The apostles of renewable energy

Western Suburbs Weekly
15/01/2008 Page: 17

WEST Perth engineer Steve Gates hopes to encourage the public and the WA Government to shift to using more renewable power via the Sustainable Energy Now (SEN) lobby group.

"The group came about because of a push for nuclear energy, and we felt that even if it was the last option on earth, you would still be cautious of it, especially when there are so many other options available," he said. "The best weapon against nuclear energy is to prove that you don't need it." Mr Gates, who serves as the SEN chairman, has worked with about 25 fellow volunteer professionals on the Conservation Council affiliated group since May in a bid to spread the word about alternative power resources.

The group draws expertise from engineers, physicists, geo-physicists and computer modellers who all offer their time to the project away from their regular working roles. "Things don't move quite as fast as you'd like them to but we already have a fair bit of research available to open people's eyes about the potential of renewable energy," he said. One of the ways that the group hopes to change public perception is an online simulation set to take shape on the SEN website later this year.

Visit www.sen.asn.au for information about the group.

UK power firms hit as regulator proposes carbon windfall tax

www.environmental-finance.com/
Fri, 18 Jan 08

London, 17 January: Share prices of carbon-exposed UK power generators slipped yesterday, following proposals from the market regulator to claw back windfall profits from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Drax Group, which owns the biggest coal-fired power station in western Europe, fell 5.2%, while Scottish & Southern Energy shares dropped 2.2%. The FTSE 100 was down 1.4% on the day by comparison.

Ofgem has calculated that electricity companies could see windfall profits of £9 billion ($17.7 billion) from the EU ETS over 2008-12. The EU ETS has led to a cost of carbon being added to the price of electricity in Europe, which is currently borne by consumers. However, because generators receive a free allocation of emissions allowances, they are able to profit from the scheme. This windfall should be reclaimed by the government to help alleviate fuel poverty, Ofgem added.

"There's not necessarily any immediate threat of the government implementing Ofgem's proposal to redistribute free carbon benefits to the fuel impoverished, but we believe the general threat this raises of some degree of political intervention will likely weigh on sentiment in the UK utilities sector," said Colin Pollock, UK utilities research analyst at Credit Suisse in London.

"This is a genuine suggestion," said a spokesman for the regulator, adding that it had originally floated the idea in its response to the government's 2006 energy white paper. "We think it is an idea whose time has come." The government was lukewarm in its response, saying that this was just "an Ofgem proposal" and that "decisions on tax policy are a matter for the Chancellor in the context of the Budget and Pre-Budget cycles." A finance ministry spokesman added that increased auctioning of allowances in the EU ETS will help address this issue.

The UK is set to auction 7% of its allowances for Phase II of the EU ETS, and the European Commission is expected next week to propose 100% auctioning for the power sector in Phase III of the scheme, which will run 2013-20.

Ofgem estimates that the EU ETS adds £31 to consumers' electricity bills each year. The government's Renewables Obligation, which requires power suppliers to source an annually-increasing amount of power from renewables, adds a further £10 a year. The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, which sets energy suppliers targets to reduce household emissions by increasing energy efficiency and microgeneration, is expected to add £38 a year once it comes into force this April.

US wind generating capacity leaps 45% in 2007

www.environmental-finance.com/
Fri, 18 Jan 08

London, 17 January: The US wind energy sector installed 5,244MW of new capacity last year – investing $9 billion, and accounting for a third of all new power-producing capacity in the country in 2007.

"This is the third consecutive year of record-setting growth, establishing wind energy as one of the largest sources of new electricity supply for the country," said Randall Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), which compiled the figures released today. "This remarkable and accelerating growth is driven by strong demand, favourable economics and a period of welcome relief from the on-again, off-again, boom-and-bust cycle of the federal production tax credit [PTC] for wind energy," he added.

There is now 16,818MW of wind energy capacity in the US, up 45% across 34 states, on the end of 2006. American wind farms will generate an estimated 48 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy in 2008, just over 1% of US electricity supply, and powering the equivalent of more than 4.5 million homes. AWEA's initial estimates suggest that 2008 could see similar volumes of new capacity installed, but it warns that the PTC – which provides a tax break per-kWh of power from certain types of renewable energy capacity – is set to expire at the end of this year.

"The US wind industry calls on Congress and the president to quickly extend the PTC – the only existing US incentive for wind energy – in order to sustain this remarkable growth along with the manufacturing jobs, fresh economic opportunities, and reduction of global warming pollution that it provides," said Swisher. In terms of wind turbine sales, GE Energy continued to lead, accounting for 45% of new capacity installed. FPL Energy remained top of the list of wind project developers, with 956MW of new development in 2007 alone.

Time for more turbines

Yorke Peninsula Country Times - Kadina
15/01/2008 Page: 1

The first of 42 wind turbines which are to atop the Barunga Ranges is now up and operating. At 3pm on December 23, the massive turbine began generating power into the South Australian grid via the newly constructed sub station at its base, which was completed on December 17.

Eighty metres from the ground to the hub-its two blades having a rotor diameter of 88 metres (one blade is larger than the wing of a jumbo jet)-it now stands as a landmark, visible for kilometres. It is also a boon to farmers who want to discern wind direction. The mighty blades always yaw into the wind, the Suzlon turbines - manufactured in India - being upwind machines. All the foundations for the remaining turbines will be completed this week, and cabling between numbers one and 10 is in place.

The site is a hive of activity with trucks, cranes and utes, and between 50 and 100 personnel working at various times. Towers and blades are likely to be spotted being transported and arriving on-site over the next four months, with the Suzlon turbines expected to be up and fully commissioned by October this year. The 42 turbines will have an 88 megawatt capacity generating enough power for 60,000 homes. They form Stage One of a wind farm that could eventually see 132 turbines dotted across the Hummocks and Barunga Ranges.

Pacific Hydro to free up funds

Australian Financial Review
16/01/2008 Page: 42

Now that the Rudd government has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, committed to an emissions trading system and set a target of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, Pacific Hydro is to move ahead with plans for developing 1000 megawatts of wind energy at a cost of about $2.5 billion.

Industry Funds Management, which bought Pacific Hydro for $925 million in 2005, is reviewing its capital structure to enable this accelerated expansion. Potentially interested parties include: AGL Energy, Origin Energy and CLP Holdings - owner of TRUEnergy. Germany's Conergy, Spain's Acciona and New Zealand's Meridian Energy are also potential partners.

Liberating the voices of science

Australian
16/01/2008 Page: 23

Researchers should be encouraged to share knowledge, not gagged by affiliation, writes Kim Carr

AUSTRALIANS look to our scientists and researchers to contribute to our economic, social and environmental wellbeing and to expand our horizons of knowledge. This inevitably involves controversial interpretations. It is through the contest of ideas that we expand our understanding.

The Labor Government looks to scientific debate as an essential means of resolving difference of opinion about our options as a society. Australia faces a growing number of social, economic and environmental issues marked by their intractability and the need for long-term, collaborative action to address them. The reality of climate change, environmental degradation, the need to boost productivity, address skill shortages and the impact of globalisation are just a few of the more important issues.

