Solar shootout in the San Joaquin Valley
Solar Shootout in the San Joaquin Valley
Side-by-side crystalline and thin-film photovoltaic installations at a water treatment plant in California’s Central Valley should provide a clear indication of which provides the best energy production and cost benefit performance over varying climatic conditions within a year.
The data on the Fat Spaniel Web site also allows the group to compare the 1-MW Phase One solar-tracking system with a number of fixed installations, such as a 1-MW fixed-axis rooftop system at a fruit packing firm in Hanford, CA, a system that Conergy also installed.
The 1.6-MW solar array for the South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) was installed in two phases by Denver-based Conergy Americas in Manteca, CA. Phase One includes 6720 Conergy 175-W crystalline modules mounted on a single-axis solar tracking system that can boost peak-time output by about 15% over fixed systems.
Consumer confidence hit by Kevin Rudd’s budget: survey
Consumer confidence hit by Kevin Rudd’s budget: survey
James Glynn | May 20, 2009
THE Rudd Government’s budget has been roundly rejected by consumers, with sentiment plunging in the days since its May 12 release.
Coming on top of big falls in government electoral support in separate national opinion polls over the last week, the drop in consumer confidence has the potential to further contain the Government’s ability to loosen fiscal settings if the global economic downturn worsens.
Ratcheting up government debt further would risk an even bigger electoral backlash with contagion spreading quickly to financial markets.
Consumer sentiment fell 4.3 per cent in May from April, according to a survey released today by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute. It was the second biggest fall in the index following the release of a federal budget in the last 10 years, said Westpac chief economist Bill Evans.
“It suggests people have been unnerved by the build-up in (government) debt, which is going to constrain fiscal policy flexibility,” Mr Evans said.
Poltical stupidity and hydrocommerce madness
Political stupidity and hydrocommerce madness
Water is a unique public commodity, but the New South Wales Government is opening the
Sydney and Hunter water markets to multinational privateers, writes lawyer Kellie Tranter.
Posted Fri May 15, 2009 2:12pm AEST
Updated Fri May 15, 2009 2:18pm AEST
In a country where water is becoming more scarce, has the NSW
Government properly explained its water legislation? (ABC News)
Map: Sydney 2000
“As the most essential life-sustaining substance and the most critical input to economies around the globe, water is the only commodity that has absolutely no substitute at any price. This fundamental fact creates an intractable demand for water and has historically made global hydrocommerce a stable, non-cyclical, low-risk investment.” – Summit Global Management
WWF justifies pollution rewards
The World Wildlife Fund has produced a form letter which it is sending to the members who are leaving the organisation because of its support for the Labor Government’s Carbon Pollution Reward Scheme. Publisher of the Generator, Giovanni Ebono, was one of many members who cut off all ties with the organisation as a result of that decision. He has provided a copy of their letter.
China and US held secret talks on climate change deal
China and US held secret talks on climate change deal
• Negotiations began in final months of Bush administration
• Obama could seal accord on cutting emissions by autumn
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 May 2009 19.03 BST
- Article history
A high-powered group of senior Republicans and Democrats led two missions to China in the final months of the Bush administration for secret backchannel negotiations aimed at securing a deal on joint US-Chinese action on climate change, the Guardian has learned.
The initiative, involving John Holdren, now the White House science adviser, and others who went on to positions in Barack Obama’s administration, produced a draft agreement in March, barely two months after the Democrat assumed the presidency.
The memorandum of understanding was not signed, but those involved in opening up the channel of communications believe it could provide the foundation for a US-Chinese accord to battle climate change, which could be reached as early as this autumn.
Science alone will not save us
Science alone will not save us
Changing behaviour will be as vital as new technologies in tackling climate change. So where is the funding for linguists, anthropologists and sociologists? Tariq Tahir reports
- The Guardian, Tuesday 19 May 2009
Wind Turbines at Royd Moor in south Yorkshire. Public support is crucial to the expansion of this clean energy. Photograph: Christopher Thomond
Naysayers aside, the world appears to have nudged its way towards the view that there is a scientific consensus that human activity has changed our climate. For many academics, the question is now about finding ways of dealing with the consequences of climate change. In that endeavour, natural scientists are increasingly being joined by other academics – most notably social scientists – in teams where many disciplines can interact.