hearing yesterday that strategic tree plantings would reduce the visibility of turbines from most neighbouring houses. Mr Wyatt, an expert called by TME Australia, the company proposing the $145 million project, said surveys conducted around the world found about 70 per cent of people were in favour of wind farms. He said the acceptance by neighbours rose once construction was completed.
Mr Wyatt said when ranking the visual impact turbines would have on an area flat rural landscapes rated low because such land was so abundant. Also, because the wind farm would not be visible from any highways in the region it was not considered to be a significant change to its characteristics, he said.
The turbines will be twice the size of existing 65m transmission towers and the closest turbine will be only 2.6km from Hawkesdale. Despite the town's proximity to the farm the turbines will barely be seen because of trees screening the towers, he said.
However, Mr Wyatt conceded most homes built outside of town and positioned to the south of the wind farm had few trees screening the development and the turbines were highly visible. Plantings to screen properties south side may reduce natural light, he noted.
Mr Wyatt told the expert panel he did not believe 1000-metre setbacks between turbines and properties were necessary. He said that from his experience strategic tree plantings could minimise views of the farm.
The expert panel will sit at the Port Fairy Yacht Club today from 10am to continue hearing the company's submission. The three-member panel will prepare a report and a recommendation, both of which will be considered by Victorian Planning Minister Justin Madden later this year.
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 10
WIND turbines being proposed for a development near Hawkesdale will be invisible from the Tower Hill lookout and a landscape expert believes the 31-tower project won't change the character of Moyne Shire.
Landscape architect Allan Wyatt told a panel hearing yesterday that strategic tree plantings would reduce the visibility of turbines from most neighbouring houses. Mr Wyatt, an expert called by TME Australia, the company proposing the $145 million project, said surveys conducted around the world found about 70 per cent of people were in favour of wind farms. He said the acceptance by neighbours rose once construction was completed.
Mr Wyatt said when ranking the visual impact turbines would have on an area flat rural landscapes rated low because such land was so abundant. Also, because the wind farm would not be visible from any highways in the region it was not considered to be a significant change to its characteristics, he said.
The turbines will be twice the size of existing 65m transmission towers and the closest turbine will be only 2.6km from Hawkesdale. Despite the town's proximity to the farm the turbines will barely be seen because of trees screening the towers, he said.
However, Mr Wyatt conceded most homes built outside of town and positioned to the south of the wind farm had few trees screening the development and the turbines were highly visible. Plantings to screen properties south side may reduce natural light, he noted.
Mr Wyatt told the expert panel he did not believe 1000-metre setbacks between turbines and properties were necessary. He said that from his experience strategic tree plantings could minimise views of the farm.
The expert panel will sit at the Port Fairy Yacht Club today from 10am to continue hearing the company's submission. The three-member panel will prepare a report and a recommendation, both of which will be considered by Victorian Planning Minister Justin Madden later this year.
Councillor issues carbon challenge
Border Watch
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 7
COUNCILLOR Michael McCourt has issued a challenge to Wattle Range Council to go green. In a move that could put Wattle Range Council at the forefront of utilising renewable energy sources, Cr McCourt urged council to source ways for the ballot to become carbon free.
Included in discussions at council's Tuesday night meeting was the option of using bio-diesel in waste management vehicles. "It is very much a current issue at the moment," Cr McCourt told council. "I think there is an opportunity for council to look at the challenge of becoming a zero carbon ballot." Cr McCourt acknowledged the high costs involved, but urged council to seek other ways to improve carbon within the council's borders.
Mayor Mark Braes supported the challenge, but said council would not jump into any transformation that would cause costs to rise dramatically. "I don't think council, while I have been involved, has really looked at that in detail." Mr Braes said. "We are not going to jump into anything that will cause a dramatic rise in costs." The challenge to go green also drew personal comment from Mr Braes about an alternative power source, nuclear power, in which he clearly stated his position on the nuclear debate.
Mr Braes said he would only consider nuclear energy as a last resort and would prefer money to be spent seeking greener avenues. "I have said publicly that nuclear energy should be a last resort," Mr Braes said. "I think nuclear energy is a long way off and I would rather money was invested in renewable energy."
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 7
COUNCILLOR Michael McCourt has issued a challenge to Wattle Range Council to go green. In a move that could put Wattle Range Council at the forefront of utilising renewable energy sources, Cr McCourt urged council to source ways for the ballot to become carbon free.
Included in discussions at council's Tuesday night meeting was the option of using bio-diesel in waste management vehicles. "It is very much a current issue at the moment," Cr McCourt told council. "I think there is an opportunity for council to look at the challenge of becoming a zero carbon ballot." Cr McCourt acknowledged the high costs involved, but urged council to seek other ways to improve carbon within the council's borders.
Mayor Mark Braes supported the challenge, but said council would not jump into any transformation that would cause costs to rise dramatically. "I don't think council, while I have been involved, has really looked at that in detail." Mr Braes said. "We are not going to jump into anything that will cause a dramatic rise in costs." The challenge to go green also drew personal comment from Mr Braes about an alternative power source, nuclear power, in which he clearly stated his position on the nuclear debate.
Mr Braes said he would only consider nuclear energy as a last resort and would prefer money to be spent seeking greener avenues. "I have said publicly that nuclear energy should be a last resort," Mr Braes said. "I think nuclear energy is a long way off and I would rather money was invested in renewable energy."
