Category: Archive

Western Australians halve water pressure

admin /31 January, 2007

Western Australia’s Water Corporation on 28 January became the latest utility to halve water pressure in capital cities, a move aimed at protecting infrastructure and reducing wastage, according to The Australian (29/1/2007, p.2).

Low-pressure trial to cut waste: Residents in Perth’s riverside suburbs of Shelley, Waterford and Rossmoyne will today receive letters from the corporation advising them of a 12-month trial to reduce the water pressure from 700 to 350 kilopascals. Water Corp said the pilot, which would address "higher leakage rates, consumption and … bursts in the network", would not affect garden reticulation, dishwashers, washing machines, hot water systems or toilets, all of which needed between 150 and 250 kilopascals to function, if properly fitted and installed.

Fish may add fleecy lining to cotton farm incomes

admin /31 January, 2007

A two-year NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) research project aims to determine the feasibility of growing the native fish silver perch in cages in cotton farm dams, reports The Land (25/1/2007, p.3).

Native perch well suited: "Aquaculture is the fastest growing food-producing industry in the world and has great potential in Australia," said NSW DPI senior research scientist, Dr Stuart Rowland, based at Grafton. "Silver perch also perform very well in cages, a technique being increasingly used for many species throughout the world, due to ease of husbandry and management, and protection from birds. Cages also enable the use of existing water bodies such as dams on cotton farms."

Check out these important films

admin /31 January, 2007

See the most important films of our time Ebono Institute supports local and international film-makers provide an alternative to the mainstream. We buy videos direct from smalll production companies and handle distribution and marketing on their behalf. This allows them to get on with the job of making new and important films. All our retail Continue Reading →

Renewable Energy Grows Up

admin /31 January, 2007

If you had asked me a couple of years ago, I would have said that solar power, the fastest-growing segment of renewable energy today, is by its nature non-centralized: Power where it’s needed, competing with retail prices.

Google’s headquarters to have 1.6 megawatt solar electric installation.

This idea has become so ingrained in the photovoltaics (PV) industry that I find it cropping up on the websites of small solar installers, who liken rooftop solar to mobile phones. There’s some truth to that idea, but there is more to the story.

AGL rips off domestic producers

admin /31 January, 2007

Every year AGL sent her a letter about the rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) causing an increase in her electricity charges, Kensington woman Sue Healy told the Essential Services Commission (ESC).

Details of another problem with AGL: In her submission on the Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) framework paper and draft rules, Healy used this as the second of her problems with electricity supplier AGL since installing solar panels on her roof in 2000.

Cloudy future for solar innovators

admin /29 January, 2007

Paul Sheehan

On Thursday David Mills will board an airliner and fly to the United States to help build something that will exploit the clean and limitless energy source – solar power – that can replace our addiction to energy heroin, which is what oil and coal have become.

What is disturbing about this Australian success story is that Mills and his company, Solar Heat and Power Pty Ltd, are moving to America, where one US investor has just put $42 million into the company. "We are relocating the headquarters of our company in the USA," Mills told me.