Lighten that energy bill the smart way

Australia’s Ilum-a-Lite has launched Light Eco Plus, a smart circuit controller that allows fluorescent lights to turn on at standard utility voltage then switches power to economy mode. The company said its product could reduce energy use by a third and save costs by reducing peak demand.

The device is already in limited use at Stockland retail and commercial properties, in Telstra facilities and at the Brisbane International Airport, while 100 sets of Light Eco Plus were recently installed at the Beijing International Airport reportedly saved energy by 25.7%. An additional 120 sets will be installed at the Chinese airport by the end of 2008.

Sourced from www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net. For more information check out the video on www.ilumalite.com

Don’t eat those sweet boxes!

Totally recyclable waterproof paper and cardboard containers can be made using a new coating developed from sugarcane, say Australian researchers.

Organic chemist, Dr Les Edye, and colleagues from the CRC for Sugarcane Innovation through Biotechnology in Brisbane, say the coating could replace wax and plastic coatings currently used on fruit boxes and food and drink containers.
"Wax-coated cardboard boxes, for example, used for packaging fruit aren't recyclable," he said.

Dr Edye says conventional coatings like wax interfere with paper-making equipment. He and his colleagues have developed a new coating from sugarcane lignin. Lignin is the rigid, waterproof 'cement' that helps give plants their structural strength.

In normal wood pulping lignin is separated, leaving the flexible cellulose fibres from which paper is made. But the process chemically modifies lignin and changes its properties so it cannot be used as a coating, says Dr Edye.
"We have a different kind of process for separating the sugarcane into its component parts so that the lignin is still useful," he says.

The researchers say the chemical process uses "green chemistry" and would not produce any waste. But Dr Edye could not provide further details on the process due to commercial confidentiality. The researchers have produced a light brown spray-on lignin coating and tested it on a number of paper samples.

Dr Edye says the coating has been found to be "functionally equivalent" to wax coatings, but with obvious benefits.
"It can be put back into the pulping process to make recycled paper," he says. "We also get the advantage of replacing a wax material from a petroleum resource, a finite resource, with biomass, a renewable resource."

The CRC is currently discussing the technology with the packaging and paper industries. Story by Anna Salleh for ABC Science Online and provided by Glen Moore of Wollongong Science Centre and Planetarium (http://sciencecentre.uow.edu.au

Renewable energy’s windy debate

Geothermal energy is commercially competitive with wind when compared in base-load terms, according to modelling by geothermal proponent Petratherm. While around three times wind’s per MW price in nominal terms, geothermal’s ability to provide constant energy could be seen as levelling the playing field.

Petratherm MD Terry Kallis told the Australian Geothermal Energy Conference recently they have studied the “dollar-for-megawatt” cost of wind versus geothermal, based on its Paralana Geothermal Project in SA.

He said Paralana, expected to come on stream in 2010, would compete almost equally with wind power on a dollar-for-megawatt installed basis in terms of base-load provision.

“Including estimated transmission and substation costs, Paralana will cost $190-200 million to develop initially to 7.5 megawatt (MW) capacity and then to the second stage 30 MW capacity,” Kallis said.

“The third and fourth stages will take it to national grid status supplying base-load power of 260 MW and 520 MW.

“Our assessment is that at every one of these supply capacity points, Paralana is commercially viable.”

At the 30 MW benchmark Paralana would be priced at about $6 million per megawatt. At that benchmark, it would provide initial base-load capacity 24 hours a day and deliver its total capacity in excess of 95% of the time – equivalent to 250 Gigawatts per annum.

“Although wind power costs about $2 million per megawatt of installed capacity for an equivalent 30 MW project, it would typically only operate for about a third of the time, producing about 87 Gigawatt hours annually,” Kallis said.

“So for a comparable annual output of 250 Gigawatt hours, the wind farm would need to be almost three times the capacity of Paralana. Hence, the overall capital costs for a wind farm of that size would be around $180 million – very similar to Paralana’s projected $190-200 million development outlay to get to 30 MW.”