Australia must take carbon lead, says HK utility
Australian
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 23
Andrew Trounson
ONE of Asia's biggest power utilities has urged Australia to take a regional lead in putting a price on carbon emissions, ahead of major emitters China and India.
Hong Kong-based China Light and Power head of environmental affairs Gail Kendall said Australia, as a key developed country, had a responsibility to drive efforts to cut emissions in Asia. But she said that in the longer term moving early would give the country a competitive edge, as the world inevitably moved to a low-carbon economy.
In Australia to promote CLP's expanding portfolio of renewable energies, such as wind power, Dr Kendall said coal would remain a major energy source into the future and that the commercialisation of so-called clean coal technologies was "critical" to cutting global emissions.
CLP has also identified natural gas, which emits half the greenhouse emissions of coal, as a key transition fuel, and the utility is now planning to build a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal in Hong Kong which could be in production soon after 2010. That could provide yet another opportunity for Australian gas producers. "Australia is in a position to move ahead of developing countries like China and India, and it is the responsible thing to do," Dr Kendall said.
For CLP, which supplies energy to 1.1 million Australians through its TRUEnergy business as well as owning power plants and wind farms, Australia also presents an early opportunity for it to adapt its own business to a low-carbon economy.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, most of Asia was excluded from targets to cut emissions, and the region's problems in having to tackle poverty and drive economic development mean much of the burden to cut emissions and develop new technologies will fall on developed countries. "Australia's economy needs to be competitive on a low-carbon basis and that also will be true of our business in the long run, so we can definitely learn from our experience here," Dr Kendall said.
In its submission to the Prime Minister's task force on emissions trading, CLP's TRUEnergy said inaction on cutting emissions was now "simply untenable" for governments and urged the creation of a domestic trading scheme irrespective of efforts to create a centralised system.
Dr Kendall said the Government needed to start putting a price on carbon to provide certainty for power companies to go ahead with new investment in generation capacity. She said industries that might be seriously disadvantaged could be compensated to maintain their competitiveness with Australia's Asian neighbours. "In Australia an emissions trading scheme could be very effective in promoting the dramatic reduction in emissions that are needed over the long term," she said.
CLP currently sources about 2.6 per cent of its power from renewable energy, excluding its major hydro projects in China, and is aiming to raise that to 5 per cent by 2010. More than half its renewable portfolio is weighted to wind power, and in Australia it has an equal stake with Hydro Tasmania in the Roaring 40s wind power business.
But Dr Kendall said government subsidies were key to the development of otherwise high-cost renewable energies, and that the failure of the federal Government to expand its so-called Mandatory Renewable Energy Target had forced Roaring 40s to shelve two projects. Dr Kendall said strong growth in renewables would be needed to combat emissions, but she said significant coal and natural gas would also still be needed to supply the world's rising power demand, with nuclear also set to play a role.
According to a scenario study by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, if the world is to cut emissions back to 2000 levels by 2050, as advocated by the consensus of scientific opinion, the uptake of renewable energies will have to grow by 11 per cent a year. But that scenario also assumes coal use rising 50 per cent during the period to 2050, with half that coal capacity using technologies to capture and store carbon emissions.
Over the same period, the use of gas is assumed to triple to overtake coal as the largest fossil fuel powering electricity generation, while the size of the world's nuclear industry is assumed to also triple.
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 23
Andrew Trounson
ONE of Asia's biggest power utilities has urged Australia to take a regional lead in putting a price on carbon emissions, ahead of major emitters China and India.
Hong Kong-based China Light and Power head of environmental affairs Gail Kendall said Australia, as a key developed country, had a responsibility to drive efforts to cut emissions in Asia. But she said that in the longer term moving early would give the country a competitive edge, as the world inevitably moved to a low-carbon economy.
In Australia to promote CLP's expanding portfolio of renewable energies, such as wind power, Dr Kendall said coal would remain a major energy source into the future and that the commercialisation of so-called clean coal technologies was "critical" to cutting global emissions.
CLP has also identified natural gas, which emits half the greenhouse emissions of coal, as a key transition fuel, and the utility is now planning to build a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal in Hong Kong which could be in production soon after 2010. That could provide yet another opportunity for Australian gas producers. "Australia is in a position to move ahead of developing countries like China and India, and it is the responsible thing to do," Dr Kendall said.
For CLP, which supplies energy to 1.1 million Australians through its TRUEnergy business as well as owning power plants and wind farms, Australia also presents an early opportunity for it to adapt its own business to a low-carbon economy.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, most of Asia was excluded from targets to cut emissions, and the region's problems in having to tackle poverty and drive economic development mean much of the burden to cut emissions and develop new technologies will fall on developed countries. "Australia's economy needs to be competitive on a low-carbon basis and that also will be true of our business in the long run, so we can definitely learn from our experience here," Dr Kendall said.
In its submission to the Prime Minister's task force on emissions trading, CLP's TRUEnergy said inaction on cutting emissions was now "simply untenable" for governments and urged the creation of a domestic trading scheme irrespective of efforts to create a centralised system.