Governments are elected with the responsibility to govern: to develop and implement policies and programs that address the challenges we face. This means governments must continually make choices between competing policy options. The Rudd Government looks to its science and research agencies to provide cutting-edge scientific research from which policy can be formulated. The Government recognises that it carries the responsibility for such policy formulation and is accountable to parliament and the people.

In this context, it is essential to communicate new ideas and to infuse public debate with the best research and new knowledge. Public debate must be as well informed as possible and those who have expertise in the areas under debate must be able to contribute. This means that researchers working in our universities and public research agencies must be and must be allowed to be active participants in such debates. We need to reinvigorate the concept of the public intellectual. We need to ensure that public communication is as important as professional discourse. Public concern and questioning from the Labor Party at Senate Estimates hearings about the gagging of its scientists led the CSIRO in 2006 to review its then-restrictive policy on public comment by CSIRO staff.

The resulting revised policy restored some fundamental principles: CSIRO scientists "are encouraged to communicate the outcomes and implications of their scientific research and, where relevant, policy options and scenarios stemming from their scientific findings." And again: "In a world of rapidly evolving public debate and discourse, a national research agency such as CSIRO should discharge its public role by being readily and rapidly available to provide information on the most up-to-date science and technology and its implications for the nation." I support and commend this policy position, and believe we can do better.

It is not good enough to allow scientists and other researchers to comment on matters of public interest but then to quarantine them from contentious issues. As is often the case, it is in matters of contention and sharp debate that their knowledge and expertise is most valuable. Their right to speak out and to represent their research or discoveries must be protected. The Rudd Government has done away with the contractual constraints on the right of NGOs to criticise government policy without fear that they will lose public funding. In a parallel context, the same must hold true for our public sector researchers. Our public research agencies, by and large, lack any formal recognition of the rights of their research staff to legitimate freedom of expression.

In the absence of codification of those rights, is it any wonder that in recent years accusations of political interference by the former Howard government have involved organisations as disparate as the Australian Research Council, the CSIRO and the National Museum of Australia? The Rudd Government is committed to creating a charter (akin to that of the ABC) for public research agencies, including the CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

These charters will identify and guarantee the responsibilities and obligations of each organisation. They will enshrine not only the right, but the obligation, of scientists and other researchers to participate in public research debates. As an initial step, I will be consulting with public research agencies on developing a policy addressing these issues. The principles guiding such a policy will include: Encouragement of debate on scientific and other research issues of public interest. Support for the independence and integrity of public research agencies.

Recognition that the Government remains responsible for the articulation, formulation and implementation of government policy. Support for the open communication, dissemination of information and debate about the results of scientific, technical and social research. Recognition that researchers are encouraged to engage in such communication and debate. The Rudd Government's commitment to the independence of all researchers as they share knowledge and participate in public debate is not an isolated commitment. The Government also has taken decisive action to restore the independence of the Australian Research Council.

The creation of' an independent advisory council for the ARC has been well received by the research sector, and I have further guaranteed the independence and integrity of the ARC through measures for greater transparency in decision-making and through my commitment to provide a public explanation should any grants he rejected. These actions, both taken and proposed reflect the principles of freedom of expression and the right of scientists and any other researchers to participate in public debate.

Senator Kim Carr is the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Carbon land deal spur

North Queensland Register
17/01/2008 Page: 3

THE big-money future of carbon trading in rural Australia may be spelled out by the financial future of two of the smallest cattle stations in the Top End. Pastoralist Peter Camm has reportedly been offered $80 million for La Belle Downs and Welltree Stations on the coastal fringe of the Timor Sea, 120km south-west of Darwin. The adjoining properties cover a total of 916 square kilometres, and carry about 22,000 cattle.

The Murdoch-owned Northern Territory News has quoted Mr Camm, 58, as saying he had been offered $80 million for both stations, but that the sale had not yet gone through. The NT News reported its journalists had been told the stations were under offer at a premium price by an international investment company, with the 916 square kilometers to be used as carbon emission trade-offs for industrial projects.

Rumors circulating in Darwin's financial circles last week indicated that the likely buyer is the merchant bank, Babcock and Brown, which is already a player in the emerging carbon trading market. Mr Camm bought La Belle Downs from Territory cattle identity Henry Townsend in 2000 for $11 million, and the Camm family trust paid Wallco Cattle Company principle John Quintana $13.5 million for Welltree in 2005.

The NT News quoted cattle industry sources saying the two stations would normally sell for about $30 million, and that if the rumors are true, the carbon traders could distort the market if they are prepared to pay a $50 million premium for less than 1000sq km of cattle country. The news comes as merchant banks scrambled to acquire `green' property and investment portfolios to prepare for Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's plans to legislate new mandatory renewal energy targets within 400 days of the 2007 election, and develop a domestic carbon emissions trading scheme.

Last month, Transfield Services Infrastructure, which owns power stations, bought five wind farms from the Queensland Government for $470 million. Origin Energy has bought a 30 percent stake in a geothermal company in South Australia, and this month, Macquarie Bank joined forces with Germany company Epuron to build the largest wind farm in Australia at Broken Hill, NSW.

In talking to the NT News, Mr Camm emphasised that he had not sold his stations yet, and denied all knowledge of the carbon trade. "I don't even know what a carbon emission trade-off means," he said. In 2005, the NT Government compulsorily acquired land the build a road through La Belle Downs following confrontations between Mr Camm and people crossing his property.

People line up to spell out clean energy target

Bega District News
11/01/2008 Page: 15

MORE than 200 people turned out on Sunday, December 30, at Potato Point in the Eurobodalla Shire to form a human sign spelling out the community targets of 50/50 by 2020.

50/50 by 2020 translates to a 50 per cent reduction in energy consumption and the use of 50 per cent renewable energy by the year 2020. The targets set firm goals for participating shire communities to create action on the most pressing issue of our time, climate change. The crowd was there to express their concerns about climate change and re-enforce that 50/50 by 2020 is a community target that requires every member of the community to participate.

The sign was organised by the Beachcomber Holiday Park at Potato Point. The owners not only organised the sign but are leaders themselves in climate change. The park is completely solar powered, drinking water for patrons is collected on site and the waste water system uses plant material to process the effluent. The park has three new cabins that are 5-star energy rated and include solar hot water. The rest of the park will have solar hot water in the very near future.

2020 is now just 12 years away and Clean Energy for Eternity, along with the community, intends to make great steps this year to meet the targets. 2008 is the year Clean Energy for Eternity intends to turn the first sod of the proposed 10ha solar farm. This local project will not only create significant local investment but jobs in construction and maintenance.

CEFE also has a local wind farm survey to follow up. These projects will be co-ordinated by a community-owned company with corporate partners. CEFE has a host of other projects in energy efficiency and renewable energy, including Lifesaving Energy.

Rock-solid energy

Sunday Tasmanian
13/01/2008 Page: 67

POWER stations conjure up images of great hulking buildings belching out smoke and noise. But what if a power station could be the size of a shed, sitting alongside residential houses and releasing no emissions? The power it draws is at the mercy of neither sun nor wind and, unlike hydro electricity, it is drought-proof.

