Saturday, June 30, 2007

Norway, Poland agree financing for new pipeline

Fri Jun 29, 1:39 PM ET

WARSAW (AFP) - Polish and Norwegian authorities have fixed the financial terms for a pipeline to channel natural gas from Norway's offshore fields to Poland, which is trying to lessen its reliance on Russian energy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg announced Friday.

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"We have reached agreement regarding the financing of a pipeline from the Norwegian continental shelf to Poland," Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to Poland, without giving details.

"There are agreements regarding the participation of Polish companies in such a pipeline," noted Stoltenberg at a joint press conference with his Polish opposite number Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

"What is now remaining is to reach an agreement on the commercial terms," Stoltenberg added.

Kaczynski said that Poland was "achieving progress in terms of diversifying our natural gas supplies."

Like its counterparts in the former communist bloc, Poland is growing increasingly jittery about its dependence on Russian energy.

Russia has been involved in a string of rows with countries that depend on it for gas and oil or which are key transit routes for the energy Russia sells to European Union nations.

The planned gas pipeline from Norway to Poland is due to run via Denmark.

In May, the Polish gas company PGNiG reached a deal on the pipeline with the Denmark's Energinet.dk.

In March, as part of the project, PGNiG also agreed with ExxonMobil to purchase a 15-percent stake in three Norwegian offshore gas exploration and production licences.

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Rec

BELL BAY POWER SALE

What Was The Deal Sweetener?

The Tasmanian Greens today responded to news that the publicly owned Bell bay Power Station had been sold calling on the government to fully disclose any deal sweetener that may have been done to make it more attractive to Alinta.

Greens Shadow Energy spokesperson Kim Booth MHA said today that the sudden turn around smacked of a special deal being done at the public’s expense, and called on the Energy Minister, David Llewellyn to either rule out that any deal sweetner had been made at the public’s expense or disclose any of the original deal provisions that may have now been dropped.

“Energy Minister Llewllyn refused to rule out the public giving a hidden subsidy to enable the deal to proceed, when I asked him in parliament to rule out increased electricity prices or a discount on the pipe capacity agreement,” Mr Booth said.

“It is simply unbelievable that a deal that fell over two days ago due to a lack of gas to fill the pipe, could be resurrected so quickly without the public doing a dive.”

“It is well known in the Corporate world that doing business with the Lennon government is like stealing corn from a blind chook and I would not be surprised if this has come true again.”

‘Minister Llewellyn must now come clean as to wether the deal was identical and on the same terms, apart from the gas supply condition precedent.”

“If the government will not rule out a cost shift to the public purse or to electricity consumers then we will know that another Lennon Lemon has fallen from the tree leaving a sour taste in the public’s mouth,” Mr Booth said.


Noctilucent clouds appear bluish-white in this view over the north pole from the AIM satellite. The black spot at centre is an area where no data was available (Image: NASA/HU/VT/CU LASP)
Noctilucent clouds appear bluish-white in this view over the north pole from the AIM satellite. The black spot at centre is an area where no data was available (Image: NASA/HU/VT/CU LASP)
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Alinta’s ASX Announcement


The Minister for Energy, David Llewellyn, today said Alinta’s announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange is great news for Tasmania.

The Asset Sale Agreement for the Bell Bay Power Station site and the gas turbines will now proceed on identical terms to those agreed in March.

“Alinta has also announced that Aurora Energy have provided Alinta until 27 July 2007 to negotiate revised commercial arrangements based on alternative gas supplies.

“This week, my political opponents have questioned my integrity. Some media outlets have accused me of evasion and spin.

“As one of the Shareholders in Tasmania’s energy businesses, I am the steward of many billions in assets that belong to all Tasmanians.

“These businesses operate in a ruthless national market where they either compete or cooperate with some very heavy hitters.

“In this environment, the idea that I should provide a blow by blow account of every shift in the negotiations in which these businesses are involved is plainly stupid. To do so would be immensely damaging.

Mr Llewellyn said this week has again shown that the standard of political and media debate about energy issues is very poor.

“I have a role in lifting the standard of that debate.

“The Greens’ comments about the Alinta situation reflects both their wilful ignorance of commercial matters, and their desire to twist every possible development into a bizarre conspiracy.

“Likewise, Mr Gutwein, who unlike his predecessor Mr Hodgman, has at least some grasp of these issues, has throughout this issue consistently demonstrated the Machiavellian traits that make him so unpopular with his colleagues.

“People would do well to remember that just because the Green Liberal opposition says something, it doesn’t mean that it is true.

“The Government stands by its record in energy reform and Tasmanian’s can look forward to more of the same.”

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Paying Developing Countries Not to Burn Forests
by Christopher Joyce


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Ahmad Zamroni
Indonesian students look at the wooden wall which was cut down by a Greenpeace activist during a protest against deforestation in Jakarta. AFP/Getty Images


Morning Edition, June 26, 2007 · Many industrialized nations are trying to use less coal, oil and natural gas to lower carbon dioxide levels, which is warming the atmosphere and changing the Earth's climate. But one-fifth of all greenhouse gases comes from forests that are cut down and burned to make way for crops or pasture.
Now there is a movement to get countries with big forests to slow the rate of cutting by paying them.
When a forest is burned to make room for a soybean field or a cattle pasture, for instance, the carbon in those trees goes up into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide — the leading greenhouse gas. As a result, burning forests creates a huge pulse of the gas.
The international treaty that limits greenhouse gases, the Kyoto Protocol, doesn't do anything directly about deforestation. It is aimed at factories and power plants in industrialized countries.
Thus, the new idea was born; it was first floated by developing countries: Why not pay them to slow down their deforestation. In the process, after the carbon that is kept earthbound as a result is tallied, it can be sold as a carbon credit to anyone who wants to offset their own carbon dioxide emissions.
Supporters of the "avoided deforestation" idea also say that in the effort to slow climate change, it could help remake developing countries from spectators into first-string players.
"Every year in tropical countries we lose about an area of forest about the size of New York state," said Peter Frumhoff, of the advocacy group the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The sum total of those clearings is that it contributes about 20 percent of the heat trapping gases into the atmosphere that cause global warming."
One group that has emerged to represent the developing countries is the Coalition for Rainforest Nations. Led by Kevin Conrad, a young business school graduate born and raised in Papua, New Guinea, the coalition tries to offer incentives for its members to keep their plush forest lands.
"What was driving deforestation was a global market for cows or a global market for coffee," Conrad said. "Nobody could compete head to head with the money a country was making elsewhere, so carbon was the first time we had a chance, a global market that could compete head to head with these other markets."

