Greenpeace has won a victory after its three day blockade of the toxic tanker Probo Koala, forcing the Estonia Government to open an investigation and detaine the ship. the toxic waste is responsible for the deaths of 8 and illnesses of thousands.
Author: admin
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The car that runs on sunshine
Sick of forking out to fill your car with petrol? European carmaker Venturi may have the vehicle for you. The firm, based in Monaco, has unveiled what it says is the world’s first commercially-available, high-performance solar vehicle, capable of speeds up to 120 km/h.
Dont’ forget your sunnies! Driver and passenger
sit in tandem, in the middle of the solar panel.Unveiled at the 2006 Paris Motor Show, the Astrolab looks a cross between a Formula 1 racing vehicle and the hot water panel from your neighbour’s roof.
Spread over its ultra-lightweight chassis are 3.6 m2 of efficient solar cells covered with what the company says is a ”unique nano-prismic film”.
It claims the two combine to efficently harness the power of the sun, storing it as electricity in on-board batteries. The batteries then drive the vehicle’s 21-horsepower electric motor. The batteries can also be recharged from the electricity grid.
Venturi claims the vehicle, which has a range of 110 km, is carbon neutral.
”This is (the) very first vehicle that consumes no (fossil fuels) in order to work,” it boasts on its website. ”The emissions of CO2 required for its construction will even be compensated for by environmental actions.”
The vehicles may be available for delivery as early as 2008, at a price of about $150,000.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
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Solar cell manufacture goes offshore
Origin Energy has confirmed that commercial manufacture of the Australian National University’s solar sliver cell technology is poised to go offshore, possibly to Germany or the United States, to capitalise on government investment incentives for solar energy in those countries, reported The Canberra Times (3 October 2006, p.1).
"Clients of our own technology": The article says renewable energy experts say the move offshore will deprive Australia of a big slice of the world’s rapidly expanding solar technology market, estimated to be worth more than $100 billion by 2010. "We will become clients of our own technology, importing back the expertise we lost," Murdoch University’s Professor of Energy Studies Dr Philip Jennings said.
The technology: The wafer-thin solar sliver cells were invented by ANU researchers Professor Andrew Blakers and Dr Klaus Weber, with support from Dr Vernie Everett, of the ANU and the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence. The sliver cells will cut the cost of photovoltaic panels by around 75 per cent by using 90 per cent less silicon.
Its potential: Their potential to make photovoltaic panels more affordable and accelerate uptake of solar energy has been compared to the global information revolution created by the internet search engine Google.
"Show me the money": Origin Energy acquired the base patent for the sliver cells from ANU and has invested more than $30 million to commercialise the technology, including building a pilot plant in Adelaide. But Origin’s general manager Tony Wood told The Canberra Times that an investment of more than $100 million was needed to scale up to commercial manufacture of the technology.
The Canberra Times, 3/10/2006, p. 1
Source: Erisk Net
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Demand for water tanks increases
The drought is also increasing demand for water tanks from farmers.
They are not being used to collect rainwater, but to hold water being trucked in to properties across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.
Ross Hendy from Tankworld in north-west Victoria says around 250 tanks are being sold each week, and there is a six-week wait for them.
"Instead of running one shift we are running two, we are currently looking at possibly running three and we are obviously putting more trucks on the road so we can get the product to our clients quicker," he said.
© 2006 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Copyright information: http://abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm -
Boo Hoo: $6m AWB man cries about Iraqi atrocities
AWB sent millions of dollars in foreign currency to Saddam Hussein so he could build concrete bunkers, which AWB executives speculated might be used by the regime to bury Kurds.
The shocking email detailing the reinforced bunkers came on an extraordinary final day of the Cole inquiry in which a former AWB managing director broke down on the stand and new Trade Minister Warren Truss was drawn into the Iraqi kickback scandal.
But the extent of the scandal was revealed in the email by executive Daryl Borlase, who said Iraq wanted to build 2000 concrete bunkers, ostensibly to store grain, but "the bunkers will have cement walls and floors so they are actually designed for burying the Kurds – under the cement?"
"They intend to build them with fumigation capability so the mind boggles as to whether they are fumigating insects or any other pest that pisses them off," the email says.
It continued: "On a serious note, they will have cement flooring …"
Saddam is on trial in Iraq for the genocide of 182,000 people in a 1987-88 campaign against the Kurds.
The dramatic revelations came just hours after Mr Truss, who was sworn in as Trade Minister at 2.30pm yesterday, was dragged into the scandal.
Senior counsel John Agius produced a letter, drawn from the archives of AWB’s computers just this week, which suggested that former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge had discussed problems with the Iraq "trucking fee" with Mr Truss when he was agriculture minister in 2000.
The letter, which Mr Flugge swore he had never seen, was written on April 5, 2000, and addressed to the former Iraqi minister for trade, Mohammed Medhi Saleh, who later became the Six of Hearts in the Most Wanted pack of Iraqis.
It was written for Mr Flugge by an AWB executive turned whistleblower, Mark Emons.
Former AWB managing director Andrew Lindberg, who was the last witness on the last day of the inquiry, was asked by Mr Agius whether his staff knew that AWB’s millions was being funnelled to Iraq at a time when Saddam was accused of massive human rights abuses.
"Would you agree with me, Mr Lindberg, that the (Kurds) email does make plain that there were personnel within AWB who were aware of what … the Iraqi regime was capable of doing?" Mr Agius asked.
A short time later, Mr Lindberg collapsed into tears in the witness box.
His wife, who had been sitting in the public gallery, and several supporters rushed to comfort him.
Mr Lindberg resigned as CEO in February, shortly after Mr Agius asked him whether he was a "complete fool" for ignoring the scandal for so long.The job had paid him more than $6million in four years.
"I hope that wasn’t said in a serious way," he said yesterday, of the Kurds email. "I think it’s open for you to draw that inference."
Mr Lindberg told the inquiry he understood one of the reasons UN sanctions had been in place against Iraq was to stop Saddam’s regime getting hold of foreign currency to buy weapons or for other nefarious purposes.
In his final question Commissioner Cole asked former AWB CEO Andrew Lindberg: “Are you able to give me any understanding as to how you think this came about, how it happened in a company like AWB?” Mr Lindberg replied: “It would appear that it was set up before I arrived by former employees and it continued under my stewardship, and it shouldn’t have.”
Source: news.com.au