Dr Kendall said the Government needed to start putting a price on carbon to provide certainty for power companies to go ahead with new investment in generation capacity. She said industries that might be seriously disadvantaged could be compensated to maintain their competitiveness with Australia's Asian neighbours. "In Australia an emissions trading scheme could be very effective in promoting the dramatic reduction in emissions that are needed over the long term," she said.
CLP currently sources about 2.6 per cent of its power from renewable energy, excluding its major hydro projects in China, and is aiming to raise that to 5 per cent by 2010. More than half its renewable portfolio is weighted to wind power, and in Australia it has an equal stake with Hydro Tasmania in the Roaring 40s wind power business.
But Dr Kendall said government subsidies were key to the development of otherwise high-cost renewable energies, and that the failure of the federal Government to expand its so-called Mandatory Renewable Energy Target had forced Roaring 40s to shelve two projects. Dr Kendall said strong growth in renewables would be needed to combat emissions, but she said significant coal and natural gas would also still be needed to supply the world's rising power demand, with nuclear also set to play a role.
According to a scenario study by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, if the world is to cut emissions back to 2000 levels by 2050, as advocated by the consensus of scientific opinion, the uptake of renewable energies will have to grow by 11 per cent a year. But that scenario also assumes coal use rising 50 per cent during the period to 2050, with half that coal capacity using technologies to capture and store carbon emissions.
Over the same period, the use of gas is assumed to triple to overtake coal as the largest fossil fuel powering electricity generation, while the size of the world's nuclear industry is assumed to also triple.
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Support for wind farm
Albany & Great Southern Weekender
Thursday 5/4/2007 Page: 4
Plantagenet ratepayers have thrown their support behind a proposal to establish a wind farm near Mt Barker. All of the 48 submissions to Shire of Plantagenet on the rezoning of farmland north of Mt Barker for the windfarm supported the project.
Shire CEO Rob Stewart said SkyFarming Pty Ltd's proposed three turbines would generate an equivalent amount of electricity to that used by the town. The rezoning amendment has been forwarded to the Western Australian Planning Commission for approval.
Thursday 5/4/2007 Page: 4
Plantagenet ratepayers have thrown their support behind a proposal to establish a wind farm near Mt Barker. All of the 48 submissions to Shire of Plantagenet on the rezoning of farmland north of Mt Barker for the windfarm supported the project.
Shire CEO Rob Stewart said SkyFarming Pty Ltd's proposed three turbines would generate an equivalent amount of electricity to that used by the town. The rezoning amendment has been forwarded to the Western Australian Planning Commission for approval.
Greener energy on way
Melville Times
Tuesday 10/4/2007 Page: 12
Synergy has announced a shortlist of five tenderers to compete for the final supply contract or contracts. Synergy managing director Jim Mitchell said a new generating plant using renewable energy sources would need to be built in WA by the successful tenderers and be connected to the southwestgrid.
"This project could potentially supply environmentally-friendly power for more than 65,000 homes and will reduce the overall greenhouse gas intensity of our power supplies," Mr Mitchell said. "It is the equivalent of keeping about 340,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions out of the environment each year, or the equivalent of keeping about 100,000 cars off the road each year.
"The construction and operation of one or more renewable energy generation plants will provide ongoing skilled employment opportunities." The short-listed tenderers are SpiritWest bioenergy Pty Ltd (biomass - plantation waste), Stanwell Corporation and Griffin Energy (wind farm), Verve Energy (wind farm and-or biomass), Waste Gas Resources Pty Ltd (land fill gas) and Western Australia Biomass Pty Ltd (biomass - plantation waste).
Tuesday 10/4/2007 Page: 12
Synergy has announced a shortlist of five tenderers to compete for the final supply contract or contracts. Synergy managing director Jim Mitchell said a new generating plant using renewable energy sources would need to be built in WA by the successful tenderers and be connected to the southwestgrid.
"This project could potentially supply environmentally-friendly power for more than 65,000 homes and will reduce the overall greenhouse gas intensity of our power supplies," Mr Mitchell said. "It is the equivalent of keeping about 340,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions out of the environment each year, or the equivalent of keeping about 100,000 cars off the road each year.
"The construction and operation of one or more renewable energy generation plants will provide ongoing skilled employment opportunities." The short-listed tenderers are SpiritWest bioenergy Pty Ltd (biomass - plantation waste), Stanwell Corporation and Griffin Energy (wind farm), Verve Energy (wind farm and-or biomass), Waste Gas Resources Pty Ltd (land fill gas) and Western Australia Biomass Pty Ltd (biomass - plantation waste).
Lai Lai turbine plans sent out
Ballarat Courier
Wednesday 11/4/2007 Page: 3
MAPS showing the first released layout of a Lal Lal windfarm have been sent out to about 300 landowners. West Wind Energy has finished preliminary planning for the windfarm and is now working on detailed environmental and technical studies.
A planning permit application is expected to be submitted to the State Government within six months. The proposed Lal Lal windfarm will be split into two sections, one north of Elaine and the other east of Yendon and include between 70 and 80 wind turbines.
Landholders and people who have expressed an interest in the proposal will receive the neaps of the first release of the windfarm's layout and a newsletter providing updates on the project in the mail this week.
A community open day will also be held later this month at the Lal Lal Community Hall. WindWest business development manager Tobias Geiger said the meeting was a chance for people to get first-hand information about the windfarm and identify important viewpoints in the area.