Related NPR Stories
Global warming will increase world death rate


00:01 28 June 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Catherine Brahic
The increase in extremely hot summers predicted by climate change models will lead to a higher death toll that will not be offset by fewer deaths during warmer winters, say researchers.
"The increase in mortality when you have one extra cold snap is 1.59%, but the increase in mortality for an additional heatwave is 5.74%," explains Mercedes Medina-Ramón of Harvard University's School of Public Health in Massachusetts, US.
Medina-Ramón and colleagues looked at how temperature correlated to mortality in 50 US cities between 1989 and 2000. They found that heart attacks and cardiac arrest were the causes of death that were most likely to increase with more extreme temperatures.
The team says that the widespread use of central heating in US cities means that people across the country are equally prepared to cope with cold snaps. But workplaces and homes are not equally equipped with air conditioners.
Aircon no solution
As a result, they found that cities with less air conditioning and denser populations suffered a greater increase in the number of deaths on extremely hot summer days.
They caution that the knee-jerk reaction to go out and carpet the country with air-conditioning units would be ill-advised.
"Air conditioning itself constitutes a problem for climate change," says Medina-Ramón. "The more we increase air conditioning, the more we increase our energy consumption, and therefore our carbon dioxide emissions – which will just make the problem worse."
In the past few days, a heat wave in southeastern Europe has caused at least 38 deaths. Romania is worst hit, with at least 23 dead. Greece and Italy are also affected.
Journal reference: Occupational and Environmental Medicine (DOI: 10.1136/oem.2007
Russia's Gazprom Plans Pipeline to Italy


By Barry Wood Washington25 June 2007
Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly and the Italian energy company, ENI, recently announced plans for a new pipeline under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and on to Italy. VOA's Barry Wood reports the multi-billion-dollar project will further extend Gazprom's reach into western European markets.
Italian news reports says the huge South Stream project will cost as much as $15 billion. The two companies will share the cost of building a 900-kilometer underwater pipeline across the Black Sea to Bulgaria. From there the line would proceed to Italy either west through Greece or northwest through Serbia and Croatia. Vladimir Socor, an energy analyst in Munich, says Gazprom is solidifying its position as the dominant supplier to the West European market.
"This deal is a continuation of Gazprom's policy of capturing markets and infrastructure in Europe," he said. "Gazprom is winning this contest, this competition, against western interests."
Italy is Gazprom's second biggest customer in Western Europe after Germany. Socor says South Stream, if it goes ahead, is a severe setback for Nabucco, a western-backed alternative that would by pass Russia and bring Central Asia gas to Western Europe through Turkey. On the drawing board for several years, Nabucco has not yet obtained financing. Last month Nabucco was dealt a significant blow when Kazahkstan and Turkmenistan signed a deal with Russia for a new pipeline to carry Turkmen and Kazahk gas west via Russia. Socor says Gazprom is similarly extending its control over gas exports from Central Asia.
"That means that Gazprom will be able to supply this [South Stream] and other pipelines in Europe by delivering Central Asian gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan in the guise of [it being] Russian gas," he said.
There are concerns that with a 40 percent import share, Western Europe is excessively dependent on Russian gas. Despite that, several countries including Germany, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary have been eager to expand their links to Gazprom, a Kremlin controlled firm that is the world's biggest gas producer. Vitaly Mekushev, director of the Eurasian Political Studies Network in Moscow, says Gazprom does not yet operate in the transparent manner of western corporations.
"I agree that Russian companies should be more transparent, especially Gazprom," he said. "It should be improved, I agree."
In terms of market capitalization (the aggregate value of its shares) Gazprom is the world's third biggest company. Gazprom chairman Alexander Medvedev says the company's market capitalization should quadruple to reach one trillion dollars by 2017, making it the world's biggest corporation.
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U.S.: Venezuela should compensate oil majors fairly

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Venezuela should compensate international energy companies fairly for its takeover of multibillion-dollar oil projects in the Orinoco region, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

U.S. oil giants ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil Corp. both decided to leave the huge extra heavy oil projects after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nationalized them as part of his socialist revolution.
"We want to see (Venezuela) meet their international commitments in terms of providing fair and just compensation in accordance with international standards, for any property that does come under government ownership," State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey told reporters at a briefing.
Venezuela Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said earlier Tuesday the two companies had decided to quit the Orinoco projects but that they still had time to negotiate the terms of their exit from the Orinoco projects.
Electric utilities to study new solar technology

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Electric Power Research Institute said on Wednesday it will launch a project to study the feasibility of "concentrating" solar power to increase its efficiency at the request of a number of western U.S. electric utilities.



Unlike conventional flat-plate solar or photovoltaic panels, concentrating solar power uses reflectors to generate electricity more efficiently and in larger amounts, EPRI said in a release. The institute said the project will study the feasibility of building a solar power plant in the 50- to 500-megawatt range, much larger than traditional solar installations.
The industry research group said the United States has four such utility-size solar plants: one in Nevada and three in California.
EPRI said the solar project was initiated by New Mexico-based PNM Resources Inc. which is interested in building such a solar facility in New Mexico by 2010. PNM Chief Executive Jeffry Sterba is the current EPRI chairman.
Other utilities that will participate in the study's first phase include Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric Co. unit, Edison International's Southern California Edison utility, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Xcel Energy. El Paso Electric has also expressed interest in the project, EPRI said.
The first phase of the project will provide expertise and technical analysis to help utilities make decisions about concentrated solar technology through formation of a team of utility and solar experts.
The first phase also will include a feasibility assessment to examine the site, technological, economic and regulatory issues related to developing a solar plant in the 50- to 500-MW range, EPRI said.
The study is expected to be finished by late 2007 when participants will decide whether to move to a second phase covering engineering design and permitting issues. Construction would occur in the third phase, EPRI said.
Six of the Best

