Category: Energy Matters
The twentieth century way of life has been made available, largely due to the miracle of cheap energy. The price of energy has been at record lows for the past century and a half.As oil becomes increasingly scarce, it is becoming obvious to everyone, that the rapid economic and industrial growth we have enjoyed for that time is not sustainable.Now, the hunt is on. For renewable sources of energy, for alternative sources of energy, for a way of life that is less dependent on cheap energy.Â
admin /12 June, 2010
Counting the cost of drilling down deep
ANDREW DARBY
June 12, 2010
Fire burns on the partially collapsed West Atlas rig in the Timor Sea off Western Australia’s Kimberley coast in August. The Montara oil spill inquiry is due to report next week.
THE ecological catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico has failed to discourage the Rudd government, which has granted oil and gas explorers permission to drill deep off the Australian coastline.
The government has refused to follow the Obama administration’s decision to impose a six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion on April 20.
admin /12 June, 2010
Ban on coal-fired power plants in NSW
BUILDING coal-fired power plants will be banned in NSW as part of a new climate change policy expected to go to Cabinet next week.
With the Federal Government’s abandonment of a national emissions trading scheme, the State Government will move to curb greenhouse gas emissions with a clean energy policy which bans dirty power plants.
admin /9 June, 2010
Transforming Waste Plastic into an Alternative Fuel
by Teresa Cheong, Northeastern University
Published: June 3, 2010
Boston, United States — Student researchers at Northeastern University have designed an apparatus to convert plastic waste into clean energy while minimizing the release of harmful emissions.
Under the leadership of Yiannis Levendis, distinguished professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, a team of undergraduate and graduate engineering students developed a waste combustor, which breaks down non-biodegradable plastics to create an alternative source of fuel.
Their prototype was featured at the fifth annual MIT Energy Conference this past March. The team worked for nine months on the research, which, for the undergraduates, was their senior capstone project.
admin /8 June, 2010
City brings renewable energy to the little guy
(Note: This article is the first in an upcoming feature series called Cities of the Future, spotlighting cities that are taking innovative steps to build a sustainable future.)
Solar power nerds are fond of an estimate that 100 square miles of Nevada desert — filled with solar panels — could provide enough electricity for the entire United States. But right now, solar supplies just 1 percent of the country’s energy. Cost is one reason that figure is so low. Unless you’re an independently wealthy solar hobbyist, chances are you can’t afford the $30,000 or so it takes to install panels at home. That’s why Gary Nystedt, as resource manager for Ellensburg, came up with a way to bring solar power to all the people in this smallish city in eastern Washington State. The city asked its residents to pitch in what they could — the minimum contribution was $250 — and built the country’s first community solar project, or “solar garden,” in 2006. Ellensburg now pumps an average of 102,000 kilowatt-hours of solar power into its grid each year. That’s enough to completely power about 10 average U.S. homes.
admin /8 June, 2010
Will follow up on how these systems work. Imagine using the sun to cool
Chilling Out in the Sun: Solar Cooling
London, UK — Worldwide energy consumption for cooling and air-conditioning is rising rapidly and the market potential for solar thermal cooling is certainly very large indeed. However, the market is still very much a work in progress – with only around 500 solar cooling systems installed globally – and has been largely dominated by Europe so far. David Appleyard takes a look at some of the key players in this emerging renewable energy sector.
admin /7 June, 2010
EnergyAustralia wins smart grid project
- Fran Foo
- From: Australian IT
- June 07, 2010 3:52PM
A CONSORTIUM led by EnergyAustralia has been named the successful bidder in the federal government’s $100 million smart grid, smart city project.
Newcastle will be the main site for the country’s first commercial-scale smart grid project. The trial will also cover other parts of NSW including Scone, Homebush, Ku-ring-gai and the Sydney CBD.
The consortium includes IBM Australia, AGL, GE Energy, TransGrid, Newcastle City Council and the NSW government.
Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the trial would help people save energy and connect renewable energy to the grid as such technology has enormous potential to drive efficiency in the electricity sector.
