News
Campaigners Power Renewable Energy Debate
Sustainable energy campaigners say now is the time to start switching Australia over to renewable power plants.
Perth Solar City Project
Perth is one of Australia's sunniest cities and is finally moving towards some solar PV installations. Although initially a little more expensive, these projects provide a great benefit to the enrironment and reduce peak electricity use.
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Sustainability
Clean Energy Council
The Clean Energy Council is the peak body representing Australia's clean energy sector
Beyond Zero Emissions
Beyond Zero Emissions facilitates the implementation of social changes and technologies needed to reduce the impacts of climate change and give our society and global ecosystems a chance of surviving into the future.
Sustainable Energy WA
Sustainable Energy Development Office of WA (SEDO) is the government contingent in WA looking at and funding sustainable energy initiatives.
Sustainable Energy VIC
The government contingent looking at sustainable energy in Victoria
Water Security
As our naturally occurring easily exploitable water resources have reached their limit, we search for new water resources. Over extraction of bore water is destroying land and reducing biodiversity and rivers are being dammed which impacts agricultural use of the river downstream. Governments have no choice but to build desalination plants and suddenly our surplus water can just as well be thought of as electricity usage.
Water Saving
Just as energy saving is important, water saving is also important. In Australia our water management is very poor. It is not uncommon to walk down the street on a hot day and see sprinklers spilling thousands of litres onto pavements and into drains. This translates directly to energy down the drain and should be prevented. Households have installed automatic reticulation systems which will turn on periodically despite the presence of rain and our addiction to unsustainable gardens in hot climates requires significant water to be consumed.
Furthermore, we should consider the water which is used in fossil fuel processes such as nuclear and coal which are both very water intensive processes.
Wave Energy
Apart from obviously changing our habits regarding excessive water use, an interesting technology which shows promise in Australia is CETO's wave energy systems. These systems produce electricity from thousands of submersed buoys which oscillate under the water surface as well as providing clean drinking water at the flick of a switch. These systems can benefit our electricity requirements, demand management systems and water supplies. The only barrier to wave energy introduction on a wide scale is technology and cost. Wave energy systems made for Australian coastlines are new developments are still designing optimal systems at the lowest price points. As they are new systems, the cost of producing electricity is some 2 times the cost of coal, however like any new technology, through economies of scale this will become price competitive as the industry develops.