Antinuclear

Renewable energy, electric cars,it’s all happening in Australian Capital Territory

….. Canberra is also expected to become home to electric cars, with charging points to be installed around the ACT, ActewAGL and Better Place Australia signed an agreement worth about $60 million over 10 years during the week, sealing the largest renewable energy deal of its kind in Australia. The energy will be drawn from generation sources such as wind, hydro and solar.

Boom in renewable energy, Waste management World, The Canberra Times (Australia), June 12, 2011  The ACT region is leading the way in innovative power generation, JULIEANNE STRACHAN and MICHAEL INMAN write, CANBERRA has the potential to claim the crown as the renewable energy capital of Australia, but the rewards will need to be there for consumers and big businesses to make it happen, industry experts say.

Wizard Power manager of business development Artur Zawadski said solar panels could one day line the Australian freeways, adding vastly to generation capacity. “If you look around the world at places like Germany and California they are doing large-scale development of photovoltaics,” he said. “Large commercial buildings and highways and expressways and roadsides are being used. And they are not invasive because the structures are already there they have the roads there. “And there’s lots of open spaces to make use of.”

Wizard Power, based in Turner, is an Australian company focused on solar technology research, development and commercialisation.It owns the Big Dish solar thermal concentrator, which is capable of generating temperatures above 1200 degrees Celsius for superheating steam or powering thermochemical processes. The energy generated can be used for electricity production, energy storage or process heat….

….. Canberra is also expected to become home to electric cars, with charging points to be installed around the ACT. ActewAGL and Better Place Australia signed an agreement worth about $60 million over 10 years during the week, sealing the largest renewable energy deal of its kind in Australia. The energy will be drawn from generation sources such as wind, hydro and solar. Better Place chief executive Evan Thornley said the company had always been committed to supplying the electric car network with renewable energy. Greens spokesman for energy Shane Rattenbury said ACT Government targets would help spur the development and roll out of renewable energies. “At the moment our primary renewables are roof-top systems,” he said….

.. Rattenbury said Canberra was also home to some innovative gems of renewable energy, such as the Australian Geological Survey Organisation’s use of a geothermal heating and cooling system. The building is renowned for tapping into the constant 17 degree heat under the ground, using 7km of pipes that run as deep as 100m below the building, enabling water to be cooled during summer and heated during winter.

http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/from-the-wires/wire-news-display/1435491218.html

June 13, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ACT, energy