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Babcock and Brown not returning calls: Babcock & Brown is a
global investment company with offices across the United States,
Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. David Griffin, listed on the
development application as the chief executive officer of Renewable
Power, did not return calls made by The Canberra Times on 29 March.

Extensive construction to cause traffic problems: The
development would include construction of a substation, 12km of
overhead transmission lines and trenching to install 20km of
underground cables. An environmental assessment by the developer
estimated transporting and installing the turbines would raise
significant traffic and transport issues, including road safety and the
ability of local roads to handle the high volume of construction
traffic.

Development will damage endangered environment: A flora and
fauna assessment prepared for the project warned that the development
would involve “significant clearing” of high conservation value yellow
box woodlands. This type of woodland is listed in NSW as an endangered
ecological community.

Telecommunications may suffer from development: The assessment
also raised concerns about the possible impact on telecommunications –
including television reception, radar and mobile telephones – in the
region.

Local residents concerned by noise: William Hoorweg, who lives
on a property 18km from Bungendore, said he had “been bailed up at the
letterbox” some months ago by Mr Griffin. “He told me that wind
turbines would be going in around 1000m behind my place,” Mr Hoorweg
said. Mr Hoorweg said he was concerned that “the thumping noise” from
the turbines would “make life unbearable” and destroy the peace and
quiet of rural life in the region.

The Canberra Times, 30/3/2006, p. 2

Source: Erisk  

1.5m households involved: Academics at the University of NSW
used figures from Sydney Water, the census and the Department of Lands,
and rainfall modelling from Australian National University to gauge
water consumption across 140 Sydney districts and 1.5 million
households.

14pc more per person: They found that while residents of the
western suburbs used more water per household, residents of northern
and eastern Sydney used up to 14 per cent more water per person. The
suburbs with the highest per capita water use included northern Sydney,
the northern beaches, the inner and central west and Sutherland.

Results consistent across the board: The research found
residents of the eastern suburbs used more water than their western
counterparts in all four categories; freestanding houses, semis, small
and large blocks.

Dwelling type makes no difference: The study also revealed that
the amount of water used per person varied little between the different
types of dwellings. For example, in freestanding houses the average
annual per capita use was 104 kilolitres, and in high-rise units the
per capita use was 99 kilolitres. The lowest per capita users of
domestic water were residents of low-rise flats.

State Govt system flawed: Spokesperson Professor Randolph said
the finding had serious implications for the State Government’s
commitment to urban consolidation, based on an assumption that medium-
and high-density housing lead to substantially lower domestic water
use.

Consumption reduction unlikely: “Households in higher-density
flats are certainly smaller than those in houses, but on a per capita
basis there is little to be gained in terms of overall water
conservation between high- and low-density housing. Therefore policies
designed to reduce water consumption based on dwelling types alone are
unlike to achieve any significant reductions in consumption levels,”
Randolph said.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 1-2/4/2006, p. 9

Source: Erisk  

The Canberra Times, 30/3/2006, p. 1

 Source: Erisk

Reference: Department of Environment and Conservation news releases are on the web: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/media

Erisk Net, 31/3/2006

The Advertiser, 31/3/2006, p. 1

Source: Erisk

There are a number of factors to consider.

Firstly, while we have reasonable reserves of natural gas, it is still
a fossil fuel. As energy investment banker Matthew Simmons says,
“People tout hydrogen as an alternative energy source, but most
hydrogen solutions consume natural gas. In a world running short of
fossil fuels, the last thing we need is a new user of natural gas.”

Secondly, the fact that some of the solar energy can be transferred to
the natural gas, is good, but may not be the most efficient use of the
solar energy. The total energy and greenhouse profit from pholtovoltaic
or mechanical conversion of solar to electric energy need to be
calculated and compared before we get too excited about this particular
process.

Thirdly, the world does need transportable fuels, and syngas may be a
suitable alternative as cheap oil runs out. We should not forget the
value of plants, which not only harness the energy of the sun, but also
sink carbon-dioxide and do both of those things without any of the
investment in dollars, watts and greenhouse gases that solutions like
the CSIRO solar powered syngas plant does.

Aside from these three factors urging cautious scientific analysis, the
media savvy and cynical might also question its timing. It is hard not
to see this as an attempt at positive media spin following the flack
surrounding the appointment of Geoff Garrett as CSIRO chief in
February. The “breakthrough” in this technology was prior to 2002 when
the division responsible won awards for it which enabled them to expand
research into the production and commercialisation phase. What has
happened in the intervening three and a half years is that the mirrors
have moved to the ground, and the conversion plant placed on a
stationary tower. Why the television crews were let loose on the
facility in this particular week is anyone’s guess, but it would not
appear to be for scientific reasons.