Canberra Times: Climate plan aims to cut $2 a day from fuel bills

Canberrans could save almost $2 a day on household energy bills as part of the Climate Institute's energy efficiency strategy to be launched today. Chief executive officer John Connor said the plan, which is supported by business, welfare and conservation groups, had the potential to create 40,000 jobs.

Mr Connor said Australia was lagging behind other developed countries and needed to improve its energy efficiency. The policy paper calls on the Federal Government to support energy efficiency in three ways. It should support household reductions in energy and wastage. Incentives and other support should go to the commercial and industrial sectors.

The Age: Tide turns for power investors

IT IS being backed by one of Wall Street's giant financial institutions and has links to the British royal family, but many Victorians would be forgiven for knowing nothing about it, let alone that it is being done in their own backyard.

Tidal power makes use of the kinetic energy of moving water through turbines to generate power in a similar way to wind farms using moving air. In May this year Atlantis Resources Corporation successfully completed the installation and grid-connection of a relatively small 150-kilowatt, $1 million turbine named Nereus at San Remo, near Phillip Island.

Courier Mail: Uranium exports divide Queenslanders, says poll

QUEENSLANDERS are now evenly split on the question of uranium exports, with 47 per cent against and 45 per cent supporting the controversial move.

ABC: Geothermal firm in bid to build regional powerhouse

A Brisbane-based company says it could supply geothermal power to all of north-west Queensland. Clean Energy Australasia wants to build a $50 million geothermal power station near Longreach. But it has now also revealed plans to build a pilot geothermal project near BHP's Cannington mine at McKinlay, south of Cloncurry. The company's Joe Reichman says the Mount Isa region needs about 500 megawatts of power a year and geothermal resources could easily provide that.

The Age: It was greenhouse gas, now it's diesel

IT'S a potential win-win situation: use a greenhouse gas to create an environmentally friendly biofuel and make money at the same time. That's the vision and Hazelwood power station in the Latrobe Valley and Smorgon Fuels are working together to achieve it.

Smorgon, through a partnership with US company Greenfield, is developing a technology to produce biodiesel from Hazelwood's carbon dioxide emissions. The CO2 is siphoned from the power station and pumped into waste water channels where, through photosynthesis, micro-algae transforms the CO2 emissions into vegetal matter.

SMH: Car industry to get $3b taxpayer boost

THE ailing car industry is set to receive a taxpayer-funded shot in the arm of about $3 billion today amid new fears that the global financial crisis could hit Australia harder than expected because emerging economies in our region have entered a new "danger zone".

Doubts have also arisen about the security of the 10-year automotive plan to be unveiled in Melbourne today by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and Industry Minister, Kim Carr, because of uncertainty about the long-term, worldwide future of car makers. The Government has sought to "lock in" commitments from Holden, Ford and Toyota that they will continue to make cars in Australia in return for the assistance package, but there are industry and government concerns that any guarantees can not be considered iron-clad.

ABC: NSW cans petrol subsidy

Petrol prices in northern New South Wales could rise by up to 8.5 cents by Easter, when the State Government axes its fuel subsidy. The scheme, designed to help north coast service stations compete with subsidised prices in Queensland, will be cut in tomorrow's cost-cutting NSW mini-Budget.

NZ Herald: Auckland councils want input on rail

The National-led Government will be asked to jump aboard Auckland's billion-dollar rail electrification project in the first weeks of power. Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee yesterday said the council was days away from making a major decision to order a fleet of 35 electric trains.