Category: Archive

Consumption efficiency may be the only option: In the three years since Mandil became head of the International Energy Agency, oil price has tripled and, he concedes, could continue rising. "That means, in my view, that the only way consuming countries and consuming communities have to loosen the tightness of the market is to be very serious indeed in energy efficiency improvement."

A lot can be done now: He argued that a lot could be done immediately to slow the increase in consumption of oil and gas – and at acceptable costs. This was particularly so in the area of transportation.

Sounds crazy, but … "This is something which seems a little bit silly or funny but which is very important: our estimation is that if all cars in the OECD countries had a tyre pressure which was optimum, you could save as much as 5 per cent of oil consumption." This is simply because cars use more fuel when tyres are insufficiently inflated.

A huge difference: A 5 per cent saving means 4 million barrels a day. That is double the existing spare global capacity. Said Mandil: "It’s a huge difference. The question is how to obtain that. We are convinced that governments can play a major role by making public opinion aware of that and perhaps organising public education and perhaps organising free tyre-pressure checking."

Stand-by power another challenge: Mandil lists other possibilities for increasing energy efficiency through simple changes to consumer habits, such as reducing the amount of electricity consumed by electrical equipment with stand-by functions. The IEA calculates electricity consumption by all OECD member countries could be cut by 20 gigawatts of peak consumption by introducing one-watt stand-by systems.

But no one cares: "This is possible with existing technologies," he says. "But nobody cares about that. When we buy a computer, we don’t care about its stand-by consumption. It is not a criterion for buyer appreciation."

Not sexy enough for governments: Mandil sees it as vital that governments act to make consumers aware of the role they can play to reduce energy use but concedes it is easy to be pessimistic about the willingness of governments to take such action.

The Australian Financial Review, 8/5/2006, p. 60

Source: Erisk Net  

Advice needed: NSW Premier Morris lemma would announce on 8 May the establishment of a panel of independent experts to advise the government on Sydney’s water planning. National Water commissioner Peter Cullen would head the panel.

Toowoomba’s $75m water recycling plant: In Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, Mayor Di Thorley and her supporters are attempting to push through plans to build a $75 million water recycling plant, producing water suitable for drinking. It would be the first potable water recycling scheme in Australia, according to The Australian Financial Review (8/5/2006, p. 5). If Cr Thorley can win majority support from Toowoomba residents in a referendum, due by September, the federal government has pledged $22 million towards the plant.

Many water schemes in Qld, SA and WA: The Queensland government is on track with its Western Corridor recycled water scheme. When finished in 2009, the scheme would provide 110 million litres of recycled water a day for industry to the west of Brisbane via a 200-kilometre pipeline. South Australia and Western Australia also have multimillion-dollar upgrades for waste water treatment plants, as well as new plants, on their drawing boards.

NSW six major water recycling projects: The western Sydney plant follows six other major water recycling projects either completed or under development in NSW. These include the proposed Camellia industrial recycling scheme (which would produce 6 billion litres of water a year), and the Rouse Hill residential recycling scheme, which chums out 4.1 billion litres of recycled water per year for use in laundries, gardens and toilets.

The Australian Financial Review, 8/5/2006, p. 5

Source: Erisk Net 

Expanded use of cooking and lighting: The Nepal Biogas project signed by the Government would reduce emissions and was expected to expand the country’s use of cooking and lighting in rural households.

Non-commercial price for biogas: Biogas units would be sold at a non-commercial price to help displace traditional fuel sources like fuel wood, kerosene and agriculture waste. Each household biogas unit would be able to reduce nearly five tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) annually, Nepalnews.com reported.

First project in Nepal under CDM: "This is the first greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions project in Nepal under the CDM of the Kyoto Protocol," according to a press statement by the World Bank country office in Nepal.

Only 15 per cent with access to electricity: Only 15 per cent of Nepal’s rural population has access to electricity. The country’s dependence on fuel wood contributed greatly to deforestation and it was hoped the switch to biogas will change that.

Project seen as major breakthrough: "This project is a major breakthrough," said Ken Ohashi, World Bank country director of Nepal. "It is the result of years of painstaking work by visionary Nepalis who saw that clean environmental practices would eventually bring economic and social payoffs."

Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change Control (UNFCCC). 4 May 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int

Trials were held at;

• Liddell power station in NSW, by Solar Heat and Power, for extra steam production: and

• CSIRO’s National Solar Research Facility in Newcastle is exploring the use of Concentrating Solar Thermal technology to reform methane from natural or coalbed gas to make synthesis gas (CO + CO2 + H2) for;

•  power generation (Solar-Gas;

• industrial chemical or transport fuel production, or

•  for generating hydrogen for power production.

•  this created CO2 to put into a CO2 dump

Reference: ECOS 129, Feb-Mar 2006, p.4. website: http://www.publish.csiro.au/ecos

Erisk Net, 11/4/2006

Visual amenity, noise and shadow flicker: In a section on the social challenge, the AGO, part of the Department of Environment and Heritage, said visual amenity, noise and shadow flicker were among the aspects of wind farm development which affected local residents.

Unrelated and entrenched views: The debate on the effects on local residents was often characterised by unrelated and entrenched views. Those who valued the aesthetics of their local area were at one end of the spectrum and those who valued the working or economic aspects of the locality at the other.

Consensus difficult on landscape value: The discussion paper said landscape value was an issue where it was difficult to achieve consensus. The value that people placed on landscape was subjective.

Assessments often do not tackle issue: While many areas were universally recognised for their landscape values, local communities often highly valued their own locality, irrespective of any wider recognition. In most instances landscape assessments did not tackle the issue of what the impacts meant and to whom.

Clear need for better information: The discussion paper said that when dealing with quantifiable impacts such as noise or shading there was a clear need for better information in the community to inform debate.

Reference: Discussion paper on “National Code for Wind Farms” by Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) of the Department of the Environment and Heritage released on 3 May 2006. Address: John Gorton Building, King Edward Terrace, Parkes. ACT. 2600. GPO Box 787, Canberra. ACT. 2601. Phone: (02) 6274 1888.
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au

Erisk Net, 4/5/2006