The visual impact is something we address normally by showing photo montages from a number of viewpoints," he said. It gives people a better impression of what it's going to look like and how it's going to affect the landscape in general." Mr Geiger said the visual impact of wind turbines was in the eye of the beholder.
For everyone who doesn't like the look, there's seven or eight who like the look of them," he said. A monitoring mast will be installed on the site in the next couple of weeks to calculate noise and shadow flicker. Mr Geiger said the windfarni was not a "foregone conclusion".
If there is a good reason why we can't meet the local planning scheme or a serious environmental concern or a problem with a guideline, then the project won't be approved," he said. At this stage, we couldn't identify any issue that might be called a 'show stopper'."
The community open day will be held at the Lal Lal Community Hall, Clarendon Rd, Lal Lal on Wednesday, April 18 from 2pm to 8pm.
Wednesday 11/4/2007 Page: 3
MAPS showing the first released layout of a Lal Lal windfarm have been sent out to about 300 landowners. West Wind Energy has finished preliminary planning for the windfarm and is now working on detailed environmental and technical studies.
A planning permit application is expected to be submitted to the State Government within six months. The proposed Lal Lal windfarm will be split into two sections, one north of Elaine and the other east of Yendon and include between 70 and 80 wind turbines.
Landholders and people who have expressed an interest in the proposal will receive the neaps of the first release of the windfarm's layout and a newsletter providing updates on the project in the mail this week.
A community open day will also be held later this month at the Lal Lal Community Hall. WindWest business development manager Tobias Geiger said the meeting was a chance for people to get first-hand information about the windfarm and identify important viewpoints in the area.
The visual impact is something we address normally by showing photo montages from a number of viewpoints," he said. It gives people a better impression of what it's going to look like and how it's going to affect the landscape in general." Mr Geiger said the visual impact of wind turbines was in the eye of the beholder.
For everyone who doesn't like the look, there's seven or eight who like the look of them," he said. A monitoring mast will be installed on the site in the next couple of weeks to calculate noise and shadow flicker. Mr Geiger said the windfarni was not a "foregone conclusion".
If there is a good reason why we can't meet the local planning scheme or a serious environmental concern or a problem with a guideline, then the project won't be approved," he said. At this stage, we couldn't identify any issue that might be called a 'show stopper'."
The community open day will be held at the Lal Lal Community Hall, Clarendon Rd, Lal Lal on Wednesday, April 18 from 2pm to 8pm.
Tuesday, 10 April 2007
Local solutions for global issues
Great Southern Star
Tuesday 3/4/2007 Page: 4
MORE than 60 people gathered at Inverloch's Angling Club Hall to watch a presentation of Al Gore's climate change message recently. This was delivered as part of the South Gippsland Conservation Society's AGM. Attended by society members from throughout the region, together with interested visitors, the meeting addressed issues that are fast-becoming mainstream in our society.
For most of us, the unprecedented water restrictions currently in place in South Gippsland have prompted new approaches to living in a sustainable way, such as installing rainwater tanks and recycling water. It is possible that the increased public discussion about energy options for the future, could have the same effect.
Addressing issues such as these is not new for members of the South Gippsland Conservation Society. Particularly John Gunson, the society's vice president, has been an active member for almost 20 years. He says that while he was not always involved in conservation, activism has always been a central focus of his life.
"We cannot fight every issue, because there's so much going on in the world, but I've always done what I can at the time for whatever issues were surrounding me," John said. Conservation became his focus when, with wife Shirley, John moved to South Gippsland in 1989.
"We started out as members of the Foster branch where, after about five years I became president;' John said. "During the Kennett years, as the leader of the branch, I played a major role in struggles such as Hands off the Prom, and Pacific Oyster Aquaculture in Corner Inlet.
"Winning the Hands off the Prom battle was quite unusual because we were up against the premier of Victoria, who was dedicated to major tourism, and establishing a hotel at Tidal River. "Such a development at Wilsons Promontory would have spoiled a lot of vegetation" John says that this period of time offered him a great deal of experience in conservation. "During the Hands off the Prom issue I was involved in countless radio and television interviews;' John said.
"Even though I was new to conservation at that time, I'd already had a lifetime of activism during my many years living in Melbourne." John says he has always believed in support to local issues as heavily as global issues. "I believe in the saying 'think globally, act locally'," John said.
"Whether it's an issue relating to whaling, or even old growth forests, there's only so much we can do locally, so I've always paid my membership fees for the international societies, knowing that every little bit helps." John and his wife Shirley are long-time members of the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Victorian National Parks Association, Environment Victoria, and supporters of groups such as Trust for Nature, Greenpeace, Bush Heritage Fund, Wilderness Society and the National Trust.
Mainstream
In a world he describes as being driven 'largely by economics and advertising at every level', John says he can understand why people have difficulty being motivated by conservation. In recent years, the society has held two public climate change forums, with about 200 people attending its most recent forum in June last year.
"I think this tells us that people are interested in finding out about what's happening and how they can help, take this year's unprecedented water restrictions for example, people will readily change their actions if directed to do so. "For this reason, I think we lack leadership from our politicians in this area" John said he felt that while the Federal Government had 'finally, and reluctantly' acknowledged climate change as a real issue, in his opinion, 'they're not doing much about it.
