Central Western Daily - Orange transport firm victim of high fuel costs

ONE of the city’s iconic transport firms has become the first high profile company to fall victim to the high cost of petrol in Orange.

In a disturbing sign of things to come, soaring petrol prices have shifted from an issue of annoyance to a cause of utter devastation to the 30 employees of Whites Westran, who will all lose their jobs when the business shuts down tomorrow

The Australian - Origin's coal seam gas sale gets nod

ORIGIN Energy's $10 billion sale of Queensland coal seam gas (CSG) assets to Conoco Phillips has been approved by Treasurer Wayne Swan and is now expected to be finalised next week.

NZ Herald - Perk for aged boosts bus use

Free transport for superannuitants is driving up demand for public transport in Auckland, say bus companies.

ABC - Australia works to cover Japan's fuel to NKorea

Australia is working with the United States and Japan on how to pay for a bulk fuel purchase for North Korea, one of the inducements to Pyongyang in a nuclear disarmament deal.
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There is a funding shortfall, with Japan refusing to pay for its component of the purchase.

News.com.au - AGL in trading halt

Queensland Gas Company Ltd and its major shareholder AGL Energy Ltd both have entered trading halts pending the announcement of a "material transaction".
AGL Energy said it expected to make an announcement about the potential material transaction prior to the start of trading on October 28.

Credit Suisse said in a September 30 client note that AGL Energy may consider swapping a portion of its QGC interest for controlling stakes in some of the company's coal seam gas fields.

SMH - Agencies brawl as work costs extra $500m

THE Government's rail agencies are at war over billions of dollars worth of rail projects, with excessive train noise in the $2.3 billion Epping to Chatswood tunnel the latest in a series of bungles that have the two agencies at each other's throats.

Under pressure to deliver on the state's biggest rail investment for 50 years, the feud between the Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation and RailCorp has contributed to gargantuan cost and timetable blow-outs.

Otago Daily Times - New energy-efficient premises opened
Environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient ideas:

Now, in an innovative move, Scott Technology has installed a diesel generator in a bid to lessen its energy costs.

Gisborne Herald - Skills shortage in the oil industry here

Mr Pfahlert says attracting and retaining skilled labour, and specialists, has been an issue for some time but it is getting worse with worldwide pressure to find and develop new oil fields.

"This is causing a real headache for us in New Zealand, with companies and countries such as Australia aggressively competing for and recruiting skilled people and labour.

"With the world needing to find new petroleum resources, New Zealand and its large offshore area is now becoming a focus of intense interest,'' Mr Pfahlert says.

"The industry needs all sorts of people, from geologists and geophysicists in the exploration phase, to drillhands, roustabouts, mechanics and engineers when drilling starts - then plumbers, welders, steel fabricators and a host of other trades, as well as skilled labour if and when a source is confirmed and developed."

Stuff.co.nz - NZ Refining operates at near full production

The New Zealand Refining Company said it operated at close to full production in July and August.

The operator of the Marsden Point oil refinery said throughput for the two-month period was 6.3 million barrels.

Science Alert ANZ - Solar Energy - but is it realistic?
Apologies for the big slab of text. This caught my eye because it is increasingly obvious that Solar Thermal is a viable power source right now, if the right assumptions are made. The article is long - but may be worth a read.

There is no doubt about it, virtually every survey taken of the public’s attitude towards the range of energy-generation technologies puts renewables, and particularly solar energy, right at the top of the heap (and usually nuclear at the bottom).

And taken on face value, Australia still has the wide-open spaces with possibly the best average solar irradiation of any continent. In fact solar radiation is Australia’s largest potential energy source. The average amount of solar energy that falls on Australia is about 15,000 times the national energy use.

We also have the R&D and manufacturing skills to develop our solar resources into a major industry. So why is it so slow?

Well, there are a few barriers, and all have to do, in the end, with the costs of the outputs. The fact is that the sun does not shine at night, energy storage in either electrical and/or heat forms is expensive, reasonable-size plants take up a lot of area, they need to be appropriately sited (usually in more remote locations) and, even with storage, the output will be subject to a degree of intermittency.

The major ‘barrier’ to solar thermal uptake has been the relatively low cost of power from our predominantly coal-fired electricity generation. It has just not been possible for a relatively expensive technology such as solar thermal to compete. However, things are changing.

For example, the Australian Government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) will require 20 per cent of Australia’s energy be supplied from renewable sources by 2020. Much of this capacity is expected to be initially supplied by wind generation (with a contribution from geothermal, depending on the state of development) although, as the most attractive sites become used, solar technologies are then likely to play a key role in helping to meet the target.

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), involving an emissions trading scheme (ETS), beginning in 2010, will set a price of carbon emissions and this will change power generation cost relativities to favour greater up take of renewables, including solar generation. Currently, carbon prices well in excess of $50, and as high as $100, per tonne of CO2 will be required to shift solar thermal generation into a cost-competitive position with coal-fired power.