EcoRadio

Category: News

Add your news
You can add news from your networks or groups through the website by becoming an author. Simply register as a member of the Generator, and then email Giovanni asking to become an author. He will then work with you to integrate your content into the site as effectively as possible.
Listen to the Generator News online

 
The Generator news service publishes articles on sustainable development, agriculture and energy as well as observations on current affairs. The news service is used on the weekly radio show, The Generator, as well as by a number of monthly and quarterly magazines. A podcast of the Generator news is also available.
As well as Giovanni’s articles it picks up the most pertinent articles from a range of other news services. You can publish the news feed on your website using RSS, free of charge.
 

  • Cats eating into world fish stocks

    Across Europe the figure is close to 870,000 tonnes, while almost 34,000 tonnes of the increasingly limited biological resource was imported into Australia each year to satisfy feline appetites.

    Fish nutrition researcher Giovanni Turchini described the findings as “a real eye-opener”. They reveal the extent to which fish suitable for human consumption goes into cat food.

    Each cat in Australia eats 13.7 kilograms of fish a year, while humans on average consume about 11 kilograms of fish and seafood each.

    “Australian pet cats are eating better than their owners,” Dr Turchini said.

    With ongoing debate about how to manage marine resources, the Deakin scientist said more research was needed to determine how much of the fish in cat food could be replaced by fish offal and other meat byproducts.

    “I think giving a nice chunk of fish to a pet is important to satisfy the personal hedonistic needs of the owner, not the nutritional need of the cat,” he said. “Cats will be very happy to eat the offal from a trout.”

    Dr Turchini’s paper, co-written with colleague Professor Sena De Silva, is published online by the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.

  • Wind generators trial compressed air battery

    From the New York Times

    When Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg dreamed out loud last week about a New York skyline filled with wind turbines, one of the most serious issues raised by the naysayers was that the wind does not always blow when you need it.

    But a New Jersey company plans to announce on Tuesday that it is working on a solution to this perennial problem with wind power: using wind turbines to produce compressed air that can be stored underground or in tanks and released later to power generators during peak hours.

    The company, Public Service Enterprise Group Global LLC, a subsidiary of P.S.E.G. Energy Holdings, is forming a joint venture with Michael Nakhamkin, a leader in the development of energy storage technology. The new company, Energy Storage and Power, will promote the use of compressed air storage technology to utilities and other power producers. (P.S.E.G. Global is the sister company of Public Service Electric and Gas Company, New Jersey’s largest power distributor, which has 2.2 million customers.)

    The technology has been around for decades, though the only major plant in the United States opened in Alabama in 1991. Another plant was built in Germany in the 1970s. But compressed air storage is getting a fresh look because so many windmills have been built across the country in recent years, and energy producers are increasingly looking for ways to avoid building power plants that rely on expensive oil and natural gas.

    Dr. Nakhamkin, who worked on the plant in Alabama, has developed new technology that reduces the startup time for generators powered by compressed air and cuts the amount of emissions they produce. The new facilities would also use more standard components, which would make the plants cheaper to build, depending on how much mining is required to create an underground reservoir.

    “This is a game-changing technology,” said Stephen C. Byrd, the president of P.S.E.G. Energy Holdings, which will invest $20 million over three years. “There is a desire for energy independence, and this will reduce the need for oil and natural gas.”

    The venture has met with utilities that might buy the storage technology. Compressed air can be produced by a variety of fuels. But the new venture hopes to put wind power generated during off-peak hours to use during peak hours — typically 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — and especially on hot days.

    One of the main challenges to using wind power is that the wind, in general, is unpredictable, which makes it harder for utilities to rely exclusively on it since they prefer to buy energy a day or more in advance.

    In New York, that unpredictability is compounded by the fact that the city is at its windiest on winter nights, while power use peaks on sticky — and still — summer days.

    P.S.E.G. Global is trying to win a contract to build 95 windmills that would produce a maximum of 350 megawatts of electricity off the New Jersey coast. If the company is chosen, it would consider linking the windmills to a compressed air storage plant, Mr. Byrd said, and then feeding it into the power grid.

    If a storage plant were to be built in New Jersey, it would most likely use above-ground tanks or abandoned gas pipelines because so much of the state is on solid rock, which would be expensive to excavate, Mr. Byrd said.

    More favorable locations, he said, include upstate New York, where there are depleted salt mines as well as wind farms. Old coal mines and tapped-out natural gas fields can also be converted into underground reservoirs.