Aurora Energy, the Government owned energy retailer and distributor, has once again won a national award in the Australasian Reporting Awards.
Minister for Energy, David Llewellyn, said the award to Aurora of the Gold standard in 2006 followed an assessment of reports from more than three hundred leading public and private organisations from Australia and New Zealand.
“This is the sixth year in succession Aurora has been judged at the top level in this category.
“This builds upon the company’s success in 2005, when Aurora won the top honour for Report of the Year – ahead of major corporations such as BHP Billiton, Westpac and Telstra.
“No other Tasmanian organisation, public or private, has achieved this level in the more than 50 years these Awards have been conducted.
“This award is further evidence of what most Tasmanians already know, and that is that Aurora Energy like our other Government Business Enterprises are professionally run organisations.
“Aurora has made a practice of rigorously benchmarking its performance against national and international best practice, in a range of areas of business activity.”
Mr Llewellyn said despite the fact GBEs such as Aurora are well run and providing benefits to Tasmanians, the Liberal and Green Oppositions continue to talk them down.
“I call on all members of Parliament to put petty politics aside and congratulate Aurora on its success.”
Tamar Valley Power Station Developments


The State Government has emerged from talks with Alinta optimistic the Tamar Valley Power Station will go ahead.
Minister for Energy, David Llewellyn and the Executive General Manager of Alinta Energy, Jim Hennessy, met this morning.
“Mr Hennessy assured me that he and Alinta remain absolutely committed to the power station project, and that Alinta’s next step will be to pursue alternative gas supply arrangements.
“The company will continue to progress its applications for planning and environmental approval.
“Likewise, Alinta’s orders for the combined cycle gas turbines that were to power the project will remain afoot.
“Finally, and most importantly, Mr Hennessy gave me an assurance that Alinta will not use this development as an opportunity to leverage extra value from the project to the detriment of Aurora or Hydro Tasmania.”
Mr Llewellyn said there are a number of options available to progress the prospective development.
“These are sensitive commercial negotiations.
“Until those options are exhausted, it is absolutely inappropriate for me to speculate about alternatives.”
Mr Llewellyn also slammed the Greens for their predictable and blatant political point scoring.
“They acted like pack of hyenas yesterday when this news broke.
“The suggestion, advanced by Kim Booth, that Alinta should breach its obligation to the ASX by providing me with advance notice of this development, makes a mockery to their commitment to probity.
“It also demonstrates how out of touch Mr Booth is from the commercial realities of this situation.
“It’s time the opposition came up with some real alternatives instead of their constant and ill informed carping.”
Musselroe on the Go!

The Minister for Energy, David Llewellyn, today happily announced that the Musselroe Wind Farm is again heading in the right direction.
Mr Llewellyn said all project rights, including the land agreement, for the project were secured earlier this week.
“Of course, the project would almost certainly be commission by now had the Federal Government accepted the findings of its own expert report and supported the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target.
“Nevertheless the project is proceeding well, with strong support from the local council and community.
“Currently, pre-construction activities are progressing well, including environmental surveys and transmission line mapping,” Mr Llewellyn said.
Roaring 40s is now presently in negotiations for the remaining two key elements of the project, including:
· securing the turbine supply contract for the project; and
· securing suitable off-take arrangements for the project under the proposed New South Wales Renewable Energy Target.
“Subject to confirmation of these arrangements, Roaring 40s hopes to commence construction in late 2007.”
The answer to Australia's clean energy needs could be in Canberra


Last Update: Wednesday, June 27, 2007. 1:15pm AEST
By Claire Gorman
The answer to Australia’s' clean energy needs maybe right here in Canberra. The Australian National University is home to an invention that could meet 100 per cent of Australia's energy needs.
666 ABC Canberra's environment reporter, Claire Gorman, met up with Keith and he showed her the spectacular big dish. The 400-square metre dish is the world's largest solar concentrator, which shifts with the sun to feed electricity back into the grid.
"If we covered an area a couple of times as big as the ACT with dishes like this, reasonably spaced out, we could provide 100 per cent of Australia's energy needs," Keith said.
One "big dish" provided enough power for about 100 houses, he said. Currently the ANU is working on an improved prototype which the university hopes will be finished early next year.
Keith explained that the dish followed the sun during the day. The mirrors on its surface gather up the radiation and focus it to a receiver 13 metres above. The receiver is made from tubing with water going through it. The water boils and creates super-heated steam with temperatures of up to 500 degrees Celsius.
"In the same way that in a coal-fired power station we might burn coal to make steam...ultimately we are going to use this steam for power generation without greenhouse gas emissions," Keith said.
Keith said one of the issues in the current debate about clean energy revolved around the potential collapse of coal industry. "What do we do for export income?" he asked.
One scenario, he suggested, was a transition to clean energy by using solar power for gasification of - or adding energy to - coal to create methanol.
Methanol is a petrol substitute and if it is created in this way, it is 30 per cent solar-generated and could create export income, he said.
"We're not going to beat the current price of coal-fired electricity I don't believe. Bit I think we will beat some of the other options, like nuclear power." he said.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Google to Help Non-Profits With Maps


location based services

By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer
(AP) -- Google Inc. launched an initiative Tuesday to help charities and other non-profit groups use maps and satellite images to raise awareness, recruit volunteers and encourage donations.



The Google Earth Outreach program represents a formalization of ad-hoc partnerships with organizations using the free software to publicize their works.


