Wimmera Mail Times - Geothermal plans positive.

A GEOTHERMAL exploration company is confident it will be successful with a shallow drilling program near St Arnaud due to start in early 2009. Geogen Victoria has been investigating a range of granites and other geological anomalies in its Geothermal Exploration Permit 1 area, which includes St Arnaud, Maryborough, Avoca and Dunolly. Geothermal, an energy generated by heat stored beneath the earth's surface, is regarded as one of the cleanest forms of base-load renewable energy.

Geogen director Andrew Carroll said areas of interest had been identified close to St Arnaud. Mr Carroll said Geogen had three exploration areas in central and western Victoria, covering a total area of 18,300 square kilometres, approved by the State Government in May 2007.

Green Wombat - Australia the next solar hot spot?

In late 2006, there was something of an exodus from Australia as solar startups decamped for California, frustrated by the long-entrenched conservative government’s tepid support for renewable energy. On one Sydney-to-San Francisco flight alone could be found David Mills, co-founder of solar power plant company Ausra, and Danny Kennedy, chief of solar installer startup Sungevity.

Flash forward 18 months and solar energy companies are beating a path back to Australia. Ausra recently opened up operations Down Under, and last week Silicon Valley solar company SunPower (SPWR) acquired an Australian solar installer called Solar Sales. So is Oz the next hot solar market? By all accounts, the sun-baked environmentally conscious country should be. But the move into the South Pacific is another example of how governments’ ever-morphing renewable energy policies are spurring solar companies to move operations around the globe.

frogblog - Predicting the perfect food storm

The thing I think is interesting about the massive industrial monoculture model of farming is not so much that it is in danger of collapsing under its own weight, but that its collapse is leading those who control food markets to call for even more of the same. It sounds eerily reminiscent of Roger Douglas and his fans yelling, as things came tumbling down around him, that the problem was not what he did but that he wasn’t allowed to do more.

So now we have the ‘perfect storm‘ of poorly conceived biofuel policies, climate change driven droughts and floods, the rising price of oil and increased meat consumption.

The Australian - Biofuel demand fuels CSR's move to more ethanol production

SUGAR company CSR will devote the production efforts of its Sarina distillery to making fuel-grade ethanol amid burgeoning demand for the biofuel from oil companies seeking to mix it with petrol to create environmentally friendly E10 and E85 blends. The decision to boost production of fuel-grade ethanol from 38 million litres a year to 60 million litres a year means CSR will scrap its 22 million litre a year local production of industrial/beverage grade ethanol.

frogblog - MIT makes energy breakthrough

Scientists at MIT have figured out a way to mimic a plant’s energy storage using ordinary materials in ordinary conditions. While the article suffers from the usual this-discovery-will-save-the-world hyperbole, it is nevertheless an important breakthrough. The ability to cheaply electrolyse water into hydrogen and oxygen means we can store solar power more readily without the losses current storage technologies suffer from.

frogblog - Favourite peak oil quote of the week

SMH - It's electric: 0-100 kmh in 3.9 seconds

HOLLYWOOD stars anxious to prove their green credentials are paying more than $100,000 for a sexy electric sports car now rolling out in the US. The sleek Tesla Roadster, pictured, is modelled on the Lotus Elise, and goes from 0-100 kmh in 3.9 seconds. With a top speed of 200 kmh, the two-seater has a range of 370 kilometres between recharges of its lithium ion batteries.

The Australian - Apache Corp to resume gas supply from Varanus Island

WESTERN Australia's gas supply will get a boost in coming days as Apache Corp resumes gas production from Varanus Island, where a June explosion knocked out a third of the state's production. The gas will come on at a lower rate than initially flagged, but will ramp up quickly during the month. The Houston-based company, undeterred by its recent problems, also said it was close to signing a contract to sell gas from the planned Reindeer project at prices that would "change the dynamic" of WA domestic sales.

The Australian - US company to drill second gas well

US oil and gas company Hess Corp will drill another well off Western Australia this month to shore up what it says could be another big liquefied natural gas export development in the region. After last month announcing a second successful drill well in its big permit off the coast of the Karratha, Hess said the find could be turned into LNG to feed hungry Asian markets.

While noting it was premature to start talking about options to develop the permit, known only as WA-390-P, Hess exploration and production boss John O'Connor said the swag of LNG projects planned for the region was not a deterrent and Asian demand continued to grow.