Experts say it could one day compete with coal-fired power stations and eliminate the need for nuclear reactors. It is not hard to see why geothermal or "hot rock" energy was for years considered the product of overactive imaginations. Technical director of Victorian-based consultancy Hot Dry Rocks Graeme Beardsmore first tried to rouse interest in Tasmania's promising geothermal resource four years ago.

"I am a bit of a fan for geothermal in Tasmania - the geology is good, the infrastructure is good and you have got Basslink across to the mainland so you can sell the power for a reasonable price," Mr Beardsmore said. "The government and industry people smiled and nodded, but at that stage they thought geothermal was pie in the sky and not serious at all." But late last year residents of the German city of Landau proved the elaborate promises of the technology were more than hot air when they became the first commercial users of hot rock energy.

In theory the concept is simple. Two holes are drilled up to 5km into rocks (usually granite) that hold heat from the earth's core. Water is injected down the first hole and becomes superheated to temperatures between 150 to 250 degrees as it passes through fractures in the hot rock before rising from the second hole as steam. The steam either drives a turbine directly or is used to boil a secondary liquid before being condensed and injected back underground to form a closed loop.

In a perfect system the water used can be recirculated indefinitely. Without careful management the heat reserves in the rocks can be temporarily exhausted. "But there is no risk of cooling the earth's core, which you hear from panic merchants occasionally," Mr Beardsmore said.

After a slow start, Australia isn't far behind Landau in proving hot rock energy is viable. Industry leader Geodynamics plans to start producing demonstration power in the Cooper Basin in outback South Australia by the middle of this year. In the past five years 32 companies (including three in Tasmania) have started looking for suitable geothermal resources. The Energy Supply Association of Australia estimates that by 2030 almost 7 per cent of Australia's electricity will be sourced from hot rocks.

But with massive resources available underground, experts have their sights set on the energy industry's big guns. "We don't see ourselves as competing with solar, wind or biofuels. Our competitors are clean coal and nuclear and natural gas - the other potential base load providers of clean energy," Mr Beardsmore said. geothermal is the only renewable energy source capable of supplying constant baseload power to keep cities and towns running 24 hours a day.

For Tasmanian-based KUTh Energy, the granite boulders at Bicheno and the iconic Hazards at Freycinet are monuments of promise to geothermal energy. It is that granite, buried deep underground in their nearby tenements, from which they hope to produce up to 200 megawatts of energy. KUTh general manager Malcolm Ward estimates it will take five years and cost at least $35 million to build a five megawatt pilot power station in Tasmania.

"Geothermal is more expensive than existing dirty coal and gas, but if a carbon tax is put on them, their costs will go up, and geothermal, over the long run, will be at least competitive and maybe even cheaper than fossil fuels." Tasmania's major advantage is that its high-voltage power network is easily accessible from anywhere in the state.

As the technology matures, state and federal governments are starting to take notice of the hot rock industry. But it is the enthusiastic stock market and environmentally conscious mum and dad investors that has secured the future for hot rock energy with $800 million in private investment. Hot Dry Rocks geologist Ben Waining said: "A lot of it is being driven by people's awareness of climate change and they are really willing to put their money where their beliefs are. You can see that in Tasmania."

Winds of change sweep world

West Australian
11/01/2008 Page: 19

Climate change is rewriting dramatically the rules for business, investors and consumers worldwide, affecting more than $100 billion in annual capital flows, a new report says. Global spending on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal leapt 27 per cent to an estimated $66 billion last year, after a 33 per cent jump in 2006, according to the annual Worldwatch Institute State of the World report.

It says that investment in carbon trading is growing even faster, nearly tripling in 2006 to an estimated $30 billion. In Australia, a surge in corporate spending on energy technology is expected as the Labor Government promotes its target of 20 per cent of the nation's electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020. It has pledged a national carbon trading system from 2010, possibly requiring businesses to pay for emission permits.

Launching the report, which is in its 25th year, the president of Worldwatch, Chris Flavin, said that the world had woken up to the environmental challenges facing it and was moving towards a vibrant, sustainable economy. Yale University environmental law professor Daniel Esty said there was a sea change in business attitudes towards the environment. Global corporations such as General Electric, Toyota and Dow were embracing clean technology, not because they were "do-gooders" but because the bottom line was right, he said.

According to World Bank data, 39 countries experienced a drop in wealth of at least 5 per cent when taking environmental damage - unsustainable forestry, carbon emissions, depletion of non-renewable resources - into account. It coincided with clean technology growing rapidly, by 78 per cent to nearly $3 billion in 2006, to be the third-biggest area of venture capital investment behind the internet and biotechnology.

The report says more needs to be done, calling for a government policy overhaul to steer investment away from fossil fuels and towards sustainable practices. It was revealed this week that Victoria's annual energy-related greenhouse emissions had surged nearly 30 per cent since 1990 because of its reliance on brown-coal power stations.

"We have the tools today to steer the global economy on to a sustainable path," the report says. "The task now is to bring them together and scale them up so that they become the norm across today's economies." The report praises Australia for the Howard government policy of replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, which are four times as efficient.

Japan is expected to pledge $11.35 billion over the next five years to help developing countries such as China and India combat the effects of global warming. The move, reported in the Nikkei business daily, comes after Japan was criticised by environmentalists for arguing against compulsory greenhouse emission reduction targets at the climate change summit in Bali.

Manager for Solar Cities

Centralian Advocate
11/01/2008 Page: 5

A MANAGER has been found to take charge of Alice Springs' $40m Solar Cities project. Brian Elmer from Queensland's Environment Protection Agency was announced yesterday as the project's general manager. Alice Springs Solar Cities Consortium selected Mr Elmer because of his previous work developing and promoting renewable energies in Australia and Scotland.

Mr Elmer says he believes the project is a world first for measuring solar power use over an entire town. He said: "It's one of the best jobs to have in renewables at Australia at the moment. "On a concentrated city-wide basis we can measure supply and demand, emissions and build local awareness." Mr Elmer begins work in Alice Springs on January 28 organising next month's project launch.

He said: "Climate change is starting to be felt on the local level. "Australia is one of the sunniest countries in the world, but the uptake of solar power here is quite low compared to other countries. "But I'm surprised in Alice Springs every second house it seems has a solar hot water system." The consortium aims to have 225 photovoltaic systems and 1000 hot water systems installed across Alice Springs over the next six years. Plans for the project's solar power station - to be located beside Power and Water's sewerage ponds at Ilparpa - are now on exhibition at the Department of Planning and Infrastructure's Alice Plaza offices for public comment.

Heatwave cash bonanza: As temps rise, Hydro buys low, sells high

Hobart Mercury
12/01/2008 Page: 16

Tasmania capitalised on Victoria's new year heatwave yesterday exporting power at premium prices as electricity consumption surged to record levels because of the use of air conditioners. On Thursday when the mercury climbed to 40C in Melbourne, Hydro exported power at prices up to $1616 a megawatt hour. Hydro's trading of electricity via the undersea cable Basslink came despite Hydro storages being at their lowest January levels since 2002.

