#Official Energy Thread

[AG]

Mining investment record
CAMERON ENGLAND, CHIEF BUSINESS REPORTER
December 07, 2007 01:15am
MORE money was invested in South Australia's mining sector than in manufacturing for the first time in recorded history, the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies reports.

The centre, which will release its Economic Briefing Report at the National Wine Centre today, finds the outlook for the state economy is "very positive", but we should expect another two quarter-of-a-percentage-point interest rate rises in the first half of next year.

While this would take home-loan rates to 9.1 per cent, the centre expects building activity in both the residential and non-residential sectors to remain strong in the short-term, with SA's strong population growth more than accounting for the interest rate rises so far.

"The strength of demand for residential property is . . . clearly evident in continuing sharp rises in established house prices and low vacancy rates for Adelaide rental properties," the report states.

"Rental vacancy rates were at 25-year lows in 2007."

Mining investment was expected to remain strong.

"The figures suggest that SA is moving toward a more mining-oriented economic base," the report finds.

"In current price terms, mining new fixed capital expenditure in the year to September 2007 was 70 per cent higher than in the previous year.

"In contrast, manufacturing expenditure fell by 15 per cent.

"Mining industry expenditure on new physical assets reached $1300 million in 2006-07 and eclipsed manufacturing investment for the first time in living memory."

Centre deputy director Jim Hancock said reliable historic figures were not available but the last time the mining sector had outspent the manufacturing sector was likely to have been before the boom marked by the start of the Playford era in 1938.

The manufacturing sector, which still accounts for 13 per cent of the state's economy, was expected to remain under pressure from the high Australian dollar and overseas competition.

[rhino]

From today's Advertiser:

Solar first for Whyalla
CARA JENKIN, ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTER
March 17, 2008 12:10am

THE world's first renewable energy power station capable of producing electricity 24 hours a day will be lighting up homes in Whyalla by the end of next year.
Renewable energy company Wizard Power will start construction of a solar thermal power station in October and will begin providing electricity from next July. Six giant dishes will be built on vacant land opposite the OneSteel steelworks in Whyalla, which receives an average of 301 days of sunshine each year.
Initially the power plant will demonstrate that renewable energy can be used to provide base-load power but all power generated will be diverted into the electricity grid. Electricity to power up to 1000 homes – or 10 per cent of Whyalla's buildings – will be produced when the plant is commissioned by the end of 2009 and the plant could be expanded if the technology is proven.
Most renewable energy power sources, including wind and solar power, cannot provide base-load power because the energy cannot be stored when the wind does not blow or the sun does not shine. Wizard Power business development manager Artur Zawadski believed the Whyalla project was the first base-load plant in the world that would be reliant only on renewable energy and was not a hybrid with a natural gas-fired electricity plant.
He said a chemical process was used to store the sun's heat after it was trapped by the dish, allowing it to be released during the day, at night, or on unusually cloudy days.
Whyalla mayor Jim Pollock expected the solar thermal plant to put the city in the international spotlight, which would increase tourism to the city and region.
"It is going to be excellent for Whyalla, the region, South Australia and Australia for that matter," he said.

[Wayno]

only 301 days of sunshine each year - pfffft, hardly enough to work up a decent tan!

seriously, this is great news. Hope it works very well and gets replicated in other tan-worthy areas...

[urban]

This is the next step required by renewable energy to become a serious replacement for fossil fuel generated electricity. Let's hope it is successful.

I thought there were already some solar plants in America which were creating and storing steam to allow them to provide base load power.

[monotonehell]

Yes! Maybe now that John "Coal-veined" Howard's shuffled off to the US talk circuit we might see some action on the renewable front. The constant "they can't provide base load power" was a Furphy. We need many "small" plants of different kinds all around the country to help wean us from Coal and Oil. The only reason we haven't seen them in the past is because they cut out the control of the means of production from the mining industry. Which scares the heck out of the old school economists.

[Jim]

While I think that cutting subsidies for Solar voltaic systems was an ill thought out policy change, I think it can be rectified by making it compulsory to install voltaic systems on all houses purchased for over $1,000,000. This way we are not pushing up housing costs for the low income and first home buyers and if you can afford to buy a million dollar property you can afford $25-$30 K for a good system. This would totally free up the government subsidy money for those whom can’t afford systems. Those purchasing million dollar pads or apartments that can’t be fitted with systems because of heritage, shade or other issues should simply have to purchase green power.

[Jim]

Any other thoughts on how to get more panels on more roofs?

[AtD]

This should be in the visions section, a long with a few other threads around the place.

[Jim]

I started a thread under Visions and Suggestions, this project could be a vision of what is to come! It has a huge impact on the way we see regional development.

