Mirror
Wednesday 15/11/2006, Page: 9
THERE is strong support for renewable energy in South Gippsland.
So say the results of a public poll on renewable energy conducted in October by Gippsland Friends of Future Generations.
"The results conclusively demonstrate South Gippslanders support renewable energy in this region, particularly solar and wind energy," said Foster's Blair Donaldson, a member of Friends of Future Generations.
He said that in order to achieve as random a sample as possible, people were interviewed on the street, with a total of 227 people in Foster, Toora, Meeniyan, Leongatha, Wonthaggi and Grantville filling in the survey.
"The results mirror those of the recent Lowy Institute and A.C. Nielson polls," said Mr Donaldson.
According to the FoFG poll, 93 per cent of people believe Australia should reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 91 per cent believe we should increase our use of renewable energy, 67 per cent believe wind is an effective energy source, 63 per cent say wind energy can help combat global warming and 56 per cent believe wind farms are appropriate in this area as opposed to 22 per cent against. Fifty per cent thought the Toora wind farm was visually good or very good and only 15 per cent disliked the look of the wind farm.
"Despite the often negative media coverage, the misleading statements of some councillors, local politicians and the Prom Coast/Tarwin Guardians, the majority of people in this region are content to see additional wind energy developments here," concluded Mr Donaldson.
"Fifty-six per cent wanted an additional two or more wind farms constructed here, 21 per cent opposed additional wind farms and 23 per cent chose not to respond." He said he believed that no levels of government were keeping up with public sentiment on the matter of renewable energy and its development.
"It's time local councillors and politicians listened to the majority, not a noisy minority," said Mr Donaldson.
Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Second largest wind Farm in WA
Central Midlands & Coastal Advocate
Thursday 16/11/2006 Page: 1
PREMIER Alan Carpenter officially opened Western Australia's second biggest wind farm on Friday.
Located 30 kilometres east of Cervantes on Bibby Road in Badgingarra the $180 million Emu Downs Wind Farm has 48 wind turbines and will generate 80 megawatts of renewable energy. The desalination plant will also be the largest facility of its kind in the world to be powered by renewable energy. The wind farm is set to power Perth's new $387 million seawater desalination plant in Kwinana.
The Premier said the wind farm was a big step towards meeting the State Government's six per cent renewable energy target for WA's main electricity grid, the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS), by 2010.
"The Emu Downs Wind Farm will produce electricity equivalent to powering 50,000 homes and will reduce greenhouse emissions by about 220,000 tonnes each year - the same as taking over 50,000 cars off the road," Mr Carpenter said. "When we announced our (renewable energy) policy at the beginning of 2005, renewable energy accounted for approximately 1.5 per cent of the SWIS.
"That figure has since risen to just over four per cent, with the Emu Downs Wind Farm set to further boost that figure to well over five per cent." Mr Carpenter congratulated the project developers Griffin Energy and Stanwell Corporation on commissioning the facility and using local labour where possible.
"The contractors have collectively injected $10 million into the regional economy, $2 million has been spent locally through employment wages and service procurement and the project management team has spent approximately $1.75 million in the area by way of support to local businesses," he said.
Griffin Energy executive general manager power generation Wayne Trumble agreed it was a major milestone for Griffin and the state. "Emu Downs Wind Farm represents Griffin's long-term commitment to providing environmentally sound and sustainable green energy solutions for WA," he said.
Stanwell acting chief executive officer Gary Humphreys said the wind farm would provide an economic benefit to the local regional and state economy. "Emu Downs Wind Farm will increase visitor numbers to the area, generating greater tourism and local employment opportunities for the region," he said.
The two-year project involved feasibility studies and consultation on matters of wind monitoring, impacts on amenity and wildlife, and compatibility with the regional telecommunications system.
Since 2001 eight wind farms have been installed around WA including Esperance, Rottnest Island, Hopetoun, Bremer Bay, Albany, Exmouth and Walkaway. The Government has also announced three cyclone-proof wind turbines to be built at Coral Bay costing $9.6 million and using new technology developed in WA.
A renewable energy strategy, which will include a target for 2020, will be released early next year.
Thursday 16/11/2006 Page: 1
PREMIER Alan Carpenter officially opened Western Australia's second biggest wind farm on Friday.Located 30 kilometres east of Cervantes on Bibby Road in Badgingarra the $180 million Emu Downs Wind Farm has 48 wind turbines and will generate 80 megawatts of renewable energy. The desalination plant will also be the largest facility of its kind in the world to be powered by renewable energy. The wind farm is set to power Perth's new $387 million seawater desalination plant in Kwinana.
The Premier said the wind farm was a big step towards meeting the State Government's six per cent renewable energy target for WA's main electricity grid, the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS), by 2010.
"The Emu Downs Wind Farm will produce electricity equivalent to powering 50,000 homes and will reduce greenhouse emissions by about 220,000 tonnes each year - the same as taking over 50,000 cars off the road," Mr Carpenter said. "When we announced our (renewable energy) policy at the beginning of 2005, renewable energy accounted for approximately 1.5 per cent of the SWIS.
"That figure has since risen to just over four per cent, with the Emu Downs Wind Farm set to further boost that figure to well over five per cent." Mr Carpenter congratulated the project developers Griffin Energy and Stanwell Corporation on commissioning the facility and using local labour where possible.
"The contractors have collectively injected $10 million into the regional economy, $2 million has been spent locally through employment wages and service procurement and the project management team has spent approximately $1.75 million in the area by way of support to local businesses," he said.
Griffin Energy executive general manager power generation Wayne Trumble agreed it was a major milestone for Griffin and the state. "Emu Downs Wind Farm represents Griffin's long-term commitment to providing environmentally sound and sustainable green energy solutions for WA," he said.
Stanwell acting chief executive officer Gary Humphreys said the wind farm would provide an economic benefit to the local regional and state economy. "Emu Downs Wind Farm will increase visitor numbers to the area, generating greater tourism and local employment opportunities for the region," he said.
The two-year project involved feasibility studies and consultation on matters of wind monitoring, impacts on amenity and wildlife, and compatibility with the regional telecommunications system.
Since 2001 eight wind farms have been installed around WA including Esperance, Rottnest Island, Hopetoun, Bremer Bay, Albany, Exmouth and Walkaway. The Government has also announced three cyclone-proof wind turbines to be built at Coral Bay costing $9.6 million and using new technology developed in WA.
A renewable energy strategy, which will include a target for 2020, will be released early next year.
Keen to be Green
Herald Sun
Saturday 18/11/2006 Page: 96
Some CEOs are leading from the home front on reducing carbon emissions
THE warming of the planet has prompted a radical lifestyle change for IAG chief executive Michael Hawker. The former rugby union international, who played 24 tests for the Wallabies, has been at the vanguard of the push within corporate Australia for the introduction of a carbon emissions trading scheme.
But like a growing number of business leaders, the environmental challenge facing the planet has touched Hawker personally, causing him to rethink his world view and change his way of living.
Hawker is passionate about making his domestic life as greenhouse friendly as he can. He is relaxed and comfortable about waxing discussion of maximising shareholder returns with lowering greenhouse emissions. He says the two are not mutually exclusive, he says.
"My wife has been a very strong influence in doing what we can do in our family to reduce pollution and minimise our impact on the resources of the planet," Hawker says.
"She comes from a rural background and she understands the value of what the land can give you and grew up in droughts, so we've always been recycling." The Hawker family's commitment to the environment means they have organic vegetable garden along with a peep of chickens. Their house is designed to capture and use rainwater and has solar panels and wind turbines on the roof for household energy.
So does Hawker consider himself a devout down-to-earth greenie? "I'm a pragmatist," he says. "It's been an economically sensible thing for us to do - I don't pay as much as I used to in water rates." Hawker says most people would be able to save money on utility bills by reducing their reliance on coal-fired electricity. "We've got all these brick houses with air conditioners, which I think is a nonsense," he says.
Hawker has also reduced his family's carbon emissions by buying a car with a hybrid engine that can run on petrol and electricity. He was one of the first Australians to buy a Toyota Prius, the world's first commercially produced hybrid automobile.
The Prius has been marketed around the world since 2001 and IAG was one of the first companies to adopt the vehicle as the mainstay of its corporate fleet soon after.
Hawker is adamant the company's move to increase its use of renewable energy has generated savings for the group. He says the company has reduced the annual bill of domestic air travel by executives by increasing its use of video conferencing. All of the initiatives are part of a program to make the group carbon neutral by 2012.
"Our commitment to action on climate change is about ensuring the long-term sustainability of our company and the communities in which we operate," Hawker says.
"We have been working on ways to reduce our own carbon dioxide footprint, alerting the community about the risks of climate can"" and researching opportunities for our customers to benefit from carbon dioxide-reducing activities." While Hawker has been an overt proponent for lowering greenhouse emissions for many years, other CEOs are now also highlighting their personal commitment to lowering emissions.
BlueScope Steel chief executive Kirby Adams recently added a rainwater harvesting system to his house to reduce water consumption. The country's largest steel maker offers discounts to employees and shareholders who buy rainwater water tanks for household use.
Steel making contributes to around 2 per cent of all greenhouse emissions, with every tonne of steel produced generating around 2.2 tonnes of damaging gases. For the past five years, BlueScope Steel and other leading steel producers around the world have been sponsoring research aimed at developing new ways to produce steel with less coal.
On Thursday the NSW Government and BlueScope Steel signed a deal that paves the way for Bluescope to develop a $700 million co-generation electricity plant at its Port Kembla steelworks.
The plant will capture gas emissions from steel furnaces to generate up to 120 megawatts of baseload electricity. It is estimated that the plant will save about 800,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions from entering the atmosphere each year. Apart from these initiatives, Mr Adams has accepted an offer to join a five-member business taskforce to advise Prime Minister Howard on an emissions trading scheme.
Another key member of the taskforce is Michael Chaney, the president of the Business Council of Australia. In a watershed address to BCA members in Sydney this week, Mr Chaney likened his view on global warming to his outlook on insurance.
"I doubt if my house will burn down, but I'm prepared to pay a premium just in case," he said.
Despite the BCA's concerns on the potential impact of global warming, Mr Chaney said Australia should not be too concerned about signing the Kyoto Protocol.
"Calls for Australia to sign up to Kyoto run the risk of distracting us from developing more meaningful solutions," he said. "The basis for a valid long-term solution to reducing carbon emissions is a market-driven global compact."
Saturday 18/11/2006 Page: 96
Some CEOs are leading from the home front on reducing carbon emissions
THE warming of the planet has prompted a radical lifestyle change for IAG chief executive Michael Hawker. The former rugby union international, who played 24 tests for the Wallabies, has been at the vanguard of the push within corporate Australia for the introduction of a carbon emissions trading scheme.
But like a growing number of business leaders, the environmental challenge facing the planet has touched Hawker personally, causing him to rethink his world view and change his way of living.
Hawker is passionate about making his domestic life as greenhouse friendly as he can. He is relaxed and comfortable about waxing discussion of maximising shareholder returns with lowering greenhouse emissions. He says the two are not mutually exclusive, he says.
"My wife has been a very strong influence in doing what we can do in our family to reduce pollution and minimise our impact on the resources of the planet," Hawker says.
"She comes from a rural background and she understands the value of what the land can give you and grew up in droughts, so we've always been recycling." The Hawker family's commitment to the environment means they have organic vegetable garden along with a peep of chickens. Their house is designed to capture and use rainwater and has solar panels and wind turbines on the roof for household energy.
So does Hawker consider himself a devout down-to-earth greenie? "I'm a pragmatist," he says. "It's been an economically sensible thing for us to do - I don't pay as much as I used to in water rates." Hawker says most people would be able to save money on utility bills by reducing their reliance on coal-fired electricity. "We've got all these brick houses with air conditioners, which I think is a nonsense," he says.
Hawker has also reduced his family's carbon emissions by buying a car with a hybrid engine that can run on petrol and electricity. He was one of the first Australians to buy a Toyota Prius, the world's first commercially produced hybrid automobile.
The Prius has been marketed around the world since 2001 and IAG was one of the first companies to adopt the vehicle as the mainstay of its corporate fleet soon after.
Hawker is adamant the company's move to increase its use of renewable energy has generated savings for the group. He says the company has reduced the annual bill of domestic air travel by executives by increasing its use of video conferencing. All of the initiatives are part of a program to make the group carbon neutral by 2012.
"Our commitment to action on climate change is about ensuring the long-term sustainability of our company and the communities in which we operate," Hawker says.
"We have been working on ways to reduce our own carbon dioxide footprint, alerting the community about the risks of climate can"" and researching opportunities for our customers to benefit from carbon dioxide-reducing activities." While Hawker has been an overt proponent for lowering greenhouse emissions for many years, other CEOs are now also highlighting their personal commitment to lowering emissions.