Energy storage is 3754 gigawatt hours: it was 6365GWh in January 2006. Hydro exported electricity between 11.30am and 7pm on Thursday and imported overnight between 7pm Thursday and 9am yesterday. Hydro also sold power into the National Electricity Grid between 9am and 1pm yesterday. When a cool change hit Melbourne about 1pm the switch was flicked and Tasmania imported power between 1pm and 4pm.

Basslink spokesman Matt Mahon said that the undersea connector had been operating at full capacity of 630 megawatts on Thursday afternoon. Hydro spokeswoman Helen Brain said that the flexibility allowed by Basslink was important to Hydro. "Hydro Tasmania is able to import energy during off-peak periods to sustain our storages and export when prices are very high as they have been over the past two days." she said. "It allows us to generate income back into the business and balance some of the cost of imports." The Hydro yesterday released figures for 2007 that show it generated income despite being a net importer of electricity.

While the import of 1887 gigawatt hours cost $78.7 million the export of 594 GWh brought revenue of $86.6 million. The cheaper average price of imported power ($41.68 per GWh compared with the average exported price of $145.76 per GWh) gave a profit of nearly $8 million. Hydro used Bell Bay gas-fired power station and wind turbines at Woolnorth to protect water storages. In 2006-07 electricity imports cost Hydro $65 million on top of the $92 million annual Basslink fee.

Denmark powers up, water down

Farm Weekly
10/01/2008 Page: 144

TWO significant issues facing communities in the Denmark-Walpole region are the adequate supplies of power and water. For some time the supply of these essential utilities has been under threat with power fluctuations and severe water restrictions becoming a regular inconvenience. The uniform supply of power to a community is of vital importance and the success of businesses and tourist ventures in the region are affected substantially by an irregular or insufficient power supply.

Denmark Shire president Kim Barrow said in April last year that the towns have the equivalent of a Third World power supply after prolonged blackouts cost local businesses thousands of dollars in lost trade during the Easter holiday weekend. Energy Minister Francis Logan refuted the claim but the State Government moved quickly to overcome the problem.

Western Power committed to spend $14 million in Denmark and Walpole in five years from May last year to improve electricity supply to the area starting with $2 million to install voltage regulators at Torbay and Tingledale and a new line section at the Albany end of the lines to Denmark and Walpole. Unless power demands rise greatly in five years another $10m will be spent on a new 22kV line to Denmark by 2012.

Other improvements from the Regional Power Improvement Scheme include replacing wood poles and pole top equipment coated with silicon to reduce pole top fires. Western Power and the Government were also criticised by the Denmark Chamber of Commerce in 2007 for a failure to develop a new policy on charges for new connections in outlying areas. The utility said the fault lay with the Government which was debating a subsidy for remote users.

After waiting for about eight months, Denmark and Walpole residents were finally able to apply for a new power connection in early September, with the approval process taking between four to six weeks. About 30 applications had been put on hold while the Government decision was being debated. But its planning for sustainable power to the area has identified the value of electricity generated by wind farms.

The success of the Albany wind farm which provides, on average, about 75pc of the city's power, encouraged the establishment of the Denmark Community Wind Farm Project. Considerable community debate has occurred but a chosen site at Wilson Head will minimise visual and noise impact for residents and limit environmental disturbance while also being a particularly effective site because of regular winds. Wilson Head's proximity to an existing high voltage power line will reduce the cost of supplying power to the grid.

Although the existing infrastructure's capacity has meant a reduction in the size of the original windfarm it is envisaged it could provide about 55pc of the current power consumption of the area while also enabling a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. "Land vesting agreements and contracts to supply power between the Denmark Community Wind Farm and the State Government are still to be finalised;" Denmark Community Wind Farm chairman Craig Chappelle said.

"We will then order the turbines from the European suppliers, which could take between 18 months and two years to be supplied, especially in light of the substantial increase of windfarms across Europe." The windfarm has the capacity to expand its power supply which is an advantage with the Denmark area developing at its current rate and the resulting construction of new community services.

"The building of a new hospital, due for completion in September 2008, will provide an increase in aged care beds and a larger facility for ancillary health services," Mr Barrow said. "Coupled with other independent aged care facilities being developed currently, the town will be able retain a greater proportion of elderly residents who previously were forced to move away." A number of subdivisions, both private and Government backed, will provide the opportunities for more people to move into the area.

These improvements, as well as a steady increase in tourism ventures such as cellar door sales and restaurant facilities at many of the region's wineries, will also result in an increase in employment. Although in a high rainfall region, Denmark has experienced several dry years and the water supply is reaching a crisis point with the town dam below 30pc capacity and level five water restrictions.

UK Government backs new N-power stations

West Australian
11/01/2008 Page: 24

Britain gave the green light to a new generation of nuclear energy stations yesterday, ending years of uncertainty over its energy plans and adding momentum to atomic energy's worldwide renaissance. "The Government believes that new nuclear energy stations should have a role to play in this country's future energy mix alongside other low-carbon sources," Business Secretary John Hutton told Parliament.

He also published an Energy Bill signalling greater deployment of renewable energy and increased investment in Carbon Capture and Storage as well as offshore gas infrastructure. "It would be in the public interest to allow energy companies the option of investing in new nuclear energy stations and that the Government should take active steps to open up the way to the construction of nuclear energy stations," he said.

"It will be for energy companies to fund, develop and build nuclear energy stations in the UK, including meeting the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management costs," Mr Hutton said. The long-awaited but expected announcement was criticised by environmental campaigners, who are threatening legal action.

Nuclear energy stations produce about 20 per cent of the country's electricity but all but one are due to close by 2023. Nuclear energy has long been a controversial issue, unpopular with many in the governing Labour Party. In 2006, then-prime minister Tony Blair signalled his support for nuclear energy, saying it was crucial to guaranteeing Britain's energy supplies. The Government has promised to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 60 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050. It sees nuclear energy as part of a mix of clean and renewable energy sources that includes wave and wind energy.

Need to tackle climate change reinforced

Northern Times
11/01/2008 Page: 7

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Annual Australian Climate Statement, released last week, reinforces the need to tackle climate change, said the Minister for Climate Change and Water Penny Wong.

The statement revealed that:

• 2007 was the sixth hottest year on record in Australia,
• 2007 was the hottest year on record in the Murray Darling basin, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, and
• South-east Australia has now missed out on the equivalent of an average year's rainfall over the past 11 years, and under the current drought, water storages have had record low inflows.

The statement also revealed that 16 of the last 18 years have been warmer than the long-term average in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology's picture of the Australian climate during 2007 was consistent with the trends outlined in the 2007 global climate change science assessment that was released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Ms Wong said the statement provided valuable evidence that would inform the Government's response to climate change.

"This statement reinforces the Rudd Government's approach in making climate change a top priority," said Ms Wong. "The first act of the Rudd Government was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. "This new leadership continued at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, where Australia played a constructive role in negotiations on the `Bali Roadmap'. "This year the Government will be working on a National Emissions Trading Scheme and increasing the uptake of renewable energy. "All these efforts demonstrate the Rudd Government's determination to do its bit in the global challenge to tackle climate change.