"People just assume that the way they're living is the best way to live because no higher regulations, in terms of energy usage, for example, exist. "I think this could be changed quite easily with a little more leadership" John says that, as far as energy is concerned, the coming 10 years are critical'.
"Clean coal will take 10 years, as will nuclear energy, and the truth is, we don't have 10 years to act, it's all about what we do now" John said. "I believe that renewable energy is the partial answer right now; while there's arguments about it being subsidised and therefore more costly, this is nonsense. "All energy is subsidised and anyway, this is beside the point if the world is going to be in trouble."
Local
The South Gippsland Conservation Society and that most people still hope someone else will take action, but there's definitely change taking place.
"It's rarely simple and straightforward;' John said. "For example, with the Bald Hills wind farm issue, we were in favour of renewable energy, however we proposed that the towers not be placed too close to the Bald Hills Wetland Reserve"
As population levels in the coastal towns of South Gippsland slowly rise, John says, membership of the society too remains steady. "I don't think the conservation movement is mainstream yet, there's no flood of people joining the movement;' John said.
"For example, every local government office now has environment workers and within the government there's a sustainability department, both of which were not in place a few decades ago" A clean-up Wonthaggi day, being organised by the secondary college's conservation group, will take place next Tuesday, April 10.
Those wishing to join students on the day should meet at the Guide Park at 10.30am, and bring plastic bags for rubbish. For more details about joining the society, call the Bunurong Environment Centre, Inverloch. on 5674 3738.
Tuesday 3/4/2007 Page: 4
MORE than 60 people gathered at Inverloch's Angling Club Hall to watch a presentation of Al Gore's climate change message recently. This was delivered as part of the South Gippsland Conservation Society's AGM. Attended by society members from throughout the region, together with interested visitors, the meeting addressed issues that are fast-becoming mainstream in our society.For most of us, the unprecedented water restrictions currently in place in South Gippsland have prompted new approaches to living in a sustainable way, such as installing rainwater tanks and recycling water. It is possible that the increased public discussion about energy options for the future, could have the same effect.
Addressing issues such as these is not new for members of the South Gippsland Conservation Society. Particularly John Gunson, the society's vice president, has been an active member for almost 20 years. He says that while he was not always involved in conservation, activism has always been a central focus of his life.
"We cannot fight every issue, because there's so much going on in the world, but I've always done what I can at the time for whatever issues were surrounding me," John said. Conservation became his focus when, with wife Shirley, John moved to South Gippsland in 1989.
"We started out as members of the Foster branch where, after about five years I became president;' John said. "During the Kennett years, as the leader of the branch, I played a major role in struggles such as Hands off the Prom, and Pacific Oyster Aquaculture in Corner Inlet.
"Winning the Hands off the Prom battle was quite unusual because we were up against the premier of Victoria, who was dedicated to major tourism, and establishing a hotel at Tidal River. "Such a development at Wilsons Promontory would have spoiled a lot of vegetation" John says that this period of time offered him a great deal of experience in conservation. "During the Hands off the Prom issue I was involved in countless radio and television interviews;' John said.
"Even though I was new to conservation at that time, I'd already had a lifetime of activism during my many years living in Melbourne." John says he has always believed in support to local issues as heavily as global issues. "I believe in the saying 'think globally, act locally'," John said.
"Whether it's an issue relating to whaling, or even old growth forests, there's only so much we can do locally, so I've always paid my membership fees for the international societies, knowing that every little bit helps." John and his wife Shirley are long-time members of the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Victorian National Parks Association, Environment Victoria, and supporters of groups such as Trust for Nature, Greenpeace, Bush Heritage Fund, Wilderness Society and the National Trust.
Mainstream
In a world he describes as being driven 'largely by economics and advertising at every level', John says he can understand why people have difficulty being motivated by conservation. In recent years, the society has held two public climate change forums, with about 200 people attending its most recent forum in June last year.
"I think this tells us that people are interested in finding out about what's happening and how they can help, take this year's unprecedented water restrictions for example, people will readily change their actions if directed to do so. "For this reason, I think we lack leadership from our politicians in this area" John said he felt that while the Federal Government had 'finally, and reluctantly' acknowledged climate change as a real issue, in his opinion, 'they're not doing much about it.
"People just assume that the way they're living is the best way to live because no higher regulations, in terms of energy usage, for example, exist. "I think this could be changed quite easily with a little more leadership" John says that, as far as energy is concerned, the coming 10 years are critical'.
"Clean coal will take 10 years, as will nuclear energy, and the truth is, we don't have 10 years to act, it's all about what we do now" John said. "I believe that renewable energy is the partial answer right now; while there's arguments about it being subsidised and therefore more costly, this is nonsense. "All energy is subsidised and anyway, this is beside the point if the world is going to be in trouble."
Local
The South Gippsland Conservation Society and that most people still hope someone else will take action, but there's definitely change taking place.
"It's rarely simple and straightforward;' John said. "For example, with the Bald Hills wind farm issue, we were in favour of renewable energy, however we proposed that the towers not be placed too close to the Bald Hills Wetland Reserve"
As population levels in the coastal towns of South Gippsland slowly rise, John says, membership of the society too remains steady. "I don't think the conservation movement is mainstream yet, there's no flood of people joining the movement;' John said.
"For example, every local government office now has environment workers and within the government there's a sustainability department, both of which were not in place a few decades ago" A clean-up Wonthaggi day, being organised by the secondary college's conservation group, will take place next Tuesday, April 10.
