Adventure Ausrama Blog

It is predicted that the use of solar and wind power will rapidly increase as costs falls. There has been an improvement in the efficiency of wind turbines. Solar panels also put out more power at a lower cost. Australians have strongly adopted solar power while governments offer high payments for electricity going back into the system. Making an end date of 2026 of such overpayment was a silly idea. It is too far ahead for future governments to guarantee this "lopsided" subsidy that only helps the wealthy. The financial burden has been pushed onto the elderly. Solar power has hidden costs. Power surges burn out televisions and computers. New ones must be purchased. Many consumers are saying someone has to fix this. Considering solar power generation will fluctuate throughout the day with this is near impossible. Frank Calabria, CEO of Origin Energy, favors the elimination of all subsidies on clean energy. This indicates a probable back down considering Origin is

It is amazing how people will see something new, then run with it to the extreme saying this will change the world. This is true for virtually all non-fossil energy producing systems, but all of them have drawbacks and none have revolutionized the power sector. The two major problems have been high cost and non constant energy production during the 24 hour period. Scientists have worked on hydrogen systems for decades and success seems very distant. It is not being accepted for widespread use. Actually, hydrogen is a "byproduct" of energy production. When electricity is generated by any method the excess not used at a point in time is passed through water. It splits into oxygen and hydrogen via electrolysis with the fuel stored to be used in the future. When hydrogen is recombined with oxygen, electricity is generate. Heat from the process can also be used directly for heating purposes. As with other environmentally friendly electricity producing methods time will tell if

Australia goes its own way in lower carbon power generation by opening a solar-diesel power station, the world's first, in Western Australia. Solar panels track the sun during the day. The station is built in a location that holds the record for the most days of maximum temperature. Use of the solar panels will lessen greenhouse gas emissions by 1119 tonnes a year. the local Aboriginal community is fully supportive of the power plant in the Pilbara. Aboriginals named it Pippunyah, the name of the river nearby. Funding came from the Federal Government in its renewable remote power generation program via the Office of Energy in Western Australia. It is unfortunate that solar power generation had to be combined with fossil fuel generation. Even getting natural gas there would have been better than diesel. It seems there is no perfect solution to the pollution problem. New systems only seem to meet requirements half way. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysa

Australian astronomers are searching for planets in other solar system that could sustain human life. Dr Charley Linweaver says Mankind is reaching the beginning of the end. It's time to look for a way out at least for a small group of people.  The number of planets identified orbiting other suns now exceeds 750. Though a few of these could be like the Earth, exact information is lacking. The objective of getting people to such a distant destination is way "off the planet" at present. We do not have the technology to get people in orbit around other planets in our own solar system, let alone reaching a far away planet and landing safely. Finding an identical planet to Earth is just not possible. This planet is a freak in regard to the universe. Most planets do not have life because they are regularly hit by asteroids and even other planets. Sending probes to  a possible twin planet would be a waste of time. It would literally take a lifetime to get a message ba

Griffith University is to construct a building that for the first time in the world has hydrogen power generation integrated into the structure itself. The sun will separate hydrogen from water by electrolysis. Later when the sun goes down the hydrogen will power fuel cells to generate the required electricity for air conditioning and other uses. A proven method of storing hydrogen in metal hydride powder will be deployed. This is safer than keeping hydrogen in tanks which can explode. Initial energy requirements will be met by photovoltaic solar panels on the roof and walls, as well as photovoltaic film on the windows. The hydrogen fuel cell technology has been available for quite some time. It will be fully tested in this new structure. The building itself will be substantial, being "home base" for 80 staff members and 40 PHD students. Eight seminar rooms and two 120-seat lecture theatres will be in use in the six level building. Construction begins in 2011. It will be op

The solar system is full of planets. Australian scientists have found a dozen or so dwarf planets in our small part of the galaxy. Pluto is not alone as a dwarf planet. The definition of a dwarf is it must be round and be more than 400 kilometers across. This definition is not accepted by everyone. Many say if a body is large enough to be round due to innate gravity then this should be enough. Some objects as small as 200 kilometers in diameter are round. Some are still upset by Pluto's demotion from Planet . Others say it is not a planet because its orbit is out of kilter with planets. The classification of Pluto as "dwarf" was caused by the discovery of other objects like Pluto. Eris, Makemake and Sedna are similar to Pluto. Only five dwarf planets are classed as such at the moment. Thousands of other bodies out are just waiting to be classified, If the pressure continues there will probably be more. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.