Ms Wong congratulated the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for their work. "For 100 years, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has served Australians with important research and analysis on our climate, and providing weather forecasts. I thank the staff and volunteers of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for their work and look forward to their ongoing contribution to the job of tackling climate change."

VCAT okays wind farm

Yarram Standard News
09/01/2008 Page: 4

THE Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) approved the Devon North Wind Farm on the basis that wind turbines were a suitable use for rural land. VCAT panel members Jeanette Rickards and Ian Potts stated that opponents' objections were centred around "amenity impacts to their rural lifestyle" and dismissed such an argument as weak, from a planning point of view.. .".the proposal is acceptable when having regard to the balance between the policy weighing toward the establishment of WEFs (Wind Energy Facilities) and the local amenity issues," the panel wrote.

"In arriving at this decision, and giving consideration to the policy support for WEFs, it strikes us that one must consider the opportunity for WEFs like many other natural resources. "WEFs utilise wind energy. As is set out in the policy and planning guidelines for development of wind energy facilities in Victoria, this resource is limited to specific coastline and inland locations. "Put another way, just like quarries or mines, WEFs cannot be located anywhere.

There are specific location requirements that must be met to gain the best wind supplies." The panel questioned residents' claims their community was a "hamlet" and as such, unsuitable for a wind farm.

"However we find it a stretch from a physical point of view to suggest the degree of settlement is intense enough to be considered a hamlet," the panel wrote. "The term hamlet more rightly applies to that of Devon North, a settlement area well removed to the north-east of the subject site. We acknowledge however that there exists a mix of farming and rural lifestyle use around the subject site and there appears to be a strong community bond."

The panel also added: "We dismiss the implication that the rural lifestyle use of the surrounding land enjoys planning priority or should be contemplated as a land use with a future legitimacy or primacy over the WEF purely on the basis of land use with no consideration as to the merits of those matters required under the relevant decision guidelines."

As for the risk of the land being on a faultline and therefore the towers were at risk of falling from an earthquake, the VCAT panel found this argument "not of such gravity as to warrant the refusal of a permit." The panel believed such matters could be "remedied by standard engineering means."

Twenty-two conditions have been placed on the planning permit, requiring Synergy Wind to minimise the impact of its seven turbine plant on surrounding property owners, to some extent.

The conditions are summarised as follows:

• Before development starts, amended plans must be approved by Wellington Shire Council.
• The plans must show the exact location of the turbines, so that no turbine is closer than 500m to any existing house, other than the Hellerens' residence.
• If the turbines are re-positioned from the locations identified in the report submitted to VCAT, revised acoustic and shadow flicker reports must be approved by council;
• The use of the site must always be in accordance with the plan;
• All tower access points and electrical equipment must be locked and made inaccessible to the general public;
• The wind farm must be limited to seven MM92 type turbines, mounted on towers no higher than 80m, powered by rotor blades no longer than 48m;
• Construction work must stop at once if Aboriginal artifacts are found;
• A traffic management plan must be prepared;
• Council must receive a bird and bat management plan;
• An environment management plan that covers the construction, operation, re-powering and decommissioning of the wind farm must be approved by council;
• The Stone and Neist families must be offered tree planting to reduce the visual impact of the turbines;
• The wind farm must comply with the New Zealand Standard Acoustics - The Assessment and Measurement of Sound from wind turbine Generators. That is 40 dBA or five dBA above background;
• Within three months of any turbines being used, an independent post-construction noise monitoring program must be undertaken by the proponent in accordance with the New Zealand Standard to council's satisfaction. The program must monitor noise levels at any dwellings existing within a kilometre radius of any wind turbine;
• Synergy Wind must conduct a pre and post construction survey of telecommunications receiver and transmitter stations with line of sight across the wind farm, including TV and radio reception for residences within a kilometre radius of each of the turbines;
• Synergy Wind must ensure no residences experience unacceptable shadow flicker or blade glint. Shadow flicker must not exceed 30 hours per year;
• As required by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), aviation obstacle lighting must be placed on the turbines to the satisfaction of the CASA; and
• Once the wind farm is decommissioned, Synergy Wind must restore the site.
• The planning permit will expire if the development is not started within four years and completed within six years of the date of the permit. Council may extend this period.

First tower on the way, now just 127 to go

Ballarat Courier
10/01/2008 Page: 3

Waubra Wind Farm's first turbine tower has been erected, with 127 more to go. Developer Acciona Energy awarded Portland's Keppel Prince Engineering the contract to supply and erect the towers, with the first sections delivered to the site last month. Yesterday, site crews installed a nacelle on the first tower, ready for the blades to be installed.

There are three tower bases already installed on the site, with a fourth currently being erected. The project's next stage will see substations built and underground and overhead cabling installed. Construction of its maintenance facility in Harrisons Rd will also begin on Monday.

The company plans to start generating electricity and pumping into the grid this year, with the wind farm able to generate power from one part of the site while the rest is being completed. The $450 million wind farm is the largest currently being built in the southern hemisphere, and will power 143,000 households.

Acciona Energy construction manager Bruce Payne said the project had gone well, considering its size, the area, the people and equipment involved. "It's all running on time, to budget and going quite smoothly, and we aim to keep it that way," he said. This is the start of the cycle and the cusp of the whole process to gradually set it up."

Race is on to power desalination plant

West Australian
09/01/2008 Page: 43

The State Government's decision to allow fledgling market technology to help fuel the Binningup plant will open doors.

Fremantle inventor Alan Burns' Carnegie Corp is squaring off with Ric Stowe's Griffin Energy in a contest among energy pioneers to provide new types of sustainable power for the Water Corporation's $1 billion Binningup desalination plant. Griffin Energy has lodged three expressions of interest for the plant, which is slated to come on stream in 2011, including commercially proven wind energy and a wave power joint venture with Anglo-American company Ocean Power Technology.

The Ocean Power Technology joint venture pits it against Carnegie, which is hoping to put its CETO Wave technology to work commercially in a year. Like Ocean Power, CETO Wave promises to convert wave power into emissions-free electricity. CETO's process also purifies sea water for drinking use.

Wayne Trumble, power generation executive manager for Griffin, said his company indirectly supplied energy for the existing desalination plant through its Emu Downs Wind Farm. "We see a strong future for renewable energy as part of WA's balanced energy mix," he said.

The Water Corporation confirmed it would begin discussions this month with 13 potential suppliers for the plant. A date for the expected short list has not been announced but estimates on the value of the power supply contract, based on costs from the Kwinana plant, place it in the area of $10 million a year. the plant is expected to require 200 gigawatt hours per year and will seek 40GWh in commercially unproven technology under a plan announced by Premier Alan Carpenter in September.

The estimated $2 million contract for the commercially unproven technology sector could prove a turning point for the company that provides it and for the sector itself. John Wright, director of CSIRO's energy transformed flagship program, said that nationwide wave power was in an embryonic stage, appropriate for a small demonstration plant. Dr Wright said the technology would be helped enormously by having an actual working operation.