Those wishing to join students on the day should meet at the Guide Park at 10.30am, and bring plastic bags for rubbish. For more details about joining the society, call the Bunurong Environment Centre, Inverloch. on 5674 3738.
Skills sought
Hamilton Spectator
Thursday 5/4/2007 Page: 18
THE developer of the Oaklands Hill wind farm has urged Glenthompson and district residents to register for employment during construction of the facility. The developers, Investec Bank and Windlab Systems. expect more than 60 jobs to he created during the 12-18 month design and construction phase.
The joint venture spokesman, Mark Headland, urged anyone with skills that might he useful during the construction phase such as with earthmoving equipment and gravel to register with the company at enquiries@oaklandshillwindfarm.com.au.
"The names and skill base will be included in a database provided to the company that will eventually be selected to design and construct the wind farm." He said the $180 million wind farm, incorporating 43 turbines, would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 364,000 tonnes annually.
The developers hope construction of the turbines will begin in 2008 and the wind farm commissioned in the first quarter of 2009.
Thursday 5/4/2007 Page: 18
THE developer of the Oaklands Hill wind farm has urged Glenthompson and district residents to register for employment during construction of the facility. The developers, Investec Bank and Windlab Systems. expect more than 60 jobs to he created during the 12-18 month design and construction phase.
The joint venture spokesman, Mark Headland, urged anyone with skills that might he useful during the construction phase such as with earthmoving equipment and gravel to register with the company at enquiries@oaklandshillwindfarm.com.au.
"The names and skill base will be included in a database provided to the company that will eventually be selected to design and construct the wind farm." He said the $180 million wind farm, incorporating 43 turbines, would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 364,000 tonnes annually.
The developers hope construction of the turbines will begin in 2008 and the wind farm commissioned in the first quarter of 2009.
Verve Energy meeting challenges
Weekend Courier - Rockingham
Friday 6/4/2007 Page: 27
PLANT reliability, financial performance and climate change are some of the biggest challenges facing Verve Energy, according to acting chief executive Ken Bowron. Speaking on Verve Energy's first anniversary Mr Bowron said community attitudes and expectations were changing, and that Verve, which ran Cockburn and Kwinana Power Stations in Kwinana, would change with them.
"Verve Energy will improve its environmental performance and work towards carbon neutrality," he said. "While our commitment is genuine, our strategies to improve our environmental performance will take time to show results.
"With our diversity of generation options - coal, gas, liquids and renewable energy Verve Energy is better placed than many other generating utilities to move with the times." Mr Bowron said Verve Energy was shutting down old, inefficient generators; improving efficiency of its power stations; pursuing renewable electricity projects such as wind farms, wind, diesel and biomass; supporting the introduction of a carbon trading regime and sponsoring clean coal technology research.
He said while Verve Energy welcomed the competition of the electricity market and the freedom to concentrate on getting its generation right, the first 12 months as a stand-alone electricity generation business had been challenging. While plant reliability was poor for the first eight months, Verve passed with flying colours during the summer, Mr Bowron said.
Friday 6/4/2007 Page: 27
PLANT reliability, financial performance and climate change are some of the biggest challenges facing Verve Energy, according to acting chief executive Ken Bowron. Speaking on Verve Energy's first anniversary Mr Bowron said community attitudes and expectations were changing, and that Verve, which ran Cockburn and Kwinana Power Stations in Kwinana, would change with them.
"Verve Energy will improve its environmental performance and work towards carbon neutrality," he said. "While our commitment is genuine, our strategies to improve our environmental performance will take time to show results.
"With our diversity of generation options - coal, gas, liquids and renewable energy Verve Energy is better placed than many other generating utilities to move with the times." Mr Bowron said Verve Energy was shutting down old, inefficient generators; improving efficiency of its power stations; pursuing renewable electricity projects such as wind farms, wind, diesel and biomass; supporting the introduction of a carbon trading regime and sponsoring clean coal technology research.
He said while Verve Energy welcomed the competition of the electricity market and the freedom to concentrate on getting its generation right, the first 12 months as a stand-alone electricity generation business had been challenging. While plant reliability was poor for the first eight months, Verve passed with flying colours during the summer, Mr Bowron said.
Power of good at Scarsdale
Ballarat Courier
Saturday 7/4/2007 Page: 6
NOT only are Peter and Stephanie Bell doing their bit for the environment, but they also never have to worry about electricity bills. With so much talk of climate change, everyone is thinking about their ecological footprint. The Scarsdale two are determined to make theirs as small as possible.
A small wind turbine on top of their house combined with solar panels is enough to keep their house going almost all year routed. A back-up generator means they are not even connected to the electricity grid.
"We run the generator probably twice a year in winter," he said. "We've got enough power in the batteries to probably do without sunshine for about seven days." The Bells moved to their Scarsdale property about 20 years ago.
They raised four children using the power from four small solar panels. About three years ago they added another six panels and the turbine. Our initial system got us enough power to keep the house going,"
Peter said. If the kids wanted to run the computer to do their homework they had to turn the television off- which wasn't a bad thing. "Now that we've upgraded the system we can run anything off it - I even run power tools in the shed."