BlueScope Steel chief executive Kirby Adams recently added a rainwater harvesting system to his house to reduce water consumption. The country's largest steel maker offers discounts to employees and shareholders who buy rainwater water tanks for household use.
Steel making contributes to around 2 per cent of all greenhouse emissions, with every tonne of steel produced generating around 2.2 tonnes of damaging gases. For the past five years, BlueScope Steel and other leading steel producers around the world have been sponsoring research aimed at developing new ways to produce steel with less coal.
On Thursday the NSW Government and BlueScope Steel signed a deal that paves the way for Bluescope to develop a $700 million co-generation electricity plant at its Port Kembla steelworks.
The plant will capture gas emissions from steel furnaces to generate up to 120 megawatts of baseload electricity. It is estimated that the plant will save about 800,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions from entering the atmosphere each year. Apart from these initiatives, Mr Adams has accepted an offer to join a five-member business taskforce to advise Prime Minister Howard on an emissions trading scheme.
Another key member of the taskforce is Michael Chaney, the president of the Business Council of Australia. In a watershed address to BCA members in Sydney this week, Mr Chaney likened his view on global warming to his outlook on insurance.
"I doubt if my house will burn down, but I'm prepared to pay a premium just in case," he said.
Despite the BCA's concerns on the potential impact of global warming, Mr Chaney said Australia should not be too concerned about signing the Kyoto Protocol.
"Calls for Australia to sign up to Kyoto run the risk of distracting us from developing more meaningful solutions," he said. "The basis for a valid long-term solution to reducing carbon emissions is a market-driven global compact."
WA drinks desalinated water
AAP Newswire
Sunday 19/11/2006
PERTH, Nov 19 AAP - Perth residents today began drinking water from the Indian Ocean with the opening of Australia's first major desalination plant.
Water from the $387 million seawater desalination facility at Kwinana, south of the city, began pumping through Perth's supply system, Premier Alan Carpenter said. It will supply 17 per cent of the city's water when it ramps up to full capacity in two months time, he said.
"Western Australia has become the first state in Australia to use desalination as a major public water source," Mr Carpenter said.
By harnessing water from the ocean, we have acquired an abundant source that is not dependent on rainfall." The plant, built as part of a joint venture between Multiplex Group and French-based water treatment specialist, Degremont, is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the third largest of its kind in the world.
It is powered by electricity generated by the Emu Downs Wind Farm near Cervantes on the western WA coast. The plant will produce 45 gigalitres of water per year or 130 million litres per day, making it the largest single water source feeding into Perth's Integrated Water Supply Scheme.
Sunday 19/11/2006
PERTH, Nov 19 AAP - Perth residents today began drinking water from the Indian Ocean with the opening of Australia's first major desalination plant.
Water from the $387 million seawater desalination facility at Kwinana, south of the city, began pumping through Perth's supply system, Premier Alan Carpenter said. It will supply 17 per cent of the city's water when it ramps up to full capacity in two months time, he said.
"Western Australia has become the first state in Australia to use desalination as a major public water source," Mr Carpenter said.
By harnessing water from the ocean, we have acquired an abundant source that is not dependent on rainfall." The plant, built as part of a joint venture between Multiplex Group and French-based water treatment specialist, Degremont, is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the third largest of its kind in the world.
It is powered by electricity generated by the Emu Downs Wind Farm near Cervantes on the western WA coast. The plant will produce 45 gigalitres of water per year or 130 million litres per day, making it the largest single water source feeding into Perth's Integrated Water Supply Scheme.
Nuclear chief calls for more wind power
Auswind Media Release
Monday 20 November 2006:
The head of Australia’s own nuclear agency has called for the use of more wind power as part of a broad-ranging approach to stabilising Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.
In an interview with the Age newspaper today, the Executive Director of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Dr. Ian Smith, said he believed Australia could stabilise its carbon emissions if governments started taking action now, and that wind energy should be part of the solution.
“We need to be doing it all and we need to be innovative about things like using wind power,” said Dr. Smith.
Auswind's Chief Executive, Dominique La Fontaine, said the ANSTO chief was right when he said that solving climate change would require a mix of energy technologies.
“Our future energy supplies must come from a range of sources, so it is disappointing to see all the attention currently being focused on nuclear and “clean coal”, said Ms. La Fontaine. “Both of those options are at least 10-15 years away and their costs are far from certain. That’s before you even consider factors such as disposal and storage of radioactive waste and the associated security concerns.”
“It is widely accepted that there is no ‘magic bullet’ – no single answer to our future energy needs. Of all the options on the table, wind power is one of very few that is proven worldwide and available now, using mature technology at a reasonable cost, while using no fuel and producing no pollution.”
As with all renewable energy technologies, wind requires an appropriate investment climate to be cost competitive with polluting industries, such as coal-fired power. Australia should be taking immediate action to join the worldwide move towards this clean energy source.
Monday 20 November 2006:
The head of Australia’s own nuclear agency has called for the use of more wind power as part of a broad-ranging approach to stabilising Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.
In an interview with the Age newspaper today, the Executive Director of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Dr. Ian Smith, said he believed Australia could stabilise its carbon emissions if governments started taking action now, and that wind energy should be part of the solution.
“We need to be doing it all and we need to be innovative about things like using wind power,” said Dr. Smith.
Auswind's Chief Executive, Dominique La Fontaine, said the ANSTO chief was right when he said that solving climate change would require a mix of energy technologies.
“Our future energy supplies must come from a range of sources, so it is disappointing to see all the attention currently being focused on nuclear and “clean coal”, said Ms. La Fontaine. “Both of those options are at least 10-15 years away and their costs are far from certain. That’s before you even consider factors such as disposal and storage of radioactive waste and the associated security concerns.”
“It is widely accepted that there is no ‘magic bullet’ – no single answer to our future energy needs. Of all the options on the table, wind power is one of very few that is proven worldwide and available now, using mature technology at a reasonable cost, while using no fuel and producing no pollution.”
As with all renewable energy technologies, wind requires an appropriate investment climate to be cost competitive with polluting industries, such as coal-fired power. Australia should be taking immediate action to join the worldwide move towards this clean energy source.
The truth? 'Nuclear is not the answer'
The Age
November 17, 2006
Leon Gettler
NUCLEAR energy is not the panacea for tackling global warming, says one of the world's most celebrated climate change campaigners, former US vice-president Al Gore.
Mr Gore also shrugged off Prime Minister John Howard's recent claim that his film An Inconvenient Truth showed "a degree of the peeved politician". "It may be one of those elements that's in the eyes of the beholder," he told The Age yesterday.
Mr Gore said nuclear power was unlikely to play a significantly bigger role in the climate change battle. "Even if you set aside the problem of long-term waste storage and the danger of operator accident and the vulnerability to terrorist attack, you still have two others that are more difficult," he said.
The first problem was one of economics. "Nuclear power plants are the costliest to build and they take the longest time and at present they come in only one size — extra large."
The second was nuclear weapons proliferation. "For eight years when I was in the White House, every problem of weapons proliferation was connected to a reactor program," he said.
The Prime Minister has recently talked up the prospects of nuclear power plants being built in Australia, arguing the country could not afford to "sacrifice rational discussion on the altar of anti-nuclear theology and political opportunism".
Next week an inquiry into nuclear power headed by former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski is due to deliver its findings.
Mr Gore said it was extremely important that Mr Howard had now acknowledged the damage from carbon dioxide emissions. "Let me say I want to be respectful of the Prime Minister's change in rhetoric. "It's not easy to do something like that and … this position might be a way station for him on the real road to Damascus where he actually joins the world community," he said. "And he may. I don't know, I can't look into his heart."
Mr Gore said that Australia and the US should sign the Kyoto Protocol but he acknowledged that this presented Mr Howard and US President George Bush with big political problems given that they had previously "demonised" it.
Of Australia's promotion of a new global climate change pact he said: "Obviously neither Australia nor the United States can write its own little treaty and be separate from the rest of the world."
But there was, he said, a third path: "To join the world discussion now in Nairobi on how to strengthen Kyoto and how to make whatever changes Prime Minister Howard wants to advocate and join the rest of the world community. That's the test."
Mr Gore, now chairman of investment firm Generation Investment Management, yesterday met with Premier Steve Bracks and his deputy John Thwaites. He described Victoria as forward thinking on climate change and said he would take a number of local initiatives back to the United States.
He was particularly impressed with the Bracks Government's "black balloons" advertising campaign, which links household energy usage with the amount of carbon dioxide it releases into the air. "I'm going to take that ad back and show it to some folks there, maybe put it on YouTube," he said.
November 17, 2006
Leon Gettler
NUCLEAR energy is not the panacea for tackling global warming, says one of the world's most celebrated climate change campaigners, former US vice-president Al Gore.Mr Gore also shrugged off Prime Minister John Howard's recent claim that his film An Inconvenient Truth showed "a degree of the peeved politician". "It may be one of those elements that's in the eyes of the beholder," he told The Age yesterday.
Mr Gore said nuclear power was unlikely to play a significantly bigger role in the climate change battle. "Even if you set aside the problem of long-term waste storage and the danger of operator accident and the vulnerability to terrorist attack, you still have two others that are more difficult," he said.
The first problem was one of economics. "Nuclear power plants are the costliest to build and they take the longest time and at present they come in only one size — extra large."
The second was nuclear weapons proliferation. "For eight years when I was in the White House, every problem of weapons proliferation was connected to a reactor program," he said.
The Prime Minister has recently talked up the prospects of nuclear power plants being built in Australia, arguing the country could not afford to "sacrifice rational discussion on the altar of anti-nuclear theology and political opportunism".
Next week an inquiry into nuclear power headed by former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski is due to deliver its findings.
Mr Gore said it was extremely important that Mr Howard had now acknowledged the damage from carbon dioxide emissions. "Let me say I want to be respectful of the Prime Minister's change in rhetoric. "It's not easy to do something like that and … this position might be a way station for him on the real road to Damascus where he actually joins the world community," he said. "And he may. I don't know, I can't look into his heart."
Mr Gore said that Australia and the US should sign the Kyoto Protocol but he acknowledged that this presented Mr Howard and US President George Bush with big political problems given that they had previously "demonised" it.
Of Australia's promotion of a new global climate change pact he said: "Obviously neither Australia nor the United States can write its own little treaty and be separate from the rest of the world."
But there was, he said, a third path: "To join the world discussion now in Nairobi on how to strengthen Kyoto and how to make whatever changes Prime Minister Howard wants to advocate and join the rest of the world community. That's the test."
Mr Gore, now chairman of investment firm Generation Investment Management, yesterday met with Premier Steve Bracks and his deputy John Thwaites. He described Victoria as forward thinking on climate change and said he would take a number of local initiatives back to the United States.
He was particularly impressed with the Bracks Government's "black balloons" advertising campaign, which links household energy usage with the amount of carbon dioxide it releases into the air. "I'm going to take that ad back and show it to some folks there, maybe put it on YouTube," he said.
Push for action on nuclear power
Katharine Murphy, Canberra
November 20, 2006
THE head of the body running Australia's nuclear reactor says the solution to stabilising greenhouse gas emissions involves nuclear energy and being innovative with renewables such as wind power. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation boss Dr Ian Smith said governments of the world could afford to wait.
Dr Smith said solving climate change would require a mix of energy sources, including nuclear, and if governments started now, carbon emissions could be stabilised.
"I'm convinced you have to start doing it now, we need to get the conditions right to make the decisions (about the energy mix in Australia) in future years," Dr Smith said. "We need to be doing it all, and we need to be innovative about things like using wind power," he said.
His comments were made before the release of a politically contentious report tomorrow by the head of Prime Minister John Howard's nuclear energy taskforce, Ziggy Switkowski, that is expected to find nuclear energy could be used in Australia within 20 years.
Green groups and anti-uranium activists have intensified their long-standing opposition to nuclear power, and are planning to release their own criticism of Dr Switkowki's findings. A new Energy science Coalition of academics, environmental campaigners and retired diplomat Richard Broinowski will join green groups campaigning against the findings of the inquiry.
Mr Howard yesterday urged people with a genuine interest in climate change to respond to the review in a considered way. Dr Switkowski' s report is expected to find that modern nuclear reactors are safer than those associated with disasters at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.
The report concludes nuclear energy could compete with coal-fired power in Australia because business is expecting government to take steps to make polluters pay for emissions. Mr Howard, backed by the Business Council of Australia, will establish a government-business taskforce to consider a new emissions trading scheme.
Dr Smith said nuclear energy would require a small carbon tax before it could compete with coal-fired power in Australia. "Our view is you have to come to a system that adequately accounts for the environmental damage from all power sources," he said.