Already, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has been using Google Earth to call attention to atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan. When users scan over Darfur, they see icons of flames representing destroyed villages and of tents for refugee camps. Clicking on one opens a window with details and links on how to help. The U.N. Environmental Program, meanwhile, has used the software to show areas of environmental destruction. The Jane Goodall Institute shows locations of its research on chimpanzees and African deforestation. A Brazilian Indian tribe is working on ways to help stop loggers and miners from deforesting the jungle and digging for gold. By turning these individual efforts into a formal program, Google hopes to make its tools more widely available to non-profits around the world. The resources will be available on an open Web site, so technically individuals and corporations can tap into the program as well. However, grants to receive a free copy of Google Earth's $400 professional-version software will be limited initially to certain U.S. non-profits certified by the Internal Revenue Service. Many of the features, though, are available in the free version of Google Earth, available as a download for Windows, Mac and Linux computers. Non-profits are "trying to tell a story and trying to move people emotionally," said Rebecca Moore, manager of Google Earth Outreach. "They are trying to inspire action, advocate on behalf of a cause and drive people to, for example, make donations, sign a petition or lobby your congressional representative. "They have somewhat unique needs. Therefore we have focused on helping them understand how to do these things." Many government agencies, hobbyists and other users of Google Earth already overlay maps with photos, video, text and links pinned onto specific locations. "KML" files containing such overlays are distributed through Web sites, e-mail or the software itself. Once a user clicks on the file, icons representing those elements appear on the map. Google will be providing online guides, video tutorials and case studies aimed at showing non-profit representatives how they, too, can use Google Earth's overlays. Although Google also runs a mapping Web site, users will need the free Google Earth software to view the materials. Google says it has 200 million Google Earth users worldwide. © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
» Next Article in Technology - Internet: Web radio broadcasts 'sound of silence' in rate-hike protest
Greenhouse gas burial

Deep coal seams that are not commercially viable for coal production could be used for permanent underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by human activities, thus avoiding atmospheric release, according to two studies published in Inderscience's International Journal of Environment and Pollution. An added benefit of storing CO2 in this way is that additional useful methane will be displaced from the coal beds.
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Finding ways to store (sequester) the greenhouse gas CO2, indefinitely, is one approach being investigated in efforts to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels and so help combat climate change. CO2 might be pumped into oil wells to extract the last few drops of oil or be placed deep underground in brine aquifers or unmineable coal seams.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory have carried out initial investigations into the potential environmental impacts of CO2 sequestration in unmineable coal seams. The research team collected 2000 coal samples from 250 coal beds across 17 states. Some sources of coal harbor vast quantities of methane, or natural gas. Low-volatile rank coals, for instance, average the highest methane content, 13 cubic meters per tonne of coal. The researchers found that the depth from which a coal sample is taken reflects the average methane content, with much deeper seams containing less methane. However, the study provides only a preliminary assessment of the possibilities. The key question is whether methane can be tapped from the unmineable coal seams and replaced permanently with huge quantities of carbon dioxide; if so, such coal seams could represent a vast sink for CO2 produced by industry. The researchers point out that worldwide, there are almost 3 trillions tonnes of storage capacity for CO2 in such deep coal seams. To replicate actual geological conditions, NETL has built a Geological Sequestration Core Flow Laboratory (GSCFL). A wide variety of CO2 injection experiments in coal and other rock cores (e.g., sandstone) are being performed under in situ conditions of triaxial stress, pore pressure, and temperature. Preliminary results obtained from Pittsburgh No. 8 coal indicate that the permeability decreases (from micro-darcies to nano-darcies or extremely low flow properties) with increasing CO2 pressure, with an increase in strain associated with the triaxial confining pressures restricting the ability of the coal to swell. The already existing low pore volume of the coal is decreased, reducing the flow of CO2, measured as permeability. This is a potential problem that will have to be overcome if coal seam sequestration is to be widely used.
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The research team has also investigated some of the possible side-effects of sequestering CO2 in coal mines. They tested a high volatility bituminous coal with produced water and gaseous carbon dioxide at 40 Celsius and 50 times atmospheric pressure. They used microscopes and X-ray diffraction to analyze the coal after the reaction was complete. They found that some toxic metals originally trapped in the coal were released by the process, contaminating the water used in the reaction. "Changes in water chemistry and the potential for mobilizing toxic trace elements from coal beds are potentially important factors to be considered when evaluating deep, unmineable coal seams for CO2 sequestration, though it is also possible that, considering the depth of the injection, that such effects might be harmless" the researchers say. "The concentrations of beryllium, cadmium, mercury, and zinc increased significantly, though both beryllium and mercury remained below drinking water standards." However, toxic arsenic, molybdenum, lead, antimony, selenium, titanium, thallium, vanadium, and iodine were not detected in the water, although they were present in the original coal samples. Source: Inderscience Publishers
» Next Article in Space & Earth science - Earth Sciences: Study shows desert droughts lead to earlier annual mountain snow loss
Inquiry to look at why gas supply fell short

AN INVESTIGATION is under way into why gas supplies to NSW were disrupted last week during a crisis that could have resulted in the shutdown of the main gas network to half a million customers.
The Minister for Energy, Ian Macdonald, ordered his department to investigate the events that left 400 large business customers with supplies only for essential operations.
Mr Macdonald is also due to meet the key players who will be asked to take part in the investigation, a spokeswoman for the minister told the Herald. While gas supplies were restored on Monday, the Government wants "to ensure the events do not re-occur", she said.
The gas network provider Alinta had warned the Government last week of the looming problem after it observed rising demand and insufficient supplies being ordered by the gas companies, including the largest supplier, AGL. The imbalance created a potentially dangerous drop in pressure in the main Moomba-to-Sydney gas pipeline.
AGL, the state's main gas company, has said the problem was caused by a big surge in demand last Tuesday during a cold snap that covered NSW, Victoria and South Australia. But yesterday an AGL spokesman said the managers of the Moomba pipeline, which include Alinta, had alerted AGL to a potential problem days before the cold snap.
When the cold snap hit, it added to pressure on the system. AGL found South Australia was talking more gas that expected from Moomba, cutting into supplies to NSW. As the supply problems greatly escalated, AGL stepped up its response, bringing gas from Victoria and shutting off gas supplies to its own power plant in South Australia.
But the measures were insufficient and AGL was forced to accept cutting supplies to its business customers last Thursday night "to ensure the safety of the network", a spokesperson said yesterday.
Normally, AGL ensures a comfortable buffer to cover a surge in demand over supply and it is still unclear how the buffer dropped so rapidly. The company said it would co-operate with the State Government inquiry.
With electricity and gas consumption soaring in Australia, the Energy Supply Association yesterday called for the removal of the energy price regulations protecting householders. The association represents the big gas and energy companies, including AGL. The association's chief, Brad Page, released a report yesterday saying energy price regulation for householders and small businesses was a "great cost" on the the community and the economy.
Mr Page said the price controls were "a substantial impediment" to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The State Government has begun an inquiry into electricity under Professor Anthony Owen of Curtin University. It is to report this year. Unions and consumer groups are worried the report will lead to more electricity deregulation in NSW.
Mr Macdonald said yesterday that energy deregulation in the state was a process that needed to be carefully managed. Abandoning price regulation was no guarantee of lower prices, he said. The Government would make no apologies for protecting householders and small businesses, Mr Macdonald said.
Report urges energy price deregulation


