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
From The Guardian The current nuclear renaissance started in Finland when a local electricity provider received permission and then started to build the first new nuclear power station in Europe for 30 years. It was followed by France whose state owned electricity supplier, EDF, is constructing a new plant at Flamanville in Normandy and has Continue Reading →
The solar industry is going through a rocky period of change due to the economic crisis. This restructuring is most evident in cash-strapped states, where legislators and regulators are exploring how to move beyond solar programs that rely on traditional rebates funded by tax payers.
Changes to these programs are causing some turmoil in the market as states enter uncharted territory and experiment with a variety of options, while stakeholders heatedly debate which options may be most effective.
From The Land
The days of petrol at $1 a litre in the major cities and cheaper petrol in regional Australia have come to an end.
Australian petrol prices could rise more than 10 cents a litre within a fortnight because of a weak dollar and rising Asian oil prices.
The anticipated price jump follows a significant rise last week when the national average price of unleaded petrol climbed almost five cents to 110.4 cents a litre.
From The Guardian
It is available for free in huge quantities, is not owned by Saudi Arabia and it contributes minimally towards climate change. The latest green fuel might seem like the dream answer to climate crisis, but until recently raw sewage has been seen as a waste disposal problem rather than a power source. Now Norway’s capital city is proving that its citizens can contribute to the city’s green credentials without even realising it.
In Oslo, air pollution from public and private transport has increased by approximately 10% since 2000, contributing to more than 50% of total CO2 emissions in the city. With Norway’s ambitious target of being carbon neutral by 2050 Oslo City Council began investigating alternatives to fossil fuel-powered public transport and decided on biomethane.
New York streets will be closely observed by a fleet of ten electric BMW Mini-E vehicles from April, mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last week. BMW is rolling out a test run of 500 proto-types this year to build and test a network of refuelling stations and create demand for the vehicle. The deal between the car manufacturer and the city government provides a zero emission fleet for the Street Condition Observation Unit (SCOUt) program while raising the car’s profile.
Thousands of residents of New South Wales have participated in an initiative by the NSW Conservation Council to lobby the state government to implement a feed in tarrif that pays for all electricity generated by roof-top panels, rather than simply paying for the excess that is fed back to the grid. This is the approach taken in Germany which has made it the world’s leading producer of solar electricity. Currently, homeowners with solar panels on their roof are only rewarded by the reduction in their electricity bills. The proposed feed in tarrif legislation will pay them a retail price for the electricity they feed back into the grid. Some electricity providers already pay this, others simply pay the wholesale price, known as the ‘coal price’. By rewarding them for the electricity they generate and then use, the government could encourage greater take up of domestic solar panels.