ANSTO runs Australia's only nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights and is managing a transition to the new research reactor, OPAL.
November 20, 2006
THE head of the body running Australia's nuclear reactor says the solution to stabilising greenhouse gas emissions involves nuclear energy and being innovative with renewables such as wind power. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation boss Dr Ian Smith said governments of the world could afford to wait.
Dr Smith said solving climate change would require a mix of energy sources, including nuclear, and if governments started now, carbon emissions could be stabilised.
"I'm convinced you have to start doing it now, we need to get the conditions right to make the decisions (about the energy mix in Australia) in future years," Dr Smith said. "We need to be doing it all, and we need to be innovative about things like using wind power," he said.
His comments were made before the release of a politically contentious report tomorrow by the head of Prime Minister John Howard's nuclear energy taskforce, Ziggy Switkowski, that is expected to find nuclear energy could be used in Australia within 20 years.
Green groups and anti-uranium activists have intensified their long-standing opposition to nuclear power, and are planning to release their own criticism of Dr Switkowki's findings. A new Energy science Coalition of academics, environmental campaigners and retired diplomat Richard Broinowski will join green groups campaigning against the findings of the inquiry.
Mr Howard yesterday urged people with a genuine interest in climate change to respond to the review in a considered way. Dr Switkowski' s report is expected to find that modern nuclear reactors are safer than those associated with disasters at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.
The report concludes nuclear energy could compete with coal-fired power in Australia because business is expecting government to take steps to make polluters pay for emissions. Mr Howard, backed by the Business Council of Australia, will establish a government-business taskforce to consider a new emissions trading scheme.
Dr Smith said nuclear energy would require a small carbon tax before it could compete with coal-fired power in Australia. "Our view is you have to come to a system that adequately accounts for the environmental damage from all power sources," he said.
ANSTO runs Australia's only nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights and is managing a transition to the new research reactor, OPAL.
Gore is a man on emission
The Age
November 18, 2006
Leon Gettler is an Age business writer.
Al Gore's public career seemed to be in tatters after the infamous "hanging chads" and other disputed ballots rejected by a vote-counting machine in the 2000 US presidential election.
During that campaign, America's 45th vice-president was dismissed as an uninspiring technocrat, a mere puppet in the shadow of the engaging, charismatic Bill Clinton. And totally "wooden" in comparison to good ole boy George Bush, cowboy boots and all.
Six years later, Gore, 58, has earned cult status by reinventing himself as a green guru. Bush on the other hand has morphed into a lame duck. The US President's popularity is about 31 per cent and heading south. The Democrats have taken control of both houses of Congress after the mid-term elections in which voters punished Bush and his Republicans over ethics scandals in Washington and a failing war in Iraq.
Gore, who has introduced himself as the guy who "used to be the next President of the United States", holds visiting professorships at American universities and lectures widely on climate change. He is also the star of the acclaimed movie An Inconvenient Truth. Along with hurricane Katrina and California's legislation seeking to cut emissions to their 1990 level by 2020, the film has helped shift US public opinion on climate change. It is now ranked as the third-highest-grossing documentary in the US to date. Fahrenheit 9/11 and March of the Penguins head the pack.
The movie has also had an impact worldwide, including in Australia, which, like its fellow non-Kyoto signatory the US, is a frontier society built on the expectations of endless growth and development.
Gore says he had not expected the movie to be as successful. Indeed, he has been struck by its impact here. "I've been extremely grateful for the response that's come, and may I say right here in Australia. There have been other countries, including my own, where there has been a very strong response, but Australia has had a special feeling and flavour to it," he says.
"The enthusiasm that I can sense and the comments from people who walk up to me on the sidewalk, I am just so grateful for the openness with which so many people have received the message of the movie."
A director of Apple and adviser to Google, Gore is also chairman of the London-based investment firm Generation Investment Management, with former Goldman Sachs Asset Management chief executive David Blood as managing partner.
The Blood and Gore business seeks to invest clients' money in companies that not only do well financially but have a good track record in such areas as environmental responsibility and corporate governance.
VicSuper and IAG, clients and founding investors in the investment firm, hosted Gore's visit to Australia this week. In Melbourne on Thursday, he spoke at a business breakfast attended by some of Australia's corporate luminaries including ANZ chief executive John McFarlane, Toll Holdings managing director Paul Little and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel.
In the evening, he received a standing ovation at a presentation he gave at Hamer Hall. The event, sponsored by VicSuper, EPA and Melbourne City Council was free — at the request of Generation Investment Management. About 1700 available tickets were snapped up in 10 minutes.
VicSuper chief executive Bob Welsh says that Gore is playing an important role in turning the investment community's attention to climate change. Most superannuation funds are still switched on to the short term, which in turn sent a signal to businesses. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions requires long-term commitments and strategies.
"The guy's talent is being able to communicate in a way that gives hope," Welsh says. "He says that this is a problem but we need the will and ideas for all of us to work together and that means government, business and the investment community."
But Ray Evans, from the Lavoisier Group, which is critical of the global warming argument, says Gore's double standards show him up as the "Elmer Gantry of our times".
The celebrated novel Elmer Gantry, by Sinclair Lewis, tells the story of a charismatic and opportunistic Bible Belt preacher and hypocritical womaniser. "He's not into fornication but he's into carbon emissions like you have no idea. He's in that American tradition of tent preachers except that God has been replaced by nature," Evans says.
Gore agreed to be interviewed on one strict condition — I was not to ask the obvious question: is he planning to run in 2008. In the end, there was no time anyway. Still, the politician came through. Indeed, one who makes Australian politicos look like small-town burgermeisters.
He laughed when asked about Prime Minister John Howard's line that An Inconvenient Truth showed the former US vice-president up as a "peeved politician". "It may be one of those elements that may be in the eye of the beholder," he says.
And while not criticising Howard directly, the scepticism about the PM's new-found enthusiasm for climate change issues was barely disguised. "I think it's extremely important that the Prime Minister has acknowledged in his words damaging increases in CO2. He's acknowledged that fact and that's important," he says.
But he warned Howard's bid for a "new Kyoto" would fail, unless it included every other country. "I do understand having demonised the treaty, it will be difficult for either John Howard or George Bush to turn around and embrace it full-on, but there is an alternative," he says.
He says another strategy would be to look at strengthening the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and even add any suggested improvements from Howard. "A few years ago, an official in the Bush Administration uttered a famous phrase that became emblematic of the Bush-Cheney problems when he said we create our own reality," he says.
"If one tries to create one's own global treaty without the rest of the world being part of it, that's not quite as bad as trying to create one's own reality or King Canute trying to command the tides. "But I think he has left a trail of bread crumbs back to the global reality. He should go back to it and join the process. I hope he will."
Certainly Gore is dubious of Howard's claims that nuclear energy is the answer, citing the problems of long-term waste storage, danger of operator error and vulnerability to terrorist attack. He says the expense and time it takes to build a nuclear power plant are economically prohibitive.
"And the uncertainty in the future of energy demand, especially when prices are rising, means that utility executives want to keep more of their options open; they don't want to bet their entire construction budget on the most expensive, largest increment that takes the longest time to build," he says. "The final problem is nuclear weapons proliferation. For eight years when I was in the White House, every problem of weapons proliferation was connected to a reactor program."
Renewable energy and energy conservation, he says, are viable propositions. "Wind energy is mainstream and competitive and Victoria is well positioned to benefit as the work picks up on that option. "Renewable energy will play a significant and growing role. Conservation and efficiency will play an even more important role."
But is the world ready to fight climate change? And what of the boom countries of India and China now closing in on the US as the world's biggest greenhouse gas producers?
In a panel session in Nairobi this week, Surya P. Sethi, the principal energy policy adviser to the Indian Government, reportedly told delegates that 50 per cent of his country's population had no access to electricity. Lack of access to modern energy supplies, he said, correlated with high infant mortality, low life expectancies, high gender inequality and low literacy rates.
He warned that India would have to grow at 8 per cent a year for the next 25 years to lift its citizens out of poverty. In the past 25 years of expansion, China has lifted an estimated 300 million people out of poverty, but there are still more than 80 million living below the official poverty line of less than 668 yuan ($A111) a year. China's economy is growing at a rate of close to 10 per cent. These figures raise an important question: does it all boil down to a choice of either reducing carbon emissions or reducing global poverty?
If poor countries were forced to make a choice between energy supply and energy efficiency, what sort of impact would that have on their populations?
And given the way some corporations privatise the profits and socialise the costs by dumping them on the community as so-called "externalities", and given that a growing part of the population are shareholders dependent on companies producing massive earnings, as are our super funds, what is it we really want? Profitability or sustainability?
There is no choice here, Gore says. We just need to redefine what we mean by growth. "With the problem of the notorious externalities, they can be integrated more fully into the way we measure what is progress and what is not," he says. "If growth is calculated in ways that completely ignore the value of being able to breathe clean air, or being able to have an adequate water supply, then it is an artificial measurement.
"What is the value to Australia of having enough water behind the dams? What is the value of avoiding this horrific drought in the future? What is the value of preserving the absolutely unique forms of life on this continent? What is the value of not having more wildfires in the state of Victoria?
"Those things are not valued now. If you have growth at the expense of more drought, more fires, more tropical diseases, stronger storms, less water, then that's not really the kind of growth that people want. "And poor people in less developed nations depend more on nature for their daily sustenance than we do in these industrialised societies."
But are consumers ready for changes to a tax system that could include charges on fuel-guzzling cars, roads, airline travel and landfill? During his time in the White House, Gore was pushing hard for a carbon tax.
Against the warnings of his economic advisers, president Clinton went along with the plan, which went to Congress. After much debate, it was watered down to a US5¢ petrol tax. Voters hated it and two years later they voted for Newt Gingrich and the Republicans to take control of Congress.
So would the public be any more receptive to a carbon tax now?
Gore says the way around the problem is to have a revenue-neutral change in the tax system, where a carbon tax is offset by a reduction in all employment-based taxes, including payroll tax, to zero. In effect, it would be a dollar-for-dollar exchange between the two tax streams.
"You can have adjustment programs for those industries and sectors that are disadvantaged by the shift but we should encourage employment and discourage the destruction of the planet," he says.
This raises several questions. How would the tax revenue be used? And what stops businesses from passing on extra costs to consumers anyway? Gore concedes that politics probably made carbon taxes in some countries, including his own, unfeasible. But what is needed, he says, is a change in the way society, and in particular politicians, addressed difficult issues such as climate change.
"I have often thought that in order to solve the climate crisis we will also have to address the democracy crisis," he says.
"And what I mean by that is that the level and quality and integrity of the democratic discourse has to be elevated. We cannot chart our future on 30-second television commercials and short sound bites. We have to be able to have a conversation in our democracies about our future, a conversation that is rich enough and subtle enough to allow a full discussion of what the real options are.
"If we just throw buzz words at one another, we will not solve our problems."
November 18, 2006
Leon Gettler is an Age business writer.
Al Gore's public career seemed to be in tatters after the infamous "hanging chads" and other disputed ballots rejected by a vote-counting machine in the 2000 US presidential election.
During that campaign, America's 45th vice-president was dismissed as an uninspiring technocrat, a mere puppet in the shadow of the engaging, charismatic Bill Clinton. And totally "wooden" in comparison to good ole boy George Bush, cowboy boots and all.
Six years later, Gore, 58, has earned cult status by reinventing himself as a green guru. Bush on the other hand has morphed into a lame duck. The US President's popularity is about 31 per cent and heading south. The Democrats have taken control of both houses of Congress after the mid-term elections in which voters punished Bush and his Republicans over ethics scandals in Washington and a failing war in Iraq.
Gore, who has introduced himself as the guy who "used to be the next President of the United States", holds visiting professorships at American universities and lectures widely on climate change. He is also the star of the acclaimed movie An Inconvenient Truth. Along with hurricane Katrina and California's legislation seeking to cut emissions to their 1990 level by 2020, the film has helped shift US public opinion on climate change. It is now ranked as the third-highest-grossing documentary in the US to date. Fahrenheit 9/11 and March of the Penguins head the pack.
The movie has also had an impact worldwide, including in Australia, which, like its fellow non-Kyoto signatory the US, is a frontier society built on the expectations of endless growth and development.
Gore says he had not expected the movie to be as successful. Indeed, he has been struck by its impact here. "I've been extremely grateful for the response that's come, and may I say right here in Australia. There have been other countries, including my own, where there has been a very strong response, but Australia has had a special feeling and flavour to it," he says.
"The enthusiasm that I can sense and the comments from people who walk up to me on the sidewalk, I am just so grateful for the openness with which so many people have received the message of the movie."