By business editor Peter Ryan
Posted Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:27pm AEST Updated Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:26pm AEST
The cold snap across south-eastern Australia is pushing up demand for energy, and prices are expected to rise too.
But a report out today says state regulation is getting in the way of a national scheme that could deliver cheaper prices for everyone.
The report predicts that improved competition could deliver a $400 million saving to the economy, but consumer groups are warning that there would only be one winner: big business.
The reform of Australia's energy market is all about driving full and open competition for gas and electricity.
But with states and territories maintaining their own agencies to regulate prices, plans for an integrated national regulator remain distant.
Energy producers say the additional state regulation is unhelpful duplication that is getting in the way of a better deal for consumers.
Energy Supply Association of Australia chief executive officer Brad Page says it is old-fashioned over-regulation.
"It presents as the last bastion of regulation that needs to be removed," he said.
He says current caps on retail prices for residential customers and small businesses defy the reality of a fully competitive wholesale energy market.
"The retailers and the generators are constantly dealing in real time; they're setting themselves up to manage the risk effectively," he said.
"What they don't need are governments then adding to that risk by imposing what they think is the right price, when in fact the market could move dramatically and quickly into a territory that puts... at serious risk [their] continued business viability."
Mr Page says according to a new study on the impact of retail price regulation, the cost to the economy is as much as $400 million per year, and consumers are paying the bill in the form of artificially higher prices.
"For every individual retailer that has to go through this regulatory price process, it costs an extra $1 million in costs, and for every regulator that's overseeing this - and there's one in every one of the states - it's $2 million per reset," he said.
"The interesting thing is that those costs are actually passed through to the consumer, so they pay for the privilege of somebody setting a price that probably doesn't give them the best deal that they could possibly get."
Price risk for consumers
But the push to ease the regulatory burden is ringing alarm bells with consumer groups.
Consumer Action Law Centre senior policy officer Gerard Brody says he worries that ordinary consumers will end up paying more and will be at the mercy of the big energy producers who understand the ebbs and flows of the wholesale market.
"It will actually enable energy retailers to pass on price spikes in the wholesale market directly to consumers, therefore passing the risk of those prices to consumers," he said.
Mr Brody says the energy companies should be the ones to bear the risk.
"They're the better participants in the market to bear that risk - they're able to enter into long-term hedge contracts and other financial instruments to really reduce their risk," he said.
"It's an unfair burden being placed on consumers."
Mr Brody says there is a trade-off between long-term and short-term impacts on consumers.
"I think in the short-term the prices would rise severely, and that would be a bad outcome for many consumers, especially when energy prices are already unaffordable for many in our society," he said.
"I think there is a place for pricing regulation to ensure that competition can occur effectively, that it does enable retailers to make a buck in the market, but also ensure that pricing is affordable for consumers."
Greenhouse initiatives
But Mr Page says without national regulatory reform, energy producers will be hamstrung in delivering energy-saving greenhouse gas initiatives that will drive lower costs for consumers who use energy wisely.
"There are a lot of new cost pressures that are going to come through to try to address greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
"We've also got a commitment from governments to progressively roll out interval meters.
"These interval meters then enable retailers the opportunity to provide pricing arrangements that reward people who use less energy at critical times.
"If you don't remove these retail price controls then the interval meters will have extremely limited value."
Victoria is expected to be the first state to remove caps on prices, and other states have signed up in principle but will only deregulate when there is proof that competition works for both energy producers and retail consumers.
Tags: business-economics-and-finance, consumer-protection, industry, electricity-energy-and-utilities, environment, climate-change, australia
Roll up for better hydrogen fuel storage


The thorny problem of how to store hydrogen fuel safely for future vehicles and portable gadgets could be solved by simply storing it in nanoscopic scrolls of carbon.
Scientists in Greece say they have found a way to make so-called "carbon nanoscrolls" store more hydrogen than any other material.
By adding impurities to rolled sheets of carbon in detailed computer simulations, they found they could control how tightly the scrolls wind up and, hence, how much hydrogen they adsorb.
This result is very promising because it provides a potential solution to one of the major problems of hydrogen storage for mobile applications, says George Froudakis at the University of Crete, who led the work.
Hydrogen has been much touted as the clean fuel of the future for electric vehicles and portable devices. But, despite holding more energy than hydrocarbon fuels, its incredibly low density makes it difficult to store in sufficient quantity to make it worthwhile.
Under pressure
Liquefying hydrogen by placing it under great pressure is both expensive and potentially dangerous. Even then, with a density of just one tenth that of water, it would be necessary to store four times the volume of liquid to match the energy content of gasoline.
"Most of the scientists working on this field of research believe that the solution to this problem will arise from the synthesis of new materials," Froudakis says.
Indeed, in 2003 the US Department of Energy (DOE) set a target of developing novel materials capable of reversibly storing enough hydrogen to make up 6% of their total weight by 2010.
The idea is to find materials with high surface areas that soak up hydrogen at much higher densities than previously possible, and without the need for extreme cooling or pressurisation.
Adding impurities
To address this problem, Froudakis and colleagues carried out computer simulations to see how the hydrogen uptake of carbon nanoscrolls could be affected by adding quantities of different alkali metals. These impurities cause the atomic distance between the layers of a scroll to vary.
Their findings suggest that adding lithium ions should increase the uptake of hydrogen at atmospheric pressure and room temperature from 0.19% to 3.31%.
This is twice the amount that other materials have achieved. Furthermore, hydrogen uptake should increase as the temperature is reduced, the researchers say.
These are significant quantities of hydrogen, says Frantisek Svec, a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in California, US. but they still fall short of the DOE targets.
Also, as the study is only a simulation, the results will need to be confirmed experimentally. "Unfortunately, in practice, these carbon-based materials are most often much less encouraging," Svec says.
Journal reference: Nano Letters (doi:10.1021/nl070530u)
Giant microwave turns plastic back to oil

