Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
Howard blind to climate change refugees Ian Fry, adviser to the Tuvalu Government’s Environment Department, told The Age that Tuvalu Prime Minister Maatia Toafa requested a meeting with John Howard at last October’s Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji to discuss the looming climate change crisis facing the island, but was denied, reported The Age (20/2/2007, Continue Reading →
According to Minister for Forestry and Conservation, Senator Eric Abetz, the threat of bushfire to Canberra’s water supplies was real and under-estimated. “When a bushfire enters water catchments, it poses a severe threat to water supplies,” the Minister said. “For example, ACTEW estimates that as a result of the 2003 Canberra bushfires, up to 30 percent less water flows annually into Canberra’s water storages. This is because young, vigorous regrowth after a bushfire sucks up a lot more water than mature forest.”
Lessons to learn: The Minister said that with water supplies so scarce, this was yet another reason why active management of our forest resources and forest reserves should be a matter of priority for the ACT Government. “Targeted fuel-reduction burn-offs, better access tracks and the creation of fire breaks contribute immensely to reducing the risk of severe and widespread bushfire while at the same time doing minimal damage themselves. I urge the ACT Labor Government to more actively manage their forest reserves,” the minister added.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Within five years, solar power will be cheap enough to compete with carbon-generated electricity, even in Britain, Scandinavia or upper Siberia. In a decade, the cost may have fallen so dramatically that solar cells could undercut oil, gas, coal and nuclear power by up to half. Technology is leaping ahead of a stale political debate about fossil fuels.
Anil Sethi, the chief executive of the Swiss start-up company Flisom, says he looks forward to the day – not so far off – when entire cities in America and Europe generate their heating, lighting and air-conditioning needs from solar films on buildings with enough left over to feed a surplus back into the grid.
The secret? Mr Sethi lovingly cradles a piece of dark polymer foil, as thin a sheet of paper. It is 200 times lighter than the normal glass-based solar materials, which require expensive substrates and roof support. Indeed, it is so light it can be stuck to the sides of buildings.
advertisement
Rather than being manufactured laboriously piece by piece, it can be mass-produced in cheap rolls like packaging – in any colour.
The "tipping point" will arrive when the capital cost of solar power falls below $1 (51p) per watt, roughly the cost of carbon power. We are not there yet. The best options today vary from $3 to $4 per watt – down from $100 in the late 1970s.
A new pump system designed to turn salt water into fresh water when combined with desalination systems — and produce clean renewable energy when combined with hydroelectric systems — is currently being tested in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Texas coast.
"Going forward, we’re seeking actual ocean environments where we can place a wave-farm test field involving 14 to 200 SEADOG wave pumps."
— Mark A. Thomas, Independent Natural Resources Inc., CEO
In addition, because the device pumps water to a reservoir, it can store salt water or desalinated fresh water in the form of potential energy to generate power on demand, even if the current wave regime during a particular period is too low to generate power.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1853760.htm] A Queensland company working to develop ‘hot rock’ geothermal resources in the Cooper Basin says it is confident it will be able to develop an emission-free, renewable energy source. Geodynamics Limited has been working for several years in the South Australian and Queensland outback exploring in the Cooper Basin. It has purchased a $32 Continue Reading →
About 250 homes in several Adelaide suburbs lost power for up to four hours on 18 February afternoon as transformers struggled to meet demand, reported The Advertiser (19/02/2007, p.12).
Extreme temperature triggers spurt in power demand; network fails to cope: An ETSA spokesman said isolated incidents occurred across Adelaide suburbs including Modbury Heights, Morphett Vale, Craigmore, Felixstow and Glenelg North. The spokesman said the electricity network was able to cope relatively well with the weekend’s extreme temperatures because of a recent $2 million upgrade to equipment.