A director of Apple and adviser to Google, Gore is also chairman of the London-based investment firm Generation Investment Management, with former Goldman Sachs Asset Management chief executive David Blood as managing partner.
The Blood and Gore business seeks to invest clients' money in companies that not only do well financially but have a good track record in such areas as environmental responsibility and corporate governance.
VicSuper and IAG, clients and founding investors in the investment firm, hosted Gore's visit to Australia this week. In Melbourne on Thursday, he spoke at a business breakfast attended by some of Australia's corporate luminaries including ANZ chief executive John McFarlane, Toll Holdings managing director Paul Little and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel.
In the evening, he received a standing ovation at a presentation he gave at Hamer Hall. The event, sponsored by VicSuper, EPA and Melbourne City Council was free — at the request of Generation Investment Management. About 1700 available tickets were snapped up in 10 minutes.
VicSuper chief executive Bob Welsh says that Gore is playing an important role in turning the investment community's attention to climate change. Most superannuation funds are still switched on to the short term, which in turn sent a signal to businesses. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions requires long-term commitments and strategies.
"The guy's talent is being able to communicate in a way that gives hope," Welsh says. "He says that this is a problem but we need the will and ideas for all of us to work together and that means government, business and the investment community."
But Ray Evans, from the Lavoisier Group, which is critical of the global warming argument, says Gore's double standards show him up as the "Elmer Gantry of our times".
The celebrated novel Elmer Gantry, by Sinclair Lewis, tells the story of a charismatic and opportunistic Bible Belt preacher and hypocritical womaniser. "He's not into fornication but he's into carbon emissions like you have no idea. He's in that American tradition of tent preachers except that God has been replaced by nature," Evans says.
Gore agreed to be interviewed on one strict condition — I was not to ask the obvious question: is he planning to run in 2008. In the end, there was no time anyway. Still, the politician came through. Indeed, one who makes Australian politicos look like small-town burgermeisters.
He laughed when asked about Prime Minister John Howard's line that An Inconvenient Truth showed the former US vice-president up as a "peeved politician". "It may be one of those elements that may be in the eye of the beholder," he says.
And while not criticising Howard directly, the scepticism about the PM's new-found enthusiasm for climate change issues was barely disguised. "I think it's extremely important that the Prime Minister has acknowledged in his words damaging increases in CO2. He's acknowledged that fact and that's important," he says.
But he warned Howard's bid for a "new Kyoto" would fail, unless it included every other country. "I do understand having demonised the treaty, it will be difficult for either John Howard or George Bush to turn around and embrace it full-on, but there is an alternative," he says.
He says another strategy would be to look at strengthening the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and even add any suggested improvements from Howard. "A few years ago, an official in the Bush Administration uttered a famous phrase that became emblematic of the Bush-Cheney problems when he said we create our own reality," he says.
"If one tries to create one's own global treaty without the rest of the world being part of it, that's not quite as bad as trying to create one's own reality or King Canute trying to command the tides. "But I think he has left a trail of bread crumbs back to the global reality. He should go back to it and join the process. I hope he will."
Certainly Gore is dubious of Howard's claims that nuclear energy is the answer, citing the problems of long-term waste storage, danger of operator error and vulnerability to terrorist attack. He says the expense and time it takes to build a nuclear power plant are economically prohibitive.
"And the uncertainty in the future of energy demand, especially when prices are rising, means that utility executives want to keep more of their options open; they don't want to bet their entire construction budget on the most expensive, largest increment that takes the longest time to build," he says. "The final problem is nuclear weapons proliferation. For eight years when I was in the White House, every problem of weapons proliferation was connected to a reactor program."
Renewable energy and energy conservation, he says, are viable propositions. "Wind energy is mainstream and competitive and Victoria is well positioned to benefit as the work picks up on that option. "Renewable energy will play a significant and growing role. Conservation and efficiency will play an even more important role."
But is the world ready to fight climate change? And what of the boom countries of India and China now closing in on the US as the world's biggest greenhouse gas producers?
In a panel session in Nairobi this week, Surya P. Sethi, the principal energy policy adviser to the Indian Government, reportedly told delegates that 50 per cent of his country's population had no access to electricity. Lack of access to modern energy supplies, he said, correlated with high infant mortality, low life expectancies, high gender inequality and low literacy rates.
He warned that India would have to grow at 8 per cent a year for the next 25 years to lift its citizens out of poverty. In the past 25 years of expansion, China has lifted an estimated 300 million people out of poverty, but there are still more than 80 million living below the official poverty line of less than 668 yuan ($A111) a year. China's economy is growing at a rate of close to 10 per cent. These figures raise an important question: does it all boil down to a choice of either reducing carbon emissions or reducing global poverty?
If poor countries were forced to make a choice between energy supply and energy efficiency, what sort of impact would that have on their populations?
And given the way some corporations privatise the profits and socialise the costs by dumping them on the community as so-called "externalities", and given that a growing part of the population are shareholders dependent on companies producing massive earnings, as are our super funds, what is it we really want? Profitability or sustainability?
There is no choice here, Gore says. We just need to redefine what we mean by growth. "With the problem of the notorious externalities, they can be integrated more fully into the way we measure what is progress and what is not," he says. "If growth is calculated in ways that completely ignore the value of being able to breathe clean air, or being able to have an adequate water supply, then it is an artificial measurement.
"What is the value to Australia of having enough water behind the dams? What is the value of avoiding this horrific drought in the future? What is the value of preserving the absolutely unique forms of life on this continent? What is the value of not having more wildfires in the state of Victoria?
"Those things are not valued now. If you have growth at the expense of more drought, more fires, more tropical diseases, stronger storms, less water, then that's not really the kind of growth that people want. "And poor people in less developed nations depend more on nature for their daily sustenance than we do in these industrialised societies."
But are consumers ready for changes to a tax system that could include charges on fuel-guzzling cars, roads, airline travel and landfill? During his time in the White House, Gore was pushing hard for a carbon tax.
Against the warnings of his economic advisers, president Clinton went along with the plan, which went to Congress. After much debate, it was watered down to a US5¢ petrol tax. Voters hated it and two years later they voted for Newt Gingrich and the Republicans to take control of Congress.
So would the public be any more receptive to a carbon tax now?
Gore says the way around the problem is to have a revenue-neutral change in the tax system, where a carbon tax is offset by a reduction in all employment-based taxes, including payroll tax, to zero. In effect, it would be a dollar-for-dollar exchange between the two tax streams.
"You can have adjustment programs for those industries and sectors that are disadvantaged by the shift but we should encourage employment and discourage the destruction of the planet," he says.
This raises several questions. How would the tax revenue be used? And what stops businesses from passing on extra costs to consumers anyway? Gore concedes that politics probably made carbon taxes in some countries, including his own, unfeasible. But what is needed, he says, is a change in the way society, and in particular politicians, addressed difficult issues such as climate change.
"I have often thought that in order to solve the climate crisis we will also have to address the democracy crisis," he says.
"And what I mean by that is that the level and quality and integrity of the democratic discourse has to be elevated. We cannot chart our future on 30-second television commercials and short sound bites. We have to be able to have a conversation in our democracies about our future, a conversation that is rich enough and subtle enough to allow a full discussion of what the real options are.
"If we just throw buzz words at one another, we will not solve our problems."
Windfarm plan in for council review
Hepburn Shire Advocate
Wednesday 15/11/2006, Page: 3
THE Hepburn Renewable Energy Association has submitted a planning application for a community-owned windfarm to be built at Leonards Hill. The Hepburn Shire Council building and planning department received the detailed application two weeks ago.
The application documents the design of the windfarm, planning requirements, the HREA, community ownership of the project and community activities including its wind farm bus trips. It also includes expert studies and a photographic simulation of the proposed site.
Worth $8 million, the proposed wind farm would comprise two wind turbines and be built on private farmland at Leonards Hill. The HREA was awarded a $975,000 State Government grant in August for the project.
Future Energy managing director David Shapero, who worked on the application, said he was very proud to be involved with the local community. He said the planning application had been done to the highest possible standard.
We hope the council will look at it favourably," Mr Shapero said. HREA president Per Bernard was excited to take the next step. "I'm so excited to give the community the chance to decide. This is where the community gets its say," he said.
"We have had fantastic support from the community." Council's director of infrastructure and development Rod Conway said it was unusual to get a planning application for a wind farm.
HREA has attracted 370 members, and has been working with Future Energy for the past 18 months on the project. Mr Shapero said if the planning application was successful a cooperative would be established and a formal prospectus would be launched within six months.
"All going well, the association and Future Energy hope to have the wind park within 18 months," he said.
For more information visit www.hrea.org.au or contact Per Bernard on 5348 1298.
Wednesday 15/11/2006, Page: 3
THE Hepburn Renewable Energy Association has submitted a planning application for a community-owned windfarm to be built at Leonards Hill. The Hepburn Shire Council building and planning department received the detailed application two weeks ago.
The application documents the design of the windfarm, planning requirements, the HREA, community ownership of the project and community activities including its wind farm bus trips. It also includes expert studies and a photographic simulation of the proposed site.
Worth $8 million, the proposed wind farm would comprise two wind turbines and be built on private farmland at Leonards Hill. The HREA was awarded a $975,000 State Government grant in August for the project.
Future Energy managing director David Shapero, who worked on the application, said he was very proud to be involved with the local community. He said the planning application had been done to the highest possible standard.
We hope the council will look at it favourably," Mr Shapero said. HREA president Per Bernard was excited to take the next step. "I'm so excited to give the community the chance to decide. This is where the community gets its say," he said.
"We have had fantastic support from the community." Council's director of infrastructure and development Rod Conway said it was unusual to get a planning application for a wind farm.
HREA has attracted 370 members, and has been working with Future Energy for the past 18 months on the project. Mr Shapero said if the planning application was successful a cooperative would be established and a formal prospectus would be launched within six months.
"All going well, the association and Future Energy hope to have the wind park within 18 months," he said.
For more information visit www.hrea.org.au or contact Per Bernard on 5348 1298.
Wind farm approved
Queanbeyan Age
Friday 17/11/2006, Page: 17
WIND FARMS in the local area came one step closer to reality last week with the announcement by the State Government of a major new wind farm at Tarago. The state government used the launch of the wind farm project to announce that it was introducing new targets for renewable energy.
The $220 million wind farm near Tarago will see 63 turbines installed, which the government says will generate enough power for 52,000 homes and eliminate 300,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions each year.
Announcing the wind farm, Premier Morris lemma also spelt out the government's new renewable energy targets, which sets a minimum 15 per cent usage by 2020 - up from the current level of around six per cent.
Member for Monaro Steve Whan welcomed the undertakings and said that it made it more likely that the Monaro would play host to wind farms. "It means there's more likelihood of them (wind farms) going ahead," he said.
"Like any industrial development, we would assess it on its merits. The best place (for wind farms) is going to be broad-acre rural and you have to say there are areas on the Monaro suitable for it." Mr Whan acknowledged there could be community opposition to the plan, but said the costs of inaction were too great. "Wherever you put them, they're going to be near to someone.
People need to accept global warming is the number one problem we face. The impact of not doing anything is far more damaging than the impact on people's lifestyles (of wind farms)," he said.
Local spokesperson for Friends of Renewable Energy, Rasida Nuridan, welcomed the wind farm and the new targets, saying that most people in the community supported renewable energy. "I think it's a small minority of people who are vocal in opposition," she said.
"There has been poll after poll done on this overseas and in Australia and they all have broadly the same figures of around 75 per cent of people in favour and a tiny minority opposed." She added that she hoped the Tarago wind farm would help to change the minds of locals who were opposed. "We have a really good wind resource and we also have the infrastructure in place, so I would hope so."
Friday 17/11/2006, Page: 17
WIND FARMS in the local area came one step closer to reality last week with the announcement by the State Government of a major new wind farm at Tarago. The state government used the launch of the wind farm project to announce that it was introducing new targets for renewable energy.
The $220 million wind farm near Tarago will see 63 turbines installed, which the government says will generate enough power for 52,000 homes and eliminate 300,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions each year.
Announcing the wind farm, Premier Morris lemma also spelt out the government's new renewable energy targets, which sets a minimum 15 per cent usage by 2020 - up from the current level of around six per cent.
Member for Monaro Steve Whan welcomed the undertakings and said that it made it more likely that the Monaro would play host to wind farms. "It means there's more likelihood of them (wind farms) going ahead," he said.
"Like any industrial development, we would assess it on its merits. The best place (for wind farms) is going to be broad-acre rural and you have to say there are areas on the Monaro suitable for it." Mr Whan acknowledged there could be community opposition to the plan, but said the costs of inaction were too great. "Wherever you put them, they're going to be near to someone.
