Category: Archive

Queensland based Linc Energy is to be
floated on the stock exchange before Christmas to raise funds to
develop commercially its world leading process of creating diesel
fuel from coal. The process integrates two well established
processes, Underground Gasification and Gas to Liquid conversion. The
first process converts coal to gas underground and has been used
successfully in Russia. The second process creates liquid fuel from
natural gas – methane. The company claims it will be able to
deliver diesel at a fraction of its current cost.
http://www.lincenergy.com.au/

Electricity users in Queensland
consuming 10Megawatts of electricity or more will pay the same rate
for electricity as households from Monday. Until now, they have
received significant discounts for electricity which means that
ordinary households effectively subsidise the energy consumption of
major industry. The changes come about as the result of the
Somerville review of energy prices in Queensland and are being keenly
studied by other Australian states. http://www.energy.qld.gov.au/

Australia may help the world avoid
catastrophe due to global warming by storing vast quantities of carbon
dioxide underground, according to the Cooperative Research
Center for Carbon Dioxide. In a recent press release, CEO of the
CO2CRC, Dr Peter Cook, said that storing the gas in existing coal
seams may be the best solution. The CRC has identified a number of
areas including the Otway Basin off Victoria’s southern coast, the
North West Shelf and the Timor Sea. Www.co2crc.com.au

Australian inventor Luna Glow has
cracked the US market with its luminous exit sign which does not
require electricity and is not radioactive. Recent NASA testing and
changes to the law in New York indicate that it is one of the few
solutions available for providing safety signage when the power
fails. Founder of the company, John Clear, told the Age this week
that the company is struggling to gear up to meet demand because of a
lack of investment. www.lunaglow.com.au

Queensland’s Natural Resources Minister, Henry Palaszczuk, has reversed a ban on water use in the Lockyer region, reported Queensland Country Life
(27 October 2005, p.5). Lockyer irrigators have been under the
equivalent of level five restrictions because of the drought. A
spokesman for Mr Palaszczuk’s Department said the decision to rescind
water curbs in the Lockyer purely related to this particular catchment,
noting that all other restrictions remained in place.

Farmers apply political pressure: Queensland Farmers Federation
president Gary Sansom has argued that a more comprehensive water
planning approach is needed to ensure irrigated farms remain viable.
“Too often water planning leaves farms at the bottom of the water
priority list, and water is diverted from irrigation to prop up power
stations, mines, or other industrial and urban uses,” he said. The
State Opposition also says the Government is increasingly treating
rural water users as second class citizens.

Irrigators want self-management: The Lockyer Water Users Forum
(LWUF) currently is working on a regulatory framework involving a
self-management process for their water resource.

Queensland Country Life, 27/10/2005, p. 5

02/11/2005 13:52  – (SA)  

Australia – A single lightning strike killed 68 dairy cows on an Australian farm, a farmer said on Wednesday.

The farmer, Warwick Marks, 57, said the lightning strike on
Monday killed half his herd of 150 Jersey cows at his dairy farm
outside Dorrigo in northern New South Wales state.

Marks said the herd had gathered around a tall tree to shelter during a thunderstorm when lightning struck the tree.

“The bolt came through the roots where they were standing; 68
were killed outright and another three looked like they were gone as
well but they were just stunned and came good a bit later,” said Marks,
who arrived on the grisly scene minutes after hearing the thunder clap.

“I was expecting it would be bad, but not this bad,” he added.

Neighbour Julie Moore said she saw the lightning bolt and heard
the thunder clap that rattled her windows a kilometre away. She was
among the first neighbours to see the carcasses.

“I don’t know how to describe it; devastation is all you can say – all these dead stud Jersey cows,” Moore said.

Marks used an excavator on Tuesday to bury the carcasses of the cows
which he said were worth A$70 000 (about R345 109).