Anyone thinking of installing a turbine should contact their council, however. A Golden Plains Shire spokeswoman said some homes needed a permit, depending on a variety of factors.
Contrary to popular belief, the Bells' turbine is smaller than their aerial and creates very little noise. Peter said most of his neighbours were also using alternative energy and hopes the idea catches on. "We're not doing anything special, but we think it's the way to go," he said.
Saturday 7/4/2007 Page: 6
NOT only are Peter and Stephanie Bell doing their bit for the environment, but they also never have to worry about electricity bills. With so much talk of climate change, everyone is thinking about their ecological footprint. The Scarsdale two are determined to make theirs as small as possible.A small wind turbine on top of their house combined with solar panels is enough to keep their house going almost all year routed. A back-up generator means they are not even connected to the electricity grid.
"We run the generator probably twice a year in winter," he said. "We've got enough power in the batteries to probably do without sunshine for about seven days." The Bells moved to their Scarsdale property about 20 years ago.
They raised four children using the power from four small solar panels. About three years ago they added another six panels and the turbine. Our initial system got us enough power to keep the house going,"
Peter said. If the kids wanted to run the computer to do their homework they had to turn the television off- which wasn't a bad thing. "Now that we've upgraded the system we can run anything off it - I even run power tools in the shed."
Anyone thinking of installing a turbine should contact their council, however. A Golden Plains Shire spokeswoman said some homes needed a permit, depending on a variety of factors.
Contrary to popular belief, the Bells' turbine is smaller than their aerial and creates very little noise. Peter said most of his neighbours were also using alternative energy and hopes the idea catches on. "We're not doing anything special, but we think it's the way to go," he said.
Climate: the peril we face
The Australian
April 07, 2007
Leigh Dayton, Science writer
NEARLY a third of the world's plants and animals face extinction, billions of people will be affected by water shortages, and countries across Asia and Africa will be racked by disease and starvation under alarming global warming forecasts made last night by the world's leading climate experts.
The assessment, made by the 2500 scientists who comprise the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, paints the most disturbing picture yet of the damage the world can expect from global warming. Depending on how quickly the planet heats up, vulnerable species could begin disappearing as early as 2030. Australian biodiversity is projected to decline by 2020 at sites such as the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park and sub-Antarctic regions including Macquarie Island.
Draft versions of the summary of the IPCC report, which contains the dire predictions, were fiercely disputed during a week of tense negotiations, ending with a marathon 24-hour session. Publication was delayed after the US, China and Saudi Arabia objected to the toughly worded text, delegates said.
The Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability report, released last night in Brussels, sets out scientists' predictions for the impact on the planet, its plants and animals if the IPCC's earlier forecast of a 1.1C-6.4C rise in global temperatures by 2100 proves correct.
It predicts that millions of people -- mostly in the poorest regions of the world -- would suffer malnutrition, disease, and increased untimely death rates because of heat waves, floods, storms, fires and droughts. The productivity of the world's oceans is likely to plunge, as seas become acidic, with today's coastlines vanishing as sea levels rise and increasingly fierce storms lash the shores.
Agricultural systems are expected to change dramatically, as parts of the planet become too hot or too cold for traditional crops. And glaciers providing fresh drinking water to people in the most populated parts of the world, such as Bangladesh, would disappear, leaving nothing but thirst.
"Roughly 20-30 per cent. .. of species assessed so far are likely to be at increasingly high risk of extinction if global mean temperatures exceed 2-3C above pre-industrial levels," a draft of the report says. "By 2080, it is likely that 1.1 (billion) to 3.2 billion people will be experiencing water scarcity."
The push to extinction -- caused if global average temperatures rise as little as 1.5C above 1990 levels -- would come in response to the reduction or loss of habitat critical to species which can survive only in specific environments.
In Australia, highly adaptable species such as cane toads, cockroaches and some kangaroo species would probably cope, said Andy Pitman, a climate scientist with the University of New South Wales. "But species that lack tolerance to climate like some small possums and koalas -- the cute ones -- would not (survive)." By 2050, flows into the Murray-Darling Basin could fall by 10 per cent to 25 per cent and coastal sea levels could rise by 18-59cm. Even the Australian ski season would be shortened.
However, it is the poorer tropical countries -- the least to blame for the fossil-fuel pollution that scientists say drives global warming -- that will be worst hit. The report is the second of four volumes that comprise the panel's fourth assessment of global warming. Its review of the science of climate change was released in February, with a report on mitigation options and a synthesis report due in coming months.
More than 2500 scientists contributed to the fourth assessment, among them 15 Australian lead authors of the new report. This week, as a working group meeting in Brussels thrashed out the final wording of the summary for policy-makers, extinction became a topic of heated debate between government officials and scientists such as Australian David Karoly, now with the University of Oklahoma.
Dr Karoly -- who will move to University of Melbourne later this year -- and other lead authors claimed diplomats attempted to water down their warnings. They said officials, presumably from the US, forced last-minute changes. US officials were reported to have argued to reduce "quantification", while the Europeans sought to send a strong message about the impacts of climate change.
A final draft, obtained by The Australian, showed the phrase stating that 20-30 per cent of species "will be committed to extinction" had been softened by inserting a reference to species "assessed so far". Retired scientist Ian Burton -- attending the meeting on behalf of the Stockholm Environment Institute -- said the section had been "diluted".
