Category: Archive

New breed of green design professionals: Wheeler was a regular
on the panel of ABC-TV’s The New Inventors and was director of
Environa, a Sydney-based firm that specialised in creating smaller and
smarter buildings. He is one of a growing breed of design professionals
interested in sustainable design and building. There is nothing
particularly “alternative” about Tone, except perhaps his first name.
“The green fanatics – or you could call them the green nazis – are so
rabid about it that they are unreasonable,” he said. “There aren’t many
of them but they tend to want us to make houses that over-emphasise the
green ‘hairshirt’ issues at the expense of comfortable living.”

Green aware clients go for the subtle approach: The second kind
of client attracted by Wheeler’s firm is the “green aware”, he said.
These are people for whom the desire to use less energy in their house
is “at the top of their agenda”. “They want an air-conditioner but they
want to use less energy and they want a higher standard of living.”

The great green dumb: The third category, the “green dumb”, are
the clients “for whom we put green things in and tell them afterwards”
Wheeler reveals. “If we were to tell them beforehand they might baulk
at it because they think it might lower their lifestyle.”

Embedded and invisible design works best: Environmentally
sustainable design (ESD) seems to work best when it is embedded and
invisible. “We built a house for one client and he loved it,” Wheeler
said. He fitted squarely into the third category, the “green dumb”.
ESD, in other words, just wasn’t on the radar when he commissioned
Environa to design his home. “The house was highly celebrated and
photographed,” Wheeler says, and it won a couple of ESD awards. “And
then at one point the client said to me: ‘Tone, what is ESD?’ And I
said to him ‘that’s what your house is. You know how you don’t have to
put air-conditioning on or the heating on and you are comfortable year
round and your bills have gone down and you have rainwater to water
your , garden. That’s ESD’,” says Wheeler. “If you bury it in the
building and don’t proselytise, it’s better,” he says. The principles
should be sold as “an improvement in the quality of life and because it
works better”.

The Australian, 26/11/2005, p. 9

Western Australia has created the nation’s first tradeable legal right
to offset carbon dioxide pollution by tree plantings, according to the
state government.

Tony McRae, parliamentary secretary to the Agriculture minister, said
the Oil Mallee Company of Australia had become the first company to
take advantage of the new legislation.

Visitors from Japan joined Mr McRae, 40 farmers, industry
representatives and community members at an official launch of the
Carbon Rights and Plantation Agreement held at a large mallee property
in WA, the Shields’ family farm, near Koorda in WA’s Wheatbelt.

“This legislation makes the creation of legally enforceable agreements for carbon dioxide trading,” Mr McRae said.

“Effectively carbon dioxide has become a commodity which can be bought
and sold and will encourage the development of a major tree growing
industry in the Wheatbelt based on the value of the carbon stored by
mallee eucalypts.”

OMC chairman Professor Syd Shea said that as mallee trees grew, they
absorbed carbon dioxide into the leaves, branches and their large root
systems.

“Carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere can be claimed as a carbon
credit and the credit traded to offset pollution Professor Shea said.

“Above-ground material can also be harvested for a variety of uses.”

The unique attributes of the mallee eucalypt have been recognised by
Japan’s second largest power company whose representatives also
attended the ceremony.

The company has worked with the OMC over the past five years to
research and prove that mallees can create an efficient carbon sink. A
1,000ha trial was established in 2003 and has been highly successful.
Interestingly, the power company supplied electricity to the Japanese
city of Kyoto, which lends its name to the protocol on climate change.

An international market would allow sale of this credit to an
ever-increasing trading network. Australia’s refusal to enter into the
Kyoto Protocol results in Australia being locked out of this lucrative
trade.

Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson and Industry Minister lan
Macfarlane have put a formal proposal to the Prime Minister for a $1
million study on the viability of a home-grown nuclear power industry,
according to The Australian Financial Review (28 November 2005, p.3).

We must seriously consider home-grown nuclear power: “We can’t
responsibly dig… 30 per cent of the world’s uranium out of the ground,
export it overseas and allow some 440 reactors to operate and expand in
other parts of the world and not seriously consider this as an option
for ourselves,” Dr Nelson told Channel 9’s Sunday program.

Full examination necessary: Nelson and Macfarlane had called for
a full examination of developing a nuclear power industry to be carried
out by the Australian Academy of Science in collaboration with other
academies, he said.

