Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
Intrepid Express is offering the general public the opportunity to see Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth for free. Simply send them your ticket stub from the movie and they will refund you the price of entry. Full details
THE Bracks Government is facing a backlash from Gippsland over a $1.5 billion plan to secure Melbourne’s drinking water supply for 50 years by replacing billions of litres of fresh water used by Latrobe Valley power stations with treated effluent from the city.
With Victoria in the grip of a water crisis, the Government is set to begin working out funding options for the Eastern Water Recycling proposal after a two-year feasibility study found the plan to be viable.
Blue Rock Lake near Moe is tagged as supplying Melbourne with extra water. Photo: Angela Wylie
In what would be the biggest water recycling project in Australia, 116 billion litres of fresh water now used to cool the coal-fired Hazelwood, Yallourn and Loy Yang power stations each year would be replaced with recycled wastewater piped from outer suburban Carrum.
Fresh water from Gippsland’s Blue Rock Dam would be used to secure drinking water supplies in Melbourne, Geelong and possibly Ballarat, according to Government planning documents obtained by The Age.
The project would also reduce by 85 per cent each year the controversial release of billions of litres of effluent into the ocean from the Gunnamatta outfall on the Mornington Peninsula.
With the Government having ruled out building new dams and Melbourne’s population forecast to grow by 1 million by 2030, Labor MPs are anxious for a big project to provide more water security across the state. "(The Eastern Water project) is an extremely exciting project for the Government … it has enormous potential for Melbourne and the whole state if it can be done," a senior Labor MP told The Age.
"I think it will become an imperative that it will need to be done. No government can sit back and do nothing."
But an investigation by The Age has revealed that the Government faces serious political and economic challenges in bringing the project to fruition. The investigation found:
Australian solar scientist Dr Zhengrong Shi became the wealthiest person in mainland China and the fourth richest Australian after founding a company to manufacture electricity-producing solar cells in Wuxi, near Shanghai, in 2001, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (12/9/2006, p.14). Early gains can be renewed: Although Australia had lost its world lead in developing a Continue Reading →
Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said South Australia’s focus on renewable energy has made the state a world leader in the battle against global warming, reported The Advertiser (12/9/2006, p.1). SA shows the way: Gore, in Australia to promote An Inconvenient Truth, his controversial documentary on the world’s most pressing environmental problem, praised the state’s Continue Reading →
Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said South Australia’s focus on renewable energy has made the state a world leader in the battle against global warming. Full story
Petrol prices are easing – but they did not stop demands on 7 September for the Government to prepare for the end of Australian-sourced oil, reported The Daily Telegraph (8 September 2006 p11).
Production costs may be prohibitive: A parliamentary committee released a report saying even if massive new deposits were discovered, the crude might be too expensive to extract.
Need for alternatives: Greens Senator Christine Milne said the report proved alternative energies must be encouraged.
The Daily Telegraph, 8/9/2006, p.11
Source: Erisk Net