But Australian lead author CSIRO scientist Kevin Hennessy disagreed with Dr Burton's claim. "In any process there will be differing opinions," he said. "(US officials) simply wanted to ensure the report conveyed the most robust science, if it needed to be defensible." Dr Hennessy added that comments from officials regarding the section on Australia and New Zealand toughened, rather than softened, the final wording.
Differences between the final draft and the official document support Dr Hennessy's view. Warnings regarding the loss of regional biodiversity by 2030 were strengthened, for instance, by bringing forward the date to 2020. However, it is clear delegates from China and Saudi Arabia pushed strongly to tone down the degree of certainty of sections covering global natural systems.
They pushed to have statements made with "very high confidence" pulled back to "high confidence", which means more than 80 per cent accuracy as opposed to 90 per cent or near certainty.
Link: www.ipcc.ch
April 07, 2007
Leigh Dayton, Science writer
NEARLY a third of the world's plants and animals face extinction, billions of people will be affected by water shortages, and countries across Asia and Africa will be racked by disease and starvation under alarming global warming forecasts made last night by the world's leading climate experts.
The assessment, made by the 2500 scientists who comprise the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, paints the most disturbing picture yet of the damage the world can expect from global warming. Depending on how quickly the planet heats up, vulnerable species could begin disappearing as early as 2030. Australian biodiversity is projected to decline by 2020 at sites such as the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park and sub-Antarctic regions including Macquarie Island.
Draft versions of the summary of the IPCC report, which contains the dire predictions, were fiercely disputed during a week of tense negotiations, ending with a marathon 24-hour session. Publication was delayed after the US, China and Saudi Arabia objected to the toughly worded text, delegates said.
The Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability report, released last night in Brussels, sets out scientists' predictions for the impact on the planet, its plants and animals if the IPCC's earlier forecast of a 1.1C-6.4C rise in global temperatures by 2100 proves correct.
It predicts that millions of people -- mostly in the poorest regions of the world -- would suffer malnutrition, disease, and increased untimely death rates because of heat waves, floods, storms, fires and droughts. The productivity of the world's oceans is likely to plunge, as seas become acidic, with today's coastlines vanishing as sea levels rise and increasingly fierce storms lash the shores.
Agricultural systems are expected to change dramatically, as parts of the planet become too hot or too cold for traditional crops. And glaciers providing fresh drinking water to people in the most populated parts of the world, such as Bangladesh, would disappear, leaving nothing but thirst.
"Roughly 20-30 per cent. .. of species assessed so far are likely to be at increasingly high risk of extinction if global mean temperatures exceed 2-3C above pre-industrial levels," a draft of the report says. "By 2080, it is likely that 1.1 (billion) to 3.2 billion people will be experiencing water scarcity."
The push to extinction -- caused if global average temperatures rise as little as 1.5C above 1990 levels -- would come in response to the reduction or loss of habitat critical to species which can survive only in specific environments.
In Australia, highly adaptable species such as cane toads, cockroaches and some kangaroo species would probably cope, said Andy Pitman, a climate scientist with the University of New South Wales. "But species that lack tolerance to climate like some small possums and koalas -- the cute ones -- would not (survive)." By 2050, flows into the Murray-Darling Basin could fall by 10 per cent to 25 per cent and coastal sea levels could rise by 18-59cm. Even the Australian ski season would be shortened.
However, it is the poorer tropical countries -- the least to blame for the fossil-fuel pollution that scientists say drives global warming -- that will be worst hit. The report is the second of four volumes that comprise the panel's fourth assessment of global warming. Its review of the science of climate change was released in February, with a report on mitigation options and a synthesis report due in coming months.
More than 2500 scientists contributed to the fourth assessment, among them 15 Australian lead authors of the new report. This week, as a working group meeting in Brussels thrashed out the final wording of the summary for policy-makers, extinction became a topic of heated debate between government officials and scientists such as Australian David Karoly, now with the University of Oklahoma.
Dr Karoly -- who will move to University of Melbourne later this year -- and other lead authors claimed diplomats attempted to water down their warnings. They said officials, presumably from the US, forced last-minute changes. US officials were reported to have argued to reduce "quantification", while the Europeans sought to send a strong message about the impacts of climate change.
A final draft, obtained by The Australian, showed the phrase stating that 20-30 per cent of species "will be committed to extinction" had been softened by inserting a reference to species "assessed so far". Retired scientist Ian Burton -- attending the meeting on behalf of the Stockholm Environment Institute -- said the section had been "diluted".
But Australian lead author CSIRO scientist Kevin Hennessy disagreed with Dr Burton's claim. "In any process there will be differing opinions," he said. "(US officials) simply wanted to ensure the report conveyed the most robust science, if it needed to be defensible." Dr Hennessy added that comments from officials regarding the section on Australia and New Zealand toughened, rather than softened, the final wording.
Differences between the final draft and the official document support Dr Hennessy's view. Warnings regarding the loss of regional biodiversity by 2030 were strengthened, for instance, by bringing forward the date to 2020. However, it is clear delegates from China and Saudi Arabia pushed strongly to tone down the degree of certainty of sections covering global natural systems.
They pushed to have statements made with "very high confidence" pulled back to "high confidence", which means more than 80 per cent accuracy as opposed to 90 per cent or near certainty.
Link: www.ipcc.ch
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