A US company is taking plastics recycling to another level – turning them back into the oil they were made from, and gas.
All that is needed, claims Global Resource Corporation (GRC), is a finely tuned microwave and – hey presto! – a mix of materials that were made from oil can be reduced back to oil and combustible gas (and a few leftovers).
Key to GRC’s process is a machine that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible gas.
GRC's machine is called the Hawk-10. Its smaller incarnations look just like an industrial microwave with bits of machinery attached to it. Larger versions resemble a concrete mixer.
"Anything that has a hydrocarbon base will be affected by our process," says Jerry Meddick, director of business development at GRC, based in New Jersey. "We release those hydrocarbon molecules from the material and it then becomes gas and oil."
Whatever does not have a hydrocarbon base is left behind, minus any water it contained as this gets evaporated in the microwave.
Simplified recycling
"Take a piece of copper wiring," says Meddick. "It is encased in plastic – a kind of hydrocarbon material. We release all the hydrocarbons, which strips the casing off the wire." Not only does the process produce fuel in the form of oil and gas, it also makes it easier to extract the copper wire for recycling.
Similarly, running 9.1 kilograms of ground-up tyres through the Hawk-10 produces 4.54 litres of diesel oil, 1.42 cubic metres of combustible gas, 1 kg of steel and 3.40 kg of carbon black, Meddick says.
Watch a video of tyre powder being reduced by the Hawk-10.
Less landfill
Gershow Recycling, a scrap metal company based in New York, US, has just said it will be the first to buy a Hawk-10. Gershow collects metal products, shreds them and turns them into usable pure metals. Most of its scrap comes from old cars, but for every ton of steel that the company recovers, between 226 kg and 318 kg of "autofluff" is produced.
Autofluff is the stuff that is left over after a car has been shredded and the steel extracted. It contains plastics, rubber, wood, paper, fabrics, glass, sand, dirt, and various bits of metal. GRC says its Hawk-10 can extract enough oil and gas from the left-over fluff to run the Hawk-10 itself and a number of other machines used by Gershow.
Because it makes extracting reusable metal more efficient and evaporates water from autofluff, the Hawk-10 should also reduce the amount of end material that needs to be deposited in landfill sites.
Energy and Fuels - Learn more about the looming energy crisis in our comprehensive special report
Alinta May Scrap Power Plant After Gas Accord Lapses

(Update2)
By Angela Macdonald-Smith
June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Alinta Ltd., Australia's biggest energy transmission company, may scrap a proposed A$230 million ($195 million) power project in Tasmania after an agreement to buy natural gas for the plant lapsed.
Alinta's A$600 million accord to buy gas from Anzon Australia Ltd. and Beach Petroleum Ltd. to fuel the proposed Tamar Valley power plant won't go ahead after the partners deferred plans to develop gas output at the field, Perth-based Alinta said today in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.
Anzon, based in Sydney, and Adelaide-based Beach said earlier today they will delay plans for gas production at the Basker-Manta-Gummy project off Australia's southeastern coast and instead continue expanding oil output, which is more profitable. They had agreed to sell 225 petajoules (214 billion cubic feet) of gas from the field, also known as BMG, to Alinta over 15 years starting in 2009.
``This is a significant setback to the Tamar Valley power station project and Alinta is now carefully considering all the options available to it in terms of meeting the needs of the Tasmanian energy market,'' Jim Hennessy, executive general manager of Alinta's energy unit, said in the statement.
The lapsing of the gas supply accord means Alinta's conditional agreement to supply electricity from the proposed 200-megawatt Tamar Valley plant to Aurora Energy will also lapse, Hennessy said.
Anzon Declines
Shares in Anzon fell 11 cents, or 8.8 percent, to A$1.14 on the exchange, while Beach stocks closed 0.3 percent lower at A$1.47. Alinta shares rose 0.2 percent to A$15.23.
``Oil is the major source of profitability for the project and is the first priority of further development activity,'' Anzon and Beach said in a joint statement. ``The BMG joint venture expects to commit to a gas development within the next 12 months with any future gas off-take arrangements to complement the optimized oil development plan.''
The Basker-Manta-Gummy venture is considering committing to using a larger production vessel at the field to accommodate an increase in oil output in advance of the proposed gas production, the partners said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net
Climate hot issue for APEC