People need to accept global warming is the number one problem we face. The impact of not doing anything is far more damaging than the impact on people's lifestyles (of wind farms)," he said.
Local spokesperson for Friends of Renewable Energy, Rasida Nuridan, welcomed the wind farm and the new targets, saying that most people in the community supported renewable energy. "I think it's a small minority of people who are vocal in opposition," she said.
"There has been poll after poll done on this overseas and in Australia and they all have broadly the same figures of around 75 per cent of people in favour and a tiny minority opposed." She added that she hoped the Tarago wind farm would help to change the minds of locals who were opposed. "We have a really good wind resource and we also have the infrastructure in place, so I would hope so."
Construction begins on wind farm
Ballarat Courier
Friday 17/11/2006 Page: 5
CONSTRUCTION has begun on the first stage of Waubra's $400 million wind farm.
Energy Industries and Resources Minister Theo Theophanous yesterday launched construction on the project, which will save 635,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
"Construction of the Waubra wind farm will initially involve 50 jobs, but this number could eventually rise to 200 jobs for local contractors and employees, from road workers to concreters, fence builders to electricians," he said.
"The start of this important project is great news for the Ballarat region, with most of the jobs going to local subcontractors and employees." Spanish company Acciona Energy has announced Leightons Contractors will begin civil works on the site as part of a $40 million contract, while Portland company Keppel Prince will supply the steel assemblies for the concrete foundations.
But Mr Theophanous warned the project may be halted if the Liberal Party was elected and carried out its threat to abolish the Victorian Renewable Energy Target.
"The Liberal Party has promised to scrap VRET, the Bracks Government's renewable energy policy that supports the industry and supports the Waubra wind farm." The government's Victorian Renewable Energy Target plans to cut 27 million tonnes of green house gas emissions by requiring energy companies to buy 10 per cent of their electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydro-electricity.
Ripon MLA Joe Helper said it was crucial for the Waubra wind farm that the VRET scheme stayed in place. "Only a re-elected Bracks Labor Government will keep VRET and ensure that there are even more renewable energy jobs in this area in the future," he said.
Opposition, energy and resources spokesman Philip Davis failed to return, calls to The Courier yesterday.
Friday 17/11/2006 Page: 5
CONSTRUCTION has begun on the first stage of Waubra's $400 million wind farm.
Energy Industries and Resources Minister Theo Theophanous yesterday launched construction on the project, which will save 635,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
"Construction of the Waubra wind farm will initially involve 50 jobs, but this number could eventually rise to 200 jobs for local contractors and employees, from road workers to concreters, fence builders to electricians," he said.
"The start of this important project is great news for the Ballarat region, with most of the jobs going to local subcontractors and employees." Spanish company Acciona Energy has announced Leightons Contractors will begin civil works on the site as part of a $40 million contract, while Portland company Keppel Prince will supply the steel assemblies for the concrete foundations.
But Mr Theophanous warned the project may be halted if the Liberal Party was elected and carried out its threat to abolish the Victorian Renewable Energy Target.
"The Liberal Party has promised to scrap VRET, the Bracks Government's renewable energy policy that supports the industry and supports the Waubra wind farm." The government's Victorian Renewable Energy Target plans to cut 27 million tonnes of green house gas emissions by requiring energy companies to buy 10 per cent of their electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydro-electricity.
Ripon MLA Joe Helper said it was crucial for the Waubra wind farm that the VRET scheme stayed in place. "Only a re-elected Bracks Labor Government will keep VRET and ensure that there are even more renewable energy jobs in this area in the future," he said.
Opposition, energy and resources spokesman Philip Davis failed to return, calls to The Courier yesterday.
Thursday, 16 November 2006
Third wind turbine maker sets up HQ in Melbourne
AAP Newswire
Wednesday 15/11/2006
MELBOURNE, Nov 15 AAP -A third wind turbine manufacturer will setup its headquarters in Melbourne.
Victorian Energy Minister Theo Theophanous told an energy conference today that European company REpower would move its Australasian headquarters to Melbourne by the end of the year, creating 15 local jobs.
The government's Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) of 10 per cent of energy to be supplied from renewable sources by 2016 had made REpower's decision possible, Mr Theophanous said.
"REpower is now the third major wind turbine manufacturer that's made Melbourne home," he said.
The other wind turbine companies that have set up in Melbourne are Vestas and Suzlon Energy. Mr Theophanous made the announcement during a debate on the merits of renewable energy with Liberal Party energy spokesman Phil Davis ahead of the November 25 state election.
The minister said the VRET was modest by world standards and had been remarkably successful, but a future Liberal government would kill renewable energy in Victoria. But Mr Davis said his party was unconvinced by the merits of the VRET and saw it as nothing more than a vehicle to raise energy costs to consumers and implement new taxes.
He said the VRET largely relied on wind energy, which was unreliable and a poor vehicle for achieving the targets. Mr Davis said energy was one of the keys to the Victorian economy and the state had a unique energy resource in the Hazelwood brown coal mine.
He said Hazelwood was the world's second largest brown coal supply in the world that was equivalent to or greater than the gas reserves in the north-west shelf and it must be preserved.
Wednesday 15/11/2006
MELBOURNE, Nov 15 AAP -A third wind turbine manufacturer will setup its headquarters in Melbourne.
Victorian Energy Minister Theo Theophanous told an energy conference today that European company REpower would move its Australasian headquarters to Melbourne by the end of the year, creating 15 local jobs.
The government's Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) of 10 per cent of energy to be supplied from renewable sources by 2016 had made REpower's decision possible, Mr Theophanous said.
"REpower is now the third major wind turbine manufacturer that's made Melbourne home," he said.
The other wind turbine companies that have set up in Melbourne are Vestas and Suzlon Energy. Mr Theophanous made the announcement during a debate on the merits of renewable energy with Liberal Party energy spokesman Phil Davis ahead of the November 25 state election.
The minister said the VRET was modest by world standards and had been remarkably successful, but a future Liberal government would kill renewable energy in Victoria. But Mr Davis said his party was unconvinced by the merits of the VRET and saw it as nothing more than a vehicle to raise energy costs to consumers and implement new taxes.
He said the VRET largely relied on wind energy, which was unreliable and a poor vehicle for achieving the targets. Mr Davis said energy was one of the keys to the Victorian economy and the state had a unique energy resource in the Hazelwood brown coal mine.
He said Hazelwood was the world's second largest brown coal supply in the world that was equivalent to or greater than the gas reserves in the north-west shelf and it must be preserved.
`Thaggi on nuclear power short-list
South Gippsland Sentinel Times
Tuesday 7/11/2006, Page: 1
Wonthaggi has been short-listed as one of five potential sites for a nuclear power station in Victoria.
By Anna Erbrederis
Wonthaggi was named along with the Latrobe Valley, Avalon, Hastings, and Portland, in a secret report to the Federal Government compiled by nuclear experts. Dr Martin Sevior, a nuclear specialist at Melbourne University, believes Wonthaggi would be an ideal location.
"Criteria for possible locations include access to shipping, access to water, low population density, and access to high voltage transmission lines." Dr Sevior said. "Wonthaggi is very close to the sea, so sea water could be used for cooling at a plant.
"It also has access to shipping, enabling fuel to be moved in, and waste taken out." Dr Sevior said that Wonthaggi's low population density also made it an attractive site. "It is much easier to move a smaller number of people than a larger population in the event of any problems at a station," he said.
"As Wonthaggi has a low population density in comparison to Melbourne and other state centres, it would be simpler to administer an evacuation." Another decisive factor in location scouting is proximity to high voltage transmission lines. "It costs a lot to build these, and Wonthaggi is quite close the Latrobe Valley and to Melbourne. so I guess that's why South Gippsland makes sense," Dr Sevior stated.
The associate professor believes there would be a number of advantages in housing a nuclear power station at Wonthaggi.
"It would be a major employer for the town, with very well-paid positions," he said. "Nuclear power stations don't have to have a big visual impact on the town, they can hide on the other side of a hill." Dr Sevior said that he would support Wonthaggi as a promising location.
"For these types of projects, it is integral to have local interest and backing." he said. "I would only support Wonthaggi as a site if locals thought it was in their interest."
Broadbent not happy
While Dr Sevior painted a positive nuclear picture, Federal Member for McMillan, Russell Broadbent, was less than impressed to have his electorate pinned on the bullseye.
"Not while I'm the Member for McMillan," Mr Broadbent said last week. "South Gippsland is not the place for a nuclear power station, nor is it the place for an industrial wind farm. "It's a pristine environmental area." These comments were made in the face of a statement from Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane last week, claiming that nuclear power would be competitive within 15 years.
Mr Broadbent said that while the South Gippsland area was certainly mentioned in the report to government, he did not believe Wonthaggi was necessarily targeted. The Liberal MP stated that he was opposed to nuclear power.
"Why would we even be considering nuclear power when we have an abundance of cheap, green coal." he said. "Nuclear power is still 20 years away, but we don't want it. "Hands off South Gippsland."
Outraged
Equally outraged was Greens state candidate for Bass, Tully Fletcher. "I am horrified at the idea my home town could be the site of such an illconceived venture." Mr Fletcher said.
"The Greens, and especially myself, are opposed to nuclear power. "We have no way to safely dispose of waste. "Nuclear power is not the solution to climate change, it will take far too long for nuclear energy to have any effect on carbon emissions." Mr Fletcher said that he would prefer to see the government invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
"We have to ask ourselves what's worse . . . wind farms, or a towering nuclear plant rotting our landscape," he said.
Shire Bass Coast Shire CEO. Allan Bawden, said he did not believe Wonthaggi was being considered as a possible location. "Council hasn't seen any reports detailing these kinds of suggestions," Mr Bawden said.
"I would be surprised if the Bass Coast was being considered as a potential site, given that we don't have the requirements that a nuclear power plant would need. "Such as access to a high voltage electrical grid and adequate water for cooling purposes." Mr Bawden also commented that he did not see nuclear power becoming viable in the near future.
"The nuclear industry has a long way to go, in terms of declaring that nuclear power is environmentally safer that other forms of power generation."
Tuesday 7/11/2006, Page: 1
Wonthaggi has been short-listed as one of five potential sites for a nuclear power station in Victoria.
By Anna Erbrederis
Wonthaggi was named along with the Latrobe Valley, Avalon, Hastings, and Portland, in a secret report to the Federal Government compiled by nuclear experts. Dr Martin Sevior, a nuclear specialist at Melbourne University, believes Wonthaggi would be an ideal location.
"Criteria for possible locations include access to shipping, access to water, low population density, and access to high voltage transmission lines." Dr Sevior said. "Wonthaggi is very close to the sea, so sea water could be used for cooling at a plant.
"It also has access to shipping, enabling fuel to be moved in, and waste taken out." Dr Sevior said that Wonthaggi's low population density also made it an attractive site. "It is much easier to move a smaller number of people than a larger population in the event of any problems at a station," he said.
"As Wonthaggi has a low population density in comparison to Melbourne and other state centres, it would be simpler to administer an evacuation." Another decisive factor in location scouting is proximity to high voltage transmission lines. "It costs a lot to build these, and Wonthaggi is quite close the Latrobe Valley and to Melbourne. so I guess that's why South Gippsland makes sense," Dr Sevior stated.
The associate professor believes there would be a number of advantages in housing a nuclear power station at Wonthaggi.
"It would be a major employer for the town, with very well-paid positions," he said. "Nuclear power stations don't have to have a big visual impact on the town, they can hide on the other side of a hill." Dr Sevior said that he would support Wonthaggi as a promising location.
"For these types of projects, it is integral to have local interest and backing." he said. "I would only support Wonthaggi as a site if locals thought it was in their interest."
Broadbent not happy
While Dr Sevior painted a positive nuclear picture, Federal Member for McMillan, Russell Broadbent, was less than impressed to have his electorate pinned on the bullseye.
"Not while I'm the Member for McMillan," Mr Broadbent said last week. "South Gippsland is not the place for a nuclear power station, nor is it the place for an industrial wind farm. "It's a pristine environmental area." These comments were made in the face of a statement from Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane last week, claiming that nuclear power would be competitive within 15 years.
Mr Broadbent said that while the South Gippsland area was certainly mentioned in the report to government, he did not believe Wonthaggi was necessarily targeted. The Liberal MP stated that he was opposed to nuclear power.
"Why would we even be considering nuclear power when we have an abundance of cheap, green coal." he said. "Nuclear power is still 20 years away, but we don't want it. "Hands off South Gippsland."
Outraged
Equally outraged was Greens state candidate for Bass, Tully Fletcher. "I am horrified at the idea my home town could be the site of such an illconceived venture." Mr Fletcher said.