Carnegie's stock has risen from 18¢ at the beginning of last month to as high as 47¢ last week on speculation its CETO Wave technology would ultimately snag part of the contract. But the race for potential energy providers to the plant remains wide open. Oswal Power, owned by Burrup Fertilisers entrepreneur Pankaj Oswal, has tossed its hat into the ring to provide commercially proven technology that needs only be scaled up to satisfy the requirements of the desalination plant.

A number of companies would like to provide the mix of energies themselves. Verve Energy is offering a wind-biomass mix that would fulfil both sides of the requirement. Verve Energy's biomass plans use plantation-grown mallee trees which can be harvested and used for eucalyptus oil, carbon and energy. Verve spokesman Peter Winner said planting mallees had the added advantage of combating ground salinity in WA. "There's heaps of interest," Mr Winner said. "It's just a matter of getting to the next step." Independent Offshore Solutions director Duncan Mitchell refused to discuss the unproven portion of its energy technology offering but said he expected it to account for 20 per cent of the mix the Nedlands company would offer.

The other 80 per cent would most likely come from wind farm energy which had been around for years. Mr Mitchell said his company was taking a "low-profile" approach. "Definitely there's investor sentiment out there if we have a technology near commercialisation," he said. "But we must prove it first before we begin soliciting funds." Another player is SpiritWest bioenergy, a joint venture 60 per cent owned by the listed Pacific Energy and 40 per cent owned by Perpetual Investments.

Pacific's chairman is former Clough managing director Brian Hewitt and prominent company promoter Ian Middlemas serves as his deputy. Pacific managing director Adam Boyd said the technology converted to fuel everything from a tree "you don't see on a logging truck." SpiritWest is starting construction on a plant later this year which will position it to deliver to the Water Corporation or two other potential clients it is in talks with. Of SpiritWest's chances, Mr Boyd said: "We have a great chance because we have a very advanced project."

Wiring Up The Water

• Project: Southern Seawater desalination Plant, second plant in WA after Perth Seawater Desal Plant
• Location: Binningup, WA
• Drinking Water Per Year: 50 gigalitres, scalable to 100 gigalitres
• Power Requirements: 200 gigawatt hours of renewable energy, 160 gigawatt hours to be sourced from commercially proven renewable energy, 40 gigawatt hours to be provided by commercially unproven renewable energy
• Construction to begin in 2009
• Project to be operational in 2011

Victoria suffers emission surge

Bendigo Advertiser
08/01/2008 Page: 4

VICTORIA pumped 30 per cent more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere last year than in 1990, it was revealed yesterday. Coal-fired electricity contributed almost 60 per cent of the state's greenhouse emissions a report issued by non-profit organisation the Climate Group showed, while petrol was responsible for almost a quarter of the state's emissions last year.

The figures for the report were compiled from the group's Weekly Greenhouse Indicator, which tabulates Victoria's greenhouse emissions in real time. It shows the amount of greenhouse gases produced each week by petroleum, natural gas and electricity from coal. Last year, 61.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases from coal-based electricity, 27.7 million tonnes from petroleum and 14.5 million from natural gas were propelled into the atmosphere.

The results have not surprised central Victoria's two leading climate change groups, who have attributed the pollution surge to the nation's continued reliance on coal. Mount Alexander Sustainability Group executive officer, Dean Bridgfoot said the report underlined an extremely worrying trend and all levels of government knew they needed to do something about climate change.

He said the figures should be a wake-up call to governments to introduce renewable energy as power sources to curb the rapidly rising energy usage and therefore higher greenhouse emissions. Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance executive officer, Bronwen Machin attributed the high figures to the State Government's continued use of the Yallourn power station in Gippsland, which is one of the worst polluting in the nation.

But, acting Environment Minister Tim Holding has blamed energy use in the early 1990s for driving up the figures, despite State Government promises to cut the amount of greenhouse emissions by the year 2050 by 60 per cent of 2000 levels and other government figures that show energy use across the state has doubled since 1973.

"Since 1999 when the government really started responding aggressively to the challenge of climate change, we've seen Victoria really punching above its weight," he said yesterday.

The Weekly Greenhouse Indicator can be found online at: www.theclimate group.org/indicator

Wind farm go ahead: Synergy Wind gets nod from VCAT for Devon North project

Gippsland Times & Maffra Spectator
04/01/2008 Page: 1

SYNERGY Wind Pty Ltd has won its battle to erect wind turbines at Devon North. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal rejected residents' and landholders' objections and set aside Wellington Shire Council's decision to refuse a permit for the wind farm. In its December 21 decision VCAT argued the proposal was acceptable in regard to the balance between government policy weighting toward establishment of WEFs and local amenity issues.

It likened the need to place WEFs in specific locations as being the same as for quarries or mines, placement being dictated by the availability of the resource. It imposed 22 conditions on the permit, with work to commence within four years and project completion to be within six years. Wellington Shire Council acting chief executive Ralf Kastan said council would not appeal the decision.

"VCAT decisions are final, unless contested on a point of law in the Supreme Court and we won't be doing that," Mr Kastan said. "With all 22 conditions to comply with Synergy Wind has a fair bit of work to do. We issued the permit on December 21, the last working day before the Christmas break," he said. "It will now be up to Synergy Wind to demonstrate to the appropriate authorities they have complied with all 22 of the conditions." Mr Kastan emphasised due process had been carried out with numerous opportunities for interested parties to put their case.

Explaining its decision the tribunal, headed by Jeanette Rickards, commented proposals to construct and operate wind energy facilities are often hotly contested matters, raising issues of noise, and loss of landscape values by those surrounding the proposed site.

"This proposal is no different," the VCAT determination reads. "The grounds (for objection) were substantially centred around (sic) perceptions of amenity impacts to their rural lifestyle. "Issues relating to birds (wildlife), bushfire risks and other matters were also raise (sic) but not actively pursued in this hearing." Synergy Wind amended its original proposal from nine turbines to seven. Each tower would be 80 metres tall at the hub with a total height to blade tip of 128 metres.

The highest turbine would have a maximum blade elevation of 278 metres above sea level. The power generated would be linked by above-ground power lines from the WEF to a 66,000-volt line on the Yarram-Morwell Rd, five kilometres south of the project. Synergy Wind did not answer telephone calls or emails from the Gippsland Times.

Tourism turns a blind eye to need for action

Hobart Mercury
08/01/2008 Page: 25
BY Peter Boyer

INTERNATIONAL tourism, the darling of global free markets, is feeling the pressure.

The burgeoning travel industry estimates it is responsible for 5 per cent of global carbon emissions, and three months ago, at the International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism in Davos, Switzerland, it agreed urgent measures were needed to Blend its ways. Then a month ago carne the Bali UN Climate Change Conference.

Australia, noting scientific advice that by 2020 global emissions will need to be as much as 40 per cent below 1990 levels, agreed to toughen up its emissions targets. With this sort of build-up, you'd think the climate would feature in Tasmanian tourism's latest three-year business plan. But it gets no mention in either the plan's key strategies nor the December 17 media release by Tourism Minister Paula Wriedt. In 24 pages, climate change rates five lonely paragraphs.