Climate change is top of the agenda for leaders' week, Glenda Korporaal writes
June 27, 2007
DEVELOPING practical policies on climate change will be the key issue facing world business leaders when they come together in early September for APEC leaders' week, according to Macquarie Bank deputy chairman Mark Johnson.
"Energy security has been an issue of concern to the APEC economies," says Johnson, who will chair the two-day meeting of 400 world business leaders.
"As the meeting gets closer, climate change has come to the forefront. This is partly because the prime minister put it there in his Asia Society speech this month.
"But it will also recognise the popular concern about the issue through the region."
In the last few weeks leading APEC members have made major policy statements on climate change, which was a focus of the recent G8 meeting in Germany.
The APEC leaders' week in Sydney will begin on September 3 with a closed-door, three-day meeting of the 63 business people who form the permanent Apec Business Advisory Council - three from each of the 21 economies.
Australia's members are Johnson, public relations consultant Peter Charlton, and small business operator Michael Crouch, who heads up Zip Industries.
That meeting will be followed by the two-day summit at the Opera House for an invitation-only group of 400 top business people to discuss issues such as climate change and trade policy.
The business people will then meet on the Saturday with the APEC world leaders.
In the past, the local chamber of commerce in the APEC host city has issued its own invitations to the business summit, which has tended to be a more freewheeling occasion.
This year, John Howard has taken control of the guest list, limiting the meeting to 400 top business people who will attend on invitation from Canberra.
This is designed to create a more tightly organised, structured program attracting major international business leaders.
The 63-member ABAC business group, whose permanent members meet several times a year, will issue a report in August of the major issues business would like the leaders to discuss at the September meeting.
The Sydney meeting is expected to spend time producing a statement that will stress the urgency of addressing climate change but also stressing some principles of the way it should be approached.
"The business summit will say there is a degree of urgency about the issue," Johnson says. "There will also be pressure for the principles of transparency and the comprehensive nature of any final proposals so business knows what is required of it."
Johnson says business will be looking for a set of principles from the leaders on how to approach climate change, rather than specific, detailed policy. "Business will recognise that this is not just an issue that affects the 21 economies," he says.
"It will be in all our interests to try to find principles that will allow all those economies to mesh with the rest of the world. We have to deal with this issue on a global basis.
"The leaders will be looking for the broad principles that might lead to long-term and compatible structures."
Johnson, who steps down next month as deputy chairman of Macquarie Bank, says a form of pricing mechanism, rather than strict government regulation, is the best way to change the energy-using behaviour of consumers and business.
"You can use regulation to change consumer behaviour but you are less likely to get it right," he says.
"Ultimately, we are all trying to move to some kind of pricing mechanism. You want to change consumer behaviour and you want to change business behaviour.
"You want to encourage innovation and new methods of dealing with this issue.
"Most business people would be of the view that a sensible pricing regime will give the best signals to those many disparate groups."
APEC has evolved considerably since it was formed in 1989 as an Asian-focussed alternative to the European Union.
The average tariff in each of the 21 economies is now less than 6 per cent compared with almost 17 per cent when it was founded.
ABAC itself, a standing group of three business people from each economy, was formed in 1995 to provide business with a forum to transmit ideas on key issues to the APEC leaders.
"The original intent of APEC was for all the countries in the region to improve their economic performance," Johnson says.
"The most appropriate way to do this was seen to be reform of the conditions for trade."
But, he says, while the concept of lower tariffs and more trade between the economies is still a key goal of APEC, there is also a recognition about the need to do more about broader impediments to trade, such as human skills, regulation and structural adjustment.
"Trade facilitation as well as liberalisation is now a big part of APEC," Johnson says.
He points out that much work is done in the meetings of specific industry groups, which get together throughout the year in sectors such as automotive, chemicals and energy.
"They deal with very specific issues, which often accomplish quite a lot in a tangible way," he says.
"This can include standards for goods such as refrigerators. So if you buy a Chinese-made refrigerator how can you be confident it meets NSW standards?
"The industry working groups make sure that the standards are harmonious. It sounds mundane but it is quite important.
"It has been more successful than most people appreciate."
Apart from the formal meetings, the informal contacts between business leaders and between business leaders and ministers in the APEC leaders' week also help promote trade, Johnson says.
The Saturday meeting between business leaders and the APEC political leaders is a freewheeling private section with no advisers present.
Johnson says the business leaders this year will be keen to hear from world leaders such as Russian president Putin, and Chinese leader Hu Jintao on that country's plans for structural reform.
"These will affect every facet of business, as you can imagine."
At the same time, business uses the meeting to put forward broad issues on which it wants action from the leaders.
"The leaders keep on submitting themselves to it every year," he says. "If they didn't like it, I suspect they wouldn't keep coming back."
Partners fall out on Bass gas plan


Nigel Wilson, Energy writer
June 27, 2007
FUTURE electricity generation in Tasmania is under a cloud after the developers of the Basker-Manta adjacent oil and gas fields pulled out of a gas supply deal.
Alinta told the stock exchange yesterday it was reassessing plans for a 200 megawatt combined-cycle baseload power station in the Tamar Valley after Anzon Australia and Beach Petroleum said they were deferring development of the gas leg of the Basker-Manta reservoir in Bass Strait.
In March the Basker-Manta partners announced a conditional 15-year agreement valued at more than $600 million to supply Alinta.
Alinta subsequently agreed to buy the Bell Bay power station site and three 35MW gas turbines from Hydro Tasmania.
These were to form the basis of a 180MW peak-shaving power station. Investment in the two stations was estimated at $330 million.
Alinta said yesterday the gas supply was a key contractual arrangement for the 200MW baseload station, which would have been operating by early 2009.
The National Energy Market Management Company said yesterday Tasmania could meet its energy needs at least until the end of this decade, but in the next decade it was certain to need new power-generation investment.
The change of heart by the Basker-Manta partners seems to have followed a difference of opinion on due diligence between executives of Anzon and Beach.
The Alinta deal is understood to have been subject to a final investment decision on developing the gas leg, but a final investment decision was not agreed to by the partners.
The underlying issue is understood to be Beach's reluctance to be overexposed on Basker-Manta, which is Anzon's main project.
In a statement to the stock exchange, the two companies said they chose to delay their decision about the gas phase after looking further at what developing oil production would involve.
Oil production would be the "major source of profitability" for the project, they said.
Basker-Manta's proven oil reserves (1P) are estimated at 13million barrels, while its proven, probable and possible (3P) reserves may be 77 million barrels.
The gap between the two numbers is believed to have been the reason the partners decided a $500 million investment to meet the Alinta contract was too risky.
Basker-Manta is producing about 12,000 barrels of oil daily using a floating production storage and offtake vessel, Crystal Ocean, which is too small to handle the big increase in compression required for the development of the fields' gas.
Anzon and Beach are planning a development well, Basker-6, on which drilling is to begin in November.
It is expected to help confirm the fields' reserves at more than the 1P figure now reported.
Anzon and Beach are planning to use a bigger vessel to accommodate an "optimal" field development. They expect to commit to a gas development within 12 months.
BP and Associated British Foods join forces to build £200m biofuels plant


· Site to make 420m litres of ethanol a year from 2009
· Crops may cause harm to environment, say activists

Terry Macalister
Wednesday June 27, 2007
The Guardian


Two of the biggest names in energy and food production have joined forces to build a £200m biofuels plant to meet a growing demand for greener petrol, triggering fears among environmentalists about intensive farming and its effect on wildlife habitats.
BP and Associated British Foods say the facility near Hull will reduce greenhouse gases from transport, and deny it could increase the price of food or lead to overcapacity in the fast-growing new fuel sector. But the move coincided with a financial restructuring at a fledgling UK biofuels company which claimed that a flood of subsidised green diesel supplies from America had pushed it close to insolvency

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Updated weekly at 11:32 GMT on Thursda Geothermal energyy


Geothermal energy has been described as the great untapped energy source - a limitless supply of power right under our feet.