"The Greens, and especially myself, are opposed to nuclear power. "We have no way to safely dispose of waste. "Nuclear power is not the solution to climate change, it will take far too long for nuclear energy to have any effect on carbon emissions." Mr Fletcher said that he would prefer to see the government invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
"We have to ask ourselves what's worse . . . wind farms, or a towering nuclear plant rotting our landscape," he said.
Shire Bass Coast Shire CEO. Allan Bawden, said he did not believe Wonthaggi was being considered as a possible location. "Council hasn't seen any reports detailing these kinds of suggestions," Mr Bawden said.
"I would be surprised if the Bass Coast was being considered as a potential site, given that we don't have the requirements that a nuclear power plant would need. "Such as access to a high voltage electrical grid and adequate water for cooling purposes." Mr Bawden also commented that he did not see nuclear power becoming viable in the near future.
"The nuclear industry has a long way to go, in terms of declaring that nuclear power is environmentally safer that other forms of power generation."
Global warming: setting an example
The Westerner
Thursday 9/11/2006 Page: 31
By Mal McClure
The Federal Government has at long last become interested in what is happening to our environment. One could be cynical and suggest that global warming will be the major issue in the next election but let us be charitable and assume higher motives for the moment.
A couple of weeks ago the government announced plans to fund projects to clean up the horrendous CO2 emissions from the coal-fuelled power generators in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, plus a large-scale solar energy project in the same state. Last week they announced more funding for a whole raft of further initiatives.
And not before time. Anyone who has driven past the huge smoke stacks near Morwell in Victoria could not help but be aghast at the dense pollution belching forth to the heavens. We may not be the world's heaviest polluters overall - USA has that distinction with China rapidly catching up to them - but Australia's per capita contribution to the current global warming disaster is higher than any other western country.
As I write this column, the positive talk now is mainly centred around a carboncatching technique, being developed by CSIRO, whereby CO2 emissions are trapped at the source before they have a chance of entering the atmosphere.
The Victorian solar-powered project is to be welcomed and the sooner it is in production the better for all of us. More mystifying is the Prime Minister's reluctance to embrace wind-powered electricity generation on a large scale. There are wind farms in Victoria that have been operating successfully for many years now and, in Europe, for many decades.
There is still some debate about wind farms and the main objection is primarily on aesthetic grounds. Personally, when driving around Europe almost 10 years ago, I found the sight of wind farms, particularly in Denmark where they were already in abundance, to be rather comforting when compared with the coal-fired turbines to be seen spewing out their pollution elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the drought continues here. Our south-east Queensland dam levels have dropped from 40 per cent of capacity, when Level 1 water restrictions were introduced just 17 months ago, to around 26 per cent today, where we are now under Level 4 restrictions. The odd shower still comes our way but I wouldn't count on seeing the reliable rainfall patterns that we enjoyed until recently. Nowadays we don't hear many pundits expounding the opinion that the drought is cyclic and good times will return.
But this is small discomfort compared with the news last week that, because of rising sea levels, the inhabitants of a small group of six low-lying islands just north of Papua New Guinea are to become the world's first environmental refugees. They are to be relocated next year to Bougainville and, predictably, are none too happy about it. A spokesman for the group complained bitterly that they had enjoyed none of the benefits of civilisation but were suffering the consequences of it.
Last week's report to the British government by the eminent economist Sir Nicholas Stern spelled out, in the most dire terms, that the ultimate cost of global warming would affect the economies of every country to a much greater extent than any previous disaster if we didn't get our collective act together now and plan to avert it.
The Kyoto Protocol, supported by 165 countries, introduced the concept of carbon- trading as a first step, but we need to go much further than that to save our planetary home in the long term. Two western countries, USA and Australia, did not sign up to Kyoto and it is to their everlasting shame that our governments still do not choose to see global warming as the greatest crisis in the world's history.
Only last week, I heard Peter Costello on radio saying there was no point in Australia trying to meet Kyoto targets when major developing countries, particularly China and India, were polluting to a far greater extent than us.
There is a point, Mr Costello. Be positive. Join the 165 countries already Kyoto committed and work with them to save the planet. Be the leader you aspire to be, not a follower, by setting this example. And note last-week's News poll finding that 86 per cent of Australians think the government is not doing enough about climate change.
Mal McClure is the editor/publisher of Being Now, a non-profit magazine which explores and offers innovative, non-doctrinal solutions to problems of humanity.
To subscribe phone: 3289 9392 or email: beingnow@acenet.net.au
Thursday 9/11/2006 Page: 31
By Mal McClure
The Federal Government has at long last become interested in what is happening to our environment. One could be cynical and suggest that global warming will be the major issue in the next election but let us be charitable and assume higher motives for the moment.
A couple of weeks ago the government announced plans to fund projects to clean up the horrendous CO2 emissions from the coal-fuelled power generators in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, plus a large-scale solar energy project in the same state. Last week they announced more funding for a whole raft of further initiatives.
And not before time. Anyone who has driven past the huge smoke stacks near Morwell in Victoria could not help but be aghast at the dense pollution belching forth to the heavens. We may not be the world's heaviest polluters overall - USA has that distinction with China rapidly catching up to them - but Australia's per capita contribution to the current global warming disaster is higher than any other western country.
As I write this column, the positive talk now is mainly centred around a carboncatching technique, being developed by CSIRO, whereby CO2 emissions are trapped at the source before they have a chance of entering the atmosphere.
The Victorian solar-powered project is to be welcomed and the sooner it is in production the better for all of us. More mystifying is the Prime Minister's reluctance to embrace wind-powered electricity generation on a large scale. There are wind farms in Victoria that have been operating successfully for many years now and, in Europe, for many decades.
There is still some debate about wind farms and the main objection is primarily on aesthetic grounds. Personally, when driving around Europe almost 10 years ago, I found the sight of wind farms, particularly in Denmark where they were already in abundance, to be rather comforting when compared with the coal-fired turbines to be seen spewing out their pollution elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the drought continues here. Our south-east Queensland dam levels have dropped from 40 per cent of capacity, when Level 1 water restrictions were introduced just 17 months ago, to around 26 per cent today, where we are now under Level 4 restrictions. The odd shower still comes our way but I wouldn't count on seeing the reliable rainfall patterns that we enjoyed until recently. Nowadays we don't hear many pundits expounding the opinion that the drought is cyclic and good times will return.
But this is small discomfort compared with the news last week that, because of rising sea levels, the inhabitants of a small group of six low-lying islands just north of Papua New Guinea are to become the world's first environmental refugees. They are to be relocated next year to Bougainville and, predictably, are none too happy about it. A spokesman for the group complained bitterly that they had enjoyed none of the benefits of civilisation but were suffering the consequences of it.
Last week's report to the British government by the eminent economist Sir Nicholas Stern spelled out, in the most dire terms, that the ultimate cost of global warming would affect the economies of every country to a much greater extent than any previous disaster if we didn't get our collective act together now and plan to avert it.
The Kyoto Protocol, supported by 165 countries, introduced the concept of carbon- trading as a first step, but we need to go much further than that to save our planetary home in the long term. Two western countries, USA and Australia, did not sign up to Kyoto and it is to their everlasting shame that our governments still do not choose to see global warming as the greatest crisis in the world's history.
Only last week, I heard Peter Costello on radio saying there was no point in Australia trying to meet Kyoto targets when major developing countries, particularly China and India, were polluting to a far greater extent than us.
There is a point, Mr Costello. Be positive. Join the 165 countries already Kyoto committed and work with them to save the planet. Be the leader you aspire to be, not a follower, by setting this example. And note last-week's News poll finding that 86 per cent of Australians think the government is not doing enough about climate change.
Mal McClure is the editor/publisher of Being Now, a non-profit magazine which explores and offers innovative, non-doctrinal solutions to problems of humanity.
To subscribe phone: 3289 9392 or email: beingnow@acenet.net.au
Albany wins top tourism spot
Albany Advertiser
Tuesday 14/11/2006 Page: 3
ALBANY has scooped the competition to win the GWN Top Tourism Town award. With less than two points separating the final five towns, Albany inched over the line to win the accolade on Friday night. "We're ecstatic," City of Albany Tourism Development officer Krysta Guille said.
Judge Gabrielle Ausden said the Albany Visitor Centre did a fantastic job of showing the judges the best Albany had to offer.
"They used every minute to show us an amazing experience: the locally made coffee, a bit of a wonky scooter ride, the wind farm, a whale watching boat tour and also the chance to meet some of the local producers from the markets and Mt Romance," she said.
"We were even greeted by someone dressed up in an old solider's uniform to talk about Albany's heritage." The award is particularly exciting for the City of Albany, which took over the running of the visitor centre 18 months ago.
The launch of the Amazing Albany brand earlier this year and the refurbishment of the centre, completed five months ago, has formed the cornerstone of the new approach toward tourism. "The operators in town really got on board when we launched the brand," Ms Guille said.
"When we hold functions there's such a good turn out. Everyone has really come together for tourism in Albany." The award brings promotional benefits. "We're going to use it as a marketing tactic - we are WA's top tourism town," the City's Economic Development manager Jon Berry said.
"We'll get some TV ads because GWN is one of the major sponsors. "People in the caravans and motor homes, they might be coming here from up north and hopefully this will encourage them to stay a little longer. "People still don't realise how much there is to do down here." Chair of the awards judging panel, Ray Bird, said the standard of entrants was extremely high.
Albany also won the heritage award in the special category section.
Tuesday 14/11/2006 Page: 3
ALBANY has scooped the competition to win the GWN Top Tourism Town award. With less than two points separating the final five towns, Albany inched over the line to win the accolade on Friday night. "We're ecstatic," City of Albany Tourism Development officer Krysta Guille said.
Judge Gabrielle Ausden said the Albany Visitor Centre did a fantastic job of showing the judges the best Albany had to offer.
"They used every minute to show us an amazing experience: the locally made coffee, a bit of a wonky scooter ride, the wind farm, a whale watching boat tour and also the chance to meet some of the local producers from the markets and Mt Romance," she said.
"We were even greeted by someone dressed up in an old solider's uniform to talk about Albany's heritage." The award is particularly exciting for the City of Albany, which took over the running of the visitor centre 18 months ago.
The launch of the Amazing Albany brand earlier this year and the refurbishment of the centre, completed five months ago, has formed the cornerstone of the new approach toward tourism. "The operators in town really got on board when we launched the brand," Ms Guille said.
"When we hold functions there's such a good turn out. Everyone has really come together for tourism in Albany." The award brings promotional benefits. "We're going to use it as a marketing tactic - we are WA's top tourism town," the City's Economic Development manager Jon Berry said.
"We'll get some TV ads because GWN is one of the major sponsors. "People in the caravans and motor homes, they might be coming here from up north and hopefully this will encourage them to stay a little longer. "People still don't realise how much there is to do down here." Chair of the awards judging panel, Ray Bird, said the standard of entrants was extremely high.
Albany also won the heritage award in the special category section.
Renewable energy comes to Myocum
Northern Star
Wednesday 15/11/2006 Page: 7
12-month trial period first hurdle to overcome for wind-powered turbine.
WHILE the Federal Government considers alternative energy, Myocum's Danielle Leonard is making it happen. As managing director of the ReGenesis Farm, she has organised the erection of a $140,000, 20kw wind turbine to power irrigation pumps and run the cool room.
In terms we all understand, the windmill can provide enough electricity to power four family homes. As one of only three of these Westwind-manufactured turbines installed in NSW, it has attracted some interest. As a result, it will be officially commissioned by Byron Shire Council mayor Jan Barham at 3pm today.
According to Ms Leonard, the five-year-old farm - owned by art investor and environmentalist Elaine Seiler - is creating a model for sustainable agriculture.
At the moment it turns over $6000 worth of market garden produce each week, supplying organic herbs and vegetables to local restaurants and wholesalers. To help `close the loop' the farm employs people to cart green waste back to the farm in its biodiesel-powered truck to make compost, which in turn enriches the soil.
The turbine will help make the farm even more ecologically viable, saving the atmosphere 1000 tonnes of greenhouse gases in its lifetime. But environmentally friendly is not necessarily neighbour friendly.
Plans to erect the wind turbine met with a community concerned about noise, looks and its impact on birdlife. As a result, the turbine has approval for a 12-month trial, during which time impacts will be measured.
Ms Leonard says the turbine sounds about as loud as a household fan.
ALTERNATIVE energy from wind and solar needs to be coupled with efficient home design. According to Peter 'Peddles' van der Wyk, of Rainbow Power at Nimbin, a single air-conditioner may use much more than can be produced by small-scale solar, wind or hydro power.