The Australian Financial Review, 28/11/2005, p. 3

Arising from regulatory determinations, Integral Energy has introduced
an “inclining block tariff”. This involves restructuring the main
tariff from a flat “any-time” rate to a two-part tariff, with the
second block charged at a higher rate than for the first block.

Network becoming strained: Integral says this tariff reform
began the process of establishing a price signal related to electricity
consumption. “Our analysis shows that rapid growth in the use of
air-conditioning places an increased strain on our network, but these
costs are shared amongst all customers. Over the last 18 months we have
strongly advocated the need for tariff reform as a means of providing a
price signal to customers based on their consumption and usage
patterns.”

Differential will increase: Integral argues that customers with
air-conditioning are typically its largest consumers who, under the new
tariff structure, will pay a slightly higher cost for their higher
demand over time. “Based on customer reaction, and the potential for
demand management benefits, we intend to progressively increase the
price differential between the blocks.”

DM program launched at Castle Hill: Integral Energy has also
launched an Australian first Demand Management (DM) program at the busy
Castle Hill commercial centre in March, in partnership with the NSW
Government’s Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA). The
program is designed to cut peak load on Castle Hill infrastructure and
delay the need for costly network upgrades.

Greenhouse savings: It says: “With commitment from leading
retailers at Castle Towers, and the potential for more to join, the
program will also deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions.”

Reference: Integral Energy Annual Performance Report 2004, 51
Huntingwood Drive, Huntingwood NSW 2148, PO Box 6366, Blacktown NSW
2148, ph: (02) 9853 6666, fax: (02) 9853 6000, email: integral@integral.com.au website: http://www.integral.com.au

Plug stuck at bottom of well: Earlier this year the deep
Habancro #2 well hit a problem, which it later tried to plug more than
4 kilometres underground. A team of engineers went on a “fishing
expedition” to retrieve the rented Halliburton plug after it had been
soaked with chemicals to remove debris. But as soon as it was touched,
the plug sailed to the bottom of the well and could not be removed.

New stem and $5 million test required: Now, a new stem needs to
be built over about 30 days in the new year to complete the well, after
which a circulation test will run for six weeks at a cost of up to $5
million. “Could it have been prevented? Of course in hindsight maybe we
could have done things differently,” Dr Bertus de Graaf told
shareholders at the annual meeting in Brisbane. “I am very confident of
moving to Stage Two in May.”

Company bids for $50-70 million govt grant: The nine-member
board, chaired by Martin Albrecht, recently lobbied in Canberra for
funding to help with the cost of a demonstration plant. The company
hopes to be awarded a federal government grant in the order of $50
million to $70 million for its zero emission project. Shares in
Geodynamics, which is 27 per cent owned by Origin and Woodside
Petroleum, rose yesterday to $1.66.

The Courier Mail, 24/11/2005, p. 27

Source: Erisk – www.erisk.net 

Greenhouse emissions out of control: Ric Brazzale, Executive
Director of the Australian Business Council for Sustainable Energy, the
peak industry association for sustainable energy in Australia, said the
latest forecasts on greenhouse emissions show they are escalating out
of control.

Efficiency the most cost effective solution: “Energy efficiency
is the most cost effective form of greenhouse gas abatement available,”
Brazzale said. “As a result we are moving to a new phase in energy and
greenhouse policy. Efficiencies are being sought for more and more
products and equipment, and lighter regulations are becoming more
commonplace.”

Efficiencies improve bottom line: “It is inevitable that
Australian businesses will be competing in a carbon constrained economy
in the future. Those companies that implement energy efficiency
strategies now are not only improving their bottom line but also
preparing themselves for the opportunities of the future,” Brazzale
said.

Government schemes save consumer money and reduce emissions:
“The New South Wales Government’s Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme and
Energy Savings Fund are examples of measures already in place that
reward energy reduction and greenhouse gas abatement. These schemes are
driving innovation and at the same time saving consumer’s money up
front and in the long term, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,”
Brazzale said.

Reference: Media contact: Richard Wise, on 0437 255 351. Head
Office: Suite 304, 3nd Floor, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton Vic 3053,
ph: (03) 9349 3077, fax: (03) 9349 3049. Canberra Office: National
Press Club Building, 8/16 National Circuit, Canberra ACT 2600, website:
http://www.bcse.org.au

Erisk Net, 23/11/2005