Category: Archive

UK research supports this: Moreover, Graham Sinden of Oxford University analysed over 30 years of wind data from 66 sites spread out over the UK and found low wind speed events affecting more than 90 per cent of the UK had an average recurrence rate of only one hour per year.

Re-definition needed: They argue that large-scale wind power is more appropriately described as "variable”, while the variability associated with breakdowns of conventional power stations is better described as “intermittent".

Wind not condemned to the margins: Wind power can therefore replace base-load power stations with the same annual energy generation. For example, 2600MW of wind turbines, with an annual average power output of about 850MW, can replace a 1000MW coal-fired power station with the same annual average power.

A little extra peaking insurance needed: To maintain reliability of the generating system at the pre-wind level, a little additional peak-load plant (for example, gas turbine) has to be installed.

The Australian Financial Review, 19/8/2006, p. 63

Pipeline needed: There is consensus that it would devastate the ecology of these waterways to increase their use as drains. The preference of experts and environmentalists is likely to be a pipeline three metres in diameter and 20 kilometres long, through the Southern Highlands to Avon Dam. From Avon the water can be sent to Prospect Reservoir in Sydney.

Hydro a side-benefit: Such a tunnel could move 1500 million litres a day and generate hydro-electricity to offset up to 60 per cent of pumping costs and greenhouse emissions.

Increased flexibility: Ian Tanner, General Manager, Bulk Water, with the Sydney Catchment Authority said the proposed changes were not a response to the drought. “This proposal will assist in addressing unknown variables such as climate change,” he said. “The scientists are saying we are going to have more extreme events. This does add flexibility.”

Creek is "drowning": Since 2003, Doodles Folly Creek in the Southern Highlands has been drowning, despite the drought. For three years the torrent has roared with the sound of Sydney’s dams being topped up from the Shoalhaven.

An open drain: Using three pumping stations and a series of tunnels, water is now lifted from Tallowa Dam to the top of the Southern Highlands escarpment near Fitzroy Falls. From there, gravity takes over. When the Sydney Catchment Authority wants to fill the Upper Nepean Dam it simply releases the Tallowa water into Doudles Folly Creek. The stream becomes virtually a drain, and has carried hundreds of billions of litres towards the Nepean Dam in the past few years.

Wingecarribee also at risk: When Warragamba Dam is low, Wingecarribee River near Moss Vale is commandeered for use as a water expressway. This harms ecosystems and would not be ecologically sustainable if pumping was more frequent and involved greater volumes, Mr Tanner said.

Prolonged flows would cause long-term damage: A discussion paper on the problem says: “There would be longer-term impacts on plants and animals as a result of prolonged flows. Wetland areas would be flooded for longer periods, with the potential for long-term damage. Animals can be flushed away and habitats modified, making recolonisation difficult. Plant and animal pests such as carp are favoured by constant flows.”

Platypus threat: It adds that platypus burrows could be lost and vegetation swept away, making it harder for the monotremes to feed and breed in such fast-flowing streams.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 26/8/2006, p. 11

OPEC predicts less oil demand: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries earlier this month said demand this year would rise just 1.3 million barrels a day, 80,000 barrels less than expected two months ago. Analysts are predicting crude oil prices of about $US50 a barrel rather than today’s $US70.

US analyst predicts 25pc production surge by 2015: The catalyst for the new forecasts was a prediction by the respected US analyst Cambridge Energy Research Associates chairman Daniel Yergin, author of oil industry history The Prize, that oil and natural gas production capacity should surge 25 per cent to 110 million barrels a day by 2015.

Saudi minister forsees potential for price plummet: Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi warned earlier this month that oil price hikes and global oil demand could soon disappear, saying prices could easily "plummet" in the near future if an economic crisis drives industrialised nations to find other sources of energy.

Analyst survey finds expectation of drop in 2008: A survey of analysts by Reuters indicated oil prices were expected to fall significantly in 2008 as years of sky-high crude prices sapped global demand and production expanded.

The Australian, 29/8/2006, p.7

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 just how addicted we are to oil.

Original article on Grist  

Photos: Christine Gardner

Their departure would leave the US oil giant ExxonMobil and the Chadian government to tap the resources together  "while waiting to find a solution with the two other partners”, Mr Deby said in a speech to government and political leaders.

In a bid to increase Chad’s own share of its oil revenue, Mr Deby on Wednesday told his government to renegotiate the contract it signed in 1988 with the US-Malaysian consortium.

A source in the oil ministry said the state would use the Chad Hydrocarbons Company to try to enter the consortium.

Today, Mr Deby said three ministers involved in the deal would cease work and go before judicial authorities"`to answer for their acts”. He did not name the ministers and no further details were available.

Oil has been flowing since 2003 in the Doba basin in southern Chad. In 2004 Chad, which produces less than 200,000 barrels of oil a day, saw its gross domestic product leap 40 per cent after oil production began.