Stuff.co.nz - Honda wins energy efficiency rally

A Honda Civic Hybrid has won this week's AA Energywise four-day rally for completing the distance at the least cost.

A record 59 vehicles were tested in this year's rally over motorways, unsealed roads, rural state highways, and in peak-hour city congestion

The Australian - Oil prices ease ahead of OPEC meeting

OIL prices eased on modest profit-taking as demand concerns proved an obstacle to any extension of the previous session's gains.

Goldcoast.com.au - Fewer independent fuel rivals allow rorts

A SHORTAGE of independent petrol stations has all but killed off the effectiveness of Queensland's fuel subsidy to drive local fuel prices down, according to watchdog Fueltrac.
Gold Coasters were yesterday paying 5c more for a litre of unleaded petrol than South Australians despite our state's 8c a litre fuel subsidy.

The Age - Fuel, $A tip scales against fishermen

FISHERMEN in Commonwealth fisheries have struggled to make money because of the high Australian dollar and high fuel costs, despite a big restructure a few years ago, the latest statistics show.

TV NZ - Dim view of light bulb decision

The Greens are unhappy with National's decision to overturn the previous government's ban on incandescent light bulbs.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee has reportedly instructed the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority to prepare the paperwork to reverse the ban.

ABC - Researchers develop method to store gas at sea

"Everyone knows that with all the various changes, economically and climatically, you might have a situation where you can't get oil imports, so it's a question of energy security," Dr Ian Finnie, chief executive of the Western Australia Energy Research Alliance, said.

"We've got 200 years worth of natural gas that was hard to get at, it's a long way offshore, it's in deep water," he added.

Usually gas is piped from undersea to a fixed platform. Another pipeline takes the gas ashore where it is loaded onto tankers and shipped around the world.

"It's a production line. It's very expensive and there's lots of things to look after," Dr Finnie said.

"This particular facility, most of that operation is on one vessel."

ABC - Tests prove coal-to-gas plant feasible

Chairman Allan Blood says it's a big step forward for clean coal.

"It's a significant event, a very significant milestone both for our project, but more importantly, for the Latrobe Valley and brown coal as a whole, because it proves conclusively that the clean coal technology outcome, with very near zero emission outcomes, can be substantiated on a commercial scale."

ABC - Revised coal plans don't satisfy water users

Plans to scale back the controversial Bickham coal mine near Murrurundi, in the Upper Hunter, have failed to appease downstream water users.

Bickham Coal intends to reduce the size of the open cut by 25 per cent and move it 150 metres further away from the Pages River.

Herald Sun - Critics slam capture

PURSUING carbon capture and storage technology was a waste of time and money, Bandana Energy chairman Jeremy Barlow warned yesterday in a speech that railed against the "new climate change ideology".

He told shareholders at the junior coal explorer's maiden annual meeting that despite support from the sector's peak body, capturing carbon emissions and burying them would be seen as too costly and futile.

"Governments choosing to implement schemes to control carbon emissions . . . are factoring into their thinking unreasonable expectations about the rate of technological change," Mr Barlow said.

Share Chat - NZ annual trade gap widens on oil imports

New Zealand's annual trade deficit widened last month as crude oil shipments drove up imports, outpacing a gain in exports of dairy products, meat and logs.

ABC - Coal industry 'costs environment, society $717b each year'

A report commissioned by Greenpeace has found the coal industry contributes more than $700 billion damage to the environment and society every year.

Scoop.co.nz - “What is energy?" Speech notes for Barack Obama

Dear Barack

This is the speech you must deliver using your extraordinary talents to uplift and inspire. Failure to deliver it will almost certainly mean your presidency will be characterised by failure as the USA implodes amidst violence and misery.

[.....]

I will simply say that each day now humans are destroying about 85 million barrels of mineral oil and this represents about 2 trillion man-hours of labour. Our nation consumes about 100 quadrillion British Thermal Units of energy in these few forms per year now.

To put this into the context of our recent history: whereas a century ago almost all the calories required to put a calorie of food on the plate of the average human being came more or less directly from solar sources now five out of every six calories required comes from fossil fuel, especially mineral oil.

These numbers are of giddying proportions and I am not asking you to imagine them. I am simply inviting you to acknowledge the principles of physics: we can no longer sustain systems based on the belief that energy is mineral oil, or that it is fossil fuels or Bulk-generated electricity for that matter.

Energy Matters - NSW Invests $27 Million In Renewable Energy Projects

After being somewhat out in the wilderness in relation to renewable energy, particularly solar power, the NSW government has been busy this week kick-starting investment into the development of alternative energy sources in the state and preparing to encourage the uptake of home solar power systems through financial incentives.

CRN Australia - Simple steps for reducing energy

Mark Di Iorio calls for companies to collectively reduce energy consumption to save both costs and the environment.

As Australian businesses face what could be the gloomiest economic conditions in 20 years, the focus of our very big environmental predicament has somehow melted into the background.

The Australian - Minds closed to cleanest and greenest energy of all
This one is likely to provoke some comment:

MALCOLM Turnbull is correct in emphasising the need for bipartisan support if the nuclear journey is to proceed. The question is, why has it been so hard to build bipartisan support? There may be three reasons not to support nuclear power for Australia:

* You don't believe in climate change or the need for a sustainable economy, so business as usual is fine.

* You don't believe a small economy such as Australia's, with its 1.4 per cent contribution to global emissions, can make a difference, so why bother with clean energy?

* Your planning horizon stops at 2020; the first nuclear reactors would appear later than that in Australia.

The Age - Crisis won't affect exports: Centennial

Centennial Coal Company Ltd says the economic slowdown will have a limited effect on its forecast export sales, with demand for thermal coal underpinned by customer need to secure energy supply.