SA to power the world
viewtopic.php?p=44552 - p44552viewtopic.php?p=44552 - p44552by Jim on Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:02 pm

In the post oil world
In only 40 year there will be no oil. In 120 years with the anticipated industrialization of China and India uranium will be all gone. In another 50 years after that coal will be running out. Even the power of our geothermal resources which are based on radio active decay will be exhausted.
But there are three places on earth that will have wealth beyond belief, North Africa, Mid West USA and South and central Australia. These areas have solar potential beyond belief. An area the size of the Maralinga no-go zone alone could currently supply the whole of the USA and China with thermal solar electricity. I recently attended a lecture at Adelaide Uni and told of plans being developed to link North Africa with Europe and Australia to Asia. The first small step would be to link Roxby downs in SA with the Queensland electricity grid this would cost about $1billion. This one move would make it then economic for private thermal solar and geothermal companies to get the ball rolling.
I think as South Australians we need to grasp the vision and make this happen. Adelaide and regional SA has the potential to be at the centre of this new world we just need to make the vision happen.

[Jim]

Solar breakthrough
An article from the National Science Foundation about a new resurch breakthrough at MIT
"Press Release 08-129
Water Refineries?

New method extracts oxygen from water with minimal energy, potentially boosting efforts to develop solar as a 24-hour energy source

A snapshot showing the new, efficient oxygen catalyst in action in Dan Nocera's laboratory at MIT.
Credit and Larger Version

July 31, 2008

Using a surprisingly simple, inexpensive technique, chemists have found a way to pull pure oxygen from water using relatively small amounts of electricity, common chemicals and a room-temperature glass of water.

Because oxygen and hydrogen are energy-rich fuels, many researchers have proposed using solar electricity to split water into those elements--a stored energy source for when the sun goes down. One of the chief obstacles to that green-energy scenario has been the difficulty of producing oxygen without large amounts of energy or a high-maintenance environment.
Now, Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemist Daniel Nocera and his postdoctoral student Matthew Kanan have discovered an efficient way to solve the oxygen problem. They announced their findings July 31, 2008, online in the journal Science.

"The discovery has enormous implications for the large scale deployment of solar since it puts us on the doorstep of a cheap and easily manufactured storage mechanism," said Nocera. "The ease of implementation means that this discovery will have legs. I have great faith in my chemistry, materials science and engineering colleagues in the community to drive this discovery hard and hopefully their work, along with our continued studies will yield viable technologies within 10 years."
While a home-based energy source using this technique could be a decade away, the breakthrough is a major step forward.

"This study demonstrates how research is critical for driving American competitiveness in the global energy marketplace. By funding fundamental research in water and renewable energy, we are investing in both our economic and environmental futures," said Arden L. Bement, Jr., director of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

To produce oxygen, Nocera and Kanan added cobalt and phosphates to neutral water and then inserted a conductive-glass electrode. As soon as the researchers applied a current, a dark film began to form on the electrode from which tiny pockets of oxygen began to appear, eventually building into a stream of bubbles.

After analyzing the electrode, the researchers concluded that a cobalt-phosphate mixture, possibly combined with phosphate, had deposited as a film.

Nocera and Kanan believe the film is the catalyst that helps break apart the water molecules to create oxygen gas. The protons (hydrogen nuclei) released from the process pick up electrons and convert back into hydrogen at a partner electrode.

Nocera and Kanan also found evidence that the catalyst seems to refresh itself, a mechanism that would make maintenance of such oxygen-extracting systems far simpler than alternatives, although that finding needs confirmation from additional experiments.

"The simplicity of this process is amazing," said Luis Echegoyen, director of NSF's Chemistry Division. "Using common and affordable elements, and a glass of water, these chemists may have given us a future way to efficiently obtain oxygen by splitting water."

Despite the straightforward experimental setup, the exact mechanism driving the reactions is still unknown. For direct conversion of solar energy into hydrogen and oxygen, researchers will need to study the new research results and incorporate the mechanisms into a larger system that also cleanly produces hydrogen.

Nocera is a member of NSF's Powering the Planet, a partnership that NSF forged between MIT, Caltech and several other institutions as an NSF Chemical Bonding Center in 2005. In his role as a co-investigator with the center, Nocera has been pursuing sustainable energy technology through a broader effort to learn from, and apply, the lessons of photosynthesis and other natural processes.

"When we support fundamental research we never know where that investment will lead. In this instance, it may lead to new opportunities for sustainable energy," said Tony Chan, assistant director for NSF's Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate.

-NSF-



Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF (703) 292-7730 [email protected]
Jennifer A. Grasswick, NSF (703) 292-4972 [email protected]
Anne Trafton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (617) 253-7147 [email protected]
Teresa Herbert, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (617) 258-5403 [email protected]
Kathy Svitil, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (626) 395-8022 [email protected]


Program Contacts
Katharine J. Covert, NSF (703) 292-4950 [email protected]


Principal Investigators
Daniel Nocera, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (617) 253-5537 [email protected]




The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of $6.06 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 45,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

Get News Updates by Email
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[Jim]

GOVERNMENT figures on solar panel rebate take-up show that the industry is moving from strength to strength, the Clean Energy Council (CEC) said today.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett said today that an average of 522 applications have been lodged weekly since the federal budget announcement of the $8,000 rebate.

CEC spokesman Rob Jackson said his group welcomed the government's transparency in providing the rebate information which he said would be critical in enabling the solar PV industry to plan for future demand and jobs growth.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Vote in the online poll below right.