    Roy Daniel, the chief executive of Energy Storage and Power, said that an underground reservoir the size of Giants Stadium could hold enough compressed air to power three 300-megawatt plants. (One megawatt hour can power a large hospital for an hour.) The reservoirs, which are typically more than 1,500 feet below ground, could take eight hours to fill at night. The compressed air would be released to run generators for eight hours during the day.

    Though the former Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island has been deemed suitable for a wind farm, and the mayor has envisioned a future in which the city’s bridges and skyscrapers are topped with turbines, a compressed air storage plant is unlikely to be built in New York City because of the rocky underground and the lack of free space above ground.

    But New York utilities could buy power stored and produced anywhere. Advocates of wind power support the use of compressed air storage facilities, but say that almost all of the wind power produced nationally is fed straight into the grid without having to be stored.

    “Different sectors like to associate with wind power, and if compressed air will truly help wind, then fine,” said Robert E. Gramlich, the policy director at the American Wind Energy Association. “But we don’t want to give anyone the impression that storage is needed to integrate wind. Even growing 20-fold, storage isn’t needed.”

    Mr. Gramlich pointed to a federal Department of Energy report that showed wind power could meet 20 percent of electricity needs in the United States by 2030 without the need for storage facilities.

    Still, storage facilities could help reduce the need to build new gas and coal plants, or to use current plants, powered by fossil fuels.

    “In the next couple of years, we want to install a couple of them so it becomes a tool in the toolbox to meet needs,” said Arshad Mansoor, the vice president of power delivery and utilization at the Electric Power Research Institute.

  • Japanese ships fitted with solar panels

    From Physorg.com

    A huge freighter capable of carrying 6,400 automobiles will be equipped with 328 solar panels at a cost of 150 million yen (1.37 million dollars), said the official at shipping line Nippon Yusen.

    document.context=’YjozMiNjOjIwfA==’; <a href=’http://adms.physorg.com/openads/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a649a0c4&cb=%n’ target=’_blank’><img src=’http://adms.physorg.com/openads/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=8&n=a649a0c4&ct0=%c’ border=’0′ alt=” /></a>

    The ship, which is expected to be completed in December, will be used to transport vehicles for Toyota Motor Corp. as part of trials by Nippon Yusen and energy distributor Nippon Oil Corp.

    It will be the world’s first attempt to use solar energy to help power a large ship’s propulsion system, the official said. So far its use has been limited to lighting and by crew in living quarters.

    “Conditions are very different from land transport due to the risk of (the system) getting wet with sea water or being subjected to constant shaking” by the wind and the waves, the official said.

    The companies aimed to build a 40-kilowatt solar power system, which would initially cover 0.2 percent of the ship’s energy consumption for propulsion.

    They hope to raise the ratio to one percent by 2010, when they are considering ordering a ship with a new solar system.

    The experiment is part of Nippon Yusen’s plan to halve fuel consumption and carbon-dioxide emissions for marine transport by 2010, the official said.

  • New look Senate makes water its top priority

    LUCY SKUTHORP in The Land

    A new-look Senate is cutting its teeth debating plans to fix the Lower Lakes in South Australia, with those holding the balance of power pushing for an emergency inquiry in a bid to transfer significant volumes of water from storages in the northern Murray Darling Basin.

    Wasting no time to use their positions of power in the new Senate after being sworn in yesterday, a bolstered number of Greens, with the support of South Australian Independent Nick Xenophon, instigated the inquiry.

    They want to determine how much water is currently in water storages in the Murray Darling Basin and how that water can be moved to the drying Lower Lakes and Coorong, at the very bottom of the Murray Darling system.

    But the push for water to be taken from higher up the system will require tens of thousands of additional megalitres to cover the huge losses in transferring that water out of storages and through the system, with evidence suggesting the amount of water actually required is simply not available.

    Senator Xenophon and the Greens are on record in recent weeks calling for compulsory acquisitions to buy whatever storage water is available to send to the lakes, taking aim at northern basin irrigators, and cotton farmers in particular.

    They have supported Australian Conservation Foundation calls for the purchase of several high-profile irrigation properties on the market in south west Queensland and north west NSW.

    Newly appointed Greens Senator for South Australia, Sarah Hanson-Young said the aim of the inquiry was to get enough water down the Murray to save the Lakes before Christmas.

