Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
According to Mark Diesendorf, senior lecturer with the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales, the term "intermittency" is misleading when applied to several dispersed wind farms, because their total power output varies smoothly and very rarely drops to zero, reported The Australian Financial Review (19 August 2006, p.63).
Highland rivers used as open drains to meet Sydney’s water needs; catchment authority concerned at ecological damage, pushes for pipeline
During the present drought, Sydney has been permitted to take a long-term annual average of 75 billion litres from the Shoalhaven River, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (26 August 2006, p.11).
Ecological damage: The water is delivered to the Nepean, Avon and Warragamba dams via the Wingecarribee River and Doudles Folly Creek, causing significant ecological damage to these waterways and localised flooding, the article says. The Sydney Catchment Authority is keen to see this degradation ended.
Global oil consumption is already slowing, partly because of record high prices, reported The Australian (29/8/2006, p.7). Different sectors of the industry report falls in demand and rises in production that they expect to ease pressure on oil prices. The Saudi oil minister warned that continued high prices could cause the world to seek alternative energy sources, causing a long term slump in oil prices.
Anyone who has lived in a suburb without footpaths, local shops and an intermittent bus service will sympathise. As an experiment in life after oil depletion, an American family living in the suburb of Normal, it’s true, lived for one month without a car. Read their report on Grist Mill . An extraordinary account of Continue Reading →
CHAD’S President Idriss Deby Itno today ordered the foreign oil firms Chevron Texaco and Petronas to leave the country from tomorrow for non-payment of taxes, national radio reported.
"From tomorrow, representatives of Chevron and Petronas must leave Chad and close their offices for not respecting their commitment in accordance with clauses relating to the payment of taxes on the companies,” Mr Deby said.
The major US company ChevronTexaco and Petronas of Malaysia are two of three members of a consortium extracting the central African country’s oil resources.
A plan to summon rain out of a cloudless sky by painting the ground black could be tested this year in Israel’s Negev desert, said The Advertiser (26/8/2006, p.76). Scientists hope the technique will banish drought and turn deserts green.
Heat-generating panels: In a full-scale system, panels of the special radiating material would be laid over several square kilometres of land. Computer simulations showed heated air rising from the panels caused water vapour to condense into clouds and fall as rain.
All in the air: Researchers behind the Geshem Project, named after the Hebrew word for rain, believe manipulating air currents in this way can overcome droughts in sub-tropical regions which dry up in the spring and summer.
From 150mm to 700mm: Project leader, Professor Leon Brenig from the University of Brussels, said: “It will make a huge difference. In a region where there is 150mm (of rain) a year it would go up to 600-700mm a year.”
40pc crop boost with wide application: The scientists estimate crop yields for a given area would be boosted by 40 per cent. Parts of the world that could benefit most include northeastern Brazil, north Africa, the Kalahari and Sahara deserts and southeastern Spain.
$3.2m trial planned: A first test of the technique, costing about $3.2 million, is planned on a 3000sq m area of the desert, making use of water vapour and breezes from the nearby Mediterranean sea.
The Advertiser, 26/8/2006, p. 76
Source: Erisk Net