The Age - NSW Govt To Announce Ticket Plans Soon

Following on from the story above:

Steps towards new integrated ticketing for Sydney's public transport system will be revealed within months, NSW Transport Minister John Watkins says.

He was commenting after the NSW government confirmed 200 Sydney buses had been "retro-fitted" with second-hand ticketing consoles recently made obsolete in Brisbane.

The Age - Energy Eaters

Catering to the dining public doesn't have to cost the earth, with more and more restaurants going green and saving a bundle, writes Richard Cornish.

With the average restaurant going through $20,000 in electricity and $15,000 in gas every year, there's no questioning it's an energy-intensive industry. Add to that the laundering of a continual stream of tablecloths and napkins, the millions of kilometres travelled by delivery vans and the countless food kilometres clocked up by imported food and wines delivered to Victoria's restaurants, cafes, pubs and clubs and you realise that even small changes can make a big difference.

Govt blamed for NSW grain transport crisis

The New South Wales Government is being accused of another infrastructure bungle with the decision of rail freight company Pacific National to stop transporting grain for export.

The decision could mean thousands of extra trucks on Hunter region roads transporting grain to the Port of Newcastle.

ABC - $6m upgrade planned for Navy's fuel storage tanks

At $6.4 million, this isn't a storage tank, it is a strategic asset:

The Federal Government has promised $6.4 million to upgrade the naval fuel installation facility in Darwin.

The Age - Energy awareness also the way to save money

AUSTRALIAN businesses are missing out on significant savings by refusing to make simple changes in their offices.

The annual Pilot BeGreen Office Audit, to be released today, says 70% of Australian businesses use continuous air-conditioning while 10% leave office lights on at night.

The Canberra Times - Political Will On Oil Needed

Now they might start sitting up. They wouldn't listen to the environmentalists or even the geologists. Can governments ignore the capitalists? A report published earlier this month by Citibank, and so far unremarked on by the media, proposes "genuine difficulties" in increasing the production of crude oil, "particularly after 2012". Though 175 big drilling projects will start in the next four years, "the fear remains that most of this supply will be offset by high levels of decline".
The oil industry has scoffed at the notion that oil supplies might peak, but "recent evidence of failed production growth would tend to shift the burden of proof on to the producers", as they have been unable to respond to the massive rise in prices. "Total global liquid hydrocarbon production has essentially flatlined since mid-2005 at just north of 85 million barrels per day."

Sunshine Coast Daily - Money offered for green energy solutions

The Queensland government is offering $100 million in grants to businesses that invest in energy saving projects and technologies.

Eden Energy completes first stage of Chowilla geothermal testing

Clean energy company Eden Energy has finished the first stage of its hot rock project at Chowilla to test ground temperatures for a geothermal energy site.

The company finished drilling a 500-metre hole last week and will know the results of the temperature test in two months.

Eden Energy's exploration manager Graham Jeffres says the Riverland could play a big part in the growing geothermal sector.

"If it all comes together, it could be a really, quite a paradigm shifting effort for the state and for the whole country in fact," Mr Jeffres said.