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  • Richmond joins Green elite

    The seat of Richmond now has one of the highest Green votes in Australia. With almost 16 per cent of voters giving their first choice to The Greens, Richmond is only exceeded by four inner city seats in Sydney and Melbourne and the pulp mill seat of Braddon in Tasmania.

    The Green vote increased by three per cent across the electorate. A string of booths from Byron to Nimbin all voted overwhelmingly Green.

    On a two party preferred basis the result in the Byron Shire was 56.5% to The Greens, easily beating Labor. In Mullumbimby, the home town of the candidate, Giovanni Ebono, the two party preferred result for the Greens was over 62%.

     
    The majority of the voters in the Richmond electorate live in Tweed Heads. There the Green vote is less than ten per cent.

  • Chinese extinguish 50 year fire

    After three-year effort, Chinese firefighters extinguish blaze that had been burning underground in coalmine for more than 50 years After a three-year effort and untold quantities of water, Chinese firefighters have extinguished a fire that had been burning underground in a coalmine for more than 50 years.

    12.5m tonnes coal consumed, 70,000t toxic gases emitted: According to Jane Macartney, the fire had consumed up to 12.5 million tonnes of coal as it raged unchecked beneath the surface, spewing out more than 70,000 tonnes of toxic gases annually since the 1950s. Miao Pu head of the firefighting team at the Terak mine in Xinjiang, a mainly Muslim region rich in resources, said: "First, we drilled into the burning coal bed and then poured water and slurry into it to lower the temperature. After the temperature dropped we covered the surface to starve the fire of oxygen."

    651million tonnes coal saved for mining: As well as staving off further environmental damage, they have saved more than 651 million tonnes of coal, which would be mined to fuel the Chinese economic and industrial juggernaut. The furnace was 100m underground at the second-largest coalfield in Xinjiang.

    Only one of thousands of underground coalmine fires: Thousands of underground coalmine fires are believed to cover an area of 720km sq in China. They consume up to 20 million tonnes of high-quality coal and a further 200 million tonnes of coal storage each year. Scientists said the underground fires may produce as much carbon dioxide as about 1 per cent of the total burnt as fossil fuels. The smoke darkened already-polluted skies. The fires emitted poisonous gases and could make the earth cave in — swallowing roads, homes, animals and people — when ash replaced firm coal underground.

    The Australian, 23/11/2007, p. 14

  • Take the `How should I vote?’ quiz

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  • Take the `How should I vote?’ quiz

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  • $360m solar plant for Hunter

    Australian company CBD Energy has announced plans to build a $360 million solar farm and manufacturing plant in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

    CBD Energy says the first stage of the project will cost $60 million. It involves the construction of a five-megawatt solar farm on land near Raymond Terrace, north of Newcastle, which it hopes to complete by June next year.

    Output will eventually be expanded to 30 megawatts, providing enough green electricity for more than 30,000 homes.

    CBD executive chairman Gerry McGowan says the next stage will be building a factory to make a revolutionary new type of thin-film solar panel.

    "We’ll manufacture [it] for a tenth of the cost of conventional PV technology," he said.

    The federal Coalition has promised to contribute $20 million to the first stage of the project, if it is re-elected.

  • Canada Racing in the Wind

    Aeolis Windpower/Peace River Renewable Energy Co-operative/AltaGas Bear Mountain Windpark

    The 3-way partnership between the new wind power firm, community energy co-operative, and large natural gas income trust is a promising initiative. It is the most advanced of a number of Aeolis project sites, including up to 57 two megawatt Enercon turbines that will generating a nameplate capacity of 120 MW. Community support for the project has been strong, due in part to the involvement of the Peace Energy Co-op, which boasts almost 300 members, from different parts of the country.

    "The ability for local residents to have a direct stake in the project, as well as having a contact office in the community to handle questions has made a big difference towards acceptance of the project," says Valerie Gilson, Peace Energy’s executive director.

    It was the co-operative that got the ball rolling for the Bear Mountain project in 2003, when they picked up BC Hydro’s wind monitoring license for the site. A year later they partnered with Aeolis, who has spearheaded the bulk of the permitting approval process. Construction is slated to begin this month, and the farm should be generating power one year from now.

    AltaGas was brought on board as the financing arm of the operation, and currently holds ownership of the project.

    Earth First Energy/ Dokie Wind Project

    Earth First Energy’s first wind power project is also located in BC’s Peace River Country, near the community of Chetwynd. The Dokie Wind Project is slated at a total of 300 (MW) and built through a joint venture between Earth First and Creststreet Capital. Its completion date is scheduled for 2010. In 2006 BC Hydro awarded Earthfirst a contract for the project’s first phase, which is 162 MW. The contract is for up to 536 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year. The remaining capacity will be tendered in BC Hydro’s upcoming ‘Clean Power Call‘, currently set for spring 2008. Ron Percival, president of Earthfirst, says the company plans to begin construction in the coming winter months, with completion of the first phase in late 2009.

    Mt. Hays Limited Partnership

    A project of Katabatic Power, a company based in Richmond BC and San Francisco, the Mt. Hays site is located near the ocean in the Province’s Northwest corner. At a value of $55 million, the Mt Hays project is comprised of 17 1.5 MW turbines (the AAER-A 1500s), and is the smallest of the three projects, at 25.5 MW. Power developments in BC under 50 MW do not require the same level of oversight by the province. This particular site already has road and grid access in place as well.

    CEO Tony Duggleby says their relationship with the Prince Rupert area has been very positive overall. "We’ve had 75 to 100 people to several open house meetings, people who have been involved all along the way." Mt Hays is located about four kilometers from the community. Final permitting requirements for this project were submitted in October, with construction anticipated to begin in early spring 2008.

    Even More Coming Soon

    Another contender is Seabreeze Power, which in 2004 received the province’s first ever Environmental Assessment Certificate for a proposed wind power project. The approval was for their 99 MW Knob Hill site on Vancouver Island’s northern tip. The company plans to submit a bid for this project in BC Hydro’s upcoming ‘Clean Power Call’, to be issued in the first half of 2008. Finally, Nai Kun Wind Development is working in partnership with The Haida First Nations to plan and develop an ambitious 5-phase project off-shore that is projected to have a nameplate capacity of over 1,000 megawatts.

    Clearly British Columbia intends to transform from one of the laggards in Canadian wind power to one of its leaders. Its world-famous wind zones will soon be harnessed and tested for their real-time performance.

    Randyn Seibold is a student, freelance writer and renewable energy entrepreneur. Living on British Columbia’s West Coast for the last 15 years, he is an active member of the BC Sustainable Energy Association, and has worked for four years as an electrical apprentice. Renewable Recruits is a proprietorship focused on informing students about renewable energy training opportunities, and recruiting qualified people to RE developments in Western Canada.