In 1931, Thomas Edison met with Henry Ford, and told him: "I’d put my money on solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
Category: Archive
Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
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Victoria faces global warming power shortages
A report commissioned by the Victorian Government anticipated that the strain of population growth on the power system was likely to result in brownouts, blackouts, system failures and increased water shortages, according to The Sydney Morning Herald(19/5/2007, p. 4).
CSIRO predicts rough times ahead: The report was prepared by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in conjunction with the consultant Maunsell Australia and the law firm Phillips Fox. It highlighted the existing market concerns and soaring futures prices, warning "The strain on the [power] system as the population grows and more people install air-conditioners could result in brownouts or blackouts and system failures."
The water crisis: The report also expected that water shortages experienced by Snowy Hydro and coal-fired plants in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley were likely to worsen. Three Victorian coal-fired power stations, Loy Yang A, Loy Yang B and Yallourn W, were already receiving an annual water entitlement from the Government equivalent to 20 per cent of Melbourne’s entire annual water use. The extreme water shortages had forced them to buy additional water elsewhere to maintain capacity. Queensland had also been severely affected by water shortages. On 16 May 2007, Rio Tinto announced that it was cutting 160 jobs at its Tarong coalmine due to a water shortage which had forced Tarong Energy to reduce power generation by 70 per cent.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 19/5/2007, p. 4 Erisk.net
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Cattle farts worse than coal for warming
The greenhouse gas emissions of Australia’s livestock this year will have a bigger impact on the global climate over the next 20 years than all of the greenhouse emissions from our coal-fired power stations, according to The Advertiser (23/5/2007, p.7).
Animal Liberation assertion: This fact was revealed to the audience at the Conservation Council of South Australia conference by Geoff Russell from Animal Liberation on 20 May. It was backed by scientific data and endorsed by University of Adelaide Professor of Climate Change and Sustainability, Barry Brook.
Methane more potent than carbon dioxide: Figures from the Australian Greenhouse Office indicate Australia’s cattle produce about three million tonnes of methane each year. But methane was a more potent global warmer than carbon dioxide (CO2) in the short term. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calculates the relative potency of methane to C02 is 72 over a 20-year period," he said.
Time to reduce methane emissions: All our coal fired power stations together produce about 180 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, but the methane production by cattle and sheep is equivalent to 216 million tonnes (3 x 72), he said. “None of which means we don’t have to worry about carbon dioxide, we must reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but while this is happening we must reduce methane to stabilise temperatures while we wait for the effects of any carbon dioxide reductions to kick in."
Academic endorsement: Brook said Russell’s argument was very well-researched. “If you want to do something immediately to reduce our emissions impact, targeting methane is one way to do it," Brook said.
The Advertiser, 23/5/2007, p.7
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700kW power solution uses peel and stick panels
United Solar Ovonic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD Ovonics) (NASDAQ: ENER), announced today that it has supplied 700 kW of photovoltaic (PV) laminates to TurtleEnergy LLC for installation by American Energy Technologies, Inc. on a 350,000 sq. ft. building leased by East Coast Warehouse & Distribution from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. American Energy Technologies, one of the fastest growing solar integrators in the U.S., was chosen to manage all aspects of the installation from the design phase through the commissioning of the system.
"The unique design issues of the lightweight building structure dictated a correspondingly lightweight solution, making the UNI-SOLAR(R) product the logical choice for this system," said Richard King, President of American Energy Technologies. "Our design team pointed out the risk of possible reflective flash from a large glass panel array due to the proximity of the Newark Liberty International Airport glide path. We advised the client that our design parameters favored the nonreflective, pebbled surface of United Solar Ovonic’s panels for the installation."American Energy Technologies installed over 5,140 UNI-SOLAR(R) "peel and stick" PV laminates on the galvalume standing seam metal roof for the 700 kW system. Its client, East Coast Warehouse, is one of the Mid-Atlantic region’s premier warehousing, storage, fulfillment and distribution companies serving both domestic and international markets. The system will generate over 800,000 kWh AC of electricity annually. East Coast Warehouse will use it to power temperature-controlled distribution and storage systems, inventory control and shipping manifest systems.