    “Australians want to see a unified national effort to save the Coorong wetlands and the Murray River’s lower lakes,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

    “The water is there, all that’s missing is the political will.”

    Senator Hanson-Young said the Senate inquiry would report by September 30, and would identify how much water was available in the system, how the Federal Government could obtain it, how it could be transported down the river, and any barriers to making it happen.

    The Opposition is supportive of the move for an inquiry, but negotiated with the Greens to have compulsory acquisition taken out of the terms of reference.

  • Irrigation statistics challenge cliches

    The ABS says the largest decline in irrigation water use was for rice, with volumes down more than 81pc, followed by cotton (down by 50pc) and pasture for grazing (down by 30pc) – the three industries most often blamed for the Murray Darling water shortage.

    However, the major use of irrigation water in 2006-07 was for pasture for dairy cattle, which accounted for 15pc or 1163GL of all irrigation water use.

    With a decline of more than 42pc since 2005/06, New South Wales reported the largest decrease in water for irrigation.

    In contrast water use for irrigation in Tasmania increased by 29pc, and by 8pc in South Australia, most of this increase being for pasture for grazing.

    Other findings from the ABS report include:

    * approximately 40pc of farms and 41pc of irrigating farms in Australia were located in the Murray-Darling Basin;

    * irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin accounted for 58pc of water used for irrigation nationally;

    * irrigation water used in the Murray-Darling Basin decreased by 40pc from 7370GL in 2005-06 to 4458GL gigalitres in 2006-07;

    * the major use of this water was for irrigation of pastures for grazing (1093GL) and irrigation of cotton (819GL);

    * government or private irrigation schemes supplied over 38pc of all water used on farms, followed by groundwater and other surface water.

    * the volume of groundwater used by farms increased by nearly 15pc, while volumes from all other sources decreased;

    * farmers purchased 655GL of extra water on a temporary basis at a cost of $122 million, and 74GL on a permanent basis at a cost of $93m; and

    * the value of irrigation equipment and infrastructure on farms at 30 June 2007 was $9.3 billion.

  • Bendigo calls for genetic engineering ban

    From the Bendigo Times
    BLINDING self-interest is the only motivation behind the Victorian Government’s insistence on pushing genetically modified farming on to central Victoria, Bendigo Mayor David Jones said yesterday.

    ‘‘The people who think the science is in on genetic engineering are the very same people who think the science is not in on climate change,’’ Cr Jones said.

    ‘‘We need to send a strong message to all sides of politics.’’ Cr Jones said the City of Greater Bendigo Council will sponsor a forum on Friday, bringing together farmers, scientists and anti-GM activists to highlight the impact of introducing genetically modified canola crops to central Victoria since a government moratorium was lifted six months ago. Previously The Advertiser has reported a decrease in plantings of canola, generally, in central Victoria due to dry weather conditions.

    Cr Jones said lifting the moratorium was even more frustrating because central Victoria has so few canola growers, but it has a growing organic food sector, as well as conventional farming industries, whose markets would be seriously affected by contamination from GM farming nearby.

    ‘‘This council strongly opposes the relaxation of controls on GM farming,’’ Cr Jones said.

    ‘‘We applied for exclusion for this region to both state and federal governments, but this was denied, about a month ago.

    ‘‘It’s very important we keep issues, such as this, alive,’’ he said.

    Bendigo GE Free Group is also concerned about the long-term impact on Australia’s organic reputation and international GM free accreditation, which it will feature at Friday’s forum. Pancake Parlour director Samantha Meadmore will also address the forum. Ms Meadmore said she supports much broader discussion on the issue of genetically modified food and said her Melbourne restaurant chain was one of a growing number of food outlets making a declaration of being GM free to highlight the importance of the issue to its consumers.

    Other speakers will include Dr Maarten Stapper, former CSIRO research scientist and agronomist, who will discuss GM potential to fix soil salinity and acidity, as well as its other impacts on the environment.

    Australian Grain Harvesters Association’s Victorian spokesman Graeme Mulholland will discuss harvest, supply chain issues, transport and storage arrangements for GM crops, and the risks of contamination and liability. Victorian Apiarists Association member Graham Connell will address the impact of genetically modified crops on beekeepers, while Francis Murrell and Jessica Harrison from the Mothers Are Demystifying GE group, will examine the need for GM labeling to ensure people have the choice not to eat genetically modified foods.