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Biggest environmental group in US: The Sierra Club was founded in the United States in 1892 and is the largest environmental organisation in the US with more than 750,000 members. It expanded into Canada in 1963 and has active chapters in every region of Canada.

Nothing will happen because of partnership: Commenting on Ambrose’s praise for the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate formed by the United States, Australia, Japan, China, India and South Korea, Bennett said: “There isn’t anything that will happen because of the partnership.

Reliance on voluntary action and hope: “It relies entirely on voluntary action and the hope that industry will come forward.

Public relations stunt by US: “Canada is being enthusiastic about a meaningless public relations stunt by the US Government when it should be talking about the importance of working – on a program that has real targets."

Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change Control (UNFCCC). 26 April 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int

Erisk Net, 27/4/2006

Possible $27/KL cost: Pejar Dam recently held less than 1 per cent of its capacity and the city has not received any decent rain since 120mm in January. Water services manager for Goulburn Mulwaree Council Greg Finlayson said if worst came to worst, the city would cart in water at a cost of $27 a kilolitre, 27 times what Canberrans pay.

Water trucking costs high: "That is a very expensive, last approach. I’m not confident but I very much hope it won’t get to that point. The risks involved in trucking water are significant. For starters, you’ll have a lot of water tankers driving up and down the Hume Highway."

Pejar Dam close to empty: The city is pumping 15 megalitres a day from Pejar Dam with any surplus pumped back into the Sooley Dam. "Pejar Dam is down to a very small pool of water and it will only be a matter of weeks before it gets to a level where we can’t draw from it at all," Finlayson said. "We are at a level we have never experienced before, since 1980 when the dam was built."

Plan B: Sooley Dam: The council has "other strings in its bow", including Sooley Dam, which is being topped up with water from three underground bores. Although the bores are not increasing the amount of water in the dam, which is at 91 per cent capacity, they are preventing it from dropping as a result of evaporation.

Wollondilly pump project underway: Construction is also nearly completed on works to pump water from the Wollondilly River, but the operating rules, set by the NSW Government, are yet to be determined. The water would also be treated.

Recycling options open: The council is about to begin a public consultation process on recycling sewage water so it can be integrated with the water supply during times of emergency.

The Canberra Times, 13/4/2006, p. 11

Rebates were given for about 870 tanks last month, up from 660 tanks in February. That brings the number of rebates from the Brisbane City Council for the installation of rainwater tanks to about 3700 reported The Daily Telegraph

Woodside Petroleum chief executive Don Voelte has given the Chinese Government a thinly veiled warning that it will miss out on LNG supplies if it doesn’t respect the market, reported The Australian (25/4/2006, p.21).

Market in need of confidence boost: Speaking during the weekend at the Boao Forum For Asia in Hainan, Voelte said: "In an age of energy uncertainty, markets and market prices should not be viewed with suspicion as sources of volatility and instability."

NWS LNG ready for China: Next month, China’s first LNG receival terminal in Guangdong province will receive its inaugural shipment from the North West Shelf gas project which has signed a 25-year, $25 billion contract to supply 3.3 million tonnes of LNG a year.

But no further sales planned: Despite expectations that the contract would lead to further sales in China, none have been forthcoming, because the market has changed since the Guangdong contract was initialled in August 2002.

Supply to lag behind demand: Voelte said it could take years before investments resulted in sufficient production to meet new demand and "maintain a certain amount of surge capacity". "So in an era which may be subject periodically to tight supply, demand and prices may see some volatility," he said.

No match for 1970s prices: The Woodside chief noted that while spot prices for LNG cargoes followed short-term market trends, long-term contracts for LNG were only now returning to the levels seen in the early 1990s and were still far below the levels they were during the 1970s and 80s.

The Australian, 25/4/2006, p. 21

Same data, dramatically different conclusions: Modelling by the Victorian Government used the same data employed by Biosis Research, whose report was seized on by Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell to scuttle the $220 million wind farm proposal.

Parrots didn’t rate so highly in 2002: Moreover the Howard Government approved four other Victorian wind farms in 2002 even though they were found to have a significantly higher kill rate of one parrot every five years. But Senator Camphell continued to defend the Bald Hill decision, saying he was determined to protect the native parrot because it was a "unique Australian bird".

Irony:  Ironically, the orange-bellied parrot is hightly vunerable to climate change, a threat to its survival that far exceeds any threat from wind turbines.

The Australian, 19/4/2006, p. 1

Source: Erisk Net

Sheets are transparent: Scientists have developed what they say is a brighter and more efficient alternative: wafer-thin light panels that could cover an entire ceiling, wall, table or even curtain. The sheets are clear, but when connected to electricity they flood a room with light.

Night into day? This means they could one day be installed as windows or skylights which appear normal in the day but then mimic the effect of natural light after dark.

Lighting consumes 20pc of power bills: Figures show more than 20 per cent of the electricity we use in buildings goes on lighting. The invention, called an Organic Light-Emitting Device, is the culmination of a 13-year research program.

The Courier Mail, 15/4/2006, p. 3

For more information on Organic Light-Emitting Device, simply search Google using `Organic Light-Emitting Device’ as your search phrase. 

Source: Erisk Net