The Petratherm JV is currently finalising rig negotiations ahead of a drill start on the deep wells late in 2008 or early 2009. The next stage will establish a viable flow of hot water between the first two deep wells at Paralana at a cost of $25-30 million.

A second stage will develop a 7.5 MW pilot plant at surface for start-up in mid-2010, at a cost of an additional $40-45 million. Initial output is targeted for Heathgate Resource’s nearby Beverley uranium mine.

The third stage will develop the 30 MW demonstration plant, at a further cost of $125-130 million – for a total cost by the end of that stage of $190-200 million. The longer term plans have Paralana supplying into the national power grid

Are windmills in the air best for long term?

Origin Energy has called on the Government to ensure that technologies which are yet to mature, yet might be very promising in the long run, are given an equal chance under the promised Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) scheme. The call is part of Origin's (www.originenegy.com.au) submission to the COAG (www.coag.gov.au) Working Group on Climate Change and Water.

“The full objectives of the RET will not be achieved if current renewable technologies crowd out promising new and developing technologies," said Carl McCamish, Origin executive GM, corporate development.

"The lowest cost technologies today may not be the lowest cost solutions for Australia in the long run. Origin supported the dual linear targets put forward in the COAG Discussion Paper, where the incentive to build new renewable generating plant grows at a faster rate after 2015 than before that date.

Origin's submission said Australia should avoid simply supporting today’s least cost option, which is currently wind, hardly surprising given its investment in the Sliver Cell solar technology and geothermal explorer Geodynamics.

"Although not least cost at the moment, various renewable technologies such as solar thermal and geothermal are likely to play an important role in the longer term when deep cuts in emission must be made," McCamish said.

Both renewable energy stories sourced from www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net

Want to get into Defence?

The Defence + Industry ePortal was launched on 1 July 2008.  Within this website you, Defence and the Primes will have access to information on a substantial number of existing and potential Defence suppliers.  Use of the site has grown substantially since being launched; with a significant increase in the number of registered companies (1177 companies in mid August with 48.8% from NSW and the ACT).
 
On the site you can:

• Profile your organisation's Defence related capabilities
• Link to potential procurement opportunities - with Defence and/or other industry organisations
• Search on a database of existing and potential defence suppliers
• Find useful information and links that can help you do business with Defence 

The development of this site will continue and over the next 12 to 18 months there will be an increase in both information available on the site and functionality enabling everyone to do business more easily.

Registration (at http://www.dplusi.defence.gov.au/) on the site is free, as is access to information on resources that help industry do business with Defence and other Commonwealth Departments.  This information resource will grow as new and updated material becomes available.  

For more information contact Gabrielle Dwyer, Director DMO Business Access Office NSW/ACT, Industry Operations Branch, Industry Division, Defence Materiel Organisation, Ph: 02 9377 2337

Be a part of Small Business September 2008

Exciting events in your area to help you start, manage and grow your business.

Small Business September, the State’s most comprehensive small business program, is designed to help business operators deliver results for their enterprises by connecting with clients and other business operators, encouraging innovation, and creating new possibilities and new opportunities.

Small Business September is run for business owners across regional and metropolitan NSW by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development.  It consists of more than 300 seminars, workshops, expos, award ceremonies and more. Over 150 partners from business, industry, professional and government organisations support the program by delivering events.

Small Business September events provide ideas and techniques to "future-proof" your business and help businesses navigate a challenging business environment. To register for the above events visit www.smallbusinessmonth.nsw.gov.au and select your region.

Your Ideas, Innovations or Events?

If you want publicity for an idea, innovation or technically related event, contact the I&I editor, Colin Seaborn on 4254 0200 or 0419 841829 or click here->

We welcome stories and photos.
If you want to promote your product or service via video please contact YOC office on (02) 4254 0200 or click here->