Wednesday 15/11/2006 Page: 7
12-month trial period first hurdle to overcome for wind-powered turbine.
WHILE the Federal Government considers alternative energy, Myocum's Danielle Leonard is making it happen. As managing director of the ReGenesis Farm, she has organised the erection of a $140,000, 20kw wind turbine to power irrigation pumps and run the cool room.
In terms we all understand, the windmill can provide enough electricity to power four family homes. As one of only three of these Westwind-manufactured turbines installed in NSW, it has attracted some interest. As a result, it will be officially commissioned by Byron Shire Council mayor Jan Barham at 3pm today.
According to Ms Leonard, the five-year-old farm - owned by art investor and environmentalist Elaine Seiler - is creating a model for sustainable agriculture.
At the moment it turns over $6000 worth of market garden produce each week, supplying organic herbs and vegetables to local restaurants and wholesalers. To help `close the loop' the farm employs people to cart green waste back to the farm in its biodiesel-powered truck to make compost, which in turn enriches the soil.
The turbine will help make the farm even more ecologically viable, saving the atmosphere 1000 tonnes of greenhouse gases in its lifetime. But environmentally friendly is not necessarily neighbour friendly.
Plans to erect the wind turbine met with a community concerned about noise, looks and its impact on birdlife. As a result, the turbine has approval for a 12-month trial, during which time impacts will be measured.
Ms Leonard says the turbine sounds about as loud as a household fan.
ALTERNATIVE energy from wind and solar needs to be coupled with efficient home design. According to Peter 'Peddles' van der Wyk, of Rainbow Power at Nimbin, a single air-conditioner may use much more than can be produced by small-scale solar, wind or hydro power.
Tidal' energy' wave of future
Bendigo Advertiser
Wednesday 15/11/2006 Page: 25
In the quest for oil-free power, American companies are staking claims on the boundless energy of the sea.
THE technology that would draw energy from ocean tides to keep light bulbs and laptops aglow is largely untested, but several newly minted companies are reserving tracts of water from Alaska's Cook Inlet to Manhattan's East River in the belief that such sites could become profitable sources of electricity.
Tidal power proponents liken the technology to little wind turbines on steroids, turning like windmills in the current. Water's greater density means fewer and smaller turbines are needed to produce the same amount of electricity as wind turbines.
After more than two decades of experimenting, the technology has advanced enough to make business sense. In the past four years, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved nearly a dozen permits to study tidal sites. While applications for about 40 others are under review, no one has applied for a development licence.
The site that is furthest along in testing lies in New York's East River, between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, where Verdant Power plans to install two underwater turbines this month as part of a small pilot project. Power from the turbines will be routed to a supermarket and parking garage on nearby Roosevelt Island.
The six-year-old company will spend 18 months studying the effects on fish before putting in another four turbines. The project will cost more than $US10 million (about $A13 million), including' $U82 million ($A2.6 million) on monitoring equipment.
If all goes well, New York-based Verdant could have up to 300 turbines in the river by 2008 which would produce as much as 10 megawatts of power, or enough electricity for 8000 homes.
With 19,919km of coastline, the US may seem like a wide-open frontier for the fledgling industry, but experts believe only a few will prove profitable, like those beneath San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and in Knik Arm near Anchorage. These ideal sites are close to a power grid and have large amounts or fast-moving water with enough room to build on the sea floor while staying clear of boat traffic.
But Europe, Canada and Asia have moved faster than their US counterparts to support tidal eneyrgy with small facilities in Russia, Canada and China, as well as a 30-year-old plant in France.
In the United States, wave energy technology is less advanced than tidal and will need more government subsidies, however, the number of good wave sites far exceeds that of tidal. Wave power collection involves cork or serpent-like devices that absorb energy from swells on the ocean's surface, whereas tidal machines sit on the sea floor.
Tidal energy technology has been able to build on lessons learned from wind power development, while wave engineers have had to start virtually from scratch, but a few companies are working aggressively to usher wave power into the energy industry.
One of these is Aqua Energy who could start building a wave energy plant at Makah Bay in Washington state within two years. Another wave plant is under construction off the coast of Portugal.
Wednesday 15/11/2006 Page: 25
In the quest for oil-free power, American companies are staking claims on the boundless energy of the sea.
THE technology that would draw energy from ocean tides to keep light bulbs and laptops aglow is largely untested, but several newly minted companies are reserving tracts of water from Alaska's Cook Inlet to Manhattan's East River in the belief that such sites could become profitable sources of electricity.
Tidal power proponents liken the technology to little wind turbines on steroids, turning like windmills in the current. Water's greater density means fewer and smaller turbines are needed to produce the same amount of electricity as wind turbines.
After more than two decades of experimenting, the technology has advanced enough to make business sense. In the past four years, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved nearly a dozen permits to study tidal sites. While applications for about 40 others are under review, no one has applied for a development licence.
The site that is furthest along in testing lies in New York's East River, between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, where Verdant Power plans to install two underwater turbines this month as part of a small pilot project. Power from the turbines will be routed to a supermarket and parking garage on nearby Roosevelt Island.
The six-year-old company will spend 18 months studying the effects on fish before putting in another four turbines. The project will cost more than $US10 million (about $A13 million), including' $U82 million ($A2.6 million) on monitoring equipment.
If all goes well, New York-based Verdant could have up to 300 turbines in the river by 2008 which would produce as much as 10 megawatts of power, or enough electricity for 8000 homes.
With 19,919km of coastline, the US may seem like a wide-open frontier for the fledgling industry, but experts believe only a few will prove profitable, like those beneath San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and in Knik Arm near Anchorage. These ideal sites are close to a power grid and have large amounts or fast-moving water with enough room to build on the sea floor while staying clear of boat traffic.
But Europe, Canada and Asia have moved faster than their US counterparts to support tidal eneyrgy with small facilities in Russia, Canada and China, as well as a 30-year-old plant in France.
In the United States, wave energy technology is less advanced than tidal and will need more government subsidies, however, the number of good wave sites far exceeds that of tidal. Wave power collection involves cork or serpent-like devices that absorb energy from swells on the ocean's surface, whereas tidal machines sit on the sea floor.
Tidal energy technology has been able to build on lessons learned from wind power development, while wave engineers have had to start virtually from scratch, but a few companies are working aggressively to usher wave power into the energy industry.
One of these is Aqua Energy who could start building a wave energy plant at Makah Bay in Washington state within two years. Another wave plant is under construction off the coast of Portugal.
Home Eco: Catch The Wind
Age
Wednesday 15/11/2006 Page: 17
We are used to the idea of solar I panels to generate power, but having your own wind powered generator is something else. Neco, an online store for eco-friendly products has wind-turbine generators for $499.The cast steel and aluminium generator is 4.5 metres high with a 2.1 metre diameter, three-blade rotor. It can generate 200 watts at wind speeds as low as eight metres a second and has a 28V output, which wil I charge a 24V battery bank. The generator is supplied with base, guy wires and mounting hardware. neco.com.au
Wednesday 15/11/2006 Page: 17
We are used to the idea of solar I panels to generate power, but having your own wind powered generator is something else. Neco, an online store for eco-friendly products has wind-turbine generators for $499.The cast steel and aluminium generator is 4.5 metres high with a 2.1 metre diameter, three-blade rotor. It can generate 200 watts at wind speeds as low as eight metres a second and has a 28V output, which wil I charge a 24V battery bank. The generator is supplied with base, guy wires and mounting hardware. neco.com.au
Green power ratings guide consumers
Adelaide Advertiser
Wednesday 15/11/2006 Page: 26
SOLAR and wind power offered by Origin and TRUenergy has been rated the best electricity Australian consumers can buy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new report shows.
Green Electricity Watch 2006 was launched by the Australian Conservation Foundation, WWF-Australia and the Total Environment Centre yesterday to encourage consumers to switch to power retailers that produce the least amount of pollution.
It states at least 25 per cent of electricity will need to be sourced from renewable energy by 2020 to help avoid climate change. The report claims this would only be achieved if more people bought green power provided by retailers.
The three environment groups rated 14 electricity retailers on how environmentally friendly the power is and how much the company had increased the uptake of green power.
Origin's GreenEarth Solar and GreenEarth Wind, along with TRUenergy Wind Power Pty Ltd, were given the maximum rating of four stars. AGL's Green Energy program rated fourth and was given a three-star rating.
Australian Conservation Foundation sustainability program manager Monica Richter said electricity consumption was the biggest cause of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 35 per cent of emissions.
"By buying electricity with the highest amount of green power, we help boost the demand for clean, renewable energy, which immediately cuts our own greenhouse gas emissions," she said. "It is the best way individuals can contribute to reducing Australia's greenhouse pollution." Australians source 92 per cent of electricity from fossil fuels, such as burning coal.
A website, www.greenelectricitywatch.org.au, has been launched to help consumers choose which green energy plan is available to them and how it compares to other companies.
Wednesday 15/11/2006 Page: 26
SOLAR and wind power offered by Origin and TRUenergy has been rated the best electricity Australian consumers can buy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new report shows.
Green Electricity Watch 2006 was launched by the Australian Conservation Foundation, WWF-Australia and the Total Environment Centre yesterday to encourage consumers to switch to power retailers that produce the least amount of pollution.
It states at least 25 per cent of electricity will need to be sourced from renewable energy by 2020 to help avoid climate change. The report claims this would only be achieved if more people bought green power provided by retailers.
The three environment groups rated 14 electricity retailers on how environmentally friendly the power is and how much the company had increased the uptake of green power.
Origin's GreenEarth Solar and GreenEarth Wind, along with TRUenergy Wind Power Pty Ltd, were given the maximum rating of four stars. AGL's Green Energy program rated fourth and was given a three-star rating.
Australian Conservation Foundation sustainability program manager Monica Richter said electricity consumption was the biggest cause of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 35 per cent of emissions.
"By buying electricity with the highest amount of green power, we help boost the demand for clean, renewable energy, which immediately cuts our own greenhouse gas emissions," she said. "It is the best way individuals can contribute to reducing Australia's greenhouse pollution." Australians source 92 per cent of electricity from fossil fuels, such as burning coal.
A website, www.greenelectricitywatch.org.au, has been launched to help consumers choose which green energy plan is available to them and how it compares to other companies.
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Renewable sources could power 25% of U.S. energy needs by 2025
mongabay.com
November 13, 2006
Renewable energy sources could supply one quarter of America's electricity and motor vehicle fuel needs by 2025 according to a new study from RAND, a nonprofit research organisation. Currently six percent is energy used in the United Stats comes from renewable sources like solar, biomass, hydroelectric, tidal, wind, and geothermal.
RAND found that meeting the 25 percent renewable energy target for electricity and motor fuels would not increase total national energy spending assuming that renewable energy production costs continue to drop as expected and that long-term oil prices do not fall out of the range currently projected by the Energy Information Administration.
RAND says that wind power, solar power, and cellulosic ethanol produced from farm waste hold the most potential for generating clean electricity, while biomass converted into ethanol could be used to fuel motor vehicles.
If the 25 percent goal is met, RAND calculates that U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide will be 15 percent lower than projected, while expected demand for oil would fall by 2.5 million barrels.
Mark Bernstein was lead author of the study.
Report: Impacts on U.S. Energy Expenditures of Increasing Renewable Energy Use
November 13, 2006
Renewable energy sources could supply one quarter of America's electricity and motor vehicle fuel needs by 2025 according to a new study from RAND, a nonprofit research organisation. Currently six percent is energy used in the United Stats comes from renewable sources like solar, biomass, hydroelectric, tidal, wind, and geothermal.
RAND found that meeting the 25 percent renewable energy target for electricity and motor fuels would not increase total national energy spending assuming that renewable energy production costs continue to drop as expected and that long-term oil prices do not fall out of the range currently projected by the Energy Information Administration.
RAND says that wind power, solar power, and cellulosic ethanol produced from farm waste hold the most potential for generating clean electricity, while biomass converted into ethanol could be used to fuel motor vehicles.
If the 25 percent goal is met, RAND calculates that U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide will be 15 percent lower than projected, while expected demand for oil would fall by 2.5 million barrels.
Mark Bernstein was lead author of the study.
Report: Impacts on U.S. Energy Expenditures of Increasing Renewable Energy Use
How to save a mountain
Colorado Voices: Louisville
Article Last Updated:11/11/2006
In the Appalachians, mountains that have stood for thousands of years are being blasted away to provide electricity for televisions, computers and light bulbs. I've been in an ecovillage that uses only solar, water and wind power, and I can say first-person that there's no need whatsoever for this massive destruction.
Two recent documentaries, Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and Jeff Barrie's "Kilowatt Ours," have brought some solutions into the foreground of thought in the Southeast. It's time for the Mountain West to start working to save our softer sisters, the Appalachians, from certain death.
