Category: Archive

SA Libs’ plan air-conditioning information system to combat black outs

admin /25 January, 2006

RETAILERS will have to tell ETSA when they sell
airconditioners and where they will be installed under a Liberal plan
to help manage power demand, reported The Advertiser (25/1/2006, p.6).

Energy spokesman Angus Redford said yesterday
that while airconditioners were to blame for surges in power
consumption on hot days, ETSA had limited knowledge about how many were
being installed. While customers were supposed to notify ETSA if they
were putting in units of 2.5kW or more, many people did not do this.

Frank Seely, the managing director of air-conditioning manufacturer
Seely International at St Mary’s, has welcomed South Australia’s
Liberal spokesperson Angus Redford’s proposal for retailers to gather
information on where air-conditioners are installed. His company has recently developed a
motor he says can cool an entire house for the cost of running a light
bulb. The Breezair units, now being sold Australia-wide and exported to
Europe, retail for about $2500 plus installation costs.

New 295-kilometre natural gas pipeline in NSW to reduce farmers’ costs

admin /25 January, 2006

Irrigators’ fuel costs could be reduced by more than 60 per cent by
using natural gas instead of diesel, according to Central Ranges
Pipeline Pty Ltd project manager, David Hundt, reported The Land (19/1/2006, p.37).

Nine towns on pipeline route: Construction began on 4 October
last year, with specifically designed machinery commissioned to dig the
1.2-metre trenches. Nine towns along the pipeline route are set to
benefit, with pipe extensions, or laterals, to Coolah, Coonabarabran,
Dunedoo, Gilgandra, Gulgong, Gunnedah, Mudgee, Quiridi and Werris
Creek.

Fuel switch underway: compressed natural gas for buses, hybrid fuel systems for diesel

admin /25 January, 2006

Buses in Brisbane and several other cities around Australia run on
compressed natural gas. Energex has a compressor and refuelling
facility for Brisbane buses, which, according to manager Alan Brett,
“has been an overwhelming success”, Peter Wylie reported in Queensland Country Life (19/1/2006, p. 29).

Hybrid Fuel systems kit: Diesel engines have generally been
converted to spark ignition to run on natural gas, but Hybrid Fuel
systems (USA) sells a kit (for US$4500) which allows a diesel engine
runs on diesel at low power, with diesel providing the ignition. As the
power requirement increases, gas is injected to provide up to 70pc of
the fuel used.

‘Surviving High Fuel Prices’ workshops: Natural gas, ethanol,
biodiesel, and improved energy efficiency on farms may all be part of
the future to provide cost savings on farms and beat high fuel prices.
This would form part of the discussion at four workshops on ‘Surviving
High Fuel Prices’ being sponsored by Rabobank and organised by the
Rural Results Group on January 30 and 31.

1000 households without power in SA heatwave

admin /24 January, 2006

After a couple of days of 16-hour shifts in sweltering heat in hard
hats and overalls, not even a $300 bonus could persuade ETSA’s
emergency maintenance crews to go back to work at the weekend, reported
The Advertiser (24 January 2006, p.5).

“Exhausted”: “They were exhausted, and we simply couldn’t
motivate them to come back in again,” chief executive Lew Owens said.
As a result, up to 1000 households went without electricity for between
24 and 48 hours, an outcome Mr Owens agreed was completely
unacceptable.

Fuses blew: ETSA maintains its key supply lines coped well with
the heatwave, and that it was only let down by the failure of a handful
of its 220,000 fuses.

CO2 not the only villain in global warming

admin /24 January, 2006

Nitrogen/oxygen (NOx) compounds from fossil fuels are causing concern.
In sunlight, NOx compounds in the atmosphere react with hydrocarbons to
form ground-level ozone, a lung irritant that can cause disease,
reported New Scientist (21/1/2006, p.42).

Ozone a factor in athsma: A 2002 study by the US Environmental
Protection Agency pointed to ozone as a factor in the development of
asthma. Another study found that children living in communities with
higher atmospheric ozone had poorer lung function.

N2O more worrying than CO2: But perhaps the biggest puzzle of
all is the tangled relationship between nitrogen and climate change.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is present in the atmosphere at concentrations of
311 parts per billion, compared with 360 parts per million for CO2. But
molecule for molecule N2O is a greenhouse gas with over 300 times the
global warming potential of CO2.

Study finds home power generators could provide 30 to 40pc of UK electricity needs by 2050

admin /24 January, 2006

A single 1.5-kilowatt wind turbine seems insignificant compared to a
1000-megawatt nuclear power station, which some tout as the only hope
of curbing greenhouse emissions. But according to a recent UK report
prepared for the government-sponsored Energy Saving Trust (EST), home
power generators of various kinds could provide 30 to 40 per cent of
the country’s electricity needs by 2050 – by comparison the UK’s
nuclear industry provides 20 per cent of current needs, reported New Scientist (21/1/2006, p. 37).

Less political pressure: Micro-generation can bring several
advantages. Energy from wind, water or the sun does not depend on gas
or oil from countries whose governments can turn off the tap without
warning or hike up the price.

UK emissions cut by 15pc: On top of that, the EST has estimated
that by 2050, micro-generation could cut the UK’s carbon emissions by
15 per cent compared with the present mix of energy generation.

Incremental change: And unlike large generating stations, which
require a lead time of years, micro-generation capacity can be built up
steadily – an incremental change that could, for example, remove the
need for a new nuclear power programme.