Making money from your roof!
 Many of us spend a lot of money on our houses, but now those creative South Australians (who brought us the Barossa Valley!) have come up with a way of making money from your roof.
Consumers who install solar panels on their rooftops in South Australia will now be paid twice the value of electricity they put back into the grid after solar feed-in laws passed through state parliament. The move has received support from BP Solar, who said it will drive growth in the solar energy industry and in "green collar" jobs.
Premier Mike Rann said the scheme, which will come into effect by July, is a major improvement on previous systems where surplus power was only matched dollar for dollar.
The Clean Energy Council also welcomed the news, saying feed-in-tariffs have been used successfully introduced overseas to encourage renewable energy use. Feed-in measures have been introduced in 16 of the 25 European states and another seven countries outside Europe including Canada, China and Israel.
(from www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net )
I&I wonders when other states will follow suit??
Carbon capture a pipe dream? Canadians say No!
While renewable energy sources offer long term potential, cleaning up coal-fired power will have a far greater emissions reduction impact in the short term. In a recent industry briefing, Canadian company HTC Purenergy sold the potential of its pre-engineered, modular CO2 capture system for power plants and industrial emitters, billed as a world-first.
HTC Purenergy, named by CNBC European Business magazine as one of its top 50 "Low Carbon Pioneers", has developed the technology to pilot scale and is looking to take it commercial. It can be retrofitted to large industrial greenhouse emitters, but the key play is existing power plants.
There is considerable local interest in carbon capture and storage (CCS), with several Australian generators set to test plants, such as Victoria's Hazelwood power station. HTC's stand-alone unit, the CCS1000, can process up to 1,000 tonnes of exhaust gases per day. The process works by stripping the CO2 from flue gases via designer solvents, then compressing it for storage.
The economics are considerably sweetened if it can be injected into oil fields for enhanced oil recovery, which while common in HTC's home-base in Saskatchewan, is in its infancy here. Santos, however, has shown interest locally. Brisbane-based EESTech Inc in December acquired the Asia-Pacific rights to the technology, which it hopes to pair with its Hybrid Coal Gas Turbine (HCGT) system designed to produce electricity using waste coal dust and fugitive vented methane from coal mines. The company says it has secured electricity supply agreements in China with contract revenue potential of over $100 million for each installed system. (from www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net)
Don’t fall off your chair, see your plastic glow!
Australian chemists have devised a novel way to see the level of damage plastic has suffered from environmental exposure by making it glow.
“What makes this technique unique is that we have designed a molecule with two functions,” said Dr Kathryn Fairfull-Smith from the Queensland University of Technology and member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology.
“The first is that the molecule begins to glow as the plastic is damaged by free radicals, which themselves form as a result of environmental exposure. The second function is that the mechanism which turns on the ‘glow-switch’ also acts as a trap for the free radicals so that plastic degradation is retarded.
“Just imagine if on your outdoor plastic chair a spot started to glow, it would be a handy warning system that degradation was occurring. We have been able to replicate a similar situation in the lab with compounds we have purpose-designed so that we can more accurately tell how long a polymer will last.
“The process that causes plastics to become brittle and paintwork to flake is brought about by free radicals, which form following exposure to the sun. ‘We can’t stop the sun from shining, however, with our new compound we are able to lock-up the free radicals so that degradation is slowed down and see in real time the damage that is being done.”
More information: QUT: Dr Kathryn Fairfield-Smith 0431644356; Free Radical Centre: Felicity Jensz, 0404804384, felicity@freeradical.org.au; www.freeradical.org.au.
(With thanks for story to Glen Moore, Director of Wollongong Science Centre and Planetarium; www.sciencecentre.uow.edu.au )
The Big Day In focuses on coffee!
The Big Day In, which was held in Sydney in February, is the culmination of two to three months' work by top students on real research projects with CSIRO experts in maths and stats, IT, materials science, manufacturing and physics.
During both days, students from CSIRO and the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute presented their findings and heard about science careers.
Simon Powys, a science/engineering student from Monash University, spoke about his quest to help develop a biodegradable coffee cup, to stop us getting buried under a mountain of polystyrene.
Simon Powys
Polystyrene foam cups, like many plastic products, can last forever in nature because micro-organisms can't break them down.
Background: www.csiro.au/resources/200708VacationProjects.html
Psst… Young Tradespersons! Want a trip to Germany and Austria?
As part of its goal to promote the image of welding in Australia, the Welding Technology Institute of Australia (WTIA) makes a number of prestigious awards to companies and individuals each year. In order to give more of the industry’s outstanding young people the opportunity to enter the Coregas/WTIA Young Tradesperson of the Year Award the closing date is now close of business Monday March 10, 2008.
Competitors have the opportunity to win a fantastic prize, an all expenses paid trip to Germany on the WTIA Industry Study Mission and participation in the International Institute of Welding Annual Assembly in Graz, Austria in July 2008. Entries can be sent by mail, email or fax.
This year, the WTIA is introducing two new awards Top RTO and Top Trainer of the Year which may also be of interest. Applications for these awards close March 28, 2008 so please contact WTIA if you want more details.
Contact: Anne Rorke, Technology Transfer Coordinator:
Ph: 02 9748 4443
Fax: 02 9748 2858
email: a.rorke@wtia.com.au
web: www.wtia.com.au
BlueScope Steel’s capital ideas! An opportunity?
Mike Russell, capital development manager for Bluescope Steel is to give a presentation of capital projects for the company to a business breakfast meeting next week.
The presentation is being organised by the Illawarra Innovative Industry Network (i3net) at the Boat Harbour Motel (cnr Campbell and Wilson St, Wollongong) from 8am to 9.30am on Wednesday March 12. Cost is $10 for i3net members and $20 for non-members and guests.
For information and bookings contact: Pauline Dawes, i3net Network Coordinator;
Mobile: 0401 030 023;
email: i3net@i3net.com.au
Fax: 4272 7722
RSVP by Friday March 7, 2008
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