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 /21 March, 2009
Hundreds of thousands of solar panels are being installed in a small town in Florida, thanks to a local government policy to pay a feed-in-tarrif on the city of Gainsville’s rooftops. Feed in tarrifs pay the owner of the panels a higher price for generating the electricity than retail customers pay f
or it. As a result, innovative businesses have begun renting rooftops and installing panels. One investor, Tim Morgan, is raising between 16 and 20 million dollars to install thousands of panels which he estimates will earn around $US1,4 million annually. Feed in tarrifs are one of the mechanisms used successfully in Germany to drive that nation’s world leading adoption of photovoltaics. Heavily discounted solar panel businesses based on government rebates and benefits are notoriously vulnerable, however. In Australia, an $AUD8,000 government rebate on 1kw systems led to a spate of businesses focused exlusively on delivering those systems at a rock bottom price. A combination of factors, including the collapse of the world economy, led to at least one of those companies being unable to deliver fully on its promises.
See related story about the impact of changes in UK policy
admin /8 March, 2009
The project Home Again in New Orleans has resulted in the first energy efficient homes being certified under the United States Department of Energy Builder’s Challenge criteria. Backed by the Leonard and Louise Riggio Foundation with Green Coast Enterprises, the homes being built in the Gentilly neighbourhood are the first of 220,000 high performance homes projected for New Orleans by the Department of Energy. The homes are designed to use 40 percent less electricity than a traditional house.
admin /1 March, 2009
A commitment to reduce mercury pollution signed by environment ministers at a United Nations summit in Nairobi last week, will put further financial pressure on coal fired power stations. The eight point plan agreed by the ministers form part of a legally binding international treaty to limit exposure to mercury.
The treaty will include measures to reduce the supply of mercury and its use in products, such as thermomenters, and processes, like paper making. It will also seek to cut back on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, which are responsible for about half of the world’s mercury pollution.
China and the USA have previously opposed the plan but the new administration in the White House moved rapidly to end that opposition and China quickly followed suit.
admin /1 March, 2009
The US corn crop is expected to be 2.5million tonnes smaller than predicted as a result of high fertiliser prices stemming from the energy crisis in 2008. Due to demand for ethanol from corn, last year’s corn crop was overcommitted but farmers are reducing their consumption of fertiliser priced at last year’s peak. This is expected to result in a reduction in the available corn and an increase in the price of corn as demand further outstrips supply. Fertiliser companies report excess stocks of the high priced feriliser.
admin /15 February, 2009
Recent studies in Europe and the United States indicate that the rare brain cancer, nervous system lymphoma, is three times more common than it was one decade ago.
Brain cancers in general are on the increase among the elderly, but account for less than two percent of all cancers. Central nervous system lymphoma accounts for only five percent of all brain cancers. Improvements in methods for detecting brain cancer make it difficult to separate increased reporting from higher incidents of cancer.The mortality from brain cancers in the elderly doubled between 1965 and 1983 and quadrupled among those over 80.
The impact of AIDs and spread of the Epstein Barr virus are possible causes, as are chemical and electromagnetic pollution in the workplace and atmosphere.
admin /7 February, 2009
According to new a new report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), as of 2008 the U.S. has become the world’s largest player in terms of total wind power installations.
Worldwide, more than 27 gigawatts (GW) of new wind capacity was commissioned in 2008, a 36% increase on 2007. The three main markets of Europe, North America and Asia dominated.
Global wind capacity grew by almost 29% to reach close to 121 GW at the end of 2008 while the global wind market for turbine installations for the year was worth about €36.5 billion [US $47.5 billion].