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Victoria refusing to hand over water rights
Federal Water Minister Malcolm Turnbull reiterated his thoughts about how best to go about finding a resolution with Victoria, the only State that has rejected the plan outright.MALCOLM TURNBULL: What we’re endeavouring to do form the Commonwealth’s perspective, is approach this in a very open-minded and constructive way.
We a have an objective that the three States have committed to and Victoria has obviously not yet committed to it but we have a shared objective with three states and the Commonwealth. So what we have to do now is to get the legislation right, get the detail right to achieve that.
And also, in so far as we can, accommodate the concerns of Victoria. So we’re seeking from Victoria and the other States and I might say receiving constructive suggestions and proposals that enable us to improve the package.
DANIEL HOARE: Victoria’s Water Minister John Thwaites was also sticking to his guns after today’s meeting.
JOHN THWAITES: The legislation that has been proposed essentially would give the Commonwealth Minister power to reduce water rights, to override state planning laws, even to set water prices.
This is far broader than we need if we are going to get the best co-ordinates management of the Basin.
DANIEL HOARE: South Australia’s Water Security Minister is Karlene Maywald.
KARLENE MAYWALD: This is the biggest constitutional change in this nation in 100 years. You can’t expect it to happen overnight.
DANIEL HOARE: Karlene Maywald says the other states will support Victoria in its bid to protect its constitutional position.
KARLENE MAYWALD: I am very confident that the discussion will move forward. I don’t think anyone’s being unreasonable in representing their communities of interest. Victoria has some concerns they would like resolve. They are working with the Commonwealth on that. We got some issues with some of the detail, we’re working with the commonwealth on that.
DANIEL HOARE: The Victorian Premier Steve Bracks has dug his toes in on the Murray-Darling plan, describing it as ‘dead in the water’, but the Federal Water Minister is confident a resolution is in sight.
And despite having only been in Parliament for two and a half years, and a Minister for the best part of four months, Malcolm Turnbull was doing his best to convince his state counterparts otherwise.
MALCOLM TURNBULL: Often these, when you’re negotiating long documents, be they acts of Parliament, or agreements, often the breakthroughs, if you like are gradual.
What you have to do is identify the points of difference, work out how the common objectives of the party can be realised in a way that they are both comfortable with, and as you knock off those differences, knock off those barnacles, if you like, one by one, and then you can focus on hopefully a small number of remaining large issues. And that’s where there’s obviously have to be scope for compromise and flexibility on both sides.
We are approaching this in a very constructive way. We believe this is important for Australian. It’s vital for the security and the sustainability of the Murray-Darling Basin and we say to everybody, ‘be part of the solution, not part of the problem’.
MARK COLVIN: Federal Water Minister Malcolm Turnbull ending Daniel Hoare’s report.
© 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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LEDs hit industrial price point
The cost of LED lighting should be coming down quickly. Carl Scianna, founder of Polybrite International, an Illinois startup, says the cost of individual white-light diodes, several of which go into an LED bulb and make up much of the cost, has fallen in price from about $US8 to $USI.50 in a year. "By the middle of next year, they’ll be priced for consumers," Scianna says. According to the The Australian, (15/5/2007), p.35, in the past two years, diodes had doubled in energy efficiency and brightness, according to Greg Merritt, marketing director for US LED manufacturer Cree.
LEDS now in standard fitting: In particular, LEDs that produce a yellowish, warm light similar to incandescents have improved. Dallas-based Lighting Science Group displayed a LED bulb that screws into a standard medium-sized socket and produces a warm light equivalent to that of a 25W incandescent bulb, but consumes just 5.8W. It costs $US50 ($60), which is hardly palatable to consumers who can buy a standard bulb for less than $1.
Last up to 50,000 hours;The energy-efficiency is no doubt a drawcard for commercial clients such as hotels, but LEDs have another big advantage: they last up to 50,000 hours, according to manufacturers. That compares with about 10,000 hours for fluorescents and 1000 hours for incandescents. Not having to send out staff to replace bulbs means big savings in maintenance costs. "Right now the applications that make sense are either big maintenance or high-power consumption, like parking garages, where the lights are on all the time," Merritt says.
The Australian, 15/5/2007, p.35