SMH - You may be gridlocked, but at least it's not Adelaide

YOU may be able to avoid traffic gridlock by moving to Adelaide or Canberra - but you'll be bored witless if you do. This was the view of NSW Roads Minister, Eric Roozendaal, who yesterday dismissed ad campaigns by the SA and ACT governments which have targeted users of Sydney's rail network and its congested roads. Some of Sydney's train stations have been plastered with signs reading: "You'd be home by now if you lived in Adelaide".

The Australian - Chimneys sweep BP clean coal plan away

WHAT was touted as Australia's biggest contribution to developing clean coal technology for use around the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions has been scrapped even before it got to first base. BP confirmed yesterday the $2 billion "hydrogen energy" coal-to-gas plant at Kwinana, south of Perth, would not proceed. ... The proposed onshore site was close to BP Kwinana oil refinery and Rio's HISmelt direct iron ore smelting plant. But after more than two years of investigations and several million dollars of research, BP has now admitted that the geological formations off Perth contain gas "chimneys" that mean it is next to impossible to establish a seal in the strata that could contain the CO2.

The Australian - Origin talks up gas

SIGNALLING it could push BG Group to increase a $12.9 billion cash bid, Australia's Origin Energy has provided a sharp reappraisal of its gas resources, saying this will be key to takeover discussions already under way. Origin, Australia's biggest coal seam gas producer, could boost its resources of the fuel to 10,000 petajoules, or about 10 trillion cubic feet, at current Asian liquefied natural gas prices, managing director Grant King said in a conference presentation lodged on Thursday with the Australian Securities Exchange.

The Age - Squeals over plan for luxury car tax

THE motor vehicle industry has slammed a budget plan to increase the tax on luxury cars, saying it will hurt families struggling with the higher cost of fuel and could force makers to drop safety features. Treasurer Wayne Swan has confirmed that tomorrow's budget will increase the tax on cars of more than $57,000 from 25% to 33% and will affect about 105,000 car purchases a year.

The Australian - Commodity prices expected to fall

THE West Australian Government has indicated clearly it believes the commodity price cycle will begin to turn down within three years. Revenue from iron ore, which is being priced at record levels with higher prices to come, is expected to plateau in the next three years and begin to fall in real terms in 2011-12.

The Australian - Rex hikes surcharge by $3 a sector

REGIONAL Express yesterday became the latest airline to raise its fuel surcharge when it added $3 a sector on all flights from May13. The airline, which recently was forced to cut routes after losing half its pilots so far this year, blamed the high cost of fuel for its decision to increase the levy -- which will also apply to subsidiary Air Link -- from $33 to $36.

Scoop.coo.nz - NZ: heavy emitters influence climate policy most

New Zealanders think heavy emitter businesses are having most influence on climate change policy. Businesses with high greenhouse gas emissions are having the most influence on climate change policy, according to a new national survey. Seventy per cent of New Zealanders think the heavy emitters have most influence, 17% more than the next nearest top influencer, environmental groups.

frogblog - What I’m reading today

Then there is the ongoing furore in the United Kingdom over Gordon Ramsey’s hyperbolic explosion that ‘British restaurateurs who serve up unseasonal produce flown in from all four corners of the world should be clapped in irons and slapped with a fine’. The resulting blog war is the internet at its most ‘deliciously’ ferocious. None of them mention this environmentally friendly solution though (not that it would work in New Zealand).

SMH - Tiny town takes on mine giant

RESIDENTS of a historic Hunter Valley hamlet are bracing for a David and Goliath fight with an American coalmining company they fear wants to wipe them off the map. Wambo Coal, a division of international mineral giant Peabody Energy, has applied for a 9.8-square-kilometre exploration licence with a view to extending its long-running operations in the Singleton area.

Stuff.co.nz - Meridian shuns NZ turbine as too small and noisy

Meridian Energy says Windflow Technology's turbines are too small and noisy and that is why it has shunned the New Zealand technology. Windflow chairman Barrie Leay criticised Meridian Energy and other state-owned electricity generators this week for ignoring his company's turbines and spending more than $1 billion importing European models.

Stuff.co.nz - Gasfields may be linked, court told

New Zealand's longest running insider trading case, which finally came to court last week, resumes after suggestions by an expert witness that some of the Taranaki basin's core deep gas and oil structures are connected. Consultant petroleum geologist Thomas Haskill told the High Court at Auckland on Friday that the porous nature of sediment on the seabed meant gas in the Pohokura, Turangi, Mangahewa and Kowahi fields could be linked.

SMH - Tax system review to examine costs of climate change

TAX breaks to help business and consumers make the transition to a lower-carbon economy will be considered as part of a wide-ranging review of federal, state and local taxes headed by the Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry. Australia's complicated tax and welfare system will also be examined, as will state property taxes, company taxes and taxes on investment and savings.