Emissions trading and "carbon-efficient next-generation aircraft", the plan says, will provide tourism operators with "opportunities to offer measurable offsets and reassurance to travellers concerned about the carbon footprint created by their travel." "Carbon-efficient next-generation aircraft" are, as the words haply, a generation away. It is disingenuous to suggest that tinkering with current technologies and designs will yield significantly lower emissions.

Offsets - where travellers invest in tree-planting, renewable energy or efficiency improvements to offset their "carbon footprint" - are no substitute for reducing emissions. Even the most reputable schemes cannot deliver immediate benefit and the worst do little more than line the pockets of those running them.

Tourism Tasmania does undertake to develop a climate change strategy. But it would be unreasonable to expect a fully-formed strategy soon: the Garnaut study of climate change economics won't be finished for six months and an emissions trading scheme is at least two years away.

In the meantime, the plan has nothing to guide operators on reducing emissions and doesn't even advise that it would be prudent to start - or at least start thinking about it. The plan might have canvassed better public transport, or encouraging bicycle travel, or finding alternatives to "fly-drive" tourism, or other behaviour-modifying or energy efficiency measures. But it doesn't.

Premier Paul Lennon pledged in October that his Government would "significantly reduce" its carbon footprint, requiring "every public servant in Tasmania, as well as all Members of Parliament, to change the way we live our lives." He asked all Tasmanians to join the challenge. As I understand it. Tasmanian tourism industry leaders and policy-makers - including the minister - would be part of this process. Has nobody told them?

Peter Boyer, who began his career as a cadet journalist at The Mercury, has written extensively on science. He is now a freelance writer, publisher and illustrator - and one of a team of Tasmanians in Al Gore's Australian Climate Project team of volunteer presenters.
peterboyer@southwind.com.au

UK energy firm to buy wind utility

Australian
08/01/2008 Page: 22

BRITISH utility Scottish & Southern Energy will acquire Airtricity Holdings in a deal that values the wind energy company at €1.08 billion ($1.8 billion), marking its first foray into continental Europe and Asian markets and a big push into renewable energy.

The Perth, Scotland, utility plans to use Dublin-based Airtricity as a platform to develop a pan-European renewable-power business. The purchase would boost Scottish & Southern's renewable-energy portfolio to just over 1900MW and increase its wind energy development portfolio to almost 10,000MW.

Airtricity has onshore and offshore wind farms in operation, construction and development in Britain, Ireland, continental Europe and Asia. The European Union and China say they want to generate about 20 per cent of their power from renewable energy by 2020.

Scottish & Southern said it would acquire Airtricity from the company's main shareholders, which include renewable-energy and waste-management company NTR, investment fund Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities and a group of Irish investors. The deal is the latest in a series of wind-portfolio acquisitions over the past year.

German utility E.ON bought Airtricity's North American business for $US1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) in October and Danish utility Dong Energy's Spanish and Portuguese wind energy assets for about €700 million in August. Scottish & Southern, which will assume €375 million in net debt from Airtricity, said the deal was expected to enhance earnings starting in 2011 and would be subject to regulatory approval in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

In addition to the 1.08 billion, S&S will pay Airtricity's shareholders €746.5 million to cover the net proceeds of the sale of the North American unit. As a result, the total payable to Airtricity's shareholders will be €1.83 billion.

Macquarie signs up for wind farm

Australian
08/01/2008 Page: 17

The project may end up supplying 4.5 per cent of NSW's energy requirements.

MACQUARIE Bank's investment arm has signed on as an equal partner in the development of Australia's biggest wind farm project. Sydney-based renewable energy company Epuron Pty Ltd has announced Macquarie Capital, a division of Australia's biggest investment bank, has agreed to join as an equal partner in the development of the project near Broken Hill in far western NSW.

The project will comprise 400 to 500 wind turbines and at full capacity will produce 1000MW or enough power for 400,000 homes, the largest in Australia. Epuron is a subsidiary of Conergy, one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world. Epuron executive director Andrew Durran said Macquarie's financial backing was an important endorsement. "What the Macquarie involvement confirms is the fundamental viability of the project," he said.

The project has had its critics, with some questioning the cost of building transmission lines to the main power grid, which Epuron acknowledged would be substantial, and NSW Energy Minister Ian Macdonald recently questioning whether the area was windy enough. Macquarie has $1.3 billion invested in renewable energy projects worldwide, much of that in wind generation in countries such as France, the US, Canada and Taiwan.

Mr Durran said Macquarie was a 50-50 partner in the development stage of the project, with its ultimate stake still to be negotiated. Macquarie confirmed its involvement but a spokesman said it was not in a position to comment on the specifics of the deal. The project is expected to cost $2.2 billion to $2.5 billion and take three to five years to build.

Epuron hopes to have planning approval by the end of the year, with construction to begin in 2009. The wind farm, which will cover 450sq km, could eventually supply 4.5 per cent of the state's energy needs, Epuron said. Mr Durran said the backers had spent five to six years looking for the best places in Australia to build wind farms and were confident it was in the right location. "We are very confident about the wind speeds in the area," he said.

The turbines will be located on permanent-leasehold country owned by graziers. Mr Durran acknowledged the project had a "significant power line requirement" to connect it to the grid but that had already been factored in to the costings. Essential to the viability of the project are government renewable energy targets. NSW has set a mandatory target for energy authorities to take at least 15 per cent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

Mr Epuron said there was "a little bit of indecision for us" over the delay in the state Government putting its target into legislation but based on the federal Government's more ambitious 20 per cent target by 2020 and the general push towards renewable energy, it had decided to go ahead. Epuron has a total of 2000MW of wind farms on the drawing board with construction of its first project near Goulburn in NSW due to start soon.

Concern at eagle deaths

Launceston Examiner
04/01/2008 Page: 5

RADAR and infra-red technology will be investigated as possible ways to reduce the number of endangered Wedge-Tailed Eagles being killed by turbines at the Woolnorth Wind Farm in the State's North-West. Birds Tasmania chairman Eric Woehler reported this week that up to 18 of the protected birds had been killed at the farm. Re said the eagles could not pick out the turbine blades, which can rotate at up to 300kmh. Roaring 40s, a partnership of Hydro Tasmania and China Light and Power, operates the Woolnorth farm, the largest of its type in Australia. Company public relations manager Josh Bradshaw said it shared the same concerns as Birds Tasmania "with regards to any collisions at Woolnorth."

He said there was a number of protection procedures already in place at the site and Roaring 40s also supported breeding and nest-protection programmes statewide in an aim to increase overall population numbers. "Currently, we have on-ground observers from dawn to dusk during periods of northeast weather patterns the most dangerous to the birds," he said. "We also have what's called a temporary turbine shutdown procedure, whereby the observers can get in contact with our control room and we can shut down certain turbines if there's a danger of a collision with a Wedge-Tailed Eagle."