It's being exploited in countries from Indonesia to Iceland, but the world's biggest user, the United States, has cut research funding to zero.

Richard Hollingham asks why and investigates whether geothermal energy could meet the world's energy needs.

Company plans 'eco' iron dump off Galapagos


A private company's plans to dump 100 tonnes of iron particles into the Pacific Ocean off the Galapagos, to trigger a plankton bloom, are being discussed by the International Maritime Organization today.

The chief executive of carbon-offsetting firm Planktos says the scrutiny is unwarranted as the amounts of iron his company will dump are minuscule.

Planktos is a private company which sells UN-approved carbon credits and uses the money for forestry projects. It plans to sell carbon "off-set" credits to fund future ocean iron-dump projects.

The US company is also one of a few budding organisations seeking to operate large-scale experiments to dump fine iron particles into the ocean in order to boost the growth of tiny plant plankton, called phytoplankton.

Natural clouds of iron dust deposited on the sea by the winds can trigger large plankton blooms that can be seen from space as greenish patches in the midst of blue ocean waters.

In the past 20 years, 10 ocean expeditions around the world have attempted to trigger phytoplankton blooms by purposefully seeding the waves with fine iron dust.

Controversial experiment

Some believe these experiments could be a solution to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere: as the phytoplankton grow into blooms, they absorb the gas from the atmosphere, much like trees do. A portion of this sinks to the sea floor when the plankton die, effectively transferring CO2 from the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean.

Some experts believe that experimenting with ocean iron-dumps should be accelerated and that academic research has been too limited. However, most agree that such experiments should only be carried out under international agreement and regulated by a United Nations body, since there are concerns that iron-dumping may have disastrous effects on the local ecology and biodiversity. Phytoplankton are right at the bottom of the marine food-chain and tampering with the amount of phytoplankton in the oceans may effect the entire marine ecosystem.

Victor Smetacek of the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research agrees that too little is known about phytoplankton. That is precisely why he would like to see more iron fertilisation experiments carried out. "I am probably the only senior scientist who is advocating this, however," he told New Scientist. "The way I see it is the experiments should be run by scientists [not by private companies], but the scientific community as a whole is against this."

Smetacek has just received funding from the Indian government to carry out an iron fertilisation experiment in the Scotia Sea, off the coast of Antarctica, in 2008. In the long run, he says iron fertilisation activities should be run by a dedicated United Nations body.

Outside the law?

Each of the 10 expeditions carried out so far have dumped up to 10 tonnes of iron particles. Planktos intends to take the iron fertilisation experiments further than publicly-funded research has so far.

It is planning six expeditions, each of which will dump up to 100 tonnes of iron. It says it will study the plankton bloom more extensively and for longer than has been done in the past.

A US civil society organisation called the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) believes that Planktos's planned activities are in breach of law.

"There is a law against dumping material into the ocean without permits. Yet, this is exactly what Planktos plans on doing," says staff attorney George Kimbrell of the CTA. "We are asking the US Environment Protection Agency [EPA] to launch an immediate and full investigation into Planktos’s ocean-dumping activities."

When New Scientist contacted the EPA, it was told that Planktos has indicated to the agency that it will dump the iron particles from a ship registered outside the US, thereby avoiding any conflict with the US Ocean Dumping Act. "This is no longer within our jurisdiction," an EP official said.

Natural substance

Planktos, whose US-registered research ship Weatherbird II is currently having equipment fitted for the first iron fertilisation expedition – scheduled to take place in international waters off the coast of the Galapagos – says that it has not yet decided whether or not it will operate from this vessel.

Planktos chief executive Russ George told New Scientist that it is awaiting formal notification that its activities are not legal under US law.

If it receives such notification, says George, it will consider dumping the iron from a foreign ship and carrying out the subsequent monitoring research from Weatherbird II.

George says the quantities of iron his company is proposing to dump are well below quantities that require EPA approval under the US Ocean Dumping Act.

"The act states that if you are putting a natural substance into the ocean you don't have to apply for a permit," says George. He says the iron particles he uses are very finely ground particles of haematite, a rock that is naturally rich in the mineral.

Low concentrations

"The other clause is that if you don't raise the concentration of the substance in the ocean to 0.01% of acute toxicity levels you don't need to apply," says George.

"We are seeking to raise concentration of iron to something in the neighbourhood of 50 parts per trillion. When I looked up the acute toxicity of iron I couldn't find it, but I could find that the concentration of iron in breast milk is tens of parts per million. Over the counter iron supplements contain 100 ppm.

"We are a million times below the level required to maintain life, not 0.01% below the level of acute toxicity," concludes George. "When I pointed that out to the EPA they said: 'Well we don't have to go by that'."

George says he is now awaiting formal notification from the EPA in order to decide what ship to dump his iron from. The EPA says the matter is no longer under its jurisdiction because Planktos has told them it will not dump from a US ship.

Careful evaluation

Meanwhile, the US government has apparently not turned its back on the matter entirely. The scientific working group of the International Maritime Organization's London Convention, which regulates dumping at sea, is meeting from 18 June to 22 June in Spain.

A document submitted by the US government has required that Planktos's activities be considered by the IMO.

The document states: "Because this iron release project will not be done by vessels flagged in the US, or by vessels leaving from the US, the US government does not have jurisdiction to regulate this project under its law implementing the London Convention.

"The US believes that the iron addition projects proposed by Planktos, Inc. should be evaluated carefully by any state that has appropriate jurisdiction over this activity."

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Alstom to develop CO2 capture plant



ARIS - French engineering company Alstom said Friday it won a development contract with Germany power and gas provider E.on AG to develop a carbon dioxide emissions capture plant in southern Sweden.
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"Because CO2 is recognized as the main greenhouse gas contributing to global warming, development of this technology is an important milestone towards reducing power industry carbon emissions," Alstom said in a statement.

The plant, to capture emissions from a power plant at Karlshamn, in the south of Sweden, will use Alstom's chilled ammonia-based technology and is expected to begin operation in 2008. The companies plan to introduce the technology into other Swedish power plants after technical evaluation.

Alstom's chilled ammonia technology uses ammonia to capture CO2 emissions that would normally escape into the atmosphere.

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