Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
State govt responds with upgrade, user pays: The NSW government also announced yesterday it would upgrade the state’s energy network. “We are making a huge investment in the wires and substations that deliver electricity to homes and businesses – street by street and suburb by suburb,” Mr lemma said. However, the upgrade will cost each household $50 over the next five years.
The Australian Financial Review, 8/12/2005, p. 6
Source: Erisk – www.erisk.net
Second plant: The share float was designed to fund construction of a second plant and the acquisition of a cooking oil aggregator. Australian Biodiesel’s initial public offer on 6 December closed oversubscribed after raising 20 million shares at $1 each.
The Advertiser, 7/12/2005, p. 53
Source: Erisk – www.erisk.net
Lake Munmorah plant: A second 300MW plant will be built by Delta Electricity, a state-owned generator, at Lake Munmorah on the Central Coast.
Infrastructure problems: The Government has been caught in a
pincer movement of infrastructure problems, because its failure to
address water shortages has led it to commission a widely despised
desalination plant for Sydney, which will consume up to 30MW of
electricity.
The Australian, 8/12/2005, p. 4
General energy use target set: He said developers would be
forced to meet an energy use target but would have the flexibility to
meet it in any way they saw fit through measures such as better design,
use of insulation, glazing and light.
Support from Master Builders Association: Brian Welch, executive
director of the Master Builders Association of Victoria, also welcomed
the regulations. “We do support the announcement and agree the
standards should increase gradually,” he said.
Concern over tilt-up panel construction: The only concern Welch
had was the effect the new regulations – which come into operation in
May 2006 – would have on tilt-up panel construction, which uses
concrete panels. He said that technique, which is a low-cost form of
construction, might be affected as builders strive to meet the energy
efficiency targets.
$3.4bn in long-term savings: Building commissioner Tony Arnel,
who is on the ABCB board, said the new regulations would help combat
the high greenhouse gas emissions from the commercial building sector.
Arnel said the industry would incur an $80 million increase in costs in
the first year of the new regulations, but in the next decade there
would be $3.4 billion in savings.”Many commercial building developers
would be ahead of these minimum standards already,” he said.
US already has similar regulations: Visiting expert Ron Judkoff,
a director at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, said similar
regulations had been in place in the US for decades. Judkoff said that
reducing the need for lighting during the day could be achieved through
a skilful use of glass.
The Age, 3/12/2005, p. 24
Source: Erisk – www.erisk.net
Significant cultural change: “It takes a huge time for people to
understand this concept because it’s a cultural change, but if you
don’t start the process it’ll never get done,” he said. “People need to
be aware that its benefits and re-use potential are huge.”
15-20pc cheaper: Ecoflex also boasted that its product was
between 15 and 20 per cent cheaper than conventional watts, and the
product was now approved by the Australian Engineers Standard.
Basically, one side of the tyre is removed and the tyre is filled with
aggregates such as recycled concrete, depending on what density is
required for a particular wall.
Life span of 30,000 years: Ecoflex has had great success working
with large companies such as Energy Australia, and now the concept was
catching on with home owners as well. “Mostly, we’re just replacing
conventional building blocks with recycled tyres – from a structural
viewpoint, we don’t want to say it’s better than what’s already on the
market, but it’s certainly equal to it. What you have is a virtually
indestructible building block – in the ground, tyres can have a life
span of 30,000 years,” Callinan said.
The Daily Telegraph, 3/12/2005, p. 5
Source: Erisk – www.erisk.net