"Today's release of the figures is especially timely as hundreds of representatives from the solar PV industry, including installers, distributors and dealers, are in Melbourne to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry nationally," Mr Jackson said in a statement.

"The rebate scheme, particularly in the last two years, has allowed the industry to build capacity and capability.

"However the industry is now ready to transition to a nationally consistent gross feed in tariff. This policy will deliver the long-term certainty needed for investment and jobs growth."

Mr Jackson said the figures demonstrated that the Australian solar photo-voltaic industry continued to move from strength to strength.

"We look forward to working with government to discuss the transitional rebate arrangements until the gross feed in tariff policy is in place," he said.

"The CEC also looks forward to participating in the upcoming roundtable discussions to deliver a framework to help households improve their energy efficiency, reduce their environmental impact and save on energy bills."

Great news that sales are still up and solar didn't die with the new means test on home systems, however I think solar systems should be compulsory on homes purchased for the value of $1million.

[rhino]

From Adelaide Now:

Wave Rider Energy project gets $5m boost

May 19, 2009 09:53am

THE South Australian Government has approved a $5 million wave energy pilot plant off the Eyre Peninsula coast.
Premier Mike Rann said Wave Rider Energy Ltd would establish its plant off Elliston and hoped to make the technology commercially viable.
"South Australia is said to have excellent wave energy potential due to the nature of its coastline and the power of waves generated in the Southern Ocean,'' Mr Rann said.
"Wave energy represents a largely untapped sustainable energy resource and is seen to be one of the most environmentally benign forms of energy generation currently available.''
Wave Rider Energy managing director Christian Gerlach said the company's energy converter would be located 800m offshore at a depth of 30m.
"There will be minimal impact on the environment but potential for future social and economic benefits through sustainable energy generation capability,'' Mr Gerlach said.

[fabricator]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009 ... 649717.htm

South Australia's latest hot rocks energy project has been officially launched near Arkaroola in the state's upper north.

It marks the start of drilling on the Paralana Project, operated by Petratherm.

The company aims to use geothermal energy to provide power to about 300,000 homes by 2018.

The managing director, Terry Kallis, says he has high ambitions for the renewable energy source.

"We see that our particular technology has the highest probability of being the lowest cost form of renewable full stop, and probably within the next 30 years be able to compete belly to belly with coal production," he said.

More details in the video on the ABC website above, includes other details, 30MW output by 2015, requires $170m power line to connect to Olympic Dam or Port Augusta.

For those unaware this is a second plant with no connection to the other Hot Rocks project. Also mention made of other companies planing hot rocks projects.

[fabricator]

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 82,00.html

Rigs signal geothermal bonanza
Article from: The Advertiser
CAMERON ENGLAND

August 08, 2009 12:01am

AUSTRALIA'S largest drilling rig was officially opened in the northern Flinders Ranges yesterday, cementing South Australia's place at the forefront of geothermal energy exploration.

SA is now home to Australia's two largest onshore drilling rigs, both of which are targeting geothermal energy at depths greater than 4km.

The technology involves drilling wells 4-5km into the Earth's crust, circulating water between them through hot granite, and harvesting the heat when it returns to the surface.

Federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said yesterday geothermal would play a key part in the nation's ambition to generate 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

But while the first commercial power generated from this project, slated for 2011, will go towards powering the nearby Beverley uranium mine, Mr Ferguson said there was no need for Australia to even debate the issue of nuclear power.

Premier Mike Rann said South Australia was leading the way with renewable energy, having attracted most geothermal energy spending in Australia – more than $800 million up until 2013.

I knew they were big drilling rigs, but having the two largest onshore drilling rigs in SA is a huge boost for the state's image.

[rhino]

From Adelaide Now:

Jobs, economic boom for Whyalla
VALERINA CHANGARATHIL
August 19, 2009 12:30pm

AT LEAST 200 jobs will be created in Whyalla if a proposal to build an 80 MW solar energy storage plant gets crucial Federal Government funding.
Canberra-based Wizard Power, which will complete a $15 million demonstration plant in Whyalla by July next year, has applied for $100 million in funding under the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program.
Work on the commercial-scale plant, called the Whyalla Solar Oasis, could begin as early as the end of the year if the funding comes through, Wizard Power business development manager Artur Zawadski said.
He was one of the speakers at the Future Energy Conference held in Adelaide this week.
"It starts the process of establishing Whyalla as not only an industrial city but a solar industrial city,'' Mr Zawadski said.
"It will provide on average around 200 jobs in construction over the three-year period and then ongoing jobs in operation,'' he added.
The commercial plant will generate enough electricity to power 19,000 average Australian homes and will also cater to power needs of business and mining clients in the region.
In the short term, however, Wizard Power is focusing on the completion of its pilot plant.
At the heart of this plant are the unique Big Dish solar thermal concentrators and ammonia-based solar energy storage system - developed in partnership with the Australian National University - which will demonstrate that renewable energy can be used to provide base-load power.
A chemical process is used to store the sun's heat after it is trapped by the dish, allowing it to be released during the day, at night, or on unusually cloudy days.
The project received a $7.4 million grant from the Department of the Environment and Water Resources in 2007 - the largest ever awarded anywhere for energy storage.