Mr Bradshaw said that the wind farm's plan was approved by State and federal regulators with the knowledge that some collisions might be inevitable. "But obviously we would prefer it if there were none," he said. "We are planning on sending some personnel overseas to review some of the methods that have been trialled in Canada and the US, where some infra-red technology and radar technology has been looked into. "None of the technology is proven, so it's still very early days."

Sizzling highs set in southern states

Daily Advertiser
04/01/2008 Page: 10

MUCH of southern Australia experienced its hottest year on record in 2007, and scientists warn climate change will continue to deliver similar extreme temperatures. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Australian Climate Statement 2007, released yesterday, reveals last year was Australia's sixth warmest year on record - more than half a degree above the annual average temperature. But NSW, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and the Murray-Darling Basin set new records.

Bureau climate scientist David Jones said the extreme temperatures in southern Australia surpassed expectations. `A very, very warm year, a year which has bumped up well ahead of all the previous warm years on our records, so I guess it really underscores the role that climate change and climate variability, linked together, are now playing," Dr Jones said.

"To have a significant number of our states set new records is remarkable, and Tasmania only missed out by the barest of margins, (there) it came in the second hottest year on record." Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the report confirmed an urgent need to act on climate change, and she promised the federal government would increase household water and energy saving measures this year.

"We know of course we've seen 11 years of inaction from the Howard government," Ms Gillard said. "The Rudd Labor government has already started acting on climate change. "We've ratified Kyoto, we provided leadership at the Bali summit and this year we will work on our national emissions-trading scheme and of course increase the uptake of renewable energy. We'll also be working in partnership with households to help households save water and energy..."

Allco launches transport and infrastructure fund

Lloyds List DCN
03/01/2008 Page: 3

SHIPS, aircraft and windfarms feature in Allco Finance Group's newly launched transport and infrastructure fund, the company said this week. Allco said that what it had described as "the first globally diversified transport and infrastructure fund", Allco GTI, was ahead of schedule. The first close was expected this month with a subsequent and final close expected to occur later in the year.

"Allco GTI is an unlisted, wholesale fund that will invest in aviation, shipping, rail and specialised infrastructure assets that will seek to provide reliable absolute returns with a long term cash flow component," the company said. "Allco is targeting total capital commitments of $350m-$450m from a limited number of investors. "The fund's seed assets include a share of five European wind farms, direct investments in three aircraft, and a share in a portfolio of 27 ships. "These assets were originally on Allco's balance sheet." The fund offered investors access to Allco's proven and proprietary deal flow in its core asset classes.

Allco's experience in transportation origination, financing and asset management has been built over almost 30 years, the company said. In transportation financing, Allco has financed over $601m of deals in transport and infrastructure assets since the company was founded in 1979. The team managing Allco GTI will be led by the designated fund manager, Tze Masters, as chief investment officer. Ms Masters has extensive experience in investing in transportation and infrastructure, having previously been in similar positions for Allco Finance Group and Record Investments.

Allco Finance: Institution backs fund

Australian Financial Review
03/01/2008 Page: 20

Allco Finance Group had a rocky 2007, but things are looking up for the company after it secured a $200 million investment in its new Global Transport and Infrastructure Fund. The fund will invest up to $450 million in infrastructure, and has already acquired stakes in some European wind farms. Allco Finance shares closed at $6.08 yesterday.

Green shipping blowing in the wind

Age
Thu, 3 Jan 08

ONE of the first large cargo ships in 100 years to cross the Atlantic Ocean with the help of the wind will set off from Europe this month on a voyage that is due to make maritime history.

When the 10,000-tonne Beluga SkySail is well clear of land, it will launch a giant kite, which wind tunnel tests and sea trials suggest will tug it along and save 10-15% of the heavy fuel oil it would normally burn. If the journey from Bremen in Germany to Venezuela and back is successful, it could become common to see some of the largest ships in the world towed by kites the size of soccer fields.

"This is a serious attempt to reduce bunker (fuel) costs and polluting emissions," said Christine Bornkessel, a spokeswoman for the Bremen-based Beluga shipping line, which has 52 merchant vessels. "The kite will be used whenever it is possible on the voyage, and we are convinced it will revolutionise cargo shipping. We would consider fitting them to all our ships."

The ship's maiden voyage will use a 160-square-metre kite which is expected to cut fuel consumption by 10-15%, but in time it will be fitted with much larger kites, saving up to 35% on fuel, she said. The largest kites could be as big as 5000 square metres and theoretically be capable of assisting giant container ships.

Shipping is now a booming global industry, with most manufacturing being concentrated thousands of miles from consumer centres in Europe and the United States. Nearly 100,000 cargo ships transport 95% of world trade by sea, and the world shipping industry is expanding rapidly as countries such as India and China become major players in the global economy. But the cost of shipping or "bunker" fuel has nearly doubled in the past two years, forcing the industry to consider alternatives. At the same time, concerns have grown about climate change and air pollution from shipping.

It is estimated that commercial shipping uses nearly 2 billion barrels of oil a year and emits as much as 800 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, or 4% of the world's man-made emissions. Shipping also releases more sulphur dioxide than all the world's cars and lorries. The industry has so far failed to harness renewable energy, either because conventional fuel has been cheap, or because modern cargoes, mostly carried in containers, need to remain stable on deck or in holds. Sails or spinnakers have been proposed for merchant ships, but these can take up storage space and cause vessels to keel.

The kite system, which has been developed over 10 years with help from the German Government, uses an automatic pilot, is controlled by computers and runs on a metal track around the ship. This allows the "sail" to move around to collect wind and also prevent tilting. But the kite is not designed to replace engines. There are still questions about how the system behaves in high winds and what would happen if the kite landed in the sea. The system could be applied to nearly two out of three boats registered at Lloyd's register of shipping in London.

Green thumbs up

Comment News
02/01/2008 Page: 1

A COLLABORATION between the cities of Armadale and Gosnells and the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale to tackle climate change is achieving positive results, with the three councils collectively saving 45,268 tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2006/07. The results are reported in the latest annual tracking survey of the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Australia program, which helps councils to implement greenhouse action.

The program, a joint initiative of the Federal Government and Local Governments for Sustainability, reports each year on the progress of councils in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and the initiatives they are putting in place to achieve their targets. The three councils are partners in the South East Regional Energy Group and established the award-winning regional environmental project Switch Your Thinking to educate the community about practical greenhouse action.

According to the latest report, the City of Gosnells saved 31,244 tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2006/07. Mayor Olwen Searle said initiatives such as the construction of energy efficient buildings like the Agonis, converting utility vehicles to LPG, purchasing a pool blanket for Leisure World and encouraging recycling had been the key to the result. The Switch Your Thinking program and an initiative to capture and flare methane at the old Kelvin Road tip site had also contributed to the greenhouse savings.

The City of Armadale saved 13,700 tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2006/07 through a range of corporate and community initiatives, including purchasing Green Power for council buildings, installing a new efficient air-conditioning system at the administration building and installing a pool blanket at the Armadale Aquatic Centre.

The council commissioned a solar hybrid wind turbine at the Serpentine-Jarrahdale Recreation Centre in Byford, purchased Green Power for the administration building, installed energy-efficient lighting and computers.