The first and easiest change that any American can make would be to replace all incandescent light bulbs with compact bulbs, those curly looking ones that cost a little more upfront. Each one saves $55 during the life of the bulb, along with hundreds of pounds of coal.
Wind and solar power destroy nothing, and it's easy to create a solar-powered life, even for a nightbird like me. I'm a night reader, and I love to write at night. Instead of brightening a whole room, I can turn on my curly light-bulb lamp, using a little bit of coal instead of a lot, or I can wear my hiker's light, which has an LED bulb. The hiker's light actually supplies exactly the right amount of illumination for writing and reading, and it costs almost nothing to run. Plus, it uses no coal at all.
There's no real sacrifice to living this way. In ecovillages, solar panels store up energy, and each house in the community has a unique style. The Earthship is insulated with recycled tires. The community building has straw bale insulation in the walls and a gorgeous floor of recycled marble.
It doesn't take living in an ecovillage to make a significant difference. Cities, counties and school districts can make sweeping changes and save millions of dollars while saving the mountains. In traffic lighting, LED lights will last seven years instead of 90 days. Exit signs, too, can use LED for power.
Any new buildings in the city, be they schools or other new construction, could use daylighting as a means of conserving energy usage. Schoolchildren would benefit most, since use of daylight instead of artificial light increases test scores and improves student attitudes. Instead of those annoying, buzzing overhead fluorescents that actually can cause headaches and anxiety, the kids sit in rooms awash with sunshine.
I propose that cities in Colorado make sweeping changes to save our sister mountains to the East. We can insist that no new developments be built anywhere in the area unless they are completely self-sufficient, net-zero-energy homes, passive solar and utilising only renewable power sources.
By using a geothermal system, passive solar construction and integrated photovoltaic panels, a home can be made completely self-sufficient. The geothermal system pumps water and recirculates it, keeping houses cool in summer and warmer in winter. In Boulder, Xcel Energy offers the option of green, clean wind energy for people who simply check a box on their energy bill, so there's no reason for every citizen not to do exactly that. Energy companies can take it a step farther, too, by offering rebates and incentives for homeowners to add solar panels to existing homes.
In my ecovillage, nobody cares about television, but many of us use computers. We also don't use aluminium cans much; instead, we drink fresh spring water and make our own tea, wines and juices in this fertile land. The irony is that the mountains being destroyed by the energy companies to feed those TV needs are ecologically diverse beauties that provide the real resources that human beings actually need to be self-sustaining - fresh spring water, daylight, clean streams, green plants, fresh air.
People with modest incomes often are the first ones to begin to make a significant difference, knowing that every penny counts, motivated by saving money as well as saving nature. Some people can afford to waste their money, but humanity as a whole can't afford to waste the mountains.
The results of our efforts will have one huge, tangible result: Our children's grandchildren will be able to enjoy the birdsong and beauty of the Appalachian Mountains. A simple visit to the Southeast shows mighty mountains falling down - and for what? Lights and computers left on for no reason; televisions blaring in the dark.
I'd like for schoolchildren across America to rally their all-too-complacent elders. Their grandchildren will be the ones choking with asthma, in an ecosystem devoid of soft mountains and fresh air. Then again, why make the children carry our conscience and the consequences? We can start now to save the country's softest mountains.
Article Last Updated:11/11/2006
In the Appalachians, mountains that have stood for thousands of years are being blasted away to provide electricity for televisions, computers and light bulbs. I've been in an ecovillage that uses only solar, water and wind power, and I can say first-person that there's no need whatsoever for this massive destruction.
Two recent documentaries, Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and Jeff Barrie's "Kilowatt Ours," have brought some solutions into the foreground of thought in the Southeast. It's time for the Mountain West to start working to save our softer sisters, the Appalachians, from certain death.
The first and easiest change that any American can make would be to replace all incandescent light bulbs with compact bulbs, those curly looking ones that cost a little more upfront. Each one saves $55 during the life of the bulb, along with hundreds of pounds of coal.
Wind and solar power destroy nothing, and it's easy to create a solar-powered life, even for a nightbird like me. I'm a night reader, and I love to write at night. Instead of brightening a whole room, I can turn on my curly light-bulb lamp, using a little bit of coal instead of a lot, or I can wear my hiker's light, which has an LED bulb. The hiker's light actually supplies exactly the right amount of illumination for writing and reading, and it costs almost nothing to run. Plus, it uses no coal at all.
There's no real sacrifice to living this way. In ecovillages, solar panels store up energy, and each house in the community has a unique style. The Earthship is insulated with recycled tires. The community building has straw bale insulation in the walls and a gorgeous floor of recycled marble.
It doesn't take living in an ecovillage to make a significant difference. Cities, counties and school districts can make sweeping changes and save millions of dollars while saving the mountains. In traffic lighting, LED lights will last seven years instead of 90 days. Exit signs, too, can use LED for power.
Any new buildings in the city, be they schools or other new construction, could use daylighting as a means of conserving energy usage. Schoolchildren would benefit most, since use of daylight instead of artificial light increases test scores and improves student attitudes. Instead of those annoying, buzzing overhead fluorescents that actually can cause headaches and anxiety, the kids sit in rooms awash with sunshine.
I propose that cities in Colorado make sweeping changes to save our sister mountains to the East. We can insist that no new developments be built anywhere in the area unless they are completely self-sufficient, net-zero-energy homes, passive solar and utilising only renewable power sources.
By using a geothermal system, passive solar construction and integrated photovoltaic panels, a home can be made completely self-sufficient. The geothermal system pumps water and recirculates it, keeping houses cool in summer and warmer in winter. In Boulder, Xcel Energy offers the option of green, clean wind energy for people who simply check a box on their energy bill, so there's no reason for every citizen not to do exactly that. Energy companies can take it a step farther, too, by offering rebates and incentives for homeowners to add solar panels to existing homes.
In my ecovillage, nobody cares about television, but many of us use computers. We also don't use aluminium cans much; instead, we drink fresh spring water and make our own tea, wines and juices in this fertile land. The irony is that the mountains being destroyed by the energy companies to feed those TV needs are ecologically diverse beauties that provide the real resources that human beings actually need to be self-sustaining - fresh spring water, daylight, clean streams, green plants, fresh air.
People with modest incomes often are the first ones to begin to make a significant difference, knowing that every penny counts, motivated by saving money as well as saving nature. Some people can afford to waste their money, but humanity as a whole can't afford to waste the mountains.
The results of our efforts will have one huge, tangible result: Our children's grandchildren will be able to enjoy the birdsong and beauty of the Appalachian Mountains. A simple visit to the Southeast shows mighty mountains falling down - and for what? Lights and computers left on for no reason; televisions blaring in the dark.
I'd like for schoolchildren across America to rally their all-too-complacent elders. Their grandchildren will be the ones choking with asthma, in an ecosystem devoid of soft mountains and fresh air. Then again, why make the children carry our conscience and the consequences? We can start now to save the country's softest mountains.
Green building materials conserve scarce resources
Record Online
November 12, 2006
Imagine if we could have entire neighbourhoods designed green, with solar and wind power, geothermal heating and cooling and energy-efficient green buildings that make us feel good and breathe easier.
This would be a better world.
As it is, traditional buildings drain the world's natural resources by 3 billion tons each year, or roughly 40 percent of the world's total use, according to the World Watch Institute's 1995 report.
By using green building materials and products, we conserve dwindling non-renewable resources. By integrating green building materials into new building projects, we reduce the environmental impact of extraction, transportation, processing, fabrication, installation, reuse, recycling and disposal of these building materials.
And, we enjoy reduced maintenance costs over the life of the building, energy efficiency and improved health and productivity from a better working and living environment. As homeowners and consumers, we are the ones who determine whether green building materials are used in our homes and who installs them.
Many architects will not automatically include passive solar or green building ideas unless their clients press them for those things. Most builders will opt for the cheapest material to get the job done quickly, not the best materials to do the job right for the next generation. We can't wait for government initiatives to reduce the costs, or mandates to start the green ball rolling. We have to do it ourselves.
What makes a material "green" is not always clearly defined. In 1998, the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C., came up with a checklist for a green building certificate, called LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
What most of these products have in common is that they come from renewable sources and don't contain toxic chemicals that leach into the home environment. Here are a few green materials and suppliers that you might be able to find locally.
Recycled-plastic lumber or decking — like Trex, for instance — is a highly durable material that won't deteriorate or fall prey to pests. You can find it on occasion at the Hudson Valley Materials Exchange or order it through your local hardware or home-supply store.
Bamboo and cork floorings are 100 percent natural, as well as being renewable wood sources. We have both in our home, and they look beautiful.
Bamboo flooring is as hard as maple, more stable than oak and usually comes with a lifetime structural warranty. Cork is softer, bacteria-resistant and has interesting burled wood grains. Cork flooring is actually made from the waste of the cork wine-stopper manufacturing process.
Green Courage in Cold Spring has an assortment of floor coverings that qualify as green building materials.
Marmoleum floor coverings are a natural alternative to linoleum. They are available in sheets or tiles, are made from natural flax, rosins, wood flour and are backed with jute.
Green Courage offers wool rugs and carpets produced in North America made with natural jute, rubber and hemp. None of these floor covering contains pesticides or solvents, and they don't leak terrible things into your home. Many can also be ordered through your independent flooring stores and installers.
Bio-boards are a light, strong, moisture-resistant and cost-effective engineered core that binds agricultural waste products like wheat straw fibre, sunflower hulls, palm or sorghum stalks into boards that come in a variety of widths, lengths and thicknesses.
Most of these boards will outperform particleboard, are lighter and are easier to cut and use. All are produced with formaldehyde-free resin binders and off-gassing, which is a boon for asthmatics and small children. You can find them at Green Courage as well as wholesale to builders at Bettencourt Building Supply in Brooklyn.
November 12, 2006
Imagine if we could have entire neighbourhoods designed green, with solar and wind power, geothermal heating and cooling and energy-efficient green buildings that make us feel good and breathe easier.
This would be a better world.
As it is, traditional buildings drain the world's natural resources by 3 billion tons each year, or roughly 40 percent of the world's total use, according to the World Watch Institute's 1995 report.
By using green building materials and products, we conserve dwindling non-renewable resources. By integrating green building materials into new building projects, we reduce the environmental impact of extraction, transportation, processing, fabrication, installation, reuse, recycling and disposal of these building materials.
And, we enjoy reduced maintenance costs over the life of the building, energy efficiency and improved health and productivity from a better working and living environment. As homeowners and consumers, we are the ones who determine whether green building materials are used in our homes and who installs them.
Many architects will not automatically include passive solar or green building ideas unless their clients press them for those things. Most builders will opt for the cheapest material to get the job done quickly, not the best materials to do the job right for the next generation. We can't wait for government initiatives to reduce the costs, or mandates to start the green ball rolling. We have to do it ourselves.
What makes a material "green" is not always clearly defined. In 1998, the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C., came up with a checklist for a green building certificate, called LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
What most of these products have in common is that they come from renewable sources and don't contain toxic chemicals that leach into the home environment. Here are a few green materials and suppliers that you might be able to find locally.
Recycled-plastic lumber or decking — like Trex, for instance — is a highly durable material that won't deteriorate or fall prey to pests. You can find it on occasion at the Hudson Valley Materials Exchange or order it through your local hardware or home-supply store.
Bamboo and cork floorings are 100 percent natural, as well as being renewable wood sources. We have both in our home, and they look beautiful.
Bamboo flooring is as hard as maple, more stable than oak and usually comes with a lifetime structural warranty. Cork is softer, bacteria-resistant and has interesting burled wood grains. Cork flooring is actually made from the waste of the cork wine-stopper manufacturing process.
Green Courage in Cold Spring has an assortment of floor coverings that qualify as green building materials.
Marmoleum floor coverings are a natural alternative to linoleum. They are available in sheets or tiles, are made from natural flax, rosins, wood flour and are backed with jute.
Green Courage offers wool rugs and carpets produced in North America made with natural jute, rubber and hemp. None of these floor covering contains pesticides or solvents, and they don't leak terrible things into your home. Many can also be ordered through your independent flooring stores and installers.
Bio-boards are a light, strong, moisture-resistant and cost-effective engineered core that binds agricultural waste products like wheat straw fibre, sunflower hulls, palm or sorghum stalks into boards that come in a variety of widths, lengths and thicknesses.
Most of these boards will outperform particleboard, are lighter and are easier to cut and use. All are produced with formaldehyde-free resin binders and off-gassing, which is a boon for asthmatics and small children. You can find them at Green Courage as well as wholesale to builders at Bettencourt Building Supply in Brooklyn.
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